#i am very much into censoring names thank you

[chaotic-so3k]

READING LIST!!!

Recapping what I've already read this year:

Rha book 1 -Meatbun

TGCF 1-3 - MXTX

Good Omens - Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil G*iman

Welcome to Night Vale: A Novel - Finknor

The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller

The Haunting of Hill House- Shirley Jackson

What I'm reading right now:

The Red Dragon - Thomas Harris (Yes, still. Leave me alone about it)

What I plan on reading this year:

September:

Silence of The Lambs - Thomas Harris

Hannibal - Thomas Harris

Hannibal Rising - Thomas Harris

It Devours! - Finknor

October:

The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home - Finknor

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

November:

(I need more for this month)

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde

December:

TGCF 4-7 (BECAUSE WHY WOULD 8 BE AVAILIBLE UGHH)

Any Way The Wind Blows - Rainbow Rowell

Next Year:

All Three Percy Jackson serieses and that one Solangelo book - Rick Riordan

The Iliad - Homer

The Odyssey - also Homer

All in order

Feel free to give me suggestions!

[genericpuff]

Public service reminder: I love y'all for your support in what I do here, but (a very gentle but) I want to make it clear that this isn't the way-

Names are censored for obv privacy reasons and I don't want to put any of my own readers on blast because I trust comments like these are made with good intention. I appreciate y'all for loving what I do here and putting it out there for others to read along, but I don't do it for this. As much as Rekindled is indeed a parody redraw of LO that's trying to "fix" a lot of the original comic's issues, at the end of the day it's still just a Tumblr project that I'm doing here for fun and I don't want to see it used as ammunition in the comments sections dedicated specifically to LO (for clarification, this was in the @webtoonofficial announcement post for LO winning its third Eisner).

Whether or not it's "better" than LO is subjective and irrelevant. I obviously can't pretend like I didn't have my own motivations to "fix" what I felt was broken, but the act of "fixing" was for those of us who saw it as broken, not for those who love LO as is.

I also can't reasonably ask anyone to keep their opinions about Rekindled to themselves, it's a piece of work that is publicly available and therefore that will put it under the lens of public opinion, but from me to you, this ain't the way. I host it on Tumblr and DH precisely to keep it out of the main view of the fans/stans, because this work isn't for them, it's for all of you who share my disappointment in the original series. I want to be able to run this space free of any extreme fandom discourse - this is also why you won't see me using general LO tags on Tumblr/IG - but the only way that can happen is if we all play nice and don't let the heat of the discourse get to us. Rest assured, I will always stand by my work and what I do here because I love it and have found my lost joy in what LO used to mean to me through it as well as a community of amazing writers and creators... but prevention is better than the cure and I don't want any of that heat getting thrown back my way through weaponizing of my work with or without my knowing in the first place.

Am I pissed about the comic's third win? Absolutely. And as much as I feel it isn't worth anyone's time or energy to get into bickering matches with the stans in these comment sections, those opinions regarding the comic pre-exist my participation in this fandom and would have, one way or another, hit that boiling point regardless (and it's been wild to watch that comment section go down, I can't lie lmao) But this is not the way. Rekindled is - to me, and hopefully to you, too - a reclaiming of the love and passion people like myself used to have for LO, and a celebration of Greek myth and transformative fiction as a genre, above everything else it stands for or could be interpreted as. It's not a weapon meant to be used in discourse. Let's please do our best to be mindful of that so we can keep having fun in this special little space we've carved for ourselves and not make ourselves into the monsters we're often made out to be just for critically discussing and transforming a piece of media that, in spite of all its flaws, brought us together in the way that it did. Let's keep being the best for each other instead of turning ourselves into the worst over others within this massive fandom who we were never going to agree with in the first place.

Thank you all, much love 💖 Do no harm, take no shit ✊️

[renthony]

hey!! i am genuinely curious about how the catholic church helped implement the hays code, would you be able to tell me more/do you have any good reading material about it? thanks so much!!

This has been sitting in my inbox for aaaaaages, because I want to do it justice! It's actually a big facet of my research project that I'm going to go into much, much, much more depth on, but here's the short(er) summary:

The foundational text of the Hays Code was written by two Catholics: a Jesuit priest named Father Daniel Lord, and a man named Martin Quigley, who was the editor of the Motion Picture Herald. They grounded their guidelines in Catholic morality and values, based on the idea that art could be a vehicle for evil by negatively influencing the actions of those who view it.

The original list of guidelines written by Lord and Quigley was adapted into the Production Code, popularly known as the "Hays Code" after William Hays, the president of the Production Code Administration that enforced it. As president of the PCA, William Hays appointed a staunch Catholic man called Joseph Breen to enforce the code. Breen enforced it aggressively, confiscating the original reels of films he deemed inappropriate and against the Code. Many lost films from this era are only "lost" because Joseph Breen personally had them destroyed. Some were rediscovered later, but many were completely purged from existence.

When Breen died in 1965, Variety magazine wrote, "More than any single individual, he shaped the moral stature of the American moral picture." He was a very, very big deal, and was directly responsible for censoring more films than I could even begin to list here.

In 1937, Olga J. Martin, Joseph Breen’s secretary, said, “To an impoverished country which had become religious and serious-minded, the sex attitudes of the post-war period became grotesquely unreal and antedated. The public at large wanted to forget its own derelictions of the ‘gay twenties.' The stage was set for the moral crusade.”

In 1936, once the Code was being fully enforced on filmmakers by Joseph Breen, a letter was issued by the office of Pope Pius XI that praised Breen's work, and encouraged all good Catholics to support film censorship.

The letter read in part, "From time to time, the Bishops will do well to recall to the motion picture industry that, amid the cares of their pastoral ministry, they are under obligation to interest themselves in every form of decent and healthy recreation because they are responsible before God for the moral welfare of their people even during their time of leisure. Their sacred calling constrains them to proclaim clearly and openly that unhealthy and impure entertainment destroys the moral fibre of a nation. They will likewise remind the motion picture industry that the demands which they make regard not only the Catholics but all who patronize the cinema."

Basically, this letter was a reminder from the Papal authority that bishops and priests are supposed to stop people from engaging with "lewd" or "obscene" art. That meant supporting things like the Hays Code.

So, to summarize: the original text of the Hays Code was written by two Catholics, including a priest. The biggest and most aggressive censor under the Code was a Catholic man, who had the full support and approval of the Pope at the time. Good Catholics were called en-masse to support the Hays Code, because it was intentionally written to line up with Catholic teachings.

There's a lot more to say on the subject, and if you're interested in reading more on your own, I recommend the book "Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema, 1930-1934," by Thomas Doherty. There are plenty other sources I can recommend on request, but that's a solid place to start.

(And if I can toot my own horn, I'm intending to do a video lecture series all about American film censorship and the Hays Code. Pledging to my Patreon helps keep me fed and housed while I do all this damn research.)

[cherrycokedup]

Bro what happened in the nevercord?? I am not a part of it but still curious

EDIT: please look at @thelesbomancer ‘s post/reblog, and @gothwineaunts ‘s post about this situation!

please defer to your own judgment when it comes to this, and don’t use my post as the end all be all! Those two posts have much more information on all of this! This post was made as this all unfolded and might be out of date (also turning off reblogs because i’m not an authority on this )

i'm gonna be careful not to name any names here because I don't want to start a hate train and I'm looking at all of this as neutral as possible and also please please please don't think of this like a call-out post or anything, it's not! I still think you can be a fan of rnf and support their work, this is just why I'm chosing to take a break from doing so!

Content Warning below for mentions of explicit content being sent to minors ( by a server member, not RnF, THANK GOD )

i don't have all the details but basically, someone was banned for sending heavy nsfw/pornographic images to minors, and then was unbanned later on because of two reasons

one: the children the images were sent too were banned from nevercord for varying reasons ( closest explanation I remember is about these kids doing witchhunts, whatever that means )

two: the evidence was apparently "unreliable" and heavily censored.

