#full screen for best resolution!

[galactipunks]

I was recently exposed to the rabbit hole that is Minecraft horror mods and it honestly really disappointed me. So much so that I thought up my own horror mod in response with some key distinctions to make it feel actually scary:

Be as subtle as possible to the point that the player can't tell whether a mod or a weird glitch is causing the effects. Not only is it scarier to take advantage of the existing horror within vanilla but doing this would really mess with veteran players who know the game in-and-out.

Rely on ambient psychological horror. No jumpscares, no threats, no escalation, not even anything flatly disadvantageous. The mod would just weaponize the player's paranoia against themselves.

Be really nefarious as to take full advantage of the insane adjustability that Minecraft has with all its internal options, gamerules and mechanics as well as use the player's acquaintance of the game against them. It should be a horror idea that could only work within Minecraft.

So here's the idea I got from all of this (mind you, I have no idea if a mod like this already exists):

Every in-game day there's a 5% chance (3% if you slept with a bed) for an event to occur from this mod. This chance is fixed and never changes. When an event occurs, its chosen randomly from a very exhaustive list of different events and (depending on what type of event it is) will either occur once or persist until the next event. The likelihood of every event is identical. So this system for pulling them is entirely static and random. Additionally, the chance is rolled again whenever an event occurs. Meaning there's an incredibly low chance for you to experience two or more events in the same day.

So what do these events do? Well, they're designed to mess with the player in the most subtle ways possible. Often specifically targeting their memory, understanding of game mechanics and overall familiarity with Minecraft. The intended effect is to give the player a creeping sense of powerlessness in a sandbox game that they are otherwise completely in control over. Some possible events could be:

Hearing a sound effect in the distance from a source that isn't real.

Having an item currently in a chest/furnace change its amount or position.

Replacing a current painting sprite with another one of the same size.

Having a door/trapdoor be activated (i.e. opened if it was closed and closed if it was opened).

Skipping a full day from sleeping rather than just the night.

Having a specific gamerule temporarily change from its default value until the player triggers it (with minor adjustments to make it less apparent. For example still having the player drop their inventory upon death when keepInventory is toggled on but having the items despawn near instantly unless another player was nearby).

Having a tamed/trusting mob despawn (but only if the player had not interacted with them or been near them for a while).

Surviving otherwise fatal damage or dying from otherwise near-fatal damage.

Randomly changing the difficulty or local difficulty (without it being visible in the options or the debug screen).

Randomly changing slime chunks.

Randomly changing the moon phase.

The list goes on.

These are not notable events but that's the point. The intended effect is to confuse the player and make them doubt themselves without ever thinking that a mod is responsible. To make things even more nefarious, you could have this mod be disguised as a typical QoL mod and sneak it into modpacks to really mess with people.

This is the kind of horror that I think suits Minecraft best. Not the loud, overt, in-your-face kind of horror. But the kind that has you slowly begin to doubt yourself and the world around you. No escalation, no climax, no resolution. Just you left alone to consume yourself out of your own paranoia.

[actual-changeling]

we do not talk enough about the moment right before crowley puts his sunglasses back on. the "nothing lasts forever" is devastating and if you're like me your eyes were so full of tears you couldn't see the screen the first time you watched it (just like crowley, look at us all twinning in sadness!).

there is a shift that happens in his eyes and i think it is absolutely fascinating and heartbreaking at the same time.

we begin with crowley averting his gaze from aziraphale's face and staring off into the distance instead, and you can see his spirit break. that crowley just lost the one thing in the world he cannot live without and we can see it written across his face like a neon sign.

then, as you'd expect, he gives into the need to cover up his pain, to try and make himself less vulnerable, and even before he lifts his glasses he looks down so aziraphale can no longer see his eyes.

now, the next part is what would not let me out of its grasp all day. we know it happens because of his demeanour afterwards and up until the kiss, but you can actually watch as crowley makes himself numb to the world.

i am intimately familiar with dissociation as a trauma and stress response, and while you can never fully control it, you do eventually find the switch in your mind that makes you snap back into the haze. crowley has had six thousand years to get really, really good at leaving reality behind when he needs and/or wants to.

that's exactly what he does.

he still looks sad, and yet there's just something distinctly distant in his eyes, the shift from openly heartbroken to "i don't want to feel any of this let me leave".

glasses? on

emotions? off

hotel? trivago

i have stared at those four frames more than any person probably should and i don't know if it's the light, if i am going insane, or if there is a single tear sliding out of his right (our left) eye. i'm probably insane and the light is a bitch so if anyone has some high resolution shots or anything that could answer that question without a doubt PLEASE do add it.

by now you are probably ready to threaten me with a knife in a dark alley but before you do that or drive your car off a cliff, let me tell you the best part:

aziraphale notices.

they might be communicating on two different frequencies but aziraphale knows crowley. he knows and loves him, and, most importantly, over the last few years he has gotten used to seeing crowley without his glasses. aziraphale could probably write a book on the expressions in his eyes alone and watches that shift happen and is devastated.

look.

he tries to make himself hope the same second, tries to convince himself crowley is putting on his glasses so they can leave together, but he knows.

aziraphale sees the light leave crowley's eyes, sees crowley leave, knowing that he is quite literally running away from him. you and me against the world, angel, but in that moment crowley firmly pushes him back to "the world" (or tries to, anyway).

the entire season we see crowley take off his glasses whenever he enters the bookshop to the point where he's running around without them on in broad daylight with jimbriel right there.

can you imagine how hurt and confused aziraphale must be?

because what crowley is telling him, if we really, really break it down, is that aziraphale is no longer a safe person for him. and repairing that trust is going to take time and work, no matter how much crowley loves him, how badly they love and need each other.

anyway to seal this off and really rub in the pain - how it started vs. how it ended. <3

oh one last thing: now crowley no longer has a single person he can be himself around, no one that knows him, no one he trusts. no one in whose presence he can take his glasses off.

and outside of the bentley and his own flat, he no longer has a place to do so either. the bookshop was theirs. with aziraphale gone, is it really a safe place anymore? is it somewhere he can just let himself be knowing he will be looked after and protected?

easy answer: no.

alright, off i go. see y'all on the next angst post or in the tags.

[fairytales-and-folklore]

My Friend Thinks You're Cute

Teen Wolf » Sterek

Title: My Friend Thinks You're Cute

Author: fairytalesandfolklore

Fandom: Teen Wolf (Masterlist)

Relationship: Derek Hale x Stiles Stilinski

AO3 Rating: Teen & Up (a complete collection of author's notes, inspiration credits, content warnings and tags can be found on AO3)

Summary: And that's when Stiles sees him, standing in the middle of the crowd, swathed in a black leather jacket, eyes alight as he flashes Stiles the most dazzlingly perfect smile. Derek The Music Major. The guy Stiles has had a massive crush on ever since they shared a class together in Stiles's freshman year. The guy who went on to graduate later that spring and leave town to go on tour with his band. The guy who composed such beautiful music that it made Stiles fall even more stupidly in love with him. The guy who wrote the lyrics to the song he's currently up on stage singing motherfucking karaoke to. So yeah, Stiles is pretty sure he's going to kill his best friends for dragging him along to this party.

"This is my friend. He loves your work. Big fan," McCall informs him, gesturing to the mortified guy with the adorably disheveled dark brown hair, wide brown eyes, and a blush as deep as his scarlet jacket. "Also, he thinks you're cute," McCall adds, a big goofy grin spreading across his face. "And I'm like 98% sure he's thought of you naked."

Read On AO3 | Read On Tumblr:

So yeah, Stiles is pretty sure he's going to kill his best friends. After two long, exhausting weeks of relentless badgering, Stiles had finally given in and agreed to accompany Scott and Danny to their stupid goddamn dorm party. He'd figured, fuck it, he's a senior, he's so close to graduation he can almost taste it, he can abandon his studies for one Saturday night and try to have a good time.

What he hadn't factored in was his meddling, dumbass friends dragging him up on stage and announcing to the whole room that he was the next karaoke performance of the night. Rolling his eyes at Scott and Danny's cheers, jeers, and catcalls, Stiles makes his way over to the monitor and begins flipping through their song selection. The overwhelming majority of it is early 2000's garbage with a few 80's power ballads and 90's pop remixes thrown in, and just when Stiles is about to resign himself to performing Bye Bye Bye or Don't Stop Believing in front of a crowd of judgmental drunken college kids, he comes across a newer track he'd never expected to find in a karaoke lineup.

"Uh, hi," Stiles winces as the microphone gives an ear piercing screech, and the crowd grumbles and groans. "So, most of you probably haven't even heard of this song. The band's kind of new, only really started gaining traction about two or three years ago, I think? Fun fact for out-of-towners, their lead guitarist actually grew up in Beacon Hills and went to this school. He also wrote the song I'm about to perform, which I've heard, like, dozens of times on some pretty popular radio stations, so I guess that means there's hope out there for the rest of us art students. Anyway, here's my horribly butchered rendition of the song Triskelion by The Alphas."

Sweating bullets, Stiles clicks play and cradles the microphone in the palms of his shaking hands, eyes fixed resolutely to the monitor, not daring to look at the audience. The monitor displays an error message and gives him the blue screen of death, refusing to let the lyrics scroll across the screen, but it doesn't really matter, because Stiles knows them all by heart. 

The overhead lights cast the stage in a golden glow, blinding Stiles to the surrounding world so that the crowd is just a sea of blurred faces. For a moment, he can pretend that it's just him, alone in his dorm room, or in the driver's seat of his powder blue Jeep with the radio on full blast, and really give it his all. So he does. Stiles sings his heart out. And it's actually…well, not great, but not terrible, either. Much to his surprise, everyone starts cheering him on, singing at the top of their lungs along with him, and Stiles is delighted by the fact that they all seem to share his love for his favorite band.

And that's when Stiles sees him, standing in the middle of the crowd, swathed in a black leather jacket, eyes alight as he flashes Stiles the most dazzlingly perfect smile. Derek The Music Major. The guy Stiles has had a massive crush on ever since they shared a class together in Stiles's freshman year. The guy who went on to graduate later that spring and leave town to go on tour with his band.The guy who composed such beautiful music that it made Stiles fall even more stupidly in love with him when he happened upon one of his live performances on YouTube the following summer. The guy who wrote the lyrics to the song he's currently up on stage singing motherfucking karaoke to. Derek Hale, Beacon Hills sweetheart, local legend, and international rising star. Derek Hale, lead guitarist of The Alphas.

