#but has the most dedication out of all the seasons from the fans

[beepmon]

whereas adventure has the biggest fan base overall 02 has the biggest active fandom from my experience with ppl loving to draw and write about these skrunklies

[xcziel]

.

[golden-redhead]

I think there's a lot of signs pointing to Jayce actually doing the right thing ...or at least the right thing based on the information available to him at the time.

We can't know for a fact just how much Viktor was changed and what his healing was doing to the people who came to him in the long run, but considering all the hints dropped by the writers, the situation is much less clear than we think. Obviously, everyone's first instinct is to condemn Jayce and his actions, especially because Viktor is one of fan favourites, but looking at the teaser for the next Act and what little we know about what happened to Jayce, I think it might have been necessary evil.

I think this scene of Viktor temporarily 'possessing' Salo in order to talk with Jayce points to just how fucked this little community that Viktor created actually is. There's a reason why everyone's getting those 'it's a freaking cult' vibes.

This scene made me more uncomfortable than anything else this season and I think it's clear that it was meant to make feel that way. There's something so uncanny about Viktor's voice coming out of Salo's mouth, especially paired with that look on his face and how Viktor seems to be able to see and experience things through him in this moment.

And then there's also the issue of all these people dying a horrible drawn-out death as soon as Viktor himself 'dies'. Yes, they came to him on their own, they asked to be healed, but did they really know what they are getting into? Did they know this is what might happen?

Some of them were already dying, true, but Viktor healed all kinds of people, some of whom most likely had their whole lives ahead of them. He, knowingly or not, inevitably sped up this process. Not all of them were consummed by Shimmer-addiction or permanently disabled like Salo.

And then there's also the fact of all of them basically abandoning their previous lives to serve Viktor and his community. Which, okay, makes sense, there's certainly a parallel with the community that Ekko created for Zaunites to keep them safe from Piltover and Silco's plans. They made an informed choice, though, and I don't think the same can be said about Viktor's cult-like commute.

They seem peaceful, yes, but also devoid of personality and entirely dedicated to Viktor and his cause. Of course, it can be explained by gratitude towards him and desire to be kept safe in a calm and peaceful environment, but it's taken to such an extreme point that it definitely crosses the line into uncanny territory in my eyes. Their hivemind behaviour is very unsettling and even though Viktor seems to frame his recent actions as some kind of greater good, I don't think it's necessarily true.

We have yet to find out what Jayce saw and who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Either way, as usual when it comes to Arcane, it seems to me that more than ever, everyone's a victim of the circumstances and tragedy spares no one.

Considering that Viktor is set up to be 'reborn', I can't help but wonder what it means for his community and if they will also be brought to life by whatever connection they have with him. It would be a fascinating choice given how Viktor's arc has always been about autonomy and making your own choices.

Arcane, it's been a pleasure having my heart torn out of my chest by you. Can't wait for the last Act.

[i-love-you-just-the-same]

john price is a relatively new soccer coach. he retired a few years ago as one if the greats because of an injury. he's worked his way up from assistant to the main man in a relatively short amount of time. his first season had a rough start, but ended up with his team going to the semifinals. price is proud of the progress, but he wants more and is total workaholic. he's gruff and mean, but good at his job.

he has tons of thirst traps on tiktok that johnny occasionally shows him. loves a good pint at the end of game night, but hates coming home to his empty flat.

price is known to be a flirt to journalists and potential sponsors to get the best cut, but he never goes home with any of them. he stays away from fans and anyone who's interested. geninuely thinks he'll never have a sweet thing to come home to after his divorce, and with all the young blood around. low self confidence from his wife's infidelity and how his body has changed in retirement. imagine his surprise when he ends up pursued by you.

---

you end up meeting completely outside of soccer, to his surprise. it's one of those rare moments he gets outside the field. price is working on plays and watching film in his favorite little coffee shop when you bumble up to ask if the seat across was taken. of course price lets you sit.

you're very obviously younger than he is. he's quickly taken by your sweet little smile at him once you notice his blatant staring. quickly calms and rights himself- there's no way you don't have someone at home.

however, you two seem to fall into a routine. john finds himself coming to the coffee shop more often and sharing his table with you. he didn't realize the reprieve he needed from his seemingly 80 hour work week.

maybe it's the narcissism, but price is ready for the rug to be pulled out. at the beginning, he doesn't completely believe that you're not aware of who he is. he's convinced you're an undercover journalist for a tabloid for awhile, but after a visit or two without a page dedicated to him he's quelled his fears.

you're not obvious about wanting more than coffee, but you drop hints to him. there's a new movie you're really wanting to see, he hopes you have a good time with your girlfriends. you want to go for a walk on a new trail, be sure to carry pepper spray. ice cream is really good someplace and you want to try a new flavor, tell him if it's any good. he can see you deflate a bit everytime he refutes you, but he's saving you both from heartache. at least that's what he thinks.

---

one day, price's out with a whiny johnny, cold kyle, and tired simon. he normally wouldn't risk coming by the shop when you could be there with these beasts, but he's desperate and thinks you're busy.

it's a rude sight across the street when he sees you outside the shop with another man. he is close; too close for john's comfort. a lazy hand on your waist with your arms on his shoulders. price nearly faints when you press a sweet little kiss on the fuckers cheek. hell nah, price's face is enough to scare the most hardened war criminal.

as soon as your loverboy walks away, price forgets all about the boys. he walks over to you with a purpose, ignoring the way his heart stutters when you smile at him with flushed cheeks. the smile quickly fades when you see his murderous expression.

"oh! john! it's good to see you! i was just-"

price is in your face, huffing your air, eyes demanding an answer for your supposed infidelity. he doesn't know where this sharp pang of possessiveness has came from, but he's not sure if he wants it to leave.

" wha' you doing with that other bloke, love? this 's our spot. only me you're s'pposed to ask for ice cream, uh huh? don't like it when yur with other men"

he spits the last word, like it's acid in his mouth.

you look up at him with furrowed brows and a harsh blink.

"i don't understand, john"

"mhmm, wrong answer, dolly."

he's worked himself up into a fit now. the boys all watch as he attempts to calm himself, least he scare you.

"love, ever since you sat at that table you've been mine, uh huh? don't be throwing a fit, c'mon, you're the one who was with the other bloke"

anger blurs across your face as he speaks and he knows he's fucked up

"yeah, i can't do anything, huh? you won't do anything with me! you ignore my attempts to get to know you better, john. we share a table, for god's sake, not a house! you're the one who's snubbed me" you're fuming, but still going.

"so what if i want a normal relationship without having to wonder whether the man is actually interested in me? he wants to do things with me, john. can you blame me?"

you're a bit teary at the end, staring up at him with disappointment in your eyes. kyle, johnny, and simon have slipped inside to let you two squabble, but they're watching keenly through the the window.

"love, I-" john starts but you must not like the look on his face, as you interrupt him again

"no, john. i can't keep doing this. find me when you grow some balls of get some sense."

price is tempted to grab you and ask you to listen, but you're already gone. he's left on the pavement with three inquisitive sets of eyes staring through the glass.

---

would you guys be interested in a part 2? feel like i didn't do this idea justice, but ill link if i do another part

[ladyelainehilfur]

Literally insane to me how small the general webtoon fandom is outside of the webtoon app itself (and maybe reddit??)

I've talked to multiple people irl who LOVE reading webtoon, but the online community is borderline threadbare ! Most people on Tumblr have no IDEA who our blorbos are! I've checked tags for some fairly popular webtoon and it was like visiting that Tatooine town in the Mandalorian where there are 5 citizens total, but only if you also count the Mayor, the sheriff, and the deputy.

Lore Olympus is the most popular webtoon and has under 2,000 fics on AO3. Lookism has roughly 1,000. Unordinary, THEE legacy webtoon, only has 600, and it's been running for almost 7 years now. It has nearly 6M subscribers and still gets 50K+ likes each week. It's not dead by any means.

I guess it doesn't help that each webtoon is its own micro ecosystem and once a webtoon ends, that ecosystem typically fades with it. But webtoons can go on runs longer than most shows on streaming services, and those fandoms burn hot and bright even if only for the first month of a new season drop.

