#i have a list of people way more talented who can definitely help better if you want it

[foodfightnovelization]

ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight

Holy chips! It's an exciting time to be a Foodfight! fan, because ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight is finally out! This really is THE definitive documentary on the insanity behind the movie, and it finally answers the question of just what was going on behind the scenes during production. Since I helped out with research (and I even get a short line of dialogue at 45:19) I've already seen everything that was shown off, but had to keep quiet until all the interviews were conducted and the documentary was finished. But now it's out and everything has been made public, the cat's out of the bag (the Fat Cat Burglar?) and I can talk about all the production material that's been shared.

Before I get into any of that though, I'd highly recommend you watch the documentary for yourself. It's insanely well researched and put together, and having worked together with Ziggy Cashmere (the documentary's creator) I know how hard he dedicated himself towards making this all possible. If it weren't for him, the most interesting Foodfight! discovery would've been finding the novelization, and we would have never gotten any real insight into how this movie came to be. It's also a documentary that really speaks for itself- I don't want to say too much about what it reveals since it's all expressed far better through its narrative and the interviews with people who actually worked on the project. My favorite is the interview with texture artist Mona Weiss- she tells such horrifying stories about how she was treated by Larry and other crewmembers, yet does it all with a sense of humor that makes it clear she's enjoying getting to talk about her crazy experiences. It's clear Foodfight! was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish, and there's nobody to blame for that but Larry Kasanoff himself. The movie was rotten from the top down and despite the countless talented animators and artists working on it, nothing could fix the fact that it was fundamentally mismanaged in the worst way possible. I think the quote from producer George Johnsen summarizes it best: "Foodfight! was a good idea that unfortunately lost its way during production. The technology, the art, and the direction were not in sync. Many very talented people gave their all to make the picture, but more understanding of process from the top was needed for it to succeed."

But if you saw the documentary, you already know all that, right? So instead, let's talk about the behind-the-scenes material that's finally been shared! You can find everything I'll talking about HERE on archive.org-

It's worth following the link and checking it out for yourself- there's so much it'd impossible to discuss everything. Artwork, storyboards, bloopers, models, a nude render of Lady X, an interview with Larry Kasanoff, the list goes on and it's still being updated! Despite the documentary already being out, people who worked on the movie are continuing to share new material! It's pretty incredible- for the past year I've ran this blog all I've really had to discuss are two tie-in books, and now there's so much Foodfight! material I can't even keep up with it.

I mean LOOK at all this, isn't it fantastic? The character art by Jim George showing off just how much better these designs originally were, the countless environments showing off just how stunning Marketropolis could've looked as well as the strength of the core idea "what if a supermarket came to life at night", and insanely detailed storyboards for a 7-minute pitch reel that was used to sell the movie to investors. Normally, I'd be ALL OVER this because it's all just incredible, but there's something far, FAR more fascinating than any of it.

There are even multiple drafts of the script (one from 2005 and one from 2007 respectively) and normally I'd be insanely fascinated by those too, making extremely detailed posts explaining the differences between the drafts and how they compare to the novelization, but there's something else that was found that blows ALL of this out of the water and is easily one of the most monumental lost media discoveries of ALL TIME.

That's right, a rough cut of the ENTIRE movie from 2005 has been found, containing nearly ALL the completed animation from earlier on in production. I mean, that's mindblowing right? We first got sent this around a month ago, a little while before the documentary came out, and I literally stopped everything I was doing at work to just sit and watch this. This is the closest we're ever going to get to the "original" version of Foodfight! after all- only 7 minutes of footage was ever actually made before they switched to mocap, made solely for the aforementioned pitch reel, and this workprint contains practically all of it! On top of that there are some great storyboards in here, as well as some truly hilarious ones cobbled together from 3D renders, and the plot is far better than what we ended up with, a lot of the more inappropriate jokes being absent. This rough cut is actually pretty similar to the novelization in that regard, and it also contains scenes that we'd previously only read about in there.

For example, in the novelization there's a snowmobile chase through the mountains, with Brand X soldiers on snowmobiles and a heavy avalanche close behind. This scene was completely left out of the movie itself, but in this workprint it's here! ALL the previously novelization-exclusive scenes are included, and this rough cut is seemingly based on an even earlier draft of the script than that- here Brand X are still defeated by a flood, whereas by the time of the novelization it'd been changed to a lightning storm. There are SO many exciting differences in this workprint, the snippets of original animation we get to see are SO good, and it's SO much better than the movie itself that I think it by far deserves the crown as the DEFINITIVE version of Foodfight! There's so much in it I want to discuss, that there's no way I can fit it all into this one post...so stay tuned, because in the next few days I'll be doing a FULL analysis of the 2005 workprint, pointing out all the extra brand mascots not in the finished film, and generally just gushing about how amazing it is.

I mean, this is it. Just take it all in for a second- the original footage was considered lost media for over a decade, and now it's practically been found in its entirety, embedded in an early cut of the whole movie...isn't that just phenomenal? All the mysteries have been unraveled, all the questions have been answered, and now we can relax, take a deep breath, and watch Foodfight!...the REAL Foodfight! Make sure to enjoy it, and join me next time for my analysis!

[youcouldmakealife]

Masking, YCMAL edition

So, after the general info on masking, here's how it specifically looks like and impacts some of the 'verse's characters.

I think I kind of need to preface this with the fact that a lot of my characters have neurodivergent traits because, well. I do. I don't know how a neurotypical person thinks, the same way a neurotypical person doesn't know how a neurodivergent person thinks. You can read about the experience, and, despite shitty stereotypes to the contrary, you can empathize with it, but the wiring of the brain is literally different.

So when I'm listing characters here as neurodivergent, I either a) set out to write them that way or b) in hindsight can't deny that their experiences are written through a very specifically neurodivergent lens. Someone not being explicitly labelled as ND doesn't necessarily mean they aren't, I just..really don't want to go back through my entire 'verse applying diagnoses the same way I happily slap an MBTI or enneagram or kindergarten teacher/assassin label on them, because that feels wrong.

But if you're neurodivergent and see something in a particular character that makes you feel seen, I'm not going to tell you 'nah man, they're actually neurotypical'. Especially because literally every single one of them was written by someone neurodivergent.

Anyway! Canonically ND characters and their masks:

David: masks extensively. Generally does his best for 'unobtrusive, pay no attention', unsure why it doesn't seem to work (mostly because he's talented and beautiful, so it seems less 'unobtrusive' and more 'I think I'm better than you', which isn't helped by the fact that often when the mask does slip, it's to show frustration, contempt, or disdain -- think at the All-Star Game his rookie year, or several points early on with Jake. Also does not help that he often does think he's better than people.)

Bryce: Still laughing at 'straightsona' used to describe Bryce out with his teammates, because it's perfect. His 'I don't care, I'm hot as shit, bitches love me' dickhead behaviour was him picking up those behaviours from popular peers and teammates over the years, partly mistaking that for the reason they were popular (rather than being seen as boy kings making them callous or arrogant), and partly viewing them as the exemplar of someone no one would predict was gay. Jared's worst enemy.

Speaking of, honourable mention to Raf Sanchez AND Julius Halla here, Jared's going around collecting neurodivergent loved ones all through IJ(aoe).

James: 'unobtrusive, pay no attention', much more successfully than David, partly because he has a mouthpiece in the form of Finn. His crashing after road trips is partly extended overstimulation and change, but it's also having to wear the mask more extensively, because he has much less time to himself, especially when he shared a room. (He's mostly unmasked with Finn, that's why Finn is his exception to a lot of No People things, but he wasn't at the beginning).

Holden: Also kind of 'I don't care, I'm hot as shit, bitches love me', but...ironically? He doesn't mask as much as the others, and because of that, he frequently drives away people who originally seem to like him and wonders why. Has been described as 'a lot'.

Fiona: Literally will not leave the house without a full face of makeup and a pair of heels or she'll feel exposed and vulnerable, and putting her make up on is how she prepares to be Outside Fiona. She's very perky and friendly at work. The second she gets home it's an 'uggggh' moment and straight into the shower to decompress/literally unmask. She's more aware than any of the guys that she's putting on a performance, partly because she grew up with all those 'girls are expected to be...' followed by a list of things she definitively wasn't. Has also been described as 'a lot'.

Finn: And How May I Be of Service To You Today?

Now this is where it gets kind of interesting because like -- people often have facades. That's not a neurodivergent only thing. People can be fake, or posture, or pretend to be something they're not. Mike, for example, will lean into the big macho asshole when he's put on the defensive, Willy is Always Performing, Thomas is sunshine even when he doesn't really feel like being that, Robbie will play the buffoon to make people laugh if he thinks they need it, half of Joey's rants are playing to the cheap seats.

Like, there's a difference between pretending you're somebody else sometimes, or behaving inauthentically, and full on 'yeah, they're masking'.

But Georgie is masking. Georgie is, at all times, evaluating his surroundings, monitoring people's emotions and reactions (especially to him), and behaving in the manner he thinks is most likely to lead to his being liked. And he was already doing that when Robbie met him, but it's intensified significantly since.

I think that's where the biggest difference lies between some of the above ND characters and Georgie? David, for example, doesn't care if he's liked (like, yes he does, but also...no). The mask is for safety/to minimize vulnerability. David's in particular was tweaked to get praise and avoid criticism from his parents (didn't work), teachers, and coaches (worked much better), not so much for his peers.

But Georgie's isn't for safety. Georgie doesn't manage his behaviour to avoid harm, Georgie wants people to like him. And he's discovered that people don't seem to like him when he does certain things, or acts certain ways, or needs things from them, so he just...doesn't do those things.

Finn's interesting because he has both forms. Please like him it'll break his heart if you don't.

[hd-wireless]

📻🎶 H/D WIRELESS 2024 - ANON MASTERLIST AND GUESSING GAME!

It’s time for the list! And for some numbers! And a wee game!

This year’s Wireless has (as always) some impressive numbers for you. Everyone, the Wireless 2024 stats:

33 days of posting

45 works in total

6 artworks

2 art and fic combos

34 fics

3 podfics

And a total of 758,934 words!

We mods can’t thank each and everyone of you enough! Without every single one of our participants and readers this fest wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for being here and showing support to the amazingly talented people we had participating this year. ❤️

You have one week until we reveal the names of all our amazing creators, and what better way to spend it than catching up with the works you might have missed and playing our fun guessing game!

Guessing Game: ❓ Can you work out who created what?? Click this link to access the form and have your guess. The more correct guesses you make the more points you get, and we even award points for wrong answers so you might as well try guessing them all! Don’t forget to read the instructions!!! The winner will be announced at Reveals.🏆

And why not have another listen to our prompted songs for the works we post before the reveals next week:  

Click here for Spotify (many thanks to @evaeleanor for helping us out there) ❤️ And here for the YouTube playlist.

🎶 H/D Wireless Art 🎶

📻 Fly Away with Me Tonight? [Gen, Digital Art]

🎵 Song Prompt: Levitating by Dua Lipa  🎵Summary: A chance meeting, an invitation to dance

📻 ghost (might as well be gone) [Gen, Digital ]

🎵 Song Prompt: Might as Well Be Gone by Pixies  🎵 Summary: Draco Malfoy retired from the Auror force and left England a decade ago, but he still receives the Daily Prophet. Today’s issue provides closure on the one case he was never able to officially solve.

📻 MY FRIENDS SAY I SHOULDN'T SEE YOU ANYMORE [T, Digital Art ]

🎵 Song Prompt: bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo  🎵 Summary: Both Draco's and Harry's friends don't approve of their little... dalliance. But it's so hard to stay away from each other! Could this be a bit more than just casual?

📻 He Did IT! [Not Rated, Digital Art]

🎵 Song Prompt: No Body, No Crime by Taylor Swift   🎵 Summary: Harry: I think he did it but I just can't prove it, 'Mione!!  Hermione: And, what exactly did he do, Harry?  Harry: I-, I don't know! Something! He has to! It feels weird every time I look at him!!  Hermione: .....  Ron: ......  Ron: Mate...  *****  Or, it's sixth year and Malfoy is definitely up to something! Why else would Harry's heart beat so fast every time the stupid git so much as looks at him!?!

📻 A Quiet Life [T, Digital art]

🎵 Song Prompt: A Quiet Life by Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld  🎵 Summary: After their relationship becomes public knowledge; after being hounded by the paparazzi; after Draco says enough is enough and leaves London; Harry’s more than happy to follow.  After all, a quiet life is all he’s ever wanted.

📻 The Shape I found you in [Not Rated, Digital art]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'The Shape I found you in' by 'Girlyman'  🎵 Summary: But your heart was busy within,  Building bomb shelters under your skin.  That's the shape I found you in

🎶 H/D Wireless Fic and Art 🎶

📻 Trade My Heart For Honey [M, 64.170, Digital Watercolour]

🎵 Prompt: Water Under The Bridge by Adele  🎵 Summary: A Witch who thinks she’s a Seer, a Seer who thinks she’s a Witch, a former nemesis-turned-something-turned-acquaintance who thinks they could be friends, and a Scottish village full of Muggles who think this is as much their business as the fair folk in the woods. Draco is going to prove them all wrong.

