#i have so fucking many kraken ideas

[suburbanbonfire]

needed to tell you that your hockey art is the coolest shit ive ever seen. im obsessed with everything you do and your artstyle is just SOOOO good !!!!!!

THANK YOU <3 <3 <3 <3

i never thought hockey would be one of thing that just gets my brain rolling with Ideas and Concepts and yet here we are and im living in it

[izzy-b-hands]

"It's his birthday," Izzy says. "So..."

"A cake?" Frenchie suggests. "We can probably do that. Jim agrees with me."

"I agree we can bake a cake, but I can't agree that I believe it'll be edible," Jim says. "Is this really the most important thing for us to be doing for the day, Izzy?"

Izzy frowns. "Well...no. Yes, it is! Not for the ship necessarily, actually there are barnacles that need scraping-"

"Again?" Frenchie scoffs.

"They don't stay away after the first time you scrape them off!"

"They could!"

"Okay," Jim gently pushes between and past the two of them. "I'm going outside to scrape barnacles. You two have fun with the cake."

"Well," Frenchie hesitates. "I could do that, the barnacles thing."

"I'd actually marked myself down for that task," Izzy adds, but Jim doesn't slow down or look back as they leave the galley.

"We can do this," Izzy says.

"Where's Fang?" Frenchie asks. "Or Ivan, maybe they-"

"They're helping Ed hang the new drapes," Izzy interrupts. "He feels the windows in the captain's quarters let in too much light."

"That's barely any light though!"

"I know."

They pause, and stare at each other.

"So...just us and a cake," Frenchie sighs. "Okay. We can do this."

"Right," Izzy nods. "We can do this."

--

"In theory if the original cake didn't taste of enough orange," Frenchie says. "Then I'd think we should put more orange AND the orange marmalade in as well. Ooh, orange peel in the batter, and then marmalade as filling? That feels like something Roach would do."

"The batter practically is orange," Izzy frowns at said batter, sitting in the wooden bowl on the counter in front of them. "How did this cake use so much fruit, and still supposedly not taste anything like it?"

"To be honest," Frenchie replies. "I didn't even have any, so maybe it did and Captain Stede was being picky?"

"Oh."

"Yeah."

--

"It's a surprise," Jim snags Ed's shoulder. "Come on, let them finish it."

"I'm fucking hungry, and this is my fuc-" Ed stops mid-stride and sentence. "Do you smell oranges?"

"Yes," Jim smiles. "I do. On second thought, your surprise might be ready. Let me peek in first, okay?"

They open the galley door, and lean in.

There's batter in places they didn't know one could get batter. All of it extremely orange in color.

Frenchie and Izzy give them matching thousand yard stares.

"Nearly done!" Jim chirps happily and slams the door shut. "I'm gonna bring you your lunch!"

"Oh," Ed says. "I mean, that's nice, but I'm literally right here. Like, the Kraken doesn't kill people because he needs to have his food brought to him, that's not like...my sort of thing, so I could just get it myself!"

"Yeah, but even so," Jim continues. "Take the break and enjoy it!"

"You know I'm suspicious, right?"

"You'd be an idiot if you weren't," Jim sighs. "Just. Please?"

Ed frowns, but saunters off towards his quarters.

--

"Oh," Fang breathes in deeply. "Oh wow. How did you two do this?"

"If we knew," Izzy's voice breaks. "We'd have undone it by now."

"Okay," Fang says, gently moving Izzy to sit on the floor by Frenchie. "You two sit here and get to cleaning all of...this. I'm going to see how the rest of the batter looks."

"Avert your eyes," Frenchie sighs sadly. "I mean, I'm not an amazing cook like Roach; I'll own that. But even I've never fucked it up this bad before. Mate, I swear I don't know what happened."

"You two did your best," Fang says, voice full of kind pity. "It's okay if your best is...look, the important thing is that Jim got me to help before this got any worse. They're gonna give Ed his lunch now, and they'll work with Ivan to keep Ed occupied till this is done, okay?"

"It's just a fucking cake," Izzy mutters, then hiccups. He and Frenchie have both clearly been crying.

"That's so sad and pathetic," Fang says gently. "Anyway, get scrubbing. Let me fix this."

--

"Holy fuck," Ed smiles. Actually smiles, for the first time in a good while. "You guys all helped with this?"

The cake, decently sized despite the lost batter, sits on a plate in front of him. Shaped and coloured to look like an orange, with a couple of new and nearly overfilled orange marmalade containers at each side to go with it.

"Fang did most of it," Frenchie volunteers.

"But you and Izzy made the batter," Fang adds. "And Jim and Ivan-"

"Kept me away so it would be a surprise," Ed interrupts. "You know..."

Ivan flashes them a nervous look. His one stipulation to helping keep Ed out of the galley was that they would make sure not to upset Ed to the point he might maim anyone. Like, say, his own short staffed crew.

"Since..." Ed swallows hard. "All of the recent changes, I've been hesitant to let myself be happy. About anything, for any reason. And I really wasn't looking forward to my birthday..."

Frenchie nods along.

"I should add, if any of you tell anyone about this moment," Ed continues. "I'll keelhaul all of you."

"Understood," Izzy says sharply.

"That said," Ed smiles again. "I needed this. I love it. Thank you guys."

They nod, but there's a thick tension in the room that keeps their mouths shut. No one seems keen to break it.

"We'll leave you to it," Izzy finally says, gesturing to the cake. "Leave any leftovers and we'll get them put away for you. For breakfast, maybe."

"Maybe! And yeah, barnacles still need scraping," Ed agrees, taking a fork from Fang. "Ivan and Jim got some of it done, but you and Frenchie could finish it."

The bit of levity, the inkling of a less hurt Ed, disappears with them out the galley door.

But, they exchange exhausted small smiles.

He had a good birthday, he liked the cake, and he didn't even notice the batter dried onto the galley ceiling.

[glorifiedstreetmagician]

It has been a few days since Ren has seen Haku. Sure he was on and off messaging him, but he couldn't get this ghoul out of his mind!

He was still wondering about what they were going to call themselves... They kissed like twice right? Maybe three times, but does that mean they were together together?

Ren wanted to ask him, but he hasn't been able to have a chance to see him in person and texting it seems a lot easier to do, but when he got the message typed up he would automatically delete it, embarrassed about having to ask the other about what is between them.

Then again... Ren actually doesn't know what Haku liked?

Haku was a cool guy, but what does he like to do? What was his favorite food? Ren didn't know that kind of thing.

