#i love my little creatures i’ve been thinking abt them so so much

[bonetrousled]

i. LOVE. your character designs. SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!does your ocverse have a story or anything i can learn about... or can i hear their lore...

OUR HR GRH EGG RHRTHANK YOU SO MUCH THIS IS SO AWESOME esp coming from you i love ur art and ocs i just lurk and i’m like WAOW… heath flameshield.. i know those creatures BUT AUUUHM

it depends on the characters. there’s like Two main stories which r discovery zone/thinktank toys (current poll. tldr evil speak and spell takes over the world) and villainmotel (last poll. tldr shitty low tier supervillains live in a motel together and get into circumstances. kevin villainmotel lives there) but those both take place in the Same universe albeit at different times (vmotel is like.. current day and dzone is like. early 2000s to the 2010s)

then there’s like.. misc characters that don’t really fit into any specific universe shaking trembling. whichever ones u want to hear about i will infodump Forever. i DO also have a toyhouse but a lot of the profiles r out of date and personalities have changed a lot

[girlboypersonthingy]

hiiiii!!!! so i’m thinking of a velvette fic where u meet the vees after having dated her for a bit (a few weeks maybe). you hate them. you think they’re creepy and just assholes, even for being in hell. (you’re a bit more wholesome but yk still a sinner) like you just do NOT like the guys. you’re super worried abt velvette’s reaction to that fact so u try to sugar coat it but she’s just like “thank lucifer! i didn’t want them to be creepy bad influences on u!” and u’re both super relieved. i love her.

Heeyyyy I was wondering when you’d send in a Velvette request ☺️ you got it friend! Enjoyyyy~

TW: Val being a perv 😎 for like one second tho, Velvette gets a bit suggestive,?? Lots of cussing lol

The Only V For Me 💜

“AAHHH!!! Darling, you’re finally here! How was the drive? How was the driver?” Velvette watches as you walk through the doorway of her studio, looking around with big doe eyes at all the bright lights and flashy outfits and really beautiful model demons.

“Velvette!” Before you can say anything more, she’s pulling you into a a deadly tight hug. “It was actually…like way too much, babe. You don’t have to do all that fancy shit for me, ya know? But…yes, it was really nice. Thank you.” Velvette offers you a cheeky smirk followed by a quick kiss to the cheek.

Your darling girlfriend snaps her fingers and yells out a command to one of her assistants. “You! Come here.” She makes a ‘come here’ motion with her finger as she turns her attention back to you, her lips upturned into a smile again, “Are you thirsty? Hungry? Anything you need, you tell her.” She points to her assistant who is now right at your side. “Anything my darling asks for, you get it.” She gives the worker an intimidating glare before winking at you.

“Let me show you around!” Velvette puts an arm around your shoulders and pulls you along, pointing things out, explaining them. She is absolutely beaming with pride right now, glancing at you often to see your reaction. As you pass a mannequin clad in a really nice outfit, a gasp comes from Velvette. “Oh my! You know who would look absolutely stunning in this little number?” And now she’s flashing you this flirty grin and her bright red eyes are looking you up and down. Suddenly her smooth demeanor dropped as she grumbled under her breath a bit then sighed deeply.

“Oh, who am I kidding. With Vox and Val both here today, if I dress you in anything more appealing than what you’ve got on now, they will definitely try to steal you from me. You already look too cute…” This pulls a laugh from you but your laugh stops suddenly, stuck in your throat when you see how serious her expression is at the moment.

“Wait. What? What do you mean-“ And suddenly the doors swing open, slamming into the walls behind them as an extremely tall, blue-skinned individual with big red heart shaped glass quickly approaches Velvette, towering over both of you.

“WHERE THE HELL IS VOX?! I’ve been looking for that flat faced fuck all day.” He growls out and you take note of the fact that Velvette doesn’t flinch a bit. “Why the hell are you asking me? If he was here, you’d have found him already.” She snaps back and as the angry man before you was about to screech out another sentence, his expression softened rather quickly as his eyes fell on you.

“Why hello~ who do you have here? Wow! What a gorgeous creature you are. I’m Valentino. What’s your name, sweetheart?” One of his hands slips into yours and as he goes to lift your hand to his lips, Velvette pushes him so hard he nearly falls over.

“Their name is (Y/N), alright? And they are MINE. Now back off, Val.” She hisses in response, now tightly holding your hand, the hand that Val was holding just a second ago. “WHOO! Alright. My apologies, dear. Didn’t know this one was all yours. But I mean FUCK! They just have such nice lips! I mean, look at that mouth. You have the perfect pair of dick sucking li-“

Velvette shouts over him, “SHUT IT!!! You’re actually so vile. Get out of here, Valentino! You’re freaking out my babe.” She gives him another shove, making him frown angrily at her before he stomps off, probably punching a wall or kicking something over as he leaves. Oh, he definitely slams the door again too.

“Alrighty! Where were we?” Velvette seems to relax a bit more, going back to a more chipper and excited attitude as she again shows off all of her impressive work to you. She even got a few models to come do a little show just for you, all of them casually posing and showing off different outfits. Velvette kept asking your opinion, begging you to be ‘bloody honest’ with her.

“Oh, darling! You just have to come over one night and let me dress you up, just us two! Hmm~ I could dress you up and then maybe even…undress you again.” Just as your girlfriend started to flirt with you and as you started to feel more comfortable in this environment-

“Velvette! Happy Friday. Have you seen Val? I haven’t been able to reach him all day. I’m-“ The strong, electric voice that sounded from behind you two made you jump a bit and brought a frightening grimace to Velvette’s face.

“Oh~ Hello. (Y/N), right? Pleased to meet you! I was wondering when our precious like Velvette was gonna bring her play thing over. I’m Vox, creator of Voxtech. You know, on the late night talk show…and the morning talk show. I’m also the news anchor.” He doesn’t really offer you his hand, he more so just reached out and grasps your hand in his, giving it a rapid shaking.

His grip on your hand hurts a bit and the smug smirk on his face makes you somewhat intimidated by him. Vox just…gives you the creeps even more than Valentino did and he basically verbally assaulted you. Before you can even come up with a response to him-

“Yes, yes, yes. Everyone knoWS WHO YOU ARE, YOU PRICK. NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT?!” And now Velvette looks kind of scary, like so pissed off and annoyed that she looks like she could actually kill someone right now. The someone preferably being Vox. Her bright red eyes glow with rage and irritation, her pretty lips now turned into a deep scowl.

As she yells in his face, his expression drops to one of annoyance and exhaustion. “Where’s Val?” Velvette groans before responding. “You’ve got to be fuckin kidding me! He just left, looking for you. Look on your stupid little cameras and find him and go tell him to STOP SLAMMING MY DOORS OR IM GONNA-“

Not that Velvette scared you but…she looked pretty upset right now and her yelling is enough to put anyone into a slight panic. So you slip you hand around her bicep, gently pulling her tense arm back a bit so you could comfortably slide your hand down to hers, interlocking your fingers. Her words stopped in their tracks, your tender touch almost making her flinch. Her head whipped around and she looked at you for a good few seconds, a smile slowly growing on her lips. She turns back to the screen-faced man, her smile not faltering this time.

“Off you go.” Velvette quite literally shoos him away with a wave of her hand as her other hand snakes its way around your waist and back until her arm is fully wrapped around you and you’re pressed into her side. She turns her back on Vox, determined to keep her full attention on you for the rest of the day. You’re too distracted by her embrace to notice if Vox had even left or not.

You clear your throat. “Babe…?” “Yes, love?” “Don’t get mad.” You look at her with a serious expression, causing her to blink in confusion. “Mad at you? Never. What’s on your mind?” Velvette pulled away from you for just a second then she faced you and held both your hands in her own.

“I feel…extremely uncomfortable here. Specifically, with Valentino and Vox. I-I…I’m sorry I just…I don’t like them…very much…they scare me.” Velvette chuckles before you can finish your sentence and you’re not sure if you should be relieved or even more worried. Suddenly, she pulls you into a tight hug, her hands rubbing big circles all over your back.

“Ugh, I’m so terribly sorry, darling. Truly, I figured those two would be busy on a Saturday, too busy to be bothering us already.” She turns her head to kiss your cheek then pulls you in even closer. “Fuck! I’m actually so relieved you said that. Those two are so terrible…truly, irresponsible! I mean it when I say I’m the backbone of the Vs okay? Those two pussies would fall apart in a matter of hours without me! Ugh they can’t even keep it together for one day!” “Babe…” You try to calm her again, seeing how worked up she gets having to constantly deal with her work partners.

With her attention solely on you, she softly says, “I’m sorry, sweetheart. What do you want to do next, hm? We can go somewhere. Anywhere. Just say the words.” Her long fingers gently graze the skin of your cheek, causing you to become a bit flustered. It’s almost baffling how she can be so cold and cruel to everyone around her except you. You were her only weakness, and she doesn’t mind one bit. She loves you endlessly. She wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything in Hell.

[knightforflowers]

I have a lot of headcanons for Ethersea obv but one I’ve been thinking about for a long time (especially recently) is how prestige affects the bodies of the magic casters who utilise it. I looove stories where magic has interesting and substantial consequences for being used and Ethersea definitely scratches that itch in terms of the overuse of magic causing the literal apocalypse and what have you, and since prestige is a byproduct of Ethersea water which notably warps and changes things submerged into it I think it definitely has some side affects too.

I think prestige affects the body in a number of ways but most notably is how it affects the user’s eyes, due to how they glow whenever magic is being channeled. The first, most common, and least detrimental side affect is the user’s eyes becoming reflective to light like cats (or more thematically; certain deep sea creatures) (I drew a little thing illustrating this idea with Devo which you can find here :3). This is mostly a cosmetic change and is generally harmless, it typically manifests after two or three years of using prestige.