Also, the minors themselves didn't report this information, an adult did with screenshots, censoring the users of the kids.

The offending person claimed that they never knew the ages of the people talking to them and thought they were all adults, even though at least two victims from my knowledge have come forward and said the person did, in fact know their ages. The only age I've heard for sure was 12 years old.

My problem with the situation arised was when Red, the writer of Nevermore, posted a lengthy explanation that was pretty poorly worded. She used phrases about the situation, such as "egged on" or "cried wolf" about being sent this sexual content, saying it was the job of minors to stay safe on the internet. I was raising my eyebrow at that point, because the whole thing sounded rather victim-blamey.

Red then said that the evidence was faulty and suspicious for being heavily censored ( i don't know the full extent of the censoring ), and because of the fact it came from one person, an adult who was friends with some of the people who had been banned, implied reporting that behavior was all some sort of tatic to get one person they didn't like banned.

When a ton of people were (understandably, in my opinion) very upset by this response, including the victims, and other neutral parties, Red got very upset and started lashing out. I understand It had to be a stressful situation, having tons of people talking at you at once, but she started saying rather guilt tripping things, such as "I'm a horrible person then" "everything I do is actually for evil purposes", stuff along those lines. Admittedly, the situation was pretty upsetting to me, so once Red started saying those things I left. I might return to Nevermore one day, if there's signs of change and the like. I still deeply enjoy the comic, and the community! I don't think RnF are horrible people, I just think they worded this very poorly, and then continued to lash out when it didn't go as excepted lmao I'll grab some of the screenshots I took, and ask if my friends have any to add! If anyone else has anything to add about the situation, please do so in the notes or reblogs! I'm just saying my perspective here, and why I chose to leave! There might have been things I missed! screenshots below!

anyways, those are all the screenshots i have on haha, again for the millionth time I dont want this to become a massive big drama

[amelie-sama-blog]

homegirl. bffr.

chawty over there made an essay of 31 minutes talking about the "ROMANTICISATION" OF VIOLENCE in a popular BL manhwa.

looking into the comments also almost made me have an aneurysm. "romanticisation" and "normalisation" of xyz gotta be the most popular buzzword in the anti world, cause i saw it at least 20 times and i barely scrolled. what i also saw is them shaming the author for making such a vile, disgusting, morally unacceptable story, "normalising and romanticising" violence, toxic relationships and rape, and that "fEmAlE BL aUtHoRs nOrmAliSiNg rApE sHoUlD bE a WhOle cAtEgOrY oN iTs oWn aT tHis pOiNt".

girl. be for reeeeaaaal for a second. i read BL manga, lots of it. and i didn't even know about this manhwa until i saw this in my feed. i knew the name cause i saw it somewhere, but uhm, in which world are you living? is someone actively forcing you to go on the internet, go on a BL manga site, search "jinx", click on the link, click on the first chapter, read for a bit, DISLIKE IT, and then CONTINUE TO READ EVERY CHAPTER OF THE WHOLE THING?

i doubt it. i doubt it very much. "if you don't like it, drop it" ALWAYS WORKS. anything else is you admitting that you read shit you don't like just to get mad about it.

uhm, wake up call girlie, fiction is exactly *THE* TOOL to "have fun" with toxic relationships or other dark themes. imo, she BETTER have fun with it if she's creating fiction! and i also bet that the author knows damn well what she's doing.

if this "actually terrifies" you, you shouldn't be on the internet. there i said it. I SAID IT.

if the reality that fiction is on a separate plane from reality and thus it can be anything you want, terrifies you, then respectfully, go on youtube kids and age restrict your own device. because your media literacy is literally in the gutter, and your ability to curate your online experience, is non-existant, as well as the basic understanding that people can like shit you hate.

hmm... i wonder why that is... hmmm.... i wonder why people are soooo adamant about avoiding terms such as "rape" "toxic" "noncon" "dark". now hear me out, MAYBE... just MAYBE, it's because liking dark themes in fiction has become completely unacceptable these days, and every single piece of media one consumes must be inspected thoroughly by the anti-police to be approved for consumption. and thus, people make loopings in their own heads to justify their media consumption and trick their minds into believing that what they're reading isn't "that bad".

because... if it IS bad... then boy do i have bad news for you: it means you're a filthy filthy human that just "promoted rape culture", "anti-victim mentality", and "propaganda for sexual violence", and is thus deserving of death threats and equal to an offending rapist or pedophile.

their words, not mine:

but noooo, that has nothing to do with it.

all jokes aside, the way anti culture and censoring is becoming the default, and heavily policed and enforced under fear of ostracisation, THAT truly makes me sad. remember everyone:

thought crime is not real.

thank you for reading all of this, i didn't plan for this to reach essay size but here i am. i hope this was a good read and soothed your proship heart <3

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 9/24/2024

you might be wondering “is my dear friend tumblr user girlfriendsofthegalaxy still unemployed?” the answer is yes. take this cat off my hands please i don’t think he’s causing the unemployment but he certainly isn’t helping

listening

via Wendy @dying-suffering-french-stalkers, Huoy Meas' ប្រគល់ក្ដីស្នេហ៍មកខ្ញុំវិញ. figuring out what this incredibly zippy Cambodian rock song is named and what it's about was really difficult bc spotify is a bane upon this earth and won't let you fucking copy-paste and OCR was not working on the Khmer script. i ended up listening to the first couple seconds of each of her songs on apple music, and finally figured out this roughly translates to Give Me Back My Love and is about begging a fuckboy for closure.

via the spotify discover weekly, Night Club's Pretty Girls Do Ugly Things. all Night Club's songs sound the same so if you like one, great news! i had this song on for a full gregorian hour bc, i am only a tiny bit ashamed to say, i was storyboarding a The Man With No Name fancam to this. i think it would go pretty hard.

Smoke you like a cigarette Choke you like a lariat Fatalistic tourniquet Do you want more?

-

reading

thank you mackintosh.

i did not Adore any of these comics from the library. i sort of enjoyed Night of the Ghoul, a one-volume TPB by Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla. i think ive blogged about this before but every once in a while i'll get a bee in my bonnet to read some horror comics even though i am a giant baby about horror movies.

Night of the Ghoul is about how you can't save your dad from PTSD but also about a lost horror film and also about the extremely dad behavior of tracking down every scrap of info about an auteur. there's also a monster.

the subtle art changes from present day to the remains of the film to the non-film flashbacks are well done, imo. the cover screams mignola but the inside pages are really fun pulp nonsense. i love a piece of genre writing that rolls around and delights in being a piece of genre writing.

im doing my level best not to get sucked into tiktok but i DO love watching this lady revive antique nail polish and look for dupes for shades from like the 20s. she found an almost exact dupe for a shade produced during wwii which is crazy insane to me!!!

-

watching

The Asphalt Jungle (1950, dir. Huston), it's a very painterly heist noir. i even like Sterling Hayden in one of the more prominent roles, even though i think he generally has the appeal of undercooked dough.

much like Fritz Lang's M, it presents the criminal element of the city as its own class with its own reputation and reference systems. it got in some trouble with the censors for having a VERY clearly laid out heist plan and execution. it's also got the babiest Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles

this was such a gloriously messy movie. everyone is such a fucking mess. this woman only known as Doll is heartbreakingly, head over heels in love with Sterling Hayden's character. she's a little flighty and bumbling and silly, but determined! they're constantly orbiting the gravitational weight of her desire for this man and desire for a real life with this man. and that's just one subplot! she has maybe five minutes total screentime! she should have gotten a supporting actress oscar!!! everyone acted their fucking hearts out and it was so much fun to watch!