He was sure even his dorm mates were suspecting something with him, he was asked. But he didn't say anything.. Not that he doesn't want to keep Haku a secret, but he didn't know what to say. He doesn't see any reason keeping it a secret if that is what they were...

But were they?

Fuck it. He wanted to see Haku anyways. This was good as time as any!

" Hey.. Are you free sometime today? Would you be into going to an arcade with me"?

It was typed and ready, but Ren was hesitate about sending it... What if Haku didn't like arcades..? This was a bad idea.

He let his guard down and his baby kraken friend came and was trying to take away his phone to watch a live stream...... Probably Kurosagi's streams...

But in the fight.... The message was sent...

Now Ren is pacing back and forth.... Anxiously waiting for a reply..

@loser-gamer-boy

Haku considered himself a lazy person. This was generally common knowledge to anyone that had heard or met him. But he had never been so distracted as he was in the days following his sleepover at Jabberwock.

A paranoia whispered to him that he could be under a spell or a curse with the way he or someone else caught Haku staring off at nothing, current task forgotten, or just wandering off to walk around the lakes, paperwork be damned. He was just lost somewhere else in his mind. Even at night, he could be found sitting by his window and gazing dreamily up at the moon or sitting on the piers with an umbrella as he watched the lake's surface ripple.

Maybe Ren really was a siren. They'd known each other technically for a short time, but Haku could not get the ghoul out of his head. He could not stop seeing those beautiful blue eyes, ever so slightly tinged green like the clear waters of a grotto.

And his dark brown hair, shining with an almost green sheen too, falling in lengthy and messy soft waves. Skin pale like a seashell that could turn as darkly pink as the inside of one too.

Every time he thought about Ren, it was like Haku caught a sudden fever. His body flushed with heat, his pulse quickened, and he just kept seeing the guy in his mind between all their texting since they last saw each other.

What was wrong with him? Haku had once been used to casual hook ups in his first year, and he had a veritable portfolio of romantic interests over the years in general. What made Ren so... different?

Of course, Subaru and Zenji had noticed. A lot of people who knew Haku noticed. Though not many were bold enough to ask about it.

Haku was finally getting back into some sort of rhythm of work, using it to distract his newfound distraction as it were, when his phone lit up with a notification. From Ren.

The reply is quickly typed: 'Are you asking me out on a date, Shiranami? Because if so, the answer is yes, I'm into anything if it's with you. I can meet you this afternoon at the train station.'

[wifelinkmtg]

man i'm not gonna figure out which of these beatrix potter animals fuck

I'm predicting I will get less and less interested in reviewing new magic releases as time goes on, but 1) there's still a lot of older stuff I haven't even touched, and 2) you never know, maybe they'll do something to recapture my interest down the road, like bringing Kaja Foglio back, or taking any creative risks whatsoever. Or, you know, there's other games!

BY 2029 THIS BLOG WILL EXCLUSIVELY REVIEW THE MOST FUCKABLE ANDROID: NETRUNNER ICE

Meanwhile, original Theros block!

Kiora, the Crashing Wave (Scott M. Fischer)

I don't have that much interest in Kiora as a character but I cannot deny that this is a fine piece of pin-up art. Big Hokusai wave, pearlescent light off her thighs, the cheesecake pose, feet - and the gentle way her hand rests on that tentacle. The connection to the other Hokusai piece everyone knows is surely not accidentacle.

JACKIN OFF? BUDDY LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT KRAKEN OFF

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver (Karla Ortiz)

There's so many good feet in Magic that you never get to see because Wizards crops them out of the final card, because they're cowards. I, however, am not. You're welcome.

Anyway yeah Ashiok's hot, we all know this already.

Forgeborn Oreads (Ryan Yee)

The starry infusion of Nyx here mixes with the fires of Purphoros to create a look I'm calling Julie Mao if the protomolecule had been red. It's a good look.

Spirit of the Labyrinth (Jason Chan)

Stupid little airhead can't even solve Mommy's brutalist maze, can she?

IS THIS NOT THE PLOT OF REMEDY ENTERTAINMENT'S HIT 2019 ACTION-ADVENTURE GAME CONTROL

Dunno, never played it! If anyone has, let me know if that joke was funny or not!

Reaper of the Wilds (Karl Kopinski)

I guess I do kind of want a woman who can turn me to stone and also crush my petrified ass into powder with her powerful feral serpent body.

Hythonia the Cruel (Chris Rahn)

Goddamn, did Elesh Norn really not have an original thought in her life? "Throne of petrified victims" makes so much more sense for a gorgon tyrant than a cyborg cult priestess, too. Anyway this ain't about her, this is about Hythonia turning me to stone and then sitting on me. Look how her snake-hair entwines her victims bodies. It would be like sleep paralysis, but sexy and forever!

Pharika, God of Affliction (Peter Mohrbacher)

O, for the limb-loosening fever, the delirium of the god-touched! O, for the venom-rite and the sharp ecstasy of the serpent-kiss! O, to be obliterated by a rolling wall of scale and snakeflesh! O O O for Pharika, She of bitter remedy and sweetest poison!

MAN JUST READ SWINBURNE ABOUT IT ALREADY

Ooh, yeah, good idea.

O lips full of lust and of laughter, Curled snakes that are fed from my breast, Bite hard, lest remembrance come after, And—

I WAS OBVIOUSLY KIDDING, DON'T DO THAT SHIT

Aspect of Gorgon (Willian Murai)

The flavor text for this one reads, "My adopted children are loved no less." —Pharika, God of Affliction, so in addition to being an extremely pretty woman with curly black hair-which-is-also-snakes (already a great start), there's a trans metaphor going on here. Which is to say, one can by the grace of Pharika transition to gorgon, and then presumably have a whole lot of T4T gorgon sex. And if I can do all that and also call Pharika "Mommy" then I do think I'm living my best life at that point.

PHARIKA ISN'T RUNNING A SEX CULT

Pharika isn't running a sex cult yet.

[incandescent-creativity]

It's still technically Sunday for me so--

Snippet Sunday a new writeblr activity from @tracle0 (post is here)

This is from FLOAT, since that's what I'm working on lately!

🌊🦑🌊🦑🌊🦑

“Hang on, what do you mean ‘back’ on Earth? What do you mean, specific memories ‘of Earth’?” My head swims, but the dizziness has nothing to do with the movement of the ocean. “We’re not on Earth?”

“Not anymore,” Aspen confirms.

“No,” the word pops out of my mouth before I can straighten out what I think of the news. “No, you’re wrong.”

