#his delivery of that line lives in my head rent free

[ensigntilly]

day 1 of trying not to think about that gay victorian ghost . relapsed instantly

[gloriousmonsters]

sympathies go out to people who were into paranoid DJ's songs during the 4 year gap and thought of Valentino as having this super mean, dark, gravelly voice but the contrast between that and joel perez's beautifully queer-accented code-switching mood-ring roller coaster of a voice is so funny

[yeyinde]

(sighs dreamily) i loooove the way you write fucked up and gross simon. the size kink and somno drabbles have been living rent free in my mind for almost two weeks now. the recent stalker piece was also so deliciously terrifying, i actually had a dream/nightmare today that was a mixture of stalker!ghost and not-dog!soap 😭

are you planning on writing any more for either of those?

ahhh thank you!!!! this had me wondering how i could maybe blend the two and this happened.

stalking. HEAVILY implied noncon somno. size difference.

Simon decides your dog, your baby, needs a man in the house. and since you like to call yourself his 'mama,’ then it’s only right that he becomes the daddy both of you need.

Your dog does not like strangers.

He's a rescue and the sort of life he lived until now, until you, is mostly a mystery. You found him on a rainy day, panting under your awning - a gnarled mess of matted fur glued to bone. Too skinny to survive another winter. You took him in right away and gained his trust. His love. But whatever he had left to spare (lots, it seems) is strictly reserved for you. Everyone else is a threat, a worry. Even the vets he's known since you found him all those years ago still get the same wary glances, the same growls then they lean in too close to whisper something in your ear.

He's just—special. The sweetest thing ever when it's just you. Your baby. People joke—slightly nervous—that he treats you like his mother. Following you closely with his big, glossy eyes tilted up to stare at you. Loving. Cuddly. Rests his big head on your lap at night with a great, big sigh. Tired from a long, hard day of protecting his house from squirrels and the stray delivery driver.

But when it comes to others—anyone, really—he’s aggressive. Territorial. All the vets and trainers say that it's his breed. That he just needs to be trained. Exposure therapy. Behavioural. And it works for all of two weeks before he's back to his stubborn self. Snapping at anyone who gets too close to you.

You post warnings on your fence. Your front door. Take precautions when you walk him. Warn anyone who gets close that he doesn't like anyone. Full stop. No exceptions. And it works. Helps ease the stress. He still goes to therapy. To training lessons. But he's smart enough to trick them into thinking he's learning.

And it's fine. People can't get too close to you. To his house. His territory.

Or so you thought.

But he's been acting strange lately.

You caught him barking at something through the fence a few months ago; spittle flying from his muzzle as his lips peeled back, snarling and vicious. If the fence wasn't reinforced, you think he would have broken it down to get at whatever was behind it.

It continued like this for a few days. Each time you went to check and see what was there, all you find is littered cigarettes. The teenage son of your neighbour, you think. He likes to hide in the dense woods so his parents can't find him. You'll talk to him about it later. Ask if he can do it a little further away from the fence so he isn’t disturbing Baby. 

As the days grow, his growls and snarls diminish before stopping outright. In the interim, your unease grows.

It's small—at first. 

He wants to be outside more. Always whining at the back door, scratching at it with his paw. When you let him out, he runs right to that spot by the fence. Sits down, and just stares. When you go out to look, there's nothing there. Just a dark, sprawling coppice. Cigarettes on the ground. But something catches his attention. Keeps it. Holds it.

He leads you to that spot sometimes, too. Nudges you with his big, furry head to your thighs. Shepherding you to the fence, and then sits back, clearly preening. Proud.

"You're mama’s silly boy, aren't you?" you coo, scratching his ears. It must be the neighbour. Maybe a stray deer wandered by. You catch a flash through the tree line. Twin puddles of black peering through the tangled weeds. Your dog perks up, looking towards it. A deer, you think. A stray buck. You huff, patting his head. "Made a new friend, huh?"

But you can't shake the feeling that something else is out there. That something is staring at you.

Nothing, you tell yourself, fighting off a shiver. It's fine. Fine. He sneaks off at night sometimes. You hear him playing in the hallway. Wandering around the house. The tack-tack-tack of his nails against the hardwood as he walks back to your bedroom lulls you back to sleep. You feel the bed dip. Something warm against your back. You sigh, melting into the sheets—

There's nothing to worry about.

He'll protect you.

But the next morning, you find him locked outside. The patio door shut. The deck is dried from the sun, but his fur is wet. It rained last night. You drifted in and out to the patter of it on your window. The soothing weight of his body curling around you—

He must have gotten out in the morning. Rolled around in the grass. But when you put him in the tub later to scrub the rainwater off of his cost, his belly is dry.

It's nothing. He was in bed with you last night. It's fine. Fine. Everything is easy to explain away as coincidence. Nothing usual. The feeling of being watched. The missing food from your fridge. The creaks of the old house at night. Things shifting around—keys missing only to turn up somewhere else. Rodents chewing through your landline. 

The panties you shed, tossing into a corner before getting into the shower going missing—

They’re just—lost in the wash. You must have thrown the leftover food away when you cleaned earlier and forgot. The lingering scent of cigarettes. Smoke in your bed. The cloying scent of loam, humus. Fresh dirt. The stains on your bed. The strange smear in the gusset of your panties when you peel them apart.

Something thick, firm between your thighs—

Fine. You tell yourself. Everything is fine. At best, it's a gas leak. At worst—well.

Baby will protect you. 

Always. 

But the next day, he brings his favourite toy to the back door, asking to be let out, and this isn't—

It's not normal.

He's possessive over his toys. Keeps them on his daybed and refuses to let anyone touch them. Only you. He doesn't bring the. Outside, either.

But when you peer outside a few minutes later, the toy is lying by that spot near the fence. He's sitting down, tail wagging. Happy. Excited. It continues like this for the next few days. He brings his toys to the fence, coming in later, licking his lips. When you brush his teeth at night, you smell something gamey on his breath. Meaty. 

Getting out of bed a few hours later and playing in the hallway. Going to sleep with you at night, but somehow getting out in the early hours of the morning, waiting for you on the patio when you remember the huff of his breath over your neck less than an hour ago—

No. You're just—

Getting the time wrong. It's fine. He'll protect you. He doesn't like anyone but you.

You hear footsteps in the hallway at night next to the click-clack of his nails. When you jump out of bed to check, it's just him. Sitting by the back door, head craned over his shoulder when he heard you coming. His favourite toy is sitting on the ground in front of him. You fight a shiver. The feeling of eyes burning into you churns your stomach.

"I'm going crazy, sweetheart," you coo, but feel the threads of your sanity begin to snap one by one. "But you'll keep me safe, right?"

His tail wags. You pretend not to notice the gap in the patio door. Opened just a crack. You shut it, forcibly telling yourself to remember to close it next time and fight the memories of locking it before settling on the couch to watch old re-runs. You drag him back to bed, burrowing your head into his fur, listening to the thud-thud-thud of his heart in your ear. 

When you dream that night, it's of a big, scarred hand making its way between your thighs. A rasping, masculine voice in your ear commanding you to be good—

You wake up with your thighs sticky, wet. Your cunt pulsing. There's an ache there; a sting. It twinges when you move, tapering into a sore throb as you swing your legs over the side of the bed, woken up by the strange dream—fingers between your thighs, a head resting on your belly, calling you a good girl—and a noise.

A low murmur comes from the living room. You wince with the first several steps, forcing yourself to ignore the uncomfortable feeling between your thighs. The wetness that drips down your leg, some of it already dried, sticking to your skin. It’s fine. You just had a—

A wet dream.

—everything is fine. Fine. Your heart lurches. Lodges in your throat. Each beat feels like a fist against your tissue trying to break down the prison of your flesh to flee. 

You slowly inch toward the hallway, the sound, making excuses for the fear that curdles in your belly. The itch in the back of your head that calls you stupid. Demands you go back to bed. To sleep. You’ll wake up in the morning to Baby slobbering over your chest, drooling as the time ticks away in a slow crawl towards his usual breakfast. 

It’s tempting. The sleep congealing in the corners of your eyes, weighing heavy—molasses-thick—over your sense of awareness: cobwebbed in that strange, uncanny realm of sleep and wakefulness; hypnagogia turning shadows on the walls into human shapes. The whisper of wind into the brassy drawl of a voice. 

Through it all, the prickle rears. Says something isn't right. Hasn't been right for a while now. It's fine. Everything is—

It doesn't make sense at first. Your brain tries to wrap around the images your eyes feed it. Untangling the dizzying sense of confusion that runs along your hindbrain like a jagged knife; grazing tissue, scraping over nerves. The picture comes together quickly. There's no misinterpreting the shapes.