-

playing

monument valley is in the netflix games library this month (i don't actually know what their liscencing agreements would even look like, they and the studios they worked with were very tightlipped about that when they were rolling this out three years ago) but i assume it's going to be on the service for a while. i have never played this game, which makes me feel a little bit like a bad gamer. you can tell it's ten years old from some of the color and texture choices, but WOW did literally everyone take inspiration from this game.

this is the platonic ideal of a phone game. i get why everyone went insane about it and there was a brief boom of geometry-based puzzle mobile games. it is MUCH much harder now to get people to pay money to play a game that has a planned endpoint and planned number of levels, so netflix is a good home for it.

i was often frustrated but always delighted. the level below involves making something happening that made me genuinely gasp out loud in glee. well worth the annoyance of downloading the netflix app and scrolling through the poorly labeled and poorly sorted carousel of games.

great retrospective, a bit about how you need to have tiny teams go off and just kind of fuck around and bring weird stuff back, and a lot about how they actually designed the levels

The end result had a pixel-perfect axonometric aesthetic that not only went hard on its references to Dutch master artist and printmaker Maurits Cornelis Escher, but also dug deep into classic video game design, going right back to early arcade machines and 8-bit titles. Each of the ten levels is like a piece of fine furniture, built with invisible dovetail joints and inlaid with marquetry, stuffed with secret compartments and little design flourishes. Gray cites the world of theatre and stage design, as well as graphics, as important keystones in the way the levels were constructed. ‘Ken would always talk about flower arranging, and how you frame a silhouette of a level on the screen,’ he says.

-

making

update on the Phantom Menace fabric: pinked the raw edges and threw it in the laundry again with a very large quantity of vinegar. 50% poly was too high for it to really do anything, which is interesting. it didn’t lessen the seam edge effects either, which is a little annoying bc the seams were so gigantic and that’s a good chunk of fabric to lose. i am going to buy a camp shirt pattern at some point when i have money again but for now it goes in The Box

also! thrifted a pack of o-rings for jars for a dollar and finally put my grains etc in my pretty jars. they’re going to live in the pantry but today they live out on the countertop

[lady-murderess]

I gotta be honest, the past week or so really has me questioning whether I'm actually excited for season two of Wednesday or not. I haven't really been involved with the fandom for the past six months or so, but ever since I received my Monster High Wednesday doll, found my Poe Cup cosplay, and all these teasers started coming out, I've been wanting to get involved again, but at this point I'm failing to see the benefits of doing such a thing.

I'm usually never one to allow people to put me off things but this fandom is just even more of a cesspool than it was almost two years ago, I swear.

Tell me why I'm seeing people apologising for liking Tyler? STILL? Yes, I may be a Tyler fan myself but who honestly cares? Like whatever character you like and have done with it. One thing that's also bugging me is how childish the whole censoring characters names and ship names thing is. Where's the need? You're just being dramatic for literally no reason at all. Just put the name, no one is really that bothered.

And also as much as I encourage people to interact and reblog my posts, the obvious does NOT need stating. We know Wednesday and Enid are besties, it does not need repeating, it's literally canon. You're just adding to these shipping wars and frankly, I don't want to see that in my notifications especially from some Wylers... Over the past two years, I've been very fortunate to be in with some great people and not be in a position where I've been involved in or witnessed any ship drama, so why am I honestly hearing all this shit about Wyler people being toxic and doxxing people, etc.? Like where has that come from? Can we just stick to being chill, please? It's bad enough there's so much pandering, politics and really bad parasocial behaviour going on already.

I've quite honestly been sitting on this post for a couple of days now but this is honestly annoying as hell. It's just a goofy lil show, just allow people to enjoy it. Most importantly, ALLOW YOURSELF to enjoy it.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, appreciate it. ✌️

[unofficial-estonia]

About the whole Estonia thing, I am so so sorry for that. I just want to clarify that my silly little headcanons for this fictional character do not reflect my view of your (very beautiful) country. I'm so sorry that my post offended you and I'll be sure to censor the word Estonia as to not offend anyone else. Thank you so much for bringing this to my attention and I'm so sorry it happened in the first place.

Thank you.

I am not so much offended as I am on guard about Hetalia fandom and its portrayal of a character that is supposed to represent Estonia. Historically, the fandom has given our country no respect, and the Nordic-Estonia relations have been one of the two reasons for it.

I've been on this site for long enough to remember what Hetalia fandom was like in 2013 and I would rather not have a repeat of that. Back then everything - our culture, language and even our flag was mocked for a joke about Estonia wanting to join the Nordics.

In real life, the relationship between Estonia and the Nordics is a long one. We did not wake up in 1991 and decide Estonia should be a Nordic, the relationship goes back centuries. Also, topical for the 23rd of August - Iceland was the first nation in the world to recognise the Baltic States in 1991 after we restored our independence.

There are some very good depictions of Estonia-Nordics historical relations by hetalians @scarlettlillies and @kruspolska if you want to learn more.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however, when it comes to Hetalia it must be taken into consideration what the source material is referencing. Not everyone is happy with the fandom for a reason, and censoring the country names is always a good idea.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Once Upon a Time 5

Warnings: non/dubcon and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: Andy Barber

Part of the Bookstore AU

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

The uneasy interaction follows you around the rest of the day and into your next. As you try to relax and forget about everything outside your apartment, your mind can't help but stray back to Andy. Not what he said, more the look on his face. You know the next time you see him will be less than pleasant.

Great. You always get anxious about work but now you have a whole new pest. You start to think you said something wrong. Gave him some idea that you were doing anything but your job. You're paid to be helpful but he's just another one of those ‘professionals’ who doesn't see your work as work.

You huff and puff as your time off comes to a pitiful close. Your stromach is squirming at the thought of walking through those doors the next morning. You brew some chamomile and retreat to bed in a futile effort to settle down.

Your sleep if fitful and unrewarding. The morning greets you, painful and gray. You get up, get washed, and get dressed.

Your eyelids droop on the train ride, prompting you to stop by the cafe for an early medium roast. As you approach the facade of the bookstore, you see a figure at the doors. Your heart flips before you recognise them. It's Mr. Pine.

He punches in the security code on the pad before slipping the key in the slot. He peers over and greets you with a smile. You could hug him. This place has been rather empty without him.

“Good morning,” he pulls open the door and steps back in his gallant way to wave you ahead of him.

“Morning,” you reply as you sweep into the store ahead of him.

The censor triggers the lights and illuminates the eerily vacant space. Pine closes the doors, locking them from the inside. He strolls forward casually, easily cafching up to you with long strides.

“Good to be back,” he preens, “and how have you been?”

“Okay,” you answer, “how about you?”

“Very fine. Some family matters,” he explains ligthly, “but much better than they were.” He walks with you up the center aisle, “why just okay?”

You shrug and hesitate. It sounds like he has a lot going on. Besides, you're only an associate, he must have much bigger issues as the owner.

“Oh, just tired. No big deal,” you assure him.

“Ah yes, I find this time of year rather draining,” he agrees as you near the back of the store, “should require support however, you know I will do my best to accommodate.”

“Thanks, Mr. Pine but I think I'll survive,” your force a smile, “better get clocked in.”

You stop and peek towards the employee lounge. You'll go that way and he'll head off to the back office. He doesn't. He lingers as if he can sense your doubt.

“Of course, but please, take some time to enjoy your coffee. It smells wonderful and I should hate for it to go cold,” he says. He's the nicest boss you've ever had, it's too bad he hasn't been around.

“Thanks, erm…” you purse your lips as you contemplate your sudden spark of boldness, “actually, I almost forgot. There's been someone asking for you. A man.”

“Oh,” he tilts his head curiously, “did you direct them to Colin?”

“I offered but they were insisting on you. I don't know if it was business or not so…”

“Did this man give a name?” He slants a brow.

You cradle your coffee with both hands and swallow. You feel like a snitch, like a child taddling. You nod, “yeah, Andy?”

He's quite as a line etches between his brows and he hums, “ah, he was here?”

“Several times,” you confirm.

