#i don't have anything new to post (yet) but consider this something of an anniversary post <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[saturdays--sun]

"i sleep better in your bed"

↪ ship: ocean eyes / saturday ↪ content: ~990 words. written with a prompt from here. nauseatingly soft <3

i wrote this last february and i still think about it and start crying every day. i love him i love him i love him

it was rare that she woke up before him.

yet when her eyes fluttered open, his were still shut.

from where she lay, held close to his chest, she could feel the soft and steady rhythm of his heart; the even cadence of his breathing. he was still deep in sleep, his face still and peaceful.

pretty, was the first word that came to mind.

for a moment, all she did was watch him, her eyes softening as they traced over his features; as the sunlight slipping in through her blinds shone softly on his skin. a faint smile ghosted across her lips; and with a careful hand, she reached up to brush his hair out of his face.

he stirred, but just slightly — just enough to make her hand momentarily draw back; just enough to make her hold her breath. when he settled back down, shifting his head against her pillow and tightening his hold on her, she let her arm drape loosely over his neck; let her fingertips gently thread through his hair.

perfect, was the second word that came to mind.

she lost track of how long she laid there, with her fingers tangled softly in his hair and her eyes transfixed on his sleeping features. long enough that the sun shifted its position outside her window; long enough that her own eyes had begun to slip shut again, the sleep she had just come out of creeping back into the corners of her mind.

another gentle movement made her eyes sleepily open once more; and when they did, they were met with his — bleary and just barely opened; only enough that she could see the color in them. the same ghost of a smile returned to her lips as she gazed up at him, affection seeping gently into her expression.

"morning." her voice was quiet when she spoke — little more than a whisper meant solely for his ears. "i didn't wake you up, did i?"

he blinked slowly — once, then twice — before making a small motion like he was shaking his head. "no, you didn't." sleep colored his voice; left it lower and rougher than normal, her heart skipping a soft beat at the sound. leaning down to her — languidly, as if he were still half asleep — he pressed his lips to her forehead; let them linger there as he murmured a soft, "...good morning, dear."

an inaudible giggle bubbled up in her chest, the soft smile on her lips pulling itself a little wider. "are you still tired?" she didn't really need to ask, but the question came out anyway — soft and gentle, her tone filled with nothing other than endearment. "we can go back to sleep if you want."

a pause followed her offer; she felt his mouth open slightly and then close once more. finally, his voice hit her ears again — this time, with the smallest hint of hesitation hidden amongst its sleepy tone. "...would that be alright with you?"

green eyes softened further; gentle fingers brushed through the strands of his hair again, her fingertips just barely ghosting across the nape of his neck. "of course it would be." carefully, so as to not jar him, she shifted her position slightly; and once she had settled again, her back against her pillows, she nudged him forward to her with a soft, "c'mere."

with no resistance, he leaned his body into hers, arms wrapping themselves back around her waist and his face nuzzling comfortably into the crook of her neck. when her own arms looped gently around him, her fingers taking up their previous position in his hair, a long, content sigh escaped his nose against her neck; beneath her touch, she felt the muscles of his shoulders relax.

cute, floated up from somewhere in the back of her mind.

"you're not normally this groggy." she didn't mean anything by it when she murmured the words to him, her fingers threading through his hair in a steady rhythm. it was nothing more than an observation — on the rare occasion that he woke up after her, he wasn't usually falling back asleep so soon afterwards; if anything, it was normally her that was in his position. "were you really tired last night?"

a hum hit her skin; sent a soft tingle throughout her body. "not particularly." he shifted a little closer to her; in response to the movement, her free hand pulled the blanket higher up over them. "...i just sleep better in your bed."

her eyes blinked softly, something like surprise flickering through her irises. a moment later, the surprise faded and gave way to something significantly softer, a faint shade of pink dusting across her cheeks. "...you do?"

"mhm." the sound came out as little more than a relaxed exhale. his face nuzzled softly against the crook of her neck, sleepily mumbled words gently hitting her ears. "...it smells like you. and..." a kiss was pressed onto her skin; lingered, just like the first one. "...you're in it."

distantly, she wondered if he could feel the way her heart skipped a beat.

in any other circumstance, she probably would have teased him — called him cheesy or corny or just cute — to hide how the inside of her chest had grown warm and how her lips were turning upward into a smile again. but in this one, she simply let it be — let the happiness seep into her veins and gently fill the rest of her body with its golden glow. her fingers stalled in his hair; her head turned itself just enough to leave a loving kiss on his temple.

"i'm glad," she murmured into his hair, her eyes slipping softly shut. as if his tiredness was contagious — or maybe just because she was so at peace — sleep started creeping in from the corners of her mind again. "...i sleep better with you in my bed, too."

i wish you would sleep in it every night.

♡ taglist: @strawberrisoulmate / @space-sweetheart / @destinyknotz / @dmclr

[yumeka-sxf]

2-year anniversary post

My blog is now 2-years old~!

After my last anniversary post, I had quite a list of projects planned; in addition to making posts for all the upcoming SxF content, like the movie, season 2, and the video game, I had other personal projects in mind as well. I wanted to start on my Japanese Linguistic Observations in Spy x Family series, which I was able to write five posts for as of now! (I've currently exhausted all the topics I wanted to discuss for that, but I may come up with more ideas later on). There was also the Spy x Family Character Tracker, which took me a while to get motivated to do, but once I did, I'm proud of how it turned out 😃 I also made a lot of scan posts this year too, like the workbooks and my series of miscellaneous collab scans.

But compared to my last anniversary, which was at a time when there was a lot of new SxF content on the horizon, we've been in a bit of a dry spell the past several months. Hype for the aforementioned movie, game, and anime season have died down, and merch and collabs have slowed as well, since there hasn't been new anime content to promote. But I consider it the calm before the storm, lol.

This is also why my posts have gotten a little less frequent lately - there hasn't been as much new SxF content in general besides the manga chapters, and as mentioned previously, I was able to check off the projects I had wanted to do. So as of now, I don't have much new content planned in the coming year besides continuing my Chronological Analysis on Twilight and Yor series when season 3 airs (still no release date yet, but I'm betting on spring of 2025). I'll also make posts for each anime episode like I did with season 2. And of course, I'll continue my manga chapter reviews, and make merch and scan posts when I can.

I've always tried to maintain a "quality over quantity," "only write when I have something to say," mentality for the blog. I don't want to force myself to write when I'm not motivated (this is also why I don't take part in community writing projects and the like). I also have other hobbies besides SxF, so I like to focus my limited free time on those when there isn't much going on in the SxF fandom. Occasionally I think to myself, "Hm, I haven't posted on Tumblr in a while," but if there isn't anything I feel like writing about at the time, it's better if I hold off rather than force myself to churn out something uninspiring.

But as I said, I feel like we're in a calm before the storm. Season 3 will already be exciting enough, but there's a good chance more content will follow. The next Jump Festa is scheduled for late December, and as usual, SxF will have a dedicated panel with the four Forger voice actors in attendance!

The movie and season 2 were announced at this event in 2022, so there's a good chance we'll get more juicy announcements this year! Even if not another movie, I'd be happy with more artbooks, collabs, and other things down the line! There's also a good chance an idea for another SxF project will inspire me and I'll start working on that. Who knows. But I do know SxF is still a popular series with many more years of content to produce! And I look forward to seeing, and blogging about, it all 😁

[sae-something]

Wanted to make a little update post of some sort but it turned a little long. I also write about the mdsa stuffs so consider this a heads up.

This week I've just been feeling broken and exhausted. Some new flashback or something popped up in therapy on monday. If it holds truth, it could mean that the mdsa stuff went on a lot longer than I thought til now. I shouldn't be as surprised because there had been flashes and fears before, but I just really, really wanted to suppress that and be like "okay, if it happened at all, at least it was only for like two years". That suddenly stretched to the possibility of a period of (at least) 5 years.

Had online A today and just cried, a lot. The little detective part (trying to understand, make sense) is bleeding through a lot. Also a lot of grief about A being so kind and caring - today some part asked her, 'Why was it so hard for mom to be nice to be when it seems so easy for you to do?'. I immediately added, 'Well, of course, maybe it's not easy for you at all, I don't know'. But A made it very clear that it is easy for her to care about me.

And then she offered to check her email 'once or twice' next week (during her week off), so we can 'keep a bit of connection'. I checked if she's really sure I won't ruin her vacation, but she insisted. It really means a lot to me, though I don't know that I'd have words.

At some point some part cried out, 'I'm just so scared of having to go back [to mom] when the year is over' (the no contact year technically ends late january). Haven't really had time yet to talk through the details with A, but I really don't feel like reconnecting with my parents. This part talked a little bit about 'being bad' for not going back, and A said something about how that probably explains a bit about why (as a kid) I kept going back to her, kept looking for her.

I interrupted and said, well, I feel the same way now - I fear people might have understood me taking a break, but making it more definite will make people go 'how can a daughter do that, abandon her mother like that'. I cried and said how scared I am A will think that. She replied something along the lines of, 'When we talk about this more I will tell you that I don't think you are ready to go reconnect yet, there is so much still happening, you are not at a point where you can hold yourself and connect with her'.

We didn't really dive into it but it meant a lot to me that she said that. It brings some space and relief. And I know we'll talk about it more over the coming weeks & months as that anniversary comes up.

Anyway. This has been a bit of an update. I've just been in pain (?body memories?) and exhausted. I would never tell anyone else this, but the little detective part is just constantly repeating "but if this happened at 8, I would have remembered, 8 is so old! You don't just forget things when you're 8!". I just can't understand it. I feel like lots of strong little magnets that I just can't push together. Everything is bouncing off of each other and nothing connects.

And also the actual content of the ?flashback? from monday just feels disgusting and impossible. Nothing, like, new or extreme or anything. Just, how could she? How could she stand next to my bed and stroke my head and chat about my day, while also, while also there was a hand beneath the blanket doing things that were not happening, things that were not felt, things that were not real. But it hurt and it hurt and it hurt and it hurt. How could she have been like that? How can someone do that? Act so nice and have a monster hand doing monster things?

(I know those are dumb questions. I know many people all over the world do all kinds of horrifying things to little kids. The questions are just stuck on a loop inside my brain...)

I'm so tired. Gonna have to fix some food now and then just flop on the couch.

[randomthefox]

A couple of things about the Knuckles Anniversary comic:

1) Why does the comic focus so much on Trip instead?

2) Was Trip established to be the last Sungazer in Superstars?

3) Is it possible that some of the cut content from Superstars might have influenced the comic?

4) Flynn seems to have based her character on pre-development with no clue of how she should be after

5) Considering how mant notes they tend to give, what are the chances this is a sign Sonic Team don't plan to use Trip past Superstars?

1: I know right? This is supposed to be a Knuckles 30th anniversary comic, and yet it's practically ABOUT Trip. Why isn't the KNUCKLES COMIC exploring the things that make Knuckles such a long lasting and impactful character? Why isn't it about him going on treasure hunting adventures, or safeguarding Angel Island? Why is this KNUCKLES ANNIVERSARY COMIC some kind of weird fucking Archie-esk tie in with Sonic Superstars a game that's a year old by this point?