A man is lounging on your couch. Legs kicked up on the coffee table, ankles crossed. The remote is held in one hand as he lazily flicks through the channels on your television screen. The picture of ease. So relaxed, so comfortable in your space, that you begin to feel a little bit like an intruder. A voyeur peering between the curtains.

This feeling is reinforced when you peel your eyes away from the horrifying mask on the man's face—a black balaclava—and find your dog lounging beside him. Resting with his head over this stranger's thick thighs. His head perks up when you approach, tail wagging, but he doesn't get up from his spot. Content to bask in the half-hearted attention the man doles, a hand buried in his fur. Dragging over his ears. Down his back. Monotonous flicks of his thick wrist, nearly the same width as the barrel of a baseball bat.

And that just trembles down your spine in the worst way.

He's the same height as you are sitting down. Takes up two cushions on the couch with his absurd bulk. Massive, you think. And then it all rushes through you. The knife slips into your cognisance.

There's a man in your house. Petting your dog,

your dog who tries to bite the same vet he's had for years. Who trusts, who likes, no one but you—

You make a noise. Something strangled in the back of your throat. Muffed, unable to escape through the clot of your heart getting there first. It tangles around your pericardium and is too late to take back. To swallow down. 

It doesn’t matter, though. 

The man has been watching from the beginning. 

Dark eyes (a dark, black flash between the leaves—) drill into you. Staring. That familiar, unease feeling is back again, creeping up your spine. It's been him the whole time, you know. The thing behind the fence. Must be. The same brand of cigarettes you found on the opposite side is sitting on your coffee table, right beside his feet.

His chest expands with his inhale. You smell stale smoke. Something wild. The scent of the forest after a summer's rain shower.

"Finally up, are you? Thought you were gonna sleep all day." His voice is deep. Brassy. The growling roll of an approaching thundercloud. You shiver. Jerk back, but—

Baby growls.

He's never done that before. Never barked. Never snarled. Never nipped.

But right now, his teeth peel back, muzzle wrinkling as he lifts his lips. And you know it's playful. Seen this look on his face when you throw the ball across the yard. It's just him being his silly self. He won't attack you. Won't maul you. 

The man lifts his hand and your dog limbers up. Shakes. He jumps off the couch and trots toward you. Nothing is threatening in the way he moves. It's the same lumbering gait, the same happy wag to his tail, but he moves himself around you. Stands between you and the only escape.

"Baby—?"

"Taught 'im a few tricks," the man drawls conversationally—like he wasn't a stranger in your house. "Got a good boy on your 'ands. Jus' needed a bit o'trainin'—”

He snaps his fingers and Baby moves. Bumps his head into the back of your thighs. Pushing you. Nudging you toward the man. It’s so horrifying familiar that you find yourself moving without a thought. Following along. 

"He jus' needed a man in the house, didn't he? A father figure—" 

You're going to be sick. Think you would have been already if your heart wasn't lodged tight in your throat, keeping everything down. 

The man lifts his hand. Curls his fingers. 

"C'mon, mommy," he taunts, voice a derisive roll. "Come sit on Daddy's lap. It's movie night tonight."

Baby pushes you forward happily, tail wagging, wagging—

Happier than you’ve ever seen him as this stranger reaches out, grabbing your waist and hauling you onto his lap. You think about fighting immediately, struggling to get out of his hold, but he moves back and the unmistakable, blunt press of a gun sends shivers rolling down your spine. You still instantly. Back drawing tight. Fear is a wet, hot pulse behind your ribs. 

“Don’t fight it, birdie—” You feel the warm, damp press of his mask against the shell of your ear. The ridges of his lips move beneath the fabric as he speaks. 

You hear him inhale, drawing in the scent of your shampoo—your fear: an oily thick miasma pooling behind your ears, against your nape—and feel tears pool against your lashline when a surge of familiarity wells up at the solid, firm weight of his chest against your spine. His thigh slips between yours, spreading them wide over the arch of his muscle. Limp, dizzy, you fall back into his chest when he pulls you in, slotting a burly arm over your ribcage. Locked in tight. A shackle. 

“Ain’t go’ nothin’ t’worry about,” he continues, hips shifting. Moving. And—

It’s a not gun. You know it isn’t. When you whimper, it throbs—

There’s the echo of a groan in his voice when he huffs, lips pursing into a kiss. “Nothin’ at all. C’mon, Baby—” 

And Baby obeys eagerly, jumping up on the couch beside him. His snout is warm, wet, when he presses it to your arm, sniffing. Please, you think, staring into his eyes as tears swell, pooling down your cheeks. Please—

But the man lifts his arm, and Baby circles the cushion before falling against his side with a deep, content sigh. Hope is snuffed out of your chest in an instant. The man’s hand falls to his head, rubbing his skull affectionately. 

“Good boy.” Baby perks. His happiness is a palpable thing that swells around you as he melts, eyes slipping closed. “Gonna be a good boy while mum an’ dad spend some time together, ain't you, boy?”

His arm tightens around your waist. Chin notches over your shoulder as he shifts back, legs kicking out to spread your thighs further apart.

"Now," he drawls, hand sliding down to the mess between your thighs. You shiver against him, toying with the idea of running, fleeing—but he must know. Senses it, maybe. He lifts his hips, pressing the gun into your spine. A threat. A warning. But with the way he swallows you up—broad chest closing in on you, trapping you on all sides—you know it's futile.

He has you.

Your submission makes him purr.

"Baby's sleepin', so now let daddy take care'o mommy—"

[thebearer]

no but i love your writing! ever since i watched s1 and 2 last weekend because of a youtube ad, i peaked in the carmy tag and was a surprised to see the amount of stories carmy had! would love a scenario where he’s married to a sassy, take no shit type of reader sim to natalie. his wife legit could work with him for all i care. but for whatever reason he does something w/o checking in— he prolly just forgot. she finds out and confronts him hella pissed (could be at family or during restaurant prep idc) and she says “oh, if carmen said it was cool.” not even carmy the full government name bro 😭. p much how natalie articulated it 🤣. can’t remember the ep but in early season 1 when marcus blew the fuse you can also include slick commentary from richie (and fak) if you’d like! tysm in advance 🥰. also if you don’t me me asking, do you have name/alias on this blog? what we can call you? enjoy your week

- 🥣

yes yes yes ahhhhh! he definitely needs someone who keeps him in line but walks that fine line where he can also keep them in line (bc dom!carmy is living in my heart rent free forever lol). also you can call me e if you'd like :) thank you for your sweet words! i hope you have a good week, and hope you enjoy this!

"What's this?" You ask Sydney, looking at the new box being unloaded from the truck- big and bulky in a crate, far too large to be a produce shipment.

"Uh, I think it's the new glassware for the bar." Sydney looked at her clipboard, back at you carefully.

"Glassware? What new glassware. We haven't picked that out yet." You frowned, looking at the crate carefully.

"Oh, well, it was in Carmen's notes for the day, so... I think that's the only shipment we have. Unless the hostess stand came early, which would be amazing, but you-" Sydney stopped her ramblings, seeing your soured expression. "You know what? Never mind, uh, ignore me. I'm just...Carmen's with Sugar and Richie in the back if you want to ask him."

"Thanks, Syd." You muttered, ripping the bell open with a shrill before bounding towards the back. You could hear them before you saw them, a familiar chorus of chatter and rising voices.

"Hey, so what's the delivery out front?" You ask, not bothering to wait for them to acknowledge you. If you did, you'd never talk, they all talked over each other.

"The new glasses for the bars." Sugar turned, smiling softly at you. "How are you doing?"

"Good." You muttered, eyes cutting to Carmen. "We haven't ordered new glasses yet."

"Uh, well, I thought you liked the ones from last week, angel." Carmen's eyes were bulged, clearly flustered.

"I said I liked them for basics, but I needed you to confirm a drink menu." You glared at him, arms crossing over his chest.

"You can't put the drinks in that?" Carmen asked, hand flying out towards the hall.

"Not if you want the specialty, no." You huffed. "Carmen, I told you to wait just a few days and we could get them at the wholesale market. The textured ones for the signature at least."

"Uh-oh," Richie muttered, snickering to Fak.

"Can you not use the glasses I got?" Carmen sighed.

"I can, but did you get enough? And did we decide if the signature is going in a whiskey glass or a cylinder one? Did you order double of those?" You lifted a brow, taking a step towards him. Richie and Nat watched, heads turning from you and Carmen like a tennis match.

Carmen paused, running a hand down his face. "N-No, but-"

"-So what are you going to do when we open and you run out of drinks, huh? When everyone orders the signature and it comes in different glasses? You think those travel groupie influencers won't notice? Won't post about it and make it a big fucking deal?" You countered.