“Hmm, curious,” he muses and the tension quickly slakes from his features, “well, if he should appear again, you will fetch me. I'll be certain he does not continue to ask after me.”

“Oh, yeah, thank you, sir,” you let out a breath of relief. It's a bit cowardly but you just can't deal with him again.

“Certainly, but…” he raises a long finger, “did he bother you very much?”

“Me?” You echo.

“Yes, he wasn't rude, was he?”

“Not really, just a bit… pushy.”

“He is that type,” he scoffs, “well, he shouldn't be hounding my place of work, it's wholly inappropriate and unfair to you and the other staff. It shall be dealt with.”

“Thanks again,” you say, “I'm just gonna… put my things away.”

“Yes, yes, don't let me keep you,” he feels along hia jacket and slides his phone from his pocket, “I have a call to make before opening.”

He sets off and you do the same. You feel a little less addled but not entirely relieved. Something about Mr. Pine's reaction makes you suspicious. He's usually unshakeable but you saw that fine crack in his veneer.

You're not entirely certain Andy is a fond acquaintance. It's hard for you to see the two men getting along, almost complete opposites in their demeanour. The more you think about it, the more Andy seemed ready for a confrontation each time he asked for the elusive owner.

Whatever happens, hopefully, you're not the one dealing with the fallout.

[frogofalltime]

what the fuck

so a few weeks ago i was watching the football (soccer for you americans) with my dad and my uncle and they both told me i had to support liverpool no matter what. i laughed and said my friend supports torquay united (tiny team that nobody has ever heard of) and always wears the shirt. so my uncle joked that he was gonna get me a liverpool shirt and i had to wear it and fight said friend.

anyway. i entirely forgot about this conversation. until today a package appeared at my house (thank you to my housemate for censoring out my deadname and writing my chosen name over the top, that made me smile a lot)

you'll never guess what was in that package.

A Fucking Liverpool Shirt.

my housemates are all calling me a straight man and saying that i am such a lad etc i am losing my mind

i may not like my family very much but that was the funniest commitment to the bit that anyone has ever done. i can't stop laughing

[britt-kageryuu]

Clips from various VTurtles! Streams!!

--------------

Mikey is cooking on stream, and suddenly the pan catches fire. Fully engulfed the pan.

Mikey just steps back, not surprised what so ever, and watches while the fire goes out a few seconds later.

The food in the pan is not burnt, infact it looks perfectly cooked.

Mikey silently removes to pan to plate the food.

==============

Donnie and Leo are playing a 2 Player Excape Room/Puzzle Game.

"I think I found the answer to the puzzle." Leo announced..

"Relieved Sigh. Good what is it." Donnie asked while moving over to Leo's character.

"One of us needs to instruct the other on the order we need to move things."

"I will just memorize the answer thank you very much."

"I give you the wrong answer One time, and I suddenly can't be trusted!"

++++++++++++++

Leo is chatting while playing Pokémon.

"So I was watching Demon Slayer, pretty awesome, cool sword fighting all around." Leo says with a smile, "But, but but! So help me if I can remember any of the characters names past Tanjiro, Nezuko, Inosuke, and whatever the blonde dudes name is! I know it starts with a Z, I literally just read it, but I can't tell you what his name is!" He says while waving his arms around.

The chat on screen where making fun of Leo during this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raph is playing a rhythm game and focusing very intensely.

So focused he didn't notice that Mikey climbed onto his shoulder, and starts setting up a jenga stack on Raphs head.

÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷÷

Donnie is putting together a mech model. Shelldon is helping hold parts in place.

"So Shelldon found this game that he just leaves on in the background, The Longing, I believe it's called."

"Correct Dude!"

"The games character moves at such a slow pace that it take a literal real world hour to cross the map. Shelldon has been playing this game for months, and has only achieved a third of many possible things in game." Donnie pauses to check which piece is needed next, "And he's only achieved this because he's an AI who has all the time in the world to play this."

"I almost got everything for an ending I want to get!" Shelldon says with pride.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The stream is having a hard time picking up what's going on, but Leo and Usagi are having a sparing session. Apparently they couldn't think of anything else to do.

They're mostly just a blur of blues, with green and sparks from the swords colliding.

Someone donates to have 'Just Fuck Already!' censored as 'Just Mate Already!' play over the speakers in the room.

The two stop to just stare at the camera with looks that scream 'mind your own damn business.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Donnie is playing Infinite Craft.

They have multiple things ready to combine on screen.

Suddenly they discover 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'

Donnie looks around the room, and messes with stuff.

"Am I on some kind of prank show? How is this a possible discovery?"

--------------------

Masterpost

Some of these were random ideas that I just couldn't figure how to write more than 500 words, at best, for. So now they are snippets of random small ideas.

[miimo96]

MHA Hot takes

My hero Vigilantes is EVERYTHING I wanted MHA to be and more, don't get me wrong while I am thankful for mha and its success because without it we would've Never have gotten this Masterpiece, I cant help but just love MHA Vigilantes WAYY more than I do my hero academia itself. Like My hero vigilantes has everything I ever wanted from my hero, simpler story, better power set for the MC, an ACTUAL relationship between the 2 obvious love interests, a scarier main villain, expanded concepts, taking time with building relationships and actual foreshadowing for Events to come, and so much more, like I LOVE my hero vigilantes so much, that tbh, I don't think I would've ever started Reading manga in the 1st place if it wasn't for this series because between this and TBHK, my love for manga is VERY low in comparison to my love for anime, So imagine my reaction when I heard vigilantes was Finally getting an anime, I was absolutely SUPED! Now let's just hope the fandom doesn't ruin this series with its Toxicity and its *ahem* "Ships" and whatnot ^^; My only hope/ worry is that I hope they don't water this down and censor unnecessary things like Pop steps design, showing actual Death, and keeping lines and scenes relatively True to the manga, for example I hope they keep in koichi's original hero name of "Gentle-Man" rather than using the abridged "Nice Guy" because in my opinion, Gentle MAN Just seems WAYYY more funnier and feels like a legit hero name someone like koichi would come up with then Nice guy, you could've at least add something like a Mister So he can be "Mr. Nice guy" lol ^^

I guarantee you that if BONES does this series Justice and actually stays true to the manga, then this could be the thing that actually SAVES the my hero fandom and brings the My hero and vigilantes fans together and maybe just MAYBE FINALLY Put a STOP the Toxicity of this fandom, bruh koichi about to CARRY this franchise on his back once again ^^

[sonkitty]

The Sideburns Scheme Post #74

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 5, The Ball, Crowley giving Gabriel hot chocolate

...

Sideburns Check

This scene is brief and mainly shows Crowley's left sideburn since the right sideburn is too blurry to confirm much of anything.

Still, that long left sideburn fits into the longest-length category that happens around Gabriel when humans aren't around.

...

Brighter Red Streak Check

The more saturated red streak of hair can be found.

...

Hairstyle Changes

I don't really think the scene gives enough to work with on figuring out how the hair might have changed, but here is a composite picture so you can decide for yourself.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects | Crowley's Name Usage or Lack Thereof in Season 2)

There have already been signs that we are dealing with an outside force, such as the Metatron, reading and/or editing the story as it plays out.

He's been possibly censoring the alcohol use by having the camera cut away during certain drinks.

Now he's going to start censoring words. If it isn't him, some outside force from the character speaking is doing it.

The story will make this censorship more evident later with Mrs. Cheng and Mrs. Sandwich.

It is not as clear here, but I do think it's happening.

Gabriel is not allowed to say Crowley's name during Good Omens 2—ever. He's been allowed to bend or break the rules, but this rule is one he cannot break.

Who is against using Crowley's name?

The previous scene just told us Uriel is.

A later scene will show that Uriel says, "which there isn't," followed by the Metatron saying, "which there isn't," when the Metatron notes the "institutional problem." That implies Uriel has been conditioned to think that way as part of an institutional problem. Uriel will also later be shown to be very alarmed and concerned about if they have done anything wrong, to displease the Metatron. So, that's a set of tangential clues that this name thing is related to what the Metatron wants.