By comparison, webtoon fans are largely casual about their enthusiasm, even if they're highly invested in the story or characters. From my experience, only the most passionate try to connect with other fans online. But when you're passionate about one webtoon, I suppose it's hard to show constant excitement about the 20+ other stories one might keep up with. Still, between the 85 million monthly readers, you'd think each major webtoon would at least have a dedicated fan base (meaning people who regularly post theories, thoughts, fics, and fanart) of mere thousands outside of the app.

One exception for this is that Batman webtoon? It actually trends on Tumblr every now and again. But it doesn't count, because Batman has a built in fandom who'll eat up and yell in the streets about any content where he's a decent dad.

People who read romance webtoon all tend to read the same comics, and actively understand the references to other popular romance comics (Trashta, Team Seojun, SLS), so you'd think there'd be a greater sense of unity. More people actively searching out others to discuss with and posting their thoughts online and not just in that webtoon's comment section.

I mean, C'MON girls!!! Millions of people log into that app like everyday!!! WHERE is the community?? WHERE is the fanart?? WHERE is the fanfic?? WHY does Odd Girl Out only have 7 fanfics?? WHY are there like 2 people on Twitter posting about Weak Hero?? Head in hands fr

[communistkenobi]

I’ve been thinking a lot about fandom recently, both as someone who has engaged with it regularly for over a decade on various platforms and also as someone who has increasingly become disenchanted with those spaces. Not only because of pervasive issues of (especially anti-Black) racism, misogyny, transphobia/homophobia, and the like, but the particular way those things take shape within fandom.

At the most basic level I think fandom has a fundamental methodological problem with the way it approaches texts, be they shows, books, movies, etc. What I mean is that people almost invariably approach fandom at the level of character, often at the level of ship - your primary way of viewing a text is filtered through favourite characters and favourite relationships, as opposed to, say, favourite scenes, favourite themes, favourite conflicts.

This is reinforced through the architecture of dominant platforms that host fan content, particularly AO3 - there are separate categories for fandom, character and ship, and everything else is lumped together in “Additional Tags.” You cannot, for example, filter for fics on AO3 by the category of “critical perspective” or “thematic exploration”. There is no dedicated space for fan authors to declare their analytical perspective on the text they are writing about. If an author declares these things, they do so individually, they must go out of their way to do so, because there are no dedicated or universally agreed-upon tags to indicate those things, and if your fanfiction has a lot of tags, that announcement of criticality gets mushed together in a sea of other tags, sharing the same space with tags like “fluff and angst” or “porn without plot.” Perhaps one of the few tags closest to approaching this is the tag “Dead Dove: Do Not Eat,” which doesn’t indicate perspective or theme but rather that there is, broadly, some kind of “problematic content” contained therein - often of a sexual nature, frequently as a warning about “bad” ships.

Now this is not an inherent problem, as in, it is not inherently incorrect to approach a text and primarily derive pleasure from it by focusing on a given character or relationship. And I think a lot of mainstream media encourages (even requires) audiences to engage with their stories at these character- and ship-levels. The political economy of the production of art (one which is capitalistic, one that seeks to generate comfort, titillation, controversy, nostalgia, or shock for the purposes of drawing in viewership, one that increasingly pursues social media metrics of “engagement” and “impressions”, one that allows for the Netflix model of making two-season shows before cancelling them, as well as a whole host of other things) enforces a particular narrative orthodoxy, one that heavily focuses on the individual interiority of specific characters, one that is deeply concerned with the maintenance of white bourgeois middle class values of property ownership, the nuclear family, normative heterosexual sexuality and gender, settler-colonial ideas about community and environment, etc. If you do not care about the familial drama surrounding Shauna cheating on her husband in Yellowjackets, for example, because you think the institution of monogamous marriage and the nuclear family is stupid and violent and heternormative, then you will have a difficult time engaging with the show in general. We exist within a deeply normative (and frequently reactionary) media environment that encourages us to approach art in a particular way, one that privileges the individual over other narrative components (settings, themes, conflicts, ideas, political and moral perspectives, structure, tone, etc).

All of which culminates in priming fans to engage with art at these levels and these levels alone, even when that scope is deeply inappropriate. A standout example I recently encountered was browsing the fandom tags on tumblr for the movie Prey - a movie that recontextualises the original Predator film by setting it in colonial America to make the argument that the horrific violence of white colonists and imperial soldiers is identical to the violence we see the Predator do to human beings. It is a movie that makes the argument that, despite this alien monster running around killing people, the villains of the franchise are these occupying soldiers and settlers, an alien force who themselves have just as little regard for (indigenous) human life.

And when browsing the tags on tumblr, what I found was dozens upon dozens of horny posts about how hot the predator monster was. Certainly there were discussion of the film’s narrative, and these posts got a good amount of notes, but the tags were heavily dominated with a focus on the Predator itself. People were engaging with this film not as a solid action movie with interesting and compelling anti-colonial themes, but as a way to be horny about a creature that is, ironically, a stand-in for white settler indifference to (and perpetuation of) indigenous suffering. And if this is your takeaway from an extremely straightforward film with a very clear message, this is not merely a failure to comprehend the content of a text, this is something beyond it - a problem that I think is due in part to the methodological problem of approaching all texts as vessels for bourgeois interiority, individual but ultimately interchangeable expressions of sexuality, perhaps best-expressed by the term “roving slash fandom,” a phenomenon wherein fans will move from one fandom to the next in search of two (usually white, usually skinny) guys to draw and write porn of, uncaring of any of the surrounding context of the stories they are embedded in, and consequently dominating a large sector of fandom discussion.

This even gets expressed in the primary ideological battleground of fandom itself, the ridiculous partitioning of all fan conflict into “pro-“ and “anti-“ shipping compartments. Your stance on engagement with fandom itself historically was (and still is) always first filtered through one of these two labels, describing your fundamental perspective on all texts you engage with. And both of these two labels are only concerned with shipping, as if all disagreements about art can only be interpreted through the lens of what characters you think are acceptable to draw or write having sex. Nowhere in this binary is space to describe any other perspective you might take, what approaches you think are valuable when interacting with art, what themes or stories you think are worth exploring. It’s not just that the pro/anti divide is juvenile and overly-simplistic, it is a declaration that all fan conflict must be read through the lens of shipping and shipping only - the implication being that any objections raised, and criticisms offered, is ultimately just bitching about ships you don’t like.

Which, again, I think is a fundamental error of methodology. It leaves no space for people to discuss the political and moral content of a work, the themes of a piece of art, the thorny issues of representation not just as expressed through individual characters but entire worlds, narratives, settings, and themes. You are always hopelessly stuck in the quagmire of “shipping discourse,” and even rejecting that framework will inevitably get you labelled as either pro- or anti-ship anyway - and you will almost invariably be labelled an “anti” if you express any kind of distaste for the bigoted behaviour of fans or the content of the text itself, again reinforcing the idea that this is all just pointless whining online about icky ships you personally hate.

And this issue is best perhaps epitomised by reader insert fanfiction, circumventing any need for you to project onto a character by literally inserting yourself into fiction, primarily in order to write/read about a character you want to fuck. This then intersects in particularly disgusting ways with real world politics, such as reader insert fics about Pedro Pascal going with you to BLM protests. Even if this is (incredibly over-generously) interpreted as a very poor attempt at being “progressive,” it still demonstrates that many (white) fans are often incapable of thinking about anything outside of a character-centric perspective, quite literally centring themselves in the process, and consequently they think it’s totally appropriate to do things like that. The fact that this is also frequently a racist lens is not coincidental, because again, a chronic focus on (fictional) individuality prohibits any structural perspective from entering the discussion, which necessarily excludes a coherent or useful perspective on systemic issues, where people come to the conclusion that the topic of police brutality is little more than a fun stage to enact whatever romantic shenanigans you want to get up to with a hot guy.

I will stress, again, that it is not a moral sin to have a favourite character, nor is it bad to enjoy reading about two guys having sex in fanfiction. I enjoy and do those things, I engage with fandom often through a character-centric lens (see my url) - because it’s fun! But I think that this being the dominant mode of engagement inherently excludes and marginalises all other approaches, and creates a fandom space where the most valuable way to talk about media is to discuss which two characters you most enjoy imagining fucking each other

[deramin2]

A Quick Guide To Getting Caught Up On Critical Role Fast

This guide is for people who want the fastest way official to get caught up on all 3 Critical Role campaigns without seeing the full actual play episodes. They're all made so that the AP will still be enjoyable later even if you know what happens. There's no "right" way to get into the series, and already having an idea of what happens can even help make the APs more enjoyable and easier to understand.