Oh

My

God

It's a feat of fucking heroics and sheer dumb luck that keeps Stiles's voice steady until the very end of the song, and then he's bolting off the stage and colliding face-first with a wall of muscle in the shape of his two best friends.

"Hey man, you did great up there!" Scott beams at him, his smile so warm and sincere, so filled with pride, that Stiles finds it difficult to stay mad at him. Stiles has known Scott since kindergarten, and he's pretty damn sure that Scott is an actual ray of sunshine in human form.

…and then there's Danny.

"Seriously, Stilinski. That was pretty damn impressive," Danny agrees with an air of genuine surprise. And honestly, coming from Danny, that's like, god-tier praise. If Stiles wasn't freaking the fuck out, he'd probably take a moment to bask in it, ask if he can get it writing, and then gloat so hard it sours Danny's mood and makes him threaten to take it back.

"Dude, you are not going to believe who I just saw," Stiles exclaims, one hand gripping each of their shoulders so that they're just standing there in the middle of the common room like an awkward triangle. 

"So, you remember that guy that— oh my god, there he is," Stiles groans, bolting side to side in a panicked attempt to duck behind a corner, but as tragedy would have it, there aren't any corners in the epicenter of a room. Why aren't there ever any corners when you actually need them? Why do corners only ever seem to exist when you're in a rush and you're not paying attention and you bash your face into an inconveniently placed patch of hard plaster? There should at least be a column, or a couch, or something. In the end, he figures using Scott and Danny as a human shield is as good a hiding place as any.

"Can you fucking not," Danny growls as Stiles all but claws at his neck to peer over his shoulder. "Who are you even—"

Danny squints in the direction of a dark-haired man with hazel eyes and a chiseled jaw peppered with five o'clock shadow, backed into a far corner of the room, smiling awkwardly as a gaggle of fans bombard him with photo ops and autographs.

"Is that who I think it is?" Danny gasps dramatically, and there's something in the way his eyes crinkle around the edges, like he's enjoying a private joke, that makes Stiles quirk an eyebrow.

"Holy shit," Scott exclaims, eyes widening in theatrical surprise. "It's Derek The Music Major!"

"Yeah, well, it's Derek the fucking sex god rock star now, isn't it?" Stiles practically moans, scrubbing his hands through his hair and burying his face into Scott's shoulder. "Ugh, he's even more unattainable than he was before. How is that even possible? And like, more to the point, why is he even here?"

"Oh, uh…" Scott's voice rises a half octave, a telltale sign that he's about to lie through his teeth and make it sound casual. "I think Derek's cousin goes here. Miguel, or something."

Stiles lifts his head up, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he fixes Scott with a scrutinizing glare. Scott keeps his gaze resolutely glued to the floor, looking for all the world like a guilt-ridden golden retriever who'd just been caught digging in the garden.

"What," Stiles spits, an entire world's emphasis on the t.

"What?" Scott and Danny ask in mirrored tones of mock innocence.

"You…you guys knew he was going to be here, didn't you?" Stiles sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"We…might have heard something about that," Danny offers around an infuriatingly amused little chuckle.

"We overheard Miguel talking about it a couple of weeks ago," Scott bursts out, physically incapable of keeping this a secret for even a second longer. "Apparently, Derek and his bandmates are back in town for the summer, and they got invited to come and perform at his cousin's friend's party. This party."

"And you guys thought it would be a great idea for me to go up on stage and make an ass out of myself…singing one of Derek's songs…in front of Derek," Stiles says slowly, his tone positively drenched in quietly seething sarcasm.

"Relax," Danny says, rolling his eyes. "What we did was get you noticed."

"Yeah, man," Scott jumps in with a barely contained goofy grin, trying and failing to look solemn and apologetic. "He was totally checking you out. It was so obvious."

"Didn't you see the way he kept smiling at you?" Danny asks.

"He was probably laughing his ass off at the dipshit butchering the fuck out of one of his songs," Stiles whines, smacking his head repeatedly into the side of Scott's shoulder.

"Ugh, you're impossible," Scott groans, rolling his eyes and fixing Danny with a pleading sort of look.

"Yeah, look, this whole pity party thing you're got going on? It's boring," Danny scoffs, wrenching Stiles away from his makeshift hiding place and clapping both hands on either side of his shoulders. 

"You've been sweet on the guy for like, what…three and a half years now? If you won't take the chance and finally introduce yourself, then—" Danny pauses, peering over Stiles's shoulder to stare resolutely at Scott, seconds passing as the two of them share some kind of bizarre, silent conversation over the top of Stiles's head that ends with Danny setting his lips into a determined line and giving Scott a curt nod.

"Scotty," he says with a melodramatic sigh. "I think it's about time we take matters into our own hands."

"Just like we rehearsed?" Scott replies with a crooked smile. Without warning, Scott and Danny each grab a hold of one of Stiles's arms and start marching him toward Derek's corner of the room. The ruckus of muffled shouting and flailing limbs that it causes scatters the crowd of fawning fans, clearing a direct path. 

Derek quirks an eyebrow as he stares back and forth between the three of them, taking in the perplexing but not altogether unwelcome sight of a guy with adorably disheveled dark brown hair, wide brown eyes, and a blush as deep as his scarlet jacket, sandwiched in between two thoroughly amused smirking faces. 

The guy in the middle swallows thickly, and Derek watches with spellbound awe as his Adam's apple bounces along the curves of his mole-and-freckle-dappled throat. His eyes glaze over as he imagines, for the briefest of seconds, what it might be like to graze his teeth along those curves. The sound of someone's voice breaks him out of his wandering thoughts, and Derek shakes his head as if to clear it.

"Hi," the guy on the right with the crooked smile and kind eyes addresses him. Name's McCall, if memory serves him. Derek vaguely remembers seeing the name printed across his jersey on the rare occasion he'd managed to make it to one of his cousin's lacrosse games.

"This is my friend," McCall informs him, gesturing to the mortified guy in the middle. And this is must be…Stilinski, #24, Derek muses. Spends more time on the bench than out on the field. "He loves your work. Big fan."

Instinctively, Derek goes into Greeting Your Fans mode, smiles politely, and prepares himself for another flash of a camera, but then—

"Also, he thinks you're cute," McCall adds, a big goofy grin spreading across his face. "And I'm like 98% sure he's thought of you naked."

Stilinski splutters, turning toward McCall with a manic look in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm 110% sure," the guy to the left confirms with a barely contained smirk. Mahealani. This one, Derek definitely knows. Miguel won't outright admit it, but he's got a bit of a thing for this guy. Blushes every time he walks by. "I literally walked in on him once while he was—"

"Anyway," McCall interjects, clapping a hand over Mahealani's mouth, eyes growing wide as he realizes, albeit a bit too late, that that may have been taking it too far. "We're gonna go, and leave you two to get better acquainted."

"You're dead to me!" Stiles calls after them in a playful sing-song voice as his traitorous friends swagger off in the direction of the pong table, cackling madly, twin shit-eating grins plastered across their faces. Cheekbones prickling with the equivalent of an instant sunburn, Stiles slowly turns back toward Derek.

"Well," he says with mock cheerfulness, stuffing his fists into the pockets of his dark red jacket. "I'm gonna go find the nearest bridge and jump off. Nice meeting you."

He makes to turn away, but Derek reaches out and places a hand across his shoulder, hoping to stop him.

"Wait," he says. "Please don't be embarrassed. Honestly, that was funny as fuck, and I am, like, so beyond flattered. Can I at least know your name?"

Stiles pauses, sets his lips into a hard, thin line, turns back to face Derek, resolutely avoiding having to look directly at him, and sighs.

"It's Stiles," he says.

"Derek," he replies jovially, extending a hand for Stiles to shake, ridiculously formal.

"I know, dude," Stiles laughs, rolling his eyes. "You're like, super famous."

Derek gives a half-hearted shrug, like he genuinely hadn't even noticed, and says, "Yeah, I guess…but am I cute? Your friends said you thought I was cute."

Stiles barks out a laugh, hastily covering up his mouth with the back of his hand. He rearranges his features into something akin to casual indifference, and says, "I mean…I guess you could say that."

Derek laughs, quirking an appraising eyebrow as his gaze flits across Stiles's face, lingering at the curves of his collarbones just visible beneath a pale blue form-fitting henley, before dipping down to admire the cut of his torso. Stiles swallows thickly.

"You're cute, too," Derek says, his smile warm and genuine. "And you've got a nice voice."

Stiles's eyes widen. Oh fuck. That's right. Motherfucking karaoke.

"Oh my god, shut up, no I don't," Stiles laughs, shaking his head as he shoves his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket, absentmindedly kicking the toes of his sneakers into the hardwood floor.

"No, I'm serious. You were great," Derek insists. Stiles chances a look up at him, heart leaping into his throat at the sweet sincerity he finds there. And then—

"You look so familiar," Derek says with a sudden, sharp intake of breath, head tilted to the side, brows furrowed in concentration as he scrutinizes the details of Stiles's face. "Have we met before?"

"Econ 311," Stiles replies with a shaky sigh.

"Oh my god, that's right!" Derek exclaims, realization dawning on him. "You were that smart-mouthed little shit who always got on Finstock's last nerve. Man, that guy hated you."

Well, Stiles muses, there are definitely worse ways to be remembered.

"I like to think we had a love/hate relationship," Stiles chuckles, delighted over the simple joy of having made Derek laugh.

"Yeah, I thought that was you. Didn't recognize you at first without the buzzcut," Derek reminisces. "You were pretty cute back then, too."

"Yeah, okay," Stiles quips with a hollow laugh. "There's no way in hell a guy like you ever looked twice at a guy like me."

A frustrated crease sets into Derek's forehead, lips twisted into a frown as his eyes bore into Stiles's, studying him like he's a puzzle he can't quite figure out. And what a ridiculous moment this is for Stiles to notice just how thick and full Derek's eyelashes are, to become mesmerized by the honest to god sparkle that dances in his irises like a goddamn Disney prince.

"So," Derek says after a moment, ripping Stiles out of his reverie. "How did I look?"

"Sorry, what?" Stiles shakes his head, genuinely confused.

