#but it was inspired by 'the lighthouse' the actual movie

[ofmdrecaps]

08/31/2024 - 09/01/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Taika Waititi; Con O'Neill; Samba Schutte; Kristian Nairn; Vico Ortiz; Guz Khan; Happy DickFuck/Be A Lighthouse Day!; Bisexual Awareness Month; Fan Spotlight: Cast Cards; Our Flag Means Fanfiction; Be a Lighthouse!; Love Notes; Daily Darby / Today's Taika;

Hey friends, things are slowly progressing on things with my dad and his surgery recovery. Each day things get a little better but it's gonna be a really long road to recovery. Hopefully we're out of the worst of it. I'm still gonna try to keep up with recap stuff as best I can, but they'll probably still be late because of the uncertainty of timing right now. Thank you all so much for all the kind words and well wishes and all the patience. I hope you're staying well <3

== Taika Waititi ==

More Taika out with VasJMorgan and Rita and friends in Ibiza back in August.

Source: VasJMorgan's Instagram

== Con O'Neill ==

Con's done with vacation in Mexico! Hope it was relaxing!

Source: Con's Instagram

== Samba Schutte ==

Hey! Samba's gonna be on the Geekspace podcast again for his new movie Advanced Chemistry! You can check the episode out on spotify below!

Samba was also out to visit his extended family in Holland!

Source: Samba's Instagram

== Kristian Nairn ==

Reminder, you can still get signed copies of Kristian's book coming out this month on his Linktr.ee! https://linktr.ee/kristiannairn Kristian was featured in a Polygon article about his new book! Full link and highlights below.

Source: Kristian Nairn's Instagram

== Vico Ortiz ==

Vico's film Lesbophila was chosen as the Official Selection for Long Beach Film Festival 2024! Sunday the 9th, at 1:15 pm they'll be in the "Women In Shorts" block. You can get tickets here.

Source: LesbophiliaFilm Instagram

== Guz Khan ==

Some love from a fan for Guz <3

Source: Guz's Instagram stories

== Happy DickFuck Day ==

Thank you to the awesome ofmdnocontext on instagram for the fabulous stills for this, September 1st (on an actual leap year!) aka DickFuck Day! Also known as Be A Lighthouse days by some as well!

Source: OFMDNoContext Instagram

== Bisexual Awareness Month ==

Happy Bisexual Awareness month to all our lovely Bi+ Crew members! Please know my dear lovelies, you are valid and you are seen. It doesn't matter who you're in a relationship with, or what sexual experiences you've had. You're valid in your sexuality and romantic attractions. Love you friends! For those not already aware, Bi+ represents the the bisexual community, also known as the bi+, m-spec, bisexual/pansexual, or bi/pan/fluid community, which includes members of the LGBT community who identify as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, polysexual and sexually fluid (source).

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A post shared by Queer Chameleon (@queeeerchameleon)

Source: QueeerChameleon on Instagram

== Fan Spotlight ==

= Cast Cards =

I'm very behind again on the cast cards by the brilliant @melvisik! First up! We have Scott Marsh, another of our stunt performers, and Jacob Tomuri, one of our stunt coordinators!

Next up is Alexa Stollmeyer, a visual effects coordinator and Cynthia Pusheck, one of our S1 Cinemtographers!

Source: @melvisik's Twitter

= Our Flag Means Fanfiction =

New Epitizer available this week from Our Flag Means Fanfiction! "Close to Home" by our beloved @xoxoemynn! Read by @babykrakenpodfics!

Source: OFMFF Instagram

= Be A Light House =

In honor of Sept 1/2, Just a quick reminder that our amazing friend @blueberreads released this fabulous Be A Lighthouse- a Monkey Island Inspired point and click game! If you havent played it yet, please check it out here!

Source: Blueberreads Twitter

PS: I wanted to spotlight OFMD Smaugust works since it's the end of the month but I've been swamped with family stuff. It'll be late, but it's coming!

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies, hopefully life is treating you well. I hope you're getting a day off this Monday, but if not, please remember to take some time another day to rest if you can. Rest is so incredibly important. We need it to be able to recover from the crazyness that is our everyday lives. We all deal with a lot, and no one knows the extent at which we go through things, so you have to be your own advocate sometimes when it comes to rest. You deserve rest, no matter what you got done today, no matter how much you had the day before. Sending love and good vibes your way, and a couple extra love notes. You're powerful, and wonderful, and kind, and you deserve the best, lovelies.

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A post shared by Barbara ✨🐞 (@joyfulsmolthings)

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A post shared by Case Kenny (@case.kenny)

== Daily Darby / Today's Taika ==

Idk about the theme today, I was going through gifs and my son really laughed at these two, so he helped pick them out tonight. Gifs courtesy of the darling @sherlockig and @brizzystar

[strangersteddierthings]

Daily Ficlet 5

I'm not getting inspiration from the prompt on my usual list, which is 'lighthouse.' So, the ficlet today doesn't follow that. Instead I used the prompt "Kiss me or leave me" as requested by @i-less-than-three-you and @localinsaneman.

Also, consider this the first part of the first prompt I did.

-

Eddie's leg is bouncing, which isn't unusual. Steve's noticed he's always in motion. He talks with his whole body, gesturing wildly and moving about whatever space they're in, like he's trying to fill it. Which seems ridiculous to Steve, because Eddie fills in space just by entering a room. Steve doesn't even need to see him to know he's arrived; Steve always knows. Feels the change in his bones.

So, the bouncing leg isn't unusual, per say, but it is accompanied by silence. Eddie has been staring at the TV (he won't go so far as to say Eddie is watching) and it's been completely silent beyond the audio from the movie for almost ten minutes. The last time Eddie was silent this long in Steve's company was when he told Steve he was gay.

(Two months later, Steve came out to Robin. A week after that, to Eddie. And it's not like Steve had expected a reaction beyond thanks for telling me and trusting me but he'd hoped and that- well, it's foolish to think Eddie would be interested in him like that anyway.)

Something's up, or something's happened, or maybe something's wrong? Whatever is it, Eddie's working up the courage to tell him. He knows better than to prod at Eddie, because the coming out talk had actually taken over three hours. When Steve prodded, Eddie'd just gotten up and left without a word, returning about fifteen minutes later to just sit in silence. They'd repeated that three times before Steve realized he needed to just shut up and sit in silence until Eddie was ready.

But he hates the not knowing.

Sitting in the silence is awful. It reminds him of silent dinners where the only noise is cutlery on porcelain and chewing. Of the silent disappointment in his report cards even when nothing was below a C. The quiet before the storm, when his father was mad about something and bottling it up until he exploded; he'd quit hitting Steve when Steve got big enough to hit back but the yelling never stopped.

Not that this silence is filled with the same tension as any of the silences he'd shared with his parents, but it's so far off from the Eddie he's come to know that it makes Steve uneasy all the same.

In fact, the only thing keeping Steve grounded right now is his hand wrapped around Eddie's wrist between them. Steve always holds his wrist when they watch horror movies, or thrillers. (It's not that Steve is scared; he just likes to be grounded. To know he's not alone.)

Another ten minutes go by. Steve shifts on the couch, slouching more into Eddie's space. Normally they'd be shoulder to shoulder by now, but Eddie's stuck firmly on his side of the couch. Back straight. Leg bouncing. Arm completely rigid in Steve's grip. And now, as Steve leans into his space, he sees Eddie freeze. The leg stops moving, one second, two seconds, three seconds, four-

"ARGH!" Eddie shouts, flinging himself off the couch, pulling his arm from Steve's grip as he goes before throwing his arms up in the air as he spins on his heel and points at Steve. "I can't do this!"

Steve startles. "What?"