📻 Thunder [E, 11,325, digital]

🎵 Song Prompt: "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac  🎵 Summary: Harry and Ginny are on a break. Harry and Ginny don’t want anyone to know. Harry assumes Ginny is fucking their way through their Quidditch team. Harry punches Draco Malfoy in the face in his free time. Harry considers this a perfectly reasonable coping mechanism. Harry figures that as long as he keeps everything the way that it is, that everything will stay the same, and nothing bad will happen, and Ginny will stay with him, and Malfoy will keep quietly visiting his dreams.

🎶 H/D Wireless Fic 🎶

📻 You're on Your Own, Kid [E, 44.274] 

🎵 Song Prompt: You're on Your Own, Kid by Taylor Swift  🎵 Summary: In August of 1998, Draco leaves behind everything he’s ever known. With the help of two middle-aged lesbians, a Muggle bookshop, and a new best friend, Draco’s future is finally looking up. That is, until Harry Potter wanders back into his life a year later, undoing everything Draco has worked towards.  Or, a tale about healing, forgiveness, and living for no one but yourself.

📻 Heartbeat [E, 22,791]

🎵 Prompt: Heartbeat by Childish Gambino  🎵 Summary: Harry hates Draco, and Draco hates him in return. Only it's not hate, not even a little bit. Featuring: a cooperative independent study, golden hour on wrecked sheets, strawberries in the summer at Grimmauld Place, water from fountains of (dubious) origin, purple Mardi Gras beads, and a bird with silly legs.  Also featuring: heated arguments, infidelity, unquenchable desire, and heartbreak. Over and over again.

📻 Long for Bliss! [E, 9,400]

🎵 Song Prompt: This Must Be It by Röyksopp  🎵 Summary: Harry has a tough decision to make: take the blue pill or the red pill. He chooses a pink one instead and throws caution to the wind. What blows back comes in the form of a blond fallen angel that talks like he’s the Devil and moves like he’s fucking.  Or: Harry tries MDMA for the first time and unexpectedly encounters a mysteriously captivating Draco at KOKO London.

📻 Going Down Swinging [E, 4,661 ] 

🎵 Song Prompt: Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh! by Allan Sherman  🎵 Summary: “Who are you?” he asked, feeling around for a truly abominable pair of glasses he fixed firmly above his nose.  “I’m Draco,” he answered. “Draco—” He paused. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember; it was that the memory wasn’t there.

📻 The Most He’s Ever Said [E,16,431]

🎵 Song Prompt: One of Your Girls by Troye Sivan  🎵 Summary: It takes them twenty years.

📻 Draco Malfoy’s Guide to Seduction (DISCLAIMER: not guaranteed to work on one HJ Potter) [M, 11,107 ]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Push the button' by 'Sugababes'  🎵 Summary: Harry's gorgeous. Draco wants him.  Draco's exasperatedly trying to get him to get. the. message.

📻 karma is a (cat) [E, 8,714 ]

🎵 Song Prompt: Karma by Taylor Swift  🎵 Summary: Draco knew that his karma would come one to him one day and make him pay for all the mistakes he made during the war.  But he didn’t expect for it to have four legs, white whiskers, and a soft bushy tail.

📻 Kiss and Tell [E, 27,786 ]

🎵 Song Prompt: Kiss and Tell by Bryan Ferry  🎵 Summary: Sometimes, Harry really fucking hated being himself. All he wanted was to be left alone. That, and someone to share his life with. Was that too much to ask? Apparently so.  When Harry’s sex-life was plastered across the front page of the Daily fucking Prophet, he decided to get away until it all died down. Unfortunately, trouble had always known how to find him.  Would it be possible to forgive the unforgivable?

📻 When the Flood Comes [E, 10,340]

🎵 Song Prompt: Eat Your Young by Hozier  🎵 Summary: Nine years on from the war, Auror Potter is upholding the Ministry of Magic's rule of law.  Senior legal counsel Draco Malfoy is challenging it.  And absolutely nothing is as it seems.

📻 Never Getting Over You [E, 4,396]

🎵 Prompt: Attention by Charlie Puth  🎵 Summary: Harry finally gets the push he needs to fight for what he's lost after a breakup that no one wanted.

📻 Mermaid [E, 3,000]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Mermaids' by Florence and The Machine  🎵 Summary: “Your magic,” Harry says. “It’s gone.”  “It’s a curse,” Draco says, sounding wry. “Courtesy of Aunt Bellatrix. Disown a Black, and you’ll take their magic away, too. Even if their family name is Malfoy.” “What could bring your magic back?” Draco laughs in his ear. “True love’s kiss," he murmurs. And then he turns in Harry’s arms.

📻 Us, infinite (unfortunately) [E, 77,287 ]

🎵 Song Prompt: All Things End by Hozier  🎵 Summary: It’s very fitting for how Harry’s life has gone thus far that he gets trapped in a time loop without rhyme, reason, or warning.  To make matters infinitely worse, the one other person stuck on the same hellish chronological ride is Draco Malfoy, git extraordinaire.

📻 I made loving you a blood sport (so let's play) [E, 3,032]

🎵 Song Prompt: Blood Sport by Sleep Token  🎵 Summary: They sat in an odd kind of silence, comfortable in its discomfort. In the predictability of its recklessness. The thing between them was as palpable as the thick smoke in the air, consumed with every breath, and likely just as bad for them.

📻 Everything that can go wrong will go wrong [T, 5,178]

🎵 Song Prompt: If You Were Mine by Leon Bridges and Miranda Lambert  🎵 Summary: “You can move in with me!”  Shit. Apparently there was still a possibility to make a fool out of himself to his crush despite his best efforts at minimizing contact. Draco and Andromeda looked at him in record speed, showing their own expressions of confusion. Maybe at his appearing out of nowhere, maybe at his panting that made it seem like he just ran a marathon for some reason, or maybe at his abrupt and impulsive suggestion. Shit. Teddy wasn’t even here to take off the edge—Harry was completely alone in this one.  After a pause, Draco fully turned to him with a manner that definitely showed his opinion of how stupid Harry was, and asked, “What?”

📻 Antelucan Ruins [E, 29,453] 

🎵 Song Prompt: Ghost by Justin Bieber  🎵 Summary: From the bloody Prophet, Draco discovers Harry Potter’s death splashed in grey ink printed on the front page. Potter is dead before Draco gets to see him again to fulfil a half-spoken promise. And yet, these days Draco has the power to bend the world to his heart’s desires, and that includes fucking Harry Potter even after he personally saw Potter’s pale, lifeless body lying in a coffin before it got buried under the soil. —  "Do you realise that you're just as pathetic and insane? You're so hung up on the idea of me that you'd fuck a ghost, Malfoy. You risked your life for it."  Draco puts an arm around Potter's body, "Whoever says I am sane? Certainly not me. It's calculated risk with more success rate than failure. And you are dead, Potter. You refuse to move on to the next realm because you crave for my cock."

📻 I've Been There (sitting in that same chair) [Gen, 2,212]

🎵 Song Prompt: The Village by Wrabel  🎵 Summary: People keep knocking on Draco’s door. Draco just wants to read his book (he doesn’t mind, really).  Or: Draco gets to be the supportive queer person he’d wished for when he was younger.

📻 Lonely Rivers [M, 7,370]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Unchained Melody' by 'The Righteous Brothers'  🎵 Summary: Six years after the end of the war, Harry takes care of Teddy Lupin and has started to learn guitar. Hermione negotiates with foreign powers. Draco's a trainee Healer with a glam karaoke routine. And when Ron and Parvati decide to get married, they find a job for everyone...

📻 How to Begin [E, 8,478]

🎵 Song Prompt: Blush by Orville Peck  🎵 Summary: Harry is completely, pathetically besotted with his flatmate, Draco. Fuelled by liquid courage, he finally makes his move when he's absolutely sozzled. What could possibly go wrong?

📻 Oneiros [E, 13,125]

🎵 Song Prompt: Enter Sandman by Metallica  🎵 Summary: When contact with a weird vase traps Harry in his nightmares, it's Unspeakable Draco Malfoy's task to rescue him. In order to do so, he will have to face his past and his family history and win a duel of wits against a Morpheus and try to be better than his father each step of the way...

📻 Say When [E, 24,545]

🎵 Song Prompt: Undisclosed Desires by Muse 🎵 Summary: When Auror Harry Potter is sent in undercover to determine if Draco Malfoy is laundering money through his BDSM club, will he be able to keep up the ruse and close the case? Or, more to the point, will he keep from falling in love?

📻 crawlin' helpless on the floor [M, 1,525]

🎵 Song Prompt: Cure For Pain by Morphine  🎵 Summary: It doesn't take much to torment a man when he's three broken contracts away from being out of a job and down a newspaper.

📻 Hell is the talkin' type [E, 7,309]

🎵 Song Prompt: Dinner and Diatribes by Hozier  🎵 Summary: “Morgana, I need a drink,” Draco sighs. “Why did I let you convince me to participate in this torture again?”  Harry chuckles. “Because I’m your husband, and you love me?” he offers.  “Bah. Remind me not to let myself be so sentimental next time.”

📻 Mr Blue Sky [E, 69,024]

🎵 Song Prompt: ‘Mr. Blue Sky’ by ‘Electric Light Orchestra’  🎵 Summary: Mr Blue Sky, please tell us why, you had to hide away for so long...   After five years, Malfoy had finally escaped house arrest, and he moved in just a few streets down from Grimmauld Place. Overnight, the Daily Prophet seemed to fall in love with him. For his charity work, and his charming smile, and—Harry was sure—his prattish fucking personality. No matter how hard Harry tried, he couldn't stop running into him.  He had bigger problems, though. His best friends in the world were having a baby together, which was fantastic, except that they weren't sure he could hold it together well enough to be Godfather.  But despite being flat broke, with a dead dad, and no one willing to risk hiring him, Malfoy appeared to be completely in control of the narrative surrounding his newfound freedom. Maybe Harry could learn a thing or two from the best of the best.  After all, he had the entire pregnancy to convince Ron and Hermione he was perfectly, entirely, 100% fine. If sometimes he had to fistfight Malfoy about it, well, that was nothing new.

📻 'tis the damn season [M, 2,892]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'tis the damn season by Taylor Swift  🎵 Summary: He doesn’t know why the universe seems to keep placing him in Potter’s proximity every time he returns to London. He doesn’t know how they keep falling into bed, every year, like clockwork.  Draco has tried not to question it.

📻 Tecum Ad Astra [M, 3,257]

🎵 Song Prompt: Levitating by Dua Lipa  🎵 Summary: It's Friday night and Harry Potter is relaxing with a good book in front of a crackling fire.  But he should be at the club.

📻 Music to my ears [E, 13,190]

🎵 Song Prompt: River flows in You, Yiruma  🎵 Summary: Harry is completely captivated by the beautiful music played on a street piano at a park in Cambridge. He is, however, unprepared for whom the pianist turns out to be.

📻 Pancakes for Dinner [T, 2,176]

🎵 Song Prompt: Pancakes for Dinner by Lizzie McAlpine  🎵 Summary: Draco’s on a trip to visit Harry in his new city at his new job. He’s not brave enough to say how he really feels.

📻 Seasons [E, 9,314]

🎵 Song Prompt: Águas de Março (Waters of March) by Antônio Carlos Jobim  🎵 Summary: Seconds pass, and it’s like he can see Draco worrying the sliver of glass in his heart, looking for a way to press it out, to expose the wound to the sun. It’s life; Harry can be patient.

📻 Two Houses [E, 11,498]

🎵 Song Prompt: Social Cues by Cage the Elephant  🎵 Summary: Two households, both alike in... meddling Floo connections, apparently?  Draco Malfoy is a highly professional and well-respected Ministry official, with a demanding schedule, a loving son, and—through no fault of his own—a faulty Floo connection that keeps regurgitating the Minister for Magic through his fireplace.

📻 Perpetual Motion, Perpetual Sound [E, 51,165]

🎵 Song Prompt: Perpetual Motion, Perpetual Sound by Lovers  🎵 Summary: Harry Potter can’t sleep.

📻 Closing Time [E, 18,406]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Closing Time' by 'Semisonic'  🎵 Summary: Draco’s been invited to Neville’s stag party in Bristol, and he's confident he knows what to expect. There’ll be too many Gryffindors, for starters, plus a few humiliating team-building activities, some dodgy clubs, and a truly preposterous level of alcohol consumption.  But… a drunken Harry Potter climbing into Draco's bed when he’s having a wank?  No, he definitely didn't see that coming...