My denial doesn’t faze her. Aspen doesn’t move from her relaxed position among the pillows. Her expression doesn’t even change—she just continues listening to me.

“How can we be on a different planet?” I demand. “We’ve never been able to find other planets that we could live on, let alone travel to. We’ve never even made it to the planets in our own solar system.”

“I’m sure that’s true,” Aspen says, infuriatingly calm.

Logically, my brain knows that it’s not her fault, but my racing heart and stinging eyes are telling me otherwise. Pulled to my feet by it all, I manage to not fall over. That’s good—that’s going to be step one in escaping.

“River,” Aspen says, also standing from the bed that we were just settling into.

“Stop it,” I snap.

I can’t choose between glaring at her and looking towards the door, my escape route. In the end, I glare so hard a third eye opens on my left cheek and keeps an eye on the door for me. The split vision is disorienting at first, and I do end up leaning left before I recapture my balance, but it’s easier to parse than the dozens of eyes that sprouted as a kraken.

“Just because I can do—do weird stuff now, doesn’t mean we’re on a different planet,” I tell her.

“I’m not lying,” Aspen says, sounding slightly less calm as her gaze catches on the new eye. I almost want her to say something, just to use it as an excuse to see what I can grow next.

“Prove it,” I challenge.

“We’ll have to go outside,” she tells me. “I can introduce you to Venus, my second in command, too.”

"No,” I say again, shaking my head and closing the third eye to prevent dizzying myself further. “If we have to go outside, it should just be us. Tell her to leave, then I’ll join you.”

“I can’t do that,” Aspen tells me.

“And I can’t have her seeing me like this,” I argue, gesturing to the third eye on my face.

“Dismissing her will only make her more suspicious,” Aspen says. She isn’t arguing with me—she’s still calm enough to present straightforward facts for my consideration. “And you’re going to have to meet her at some point.”

The idea of another crew member staring at me douses whatever fire had been building in me. I can’t get rid of Aspen; she already knows. But I don’t want to have to meet a new person while the odds of them rejecting me for having too many limbs and eyes and who knows what else.

“It’s not the meeting her,” I lie. “It’s the…” The what? The freak show factor? The way I feel like a fucked up werewolf? “The shapeshifting.”

“What about it?” Aspen asks, as if it’s not a gigantic issue.

No longer willing to make a break for it, I close the eye looking at the door for the final time. I feel the skin of my cheek smooth over as the nerve severs from my brain and slides out of my face like a hair that got caught in my mouth. Not knowing what else to do, I catch the eyeball in my hand. It’s warm, and damp, and the iris isn’t the dark brown color that my eyes normally are.

I hold it up to Aspen, who, remarkably, doesn’t flinch.

“I can’t have this be my introduction, Aspen,” I say, as cowardly as it is. “I want to make a good first impression, and then share the news once they know me as me. Not as a squid, or as anything else.”

The captain of the Endurance regards me for a silent moment. I do my best to meet her gaze and stand my ground. I’m not part of her crew; I’m stuck on her ship for now, but I haven’t signed anything. She can’t give me orders and expect me to obey them. I don’t know what I’ll say if she tries to, but I haven’t known what to say this whole conversation, so that won’t be anything new.

“I understand your… social concerns,” she says, pausing to try and figure out how to summarize what I just said. “But my crew is trustworthy. I don’t bring anybody aboard who isn’t completely focused on our survival. What I’m trying to say is—they can keep a secret.”

“I’m not trying to have it kept a secret from anybody else,” I point out. “It’s them I don’t want to know.”

“I generally try to share everything with my crew,” she says, still trying to persuade me.

“And I’m asking you not to share this.”

I don’t know what else I can say. I really don’t think it’s so difficult to understand why I don’t want to become this ship’s resident outcast, shunned for my randomly acquired random monstrous abilities, but Aspen is taking another moment to think about my request.

It turns out to be a much shorter pause than the rest of her hesitations have been. After she comes to her conclusion, she steps back towards the wall and unhooks the latch to open the porthole window. The sound of the waves lapping up against the boat gets significantly louder, taking center stage instead of just being a background irritation.

“Here, you can toss your extra eye out through this. Feed some fish.”

[14th-century-verona-queer]

Okay so i have NEVER (and i mean NEVER) watched TUA, but my wonderful and amazing friend @aroacebooknerd is a huge fan and quite genuinely 99.9% of what they’ve posted recently has been reblogs of people who are angry about the S4 ending and the character assassination of Five

so here’s basically what I know about season four (and TUA in general):

TUA fans: Oh boy! I can’t wait for the season 4 finale, we’re finally gonna get closure! I’m hoping all the characters will finally be happy and something with marigolds will happen! TUA director (i think): uhm actually no we’re going to give this practically cannon aroace character a love interest and make him a homewrecker! That’s what you guys wanted right? TUA fans: *unintelligible screeching and angry noises*

So heres what i know:

Marigolds?? Those are important for the ending for some reason

a man named Klaus who sets off my gaydar and smth abt him being a stripper? (He’s like my queen Dan wildes, pop off king)

Five (I I still don’t know why he’s named after a number?) is somehow like 75 but also 18

This woman named..uh I forget, but her actors name is Rita I think and apparently she’s like 34 and agreed to cheat on her loving husband (who’s five’s brother) with five. this is so potent with the stench of pedophilia. this is so not okay. you can’t just be like “oh but he’s 18 so he’s legal so it’s okay!” Like NO SIR THATS NOT OKAY

apparently they waited for fives actor to be like 18 before they forced him to kiss Rita or wtv??? like…that is illegal sir? or if it’s not it should be?? Wtf??

I saw a picture of the kiss that happened between them and I started genuinely BURSTING OUT LAUGHING. and not in the “haha that’s hilarious!” Way but in the “HAHA OMFG THIS IS SO NOT FUNNY AND STUPID” way. Like. that kiss looked so uncomfortable. you can TELL that five’s actor is uncomfortable. wtf guys.

the trans guys voice got deeper!! that’s so good for him!! we love seeing representation of trans people and their journeys through transitioning (or not if they don’t choose to, but the emotional journey they partake in)!!

we’re sad abt a woman named Sloan for some reason

S1 Allison and Luther (I have no idea who they are) was uncomfortable

one of the main guys has like a kill count of the entire population of the fucking planet. Apparently his powers are like..out of control and he killed everyone?? …how….i have so many questions and i know that none will be answered

theres like five main characters and they are all apparently siblings. So i guess SOMEONE was getting dicked down good

SOMETHING ABOUT SOMEONE WITH A MONKEY BODY

theres a guy that’s a ghost..i think his power was like Painful As Fuck™️

I think there was a kraken involved at some point?