2: I wanted to make a post dedicated to this. But I'm lazy. I already played through the game and gave my thoughts and analysis about it under the "Sonic Superstars" tag if you're curious.

It is very clear from the content of Sonic Superstars with levels like the Golden Capital that there was once a great and opulent civilization on the Northstar Islands, but that civilization has now gone. The fact that Trip is the only sungazer encountered, the giant El Dorado esk city of gold, in which there is a secret vault which houses the Chaos Emeralds along with a mural showing a cataclysm of the past, makes it very clear that Trip is the only thing that's left of whatever great civilization once inhabited the islands. The lack of explicate confirmation is a FEATURE, not something that needed to be "corrected" with explanations especially explanations that DIRECTLY CONTRADICT the storytelling of the game. The fact so much is left to your imagination is a STRENGTH of that game's story, not an oversight -_-

3: they don't even fucking MENTION the evil black dragon final boss dude, so no I cannot imagine that anything involving Superstars development had anything the fuck to do with this comic. I doubt Ian Flynn even fucking played Sonic Superstars, let alone thought it prudent to ask for production material about the game to expand on things the game couldn't portray. He obviously just wanted to stroke his Penders Echidna Obsession, but since SEGA won't allow him to do that with the actual Echidnas he just turned the Sungazers into discount echidnas so he could "get away" with it.

4: I would highly doubt he based his characterization of her off of anything but his own biases and preferences as a writer. The dude has most definitely never actually played Sonic Superstars the video game either way though.

5: Considering the way things have been trending lately, I would actually assume the opposite and figure Sonic Team might release something official themselves which features Trip. And which directly disregards everything this comic contained =P That really seems to be how Sonic Team has been operating lately. It's hard to interpret a lot of the things they've been producing as anything besides direct and personal refutations of the dumb shit the IDW comics and Ian Flynn have been saying about the franchise. I would not at all be surprised to see Trip show up in a new Tailstube video where she talks about how "it's hard being the last of her kind but she found solidarity with Knuckles since he knows that struggle too and the friendship with Amy has shown her she's not alone." Or a new Sonic Channel art piece or something like that.

Seriously Sonic Team keeps no-scope dunking on the stupid shit Ian Flynn runs his mouth about lately and it's really fucking funny. "Oh you made a robot daughter for Eggman in the comic? That's nice. SAGE. Oh you introduced a sheep girl authority figure in the comic? How nice for you. ARIEM." and so on lol

Flynn has also directly stated that he can basically disregard the feedback notes from SEGA if he wants to. He said in a podcast that they were not happy about him using the Shadow Androids to kill off the Diamond Cutters. But he did it anyway. IDW Editorial is the one who calls the shots about what truly makes it onto the final page.

[whysamwhy123]

✨Fic Writing Review 2023✨

Tagged by the wonderful dynamic duo that is @aerodaltonimperial and @perhapswhoknowsvamp and it's very fitting that those two lovely people tagged me because they're a big reason why I wrote much of anything this year! Took me a while to get this done because I wanted to get my last fic of the year out the door first. I'll put the rest below the cut, and fair warning - it's loooooong. This bitch doesn't shut up, so I rambled on. A lot.

Words and Fics

76, 222 words published on AO3 in 2023

15 fics published on AO3 (16 if you count that one kinkmeme prompt I filled and posted anonymously)

2 little tumblr ficlets

Top 3 by Kudos

Voice in the Dark - Hookhausen (not super surprising, considering it was a popular pairing at the time, and it was the fic I wrote for the anniversary event)

Kids These Days And Their Darn Phones - Hookhausen

Half Your Age Plus Seven - OrangeHook (I continue to be incredibly surprised how well this fic did, like...huh?!)

Top 3 by Hits

Voice in the Dark - Hookhausen

Voice in the Dark, Part Two - Hookhausen (how fitting, LOL)

Half Your Age Plus Seven - OrangeHook (Seriously, what was it about this fic that drew people in? More so than any of my other OrangeHook fics? Like, I'm grateful and all but also confused, like this fic is way too long?! And weird about the age difference?!)

Author's Favourite

As much as I'm loving writing OrangeHook now, I think Voice in the Dark, Part Two is probably the best thing I've written? Even though it's also overly long and gets weird at the end (very much did not expect it to go in that direction when I started writing it), I'm actually pretty proud of how that one turned out. I had a clear vision in my head for how each scene would play out and what I wanted to get across, and man, I remember how most of the Hook/Evilhausen dialogue popped into my brain late one night when I couldn't sleep, so I spat it out into a doc and then about a month later when I actually wrote the scene, I don't think I changed a single word? I just added everything else around it, all the not-dialogue parts. And it was just a lot of fun getting to carry on that story, especially as someone who hasn't managed to crank out a proper multi-chapter fic yet. Who knows, maybe I'll return to that world someday...

Fandom Events in 2023

Uh, well, I guess I did the whole Hookhausen Anniversary thing? And...that's about it. I'm pretty disconnected from the fandom at large, whoopsie daisy 😬

Upcoming Projects

Hoo boy.

I have over 5k words of a Ricky/Christian Sugar Baby AU thing written already. I haven't posted it because it kinda needs some smut and that's still not something I can really do. I might post it someday, if I can make something work, or alternatively do what I normally do and put an annoying fade to black in there. Or maybe I'll think better of it and never post it because it's very self-indulgent and I highly doubt anyone else would really be interested or want me to continue it or anything. But I have Ideas for it...so many ideas...

Also, in my ill-fated quest to try and make myself write smut, I kinda started a Ricky/Bill championship celebration fic. Maybe I'll revisit that? Try to get it done?

And then there's that one fic I really want to work on, but have barely started. I've vague-posted about it here before - it's an incredibly fucked-up Dead Dove fic about Daniel Garcia and a Very Bad, Not-Good thing that happens to him, and the subsequent complete mental breakdown that follows. I've had the idea rattling around in my brain for the better part of a year at this point, despite not making much actual progress on it. Every time I think about it though, I have new ideas for scenes or dialogue. I'd like to make it work, but I don't know if I have the writing chops to handle it, plus it would probably end up being super long and nobody would want to read it, so it'd feel like a huge waste of time on my part? And I've had the idea for so long, it's out-dated too. But still, the urge remains...

Oh, and I still have a ton of OrangeHook ideas I'd like to make happen. Some are, of course, about their age difference. Some would (ideally) involve smut. And others... *nervous laughter* Others would likely result in an ''Everyone disliked that'' situation...

Writing Reflection

I was thinking about making a sappy post about this and whoops, here's my excuse! I don't talk a lot on here about my tragic backstory because honestly, who cares? But I will say this - before January of this year, I hadn't written a word of anything in years. Fic or otherwise. I used to love writing, but Stuff Happened and it killed all enjoyment I got out of it, and I thought that's how it would be forever. Then, for reasons I can't even remember, I started reading fic again, specifically in this wild little fandom of ours, and y'all are just so talented that it made my untalented ass want to give it another shot. So...I did.

I remember when I posted my first fic in ages back in January, I thought ''Maybe about three people will read this and no one will leave a comment or anything, but whatever, I wrote a thing and that's something I haven't done in years so that's enough for me!'' And to be honest, I still think that whenever I post stuff now? It's crazy to me that anyone actually reads my stuff and gets some kind of kick out of it. But every kudos and comment floors me and brings me so much joy, I can't even express it properly. I have to say a huge thank you to anyone who's ever read one of my fics, left kudos or dropped a comment. Whoever and wherever you are, you made my day!

And look, I ain't delusional. I know that calling myself a small fish in the fandom would be too generous. But I'm fine with that - because I'm genuinely enjoying writing again and that's what matters most to me. Even though I've also rediscovered how stressful writing can be (🙂🙂🙂) when it comes down to it, there's joy and happiness in my life that wasn't there last year and that's all because I started writing again. And because some lovely folks here decided to let me know they liked what I was throwing out there. The years have not been kind to ol' Sammy Sam-Sam and this year was no exception, but getting to forget about all that shit and write my silly little wrestling fanfiction has been a great distraction and a comfort through this whole year.

So...yeah. Thanks to everyone who's ever commented on my writing, thanks to the folks who follow me on here (I don't know how you manage that though, I'm such an annoying bitch, aren't you sick of me yet?) and thanks to anyone who I've had the chance to chat with about writing and ships and whatever silly little ideas pop into my head (any of y'all feel free to message me at any time, I am always down to blab about whatever blorbos/ideas take your fancy). I'm hoping I can keep this train a-rollin' a little more next year. Still thinking back to when I started writing again, I made my new AO3 account expecting to write Dustjim only, but then I quickly decided I couldn't write those two well enough, and since then I've bounced around a bunch of different pairings, with a few rarepairs shoved in between for good measure. God only knows where my head will be at this time next year, LOL. I'd love to finally be able to attempt some of the bigger ideas I've been cooking up for a while now. Maybe I'll even write a proper multi-chapter fic? We'll see, but this bitch can dream, at least.

Rules:

Feel free to show whatever stats you have. Only want to show Ao3 stats? Rock on. Want to include some quantitative info instead of stats? Please do this. Want to change how yours is presented? Absolutely do that. Would rather eat glass than do this? Please do eat glass, I’ve heard it’s good for your gums.

I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm pretty sure everyone I know who writes has already been tagged? So if you're reading this and you haven't, go ahead and do it! By which I mean, eat glass. Eat all the glass that you want. Accidents happen in the dark.

[pers-books]

Doctor Who: RTD Makes Interesting Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Comment

Should we be reading into Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T. Davies's Instagram comment regarding Jemma Redgrave's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart?

Published Sat, 30 Sep 2023 15:38:08 -0500 by Ray Flook

When the BBC, Disney+ & Showrunner Russell T. Davies's David Tennant & Catherine Tate-starring Doctor Who's 60th-anniversary event hits in November, the global community will have a chance to celebrate the long-running sci-fi series. From there, we have a Christmas Special before the new year brings a new series with our Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson (companion Ruby Sunday) taking charge of the TARDIS. One major player who will be assisting both Doctors in their efforts to keep the world safe is Jemma Redgrave's Kate (Lethbridge-) Stewart. Following in her family's footsteps as the head of UNIT, Stewart was first introduced during Matt Smith's run (S07E04 "The Power of Three") – and is now taking on an epic, "summer action movie"-type role based on the recently-released 60th anniversary trailer. In fact, rumblings have been pretty steady that Davies is considering a "WHO-niverse" spinoff focused on Stewart & UNIT – which may explain why folks like us are reading into Davies's comment on a recent Doctor Who Instagram post spotlighting Redgrave's character.