Summary:

The Legend of Vox Machina

Crit Recap Animated

Exandria: An Intimate History

Critical Role Abridged

Guide:

Campaign 1:

The Legend of Vox Machina on Amazon Prime is the animated adaptation of C1 by the same creators. Sam Riegel said the creative approach is this was the version in a later play. All the important bits are there, but they get to those moments differently.

The Legend of Vox Machina has 3 seasons out now that cover events up through at least episode 85. A 4th season is in the works and will probably cover the final arc.

Campaign 2:

An animated adaptation for Amazon Prime called "Mighty Nein" is in the works, but not out yet.

Crit Role Animated is an older comedic summary series presented by their Lore Keeper that covers the whole campaign in 10 videos. Great if you want the gist.

It's like a history crash course history video meant to get you curious to learn the full story later. Great way to get a sense of who people are and what they've done. Available on YouTube and their streaming platform Beacon.

Exandrian History Review:

Exandria: An Intimate History is a timeline review of key events in world history, starting from the creation.

It was released before Campaign 3 as bonus content. It represents what the average person in Exandria knows about world history up to that point.

Campaign 3:

Critical Role Abridged is the Campaign 3 AP condensed down into 1 to 1.5 hours. It mostly cuts down combat to the narrated results and reduces table chatter and indecisiveness. It's a great way to experience the full campaign.

Critical Role Abridged is coming out 1 a week at a time on YouTube and 2 a week on Beacon. YouTube is currently up to episode 25. Beacon is up to episode 47. The AP is at episode 109. At some point you'll have to switch to full episodes to catch up.

Wiki:

There's also 2 world-class wikis where's you can look up extensive and meticulously cited information about anything you need. I prefer The Encyclopedia Exandria.

Viewing Notes:

An important thing to know about "continuity" in Critical Role is that it takes a more realistic view of how history is passed down through the ages and even dedicated academics will never know the full story or be fully correct. They know versions colored by in-world biases and lost knowledge.

Which is great for you the viewer because any campaign you comes into, the characters don't know most of what happened in past games. What they actually know will come up in game. The players have above table reactions and some subtle in jokes, but try not to act on meta knowledge.

It's structured a lot like reading one history book and then wanting to go back and read more about past events that set the stage for all those things to happen. They've tried to make it easier to come into the story happening now.

I certainly enjoyed watching the full APs from the beginning, and I think you can get a deeper understanding of the story from them, but it takes thousands of hours to catch up on the story that way and it isn't realistic for everyone. Each series builds on the consequences of past events more than they rely on unexpected twists, so already knowing what happens just helps you notice all the little things that led to them. Similar to how Shakespeare's plays are often more enjoyable to watch unfold if you already know the basic plot points going into them.

Happy viewing, and I hope this helps you or someone you know get into this very rich and interesting story!

[forwards-beckon-rebound]

dick grayson instagram hcs

basics

we are pretending dick is not a cop in this because i said so!

he's a professional model but also does perform at a local circus as a special guest

he's not actually going to the olympics (yet) but the american team has been trying to contact him for the better part of the decade so maybe you can convince him to go

he's kind of like one of your friends who you think is chill and normal but then you go to their ig and you find out they're something of a local celebrity?

everybody in gotham already knew him as bruce wayne's son but also he went semi viral on tiktok and got a bunch of new fans (and some edits) out of it

he used to have a less serious pfp but his management convinced him to use this one instead

followers + following

obviously you're there

as well as his friends and family

he manages to get away with following the superheroes since i mean, basically everybody else does as well

also a lot of industry people that he meets, both for modeling and gymnastics/trapeze

highlights

he is an abuser of the story function

will spend any opportunity to brag about his pretty girlfriend and all of the dates and trips you guys go on

he is weirdly good at taking photos, will give you tips on how to pose to get your best angles

also he has a lot of fans so he likes to post a photo of you every once in a while to remind everyone that he's happily taken

will also repost your work related stuff to be like hey look at how cool my gf is at her job!

dude has a million highlights that he updates for the fashion weeks each year

a lot of photos of his looks, him meeting with certain designers, it's mostly his team who posts this

same thing with his shows in the sense that it's usually other people (including you) taking photos of him while he's performing

but this is a more personal venture of his so he asks everyone to send him the pics and he decides which ones to post

will also repost stories from fans who came to the show!

oooh this man posts the most jaw dropping photos of himself

he will have just woken up and post a photo that makes you think it's so unfair how perfect somebody can be

he just likes to post when he feels good about himself and i support!

haley and (i did not come up with a name for your guys' cat so you guys can have fun with that!) also have their own dedicated highlight

it is exactly as cute and wholesome as you would think it is

there are even more highlights if you keep on scrolling. he has highlights for each year's fashion weeks, as mentioned, as well as trips you guys have been on (the most recent is a trip to greece and italy!)

posts

once again he's one of those infuriating sort of famous people who are like fine as hell but they post just enough cute and relatable content that he actually seems like a real and very nice guy (fun fact, he is!)

you can tell immediately when he's been on a trip because he'll have at least 3 posts up and they're all of the same place

you guys are like the photo taking couple

if you weren't good at taking pics before you started dating, his skills definitely rub off on you

he'll do the thing where he gets you to pose for him so he can take a photo of you and then you take the same style of photo for him

it's disgusting you guys have matching photos on your feeds of each other

if it wasn't already common knowledge that you guys are dating, i can imagine the conspiracy theory videos being like guys they were in the same place? at the same time? and they took the same type of pics? i think they're dating

he loves cooking with you (while i personally think it would be really funny if he can't cook, in some of the comics they do mention that he can cook, but either way he enjoys cooking with you)

you guys are like the parent friends who host dinner at their place and there's usually a theme surrounding seasonal ingredients and everything's plated really well

you probably watch cooking shows together and are now you can't serve a dish without some microgreens or sliced radish on top or something

also yes he did plan the picnic and he's quite proud of it

he watched all of those charcuterie board hacks to make the flowers and fancy cheese arrangements

and there were chocolate dipped strawberries, champagne with glasses, and freshly baked cookies (alfred might have helped with that one)

also yes he does wear glasses!!!! only at home when he's reading or staring at a screen too long. his prescription's not that bad

jason ver.

[girlokwhatever]

Helloooo, so I’ve a request, I’ve had the most horrible Paige Bueckers brain-rot and I just can’t stop thinking about Paige with an ice-hockey player gf, and as a hockey player myself I’m dying only thinking about her coming to reader’s games and being all soft and caring when she comes home with bruises and cuts, things of the sort, omg I’m so in love

ask and you shall receive

paige bueckers x hockey player!gf hcs

༘⋆🌷🫧🏒₊˚ෆ⊹ ࣪ ˖ paige with a hockey player gf,,

— first and foremost, she goes to watch every possible game whenever she can

— brags to all her friends about you being a D1 hockey star

- “my girlfriend is literally the highest ranked hockey player in the state”

— she’s always so scared that you’ll get hurt or get cut on the bottom of someone’s skate

- one time you got pushed and fell really hard on the ice. it left a massive bruise and she spent two whole weeks putting ache relief gel on it (unnecessary but she’s determined)

— out of her seat and screaming the second someone lays their hand or stick on you because wtf….?!

- she’s gotta protect her girl

— the first time she watched she didn’t know any of the rules

- she’d shout “set a screen” or some shit and everyone’s like…. what???

— she’ll try to argue with the refs after the game if they made a bad call

- will lowkey follow one to the bathroom or something just to complain

— you taught her everything she knows and now she’s a dedicated hockey fan

— literally watched it on her own time so she could learn faster and impress you

- “that backchecking you did was absolutely nasty”

- “how do you know what that is?”