📻 every scrap of you (you left them all to me) [E, 54,191]

🎵 Song Prompt: marjorie by taylor swift  🎵 Summary: Twelve years on from the war, Harry finds himself in an endless cycle of bedding Draco Malfoy, and waking up alone. Desperate to understand why Draco won't give him a chance to be something more, he commits to courting the slippery blond git.  But there's a reason Draco can't fall for him, and Harry will go to the darkest depths to change that.

📻 What are you doing Sunday, baby? [M, 12,034]

🎵 Song Prompt: Disco 2000 by Pulp  🎵 Summary: Draco needs a respectable husband to strengthen his reputation before his in-laws try to take Scorpius from him. Who better than his ex, the independently wealthy, out and proud single father, Harry Potter?

📻 Too Good At Raising Hell [E, 87,462]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Too Good At Raising Hell' by 'The Struts'  🎵 Summary: When Harry Potter walks into Draco’s nightclub looking like trouble, Draco can’t stop staring. He really ought to train his dick not to react so enthusiastically to red flags, but where would be the fun in that?

🎶 H/D Wireless Podfic 🎶

📻 [Podfic] Move, move [T, 54:30 ]

🎵 Song Prompt: Bar Italia by Pulp 🎵 Summary: She grabbed Harry’s hand, slipping something small into it and pressing his fingers around it.  “Dilectio. It’ll cheer you up. Make you feel like dancing.”  Harry gaped at her. Drugs. Ginny’s fucking giving me drugs?  At Stasis nightclub Ginny does indeed give Harry drugs. But it's all good: Malfoy looks after Harry, and Harry grapples with newfound enlightenments, not to mention a newfound fascination with all things Malfoy—one which persists even when he finds out what Malfoy's up to.

📻 [Podfic] A Different Kind of Meaning by p1013 [E, 01:42:57]

🎵 Song Prompt: 'Outnumbered' by Dermot Kennedy  🎵 Summary: The ceiling doesn't hold any answers, but there are cobwebs scattered across the corners with shadows tangled in their threads. The rug against his back is rough and scratchy, threadbare and devoid of colours other than various shades of brown. Harry takes it all in, absorbs the dingy and depressed state of his home. There's a pointed moment of decision, a note about to be played, a silence about to end, and then he rolls to his feet and sets to cleaning.  It's the first constructive thing he's done in years.

📻 [Podfic] Case of You [Et, 11:48:56]

🎵 Song Prompt: Case of You by Joni Mitchell  🎵 Summary: Draco was doing just fine working as an Unspeakable in Paris, hanging out with his living and ghostly pals, inventing new spells, and definitely not thinking about Potter. Then, Lucius just had to break out of prison and turn his world upside down.  Now, Draco has to return to England, where he is forced to confront how family ties bind us—and one infuriatingly fit Harry Potter.

[lilixxmoon]

Some unhinged astrology opinions:

I have delved deep into learning astrology in the last two years, and after looking at a variety of charts and comparing them to my real life experiences, here is a brief list of my favorite vs unfavorite placements in general. Note: This relates to my chart specifically but if you have similar placements as me you'll probably feel the same way. *I have a lot of Cancer/Leo energy*

Least Favorites:

Libra Moons 🔮 A controversial pick but I have to say my piece. Having your moon sign in Libra is considered a pleasant placement and indictive of a peace seeking person. However, the insatiable need to be such a people pleaser makes me really ticked with this placement. Initially it's pretty hard to dislike any Libra placements, as their gifted chameleons that are known for being harmonious, attractive, and diplomatic. All good things. But in the moon sign I have found these people to be especially needy of everyone's approval that it's to their detriment. Their lack of individuality and independence is a sore point that doesn't get talked about enough. If you have heavy Aquarius placements l think this is a tough placement to relate to even if they are trine air signs. Beware of Libra moons in relationships, they tend to change themselves to fit the perfect person they think their partner wants. While in some cases that sounds great, in a toxic person this placement can play out extremely manipulative. They will go to great lengths to bend and twist who they are in an effort to get the approval of the ones they seek. I once heard it referred to as the gold digger moon sign. Even in men they may charm you but watch out for those lingering eyes, they can be a flirt and more easily transform around all the women they pursue. It's a gift for them but a warning for everyone else. If you have this placement you know it's true lol don't lie. Fire placements in birth chart will help confidence and hopefully subdue some of this toxicity.

Gemini Sun 🔎- Not too much to say here. This probably has to do with my Cancer Sun. Gemini's dual nature is so wild to me in general but especially in the sun placement, they can be fickle and petty. If you bruise the ego of a Gemini sun, I have seen things get nasty. Talk about they sure can dish it but they sure can't take it. On one hand, I hate admitting how much I dislike this placement since it's one of the most popular placements among some of the most talented entertainers! But in real life, some of that allusion and spark wears off that you see on screen. Gemini sun's dual nature is tough for a lot of the other zodiac signs especially if you have heavy Taurus placements. If you have a Gemini sun, hopefully you have some more earth placements to ground this fidgety energy a bit better. Just remember to check that ego and you'll be more loved for that entertaining curious soul rather than despised.

Aries Venus 💥- Out of all the Venus signs, this is definitely one that I tend to have some beef with in general, even when it's someone I have a non romantic relationship with. Here Venus is in its detriment. An Aries Venus can manifest as someone who falls in love fast, and falls out of love just as fast. All the fire sign Venus can be difficult since they tend to "burn" through a relationship quickly and suffer from this need for lots of stimulus. However, Aries in Venus I have noticed can be particularly challenging because they have a tendency to ghost, run, or even engage in some secretive behavior, but above all that I find people with this Venus sign to have a childlike quality that can quickly turn from endearing to just out right annoying. Unconventional relationships and lifestyles might best suit an Aries Venus. Relationship stuff aside, please explain to me how people with this Venus can be so passive aggressive??? Fire energy is generally more direct but I have noticed that to be the opposite with this sign, which is odd.

Top Favs 🌼🌷💟

🎀Pisces Venus - Where do I even start with how beautiful this placement is. I am jealous I don't have it. I've heard this placement be criticized for it's boundless nature, the love of this placement can lack conventional boundaries in relationships. In my opinion though everyone will probably feel a bit better if they have at least one Pisces Venus in their lives. They just give such an abundance of love, empathy, kindness, and joy to the one's they care about. True empath and healer placement. This placement is so romantic and dreamy. They're just so pure of heart. Hopefully this placement doesn't have anything weighing it down in an overall birth chart. I think this is a lovely placement and if you hurt a Pisces Venus your probably the problem not them.

🌙Cancer Rising - This is my favorite rising sign especially for girls. I just love the witchy, mermaid like aesthetic of this placement. The big eyes!!! Oh it's just so pretty. Is it any wonder that this is the placement Margot Robbie has? I also love Taurus Risings, but first place for me has to be cancer. I mean I am a Tumblr girly and Tumble aesthetic in it's prime was definitely giving Cancer Rising vibes. I know it's not for everyone but idk for me it's that cuteness this placement has too. Cancer risings look like fairytale princesses to me with their glowy skin, and round baby doll faces. It breaks my heart that so many Cancer risings may not see how beautiful they are right now since it's so trendy to have buccal fat removal from your cheeks. Their youthful ingenue appearance is precious to me even if it's not on a trend. More love to round faces.

💚Aquarius Mercury - Few people are in my opinion as naturally witty and entertaining as an Aquarius Mercury. Intelligent, bold, and unique. People with this Mercury sign seem to have so many natural talents. This Mercury sign is usually the best conversationalist in any social setting as well as a savvy spokesperson in any work setting. Not everyone can keep up with the deep mind of this Mercury sign. So they can be unfairly labeled as being too kooky, or far fetched in their ideas. Aquarius is a tough sign in general since it is ruled by Saturn and can be associated with progressiveness, independence, and even rebelliousness. However, in Mercury Aquarius seems to be a great placement for anyone that wants to be a jack of all trades or wants to think outside the box and try new things. Most likely an Aquarius Mercury is sure to be an interesting individual with a signature flare that stands out. I personally find these individuals fascinating.

[batsplat]

Chad reed on always the entourages creating the drama. I cannot believe that is what caused rosquez downfall but also given the level of Vale's celebrity and the way he carried himself, I can totally believe that it was the entourage (iPad stand I'm looking at you) that brought the end

(about reed's 2020 quotes in this) yeahhh I mean the downfall was caused by a whole bunch of factors, not just any one thing... like all great tragic narratives, it feels inevitable from a global perspective and yet thoroughly preventable in its specifics, with loads of points where you think, 'oh, if things had just gone a little bit differently'... there's this tension in how, in the end, maybe it would've always gone wrong, but a lot had to come together for it to go wrong in quite such a spectacular fashion

reed's definitely correctly identified one of the factors - the entourages, and valentino's entourage specifically. though fwiw, I did cut off the article before reed predicted the marc/fabio rivalry was headed a similar way (this was from 2020, obviously before the arm injury):

for better or for worse, fabio has skipped the villain arc to head straight to the depressed frenchie arc

regardless of whether this rift would have happened or not, the idea that marc would have gotten a new appreciation for the situation valentino found himself in is at least an interesting one. though if anything, the rivalry with fabio would have more closely paralleled valentino's with the other aliens (new talent coming through, but with the previously dominant rider still a regular winner). now is the time marc's learning what it feels like to come back from a prolonged absence from being competitive at the highest level - and of course with a new superstar simultaneously making his debut

so yeah, anyway, tragedy, you can point to all sorts of strains and pressures and tension inherent to professional sport that were exacerbated by the personalities involved and the influence of the media and the passage of time etc etc. but never mind all that, let's get back to entourages! I know you mention everybody's favourite b-list shakespeare villain, but I'm going to basically mostly ignore him because it's well-trodden ground. yeah, it does help to have one guy who's whispering poison into your ear for a prolonged stretch of time before showing up at your motorhome doorstep with a bunch of telemetry and a dream. and yeah, there were people in valentino's entourage definitely encouraging this path to doom. but what I'm also interested in is the flip side - why nobody stopped him

I would like to submit into evidence this passage detailing the thoughts of vale's mechanic alex briggs. now briggs in this excerpt blames two groups for how things went down in 2015:

the yamaha side (specifically the press group) for not talking him down from the ledge before the presser

the crew chief and other assorted italians on the team for being too "yessy" and not standing up to him

let's briefly (for a given value of the word) focus on the first one. if you're a random yamaha pr person and you see the valentino rossi run to a press conference (given he was late) with a bunch of papers in his hands (well, he's not actually holding the papers in those gifs, but presumably somebody's got them), it's probably a tough ask to expect you to hold up the valentino rossi and ask him what exactly he's intending to do with those papers. also, is he really going to back off because you, random yamaha pr person, have asked him to please not accuse the competition of sabotage? added context is that some at yamaha were aware of what valentino thought about the race at phillip island (which we'll get to in a sec), but god knows if the pr people did. unless he confided in anyone on the yamaha side what the plan was, a lot of them would have been blindsided too - which does come back to the problem of how big a deal valentino is and how maybe you're a little more cautious about questioning what he's about to do with those papers than you would be with somebody else. it does feel like perhaps a bit too much to expect for them to have launched some last-minute intervention, or to even know what kind of intervention they could have gone for beyond low-level comedy hijinks to stop him from even getting to that room. why did nobody from yamaha place a banana skin in his path

but we do know that at least some in yamaha were aware of valentino's great big phillip island sabotage theory, because lin jarvis has very helpfully told us as much (from the post-sepang media scrum):

Q: Do you think it was a mistake for Valentino to [provoke?] Marc so much on Thursday with a very personal and hard attack? Jarvis: There are always many different ways of addressing different problems - Valentino chose to do it in that way. Perhaps that is what provoked Marc into being quite aggressive on the track. I really don't know, you need to ask Marc not me about that. Every action has a consequence. That's life. Q: And did you know before that Valentino was going to be so aggressive with Marc in the press conference? Did you know before? Did you discuss with Valentino about this decision or you didn't know until it happened? Jarvis: Personally, I was not aware of that. I was aware of Valentino's opinion of the race in Australia, but I was not aware... but I was not aware that he would - Q: Don't you think because Valentino at the end of the day is an employee of Yamaha he should discuss before with you about such an important decision, to attack a rider of another factory in such a heavy way [...]? Jarvis: You can't control every incident, everything that happens and you know, generally we have a very good [...] relation, connection with our riders, we talk to them before about things before, but anyway I think this is something Valentino felt strongly about and it was his decision and that's it.