After noting that "A new era of Kate Lethbridge-Stewart approaches…" as the caption to the post, Davies responded with, "What? Who told you that? How did you..? Oh damn it " (with three angry emojis). Now, could Davies be making a joke about it being a spoiler considering the news and visuals have been out there for a while? Sure. But he could also be teasing that there's more to the "new era" part, possibly something in the near future? Sure. Let's us know in the comments section below what you think:

Doctor Who: Jemma Redgrave on Series 14, UNIT Spinoff Rumblings

Thanks to the folks over at Good Morning Britain, Redgrave was able to offer some insight into her involvement in the new series as well as those rumblings of a UNIT spinoff earlier this month. "I have been back in one episode in Series 14, and it was such a wonderful thing to be part of that family. I've never taken it for granted that I will be brought back, but it was absolutely tremendous, and to be part of Russell T. Davies' new vision is so exciting," Redgrave shared regarding her work on the new series. Unfortunately (at least, for now), Stewart and Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor won't be sharing any screen time – but Stewart and Gibson's Ruby Sunday will. "I haven't yet got to work with Ncuti [Gatwa], I worked with Millie [Gibson]," she added. " As for that spinoff talk, Redgrave knows as much as the fans do – but she did get a personal perspective on the speculation. "I don't know anything about a spinoff," Redgrave responded – before also sharing, "Somebody in my book club did message me and say, 'I saw something about you having a series,' and I said, 'I've heard nothing about it and I shall call my agent.'"

Along with Jemma Redgrave (Kate Lethbridge-Stewart), Aneurin Barnard (Roger ap Gwilliam), and Jack Forsyth-Noble (Will), Doctor Who Magazine #589 also confirmed that Bhav Joshi (Wedding Season), Eilidh Loan (Traces), Pete MacHale (Gangs of London), Miles Yekinni (Slow Horses), and Hemi Yeroham (Mamma Mia!) have joined the cast for the new series. In addition, Jinkx Monsoon (RuPaul's Drag Race) was also confirmed to have joined the cast – followed by Jonathan Groff (Glee, Mindhunter) and Indira Varma (Obsession, Game of Thrones) – as The Duchess – in May 2023. Bonnie Langford was confirmed to be returning as Melanie Bush in June 2023, along with Lenny Rush (Am I Being Unreasonable) as Morris. In early August 2023, we also learned that Gemma Arrowsmith (Gemma Arrowsmith Sketched Out) and Mary Malone (Vera, The Prince) had joined the Christmas Special – while Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy (Hollyoaks) and Billy Brayshaw (Still So Awkward) had joined the Series 14 cast.

[bunbeeplays]

The Lemon Legacy: Generation 1, Chapter 75 - Tonight's Special

Xander's finally ready to show Ophelia his new bar for the first time. He hasn't even told her the name yet!

Ophelia: Xander, you made me walk like this for like a mile, let me see!

Xander: Okay, okay. Here she is!

Xander: Say hello to The Lemon Drop!

Ophelia: Alexander Pappas, you did NOT name your bar after me.

Xander: I don't know what you're talking about, I named it after the drink.

Ophelia: Is there anything about you that isn't perfect?

Xander: Hilary has a list of my many flaws

Xander: I felt aimless before I met you. I didn't know what my future held, I was just drifting. Your ambition is contagious. This bar wouldn't exist without you, the least I could do is give it a fitting name. Now come on, I've got another surprise.

Ophelia: More surprises?

Ophelia gasps as she takes in the rose petals leading to a lovely table for two.

Ophelia: I should've known it didn't take you guys all day to set up two instruments and a mic!

Xander: I wanted us to have the first drinks here. And what's drinks without dinner?

Ophelia agrees!

Xander pours the two some nectar from the popup bar. The official bar isn't coming until the next day, as well as the rest of the furniture.

Ophelia should have suspected something was up when Xander told her to dress nice "just for fun". Not the brightest, that gal.

Xander: Dinner is served!

Ophelia: Are these my gran's stuffed peppers?

Xander: Sure are. I know they're your favorite. And a lemon cheesecake for dessert.

Ophelia: You're lucky I like lemon. What if I didn't?

Xander: I'd ask you to change your last name.

Ophelia: I made these all the time when we first started woohooing. Remember when we went for round two after eating them and I farted during woohoo?

Xander: And then I farted too so you wouldn't be embarrassed?

Ophelia: Haha, yeah, that was so gross!

Xander: You started it!

Ophelia: You know, our first woohoo was on the last day of summer, just like today. I can't believe it's been a year.

Xander: Me either. Even if we weren't official, I kind of consider this our anniversary. It's at least the anniversary to the start of something beautiful.

Ophelia: I like it. I think it's a day worthy of celebration.

Xander: Perfect. Now go on, dig in!

Ophelia takes a sip of her nectar. Absolutely amazing. It'll pair great with the peppers. Let's just hope they live up to her gran's.

They're excellent!

Ophelia: Xander, this is amazing!

Xander: The recipe was pretty simple. I wanted our dinner to be something you loved and something with good memories behind it. I'm just glad you didn't make us beef wellington post-woohoo.

Ophelia: I feel bad, you did all this and I don't even have a gift.

Xander: We don't need gifts, I did this for us. I wanted to christen this place, and I figured a night with my favorite girl would be perfect.

Ophelia: Favorite girl? Don't tell Marshmallow!

Ophelia: Did I mention this place looks amazing? I can't wait to break in that mic!

Xander: We're going to make a lot of great memories here, I know it.

Ophelia: And you're going to make a lot of great drinks!

Onto dessert!

Xander: Damn, this is good!

Ophelia: You seem surprised.

Xander: I tried my best but baking isn't exactly my forte.

Ophelia: It's amazing, sweetie. It tastes even better knowing you made it all yourself.

It just being really good also helps.

After a great meal with great convo, Ophelia goes to give her boyfriend a thank you kiss, but he beats her to it, pulling her close and kissing the back of her hand.

Xander: Why don't you go check out my first drink special on the chalkboard over there? I think you'll like it.

Ophelia follows the rose petals over to the chalkboard in question. Once she gets close enough, her brows furrow in confusion.

She rereads it a few times, trying to figure out what the hell Xander's thought process was behind this drink name.

Ophelia: Xander, I don't get it. What kind of a name for a drink is "Turn Around"?

[attorneys-against-court-violence]

This is moreso for me than anything else so feel free to skip this one on by. Cheers!

Imma be real. I'm probably not getting that AutiCykes essay re-write done before the anniversary or even the end of July. Mainly for two reasons...

One, I was hoping I'd get the watch-through done by now - specifically to the point where I had screenshots & evidence regarding Athena's backstory and childhood (a VERY important piece of evidence to consider for the topic). I do not have these yet. I'll need to be more consistent in the coming nights.

Two, I wanted to re-frame the re-write a little. Instead of going "this character has X and here's why I think that!", I want to approach it as more "this character is relatable to those with X, here's why that may be." A small change, but one that opens the topic from just trying to justify a personal projection to something that can more readily discuss the character as-written, why Athena strikes a chord with autistic fans (and perhaps those with disabilities/neurodivergence in general), and may even be allowed to consider some caveats to the idea for a more nuanced discussion.

Re-writing a post-grad thesis over and over and over again has made me more picky about my writing and the evidence I provide. You know how it is.

So it's going to take a while.

In the meantime I'll double-back and do what I can with what I have. The watch through will continue - most of all because I want to get it done for the anniversary - so I will add to it as that progresses.

Glad as I am that my first essay was well-recieved, I'm not entirely happy with how hard it leans on my own personal feelings on the matter. It honestly feels a little silly in hindsight. Important for sure. Just a little undignified and emotionally loaded for what was an evidence-based wall of text.

That said, I don't want this to be as long as that or the new version could be, so I'll leave it here.

[awiola]

Normal update, autumn??? XXIII

Okay, so I thought it would be a nice, winter quarterly update but turns out the last one was titled summer and I guess going by calendar, winter barely started so it's??? autumn??? I guess??? Last day of the year but autumn, sure, let's go with that. That being the case, I have no new year's pic for y'all cause I can't draw I was devving uhh, rly hard, let's say. Totally.

Anyway, the mushroom jam has ended and I planned to have a release update BUT THEN I DIDN'T FINISH THE GAME ON TIME YET AGAIN, who would've thought, so, like, there's nothing. I mean, something exists but yeah >_> I'll write a devlog when it finally looks presentable. Moving on...

Current game stuff

The spooktober game has been finished, kinda - The enmity of dead things. It, well, it works and it contains the full script and everything but lacks both art and music cause I couldn't finish it on time laziness goes brrr. Then I wanted a break and worked on other games and kinda left it like that... So that's the first item on my "Finally finish it in 2024, you stupid fuck" list. All in all it wasn't a total failure and I had fun for the most part. Committing to my bad decisions [look at the textbox] is actually the main cause the game wasn't finished on time... You live and don't learn.

The failure of the year... Or quarter at least - Mushroom game. Despite being technically published to add it to the jam, it's so unfinished I won't even link it here. And it's all my fault cause I was being lazy and, as usual, forgot I can't actually program. Yeah...

Helped with Cool Days. There's really not much of my work there, I honestly considered making a new category for games I kinda helped with but tbh the amount of work actually finished was close to zero but hey, it's still more than nothing so Check it out, it has cool graphics.

The ace teens game got shelved/postponed and it's not my fault this time but instead we're working on a fantasy kinda thing for Ace jam [and maybe also Zack jam while we're at it but that might've been said in jest]. Fortunately it's small enough I don't expect any delays. I can say it involves a golem who isn't a humanoid (灬˘╰╯˘灬)♥｡･ﾟ

Now for the big thing.

Fanfares, please.

🎉🎉🎉

IMPOSTOR SYNDROME - is a game for winter jam which also happens to be a demo cause we ran out of time but! - it will be finished soon-ish. I'll share more details in the release devlog so if the link to the game works already, that means the page's up and so is all the info. If it doesn't work, check again in a few hours but I'm assuming most people who actually read all that will do so post winter jam anyway.

Genre wise it's an otome chat sim comedy that's extremely self indulged and I'm not ashamed of that. Gotta make games for yourself and all that. Though, again, my own conribution to the development process remains minimal. I'm truly becoming the idea guy.

The "Finally finish it in 2024, you stupid fuck" list aka the stuff that should've been finished already but isn't

Umm, yeah, everything. Or, to be more specific, Mushroom game and Enmity take priority here but all the other games that needed some quality of life adjustments like making the web build work on mobile etc are also included [which is kinda funny cause a lot of them could be corrected in like an hour if I actually sat and did just that].

It's been more than three years since I released Argousze and yes, you gessed it, it's also unfinished. Which is extra funny in a pathetic way cause it was supposed to be a low effort game with, like, 2k words of wordcount. To be fair I kinda dropped it cause I couldn't design my aliens but maybe I'll actually get a good idea for once and manage to release it on its fourth anniversary. That'd be nice.

Other than that, well... That's more of a resolution than anything but I should stop constantly joining new teams and all... And either take a proper dev break or work on ye olde projects waiting for me since the beginning of HS. I'll become older than my oldest LI before I finish them at this point lol

Pariiish noootiiiceees

This year we're gonna have two new jams instead of one. Stuff happened and yeah. No links just yet cause not only are the pages not finished but there's also no planned date/duration beyond 'sometime in the later part of the year'.