— will steal your helmet and put it on or hide it from you

— during basketball season she can’t be there as much for practices and stuff but she’s so concerned if you come back with a cut or something

- insists you lay down so she can bandage you (literally puts on aquaphor and a bandaid) but she’s so sweet and caring about it

— you tried to teach her how to ice skate but… it failed dramatically

— she has so much respect for you cause she knows its so hard

— cheers for you so loud (and she brings all her friends to cheer with her)

— makes you posters but they’re kinda silly and stupid (she’s getting there guys)

— you convinced your coach to let her sit with the team during games if she’s alone

— the team LOVVESSS her guys i’m not even joking

— one time she bought a post-game meal for the whole team (nil paycheck don’t play)

— you like to smother her with your legs cause you know they’re strong (wink wink)

— became friends with the moms of everyone on the team (she’s one of them now fr)

— takes pictures and videos when you score or make a good play (proud gf)

— picks you up from practice and always asks how it went

— trust she’s got a shirt with your last name and jersey number on it

— “so do you ever get, like, cold out there?”

- “paige.”

+*:ꔫ:*﹤𖡎•·.·''·.·•⍣ ೋ𐦍༘⋆

this request was cute!! i had fun with it

also,,, PT.2 for “nice surprise” is either coming tonight or tomorrow so be on the lookout 😘😘

[aspiringsophrosyne]

The latest teaser confirmed it: the Mighty Nein animated series will draw on material that not only predates episode one of the campaign but at least two characters' respective session zeros. The synopsis for the show also highlights what is most likely the Beacon, suggesting it may get significant emphasis early on.

Because of all this, I think it's possible (even likely) that the first season will NOT end with the events of episode 26, which is where I and many other fans figured it would after the initial announcement.

Instead, as a few fans posited, we could see C2E12 and its consequences serving as the season one finale.

When I first saw posters bringing this idea up, I liked how it sounded. It would give the Mighty Nein much more room to breathe than Vox Machina. I didn't want to believe that could happen, though. I didn't want to get my hopes up.

Now, I am getting my hopes up. Just a little.

Because to get to the Iron Shepherds before the end of season one, the CRew has to hustle. They cannot afford to waste time on any extraneous content. Pre-episode-one material is most welcome but it is extraneous to the Mighty Nein's overall story. It is nothing we can't infer from context.

Incorporating this material implies that the pace will be, at the very least, somewhat slower than TLOVM's pacing has been.

Showing how everyone meets means they can dedicate the rest of the season to Trostenwald, the Gnoll Mine, (Shakäste!) various Zadash hijinks, and then the attack. If paced well, that’s enough for 12 episodes, even without moving some later events (Where The River Goes, Harvest Close, the tournament in Whispers of War, etc.) up in the order, which they could do.

But I could be jumping the gun. It could be the CRew makes the mistake of trying to squeeze pre-session-zero content into an otherwise faithful adaptation of a season that ends at C2E26. Or adding that material but slicing out tons of content from the stream to make that work. We don’t know yet. We can’t.

But, again, the allusion to the Beacon makes little sense unless we have some time to sit with it. Not if it’s in the middle of a season racing towards Glory Run. Travis has said here about TLOVM that they had a limited runway and wanted to be off to the races from the jump. But with the Nein, they want to play around more. We could take that in several different ways, but it sounds promising.

We might get a slower burn with TM9 than with VM. If the first season ends around Midnight Espionage, we might not even see Caleb’s or Molly’s backstories until season 2! And that’s exciting; new watchers will have time to get to know these characters, care about them, and mull over who they could be before the bombs drop. And that’ll be fun to watch.

[randomishnickname]

Must-read Destiel fics - my superduper Nov. 5th rec list

Three years ago, on the blessed day of November 5th, 2020, I had:

never seen an episode of SPN,

only had a vague inkling of what the two pale coconuts were on about,

and I hee-heed and ha-had with the rest of Tumblr about the love confession scene and the Internet errupting in an unparalleled craze

At first I thought, that's it.

Then ... I got curious. I watched some YouTube Destiel supercuts. I read some fic (I think @andhumanslovedstories beautiful Cas/OC fic was my entry point?). I read meta. I watched some more YouTube scene packs. I read even more fic. I watched some of S4, some of S1, some random fan fav episodes. And then Destiel lodged itself so deeply, thouroughly into my brain that it took over and hasn't relinquished control in the last two years. The most tenacious, pervasive brain worm to date.

This ship got it all, and this fandom got it all, and there's such delightful, powerful, batshit crazy, romantic, expertedly crafted fanfic out there, it's like being a starving child in the world's biggest candystore.

So without further ado, here's some of my very favorite fics from this infinite trove, with all my thanks to the wonderful writers who keep delighting and awing me with their dedication and craft. There'll of course be some recency bias at play but you can browse my bookmarks over here to chose from over 100 excellent and well-curated SPN stories.

💕CATEGORY: SWOONWORTHY💕

Wildly romantic fics that warm you up from the inside.

It Won't Be Perfect by someonetoanyone (10K words) Summary: Dean daydreams about what it'd be like to let himself love Cas freely.

Why I love it: the humor, the spot-on characterizations, and the quintessential late season Destiel-ness of being so deeply love with your best friend that it's too big to actually do anything about. Just. So warm.

Rock Lobster by Ginger Fail (13K) Summary: Cas decides that the lobsters Dean planned to cook need to get back home. Impromptu beach vacation ensues!

Why I love it: This road trip story is fresh and invigorating like a sea breeze! Fun, entertaining and full of deep, deep fondness.

Seek to Know You Better by ahurston (32K)

Summary: On a road trip, Dean and Cas play the 36 Questions That Lead To Love.

Why I love it: They’re so deliberatedly, carefully starting a relationship here. They try so hard to bridge the gaps and meet each other halfway. A very mature take on love that feels nourishing.

��️CATEGORY: BRAINWORMS GALORE☢️

Fics that make you go BARK BARK BARK.

samson went back to bed by piesexuality (9k, @twoheadedcas) Summary: Cas strikes a deal with Chuck - keeping his family together comes at the price of their free will.

Why I love it: What if Cas got his revenge for the Mala'ak box? What if love came at the price of everything you've been fighting for? What if a story twisted the knife oh so sweetly? Each word of this one lands a punch. Made me insane in the best of ways (cue pinned fanart).

In sickness by @saintedcastiel (41K) Summary: S4 redux but Castiel has a fetish: giving Dean the sniffles.

Why I love it: This one is soooo. Can barely find words for it. It taps into Cas' early season alienness and psychosexual obsession with Dean, brilliantly demonstrates Casdean vs Samruby parallels, and each word is just. Perfect. ARGH!

so much smoke in a hall full of mirrors by AreYouReady (6K, @autisticandroids ) Summary: Godstiel is losing his heavenly war. Crowley provides a compliant Dean-doll for him to release his frustrations upon.

Why I love it: Urgh, this one is sooo dark. Taps into the scary, intimidating and alien aspects of Godstiel so well. Gore, consent and psychosexual issues galore. Delicious.

Special mention: In a Parked Car, Exhuming Ophelia by @an-android-in-a-tutu (17K). Still need to comment properly ;)

💣CATEGORY: EMOTIONAL WRECKING BALLS💣

Angsty fics that tear you to pieces to remake you better.

What Used To Be Mine by someonetoanyone (48K words) Summary: Dean never makes his apology prayer in Purgatory - Cas dies, Dean mourns.

Why I love it: Oh god, this is a heavy hitter. Just, straight up insurmontable grief, packaged in poetic, raw language to make you shed tears and tears. Loved it so much.

Ignite your bones By ilovehowyouletmefall (67K, @angelinthefire) Summary: Dean accepts Chuck's deal: killing Sam to save the world.

Why I love it: Cruuuuel cruel premise for a story that doesn’t pull its punches. It gets dark in Dean’s head and everyone around him suffers. Wonderfully written. The ending set my brain on fire.

Right Where you Left Me by outdean (93K, @armandgender)

Summary: Cas comes back from the Empty after 10 years to find Dean married to another man.

Why I love it: This one is a riiiide. When grief has become a part of you but your love comes back… When you return from the dead and have to carve a new space into the world for yourself... nothing is easy here, but the emotions are INTENSE. Also, autistic!Cas for the win.