"You! You keep- sometimes it seems like- Aahh!" Eddie pulls at his own hair and Steve's just confused. What did he do? What's he done to upset Eddie? Whatever it is, he'll beg forgiveness and never do it again.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing! That's the-" Eddie snaps his mouth shut before finishing his sentence but Steve knows.

"I didn't do something and that's the issue?"

Eddie doesn't speak, but that doesn't mean he's silent. Eddie speaks with his whole body. Right now, he moves from foot to foot, a very subtle rocking motion and his hands find each other, fingers twisting at rings. Eddie stares down at Steve, still on the couch, and speaks to him without words.

He's nervous. The ring twisting is nervous Eddie. But the shifting, the rocking, that's scared. That's ready to run. And the stare. His face is a mask of anger, but Steve knows that's it. It's a mask. Eddie is hiding his fear behind anger.

Nervous. Scared. False anger. All directed at Steve, for something he didn't do.

Steve stands in one fluid motion and steps into Eddie's space. They're the same height, putting them at eye level easily. God, Steve hopes he's reading this right. He slowly lifts a hand to tuck Eddie's hair behind his ear, exposing more of his handsome face. "What do you need from me? If I can do it, I will. For you. You know I will."

He watches Eddie war with himself before all the fight leaves him. Because Eddie knows Steve just as well as Steve knows Eddie. He has to. Steve can't have fucked this up that badly. "Kiss me or leave me. I need you to do one, because I can't stand the not knowing which will happen anymore."

And Steve knows what Eddie wants, but Eddie's had him on edge all night over something they could have solved months ago, so Steve slides a hand behind Eddie's head and applies enough pressure to get Eddie moving, and just when Eddie's eyes slip closed to ready for the kiss, Steve goes up on his toes and plants a loud, exaggerated kiss to Eddie's forehead.

Eddie rears back, looking so offended that Steve just has to laugh. But before Eddie can get hurt or angry, Steve grabs his wrist again and marches down the short hallway to Eddie's room, wasting no time in crowding Eddie against his door once it's closed, and kissing his way up Eddie's shoulder, neck, jaw, before finally, finally claiming his lips.

[milfronin]

"Sunny" isn't Comrade Sunny's actual name. Her full name is Ephraim Ahab Menuck. I've decided on this based upon a handful of references that I feel connect together well sonically as a name.

"Ephraim" is a nod to The Lighthouse, and Ephraim Winslow, one of the two characters in the movie. The Lighthouse is one of my favorite films and the aesthetics of it are something Incredibly dear to me.. I truly adore it, so to have a way to pay homage to it with her is very lovely.

"Ahab" is of course a reference to Captain Ahab of Moby Dick fame. A seafaring captain reference for an ex-Zailor, hm? And her ambition, chasing after whatever Whitlock was going for, could almost be seen as a white whale, though it may be realer than expected! Though it may well spell her downfall, too.

"Menuck" is more niche, but it is a genuine nod to Efrim Menuck [who also inspired the first name...] a notable member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, one of my favorite bands. The band's music has genuinely changed my life, and I do not know who I'd be without them.... A lot of their moody atmospheres I also find fitting for the image of a long night at Zee.

She is called Sunny because she was far, far too optimistic when she first began Zailing.

[nat-seal-well]

WIP title ask game!

I was tagged by @serenpedac :)

Rules: reveal the titles of the documents in your WIP folder and tag as many people as there are documents. Let others ask questions about the ones that interest them and post snippets or explain the contents as you see fit!

I have way more than I realized, lol. I actually forgot about one entirely that I know I gotta finish now hahaha <3

keeping watch (holding vigil) 6: I hit a little bit of a block with this, so I’ve been leaving it alone and hoping that the right words will come to me. I know where I want it to go, I just gotta figure out how to get it there, lol. This is a lighthouse AU with Nate and Marin, because I wanted an excuse to write about two of my favorite things: lighthouses and the ocean.

hello my old heart: a one-shot that’s mostly some Adam introspection, inspired by a song by The Oh Hellos. It features Adam and an unnamed, gender-neutral detective. And is fighting me every step of the way.

in which nate tries to figure out how video games work (title pending): also a one-shot, featuring Nate and an unnamed, gender-neutral detective. They ask him to play Animal Crossing for them because they don’t want to do the daily tasks themself and naturally, he agrees, against his better judgement. Felix is there to watch it go down.

no time like the present: a one-shot Nat and Marin. Unit Bravo attends an Agency-funded event and Marin does not have a good time. Nat tries to help them with relax with a little bit of dancing, which of course doesn’t go quite as planned. It will be fluffy and silly.

time for another sleep paralysis fic (title pending): because writing about it makes it less scary when it happens, right? A one-shot with Nat and Marin. Light angst and lots of comfort.

stay close to me 3: the third part of a survival story with Ava and Elena, after they find themselves lost in the woods. Inspired by me wanting to write about the woods and my fascination with survival knowledge (because of anxiety). Also, I watch too many of those kinds of movies. Angst, hurt/comfort.

relativity (title pending): another Adam introspection one-shot, this time inspired by the thing I love and fear in equal measure: space.

in which elena does her best (title pending): Ava/Elena. Set in a very unoriginal fight out in the woods with some trappers. Elena tries to hold her own but sometimes bodies just don’t like to work right, especially knees. A fluffy, silly one-shot that’s more comfort than it is hurt.

Tagging: @pinksparkl @evilbunnyking @ejunkiet @wayhavenots @lovelylonerliterature @troubadour-malin @ava-du-mortain @deepinotomehell (I’m sorry if anyone was already tagged 😭)

[cosmicatta]

👀 Can i have a snippet of that space oddity wip? I’m hook on the name alone

An actual snippet is impossible for this one, sadly :'') I haven't really started writing it yet, the document is just notes. But I can tell you a bit about it! ♥

It's a little lulaw AU with a universe loosely inspired in both the movie Treasure Planet and the short novel Night on the Galactic Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa. In a world where trains travel in between planets and ships sail among the stars, Law is a lighthouse keeper in a small satellite. And he'll soon meet Luffy, a very peculiar sailor who seems to be lost.

The title is just for aesthetics tbh fghkjfgh, I like the song and I thought it fit the vibe. It's subject to change though!

Thanks for the question 🌸

[skylarynn-ninjago]

Plot concepts/canon divergences

Continuation of this post over there.

01 - Masters of Spinjitzu

The pilot season.  As mentioned there are not major changes in overall plot, however I am adding in an episode [called “A Brother’s Shadow”] to cover what’s going on with Nya in the Underworld since we literally never see what all went down between when she was captured and when she was chained up in the Fire Temple.  Also I will be giving plot to the mini movies, which tacks an additional 5 episodes [“New Masters of Spinjitzu” is getting thrown in the fire] onto the season, making it a nice round 10 episodes.

02 - Rise of the Snakes

Season 1.  As mentioned it’s not overly different from the original, though there will be seeding for concepts I introduce later, such as Lloyd’s aunt Koko and the Kagami family of professional dancers.  

03 - Legacy of the Green Ninja

Season 2.  Lloyd’s aunt Koko is introduced in the same episode Misako is, and she participates in shenanigans from then onwards for the season.   Also I will try to come up with some explanation of Dr. Julien leaving Echo on the Lighthouse so he’s not an utterly Terrible Parent™.

04 - Rebooted

Season 3.  Hopefully I can try to iron out/rectify most of the pacing issues they had, as the show was going to be 4 episodes, then 13, then 8, and you can kinda tell with the way the plot’s tempo fluctuates.  Also there will be reference to Koko having traversed Hiroshi’s Labyrinth because she’s Like That™.  Koko might get involved in the season, but if so it will be towards the end.  Also also Cryptor won’t be blown[frozen?] to bits exactly, there will be salvageable remnants of him left for reasons To Be Seen.