It’s giving found-family aftg vibes but also not ( nothing could ever compare to my beloved aftg)

i tHink they’re all like assassins?

There’s something about their being normal versions of them, and then Sparrow versions on them? What?

something about a mannequin and how Five really likes said mannequin

fives character was assassinated bc he would always choose his family over himself and that’s not what he did in the finale

they all end up dying in the end, no closure is given, everyone is angry, Obama has packed up his stuff and is NOT there

Yea, thats pretty much all I know

Which is..not much

I am still VERY confused the more i look at this list

Feel free to reblog this or whatever to just rage about the season 4 finale bc from what I understand it was SHIT

I was considering watching the show before but like..do i even want to at this point?

I don’t wanna fall in love with the show knowing that THIS SHIT is gonna happen

I deeply empathize with all the TUA fans. I feel so bad for y’all 😭

[mack-devereaux]

Comfort

Vince Dunn

Authors note: Vince is my comfort player. I love him. So it’s only fitting that I write about him in a comfort fic. No clue on word count. Pictures are from Pinterest. I think the only trigger is like 3 curse words? And a little bit of angst, just a tiny bit.

❤️❤️❤️❤️

~~~~~~

Isn’t it strange? There are so many people out there who secretly love someone. And yet there are so many people who have no idea that someone secretly loves them.

~~~~~~

Vince was new to Seattle. He had just gotten traded, he knew it was coming, but yet he wasn’t prepared for how much of a difference it would be. In St. Louis he had his friends. But here, he was so new he didn’t have friends yet and with his family in Canada he was struggling trying to settle in. He just wanted someone to talk to and hang out with. His floor in his apartment complex was very quiet, as far as he knew there were only two tenants, him and a very very quiet person, as far as the other rooms, they were used for storage. He never saw his neighbor nor had he heard them when they came and went. Until today that is, he was texting on his phone while walking down the hallway when all of a sudden something, or someone, smacked right into his chest.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention I—“ the cute blonde stopped speaking immediately when she looked at him “wow your eyes are really pretty.” Vince grinned. Kinda taken aback by the chatty girl. “Oh I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I’m sorry, I’ll pay more attention next time” the girl stuttered.

“It’s really not a big deal. I’m Vince” he stuck out his hand. The girl took his hand and she swore electricity shot up her arm. “Y/n” she smiled dropping her hand and reaching for her apartment keys.

“Well for the record y/n you have very beautiful eyes as well” he added with a wink and a panty dropping smile. He felt an odd sense of calm and peace when they touched hands. “Do you flirt with all your neighbors Dunner?” She asked.

“Wait how do you—“ his eyebrows pinched together, she knew who he was.

“I work for the Kraken sometimes. I’m one of the extra medics they call in when you guys get too crazy out there. It’s my job to know who you guys are. But you should get going before you’re late to training” she leaned into her doorway of her apartment.

“Shit, yea. Well I guess I will see you around then, don’t be a stranger. You can come hang out anytime, I’m only a door away” he smiled and started to walk down the hall to go to the gym. Looking back over his shoulder he noticed her watching him “you too Vince”.

*a few weeks later*

Y/n was sitting on her couch alone, only because Vince was out of town on a roadie. She didn’t realize how much she had gotten used to his presence until he was gone. Literally. He was constantly in her apartment, and if he wasn’t at her place she was at his. At this point they were the equivalent to roommates. Vince tried to convince himself it was because he felt calm and peace around her, not that he had a massive crush on her. He made the mistake of telling his friend Sam about her and he hasn’t heard the end of it.

Y/n wasn’t mad about constantly having the cute hockey player in her apartment over the last few weeks, however she did wish he gave some heads up when he came over though. There’s been many times he just barged in when she was looking like a mess or had just crawled out of bed with her hair everywhere. He claimed it was a cute look for her but she was still mortified. He was like sex on legs, he constantly looked amazing. Between his dark curls and his bright green eyes she knew she was fucked. Plus his constant flirting and the need for physical touch was not helping her case. She quickly picked up that physical touch was how he needed reassurance. He always mentioned how she kept him grounded and not in his head, she took that as a huge compliment, he didn’t seem like the type to let people in very easily.

Her phone vibrated on the table, bringing her out of her trance she had fallen into, she reached out and saw a text from Vince.

From Dunner 😈:

Hey babygirl, you able to talk?

Babygirl, the name he called her when it was just them, she loved it. It often became Babe around his friends and teammates. But she wasn’t mad about that nickname either. She hit the call button and waited for him to answer.

“Someone’s impatient” she rolled her eyes when he answered.

“You’re the one who texted me, I figured it would be a waste of time by texting you, just to have you call me” y/n explained.

“That’s fair. What are you up to?” He said, he sounded tired.

“Laying on my couch” y/n said.

“Sexy, what are you wearing” he smiled.

“Vince” she rolled her eyes “don’t make it weird.”

He laughed “come on babygirl live a little, I know you’re wearing my shirt.”

Glancing down she scoffed “no I’m not” yes she was, “How was your game” she quickly changed subjects.

“I knew it” he grinned biting his lip. He loved when she wore his clothes. “It was good, did you watch?”

“I always do” she sighed “when do you come back?”

“I knew you missed me” he chirped.

“Quit teasing me or I will hang up” she pouted. Messing with the hem of the worn out shirt.

“No you won’t, you miss me too much. But I’ll be back in a few days babe” he yawned.

“I’m gonna fall asleep soon” she said also yawning.

“You should stay up, I wanna keep flirting with you” he whined.

“You’re ridiculous” she laughed.

“You never flirt back, it’s boring” he said.

“Umm yes I do, you’re just super attractive and it makes me nervous to flirt with you too much, I never know when you’re being serious” she laughed.

“I’m always serious babe” he said, after a note of silence on her end he added “get some sleep, I’ll talk to you tomorrow yeah?”

“Yeah, goodnight Vince.”

As y/n hung up he looked at his lock screen photo of them. They were out at a club with the team, she was in a dark blue dress and he was wearing a black t shirt and dark jeans. She was sitting on his lap with his arm around her back and they were taking selfies. He had just touched her exposed shoulder with his cold beer bottle when she jumped. Then he snapped a photo of them mid laugh. It was his favorite picture of them. For as much as he teased her about her missing him, he was certain he missed her way more. Being away from her was weird. Especially since they had only met a short while ago. He’s never clicked with someone this quick before. He didn’t know what to make of it. His friend Sam had tried giving him advice on asking her out but he wasn’t sure how she felt about the situation. A text came through bringing him back to reality.