"Then we'll figure it out!" Carmen huffed. "Look I gave the order to Richie, and-"

"-Hey, no fuckin' way cousin. You gave me your order." Richie held his hand up. "Sweetheart, Carmy said it was good so I just placed the order."

"Well, if Carmen said it was good, then it must be, right? He's the fucking boss." You snarl, glaring at Carmen furiously. "Seems like you've got it under control, Carm, so I'll leave it to you." You turn on your heel, furiously stomping away.

Richie and Fak wait until they hear the slam of the office door, to release their cackles. "Oooh! Cousin, you are in the fuckin' dog house now." Richie laughed, Fak's chorus of barks emphasizing his statement.

"Shut up, ok? Just shut the fuck up." Carmen growled, running a hand through his hair.

"Carmy, why wouldn't you ask her before you ordered? She's your mixologist." Nat sighed, shoulders heavy with disappointment.

"Also your girlfriend." Sydney added, poking her head in. "I told you to wait. Just saying."

"Thank you, alright, thank you all for your fuckin' helpful words." Carmen snapped. "Just... Nat, make sure they get all that shit set up right, ok? Make sure the dishwasher fucking works before we're open, please."

The office door was shut, and Carmen hesitated, reaching for the knob anxiously. He wasn't sure if he should knock- I mean, fuck, this is his office but... you were already so mad at him. Knuckles rapping on the door, he didn't wait for the invite in- knowing he'd never get one.

Carmen found you, sniffling in a furious pout in the corner, body angled away from the door. "Baby-" Carmen started with a sigh, shoulders falling gently at your upset state.

"-Don't." You snap, wiping your eyes. "Don't even start with me, Carmen." The way you say his full name sounds so bitter, too formal and full of malice to be from you.

"I-I'm sorry. I thought we agreed on it, and-and Richie was pressuring me and... And you're right. I shouldn't have made that decision without you, and I'm sorry." Carmen said slowly, waiting for your gaze to meet his, angry, wet, waterline.

"Yeah, you shouldn't have." You agreed bitterly, wiping your eyes. "I get this is your restaurant, Carmen, but don't ask for my help if you're just gonna do what you want anyways. That's-That's not nice."

"I know." Carmen nodded slowly, approaching you with the caution he would a wild animal. "I want your help. I do, and-and I like your idea that the house drink goes in the special glass. Makes it stand out."

You lifted your gaze up to his. "Yeah?" You asked, he nodded, sitting next to you. "Did you blow your budget?"

"No," Carmen shook his head, not a total lie. Fak had been able pull some strings with the new stoves, turns out he did have a guy. It left a little over five thousand left over.

"We could go to that place, if you want to. Go look and see if they have the glasses. Get a rough estimate of about how many we'd need." Carmen offered, his hand cupping your thigh gently, thumb rubbing over your leg in soothing circles.

"As long as Sydney or Nat does the numbers and not you." You snorted lightly, rolling your eyes at him.

He laughed, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I'll get Sugar to run 'em, alright? Then we can go. Call it an early night."

You beamed at the idea, letting him slide in next to you, melting into your side. "That sounds good." You hummed, letting your head fall on his shoulder.

"I-I'm real sorry I didn't as you ." Carmen muttered. "That was shitty."

"Yeah." You sighed in agreement. "I just... I want to be included in things." You asked, looking up at him sweetly. "Not everything, but-but at least the things that apply to my area."

"I know." Carmen nodded, his hand catching your cheek softly. "I'll let you handle it next time, alright? I trust your opinion."

"You don't have to do that-"

"-No, you're right, I don't. But-But I want to." Carmen nodded. "I know you're lookin' out for the best in this place just like I am."

[dustofthedailylife]

Lost And Found

-> Masterlist || → Taglist

Pairing: Welt x (gn!) Reader

Summary: You meet your old childhood friend and crush again unexpectedly and feelings you thought you had long forgotten begin to resurface.

Tags: Fluff, Jarilo-VI story spoilers, childhood friends to lovers, Reader is implied to have known Welt when they were still young so they're about the same age here

A/N: I am on my knees begging for Welt to come home, and he refuses to come home, so I'm offering this fic as a sacrifice to the gacha gods. This is also my first HSR fic! Jing Yuan will probably be the next one I write something for... he is living rent-free in my head atm :3

You were standing in line at the street kiosk for a coffee-to-go and a granola bar. Like every morning before you headed to work. Or whatever your work was, now that the Stellaron was gone. There already had been a huge amount of layoffs lately and you expected that it wouldn’t be long anymore until they would lay you off as well.

It was cold today, nothing unusual on Jarilo-VI, but you felt like it had gotten warmer, even if it was still very minuscule and barely noticeable. 

One glance at today’s newspaper revealed yet another Stellaron headline. Nothing surprising.

Silvermane Guards push back on the Stellaron Corruption further. Supreme Guardian Bronya supports the underground with the delivery of rations and supplies.

You heard some strangers from afar had come here and managed to achieve, within a bit more than a week, what people on this planet failed to do for hundreds of years. Something you failed to help with as well, despite coming here for research on the topic yourself.

“Good morning!” The barista greeted you. “The usual?”

“The usual. Thank you.” You nodded with an honest smile. 

Once served and paid, you clutched your hands around the cup to warm your hands on the steaming hot liquid. 

The brew here could hardly be called coffee when comparing it to the one on Earth, but for what it was worth it made do. All it needed to achieve was giving you a small energy boost and some warmth after all.

Walking further down the street you spotted a lot of new faces. Ever since you’ve been here the underground had been sealed, now that it was back open it was definitely great to see the streets bustling with life again. It gave you hope that things would finally take a turn for the better on this planet. 

Maybe that meant it was time for you to leave soon as well. You had no concrete plans on where to go next yet. But essentially as always, you’d just go wherever the stars would carry you.

Lost in thought you didn’t notice how the person in front of you had stopped walking, causing you to bump into them and spill the entire cup of your tastebud-offending coffee over their coat and yourself. 

Just fantastic.

“Shit, I’m so sorry. It was my bad, I should have–”

You frantically took out a handkerchief and tried to dry the clothes of the man in front of you, until he suddenly took hold of your hand, forcing you to halt your ministrations.

At that moment he questioningly called your name.

Startled by the strange yet familiar voice, you flicked your eyes up to the face of the man you had just run into. And without a shadow of a doubt; it was him. 

His friendly brown eyes still exuded the same comforting warmth as they did all those years ago. Something you thought you’d never see again in this lifetime. Not after he left Earth.

“Welt?” You carefully inquired despite being sure that the man standing in front of you was him. Your childhood best friend. The boy you had the biggest, most mind-numbing, and toe-curling crush on back in the day.

“So it really is you!” He huffed in disbelief with a wide smile and an excited sparkle in his eyes. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Neither did I after you left…”

You paused for a moment to take in his features. He had become old, without a doubt, but he was still as handsome as you remembered. You dare say, it made him look even more handsome than he already was back in the day. Maturity certainly suited him.

“Let's get you a new coffee, shall we?” He points out after both you and he just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity without uttering a word. 

"Oh, uh. There is no need. It was my own fault for not paying attention and bumping into you.."

"Please, I insist! Even if it’s just for old times' sake. Although you might have to lead me to a Café since I'm unfamiliar with this city. If you still wish to take me with you in my coffee-stained state, that is…"

He looked at the mess on both his and your clothes before laughing.

But who were you to say no to an old friend? Who, after all this time, still seemed to effortlessly make your heart beat an octave higher.

"I have to warn you though. Don't expect too much from the coffee here. It tastes like hot dishwater at best."

"Well, maybe I like dishwater if I can enjoy it with an old friend?"

After you arrived at one of your favorite Cafés, he led you to one of the tables and pulled out a chair for you, waiting until you sat down. Flustered by the chivalrous gesture you avoided eye contact and waited until he sat down as well before looking at his face again.

Soon after, the conversation with him just kept flowing and it felt as if you hadn't been apart for even a day. Talking to him felt as natural and calming as you remember it. At the same time, it made you painfully aware of how much you had actually missed him.

"Hey, that reminds me, I haven't even asked yet, but what brings you here?"

"Oh, right. My crew and I were responsible for the Stellaron incident." He explained.

Figures. You could've expected that it was him who was responsible for resolving the crisis on this planet the moment you found him again.

“I’m not surprised.” You chuckled. “You mentioned a crew?”

“Yes. We travel together on the Astral Express to planets with Stellaron activity.”

“So you’re essentially the Guardians of the Galaxy?” You joke.