"Your friends also said that you've thought about me naked," Derek says with a casual shrug, but the Cheshire Cat grin that spreads across his face is anything but. "Did I look good?"

Stiles's eyes widen in shock. Scarlet paints the pulse points across the hollow of his cheekbones and the base of his throat in bright, angry blotches. He opens his mouth, willing the perfect string of words to come and save him from the nightmare of a plot twist this conversation has taken, but all that comes out is a series of high pitched squeaking.

"Damn. That good, huh?" Derek bites his lower lip, and Stiles about dies, because it is simultaneously the hottest and most adorable thing he's ever seen in his entire life.

"Well, I hope I live up to your expectations," Derek sighs around a barely contained smirk, and the blue screen of death flashes across Stiles's mind. "You wanna go out for coffee sometime, see where this goes?"

What?

What?!

This can't actually be happening. There's no way in hell this is real. This is the part where Stiles wakes up, and realizes that it was all a dream. 

Derek pauses, eyebrows raised, waiting for his response. A string of unintelligible nonsense tumbles out of Stiles's mouth, none of it any actual words.

Derek chuckles softly, rummaging through the pockets of his leather jacket before withdrawing a bright blue pen, and scrawling his number on the back of Stiles's hand. Derek's fingertips curl into the palm of his hand, and Stiles forgets how to breathe.

"Give me a call if you're interested," Derek says, flashing Stiles a positively radiant smile and giving his hand an affectionate squeeze, before turning on his heel and sauntering off in the direction of his beckoning bandmates.

Seconds later, Scott and Danny emerge from out of the shadows, clapping Stiles on the back and ruffling his hair, chanting a resounding chorus of I told you so.

"You're welcome," Danny says with a smug smile. 

"And now it's my turn," he says, taking off in hot pursuit of Derek's cousin.

[teeny-tiny-revenge]

It's home cinema manufacturing time! 🏴‍☠️ Gonna put my pirate show on my shelf! (I'm doing an Arts and Crafts Project and I'm making it everyone's problem.)

After seeing how much they cost, I abandoned the idea of getting a Blu-ray writer for now. For the time being, good old DVDs is what it's going to be! My TV is old and not very big, so DVD resolution is gonna be fine.

It's been ages since I last burned a DVD. For the full experience, I'm gonna create nice menus and pretty sleeves for the boxes. Graphic design is my passion! Um.

Well. First needed to find a program to do stuff with. I'm a Linux guy, so I'm using Devede. (Which is free, btw. In case someone else wants to do a low cost spot of putting pirate show on the shelf.)

DVDs fit a maximum of 120 minutes of video. So, four episodes, I thought. But after a quick attempt, the program refused to do more than three (maybe because of the menu also taking up space, and four episodes cutting pretty close to the 120 min mark?). Anyway, three episodes per disc it is. It's a pretty nice runtime for watching the entire disc, IMO. An hour and a half, and then you can return to reality to realise you should probably eat something, or go to bed because it's midnight.

OFMD with its current two seasons has a total of eighteen episodes, which is divisible by three. You get the following setup:

Disc 1: Pilot, A Damned Man, The Gentleman Pirate - That's pretty good, Stede's introduction to piracy all on one disc!

Disc 2: Discomfort in a Married State, The Best Revenge is Dressing Well, The Art of Fuckery - All bangers. Great to watch together, our boys meet and shenanigans happen!

Disc 3: This is Happening, We Gull Way Back, Act of Grace - Many romantic moments, lots of great scenes, shit hits the fan at the end there. Alright!

Disc 4: Wherever you go, there you are, Impossible Birds, Red Flags - ... Pain and angst! What have I done!?! The disc of horrors. Gotta make sure to have tissues at hand when I watch this. But hey, it also has messy bun Ed! Small mercies.

Disc 5: The Innkeeper, Fun and Games, The Curse of the Seafaring Life. - Another disc with all winners. I love all these episodes so much! (You can watch this disc to recover from the trauma of the previous one!) But seriously, this one slaps.

Disc 6: Calypso's Birthday, Man on Fire, Mermen - Great combination again. Season finale! Love and excitement!

... Honestly, except for the psychological damage of putting all the most painful episodes together, this is coming out pretty cool. Says a lot about how good the show is. I actually really love all the episodes (yes even the painful angsty episodes of massive depression). Thinking about this little project really reminded me how much I love this entire show.

So, we got a tracklist, now menus, then we can burn this stuff!

I did the menu backgrounds in GIMP. Realised I have a big folder full of screenshots I took myself, screenshots someone else took and posted on Tumblr, official promo pics for the show, and I have no idea anymore where most of them are from, because I named the files according to what's on them. Which is useful for when you want to find pics (Need a picture of cursed suit Stede? I have files named that, easy peasy!), but not so great if you wanted to give credit to whoever took a given pic you used. (It's probably @sherlockig or @ofmd-ann or @blakbonnet. Please feel credited, your beautiful screens and gifs brighten my day, and some of them are now probably part of my DVD menus. Shrunk down and cropped, but, yeah.)

I originally wanted to structure my menus as having the title of an episode, then some pics from it, then the next episode, then pics from that, and so forth, but I couldn't convince the program to give me the necessary padding between the menu items, so I ended up just putting the episode images below the menu. Still like it.

Anyway, DVD menus can also play sound! Behold a crappy video of my beautiful creation (provided entirely for sound):

It plays Gnossienne N°5!

More crappy pics of my other disc menus:

Gonna make them some nice sleeves next. Some day. Gotta make sure they all work properly first. So. I'll be on my sofa, watching my DVDs. With menus! (Edit: here are!)

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - All's Quiet on the BL Front

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

May 2024 Wk 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Wandee Godday (Sat YT) ep 3 of 12 - I love how were getting a solid depiction of two queers just genuinely enjoying sex with each other. That’s actually rare in BL. In this case, it manages to also be weirdly adorable and cute.

Dee is such a tease. I guess Y likes a brat? 

LOOK at those bedroom eyes!

Linguistics corner: when these two are being serious, sweet, or flirty with each other they use rao/nai which is kind of old fashioned and charming and not common in BL. They move pretty seamlessly into gu/mueng and back depending on the style of convo, tho. It's FUN to hear them talk.

Let the fake relationship commence!

My Stand-In (Thai Fri iQIYI) ep 4 of 12 eps - I HAVE THOUGHTS. I'm really enjoying the sinister backbone of this show. I hope they have the courage of their convictions in that regard and lean into a kind of sexy evil revenge narrative. It was a pleasure to watch the break up and I do not want a redemption arc for Ming or a romance for us. Fuck 'em, let’s just ride a revenge train, okay Joe baby?

That’s said, I totally sniffled at the ending scene where Ming (for two years!) has been paying penance cooking for two and waiting alone. Excellent pathos. Now, I understand how they're gonna make this a full 12 eps. And I’m excited about it. Carry on!

We Are (Weds iQIYI) ep 7 of 16 - I wasn't a fan of Winny & Satang in My School President but I'm loving them in this. The thing with Q, Toey, and Chain had me hooting with laughter. I think I’m finally just easing into the relaxed absurdity of this show. The key is not to expect anything from it. Just them being tiny gay idiots.

Two Worlds (iQIYI) ep 10 fin - Someday I’d like to really enjoy a MaxNat show, but today was not that day. (I feel like ever since Between Us I’ve been generally disenchanted with established OG pairs and what they’re bringing to the table. Perhaps that’s a discussion for another day. Cherry Magic excepted, of course.) 

OK, so this final episode, they sure tried to fit a lot in. But that made the pacing better for me. So I kinda liked this weird cliff notes resolution to the story.

In conclusion:

MaxNat do a credible job with a messy script about parallel worlds, gangsters, and strange diseases cured by forest fruits. It sounds confusing because it is. The chemistry is excellent the side pair is entirely forgotten about, and one could drive a Tardis through the plot holes. Still, I found it modestly enjoyable if not at all rewatchable. 7/10 

Only Boo! (Sun YouTube) ep 6 of 12 - I do love how bold and brash Moo is. He’s truly a great character, such an utter outgoing sunshine puppy focused on his pursuit of his older boy. I'm charmed by his utter harmlessness. They gave us a sweet coming out scene, and an awesome supportive mom. Frankly GMMTV has a good track record with moms. (With a few noted exceptions, of course.)

That said, I do keep forgetting this is a GMMTV offering. It just doesn't FEEL GMMTV. Just me?

OMG Vampire (Thai Sun ????) ep 1 of 10 - Starts tomorrow, will report on sitch next week. LeeFrank are back - not unlike the undead. But how do we feel about it? Unsure given their track record.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

At 25:00 in Akasaka AKA 25 Ji Akasaka de (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - I like it. I like our sulky 2nd lead. He’s pouty, adorable, brash, and adding some much-needed tension to this narrative. The blurring lines between show within a show is a lot of fun. Probably the best I've seen done in BL so far.

Living With Him AKA Kare no Iru Seikatsu (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - I like that we got backstory, but we also sort of already knew it. So this ep felt a bit like filler. They are wonderful when they’re on screen together but when they aren't it's a bit dull. I hope we just get them together for the next 4 eps. But this is Japan, so I doubt it.

Blossom Campus (Korea Thurs Gaga & iQIYI) ep 1 of 6 - The image resolution on this show (via Iqiyi ) is terrible. Meanwhile, awkward crush. Jock nerd pairing. Dorky. Maybe a bit too much awkward/dorky for me? I'm not sold on this one.

Meanwhile the ordering then not eating or drinking of food continues. Very upsetting.

Boys Be Brave (Korea Viki) eps 5-8fin - This show was just never sure what it wanted to be. Slacker sunshine KiSub moves in with nerd JinWoo, mostly because he knows JinWoo likes him but won't confess and that's never happened to him before. It reminded me of some earlier KBLs like Behind Cut, yes is had bones but not much flesh, so it only just hung together and progressed through not very much plot in a jerking rattling fashion like an animated skeleton. All the story and chemistry was with the side couple and none of the screen time. That just annoyed me. What did this BL want to BE? Who tf knows. I, for one, don’t care, and resolve to think no more on it. 6/10 

Blue Boys (Korea Sat YouTube) - This ended at 4 eps on a cliffhanger. Since this is a very small studio I don’t have a lot of faith in there being a part two. But they have bundled both this BL, and the GL, bingable chunks on YT. So if you want to binge it, it’s there. Just be aware that it ends on a cliffhanger.