From Babygirl 🥵:

Goodnight 💕

To Babygirl 🥵:

Goodnight babe

~~~~~~

We looked at each other just a little too long to be just friends.

~~~~~~

*a few weeks later*

Y/n was adding some final touches to her makeup before she heard her door unlock.

“I’m coming!“ she shouted as she grabbed a hair tie to throw on her wrist. She walked out into the living room seeing Vince drop his duffel bag by the door, he was wearing a dark game day suit and his curls were styled perfectly. It’s a shame that hair will be covered by a helmet soon. Damn he looked good.

“You ready?” He asked.

“Yeah, just let me grab a few things,” she grabbed her purse and her water bottle. She was going to the game tonight because they were playing the Canucks, the Kraken tend to get a little rough with each other when they played teams close to them. Mainly because the crowd was always intense and got the energy going in the arena. So naturally Vince had convinced her to carpool with him, with games like this he always got a little hotheaded. Just having y/n around him seemed to keep him calm. Which he would need after tonight’s match up with their Canadian neighbors. She was his first friend here, and somehow between the late night talks and flirting he had fallen for her. Even some of the teammates had noticed how he kept her close to him, literally and figuratively. Little did he know that she had fallen for him too. How could she not. The two of them just fit so perfectly together. The drive to the game was filled with flirty banter and small talk.

~~~

The game was a bloodbath. Penalties were called left and right. Players were coming off the ice like crazy with cuts and bloody noses and injuries constantly. It was a good thing they called in backup, which they definitely utilized. She was right behind the players bench watching everyone with such intensity, even the other team. The end of the second period was nearing, she couldn’t wait for the team to have an intermission to cool down. The energy in the arena was out of this world. She had been to plenty of games before, but none had been this intense.

Then it happened, gloves came off and it was a blur of blue and white wrestling on the ice, punches and insults thrown around like nothing. She forgot how to breathe once she realized it was Vince who was fighting. As a medic she was used to blood, especially at the hockey games, it never bothered her but it was different seeing Vince bloody. She wasn’t sure how long they had been fighting. After what felt like a lifetime the refs finally ripped the players apart. Vince immediately going towards the bench, he was yelling. The teams physician pulling him to the side and down the tunnel checking for any major injuries. They had moved so fast it didn’t register to y/n that they were halfway to the locker room already.

“No, I want y/n! Please!“ Vince shouted. Y/n snapping out of her frozen stance she followed the physician down the tunnel and into the locker room where she heard him shouting. As she turned the corner she immediately went for gloves and gauze. Throwing her hair up in a bun the physician was explaining what she needed to do, he had his hands full with this game, she was happy to help but still in shock that Vince was the one she was tending to. “No concussion, but we need the cut on his lip and cheek cleaned up and check his teeth for any other bleeding. He’ll return for the 3rd period. When you’re done with him send him where the rest of the team is. Oh and check his shoulder too, he took a nasty hit.”

“Yep. Got it” she said as she was washing her hands and putting gloves on to look at his face. As she stepped in front of Vince she grabbed his face gently making him look at her, still in shock over what she had witnessed. Yes she knew hockey was a violent sport. Yes she knew there were lots of injuries. But seeing Vince get hurt and in a fight was something she wasn’t prepared for. He was breathing hard, still pissed off about the call and the fight. But as soon as y/n was in front of him he felt better. She was explaining what she was doing, and asking permission to clean him up. He wasn’t listening, he knew she had to do that for her job. He leaned forward and just hugged her waist, leaning his head into her side, not saying anything. His breathing still heavy but starting to even out.

“Vince, I need to clean that cut,” y/n sighed.

“Y/n please. I need to calm down. Just—Please.” He was wound up, he tried to keep his voice level, not wanting her to hear him yell. So she let him, his sweat and probably blood going on her shirt. She just stood there and rubbed his back, well she tried to rub his back. It was hard with all the pads and gear on. After about 5 minutes of him just hugging her he finally pulled away. She didn’t say anything, she just looked at him, he nodded to her and she started looking at his injuries. He never looked away from her face. He notices the grey swirls in her eyes, she was holding back tears, the long black lashes, the freckles lightly dotting across her nose.

The cuts weren’t bad, and his shoulder was fine. Relief flooded her, when she was done she took her gloves off and threw everything away, “Vince, are you ok” she said looking at him. He was already looking at her.

“I’m ok” he breathed out “thank you baby girl.” He stood up and kissed her on the forehead, letting his lips stay there for a second longer than he should have, and walked to where the rest of his team was. She let out a huge sigh and sat down. After a minute she walked back to the bench for the last period.

The game ended in overtime with the Kraken winning. Y/n was charting and filling out paperwork when the team was finishing up post game interviews and showers. Vince walked around the corner to meet y/n by the team parking, and they walked together to his car. Once in the car Vince’s hand soon found its way to y/ns thigh, still needing some sort of comfort from her, she set her hand on top of his and intertwined their fingers. They said nothing the entire way home. Not even as he grabbed her hand and walked past her door straight to his apartment. It was rare that he was this quiet after games. They always fell so easy into conversations, but she didn’t dare speak first this time. She sat on the couch as he went into his room to change. After a few minutes he came out and handed her one of his old shirts, she walked to the bathroom to change. She grinned once she saw it was her favorite shirt of his, a very worn out hockey shirt from when he played for the Icedogs in his OHL days. It fell to her mid thigh, which was fine, she normally wore boy short underwear so she wasn’t super uncomfortable in just the shirt.

As she walked out of the bathroom she saw him in the kitchen. His sweatpants hanging low on his hips. She could see the tension in his back muscles still. She walked up to him and just hugged him from behind, even though he towered over her. He turned around and lifted her up to where she was sitting on the counter and his hands were on either side of her legs. They stared at each other for a minute. Y/n reached out to brush his curls off his forehead. He leaned into her touch and as she went to grab the side of his face he grabbed her hand a kissed the back of it.

“Y/n. I am sorry for what happened earlier.”

“Vince, I’ve seen you fight before it’s not a big deal, I just panicked for a second when I saw that you were the one hurt, and with everyone screaming that loud in there I just shut down.“

