#bg says HE WANTS *YOU* TO TAKE THE DEAL!

[noiseemaster]

that guy from that game

[ayselluna]

Ascendant Astarion Recommendations!

I'm a fan of both Spawn and Ascendant Astarion so I do enjoy reading both. But if you want to explore and read some good shit~ Ascendant fics well here you go~

I've read a lot so bear with me, These are my TOPS~

I LOVE ALL OF THESE:

A Gift, A Curse by @elemit - This updates daily most of the time, the author is getting busy IRL but it should be back on a daily update again soon I think. This is one of the darker theme of Ascendant Astarion "50 shades of 'FCKNG LITTLE TWAT' Ancunin" as one of the comment says haha some scenes are "traumatic" but the rollercoaster ride of emotions you'll get on this story is one for the books! ONGOING!

Fangs and Fractured Hearts - by @fangsandfracturedhearts - This one's one of the softer sides of the Ascendant, the dynamic of Tav and Astarion here is exquisite! The cliffhanger on this one just uggghhhhh. i love it!! ONGOING!

Hellish Rebuke by @bludazey this one's a classic! the details on this story is so genius I swear. Also I think a lot of Astarion fanfic writers got inspired with the Devil's dealing here. Also Tav here is effing smart and just chef's kiss! such a great heroine! ONGOING!

His Star - His Queen [Originally titled Across Stars and Time] by ARandomIntrovert - Now this a bit different, What if multiverse exists? Now there's two Astarions fighting over you, Spawn VS Ascendant, where do you think this would go? :)) Story's definitely amazing and unique! I easily got invested. haha ONGOING!

In Another Life by @locallegume - Definitely a softer side of the Ascendant but Tav and Astarion's dynamic here is one of my fave! <3 Tav here is not the overly good role model we usually read, she's troubled too and definitely has effed up issues. but sometimes you just need to find your own freak and be together forever. ONGOING!

Pieces Still Stuck In Your Teeth - by @howlsmovinglibrary / @wetcatspellcaster - The amount of Banter and D&D Lore on this one is superb! you have to watch out for the writer's notes! I love how I get to learn more D&D stuff and godssss how many times I almost got so swayed by the Ascendant here! good thing Tav's so good at bantering haha ONGOING!

Remember ye not the former things by @brabblesblog - THE SEQUEL!! It focuses more on the aftermath and them working out their relationship, a lot more TAV bg story but gods, Astarion here , I just want to smother him with cuddles and kisses, TAKE MEEEEE ONGOING!

Whither is thy beloved gone? by @brabblesblog -

It has a sequel!!! - that's how good it is! <3 also The Ascendant here is my favorite! The confrontations are just so real and so true I caaaaan't. He wrote the Ascendant so good I actually sided with him more than Tav! A lot of smut ngl but I got into the characters more that I should have. you're missing out if you haven't read this. COMPLETED!

Most of these are still ongoing but I am updated w/ each, along with other Spawn Astarion fics :)) They are all good! some more soft than the others, some darker and evil :))

Let me know if you guys want to get some Spawn Astarion fics recommendations!

[itostea]

about you (rin x reader)

warnings: grumpy x sunshine!!! childhood friends to lovers, reader is delulu, image from our secret alliance

a/n: i had to title the fic about you since it was playing in the bg 😭😭

Being a teenage girl meant a few things. Consuming random content about silly romances and squealing over pixels; experimenting with make-up at 3 a.m; screaming at the top of your lungs to songs about heartbreak.

It also meant going delusional over your crush. In your situation, crush means your childhood friend, Rin Itoshi. Though he wasn’t yours. Not yet at least.

“Rinnie!” you greet him, not noticing the looks of bewilderment from his team. He’s calm, unlike his teammates or who he commonly refers to as npcs in his messages with you.

You already told him over the phone that you were going to visit him for a while. And to your surprise, he offered his place for you to stay at—telling you that it wasn’t a big deal since the house was too big for one person.

You think you must’ve saved a kingdom in your past life from how fortunate you’ve been lately. Like how even now, you were to manage to land early enough to visit him at practice. You’re so ecstatic that his team thinks you might be glowing.

“I found some sandwiches on my way here! You want some? Here let me go to you!” You chirp, running freely so freely that you don’t even notice the ball beneath your feet. Your ears pick up a few warnings and the sound of multiple footsteps. Yet your body picks up the feeling of a pair of strong arms and the familiar scent you’ve grown to love.

Disbelief washes over his team as they see how Rin quickly moved to catch you and their mouths are left open when they see him actually being gentle. You laugh awkwardly as you peer up at Rin who just sighs. “Idiot.”

“Hello to you too Rinnie,” you chuckle, letting him take your bag from you.

He frowns, seeing how the bags were piled with sandwiches. “Don’t call me that here. And why’d you buy so much?”

“For your team of course!”

“Why the hell would you spend your money on these shitheads—“

“Now c’mon Rinrin,” a deep voice snickers and you’re startled at the pair of pink hues that stare down at you. Your lips part, eying his tanned skin and hair of shades of blonde with pink streaks. “If a pretty lady’s offering to feed ya, you gotta say thank you right?”

“I didn’t ask you, antennaed freak. And stop calling me that.”

“Lighten up,” he grins, shifting his attention to you.

Your eyes widened in recognition, hands reaching to grab Rin’s arm—moving it so you could pull a wrapped sandwich out. “You must be Shidou right? I’m—“

“(Name) right? Heard all about you from this guy.” He takes the sandwich from, his hands purposely lingering on your palm.

Rin’s fast to shove Shidou’s hand off of yours. “Hands off.”

“What? You gonna make me?”

“You picking a fight—?“

“Rinnie talks about me?” You beam, ignoring the tension in the air. His teal-colored eyes widened, as if suddenly caught. You don’t let him stop you, instead making your way in between them to beam at Shidou. “What does he say?”

Shidou blinks, lips falling into a wide grin. “I might tell you if you let me take you ou—“

“Cut it out,” Rin’s voice interrupts, his eyes twitching in irritation.

“Are they good things?” You question, ignoring Rin’s look of exasperation.

“You bet. He talks about how pretty your eyes are and how he wants to kiss—“

“No I don’t,” your friend retorted sternly, sighing as he saw the hearts that were forming in your eyes. His hues take a moment to scan your appearance, noticing how you spent some time touching up. “You look different.”

“He means you look cute. Right Rinrin?” Shidou provokes.

“Really? That’s great because I’m trying to impress Rinnie right now!”

Both men watch in silence. You’re sure the whole field just heard that but Rin thinks you’re too oblivious to notice—sighing when you blink as a couple of his teammates give you a thumbs up as motivation.

Rin feels himself growing warm, red dusting his cheeks. He glances at you—how you smile so brightly at him. Only him. For a second, he forgets about the people around him, merely focusing on the way you grin at him. He would’ve enjoyed this moment longer if not for a shit-eating grin appearing next to him.

“Oh? Are you blushing Rin—?”

“Shut up antennaed freak,” he huffs, pulling on your arm. Rin’s eyes flit to you and how you eagerly anticipate his next move. He sighs. “We’re leaving.”

“We are? W-Wait the sandwiches!” You yelp, setting the basket on the ground as he drags you away from his team—his grip surprisingly gentle despite its firmness. You gesture at the basket, waving at his team who seem to be more bewildered at the sight of Rin pulling you away.

You smile as he opens his car door, ushering you in with a grunt. “Did you take a taxi here?”

“That’s right! Why? Did you want to pick me up instead?” you chirp.

He enters the driver’s seat, ignoring your question in his usual manner. He’s already reaching forthe seatbelt besides you, buckling you in—his scent filling your senses. Oddly enough, Rin doesn’t hear any playful remarks leaving your lips. Instead, he’s face-to-face with pursed lips and an expression that’s unmistakably embarrassment.

Oh shit, he thinks. Not again. That feeling swelling in his stomach returns, suffocating the car with tension. You’re not given much time to dwell on the pink that dusts his cheeks momentarily as he’s already reaching for his phone. “Here.”

The tension’s forgotten and it’s hard to slow your rapid heartbeat. You blink rapidly, your lips falling into a big grin once you realize his intentions. “I thought you hated my ‘lukewarm love songs.’”

“I never said that.”

“Oh? So you do like them!”

“I never said that either. Just take my phone already or else I’ll get mad. My arm’s hurting, idiot.”

“Liar. I know you like me too much to get mad,” you muse, taking his phone to open Spotify. You’re already humming to the first song that plays.