note the use of the word "personally", which does leave the door open to others within yamaha (outside of valentino's inner circle) knowing what was going to happen. jarvis, unsurprisingly, comes down pretty firmly on the side of 'well what were we supposed to do'. given that jarvis admits he knew valentino's theory and is hardly a stranger to valentino's modus operandi - after all, he was already team boss at the time of another tense press conference in sepang eleven years prior that took place in the wake of valentino accusing a competitor of messing with him - you do have to wonder whether yamaha could not have tried a little harder to stop valentino. but again, accounting for the power of valentino's status and the power of his character, I'm personally unconvinced yamaha could've done much to convince valentino to change his mind

so then: the italians. a little bit of context - briggs started working with crew chief jerry burgess in 1994 and both of them were on mick doohan's team for all of his five 500cc titles. when doohan's injuries forced his retirement, valentino inherited his championship-winning team upon moving up to 500cc. jb was vale's very first crew chief in the premier class, and him as well as briggs have been working with vale since december 1999. understandably, this is a very tightly-knit group. it is one that made the jump to yamaha with valentino - here's just a quick excerpt (also from oxley's valentino rossi: all his races) about briggs' thoughts on that move:

When Valentino decided to defect to Yamaha, he was determined to have his crew go with him. Only one stayed at HRC. "We first got to know about the Yamaha deal in Portugal, I think [September 2003]," Briggs continues. "I wanted to stay with JB, because I hadn't finished learning what I wanted to learn. "I remember a clandestine meeting in the car park at Phillip Island, about salaries and how everything was going to work. It was really exciting. When I very first started working with Honda the whole group was very much a team. Towards the end we felt like it started to become a bit us and them: the engineers and management, then the mechanics and the riders. They'd sort of got too big for their boots - they'd designed this wonderful bike, so it was like it had nothing to do with us. That made it easier to leave.

and also about the move to yamaha, from the 2020 barker biography of valentino:

But with his trusted crew chief Jerry Burgess and most of his other team members from the Honda garage agreeing to defect with him, Rossi had the crew he needed, not only to win but also to enjoy his racing. It was a heartening display of loyalty and something of a risk for all involved. ‘When I announced to the mechanics that I was going with Valentino they said, “I’m coming too,”’ Burgess later explained. ‘Some of those guys were leaving very secure jobs and taking a big gamble.’

the group also survived the move to ducati (obviously a deeply frustrating two years not just for the guy riding the bike) and the move back to yamaha. but then, valencia 2013, valentino announced his decision to fire jb in a press conference organised for the pair of them. his 2013 season had been deeply frustrating - yes, he had gotten a podium in his first race beating both marc and dani, but after that generally speaking he couldn't come close to matching the other aliens when healthy. he was comfortably the fourth best rider that year, scrapping and clawing his way through midfield battles and having to rely on misfortunes befalling the three title contenders to achieve his podiums and his sole victory at assen. he was considering retiring at the end of the 2014 season once his current contract expired, but wanted to try everything he could to see whether he could be competitive again against the world's very best. and so, he made the decision to roll the dice and get himself a new crew chief, the italian silvano galbusera

now I have to say, personally I have a lot of time for this decision (even if it was maybe not... uh, enacted in the most graceful of manners, given how sudden it was). I come from a sports background where a certain ruthlessness in personnel decisions is encouraged and generally praised - if something isn't working, you should have the courage to make a change, even if it's deeply uncomfortable (including on an interpersonal level). also, while it was a sudden departure, it's not like burgess was that keen on sticking around much longer (again from the same oxley book):

Valentino ended his collaboration very suddenly at the end of 2013. Burgess was shocked but not too much, because he already knew that he was coming to the end of his own career. "When it ended for me I'd already been doing it 30-odd years and I'd told Valentino a few weeks earlier that I wasn't going to sign any more multi-year contracts. I was 60 by then, so I'd go year by year. I'd already signed a contract for 2014, but I would've thought if we hadn't had any more success by then that there wasn't much point in continuing. I felt we would win more races but I was more doubtful about championships. "I'd read enough sporting biographies to know that sportsmen change their coaches towards the end of their careers. It can give them a spike in results but it doesn't change the overall story. Looking back, Valentino's career went on longer than I expected. He enjoyed some success but no more championships and that's what you race for. Of course he was in the unique position of being able to get a factory bike until he retired. He was very special and deserved everything he got."

which, look. again, personal bias, but to me it's reasonable to part ways with somebody who doesn't think any more titles are plausible, because at that point it's just somebody who has a very different view on your career than you do and may well not stick around for much longer anyway. also, at the end of the day, jb was wrong! valentino came extremely close to winning another title, and just because he didn't, doesn't change the fact he could have. if it had rained on the 8th of november 2015 in valencia, we might be having a very different conversation. (or if they hadn't changed the bloody qualifying format post-2012.) honestly, if the 2016 and to a lesser extent the 2017 season had gone just a little differently - a working bike in mugello here and an unbroken leg there - he could have been a genuine title threat in two more seasons. in any case, what it does show is that valentino even at the end of 2013 was still as determined as ever, was ready to engage in what was a huge gamble (given how almost all his success had come with the highly decorated jb) on the off chance he might find what it took to win again. this will not have been an easy decision for valentino. here's a write-up of the presser at valencia, that stresses how uncomfortable the occasion was, how surprising a decision it was to jb, but how publicly at least there was a lack of recriminations (which, to be fair, wouldn't be much fun to do in a shared presser):

(you'll note that the phrasing in the presser about athletes attempting to extend their carrers by changing things up is echoed in what he says in that book interview where he adds that it doesn't change the overall story, again suggesting he didn't really believe valentino would be competitive. he also uses the same phrasing in ANOTHER interview that confirms as much, but I think you get the point.) valentino said at the time, "it was a very difficult decision for me because I have a great history with jeremy. he is not just my chief mechanic. he is like part of my family. my father in racing". this is somebody he'd been working with since age 21, somebody who is not only revered within the paddock for his work with several of the sport's greats but is also a man who valentino obviously has a close personal connection to. meeting for the first time when vale snuck into the honda pit to check out the bike he might ride next season, hitting it off immediately, countless rowdy dinners together, parties, jb and another older colleague sitting back when food fights started, watching valentino grow up, working with him throughout all his big manufacturer switches, all his successes and all his failures... as much as anything else, it's evidence of how strong vale's desire to win was, how determined he continued to be, to make this choice at this stage of his career. and jb was open to the idea (at least publicly) that it might end up being a smart call:

the 'dirtiest' part of the whole affair is how it was actually carried out - it's not great form to tell your crew chief the day before you end up doing a press conference together to announce your choice. for whatever it's worth, this is how valentino justified the timeline:

and lastly, which I think is the most key part, is valentino's belief. because at the end of the day, the only reason why he's doing any of this, and the only reason why what was to come was possible at all, is that he himself still thought that he could challenge for another title - as much as that belief had come under strain:

now what this piece also goes on to say is that nobody believes this will work. nobody believes that firing jb will lead to better results. people expect that this is going to lead to his retirement, quite possibly at the end of 2014. it's worth just remembering sometimes how extraordinary valentino's return to the top of the game post-2013 really was, how it went against how we expect a rider's competitive lifecycle to work, went far beyond the longevity exhibited by any top rider before or since - all while going up against riders who are widely believed to be some of the best to ever do it. valentino beat jorge in both 2014 and 2016, and remains one of two people to outscore prime marc marquez over the course of a season. not to engage in too much rossi prop here, but sepang 2015 can't really be understood without all the frustration that led up to it, to this one golden chance, this miracle that everybody had believed to be impossible (sometimes even valentino). this wasn't supposed to be happening. it was happening. and then, so so close to the finish line, valentino could feel it slipping, slipping, slipping away

but of course, we still don't know whether changing crew chiefs is the key factor that made him competitive again. maybe he just needed a bit longer to get back into the swing of things post-ducati disaster. maybe the bikes just started to suit him better. hey, maybe it was that nifty exercise regime he'd engaged in a wee spot of espionage for so that he could pinch it off his teammate. what we can say, however, is that valentino's choice both tells us a lot about his mindset, as well as (to finally bring us back to the actual point of this post) representing a massive shift in his 'entourage'. this is what briggs is referring to in his quote - the italians. the new crew chief. the people who couldn't stand up to valentino. now obviously, as mentioned above briggs had worked with jb for the better part of twenty years and can hardly be considered a neutral party. here were briggs' feelings on the matter (yeah it's from the same oxley book again, I got it new for eighteen quid which is a very generous price, would recommend):

When JB was out at the end of 2013 it was like losing my mechanic dad. I remember being in the garage when we found out about it. Then they arranged a kind of farewell, a kind of hodgepodge farewell. It was terrible, I didn't like any of it. I was just hiding behind one of the bikes in the garage, crying, going, what's going on here? It didn't seem right to me. I think maybe Valentino thought he would get faster again sooner, but I think it took at least a year to get the taste of the Ducati out of his mouth. I think if he'd stayed with JB we would've won the championship in 2015.

which. look. we don't have time to unpack all that. but. the point is that obviously briggs wasn't exactly a massive fan of the change within valentino's team, and his comments about the 2015 season do have to be read with that in mind. as to whether vale really would have done better in 2015 with jb at his side, your guess is as good as mine. all that being said, a part of me wonders how much losing that grounding presence enabled valentino's late-2015 spiral. maybe not in terms of talking valentino out of the great big fluctuating lap times treachery theory - to state the obvious, valentino got himself involved in plenty of drama during jb's time as a crew chief. jb himself occasionally helped add fuel to the fire in those feuds, like his infamous comment about how he would be able to fix the ducati's issues in 80 seconds that casey still brings up every three business days (the comments were poorly phrased but also somewhat taken out of context, in that jb was talking about a specific set-up problem). he's generally been pretty happy to be forthright about valentino's rivals, for instance this about casey:

My feeling at the time was that Casey probably only had one game plan, and having watched Casey over the years, he doesn't have a plan B. If it doesn't go his way from the outset, it's probably one of the weaknesses that he had through the youth that he had, through the lack of experience that he had. That's not a criticism of him per se, he was still only 22 at the time.

(this is about laguna seca 2008 and how he helped valentino win that race, including in plotting out vale's rather ruthless tactics - which casey was of course not exactly a fan of.) or these. uh. harsh comments about dani from spring 2010:

Q: Is that atmosphere or track knowledge? Is it like the Spanish finding something extra at the racetracks in Spain? JB: Well, therein we show the weakness, don't we? If you can get up on that weekend, on the technical racetracks of Spain, why can't you get up on the technical racetracks like Australia, where the Italians do? Lorenzo is a guy who will and does. Stoner has been able to get up on tracks all over the world. Unfortunately, Dani Pedrosa's into his 6th year in MotoGP, and he's won 8 races, Jorge Lorenzo's two months into his 3rd and he's won 6. It's night and day between those two, is the way I see it. Dani's an extremely fast rider, but a shockingly poor racer. Q: Were you surprised at Jerez [2010] when Pedrosa fought back when Lorenzo passed him? JB: When did Dani fight back? With two laps to go, and he didn't even get close enough to try to come back. Dani has never been a fighter in races, he's a lovely kid, don't get me wrong, but you can see that Lorenzo, having Pedrosa in front of him, it was never going to be the way he was going to finish that race. He was going to finish on the ground or he was going to finish in front of Pedrosa. That's the sort of race that we want, we had that with Biaggi and Valentino, and from history with Schwantz and Rainey. All the good riders have always had somebody they have had to put the target on the back of. It was Doohan and Gardner, and Doohan won that battle hands down, and I think Jorge Lorenzo's going to win this battle [with Pedrosa] hands down.

kind of a dick! so his attitude to valentino being valentino has generally been a) well having enemies is good, actually, with an added slice of b) good luck to his enemies :) - see also this quote (from the barker biography) in the context of the gibernau rivalry:

And that made Rossi even more dangerous, as Jerry Burgess pointed out: ‘Valentino is the sort of rider I wouldn’t want to get angry. He can take you apart on the track.’

so yes, jb is also perfectly brutal in his own right, as you presumably have to be to work alongside valentino so closely for so long. he is, however, also somebody valentino has a massive amount of respect for, somebody who helped turn him into a legend and is responsible for a lot of vale's success - not least, of course, in the pivotal move to yamaha. he was replaced by a man of a far far lesser stature in the sport, one who presumably would have been grateful to valentino for the biggest job he was ever going to get. if briggs is right and there was a shift in valentino in 2015, surrounded as he was by italians (derogatory) who could not stand up to him, who allowed valentino to insist on war and peace on the pit boards, to focus more and more on things that had nothing to do with riding... it would be going a little too far to say that valentino was missing an adult in the room given he was, in fact, in his thirties and should have been capable of being that adult. and who knows what jb would have said or thought or done about the great big childhood hero deception theory. but sepang 2015 was the culmination of a lot of things, including a pressure cooker of a season that grew more and more tense and put more and more stress on everyone involved - perhaps for none more so than valentino. maybe, just maybe, if he'd had somebody around him with fifteen years of experience in handling him, who could have just occasionally told him to knock it off, to concentrate on the racing, to keep things simple (always jb's defining philosophy), to maybe not get so wrapped up in the great big spanish collusion theory...