“ No, let me finish please.” He sighed, “it’s not that. I—fuck. He made a comment about you and it set me off. Y/n you give me a sense of calm that I’ve never had before. I’m pretty hotheaded and get worked up pretty easy out there. You’re the only thing that can calm me down, and that terrifies me. Every time I’m around you I just feel peace, and comfort. I’m not sure how to explain it, and I know it sounds dumb but I just need you to stay with me.”

“Vince I’m not leaving, you make me feel the same. I’m not sure when it happened for me either but everything is easy with you. I don’t want it to stop” Y/n said.

“Can we go to bed then? Just relax for the night?” Vince looked at her.

“Yes.”

[thegoldenhoof]

Poison into Positivity - Why we should have revisited The Talent Show.

Prefacing this, that as a Izzy lover, I loved the Calypso’s birthday episode. Perfect. No notes. Except that maybe it should have been longer 

But boy did Ed get done dirty in that episode (and Stede but I am making my peace with this is just who Stede is. Being a better person was never his character’s motivation).

Perhaps nothing has bothered me about the whole of Ed’s arc as the poison to positivity comment because, Girl! Where? What exactly did you do to earn that? Ed threw some money at the problem and sat back which made sense in a sad way because it is a very Stede way of doing things. At least Season 1 Stede ( but again we are not talking about Stede here). And Ed was following his cues. This is Youtuber apology the sequel.

But in contrast, imagine if we had gotten The Talent Show- Take 2

A repeated problem that many posts have talked about in this season is that it was unwilling to face the trauma that it set up and look it in the eye and deal with it. So much of the show had become “shit happens move on”.

But revisiting the  idea of The Talent Show for Calypso’s Birthday party would have been amazing imo and here is why…

The Chekhov's gun was already set up with Lucius mentioning it in the previous episode

This season had been spoonfeeding us Season 1 flashbacks and references and this would have fit in perfectly with the pattern. 

Ed’s side of it was as set up with him not remembering the show at all. We have been told repeatedly that Ed rewrites his memories/forgets things that are uncomfortable to him. 

Repraising the talent show would have worked as a shorthand for Ed actually confronting his past and would have been an opportunity to genuinely make himself vulnerable in contrast to the youtuber apology.

It would have reminded the crew that this was still the man who they cared for at one point, who just did some fucked up shit because he was hurting.

It would have shown the audience that the crew was able to look at a painful past experience and rewrite those memories with a better version if it-  a stand-in for them moving past the trauma of the Kraken era and being willing to rewrite those memories with this new Ed.

Izzy could have joined Ed’s song putting it in contrast with Izzy’s anger and confusion of Season 1. 

Ed is singing some old song. He hears the uneven stomp of the peg leg behind him and stops. Cue bad memories.

Izzy’s voice takes up the song. He turns back to look at Izzy and he is revealed to us, in all his Drag glory, looking equally nervous until they both give a tentative smile and continue with the song.

Ed turns to Stede pulling him into a dance. Izzy turns to Calypso kissing her hand. They are singing the same song but the have their own people to dance with now. 

a) This would have given us a peek into their joint past, a happier time and laid a foundation to the relationship they are hinting at in the death scene with  Ed’s “You are my only family” because we haven’t actually seen that relationship between them in either of the seasons.

b) It would have given us a transition between the earlier drunk Izzy-avoidant Ed scene and the absolute tonal whiplash of the next day morning after scene by having an on screen truce/resolution.

c) It would have shows them as two people on diverse paths who are even now still tied by their past. They too are trying to rewrite what that past should mean now with hopefully better associations.

This means we lose La vie en Rose the, I’d make that sacrifice for some actual character growth. (We could still have had that performance over the end titles/longer post credit maybe?)

8. This would actually fit in with the message of turning poison into positivity for both Ed and the crew and Ed and Izzy.  It would also have had Ed make an emotional investment in that transition and not a monetary one so he has actually earned that comment.

9. It would have made Ned’s interruption much more painful because Ed is trying to make amends for something he did here and another consequence of his actions have come crashing in.

Cue Stede killing Ned but now it doubles down on the “You don’t have to do this alone. I’m here beside you helping you (however badly) too” message.

Overall…

The larger events of the episode don’t change. 

Just a few dialogues here and there and maybe trim the Ed giving money to the kids scene (Because what? Why? I dont care u gave them a knife. Those kids are getting murdered within a couple of days. Good job Ed!).

 So little changes. And yet there was so much potential for shifting the tone and not putting all their eggs into the one basket that they were planning to smash with a hammer.

[tacticalrefrigerator]

For personal reasons im gonna ignore the last 10 ish minutes of season two episode 8. it's not canon its a fucked up fan fiction that someone wrote :)

⚠️Season two episode eight spoilers⚠️

Genuinely tho why the fuck did David Jenkins think that THAT was an appropriate send-off for izzy? To be a representation of the metaphorical death of blackbeard? That's it??? That's all he was in the end? His death taking blackbeard with him leaving just Edward?

My question is why couldn't he have lived and his "send off" be becoming Captain izzy hands aiding Zheng and company in revenge against prince ricky? He could have lived and taken on the role of "blackbeard" while leaving Ed and Stede to be innkeepers, that being the "death" of blackbeard. Or if Izzy had to die why couldn't the death of blackbeard be literal? Killing blackbeard and his first mate Izzy Hands, leaving not a trace of blackbeard leaving stede and company to either continue piracy or split up. I'll never be able to watch season two the same way knowing they, traumatized, abused, disabled, and grew Izzy all for him to die as a pawn for Ed's story. That was fucking soul crushing.

It wasn't even a character arc for Izzy, his own death. It was an obstacle for FUCKING ED. So everything leading up to this point, all of his growth, his acceptance within the crew as the unicorn, the abuse from Kraken!Blackbeard, the finding of himself, ALL OF THAT WAS FOR FUCKING NOTHING???