My thoughts?

Promising reunion romances full of class and coming out struggles but I grade with what we got, not on expectations, and you know I HATE a cliffhanger. So yeah, it HAD promise but as of now it gets a 4/10 - fatally flawed. I reserve the right to change my mind if they amend for damages.

It's airing but...

You Made My Day (Thai YT) ep 1 of 5 - mini series staring the I Will Knock You couple Tar & Bom, started but I couldn't find it. I also didn't try very hard.

Lady Boy Friends (Thai WeTV grey) 16 eps - reminds me a bit too much of Diary of Tootsies only high school. Not my thing. DNF unless it turns a corner and is truly amazing.

A Balloon's Landing (Taiwan movie) trailer - A frustrated Hong Kong writer, Tian Yu, meets a Taipei street gangster, Xiang (Fandy Fan from HIStory2: Crossing the Line), and the two of them embark on a journey to find the Bay of Vanishing Whales. Along the way, they discover unexpected twists and turns and close bonds, which brings out the message that "there is always someone like you in this world who is waiting for you. This released to cinemas in Taiwan, no word on international release.

In case you missed it

A really really thorough and fascinating article on 2 Moons 2 and what happened.

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

May Releases

VBL (Taiwan) is releasing 4 'Special Episode' epilogues to their 4 2023 shows every Friday this month on Gagaoolala, Viki & Viu. Not sure on search terms or how to find these. (Or, frankly, if we need them.)

5/10 – You Are Mine

5/17 – VIP Only

5/24 – Stay By My Side

5/31 – Anti Reset

5/25 The Time of Fever AKA Unintentional Love Story 2 (Korea movie) trailer - HoTae & DongHee are back but unfortunately not in a cinema near me. Side couple from Unintentional Love Story, same actors, same character names. I love them. I NEED TO SEE THIS.

5/28 My Biker 2 (Thai movie YT?) - trailer

5/30 Knock Knock Boys (Thai Thurs WeTV) - I'm hoping I can get it elsewhere since my WeTV account is inactive, but I do love Best and I'm interested in seeing him in a new pairing. That said, I'm not wild about Seng... so I won't be too cut up if I can't get hold of this. More here.

5/31 The Time of Huannan (Taiwan movie) - May not be BL

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I'm a sucker for this king of casual claiming. (Only Boo)

It me! (Wandee Goodday)

(Last week)

Streaming services are listed by how I (usually) watch, which is with a USA based IP, and often offset by a day because time zones are a pain.

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @sunflower-positiiivity @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious

If ya wanna be tagged each week leave a comment and I will add you to the template. Easy peesy.

[shardechance]

𝖏𝖆𝖜𝖇𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖗

ao3 link | playlist | detailed content warnings | masterlist

pairing: feysand rating: explicit wc: 23k warnings: non con

Feyre’s a big fan of scary movies. So much, in fact, that Halloween night spent curled up on the couch and watching Poltergeist while the kids she’s babysitting sleep upstairs doesn’t sound so bad, even if it means missing out on a party or two. It’s a relatively boring night, until a real ghost appears. Rhysand, in the shittiest costume she’s ever seen, picked the wrong house to trick or treat... but scary movies aren’t scary until they’re real.

[FREAK WEEK DAY 1]

read on ao3 or proceed below for small snippet.

The movie is better than Feyre remembers it, which isn’t exactly a surprise. The first time she saw it, her sisters stole dresses from Mom’s room and dressed Feyre up as E.T. so they could stuff her in a closet. They’d instructed her to hide, and after too long spent in the dark, Feyre eventually wandered out on her own. She found her sisters downstairs, seemingly having forgotten their little sister, with the credits already rolling on the TV.

By contrast, the boys let her have her own blanket, and laugh along with her even when they don’t get the joke. They leave the last bit of popcorn for her, and even though it’s hard in the middle and the chocolate’s gone, it tastes good. There’s fifteen minutes left in the movie when Feyre’s phone buzzes in her pocket, and she’s more than a bit disappointed when she gets up to answer it.

���Be right back, boys,” Feyre sighs, flinging the blanket off her lap.

She stands in the foyer, where she can see into the living room to keep an eye on the boys and the movie, and brings the phone up to look at the screen. FaceTime Video. Lucien Vanserra.

“Hey, Lucien,” Feyre says, a bit distracted. What greets her in full and glorious outdated iPhone resolution, is half an opera mask, an open dress shirt, and the smug grin of her best friend.

“Sing, my angel of music!”

Her thumb hits the end call button before Lucien can embarrass himself further.

She doesn’t get the chance to roll her eyes, let alone head back to the boys and their movie. Before she’s even lifted her thumb from the red reject call button, his picture flashes across her screen again. Against her better judgment, her thumb slides across to green.

“Why are you such a bitch?” Lucien asks by way of greeting.

“Mind your manners, potty mouth. Tiny ears present,” she warns, turning her back to the living room as if to shield the kids from his bad language.

He snorts, shooting back something from a red solo cup. “Oh yeah? Fu—”

“Shut up!” She snaps. Her shitty phone speaker is no match for surround sound, so it’s unlikely the boys can hear from the other room, but Feyre doesn’t want to be the reason they learn their first swears. “You look like a loser.”

“What do you mean?” He lifts the mask, revealing his scarred cheek, and half a smirk. Usual golden prosthetic eye switched for a scarlet alternative. “I’m told it plays to my strengths.”

He’s gorgeous. Unfortunately, he is very much aware of that. Scars and all. Chicks dig it, she’s told. Feyre takes the last few steps to the kitchen, dropping a couple of stray candy wrappers in the garbage on her way past.

“What do you want?” she says. “I’m working.”

“Yeah, about that,” Lucien says, his tone dripping with the promise of trouble. “Ditch the kids! Come play!”

And lose the easiest hundred bucks of her life? No way. Yeah, seeing Lucien in his element, chasing the highs of what little nightlife there is to offer, flirting with boys, dancing with girls—

“Negative.” Feyre inspects her cuticles. “This is easy money.”

tag list: @velidewrites @melting-houses-of-gold @popjunkie42 @secret-third-thing @separatist-apologist @the-lonelybarricade @jon-snows-man-bun @iftheshoef1tz

[cyber-therian]

hi all! i made my own “alterhuman ID” template, free to use for anyone :D the box in the right-side corner is to add the symbol of your identity (therian, alterhuman, otherkin, otherhearted, etc)

make sure you dont put any information that could put you in danger! this is just for fun and you dont need to put your actual information if u dont want to! making things up is totally okay.

also make sure to have the images full-screen if you are saving them, as it will give you the best resolution.

i edited mine in IbispaintX

“registration date” is the year i realized i was nonhuman, you can put whatever youd like

inspired by this & another i cannot find!!

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard settings details - Display and Graphics

This post is under a cut due to length.

This information comes directly from the game.

DA:TV menu 'pages': Display, Graphics, Audio, Controls, Gameplay, Interface, Accessibility, Other.

For some of the settings, additional detail on a specific one (the one that was selected at that particular point during the video, e.g. "Window Mode" was set to "Full Screen") is given after the general explanation/definition of the setting itself. These are in italics at the end of an entry.

DISPLAY

Display Mode

Active Monitor: Select the monitor for game display. Window Mode: Switches between full screen, windowed, and borderless windowed modes. You can press ALT+ENTER at any time to switch between full screen and windowed modes. In full screen mode, the game will play on the entire screen. Screen Resolution: Changes the game's display resolution. The game's level of on-screen detail is determined by the number of pixels it contains. Higher resolution increases the number of pixels displayed, which will result in a clearer image. This comes with a potential cost to performance. Refresh Rate: Sets how often your display will refresh game visuals. A higher refresh rate means a smoother picture, depending on your computer's hardware. Frame Rate Limit: Sets the maximum framerate for the game. VSync: Synchronizes the game's framerate with the display's refresh rate to prevent screen tearing.

Calibration

Brightness: Adjusts the intensity of the game's visuals. Makes all visuals lighter or darker. Contrast: Adjusting the contrast will change the difference in color and light between the brightest and darkest parts of the screen. Enable HDR: HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode provides enhanced color and contrast ranges. This option can only be enabled on supported displays. HDR must also be enabled in your operating system. Use the HDR Calibration option below to adjust. HDR Calibration: Launches the HDR calibration tool which adjusts the HDR settings to best match your display. The maximum brightness level should generally be adjusted to match what your HDR display will support. Measured in nits. This is only available when Enable HDR is turned on.

Upscaling

Unsample Method: Improve performance and visuals by rendering the game at a smaller resolution, then "upsampling" to a larger resolution for display. The pixels that make up the difference between the two resolutions are generated using advanced algorithms. Unsample Quality: Select the desired quality level for the upsampling method selected. DLSS Frame Generation: DLSS Frame Generation can generate additional frames that boost your overall frame rate. In order to use Frame Generation, you must have an NVIDIA RTX 40-series graphics card. NVIDIA Reflex: NVIDIA Reflex is a technology that helps reduce input latency while playing the game. In order to take advantage of NVIDIA Reflex's feature, you must have a supported NVIDIA graphics card. Anti-Aliasing: Anti-Aliasing smooths out pixels along the edge of objects that can look sharp or jagged in certain situations. Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) uses information from current and past frames to address aliasing issues. The high setting uses a large range of frames and will result in a higher quality anti-aliasing effect, but with a higher performance cost.

Resolution Scaling

Render Scale: Controls the resolution the game is rendered at relative to your display resolution. Settings below 100% may decrease visual fidelity, but can improve performance. Settings above 100% may increase visual fidelity, but can negatively impact performance. Dynamic Resolution Scaling: Automatically lowers the game's resolution in real-time to maintain the target frame rate. Target Frames Per Second: Determines the target frame rate for dynamic resolution scaling. Minimum Resolution Scale: Determines how low the resolution can be scaled when Dynamic Resolution Scaling is active.

GRAPHICS

Graphics Preset

Graphics Preset: Graphics presets are predefined configurations that simultaneously adjust multiple graphics settings to achieve a balance between visuals and performance. Restart required for setting change. Maximizes visual fidelity by setting most graphics options to their highest values. Recommended for the Ultra hardware specification tier.