or maybe it wouldn't have mattered! maybe we're getting cause and effect all wrong here; maybe valentino was deliberately fashioning his entourage into one that was only going to give him positive feedback. maybe he would have just stopped listening to jb, maybe the very decision to fire jb makes it clear he was no longer interested in what jb had to say. it's a tragedy, after all! maybe it was always going to go like this. maybe it was always going to end like this

speaking of entourages, marc's manager played a bit of a cameo role in fanning the flames just a little further (article from marca, 26/10/2015):

alzamora obviously will be somebody valentino is familiar with, having raced him in 125cc and also having just coexisted in the paddock over the years. valentino could of course be lying, but idk, why would he? he's already made his case by this point, and what if alzamora were to contradict him? if it's true and this conversation did happen, you do have to say it's a spectacularly unhelpful intervention from alzamora. even if marc was mad at valentino, why the hell are you telling valentino this AFTER sepang 2015? what's the plan here buddy

^ 1999 world champions: alzamora in 125cc, vale in 250cc and alex criville in 500cc. people think motogp lore is complicated but if you know like, five guys, you're set for about twenty years of drama

which does get to the heart of the matter - a lot of these people have big egos and their own agendas and they love to run their mouths. they like talking a big game and getting involved in things they really shouldn't be getting involved in. is reed right that these people in the riders' entourages 'created the drama'? well, no, I think the two men at the centre of this particular tragedy were plenty capable of doing that themselves. nevertheless, you can point to how professional sports (and motogp in particular) forces you to rely heavily on a small group of people to keep you sane at the centre of the storm, and the risks that can emerge when that small group collectively unmoors itself from reality. you can point to the perils of fame, both in making your reliance on your inner circle so unnegotiable as well as in providing you with the status and power and ego to ignore anyone who might wish to change your mind. you can point to specific figures in this story who managed to incite the conflict between the two of them, as well as how the pressure cooker competitive environment they were operating within helped set up the ultimate catastrophe. you can point to how valentino lacked anyone with the power to stop him - both in the direct sense of forcing him to reconsider and the indirect sense of commanding his respect enough to make him see sense. maybe, just like in 2004, valentino had simply been "looking for an excuse" and he was always headed down this path. or maybe if somebody had just held him back a little that year, kept him focused on his riding, maybe if the right person had intervened at the right time...

maybe, maybe, maybe. that's why it's a tragedy

[mrs-g0th1ka]

◇Characteristics of random big 3 combos◇

《 ☆Hellow my pumpkins!!! I seriously can't wait for Halloween. I haven't made an astrology post in a while, and I miss you guys. Today, I will be listing random big 3 combos and describing said combos. I'm really excited to do this. Enough of my yapping, let's get into it ☆ 》

(What I say may or may not apply, take what resonates leave what doesn't)

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Sagittarius sun, Aries moon, Cancer rising

° You are a very generous person, may be the "mother" or "father" of the friend group you have due to a cancer rising. You could be very loud or very quiet there's no in between. With a Aries moon you are passionate, loving, energetic!! With a sagittarius sun you may also like late night adventures that stimulate you( bars, clubs, karaoke) you may also be into acting or theater. These people may struggle with 'older sibling syndrome' may have a parent who is immature or too dependent on them. Relationships may feel restricting due to their capricron 7th house of partnerships.

Virgo sun, Gemini moon, Gemini rising

°Hello smart ass!!( I say that with love btw) You are very detailed oriented, you have the ability to read a room and people very well. A big mercurial 3 is very interesting. Not only do you study all day you can also party all night. You also have a way with words, may be into slam poetry, fashion, comics, video games and lyric writing. These people make great rappers and clothing designers. These people may sadly struggle with communicating their emotions due to a air moon and rising, they will try to find ways to ground themselves such as talents listed above. These people write their emotions out better than feeling them internally. These people will be attracted to adventurous sensual people due to their Sagittarius in their 7th house.

Aquarius sun, Pisces moon, Leo rising

° Talk about alluring and addictive. These placements alone can attract a lot of obsessive people. Aquarius sun, you are unique, dark yet sensual, light yet dark. That attracts curious people. Pisces moon, you have a way of loving others that feels unforgettable. You have a way of caring for people who you have a soft spot for, making others feel special or needed in some way. This attracts leaches, people who leach onto you and drain you emotionally, set boundaries. Leo rising shows someone kind-hearted and fun, a very light personality. A loyal person, most definitely. This will attract obsessive people, people will want to see more of your light, and they can become obsessed with how good you make them feel. These people will be attracted to unique, eccentric, rebellious people due to their aquarius 7th housem

Pisces sun, Scorpio moon, Gemini rising

° An emotional manifester at best!! These people are ruled by mercury, they can have the ability to speak their manifestations out loud, scorpio moon they feel very deeply and intensely, may feel as if others are afraid to love them or as if they scare people away with their intense ability to love unconditionally. These people could love jazz music, digital art styles, dark art, dark poetry. Relationships could be rocky for this big 3 because alone time is important, you'll battle being alone vs being surrounded by people. The battle between isolation and inclusion. Scorpio moon vs the gemini rising.

Libra sun, Capricorn moon, aquarius rising

° This big three reminds me of love witches or warlocks, someone whose love should NOT be taken for granted, someone's whose emotions should be cared for deeply. These people struggle with emotional expression due to their capricorn moons. Once they learn to navigate their emotions, they can express them in a positive way. Sister sign to cancer moon helps with emotional expression. Saturn ruled moons, and saturn risings can give a great deal of karma to people who cross them but must be careful because karma can come to them quickly ass well. These people may like isolation while doing beauty treatments, listening to podcast, the colors purple, blue, orange, and black. This person will attract people who are opposite of them, optimistic, energetic, outgoing, and someone who can shead light in their darkness. (Leo 7th house of partnerships)

Pisces sun, cancer moon, Libra rising

° Hello, hopeless romantics. If you have this big 3 line up, not only are you intelligent, but you are very alluring. You are caring and nurturing. You are also very sensual. You are connected to your body and your sexuality. You may be protective over the friends and family you hold close to you. Someone with this big three could be interested in spirituality(healing magic), baking or cooking, fashion, glam, photography, nature, and drawing nature. You could express your emotions through the way you dress. You may attract very sensual, driven, protective, and passionate partner (Aries 7th house of partnerships)

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♡♡♡Thank you so so much for taking the time to read my zodiac yap session!!! I love making these post for people who enjoy them. Comment your big 3, and I will describe your personality. until next time my loves, byyeeee♡♡♡

[lillysilvermoon]

What messages does the universe have for you?

Pile 1 (girl and fawn) | Pile 2 (flowers) | Pile 3 blonde girl with flowers

Pile 1

Cards: 2 of Pentacles, 3 of Pentacles, 8 of Pentacles and 6 of Wands.

It's a moment of determination, you're good at teamwork and I believe you're good at many things/you have different talents, in addition to a great ability to adapt. You definitely have discipline, for those who are learning something, repetition, repetition, repetition and patience, so you will improve your craft, focus on developing a certain balance and managing your time better (okay, this is general reading, but for someone here: your guides are really worried, they've told you a thousand times to rest but you don't listen... please don't overwork yourself Pile 1, your guides are really worried :( )

It's a time to find a certain balance between doing your best and resting.  If there's any doubt about something: go inwards and have some quiet time will help you find the answers you're looking for (I've heard the word meditation so maybe it will suit for some but know you don't need to sit and meditate, sometimes just take a walk alone , no music. only you, can already help).Now, you had an extra card!!!!  6 of wands is a big YES!!! If you're waiting for an answer: it will work, this letter talks about support (fans? are any of you trying to be famous? is this our pile of tiktokers? youtubers? whatever it is has a great chance of working and you achieve success - let us know so we can follow y'all and help♡) so, for this group: Be patient, keep improving your craft, creating your content, but try to have some time to just be with yourself, and keep the balance between work and rest, also: I need to emphasize this or one of your guides won't let me continue: MANAGE YOUR TIME RIGHT, make a To Do List, buy a planner, whatever works best for you, but organize your time right.

Messages:

"Please take care of yourself!!!:("

"You >really< need to drink more water"

"Spend time with trees, they will help" (whoever said this: it's old and have a really calm vibe)

"Stop eat to much junk food!!!!!"

"Do the shadow work about your anxiety"

"Do NOT tell anything to this person, she/he are NOT trustworthy"

some signs: John, green, 444, Ana, Alexia, BTS, Douglas, Adelia, long walks, water/water signs (cancer, pisces, scorpio), taurus, Venus placements are important

Pile 2

Cards: The Emperor, King of Wands, Queen of Pentacles and 10 of Cups

I started to feel a headache as soon as I started reading this pile, so maybe some of y'all need to take better care of your crown chakra, or connect more with your spirituality; Since aries is the sign associated with our head maybe some of you are aries or fire sign. As I shuffled the cards Freya came to mind ( I think she is reaching out, it's a small group maybe 3 people? but y'all are missing the signs, try to light her a candle and do some divination to confirm if it resonates to you!!). Okay: for some of you I heard divine connection. As Emperor and King of Wands has a very strong masculine energy I believe for a small group it is your twin flame (maybe they are an aries or a fire sign) but for most of you is a soulmate. If you are waiting for something you will receive good news, maybe a celebration is coming. Some of you will make new friends, and it will be your soul tribe for most of you, and I believe your divine counterpart will be there, or he is the one who will introduce you to them. For some of you more discipline is needed, indecision will get in your way (if you were in doubt with Pile 1 go check it out), cultivating a healthy sense of discipline will help you to get what you want; With the Queen of Pentacles the message is clear: be disciplined, work hard for what you want but don't forget to reward yourself later, you deserve it! have confidence in your truth, speak it without fear, so you will attract real and deep and connections.

Messages:

"Keep going you are doing great! We believe in you" (y'all they have such a fun, happy and caring energy I'm smiling here cause they are so lovely♡)

"Take care of yourself"

"Stop scrolling through your phone and sleep earlier"

(I need to say this here because some of y'all guides will not let me continue: Divine union is coming YOU NEED TO HAVE PATIENCE!!!)

Signs:

Pisces, aries, Freya, Anubis (I think he has a message for someone) Lotus, lily, books, movie time.

Pile 3

Cards: Queen of Swords, 5 of Pentacles, 8 of Swords and the Devil

Some of you have been going through a lot of shit, I'm so sorry pile 3. It's okay if you experienced rejection and felt sad or angry, honor your feelings but PLEASE dont take to much time on them, stop to brood until things seem worse than they really are, it doesn't help or make you feel good, it just leaves you stuck in a negative situation making you feel bad, I know that when we go through bad situations they seem bigger than they really are, but I see it here that it is there what you're going through, it's just a bad moment, a stumbling block okay?

With 5 Pentacles, this card usually shows difficulties, and although external factors count, it usually shows that you are the one to blame for what you are going through. Please reflect on whether you are giving yourself the support, respect and care you deserve. Some of you are not speaking your truth, stop allowing people to treat you like trash and take their bullshith. Speak your truth with confidence in yourself, be unapologetically YOU, because y'all dont need to prove anything to anyone okay?

Some of you really need to learn to slow down and, you know, rest?..... men really, some of you need to work on meditation or anything that help to clear y'all minds, 7 of swords, some of you are in a very bad mental place, so you cannot see a solution anywhere. Y'all need to take time out to rest, relax. Then think again and I'm sure you will find a solution. Definitely some here need to work on their thought patterns and the mental talk they have with themselves, there are a lot of people here who have really negative self talk and y'all need to work on this.

The last we have the devil card, this card usually comes in what I call "you're trying to put flowers in the trash" trash doesn't stop being trash because it has flowers in it, you're doing the same thing over and over again and fooling yourselves, y'all are going down the same bad road trying to make it look good.

In summary: you are in a situation that seems to have no solution, but it is not as bad as it appears to be. But for that you need to work on your shadows, your fears, when you do that you will heal A LOT of things, which will help you to have more confidence in yourself, speak your truth and not take shit from anyone.

Messages:

"Go read your books"

"I love you" (who ever said this they really do love you I felt literally physical pain on my chest, they are worried about you)

"Stop second guessing yourself"

Signs:

Alice, purple, vampires, tea, Libra, Sagittarius and Capricorn, artist, museums, beach, apples.

I hope y'all liked this reading, it's my first reading so sorry anything :p please take just what resonates. I'm sending y'all lots of love♡

[the-s1lly-corner]

Anon who asked about the mpost/the one who had sent the tadc x wolf reader request here... Here's my new and improved version of the request!! And not on anon so I get the notification for it being completed :3

Okay so, tadc characters of your choosing (if you need specific characters then Jax, Ragatha, Caine, and Gangle) x a wolf!reader who is really shy, tends to be self deprecating, is a people pleaser, and underestimates their skills. Preferably platonic but romantic is fine!!