He knows you’re teasing but it’s hard to brush off the comment. Rin’s lips twitch, finding it amusing that some parts of you stayed the same since you two were children. You were always clinging onto him—making him listen to your random delusions or listen to you sob about some silly romance novel.

He knows you like stupid tropes about enemies to lovers and your strange obsession with sharing a bed. He knows that you have strange tastes and he’s never pass on making fun of you for that. He knows you like those cringey couple nicknames because they make you laugh. He also knows he doesn’t have a single romantic bone in him but for once, he doesn’t mind doing what the poets do.

You’re still humming, oblivious to what kind of thoughts linger in his brain. He hums. “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Right about what?” You ask, bemused at his sudden comment. He’s quiet, a ghost of a smirk on his face. You’re not sure if it’s the fact that About You by The 1975 is playing but the atmosphere makes you catch on far too quickly.

“Oh my god,” you say too quickly. “Rinnie do you like me? Rinnie? Stop the car! Rinnie tell me!”

Your constant pleading does little to dissuade him as he laughs silently to himself—the sight rare even for you. “You do! You do! You like me!”

“Shut up or else I’m taking the phone away.”

“That’s mean! Wait a minute, that means we’re dating now right? Does that mean I can call you pookie wookiee—?”

“No.”

“Oh you didn’t say no to us dating! You can’t take it back!”

He sighs again, smiling softly. Feelings are weird, Rin thinks. They’re even weirder when confronted but he doesn’t mind doing that when it’s for you. He sighs for the nth time.

“Idiot. Why would I take that back? You said it yourself. I like you too much.”

The car’s silent and About You is still playing. It’s silent and Rin can’t resist glancing over at you, his eyes widening slightly. He suddenly understands why you go so crazy for those books and shows of yours—the ones about love. Since seeing you wear such an expression is enough to make him realize that love isn’t so bad after all.

[iamlostsomewhereinthegarden]

Obey me brothers order in which they got introduced to the internet and how good they are at using it

I did say I was working on some Obey Me stuff lololol

Lucifer

Order

* The first to use the internet

* He has to make sure it’s safe for his brothers to be on

* Or at least have an idea of what’s going on

* He canonically was the one who introduces it to Levi and Levi had been tech insane forever so he has to be amongst the first

How good are they at using it?

* Just below average

* Much better than a Boomer parent using tech

* But still not as good as the younger generations

* I mean he can he just isn’t aware of the trends and major internet stuff

* Pretty sure he only knows a bunch of internet slang mostly because of Levi tho

* Does not understand them at all though

* “What is this Skibidi…. Toilet?”

* But he uses all tech stuff just prefers to use older things

Mammon

(Tumblr is a bitch and took away yellow saying that it doesn’t look good on white, like bitch? There are other color bg not only white? Do ya’ll even know your own hellsite?)

Order

* Fourth person to get into it

* Didn’t care much for it as an Angel

* Outside of the basics didn’t use it much tbh

* Once he was in the Devildom and incorporated into his sin he was too busy trying to hustle people for money and gambling

* For the most part outside of my top 3 of those who accessed tech I believe most of the brothers didn’t care much for modern tech as they were either busy or it just wasn’t important for them to incorporate into their lives

* Continuing on, it’s not until he heard about online auctions, gambling, betting, etc. that has to do with his sin that he got into tech

How good are they at using it

* This is what he’s in the top 3 with

* He’s number 2 in how good he is with tech

* Can use it

* Can build it

* Can take apart any piece of tech and put it back together

* Can probably make your tech even better if he tries and wants to

* Also knows how to get a top model device for cheap and how much parts are worth

* If Levi is unavailable to help with tech stuff it’s Mammon there to the rescue

* Very good with all online stuff also

* Navigates and finds stuff pretty well and easily

* Knows internet slang and picks up on new trends and phrases easily

* “Ya know I got the rizz baby gurlll”

Leviathan

Order

* Originally you’d think he’d be first

* But he’s third just like his birth order

* Only because it took Lucifer forever to understand wtf was the internet and introduce Levi to anime so another brother skipped pass him for second

* Hooked onto anime really really fast

* Also was into anime in heaven so that’s why he’s in the top 3

How good are they at using it

* Best person

* This one’s a given

* Mods, creation, destruction, recreation

* Could probably make a bomb from a device just chooses not to and doubts his ability to do that

* When they first came down to the devildom everyone was clueless and Levi was onto his Ruri-chan shit from the get go like a true stan and internet user

* Internet slang? Trends? Words? Levi straight up knows it by the heart

* Despite not participating in trends and dancing, he can do them flawlessly just had no self confidence

* Speaking of, pretty sure he accidentally created a bunch of internet slang

* Also it’s canon he speaks in Internet slang irl

* “ROFL not Mammon thinking he can rizz his way out of that situation! He can’t even mew properly!”

* You want a good deal or anything that involves tech stuff game or just anything go to Levi

* Probably taught or helped Mammon know all he knows

* Also massive streamer type energy come to him once you have the basics for streaming set up and he’ll make you amazing

Satan

Order

* He has to be the last person to know and use tech

* He’s the last born so he has to interact and know about tech last

* And even then didn’t really care for tech

* Probably only cares about tech to read online books and movie adaptations (scandalous) and to contact others especially the Anti-Lucifer League

How good are they at using it

* Is not bad tbh

* Better than Lucifer out of spite

* As mentioned before only cares about tech to read online books, watch movies and contact

* Knows trends doesn’t participate unless it’s about books, cats or a prank on Lucifer

* Doesn’t understand or care much about them though

* Better than Belphie worse than Beel

* Only knows the basics of internet slang

* “Rizz? What is that?”

Asmodeous

Order

* This is the brother who stole second place from Levi

* Because of his Asmo parties he eventually found social media and by extension the internet

* If it wasn’t for the Asmo parties and publicity he would’ve had no interest in tech and the internet

How good are they at using it

* Good enough

* Can use almost any app

* But doesn’t know much about the phone in general

* If you need help with a social media app he’s the person to go to

* A lot of social stuff online in the human realm is by his influence

* Does a lot of livestreams on the devildom’s version of instagram

* Does he know trends, slang and challenges?

* Do you even know who the heck you’re talking about?

* He created a lot of the bougie slang and phrases

* “Period Ah Period Uh-“

* “AND THAT’S ON PERIOD!”

Beelzebub

Order

* He’s the 5th to get into it and originally got into it only because his job as an angel when they went a bit tech and it was easier to get notifications on stuff

* Still didn’t use it as an Angel and still doesn’t use it much as a devil outside of ordering food and watching food videos or texting

How good are they at using it

* Average at it tbh

* As I said he uses the phone at the bare minimum outside of food stuff

* Knows all the best food apps

* And the best apps the help with workout routines

* Text him if you need food, just make sure that you get to it first and that he’s been saved some

* Also knows how to stream and does a lot of workout streams

* Come to him to help you work out how to start streaming tbh he’s good at that

* Back to him streaming tho a lot of people show up to his stream because he’s hot at tbh

* Sometimes ends up on Asmo’s streams for skin and makeup stuff or trends

* Is only into food eating and workout trends tbh and not much else

* Not that good at slang gets help from his brothers to understand (and by extension ig also helps Lucifer learn slang)

* “What is rizz? Is that some new food?”

Belphegor

Order

* Literally not the last just because Satan was created last

* Got into it in heaven because of Beelzebub and Lilith

* Actually into it because of the sleep asmrs and stuff to help you sleep and goofy shit he can learn like pranks

How good are they at using it

* Better than Satan due to spite for Lucifer and being involved in Beel’s streaming and stuff

* Also uses it often to search up stuff about where the stars are to adjust the planetarium and be a bit invested in what happens in the human world in Lilith’s honor

* Is great at slang for the sake of Beel who is a sweet oblivious oaf and being asleep or half asleep while being around Mammon, Levi or Asmo at any given time

* Knows trends, rarely participates unless he barley has to do anything in them

* Smug bastard tho

* “You know I got that sleep rizz”

[bonefall]

While we’re talking changing who appears in places- can we change the cats helping out with Sunbeam’s rock trial? I was so confused why the cats selected to help were selected. Sure Cherryfall because she was going to be the one opposing Sunbeam, why not, anyone can do that though honestly and not who I take issue with being there. But Alderheart was there? The medicine cat? Don’t you think he has better things to be doing than pushing a rock around? Where’s Lionblaze aka “I may as well still have my god given super strength”? He could easily be the cat that gets pissy for Sunbeam “not listening to senior warriors” and maybe with age feels that she doesn’t respect him, head of patrols, enough to warrant her staying this sabotaging her in the third trial. I felt robbed that Plumstone who seemed to be established as another bg strong cat was absent. Sure sending Sunbeam with all the strongest cats would make it easy but it’d also be making it safe considering Ivypool didn’t want the rock to hurt anyone and it’s a pecking rock. Why not send your strongest cats to deal with it?