In every ball invitation scene, Crowley's name was not said. Crowley's name was not said during his own invitation to the bookshop. It wasn't said when he was in Demon Mode and told Gabriel to jump out the window.

Muriel is the one who got to say Crowley's name in the previous scene before getting the message that they shouldn't do that again.

Even though they are guided on that rule, they still got that name in while these specific events are happening to bring in that supernatural zone that will let Crowley and Muriel meet when and where they do later.

I think Gabriel tries to say Crowley's name after receiving the hot chocolate and before Crowley leaves the room.

The word doesn't come out, and music overlays where it would be. It's just before Gabriel says, "You're really nice."

Crowley himself reacts as if he heard his name said.

With this name issue in mind, maybe there are two standard sets for this scene.

I am not sure of the below. These are guesses.

Crowley holding the cup would be point #1.

The name "Jim" on the mug would be point #2.

Crowley and Gabriel having their hands touch while Crowley gives the hot chocolate would be reciprocal touch they have for point #3.

Gabriel's attempt at saying Crowley's name would still be credited or at least intended for point #1.

Crowley's touch on the rug outside the room as he leaves would be point #2.

Gabriel drinking from the cup while altering the physical touch on that cup would be point #3.

...

For paying attention to the pockets...

Crowley's Tied Hands might retie if a blurred strike on a lapel edge is allowed. The other signs are there. His watch is visible when he says, "Don't thank me," His right index finger is extended when he starts to turn, pauses, and says, "And I'm not." His left thumb joint meets a jacket edge as he is crossing the threshold out of the room.

In addition to that, the Belt Head is shown with some focus when Crowley passes the cup to Gabriel. There is a light in the room leading to this one that is to Crowley's right when this Belt Head is shown closest to the camera.

When Gabriel tries to say Crowley's name and says, "You're really nice," the cut reminds us of the nearby lamp that could have been an overhead light for the Belt Head in this scene. Then the Belt Head gets another possible overhead light through the lamp to Crowley's left as he exits the room. There is yet another lamp that's to Crowley's left and feasibly above his Belt Head in the room Crowley enters on his exit. It's the same lamp that was the Belt Head's right-side Overhead Light when Crowley first entered in the previous scene he had with Gabriel.

Crowley has a small self-made pocket with his legs when he says, "Don't thank me."

Otherwise, the main pocket that interests me isn't actually in this scene but that the preceding Muriel scene is pocketed between the Demon Mode scene and this one.

...

Story Commentary

This scene calls back to a scene in season 1 in which Crowley reacted angrily, or seemingly angrily, to Aziraphale calling him "nice."

With Crowley no longer working for Hell, he denies being nice here, but his reaction isn't as strong or angry as what season 1 showed.

Crowley was not nice when he entered the room and even with my theory of the supernatural zone, he has an ulterior motive.

Crowley's manipulating Gabriel as a catalyst to bring in this supernatural zone, but he might be doing that from a previous agreement he had with Gabriel. The storming out sequence in episode 1 shows us that something was cut, and whatever it was, appearance swaps involving Gabriel, Aziraphale, and Crowley replaced it. That means Gabriel was in on a plan.

That plan led to this draft of the story we see that's going to have Gabriel and Beelzebub end up together, leaving their positions vacant and ready to be replaced.

Crowley is still doing all of these various actions with the supernatural zone as part of something for Gabriel. These things aren't done exclusively for Gabriel. I'm sure Crowley gets something out of it too. Based on how things eventually play out, it was a mutual agreement. Theoretically, Crowley and Gabriel are not friends, but they were, and what was left from that previous friendship was enough for this story to happen. Muriel probably had a big role in the matter as well.

...

This scene focuses more on both Crowley and Gabriel compared to their last shared scene in that Aziraphale is not mentioned at all. Humans outside in the street are not shown, as Gabriel's head largely obscures the window he almost jumped out of.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

[mercurygray]

The Only One I've Got

This one goes out to the anonymous Fred Friend.

It looked like it was going to be sunny today.

After the long slow slog through October and November's sleets and snows, sunshine would be welcome, even if it was only for a few thin December hours. The weather was pressing in on them just as much as the missions were, and so far 1943 had not had much to recommend it except that it would soon be ending.

(Their director had asked quietly at Thanksgiving if a reassignment would be welcomed, but she didn't really want to go. If she left she'd lose so many good memories.)

"I left the mail on the table," Tatty said, coming in from the front where they usually parked the jeep. "I didn't see what's there."

"Thanks, Tat!" Fred said, brushing the last of the toast crumbs from her fingers and going to look at the pile. Helen, Helen, Mary, Tatty, Helen - and a small square of what looked like cardstock, stamped several times in purple and red with a very serious German word in the upper left corner, and her name, Freda Torvaldsen, written in careful block script in the address.

She must have made a noise, because Helen was suddenly there, and maybe Tatty, too, and she couldn't remember sitting down in the chair, and the rest of the mail had fallen on the floor. Her vision was swimming a little.

She wanted it to be from him. Maybe it wasn't.

"Fred, honey, you need me to read it to you?"

She shook her head, her hands shaking as she tried to turn it over to open it and nearly ripped the thing in two. Tatty took it from her and eased the seal open before she handed it back.

It was dated three months ago - October.

Dear Fred,

I'm hopeful that maybe you've tried to get news about me before now. If not, my new stationery should inform you - I am alive, and a guest of the Germans in a Prisoner of War camp. I'm sorry I haven't written before now. Now that we are settled we are permitted to send three pieces of mail a month and I needed to tell my folks first.

It feels very strange to write your name at the top of a letter. I've never had to write to you before. I'm hopeful that maybe we can keep this up, if you still feel the same way you did several months ago. Quarters here are close and I couldn't keep who I was writing to private. I need to let you know there have been some complaints. Lots of guys from the old outfit are here with me, and many names that you would know. (I'm not listing them, as I think the censor will black them out.) Hopefully you don't hear from them, too.

I just realized I'm using the word hopeful a lot, but it's the only one I've got. Hopefully Yours, John

PS - There are a few guys here who are not getting mail. Can you share my address with Ma Brennan and see if she could write something? It would be nice to share a little of the news from home and let them know that they aren't forgotten.

She read it through three times, vision increasingly blurry, realizing, belatedly, that the pencil was getting on her fingers. Hopefully yours. She held it to her nose and thought she could smell pipe smoke, and it was the best gift she'd ever gotten.

Of course I'm yours. You're the only one I've got.

-

A big thank you to a friend who is asking to remain anonymous for sharing images of what POW mail looked like. Some of it was on pre-printed postcards and some was on a message blank, which is what I'm describing here. The big German word Fred can't read is Kriegsgefangenpost, prisoner of war mail. I also just found a website online that has a ton of pictures of what this looked like.

[bandnerdlevel43]

Ravioli Week, Day One- Love: Platonic/Romantic/Friend (Favorite AU)

Ravio x Lu Legend (Ravioli), Spirit Tracks Link x Zelda (Zelink) (< Implied)

Summary: Ravio is on a mission to rescue his husband from the Shadow’s tower. Not only does he dread what he finds, the mission doesn’t exactly go as planned, either.

Word Count: 3,742

Warnings: TW for mentions and evidence of torture and drugging, implied talk of Rulie’s whole sacrifice thing, Shadow does swear but it’s minor and I censored it anyway (I don’t swear :/), writer can’t resist making Legend a damsel in distress, mostly angst

A/N: Hello, everyone! I apologize for being… *checks calendar* …an entire week late? Holy Hylia, guys, I am so sorry. I totally missed the actual Ravioli Week. Well, I hope this is worth the wait!