Caine, Ragatha, Jax and Gangle x wolf!reader who is shy w/ low confidence !

writing this then imma go work on my silly art eheheheheh unironically listening to hit my spot by ur pretty (do NOT listen to it without headphones if youre not alone it is literally gay sex song) on loop it has no reason to be so catchy gawd DAMN admins yapping aside i hope you enjoy this !! written more leaning towards platonic !!

CAINE:

i think he would try to hype you up and make you more confident in yourself! i think he would be a little confused on why you arent too.. self assured, i mean he thinks youre cool and talented and skilled and-

he could go on for hours.. i think sometimes you might cave into him and what he wants due to you being a people pleaser and it might take caine a while to catch on to that and try to pay attention to those smaller things, especially if theres something making you uncomfortable... the good thing about being a wolf is that you have ears and a tail, which do a lot in conveying how youre feeling in the moment! usually he pays attention to those things if youre the type to not like.. vocalizing your discomfort. hypes you up to everyone who will listen, stops just short of picking you up and showing you off to everyone/hj

RAGATHA:

similar to caine she uses your ears and tail as a means to gauge your internal feelings about things. ragatha is a lot more low energy and calmer compared to some of the other characters on this list... has the least issues of reading you. pulls you away if youre getting uncomfortable in any situation, and oftentimes stands up for you if someone is trying to push you something you dont actually want to do... a lot of the times those people tend to be jax.. but we'll talk about that in his part. I like to think she would try to give you little pep talks when she notices you're a little down.. makes frequent compliments to you and the things you do (skills, hobbies, ect). her room is always open to you whenever you need an escape!

JAX:

really a lot of his "coercing" is just him teasing you and, in a somewhat mean way, trying to subtly push you to get a backbone and find your limit. he wont say it or really express it, but you guys are friends and he does want to see you be able to speak for yourself... its just how he goes about it can be a little... erlrkgkh.... you know? since HES the one trying to test your boundaries and get you to snap at him. i dont think he would go as far as make fun of your hobbies and interests to make you stand up for yourself.. thats just. a smidge to mean, since youre his friend. definitely calls you wolf/dog-based nicknames, most of them dont fall into the "im trying to make you stand up for yourself" thing and more so "haha i think its funny and genuinely lighthearted"

its a little odd but there are good intentions in there

GANGLE:

she gets it, she really does... you two probably talk to one another about your problems to one another... you both find comfort in it and in a way it makes you both feel better. seeing you uncomfortable or anxious kind of empowers gangle to come and help you out, regardless of which mask shes wearing. i like to think it would to the same for you if the roles were reversed... its kind of like how you stop being anxious momentarily when you see your friend struggling and being anxious themselves and you back them up or speak for them, you know? or maybe thats just a me thing... shrugs. probably gives you bows and ribbons to put on your tail to accessorize it

[blade-that-was-broken]

JD's Squad

A few notes on the beginning of John's squad for Soldier On - this is not a finished list; just what I have for now. The Current Cast is John Dory, Delta Dawn, Dickory, Chaz, Pete (Retired), Tresillo (new) but this is just beginning thoughts.

Suggestions are welcome!

John spends any leave that he has to leave base with one of his squad - usually Delta or Dickory - although in the later years, he does do some camping. In the last few years leading up to the explosion and incident, Delta's sister became a single mother. John has stayed there to help out sometimes.

If he is not with one of his squad, he will usually find a camping spot to stay in while doing the odd and end jobs for locals to pass the time and a cheap price.

For a while, John just stayed on base when his squad was on leave and didn't take it when offered but eventually Delta and Dickory forced him to go.

John lives very simply with very, very few possessions so he ends up just saving a fair bit of money. He's been in the military for probably over ten years now. There have been a few guys that have rotated through their squad. Pete retired and was eventually replaced with Tresillo (they don't share rank though, it's just the numbers).

Chaz is talented but a bit egotistical and can be difficult to work with. Most people do not like working with him. He definitely rubs John the wrong way and although John can usually tolerate him, they have fought before. John has broken Chaz's nose. Which drove him nuts because the guy is a bit vain.

No one expected John and Dickory to get along, but they are actually pretty close. Dickory is the shortest of the group but he's strong and crafty. And not to be underestimated. His parents were immigrants and so he carries a fairly heavy accent. He's got a younger brother, Hickory, who he is close with. Hickory wants to follow in his brother's footsteps but Dickory thinks his talents lie elsewhere.

Growly Pete, as he was known as, didn't talk much but was a great shot and an even better survivalist. John took to it with his outdoorsy nature and wasn't very offput by Pete's quiet nature, so Pete took the time to teach him. He retired a few years before the incident.

Tresillo is a fairly new soldier who was given a choice - jail or the military - and he won't ever tell you he made the wrong one. He doesn't have much in the way of family and was kind of unruly at first but he's got more discipline now and he likes his squad a lot. Doesn't love being treated like a kid but he kind of gets used to the younger brother treatment. Great dancer. Taught John and Dickory Spanish.

Even before Pete left, John and Delta kind of got the dad and mom tag, being the responsible ones. JD took care of his little brothers for years and was kind of used to it and Delta is a natural leader. The mom and dad jokes are mostly kept quiet and behind their backs.

In the incident, John was the one with by far the most severe injuries. Delta wasn't there at all and when she does hear the news, she does feel a little guilt for not being there. It's dumb and John would tell her that, but still.

Tresillo straight up blames himself. Period.

Everyone involved is extremely tight-lipped about what happened and they won't talk about it. Sometimes a little with one another but that is about it.

John becomes especially mindful and protective of youngsters. This may include both minors and young adults. This mostly comes from protecting Tresillo during the incident, who to John, is seen as barely an adult. (This is also a bit of a nod/projection to how my horse trusted and protected kids when we got her before she ever trusted adults with her own issues.)

Tresillo probably won't stay longer in the military than he has to. The incident might even give him an out. It's not that he doesn't like the military, but the incident does freak him out and after what happens to John... yeah. Part of it is some guilt, part of it is that he doesn't get along with a lot of other people and he kind of doesn't want to. John and their squad became the people he got along with, trusted, etc.

It takes a while for Tresillo to visit John after what happens but when he does, he might stick around. I don't know yet. He and Branch do become friends.

The first time Bruce sees John with Clampers, for a second he thinks John knocked some girl up. And John is just...she's like... three years old. It's becomes kind of a joke.

John may or may not punch Chaz again after leaving the military.

Floyd finds out about John entirely by accident and it's awkward and weird. He does get a little upset that no one told him before this. (He mostly communicates by letters and hardly uses a phone and is constantly traveling very busy with his growing career).

Delta ends up finishing her tour but something happens that leaves her having to take care of her niece, Claudia (aka Clampers).

That's all I got for now.

[aethelwyneleigh27]

In honor of Christmas spirit, I will present you with things I love about my moots and why I appreciate them. Hope this there's you guys up no matter what you're going through right now, you deserve to have something good said about you, I love you guys <333

A/n: please excuse the few ones because now I've started to drink.. vodka mule.. hope I don't say anything too weird and I know I'm kinda a weak drinker, still building my tolerance and all.

Alright, let's start with my most favorite moot..

@puff0o0

🩷 You are so pretty love, how dare you ever say anything otherwise. The curly hair and it's beautiful color, facial features that look like they've been carved by a sculptor and down to your sweet voice. Physically hurts me to know that you're gonna say otherwise :((

🩷 Your writing? Fucking top tier fluff ever, those mean comments about it? Screw them, your writing got you to almost 3k followers and they're just jealous because they don't have that.

🩷 You are such a good friend, always caring for everyone and not asking anything for in return. Also please love, give yourself a break and please rest. Never will forget the first time we interacted because you are by far the sweetest creator who so happens to be well known.

@connorsui

🩵 Christmas is the time of giving right? It's time to give some back to you. I'm gonna get this out of the was, sweetie you are the best kind of reader I have ever come across and there's really only one of you, I wouldn't have it any other way.

🩵 You are the kindest and funniest person ever, your commentary keeps us writers motivated. I mean this genuinely, I find myself always looking forward to what you have to say on my works.

🩵 I'm sure many writers you've reblogged will agree with me, your commentary has honestly been the best, you sure know how to make me feel better about what I write. Also I'mma need some of those memes you use, you're so iconic and funny I can't.

@simp4konig

❤️ You don't give yourself enough credit for how much you help people boost their works, saying you haven't done much but commenting, talking to me and just interacting with my work does so much.

❤️ You are literally so nice to me, I don't even know where to begin with the list of things you've done that you refuse to be credited for.

❤️ You're so funny and another great writer, I hope that I see more of your writing along the way.

@blingblong55

❤️ First of all, who gave you the right and talent to be such a good writer? Genuinely, what kind of drugs are implemented in your writing.. you got me to like Makarov.. you're that powerful. I know I'm into villains but I wouldn't be surprised if you got me to like shepherd too... Please don't. (This is not a challenge please 😭)

❤️ How can I say this without sounding like a total fangirl? I'm obsessed with your work as you can tell, so much so that you're one of the creators who inspired me to start writing again and still as of now I think of your works while writing my own.

❤️ I DEFINITELY WASN'T SQUEALING AND KICKING MY FEET IN MY BED WHEN YOU FIRST INTERACTED WITH MY WORK...

@anonymuslydumb

🩵 Love you as the first Filipino person I had interacted with within this app that doesn't happen to be my school friend or relative.

🩵 Mangangaroling po, blue and yellow bills only. Pwede din po through G-cash and ShopeePay, pero no less than 1k pag-ganon AHAHAHA CHAROT, KIMI LANG.

🩵 Mwah <3

@shadofireshinobi

🖤 You are so special I can't even, you're my first ever mutual, first request and first person that I can genuinely talk to here before anyone.

🖤 You've made me feel so comfortable in my own skin and I know you're facing difficulties with your own that I am too but you're in so much more difficulty. I really do wish the best for you, love.

🖤 You are so strong, confident and resilient, you've been through so much and gosh you are the definition of a powerful woman who I wanted to be when I was young. Child me would be the happiest knowing that a motherly figure is looking after her.

Past Friends and Relatives <3

@marshmallowinamess

💚 Do I even have to say this? You are the best person in my life, my soulmate forevermore, we've been through so much together that I don't know where to start. I wish I was able to express how much I love you.

💚 You have been there for me through thick and thin for the most difficult times of my life, you've saved me countless times and though it doesn't feel like I'm doing enough, I made a promise to myself that I will make it up to you even if it will be the rest of my life.

💚 You are the only person who stood up for me when I needed you the most, I just.. don't know what else to say because what can you give someone who's done so much for you? Who has treated you better than anyone in your life, better than your parents? What can you possibly do to repay someone who saved you from yourself?

@ysalinedevreux

❤️ I know we've had conflict and drama in the past and I just wanna say I'm thankful that you contacted me again because we would've missed out on the friendship we were supposed to have.

❤️ A lot has happened and yet you stayed strong and we both learned from our past.

❤️ Happy holidays my dear <3

@rabblebite

🧡 What more could I say to my most favorite cousin in the world?

🧡 Thanks for being there for me always, you've made heartwarming promises and we still have a lot of adventures together (we're both drunk right now)

🧡 Honestly I wish my dad would take me here more often because then I'd get to spend more time and gossip with you guys. Thank you for comforting me like you always do when I needed, immediately noticing the change in my voice and that I'm crying.

Special mentions:

@azereus @rustic-guitar-notes @trepaika @skeletalgoats @icarustypicalfall @ghosts-cyphera @thesnowurzikdjinn @legallymentallyillfuckers @miss-gms-and-the-rotten-womb

You guys are always there to support my works and I want reciprocate that as much as I can, each and every one of you are so talented. I wish I can write more and do you guys justice but my eyes hurt so much and this is overdue. You guys are such good writers and even more amazing mutuals of mine who I know have been through some tough times. Know that all of you are welcome to talk to me when you need to and that my page is open to comfort as much as I can from a distance <3

[savethevamps]

Reasons We Love Top Tanin

Earlier today I posted a breakdown of the scenes in which Top was SA, now I wanna give him some love because Top Tanin is a sweetheart damnit!

Also, what I said in my other post applies here too, we can discuss Top as a character, but blatant and random hate is unnecessary.

With that being said, here’s a list of Top’s best qualities:

1. His confidence! The first thing I loved about Top was how confident he was, you can tell just by the way he walks that he knows he’s the hottest guy in the room. Not to mention how sure he was in his pursuit of Mew, he never let himself get discouraged and always had an air of easy confidence no matter what.

2. How slow to anger he is, without being a pushover. We’ve seen Top get berated on more than one occasion, and he’s never been shown as angry in most of these confrontations. Besides looking slightly annoyed, he’s usually seen as being calm and sometimes even amused.

3. His quick remarks and comebacks. As I said, Top is no pushover! He’ll let people go on about whatever they feel, but not for too long, and he especially won’t ever let them think they have the upper hand. I love how he gets when people try and behave as though they’re above him, he always knocks them down a few pegs (as he should).