The first jam is Tentacle jam which, I'm pretty sure, would bring us eroges. This was not my intention and all kind of sfw tentacles are allowed but tbh as long as there's a proper story, even a nukige would pass. Basically the rules remain like in all the previous jams I hosted.

The second jam is Insect [adjacent] jam which actually accepts all kinds of arthropods but it started as just insect jam and I wanted to keep the name. So yeah. Obviously more detailed rules of what's allowed would be written on the page when it's up properly and not in a half dead state like right now.

Incidentally, whatever the date ends up being, both of these jams would be hosted at the same time so if you wanted to make a story taking place underwater or something, you could submit it to both of these jams. Neat, right?

That's it for this year.

Over.

[curejiraiya]

For fun; heres all the secondhand KOP merch that is decently priced somewhere on the internet, and ships to the US without a proxy, that I am currently considering buying, but something is holding me back. (it's usually money, but for some it's me knowing I would be upset that I didn't have all 3 members of Over the Rainbow)

Here's me ranting about why I haven't bought some of these

I really want the KakeTai doujin lol but $25 is just more than I can budget 😔 I think it's a fair price too I just would be pissed at myself if I spent that on 4 books in a language I do not read.

I also really want the $10 Kouji and Kazuki mochi's but I'm being held back because the Hiro I have will have a different outfit. I wish I could find Kazuki and Kouji in their Athletic Core outfits.

I'm really eyeing the Pride the Hero soundtrack CD too. I probably won't get it because I'd be mad at myself for buying CDs in 2023

Also the ebay listing for those 7 acrylics for $25 is a steal, I just don't really like the cast of characters it's so random. Same with some of the paper stands, if it had like the strong duos or OTR or Shin Louis or something I'd probably buy, but they're just a random assortment.

In the Mercari stuff the $26 listing has a pin I REALLY want, it's the Kouji cafe pin and I have the Hiro one so it'd make a good set, but I don't really want much of anything else there so I can't see myself dropping that much (A few of those listings have additional shipping costs and that's definitely one of them)

Now that you've read to the end (hi) let me explain that I'm disabled and cannot keep a job and therefore have no income, but I got $90 in a settlement and I plan on spending all of it on merch lmao I just need to be picky because once it's gone I'm not getting any more.

Here's a bonus that I did buy today:

This photo sucks but I got the notif that the seller lowered the price on this one to $25 and I could not help myself oops!

I also almost got the diner amo cafe stuff on amiami but I couldn't decide if I wanted everyone or just OTR and I didn't realize preorders were closing soon so I missed them rip. I don't doubt there will be more up there eventually though, they did just announce a new amo cafe line the day after that one closed, but I'm not big on this new one. it's not on amiami yet though

Also no my biggest merch regret is not getting the Rainbow Live 10th anniversary Over the Rainbow acrylics. I love those outfits a lot a lot but I didn't go for them and it's like . not going to be possible now lol.

I also have like $60 left so realistically I could make a big purchase on Buyee from Yahoo auctions and get what I actually want, but god the fucking shipping is just so much it's disappointing.

I wasn't expecting to write a king of prism merch roundup holy shit I'm sorry have a good day 🤭 let me know if people enjoy this post and would want to see something like this again? or if you want a link to any of these specific items so you can poach them from me (if you buy the doujin I'll cry lmao) they all ship to America for like $10 or less. Also if money isn't as big of a problem for you as it is for me just buy from Buyee or ZenMarket please, if you can handle the $40 shipping you can get a ton of stuff at way better prices

[neptunevasilias]

Doing a little check-in/reflection now that I worked my way up to the end of August last night with the "10 years of sssn" thing.

First of all, what is this all about? I got into rwby/team sssn in 2017, so I've been around for a long time, but I actually just missed this sub-fandom's heyday, or at least only saw the tail end of it. So I consider myself a "historian" of the fandom, with an academic interest in observing the social phenomena as well as just my normal fan interest in the characters. Tumblr's reblog system has been really helpful for this: each reblog is a new instance of the post, rather than just an embedding of the original post, so if the original post or poster is deleted, I can still access the post. The tagging system also means I can easily find more posts on other people's blogs.

Since I care about this so much, I thought it would be really awesome and fitting to reblog posts on their 10th anniversary. That would've taken a lot of setup, though, so I never got around to it. Until last night, when I stayed up until an awful hour to get all of the 2014 posts ready.

I'm obviously not trying to get every single post there ever was. I'm not even getting every single post I've ever collected. And, I'm not even getting every post that I would have wanted to gather together if I'd had the time to be more thorough. There's also some other complications, like I've been blocked before by artists who I assume wanted me to stop reblogging their ancient art. (and by the way, my collection goes beyond what I have on this blog. I have a side blog where I collect pretty much anything I can get my hands on, even if it's not "good" or I don't "like" it, both for the sake of a complete picture and also because I can still use those old posts as a jumping off point for more deep diving)

I might still reblog some posts later even though they'd be "out of order," just to show that I think it's a good and/or significant post that I still want to celebrate reaching 10 years. For now though, I'm working on getting caught up to today's date with what I was immediately able to scrounge together.

Enough about that! Time for some actual reflection. This has been really fun and interesting to be honest, even though I spend a lot of time cataloguing stuff from this fandom and have a good grasp of trends, limitations from parts of canon not existing yet, etc, I still was surprised seeing it all put together like this. I don't know whether or not it's just because I spend the most time looking for Neptune posts, but it seems as though after he was introduced in July, he was given a lot of exclusive attention because he was new. I didn't expect him to be so much more prominent than Sun at this time. Of course, this is also exclusively to this growing sub-fandom (which, since it's pretty much lacking half of its characters, arguably hasn't reached the point where it can be called "the team sssn fandom" yet). To the wider fandom, Sun was probably still a more relevant character (and by the way, it is still surreal to see 2013/early 2014 content of him that was by himself, where his only other connection to other characters is with other Faunus).

We can also see the early beginnings of the fandom making things up about the characters in order to have something to work with. Before a name was revealed for him, people (or at least one artist) called him "Azure" just from seeing him in the trailer for volume 2. Now at the end of August, Sage and Scarlet are still in that same position, because they only exist as a still image in the opening. But for now (possibly, again this could just be because I focus a little more on him than the others), the attention is still on Neptune. I haven't seen anything mention it, but they would have actually known about Scarlet's name (and from what I know about the community they would have at least regarded it as a theory) because Sun tells Neptune not to go blab Blake's secret to Scarlet. I mentioned that without Sage and Scarlet, this sub-fandom hasn't quite solidified into its final identity, but their shared attention on a minor character is laying the grounds for it.

I don't really have a point to make by saying this, but I feel like it's worth pointing out that by this point most of the fans are still pre-existing RT fans and/or part of the target audience that rwby initially drew in. And since it's tumblr (and a large chunk of it slash), this is also the intersection of that demographic and the tumblr demographic. As rwby becomes more popular with volume 2, we'll see the fandom diversify a little bit, but it's interesting to see this stage. Another side note is that it's interesting to see a tumblr community during tumblr's prime. Not a lot, if any references to the sub-fandom or larger fandom's presence on other social media. There's not really a need to, I guess, because tumblr is still thriving and its culture is so different from other social media. And if I understand it right, twitter hadn't become the dominant fandom presence yet at that point.

I don't have a way to neatly wrap this up because I need to get ready to go to school NOW, but yeah that's all folks see you later!

[sub-danny]

Clears throat-

Imagine Zemo committing a crime you weren't happy with and so in return, you forced him to wear a chastity belt/cock cage as punishment for a day or two

Pls? 🥺

Locked up

Word count: 2k

Pairing: Fem!reader x sub!Zemo

Warnings: Cock cages, a brief description of f receiving oral sex

THIS IS 18+, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

A/N: So it's been a bit, but hey here's another little piece for you guys! Based on a post I made monthsss ago. Thanks, @i-am-dead-inside-666 for sending the ask, sorry it took so long to get to! I don't really have anything planned for both of my accounts this Valentine's day, so consider this an early Valentine's gift? I might do something tomorrow with this account if I find the time!

You watched the TV with displeasure. You could feel the bitterness on your tongue and your eyebrows casting into scorn as you hit the power button on the remote.

Two killed in an explosion believed to have been deserters of the EKO scorpion kill squad.

There was no doubt in your mind exactly who had caused this; how did the news put it? 'Accident'

Zemo hadn't returned home yet, likely still hiding out in a motel, so any police investigations won’t trace back to your home. But soon enough, when he thought the trail would be cold, he would burst through the door of your shared apartment, a bouquet in his hand, a cheerful smile on his lips and the lustful glimmer of his eyes hoping for a night's reward.

You already had taken out of the draw what would really be his prize for the night. A tightly made plastic cock cage, with the key tied to a necklace just for you to wear and punish Zemo whenever you thought it was justified, and killing just days before your anniversary certainly was.

Sure enough, a day later, you heard the rattling of keys at the door as you sat at your make-up table, applying moisturiser to your skin. You listened to the sound of shoes being rubbed on a doormat and the clicking of a door being shut.

"Darling? Are you in?" The all too familiar sokovian accent rang out.

"In the bedroom!"

Footsteps up the stairs, gentle but urgent. The rattling of the door handle. You simply turned your face to the side to watch Zemo enter the room out of the corner of your eyes, not even bothering to turn your body to him. As predicted, he carried a bouquet of red roses, and he seems to have found the time to dab on the luscious scent of some aftershave.

"I apologise for being kept away. It was not what I had intended to happen. But I’ve managed to get back just in time. Darling, you look ravishing, as always.”

"Well, I'm sure I am certainly looking better than those two sokovian fellas who were murdered."

A sudden silence broke out between you two. You turned back to the mirror to carry on with your routine. Zemo's hand gripped the flowers firmer. They started the drop, and the faintest of sighs left his lips.

"They said it was an accident…."

"Cut the crap, Helmut. I know what really happened," you snapped, cracking the lid on your moisturiser shut and spinning round on your seat to glare at Zemo.

He took in your angered expression and swallowed, nodding with his acceptance, knowing there was no way he could try to argue against you.

"I'm sorry, my love."

Zemo placed the roses on a table absentmindedly as he turned to look down at the floor instead. Huffing, you sprung from your seat and walked around the bedroom.

"I know you must have your reasons, darling. You've only told me so much of your past, and I respect you enough to not ask questions or ask for any more information than what you felt ready to tell me. But murder is something else, Helmut. I thought you had changed from your old ways. Seemingly, I was mistaken. In these few days you have given me, I've thought over what I should do and came to the ultimatum that a simple punishment should fit enough."

Zemo's eyes darted from the floor at which he had been staring at to you, the pupils dilating as his mind swarmed with sudden thoughts.

"And what punishment, may I ask, will this be, mistress?"