05 - Tournament of the Elements

Season 4.  The Ninja board Chen’s ship to find shock! horror! Koko is here for some reason!  She’s then revealed to be the Master of Sand, which is why she’s so helpful on Misako’s digs.  We’re also introduced to Viridian Kagami, another oc and the alleged Master of Glass, though strangely no one actually witnesses him using his element... Oh and at the end I add a reference to Skylor having a little brother.

06 - Possession

Season 5.  Koko gets involved once word reaches her of Lloyd being possessed and she spends most of the season helping Misako figure shit out because those two are Nerd Siblings™.  Also two other original characters are introduced/referenced: Cerulea Kagami, or just Lea, who was kicked out of the Kagami family of professional dancers for breaking a mirror [It Makes Sense In Context™]and was promptly adopted as a sister by Ronin; and Kaiya Mori, Ronin’s biological daughter who’s only really mentioned in passing.  She is roughly Nya’s age and, as her name literally means “forgiveness”, has a lot to do with the mistakes Ronin references making.

07 - Skybound

Season 6.  Still haven’t rewatched it [which I really should do] but I did some critical thinking about the ending and decided to completely rework it.  Functionally the season holds the same narrative space, but I found it kinda counterintuitive that in the season where it’s heavily emphasized wishes do not solve problems, the entire season is fixed with a very poorly-worded wish.  So instead Jay does not make a final wish, but the plot is resolved by other means.  If y’all are curious I will gladly explain the Shenanigans™ there, but I don’t want to spoil it quite yet.

08 - Escape from Tera Uragiri

The first [of many] of my fan seasons.  As previously explained it is inspired by Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. and tells how the Imperial Family of Ninjago got the Mask of Deception before Sons of Garmadon: Ronin.  Also introduces Fugi-Dove 5 seasons before his first canon appearance because a friend suggested it as a joke and I cannot say no to the bird man.

09 - Echoes of Memory

The second fan season.  Features Ronin accidentally adopting Echo Zane and Echo joining the Ninja’s funky family.  Also features Jay and Nya explaining what the hell was Skybound.

10 - Day of the Departed

The holiday special.  I’m throwing in Li’l Nelson to help Cole, because evidently the writers originally planned on it based on his presence in the sets.  And Yang doesn’t get a redemption because that man’s motives make no sense [why are you afraid of getting forgotten when you know for a fact you’re well known for creating a martial art?  You literally possessed the portrait of you hanging in the museum, there’s no way you think no one remembers you] so instead Morro sticks around and helps yeet Cole through the Rift [and maybe accidentally crosses it himself...].  Also, I really didn’t get why Pythor hopped on the murder train so quick when he has no reason to do so, and instead changed it to Pythor trying to warn Lloyd of the Shenanigans™ [much like Morro] purely to spite Chen for culturally appropriating his tribe and wearing their remains as a hat.  He still almost gets killed by Lloyd because he’s proven himself Untrustworthy™.

11 - Hands of Time

Season 7.  There’s...a lot of pacing issues in this season, and the dialogue kinda suffers throughout, so hopefully I can fix those things.  For once, Koko is not likely to be around.  Also there will be episodes about Dareth and Ronin post-Dareth breaking Ronin’s leg because Dareth found this anemic emo teen in the street and decided to adopt him.  Yes it is Morro, and no he is not happy because he Did Not sign up for mortality again.

12 - Decoded

No idea if this season is canon or not frankly, but it’s a thing, so.  I’m just adding Echo to it pretty much. Though now that I think about it this might be when I have Echo give Gizmo/Tai-D [that adorable glorified roomba tea bot Dr. Julien had at the Lighthouse] an upgrade in body and sentience, and he has now become a young child with built-in rollerskates who likes to help fix things.   Unlike Zane and Echo [and PIXAL I guess] Gizmo isn’t big on the whole fighting thing and would rather stay at the Monastery, but heaven help you if you try to attack the Monastery because there’s now a devious robotic Kevin McAllister living there.  

13 - Obsession

The third fan season where I stole the concept from The Fire That Burns Too Brightly.  It’s on AO3, go read it. Gist is Kai gets a stalker who’s trying to destroy the Element of Fire and murder Kai for Personal Trauma Reasons™ and Lloyd contemplates Murder™.

14 - Apex Predator

The shiny new fourth fan season.  Stole this concept from an AI actually, a TannerFishies YouTube video where he was generating potential Ninjago seasons.   So the pitch is that one of the 16 Realms is just the Old West, from whence originates the villainous Talon, an outlaw of some ilk that the Ninja have to defeat.  Talon is based on Great Horned Owls, which makes him rather terrifying to be frank.   Also this will be a Nya/Koko focus season because I didn’t realize I didn’t have those yet.   Oh and there will be a wonderful episode called “Holstergeist” [stole that from Reddit] where the Ninja tried to get help by bringing back ghosts in the Caves of Despair from the prospecting era [got that idea from tumblr’s very own drawtice].

15 - Sons of Garmadon

Season 8.  There’s now a total of 6 Oni Masks, 3 Greater and 3 Lesser.  The Greater 3 are those from the show - Deception, Vengeance, and Hatred - while the Lesser 3 are similar concepts - Fear, Cruelty, and Corruption.  There are also 6 Dragon Amulets, one to counter each Mask as follows: Deception/Loyalty, Vengeance/Forgiveness, Hatred/Compassion, Fear/Bravery, Cruelty/Kindness, Corruption/Justice.   Also there’s a 4th general amongst the Sons of Garmadon called Tempest; no one’s really sure where he came from, but he never takes off his mask.  He just casually showed up with the Mask of Cruelty as well [that’s not the mask he wears constantly] and he won’t tell where he got it.   Oh and the Falcon mysteriously vanishes.

16 - Hunted

Season 9.  Lea and Koko join Lloyd’s resistance, and about halfway through the season Tempest just disappears on the Sons to Harumi’s great befuddlement because they’d been Bonding™.  Not really sure what Echo’s role in this will be, so that needs to be ironed out. Also Morro finally reveals his alive-ness to [what remains of] the Ninja, which nearly gets him drowned by Nya.  He’s captured by the Sons of Garmadon before the other Ninja return from the First Realm, which is really fun because he just pops up after the jail break and all the OG Ninja have a freak-out before Lloyd and Nya can explain It’s Okay, He’s Chill Now.  

17 - March of the Oni

Season 10.  Definitely adjusting the pacing because so much happened in so little time.  Totally having an entire episode dedicated to the introduction of the Oni and calling it “The Bringers of Doom” because kickass melodrama is the flavor of the day.   Also Echo and Morro have been added, and Morro very nearly yeets himself off the Bounty when Cole falls, only not also falling into the cloud because Jay catches him by the collar, because up to this point Cole was the Ninja closest with Morro and he was Not about to lose his Only Friend™. Also also the Falcon reappears, now in a shiny new body as another sentient Nindroid but with wings because bird go brr and calling himself Merlin.  He helps evacuate people and integrates into the group after the Oni shenanigans.

18 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Fire Chapter

Season 11, part 1.  Gizmo and PIXAL become best friends building stuff together and Merlin helps them sometimes. Unlike the other Ninja, Morro did not go out of shape and thus is not being harassed by Wu.  In fact, he’s definitely helping Wu prank everyone.   Kai isn’t super out of shape, as, post-reforging the Golden Weapons, he’s taken up blacksmithing again and has in fact made all the Ninja’s weapons.  He has been slacking off in the combat training, however. Lloyd also isn’t completely out of shape I feel, but he is definitely slacking somewhat.   Oh and, while Echo and Gizmo stay behind, Merlin is definitely going into the Never-Realm to get his brother back.