4. The pride he takes in looking his best. Top is well dressed, well groomed, and he just seems to take the best care of himself. He has a routine that he seems to do religiously, and he always dresses his best which adds to that air of confidence he carries around. Like I said before, he knows he’s the hottest in the room, and that comes from his own knowledge that he takes good care of himself. (I need a Top focused episode so I can watch his everyday routines in detail)

5. His general idgaf-ness. Top is not the type to get involved in drama, or care about what other people are doing. He’s not a gossip, and he stays in his own business until someone drags him into their own. We don’t see him pay attention to rumors spread by others, most likely because he knows how untrue they can be, but also because he doesn’t care enough to pay attention to it.

6. His willingness to grow and be better. Top is not resistant to change, he can evaluate his life, see what’s not working, and actually do something about it. If he’s wrong, he says he’s wrong without any excuses and holds himself accountable. When his boyfriend explained why he wasn’t comfortable with him doing drugs, he listened and decided to stop asap. He never went back on that, even if maybe he’s been tempted. That just shows that he’s always willing to hear genuine criticism and use it as a way to grow. Anyway I can talk for days about this so let’s move on!

7. How artistic he is! Top is a very creative guy it’s amazing, he’s constantly shown to be a talented artist. Every time we saw Top with Mew, he was drawing and being the artist boyfriend everyone begs for. I also love the fact that we were able to see him in his element at the hostel, the scenes were brief but they definitely showed how serious Top takes his artistry as far as his career is concerned.

8. How he cares for his significant other. We all know Top is #1 in the boyfriend department, and I don’t think that’s something that’s new! I’m pretty sure that although his past relationship(s) have been brief, he has taken care of them and met whatever needs they have. A good example of this is the fact he learned about how Mew gets his experiences from books and decided to take him on all these new, and creative adventures/dates to help him have real life experiences. He definitely will adjust to his partners needs in other to make sure they’re always fulfilled and happy.

9. How gentle he is. Top Tanin is a gentle guy okay? He’s definitely someone who would rather use soft touches than rough ones. He rarely raises his voice, he speaks softly but with enough assertiveness to make you listen, and he talks to his boyfriend so sweetly.

10. Him being a blatant sweetheart! I started this post just to talk about this, Top Tanin is the world’s sweetheart. He’s kind to people he doesn’t know without expecting anything in return. The way he would constantly reassure Mew? Sometimes he’d do it subtlety, other times it was obvious. When he gave Nick that advice about staying away from Boston, look he definitely had no reason for doing that, other than him just being a sweetheart. His active listening, he always gives his full attention even when he may not like what’s being said.

So what did we learn? Top Tanin is a Sweetheart, with some pretty likeable (cough loveable cough) qualities! These qualities should be appreciated more in my opinion! More people should see how good this guy is! I’m screaming this from the rooftops constantly, let’s all scream it together until Top hears us.

[leofrith]

hii so i‘m way to invested in everyone‘s baldurs gate plays. can we see your tavs? I would love to see them haha😭

YESSSSSS i will happily take any excuse to talk about my tavs. 🥰 i'm sorry this took so long. i wanted to have their Lore™ a little more set in stone before answering this, but then i proceeded to make uhhhh 2 more tavs and a durge. 🤡

i am listing my characters in the order i created them. they're all good/neutral aligned because being mean in video games makes me break out in hives. aaaaand this is going under a read more because it got really fucking long. 🥴

marqwyn stoneheart

race: human

class: eldritch knight fighter

background: soldier

romance: gale

my first tav who i adore. ❤️ i stole her name from the very first character i created for a now abandoned dnd campaign (though she's nothing like og marqwyn). she's a former flaming fist who left their service due to the corruption she witnessed there. after leaving the city she became an independent soldier for hire—but she's a terrible mercenary because she's a bleeding heart who will help people because they need it, regardless of whether they can pay her or not.

she has dragged the party into many an unnecessary brawl because her charisma is literally in the negatives. we love a girl incapable of talking herself out of Situations. she also used to have two brown eyes before deciding to get herself volo'd during a brief moment of desperation-fuelled insanity.

her backstory has changed a lot since i first made her, mostly because i didn't really have anything in mind when i started playing. 😬 i also had no fucking clue what i was doing when i first started and it certainly shows (tons of missed content, didn't take enough long rests, completely missed lae'zel for the first ~30 hours of gameplay, have done quests in an extremely questionable order, etc.).

i romanced gale with her because the wizard had me by the jugular the second he opened his mouth, and buff wife who hits things with her big sword and her squishy wizard husband who casts counterspell is something that can be so personal. that being said, i do want to rework her character and do another playthrough with her, probably romancing wyll, because her playthrough is a mess.

i will now dip into the alternate canon that lives in my brain in which my next three tavs are allowed to coexist, so just stay with me here and trust in the vision ajgjsdgf

meadow moonwillow

race: mephistopheles tiefling

class: storm sorcerer, bard of the college of lore

background: entertainer

romance: karlach (or enya in the canon that exists in my head)

i made her specifically for my karlach romance run, because best girl deserves a little sunshine to match her own. meadow was born to play gigs in dive bars, but was cursed with a natural talent for magic. 😔 she'll use it because it's useful in a fight, i guess, but she'd much rather insult people to death. if there is shit to be disturbed, she will disturb it.

her and gale are best friends, because i think having some friendly spell caster competition with his bestie who (begrudgingly) lets him teach her wizard spells would be good for his mental health. her and wyll butt heads a bit at first, mostly because meadow's way of trying to comfort people is through humor, and her attempts to make him feel better about his new devil form come off as insensitive (inspired by the way i accidentally insulted wyll at the tiefling party in my meadow playthrough by joking that i was jealous of his horns. king i swear it was meant as a compliment!! 😭). eventually they become really close, which is certainly a necessity when you're both going on a vacation to hell with no set end date.

also my choice of name for her definitely has nothing to do with the fact that i am in the middle of watching the sopranos. definitely not.

landric sparrowsong, "the wrath-bringer"

race: human

class: oath of vengeance paladin, tempest domain cleric of ilmater

background: sage

romance: gale

his backstory is probably the one i've thought about in the most detail, mostly because he's a walking tragedy and i live for that shit. 🧍🏻‍♀️

he was once a school teacher and wasn't much of a fighter at all before his little village near baldur's gate was razed to the ground and his wife and (or so he thinks 👀) daughter were killed, at which point he took up his oath of vengeance. his favourite pastimes now include self-sacrifice and violently murdering evildoers, hence the "wrath-bringer" epithet.

he has been alone—mostly by choice, because he can't lose any more loved ones if there is no one left alive that he loves—for over a decade by the time he's infected, but the forced proximity means the companions very quickly get under his skin. he's very protective of meadow especially (when they're both in the party at the same time in the universe that exists in my head) because she reminds him of his daughter.

he is god's favourite sacrificial lamb, and is consistently the first to go down in a fight (inspired by me, constantly getting him killed by taking far too long to figure out how to play a support class). naturally i paired him with gale because i think the idea of a guy finally opening his heart to the love of another after over a decade of self-imposed solitude out of fear of being hurt again, only for gale to decide to take on a suicide mission just as they're finally realizing their feelings for one another, is soooooo good and tragic. ☺️

he has a soft spot for children, but being around them makes him sad and withdrawn (for obvious reasons), something that the companions notice pretty quickly once they get to the grove and see his cold exterior totally melt around the kids there. he carries a journal which he adds to often, either little blurbs or sketches of people he meets in his travels, ever observing from afar as an outsider.

he was actually a war cleric of mystra when i first multiclassed him because the idea of this man finding solace in his goddes during the worst years of his life only for that same goddess to tell the first person he's truly loved in years that he needs to kill himself is sooooo. anyway. but i decided to change it because war domain just wasn't doing it for me and also have you seen ilmater's whole deal?

also if he bears a close resemblance to my favourite unromanceable assassin's creed npc, that's just a coincidence (lying).

enya sparrowsong

race: human

class: beast master ranger/circle of the land druid

background: urchin

romance: lae'zel (or meadow in the canon that exists in my head)

enya is landric's very alive daughter. i made her in the character creator with no intention of actually doing a playthrough as her, which is a lie i tell myself every time i open the character creator. 😔

ideally she would not even be filling the role of tav at all, but that's obviously not an option for an actual playthrough. she spent her childhood hunting and gathering in the wilds and later pickpocketing her way through the darkened alleys of baldur's gate to survive. in the version of her backstory that lives in my head, she eventually caught the attention of jaheira (by trying to rob her), who then took enya under her wing. the harpers became a family to her, and she is with them in the shadow lands when we meet them at last light in act two. also depending on my mood on any given day, enya and meadow are either bitter exes or couple of the year.

she is generally very abrasive with most people she doesn't know well (her and lae'zel are very perfect for each other), but has a soft spot for animals and orphans. she likes her solitude and it takes a lot of effort to earn her trust (there's a reason she's survived alone as long as she has) but once you do, she's ride-or-die.

she has a raven companion and her preferred wild shape is a wolf, but i've also had a lot of fun using her wolf wild shape and a wolf companion for twice the mauling in combat (and twice the torment for shadowheart—thank you sam for pointing out that she would fucking hate this 😭). i also like to think that she's been helping shadowheart get over her fear of wolves.

her relationship with her dad is deliciously complicated!!! but that's for another post.

idunn

race: high elf

class: necromancy wizard/gloom stalker ranger

background: haunted one

romance: astarion

i haven't played as her much yet, and she's my first durge so i don't really know a ton about that whole background. but her brain is currently scrambled egg and she doesn't remember her past so i figure it's fine if i don't know anything about it either.🧍🏻‍♀️

she's trying so very hard not to kill people, and making up for the lack of murder by being incredibly rude to everyone she meets [astarion approves]. i named her idunn because i like the name but also in large part because i think associating the dark urge with the norse goddess of rejuvenation and vitality is really funny.

aelius lucilius

race: drow half-elf

class: light domain cleric of selune

background: acolyte

romance: shadowheart

he's my newest tav and the one i've played the least, so i'm still working out his backstory. i honestly just really wanted to romance shadowheart as a selunite, which is working out great so far because the shar is already out of the bag and now she loudly and openly hates his fucking guts. 🤪

[okthatsgreat]

So this one may be hard since it feels like your ocs are catered specifically to the V3 meta timeline, but it popped into my head anyways. How would your ocs act as Remnants of Despair? Let's say Team Danganronpa's doing something and needs to make them Remnants (probably for a gacha game, spend 50 for a chance to get Remnant Naomi)

OH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD FUCKING FANTASTIC QUESTION im bouncing up and down. this is so cool. A GACHA GAME IS SO FUNNY TOO like the idea that danganronpa is looking to make some money on the side so theyre like Whatever. throw ryobe into genshin impact. who gives a shit anymore

here they are at their edgiest 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

IN A LIST OF LEAST DANGEROUS TO MOST DANGEROUS I RECKON. COULD BE KIND OF A FLIMSY RANKING LMFAO

billie: scrawny fifteen-year old kid with no talent or charisma. you'll be so fine. worst case scenario it's some kind of izuru 2.0 best case scenario she's not even there in the first place. likely doing the family guy death pose somewhere

mika: another ultimate lucky student who won't be able to do a whole lot. definitely got a lottttt more edge to her than billie does, can definitely be ruthless but can't hold much influence and doesn't have any relevant skills. she's either in hiding or she's made friends with another remnant and kept herself safe that way

yoshito: just a fucked up guy honestly. his entire ultimate revolves around helping people so i can definitely see him taking advantage of this amount of trust he has accumulated and getting a lot of people into some deep shit but eventually they'll learn his tricks and he'll be a lot less immediately dangerous. definitely a behind the scenes kind of guy can't see him being super influential or anything. honestly i don't even think he's a team leader in this scenario i think he just let's all of them go off on their own GHFDKJG they're probably ALL on each others asses

rie: can't realllyyyyy think of a whole lot for her... this is not to say she isnt extremely persuasive and able to get her way but she is more of a figurehead for despair. an extremely well-spoken salesperson in that regard, very charming and probably on a lot of billboards already. i reckon this is a similar situation to sonia but on a much smaller scale, probably does public speaking kind of events and turns people to despair that way, is definitely somebody to be wary of but you can take her in a fight easy. her bodyguards not so much

naomi: you are not running from this girl. she can reach you anywhere and knows how to use a firearm. its either you learn how to fight better than an athlete with a shotgun or youre dead bud. she is extremely independent though so that is a bonus for you

sae: the only reason she is higher than naomi here is she is a lot stronger and knows a lotttt of hunting tactics that can definitely land you in hot water. you'll really need to brush up on avoiding traps because if she catches you in a position where you arent able to run youre fuuuuuckkeddd. unless you are strong it'll be really really difficult defeating her in any sort of hand to hand combat, especially in this despair scenario where she is genuinely not holding back. the one saving grace with sae is she is not dexterous at all so if youre a good runner with a lot of stamina or hell even a more dexterous fighter you'll maybe be ok

erin: ok so she's probably not the most IMMEDIATELY dangerous person, like if you approach her while shes alone with any kind of weapon you'll probably win. but shes this high up just because the implications of her ultimate talent being turned to despair is actually kinda horrifying. like shes a CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINER. she's most persuasive on KIDS. there are many scenarios that can happen here but all of them involve children so immediately all of them are horrible hgfjkgdhsk. could very very honestly turn into something similar to monaca's plan, attacking her will be pretty difficult considering she has a lot of kids hostage

ryobe: evil mr beast. the worst parts of erin and rie and hell even sae combined. has millions of followers who will do literally anything for him, sets out hundreds upon thousands of death traps everywhere he goes. will absolutely 100% throw more ultimate talents into killing games just for good content. catch him alone and you could probably kill him but you will NEVER catch him alone because he is constantly surrounded by people who can and will die for him while also torturing you for views so good luck

andi: most likely wouldn't be there but just for fun andi but SUPER evil (like. somehow even more evil than she already was) is bad news. super bad news. andi being there means that you are likely in some virtual reality type of scenario which means she has complete and total control over everything around you, everything you eat and drink, and everything you experience. she's a rule-oriented machine so the scenario depends on whether or not she's been given instructions, but quite honestly you'd WANT this to be an instruction-less andi cuz she'd kill you quick

[rain-is-cool]

THANK YOU FOR THE TAG @littleeggrock !!!! I APPRECIATE IT!!!!!