You simply smirked and beckoned him over to the bed with a curl of your finger, and eagerly, Zemo moved. He came to stand beside you, his breath catching in his throat as you grasped his shoulders and pushed him back onto the bed.

He laid still as you disappeared out of his eye line for a few seconds. You weren't gone for long, though, and he watched with wonder as you pushed his legs apart and crawled up the bed between his legs till you were at his crotch. Already his excitement was getting the best of him, and you could see a prominent bulge against the leather fabric of his trousers. Tutting, you let your fingers tug at his belt, undoing it to loosen the grip of his trousers and then, with one hand, you pulled down the zip exposing his silk boxers underwear.

Zemo let out a slight groan, closing his eyes briefly and breathing in and out through his nose. Though it had only been a few days since you last touched him, he was yearning for it, and having you so desperately near was a killer to him. He felt the way your fingers traced the top of his boxers, toying with him for a few seconds before dipping into his boxers, grasping his slowly hardening cock.

"So excited already? That's just going to make what's next so harder for you."

In Zemo’s lust-driven brain, your words barely registered in his mind, only as a nagging thought did they suddenly hit him, and he glanced down at you, eyes slightly furrowed. That's when he noticed the now evident cock cage held in your other hand. His eyes widened slightly, and his body let out a shudder.

"I see."

"Do you think you can cope?" You ask him gently, rubbing your fingers gently up and down his cock.

Zemo only took a second of deliberation before nodding his head.

"If this is to be my punishment, then yes,"

"Good boy," you purred, starting work on locking Zemo in.

It was harder to push Zemo's cock into the tight plastic casing in his hardened state, and though he hissed a few times, he was eventually sealed in. Next, you put placed the strap around his balls, neatly tying it at the top to prevent Zemo from coming or getting excited. He let out a few groans, even some whimpers at the feeling of being locked away, but even you couldn't miss the twinkling glimmer to his eyes as he watched you place the key to his cock on the necklace and place it around your neck.

“How long?” Zemo muttered, sitting up from where he had been lying down on the bed, sparing a glance at his locked up cock.

“At least two days,” you tell him, feeling another smirk pull at your lips as you imagine how tormented he would feel. From the look of his grief-stricken face, he was already feeling it.

Still determined to make the best of the evening, Zemo prepared dinner for you and actually handed you the bouquet he had brought, which you had graciously accepted. Yet you could see him staggering around the house, trying to find the right way to walk without occasionally whimpering at the feeling of being locked up.

You toyed with the key in front of him as you ate your meal, deliberately teasing him. For a few moments, you would run your heel up and down his leg gently, but it was enough for him to clench the cutlery in his hand and stifle a whine as he filled his mouth with food.

For an evening treat, you two cuddled up on your bed together and watched a film. You were the little spoon tonight, and Zemo was the big spoon, wrapping his arms around you to pull you onto his chest. You could admit to yourself that while he had been away, you had missed this deeply, but you could also feel the plastic between his crotch, occasionally pressing into you.

The night went smoothly, both of you resting after a long day, but it was the morning that proved challenging for Zemo. Usually, in the morning was when he would wake feeling horny, and soft morning sex between the two of you would ensue. Yet, with the cock cage on, it could no longer become hard, and it was frustrating him immensely.

He held your body close to him and rubbed his hips along your backside, the plastic pressing into your skin as he was almost humping you.

“Darling,” he said in the strained voice.

“Please.”

“No, this is your punishment, Zemo.”

A deep sigh came from behind you, but Zemo listened to your order and nodded, placing a kiss to your temple, then pulling himself out of bed, going to distract himself from all the lust-driven thoughts in his mind.

You and Zemo spent the whole day together in each other’s company, making up for the lost time. You read together; you took a shower together; you went out for lunch together and even visited a museum together. It was perfect, a perfect time together with him. But even you couldn’t miss the occasional glances he gave you or the way his eyes would trail down to your ass briefly before shaking himself and looking away.

At the end of the day, Zemo was all over you, covering your skin with kisses, up and down your neck, mouthing kisses along your jawline. You tangled your hands in his hair and gently pulled at it, making him moan against the skin. He grasped the necklace within his teeth and gently tugged, looking up into your eyes desperately.

“No. Still a day left, love.”

He looked down despondently, but you grasped the side of his face with your hand and made him look up at you again.

“There is still one thing you can do,”

Zemo’s face was buried within your cunt for the next half an hour, his lips, tongue and fingers working in tandem to bring you waves upon waves of pleasure. He would lick at your slit, trying to lap up all juices, till sucking on your clit, letting you rock your hips into his face. He would bury his tongue into you and eat you out, and when tired, he would swap his fingers in, curling them inside of you in a way that had your whole body shaking.

By the time you had come, more than once, and he had finally pulled away, lips red and hair sweaty and sticking up all over the place, you were exhausted. Zemo helped you out, fetching you towels and some food, picking up your favourite book and reading to you as you slowly grew tired. You felt a pang of slight guilt at how much pleasure Zemo had brought you while you still kept him tied up. But you knew however much he might complain about it. Letting you have this control over him secretly thrilled him.

The next day still was lovely, Zemo doting on you every minute and by the time evening came. You finally decided it was time. Zemo lay on the bed, flicking through his phone and throwing at something he saw. He didn’t even notice you in the room till you suddenly pounced, climbing on top of him, grasping the phone and throwing it to the side.

It took Zemo back for a second, his eyebrows rising in tandem, but quickly he placed his hands on your hips to steady you as you straddled his lap.

“Love?”

“Don’t you think it is time for your award?”

Light flickered in his eyes at the realisation, and a bright smile appeared on his lips.

“Only if you think it’s appropriate,”

“Screw if appropriate or not. I need you now.”

Quickly lifting yourself off his waist, you grasped the joggers he was wearing and yanked them down, exposing his tied up cock. Grabbing the key from the necklace, you slotted it into the lock and twisted, unlocking the contraction to be able to pull the plastic off his cock and take the band off his balls. Zemo let out a low growl as his eyelids fluttered, finally free and already hardening. His grip on your waist tightened.

“Thank you, love, I will not be off you for hours after everything that has built up.”

“Just you wait, darlin’. By the time I am done with you, you will beg for a break.”

TAGS: @i-am-dead-inside-666,‌ ‌@scuttle-buttle,‌ ‌@fictionlandslanddreams,‌ ‌@lieutenantn,‌ ‌@greeneyedblondie44,‌ ‌@lov3vivian,‌ ‌@edencherries,‌ ‌@theartbooshlr,‌ ‌@somethingthatsaysbubbles‌ ‌@rumblelibrary‌ ‌@my-blood-is-maple-syrup‌ ‌@idkwhat-my-name-should-be‌ ‌@bruhlpng‌ ‌@everythingbeginsineternity-blog‌ ‌@foolishroach‌ ‌ @belle82devart‌ ‌@anteroom-of-death‌ ‌@lorna-d-m‌ ‌@littleevilme13‌ ‌@danielcmgbruhld‌ ‌@janine007‌ ‌@creme-bruhlee‌ ‌@t-r-i-s-h-a-w‌ ‌@panickinanakin1 @droppdeadredd @wonderwoman292 @archangelproperty @nyx2021 @hb8301 @justicex101 @thisworldwecallsleep

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[morganas-pendragons]

justifiably angry. 

I'm going to preface this by saying that I haven't been able to watch Jodie's goodbye episode yet (I can't find a place to watch it :( ) but of course I saw spoilers. I don't usually care about them, so I subjected myself to it.

Oh boy, I'm angry.

Spoilers beneath the cut for the power of the doctor. Read at your own discretion!

First of all, I have been watching this show faithfully since 2012. I have stuck around through the garbage eras of Moffat's era, and I have stuck around through the equally more terrible garbage era's of Chibnalls. I consider myself a loyal Doctor Who fan. It made me fall in love with so, so many things. It brought me my best friend.

So let me tell you the truth: I am emotionally invested into this show. I have seen myself portrayed in the last three incarnations of The Doctor rather well. Doctor Who is an extremely relatable show that millions have loved over nearly sixty years of being on the air.

That was, however, until Jodie came along with Chibnall and "ruined it.'' which is why so many fans stopped watching.

I know fans who stopped watching when Capaldi was casted. Capaldi, who to this day stands out as the best incarnation of The Doctor for me.

Did I enjoy all of Thirteen's run? No. I didn't. But despite that, I always knew that Jodie Whittaker was going to give the performance of her life because long before I saw her as The Doctor, I saw her as Beth in Broadchurch with David Tennant.

That being said, if you haven't seen it, go watch it. That show portrays the exact caliber of what Jodie could've done with The Doctor if she were given good scripts.

Chibnall wrote a handful of good episodes. I think he's a decent writer (THE MAN WROTE MOST OF BROADCHURCH FOR GOD'S SAKES) but he's appallingly bad at sci-fi. He was never set to write well for this show.

Despite that, I remember quite well when Jodie was cast. I was sitting in the sound booth of my church in June of 2017 and yelled when that teaser trailer crawled across my Tumblr feed. You all know the one.

A woman doctor. Sixty years of tradition broke the glass ceiling with the casting of a woman doctor.

A woman doctor who perfectly embodied her previous counterparts.

Her opening scene in The Woman Who Fell To Earth won me over to her. I haven't rewatched Season 13, but there were so many scenes in her most recent season where her anguish was so palpable. I think we all knew to some degree that she would be special. That she had something to give.

And oh... she did. She really did.

Now, to the point of this post. They broke the glass ceiling by casting a woman to this role in 2017.

And then they went even further and cast a black man in 2022! Fantastic! Wonderful! I was elated to see him brought to this role. I haven't seen Ncuti in anything either, but I hadn't seen any of the Doctors in previous roles before. That's why they usually cast ''no-body's'' in the role.

So imagine my surprise when I find out that RTD is coming back, and he's bringing Catherine Tate and David Tennant with him!? AND MURRAY GOLD?!!?

Accomplishing what fans who loved the duo in 2008-2009 have wanted for over a decade, some closure for 10 and Donna!

But wait, then the rumor starts about Jodie regenerating into David. I laugh it off. It absolutely has to be a joke.

AND THEN. TODAY. TODAY I COME INTO THE TAG TO FIND OUT THAT IT WAS REAL, AND IT REALLY HAPPENED.

Yeah, to be quite honest, it's stupid. At the very least, they should've kept with the tradition of the doctor regenerating in their former incarnations clothes -- not spawning new ones.

Someone in the comment section on Facebook pointed out that The Curator in 2013's fiftieth anniversary special mentioned seeing familiar faces along the way (or something along that line) which, I get. I do. But bringing back David as obvious fan service took away THE WHOLE LITERAL POINT OF CASTING NCUTI AS FOURTEEN.

Another record was broken by casting a black man to the role, and you bring back literally the most iconic doctor for... for what?? Three episodes in 2022? And then you tie it off by telling the fans that HE is actually fourteen?

are you kidding me??!!

Here's my opinion on this, and then I'm done. You're free to disagree with anything I've said in here. I love David. I love 10, but he's not my favorite Doctor. It's 12. 10's era was very clearly over with the 50th anniversary special, and it should've been left there. Just like 11's being done with his exit episode.