I feel very strongly about this trial, can you tell?

I'm a bit dissatisfied with certain trials in general. Most of the time I LOVE the new trials they made, I think they've been super creative so far, but some have been so lackluster that I need to shine them up.

Namely Berryheart's active attempts to get challengers killed. Someone has to get ACTUALLY hurt by one of those, instead of them just being generally unfair and no one raises an objection about it. I did not like the spring-powered adder that went BOING out of a log.

I will say that I would like to expand on Plumstone in this arc, plus her whole little family. They're in an interesting place, with Bumblestripe coming back from Ferncloud's Parting while leaving his father with the Tribe, Blossomfall still reeling with emotional abuse she suffered at the paws of the impostor, Stemleaf's death and Spotfur raising his kits, and Shellfur's mateship with Fernstripe.

Plumstone ALSO has some stuff going on. She's besties-maybe-dating Thriftear, Bristlefrost's sister, and yet she's one of the more outspoken cats about how she's getting tired of the ThunderClan nepotism. She's strong, reliable, and a competent warrior-- so HOW is it fair that Nightheart keeps getting all these undeserved "chances to prove himself" when SHE is here, SIGNIFICANTLY more orange, and wants her own chance to shine??

I still see her personality as being "a dear" lmao, she's not mean, but she's also not willing to bite her tongue either. She will say what's on her mind, and point out unfair treatment when she feels it.

Thriftear supports this. Yeah, she's a descendant of Firestar and a great warrior, but she EARNED the respect she gets. Bristlefrost did too. Nightheart doesn't even want his legacy, why is this clumsy humbug still getting special treatment?

Good-cat bad-cat pair type thing going on.

So I'm probably going to let them both act as a unit, since BB's Dewnose isn't in ThunderClan and that was a really random pair-up anyway.

("wait! Elder Bones! Where did Dewnose go?" Probably ShadowClan, here is the BB!ThunderClan family tree. There's been shuffles; the Cloudbright kits are now Whitewing, Foxleap, and Icecloud, 3 "singlet" litters, spaced out over years.)

Quickie thoughts on touching up the trials;

(DISCLAIMER: NOT SOLID. WE DON'T REWORK UNTIL ARCS ARE COMPLETE.)

Berryheart's are going to need serious overhauls. Nightheart's were really cute and I enjoyed them, but BB is supposed to be about how her group is escalating towards violence. I do not want them to stay so "cute" for the story I'm telling.

I also don't want to keep Nightheart failing his last one on purpose. I want his growth to be more based in self-realization than trying to let Sunbeam "save face."

I kinda want Fringewhisker to get injured during one of her own, and then Antfur dies as collateral damage in Nightheart's last. I'd like Nightheart leaving to be half him realizing that his BEHAVIOR is a problem, and half for his own safety.

In ThunderClan, I'd like the boulder one to be more about Sunbeam assembling a team, almost like she's a patrol head.

Since it's her second trial and she displayed some pretty fantastic leadership skills with her first one, I've got an inkling of an idea that Squilf actually talked with Ivy about wanting to legitimately assess her talent.

Like, "We both know that this whole trial-system was just to appease the other Clans. These are meant to be easy because idgaf. But wow, Sunbeam was actually impressive with those kits. What else can she do, if we give her the chance?"

I really like writing Squilf as she's described in Bramblestar's Storm, where her good leadership comes from being attentive of details and making everyone feel useful.

Man... maybe ill save Rosepetal for this arc and let her be deputy during this. Something feels very Rosepetaly about this. Maybe even have Rosepetal be clearly treating her as if she's a Secondary Apprentice, preparing her to take over her reputation of being a prolific mentor... Nightheart comes back from his trip only to find Sunbeam with twice as much respect as status as he ever had.

I can always axe Rose later to get Ivypool in... But I also REALLY love all the Ivypool Deputy Drama with how there's a conflict with ShadowClan... man. why are there so many interesting girls.

Maybe Rose doesn't have to be deputy, but Ivy assigns Rosepetal as the only "mandatory member" of the Boulder Patrol. Like a tutorial tip lmaooo

Sunbeam: "I think I will pick......................" STARES AT ROSEPETAL, "aaalderrr-" Rosepetal frowns "--pluuuuumstone??" Rosepetal nods, "Wise choice."

And lastly. The final Sunbeam trial. Ngl hated it. It felt really boring compared to the previous two, which were super interesting and excellent ways to give some spotlight to background characters.

Riddles don't even feel like a ThunderClan thing. Idk that was a very RiverClan (philosophy) or ShadowClan (trickery) kind of thing.

I think I'll hold off on thinking about it though; I think it would be SUPER cool if I totally overhauled that last trial to make it foreshadow the later books, somehow.

I DO want to keep that disney channel ass Cherryfall being a bitch part though. I love her so much. I'm so glad she's walking in her father's pawsteps and becoming the snot-nosed brat of ThunderClan.

I will definitely be changing how Sunbeam HANDLES it though. Hate the way that the books emphasize never telling anyone anything.

In fact, I kinda want to make Sunbeam approach Sparkpelt for advice, to show she finally has a figure she feels like she can trust.

Explicitly contrast the way that she NEVER felt like she could approach Berryheart, and that so much of her appeasing, avoidant behavior had been because she didn't feel safe or respected.

Here, in ThunderClan, she has family. She begins to realize that even if Nightheart came back and dumped her, Sparkpelt and Finchlight would NEVER kick her to the curb.

So she goes to Sparkpelt about how she is being bullied by Cherryfall, and they TALK ABOUT OPTIONS.

Like, you know,

Spark: "We could go to Squirrelstar or the deputy."

Sun: "I don't want to cause a fuss if I don't have to... besides, idk, I don't want to set the peat on fire, it would be nice if I could be on good terms with Cherryfall later."

Spark: "that's very wise of you, but just remember that Squilst is a very fair person. We can always go to her. Do you want any backup at all or do you want to do this on your own?"

Sun: "I think... I think I actually do need to do this on my own. If I was being confronted, I think I would just double down if I was being attacked in a group. That was right with Brambleclaw because you weren't trying to convince him, but... what do you think?"

Spark: "I think Cherryfall's just like her father and her ego is everything to her, so I think you're right on the mouse with all this. Honestly, I don't even know how much I'm helping here!"

Sun: "Oh but you are helping! You're helping a lot! StarClan... it feels so nice to just... have someone to listen. Thanks, Sparkpelt."

Basically, tweak the trials to bring them more in line with the themes and messages of BB, y'know? And also beef up the Clans themselves, by stressing the various personalities that are at play here. Especially since I quite like how Sunbeam in ThunderClan has some super neat traits she wasn't expressing in ShadowClan.

Like... it feels like it could be a really cool story to tell about how supportive environments can make you really shine. How you can suddenly seem like a brand new person, just by having people who have your back and encourage your autonomy.

[thehuntfortrencherlostmedia]

The Origins, Ramsay Fiction & The Confusing Mishmash of Everything Before Fix Me - A Marianas Trench Retrospective

Okay, so my post got likes, but I only got one actual response from anyone, agreeing with me on the fact they like things in chronological order. So, I guess it's time to talk about the bands early days, eh?

The truth of the matter is, the band as many know them started in late 2003 and early 2004. Anything before that gets placed in this weird murky middle section with a name change, members leaving, and also a complete and utter mess of when Ramsay Fiction came to an end and where Marianas Trench begins. We have located a demo disk from 2001 with the Marianas name on it, but we also don't have any dates as to when certain things were recorded or uploaded onto MP3.com.

Here's what we do know: Josh Ramsay, a teenager dealing with both an addiction to heroin and an eating disorder, loved music from a young age. His father owned a recording studio, and his mother was a vocal coach. Music was literally in his blood, but even though the two had connections into the industry and everything, he set out to make it into the business on his own. And he knew one thing for certain: He DID NOT want to be a solo act, he wanted to be in a band.