1. Are you named after anyone?

Nope!! But my middle name is from my great grandma on my dad’s side!

2. When was the last time you cried?

Probably a week or so ago at 3 AM because the thoughts at that late at night be wildinnnnn (but I also was abt to cry today because my head hurts so bad, but that’s basically everyday, I get headaches a lot)

3. Do you have kids?

Yep!! I have 2 children with my platonic husband!! (Their not actually my children, it’s a bit me and my friends have going on lmao their actually not even a year younger than me 💀)

4. What sports do you play/have played?

I played lacrosse for a year-ish and I almost joined a team for soccer and volleyball but didn’t end up committing to it so I never played

5. Do you use sarcasm?

Oh definitely, I love sarcasm, I also love tone tags for that reason to because it allows people to understand me better (and help me understand them lmao)

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Just anything I can tell without interacting with them really, how they look, who they’re talking to, do they seem serious or joking? Should I avoid them or is it ok to approach them? Stuff like that

7. What’s your eye color?

I was told when I was younger it was hazel but I personally think it’s more brown

8. Scary movie or happy ending?

Oh DEFINITELY happy ending, I can handle scary movies for the life of me 😭😭😭

9. Talents?

I can play the ukulele somewhat decently!! :]

10. Where were you born?

Ok don’t make fun of me for this but…. Florida

(Please help I hate it here)

11. What’s your hobbies?

Gaming, Reading, Music, Collecting rocks/sticks, learning abt Greek mythology, and a whole other things that would take to long to list lol

12. Do you have any pets?

YESSS I HAVE FIVE!!!!

(I’ve had a lot more in the past to lol)

Cat #1 A gray tabby cat named Stormie (she gets locked in the closet a lot but she’s the most social out of the 3 cats)

Cat #2 A black cat named Binx (yes from hocus pocus) he’s very fluffy and fat and the only one of the cats that will maybe scratch you

Cat #3 A calico cat named Vida (as in the Spanish word for “life”) she’s very skittish but a sweetheart 💙💙💙

Dog #1 A mini Australian shepherd named Hazel, she’s very skittish but very sweet once she warms up to you

Dog #2 A idfk-even-though-I’ve-been-told-and-he-does-have-a-specific-breed named Nico, he’s still a puppy so he’s very energetic, he’s also very social :]

13. How tall are you?

Short as fuck 😭😭😭

I’m 4’11 - 5” and I get bullied because of it (in a /aff way) all the time 😭😭😭

14. Favorite subject in school?

English/Language Arts/ELA ALL THE WAY

You know how people say there’s math gays and there’s English gays? YEA IM THE ENGLISH GAY (I’m currently failing math)

15. What’s your dream job?

To be a Veterinarian, to work at a music store, or to work at Barnes & Nobels :] !!!

TAGSSSSS: @asterssunzephyr @gh0stmythz and @okaioh Hiya guys!!! How are you?? :D

[shihalyfie]

I have no idea why but something made me go back into my dummy attachment to all series protag crossover things and... Well, i've been thinking about this since the purple Tagiru card and the birth of the jokes based on it about Tagiru having his own corruption arc in Digica.

Who would be the most dangerous to the less of concern enemy out of the 9 protags (double Taichi, Daisuke, Takato, Takuya, Masaru, Taiki & Tagiru, Haru, Hiro) if they had a corruption arc? 👀

Context: Tagiru's Tamer Card is purple, which is unusual because purple is usually associated with dark or undead Digimon. It's probably because Tagiru's meant to be played with the Arresterdramon line (with Arresterdramon being purple, the card game has gone across the usual color associations just to match the relevant Digimon's color, and he does have some "spirit"-type attacks), but it's funny to consider that most of the Digimon protagonist cards so far have been red, and Daisuke being blue is pretty easy to understand why, and then Tagiru got pinned with the color that all the evil Digimon usually get. So of course, the amusing question that follows is how effective Tagiru would be as an (attempted) evil overlord!

Least dangerous: Masaru, actually! Not because he's incapable, but because of the above list, Masaru is the only one who comes off to me as being actively turned off by things like world domination or power for the sake of power. For better or for worse, he's the kind of person who's very self-focused and has goals related to his own definition of self-improvement, and even on the evil side he would still probably be bound by so-called "honor before reason". So if left to his own devices, the worst thing I could see him coming up with would be some underground fighting ring or something else that "causes trouble" but is hardly world-threatening, and even if he ends up being hired help he'd be like a one-off assassin rather than a core part of the threat.

After that in order: Daisuke, mostly because in many ways he doesn't really have a spine (I'm saying this affectionately) or enough conscious malice to get anything done by himself -- even when he's on the good side he's incredibly reliant on his friends to make any real progress. He's a pragmatic enough person that I think he could be surprisingly effective as someone else's right-hand man or minion, but I don't expect him to be a very good evil overlord by himself.

Hiro, who's outright stated in the series to be a doormat who just goes along with everything, and is only considered to be more dangerous than Daisuke on this list because he's a pretty capable guy who can keep himself together in situations Daisuke can't.

Tagiru, who certainly has the drive to do things but is one-track mind enough to be easily predictable. Which is fine in a lot of cases, but being an evil overlord not so much.

Takuya, because while like Tagiru he has a sort of one-track mind with things, he has a sort of "innocence"/"earnestness" Tagiru doesn't that I could easily see being corrupted into the kind of malice that enjoys tormenting people for the sheer fun of it. I think that's the part that's really scary about this, that if you flipped just a few switches in the wrong direction Takuya could be like those kinds of bullies who made Tomoki's life miserable.

Takato, who's often deferential, but, well, the scene where he completely lost himself to wrath is one of the most famous ones in the franchise for a reason. Of course, in that case his own good nature won out, but if a corruption arc is in play...

Reboot!Taichi, I feel could go pretty much any way.

Haru, who's thoughtful and intelligent, and only isn't put beyond the following two because he doesn't have a lot of experience with actual leadership, and his talent of keeping people together is outright dependent on his kindness.

Taiki, who has the charisma to lead a whole army and whatnot, and is very good at planning things out to achieve his goal. Power grabbing is what his entire series is about! The one thing that I think might hold him back to any significant degree is that his Good Samaritan nature of "I can't leave anyone behind" is portrayed as something that's so integral to his being that it's basically compulsive to some degree, whereas...

Most dangerous: Taichi. Of course. Well, we haven't seen him directly lead an army like Taiki did, but even when he was in an existential crisis about his career he still decided to go into poli-econ, and we know he eventually does go into hardcore politics. He's charismatic and great at bringing people together for a goal, and while he does have a self-sacrificial aspect, it's heavily tied to him having guilt over troubling or hurting others, and if that weren't in play...

[realfinemood]

Template by arcandoria / Icons bundle from gaylockpick

Finally finished the game recently after almost 200 hours playing my angry little barbarian fighter and have so many thoughts to put down before I start the next in my long list of planned Tavs. Because this game has eaten my brain. I'm probably also going to make a post on her different companions relationships later. Brecca has lived in my brain 6+ years from D&D so on the off chance anyone else is interested, have a lot of babbling about this AU version of her!

(Spoilers including the end of the game!)

Backstory: Brecca grew up in her mother's tavern in a halfling village, where most people were happy and carefree and the biggest worries were that you weren't up to date on the latest gossip. As a kid with anger issues and not the greatest social skills, Brecca very much didn't fit in with that. The only talent she had to speak of was fighting, whether just for the hell of it or to protect her only real friend in the village, a budding con artist (who the tiefling kids all remind her of).

When a man came into the village one day with promises to make that skill useful, she left with him, ending up in a barbarian tribe of sorts, where she was taught to fight beyond scrapping and bar fights. She didn't ask many questions about who exactly they were fighting, enjoying finally having something she was good at doing. It wasn't until a raid where the target was her own village that she realized who exactly she'd joined up with, and went into a frenzied rage, killing her party and any of the others she could find.

In d&d she ran after that and spent a few months isolating herself, doing odd jobs occasionally but mostly just developing a massive guilt complex. In bg3, the very first place she ventured into resulted in being abducted and tadpoled. Yay distraction!

Personality: Brecca is trying to figure out how to be a Good Person in the aftermath of stumbling into being a not so great one. In theory, that would be trying to help everyone and keep her rage in check. In reality, it's a lot of attempting the most peaceful solution and then murdering a lot when that inevitably falls through. She's not the smartest and definitely not the best at talking or reading people, made worse by the fact that she knows she's not and therefore doesn't trust her own judgement.

Protecting her friends, protecting children, and murdering the fuck out of anyone enslaving people are the things she's definitely figured out as North on her moral compass. The rest are more a moral "rough notes copied off the people she values."

(It's also why she spends the entirety of act 3 pissed as fuck and determined as hell to help Lae'zel free Orpheus. Does anything she's done matter if the reason she can do it is that someone is chained up and having their power used to protect her?)

She spends a good two acts trying to be a hero like Wyll. In the end she settles for trying to do her best, protecting the people she loves, and letting other people be the self sacrificing hero.

Fighting: Brecca is surrounded by tall people and it's very inconvenient that they can get places faster. She has solved this problem in three ways. 1) Fling self, 2) fling weapon, and finally 3) fling weapon and teleport self with whatever the weapon hits. Bonus points if the weapon is twice her size. Rather appropriately, by the time they fought Cazador she had enough combined movement to get across the whole platform and free Astarion in one turn. And then everything else in the scene also went super great don't worry about it.

Party: Brecca has absolutely no fucking clue how she got appointed leader. Her skill set beyond "get angry and hit things" is occasionally threaten people into submission. Half the time she finds the end of quests before realizing there's a beginning. Two of her three favorite people are the murder hobos and her knowledge of magic and gods is non-existent. Wyll is right there guys. Please make better choices.

Anyways.

Astarion is the permanent party member and was even before she caught feelings.

In act 1, the party shuffled around more, with Gale taking a field trip to the creche and Karlach taking out a goblin camp. But the main group was definitely Astarion, Wyll, and Lae'zel. In act 2, the party was almost exclusively Astarion, Wyll, and Shadowheart. In act 3, Lae'zel reclaimed her spot and Wyll took turns with Shadowheart. If it wasn't clear, even with the multiclassing happening, the party theme is a lot of "Hit things really hard a whole lot before they have a chance to fight back. Also magic I guess, that's what scrolls are for right?"

Ending: Brecca made good on her promise to Lae'zel and freed Orpheus, somehow to the surprise of the Emperor despite being very clear about her plan to do so and how much she did not trust the Emperor and hated what he was doing. However, she absolutely did not spend all that time fighting to not become a mindflayer only to voluntarily become one at the last moment and resigned herself to Lae'zel hating her for letting Orpheus play martyr instead. Lae'zel didn't seem to blame her in the end - while Brecca and Astarion got Orpheus to the brain, Lae'zel took care of killing the Emperor for her (while Shadowheart kept everything else from killing her in the meantime).

Post-adventure, Brecca plans on helping Astarion with their 7000 new spawn children in the Underdark, while trying to find a way to let him walk in the sun again. (That, and shoving Dammon at her new gnome friends so that they can put the pieces they already have together to make Karlach a new heart.) Eventually she might actually make her way back home to her mom and best friend, who, true to voice line, will absolutely never believe any of this.