Would I have loved to see 11 or 12 return for the 60th? YES.

Ten, however? He has literally gone down in history as the most iconic Doctor. The one everyone loves. Why would you bring him back if he's obviously going to overshadow the newest incarnation we have yet to love??

Make it make sense?? Please??

[justalost4girl]

" If anything can go wrong, it will."

Good night!! (Here it's still night :p )

A few weeks ago I said I would do a oneshot Lorraine Broughton x F! Reader, but it got too big so I decided to follow the initial idea and turn it into a mini series. I have two chapters written and I'm going to post them here and in Ao3, I think there will be 3 or 4 chapters in total, but I'm not sure yet.

English is not my first language, so all mistakes are mine.

Enjoy!!

warnings: mention of violence, R cursing, forgery of documents (?)

Words: 4573

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1989

Berlin, East Side

You feel in your bones, when you wake up, the consequences of last night and think that the famous Murphy's Law decided to test you. On this side of the wall few things go right, but having an order in your head two days after joining STASI's wanted list proves that nothing is so bad it can't get any worse. Courtesy of a dumb customer who messed with the wrong people and thought revealing where you find your customers would be enough information to escape death. The Local Gang (or Angels, as they call themselves) loves to eliminate competition from the market.

Now he's dead and you have to deal with the STASI AND the Local Gang (you refuse to call them Angels).

The local fucking gang that sent a team of idiots to break into your favorite bar and made you run out the back door before meeting a customer who was going to pay well. The local fucking gang who must be pissed that you shot the six dumbest members you've ever had to face in your life. No really fatal shots, but of course that won't matter as they do business with the KGB.

Sometimes you want to ignore the rules you've made for yourself, especially "never kill someone unless it's in defense of yourself or someone you love", but you think killing six agents who don't have the ability to set up an ambush of success would be a great waste of bullets. Now you know you're going to have to leave town soon and you have no idea how to break the news to your brother/partner, how do you honorably abandon a war before it's over?

Damn Murphy's Law

You know you need to sort this out, but you refuse to stay in bed crying over what's already written and decide to leave the wonderful Egyptian linen sheets you got from your favorite client last month to face the world and it's impossible to face the world without a good amount of coffee. After a quick shower with a cup of Blue Mountain in hand, your newest addiction, you sit in a robe in a nice armchair, look out the window at dying Berlin and thank heaven for the comfortable life you've earned by working with one of the greatest smugglers on this side of the wall, perhaps from all over Germany. Some desperate customers offer you valuable items from them in exchange for passports and unlike your idiot “brother”, you don't have a rule about only receiving cash. Almost everything here comes from gifts, from the sofa, pictures, bags, clothes and even some books on your shelf. You don't even remember buying that cup, or the coffee set, for gods' sake.

If he saw you now he'd complain about being soft with customers and say something about how items aren't a bargaining chip in the real world, you'd get into a tiresome discussion about enjoying the finer things in life and how bills don't compare in the importance of yours. silver chain with moon pendant that was once an amulet for more than three generations for a French family.

At the end of the day, Merkel has a large information network and an office that takes up half the block, where she keeps as much money as she has secrets, and you have a house decorated by other people where each object symbolizes someone you've helped.

Four walls don't make a house

The thought takes away some of the almost peace you feel and you decide to finish your coffee before it gets cold.

After a quick glance at the calendar you remember about the march that will take place in Alexanderplatz square and decide to go scream for Germany one last time, hopefully you'll be able to hide long enough to see the fall of the damn wall that divides this country. It's not your country, not really, you don't even like to remember how you got here, but the experiences you gained wouldn't be exchanged for anything, not even for an original Van Gogh. Also, Merkel asked you to go and bring a black umbrella, the reason was not explained and you didn't feel like asking, sometimes you think Gordon Merkel is not his name, but how to judge the man who is your only family in this end of the world? You smile when you remember that he shouldn't have an umbrella with a story as cool as his and decide to piss him off for it.

Your phone rings, and you notice you've lost track of time. Merkel was helping a blonde woman named L, he didn't give you more details other than a few stories about how she was a perfect and dangerous assassin that you should keep your distance, as few people know how to deal with her. You thought he overreacted, but you had to take over some business from him while she was in town. She seemed important considering the way he told you about her and you knew better than to deny help to the person who always supported you and declared himself a brother, you trusted him because not even the best agent in the world could fake so much sincerity and affection in claiming this title for himself.

You reach out, pick up the phone, and decide to answer it. “Hey little sister, how are you out there? I called to say that everything is fine for dinner today, but there was a mishap and the wine ran out, bring the best Bordeaux you have, I'll return the courtesy as soon as possible." A code, of course.

He needs your services ASAP. Wine is a passport, Bordeaux means two elements, courtesy involves a child.

You can combine business with pleasure "Hi brother. I'm looking forward to today, I'll take the best wine I have, don't worry. I already know how you can thank me. I need to clean the house and go to the office first, but I'll be there on time. wait for me." you say in a voice that oozes normalcy, you never know when someone's listening on the phone especially now that you're a fugitive, disgraced customer. Your body sinks into the armchair noticing the oncoming cloud of worry

Merkel now knows you need his help, as cleaning the house means getting away and going to the office shows you're in a hurry.

"Alright, do you want me to send the driver?" He asks like he's not freaking out and offering the bloody job of one of his mercenaries

“No, bro, thanks, I know the way.” You say as if you really have an escape plan besides getting a fake passport, emergency backpack and all the money you can find.

“See you later, don't forget the wine. Are you sure you don't want the driver?" You wonder if he has forgotten that knowing the way literally means everything is fine

“Relax, see you later” It takes a few seconds for him to hang up and you can hear his sigh.

He will be SO pissed.

You put the phone down as you get up to gather the passport forgery materials and put them in a briefcase. Your cookbook is already there along with some banknotes from different countries. As you pick up the black backpack of standard clothes and accessories that always waited for you in the corner of the door, you decide to wear the first jacket you bought, the dark blue jeans, the combat boots you got from a skinhead, the wristwatch you bought. you got for your brother's birthday, thick leather gloves and a thin white shirt that matches the rest of your outfit. After all, if you can die when you open the door, then die well dressed. Be sure to keep the Colt 1911 around your waist and the Russian dagger around your ankle, after yesterday you never know, Your pocket watch with the coat of arms of the Brazilian imperial family indicates that 15 minutes have passed since Merkel's phone call

You take one last look at the house you've been so proud of in recent years, snap a photo with the Polaroid you've won, and, with a bittersweet smile, close the door. One day when the wall comes down, the government changes and your face is forgotten, you can come back here, until then you will have to make do with the photo album you keep in your backpack and this photo.

Putting on your sunglasses, you arrive on the street and decide to take a taxi on the other corner, make sure you look around before leaving your home, no one knows your address, but you can't be sure the local gang is so stupid to the point of not following you after last night.

Getting a taxi was relatively easy. Neil, the driver, thanks to the boots, mistook you for a revolutionary and talked for 10 minutes about how he hoped he could take down the wall with his bare hands, you thought it was cool, but as you passed the big river that was just a few blocks away from the your brother's office, you couldn't hear a word from him.

A sign signaling that the river was closed to visitors made your eyes fill with tears. You used to go there when the day was bad, spread a blanket in a corner and watch the stars, or just laugh at the distinct reflection the water made of the moon and stars. Merkel accompanied you on anniversaries, justifying them as bonding experiences. After some freaks started swimming in the river and executions increased, STASI took over and you replaced the dark water for the restaurant's bright lights. But seeing it tightly closed gave him a feeling of anguish and rancor. You would silently curse the wall builders for the rest of the trip.

Neil seemed to notice but didn't comment on it, you thanked him, wiped your tears and left a good tip as you descended a block away from your final destination. This time you didn't need to look around because even though Merkel was super busy, he made sure to leave some security close to where your landing place was.

A tall man dressed in a red T-shirt approached you and hugged you as if he hadn't seen you in a long time. You've known him since the beginning of last year, when he arrived at Merkel's office begging for a job, and from the first moment the way he turned grief over his brother's death into a thirst for revolution made you admire the young man. The two of you walked through the great gate hand in hand as you asked about his life with genuine interest, and Klaus increasingly believed in Merkel's theory about you having such a pure heart that you didn't care about motivation or the number of lives they took, your explanation of the judgment not being your responsibility, crossed the man's head before he escorted you to the main office.

You thanked him with a smile, opened the door and stood in front of the table in the windowless room, where your brother was already waiting for you.

"What the hell happened? Are you okay? I was about to send J to get you, please tell me what happened"—he said hurriedly as he got up and pointed at the couch for you to sit on. J was one of the most dangerous women in the building and you were grateful for not wasting her time.

Putting your backpack and umbrella aside, you answered:

"I'll explain later, little brother, now let me help you. You need passports urgently, don't you?" Yes, you were stalling and postponing the conversation. He'd call you an idiot for going out on the street right after you got on the wanted list, and he'd feel guilty when he found out why you didn't tell him. Merkel wasn't going to understand that her fear of failing him was no one's fault but yourself.

Your sentence seemed to give him some responsibility back, but still, as he held out a glass of water for you, his eyes met yours with a glint that warned that this conversation was far from over.

"Yeah, I really do, but don't think I'm going to forget about it. Let's talk when this is all over. Even if it's the last thing I do today."

You accepted the glass with a bit of trepidation and stood up towards the large center table while opening the briefcase with the supplies you were going to need, if Merkel noticed the bills he didn't say anything. Once at the table, you made two passports for mother and daughter in record time. According to the clock, 10 minutes passed, faster than a car, this deserves a celebration. It would have been six if Merkel hadn't been so curious to make you waste time pulling your watch out of your pocket just for him to analyze.

Everything was going well and there was only one last detail for mother and daughter to be taken by one Percival to the other side of the wall. Percival, according to Merkel, was strange and fickle. Unreliable and extremely dangerous, you should also keep your distance from him, as this man had crucial contacts on both sides of the wall.

"He must have fewer contacts than you", you would answer

If a loud noise didn't break the silence

The annoying noise of the door creaking made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and you almost missed the last signature, it made your body vibrate with irritation and your eyes follow to the offensive source of the sound. A tall man with short hair and blue eyes was holding the doorknob with a military posture and before you could release your anger and explain something about how people shouldn't be violent inside Merkel's office you noticed he was accompanied by a woman.

AND WHAT A WOMAN!

Your eyes connected to a pair of fierce, intent green eyes, surrounded by a pale skin tone and hair so blond it looked like snow. The barely perceptible frown showed she was surprised to find someone other than Merkel there, yet she looked ready for a battle. You looked into her eyes again and nodded in acknowledgment, this must be L, the woman he was talking about.

She looked at you suspiciously, but also as if she could see into your soul, and what must have been frightening, you found endearing. A few stories of murders orchestrated by her crossed your mind, but all you could imagine is how beautiful she must be when she's mad.