The issue for Josh was getting that band together. At first, it was him and his sister Sara (backup vocals), her then boyfriend and later husband Trevor Spilchen (on bass, even though he was a guitar player), Josh's friend Steve Marshall (on guitar and backup vocals, despite being a BASSIST), and a rotating list of drummers, eventually finding Ian Casselman in a series of classifieds in a newspaper late into the bands life. This lineup didn't last long, as once Sara became pregnant with her and Trevor's first kid, they stepped aside... leading to 2 new members joining: Josh's friend Matt Webb (originally a keyboardist), and Steve's pal Morgan Hempstead (the man who bestowed them the Marianas Trench name). It's tough to say who plays what on a lot of the Ramsay Fiction tracks that make up Cooler Than Me, as I think they come from two different recording sessions, if not more. Same goes for a lot of the self-titled EP work too, as we know at least two tracks from that era, an early recording of Fix Me, and a early recording of Skin & Bones, were both first made public to people in 2004... months after Steve and Morgan left, and Mike Ayley joined the group after getting to know everyone as Ian's roommate.

In fact, for the longest time, a lot of the Ramsay Fiction stuff was lost media, songs that nobody outside of a rare few had ever heard. As of April 1st this year, this is no longer the case, and all the songs have been found and preserved (yes, even PMS... despite it being taken off Youtube, has been saved.)

To talk about these songs is hard. There's definitely a lot of emotion and pain in these tracks, and the overall sound is very 90's, going for more of heavy grunge and alternate rock sound, very reminiscent of Matthew Goode. But you can also hear those other elements creep in from other acts Josh has referenced time and time throughout in small snippets. The biggest thing holding a lot of these songs back is a mix of production (which is still insanely impressive for the time period and the fact it was done by a teen no less), and lyrical ckunkiness, making them semi hard to decipher.

What do I mean by this? Take track 1, the one everyone knows: Primetime. The song's verses speak about how something is this, but the person is the opposite... bu we don't get a clear picture of who the person is.. only that supposedly a hit of heroin will make everything feel better. It's odd that this is the song that's somehow lasted the test of time out of all these tracks. But hey, it did lead to a great callback on End of An Era.

Track 2, Shiny Like Dirt (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG-OoIsFbow), is truly a song where Josh took a ton of ideas he had for songs, and threw it against the wall to see if it would stick. And... it does stick, but also doesn't? The chorus is super catchy, basically admitting he's a confusing person, and that nothing he does makes sense... and yet, despite it all, he still has fears of the unknown. The "coming up for air" bridge is probably my favourite part, but it's definitely an earworm I return to occasionally. I've also linked it in case you've yet to hear it.

Track 3: Shallow. The song we've known about for the longest time, the one the fandom cherished like a baby... and honestly, it's probably my least favourite? I've tried to decipher the lyrics on this one for ages, but I can't come up with anything concrete. I do think the song has a good tone, and the guitar solo is totally awesome. In fact, there's a lot of great guitar and bass work throughout a lot of these songs. But there's something missing for me on this one.

Track 4: Playing Dead. This seems to be the earliest recorded song of this bunch, going off Josh's voice here. And honestly, I think it's the closest tonally to a current day Marianas Trench song. There's a bit of a swing sound going on in the drums, the harmonies.... and it's an interesting number overall. Also, it's our clearest sampling of Steve's voice, and just how close it is to Matt's vocals xD... it seems to be a simple love song about a girl and how he's open to roleplaying almost anything with her, using "playing dead" as his main metaphor. It's the black sheep of the CD, but a good one.

Track 5: Hideous. Here we go... the first track Josh ever wrote about his bulimia and depression... and how it was eating him from the inside... and how he was asking for help, even though he wasn't fully ready to accept it at the time. The beginning parts are very slow, and methodical.... only for the song to pick up energy in it's second half and become truly one of the standouts on this album.

Track 6: PMS. Okay... so... this one is tough to talk about. We knew for years it was supposedly very comedic in nature and that it was also politically incorrect, but that was it. For those of you who still have not heard it, there's a copy of it in this Discord server in the links and archive section: https://discord.gg/d5M3xVN9

As for the song itself, I personally really love it. It's a song about Josh being petty to a girl and truthfully telling her off. It's definitely of its time period, but in the best way possible. And once again, the guitar work here is SO GOOD. If you can stomach a song that truly is a time capsule and understand that Josh would never write anything as juvenile today, give it a listen.

Track 7: Don't Touch Me. The song that holds a special place in my heart... as I was the one to LOCATE IT after 18 years in the massive pile of MP3.com links that were given to the Internet Archive in 2021. And it's a ballad all about Josh dealing with both the arguments and turmoil he would feel when coming down from getting high. Truthfully, this might be the most emotional song of this batch, and one that definitely sticks its landing.

So, my overall thoughts here are to give these songs a listen, and understand them for what they are: the start of a musical prodigy finding his footing and his sense of style while getting clean and hoping somebody, anybody, would give him a chance. While the tone might not have influenced Josh’s style fully going forward, there are elements from these songs that were taken and repurposed into later Trench tracks.

Luckily, and also sadly... Jonathan Simkin & Chad Kroeger gave him that chance. And thus, we got ourselves a self titled EP... and a full title debut. But that'll be next time.

[straycalamities]

so for some Reasons, the same reasons zombinoslayer is on indefinite hiatus, i have a question on like. Say there is a Truffula Flu-oriented plot, story. Y'know a narrative. Coming up, but the way it's being made is basically prose-based, how would you prefer to see that formatted onto a tumblr askblog/archive thing?

it does deal with two characters and two characters only (so far?)

rp-style is out of the question because of editing reblogs being killed

but...i have a few thoughts, but i'm not sure which one people would like to read and digest the most

for more clarity on what i mean with terms/styles: click under the readmore

when i say "prose-style" i mean it's written like a novel. it's 3rd-person limited and past tense.

The sun was baring down hard on Mikey's back as he trudged down the sidewalk. He drug his feet, pose hunched. Why did he have to run out of eggs on the hottest day of the year?

when i say "script-style" i mean that it's written how you would read the script for a show or a play. this is how i treated zombinoslayer's big scenes. it'd have progressive images for each action/dialogue, wherever i deemed an image needed/important

Mikey: [The sun is bright and harsh. He is walking down the sidewalk. He looks exhausted.] Why did I have to run out of eggs on the hottest day of the year?!

and when i say comic, well, that's obvious. i'd do my best to translate everything as well as i can into something that is heavily image and dialogue based that has comic frames and such.

pros and cons of all these being:

prose pros (lol): it keeps all of the character's inner feelings, struggles, and thoughts and even some motives out and easier to see, which with these scenes and with how these characters are, might be important or even very enlightening for people i also don't have to draw as much because i would only be illustrating significant parts and to make the posts look more appealing/interesting. thus updates would happen more frequently. easier to plug into a translator if english isn't your first language the images would be illustrations i'd actually put effort into since there would be so few of them

prose cons: it'll be a lot more reading overall less left to interpretation, i guess? less pretty pictures? it takes a lot more cerebral energy in some cases to take in prose and turn it around in your mind i just get that for some people, they don't like walls of text. like i, for one, have gotten very bad at reading so i get it

script pros: more pictures to look at then prose-style scenes move by more quickly and smoothly, everything focuses more on actions and interactions so maybe things are easier to digest than prose-style still translator-friendly updates still more frequent than comic-style, but less frequent than prose-style most likely full-color images. may or may not have a bg in every image (just think zombino-slayer style? but i might not render every time either like i did there because that was..phew..that took a lot out of me)

script cons: more images to draw for me the format might be wonky to some none of those inner thoughts/monologues, a lot of depth and inner feelings/struggles/references made in the characters heads are left out. it all focuses on the external with hints to the internal left to expression, body language, and dialogue and the reader's own bias/experience

comic pros: ALL THE PICTURES YOU COULD WANT! everything's images! if you're most comfy with reading comics or manga already, you'd dig this (obviously) the least reading and it's all together in one image (well multiple) very easy to soar through and take everything in since the focus is on images and dialogue Only (maybe narrative notes or thought boxes when really important) easiest to share i'd think? and easiest to get a feel for what's going on in a scene without having to study and/or think too hard about it

comic cons: oh my god all that drawing...updates would be slow as molasses tbqh.. unless i decided to do manga-style aka B&W or limited grayscale/monochrome. even then though again, everything internal would be left to the hints you'd get from the external i could give with imagery, panel-shape, dialogue, and such not translator-friendly (i know there's the google image translator, but i'd be handwriting the text (i just like how it looks best) and it's not always friendly to handwriting)

--

as far as specifics for each style, we'd work that out once one is picked

other notes: i do think i'm a pretty strong prose-writer, but i also think i'm a pretty strong comicsmith. so i don't think it's really up to what i'd, personally, be able to pull off best with the skills i own :3 (and i mean script-style is the most simple of the three. and i've already done it. it'd be almost identical to zombinoslayer. and it'd be most similar to Camp Entre's rp-style i think? even though Camp Entre was much more dialogue-based than anything else

i know i haven't uploaded too much of either, especially my writing, but trust...i'm pretty good at it. at least that's what people tell me.