This character meant so much to me for so many reasons. He was an angry, traumatized man who was clinging to an ideal of someone who'd changed. As he grows as a character he realizes that Blackbeard doesn't exist anymore and what's left is Edward Teach, the man he fell for, his best friend. He realizes he's accepted by the crew of the revenge, and in turn realizes he's finally part of something again. His growth as an older queer disabled man from a hardened jerk who couldn't let go of blackbeard was beautiful to watch. And they cut it short. Izzy spoke to me as a character, watching him die in such an, undignified way killed me inside. I have very little in common with izzy yes. He's a 50 something heavily traumatized disabled man living in the (though not historically accurate) 1700's , im a queer, able bodied, teen from colorado in the 21st century who rants on tumblr for fun. But watching episode 6 in particular, knowing what he was in season 1, watching him fearful to be himself then be accepted beautifully when he started singing, accepted as their unicorn dressing in drag, performing during Calypso's birthday, It spoke to me. That process of being terrified of being yourself then finally finding the group that loves you for you. I related to that point in his story so much. I was and still in a sense am terrified of being myself. Im a weird little gay trans guy who's into weird niches. Seeing that struggle in a character and watching his acceptance resonated with me and meant the world and beyond to my little queer heart.

And another thing, Jenkins didn't even fucking tell Con that izzy would be killed when he signed onto ofmd 2. He broke the news halfway through FILMING. A character that meant that much to both Con and the fanbase was killed off to be nothing more than a CHARACTER ARC FOR EDWARD. And the actor who brought Izzy Hands to life was none the wiser until he'd already agreed to play Izzy again.

Now knowing that the story might go on without Izzy, without Con constantly reposting fanart of izzy, without his sass, without his vaguely nsfw quips. It makes the idea of season three less appetizing, for lack of a better word. Izzy was a key part of why i loved season 2 and was willing to excuse how rushed it was.

That's my 2 cents about that absolute bullshit ending to Izzy's story.

[stereax]

is there a reason why Carolina is losing all their affiliates???

Other than being assholes to Erik Haula?

Okay, but in all seriousness, there's a short answer and a long one.

The short answer is two words long: Pyotr Kochetkov.

The long answer? Meet me under the cut.

Alright, hi there. So to answer this question fully, we need to talk about the AHL in depth. The AHL, or American Hockey League, is the second-highest league of North American pro hockey, under the NHL. Most people tend to believe it's just "where prospects play before they hit the NHL". This is... only a part of the story.

There are 32 teams in the AHL to match 32 NHL teams. The idea there is that every NHL team would have an AHL affiliate - the most recent expansion, for example, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, is the AHL affiliate for the newest NHL team, the Seattle Kraken. Many of these teams are owned by the same group as owns the NHL team - Harris Blitzer, for example, owns both the New Jersey Devils and the Utica Comets. Others don't - the AHL's Charlotte Checkers, for instance, are owned by Michael Kahn, whereas their NHL affiliate, the Florida Panthers, is owned by Sunrise Sports (aka Vincent Viola).

Why is this important? Well, if you're an NHL team that owns your AHL team, you can let that AHL team leak money. You're turning a good profit on the NHL team, so you don't have to make your AHL team economically viable on its own - you just put it in as a massive tax write-off and go on with your day. Thus, you can put all of your AHL team's resources into developing your AHL players to get ready to play at the NHL level. Of course you sign some vets and such of your own, maybe get a few undrafted guys for the AHL team too, but generally, an NHL-owned AHL team's sole purpose is to develop NHL players. Winning the Calder Cup (the AHL equivalent to the Stanley Cup, not to be confused with the Calder Memorial Trophy given to the best NHL rookie) is just gravy on top.

Contrast this to independently-owned AHL teams, where this is not the case. For these teams, making money is paramount. How do you make money? When you win. Fun fact - the Chicago Wolves, incidentally, used to be televised on main channels partially as a fuck you to Bill Wirtz, who didn't let the Chicago Blackhawks' home games be televised, presumably to drive ticket sales. The Wolves saw that and pounced on the opportunity to make some cash. So if nothing else, love them for sticking it to the Hawks. You can still watch Wolves games on My50, it seems, if you've got that channel, as well as AHL streaming options.

But back to independently-owned AHL teams before I go on my daily anti-Hawks crusade. You want to make money. You do that when you win. When you make the postseason. When you win in the postseason. Independently-owned AHL teams want to win, not necessarily develop for the NHL. So when your NHL team keeps taking your best player away for weeks and then giving him back... you get annoyed.

Now let's play Chicago Wolves Simulator. You are Don Levin and Buddy Meyers, the Wolves' owners. Your goal is to win the Calder Cup or at least come pretty damn close so you can pay the bills. You have a good team - hell, you won the Calder last year! - but your best asset is this star goaltender named Pyotr Kochetkov. When Koochie's in net, you usually win because he bails out your team. When he isn't there to help you win, you kind of don't. Now, Carolina's going through its own issues in net, so they keep calling Koochie up and down. And, as previously mentioned, you kind of suck without Koochie. To be fair, you're not all that great with him, but you suck without him. And you have no control over when he goes up to Carolina, even just to sit on the bench.

You miss the playoffs by one point. One. And your three-year contract with the Canes is up. What do you do?

Waddell Young, GM of the Wolves, says their philosophy and the Canes' fundamentally differed. The Wolves develop and win. Winning develops, to them. The Canes wanted the Wolves to focus solely on development. Not winning. So, when their deal with the Canes was up, the Wolves said "no thanks, we're not going to continue this, we're going independent". This decision makes them the first non-NHL affiliated team in almost 30 years. Now, this isn't to say all independently-owned AHL teams are doomed to fail in partnerships because of divergent philosophies. Look at the Hershey Bears and the Washington Capitals for a prime example of that - the Bears are one of the best teams in the AHL and have won four Calder Cups with the Caps as their affiliates since their affiliation began in 2005. But the Wolves were quite unhappy with the Canes, and so the two split. Also notable is that the Canes have also poisoned the waters with who should be their local AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, to the point where the Checkers affiliated with the Panthers instead. So... there's that.

So what can the Canes now do with non-roster players? They can affiliate with another AHL team (co-affiliation); one instance of this was when the Seattle Kraken affiliated with the Charlotte Checkers in 21-22 because the Coachella Valley Firebirds weren't yet ready. Supposedly the plan is to get an affiliate for 24-25. But what do they do this year? Especially if they can't find an affiliate to share, which seems more and more likely as the summer drags on? Well, you can't sign players to two-way deals with the Wolves anymore, so you can't really keep veterans around in the AHL to call up if needed. So you... sign nine defensemen to NHL contracts and carry them on the roster at all times. Yep. Don Waddell, Canes GM, has basically stated outright that his roster is probably going to have to carry 22 or 23 players at all times to be sure to have replacements in case of injury. And your prospects? They either go to Europe, where they're basically inaccessible for the whole year, or you loan them to other AHL clubs. Waddell has said plans are in place with several teams to send 2 or 3 players each to several different AHL clubs. For your youngest, they go back to major junior in the CHL and related leagues. Same for your veterans - if you want to keep them, you'll have to sign them one-way (I believe) and then loan them down to scattered AHL teams across the league. Prospects who you could have signed to play in the AHL and develop? You're probably going to have to let them go to free agency (see: Kevin Wall, leading player for Penn State and Carolina draft pick, who just inked a deal with the Milwaukee Admirals, AHL affiliate of the Nashville Predators). And then you can send your worse prospects to your ECHL tea- wait. Oops. They just lost that too. Can't do that either. Well, shit.