Special mention: Who Ya Gonna Call? by saintedcastiel (50K) and Clear skies in spring by enochianprayer (WIP)

💥CATEGORY: EPIC RIDES💥

Expansive, wild adventures with lots of ups and downs

Spirit of the West by teen_dean (140K, @urne-buriall)

Summary: An 18y old Dean grew up on a horse farm – cue veterinarian Castiel. The summer of a lifetime ensues.

Why I love it: So this is one of my very favorite stories, ever ever, and I cannot recommand enough to immediatedly suscribe to the author’s Substack to be able to follow it in „real time“ next summer. It’s cinematic, rich, full of darkness and light, it’s everything a story can aspire to, I’m just. I just really love it.

Second Verse, Same as The First by LaLaCat1 (135K)

Summary: Endverse!Cas is sent back to the start of S1 and is determined to make things right this time round.

Why I love it: a desperate and badass Cas, unfridging everyone, a thrilling plot, moments of awesome for the entire cast, gripping action scenes, a romance for the ages… this is a genuinely amazing story.

back road, black road by eden22 (167K)

Summary: 18y old Sam gets kidnapped by Hell on his way to Stanford. Dean tries to deal.

Why I love it: So this one’s not Destiel-centric but does have wonderful Destiel moments. It’s also very heavy on the gore and the angst (NOT for the faint of stomach), but expertly crafted, fascinating and frankly it deserves more love. Held my breath for half the read and never knew where it’d take me.

Special mention: It's The End Of The World (As We Know It) by tiamatv (140K)

🤪CATEGORY: DESTIEL INSANITY🤪

Uproariously funny stories about the intricate rituals these two weirdos get up too.

Life Skills by ilovehowyouletmefall (26K)

Summary: Dean teaches a newly human Cas how to be „a real man“.

Why I love it: Dean coming to Big Self-Realizations while trying to have platonic threesomes with Cas is so perfect. Very endearing, tender and funny. Also, smoking hot sex.

the cheapest room in the house by biggaybenny (89K)

Summary: Dean downloads Grindr for Cas

Why I love it: Just. Late season Dean being deranged about Cas’ sexuality while everyone watches on in utter confusion. Equally hilarious and deeply moving

according to all known laws of life by @sobsicles (29k)

Summary: Cas comes back from the Empty to a Dean who won’t stop playing gay chicken.

Why I love it: They are both such petty, insane weirdos in this one. They said „can every situation be turned into a squabble“ and didn’t wait for an answer. So funny, so tender

Special mention: Wedding Vows and Negotiations by GingerFail (6K)

That's it, enjoy and leave your writers some much-deserved love!

[mareastrorum]

These are just initial thoughts, and perhaps I’ll learn something that changes my mind on it, but I’m glad to see Critical Role making the leap to their own subscription service with Beacon.

As a lead in: I’m an attorney that has some background in IP law, though it isn’t what I practice currently. I’ve kept in contact with several active practitioners, particularly those that represent small-time creators either in their own independent practice or via nonprofits. I do not have an extensive Rolodex of IP peers, nor do I spend the money to keep up on IP CLEs. I’m just someone who used to know a ton because I did heavy research and work in that space, and that hasn’t been the case for years.

So here’s my thoughts a bit on the IP angle:

The primary reason I’m happy to see this leap is that CR is taking active steps to keep control over its IP. It’s a boring thing to most people, but when I start paying attention to a specific creator (authors, directors, companies, etc.), I tend to be very attentive to how they use their IP. How freely do they license their marks to partner with other creators to make merch? How often do they allow others to make adaptations or derivatives of their copyrights? What is the quality of those products? What is the supply chain like? Are those third parties objectionable in some way? Were the other parties faithful to the original works or marks? Was this a cash grab or an earnest effort to make something worth the price tag?

Honestly, I like how CR run their business. They have a history of tapping fans and fellow small businesses when making new merch or spinoffs. They embrace the culture of fan-made derivative works, both by featuring fanart/cosplay and by sharing their success. Do you know how rare it is for a company to pay fan artists for their already-made and freely posted work and then sell books of it? Let me be clear: CR bought a limited license from each artist so they could print and sell each work in a physical book, then paid the cost of publishing that book with no guarantee that CR would make that money back, let alone profit. I have a copy of the collector’s edition art books: they’re actually very well made and the packaging definitely cost a pretty penny. That’s not a rainmaker idea, that’s genuinely risking financial loss to sell something people could access for free if they wanted to.

The art books aren’t a one-off either. Darrington Press is CR’s separate LLC for tabletop games. (It’s good business practice to split off companies that handle products in different industries.) CR has also made shows based on those games, and the Candela Obscura series has quite a dedicated audience. Everything about Candela belongs to them: the game itself, the rule book, all the art in the book, the web series based on the game, and merch. It’s so successful that they invested in scheduling a live show for Candela later this month. That’s HUGE.

Contrast that with the distribution of Campaign 1 and the first 19 episodes of Campaign 2. CR cannot host those videos themselves; Geek & Sundry still exists and still holds what I presume to be distribution rights (but I don’t have the contract to review). So G&S gets to host those videos on YouTube and reaps the advertising. I can’t speak to whatever share CR gets from that, but considering that CR is locked out of hosting their own copies of those videos, I doubt it’s much, if any, revenue. (If you’re wondering why CR just didn’t buy those rights back, I ask: what incentive does G&S have to sell something that’s making them money for no cost?)

Knowing that background about G&S, I was wary of CR choosing Amazon to host and distribute The Legend of Vox Machina. Originally, TLOVM was not the plan; CR had a kickstarter for an animated special based on C1. It was only because they blew past the goal that CR was able to make an entire season. The reasonable assumption is that choosing Amazon had to have secured CR additional funding for future seasons of the show, which seems evident from how quickly season 2 was announced, Mighty Nein Animated is also going to be a thing, and that season 3 of TLVOM is scheduled for fall 2024. CR had the option of just doing 1 season and keeping it purely in their control, but going with Amazon meant they could animate more of their works. Animation is expensive. I cannot stress enough how doubtful I am that CR would have been able to afford this many episodes and both campaigns if they had not gone this route. As wary as I was in the start, it paid off, and it’s going well—so far. Hopefully CR doesn’t regret that decision if Amazon tries something sleazy. But, as before, we don’t have the contracts and can’t know how secure CR’s position is if any dispute came up.

CR also partnered with Dark Horse Comics to make Vox Machina comics and Might Nein Origins comics. What’s especially surprising is that each of the cast had a hand in writing the MNO comics for their characters, with Matt listed for multiple. That isn’t very common with comic adaptations. Often times, IP owners let comic companies go ham with minimal oversight. Being listed as one of the authors comes with IP rights that have to be negotiated. That means that Dark Horse had to talk with CR about whether that warrants more or less revenue going to which party in exchange for that—or, alternatively, whether the comic gets made at all. That’s a ballsy move. You think people can just demand to write the comics that a publishing company is going to pay to print? Pffft. CR wanted some creative control, and that is a big ask. However, Dark Horse still has the distribution rights, both digitally and for physical copies. You couldn’t buy the comics from CR until they came out with the library edition, a book bound compilation of 4/8 comics. But the publisher is still Dark Horse; CR is just allowed to sell the book directly from their own site as well.

Contrast that with the novels about CR characters. CR partnered with Penguin Random House to publish novels about Vex and Vax (Kith & Kin), Lucien (The Nine Eyes of Lucien), and Laudna (What Doesn’t Break). Liam and Laura were vocal about having some say in K&K, whereas Madeline Roux said in an interview that she had full control over TNEOL. Both of those novels were narrated with CR voices, but narrating a book doesn’t come with IP rights, it just brings in a paycheck. There’s a lot less IP control in there compared to the comics, but this isn’t abnormal for book publishing. To be blunt, I doubt PRH would have agreed to publish the novels if anyone from CR had been a co-author or had heavy oversight over the author or the editing. I don’t think PRH even considered that as an option. Either an author that has already managed to sell X number of copies or nothing. Creative control over a book a huge ask, asks come with reduced revenue, and switching to books from a web series is already a leap. The fact that Laura and Liam had any say is surprising, really.