[phatcatphergus]

im just catching up on tubbo's streams atm so sorry if you've already talked about this, but i needed to know that i wasn't the only one who heard this: on the youtube channel Jetermoh, the second most recent upload about fit's birthday, at 20:18, you can hear tubbo talking to empanada in the bg about how she only has one life left still despite moving to the new server.

the reason i bring it up is because he suggests trying to get her second life back again, and after his first joking suggestion of asking twitter, he then says (and i quote) "can i give you one of mine, and then i have one life?"

considering the conversation tubbo had with the other eggs about putting him on 'hardcore mode', i.e. making him only have two lives, i feel like this is definitely a concerning thing for him to be offering. and with what little we know about creation, im worried that this means that not only does q!tubbo plan on sacrificing himself to save the eggs, but it is his *first* plan, rather than a last resort.

- tubboscreation (on anon because it's a sideblog)

No yeah you’d be right.

He tried to exchange his life so em could have two and has said multiple times before that he would die for the eggs. He brings it up in a past arc where he said that if he was possessed he would want the other parents to kill him instead of trying to capture him because it’s safer for the eggs.

He’s had suicidal tendencies in the past (and now) and would absolutely have his death as the go-to plan over anything else. He lives for sunny but I think would be happy to have an “excuse” to give up his life to save another, like giving his life to em.

A LOT of his lore deals with suicidal ideation and self harm so this is, unfortunately, nothing new for his character. I think he feels some guilt of having “not” protected empanada and how hopeless that whole situation was, so he sees an opportunity to make it up to her and tries to take it.

[ventiij]

Could you request an au royal with prince!wanderer x servant!reader where wanderer during the night asks reader to stay until he falls asleep and she ends up falling asleep kneeling next to his bed? (Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, English is not my native language)

HOW DID I JUST SEE THIS IT’S BEEN MONTHS I’M SO SORRYYYY

no worries anon, english isn’t my first language either so we’re twinning bbg (it’s four am help)

APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE SINCE THIS SUCKS😭

idk what got into me while I was writing

anyway, here my silly little requested fanfic is 🫢

bg:

before your family had gone broke, you never thoguht you’d find yourself in this situation. at the palace, you really were just a simple servant like everyone said.

…

before your father lost everything there was a rumor which was slowly passing from everyone’s mouth - whoever started working for the royal family wouldn’t make it out of a miserable life, they’d have you wrapped around their fingers.

there was a reason to think that though - the payment wasn’t enough to change job. yes, it was simpls like that. they do offer you a place to stay and food to survive, but overall it was just enough to afford taking a week off when you’re sick, apart from national holidays and all that.

your life isn’t a normal one, nor one somebody would aim at. you are nothing but one of the servants at the royal palace. no-one knows you for who you are, but it’s not all that bad. you have the whole palace for you and your friends, your families and many people you care about, who actually do know the real-you’s worth.

the royals aren’t so bad either! the queen is the one who rules the kingdom as there’s no king, she’s independent, enterprising and has an intimidating story behind her. her name is Raiden Shogun. meanwhile, her son, ‘the wanderer’, is a spoiled brat with an ass attitude who’s against the whole world.

this gremlin spends most of his time around the castle, glaring at every servant while they’re doing their job and stand there watching, only to walk away like nothing happened. there was this one time, when you were mopping the floor… he didn’t take his eyes off of you for a split second! …at least it felt like so.

after a couple more of such events happening to you for no reason, because you work properly (if not splendidly), he suddenly calls out your name while you’re doing your thing. “Y/n.” you turn around all freaked out since it couldn’t possibly mean good things when someone had to deal with this guy, he looked so stern and cold and and-

“meet me in my room after dinner.” he said and just left like that. eh?

His room? did he want you to clean it? Dust it? Make his bed? That wasn’t in the contract… he didn’t mention the reason, so you decide to just go with it.

after dinner, in his room

you greet, slightly bow and stand right before the doorframe, dressed up for the occasion, as you see him in his pajamas. he didn’t even bother to greet you - instead, he straight up ordered you: “stay with me for the night” what. you? what. what again? “me?” he nods and gets in bed looking skeptical as usual “who else?” you just watch from afar, scared you might do something to give him the ick. so this isn’t about cleaning, huh?

“well? aren’t you going to sit down somewhere?” he asks and you just kneel down next to his bed at his height, perfectly intersecating his gaze. “don’t you dare wake me up before 7 am.” ‘bitch?’ you want to reply as he just stares at you. ‘aNyThInG hIs mAjEsTy wAnTs’ like hell you were gonna stay like this for a whole night for no reason.

“Uh, no? This isn’t in the contract.” you contradict him and were prolly one of the few people who did that to him in his whole life,

“alright.” he says as he rolls in bed, turning around and closing his eyes to drift off to sleep.

…does he actually expect you to fall asleep in this position?

some time later

‘can’t deny he looks pretty though.’ you think as you finally come to terms with the fact that he wants you there. your mind can wander all it wants thinking of all the possibile reasons behind this blessing in disguise, but no true reason can be found.

well, it’s only for today. after all, how do you know who you might see as you get out of his room? and what will they think? ugh

aside from that, you could get in his majesty’s graces, soo

this is no occasion to waste.

[raguerel]

Im actually so glad a lots of people like q!phil and enthusiastic to actually characterize him the way he deserves because his treatment by the fandom in d/smp is CRAZY him from an actual person with smpe! bg reduce to just a ‘support cast’ ‘father figure’ and that it

there are reason why cc!phil step back a bit from rp because imagine you trying to do something to your character and the fandom just treated him so shit and ignore everything he made like amigaaa

For philza enjoyer I am so glad qsmp exists and he finally getting treated decent

And he good at rp too! He a person who doing constant lore it not a big lore stream but he always do lore with interaction! and I am kinda sad that most people just say oh phil? he doesn’t do lore!

Like he almost getting the same treatment from an old fandom lmaooooo

Something about q!wil and q!phil dynamic as father-son ( because cc!wil never lets go of his and phil dynamic after smpe! )

You kinda realize that if their relationship are just friends q!wil excuse for treating q!phil wouldn’t be look over by the fandom this hard

Hell if the person who are ‘father’ is q!wilbur his interaction with q!philza would not be going look over so much!

Them back at the maze q!wil despite the fact that he never been there calling q!phil that he doesn’t care about his child calling him that he weren’t doing enough

It not a valid answer that q!wilbur treating q!phil like shit because ‘phil answer him about the maze are unclear’ YOU STILL DONT TREAT PEOPLE YOU CARE LIKE THAT!

especially the one that been taking care of your child ! while still having his own!!!

‘They both are wrong in the maze!’

I strongly disagree with that statement Imagine raising a child for 6+ months and being there for them in every pain they have helping them grow up to deal with their disappearance ALONE.

And getting yourself kidnapped along the way when you try to find them

To get called that ‘you don't care about them at all do you’ IS WILD

Him just lashing out is like a minimal reaction to me tbh

One things I do understand q!wil pov that he is overwhelmed since everything around him is new.

( that still doesn’t give him any right to treat q!phil like that btw )

but I don’t think q!wil realize that q!phil have responsibilities more than just him.

All the ways to the maze Phil constantly getting whisper ( in canon I called them text Ig lmao ) that he needed to be in this mission not only for the information but for other islanders especially in order to help them as well

And he did told wil about this! that this may be the only chance to see if the federation know anything about tallulah! He did tell him that! And Wil still wanted to leave!