19 - Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu: The Ice Chapter

Season 11, part 2.  Morro actually kinda enjoys the Never-Realm because he Does Not like really hot environments.  Sorla gives him some advice about the PTSD this man clearly has, and I might have him go after Cole to find the Traveller’s Tree because Only Friend™.  Also this is where we learn he has Iron Deficiency Anemia because he starts fainting and such.  Not a fun time. Merlin has Bonding Time™ with all the Ninja and proves to be really useful as a flyer. Also Echo helps PIXAL during the episode with the Preeminent, but he’s incapacitated so she still gets her dramatic I’m The Only Line Of Defense moment.

20 - Prime Empire

Season 12.  Somehow Jay’s mother Liberty is being used for Prime Empire, I’m just not sure how.  Also the season might start earlier, with Jay getting a letter from his hitherto-unknown sister Ivy Gordon asking for help to find their missing mom. Also not sure how Echo and Merlin will fit into this season, but I’ll figure it out.  Merlin is going to be very pissed when the Mechanic abducts Zane.   Morro enters Prime Empire and probably dies between Cole/Kai and Lloyd.  Also he gets an alt avatar form that just looks like the depressed teenage offspring of Hot Topic.

21 - Master of the Mountain

Season 13.  Morro ends up with Zane and Kai among the Geckles, and his anemia comes up again because the glop shit they’re given does not contain enough iron to keep this man conscious.  Oh and during the whole Trial by Mino thing, Morro’s just Jedi Flipping™ over the thing to keep from getting gored while Kai and Zane try to dodge.  And he’s probably the one who makes the slug fly down the ice slick. Likely to add some episodes about what’s going on at the Monastery like how they did in the Ice Chapter, covering the jailbreak that supposedly happens before the Island.

22 - Malediction

The fifth fan season.  Focuses on Morro and features Clouse as the villain, actually revealing his familial origins.  Takes place on Chen’s Island and Much Shenaniganry™ occurs. Not all of the Ninja are present for it, as Kai is visiting his parents and Cole is visiting Lou.   Also Lea is there looking for Ronin because he’s mysteriously vanished while out trying to catch escaped inmates from Kryptarium and she’s worried about him.  And this is when it’s finally revealed that Viridian from all the way back in Tournament is not, in fact, the Master of Glass, but rather Lea is.  After the Shenaniganry™, Lloyd offers for her to join the Ninja so she can better master her element and she accepts.

23 - The Island

Either a miniseries or season 14, people count it differently.  Lea is now officially one of the team, but they have not yet found her missing adoptive brother [Ronin].   Oh and Koko was on the expedition team with Misako and Wu and Clutch, and she’s Very Much Done with Clutch’s Shit™.   When they find the fake Wojira there’s still the bit like this: Lloyd: Who do we know that uses weird vehicles to get his way? Lea: Ronin! Lloyd: Actually I was gonna say the Mechanic, but that works too-- But instead of ending there it deviates slightly Lea: No, I mean--Ronin! And we get the reveal that Ronin had been captured by these hooligans while doing his bounty hunting and in fact the real mastermind was the Mechanic, who is then sent to prison while Ronin’s taken to a hospital.

24 - Throne of Glass

The sixth fan season, and Lea’s focus.  The city has finally gotten its act together long enough to elect the Kagami family as the new Imperial Family of Ninjago after Harumi nuked her parents.  This upsets Lea, because that is the family that cast her out.   Much Shenaniganry™ occurs, though like in Malediction only a few of the Ninja are here:  Jay and Nya are visiting with Jay’s family [Ed and Edna but also Liberty and his sister Ivy] Lloyd has been kidnapped by Koko to go off adventuring in some remote jungle somewhere And Zane, Merlin, Echo, and Gizmo have gone off to Do a Thing in honor of their late father Dr. Julien, with PIXAL coming along with.   Lea and Cole have a lot of Bonding™ as we learn about their shared history at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts, and Lea’s family tries to have her assassinated because Reasons™.  Dragon Amulets are found and used.   Also there’s a big fancy Imperial Ball that happens so Morro wears a dress to hide more knives on his person and Kai wears a dress because he’s a Fashion Victim™ and not to be outdone.  

25 - Seabound

Season 14 or 15 depending on how you count.  Morro’s powers start going wacky just like Nya’s, and he goes with them in the HydroBounty but Does Not have a Fun Time because thalassophobia/aquaphobia residual from his Ghosty Days.   Merlin, Echo, Gizmo, and Lea all vibe at the Monastery with Kai, Ray, and Cole and have an absolute blast. Also, after Kai calls Maya and she starts annoying Nya, Misako suggests that since Ronin helped her figure her powers out the first time Nya should call Ronin.  So she does, and now Maya and Ronin are competitively trying to help her. When Nya goes to merge with the sea, Morro follows her and merges with the sky.  While Nya has her nifty water dragon form he has a white tiger form.  Also he’s not got the same ‘call of the sea’ thing Nya has going on, so he mostly maintains his identity’s integrity.  

26 - Cloudburst Elegy

The seventh fan season covering shenanigans between Seabound and Crystallized.   So, much like how Nyad had also previously merged with the sea, there’s an elemental Master of Wind who had merged with the sky before Morro had and was semi-stuck in the white tiger form.  He causes shit [and is the reason Jay ends up at the lighthouse].  No one has a good time.

27 - Crystallized, Part I

Season 15-16, part 1.  Morro is also un-merged with his element, though in the process a giant white tiger also pops into existence; the other Wind Elemental.  Koko names him Benji and he’s a menace once he wakes up but is thoroughly perplexed by Koko, She Who Has No Fear, enough that he actually listens to her commands because whoever has the audacity to tell a tiger “Bad kitty!  Sit!” is worthy of respect. Ronin is still in prison in this season, but that’s because he broke into places to find a way to fix Nya.  He’s quite relieved to hear that she’s okay now. The whole scene where Lloyd convinces an inmate to be better still happens, but rather than be Ronin, it’s someone else: namely Eugene Chen, or Gene as the Darkly’s kids knew him, Skylor’s younger brother that was fleetingly foreshadowed by me in Tournament.  While Sky took over the noodle production, he took over the crime syndicate.  Lloyd convinces him to Do Better, and Gene sneaks out of Kryptarium the same time Pythor’s busted out. Speaking of, the Crystal Council actually tries to recruit Nadakhan [the alt timeline had been explained by the Ninja in a press conference so it’s common knowledge by now] but he declined for reasons to do with how I end Skybound, so they opt for their second choice: Pythor.  Pythor also declines initially, but he’s strong-armed into it by them taunting him with information on his son, Clancee. Also I’ve made Clancee be Pythor’s son by the way.