They say green eyes darken when we're high on adrenaline, does that happen to her?

Her analysis of the intriguing blonde ends when she notices that the man accompanying her has raised his voice and from his furious expression, it's not the first time he's repeated the question. You interrupt him before you hear him and make sure to direct the ghost of anger before him:

"Have you lost your mind? Who walks into the office without knocking? Surely you should be here asking about passports, but if it weren't for my experience and steady hands, they would be in the trash by now. Learn to be civilized. You're under two paws not four, so act human and not animal" you say in an explosive but articulate tone to make sure he understands what you say. Sometimes when you speak fast, you are betrayed by faulty diction. Not today. Today you want this man to feel every fiber of irritation that went through his body.

Hearing Merkel holding a nervous laugh, you try to relax, but judging by the cold, almost murderous look of the man in the doorway, you've definitely gotten yourself in trouble. Looking at the organized clothes, you notice it's an old police uniform, probably taken by your brother, and unless Merkel has hired new employees, you've never seen it around here. His eyes snap back to his and something inside you warns that this must be Percival. He probably wants to kill you.

Damn Murphy's Law

A brief silence settles in the room and you shake off the fear and turn away, refusing to play the glaring game with a man who almost spoils your art. On other days you might look at him at a party, but today you want to make him swallow the ink on the stamp in his hands and invite the blonde to dinner

And it's her voice that breaks the silence.

You're flipping through the two passports for failures when she says

"Sorry, miss. My friend is an unprecedented idiot. Shall I close the door and knock again? Perhaps your highness too--"

You turn her body towards her when you hear the slightest hint of irony in her tone and interrupt her with a fake smile as you look into her eyes.

"It's not necessary, I accept your apology, Miss. I always said that Merkel should have someone armed at the door to remind everyone of the need to knock on the door. Anyone who didn't knock would lose his mind as the law of my reign says. Perhaps I should start. for him, since the top head is the last thing he wears lately" you joke look at Merkel who doesn't seem offended by the statement, shrugging you look at those blue eyes again and say "the passports are ready. Let's get out of here."

You close the passports, reach for your backpack and umbrella and start moving towards the door, both agents let you lead the way and judging by the blonde's expression, she's not used to being interrupted, nor is she used to seeing someone talking like that with Merkel, but today it was acceptable. You really think she's adorable, but you know better than to let someone make fun of you, especially in front of your brother who wouldn't let you forget about it. Either she doesn't care, or she's a great actress. Anyway, that idiot is still by her side and you refuse to be the reason for his possible laugh.

Her friend probably didn't have the same acting classes and his resemblance to the local gang members, like he's going to kill you in the blink of an eye in a cowardly way, is almost frightening. If Merkel hadn't said L is a woman, you'd be scared. It makes you shiver a little and look for Merkel, but he's not following you. Looking over his shoulder you see him putting a few more piles of dollars and euros into your briefcase. With a snap of your fingers you get his attention and before you walk out the door, you hear the briefcase click closing.

Once out of the room, you look around and realize that nothing has really changed, all faces are familiar, except for three people: a couple talking to a child. After a brief analysis you find yourself facing the passport clients, mother and daughter. The man doesn't look older than 60 and has kind eyes, almost as if he doesn't live on this side of the wall.

They don't seem to notice you

Your observation is interrupted by Merkel's loud, proud voice, right behind you. Here it comes

"This is Elizabeth Loyd and Percival, two trusted clients. Elizabeth and Percival, this is my little sister, she will be on the march today, if you need anything in the future you can talk to her."

Hearing her name, you notice that Merkel really wasn't creative at all. Who would use the initial letter of a surname as a symbol? Anyone who heard the stories about L and met a loyde who knows a Merkel would make the connection. As you turn around, you swallow your nervousness and try to put on your best smile as you say your name to them. The blonde woman who finally has a name, Elizabeth, leans closer, her eyes never leaving yours, and you wonder if she can feel the jumble of emotions that is unraveling inside you.

She smiles a smile that makes you sure she does and reaches out and greets you with a firm grip, if she noticed the sweat on your hands, she didn't let on. She also looks a little more comfortable.

Maybe because she noticed you said her real name, idiot.

You hate yourself for one second and the next you want to be without gloves because it feels soft and warm.

The man, Percival, comes next and looks at you suspiciously and the smile fades from your face, you wonder if no one else can smell the strong smell he gives off, a smell of cheap whiskey and arrogance. Still, he holds out his hand and this time you thank the gods for the gloves. Make sure you don't bow your head or fail in your posture. He still looks at you like you killed his son. Useless even to pretend, for God's sake.

Merkel watches the exchange from afar and nods to Elizabeth, she responds and Percival walks away looking uneasy. You look around uncomprehendingly, feel a little left out, and wonder which computer must have Tetris installed.

You would kill for a distraction right now.

Going out on the street in a crowded march while being chased by two groups still makes you sick.

Your brother approaches and extends his hands around you. You've missed him for the past few weeks. He still wears the perfume you gave him for his birthday and it makes you sink deeper into the hug. You know he's going to be mad when he finds out what happened so you enjoy as much affection as you can

"Little sister, in addition to our conversation I need to tell you something" his voice is low in tone and you doubt you would understand the words if you weren't so close to him "but I can't do that until the march is over. Meet me at usual table at the restaurant where we celebrate our achievements, It's very important"

His even low voice is charged with strong emotion and you are genuinely worried, Merkel has never been like this before.

"I'll do it, brother, I promise. Whatever it is, we can work it out together" you say with all the certainty you can muster in your voice, because you need him to understand that this is true.

You feel eyes on you and as you look up you notice that Elizabeth keeps an eye on your exchange with Merkel while talking to the little girl's father, from the distance she probably can't understand anything and you don't know if she celebrates or cares with so much attention received. A little further away is a Percival who pretends to be busy with the coat he's wearing. He also pays attention to your exchange, but his talent for discretion is as effective as his ability to open doors.

Your eyes return to the concentrated blue eyes that are in front of you and Merkel speaks in an almost inaudible way:

"When I whistle, I need you to raise your open umbrella and stay alert. The three people we're going to cross are very important, nothing can go wrong. But if it does, I'll be at the restaurant, whatever happens find me there."

Noticing the proximity of Percival and Elizabeth, you place your hand on your brother's shoulder and smile as you speak a little louder:

"Don't worry man, it's always a pleasure to help you. I'll leave my briefcase here, then meet you to get it. Good march."

Merkel shows that she understands his strange move and smiles, you greet some friends of his that you haven't seen in a while and as you head towards the exit, you meet a pair of deep green eyes. Elizabeth is gleaming in the cold lights that are refracted by the mosaic of the gate, she looks into your eyes, ever alert, looks at the object in your hands and nods her head with a half smile, do you think the guard's idea black rain was hers.

As you wave back, you can feel that a pair of eyes haven't left your back since the moment of your brother's embrace, as the old man is saying goodbye to the family, you know who they belong to and decide not to look for them. If the STASI, KGB or local gang find you, he doesn't own the pair of eyes you want to remember before you die.

Taking a deep breath, you walk through the gate and blend into the crowd.

..........................................................................................................................

After leaving Merkel's office block, you take a hat out of your backpack and wear your sunglasses as you look around, not that a local gang member is here but because if he sees you in disguise he will ask a series of questions and he has enough problems already, plus STASI must be monitoring this area and the last thing you want is to be arrested. You decide to tuck your coat into your backpack to change your look, and while internally debating your ability to ignore the cold, your eyes catch the almost snowy blond hair in the crowd.

This signals that they are already on the march and you decide to get a little closer to them, but make sure you do this without drawing attention to yourself since the nasty man is still there. Elizabeth is on your diagonal absorbing all the extraneous details that might be a possible threat, she seems so focused on the job of passing the owner's gentle eyes in a safe way that it makes you wonder how important he is and if she's noticed you.

A few meters later a familiar noise floats through the march and you open the umbrella almost instantly, as do other protesters.

Out of the corner of your eye you can see Percival taking the man's family across and sometime later Elizabeth does the same. You notice that her posture has changed and when she decides to stop for a better look, the crowd drags her and you can no longer locate her.

Her feet continue forward and as some signs are raised by the protesters, you try to find your brother. Unsuccessfully. You decide to trust their ability and hope that you can meet him again at the restaurant.

You also want Elizabeth to be okay.

Continuing on the march, after two or three long blocks you notice the familiar silhouette of one of the STASI bosses, he is watching the crowd as if looking for someone, but he doesn't seem to notice you. You notice observers on top of buildings and decide to leave the streets. Whether it's the Local Gang, KGB or STASI itself you don't know and decide you don't want to know.

Your brain tries to design routes to escape and your body mimics the movements of the closest protesters so as not to draw attention to you, but when some agents in black point in your direction and make space in the crowd, you run between people to seek shelter in somewhere you know and at every step you are sure that the day will be worse than you thought.

Damn Murphy's Law

[zedecksiew]

Kriegsmesser

When I received Kriegsmesser in the mail I finally googled "kriegsmesser", and found out it meant "war knife". Which makes sense; Gregor Vuga's ZineQuest 2021 project is a tribute to "roleplaying games named after medieval weapons".

I love Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay's piss-renaissance Old World setting. I tend to pick up WFRP-a-likes sight unseen:

Warlock (quality);

Small But Vicious Dog (yesss);

Zweihander (which I have come to hate); etc.

Anyway: I backed Kriegsmesser without really knowing anything about it. So Kriegsmesser surprised me.

+

Kriegsmesser grew out of a Troika! cutting. Its 36 backgrounds are compatible with that system: each come with a couple of lines of description; a list of skills and possessions; an a visual cameo cropped from actual 16th-Century woodcut art.

Cohesive and competently flavourful. My favourite is the Labourer, who always starts with "an empty pine box":

"You've spent your life breaking your back, working hard for other people's profit. You have nothing to show for it but a spectre of the future."

(The obligatory ratcatcher-analogue , called the Vermin Snatcher, is here -- check that box!)

+

Kriegsmesser also comes with its own ruleset. Hits all the notes it needs to, with lots of orientation and advice for how to run a game -- but ultimately super-simple, mechanically:

Roll d6s equal to the value in a relevant skill, look at the highest result. 6 means you get what you want; 5 or 4 means you get what you want, at a cost.

It's not quite a dice pool, since only the highest result matters. No opposed tests.

+

Kriegsmesser intends to have this base mechanic handle fights, too. The combat rules - with armour, toughness and weapon values -- are nested in an optional section.

For a WFRP-a-like, this feels like a purposeful departure.

Many of WFRP's most celebrated adventures are celebrated for bits that their underlying ruleset does little to support: the investigative structure of "Shadows Over Bogenhafen"; the complicated timetable of "Rough Night At Three Feathers".

Ludwig von Wittgenstein never needed a statblock to be memorable.

Not to say that lethal, hyper-detailed fights isn't super Warhammer-y. (Kriegsmesser includes an injury table, broken down by body-part -- check that box!)