Long term use of prestige however, say ten-twenty or so years depending on the circumstances/level of usage, eventually leads to slow degradation of the users eyes entirely, causing a lot of magic users to get glasses or contacts in their later years, or even earlier depending on when they started utilising prestige and how much they use it. Of course this is something that is most commonly seen in the Parish/those connected to the Parish more than anyone else in Founder’s Wake, due to it being the main figurehead of magic use in the city. (My personal designs for Seldom and Guidance wear glasses because of this (ik Guidance has them canonically but still the thought is still there LOL) and my post-canon Devo has them too, my Orlean doesn’t but I think it’s bc he has contacts instead).

In more serious cases however, whether that be through continued long term use or incredibly frequent use of prestige, the user can eventually go entirely blind, which I think is something that happened occasionally in Hominine before the storm; a lot of long standing and incredibly high ranking cardinals/bishops/ect of the Benevolent Parish were likely blind because of this. Prestige caused blindness doesn’t stop people from being able to cast magic anymore of course, but it does make it significantly harder to channel. I think this blindness was never seen as something bad by the faith, and was probably viewed by most in the cloister as a great honour come at a great price— to be able to give one’s sight completely to Benevolence, and allow him to be their sole guiding light in the darkness. Something something blind devotion to your faith, ya know.

I also think this is the case bc lately I’ve been brainstorming abt more NPC designs that I hope to draw soon and I think Benevolence is also blind, which is where a lot of the Church’s symbology and feelings surrounding that stage in prestige use come from. I also like it in terms of a parallel to Koda, who is depicted mainly with eyes/being all seeing (through the use of the Biggest Baby and his influence over the Chaperones) so I think Benevolence being associated with blindness is a fun contrast.

Anyway thank u for indulging me and my headcanon if you got this far LOL I love weird magic shit that ties into worldbuilding 👍

[floof-wulf030]

GIVE ME UR DON PAOLO THOUGHTS HES AN INTERESTING CHARACTER IVE HARDLY SEEN TALED ABT

Ummm…. Where do I start?

Yeah he doesn’t really get talked about a lot… though I’m not really surprised because you know…

I feel like many don’t really care much about or always forget about him.. like yeah there are some people who like him but??? It seems like people focus more on villains that are more complex and sympathetic. (Which… DON’T GET ME WRONG! I totally understand that and I love those too, and I’m also a huge fan of Clive and Descole too but this ain’t about them..)

I know Paul doesn’t really have this tragic backstory like the rest of them but hey not all villains need a tragic backstory right?? Sure the reason of him being evil is ridiculous and stupid but I personally think it fits his character more. I personally find it funny and a little entertaining. Tbh I never really did expect him to be very complex even before playing Lost Future a year ago. However yes, parts of me wished Level-5 gave Don Paolo more time to marinate as a character. One thing that bothered me though was the whole thing about him being exiled from the society of scholars. Like it was only mentioned in Curious Village then it was never talked about ever again?? Like whatever happened to that???

In general though, I really like Don Paolo aesthetically. I established this many times already but I just love wacky and goofy looking villains, probably even more than the whole “Tall dark and Handsome” ones. Again, don’t get me wrong I love those too! There are many handsome villain designs that I love. I just find myself fawn more towards the weirdos lol, LET THEM BE WHIMSICAL CREATURES. (Kinda wished we had more of those in the PL series if I have to be honest here..) His design definitely reminds me of Dick Dastardly or Robbie Rotten, which both were some of my favorite villain characters from my childhood lol. Maybe because of the whole color scheme. I feel like SOME also don’t really pay an attention to him either was because he’s not one of the attractive ones, idk??? Honestly that’s what I really like about him though! Also the whole disguising thing with the latex masks?? Like how the hell did he PULL that off? (No pun intended) How was he able to change his size? This man is like spineless or perhaps just liquid!

My favorite tiny little fact about him is that he plays music. I know this could refer to listening to music, but him being some sort of musician is so fun and interesting to think about. Like what instrument would he play? I’ve seen some people hc him being a guitarist which I’m totally on board for. The fact that he likes playing music and that he’s also Tomohito Nishiura’s (The composer for the PL games) favorite character is really cool :3

Anyways yeah! I personally think Don Paolo deserves more love and appreciation than what he was given. I noticed he’s been lacking some fanart (oh and fanfics too), which is why I’ve been wanting to draw him a lot more often. Just to fill up the tag (and that empty void in my heart) Ngl at first impression I thought he was going to be hard to draw but it turns out that he is really fun to doodle

I would love to talk more about him but for now I’ll leave it here, because I’ve been typing for so long lmaooo.

Thanks for coming to my Tedtalk

(Also feel free to leave any thoughts if you have any)

[babydrummer]

hellooo ,,, (evil smirk)

i’m so very curious as to what rainworld is as i’ve only been exposed to it through tumblr and tumblr alone; and to be frank it looks very intriguing and very confusing. ok basically what i’m saying is that if you wanna infodump abt rainworld onto me.. please do i’m a little lost

OH MY GOD MOOR you've activated my trap card i am legally obligated to ramble about rainworld. alright. SO

rain world lore is very. VERY vague and cryptic. even i don't know the whole story n i used to be obsessed with this game so i may or may not be getting this all wrong. but here's the jist.

thats you. you are a slugcat. a fucked up little guy half goop and half kitty. you just happened to be exploring the world with your lovely little slug family when WOOPS it started raining real bad and you accidentally got separated. now you're alone. and at the very bottom of a very brutal food chain.

the world you inhabit is INCREDIBLY FUCKED. essentially, no one here can die. ever. you exist inside a horrible cycle of death and rebirth. it sucks. if you get eaten you wake up the next day just fine. kill the annoying predator lurking outside your den? he's fine. this continues for forever (probably.)

a billion or so years before you existed, there were these people(?) called the architects (? i think?) and they really wanted to die. they had built a great utopian society blah blah blah and now they wanted to die. so they built these MASSIVE computers called iterators and were like "heyyyy lol. please figure out a way to kill us. please"

and the iterators (who are sentient by the way) were like "okay bet" and got to work thinking. but the architects got really bored of waiting and kept searching for their own way to die and eventually, they FOUND SOMETHING. at the very bottom of the world there was this weird substance known as void and if you jumped into it you WOULDN'T BE REBORN.

the architects were like "hooooly shit we're fucking free" and a lot of them jumped in. but turns out the Void has a TERMS AND CONDITIONS. turns out there's this thing called karma and i have no clue how it works but if you had too much / too little karma the Void would spit you back out as a weird eldritch creature cursed to never live or die again.

the architects were mildly freaked out by this and no one really knew how to deal. they kept the iterators running to try and figure out an alternative to jumping into the Void but eventually the architects were like fuck it and killed themselves via void anyway.

a billion years passed. probably. i dont know. but in that timeframe, the iterators made a group chat (im not kidding) between like the 8(??? i forgot how many) of them and were like "heyy lol you guys made any progress on figuring out how to die" "nope lol." this continued for a while.

BUT THEN SUDDENLY. one of the iterators was like "HOLY SHIT I FIGURED IT OUT" and then fucked died. and everyone else was like "HOOOOLY SHIT?????" but no one else could figure it out. and this kinda spurred the iterators on a little more (i think.)

eventually this is where YOU come in. you meet two of the iterators, Looks to the Moon and Five Pebbles, (yes they have strange names dont worry about it they dont mean anything) and while Moon is too run down to properly communicate (in the normal route), Pebbles is like "man lol i don't know what you want you fucking cat weirdo. if you wanna die there's this void thing i guess."

so you saunter your goopy ass down to the void and jump in. and die. and you have a vision of your family. all is well in the world (?????????)

AND THAT'S JUST THE BASICS FOR THE NORMAL ROUTE. THERE ARE FOUR MORE. AND THEY'RE ALL STUPIDLY COMPLICATED. I LOVE IT.

also the reason rain world is called rain world is because every now and then it rains so bad it floods the entire world. it turns out that rain is coming from the iterators. they are apparently SO BIG that the water they use to cool themselves evaporates into CLOUDS THAT CAUSE FLOODS.

also in one section of the game you get to crawl through their systems and eat their neurons. which is cool.

[rowavolo]

I’VE MEANT TO ASK ABOUT SANGO BEFORE. WHOOPS.

anyway about the ask game you rb’d recently (the one by @/s-e-l-f-s-h-i-p) i ask for 3, 7, 8 !

— blue!

THANK YOU FOR SPECIFYING .. i am so head empty i panicked at seeing like 5 asks in my inbox and just stopped looking at them and then also forgot about them for a long ass time .

ANYWAYS. SANGO IS SUCH A CAN OF WORMS I LOVE HIM A LOT NGL . rambles below the cut

3. Does your s/i have a full backstory yet? Or is it still in the works? If it's done can we see it?

He actually essentially does! there's probably like. a small novel's worth of writing that spans from the day he got married to ayato to like... a little before the honeymoon they go on a year into their marriage, give or take, but ive kind of dropped off writing it for a few years now and it's to the point where large swaths could probably do with a rewrite, so i'm a little shy about sharing it >_>

in terms of like.. past backstory, there's not really much written content for that, but his general gist is that he's Kokomi's younger brother who was married off to Ayato as a peace treaty type thing (my version of Teyvat tends to sit somewhere adjacent to canon, the traveler, etc. doesnt exist and stuff like that)

If people would actually be interested in reading it, honestly i may consider uploading it (or even just snippets) some day - it is very much formatted like a fanfiction in that it could go for just about any length of time as opposed to having discrete solutions to things, but like. yeah. its fun. idk. i think if i were to give a fic like that a proper ending it wouldnt be far out from where it is now , and the rest of it would work fine as oneshots and stuff!

7. Give us 3 random facts abt your s/i!

He has a gigantic Rex Lapis plush that is lowkey the bane of Ayato's existence. its like seven feet long and he uses it like a body pillow .

He was a part of Watatsumi Island's military for a few years

andddd uhhhh. hes been shot in the leg! :D (wont elaborate)

8. Does your s/i have any kind of powers?

I do headcanon Sangonomiyans as having some inhuman traits as like an uncommon genetic thing, so he can see in the dark, has a weirdly long serpenty tongue, and is a pretty fast swimmer (not as fast as his big sister though). Also i imagine if you were to put him under a blacklight he would have weird glowy patches and parts that light up. just because thats a trait i love in sea creatures.