“Something like that.” He laughed as the corner of his eyes crinkled upwards. “Travelling feels great again. When Himeko found me–”

“Himeko?” You inquired a bit too quickly as soon as you felt a pang in your chest when he dropped the name. You tried to stop yourself from doing so but it seemed like finding your old friend again made feelings resurface you thought you had long buried and forgotten. Of course, he too had moved on with his life after so long. It would’ve surprised you if he wouldn’t have found a partner, especially with how handsome he was and still is.

“Is she your wife?” You carefully speculated while trying your hardest not to look hurt by the consideration that she might be.

“Who? Himeko? No… god, no. We’re just colleagues. Friends at most.”

A wave of relief washed over you. Was it stupid to be relieved that he wasn’t in any relationship just for your own selfish reasons? Most likely. It’s not like he’d stay here with you or take you with him all of a sudden. And you shouldn’t expect him to do so either.

Your subconscious feelings were hard to suppress though. No matter how hard you tried.

“What can I get you two lovebirds?” The waitress asked when she arrived at your table with a sweet smile.

“Oh, uh, we’re not–”

“I’ll take just a normal cup of coffee. Black, two pieces of sugar please.” Welt interrupted entirely unphased and not in any rush to correct the waitress about her wrong assumption of your relationship status. He smiled and threw you a glance out of the corner of his eyes as he spoke, seemingly amused by your probably undeniably flustered state.

With a heavily beating heart, you simply ordered the same as him while trying not to sound too out of breath. Not that you were capable of thinking about coffee when your mind was racing at the speed of light.

“I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet, that you look just as stunning as I remember.” He complimented as soon as the two were back alone. 

Was he trying to kill you?

“Oh, uhm.” You cleared your throat, feeling how your face had started to burn up. “Thank you. I could say the same about you.”

The wait for your coffee would be excruciatingly slow at this rate. Where were you supposed to look or what were you supposed to say now? 

Every ability to converse like a normal human being flew right out the window the moment he complimented you. Lucky for you he seemed to have enough to talk about, so he kept the conversation flowing by telling you about what he had been up to since you last saw each other.

“Anyway, that’s enough about me. What have you been up to all this time?”, he asked as soon as the waitress served your coffee.

“Oh… I actually came here for the Stellaron myself, so I’m basically jobless now thanks to you and your crew.” You chuckled as you took a sip from the coffee. The dark brown bitter liquid enveloped your tastebuds and made you cringe for a brief moment. You would never get used to the dishwater they dare to call coffee here.

“I’ll have to see where I’ll go now. I have no concrete plans or goals. But probably trying to find another planet that might need my help.” You ascertained after a brief pause.

“Why don’t you come with us?”

Taken aback by the unexpected and sudden proposal you started choking on your coffee as soon as he had finished speaking. Despite the butterflies that made themselves known in the pit of your stomach you couldn’t help but stare at him in disbelief. Simultaneously feeling both hope and old feelings started to bloom inside of your chest once more.

“I’m sorry. I know it might be quite a rash proposal. But it seems we share the same ideals and I thought you would be a great addition to the crew.” He paused and took a sip from his cup, awaiting your answer.

“I–I… Okay. Yeah, sure. I’ll come with you.” You reply which elicited a smile and, what you assumed was, a quiet sigh of relief from him.

“I’m glad. There is so much I still wish to tell you.”

Do not repost, copy, translate or edit - © dustofthedailylife || reblogs, comments, and asks about Genshin or my fics are always greatly appreciated and motivate me! Maple dividers are mine - do not copy.

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Legend of Vox Machina: Thordak's Throne (3x09)

Oh shit, I can't believe they did that. And by that I mean... well, I'll talk about it in a bit.

Cons:

I have one small and one kind of medium-large complaint to lodge here before we go into how much I really did adore this episode.

Okay, obviously Travis broke my heart with his line delivery on "can you fix him? Please, you gotta fix him." But I do kind of miss his original improvised version that had more heat to it. The bellowed "FIX HIM" lives in my head rent free and we didn't get that here. Small nitpick, this version also tore out my heart, but thought I'd mention that. The thing about Grog is that he's our big lovable dummy, but the other thing about Grog is that he can be scary sometimes, even to the people he loves most.

Then there's the bigger thing. Pike's big moment was like... well, I'm not like, super angry, really, it's more of a "let's see where they're going with this thing", I guess. I have thoughts. Honestly, the stuff with Pike and the Everlight in this show has always been kind of muddy to me, and a plot progression where Pike finds strength in herself instead of in her goddess is totally fine with me in theory. But I thought in the past seasons the setup was more like... her faith as an anchor to her own strength. Or believing that she is deserving of the Everlight's favor and that thus the power she wields is her own, but the goddess is her supporter as much as Pike is a follower of her goddess? Like, does that make any sense? Pike having a complicated but ultimately loving relationship with her deity is what I was looking for here. That image of her actually throwing aside the Everlight's symbol was kind of... Not It, for me. I wish it had been more like "It's not just the Everlight's magic, and it's not just the Dawnfather's armor. It's me, who I am, being worthy to wield the powers they offer." That's the nuance I would have wanted here.

Maybe they're setting shit up, I don't know. There's clearly something going on with Pike here that I don't fully understand, since it's new material added to the show! But her big triumphant moment of using the armor to deal a devastating blow to Thordak left me a little uncertain, if I'm being honest. Pike does love her goddess, it's part of her strength. I don't want the story to take that away from her. Maybe whatever Zerxus was on about, that whole thing about her being "special," will shed further light on this, and what seemed like a triumphant moment in this episode will ultimately turn back on itself? That's kind of what I'm hoping for, in a way. I want Pike's final resolution as a character to be her reconciled and comfortable with the Everlight's place in her life, even if it's a relationship that has evolved, somewhat.

Pros:

But okay. Enough of that. This episode kicked ass.

Let's get back to the "oh shit, I can't believe they did that." I can't believe they killed Kash!!! Like, okay, there are so many things to talk about in this episode but I have to start with how fucking shocked I was by this. Totally out of left field, did not see it coming, completely crushed my soul. Because that's not just Kash, character who has been in like... two episodes of this show and cracks wise and flirts with Keyleth and how he's dead. That's who the character is to animated series watchers, and I'm sure his death is very sad from that perspective, but... but that's... fan favorite guest PC, played by Will Friedle, that's a character who gets to live happily ever after in the world of Exandria as far as the campaign story is concerned, and they killed him dead! And like... he's dead dead, we all know it, don't we? Yikes, this was so depressing! They did that very effective thing of having him and Zahra being all cutesy and kissing and then engaging in banter and doing cool battle combos together and then... SQUISH.

It was an enormously effective change, I can't even be mad at it. This show is not beholden to the streaming canon, they've told us that a thousand times. And let's be honest, we know what's coming up for certain other beloved characters. It makes a lot of sense to me that some named characters needed to be casualties of these big bad dragons before the end. This was... a fucking heartbreaking choice but I found it enormously impactful in exactly the right way. Zahra's despair was so moving, and I love how she got to give Pike that final angry pep talk to push her into her final moment of figuring out how to use her vestige. I also loved the imagery, of Kash standing up and looking down on his own mangled corpse, looking over at the group, and... seeing Vax, seeing him? Then the Matron imagery behind him as he turns and walks into shadow. Just... masterfully done, a super emotionally devastating death for a character who didn't need a lot of screen time to make a huge impact on my heart. Also, just, it was so MEAN! Ouch!

So much else to say. I don't know how to go in a linear order just talking about all the moments that I loved, so get ready for me to jump around just listing things that totally destroyed me and/or I totally cheered at.

All of the cool NPCs and side characters getting shown in small moments, kicking ass! Allura and Gilmore with their spells, and Kima and Groon as always being cool as shit, and Vex and Vax's dad being just kind of... shell-shocked by the mass destruction but then bickering with Cassandra about how to evacuate the troops. It just makes the world feel so full and like we've been to all of these places and met all of these cool different people.

Grog really got a lot of shining moments in this episode! I loved how when their original plan went to shit, Grog is the one who steps up and comes up with an alt. That was such a clever way to adapt one of my favorite aspects of the campaign, which is that Travis often had interesting strategic ideas at the table, but Grog wasn't allowed to be smart enough to think of them. So Grog would occasionally have these tactical insights, but Travis had to hold back a lot of the time. This was a fun way for Travis to possess Grog's body and come up with a good idea and get the ball rolling!