But here it feels like Gregor is saying: "I'm not Games Workshop and Roleplay isn't an ancillary of Warhammer Fantasy Battle; we can evoke grim-and-perilous-ness even if we fork away from heavy combat rules."

+

It has become ritual for me to read my partner Sharon to sleep.

Sometimes I read her RPG things. The other night, after I read her Kriegsmesser's introduction --

" The Empire wages an eternal war against Chaos. Its priests preach of Chaos as an intrusion, something unnatural ... These men see Chaos in anything that does not buttress their rule. They call it disorder, anarchy, corruption. They say that to rebel against their order is to rebel against god and nature. That the current arrangement is natural, rather than artificial.

" Meanwhile, the common people look to the Empire to deliver the justice that they were promised and they find none. They look to the Empire and do not see themselves reflected in it. They look around at what they were taught was right and good and see only misery.

" Their world begins to unravel. Chaos comes to reside in every heart and mind sound enough to look at the world and conclude it is broken. "

-- Sharon remarked: "Nice one."

The RPG things I read her generally leave Sharon lukewarm. She has enjoyed a couple -- but, yeah: for many of these books, text isn't their strong point.

Kriegsmesser is the only time I can recall Sharon praising the writing of an RPG book without my prompting.

Nice one.

+

That introduction surprised me. It underlines Kriegsmesser's biggest departure from its WFRP-a-like pedigree: how it characterises Chaos.

Corruption, a mainstay of most grim-dark-y games, is made an optional rule, like combat. Explaining this, Gregor writes:

" Kriegsmesser partially subverts or deconstructs the traditional conceit of Warhammer where the characters are threatened by the forces of Chaos. In this game it is the player characters who are the agents of 'Chaos': they are likely to become the 'rats' under the streets, and the wild 'beast-men' in the woods bringing civilisation down. It's the Empire and its nobles and priests that are corrupt ... "

Describing the Empire, Gregor writes:

" The Empire encompasses the world yet is terrified of the without. It enforces itself with steel and fire yet considers itself benevolent. It consumes the labour of others with bottomless hunger yet calls its subalterns lazy, or wasteful, or greedy. "

Holy shit this is the first time I've seen the word "subaltern" in an RPG thing, I think?

I love this.

+

Rant incoming:

With every passing decade Warhammer abridges its Moorcockian roots more and more; nowadays it is "Order = Good" and "Chaos = Evulz", pretty much.

Gone are the days when chaos berserkers are implied to grant safe passage to the helpless (because Khorne is as much a god of martial honour as he is a god of bloodletting); Or that the succor of Papa Nurgle is a genuine comfort to the downtrodden; Or that Tzeentch could unironically embody the principle of hope, of change for the better.

As Chaos is distilled into unequivocal villainy, Order goons get painted as Good Guys by default --

Giving rise to Warhammer's contemporary problem, wherein fans are no longer able to recognise satire.

+

When I was introduced to 40K, it seemed pretty clear that the Imperium was a Brazil-esque absurdist-fascist bureaucratic state: planets are exterminatus-ed due to clerical error; the way it stamps out rebellions is the reason why rebellions begin in the first place.

Tragi-comic grimdarkness. That was the point.

Nowadays that tone has shifted -- and you're more likely than not going to encounter a 40K fan who argues that the Imperium's evils are a justified necessity, to prevent worse wrongs.

We went from:

"Space Nazis because insane dumbass fuckery, also chainswords vroom vroom rule of badass!"

To:

"Space Nazis because it makes sense actually, and also chainswords make sense because [insert convoluted rationalisation here]."

+

Even Fantasy Flight's Black Crusade line, which ostensibly offers a look at 40K from the perspective of Chaos, never truly commits to its conceit.

With prep you could play a heroic band of mutant freedom fighters, resisting the tyranny of the Evil Imperium --

But I don't remember Black Crusade giving that kind of campaign any actual support. Its supplements service the relatively more conventional "You can play villains!" angle; the Screaming Vortex is a squarely Daemons-vs-Daemons setting.

+

This tonal drift culminates, in my mind, with Age of Sigmar, Games Workshop's heroic-fantasy replacement of the old WFRP / WHFB setting.

Here's the framing narrative for AoS's recently-launched Third Edition. Let's see whether I've got things right:

A highly professionalised, technologically-superior tip-of-the-spear fighting force (the Stormcast Eternals);

Backed by an imperialist military-industrial complex (Azyrheim);

"Liberating" rich new territories (Ghur) for exploitation by a civilised settler culture (Settlers of Sig-- I mean, Free Cities);

Justified because the locals are irredeemable heathens (Chaos and Kruleboyz).

I mean, that's a sweet-ass Warhammer setting. It's contemporary, laser-guided lampoon. Except it is played totally straight.

In AoS, a literal crusade is justified as the moral good.

+

I think Kriegsmesser surprised me because its framing of Chaos -- as a promise, as the light of hope shining through cracks of a broken world --

It feels so fucking right.

Yes: its a subaltern deconstruction of the conventional moral universe of Warhammer -- but it is a take that is also already implied / all but supported in the various depictions of the setting: from WFRP to the modified title-crawl of Black Crusade.

I'm annoyed I didn't think of it, myself. Damn you, Gregor!

And I'm annoyed that more Warhammer fans aren't thinking it, also.

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lmagine if Kriegsmesser's perspective stood on equal standing as the GW orthodoxy. Imagine if, instead of simplifying stuff into "Order = Good" and "Chaos = Evulz", GW did a Gregor Vuga.

You'd have a Rashomon-ed Warhammer, where villainy depends on perspective:

You are fearful villagers, huddled around your priest, muttering prayers against the wild braying coming from the trees beyond your gates.

You are Aqshyian tribeswomen, defying the thunder warrior towering over you, the foreigner demanding you bow to his foreign god.

You are a Tzeentchian revolutionary cell, desperately trying to disrupt a Inquisitor's transmissions so your home planet isn't destroyed by fascist orbital fire.

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Get Kriegsmesser HERE.

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( Image sources: https://theenemywithinremixed.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/thoughts-on-the-4e-death-on-the-reik/ https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/59-brazil https://www.deviantart.com/faroldjo/art/Warhammer-40k-Black-Crusade-273596035 https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/06/09/fancy-a-new-life-bringing-order-to-the-mortal-realms-join-a-dawnbringer-crusade-today/ https://www.nme.com/blogs/the-movies-blog/team-america-15-anniversary-south-park-2558750 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestinian_children_and_Israeli_wall.jpg )

[turnaboutspoiler]

Hey everyone! I haven't posted much about idolish7, but I want you to know that it's one of my favorite fandoms, and since the 5th part was announced I want to share my thoughts on the topic based on the pv. Also I have to warn about spoilers for the previous parts and some other stories.

Oh, and one more thing! I haven't read the last anniversary story yet so I don't know if there were any important things and "bridges" to pt5, but as soon as I have time for it I read it and if there will be smth changes my mind I'll let you know.

So starting with Zool members!

MIDOU TORAO

"Someday, it will come true. For now, whatever it is, I'd like to personally experience it"

OR

"Someday it'll come true. But for now, I'll have you experience on how big of a scale it is"

I found two versions of his phrase giving us two totaly different meanings. I don't know which one is the right one since I don't know japanese at all, but I have comments for both.

The first line however stays the same. I guess we're gonna have a new arc for Zool as a group since they have a new manager now (who I'll talk about later), and considering their lost at BoW at the end of pt4 it sounds pretty possible. This ending has shown us that Zool still have to make their way of growing up, becoming independant. So yes, I think this is what we'll get in pt5.

And then next lines clashes. But my main thought on them that we're finally gonna have Torao's personal arc. We had Toma and Haru's in pt3 and Minami's in pt4 while Torao stayed aside for the whole time. We only know his backstory briefly from the AQ story but definitely it was not enough. So it seems that Torao May even become a centric Zool character in pt5 (I have another option for this one however). Maybe we'll even see his family members like his father or elder brother, who was the only person in this family Torao had good relationships with. I really hope this to be true.

Also can't imagine this to be a coincidence that Torao comes the very first. Believe me, there's gonna be some mess with him.

INUMARU TOMA

"Each from different places, we battled, we survived, and we met. And then, we became ZOOL"

OR

"We've all been fighting in different places, survived and met. And then we became ZOOL"

So this are the words of a true leader! These lines sounds like something Toma could say protecting his group and his friends. But protecting from whom exactly? Then again, we'll go to this later=) Also it can be a message for Zool's fans like "look, we all have different stories but we stay strong together". And I feel like this phrase is reffering to the AQ story about ballons which actually were the connecting thread between Zool members back at the time (thanks to that btw I have a trigger for ballons).

But aside everything of this, this is actually a very powerful speech. It shows that Toma would do anything to protect Zool and I guess he could do something thoughtless and stupid in despair (as I believe that something bad is gonna happen to Zool), which, of course, will have its consequences. Also I want Toma to have his own leader arc, like is this role really fits him..? (yeah, I like angst;P)

ISUMI HARUKA

"Up until now, what I wanted to say... There were so many things I wished someone would listen to. I'm glad I'm finally being heard"

OR

"Until now, There's been so much stuff I wanted to talk about... So many things I wanted someone to hear. I'm happy that they can be heard now"

These lines broke my heart. I'm so happy Haru have friends like that now. Friends, who support him, who believe in him, who merely listen to what he has to say.

...And that's why I think Haru would suffer the most in case something bad happens to Zool.

Haru is the youngest group member, he's still a kid, and it's very important for him to have Minami, Toma and Torao around. Not only as friends but also as people he can rely on. He'll never say it out loud though. And I believe these lines could be a part of Haru's personal monologue or just his thoughts. Maybe he's even gonna have some kind of mental breakdown, who knows...

NATSUME MINAMI

"Understood, please leave it to me. I will make a song of revenge to make up for the lost at Black and White"

OR

"Understood. Please leave it to me. I'll compose a song for our revenge at Black or White's return match"

This is the direct refference to pt4 ending, which was already mentioned here. Considering Sakura's death and Minami's motivation for this competition, it has to be really hard for Minami to hold their lost. It's just naturally he, like noone else, wants revenge. But what confuses me is the first word — "understood". Clearly it's an answer to someone else's speech. Maybe Minami was told to create a song which becomes legendary and put Zool on the top of the pedestal. Or maybe it was an answer to the discussion of BoW above Zool members. Anyway it sounds like a challenge Minami decided to accept (the line "leave it to me" proves it).

I guess it could be his new motivation for composing, but somehow I don't think it would be the only one. It could be at the beginning, but not at the end.

~~~~

And I also want to add that it's highly possible we're gonna see more Zool's interactions with other groups. Probably more Minami with Nagi, Haru with Iori and Tamaki, Toma with Mitsu, Yamato or Ryu, Torao with Gaku and etc. And maybe other groups could help Zool with their situation in pt5. I believe we'll get a lot of scenes with sincere conversations between Zool and other groups.

Soooo that's all for Zool (for now at least). I hope I didn't forget or skipped something. Next go Re:vale!