28 - Crystallized, Part II

Season 15-16, part 2.  So firstly when the Crystal Council comes for the Golden Weapons, I’m changing the assignment slightly.  Pythor gets the Shurikens of Ice [and fights Nya in the finale] while the Mechanic gets the Nunchucks of Lightning [and fights Jay in the finale].   Morro’s in the same boat as Nya on the power loss front and is with her, Wu, Skylor, PIXAL, Echo, and Gizmo when the Monastery’s blown up.   Lea and Merlin are with Cole, Kai, Zane, and Jay in the subway.  Koko was at Domu with Misako because Nerd Siblings™. Garmadon’s subplot with Lloyd is changed. Also there’s a whole subplot about the relationship between Ultra Violet and the Mechanic and it’s kinda sad.   Only the OG Ninja get fancy new vehicles, so Lea, Koko, and Morro were all on the Bounty when it went down.  Echo, Merlin, and Gizmo were all with PIXAL and Skylor in the Sam X cave for those shenanigans. Lea, Koko, and Morro end up navigating the city together.  Merlin, Echo, PIXAL, and Skylor all entered city separately to try and avoid detection.  PIXAL found Zane first and then Merlin found her, Zane, and the inmates at Borg Tower later.  Echo ended up with Jay and Nya.  During the Distress Calls sequence, while Lloyd leaves a message for the Serpentine, Cole tries to broadcast to Shintaro, and Nya sends fish to Merlopia, Morro has the wacky idea to message the Never-Realm and manages to contact Sorla with magic Bansha taught him, while Kai suggest calling Faith for help and Wu does so with some Traveller’s Tea one of the paperkids found. In the ‘allies unite’ sequence, in addition to everyone who shows up, Gene appears with his crew of criminals, Nadakhan appears with his Sky Pirates, Akita and Kataru pop out of a portal from the Never-Realm, and Faith flies in on Firstbourne with some of her Dragon Riders.   The OG Ninja are the only ones who can do the Dragon Form since they’re the sub-elements of Creation, and when they release their powers it just gives Lloyd the Golden Power again instead of making a gold dragon for him to ride that just disappears at the end because my god that was so dumb... Harumi is sent to prison for her various atrocities, along with most of the Crystal Council.  Vania does come to collect her father and take him back to Shintaran prison.  Also we finally find out that Mr. F/Mr. E is actually the rebuilt remains of Cryptor that I hinted at in Rebooted.  And also that the Sons of Garmadon general Tempest was secretly Morro all along.   The inmates who helped [Ronin, Killow, Ultra Violet, and Fugi-Dove] all get their sentences changed so they can do ‘public service’ instead and they end up working at Skylor’s noodlehouse since Skylor becomes a full-time Ninja.  Killow cooks, Fugi-Dove does waitressing, and Ultra Violet handles customer service while Ronin supervises them.   The Sons of Garmadon [Harumi, Killow, Ultra Violet, Mr. F, and Morro] have a very messy and complicated reunion, but they all work out their grudges and rebuild their friendships, with everyone agreeing to work for good from now on.  Pythor is reunited with Clancee after centuries.   Akita and Kataru decide to stay in Ninjago while Faith returns to her realm.  

The story doesn’t end there, I’ve just not worked out everything following that.

[alister312]

Gregstophe Week Day 2: History/Future

For Day 2, I had a number of ideas, but ultimately settled on drawing a scene from my favorite fanfic of all time: The Well and the Lighthouse

It’s a WWII AU, featuring Gregory as a British soldier and Christophe as the leader of a resistance group in France. The story well crafted and wonderfully told, the characters are all at their best and there’s so many solid relationships (both romantic and platonic), and it’s clear the author did her historical research.

I feel like I’m always singing the praises of this fic, but it deserves it so I will continue to do so until everyone has given it a shot.

More explanation below the cut

My absolute favorite part of the fic is actually the final chapter. I think a good ending is really hard, but The Well and the Lighthouse does an incredible job and I find myself reading it over and over again. Which usually prompts me to just go and reread the whole thing. Since it’s from the end, obviously spoilers ahead but:

The scene I decided to do is Christophe discovering that Gregory has kept the pocket watch he gifted him. Gregory says of course he did, laughing at Christophe for assuming he might’ve sold it. Christophe confesses that he wasn’t sure what Gregory had done with it, as he hadn’t heard from Gregory for months, and figured Gregory was glad to be gone. The tone shifts, the two finally opening up to one another, and Gregory confesses he couldn’t sleep without the watch.

Earlier in the chapter, we as readers saw Gregory depressed and despondent, clinging to the pocket watch and pretending the ticking was Christophe’s heartbeat, just as Christophe had told Gregory to do. Sometimes it’s comforting to him, sometimes it’s heartbreaking, but it’s all he has. It’s such a beautiful concept to me, opening up a whole new world of possibilities based on Christophe’s fixation on watches from the movie. The author was always good at that— taking canon and running with it in a touching and creative direction.

I had initially wanted to do 4 pages depicting the whole scene but my lack of experience in drawing comics combined with busy schedule led to only getting one page done. I’ve got thumbnails of the others, which I’ll include below:

Sorry for the poor quality, these were originally sketched on some colored paper I had lying on my desk. Anyway, as you can see, I initially thought about depicting the scene of Gregory walking into his apartment to find Christophe there (another favorite of mine), but ultimately went with the pocket watch scene. Maybe someday I’ll get around to doing the other pages. For now, I’m pretty happy with how this one page came out. I hope it inspires you to go check out The Well and the Lighthouse, or reread it if you have already :)

[nicnight9]

An Endless Summer Character Profiles: Diana Rivers!

🪶 Diana is a young woman, with only one friend but utterly satisfied with her own lack of popularity. 🪶Only signs to the trip as an act of solidairity to her friend Diego, and his mystic fantasies about fame and glory.

🪶Super curious, with an investigative spirit inside her ready to burst. Clumsy, always unshakable and is used to getting along with everyone around her - even though she tends to be seen as crazy or weird to a lot of her folks. 🪶As everyone in La Huerta, Diana hides a secret. The bizarre dreams that haunt her during the nights are something for few ears to hear about, as well as how they seem to get worse when she steps foot in La Huerta.

Personality

22 years old Born in 01/01/1998, doesn't know where Senior at Hartfeld, Music Major Uses she/her as pronouns Identifies as pansexual

curious, investigative, unquiet, home-loving, loyal, simple, genuine, hardhead, friendly, self-guarded, anxious, creative, honest, paranoid, intuitive.

Likes: thrifting, incense, tea, new books, late nights, writing, music, the 70s, sunny days, flowers, yellow and orange things, meeting new places

Dislikes: sleeping, coffe, social media, cellphones, pop quizzes, being left in silence, plaid outfits, indoors, rain

Other Data

MBTI:ENFJ (aka the Protagonist) Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw Godly Parent: Hermes

Birth Chart

Capricorn sun Libra rising Aquarius moon Aquarius venus Aquarius mars

Favorite Things

Movie: Grease TV Show: Stranger Things Food: Tacos Drink: Chai Hobby: Journaling Friend: Diego <3

Fun Facts

🪶As soon as she learned how to play piano at 14, Diana became obsessed with learning all ABBA songs; 🪶Diana still keps her collection of journals from since she was 12; 🪶She has a lot of old clothes, considering most of them are actually thrifted; 🪶Has a scar on her legs from a fire during her childhood - doesn't remember many details about the accident; 🪶Wants to be a music teacher for children! 🪶Doesn't know shit about Hartfeld's gossip; 🪶Knows the basic stuff in spanish cause of Diego.

Moodboard

Some inspiration pictures, characters i relate her to and just overall vibe from the character! Check the moodboard over here!

Diana's Fashion

Diana's style is inspired by 70s fashion, as she likes wearing warm tones and is a big fan of flowers and flowy clothing. Most of her clothes come from thriting or as her friend's gifts for her. Inspo here!

Diana's Playlist

Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land - MARINA

Anti Hero - Taylor Swift

Arsonist's Lullaby - Hozier

Burning Pile - Mother Mother

De Todos os Loucos do Mundo - Clarice Falcão

Love Grows - Edison Lighthouse

Not Strong Enough - boygenius

The River - Daisy Jones & The Six

Skyfall - Adele

Who Is She? - I Monster

link for playlist here!

"I'd literally pay money to never hear my own thoughts ever again."

[poibynt]

Now that change your mind/Harbinger has come to a close, which is a crazy thought, I’m going to name a couple inspirations and recommendations I have.

IF YOU LIKED THIS TRY THIS:

I took a lot of inspiration for this fic from a lot of different places. Here’s some of them.

If you liked the late night driving, magic and ruminations on the US interstate system (as well as my chapter titles, which are all quotes from this game strung together into a poem): Kentucky Route Zero. KRZ is a point and click adventure game about a delivery man stumbling into a secret underground highway system named route zero. Seriously if you even remotely like the vibes of this fic consider this game it was a HUGE inspiration and also a great piece of storytelling.