Hes got a good sense of hearing on him too i think.

Outside of that.. hehe, its a surprise tool that will help us later :3

thanks so much for the ask, i really enjoyed getting to ramble a little about sango, he's a lot of fun to write and think about (even if i wanna smack him over the head half the time)

[rarepairnation]

LOLL i was gonna start like ‘hey there im denethor anon’ but u beat me to it. SIMILAR MINDS. Haha i read one of ur fics, was immediately smitten & was like i MUST follow them. (I’m glad i did, love the vibe of ur blog and the Flavour of ur opinions.. TASTY) so im a more recent follower but i’m gathering younger you weren’t a fan of denethor, huh? Can’t say i blame you. PJ certainly made some Decisions. he was like how do i convert a complex character into The most loathsome creature ever. He really did our fav gondorians sooo dirty. I literally watch through those scenes SEETHING in rage.

So I’ve been Thinking about denethor and faramir and nothing else for two days. like i am a denethor girlie. in my mind. spiritually. haven’t posted much abt him on tumblr. but nowww. you’re exactly right, ‘denethor Is a good leader…[insert ur paragraph here]’ yes yes yes you get it. listen denethor was a prideful, angry, resentful man but he was also valiant, resilient and noble. He guarded his city, alone (which takes GUTS, again, he was a badass!!), so well, for literal YEARS that Sauron was fearful/wary of him. i wish people were more understanding of him. he’s such an interesting character there’s so much to explore there. as you said the duty-vs-love, the weapon-first-person-next of it all. the layers. denethor as a weapon. denethor as a symbol of both sword/shield. AAHHH

BUT i think some people dismiss him hate him bc he is the mirror (the ugly side? if that makes sense) of humanity, of us. we ought to show him some compassion tho ‘cause havent u ever been taken under the darkness of life? felt the world slipping away & struggle to keep up w it? dont u ever feel hopeless? that things will never change, no matter what u do? DO YOU HAVE FEARS HAVE YOU FACED THE MONSTERS? WERE YOU ALONE, SCARED AND HOPELESS? AND HAVENT YOU MADE MISTAKES IN YOUR GRIEF AND PUSHED PEOPLE AWAY?? THAT’S what denethor experienced. He was described as a leader & a learned one at that for christ sake. He knew that evil was awaiting him and his kin and his people! he saw his future. yet. yet he soldiered on until. war declared. his sons killed (or so he believed). that’s when hope abandoned him. what was the point of staying alive now anyway? Evil was upon them, they would surely be tortured w a fate worse than death, so why should he not end the pain and kill himself? he fought the war against Time, Evil and The Dark Enemy himself and WON. he was a brave man indeed, to have fought these dark forces so much stronger than him. but he finally lost the war against Despair (and Grief), the cruelest of them all. imma cry 😭😭😭 no no no u don’t understand he didnt give up hope, hope abandoned him he- [GUNSHOT] (i don’t know how much of this even made sense lmao) anyway,

Faramir <333. do i even have to say anything about faramir? he’s the specialest little guy i love himm 🥰. On god i am one step away from rereading lotr just for him (plsss dont tempt me finals are in less than a fortnight) his and denethor’s relationship like u described my godddd XDD. fucked up familial relationships MY BELOVED. i am feral about this trope. the resentment… the jealousy… the mirror image of each other… the you’re-the-same-like-me-and-i-hate-that… mmmhm. hey do u ever think about 12 year old faramir admiring his father much the same way he did boromir and wishing he would grow up to be just like him? and do you ever think about 28 year old faramir knowing that he’s more like his father than anyone else and hating that? hating him? i do.

I’ll stop now lol im afraid my coherency has diminished by now. also sorry sorry for replying so late i am preparing for my exams. but rest assured i WILL be Rotating faramir around in my brain :3

hiiii denethor anon LOL this is the greatest ask ive ever received. every day i endeavour to provide only THE juiciest of opinions. aka this is my diary and you all are subjected to it. anyway im so glad you liked my fic i would love to know which one you read! i got into lotr via the films when i was super young so my past opinions were def coloured by The Choices. i have learned and grown since then<3 i was watching the book-to-film analysis vids on the extended edition dvds a couple weeks back and it made me so mad that i had to get up and turn off the tv. did you know there are other character options besides 'paragon of virtue' and 'one dimensional villain'...truly kind of a "nice dichotomy idiot! now what lies outside of it" situation. A Waste Of Your John Noble, To Be Honest. idk i still hold the films very close to my heart but the choices...i will simply respectfully disagree. and dont even get me started on faramir we WILL be here all night. another time. i have denethor thorongil situationship-fic to write. (i am serious about that) (i was simultaneously playing it 100% straight serious AND kind of joking about them. i shouldve known better. well.........we are so in it.)

you are so real for this. i have ALSO been Thinking about denethor and faramir and nothing else for days. weeks, even. sorry to everyone coming to the faramir goes to rivendell au for faramir and the fellowship the first 10k is literally just Keeping Up With The Stewards. we'll get there. i Will blame you for the impetus for my recent denethorposting on main but also encourage you to also do this. do whatever you want forever<3 nooo but straight up...guy who has so much strength and will that The Lord Of All Evil wouldnt contend directly against him and had to bring out the big palantir guns to bring him down. and if he'd not lost both of his sons i mean...who knows what would've happened. sometimes your sons ARE the only thing keeping you from killing yourself Do It For Them-style and lets be real that is a valid coping method. (i don't have an answer for that one and boy oh boy do i wish i did. it is going to become a massive thorn in my side in, oh, 70k or so when i hit rotk. well...i will blow up that bridge when i get to it.)

im actually putting a read more in this time bc this post broke a thousand words. continue at your own risk. there IS also faramirposting at the end here i promise.

just imagining denethor leading the siege of minas tirith. um. now stay with me here...riding out with imrahil's sortie. STAY WITH ME HERE. what do you think the livery of a steward going to war looks like. jesus christ i need to go lay down. yes i purposefully placed the read more before i decided to go momentarily horny on main. its also lowkey very vague au spoilers. sorry everyone but denethor IS canonically hot and we need to acknowledge it. Anyway.

denethor as a weapon denethor as both a sword and a shield...i am chewing glass for real. you GET IT. god i love person-as-weapon metaphor soooo much. When The Iconography Is Getting A Little Too Real. denethor as gondor, as her vanguard and standard-bearer and. i am straight up frothing at the mouth. all he ever wanted was to be a gentle lord in a time of peace.....and death was his reward...Sorry For Stealing The Fingon Death Quotation But I'm Right. so much of his behaviour and the strain on his relationships with his sons and all that is sooo...informed by the fact that to cope with having to be lord of a country at war he had to be so so unbending. he couldn't allow himself to waver, ever, not even for love, not even to save his sons.

did you know he was 21 when sauron returned. pov you are 21 years young and you have been alone all your life you are the steward's only son you are his strange numenorean heir and no one else has the LITERAL PSYCHIC POWERS AND VISIONS that you do and you have had to contend with that, alone. master your own mind, alone. learn how the shape of politics and lordship and life bends around you. and the dark lord the enemy who brought down your forebears has now set his eye on your lands again. Jesus Christ. How Would You Fucking Deal. sorry i would have a nervous breakdown and go and live in the desert. Man. TWENTY ONE? LIKE ME? most days i feel like a teletubby with a job and a credit card. if you scale it to account for numenorean lifespan inflation i mean i don't know how the math works but like. i bet it comes out to being like. 17. HELLO? basically everyone i know was barely a person at 17. the dark lord of all evil and he's MY problem to deal with?

i mean exactly. haven't we all been prideful and angry and resentful. haven't we all been there. once again [pippin voice] let's all understand poor denethor a little better. havent you ever been taken under the darkness of life [your paragraph here] yeah exactly what you said. the idea that he fucking won the war against the darkness and only lost to despair is..........so much! goodbye i have to go cry!

faramir, me AND fate's most special precious little guy....oh captain my captain....exactly. Exactly. i cant morally endorse a reread right this second but like. After. make it through finals and then it is Faramir Time. (and good luck! you got this!) tactical smartass little bitch master of both man and beast wizard's pupil (complimentary) star and hope and jewel of minas tirith knight in shining armour...my beloved. the idea that like faramir as presented, as the diplomat, as the scholar, as the numenorean, was supposed to be the one to go to rivendell...it haunts me. where is denethor sends the right son to do the right job.txt. he is gondor's no. 1 horse girl he is better suited to the wild than the battlefield he has read every sindarin text in the library he KNOWS the story of elrond and elros. he is literally telepathic and psychic and prophetic. thinking about him interacting with elrond and galadriel (and every other elf. but them in particular) makes me feel deranged. its very...self taught dnd wizard meets guy who went to wizard school energy. he's insane.