As for the au, I'd like to explain. I didn't really have a favorite au before this, so I decided to use my own that I’ve been playing around with. Essentially, it's Hyrule Warriors Part Two: the Electric Boogaloo, with various companions attached in some way to each Link shoved together in the same adventure. For example, from Wind's Hyrule, Tetra; and from Wars’, Impa. I also added Spirit and his Zelda, since I love Spirit Tracks so much (older than Wind and Tetra bc I think it's funny how Wind would react that his successor is older than he is). And, of course, I had to include Ravio, with a side of marriage because I said so. Basically, this whole au started with me thinking that Midna and Hilda just screeching at each other was hilarious, and now Legend and Rulie are in Dink Jail and the Idiots have to get them out. *Shrugs* What can you do? 

If you're still reading this, I use the name “Spectre” to refer to Spirit's Zelda. I can't remember where I found the name, but if anyone can find the person who came up with it, please tell me. Thank you!

That's all I have to say! Enjoy!

----

“Close it, close it, close it!” Ravio gasped.

Link slammed the door shut behind him, throwing his slight body against the rusted steel. Ravio's fingers fumbled against the lock as the screech of claws on metal howled in his ears. The wolfos bayed frustratedly, making Ravio jump. Link groaned, his legs visibly shaking under the strain. Frankly, he was surprised the boy hadn't already snapped like a twig.

“Done!” Ravio scrambled away from the door. The wolfos behind it was very angry at the setback, that he could tell. He held his breath, waiting for the creature to burst its way in despite his best efforts. The thick metal rattled and, in some places, warped before its force, but its attempts proved fruitless. A snarl sounded from behind the door, and from then, silence. Ravio sighed while Link sank to the ground with a tiny whimper.

“Are you alright, Mister Link?” Ravio panted.

“I'm fine,” the Hylian chuckled. “That hurt, though.”

Ravio helped him up. Link stumbled to his feet, but he was relieved to see no further struggle. 

“Next time, I'm locking the door,” Link told him. 

Ravio shuddered. “I should hope there is no next time,” he mumbled.

Link snorted. Suddenly, his eyes widened, stepping around Ravio with his jaw agape. Ravio blinked, turned around, and sucked in a breath. 

He had never seen anything like it, and not in a good way. The dungeon was two floors tall, but apparently empty. The only light came from a couple of holes in the ceiling that allowed the smallest rays of sun to poke through. The smell of mildew drifted on stale, chilly air and burned his nose. Broken pieces of stone littered the floors and soaked in pools of water, giving the whole place a dilapidated feel. The cells were somehow even less sanitary! It was obvious that these cells had held a variety of creatures. Clumps of fur had been hastily shoved into corners, piles of hay lay rotting in a plethora of puddles, and rusted chains had been ripped from their place on the walls, bits and pieces of them tossed carelessly to the floor. The whole place reeked of decline and despair. Ravio's heart sank. 

“Wow,” Link laughed nervously. “I’d almost rather have another go with the wolfos.”

“Link,” Ravio breathed.

“Hm? Oh- hey, wait!” Link called as Ravio dashed off to the nearest cell.

He went from cell to cell, giving each the briefest glance possible to confirm they were empty. He never considered himself a religious man, or at least one who actively worshiped the Goddess. Faith was for those who still held hope that things would get better on their own. He was far from believing in divine intervention, especially not invoked by his own hand. Despite this, he found himself pleading to Lolia to please, let him be somewhere else. Somewhere other than this horrible cesspool of a prison.

“Link?” His wobbling voice bounced off the stone and danced around his ears. “Link, it's Ravio. Can you hear me?”

An agitated pause. Ravio licked his lips anxiously. Maybe there was hope. Maybe they misjudged and this was the wrong chamber. Legend would be somewhere clean, humane, and maybe even comfortable. He almost sent a prayer of thanks to the Goddess when a weak, piteous moan destroyed his optimism.

Link (this was about to get confusing, very quickly) caught up. “He's upstairs,” he said seriously. 

That was all he needed. Ravio ran for the stairs, Link close at his heels. He nearly tripped multiple times and even stepped in a puddle once. Still, the icy water couldn't hope to compare to how his blood ran cold with dread. Hilda had told him to be prepared for the worst sights, and Impa had been far too ready to provide vivid descriptions of torture, druggings, and- ohh, he was going to be sick. His own paranoia made him lightheaded. 

“Ravio-” Link puffed. “Ravio, you have to remember-”

“I know,” Ravio replied tightly.

“We don't know what's up there,” Link insisted. “You can't do anything rash, alright? Stick to the plan. Whatever happens, don't…”

Ravio froze. Link trailed off, following his eyes until his own rested on the slumped form two cells down. It watched them, wary but unmoving. Like a prey animal that had already accepted its demise.

“Link?” Ravio asked shakily, fearing the response.

The figure hesitated. Then came the hoarse reply: “Rav..?”

“Lolia,” Ravio swore under his breath.

He was there within seconds. Legend sat up, slowly, with a grimace. His chains clinked as he shifted, and Ravio couldn't help but notice how well-oiled and shiny they were compared to the despondency of the rest of the cell. Anger swelled in his chest. He cursed the Shadow, and the monsters who did this to him. He cursed Lolia; and, while he was at it, he cursed Hyrule's goddess Hylia as well. How could she let this happen to her chosen hero?

“Ravio,” Link said abruptly. “The portal.”

“Right!” He dug into his satchel until his fingers bumped against the jagged shard of metal. He lifted it out and gingerly set it on the floor.

The sound of chains shifting caught his attention. He glanced over. Legend had moved into the light, and oh- it was worse than Ravio could have ever imagined. He was covered head to toe in gashes and bruises. Many of his wounds were red and swollen from infection. His wrists were wrapped in harsh burns. Worst of all, though, were his eyes. His eyes were heavy but dark from too many sleepless nights. They carried so much distrust and uncertainty, but within that a small glimmer of hope that was too hesitant, too weary. Ravio's heart never ached so painfully before. 

Legend reached his hand out between the bars, his fingers shaking with miniscule tremors. The flesh on the top of his hand had been shredded and torn thoroughly, and only on that hand. Ravio had only a heartbeat to feel a flicker of confusion before Legend’s fingers touched his cheek, brushing his skin lightly.

“It- It is you,” he croaked. “I-I thought they had drugged me again. Ravio, I-”

“Shhh,” Ravio hushed softly, gently holding his battered hand. He gripped Ravio’s own tightly, like a man drowning. “Save your strength. We’re getting you out of this place.”

“Ravio, I lost it,” Legend said hoarsely, squeezing his hand. “I tried to hide it, but they took it. They took your bracelet, too-”

“Breathe, Link,” Ravio soothed best he could. “What did you lose?”

Those were definitely tears welling up in his eyes, threatening to spill over at the slightest provocation. “The ring,” he whispered. “I lost our ring.” He hung his head shamefully. “I’m sorry, Ravio.”

Ravio’s heart shattered. He shook his head violently, cupping Legend’s face with his hands. “No,” he said sternly. “No, Link, look at me- It's not important. It's just a dumb piece of metal. It's not important.”

Legend's expression was so pained it had Ravio’s eyes stinging as well. He forcefully swallowed the growing lump in his throat. Keep it together, you stupid rabbit, he scolded himself. He doesn't need you breaking down too.

“It's more than that,” Legend mumbled. He looked like he was about to say something else, but a bout of coughing attacked Ravio's ears instead. He groaned, his breath rattling in his chest.

“The portal's ready.” Link approached from behind Ravio, and Ravio didn't miss how he had unsheathed his sword, standing protectively over the two of them. “The keys will be here soon.”

“Thank you,” Ravio said genuinely. Link nodded in return. 

Legend’s eyes flickered in suspicion. “Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Link.” Link lifted his hat in a polite greeting. “But you can call me Spirit.”

Thank the Triforce he had a name ready. However, Legend didn’t share his welcoming attitude. “There’s another one?” he remarked incredulously.