So Phil before lashing out told wil a lots of info that are very important but people just ignoring it

ps. I honestly just don't want a c!phil treatment to happened to q!phil since I still see people calling c!tommy c!phil’s child 😭

So in conclusion, being family doesn’t give any character right to treat other like ass ty for listening to my ted talk/ rambler

( I genuinely think that q!wilbur is a good father for tallulah they care about each other so much and all of the story components you can tell but can we please stop bringing c!fundy to q!wilbur story like I see a lots of people saying that llulah get a father fundy never had and I am like bro they are different character and have nothing related to each other 😭😭😭😭 )

[risingscorchingsuns]

Hi Leon!! It’s princeblue but my main acc!! Dropping into ask what you think Genya’s and kyojurous, and maybe even senjurou’s dynamic would be like? You said you interested in being moots sooo I’m taking an opportunity to have a convo hehe

omg hello!!!! thank u for sending this i literally have no idea how to start conversations lmaoo

i think it depends on how much they know about each other/where Genya is in his character development! there’s a LOT of factors here so im gonna try and turn it into a formula because that’s my favorite analysis format lol

i don’t know if this is going to make any sense because I don’t know how to do actual math but breaking things into variables makes it easier to sort them in my brain

let’s say K = kyojuro and G = genya. x = how much kyojuro knows about genya, and y = how much genya knows about kyo. a = pre-tanjiro genya and b = post-tanjiro genya. (i assume this would make a difference bc tanjiro makes him less aggressive lol.) Going to leave Senjuro out for now because that’s too many variables for a post that I don’t plan to cross-reference 💀

There’s also the fact that canonically, post-Tanjiro Genya would never meet Kyojuro, but I didn’t think about that until I was nearly done with this post so I’ll leave that variable in as a hypothetical. aG in this scenario can be a control group I guess lol

let’s take (K)x + (aG)y as a base formula, and solve for the dynamic there. assuming x is “Kyojuro knows nothing except Genya’s last name”, and y is “Genya knows Kyojuro as a Hashira and nothing else”, it’s safe to say their dynamic would be mostly professional. Kyojuro, knowing Genya’s last name, would no doubt link him to Sanemi. But Sanemi fervently denies having any siblings, so Kyojuro would likely try to probe Genya for info, due to his brotherly instinct. He’d want to know if something was wrong, so he could help if possible. Assuming we’re dealing with aG, Genya would shirk away the questions, and Kyojuro would back off out of respect. I don’t think Genya would be too rude about it due to Kyojuro being a Hashira, but definitely a bit more irritable and snarky than bG would be.

bG would feel hurt at the mention of Sanemi, but I believe he’d be more open to talking about it. If Genya opens up to Kyojuro, I think they have high potential to form a brotherly relationship given enough time. Kyojuro would feel protective of Genya, and, whether consciously or not, may link him to Senjuro and begin to act brotherly and/or protective of him as well. If Kyojuro knows that Genya eats demons to make himself stronger at the cost of his own health, he’d probably be horrified- food is very important to Kyojuro and he would be mortified at the idea of eating a demon to gain its powers, especially if it hurts the consumer. I’m not sure if he’d try to stop Genya or not, but he’d definitely be concerned about him.

Either way, I think the key variable here is whether or not Genya lets his guard down long enough for Kyojuro to learn his story- then I think their relationship would evolve from professional to a lot more brotherly. Kyojuro can’t entirely help it- it’s in his nature to protect, it’s literally been taught to him since he was old enough to understand. He would want to protect Genya regardless, but learning his story, his sacrifices, and his actions going forward, Kyojuro would almost certainly take him under his own wing if given the chance. I believe Genya would remind Kyojuro of Senjuro- someone who doesn’t fight traditionally, but is so so strong in their own regard. They aren’t exactly the same, but they have enough similarities that i believe Kyo would definitely associate the two.

how knowing Genya would change his perception of Sanemi is also an interesting concept but I’m going to save that for another post lol

anyway pls feel free to plug in different variables for me to analyze???? id like to do them all here but unfortunately i am writing this post so i can procrastinate on my schoolwork so im gonna call it here lol

[the-ravenist]

My pretty boy

James Diamond x Black!BG!Reader

Reade is bigender, reader is called both girlfriend & boyfriend, uses she/he pronouns, established relationship, sad/pouty james, , based off of the show, james is a simp for reader, just some cutesy fluffy comfort type shit, if the ending looks rushed my bad

"Is he okay?"

"I'm not entirely sure."

The three friends stared at their usually sparkly, peppy friend, which is now gloomy and pouty. Now they don't know what to do in a situation like this, well maybe they do. Kendall, Carlos, and Logan take a seat next to James's pool chair, Logan on one by his right, and Kendall and Carlos sharing one by his left. So to get an idea of what exactly they're dealing with, they decided to as some questions. And sadly in which, James all said no. Kendall started first.

"Did you run out of hair spray?"

"No."

Then Carlos.

"Are you going bald?"

"No."

Then Logan.

"Did you lose your lucky comb?"

James showed his named Lucky comb and responded with another, "no."

"Then what's wrong," they chorused.

...

"I wasn't called pretty today!"

"..huh?"

A red flush rose to Jame's cheeks at his claim, yeah something as simple as that had put him in such a depressing mood. To his friends, they thought that James was overreacting, just a tad.

"(Y/N) calls me pretty every day," he whines a bit. "And he hasn't yet."

Loga was the first was to come out of his confusion.

"Okay wait," his friends turn to look at him. "So because your girlfriend didn't compliment you today."

"You decide to be all sad and pouty," Kendall continues.

"Yes," James sighs. "Is it so bad that I want my boyfriend to call me pretty?"

Before they could say anything, James interrupted them.

"And before you can say anything, it has been two," he holds up two fingers to express his point. "Two whole days that she hasn't called me pretty."

"So now I'm sad," he leans back in his chair with a pout.

Logan, Kendall, and Carlos share a slightly concerned glance. Carlos was the first to suggest his solution.

"Do you want us to call you pretty?"

"No!"

"Okay quick team meeting," Kendall whispers to the only ones, not in a pouty mood.

The boys leave the pool, and into the lobby, Kendall standing in front of the shorter boys.

"Okay so what are gonna do about," he point to the bandmate curled up on the pool chair. "The sad James Diamond?"

"Yeah, his unnatural sad mood, is kind of concerning," Logan comments.

"But if he doesn't was us", Carlos moves a finger between the three of them. "To call him pretty then what do we do?"

"How about we do the smartest thing we can think of," Kendall says.

"Well I guess that we can grab (Y/N) from Roque Records, bring him here and that'll bring James out of his sad mindset," Logan and out.

"Do you really Gustavo is going to let her go like that," questions Carlos.

"No," replies Kendall. "And if he doesn't we'll just sneak him out."

"Right," Logan comments.

"Sounds easy enough," adds Carlos.

As they stand in front of the producer they always wonder where their confidence goes, it's like the man has a confidence remover superpower. Mustering up his confidence Kendall, unsurprisingly, was the first to say something.

"So, Gustavo we know that (Y/N)'s been working hard in the studio for the last two or so days," hesitance is clear in his tone.

"And we were wondering if we could kinda, sorta," Logan continues. "Take her away for a little bit."

"Sure," the producer says after a beat of silence.

Yet that goes unheard for a bit, as the boys start yelling excuses.

"Wait did you say yes," now realization had hit them.

"Yes, yes I did," Gustavo agreed.

"Listen, guys," Kelly's voice gains their attention. "(Y/N) has been working since last night, and he needs some rest."

"Let me shorten Kelly's long-winded excuse," he interrupts. "(Y/N) hasn't left this building, so go and take her to her apartment and let her rest."

The boys haven't moved from their spot.

"What are you waiting for?"

"We have no idea of where he is," Logan speaks up.

"Oh, he's in Studio B," states.

Kelly and Gustavo watch as the boys scramble out of the office, shaking their heads with small smiles.

(Y/N) watches as Carlos, Logan, and Kendall tumble into the small studio from the sound booth.

Pressing a button, she leans into the mic speaking into it.

"Hello boys," said boys look towards the booth that holds the very person that they were looking for. "I'm guessing that you looking for me."

"In fact, we are," Kendall smirks.

"Yeah, we kinda need you to come to the Palm Woods," Logan rushes out.

"Yeah, James is sad," Carlos adds.

"Wait, why is he sad," (Y/N) says as he rushes out of the booth.

"He needs you to complement him," Logan explains.

"More so, he needs to you to call him pretty," Kendall adds.

"Well, what are we waiting for," she starts. "Let's go."

The group ran to the Palm Woods, in search of their usually flamboyant friend. And there he was still sitting in the same pool chair, hair wet and a towel around his neck. He'd probably gone for a swim to clear his head, it didn't do much. They don't know if his eyes are watering from the chlorine or just plain sadness.

Either way, the sight still made (Y/N)'s heart break a whole lot.

"I know this might sound rude," she started. "But damn does he look pitiful."

"Tell me about it," the boys say.

"Alright, so he wants me to compliment him," (Y/N) asks, speaking clarification.

"Yes, because apparently, you didn't complete your daily dose of," Logan's voice turns sarcastic. "Ego fuelling "

"Don't be rude to baby like that," (Y/N) punched Logans' arm.

"Anyway," interrupted Kendall. "You need to go fix James, make him all..."

"Sparkly," Carlos whispers dramatically.

"Exactly," the other hockey players agree.

"Alrighty boys," the designated boyfriend cracks his knuckles. "Let me do my thang," (Y/N) started walking towards his pouty boyfriend.