YEAH ITS CRAZY THAT THEYRE THE SAME GUY. it's. boromir gets to be boromir but faramir has to be denethor.txt. gracious and lordly as a king of old...now who is consistently referred to as noble and kingly...that a younger faramir would've looked up to...yeah. the perpetuation of denethor's second-best complex. i have a whole nother post in the drafts about that i CANT get into it here but jesus christ men who are NOT breaking the cycle. they even look the same. i mean 37 year old faramir as steward is 100% the spitting image of his father and that makes me....genuinely fucking insane actually. i mean like older councillors are doing double takes every time he walks by. i mean like sometimes people call him by the wrong fucking name. WOW where did that come from. the complex that that would give him...hello? turning this over inside my brain at WARP speed.

you are not late at all lol we are leaving little letters in each other's mailboxes to read when we have the time. i hope your exams go well!!! there will be more Faramir And Denethor Hours soon<33

[chryzure-archive]

whats some media that is soooo chrysijacks/chryzure? what would their fave pokemon be.... any random assorted thoughts you've been thinking abt them lately? and ofc any new songs you found that are chrysijacks/chryzure...

chrysijackscoded media:

moulin rouge‼️‼️‼️

the princess bride

labyrinth….

anastasia

enchanted

ella enchanted too <3

tangled (i want jacks DEAD)

wicked :)

the scarlet pimpernel

all those early 2000s barbie movies. jacks makes an excellent pretty barbie <3

the phantom of the opera, but i also have a chryzure au for this, so i’m putting it in both of their categories

chryzurecoded media!!!!:

beauty and the beast (for reallllll)

the bone witch (azure is coming back to life to be w chrysi… peak chryzure)

the night circus <3

h.hadestown……….

the corpse bride!!!!!

the addams family

THE MUMMY.

nightmare before christmas

haunting of bly manor…

legend of zelda, but esp twilight princess

phantom of the opera !!

the velveteen rabbit… i can make it work, i can MAKE IT WORK

fablehaven <3

the nutcracker….. i will not elaborate.

chrysi’s fav pokémon is probably phantump, since she can see ghosts and talk to them… this is jst another ghost. she has adopted a new child.

my friend showed me a purugly and i literally gasped and said, “AZURE WOULD LOVE IT”, so there’s THAT answer! i’ve never seen a more azure-coded pokémon in my life

jacks i’m less certain of, but i looove espurr’s design bc it’s sooo little creature + i think jacks would take one look at it and jst keep it at all times. he’ll never admit it, but he’d die for this creature

misc chrysijacks thoughts consist of how funny it is in most aus that they’re already divorced. it’s jst a question of them getting back together. why are they trying out this relationship again when chrysi would’ve gladly thrown jacks out a window? who knows! they’re kissing so hard rn though!!!!!!!!

then come the other half of the aus where they’re childhood friends and it’s like. yeah no it’s totally normal for friends to have napped together since they were in middle school, all bc chrysi got nightmares when she slept on her own. it’s totally normal that jacks kisses chrysi regularly. friends do that, esp when one friend is immune to the curse. and then jacks has the gall to be shocked when ppl call him out for being in love w chrysi. okay, darling, don’t worry your pretty little head over that.

misc chryzure thoughts are fkskgkskcjsjzkjfkkdkckfjwksmcnekzmdndns……. like??!!? sticking a fork into the wall outlet rn because i am sooo!!! jst down to the simple day to day domestic life, it’s so clear how much they love each other…. they’re comfy w preparing each other toast and teasing each other for the way they like their tea and they’re both teasingly mad when the cat picks one of them over the other.

and then the whole reincarnation curse makes me go insane go wild. the number of lives they hold, where they loved each other unabashedly and wholly, only for them to die tragically? and the fact that both chrysi and azure have started to look forward to their next life, because the agony will stop, for just a little while… they get to be happy for a fraction of time in each of their lives, and that’s enough. that has to be enough. oh, the agonies…

also, azure’s hickey game is insane + chrysi wears off the shoulder shirts a lot. what’s she supposed to do w these, blue??? knock it off!!!!!!!

chrysijacks songs:

summer // circadian clock, baethoven

love song // sara bareilles (i’m not justifying my choice. jst know this is the same era of chrysijacks as the era when i first discovered his hair would be blue and i was horrified for the next two hours)

casanova // allie x

oh l’amour // erasure (i’ve mentioned this before but it’s sooo chrysijacks to me)

chryzure songs:

tether // sleep state

below my feet // mumford & sons

divine créature // la femme

see you tomorrow // evgeny grinko

[kallurances]

s1e1 the rise of voltron (pt 2) liveblog

cont. from my pt 1 post!

aww shiro thinking that altea must have been an incredible place

this moment btwn allura and coran was so sweet :( i rlly did love their relationship and im glad they gave allura a little time to grieve, bc i rmbr they rlly never gave her the space to do so afterwards even though she was continually losing so much . . . gah

allura and the mice awww

im sorry this 'rivalry' btwn keith and lance is too funny like pls

allura is connected to the lions' life forces! how though? maybe this gets explained in s8 idk

but it is a cute idea that alfor was building this giant mecha cat warrior and he was like ‘my daughter absolutely needs to be in on this’ LOL

coran calling pidge primitive LOL

the lions choose their pilot; it is 'a mystical bond that can't be forced' LOL @ s3

god the og lineup was too good im trying to savor it while it lasts

goes crazy over the fact that we literally never found out abt the blue paladin's qualities. but yes i agree, the blue paladins are def the best looking and coolest of the bunch ^_^

lance being 'skeptic' over keith being assigned the red lion oooh foreshadowing?

only allura can open wormholes . . . again im left wondering what are the scope of allura’s abilities. is this bc she’s altean or bc she’s allura? or is this bc this is her ship, and other alteans can open wormholes on their own ship? maybe this gets answered later in the series i don’t rmbr

god she looks so serious my bb :(

sloth creature on green lion planet!!! loved these dudes they're just funky guys

shiro's gallows-esque humor was so funny to me, “i've been locked up by aliens for over a year, this is nothing” i love him T-T

the cut to hunk and lance LMAO

cool contrast of hunk overthinking and lance getting right to the point! hunk def has a lot of anxieties which give him a lot of hesitance, lance is v intuitive and usually pretty sure of himself

i love hunk's snark and sarcasm!!! he can be so petty lmao king

oh man yellow has lion carvings next to him too, who put them there? the blue lion had some too, are we supposed to infer that local natives did it (in the same sense how we found out later the arusians think of voltron as a divine being and they had carvings of the ‘lion goddess’ around the castle)?

“oooh pretty” hunk u r adorable

yes blue!!!

lance being distressed over hunk!!! my boys ahhh you can tell they def were pretty close before the whole team came together

pidge also overthinking lol but shiro being a reassuring presence . . . is this supposed to be a contrast to the earlier hunk and lance scene?

awww he used her dad's advice to calm her down, pidge’s soft smile T-T

“go. be great.” I LOVE U SM SHIRO the way this scene always used to make me so emotional pls . . . pidge's yelps of joy T-T literally crying real tears.

shiro and pidge were my first favs when i initially watched this show and im pretty sure this was the scene that hooked me onto them? ahh i really love them and the dynamic they built up over the course of s1 T-T *tries not to think abt later seasons*

lance bracing to get hit by the galra - smth similar happens in s7 i rmbr! was this an intentional parallel?

yay hunk to the rescue!!! oh also sven in s3 and hunk here both jumped in front of fired shots to save lance's life

how many times are they gonna do this hunk throwing up joke it got old after the first two times

pidge and shiro's knowing smiles they’re so cute :( <3

the galra have a hold on the red lion! man i rmbr someone pointing out after s1 it was bc it was probably alfor’s lion that zarkon got a hold of after he killed him and i was like :0 also why does zarkon have the red lion stowed away on a random warship - granted it's one of his best generals, but you think he would keep it somewhere more secure

not another lance pickup line sighing so loud rn

lance calling coran the old guy is so funny cause we all know he ends up sacrificing himself for him like 2x later on this season CTFU

l/h are team running away, k/p are team fighting back . . . the legs are all about stability and making sure they don’t get knocked down and the arms are all about offense and assertiveness . . . god i love how the anatomy of voltron translates into the character’s (initial) positions and characterizations it’s so *chef’s kiss*

and shiro is the perfect balance btwn the opposing parts here, the head who will direct their actions yup yup yup

HERE’S AN OPTION: SHUT YOUR QUIZNAK

I DONT THINK YOU'RE USING THAT WORD CORRECTLY

iconique

god s1 k/l dynamic was so funny i loved these dudes

i love that shiro defers to allura!!! those are her lions! and allura is unsure of what to do - she’s just a teen thrust into this leadership position for this war she never signed up for

the music when allura meets alfor's ai T-T

bb girl is so scared and unsure :( my babyyy

alfor admitting that allura was right and that he made a mistake!!! god i wonder what would have happened if he had listened to her

oh wait that was a s3 episode wasn't it

'you must be willing to sacrifice everything' goddd did they rlly know the series would end in her death this line is so bittersweet i hate u bitches

BOYS ITS TIME TO SUIT UP

god i missed this

the bayards!!! takes a distinct shape for each paladin! this was a rlly good way to add more characterization to them . . . l/h are more long range (perfect for support), while k/p are more offensive weapons (great for getting all up in someone’s face)

also side note, cool how keith gets a sword and a shield, rlly filling in the knight archetype here

shirooo u r my angel <333 i wonder what his bayard form would’ve been after he gained it from zarkon . . . Big Sigh

you have to earn red's respect! where was this energy in s3 lol

lance taking the lead in the absence of the natural leaders!!! cool

shiro having flashbacks T-T i rmbr thinking how great the depiction of shiro’s trauma and PTSD were when i first watched the show, but i think they pretty much dropped it after while . . . Sighs

shiro thinking of the greater good and pidge thinking more selfishly (valid), it’s nice to see shiro deciding to support pidge . . . he will always have his team’s backs

patience yields focus lol

keith being transfixed by the galra symbol 0.o

ohh he’s sensing red like how he sensed blue in the desert!!! did they ever explain how he was able to do that?

who designed the inner workings of this castle that only mice can fix

coran trying to communicate with the mice LOLLLL

frustrated keith lol

shiro is known as the champion!!!! i am so fascinated by his time in galra captivity but they never rlly built off it after s1 . . .

i love how lance loves piloting T-T my boy

KEITH TRYING TO BOND WITH RED LMAOOO

IM BONDING WITH YOU!!!! these moments are big thing to him huh

keith opening the hangar doors so they all get sucked into space SCREAM this bitch is CRAZY

ngl ever since ~s6, i have kinda been a keith hater on the occasions that i recalled vld but . . . i may be growing fonder of him on this rewatch

this shot of red coming for keith is so pretty and awe-inspiring like wow look at the scale of these lions T-T THEY HAD A BOND

GOOD KITTY

shiro's hand activating!!! u r so cool

kitty rose has left the stage! cute

allura pressing her joined hands to her mouth in nervous anticipation at the black lion meeting shiro IM GONNA CRY T-T god she must have been feeling so much pressure and responsibility to do all that she could to bring an end to that evil empire

her sigh of relief when the black lion accepted shiro :(((

the team attempts to form voltron!!!

hunk slamming into red and yelling COMBINE LOL

1 2 3 VOLTRON

THE THING THEY FEEL IS JUST THEM BEING PULLED INTO THE WARSHIP SCREAM

shiro’s speech!!! idc what the showrunners were thinking he was always meant to be the leader of voltron!!!