If you liked the setting, the spirits and me waking poetic about rivers/water: The Silt Verses. Silt Verses is a dark fantasy/religious/folk horror fiction podcast about two followers of an illegal god named the Trawler Man travelling down their sacred river in search of revelations. Really compelling urban fantasy in this one.

If you liked the lighthouses, vague supernatural things happening in lighthouses, ruminations on family and me waking poetic about water: The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (I actually read this after this fic was written but shhh). It’s a supernatural thriller/mystery. A writer sets out to uncover the truth behind the odd disappearance of 4 lighthouse keepers in the 70s decades later by interviewing their wives. It’s also a much better depiction of how lighthouses work.

If you liked Boba’s post Jango childhood: Wild Pork and Watercress/Hunt for the Wilderpeople. After the death of his foster mother a Māori boy named Ricky flees into the bush with his “uncle” Hector to evade returning to the foster system which sets off a nationwide manhunt. I haven’t read the book but the movie is excellent & surprisingly wholesome.

If you’re interested in US interstate horror, road trips and Americana: Alice isn’t Dead. A supernatural horror podcast about a woman who becomes a trucker to find her missing wife Alice. There is a hole in the center of America and something rotten is seeping out type beat.

If you liked the characters, quiet everyday magic, the concept of naturally occurring magical disasters & questionable parents: the raven cycle by Maggie Steivater. A book series about 5 fucked up teenagers in small town Virginia looking to wake a dead welsh king so he may grant them a favour.

If you liked Jango and his many children, the short story Mayday by Maria Dahvana Headley from the anthology collection Sword, Stone, Table. The life and fall of Arthur Pendragon as told through descriptions of items, letters and news articles found in an abandoned Lake Erie lighthouse being auctioned off in the 1970s.

[hyzenthlayroseart]

Since my third fursona Tiffany is a homicidal maniac I figured she's good for vent art.

Anyway here she is killing live-action Scuttle (kinda based on the scene in The Lighthouse where Robert Pattinson killed that sequel) as a metaphor for how I hate the live-action remake trend so much that it actually gives me suicidal thoughts.

Studying Disney has been my passion since I was a kid, I loved researching Walt Disney's life story, his early work with the Alice Comedies, then Oswald, then Mickey, the start of Disney animation, the history and making of their Silly Symphonies and all their animated films, learning all about Walt's Nine Old Men, learning about the history of Disneyland, reading books about Disney, watching documentaries about Disney...

It all fascinated me so deeply that I used to dream about becoming an animator. And now the exact same studio that inspired me after studying it for decades is the one responsible for me giving up my dream of becoming an animator. Because they don't give a shit about their own legacy. They don't give a shit about Walt Disney's legacy.

All their animated masterpieces are being lazily remade into live-action just for money and because animated films aren't "real" films so they need to make them live-action so they can bring them to life (except those stories were already brought to life by all the animators who put their heart and soul into them by bringing them to life with animation). They're not "looking at the stories in a new way", they have zero creative intentions behind any of them, they just need to make money AND unfortunately it works because idiot audiences see the trailers and say "MUH NOSTALGIA" and flock to see them when they could just rewatch the originals if they love nostalgia so much.

It's such a bleak time right now. AI is trying to replace artists, animation if being lazily remade into live-action, Disney almost took a documentary about Howard Ashman off of their streaming service (the man who made the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and  the Beast and Aladdin and was one of the people responsible for saving Disney with the Disney Renaissance), they actually DID remove the show Prop Culture (a show dedicated to searching for props from famous Disney films and preserving them, so basically a show about preserving Disney history is now gone forever, further proving how little Disney cares bout their legacy), mindless franchises are still shitting out movies, and Pixar just fired 75 of its employees including the woman who saved Toy Story 2.

I'm so glad I saw Across the Spider-Verse a few days ago, it was something that actually gave me hope for the future of animation.

And don't bother commenting with "WELL I THOUGHT (insert live-action remake here) WAS GOOD" because I don't give a shit.

[igniakino]

On Set Production

Creative Exercise 1 - Production Design Research

When asked to research set decor, I knew it would be criminal for me to even think about writing my blog post about anything other than The Lighthouse. I am maybe, quite possibly, Robert Eggers biggest fan and a huge part of my admiration towards him is the extraordinary thorough research he does in order to make his films as accurate as possible. This is hugely evident in every little detail of The Lighthouse, but is especially prominent in the production design.

The enveloping realism of The Lighthouse is awe inspiring to say the least. It is incredible that a black and white film, shot in 1. 19: 1 with an extremely ambiguous narrative and fantastical symbolism can be this staggeringly immersive. You feel as if you are also cramped into this flooded, alcohol drenched hovel along with these two crazed wickes. You can almost feel the glacial sea foam and smell the overflowing bedpan. This is all thanks to Robert Egger’s and Craig Lathrop’s inspired artistic influences and drive to make this film as accurate as possible. It feels less like a film and more of an open window into the past.

To keep it rigidly authentic to actual lighthouses in Maine in the 1890s, the production design crew pulled off the grand feat of building the lighthouse, keeper’s house and fog signal house from scratch. This has been widely celebrated, as such an impressive set should be, but the true appeal of studying this particular film’s set design is in the smallest details.

The peeling walls of handcrafted buildings are all expertly designed to give a weathered, wind-beaten aesthetic without leaning too much into the overdramatic. In an interview with the SDSA for Set Decor Magazine, Egger’s states “Craig and I were very careful about patina. I think a lot of times, even the best scenic painters are conditioned to that kind of horror movie logic where you’re aging every crack and corner, which isn’t really how things work, you know.” If you look closely, most of the artfully created paint decay originates at the tops of the doors, where the damp from harsh rain would have run down the doorposts. This laser-sharp focus on detail is what sets this film apart from the rest in creating its deep immersion.

Eggers also talks in this interview about how the furniture was created to not only be absolutely authentic, but to create scale. As much as he states he is, “Not a fan of Dr. Caligari”, Egger’s utilizes this German Expressionist favored technique of distorting space with furniture by making Robert Pattinson’s character too big for the room he is in, therefore making him feel extremely out of place in this setting. Egger’s says “Those chairs were kind of small. Dafoe is a little bit smaller than I am, and so we wanted it to be like the perfect size for Dafoe, and for Rob to feel a little bit too big in this lighthouse.” This is one of my favourite set design techniques in cinema and I think both Eggers and Ian Grieg (set decorator) do a fantastic job of utilising it

[ribcageteeth]

please tell us more about your tower maiden dnd game

Ooh ok!

So, the tower maiden in question is actually a player character, the lovely and terrible G.100, by @aceofvase.

My campaign was actually inspired by movies like The Monster Squad and Van Helsing, so our main cast of NPCs are all based on Universal monsters. The original plan was to have a Frankenstein monster NPC who would occasionally aid the party, BUT, Miss Vase beat me to the punch.

G.100 is soul-stitched, a homebrew race similar to a flesh golem, but overall more capable and intelligent. Created by blending necromancy with engineering, powered by electricity, and requiring the individual parts of about ten different people, in this story the soul-stitched were brought about by an elven man called Isla Gryffith, primarily through his own efforts at achieving some form of immortality, but eventually with the intention of creating the perfect lover. G.100 is, somewhat obviously, his hundredth attempt, and one of only about three or four to be considered a success.

Due to the taboo nature of his work, (and, you know, all the murder involved) Isla primarily lived and operated out of a fortified lighthouse, in an area known for dangerous bandit raids, where people often disappear anyway. He and G.100 lived there in isolation for about a year, with her being kept in the dark over how exactly she was created. Upon discovering the horrible truth (again, cannot stress the amount of murder involved in this process), G.100 threw Isla from the top of the lighthouse tower, in a fit of rage. However, as previously mentioned, the building had been heavily fortified, including several locks on the front door, which could only be opened by key. There was only one, and Isla had it on his person when he was killed.