That was a long meandering tour of what we’ve seen CR do with its IP. The reason I bring up each of these things is that navigating the way to protect an IP in this space is rife with challenges. Different types of IP warrant different strategies because of the cost involved in creating each medium and the challenges placed by industries that have already sprung up around them. Any time that a third party is tapped to create an IP, it’s usually because they already have the funds and resources to create the work, and CR has to negotiate for revenue, creative control, distribution, and—the big one—who gets to be the owner. These are not easy, quick, or fun conversations, and CR is always going to be the smaller company at the table.

Knowing that, I’m not surprised or worried that CR is creating its own independent subscription service with Beacon. It tells me that they’re being careful with their IP whenever they can. A subscription service means they don’t have to trade away distribution rights or give up ad revenue to a third party. They’re in this for a long term investment, and that requires solid income not tied to third parties that can definitely outspend them in litigation in the event of a dispute. A subscription for bonus content is one of many parts in a diverse revenue stream.

(All that said, this isn’t meant to criticize creators that cant afford to do this type of thing. It took 9 years for CR to get to the point where Beacon is financially feasible and a desirable business decision. They have enough ongoing, popular content to warrant paying for a subscription, and they’ve built sufficient trust with their audience that more will be added. That takes time and an awful lot of money.)

As a final note, I take this step as a sign that CR definitely intends to stick around. This isn’t a move people make when they plan on ending the business after the current campaign. I’m glad to see CR is taking steps to secure their foundation and keep making new content.

I’m sure people will chime in on other issues (cost, content exclusivity, etc.), but I hope my perspective gives an idea of why this sort of thing is good for business generally and why it would be good for CR.

[tateshifts]

MATTHEO RIDDLE ⋆｡˚ ੈ✩‧₊˚ dr headcanons pt 2

✮ . . . i know this sounds very 2021 shiftok but mattheo actually does smell like burnt wood ? but it’s not the bad kind ? I CANT EXPLAIN LMAO but it’s like a mix with cigs and rain too. but he absolutely does not smell like cinnamon.

✮ . . . enzo and blaise go to hogsmeade often at 1am to buy weed from this dodgy man… (you will never catch me there) but the boys all smoke it together regularly ?? god knows what’s in that weed- i smoked it once and passed out for 18 hours. i now get my weed elsewhere LOL

✮ . . . he did drink a lot a few years ago (as one of his coping mechanisms), but now he balances his drinking and smoking & he never does both at the same time; unless it’s at a special slytherin party when he’s celebrating (slytherin winning the overall match for the season)

✮ . . . this man is such a hopeless romantic!! he would never dare say it out loud but you can tell in the movies he watches and the books he reads. i made him read ‘ugly love’ (when it was trending) and i swear i saw him smiling at the romantic parts ahahah but overall he hated it. 2/10 don’t recommend.

✮ . . . he also loves the marvel comics. he’s such a dedicated fan, he likes to refresh his memory with the comics, on the characters and the original plot before he watches a new mcu film.

✮ . . . he likes having company most of the time but he only likes it from his close friends. he won’t really acknowledge anyone else unless it benefits his academics or needs. i spend most of my time with mattheo since we match eachothers energies so well; its rare that we’re ever apart

✮ . . . his love language is touch and gift giving!! if he needs something from me that he knows will need a bit of persuading, he will go and buy me crystal bars (this worked well for him once).

✮ . . . continuing from pt 1, he gives off this cold and heartless personality but once you really get to know and trust him, he shows you his gentle side, only if he trusts you. he has trust issues and abandonment issues which stemmed from his childhood as he never had any immediate living blood relatives, but he now considers the boys, me and pansy his family.

part 1 here

thanks for reading ❦｡･:*:･ﾟ follows, likes & reblogs are appreciated x

[sapphiresaphics]

The reason why I keep bringing up media literacy and bad faith criticisms is because of things like this. Follow along if you can!

^^^———

I saw this post the other day where this person suggested that the reason Vi didn’t get as much character development was because the writers didn’t know what to do with her. That’s a pretty bold statement to make. I’ve certainly not heard any of the writers express that opinion at all. So where did this idea come from? What interview provided us with that look behind the scenes?

Luckily someone asked for a source, and they obliged! And my friends… this gets weirder…

The “source” ends up being this game journalism article:

This is an entire article dedicated to basically interpreting, reframing, and summarizing…. A tweet.

A single tweet by Christian Linke.

An entire article that took his response to a question WAY out of proportion and infused it with more meaning than was intended.

Here’s the original tweet. A user ask’s about VI’s character being less prominent, and his response is basically “we had a lot of characters” which is true. There were a lot of characters to squeeze in appropriate amounts of time for. Vi included. Here’s the original tweet:

It’s really not much at all, is it? This isn’t him admitting they didn’t know what to do with her, or that they abandoned her storyline or anything like that. All he said was there were a lot of characters and as a result Vi got a little less screen time as a matter of fact. Nothing more, nothing less.

But here’s how the game article summarized things:

^^^———

So do you see what I’m getting at here? A fan asks a reasonable question, and Linke gives a very straightforward answer. This is picked up and interpreted by the games journalist reporter and given far greater weight that it deserves, including a flashy headline. People see this and add even MORE of their own personal biases and exaggerated opinions and spread that around… and before long that innocent tweet somehow is “proof they didn’t know what to do with Vi and that’s why her arc was reduced to X thing I didn’t like!”

Swirling around Season 2 of Arcane is this weird game of telephone where with each step of the journey the original message is getting lost and distorted and twisted around. Unfortunately when a quote is this ambiguous, it leaves it open to interpretation. I’ve seen this same tweet be used to explain why every character had “bad writing.”

And the games journalist isn’t technically wrong in their coverage… after all, all they did was post the tweet and then re-summarize the same tweet. But by taking what the fan asked and twisting it into “Arcane lead explains why Vi felt like a side character” as an article headline, they’ve distorted the original interaction and infused it with this twinge of negativity designed to get you angry enough to click on the article.

Arcane Season 2 had a lot of story to tell with a lot of characters. As a result Vi’s screen time was slightly reduced. Doesn’t matter that out of all the characters she has the most screen time across both seasons. Nothing about acknowledging that as a simple fact explains motivations behind the writing of her arc in season 2 at all. It says nothing about her pitfighter phase, her relationship with Caitlyn, or her final battle fight with Jinx and Warwick. But if you were already critical of season 2, this gives you a plausible air of credibility for whatever “reasons” you think they did what they did. And then you just spread this fabrication to the internet where it just snowballs out of control.

So much of the negativity surrounding Arcane Season 2 is the result of this game of telephone and it’s really starting to bother me. And when you label overblown garbage like this as “arcane critical” then I genuinely believe you’re doing this on purpose and you don’t have an original thought in your body. You’re not being critical, you’re just letting your ignorance and biases control everything. This is bad faith argument construction at it’s worst.

[malk1ns]

december 14 2024 @ senators, 3-2 OT loss

creature feature time. yes i've already written incubus sidney crosby once and i likely will again; what can i say, it compels me.

credit for this prompt goes to @beggingwolf who ended it with 'and uh something something they sleep together'. can do!

Zhenya can tell when Sid hasn’t fed in a while.

The team keeps a close eye on his intake, of course. He gets his blood tested weekly, and there’s a whole sub-department of the medical team dedicated to his care and keeping.

League requirements for something like Sid are much more lax than they are for other creatures; wolves take suppressants and wear thin gloves made of cut-resistant fabric under their normal hockey gloves, vampires wear specially-molded mouthguards that have to be cracked off by the dentists and get shots that dull their sense of smell on game days. Some creatures aren’t allowed in the NHL at all—the fae and telekinetics are stuck in the lower levels because magical dampeners aren’t effective enough.

Incubi, though? Unless they’re underfed, they’re in complete control of their abilities, and it’s so obvious when a sex demon is putting someone under thrall that they’d be tossed immediately, before any impact to the game could occur. 

So Sid is subjected to regular testing, and he has a group of people more involved in his sex life than he’d probably prefer, but it’s a small price to pay relative to others, and Zhenya’s never heard him complain.

Sometimes, though, he lies.

Sid’s stubborn, always has been. There are certain cities he doesn’t like picking up in even if he’s scheduled to feed, and he’s slippery, good at avoiding questions without the medical staff picking up on it until it’s too late.