Seeing Grog and Scanlan teaming up was such a joy, you get this sense that theirs is a friendship full of wacky shenanigans and so much heart and love, that Grog has some of his best fun times with Scanlan Shorthalt and really enjoys his company. I loved Scanlan getting him into the rage mindset to defeat the eggs, and I loved Scanlan acting as bait with Thordak. And then... man, this show knows how to turn your emotional reality on its head. I was waiting for how the Scanlan death stuff would translate here, and despite wishing for the more angry version of "FIX HIM," I still was emotionally crushed by Grog's realization that Scanlan wasn't moving! Noooooo. He's gotta wake up, if only because Grog couldn't live with it otherwise!

We get a Keyleth moment where she turns into her fire elemental self, but it doesn't seem to work, which I thought was a cool moment - it makes sense within the mechanical logic of D&D that a big powerful fire thing wouldn't work that well against a big powerful fire thing, but it was also such a cool subversion of expectations to hear that amazing musical theme and see Vax and Keyleth do such a bad-ass combo and then have it not play out the way you would expect it to!

The final beats of everyone circling up around Thordak, then Pike getting that moment to really take him out and get rid of the soul anchor, was visually very cool even if (see above) I'm a little worried about the implications for Pike's character journey.

And then. Man. I knew I'd cry about Vex and Vax's mother, and this is one of those things I think is really enhanced by having watched the stream, and knowing how much this story became healing for Liam in particular. The visual of Thordak getting away, and Vax holding Vex's hand before launching himself into the air, the way he himself became the final weapon, punching through Thordak's body... so fucking beautiful and intense and cathartic. And then we get the twins holding each other in relief. They can't do anything to bring their mother back, or Percy, but at least they've stopped this dragon from doing any further harm.

Tracking Keyleth's mistrust of Raishan through the season has been so interesting, because here she turns up, seems like she might be about to turn on our heroes, and then she plays her part and attacks Thordak in a vulnerable moment instead, forcing him to fly off to lick his wounds, and setting Vax up for that final kill shot. Then you have Keyleth being the bigger person and going to tell Raishan she knows she was wrong, and thanking her for the allyship. But of course... Keyleth was fucking right, y'all, she was right all along, don't mess with my GIRL lol. Raishan is doing something with runes, and then before Vox Machina can stop her, she's vanished with Thordak's corpse in tow. Dun dun dunnnn.

I'm really curious about how we're fitting in the events I think we still have to hit in the next three episodes. Obviously things are so topsy turvey and out of order here. Percy didn't get to do the Thordak fight in this version! Keyleth doesn't have her vestige! Scanlan is unconscious and out for the count and I have to assume that's dealt with... before the Raishan combat? Or maybe Scanlan sits that one out? I don't fucking know, man, everything is so out of order that I'm on the edge of my seat as much as the just-animated-show viewers!

I'm not going to dock too many points for my big Pike question in this episode. I still want to see where they're going with this in the final three episodes. Other than that aspect, I really really loved this episode. RIP Kash, you really caught a stray by showing up in this episode and getting squished so bad. Gonna miss that guy.

9/10

[yakuzacanons]

I love your head canons so much! I humbly requst Majima with a partner who has depression and how he would be with them on days when they're just a ball of Sadness for seemingly no reason. (Gotta love that depression logic...)

Majima lives rent-free in my head as a comfort character, so I just crave soft things about him xD Hope you're having a great day!

As someone with depression, I can confirm Majima is the comfort character of choice. Don't ask me why that is, it's just science at this point I guess. Headcanons below da cut.

On days where you have major downswings, he kind of just mirrors your behavior. Are we laying in bed all day? Okay. Are we sitting on the couch and binging an entire TV show in less a half a day? Word. Are we ordering more takeout delivery than we possibly could ever need or want? Bet. Whatever you're doing, he's doing it too.

Don't mistake that for him having a mini vacation to himself though. Truthfully, he's watching you like a hawk and measuring mentally to himself how you might be feeling or what you may need. He can absolutely give you space if that's what you need but the only way he can learn if that's what you need is by being near you in the first place. Don't question his logic. It wouldn't make sense to anyone else anyways.

Majima isn't the type of guy to try to cheer you up or distract your way through this. He doesn't necessaily have depression specifically, least not as far as he knows, but he's definitely felt some devastatingly low points. He understands what it's like to want to have someone there to just share the moment with, even if nothing is spoken or done.

That's kind of his whole approach to it. He'll just sit and wait with you, carefully contemplating what he'll do or say. He will occassionally ask how you're feeling or if you need anything but he won't press for specifics if you give a non-answer or just an "I don't know".

Some things he does pretty regularly on days like this if just sort of feed you snacks. Not in a baby type way, he'll just be sitting or more often than not laying on the floor next to you and he'll just point a pretzel stick at your face. No words, just hands you a snack. He finds funny ways to make sure you're fed at the very least.

Another thing he does is he'll give you a bath if you're just feeling like a sack of potatoes and you don't want to move. Need help washing your back? Done. Need help washing your hair? Done. Need help blow drying your hair, doing skincare, painting your nails? Done, done, and done.

If Majima has any words of comfort to offer, it's almost always along the lines of "It's okay to feel this way, ya know. I ain't goin' anywhere." Majima understands better than most of the boys that sometimes you don't need an Ichiban-style pick me up or a Kiryu-type of motivation to get through things. Sometimes you just have to handle things as they come. That's always kind of been his style anyways.

[youssefguedira]

bear with me on this one i a) only woke up like an hour ago and am not fully online yet and b) should probably rewatch ginko all'attacco and chi sei but i have been Musing this morning on that one luca marinelli quote where he talks abt the sovereign calm of panthers and also the differences in his diabolik vs gianniotti's and i do think a lot of it is in the way gianniotti's diabolik feels somewhat cartoonish and less overtly threatening than marinelli's does (which is like, not a criticism, i love when these movies are silly) i.e. a little more like later diabolik who has softened to a degree and exhibits more than 1 emotion. whereas to me marinelli is very much channeling this whole idea of calm (panther girl behaviour) + it leads to a portrayal of diabolik as someone with almost total control over his emotions and how he expresses them. this is how we get stuff like the se il direttore ha scelto me come cameriere personale di lady kant il motivo è semplice scene, which is easily the most unsettling part of the film in the way that it shows you yeah this is a person with an absolute control of himself. there's like. 1 moment i can think of where he visibly expresses anger and it's so small you have to know it's there because you're me and have seen the movie at least 6 times on record probably more. even as he develops one entire emotion over the course of the film all of his lines are still delivered in this very careful tone + the beginnings of softening into giannioti's version of the character are limited to microexpressions at the end of the movie which again. you have to be really looking. its a really interesting take on diabolik that doesn't always quite fit with how he's portrayed in the comics, but is distinct from like, law's portrayal in the 1968 film. by the time we hit the end of the manetti trilogy we have a diabolik who still largely has that control but expresses emotions a lot more, which is not saying much but gianniotti's delivery of both diabolik non va in vacanza and non so chi sono lives in my head rent free, so. ultimately this is the result of his changing outlook on things and also having to like. spend time with another person as his full self as opposed to the role he was playing with elisabeth etc. and again i'm not faulting gianniotti's performance ginko all'attacco is kind of fine but he's doing a lot in chi sei. but marinelli's diabolik is just a particularly compelling version of him and i do think it would've been interesting to see what he did with diabolik's arc over the three movies. also i like when he's fucked up and evil and also convincingly spent his entire life until the age of 22 on crime island

[sailor-artemis]

5 Songs I'm Into Right Now

Thanks to @riftdancing for the tag! I love talking about music so this was perfect :)

1. acloudyskye - Surface

I decided to check out this album after seeing it pop up in RYM's new music since I'd heard one of acloudyskye's previous albums, and this song just sunk its hooks into me and won't let go. That guitar line. The piano chords backing it up. The production. The lyrics. The vocal delivery. The vibes. The main guitar riff and the chorus ("If you're there, can you hear it?/They're shooting flares in the distance/They won't find a trace of us/We'll be gone when morning comes") both live in my head rent free. This is a song that ends a character playlist I'm working on, and that spot is well earned.

2. 2hollis - all 2s

Fitting to go at number 2, I stumbled on this while trying to find more electroclash in the vein of Justice and decided to give it a spin. That first 30 seconds or so is what grabbed me: the simple synth line & choppy vocals that becomes a Wall of Noise after 16 bars. Don't know what it is about it, but that kinda noise just scratches some part of my brain the right way, and this song does it like few else. The synths in this are also fun, and I love the hype energy this has. Just a banger.

3. Fever Dolls - Gennifer Flowers

You can blame @reversalsun for this one, I got it from their playlist for one of their OCs (Anja, the one I made a drink for, as it happens), and it's wormed its way right into my brain. I love the very "theatrical" delivery of the verses with a lot of meat to unpack in the lyrics that's counterbalanced by the shouted chorus: "And if I've got the power to take it (got the power to fake it)/Gennifer Flowers got the power to shake her debasement". Basically, I wanna see the musical this is from, and the fact this band has only a handful of singles is a crime. Thanks Sam!