HUNK IS A LEG!!!

their joy is so pure my kidsss

the split screens as they yell in unison ahhh i missed this

shiro slapping keith on the shoulder lolll they’re brothers <333

allura is so cute <3

they're in the lion formation! i miss this lineup soooo bad crying shaking screaming throwing up rn

shiro likes being a defender of the universe :( and then they took that away from him IM GONNA CHEW ON GLASS

THE EPISODE STARTING AND ENDING WITH SHIRO KILL ME HOW DID THEY EVER THINK HE WOULD BE PERCEIVED AS ANYTHING BUT THE LIKABLE LEAD CHARACTER 

this ending song slaps

overall impresison: this was one of my favs back in the day, and it was easy to recall why! great setup of the characters and dynamics, overall good pacing, some rlly funny moments . . . we were all so happy that day . . . it’s hard to imagine how bad things were abt to become :(

[morganpdf]

Ok 🖊 for Ellis (don’t think I’ve seen you chat about them much) and obligatory 🖊 for Fig bc you asked about my Fig first :3

not me immediately forgetting to answer this dsvfvds

BUT TY i don't talk about ellis much & i know part of it is because they don't have (or want) a partner so I tend to draw less of them (i'm foolish)!!! BUT in splat timeline ellis is agent 3 in an offshoot universe from the main one juice and i have (wherein flynn, rowan, and jo are 4, 3, and 8 respectively). they live with august (the agent 4 for that timeline) until she moves out to live with her gf, piper (agent 8).

the rest is under the cut bc ouhhhhghghhhgh oc chatter

BUT BASIC STUFF: in every universe, ellis uses they/them (maybe toying around w xe/xir but not sure on that yet) (honestly i think they'd be down for any pnouns that Aren't he/she) (don't even THINK about gendering them) and is aroace. they're also autistic in the "this conversation isn't interesting to me at all so I'm just going to leave" way.

in splat timeline! ellis is the youngest of the agents, despite being. the most longterm member of the splatoon. they're about a year or two younger than august (it used to be more than that but I think this works better), and they meet through the agency. ellis had been living alone in agency-based housing and was assigned august as a roommate and, hates her (lovingly). they have a very sibling relationship and ellis judges every girl august brings home (except for piper BUT to be fair. august didn't bring her home technically. and ellis knew her previously through the events of octo expansion).

SPEAKING of piper. in every timeline ellis LOVES piper. she can bake a mean pan of brownies and she's also autistic so she Gets them and its very (autism creatures shaking hands image). they just sit together quietly on their phones/laptops hashtag parallel play. when they find out august and piper are dating they're very PIPER YOU ARE MAKING A HORRIBLE MISTAKE (i am so happy for both of you) AUGUST IF YOU FUCK THIS UP I'LL KILL YOU. also when august moves out to live with piper they cry but no one sees ok. no one

NOT INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP STUFF:

ellis has to be doing something with their hands at all times. they have like 50 different fidget toys littered around the apartment, 30% of which are different color fidget cubes. they don't even like fidget cubes that much but they're all different colors/novelty gimmicks (ie baby yoda, a cat, etc) so it's ok. their favorite fidgets are rubbing smooth stuff and clicking so. clickable pens and smooth stones are their go-to fidgets

in splat timeline they use up a lot of that energy tinkering with their autobombs (they refer to them as their chickens, always in a deadpan) (with how technical they like to be when talking abt them, no one can tell if the chickens thing is a joke) (good luck figuring it out), but in every timeline they do a lot with textiles. their favorite is cross stitching but they also dabble in knitting. all the cross stitching they do is like. rude phrases made to look super live laugh love home sweet home because they think it's funny. they have a very floral "go away" hung on their walls in different scripts in like 3 places

oughhh this is just making me realize i need to draw ellis more...... they're the focus of my piece i did for hero shot zine tho so here's a sneak peak straight from that!!

AND THEN ONTO FIG..... fig (they/them) is @saltylenpai's OC technically so i'm a little rambly about them but they're dating my OC wren (he/him)!!! i have like NO recent art of either of them though so i need to. do that

but fig is super sweet, in love with the world and everything in it. in splatoon timeline, fig is a sanitized octoling in recovery and their love for all of the little things in life comes from relearning how to exist as a person. in human aus they're just. like that

fig's also like. our tallest oc. they have a huge tattoo spanning their chest and arms that's sea themed, uhhhhhhh, they love art and making art and thats how they meet wren actually!! they go to school together!!! wren is a printmaking major who dabbles in pottery and fig is like. i want to do Everything actually. so theres some overlap in classes. fig is also mega autistic (are you sensing a theme with our OCs) ESPECIALLY in the "i don't understand social cues" way and that whole flirting situation was a shitshow bc fig just dropped the "you make me feel a way [romantic but doesnt realise it]" and wren is just a fucking Mess over it bc he's so flustered and gay about it but he's not sure if *he's* reading the situation wrong . they get together thought shhh

fig's also a huge romantic and takes so many candids of wren and paints wren and like. wren is just their muse in a lot of ways its so fuckinf cute. ouhhhhhhh i just love fig a lot. i love fig theyre so cute and sweet and i love them so much i have so many feelings about fig i am not good at words about them theyre just (crying noises) and their relationship with wren is SO (louder crying noises)

here's a fun fact!! fig grew up birdwatching with their mom so when they come around to be like "hey mom this is my boyfriend wren" she's like yeah that tracks for you, always a birdwatcher!!

[1d1195]

HIIIII it’s been a while i’m so sorry i’ve just had a terrible time since i sent my last ask :// summer is soooo kicking my ass but i am trying to persevere !!🫡 LMAO

MAKING HIM TAKE BUZZFEED QUIZZES IS SO SMART OMG I NEED TO TRY THAT !!! he said Steal My Girl 😂😂 lil basic but i can’t blame him it is a bop, we both go crazy when that one comes on

I SAW THE NEWEST UPDATE ON THE my-boyfriend-is-trying-to-be-a-writer-thread and SAMANTHA I CANT WITH YOU LMAOOOOOO this thread is so funny i just love that IT KEEPS GOING dw queen i devoured that 10k traditional chapter as if it were 1k🫡🫡🫡

also queen just wanted to let you know your stories follow me everywhere🥹 saw a framed poster on etsy titled ‘Wildflower Garden’ and it was SOOOOOOOOOO protection coded💔💔 it was a bunch of pretty flowers and it had Sweet Creature lyrics “wherever i go, you bring me home”😭😭 i love them sm he would totally buy it as a present for her on a random tuesday and they would forever hang it up in their home😭 and i saw a video on insta and i was CACKLING😭😭 some girl was talking abt how her dentist had his fingers in her mouth and she said something inappropriate and i was like ‘this is basically the plot of chapter 2 of Toothpaste’ HAHAHAHAH

i saw you posted Most and it looks SOOOO interesting but i really can’t lie im scared to read it cause everyone and their MOTHER are in your inbox hating on some bitch named lauren ??? i don’t know her AND I DONT NEED TO TO KNOW THAT IM NOT GONNA LIKE HER EITHER😭😭 THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN !!! once u post part 2 i’ll def read it🙂‍↕️🤞

I STARTED LOVE AND OTHER WORDS LAST NIGHT ??? I ALREADY LOVE IT i’m barely a hundred pages in and i’m soooo invested in their story. what gets me is homegirl KNOWS he’s the love of her life and HE KNOWS IT TOO ?? and i’m just sitting here like “make out already ???🤨” HAHAHAHA but i know it’s not that easy😔 but i will defff let you know what i think as i read some more

idk if im stupid or what but i had NO clue Christina Lauren was TWO PEOPLE AHAHAHAHAH i opened the back cover of the book and i was like😦😦 ive seen SOOO many people talk about and recommending their books yet i never knew that ?😭 i think co-writing books with your bestie is SOOO amazing omg

HOW ARE YOUUUU ?? I MISS YOU SO MUCH 💕💕 catch me up on everything, big or small it doesn’t matter 🫶🫶🫶

~🎶

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear you weren't doing well! I hope everything is okay, feel free to vent if you need to 💕 I'm so happy to hear from you, but don't feel bad about late replies, I'm happy to hear from you at all 💕

Steal My Girl reminds me of fall (the whole album does) but that was my favorite of their first song album drops. It really fit the vibe. The music video always makes me laugh. I never knew I needed to see Louis with a chimp until then 😭 A LITTLE BASIC. I'm SCREAMING. Good for him though, I don't think that's an obvious choice for casual listeners. I love it!

HAHAHAHAHA I feel like I'm truly living a double agent life. I feel a little bad but I will never tell him. He'll live without knowing. You're so kind 😭 10k of Harry being sick is usually where I start rereading Traditional. I don't think I've reread parts 1-5 since like maybe a week after I wrote them 😂

Omg that's so cute 😭 I think about that a lot, if my writing pops up in people's lives. Someone a while back sent a message that their parents got a new washer and dryer and her mom tested it with like one sock and it made her think about Love and Dryer Sheets and I just thought that was so cool 😭 I LOVE the idea of her buying the poster for her on a random Tuesday. I feel like Toothpaste is going to be simultaneously the most relatable one and least relatable one as idk if I know any hot dentists 😭 but that's really funny nonetheless!

I think I remember you telling me that you don't like to read unfinished stories? I think you did it with Dolcezza maybe; no worries either way. But knowing that, you may want to sit this one out until I get like part 2 AND 3 posted? I feel like I'm going to get "SAMANTHA -🎶" in my inbox and nothing else if you read it before it's done 😂 But yes, we HATE Lauren here. But of course I want you to read it when you have time/want to 💕 I would love to hear your thoughts!