As such, G.100 spent the next 15 years of her life stuck inside the lighthouse. Functionally immortal, and without the need to eat or sleep, she spent her time reading books, studying magic, and overall trying not to think too hard about the nature of her existence, or her creator, whom she was still regretfully in love with. At a point it became a conscious choice to stay there; she could have broken the door down, or escaped out a window, or even jumped from the tower and aimed for the ocean, but spiritually, she would always be trapped in that tower anyway. Her refusal to move on went so far that she has still never given herself a proper name, preferring not to be referred to at all.

Eventually, she ran out of electrical charge, which resulted in her essentially falling asleep... for a little over a hundred years. Long enough for the lighthouse to collapse around her. Now exposed to the open air, she was promptly struck by lightning and reawakened, only to realize that there was now quite literally nothing left to keep her there. When she meets up with the rest of the party at the campaign's start, she's technically only been outside for about a year.

As the game has progressed, she's somehow managed to both open up, and close herself off further. Initially, she attempted to put on an upbeat persona, going so far as to pretend to be a bard for the first part of the game, but since growing a bit more comfortable with her surroundings, her more grumpy nature has begun to show through, and her abilities as a warlock have grown powerful enough that she can't really hide them anymore. She's also begun romancing one of the series antagonists, which has drawn her a bit further out of her shell.

So yeah, it's a real specific kind of tower, and technically while she was in it she presented as masc, since canonically she is trans, but all that really means is she didn't start leaning into the Tower Maiden aesthetic until fairly recently. In fact, I think her most recent redesign really reflects that particular vibe:

So yeah! That's just one of the wonderful players I've been getting to DM for, I think she's so cool, I've done literally so much fanart of her (as you can see), and I'm so excited to see her character arc continue to progress! If you want to know more about her, I suggest taking a look through her character tag over on @aceofvase's blog, or asking her for further detail <3

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

So, as I've been trying to get myself acclimated to horror movies* I've been watching the animated junji ito Netflix series. Firstly let me say that I think it's fine! They're good stories and to be completely honest I haven't read the stories from the show as Manga and have frankly no idea if they are adaptations or are original to the show. I could look this up, but I'm not going to. This comparison is completely based off of his Manga I HAVE read vs the show episodes I've seen.

But I do think his art style looses something when it's animated. Junji ito has a real nack for drawing really weird faces that come off as extremely creepy, especially with how he does backgrounds. These faces really stand out compared to other currently popular anime and Manga styles, he's a lot more detailed and realistic. But the faces are just goofy when they're animated. Like there's one episode where a kooky family (seemingly Addams family inspired) are fighting and one of the brothers fakes a ghost possession to get back at his brother. And the face he pulls to do it just looks so... silly.. in motion. They obviously have to simplify things to animate them, but you really loose a lot of that unique, dizzying style his work is known for when you do that.

It probably doesn't help that I'm watching the dub rather than the sub and the voice actors are a bit. Well. The way anime dub voice actors tend to be. They're goofy and they over act a bit. Dotn get me wrong the va's have been phenomenal when it comes to being scared and screaming, but it can take me out a bit when there's just normal dialog and the va is going all "whehee! I'm a goofy goblin!" Voice you know? I've still got a decent few episodes to get through, maybe I'll try subtitles next time and see if that's any better. It's not nearly enough of a problem to stop me from enjoying the show, but it's another point where the manga was better since I can just imagine voices.

The plotlines feel distinctly in line with his other works I've read, which is awesome! I'm endlessly in love with his ability to create the weirdest plots ever and make them just. So genuinely fucked up that you sound insane describing how horrific it actually is. (SPOILERS) there's one plot where a bunch of hot air balloons with people's faces come and just. Kill everyone. And it was genuinely haunting in ways I don't think I can describe. A girl grows her hair out for her boyfriend who dumps her out of no where and so her hair keeps growing and kills her so the hair can torment and then kill her shitty ex. Like??? That's such a silly premise when you say it out loud but it's actually so awesome??? (SPOILERS OVER)

Some things should just stay in their intended medium I think. There's nothing WRONG with the anime version, but comparing it to the manga it could definitely be a lot better. Of course it could also be better if they had adapted his style into something that would work better in animation and put more effort into making something that works with the story rather than something easy to make and recognizably junji ito. For the balloon episode they used 3d models for the giant face balloons and it gives such an eerie effect. It's unsettling in ways I can't describe, and it really sells home that these thing are weird and out of place and Wrong in this otherwise 2d animated world.

Anyways I didn't really have a point to this. I'm gonna try and watch cabin in the woods tonight since I know the plot👍

*because of several hurdles I have to cross ranging from general paranoia problems to never really growing out of being a scardie cat kid who got too scared to watched the first Harry Potter movie during the scene where the dursleys move to the lighthouse I have to do this slowly like trying to introduce two cats to each other. Don't ask me how I could spend my teen years binge watching "15 REAL CREEPY ENCOUNTERS IN ABANDONDES BUILDINGS" lazy masquerade videos at 3am and be fine but have nightmares for weeks after watching Rob zombies halloween in the middle of the day

[fandomdaydreamer]

I just have to say I love your Pedro story! How did the inspiration come about if you don't mind me asking?

Oh, thank you!!!! How lovely, my first ask *-* No, of course I don't mind! Thank you for your interest and sorry for the long answer.

Did you know this wasn't actually a Pedro fanfic the way I started it? It was entirely an original before I decided to have more fun with it. Otherwise, this wouldn't even exist XD

My inspiration? See, I was listening to my favourite podcast about two years ago called The Guilty Feminist. And the host made this chaotic little analogy about a marriage working out between an ocean and a lighthouse and I was at a very low point during the pandemic and just looked up and went "Ho, wait a minute-" yea and one thing lead to another and I wrote a short story that was chapter 5 based on my interpretation of her metaphor. Then things escalated into 200k words.

Jim Jarmusch was a huge inspiration, in whom's style I wrote a screenplay once (Pedro and Nini's movie). Why, and suddenly, I was lost in the fantasy of Pedro playing this cowboy angel character and what he'd be like on set.

Other things that inspired me were songs by my favourite musician Scott Matthews (raw poetry) and my favourite holiday movie... The Holiday. I wanted to match that level of cuteness. And last but not least, my readers because of their comments and input and motivational energy.

Thank you for your ask! Lot's of love 💞

-Lore

[that-tall-queer-bassist]

okay i have so many thoughts on this that im actually going to put them in text not tags

So I often take titles very seriously, especially if im helping a friend (like @/blocksruinedme) out, and my answer? It depends on what the fic calls for.

this is the same for summaries, i dont do summaries in only one way because that would be doing an injustice to the fic.

Each fanfiction that i post needs something different. Sometimes it needs some joking tags to prepare the reader for a lighthearted fic, sometimes it needs a chunk of prose in the summary to set the expectations for flowery descriptions, and the title is absolutely crucial to this.

Lets see some examples, shall we?

closer to another shore by remrose is a scarian fic i just finished reading (highly reccomend btw, it was very good) and its got an appropriate name! its named after a poem (i believe, which is copied/linked into the end notes) and its lowercase. The fic has a tone of heartache and hope, something serious for the most part. it's got a weight to it, and takes itself seriously, and this tone is present throughout the whole fic but also in the title! it's a good title that fits very well!!!

SUPERCRITICAL by MasqueofPlague (@masque-of-plague) is an amazing superhero/reporter fic (again, scarian) and once again, the title is very fitting! Sounds like a superhero movie, and fits the energy of it well with Grian starting out very critical of HotGuy and his superhero-ing, and really just sets up expectations nicely while also keeping to the theme.