4. The Hives - Tick Tick Boom

A classic garage rock tune that made its way onto a playlist I put together for Lehon'a's time in Shadowbringers. In my head this soundtracks the final fight with Emet-Selch, with Lehon'a lording her superiority over Emet in the lyrics: "Yeah, I was right all along/Yeah, you were tagging along/Exhibit A: on a tray, what you say as I throw it in your face/Exhibit B: what you see, well it's me I put you back in your place". And that main guitar riff and the iconic "tick tick tick tick tick tick tick BOOM" where everything cuts out just make this song.

5. The 8-Bit Big Band - Can You Feel The Sunshine? (originally from Sonic R)

This one is YouTuber Adam Neely's fault. I decided to rewatch his video on how Video Game Music has spawned its own jazz scene and how it fits into the culture of jazz at large, and this is one of the songs that he helps perform. Just from the snippets in the video, the main hook managed to get trapped in my brain, and now I'm obsessed. The original song is a fantastic eurobeat adjacent track, but this jazz version just adds some extra spice. I especially love the vocalist really showing off towards the end of the number. Highly recommend watching the YouTube video which shows all the performers in the studio playing (and the Adam Neely video too), it's super cool!

Tagging (though no pressure to do it if you're busy or otherwise don't wanna): @reversalsun @zylphiacrowley @ga-keaton @ferrocyan @gatheredfates and any other passers-by who wanna share some cool tunes!

[theheromira]

Nimona appreciation post (Part 1 of I don't even know how many there will be)

Sooo, I'm rewatching Nimona for probably the 100th time now and I just need to fangirl/rant a bit to someone but as I don't have friends who liked the movie as much as me, I'm gonna write a little (or more like long) post about the first movie that touched my heart like this since forever. This is mostly going to be about details and stuff that just got to me and probably not in the order you see it in the movie (I'm gonna try but it's not gonna be 100% correct), so please bear with me. Pic for attention btw lol I did read the comic but only after watching the movie and ngl I like the movie better, maybe I wouldv'e liked it better if I read it when it came out/I was younger Also have a lil spoiler warning, just in case.

the beginning with Nimona narrating Gloreth's myth is nice and I really like the style.

loving the eyes of the 'monster' when she says "because the monsters are always out there"

"The Knight to knight"- Theme is sooo good and I looove that there is a bit of Ballisters Theme in it too

the music as a whole for the movie was soooo goood, Christophe Beck didn't nee to go that hard, but he did and I'm really thankful for that

the only line of the movie I wanted to hear in the dub of my first language/mother tongue gets delivered so good. Btw I watched the movie exclusively in english (eng dub and sub), just changed the dub for that one line but damn the amount of laughing I did after the delivery of "And tonight's the night we knight the knights!" in the german dub made my stomach hurt

the establishment of Bal as our main hero is so nice, I'm already proud of his accomplishments even tho we didn't really got to know him until now

I still think that maybe Bal is a secret child of the queen, look at them together when he was a child, you can't tell me otherwise, that head canon lives rent-free in my head

the introduction of Ambrosius is also good, you immediatly think he is some kind of Jock/Douche/Bully with all that Sportdrink-Ad, his "Hi", the sparkling Tooth-thingy, the "Woo!" and taking a photo-thing

the VA of the "It's not what Gloreth wanted"-Girl did such a good job ngl

the shot of Bal alone on that Balcony (?) watching the reporter ask if they will accept him even tho he might not be right and hearing the people boo kinda hit me a bit to hard for the fact that that problem for me is just in my head and not something I have a problem with in the society I'm in

Ambrosius jokingly asking that question and being a goofy guy surprised my the first time around and it's just cute to see, I guess

their eyes and smiles and stuff in the first few seconds you see them together just immediatly made me ship them

Bals little smile when Amb says he's gonna be a night is too precious

you won't believe how I screamed at the "They're gonna love you, like I do."-Scene and I still am in love with that scene, it gives me such a warm feeling

just telling you now, I don't know how to describe it but I'm kind of in love with their love, all the little things you notice when you really look at them interacting and stuff

also loving how Bal just leans his whole body with head on Ambs shoulder <3 it's as if he's made to be there

the heart eyes when Amb helped Bal with his armour

also funny how different their armour is: Amb has gold armour cause Gloreth probably; Bal has black armour which looks older, heavier, clunkier if you will that just shows how much more he had to work for the position he's in; Todd has silver/iron armour like the rest of the knights but it looks a bit shinier in my eyes, probably cause he's a bit of an attention seeker

Loving Ambs whole reactions when Todd messes with Bal, the twisting of his eyes when Todd first comes in to contact with Bal, the immediate angry eyes, him glancing at Todds Arm/Hand on Bals shoulder, him tensing up a few times while Tod talks, you can visibly see him breath btw (the animation team did nopt mess around), how he catches Bal as if it's nothing, his eyes going big and him getting visibly madder when Todd touches Bals face/chin and his absolutely ready-to-throw-down-body language

Same scene just Bal: he's a bit confused first, then exchanging glances with Amb, him looking a bit angry when Todd fist bumps his armour, his short glance forward when Todd just stops mid sentence, his "I knew it, he's still a lil d*ck"-look, also interesting how his eyes always stay on Todds eyes even tho Todd is very jumpy in this scene, his lil side glance to Amb when Todd shouts: "Hey, everybody" knowing how ready Amb is to deck that idiot straight in the face, also him holding Amb back and shaking his head a bit

the nervous Squire who should've just manne up a bit dang it

Bal immediatly noticing something is wrong with his sword and being distracted by the Squire

Todd in the background with his "Smack that hard. Slap it!"

my hate for the director grows everytime I hear her saying "Today is the day the kingdom will see you for who you really are." (but great foreshadowing that she's the big evil)

Amb being the only one who just says "Director" instead of some form of thank you just shows to me that he prob had a bit of privilege even among the other knights

Bal probably would've been everyones favourite student/knight if he would've been a noble

Bal riding out in the arena is me at every event, especially if there are more than like 3 people looking at me lol

Ambs lil wink to Bal and Bals lil laugh

those proud eyes that are totally in love

Sir Nectar-of-the-gods good-in-bed lol

doesn't matter what anyone says: Boldheart fits this character way more than Blackheart (the latter fits the comic version, but Boldheart is so much better for movie!Bal in my opinion)

Bal looking for Amb while getting on the stage and both of their smiles/grins are so precious

the queens little guesture when he says that anyone who wants to hold the sword could do so i kinda cute and he seems like a good leader who probably was working hard to get everyone to be equal

the little girl who stands up while the queen speaks is the one who Bal mitake for Nimona at the end, isn't she? Or do I imagine that?

the queen is 100% proud of Bal and who wouldn't?

the pause before the people start to cheer… Bals reaction as if he was sure that only this reaction wass possible makes me so sad

Ambrosius cheering and being so proud is adorable

Bal looking around and his breathing… just as if a heavy weight fell from his shoulders

now to Bals sword: first it looks hella cool, second I love that G (probably for Gloreth or Goldenloin, I guess) that got scratched an is now a B, third the scratches are kinda green on this sword while the ones on the original sword are more golden in my opinion

Bals unbelieving look when the laser hits the queen

Ambrosiu' paniced look and how he chop off Bals arm (instead of just disarming or something) says everything about how that society is (instead of trying to confront a problem just destroy it at the roots)

after the sword shatters Amb already ha let go of his sword and he looks like he can't believe what he did

Bals confused/ begging for understanding lookjust breaks my heart here

I find it kinda funny that in the subs a man shouts "Arret him! He kille the queen!" when that "man" ounds so much like Todd

Nimonas introduction is also spot on, I alreay loved her in the first frame

And know I wanna rewatch Kipo

Loving how she says "He's perfect." after the person on the news say "He's a monster."

Bal is such a badass for building his own arm and stuff, I really don't wanna go to the psychological and physically trauma he ha to have gone through/still going through until and at that moment

Bal basically is such a competent person until he thinks/lookss at Ambrosius, then it's almost as if he has just one braincell

I like the lyrics the moment he turn the radio off, I mean: "Red lights flash so we run and we hide" and he probably thinks that the knocks are police/knights

Bal just being competent and catching the bucket so it doesn't make more noise

also just for the whole movie: the little sounds his arm makes are awesome and I really like themBal just being competent and catching the bucket so it doesn't make more noise

also just for the whole movie: the little sounds his arm makes are awesome and I really like them

that change of POV when he opens the door.. now I wanna have a first person game with that story

That's it for the first part, gonna update in a few days I think

[mixingpumpkins]

season 2 lines that live rent-free in my head because the delivery is so perfect:

“WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING. IN. THIS. BOOK. SHOP?” “I. Am. Dusting!”