Normally, it doesn’t matter. A day or two here and there doesn’t really impact anything, and Sid knows his body—he’d never delay to the point where it would impact his performance, or the team.

And if it does get close to a critical point, well, that’s where Zhenya steps in. It’s why he’s gotten so good at picking up on the early signs.

One of the places Sid never feeds is Montreal. He’s far too visible there, too well-known; they can barely duck in for a sandwich without him getting mobbed. They have to stick to the VIP if they go out, and even then he spends time brushing off hopeful fans looking to get up close and personal. All it would take is one person running to one of the innumerable hockey reporters that are constantly buzzing around the Penguins when they’re here, and it’s a league-wide story for months, if not the whole rest of the season.

Zhenya’s half-wondering if Sid will call him to his hotel room after the game. They’re not leaving until tomorrow after practice, and a bunch of the guys are chattering about going out as they all get changed.

Sid doesn’t say anything, though, and despite the blowout win his face is drawn. He lurks in the shadows at the bar they decide on and slips out early.

Zhenya shrugs it off and distracts himself with a couple of giggly French-Canadian girls with accents so thick he can barely understand them. He won’t go home with either of them, of course, but it’s fun to make friends.

—

Sid puts on a good face at practice the next day, but he’s quiet and crabby on the train, sitting across the aisle from Zhenya’s card game but refusing to be dealt in even when Karl tries to cajole him into playing. He chats for a while with Neets, but spends most of the ride staring out the window with his brow furrowed and one hand clenching and unclenching in his lap.

Zhenya sits next to him at dinner, but Sid doesn’t say a word, not even when Zhenya asks leading questions to try and get around to the topic.

Sid doesn’t text that night either, not that Zhenya was expecting it the night before a game.

The Senators game is fine. They manage a point, which is better than they usually do against this team, and they have two days before they play again. The team normally wouldn’t go out two nights so close together, but Karl’s chattering excitedly about a bar he used to go to all the time when he was playing here, and when Sid unexpectedly pipes up to say he’s in, the rest of the team follows suit.

Zhenya grabs Sid on the way out. “You sure?” he says quietly, leaning down so Sid can hear him. “You’re tired, I think, need to feed. We can go to hotel if you want.” Ottawa is another city Sid won’t pick up in, a relatively recent development that Zhenya hasn’t bothered getting to the bottom of outside of how it impacts Sid’s routines.

Sid stares up at him. His eyes are huge and black in his pale face, and his skin is drawn tight over his cheekbones. For a second Zhenya can feel thrall creeping up, and he sways forward, but then Sid shakes his head and wrenches his arm free. “I’m fine,” he says shortly.

Zhenya stares after him, baffled. Even when Sid had his eye on some other target, he’s never brushed Zhenya off so rudely before.

Sid’s demon likes Zhenya, is the thing. Zhenya’s heard it from its own mouth, lying prone on a mattress in some hotel and listening to the incubus inside Sid’s body murmur about how good he is, the best, as it works Zhenya over into orgasm after orgasm. And yeah, part of that is flattery designed to keep its food source compliant, but Sid had confirmed it too, when Zhenya screwed up enough courage to ask.

"Yeah,” Sid had said, flushing pink. “I mean…it’s not picky, you know, but there are…favorites, I guess. You’re one of them. You taste—” and then Sid had cut himself off.

Sometimes, Zhenya wonders how much of their encounters are Sid and not his incubus side. He likes to pretend that it’s strictly transactional, a series of mindblowing orgasms in exchange for keeping his demon fed, but Zhenya knows what Sid looks like when it’s just him in there. The lines have felt blurred for a while now, and Zhenya isn’t sure how much more clear he can make it that if Sid wanted it, Zhenya would wife him up so fast.

Husband him up. Whatever.

Maybe Sid figured that out and he’s trying to give Zhenya a hint. That would be just like Sid, to get himself all worked up over something and decide he has to shut it down before even giving it a chance.

Well, Sid isn’t the only stubborn asshole on this team. Zhenya’s prepared to wait him out. And since Sid’s incubus likes him so much, he’s got the edge over whatever objections Sid might try to trot out. He just needs to force the conversation and let their natural chemistry take it from there.

All Zhenya’s confidence evaporates, though, when he loses track of Sid for a solid hour at the bar Karl directed them to, only to spot him leaning up against a hightop making eyes at someone else.

To Zhenya’s surprise, his eyes sting like they’re about to fill with tears, and he has to swallow hard around the sudden lump in his throat. It feels like he’s gotten the wind knocked out of him.

Sid’s making himself perfectly clear. Whatever he and Zhenya used to do, he doesn’t want it, and by hitting on some guy in the middle of a bar like this, he couldn’t be sending out a stronger signal—we’re done.

Just as Zhenya’s about to turn away, make his way back to their table to grab his jacket and get back to the hotel to lick his wounds in private, Sid’s head suddenly turns, and they make eye contact across the bar.

Zhenya tucks tail and flees. He doesn’t need Sid’s pity right now.

He’s barely gotten changed from his going-out clothes into his pajamas, though, when someone pounds on his hotel room door. There’s really only one person it could be, and Zhenya seriously considers ignoring it and pretending he’s already asleep, but then Sid knocks again, harder this time, and Zhenya sighs, heading to the door to let him in.

“You left,” Sid says as he pushes past Zhenya into the room, except it’s not just Sid, there’s a crooning undertone to his voice that Zhenya knows mean the incubus is here too. “Why did you sneak out? You—” and Sid sniffs the air, sometimes this demon shit is beyond weird even after all these years, “you’re upset about something.” He steps closer to Zhenya, widening his eyes. The irises are pitch-black, not a hint of Sid’s normal hazel, and Zhenya closes his eyes against the gentle thrum of thrall brushing over his skin. “What happened?”

“Sid,” Zhenya sighs, taking a step back to try and keep his head clear. “You’re say you not want with me, you’re with some guy tonight. I’m a little upset, okay, maybe I’m jealous, because I think…” He shrugs. “It’s stupid, maybe, but I’m not want to see you do with someone else, so I come back to be alone, give you space.”

“Baby,” Sid murmurs, closing the distance again and curling a hand around the back of Zhenya’s neck. “I never want space from you. You know you’re my favorite.”

Zhenya doesn’t need thrall to give in, not when Sid’s standing so close and looking at him that way. He’s a weak man, and impulsive, and so he’s already moving for the bed before Sid has to push any harder.

Sid undresses them both slowly, letting his fingers reverently linger over Zhenya’s skin, the way a man besotted with his lover might. Zhenya closes his eyes and lets him, drifting on the drugging feel of thrall.

Sid lays him out on the mattress and stretches out next to him before leaning down, kissing him deep and lush, like the kiss is the goal and there’s nothing else he’d rather be doing. His hands over Zhenya’s body are rhythmic and intoxicating, and they feel good, but he keeps intentionally avoiding Zhenya’s dick, which is getting hard painfully fast.

“Please,” Zhenya finally groans when he manages to break away from Sid’s mouth for a minute and gasp to catch his breath. “Sid, need it.”

“I need you,” Sid—the incubus—Zhenya can’t tell at this point, purrs at him, but instead of teasing further he slides down Zhenya’s body and takes Zhenya into his mouth.

Sid gets a lot of shit on the ice for what his mouth looks like, and Zhenya can attest that he deserves every last word of it. He’s preternaturally skilled with his tongue and doesn’t seem to have a gag reflex at all, and when Zhenya looks down at Sid’s head bobbing in his lap it takes all his effort to keep from coming right there.

He wants this to last.

Sid hums around him, taking him deeper and reaching down to press at Zhenya’s hole, just lightly, rubbing circles over it with a finger that’s somehow slick with lube even though there’s no way he had time to get Zhenya’s bottle off the nightstand. Zhenya tries to buck back and force Sid’s finger in, but Sid’s other arm is a steel bar over his hip bones, pressing him into the mattress. All Zhenya can do is lie there and take what Sid decides to give him.

Sid’s said before that when he’s with someone like this, he can kind of feel what they’re feeling. Nothing major, but enough to tell him what’s working and what isn’t—the better an orgasm is, the better he feeds. Zhenya wonders what Sid’s getting off of him now, the deep swell of arousal and love and longing that’s making his chest tight.