Hello, World by cricket_toast (@toasted-cricket) is a cyberpunk au with AI Mumbo and Netrunner Grian and the title!! fits so well because computers but also the very put together serious vibes of the beginning before things... get weird ( >:3 ) and I think it matches the tone very well!

to all the ships at sea by mxMallory ( @mxmallory ) is a Smalletho (also with Clethubs <3) fic that has its setting in a lighthouse, and the title captures the energy of it well, with a palpable loneliness and longing in the first few chapters that gives way to a lighter tone once we get introduced to a bucket of seal (still love that line Mal <3)

Maybe You Like Danger by BlocksRuinedMe (@blocksruinedme) is a second person pov smalletho fic, and it captures the premise in so few words, setting you up for the contents easily, and letting it take up the space it needs to with the capitalization. It demands attention, and sets up that expectation with itself. (also one of the few second person pov fics i like, and makes me Feel very intensely) (hi vee)

and because i feel like i should give an example of a title i came up with, one of my most recent (nsfw) fics is called "You smell like... carrots." because i was inspired by that canon quote to write a (honestly kind of ridiculous) fic. But the title is goofy! It sets you up for a goofy premise, without giving you false expectations! It fits, it sets the tone, and it made me laugh (which is something i wanted from that fic).

Each fic has different needs, because each is unique. Sometimes metaphors are the way to go, sometimes a line from the fic, and sometimes its a description! (see "5+1" fics, or the name of the AU (like The Pirate Witch by me))

And that's my thoughts on titles, i hope somebody enjoyed that, or at least the mcyt fic recs XD

okay. fic writers. let's talk about titles.

i personally am of the eternal lowercase crowd except for one (1) exception...i wanna know your bias and why!

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

HAPPY FUCKING SUNDAY MY LITTLE IRIS!!! I HOPE THE SUN IS SHINING AND THE BRAIN IS BRAINING MWAHHH i am here to present you another silly little tiktok hehehe u mentioned nikolai as one of your blorbos so this was JUST RIGHT it made me laugh... maybe a bit too much........... i hope u enjoy LOVE U

https://www.tiktok.com/@pencil.slipped/video/7331589407524408618

- @softgirlgonehaywire

HELLOOOOOOO MY LOVELY SUNFLOWER happy. monday ….. almost tuesday …… hey hey did u know that sunflowers turn to face each other when there isn’t any sunlight around??? idk if that’s true it’s just smth i heard ISN’T IT SO SWEET THOUGH :(((( they’re so cute i’m weeping……

PHDJDJFUFJ THE TIKTOK???? MICKEY????? 😭😭😭😭 thank u it broke me a little i think OK BUT THEY WOULD GET ALONG WOULDN’T THEY…. gojo has a thing for murderous meowmeows <333 nikolai is one of those blorbos that i havent actually Met yet but i know a bit abt him and i love him oh so much….. i also have the biggest weakness for jester-inspired characters so i simply can’t resist him :’3 i am nomnoming the nikolai content thank u my dearest mickey for ur tribute

ALSOOOO i’m using this ask as an opportunity to respond to ur other letter hehe :33 i have a lot to say sadly i’m also scatterbrained & sleepy but i’m gonna try to remember everything !!! rubbing my three remaining braincells together just for u <33

ok first off some ari lore … my fave season is autumn w summer close behind BUT since spring is ur favorite we can have a spring wedding <33 in knight!reader’s honour too!!!! they’ll be there somewhere… lurking…… sunbathing……. the meowmeow of all time

AND AND when it comes to coffee and tea i’m not picky!! i love them both!!! no matter what kind!!! i like any and all coffee combos, just depends on my mood it’s the caffeine addiction i think but my overall preference is probably black w just a lil bit of cream <333 it has to be super duper hot bc lukewarm coffee makes me deeply uncomfortable (super duper cold is fine though!!) and i love love tea i couldn’t live w/o it…… my only pref is that i like to pour some cream in my black tea, and some honey in herbal tea :33 WHAT ABT U MICKEY I HAVE TO KNOW the signals in my brain tell me u like cold coffee more than warm coffee….. but i don’t even know if u drink coffee at all…… ALSO I NEED TO KNOW UR FAV KIND OF TEA i’ll make it for u in my brain every morning 🙏🙏

moving on to until dawn ARI/MICKEY GOING STRONG AS ALWAYS ashley is my least favorite character 😳😳 i just feel like everyone else is sooo girlypop or silly or at least a lil queer but she’s just kinda There……… for the chris romance………. and ofc i can’t forgive the emily slander!!!! we need to protect our wife mickey :((( nobody gets her like we do i fear

AND AAAA A REMAKE !!! WAITTTT THAT’S SO EXCITING MORE INTERACTIONS TOO…… ok but screaming while playing it was soooo real of u if i ever played it on my own i fear i wouldn’t survive AND THE SOUNDTRACKS!!!! god mickey i just remembered i still haven’t listened to the ones u recommended before :’33 i have them all written down so trust that i’ll get to them hehe BUT THESE ONES….. gosh i’m a little enamored w them….,, the theme from the lighthouse is soooo atmospheric i can practically taste the Vibe of it all…… it’s the kind of theme that would give me immense anxiety if i watched the movie LMAO but it’s somehow so pretty too yk??? the murky sea vibe…. AND THE THEME FROM THE WITCH goshhhh it’s genuinely so bewitching pun intended IT’S SO ENCHANTING???? just so vivid…. i alr know his work for until dawn is gonna make everything sooo much more intense and authentic i’m so excited mickey …… when u play it u gotta post abt it so i can feel included PHDKDBDJDB

ANYWAY BSD YAY YAY :3333 i feel like u mentioned having finished it all in another letter… i think i might’ve forgotten to respond to it 😔😔 forgive me and my scatterbrained tendencies KNOWING U ENJOYED IT MAKES ME SOOO EXCITED i’m a little afraid that i’ll fall out of my perpetual jjk phase if i watch anything else but literally the MOMENT i start watching bsd again i’m running over to ur blanket fort!!! i’m so excited to compare favs and moments we like hehe…. nikolai is just so sillyyy and i was really moved by that One panel where he takes off his mask and tells atsushi that he’s perfectly sane i must’ve been like 15 when i first saw it??? blew my mind i think it kinda set the tone for the villains i enjoy now … nikolai crawled so kenny could sprint… etc etc……. silly little queer villains who don’t remember what regret feels like anymore <3333

ALSO MICKEY u like tecchou right….. obv i don’t know much abt either one yet but i alr love jouno a lot!! once again we’re the duo of all time >:33 AND MANNNNN….. if u ever start writing for bsd just know i’ll be the first in line to eat it up !! i just know ur dazai would be the most lovesick catcoded little trainwreck ever 🥺🥺 an image of prince!dazai just flooded my brain oh no

one last thing!!!! before i forget!!!!! a little birdie told me that u started reading no longer human….. 👀👀👀 and what u said abt the mc being autistic made me think of another existentialist book where the mc is commonly interpreted as being a sociopath or something similar but he’s Literally Just Autistic. to me. there’s lots of room for interpretation but the coding is very much there … might not be very good rep because he does kill a guy lmao but i love him he means the world to me :((( the book is ”the stranger” by albert camus btw it’s short and u can read it online here i ADORE camus’ style of writing sm…. the vibe of it all….. the main themes are isolation + what it means to be human and. idk it just really really moved me… esp the very last line…. :c it’s very dear to me!! would highly recommend hehe

ok that’s all i think…, i always worry that i forgot to mention something or comment on something hhhh my brain really is just . a bit scattered all the time T_T BUT ILY MICKEY thank u for always checking in my sunniest little flower i hope u have dreams so sweet u wake up smiling <33333 pressing many tiny kisses on ur nose and cheeks and forehead mwah mwah mwah