“I thought we carved it out for ourselves?” “So did I!”

“no no no no nO NO NO AziraPHALE what have you DONE” (oh look, episode 1 setting the tone for the whole season... but that growl Crowley holy shit)

the Apology Dance

Crowley’s little “Seems legit to meeee!” after nuking Job’s goats lmaooo

the entire Jane Austen discussion in the pub

“She had balls!” “Well—” “Cotillion balls!” “Oh.” gets special mention re: the Jane Austen discussion because the timing is just impeccable

“I’m a fallen angel! I lied to thwart the will of God!” 😭 Aziraphale needs a hug damn it

Both intonations of “I’m a demon — I lied.”

“CHANGE IT BACK!” “But it’s pretty!” RIP yellow Bentley

“You gave away a book.” “I had to.”

“But I was there. And I do remember — very clearly — the look on your face, Archangel Gabriel, when you told my only friend to ‘shut his stupid mouth and DIE.’ And I. DID NOT. Care. For. It.”

“Wait and see!”

“Oh. A seamstress.”

“Get back in there right now this minute and you tell that arse Aziraphale and that archtraitor Crowley that unless they send out the angel Gabriel NOW, they’re toast! T! O! S! T! ... E! Toast!” (God I love Miranda Richardson)

Beelzebub’s cute little “Bye-bye” to the fly my HEART

“I’ve had quite enough of this! You will speak ONE at a time!”

“I say something brilliant, he says something unintentionally funny back, it’s great.”

“A book? It’s called a book. I’m ‘reading’ a ‘book.’” (Muriel my love <3)

“Tell me you said no ... Tell me you said no!” 💔

“Come back! ... I need you!” 💔💔

“I forgive you.” “Don’t bother.” 💔💔💔

(Fuck it the entire breakup scene is an absolute masterclass in delivery and I love-hate how much my heart is breaking while going “oh WOW they’re so fucking good”)

[cosmik-homo]

I think Elisabeth Sladen has one of THE best line deliveries in the history of television:

When four is staring darkly into the distance w almost 0 context other than he judt confused the namss of 2 of his girlchild companions and got sad and he goes, with utmost tom baker gravitas, "The Earth isn't my home, Sarah. I'm a Time Lord."

And she goes the most, dismissive, ooough headpat pity pity look how dramatic you're being, "I Know you're a time lord." While twirling around campily in the remains of tragedy that sparked half of this in the first place.

Lives rent free in my head. Knock that sad ham down a peg, ms Smith! It's so perfectly. The kind of way that real friendships and emotions are. Like idk if i even like that scene as a whole, its Existence, but that's v much a delivery done right.

[itsaseamonster]

The way Astarion (Neil) delivers some of his lines is just so damn hilarious I love that man. The way he says "The thing that will decide my fate forevermore? Yes. It's been on my mind. Why?" Lives in my head rent free maybe also because I had to reload so many times and never skipped it but yeah I digress. Amazing line delivery.

[kosher-martian]

Napoleon & Josephine

Spoiler warning for Napoleon.

So this weekend I had an opportunity to see Ridley Scott's Napoleon. It was weird.

The movie has some problems. I'm not going to mention the historical accuracy of the film (it takes the same liberties all other historical dramas do) nor am I going to talk about the dialogue / delivery (though I will gladly let "You think you're so great because you have boats!" live rent-free in my head for the rest of forever). I think the movie had too much material it wanted to cover in one film, but tried to cover it anyway (the exact opposite of the YA movie "Divided for Adaptation" trope that swept Hollywood ages ago). Before some (likely extensive) edits the final film was probably close to 3.5 hours long, so they cut an hour's worth of scenes from the final product resulting in the choppy mess with massive pacing issues that have divided audiences and critics alike.

Scenes play at breakneck pace one after the other, each in a different location, with different characters, and occurring at different points in history, but there was either no attempt at linking the scenes together or the majority of those bridging scenes hit the cutting room floor. As a consequence, the movie just comes across as a feature-length recap of the previous season of some prestige historical drama show. If this were a pre-existing show the scenes make sense. You vaguely remember last season and you are only watching to jog your memory before jumping into the next season. But if you are going into this without familiarity of the subject matter (or only mild interest) and expect the film to tell you a narrative about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, it's just a cluster of confusion. I had a similar experience with the Saoirse Ronan / Margot Robbie Mary Queen of Scots film. It had almost the exact same "not a film, just a series of scenes" issues. Unlike with Napoleon, I was less familiar with the historical events surrounding Mary I of Scotland and Elizabeth I of England. I ended up disliking the film and only ever watched it the one time.

So now I want to pivot to the reason I'm making this post at all. I want to posit a ludicrous and patently untrue conspiracy theory: They made two movies and then spliced them together!

To be clear, I don't actually believe this happened, this "conspiracy theory" will be more my wishful thinking than anything else.

Contrary to all evidence, I want to believe that Hollywood had planned Barbenheimer from the very beginning. Warner Bros, Universal Pictures, and other major studios saw the collapse of "cinematic universe" films on the horizon and wanted to create a new fad that would be both cheaper to produce and more easily controlled: Pick two films with markedly different audiences, market them as being in competition with each other, and use polarizing social media pushes to drive people into two constituency groups. With this model, studios could take two films that would otherwise have middling performance and turn them into blockbuster hits of then summer with marketing alone. People would go running back into the theaters to ensure their constituency's film "won" the battle. Hollywood solicited ideas for film pairings from a variety of sources. Ridley Scott got wind of this secret operation and decided he would condense the idea into an even easier exercise: Make the same movie twice for two different audiences.

Scott would direct two films with the exact same cast. One film (the "boy" film) would be an epic film covering the military triumphs of Napoleon Bonaparte, his tragic fall from power, his unlikely return, and his final defeat. This film, titled Napoleon, would feature fantastic set-piece battle scenes, tons of meme-able lines ("You think you're so great because you have boats!"), and gorgeous special effects. The "girl" film, Josephine, would depict the contentious and all-too-captivating private life of Napoleon and Josephine. It would be a more cerebral and emotional work, showing the complexities of their relationship. It would place the competing demands of Napoleon's ambition and longing for true love at center stage. Josephine might have made Empress Josephine our focal character or it may have continued to use Napoleon as entry way into the rich interior lives of the Emperor and Empress of France, but in either case the film's overall story would have been those moments when they were alone with one another or totally alone. Napoleon's story is the story that shaped the modern world, so it was more than enough to support both films. Audiences could choose which movie to support or might have found the format of "two films, one story" just too enticing to pass up seeing both.

But then something - and I'm not sure exactly what - happened. Instead of creating both films and releasing them separately, the decision was made to condense the two films down to one. Both films had nearly finished production. Two interpretations of Napoleon, one the legend and one the man, now needed to be brought together. Left with tonally dissonant films, the choice was made to just try to make the editing "choppier" and more "modern" (code for "we know flashy cuts and transitions won't save this colossal mistake, but we've got sunk cost fallacy now"). Scenes were lifted wholesale from both films and spliced together seemingly without regard for the final product. It's possible the final dirty work was handed to a trailer house, as evidenced by the trailers release earlier this year that paired action sequences from the film with modern music that not only didn't fit the film's aesthetics, but also didn't fit the scenes used.

Did this happen? No. As stated previously, Napoleon's story is too big to be contained in one film. The only film to pull it off was the 1927 silent film, which runs anywhere from 4 to 9.5 hours long depending on the cut. That's why other films focus on extensive portrayals of discrete battles (Waterloo), specific parts of his life (Eagle in a Cage) or his romantic life (Desiree, though it does show other aspects of Napoleon's life). Some artists have tried to do a broad retelling of his life, but those are always multi-part miniseries.

But go watch the movie yourself and tell me there's not a Josephine movie lurking on a hard drive somewhere in Hollywood. I know it doesn't exist, but also there's no way it doesn't exist, right? Too many scenes fit perfectly into another movie for it not to exist. Napoleon is not a cohesive film, it's a compilation of scenes from two separate movies featuring the same actors.

[emotionalsupportbastardmen]

Round one of the Bastard Man (affectionate) championshionships is complete!

Let's take a moment to appreciate everyone who got knocked out in round one, and everything I like about them.

Mammon (Obey Me)

Mammon the love of my life Mammon. </3 Yes he's a demon, yes he's the avatar of greed, yes he's "the scummy brother", but with a heart of gold, deep down inside. Very deep down. Plus he's funny and secretly sensitive and he likes to cuddle. <3 I'm honestly shocked he got knocked out in round one, I always thought he was quite a tumblr darling.