Textures

Texture Quality: Selects the level of detail and resolution for textures applied to objects in the game. Higher settings will result in more detailed textures, potentially at the cost of performance. Restart required for setting change. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Major. Texture Filtering: Adjusts the appearance of textures at varied angles and distances. Higher settings will increase texture quality, though potentially at the cost of performance. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor.

Light and Shadow

Lighting Quality: Adjusts the appearance of shadows, reflections, and light-scattering. Higher settings increase the visual fidelity of light effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Major. Contact Shadow: Contact Shadows improves the appearance of shadows when objects are close to one another. It fills gaps between objects and shadows that can occur with static lighting. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Ambient Occlusion: Ambient Occlusion is a technique to simulate soft shadows where objects are close together or where surfaces meet. This makes the scene look more realistic. Disabled when Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion is enabled. CPU - Minor. GPU - Major. VRAM - Minor. Disables Ambient Occlusion. This potentially increases performance at the cost of visual fidelity. Screen Space Reflections: Screen Space Reflections simulate reflections of objects and light on visible surfaces. Enabling this will result in high-quality reflections. Disabled when Ray-traced Reflections are enabled. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Moderate. Volumetric Lighting: Adjusts the appearance of volumetric lighting effects. This simulates how light interacts with atmospheric elements like fog, smoke, dust, and clouds. Higher settings increase the quality of these types of elements. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Sky Quality: Adjusts the appearance of the sky, clouds, and celestial bodies like the sun and moon. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor.

Ray Tracing

Ray-traced Reflections: Enables the use of Ray-Tracing to simulate realistic reflections of objects and light on reflective surfaces. This is a more advanced technique and requires specialized Ray Tracing compatible hardware. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. In selective mode, the game will only enable Ray-traced Reflections in specific areas that can best take advantage of the feature. Ray-traced Ambient Occlusion: Enables the use of Ray Tracing to simulate soft shadows where objects are close together or where surfaces meet. This makes the scene look more realistic. This is a more advanced technique and requires specialized Ray Tracing compatible hardware. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Ray-Traced Ambient Occlusion is always on. Ultra Ray Tracing: Enables the highest level of ray tracing effects, which provide better quality visuals at the cost of performance. This setting is available on the Ultra and Custom graphics presets and is only recommended for high-end graphics cards.

Geometry

Level Of Detail: Adjusts the distance at which objects are visible and the level of detail as they get father away from the camera. Higher settings increase the visual quality of objects at distance. Restart required for setting change. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Strand Hair: Strand hair simulates the appearance and movement of individual strands of hair. Enabling this will result in more realistic and natural-looking hair. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Terrain Quality: Terrain is the natural landscape and ground surfaces. Higher settings will increase the detail and overall quality. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Terrain Decoration Quality: Adjusts the appearance and detail of terrain elements like rocks, vegetation, and other environmental objects. Higher settings will increase the quality and density of the terrain elements. CPU - Moderate. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate. Visual Effects Quality: Adjusts the quality and detail of visual effects throughout the game. This includes particle effects, decals, and screen effects. Higher settings will result in higher quality effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Moderate.

Camera Effects

Depth of Field: The Depth of Field effect causes some elements of the scene to be in focus, and others to be out of focus. This effect is generally only used in cutscenes and conversations. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Depth of Field is only enabled in cinematic sequences. Vignette: The vignette creates a subtle darkening of the image towards the edges of the screen during cinematics and gameplay. This is generally used to enhance the atmosphere of scenes. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Motion Blur: Motion Blur slightly blurs fast-moving objects. This helps make motion appear smoother and more natural. CPU - Minor. GPU - Minor. VRAM - Minor. Post Processing Quality: Adjusts the overall quality of the post process effects above like depth of field, bloom and motion blur. Higher settings will result in higher quality effects. CPU - Minor. GPU - Moderate. VRAM - Minor. Field of View: Adjusts the field of view, which changes how much of the game world is visible during gameplay. A higher field of view allows you to see more of the game world. CPU - Major. GPU - Major. VRAM - Moderate.

[source]

[eskcreative]

Before I had a blu-ray copy of And Then There Were None, I took this screen shot in standard definition and used Remini to sharpen it up. I have no problem with Remini IF USED CORRECTLY. I have always loved this shot of Philip, and the top photo was the best edit I could get...until now. On the bottom is the beautiful full resolution blu-ray screenshot of the same frame. Remini is a blessing and a curse. I think it can do a pretty decent job if the photo is clear enough to start with, but it can sometimes produce some pretty terrible results which result in very misleading photos of Aidan circulating around. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Look at our handsome guy!

[thefrogman]

Fishing for Follows

I don't really like Instagram.

It does a bad job of displaying photos as an artist intends. So artists have to adapt their photos to conform to how Instagram works. Any photography that involves high resolution detail get shrunk down and compressed and usually seen on a tiny screen. But if you do want to see it on a proper screen, the desktop version of the site still shrinks your work and dedicates half the page to comments. Put the comments underneath! They want you to use their crops and their shitty filters. And for some reason, everyone uses reels now instead of just a regular post. Timers make me anxious! I don't like the pressure of having to consume the content in the time alotted. Sometimes my brain works slow and I just want to process what I'm seeing. And then if I want to come back and see that thing again, IT'S GONE! Why do you all like self-destruction so much?

Oh and there is no real community sharing infrastructure so if you want to build any kind of following it's like twice as hard.

Instagram kinda sucks, is what I'm saying.

But I am trying to be a legit photographer again and Instagram is where all of the photographers seem to end up.

And if I want to get clients at some point I will be asked, "what's your Insta?" from people wanting to vet my work and see if I have chops.

So I am trying to curate a collection of my best work.

Due to being a full time caregiver for both of my parents, I had to quit photography for a few years. Most of my work was captured before 2017, but it is all edited in 2024. So, I was not nearly as good at lighting, but I can mostly make up for that with my much more advanced editing skills.

Like, I took this photo of a shoe with a full studio setup and fancy lights.

Cut to present day, my studio is now a storage room, my fancy lights are gone, and all I have is a tiny front room and two inexpensive video lights.

I feel like I did more with less.

I spent these past 6 years studying the blade.

My brain is filled with so much knowledge.

And once I rebuild my studio, I'm going to photograph some cool shit.

And so... if you don't mind...

Would you please follow me on Insta?

Do I really have to say it like that?

Can I just say Instagram? Embrace my age a little?

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The Many Failures of Lila's Writing

There are three main issues with Lila Rossi (or whatever her name is): she was introduced too early, she doesn't fill a unique role in the story, and her lies are too over the top for her to feel like a good villain. Let's go through that list in order because the issues build to create the show's most annoying character even though her setup could have led to a legitimately great character who we would have all loved to hate.

Issue 1: Lila Shows Up Three Seasons Too Early

Lila is introduced in the final episode of season one and then essentially disappears from the show for a full season. The only time we see her in season two is her brief appearance in season two's finale where she takes on the role of Volpina again in order to help Gabriel fake Ladybug's death. That's also the episode where we learn that Lila has been "in Achu" for some unknown amount of time.

[image: a list of Lila's season two appearances (source)]

Season three sees Lila show up with reasonable regularity (8 episodes, none of which are two-parters) and we get a real conflict with her, truly establishing her as a villain who lies like crazy and who wants to destroy Marinette.

Then season four comes and Lila is once again forgotten about. She shows up more than she did in season two, but only as a background character and most episodes don't see her at all. She doesn't have a single line until the final three episodes of the season and her role in these episodes is exceedingly minor. She does a few petty things to remind you that she's awful, but she's not the focus of the plot. She's just there to remind you that she exists and to establish her and Chloe as coconspirators of some sort.

[image: a list of Lila's season four appearances (source)]

Then season five comes and Lila is back to being an active antagonist. She shows up in almost every episode and we even get her very lackluster defeat.

This is some of the worst pacing that I have ever seen. It's honestly impressively bad. I hope the issue speaks for itself, but in case it doesn't, you don't chop a story up like this without a good reason and, frankly, there isn't one. Lila's introduction, villain setup, and defeat should have all take place over the course of a season or two, forming a mini arc.

Just in case you don't know what that is, most stories have a main conflict that drives the whole narrative (ex: getting the butterfly miraculous back) but within that story you have lots of mini stories. Things that get resolved so that it feels like things are moving forward and so that the audience stays engaged. If you don't get any satisfying resolutions until five seasons in (or more), then the audience will start to get annoyed or just stop watching. It's also a good way to keep expectations from getting built up too high. If every season or every other season has a satisfying conclusion to some big conflict, then you don't leave everything riding on the big finale.

By chopping Lila's story up, you made the audience spend four seasons dreaming of her defeat. Expectations were sky high. She's more hated than Gabe! If she's been introduced mid season 4 and had the exact same story arc, then her lackluster take down would be a mild disappointment and not a major issue for most of the fandom.

Issue 2: Lila and Chloe Should Never have Coexisted

When it comes to story telling, characters fill roles. Ladybug is the lead. Alya is the plucky best friend. Gabriel is the big bad. Etc. Etc.

Generally speaking, you only want one character in a given role. Having two or more characters in the same role leads to character bloat where characters are fighting for screen time because they don't have a clear place in the story. This is especially true for key antagonistic roles. It's a lot easier to balance two best friends than it is to balance two big bads.

Enter Chloe and Lila.

I've mentioned before that I thought that Chloe was going to be redeemed. The reason I thought this was not because of anything to do with Chloe. It was because the show introduced Lila and, narratively speaking, Lila and Chloe are the same character. They're both petty school bullies whose main job is to cause trouble for Marinette while she's at school and to give setups for akumas.

However, in terms of perceived threat, Lila is the bigger badder Chloe. No one but Sabrina likes Chloe. Everyone but Marinette likes Lila. Chloe doesn't make plans. Lila lives to manipulate and plot. If you're going to get rid of Chloe, Lila is who you'd replace her with. That's just how this works.

One of the most well known examples of this type of setup is Zuko and Azula from Avatar the Last Airbender. Zuko is the main antagonist of season one, but season two sees him step out of that role as he starts his journey of self-discovery and redemption. And who is introduced at the end of seasons one? Azula, Zuko's evil, more powerful sister. In season two, Azula fills Zuko's former role, but also makes things feel more serious because she's a bigger badder Zuko.