Link- Spirit- grinned at that. “Seems like it.”

Legend snorted, which encouraged another coughing fit. “Delightful,” he grumbled.

While Ravio was glad to see some of his usual sarcasm show through, he was concerned for the younger hero. He didn’t want him hurt or put down by Legend’s gruff exterior, but it seemed he didn’t need to worry. Either Spirit (This is going to take some getting used to) hadn’t detected the edge in his words, or he was simply being a good sport.

It was probably the former.

Ravio didn’t have time to elaborate on the thought. Without warning, an invisible finger traced a circle in the ground by Link- blast it, Spirit! Startled, Spirit leaped back as the circle developed a waterlike film over the center. Ravio only stood when the portal spat out Shadow- and only Shadow.

Shadow hung in the air, his lip curled as he hurled an explosive back down through the portal. A muffled boom and a warped chorus of shrieking answered him.

“Hey!” he snapped. “Is this a rescue team or a statuary?! Shut it now!”

“Where’s Zelda?” Spirit demanded, the color drained from his face.

“She’s fine!” Shadow snarled. “Leave that open and we won’t be!”

To highlight his point, a large, meaty hand reached from the open gateway, swiping at Shadow’s feet. He drew his bloodstained sword without hesitation and thrust the blade through the monster’s muscle. He yanked it out ruthlessly and kicked the hand back down. Ravio quickly snatched the piece of the Master Sword off of the floor, which caused the portal to seal closed. Shadow huffed and spat at where the portal once sat.

“Where is she?” Spirit shouted, accusation evident in his tone. “You left her with those monsters, didn’t you?”

“Cool it, train boy!” Shadow bared his teeth, exposing dark tips that made Ravio flinch. Had- Had he bitten a monster? “She told me to. Listen, I don’t like it any more than you do, but loverboy over here-” he jerked his head at an affronted Legend- “is critical to our plan. She…” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat, tipped his chin defensively, and finished, “...is not.”

“WHAT?!” Spirit nearly threw himself at Shadow, who made no move to defend himself. Alarmed, Ravio had to act quickly. He stepped between the two and held the younger back. Spirit yelled at him now, saying, “Let me go, Ravio!”

“I can’t do that, Link,” Ravio said through gritted teeth. “You’re not thinking clearly!”

“Coward! Let me go!”

Ravio winced. He had to admit, it had been a long time since that word had any bite to it, but this time, it wasn’t the word that hurt, but the mouth that spoke it. He held fast anyway. He didn’t mean it, right? “If Shadow says it’s a death trap to go back, then we can’t go back, but Link, listen to me! You have to trust her!”

Spirit stopped struggling, his hands dropping to his sides. Tentatively, Ravio let go. He took a step back, and relaxed when he saw no signs of aggression. 

Spirit lifted pleading eyes to Shadow’s. “Please tell me she'll be okay,” he begged.

Shadow nodded cautiously. “She's more capable than all of us combined,” he assured. “She cut down the most massive Hinox I had ever seen with just her sword.” A tiny smile twitched at his lips. “I'm more worried for the monsters than her.”

Spirit mulled that over in his head. Ravio knew how little he trusted the darkling, even after all this time.

“Trust her,” Ravio repeated.

That seemed to work. Spirit glanced his way, then nodded. Not at Shadow, but at him. “Let's hurry, then. The faster we get him out, the less time she's in danger.”

Ravio winced and threw Shadow an apologetic look. The other man simply shrugged indifferently, as if to say, “What can you do?” He unhooked a ring of keys from his belt and said, “What do I shove these into?”

Ravio gestured to the lock on the door, wringing his hands restlessly. He made quick work of it, allowing the cell door to creak open. Ravio rushed in, dropped to his knees, and wrapped his lover in a tender embrace. Legend grunted, but otherwise did not protest. Instead, he lay his head limply on Ravio's shoulder, exhaling deeply.

“I'm sorry we didn't come for you sooner,” he whispered into his hair. “I'm so sorry, Link.”

“Don't…” Legend rasped. “Don't apologize. Just… don't.”

“Hate to interrupt,” Shadow said loudly, “but I have to get between the two of you to release ‘Mister Hero’ here.”

Ravio hastily released Legend, who frowned at Shadow, then at him. Shadow took his place and began unlocking the shackles. Legend continued to stare at him, not at all subtle in his careful assessment. In turn, Shadow winked. Legend looked scandalized.

Shadow stood, and Legend shook the chains off his wrists. Shadow dropped into an exaggerated bow, smirking. “He's all yours.”

Ravio blushed, but knelt before the Hylian once again. Legend's brows furrowed, still glaring at Shadow. “Say his name is Link and I'm punting him into the Sacred Realm,” he warned.

“Ha!” Shadow snickered. “Believe me, I would've done that myself if I was anything like you twinks.” An ironic statement, considering he was the smallest of them all. “No, I'm Shadow. Not the Shadow. Just Shadow. No relation, by the way.”

Legend regarded him with even more suspicion, if possible. Ravio decided this was the perfect time to change the subject. “Can you walk?” he asked.

“Does it look like I've tried?” he retorted. There was an instant flicker of guilt in his worn eyes, and he stared at the ground. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

“No, you're okay.” Ravio smiled softly, brushing his bangs out of his face and tipping his chin up. “It's not your fault.”

“Hurry it up, you two,” Shadow called irritably.

Legend scowled. Ravio distracted him with an outstretched hand. His heavily lidded eyes softened as he clasped his own hand around Ravio's. With a grunt, Ravio pulled him to his feet, which immediately gave out beneath him. Ravio dipped down and caught him before he could fall. 

“Oof- I don't think I can walk, Rav,” he chuckled ruefully. 

“I'll carry you,” Ravio suggested.

Legend looked dubiously at him, his legs visibly quaking despite being held up by Ravio. “Are you sure?”

“No offense, Link, but you're practically a skeleton,” he pointed out. “I think I can handle it. Now, hold on.”

Granted, Ravio himself was somewhat doubtful, mostly because of his own lack of confidence, but he had to pretend he had it. For Legend's sake. So, he scooped his frail body into his arms and hefted him up. He admittedly stumbled once or twice, but Legend was still shockingly light. He felt another pain in his stomach.

“Ready? Good, can we move?” Shadow said impatiently. 

“What's up with you?” Spirit folded his arms.

“In case you hadn't noticed,” Shadow snapped, “Zelda and I weren't exactly making friends-”

“‘Zelda’? What happened to the little nickname you gave her?” Spirit scoffed.

Where had that come from? Ravio widened his eyes, taken aback by the aggression in the young hero's voice. “Guys?” he said timidly.

“Excuse me if I don't see the relevance of Spectre's nickname,” Shadow snarked, his cap lashing like a cat’s tail. “As I was saying, Zelda and I-”

“You wouldn't have to if you hadn't left her to fight a horde of monsters on her own!”

“Would you let me finish my d— sentence?!” Shadow shot up into the air, looming above Spirit, his red eyes flashing menacingly.

Spirit jabbed him in the chest with a finger. “Not if you keep acting like an arrogant hog!” he spat.

Oh, dear. There was way more tension between these two than Ravio had thought. 

“Really? You're the one who can't comprehend the fact that Zelda can be friends with someone other than you!”

He was going to have to be the adult here, wasn't he?

Spirit laughed bitterly, the sound devoid of humor. “You would think that I have a problem with her making friends. No, I have a problem with narcissistic, manipulative, self-serving liars like-”

“Shut UP!” Ravio exploded. “Just shut up, both of you!”

The dungeon fell abruptly silent. 

Ravio's ears flicked back. He chewed the inside of his cheek anxiously. 

Then, slowly, Shadow lowered his feet to the ground. Spirit let his sword fall to his side. They watched him, likely startled that such an exclamation could come from one so emphatically against conflict. To be fair, Ravio was surprised with himself as well. 