Hercule Flambeau (Father Brown)

Everyone loves a gentleman thief, don't they? Especially one with a homoerotic relationship with his narrative foil? A master of disguise? A secret sadboy with a tragic backstory? A man who broke out of prison? World's sluttiest absent father? When will your man ever.

Inspector Mallory (Father Brown)

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH YOU HAVE NO IDEA. He's such a funny character. Little angry northern bastard man. He's awful, and should be easy to hate, but he just suffers so often and suffers so beautifully, you can't help but root for him to win, just once. And he loves his kids! A short king and a DILF.

James E. Negatus (Yonderland)

Listen. Listen. I could never love anyone like I love Negatus. He occupies a special and unique part of my heart just for him. He's babygirl. He's daddy. He's cringefail. He's badass. He's gender. He's really really kinky. I cannot understate this, this is the fetish fuel show and it's like 70% his fault. He's on a mission to kill the hero but he's also sort of in love with her. I'm never not going to go feral for that. He has a tragic backstory and a softness for small children and small animals. He's canonically committed multiple warcrimes, several murders, and also demon-genocide. He's done nothing wrong ever in his life <3

Louis Fairhead (Casualty)

My sweet prince when will he return from war? It's been so long since the show ever even so much as acknowledged him. He wasn't even at his own father's wedding to a woman Louis was practically part-raised by. I think he's fallen into a crack in space and time. Anyway I love Louis. I don't even think he's a bad guy. He's had the most traumatic life imaginable. His mother died in a car accident while he was in the car. He got kidnapped once. One time he nearly got blown up. This was all before he was ten. Then as a teenager he became a drug addict. And as a young adult he had a heroin overdose. I think he's within his rights to be an angry and emotionally distant man. I would defend him to the death. I just want him to be safe and happy and healthy. Feel like pure shit just want him back.

Aristide Valentin (the Father Brown books)

First of all Aristide Valentin did nothing wrong so jot that down. YES he committed murder. But he murdered a Catholic pro-guillotine billionaire so it barely counts. He also stole human remains but this is tumblr, we're used to that. He's a skilled swordsman with a vast sword collection which is just the sexiest thing imaginable. YES he's rude to everyone but you don't UNDERSTAND, he's a genius surrounded by idiots, he gets frustrated. Also he's Parisian, they're just like that I think, he can't help it. Honestly his only real crime is smoking while on the underground platform at Liverpool Street station. That's unforgivable.

Barclay Beg-Chetwynde (BBC Ghosts)

Honestly one of the funniest characters in the show, I don't even care. Every episode he's in is a delight. Every single line delivery is so deliciously bastardly. And he makes a brilliant foil to my two favourite characters, Julian and Alison. He's great.

B.Z. (Santa Claus The Movie)

I love this movie. I love this movie a lot. I've watched it at least twice a year every year since I was a toddler. Often more. I could quote the whole film by heart. And my guy B.Z. is by far the most quotable character. Highlight of the whole film. Every single line of his lives rent free in my head. He has beef with Santa Claus for literally no good reason. He chained up a child for even less good reason. He invented Christmas 2. He exited the movie by eating too many magic flying lollypops and floating away into the stratosphere. Utterly unhinged from first scene to last. Literally no-one could ever compare.

Kerr Avon (Blakes 7)

Ah, Avon. I was obsessed with him as an edgy teen. I think in many ways he is the edgy teen appeal character of his genre. He's like the Shadow the Hedgehog of dystopian sci-fi. I mean this as a sincere complement. And he's once again by far the most quotable character in the show. I feel like that's a very important factor for a good bastard man. Quotability.

I won't say I could fix him, because I don't think anyone could. But I wish someone could.

Cat (Red Dwarf)

My sweet underappreciated boy. In many shows he would be the beloved bastard man. It's not his fault he shares a show with Arnold Rimmer, and you simply can't outdo the do-er.

But everything he does, he does it in ~ style ~

Randal Graves (Clerks)

This character means such a lot to me. He's the worst, of course. He sucks. You wouldn't want to know someone like that in real life. But that's part of what's so tragic about him. He's already resigned himself to the fact he's an unlikeable asshole loser, and has long since given up even trying to make new friends, and now he's a deeply lonely weirdo trapped in a toxic co-dependant relationship with the only real friend he has, who he's simultaneously obsessed with and sort of in love with (no homo) (maybe homo) and would die for, but also treats terribly. He's just such a sad odd man. I think about him often.

Ray Carling (Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes)

Ray my best friend Ray. Yes okay so he's wildly homophobic and misogynistic, but like. Underneath that he's a very sweet and compassionate man, I promise. He's just trapped under the crushing weight of insecurity and self-loathing and societal expectations of masculinity. His backstory is heartbreaking. Absolutely devastating. I won't go into details because spoilers but Jesus Christ. He's the world's number one most single man, being the only one left not paired up out of the seven main characters across both shows, which hardly seems fair. He deserves a nice love interest I think. Give him a nice girlfriend, or lean into the "Ray is suffering from internalised homophobia" implications that Ashes to Ashes leant into occasionally and give him a nice boyfriend if you want, I don't care which, just give him someone.

Mentally I am holding his hand and buying him a pint right now.

Julian Cantley (literally one single episode of Heartbeat)

Choo choo, all aboard the brainrot express. Get in loser we're forming deep emotional attachments to characters with like 20 minutes total screentime. Anyway I'm obsessed with him right now. It's disrupting my drive to create content for characters with actual fanbases because I just keep thinking about Brooding Spy Man Whomst Only I Care About instead. He's just so quiet and angry and brooding. I have so many headcanons for him. I've even headcanoned what his entire flat back in London looks like. Send help.

Ryan Reeves (The Dumping Ground)

Ah he's just a baby. Just a little guy. Who could stay mad at him. Yes the way he'd learn his lesson only to go back to being evil again 2 episodes later got frustrating, but like. He loves his sister and he rescued Harry and Finn. He's not all bad. Apart from when he's being a teenage supervillain lurking in the shadows for no reason. But it's all because he's SAD, you don't UNDERSTAND,

Michael Doyle (Grange Hill)

Look. He stopped being racist after he turned like 13, okay? He just became a petty criminal and politically corrupt instead. And his dad sucks, his dad says worse stuff than Mickey ever did, he was clearly just parroting his dad when he was wee. And there's something so sad and lonely about him. The way he always tries to join in with the group only get pushed out because everyone finds him unbelievably awful. The way he so wants to be Alan's friend. The way he only has the two friends he's got because he pays them to be his friend. Poor little guy. I have to believe he got it together eventually. I have to believe him and Justin were pals by the time they went to sixth form together. I have to.

Ralph Passmore (Tucker's Luck)

It's Mr Passmore! He means such a lot to me. I'm so happy they started portraying him sympathetically in series 2 because honestly? His rage is so justified. He's unemployed and he's already been cast aside as unemployable. His family have already given him up as a lost cause. His only friend and ally in his family is his younger sister, who ends up leaving home to get away from how verbally abusive their parents are. He drinks to cope and joins a gang for the companionship. He finally gets a job after years of unemployment but finds out it's exploiting vulnerable fellow working class people in his community so he angrily and aggressively quits, after befriending and supporting an old lady. What a king.

[river-muse]

Alva for the character ask?)

Miss Alva Horizon-- 🥺

You're going to find out soon enough there's very rarely a character that I don't like. (Besides what was that fucker's name in the beginning of HFW- Vuadis? whatever his name was fuck him.)

favorite thing about her: Her curiosity! I absolutely love her desire to learn and understand new information/concepts and she's so passionate about everything.

least favorite thing about her: There's not really any thing I can think of that I could pin down into words.

favorite line: "It's funny because one of your friends is- well- another you." The line delivery lives rent free in my head.

BrOTP: Hmm ohh this one is HARD to pick. Alva still seems awkward in her interactions with the group, but I think besides Aloy she could get along well with Zo.

OTP: Knowledge. Let her have access to whatever she wants to learn she deserves it all.

nOTP: Uhhhh no real opinion? I don't typically think of ships when it comes to Horizon xD

random headcanon: That girl's as ace as they come in my mind.

unpopular opinion: I'm going to go out on a limb since there's a pattern with characters I like and think people might not like her and I say I'd go out to have coffee with her if given the chance I appreciate her and all the work she does. She's adorable and no one can tell me otherwise.

song i associate with her: Nothing immediately comes to mind. I sadly don't rotate her in my head as much as I do other characters.

favorite picture of her: I can't capture how cute/energetic she is for anyone else to see in just one image here have a gif I keep breaking the rules and fear no one