This brings us back to a big part of issue one. Namely, Lila's ongoing disappearing act. She only does that because of Chloe.

Chloe is a much easier villain to write. She doesn't have to hide anything. She is openly petty and evil. So if you're going to pick a character for a petty conflict, you're going to pick Chloe. The only time Lila gets pulled in is when the drama revolves around lies because Chloe is actually a strikingly honest character. She rarely lied prior to her "friendship" with Lila because, for the most part, Chloe doesn't care if everyone hates her. She only cares about the opinions of a chosen few. (Or, at least, she acts like she does.)

For Lila to work, Chloe needed to be redeemed or written off the show. The best proof of this is season five, where Chloe straight up becomes Lila's minion because the writers had to force that relationship if they wanted to have both characters involved in the plot. It's also why season four saw Chloe suddenly obsessed with Marinette when, prior to that, Chloe bullied everyone. The only way to team Chloe and Lila up was to give them a common goal and that didn't exist in the first three seasons.

So, building off of point one, Lila should have been introduced much later and she should have stepped into Chloe's shoes after Chloe either switched roles or completely left the show.

Issue 3: The Lies

I think that we can all agree that Lila is a terrible liar. Even a toddler could see through the BS that spews from her mouth. There are multiple satisfying Lila takedown fics that don't involve clever plots to beat her. They involve Alya or someone else doing a google search because - even with the declining quality of that tool - that's still all that it would take to prove what Lila is.

This is a really bad way to write a character who is supposed to be a master manipulator. Especially when she's going to be the next big bad. They desperately needed to tone her down.

For example, DON'T have her claim to be Ladybug's best friend. Have her claim that Ladybug saved her. That would still go up on the Ladyblog and, more importantly, it would be a lot harder to disprove. I doubt that Ladybug remembers everyone she saves so no one would fault Alya for just taking that at face-value, but Marinette could still instantly peg Lila as a liar.

Tinnitus from saving Jagged Stone's cat? How about tinnitus from being too close to the speakers at Jagged Stone's latest concert? The concert where Lila even got to meet him because she had back stage passes. Once again, hard to disprove. Jagged meets a lot of fans. I doubt he'd be able to tell you that she was lying.

And definitely don't have her openly state that she's a liar. The fact that she did that and was STILL able to manipulate the adult characters is abysmal writing. Especially because it comes right before Lila disappears for a season, giving the impression that her confession essentially defeated her, only for the show to go PSYCH! No one cares about her confession, it meant nothing for the Lila conflict.

I've had someone tell me that they think that Lila's lies were suppose to be a joke and, to be fair, that's plausible. The show relies on a lot of ridiculous humor. If Lila had shown up later, then this might have worked. But because Lila has been around for so long, we've all had time to think about her lies and build up the expectation of how they'd be handled.

I don't just mean Lila being exposed. I mean the fallout of all of her "fans" having to deal with the truth of who Lila really is, an issue that I won't go into here because this is already super long and I think that the issue of how her lies effect characters like Nino and Alya is pretty well understood.

There's also the Chloe thing. Chloe is very over the top, so replacing her with a character who is over the top in a different, more terrifying way would have made some sense. But Chloe's still here and she's more ridiculous than ever, so Lila matching that ridiculous just makes them an annoying duo that we all have to suffer through. Their team up was one of the most forced elements of seasons five. I just do not buy that Chloe would ever subject herself to being someone's minion. When it comes to that team up, the hand of the author is glaring.

Conclusion/Final Thoughts

Manipulative characters are fun. They make for fantastic villains and Lila could have been one of these fantastic villain, especially if Gabriel was played as more sympathetic. If there were lines that Gabriel wouldn't cross, then Lila getting the butterfly would be terrifying. As-is, I don't see how she's any worse than the dude who created Chat Blanc. Plus I'm not even sure why she needs the butterfly. She could already get anything she wanted with minimal effort because her lying powers are so OP. Like, why should I care about that twist? What has changed with the passing of the butterfly? The stakes have not been raised. If anything, they've been lowered.

Lila is just your generic evil villain who is evil for evil's sake. The heroes already hate her. Finding out that she's the big bad is not emotionally devastating. If anything, Marinette should be thrilled that she finally has an excuse to punch Lila.

It's possible that the writers will give Lila an interesting back story, but because she's been around for five seasons, I don't have any faith that they will. I mean, what was the point of introducing her all the way back in season one if you weren't going to use that to set her up in a satisfying way? I've seen people say to just wait and see and wait for what? They couldn't manage to pull off Gabriel's defeat or Chloe's defeat/redemption or Lila's first takedown in a way that was narratively satisfying. Why should I give them a chance to disappoint me with Lila's next take down? Three strikes and you're out!

@tallwriter as requested, there are my thoughts on Lila. As with every character in this show, I think she deserved better. She could have been great. She's one of the worst examples of squandered potential because everything about her was done wrong.

[shubblelive]

— CUT THAT

summary : being an editor for the sorry boys means you witness a lot of embarrassing moments. but there’s no one tommy would trust more with them.

genre : fluff

warnings: swearing, just general tommy-ness

pairing : cc!tommyinnit x gn!editor!reader

pronouns : they/them

featuring : cc!tommyinnit, cc!wilbur soot, cc!sorry boys (mentioned)

request : @gaytoadwithapopsicle can you do being a feminine reader (they/them or she/they) in sorry boys! and it’s tommy x reader (romantic)

word count : 966

note : i made reader an editor cause i had this cute little idea and it’s not really something you see in fics a whole lot

it was late. everyone else had gone home, it was just you, tommy and wilbur. you and wilbur in your separate booths editing videos, tommy sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest as he scrolled through his phone. wilbur was working on the first video and you were doing the colouring for the second, and the three of you had lapsed into a comfortable silence in the few hours you’d been there.

but of course tommy’s calm state had an expiration date that allowed approximately three hours of quiet, and now he was getting bored.

“can we go home?” he huffed. “i didn’t even get a chair. i don’t want to be a floor boy anymore,”

without even looking away from his monitor wilbur pointed at the couch behind him. you glanced at your boyfriend, giving a sympathetic smile. “i’ll be another hour or so, and then i still need to wait ‘till i get a reply. sorry, tom. you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”

tommy sighed dramatically. “i offered you a lift home, i’d be a bit of a shit boyfriend if i left you here alone with him.”

“i’ll split an uber with you?” wilbur offered, spinning slightly in his chair. “make sure you get dropped of first.”

“oi,” tommy said from his position on the floor, pointing threateningly at wilbur. “back off,”

you rolled your eyes affectionately. “sorry, the lighting in this prison was absolutely abysmal. there’s a lot to fix.”

tommy finally pushed himself off the floor and almost tripped walking towards you, looking at your screen. the part you were currently colour-correcting was focused on charlie and wilbur, and tommy nodded resolutely. “yes, there is a lot to fix there. i don’t know how you stomach it,” you laughed quietly with wilbur rolling his eyes, but tommy wasn’t done. “like, look at his fucking hair. it’s too long, i hate it. i know something else that is too long.” 

this time it was tommy sniggering at his own joke, but instead you looked up at him from your chair and said “how long we’ve been together.”

at that, wilbur burst into laughter, with tommy trying his best to hold back his own. he was spluttering while attempting to reply, and in the meantime, you decided to go back to your work. “anyway tommy. the amount of shit jokes of yours i have to cut out because they’re just not funny is so incredibly high, if anything it’s your fault we’re still here.”

“fuck you my jokes are funny.” tommy pouted. “at least my face doesn’t look like that.” he pointed to where you had paused on an unfortunate face charlie was making, and you scoffed.

“i have an entire folder of dumb faces you’ve made in videos that i’ve cut out,” you replied. “i just choose not to share them with you because i love you.”

“so you’ve been removing tommy’s face from the entire prison video, then?” wilbur asked.

you nodded. “the second you’re done with the courtroom cut i’ll go back and fix that one too.”

tommy was growing increasingly offended, hiding the fond smile he was directing at you. you’d been hired as an editor for the new group channel because of him, and while he’d known his friends would love you he had been a little worried. the two of you had only been going out for four months before you took the job, and at the time you’d only met wilbur. 

but when you first showed up at the office on the day of the first full production meeting, he’d been relieved that everyone loved you. seeing you get along so well with wilbur filled him with comfort, and he resisted the urge to plant a kiss on your forehead, knowing it would break up the banter you were sharing.

“you can talk, wilbur.” he spoke up. “your face is dumb and if i were you i’d keep growing my hair out so no one has to see it.”

“says the kid who got the same haircut as me.” wilbur fired back.

“alright, you two,” you stopped them. “tom, give me half an hour and i’ll be done? then i am all yours for the rest of the night.”

tommy reluctantly nodded, and went to go sit back on the floor. but before he could, wilbur spoke up again. “nah, you guys are alright. you should go home, i’ll finish the rest of it.”

you shook your head, pointedly ignoring the way tommy’s face lit up at the prospect of getting to spend time with you after a very long day. “no, will. it’s too much for one person. it’s my job, i’ll do it. it’s fine, really.”

“whatever i don’t finish tonight, we can do tomorrow,” wilbur encouraged gently. “we’re way ahead of schedule thanks to you. take tonight off, go do what the youths do.”

“yeah, listen to him,” tommy nodded eagerly. “he’s old and wise like a president,”

you looked uncertain, but the fond smile wilbur was giving you both was enough to make you cave. “five minutes to finish up? then we can go home?” tommy nodded and pressed a kiss to your temple. that night, when you got back to your flat, tommy immediately pressed his face into the top of your head, holding you close to him. 

“i missed you,” he mumbled. “i’m really glad you took the job. i love working with you.” his voice was low, and you knew he was being uncharacteristically earnest, but you couldn’t resist.

“i think i’m getting sick of you,” you tried, bringing a hand up to scratch his scalp gently. 

“no you’re not,” he corrected, closing his eyes against your touch. he wasn’t wrong. 

[dadsbongos]

dads rockin' new year's eve!

count the seconds and belt those carols because the new year is approaching quick! let's celebrate right by appreciating our fictional loved ones! be sure to read through the do's & don't's below the cut or be kicked outta VIP! 17/23 prompts remain

tagging peeps who seemed inch rested: @toxycodone / @maniacpixiedreamboy + @xyfanficarchive + @antoine-tte + @dreamsandsuns + @kingofthe-egirls

**collab is open!**

PARTY RULES let's be mindful of our guests and ourselves!

full-length fics are completely non-necessary, but if the inspiration is hot i want people to have plenty of wiggle space! i’d say minimum ~400 words - 5k absolute max.

prompts are first come first served with no repeats. prompts remain open until picked or until December 15th. 