I'm so happy you're loving it! MAKE OUT ALREADY LITERALLY. I just loved their story so so much he's so in love with her I cannot. It gets a little deeper but it hooked me so fast I couldn't put it down. I think I read it in one day.

YES. I forget how I figured it out, if I also read the back cover or if I was googling them or something idk. But it's SO cool they write together! I wish I had a writing bestie to do that with, but anyway!

I'm doing well! I think when we last chatted I was STRESSED™ over everything and now I'm MUCH less stressed thankfully. I'm really not doing a whole lot these days. Just trying to enjoy the summer even though the weather is crappy af lately. Too hot to breathe one day and then raining off and on for hours. Can't do anything outside. I made a yummy pasta dish for dinner last night and other than that, my life is pretty boring.

I hope you're doing better, I've missed you so much as well! I hope that things calm and settle for you so you can relax and enjoy 💕

xoxo

[sakasakiii]

the weight of a name - part 1

summary: names are a sacred thing, but the memory of angband is a pervasive grime that sticks to the mind. maedhros recalls a name of old that he can no longer bring himself to be referred to..

content warning for heavy scarring, slight language 

a bit darker than my usual content, so big apologies in advance 🙇‍♀️ this is quite an old comic i had sitting about from May, and given i was a bit busier this weekend i worked on this on the side instead of answering asks (business as usual as soon as i can!). i was studying Maria Llovet’s comic style when I was working on this so if you’ve ever read Luna and notice some stylistic similarities that’s it!! 

i have several further thoughts on this so that’ll be under the cut for ramblings lol

- naming seems like a really big deal among the eldar given how much time and love Tolkien put into it! so personally I think each and every one of the names they give their children/themselves are very very sacred 

- so after angband, I’ve always headcanoned Maedhros as refusing to be referred to as ‘Maitimo’ anymore. Nelyafinwe is bearable, Nelyo still used by his brothers, and Russandol becomes more commonplace- but never Maitimo. And so in this case Fingon, who has always called him Maitimo since they were kids and is a creature of habit, learns why

- i also think Melkor (in this particular comic) places an emphasis on using Maedhros’ mother name idk maybe because Feanor went by his mother name? a petty, spiteful kinda thing. he seems like a really petty guy. 

- the concept of Melkor taking Maedhros’ mother name from his identity is... idk how to put it, but perhaps its both in a physical and psychological sense? ofc, there’s the whole idea of Maedhros being unable to stomach hearing ‘Maitimo’ anymore which is the obvious answer, but also... hear me out here... what if Melkor had a little book of names he’s taken from people? which sounds silly but subsequently ‘binds’ that little bit of them to him, so long as it isnt destroyed. maybe sauron’s black magic is involved.... ueh i think im kinda going off the rails here, but i am BOLLOCKS at explaining so if you need me to be more coherent feel free to hmu whenever 

- anyways ive been thinking way too much abt this for now, so i really wanna do a part 2 featuring Rog(er) and his funny name in the future, maybe! idk when but head empty... for now! 👻

[glowingbadger]

do you have anything in the ask box abt sfw + nsfw hcs w caspar and linhardt??-- if not, could i rq them pls?

Two Very Good Boys TM why have I not written more for them yet lol - especially Lin, he's a fav of mine for sure~

Also. Can I just say. Linhardt has so much Game. Like, half of his support chains end with him being like "what if we fucked and/or got married haha jk... unless?" and the other person just 👀👉👈

Caspar, Linhardt x GN Reader

SFW (nsfw below the cut)

Caspar:

- Caspar is as intense and energetic about love as he is about everything else. His feelings for you grow steadily as you work together as friends and allies, and he eventually realizes that there's a reason why he's always bizarrely excited for dull monastery chores like supply runs and patrols when he's assigned with you.

- When he finally confesses, it's in the middle of some such chore. He's been staring at you oddly as you work, until he abruptly says your name, then blurts out, "I think I'm in love with you." He practically shouts it at you, his eyes fiery and his face red. Once you work past the shock of the moment and affirm that you feel the same, he pumps a fist in the air, then laughs as he lifts you and spins you in a circle.

- He's not exactly "smooth" and doesn't have much romantic experience, but his unwavering sincerity and desire to be good to you makes up significantly for these. He's terrible at surprise gifts, since he always wants to get you something you'll love, so he'll spoil it by saying something like "So how do you feel about danishes??" right before heading to the best bakery in town. But when you thank him, wearing one of those warm, genuine smiles- he just melts, and he figures he doesn't have to be smooth or clever as long as he can make you smile like that.

- This. Man. Is a Cuddler. He doesn't like to be "mushy" in public, but he truly adores every-day physical displays of affection. He can't help swinging your hands a little when your fingers are laced during a walk through town, and if you're alone together, he just habitually has to be holding or touching you somehow. Caspar was never one to sit still for long- until he realizes that holding you to his chest while the two of you chat on his bed is completely addictive.

Linhardt:

- Oh Lin, this beautiful weirdo. For a long while, you won't get much of a love confession from him; instead, he just continuously puts himself near you. He doesn't need anything from you, and there's no pressure to keep him occupied in conversation- he just finds he's soothed in your presence. He doesn't question it until he finds himself even choosing your company over his studies or sleep. Then, for some time, he actually finds this new feeling rather disturbing.

- Finally, you're both enjoying a sunny afternoon, reading, casually chatting a bit, him dozing off periodically. In a quiet moment when you'd assumed he was fast asleep, he instead turns towards you and quite suddenly says, "If I were to tell you that I find myself quite insistent upon being near you at every possible opportunity, how would you describe that feeling?" when you don't give an immediate response, he follows this up with, "Would you consider that romantic attraction? Perhaps I really have fallen for you... hm..."

- Linhardt doesn't have much of a memory for birthdays and holidays (his mind is generally occupied with any number of other things), but you're not likely to find yourself doubting his feelings for you, nor his commitment. That's because he's very blunt about telling you. The delicate propriety of the nobility is of very little concern to him, so he feels no hesitation about placing a kiss to your lips in the middle of the (very occupied) library and telling you, "My, you are exceptionally lovely today." Before, of course, returning to his search for whatever tome he'd insisted he needs to review for his latest topic of interest.

- He is an excellent listener when you've had a stressful day or are in a bad mood. Though you will need to tell him directly if you're just looking to vent, because he's one to always think of a straightforward solution for you. But, as a creature of his comforts, Lin is wonderful at helping you relax. He'll hold you and rub small circles along your back until one or both of you dozes off- if you need it, he'll even force himself to stay up long enough to talk more, or recite some list of known crest effects until his gentle, even voice lulls you to sleep.

NSFW 18+ v

Caspar:

- He likes sex intense and passionate, and has no problem "doing most of the work," as it were. You may have to guide his pace a bit, as he can get a bit too excited- but he has immense stamina, so you'll certainly be satisfied by the end. In fact, he's fully capable of cumming more than once in a night, with a fairly short refractory period, so if you're up for it, fucking Caspar can become quite a workout in its own right.

- Caspar can be pretty bitey- he loves marking you and being marked, and even he's surprised by how much he just loves burying himself at the crook of your neck, or at your chest, or your lower stomach. He's been attracted to people before, sure, but he's never known he could be so absolutely entranced by someone's body before you.

- As you'd imagine, he's pretty vocal in bed, and likes it when you are too. His pleasured grunts and moans are completely shameless, communicating exactly how incredible you make him feel. He doesn't have much of an innate sense for dirty talk, but he loves it when you talk dirty. Even simple encouragement, like "Oh, Caspar- fuck, just like that! Mmmh- your cock feels so good-!" gets his body burning to his very core. He never realized it before, but his ultimate weakness is when you can tell he's getting close, and you moan out that you want him to cum for you. It's his kryptonite, and his body shudders as a powerful orgasm takes over him.

- His cock is about average length-wise, but it is thick and very nicely veined. He's not excessively sensitive or anything, but if you manage to tie him up or force him to slow his pace in some other way, it is deliciously easy to reduce him to a whiny, needy mess. He'll buck his hips up as you tease the tip of his cock with a slickened finger, desperation in his eyes as he groans out, "Ungh, Y/N, this is torture- please, I- I want you so bad-!"

Linhardt:

- He's deeply focused and fascinated by your body, and will study you for as long as you can withstand his gentle touch. He wants to know your every single turn on, your every tender sweet spot, and wants to hear every possible way you can moan his name. Related- I've seen a lot of people assume Lin is entirely and exclusively a bottom out of laziness, and I firmly disagree. We've seen how intensely he commits himself to the things that have caught his interest, and once you're his, he's going to learn everything he can about your pleasure. He's open minded and willing to try almost anything at least once, provided it's not too strenuous.

- Lin very much enjoys exploring some less expected erotic pleasures; things like circling your fingertips with his tongue, then nipping and sucking at the tender skin, or fucking between your thighs or ass cheeks without fully entering you until you beg him. His easy self-confidence and patience make him something of an unintentional soft dom. It's not that he aims to make you whimper and beg for him before he finally enters you- it's just that he's enjoying your body so much that he doesn't feel the need to rush.

- He loves cockwarming. Lying comfortably on his side with you cradled against him and his length buried in your warm little hole- it's absolute heaven for him. He gets to relax and feel completely at ease and even a little sleepy as you hold him deep inside of you, and it's adorable when you squirm a little, trying to get his cockhead to rub into you a certain way. He gives a light chuckle and nuzzles against the back of your neck, murmuring, "Now, now, don't be impatient- aren't you comfortable?"

- He's not much of a fan of the mess that can come with sex, and resents the cleanup time required, as once he's cum, he wants nothing more than to just hold you close and let your steady breathing lull him to sleep. So, he'll generally do his best to minimize marks, or a mess of cum- though, given his method is frequently to lick you clean, who's complaining.