As the boys watch their friend heads toward her boyfriend.

"Should we leave them be," Carlos asks as he watches (Y/N) sit next to James.

"Yeah, this seems kinda personal," Logan agrees as he leads his friends away from the pool.

Moving the attention to (Y/N) and James.

"Hey James," the gentle call of his life breaks James out of his mood. (Y/N) pretty much saw his boyfriend's eyes sparkle when he saw him.

"(Y/N)," he cheers. But his mood quickly sours. "Where were you?"

A long sigh passed (Y/N)'s lips. She didn't mean to work for as long as she did, promise. But when an idea strikes, you have to do something about it or you lose it. And it took two days of work to make sure that every detail is written down.

"Well, you know me when it comes to work bubs," James preens a bit at the nickname. "When I start working, I just can't stop," a chuckle passes (Y/N)'s melanin lips.

But a slight frown bleeds onto his lips again, and he softly grabs James' face. He leans into his hands as a little smile dances onto his lips.

"But seriously," she whispers as she makes their forehead touch, eyes connected. "I'm so sorry, sparkles," the boy huffs at the name. "Can my pretty boy forgive me," she rubs their noses together, his slightly wet, and eyes closed.

A smile breaks on her face at the bashful giggles from her boyfriend.

"I don't know," James backs up a little bit. "Does my boyfriend deserve an apology," sarcasm laced his voice.

"Oh, so that means that I can return the flowers I bought?"

"Wait, flowers," he watches as she pulls out a bouquet of camellias and roses, his favorites, from behind her back.

"Yeah," James gently takes the flowers from your hand with a flustered face. "I saw them on my way here, and I knew they were your favorite," (Y/N) could feel the heat rise in his cheeks. "So of course I just had to get them."

A beat of silence passes between them.

"Well, with your apologies," James' voice comes out as a whisper. "And these amazing flowers," he practically shoves his nose into the bouquet. "How can I say no?"

"You can never say no," she teases. She quickly places herself in front of James, in his chair. Her hands grab his face again, the force making him drop the flowers in his lap.

" 'cause my handsome man," he squeezes James's cheeks. "Says no way too much."

"So what am I supposed to say?" James's speech is a bit muffled due to his face being slightly pressed.

"Nothing," she sighs. "Just sit pretty and receive my compliments."

A smug smile crawls on his lips, "I can do that," he murmurs.

"Well, I do have two whole days to catch up on," she eye rolled affectionately.

And thus the smothering begins

"my boy is handsome," a kiss on his forehead.

"beautiful," eyebrow kiss.

"gorgeous," eyelid kiss.

"sparkly," kisses on his cheekbones with muted giggles.

"strong," chin kiss.

"confident," nose kiss. "A bit too much," James lets out an appalled squawk.

"and last of all," the words are a bit murmured by their lips brushing against another.

"my," small peck, "pretty," longer peck, "boy." Then a long passionate kiss to seal the deal, a kiss filled with nothing but love and adoration for one another.

"Do you feel better, my prince?"

"Yeah," he gazes at his boyfriend; eyes full of love. "I am, and I'll always be."

fin

This is honestly a filler until I can post my other fics, and there will be more fillers coming don't worry

[judithan-xing]

oc phone bg + detail shots ^w^

This is a redraw of an old phone background I made a couple years back, except I wanted to make it themed around my unofficial Year of Yaoi I've been doing. It's a celebration of all of my gay protagonists, with more detailed notes about them under the read more, please consider taking a look through at it, I really poured my heart into this piece ;w;

[In order of top to bottom, left to right]

Fester and Riot (Lordless) are what I would consider the ship that is the most "I would kill for you", in a mutual way. Riot is given his Blessing by Abaddon and prays and worships him at every hardship, completely unaware that the creepy, rot-smelling freak that he's been helping unwillingly is the object of his worship. Fester would do anything for Riot, having fallen in love with him the moment he laid eyes on him, and suffers torture and having his wings ripped from him and still goes to Riot's side.

Valcher and Dirk (Red Snow) are obsessed with each other. Codependent, but in a way that's mutually beneficial. Valcher hates humans and finds them disgusting (his vampyric diet consisting of wild game) but trusts Dirk with his life and finds him to be Different than the rest. Dirk is obsessed with Valcher and realizes that his repressed lack of want for love or sex has actually been due to needing a Freak Like Him. His love for Valcher comes easily.

(Center panel) Tamara and Judas (Magus Society) are the It Couple of All Time. Judas originally courts Tamara on the idea that he's both extremely powerful, frail, and naive, but eventually can't help but truly fall in love. His dubious morals are no match for Tamara's virtue, and he changes, not just to save the world, but to earn back his love's trust. And Tamara, despite the heart ache he's put through, lets Judas back in. Forgives him, loves him flaws and all. A Demon Prince and his Deity of Hope.

Saber and Lux (Elemon) are rivals. While Saber is nonbinary so this wouldn't count as MLM, Lux is also nonbinary so it still counts a T4T. Lux is exceptional at everything he does, between training Elemon to besting others in combat, to the point it enrages Saber. How could this idiot Nobody beat them? Over the course of their story, however, Saber learns to realize they never stood a chance. Lux is in a league of his own. The respect becomes mutual, and the crush is incidental. If you ever asked what their relationship is, they'd both say "we're just rivals" even after making out.

Sinclaire and Kail (Demon In The Machine) are... coworkers, if you could call them that. Kail, in a desperate attempt to find a better life for himself and his sister, and get them off the frozen hellscape of Titania, makes a deal with a devil - an Arma demon named Sinclaire. He sells his soul in exchange for a new hand and a mech. What he doesn't know is included is his heart, clutched in the black claws of his boss, his owner, his downfall. Toxic lovers to the end.

Avelar and Gentri (Legend of Arcadia) are bodymates. Gentri is the God of Nature, Avelar a man of science, and in an effort to turn himself into a God he fused the soul core of one into him and became permanently bound to the deity. Gentri detests him at first, trying to do anything and everything he can to remove himself from the semi-mortal prison, but eventually grows to understand and even like Avelar as a person. He learns of human fear, mortality, abandonment, and while he wishes to be a separate person he grows to enjoy the man's company... especially after several decades of Avelar furiously trying to find a way to undo his mistake. Their trope is enemies to reluctant friends to lovers.

Sterling and Rez/Rezykai (Benevola) are acquaintances by necessity at first. Sterling is a merc who takes jobs others don't want, and when he's asked to transport Rez across the border he nearly refuses. But he does it anyway, and goes from being barely involved with his political drama to integral and attached. They're both idiots and bicker constantly, but they both care deeply about the other and would kick anyone's ass for touching them. Sterling is cold and Rez is a tsundere and together they're hilarious and insufferable.

All of these ocs have spanned the course of my entire artistic life. Tamara and Judas for example I drafted up in 2007, while Saber and Lux are my most recent mainstay duo having been created in 2023. I love my ocs a lot and I could go on and on about them forever if prompted. (pls send me asks about my ocs lol)

if you got this far tysm i cherish you <3

[fadeintolight]

Hey! I have a question that I've been sort of curious about for a while. So I've noticed that a lot of people have been annoyed by Harry post 2022 and have made their disinterest?distate? in him known. But those same people have absolutely no problem with Louis and his involvement in BG (post 2020) and basically exploiting an innocent kid to protect his own butt. They keep singing his praises and act like he's the best. Harry has definitely been CRINGING AND YIKESING hard over the last couple of years but I seem to have a harder time moving past Louis' actions. Anyway, it's not a big deal. I guess I just went off both of them at the same time and a handful of others have as well, but the majority of people just went off Harry and it's always been a bit ??? for me.

hey so this is long and 100% a personal take, so proceed with caution.

totally get where you're coming from. first off, I think we all have to accept that we don’t really know anything for sure about these people. we all just build the lore in our heads based on small cues and glimpses, and I'm definitely not an exception to that.

from my perspective, a lot of what louis is doing now seems like it was a continuation of circumstances that were forced on him back in the 1d days. the babygate situation is a prime example— we never knew if there was supposed to be an ending point or what that would even look like. what protects louis in the eyes of so many louies is this uncertainty. he was told that he would be a father—how, we don’t know; how long, we don’t know. but it's impossible to imagine him ever getting a real chance to walk away from it, and for him to say 'actually no, let me stay close to this rachet family and exploit this kid some more.' the whole situation is so horrible that our minds just can't go there and accept that. mine included. this unknowing of the details ends up protecting his character in many fans' minds.