NSFW is allowed, however, i'll need an age or adequate age-indicator plainly visible on your blog or it’s gonna be a party foul! all characters involved must be aged up to 18 or older. dark content is allowed, so long as it’s appropriately tagged.

if, for any reason, you gotta ditch a prompt before midnight please let me know asap so we can get it back out there for a different date! switching one prompt for another can only be done once.

feel free to post as soon as you’re done, posts will be reblogged but not shared on a cohesive masterlist until closer to the deadline: December 26th. please tag your post #dads rockin new year and link back to this post :] 

also! i’d like to avoid repeating characters as much as possible, after 2 prompts are filled by the same character then we’ll need to freshen it up with a new face!

RSVP when's the party, and how to enter!

the big new year's eve bash will be on December 31st, no posts will be let in after the party ends!

to enter: pick an available prompt and drop the emoji in my inbox or messages along with what character you’re writing for (and what fandom they hail from!)

BYOB pick a prompt! the fun part!

12 grapes 🍇

champagne bubbles 🍾

gold tinsel 🥇

silver spoon 🥄

ball drop 🎊

hangover 💊

sloppy midnight kiss💋

fireworks🎆

woop-woop sirens!!🚨

snowball 🍧

recluse at a party 🌱

daddy’s fancy yacht 🚢

minutes after midnight, already broke a resolution⏰

regrets ⭕

last chances! 🍷

and the best part of this year was… 🍰

“you can’t spend the night alone!” 👯‍♀️

late night toast 🍞

stargazing ⭐

streamers 🎉

party favors 🎈

auld lang syne 🎶

secret special super surprise pick! ☢️

(dad spins a wheel and randomly assigns a prompt not pictured on screen. one re-roll allowed.)

GUESTLIST who's allowed in, who's coming, and their date for the party!

writers: @toxycodone x daisuke (mouthwashing) - sloppy midnight kiss💋 @toxycodone x chilchuck (dunmeshi) - regrets⭕ @24kills x satoru gojo (jujutsu kaisen) - silver spoon🥄 @dreamsandsuns x katsuki bakugou (bnha) - ball drop 🎊 @xyfanficarchive x captain curly (mouthwashing) - stargazing⭐ @antoine-tte x kylar (degrees of lewdity) - recluse at a party🌱

fandom: any, be wild be proud be unabashedly cringe as we welcome the new year!

feel free to ask if you have any questions i either didn't cover or if you need any clarification! this is my first go at an event like this, so i want it to run smoothly!

[atariakana-art]

{ Photo Study } - Brett Yang (pt. 2)

Time elapsed: ca. 7 h Finished: January 18th, 2022 Ref: Photo by macami_ on instagram Done in Procreate

Another 3-year anniversary is upon us! This is the last of the "big" paintings I have, but I've got a few illustrations and a handful of sketches left that I'll probably bundle together to post.

Fun fact: I am so extremely proud of this hand. I have since painted several nice hands but at the time this was by far my best work and I was like woah...I did THAT.

Also, I just discovered that although I exported them as pngs, my ipad automatically converted these files to jpgs to "maximize compatibility" (🙄). I work on bigass canvases and most of you are probably viewing this on a tiny screen so it likely doesn't matter too much, but! If you would like to view these in full juicy resolution, they are also on my artfol gallery.

[ihatesocialmedia45]

My Debut Onto The Tumblr Homelander Fanfic Scene

I see a lot of other Homelander writers post their fics on here, and I think I will start, too! Here is Chapter One of my fic: (also - you should listen to Guts' Theme from Berserk while you read!)

Sunshine, Happiness and Rainbows

Vought's New Year's Countdown was in full swing; VNN was filming live, and the camera panned outside, to show the cheering crowd huddled outside the Tower. Homelander watched from the window, the flash of cameras lighting up his face, wearing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He would be hosting this event, he thought with an internal sigh. The people outside might have been genuinely celebrating - but to him,  to the rest of the Seven, it was just another soulless bid for attention. They hadn't even officially been asked to host; The Tonight Show had fought them tooth and nail for the time slot - but Stan would not be cowed, and Vought had won, once again.

All this, just to celebrate another pointless year... 

"Over here, Homelander!" a cameraman urged, waving wildly. Homelander flashed him a dazzling smile; the shutters clicked faster.

Deep was entertaining a gaggle of fans outside, taking pictures, while Maeve was nursing an old fashioned inside, leaning on the meeting room table. Noir, hidden the back, was wearing a neon sign that flashed colors and messages across the screen: 20 minutes till next year!  Sage, the sourpuss, had managed to find a way out of the affair entirely, and was probably scraping her brains out and eating fast food... or whatever it was she did during those moments of idiocy she quite literally carved out for herself. Homelander felt his lip curl in disgust. The Seven was in shambles, and Stan had saw fit to drag them on TV and make them dance, anyway. 

Starlight and Firecracker seemed to be making the best of it, at least, talking to the camera about their resolutions. "Well... I hope to beat my record for saves this year! 350," Starlight said, puffing her chest out slightly. Firecracker gave her a teasing look. "Oh, what a coincidence! I also hope to beat Starlight's record of 350 saves this year," she joked, giving Starlight a playful push. 

As Stan gave his annual speech - his State of the Union, Homelander scoffed, suppressing an eye roll - everyone watched as the camera panned to Noir and his sign: 10 minutes till next year!  Homelander watched the sign flash, Stan's voice like static in his ears. He was already thinking of what he'd do tomorrow; he'd go down to the 30th floor, maybe terrorize Ashley a bit (holidays made him angry), do his itinerary... maybe fly across the globe, sit at Mount Everest... He'd built something of a settlement on the summit, where he could sip his milk and watch the sun rise at the highest elevation in the world. Of course, he could have flown higher, but he'd recently decorated the place with a very deep leather recliner, complete with a heated cushion. Every king needed his throne, after all. Stan fixed him in his steely gaze, snapping him from his reverie. He smiled.

"Now that I've said my piece, I'd like to turn the mic over to Vought's own... Homelander," Stan said smoothly, making way for him. Homelander stepped to the mic, that same static from before in his ears, choking out the festivities and leaving him in a silent film of a scene.

Just move your mouth, John. Tell them what they want to hear.

He felt the words come out, heard the crowd's answering laughter at his jokes, their cheers... but nothing registered in his own ears. He watched the crowd give their silent shouts, mouths set in open grins - and he answered with yet another one of his own, clenched fist throbbing under the podium. His face was starting to ache.

Standing there, at the podium, ushering in a new year he couldn't care less about, but being too influential to miss the show, Homelander straightened his spine, even as he felt his face twitch when he saw a couple outside, wrapping each other into a passionate embrace. He kept his eyes on them, raking over the way they moved - a tender brush of hair, a kiss on the forehead. His eyes felt hot - the urge to laser. He stuffed it down, willed himself to smile.

Finally, though, someone announced that the time had come; there were only 10 seconds until the ball dropped. The city held its breath as Homelander raised his hands, counting down, the words falling on deaf ears, sweeping his gaze around once again.

Five!

Maeve, looking depressed as she stood apart from the show.

Four!

Sage, in her dark little den, lobotomy wand in hand, as the masses celebrated outside.

Three!

Deep hugging a fan, bristling as their hands brushed his gills.

Two!

Noir, forever mute and unable to join in on the countdown.

One!

And Homelander, overseer of the entire sordid affair, fists tied in a white knuckled knot under the podium.

"Happy New Year!" everybody cheered, and the crowd outside went wild. The air, once so charged with anticipation, seemed to let out a breath, the smattering of glitter and confetti shimmering in the night sky as New York celebrated. The Seven looked on, their rehearsed smiles growing wan.

Oh, God... Homelander groused, looking around; everyone had begun to embrace, swaying gently as they kissed, hundreds of thousands of hands that held their partners close, the breaths of a million contended sighs reaching his ears and turning his stomach.

He'd seen enough; his duty fulfilled, he stepped stiffly from the podium, shouldering his way past the throngs of people, his step determined. Maybe he'd be able to make it to Everest in an hour if he left now. Less, if he sped. 

In his haste to leave, he heard snatches of conversations ("Is that Homelander?!") that he waved off, his façade waning alongside his patience. He couldn't take a picture. Not today.

He'd finally broken free of the crowd, and was preparing to fly off - when a new voice sounded, a few dozen feet behind him, the melody low and soft in his ears. He stopped himself, lowering his arms. 

"Did you see him, though? He looked so..." they let their words trail off. The friend snorted, and Homelander felt a surge of irritation flash through him.

"What - sexy?" Homelander rolled his eyes but pressed on now, looking for the duo, only to find a hoard of faces obscuring his view.

"No," the reader said, a hint of disgust at her friend's callousness in her voice. "Lonely."

Lonely. 

The word bounced around in his skull, and for a moment, Homelander was incandescent with rage. Who did this... girl... think she was, to act as if she knew him? To lay his inner turmoil out so plainly, as if it was something she could understand. But as the word sunk into his mind - lonely, lonely, lonely... he felt his anger fade, in the wake of its truth.

Lonely. 

He imagined the New Year's celebration he'd planned for himself, sipping steamed milk on Mount Everest, with the heated cushion serving as the only other source of warmth for miles. But the speaker's pity grated on him; he grit his teeth at the feeling.

Was it pity, though? No... that wasn't quite the word. They'd sounded... concerned when they said it. Concerned, for him.  He found himself leaning in, waiting to hear more.

"Yeah, but he's Homelander. He probably has an afterparty to get to," someone else responded. "I doubt he has nobody to kiss on New Years."

"I'd kiss him..." the first voice mumbled furtively. Homelander raised a brow, craning his neck to find the person behind the statement. Their friend scoffed.

"Yeah, I bet! 'Oh, Mr. Homelander, you're dreamier than the posters give you credit for!" 

"Shut up!" 

So, this person was a fan? He stepped closer, his dark mood lightening somewhat. And the way they'd spoken about him... it wasn't in the same dismissive tone their friend had. Gods got lonely, too - a sentiment this fan's insipid friend couldn't seem to grasp. But they did.