It means that Sid knows the exact right moment to slide his finger in and press mercilessly at Zhenya’s prostate, rubbing and rubbing as he sucks hard until Zhenya’s coming down his throat with a shout.

Sid nurses at Zhenya’s cock for a while until the shocky oversensitivity turns painful, then pulls back, licking his lips. His eyes are half-slits, and he looks contented, satisfied, like a well-fed cat.

Now that the high of orgasm is fading, though, Zhenya feels empty.

“Hey—” Sid says, and that’s Sid, just him, no trace of the demon. He props himself up on his elbow and looks down at Zhenya, eyes big and worried and wholly his again. “What’s wrong? I can still…I mean, not much, but I can still feel you a little.”

Zhenya flinches. “Sorry,” he mutters, wishing they weren’t lying on top of the covers so he could pull a blanket over himself. He feels exposed. “It’s not—I feel dumb, like, it’s big overreact for nothing. I know it’s…what’s word, like, a deal for you, it’s not serious. I let myself think something more, maybe. It’s okay, though, I get over. We don’t need to stop when you’re hungry.”

“G,” Sid says, voice small, “it is something more. I wasn’t…” He sighs, scrubbing his free hand over his face. “It’s true, that you’re its favorite. My favorite. It’s not just a deal to me, and you’re not overreacting. I noticed it a few weeks ago, the last time I fed from you, but I thought it was bleed—that can happen sometimes, the link starts to let stuff through the other way. I thought you were getting how I felt, and I felt terrible influencing you like that. So I pulled back.”

“Sid,” Zhenya says chidingly, but he has to blink away the dizzying wash of hope. “You’re not say anything? Have to talk, like, can’t just make decisions without say to me.”

“I know,” Sid mutters, flopping down onto his stomach and hiding his face in a pillow. “I felt so stupid, though. I mean, you’re doing me this huge favor and here I am making you feel stuff…it’s more than stupid, it’s unfair, it’s…” He trails off, but Zhenya can plug in a number of words into the silence that he thinks Sid probably would use if they weren’t so unpleasant to say aloud. “I wanted to give you a break to get your head back.”

Zhenya manfully refrains from making a dirty joke. “It’s both of us, I think,” he says instead, rolling onto his side so he can skate his palm over Sid’s back. “You and me, we’re both feel, that’s equal, yes? It’s good.”

“Yeah,” Sid’s muffled, but Zhenya can hear hope rising in his voice too.

[steveharrington]

major hornets nest moment here but i must speak my truth. its so fascinating to me how will byers was clearly written with the driving motivation and intention of making him a beloved fan favorite character and instead he falls so flat that, if you asked the average casual viewer of the show who doesn't engage in the fandom like, say, your coworker, the odds of him even being in their top five of favorite characters is pretty low.

will's disappearance kicks off the plot, singlehandedly. the first episode is literally called the vanishing of will byers. his name is shouted so much in the first season that most people would recognize the reference if you used the right cadence and desperation that winona ryder does. after not being featured much in season one, you'd think season two would've just like launched will/noah schnapp into stardom with how much more screentime he's given and how dramatic his plot is that season. but instead the fan favorites of season 2 were by and large el, hopper, dustin, steve, max, even bob who's barely there. that's not to say that there AREN'T will fans out there (and online i understand there are like entire armies dedicated to him/byler, but i'm talking about the average opinion of viewers as a whole, not just in fandom spaces) but think about all the stranger things merch you see in stores, the halloween costumes, the characters that appear in promotional materials when the show has partnerships with brands....will is so rarely featured. idk if any of yall ever got the chance to visit the stranger things pop up shop in any of its various locations, but there was such little mention of will in the stores theming or merchandise that it was almost funny. actually it WAS funny, to me, someone who does not care for him

i think the flop can be attributed to many things. one, noah schnapp is just not a very good actor and he doesn't have the same appeal in his performances that millie, sadie, caleb, gaten, priah, or finn do (although finn i've noticed is also kinda falling out of favor from majority audiences). one could argue that noah schnapp intentionally isn't given much to do, which is true and i'll circle back to that, but the decline in his acting between seasons 2 and 3 is truly a sight to behold. when he's not like tied up and screaming, he reallllllly struggles on the smaller scale performances compared to the other cast members his age. he doesn't really have the charm that gaten does or the humor that priah does or the depth that caleb does. (i don’t feel bad about saying this, btw, given noah schnapp’s behavior)

back to the vanishing of will byer's screen time. my beloved prettymuchit's eric striffler commented on how diminished will and mike's roles in the story have become in s4. "noah schnapp is below the grips on the call sheet" is my fav line, but he also makes an observation on finn's role that i think is soooo accurate. when mike and will are kneeling down next to the pizza dough freezer and watching el just kinda twitch while she fights vecna in her mind, eric and his co-host miles say "this is so embarrassing! finn's like, 'oh so gaten's fighting the monster? and i'm kneeling next to a tub at a pizza place? i used to be this show" and i think the same exact sentiment can be superimposed onto will

but i think this happened naturally, as the nature of the show is to shift its focus from character to character. not to mention the duffer brothers' obsession with tweaking their story to give audiences what they want. i've always held the belief that there isn't one main character of stranger things, rather a rotating circle of characters depending on the season you're watching. season one is mike, season two is hopper, season three is el, season four is max imo. again that's a little subjective and arguments could be made to swap those a little, but overall i think those characters stories and point of views take center stage during each of their respective seasons. by season 3, the duffers wanted to kick things up to a larger scale. the UD is no longer targeting just will, it's targeting the entire town. this works because a THIRD season in a row where this one kid specifically gets possessed would just be bonkers, so they kinda had to let him take a backseat. i'm not sure why they didn't let will be more involved in the mystery-solving portion of season 3....to this day that decision baffles me, but what's done is done and the will that everyone watched in season 3 literally just kinda follows everyone around and gets a small little slice of a plotline about wanting things to go back to normal, but alas

it like totally worked, though. though there are MANY complaints commonly made about season 3, i've never heard anyone offline complain that there wasn't enough will byers. i think the group in s3 that had the most success like, commercially, would be scoops troop and then a bit farther back i think most audiences enjoyed hopper/joyce/murray's dynamic. i think if there had been a huge outcry in the minimizing of will's role, the duffers would've backpedaled immediately. they aim to please. they can't even commit to killing of a main character out of fear that audiences will lose interest if we permanently lose hopper or max, so they just do some creative writing that allows them to milk the emotional consequence of those characters deaths without actually writing them off. if audiences on a large scale demanded that will be center stage, he would be. but they dont!

final point: i think will gets fucked over by the duffers obsession with romance. in season one, two of will's strongest dynamics are with his mom and brother. which like, yeah. theyre his immediately family and he is 12. but in seasons 2 and 3, jonathan spent all his screen time with nancy and from 2-4, joyce has spent all her screen time either with hopper or in the pursuit of finding hopper. these characters are written together as a package deal, typically. it was refreshing and unexpected to see jonathan get a whole season with a friend of his very own and his siblings, but they barely took advantage of that. jonathan and will get ummmm one (1) scene to talk about their emotions in a fucking 20 hour season. it's hard for will to be a main character when he rarely gets to interact with the people that make up the other half of his main dynamics.

as for byler, im of the belief that it will not be endgame because i just don't think they're going to break up mike and el at this point. i could be completely wrong and stand corrected, but im like 90% sure lol. i do think that will's s4 storyline resonated with a lot of people. even eric striffler! i think the issue is that the vastttt majority of people who watch this show above the age of like 15 do not feel invested about the romantic relationships between any of the kids. because why would they!!! theyre literally in middle school for 3/4 of the show. you would be hard pressed to find a vocal will stan online who doesn't also dedicate 90% of their engagement with the show to byler. which makes sense, because most if not all of will's scenes revolve around mike to some degree. but according to neilsen, the majority of stranger things audience is consistently in the 18-49 age range season by season. its more likely for adult audiences to identify with adults (or characters who are narratively treated like adults, like steve and nancy) than with any of the kids. esp when the kid in question, despite being written as the focal point of the show, has less relevant plotlines, less interaction with other characters, and an actor who just doesn't deliver on charm the way his fellow younger costars do