in contrast, harry seems to have more freedom and agency over his solo career. he’s carefully cultivating this air of sexual ambiguity and mystery, leaning into an a-list celebrity status that keeps fans at arm’s length. his team /him want to project him as an enigma—someone who can’t be fully understood?? as opposed to his 1d self who was a bit more chatty, a bit more present? that has changed the dynamic of how some fans (on my dash i guess) perceive him. its just harder to see what his true intentions are?? why are you with these rancid people man. why are you being silly in a parking lot on main. but then again, I fully get that he could just be playing the long game, navigating his own path and experiences.

all in all with harry, the stunting never really hurts him- or at least he has something to gain from it—it helps move his career ahead. whether it's transitioning into movies or providing context for his music, these moments seem to push him forward, even if we hate them. while louis' stunts keep him stuck, harry's seem to be part of the narrative that builds his legacy.

on the other hand, I know I’ve bought into the ‘louis as the underdog’ persona and that’s also partially some good marketing on their end. I want to support him on the path he’s paving for himself, especially since it feels like he’s doing it without the massive backup that harry has. the story of his career fascinates me, his constant gratitude to his fans and the presence he has in his fandom feels unique and therefore the parasocial bond is stronger with him.

it’s all just psychology and character play, really. after 2020, I think a lot of us experienced some form of disillusionment when it comes to harry and louis. and then that’s just the way people work—we cope by creating narratives. often, this involves villainizing one while assigning the 'hero's journey' to the other. idk to me it makes sense from a psychological standpoint, people holding on to these preferences based on what resonates with them.

also, let's not forget that tumblr is definitely not a representative sample of the fanbase. we’re just a small village of burnt-out people. I'm sure there’s a similar 'village' on the other side that feels the same ick towards louis and is more protective of harry, and they’re allowed to see things the way they want to too. at the end of the day, we’re all just dumbass stans warping reality to suit our own narratives.

[chiptrillino]

Chewing that part time pirate zuko... And also the fact that I'm obsessed with yuyan archer Mai. So here's the deal: after the war mai got to do whatever the fuck she wanted because she's one of the fire lord's best friends, who's going to stop her? So she goes to finally learn from the yuyan archers, doesn't take long bc 1. Zuko is surrounded by prodigies and 2. Have you SEEN mai's aim? She has the yuyan technique down in a week

The fire nation advisors are extremely worried about the fire lord at sea, and zuko sees mai, recently fully realized yuyan archer, and goes "she'll be my body guard so you people shut the fuck up". Sometimes mai takes her brother on the trips just because she can

(side note, i think the ship is metal solely so toph can be comfortably on board and still be able to navigate her way around)

Also, i forgot in my last ask, i was going to say that yue absolutely knows who zuko is, not just as fire lord, but as sokka's friend bc like... She's always trying to see where she can help the gaang, she saw when zuko joined and everything since, so when she sees zuko chasing pirates it's not just "oh I'm so bored look at that human trouble" but rather "oh I'm so bored oh wait i can help sokka's friend"

I'm undecided in whether aang is splitting hairs so to say about yue casually coming to the human world, or if he's out there acting as a yue lawyer trying to convince other great spirits to not give her grief but also not follow along on her idea bc... That would get messy very fast

Also. I love azula, i love that she's a menace, zuko leaves her in charge when he leaves and the fire nation advisors and ministers and the like are terrified of that. Azula loves it. She may also have implied she'll have zuko killed at sea (for the laughs and to see if anyone is not scared enough of that possibility. It's useful to know who wouldn't miss zuko to check if they're also actively treasonous). The gaang hears of this and they're extremely uncomfortable by the idea bc they're not sure if azula is being serious each time

honestly, just the threat of "azula is in charge" and she is chuckling in the bg. is like the biggest threat zuko could make. And all ambassadors, diplomat and council man are suddenly at their bestest behavior in a sense of " no fire lord please don't leave us we will do what ever you want"

its pointless though. zuko needs his brake and well. yeha he has mai and tom tom and just who ever wants to come along comes with. beating up criminals is a healthy and productive coping mechanism with stress i think.

it's fun seeing you so exited with this au anon, hahah I agree with every addition you bless me with, hahah

I guess aang is splitting hair depending on with who he argues. if it is with humans, he just has a dead tired look in his eyes and just exhausted sighs out, "do i look like i control the moon?" like truly humans are so stupid? You think the avatar can tell a greater spirit anything?

on the other hand, when dealing with La, other greater spirits or Yue himself. he is like... trying to reason with them, which is just... very difficult and nerve wrecking because it's not like spirits do listen. they stay above him, and just want harmony and balance. but yue is for her convenience disturbing the balance. its like a partner therapy. and aang mediating between them. La thought the new yue would be different. and yue wasn't aware what she all signed up with. new compromises were created. aang: good thing i was able to convince yue and la to wait for your sacrifice sokka! sokka: .... my sacri-WHAT?!?!?

[kinopioa]

900th Adventure notes (not much about Ian and Evan!)

-Nigel Kitching, from Sonic the Comic, interestingly returns. His writing is more dramatic at first, but it was all a ploy to distract Metal and ease off the effects of the Topaz

His mannerisms are a little snappier, which given StC makes sense, same for brief descriptions cuz he British. Sadly Knuckles didn't do anything, but I like Sonic's characterization. He's cheeky, but not obnoxiously dissing like Flynn's, and his ploy exposes a good context intelligence unlike most of IDW

The art's weird. Apparently both Fonseca and Rik Mack worked on it, and while I see Fonseca's influence, it deviates from his still at bits. Not bad, though Knux's anger seemsmore exaggerated than what the writer intended

-Daniel Barnes has Sonic a bit more mouthy to Eggman/bots specifically. I like the idea that Eggman's testing out mechas in remote locations. If they fail, he won't be penalized. His mecha also is actually new, about time! Oddly, the city seems to be based on OVA...

Sonic noticeably isn't too bothered by the bots, and his priority of the Topaz over Eggman is seen. Only fault I can think of is fans misreading this as him not taking Eggman seriously out of context (note this further shows that Sonic can deal with Eggman not existing unlike Boom)

Art by Min Ho Kim (Dee Gee Min) once again is very detailed both drawing and rendering. .

-Aaron Hammerstrom. So the first thing I noticed, Cream!

She's been weirdly absent before this for Blaze use, you know, Blaze's first friend. That said, don't like the >told me I shouldn't help cuz dangerous. Feels counter to both games and that Annual, but this is IDW so bleh

Despite Rush refs, noticed Zero Gravity here. Also the first Aaron draw Sonic from the front

Also not a fond of the "Blaze be solo" retread. Brief, but still bleh

Shame, I love Aaron's art, especially with Foundraine coloring. Sonic's characterization is also better than Ian's, so double shame Cream got the short end of things initially, and Blaze too

Caleb

first, yikes. No offense to Abby Bulmer, but her art...isn't too good for chars and color. First I've seen their name though, for a 900th adventure issue special that's...odd. Wonder if this was done last minute...

That said, BG and perspectives are nice, and action/flow is good

As for writing, I like how Caleb references this even art BG wise (issue 15)

The scuffle with the Rogues is more comedic (also hey, Storm actually has a say here unlike Summer special), though I like this note

Of Rouge actually wanting to save the world, with treasure being secondary. Too often fans and Ian flanderize the treasure love

Shadow also is mostly decent, though I hated this. This is obnoxiously egotistic

In tune with Rivals though otherwise; He doesn't hate Sonic, but will not be afraid to beat him for the greater good

He also accepts Sonic making an option 3 (very much Sonic to say fuck da limits), and beats the Rogues from attempting to chase after they insult him. A little juvenile at bits, but "muh mandates" are further proven to be horseshit

So the end is Ian, and I won't talk much cuz it's basically Sonic putting the Topaz in its original spot, but this

Kinda cute in a "muh senpai" kind of way. Now if only I can forget how much Starline quickly soured

So overall, interesting filler, worst of Flynn didn't bog it down. Now here's the actual problem

It's filler

For a hyped 900th Adventure special, the fact it boiled down to "Sonic met friends and scuffled very briefly while running to an end" is...kinda nothing. There are other issues

-Eggman is here! So is this after or before IDW 57-60 arc?

-Richard Elton for cover made me think he was gonna do inner art too. Sadly no

-Same for Yardley

-IDW Sonic's continued tradition of lack of page numbers

-Knux again did nothing

-Rip Amy

Though a pro

-Credits are actually specified

-No OCs!

-ABT despite ehhh art for once isn't having chars weirdly talk when they shouldn't (the the yeah last page being closed mouth is hmm...). Actions are easier to read too!

It's overall ok as an anniversary filler story, but sadly is hyped to be much more