He waited until all hostility was gone from the two of them before speaking. “Shadow, tell us what you were trying to say.”

Shadow opened his mouth, but Ravio interrupted him, adding, “And no witty quips. Or passive-aggressive comments.”

Shadow gave him a flat look. In an even flatter tone, he said, “Zelda and I didn't make it to the Traveler. We were intercepted by a squad of the Shadow's underlings- which, by the way, were poorly chosen. Personally, I would have gone with something quicker. Lizalfos would've had a much easier time; besides, they have more style than Hinox-”

“So we need to find Hyrule ourselves,” Ravio concluded, ignoring how Legend stiffened in his arms.

“Well, yes,” Shadow conceded, somewhat miffed at being cut off for the third time. “But there's more. It wasn't just chance that a fully armed attack team was just wandering around where we happened to be at the time. There has to be a reason why, and I can only think of two.”

“Spit it out,” Spirit muttered.

Shadow, thankfully, pretended to be deaf. “One:” he announced, holding up a finger, “our information was wrong and they're more heavily armed than we thought. Two, which I believe to be more plausible: the Shadow knew we were coming.”

Ravio sucked in a breath. “So, what you're saying is-”

“We're about to have a whole lotta monsters on our hands.” Shadow glanced at Legend. “And something tells me they're not here for a civil discussion over tea and biscuits.”

“Really,” Spirit said dryly.

“Lay off, Spirit,” Ravio chided. He likely didn't look very intimidating, considering how pale he was. He really shouldn't be the leader here. Where was Hilda when you needed her? “Do you have a defense plan?”

“Other than run with our tails between our legs?” Shadow said wryly. “Nothing.”

“It's an idea,” Ravio sighed, only a little sarcastic. “Escape plans?”

“Hide until Aurora calls us all to rendezvous.”

“How high are our chances of Spectre getting to Hyrule?”

Shadow looked at Spirit and exhaled deeply. “Look,” he started. “I have no doubt that she can scrape through alive. But alive with the Traveler? No chance. She won't have time.”

Ravio sighed again. “You're really great at having a positive outlook, aren't you?”

“Glad I could help.”

He wrinkled his nose, but continued. “What about us?”

“What?”

“What are our chances of reaching Hyrule?”

Shadow narrowed his eyes. “Depends on what your husband knows.”

Legend stilled. Ravio gazed with concern down at his lover, who had squeezed his eyes shut, as if to hide from the world.

Ravio was torn. They were probably Rulie’s only hope of escape, but he hesitated to ask. Legend looked close to tears again. He opened his mouth, but to his surprise, Legend spoke. 

“They moved him about a week ago,” he said. His voice was hoarse again. “He'll be somewhere cleaner. To- To keep him healthy.”

The way his voice broke didn't exactly put any of them at ease. Shadow's jaw was tense and his skin looked more gray than Lolian brown. “That's quite a lot of positivity, Sunshine.” He licked dry lips. “Don't overdo it, now.”

“Wait, hold on a minute- What do you mean ‘keep him healthy’?” Spirit asked apprehensively. 

Ravio wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer, but before either could respond, Shadow's ears pinned back against his head. Without warning, the darkling pounced at Spirit and threw him to the ground, shouting, “Get down!”

Twin fireballs of blue and orange hues whizzed over their heads. Ravio ducked in the nick of time, the blue one just grazing his hair. Chills scrambled down his spine as he whipped around.

Spirit tossed Shadow aside with a growl. He jumped to his feet and froze. Before his eyes floated a large bat-like monster with a flat snout and rings around its intelligent eyes. And it was swelling. Fast. Great Goddess, did this thing even have a skeleton?

“Look out!” Shadow hollered.

Spirit let out a string of colorful curses that would've made Tetra proud and dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the creature's breath, which of course had to be fire. Why did it always have to be fire?

The flames singed the end of Shadow’s cap. He rolled to put it out and drew his sword in a fluid motion while Spirit, for some odd reason, pulled his boomerang from his pouch.

“I killed you!” he shouted furiously. “What’re you doing here?”

“You know this charming fellow?” Ravio gasped.

“Unfortunately.” Spirit grimaced. “Real pain in the- Shadow, duck!”

Shadow leaped into the air. Blue fire shot from underneath him. The bat screeched.

“What do we do?”

“That's the best question anyone's ever asked today!” Spirit snorted.

The cogs in that head were turning; Ravio could tell. He took in his surroundings in less than a second and dropped to his knees. He began rifling through his pack. “Shadow, get cozy. Distract that thing!”

“What?!” The darkling swore through his teeth. “Alone?”

“Exactly! Ravio, take the Vet and get out of here. We'll stall him.”

Shadow turned sharply. He flicked his fingers, tossing something shiny directly at Ravio. It flew through the air and landed awkwardly on Legend's nose.

“Keys!” Shadow yelled. “Go! Find the Traveler!”

“We'll handle this!” Spirit agreed.

Ravio took a step back. He gawked at Spirit. He couldn't deny his overwhelming panic, but he wasn't about to leave them!

“Go!” Shadow commanded, bloodstained teeth glinting in the light of the fire.

He hesitated, afraid. Could he really turn and run, just like that? But then an image of Legend bloodied and motionless presented itself in his mind’s eye, so he turned and fled. 

What could he say? He had always been a coward.

He just had to hope that his family didn't end up the same way.

----

A/N: So, yeah! If you have any questions about my au, feel free to scream at me through my asks or the tags. (Bonus points if you can guess who they’re fighting hehe) Love you all!

[fern-the-trashy-plant]

Hi! Fern, this is my first time talking to you, so I hope I’m doing this properly.

It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything related to the drama surrounding the self ship AU or anything else involving Vee and the haters here on Tumblr, as I’ve mostly spent my time away on other platforms where I could PEACEFULLY enjoy some fanart without having to deal with any hatred or misunderstandings surrounding peoples’ art. But, coming back to see how everybody’s doing and if everyone’s stopped clashing with each other, I was pretty shocked to see the level of depravity the haters have descended to in the time that I wasn’t updated on the news about them. But, something that has surprised me today is that, on that post made by Dee which you reblogged, that list of names they screenshotted caught my eye. I recognize most of the names on the list and am aware of the unfair accusations they have made toward Vee (although I believe NerdyWerdy kind of apologized to Vee in an anon post…. It was written in their style of communication and basically stated they no longer had an issue with Vee shipping herself with Christopher anymore, which Vee replied peacefully back to in one of her long posts). However, one name on the list that surprised me was a-faulty-illusion ‘s. I remember seeing them talk to Vee, asking about the situation surrounding her self ship, and after Vee reassured them that she hadn’t done what the haters were accusing her of doing, they politely replied to Vee in agreement. I also clearly remember Faulty(easier to refer to them this way while typing) sending you a post on your blog on November politely asking you about your projects and stuff. So seeing Dee’s reblogged posts about Faulty drawing inappropriate S.H. sketches involving you and others on Tumblr who support Vee confused me quite very much. Is this really true? Could you request Dee to provide proof(with the S.H. sketches censored, just in case that actually happened) that Faulty truly did such a deed? Thanks, and I wish you good luck on clearing up the situation with the haters here on Tumbr( and on the Discord servers too). Reply soon!

Ah, I feared that people would get the information wrong from Dee's perspective.

There aren't any S.H sketches that Faulty/Oli/ithecentipede made about me or Vee

I will say that my mental health had gone down during the time of the drama, which for the record, Vee did not initiate in any way, I alone decided to spy on what these people were saying. I did end up doing some S.H to myself. Thankfully I was given a suggestion to do something else than scratch myself to draw blood.

There was this. A drawing of me on a leash. Which I suppose would go hand in hand with me being called a "pet." And I know who drew it too.

I have a bunch more disturbing things saved, but this is one of the examples that were directed to me.

As for things that were directed to Vee were more verbal.

This is highly dehumanizing.