[takahero]

in honour of finishing inkspell, here are some basta observations I picked up along the way. also, inkspell spoilers warning! i also have MANY MANY thoughts so i’d love to hear what you guys think to some of the questions raised

“He hadn’t changed: the same thin face, the same way of narrowing his eyes, and there was an amulet dangling around his neck to ward off the bad luck that Basta thought lurked under every ladder, behind every bush.” — pg.138

“Basta’s left hand was bandaged, Elinor noticed when he took his fingers away from her mouth.” — pg.139

“‘I’d have been here much sooner, believe you me, but they put me in jail for a while on account of something that happened years ago. No sooner was Capricorn gone than all the people who’d been too scared to open their mouths suddenly felt very brave.’” — pg.140 (see they never tell us WHY he was in prison, do they? the possibilities are endless. we know he committed atrocious things, like arson, but imagine if he got put in jail for something completely different…LOL)

“‘You wouldn’t believe how often I’ve told him there’s nothing to be ashamed of in going to jail, particularly when your prisons here are so much more comfortable than our dungeons at home.’” — pg.140 (OHHHTMGOD MEME IDEA)

“Basta flung his arm so roughly round Orpheus’ neck that his glasses slipped down his nose.” — pg.141

“‘Hold your tongue, Basta!’ Mortola interrupted him abruptly. ‘You’ve always liked the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.141

“‘Well, Silvertongue, I’m sorry it’s taken some time,’ he said in his soft, cat-like voice.” — pg.180

“‘My son always said revenge was a dish best eaten cold,’ observed Mortola.” — pg.181 (question. did basta find out about mortola’s true identity between inkheart & inkspell? do u think he realised it when mortola cried when capricorn died?)

“Basta passed a finger over his throat and winked at him.” — pg.186 (wink 2 LMAO)

“Basta bent down and picked up a rusty helmet lying at his feet. ‘What do you expect me to say?’ he growled, throwing the helmet back into the grass with a gloomy expression, and giving it a kick that sent it clattering against the wall. ‘Of course it’s our castle. Didn’t you see the figure of the goat on the wall there? Even the carved devils are still standing, though they wear ivy crowns now — and look, there’s one of the eyes that Slasher liked to paint on the stones.’” — pg.190

“‘So Basta was right after all. He’s dead, here and in the other world too.’” — pg.191 (interesting….so Basta knew Mortola’s plan wouldn’t work? he just wanted a ride home?)

“‘I’d really like to know what happened!’ he muttered. ‘I always said Capricorn wasn’t here, but what about the others?…What are we going to do if they’re all gone?’ Basta sounded like a boy afraid of the dark. ‘Do you want us to live in a cave like brownies until the wolves find us? Have you forgotten the wolves? And the Night-Mares, the fire-elves, all the other creatures crawling around the place…I for one haven’t forgotten them, but you would come back to this accursed spot where there are ghosts lurking behind every tree!’ He reached for the amulet dangling around his neck, but Mortola did not deign to look at him.

“‘Oh, be quiet!’ she said, so sharply that Basta flinched.” — pg.192

“‘You’re going to leave them here?’ That was Basta’s voice.” — pg.193 (at first I was like oh so he has a heart….but then he was mean to resa straight after this 🙄)

“‘Sorry, but he must have overlooked me, shut up in that cage as I was,’ purred Basta in his catlike voice.” — pg.377

“‘Wasn’t it Mortola who had you put in the cage to be fed to the Shadow?’ Basta just shrugged his shoulders and flung back his silver-grey cloak. Of course, he had his knife. A brand new one, it seemed, finer than any he’d ever had in the other world, and undoubtedly just as sharp.

“‘Yes, not very nice of her,’ he said as his fingers caressed the handle of the knife. ‘But she’s really sorry.’” — pg.377 (okay so it SOUNDS like he threatened/made some kind of bargain with his knife, but I strongly doubt that considering how afraid he seems of her?? i know he’s technically working for the adderhead but even by the end of the book, it seems he is far closer to mortola than adderhead. what is their relationship? or does he sincerely think she’s sorry/has deluded himself into believing such? UGH SO MANY QUESTIONS)

“Basta had always liked describing his own and other people’s abominable deeds in detail.” — pg.378

“‘But we’re not going to shoot you.’ Basta came a little closer to Fenoglio, his face as intent as that of a stalking cat.” — pg.378 …. living for all the cat references tbh

“‘He wants you to crawl on your belly to him, that’s what our noble lord and master likes. But never mind, he pays well!’” — pg.378 (yes basta all abt getting that bread LMAOOOO)

“He slowly drew the knife from his belt. Its blade was long and slightly curved.” — pg.379

“‘Hey Basta, I know you like the sound of your own voice.’” — pg.379 (AHAHAHAHA HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE CALLED OUT BASTA ON THIS NOW? IVE LOST TRACK)

“With a regretful sigh, Basta put the knife back in his belt. ‘Yes, very well, you’re right,’ he said in surly tones. ‘I need to take my time with this sort of thing. Questioning people is an art, a real art.’” — pg.380 (LMAOOOOOOO HE IS SUCH A DRAMA QUEEN)

“Basta. The same thin face, the same twisted smile. Only the clothes were different. Basta was no longer wearing his white shirt and black suit with the flower in his buttonhole. No, Basta now wore the Adderhead’s silvery grey, and he had a sword at his side. With a knife in his belt too, of course. But he was holding a dead chicken in his left hand.” — pg. 455

“‘Yes, they are!’ purred Basta. ‘The little witch, and the fire-eater into the bargain. It was well worth the wait. Even though I’ll probably never get that damned flour out of my lungs again.’” — pg.455 (ok….so who’s gonna draw basta sitting amongst the flour AAHHAHA)

“‘Servant? Who’s a servant here? Just listen to him. As bold as if he’d never felt my knife! Have you forgotten how you screamed when it cut your face?’” — pg.457 … don’t call basta a servant…..noted

“‘Oh, don’t look so disbelieving, little witch, I still can’t read and I don’t intend to learn, but there are enough fools around the place who can, even in this world.’” —pg. 457 (i wonder how much capricorn influenced basta’s views on reading. because capricorn said that he learnt how to read from a maid, right? so basta certainly wouldn’t have trash-talked reading in front of him. and even after living in OUR world for nine years, I’m still surprised that he never attempted to learn, given how dependent we are on it. anyway my headcanon is that he secretly wants to, but doesn’t want to give others the satisfaction of knowing they have something he doesn’t. also nobody he knows would be willing to teach him (unless he threatened them) bc of his obviously violent and short-tempered nature…and learning requires so much patience. still, though, would love a fic of basta being taught how to read in secret and having some kind of positive interaction)

“‘You’re even more talkative than you used to be, Basta.’ Dustfinger’s voice sounded as if he found this tedious.” — pg.458 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH IM DYING. honestly the animosity between them was just. A+++

“Basta was in an even worse state. He was sitting close to Mortola, his face so red and swollen that Meggie almost failed to recognise him. But he had escaped death once again. Perhaps the good-luck charms he always wore worked after all.” — pg.526

“The sunlight falling into the room made Basta’s face look like a boiled lobster.” — pg.575 

“Basta put his hand to the amulet hanging around his neck. It was not a rabbit’s paw, as he had worn in Capricorn’s service, but something that looked suspiciously like a human finger-bone.” — pg.581 (THIS STILL IRKS ME SO MUCH)

“The Piper straightened his back, as ready to attack as the viper on his master’s coat of arms…He was a good head taller than Basta.” — pg.582 WHY DO I KEEP FORGETTING HES NOT TALL LMFAO

“The two men were standing so close that the blade of Basta’s knife wouldn’t have fitted between them.” — pg.582 HAHAHAJAHAAJAHAHHAAHAHAHAH PKESJENE I LOVE THIS SO MUCH … IMAGINE BASTA SQUARING UP W HIS NOSE JUST SMACK BANG IN THE MIDDLE OF PIPER’S CHEST OR SOMETHING

“The Piper struck Basta in the face so hard that his head hit the door frame. Blood ran down his burned cheek in a trail of red. He wiped it away with the back of his hand. ‘Take care to avoid dark corridors, Piper!’ he whispered. ‘You don’t have a nose any more, but one can always find something else to cut off.’” — pg.582-583 THIS SCENE WAS SIMPLY……CHEF’S KISS

are you serious is he dead??? WHAT. okay I knew dustfinger’s love for farid would be the end of him and basta being the instrument to rip that away from him was totally heartrending. i WISH it had been more climactic? like dustfinger unleashing his fury and fighting basta, blind with anger and grief. THE DIALOGUE POTENTIAL BETWEEN THEM AS THEY FINALLY TALK ONE-ON-ONE, and then some revisiting of the scene where dustfinger has the opportunity to kill basta but AGAIN withholds because killing is not in his nature….THEN MO IN SHINING ARMOUR SWOOPS IN TO DO THE JOB

now, off to inkdeath!

[lovely-v]

LOTR (films) Review

So I finally watched the LOTR films (20 years later). I’m super excited to review these because I read the books very recently so I feel at least a little prepared to voice some opinions. Overall I loved the films, here’s a very long (but by no means exhaustive) compilation of my thoughts, which are of course, totally subjective:

(Warning: a lot of me saying “well, actually, in the book...”)

THINGS I LIKED

- Casting! not much to say here, I thought the casting was great. One of my favorite actors that I didn’t think i’d have a huge opinion on was David Wenham as Faramir. I was kinda ambivalent on him when I saw pictures but i thought he did a great job. he showed his quality.

- Music. so much has been said about the films on the music front. I can’t offer too much original insight but when a bit of the Shire theme started to play as Frodo tries to make his way up Mount Doom I cried a little.

- Boromir and Aragorn. I liked the scene where they interact a little in Rivendell. I also like how Aragorn saves Boromir in the Moria battle and gives him this little nod of friendship. I think the films did a great job portraying the dynamic they have where Aragorn is clearly suspicious of Boromir’s motivations but grows to respect him to the point where he doesn’t even blame Boromir for being corrupted by the ring because he understands that, at heart, Boromir is a good person. 