Lulled by their dulcet voice, Homelander's legs carried him to her, lingering occasionally so as to make their eventual meeting seem organic. He ghosted behind them, hidden by the trees, the glint of his eyes the only proof of his presence, watching as the girl - wearing a Homelander shirt, he noticed with a wry little smile - walked her friend to her car, then set off, to walk home themselves.

Walk?  Homelander quirked a brow, cocking his head. That wouldn't do at all. Silently cutting through the air, he brought himself a few yards out, where the girl would eventually cross his path, and put on a contemplative face. Barely hiding his smile at his ingenuity, he waited for them, hand tucked into a fist under his chin - the Thinker, waiting for her to bring him to life.

Eventually, she reached him, headphones in her ears, jumping nearly a foot in the air when she realized who she'd discovered. Eyes like saucers, they stuttered out their greetings, hands shaking when they raised them to remove the buds.

"Homelander?!" she started. He smiled, genuinely for the first time that night; beneath the sounds of the city, and the celebration at Vought, he could hear the hummingbird patter of her heart as she took him in. 

"The one and only," he greeted them, rising to his feet. He pointed to their shirt, a teasing smile tucked away at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't tell me you've been following me," he joked, smile widening when their jaw dropped, hastily making to turn the shirt backwards.

"This isn't - no! Well..." shirt turned backward, they brought their shy gaze to his, cheeks turning rosy from the cold - and a hint of embarrassment.

Homelander extended a hand to them, eyes kind despite himself. It wasn't his way, to offer favors to fans - mudpeople, his mind spat before he banished the thought... but in this case, maybe he could make an exception. New Year, new Homelander.

He'd looked so... lonely, her words echoed in his mind. He felt his smile falter, but quickly brought it back to life.

"Let me take you home. It's too cold to walk," he said, the thin veneer of bravado melting slightly when she took his hand.

Warmth. Pure, unadulterated warmth. The shock of it, radiating from their hand, had him stuffing down a gasp, the softness of their palm seeping through his glove. She wrapped an arm around his waist, the warmth bleeding into him there, too, and when she looked up at him, he saw the full moon, reflected in her wide eyes.

I'd kiss him. I'd kiss him...

Then kiss me.

The thought shocked him, but try as he might, he couldn't will it away. It floated to the forefront of his brain, soft and insistent all at once.

Do it. Kiss me. Please.

The fan - the woman - murmured her address into the crook of his neck, her breath leaving goosebumps in its wake, and he held her to his chest as he breezed through the night sky, the gentle breeze wafting her hair. Homelander caught a whiff of her conditioner - vanilla, bergamot - and inhaled as quietly as he could. They seemed content to let him carry them, head relaxed on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. The thought that that wasn't all they could hear gnawed at him, but he shook it off and kept his eyes forward, focused on how right their weight felt against him.

Finally, he reached their apartment, setting them on their feet, and giving them a strained little smile. They stood at the doorway, lingering, and for a brief, wild moment, he imagined them, inviting him in, sharing hot cocoa, hands entwined as they watched television. Through the window he could see she used warm lightbulbs for her lamps, nothing like Vought's clinically bright ones. The image burned him with its sweetness, and he felt the strange urge, again, to lash out. How dare she make him envision a vignette that could never possibly happen? Even as he fought from leaning into her, his rage flared. He hated her. He hated the emptiness she'd left in his arms, when she'd stepped out of them.

"Well... I'm sure you're very busy," they said, opening their door.

I'm not, Homelander thought, burning to follow her in. She turned to face him, a glimmer in her eye; Homelander held his breath and hoped against all reason.

"Thank you, for taking me home. You were right - it was chilly tonight!" They shared a small laugh, the ache in his chest throbbing.

"Goodnight, Homelander. Happy New Year," she murmured, closing the door behind her. He made to leave, only to retake his position outside the door for a moment, his breath floating above him in frigid puffs as he stared. The reader's farewell, saccharine as it was, left him with a sense of uneasiness he couldn't shake. He nearly pressed a hand to the door, but held firm. It wasn't right. It wasn't right.

John,  his heart wept, something inside him quaking as though to come apart. Call me John.

[always-outlander]

Outlander 7x02 Thoughts & Easter Eggs

Spoilers below the cut for “The Happiest Place on Earth”

Wow, what an episode! There’s so much to unpack here but I will start by saying that I deeply enjoyed this one. A lot of direct from the book dialogue, some plot that was reworked and-in my opinion-for the better. Brilliant acting by many but especially Sam and Cait. It had a lot squeezed into it but let’s get into it.

Alan Christie

To start, we finally had the resolution for Malva and learned that Alan not only assaulted and abused her for her entire life, but was also the one who killed her. This was such a sensitive storyline and to have those flash backs with Malva made me emotional. Jessica Reynolds is a wonderful actress and her Malva was perfect. This scene was the first one I could feel the pain point of having to end season 6 prematurely. The gap between Malva’s death, followed by the hiatus, to now reach the culmination here almost made the impact of Malva’s death take a back seat to the beginning of these new storylines. You can feel that 7x01 and 02 were meant to be a part of that ending, but what can you do 🤷🏻‍♀️ that’s me being nit picky.

But back to Alan. This was almost exactly what happened in the books and I was happy that Young Ian made such a brief appearance. That spacing between episodes likely made people forget that he had a little romance happening with Malva, but his honor once again rang true with his actions here.

Major continuity error with Claire’s wig though– only when she is burying Alan does her hair grow 3 inches, then magically is cut again for the remainder of the episode.

Mrs Bug

Book readers know the upcoming storyline with Mrs. Bug, and we set the foundations this episode when Wendigo and his men come to the Big House in search of gem stones. There they uncover Arch Bug’s hidden gold (which is very significant later on). I loved seeing this preview of what is to come.

Mandy’s Birth

Amanda Fraser is born and we get a very quick moment of happiness for this little family, when the hammer drops that she has a serious heart condition that Claire cannot fix. This is the impetuous behind the MacKenzie’s and the Frasers separating for what I assume will be majority of the season. The scene with them all at the stone circle was very touching and I felt like Cait and Sam’s acting shined brightly here. The best part for me was the quote from Jamie taken directly from the books where he tells Claire

“For your sake, I will continue–though for mine alone…I would not.”

I also deeply enjoyed the Disney tie ins from the book, the humorous moment where Jamie tries to understand how a giant rodent is meant to be fun for children, and his wishes to Jemmy to give a mouse named Michael his regards. All direct from the books, and delivered perfectly.

Bree meets William

The moment we’ve (I’ve) been waiting for, WILLIAM has graced our screens. Though it was short, I squealed when I saw him and Lord John together, especially him in his red coat. You can certainly see the resemblance and while we have yet to see his acting chops on full display, Charles appears to be a perfect casting. He has the cocky confidence of a young Jamie Fraser down pat, I’m curious to see what other nuisances he brings to the role.

Lord John and Jamie

This scene was touching and so well done, Sam and David have always had such great scenes together and really made this relationship between these two men such a beautifully complicated thing. John has long been trying to convince Jamie to do the right thing and fight for the British, but you can see his true intentions here more than ever. If Jamie fights for the British, he can protect him. When Jamie chooses to fight opposite John and William, he knows he cannot.

In a last act of love and friendship, John returns the gem to Jamie from his escape at Ardsmiur. Something we know meant so much to John. His love for Jamie will always win out in the end, and I loved that the scene had room to breathe at the end. John crying alone in his room, and Jamie’s pause outside the door and his watery eyes was perfectly done.

Claire’s Breakdown

In the last scene of episode 1, Claire and Jamie have a discussion about Tom Christie and his confession. In the show, they chose to end that scene with Claire going to sleep while Jamie takes revenge on Richard Brown (and what a badass scene that was). In the books, the moment ends with Claire and Jamie trying to be intimate again, and Claire having a breakdown.

The show has now taken that scene and moved it into episode 2, which actually felt a lot better to me having watched it this way. I was sad that this moment was removed from episode 1 but beyond happy to see it here because it was another wonderful showcase of Sam and Cait’s acting and Claire and Jamie’s love. In the books, Claire cries because she is sad for Tom, for Malva, for Frank. Jamie tells Claire to weep for them because you “canna keep a ghost at bay. He tells her to let them in and grieve for them so she can heal.

In the show, Claire cries for the loss of her family –Fergus and Marsali, the MacKenzies, and Jamie mentions Faith, Murtagh, his mother and brother. They have both lost so many, and he encourages her to cry for them. To me this was so much more poignant and relevant to the events of the episode. I really loved this change.

The Throwing of the Gem

Another iconic scene the we finally got to see brought to life was when Jamie gives Claire the gem stone and tells her that she can go with Bree, or go back if he should die. The acting in this was so perfect and in the books, Claire throws the stone far into the woods to prove to Jamie once again that she is never leaving him. I enjoyed his little jab that she should probably go and recover it.

Wendigo Donner

The return of Wendigo Donner finally closed the loop on the big house fire, and I’m so excited to see how the beginning of episode 3 starts. The highlight of this scene for me was the callback to season 3, when Claire is pretending to be abducted so that Jamie can get what he needs from Lord John Grey. In this scene (and in the books) Jamie is lying to Donner about not having gemstones in the house, but then changes his tune once Claire’s life is in danger. He leans into the ‘disgruntled husband upset with his wife’ tune and tells Donner that Claire hid all the stones while he was away, so she is the only one who knows there location (thus making it impossible to kill her). The humor in Claire’s eyes made me laugh in an otherwise tense scene.

We get much of the same dialogue and story beats as the books here but the one subtle change happens when Jamie finds out that the man in their house is in fact Donner and not some random group of men looking for money. As soon as he hears his name, he lunges for Donner to seek revenge on what he had done to Claire.

In the books, Claire slips out of Donners arms and lunges after him, with Jamie holding her back at the waist. They try to plot an escape but one thing leads to another and Jamie actually kills Donner with a knife before the ether explodes. In the books, it is because Young Ian lit a match to help illuminate the dark room everyone was sitting in. Big change, subtle change, but one I’m interested in seeing them explain next episode.

All in all I loved this one, I’m enjoying the changes made and the pacing of this felt better than the first episode. Would love to hear your thoughts!