- Sam and Frodo in Osgiliath. I expected to be kind of annoyed with the way this plot point played out (I knew ahead of time that it strayed from the book), but I actually liked it a lot. As I’ll say later, there’s some gripes I have with the way the films extremely play up the disagreements between Frodo and Sam, but I loved the scene where Frodo pulls the sword on Sam and then seems so defeated when he realizes what he’s done. I was pleasantly surprised by how emotional this scene made me. It’s admittedly A Lot, but it was done nicely, especially in conjunction with Sam’s “there’s good in this world” speech.

- Treatment of the ending. I almost think I should dislike the ending as it is in the movies, but my heart is soft and I like that they sugarcoated it a bit. I know the whole point of the Scouring of the Shire and Frodo’s depression conveys a lot about war and trauma and I think that is important, but after watching these things for twelve hours I just wanted Frodo & co. to be happy and I was kinda relieved that they cut the Scouring. Does that make me weak and perhaps bad at film analysis? yes. do I care? no. I was also very glad that the movies didn’t portray how depressed Sam was about losing Frodo in the end. Yes, he cries, but when he walks home to his family he seems happy and in the books that scene came off so much bleaker. I definitely liked the lighter tone.

THINGS I WAS NEUTRAL ON/DIDN’T LIKE

- Arwen. (Neutral) I don’t hate her, I don’t love her. I think the story she and Aragorn have is compelling and I 100% get why the filmmakers decided to add it to give her character more depth, but it felt misplaced at times. maybe it’s just because it was the only storyline I didn’t know in depth, but the scenes with the Arwen/Aragorn flashbacks felt a bit confusing and disorienting. Don’t have anything against Arwen as a character though, I think she’s pretty alright.

- Gimli. (Complicated thoughts) I want to start off by saying I don’t dislike Gimli. I like him a lot! I just think the movies did him a bit dirty. He had some good movie-exclusive moments, but I think his character really fell into this place of being the butt of too many jokes. Would have liked to see some more serious Gimli development, especially with his relationship to Legolas. Their friendship felt too much like subtext here, whereas it’s explored far more in the books.

- Two Towers Pacing. (Didn’t really like). The pacing of TTT was...weird. maybe I’m going into this with a closed mind because of the books, but it was odd to have the movie begin with Frodo and Sam and then have them only appear for a few rapid scenes after that. I think the fact that a WHOLE LOT of what happens to Frodo and Sam in TTT is moved to RotK is what makes it feel that way? In the books, Two Towers ends with Sam discovering that Frodo isn’t dead from Shelob’s sting, and I was surprised by how long it took the movies to get to that part. However, I will give the films a little leeway because I think they needed Frodo & Sam content for RotK, since most of what happens in that book is them walking through Mordor basically starving and dying. Doesn’t make for great cinema I guess, so they had to put the whole Shelob/Cirith Ungol saga into the final film. Still, I think there’s a weird lack of Frodo and Sam’s presence in TTT.

- The go home/missing bread arc. (Full of rage abt this one) yeah. so. my criticism of this is gonna sound pretty tired because people complain and complain about this part of RotK. but I’m gonna complain some more!! I don’t think the split between Frodo and Sam does anything for the plot. I really don’t. I guess it emphasizes the fact that Sam doesn’t understand how much Frodo is projecting onto Gollum, but it’s just. unnecessary angst? They had enough angst in the Osgiliath scene! Which I actually liked! And it simply doesn’t make a lot of sense for Frodo to suspect Sam of eating the bread when Sam had already offered Frodo his own food and made it clear that he would very much starve if it meant making sure Frodo could eat. But what I hate most about this scene is not that Frodo gets mad and tells Sam to go home. No. It’s that Sam actually... thinks about doing that? he actually? goes down the staircase? emotionally this is bad because Sam clearly cared enough about Frodo to follow him this far, to nearly drown for him, so why would he leave now. Practically this is bad because 1. how would Sam get out of Mordor alone and 2. where would he go. He turns around almost immediately, yes, but what was his plan. where was he going. why.

THINGS I LOVED

- For Frodo! This line, and every other shoutout to Frodo. In the books, they didn’t really actively talk about/worry about Frodo (and Sam) as much as they do in the movies. I like that they talk about Frodo more in the movies! I like that they’re thinking about him! I know it was implied that they were in the books, but I really like how it’s shown here. I think it gave a more complete picture of how much they all care about him on a personal level in addition to just needing him to succeed from a pragmatic standpoint. 

- Merry and Pippin! I feel like Merry and Pippin were so well rounded in the films. I’ve heard criticism about them being turned into comic relief characters (which they always were a little bit) but it honestly didn’t feel that way to me. They had a bit of a rough start because the films didn’t make their motives for going with Frodo as deep as the books did, but I think that by TTT they were absolutely amazing characters in every scene. In RotK their respective arcs hit really well and the scene where Pippin is singing to Denethor? *chef’s kiss* poetic. beautiful. sad. idk man I just feel like I have such a newfound appreciation for Merry and Pippin.

- Parallels! people have pointed out the parallel of Frodo and Sam’s hands before (drowning scene/mount doom scene) and I love how the movie did that. Just stunning. Also! The moving of the Smeagol & Deagol scene to RotK surprised me because in the books it was like,,,at the beginning of Fellowship, but I think the placement of it in the movies really helped emphasize the similarities between Smeagol & Deagol and Frodo & Sam (and how much Frodo fears this similarity.) There were a lot of other well done parallels between storylines and a few bits of dialogue that were repeated with great timing, but I can’t remember all of them at the moment.  

Edit: here’s one I remembered! when Frodo wakes up after being rescued and sees Gandalf, he says Gandalf’s name in a very similar tone to the one he used at the very beginning of Fellowship. It was a nice little subtle connection.

- I can’t carry it for you...alright this is self-indulgent. everyone knows I love this line. I’m just so glad it made it into the movie intact. Sean Astin’s delivery was amazing. I cheered. My mom cheered. It’s a raw line and it makes me feel secret emotions...like if shrimp colors were feelings. that line makes me feel shrimp feelings. idk i’m so tired i just watched twelve hours of movies this review is decreasing in quality by the minute but i’m about done for now anyway

Various silly afterthoughts

- I would have liked to see Sam kiss Frodo’s hands at least once. This happens 50 thousand times in the books, they could have given me one scene. one little extended edition scene. Please Peter Jackson I’m dyin’ out here

- They literally made Gollum so hateable. kinda the point yes, but I was so on board with Sam’s murderous rage. I know why Gollum’s a profoundly complex character, I know why Frodo pities him, I know why murder is bad, but I too would throw hands with that creature. also he literally body shamed Sam so much what was that skdjksdjksd. Sam is lovely. let him commit a small homicide. 

- the scene where merry and pippin drink the tall boy juice (as someone once referred to it in the tags of one of my posts)... not accurate to the books (since they don’t ever drink it with the end goal of getting tall) but so accurate to life. if I found some water that made me taller than my friends? let me at it

- Frodo panicking when he falls into the spider webs. so real bestie. i felt just as panicked watching that. i am terrified of spiders and Elijah Wood did an amazing job doing exactly what i’d do in the situation. yelping a lot and falling down.

- I feel like it’s never stated that Sam’s a gardener (or at least that he’s specifically Frodo’s gardener) until he tells Faramir he is. Did I miss this. Or do they really never say.  are you just meant to know. are you just meant to pick up gardener vibes from him.

*

This has been a very chaotic lotr movie review. Thanks for reading.

[skepticbeliever-bookclub]

This month we are focusing on one long series together splitting our discussion up to one part per week, and this week we read part 1 of the Precious Metals series titled I'm Clean Out Of Air in My Lungs written by StrikerEureka, a genre-pushing piece that many of us remember fondly as one of our absolute favourite renditions of the very popular demon!Shane trope. This fic kicks off what we're sure is going to be a romantic and adventurous ride with some surprising twists and brilliantly crafted demon lore. Rating: T Summary: Ryan and Shane have been moving around something that is coming to a head between them. After a car accident, on the way to an investigation, Ryan slowly starts to become suspicious that Shane might not be what he seems. He realizes, though, that he just might not care.

Book Club Thoughts:

All the little clues abt things being wrong, Ryan's gut feeling poking through in the narration that something isn't quite right, it's just so f*cking masterful

This specific handling of the demon!shane au touched on nearly all my favourite tropes. The hurt/comfort, the protectiveness, saucy sardonic Shane, Ryan being afraid of him at first, Research!Ryan and best of all, FEAR

something that always gets me with demon!Shane fics is that Ryan's love is so big that he always chooses to give Shane another chance, no matter how scared or hurt he is by the secrets Shane's kept away from him, it's my favorite part of the trope

It’s such a beautiful fic, with gorgeous realistic descriptions and probably my favourite take on the demon Shane angle that I’ve ever seen. You can feel the ache between them - Ryan’s fear mixed with his desire for Shane, and Shane being this old-but-young creature who’s still the same guy we know and love, and how much he loves and cares for Ryan.

i think one thing i do really like about the way some demon shane characterizations are handled is that it captures this sort of stuck listlessness that shane has admitted to having where like, he's stuck in this place or body or whatever for a really long time and it takes something really significant (like The Power Of True Love) to shake him up

The way this fic felt like coming home to me was unexpected. It was probably the first I ever read. And it isn’t one I’ve returned to despite adoring it almost because... I wanted to savour it

there's enough left open that there could be more but it's also satisfying enough that you don't have to

The author does a great job at world building and taking control of this trope to make it fit who Ryan and Shane are, instead of letting it overpower them as characters.

the pacing in this fic is phenomenal. it's a self-contained story (i can't overstate how thrilled i was to find out it was part one) and the little vignette-like parts are so well-chosen

The author's style of writing really sets a scene without dwelling on any one aspect of it for too long, using quick bits of information here and there to guide the reader's imagination and trusting them to arrive at the right picture.

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