And remember, one of the Canes' biggest assets is their system of play (with strong defense) that they execute well. The Wolves needed to teach their players the Canes' system and prepare them so the jump from AHL to NHL wouldn't be that tough. The Canes put their coaches on the Wolves for that purpose (the Wolves have since cleaned house and instated their own). Loaning your players to another AHL team? Why would that team be incentivized to teach your player(s) the system? So now even when you're calling up someone to play for the Canes, you have no idea how well they know the system and no idea how well they can play in it.

This now begs the other question - how will the Wolves fill their roster? Well, they've got options. Generally, an AHL team takes the prospects of its NHL affiliate and then fills the rest of the roster with AHL veteran free agents that the AHL team signs to AHL-only deals. But without an NHL team, it's a smidge more complicated, or perhaps easier. Firstly, other NHL teams can loan their prospects to the Wolves instead of their own AHL teams if they consider the Wolves better at developing them, for instance. The Wolves can now also sign whatever free agent players they find roaming around that could be a good fit for their team - undrafted college players, good ECHL players that can't seem to get called up enough, AHL veterans, players on European teams (especially Russians who might want the chance to get the fuck out of Russia) and so on. These free agent players could see the Wolves as a stable AHL team that can pay solid money (the AHL doesn't have a cap) with a strong chance at contending for the Calder as well as a possible stepping stone to an NHL contract. The Wolves also don't have to worry about these free agents taking ice time away from the Canes' prospects, who would need to be prioritized under an affiliation, which would also be a strong incentive for AHL free agent veterans to sign with them - they'd be able to get a truly fair chance, unlike under an affiliate system where prospects are the priority and free agents are generally playing fewer (and worse) minutes.

And remember - Chicago just drafted Bedard. The city's getting back into hockey and Hawks tickets are expensive. Want to watch some quality hockey on the cheap? Why not come to Wolves games! They're only 18 miles away from the Hawks, too!

Let's now talk about the ECHL and the Norfolk Admirals. Thankfully, this is going to be a lot simpler. The ECHL, unlike the AHL, has only 28 teams. This means 4 NHL teams don't have an ECHL team. In addition, very few, if any, ECHL teams are owned by their NHL affiliates. This further incentivizes them to play for profit (winning the Kelly Cup, the ECHL version of the Stanley Cup) instead of development. On top of this, relatively few ECHL players actually make it to the NHL. ECHL affiliates change fairly frequently, especially due to many of the teams folding because of financial issues (most recently the Brampton Beast, Manchester Monarchs, and Quad City Mallards). So if an ECHL team decides to drop its NHL affiliate, or vice versa, there are four other suitors, all of whom would probably want to pay the ECHL team decent money to be their associate. For the Admirals, it's easy - they see the Canes lose their AHL affiliate and decide they'd rather take the Jets' offer instead, whether it be for the money (Carolina's supposedly notoriously stingy) or for the security. It's just really fucking funny that it happens at the same time Carolina loses their AHL team. Get fucked lol.

TL;DR stan the Wolves for rejecting the system. Canes Suck.

[journey-to-the-attic]

In Spiderkid, do you have code names for the other heroes/villains as well? :O

i do!! i had some vague ideas for powers as well, i'll go ahead and just put the cast's roles under the cut:

HEROES:

The Devildom Rangers:

Diavolo, "Prince" - doesn't have any superhuman powers, but uses high-level tech as with batman or iron man

Lucifer, "Morningstar" - light manipulation

Satan, "Colourpoint" - anger enhances his speed and strength

Belphie, "Hoarfrost" - ice powers

Simeon, "Peregrine" - telekinetic powers

Luke, "Blue-jay" - speedster, Simeon's apprentice

Vigilantes:

IK, "Spiderkid" - spider powers

Raphael, Unknown - no powers, just. runs up and starts punching bad guys

VILLAINS:

Genuine international threats:

Barbatos, "The Clockmaker" / "The Nightbringer" - mutated spider powers *see note at bottom

Self-motivated and not malicious to the general peace if left to own devices:

Mammon - "The Gambler" - a form of mind power that acts as extreme persuasiveness on his end; runs a casino that acts as a base for underground operations - many, many underlings

Asmo - "The Butterfly" - hypnosis

Levi - "The Kraken" - conducts electricity with water manipulation, hacks stuff

Beel - "The Berserk", also nicknamed "Kirby" - takes on the attributes of the materials he consumes

No one knows what their deal is:

Solomon - "The (Mad) Professor" - does fucked up experiments, and wants to do more fucked up experiments on certain heroes (doesn’t want to actively hurt civilians, but generally doesn't care about collateral damage)

Thirteen - "The Reaper" - kills with a touch, ex-assassin

CIVILIANS:

Wiz, Astaroth, Alecto, Mephisto - run a satire paper that accidentally becomes the city's most trusted source on hero and villain activity, as one of them used to be married to one of the villains and another one of them is pals with one of the heroes

Mephistopheles - runs the city's major legitimate tabloid newspaper

*note on "the nightbringer" - here's that healthy dose of lore i have to inject into every au! if you'll recall a past suggestion that barbatos's powers from the same spider that bit ik, but messed him up to an extreme degree, which he is now very bitter about...

there is a conspiracy theory in which an entity known as the nightbringer calls down "the crimson moon" (hey reference), bringing eternal night to the world. each time this happens, time resets, with the sinners eradicated. barbatos seeks to call down the crimson moon and becomes the nightbringer, desiring to reset the world so that he might return to a normal life

[candywife333]

Magic In the Room

[TEASER]

-SLATED FOR RELEASE IN DECEMBER (CHRISTMAS SPECIAL)

helpless romantic chubby reader x idol/celebrity jungkook

-I don't know why all my works lined up for December are more comedic than angsty, but that's sort of how they are working out😆

"It's a magical time of year Namjoon!! The time I may get to experience my first orgasm" , y/n squealed , clutching her arms excitedly around herself, face contorted into a huge smile. Namjoon side eyed her, questioning her , "Girl, what are you on about? Are you trying to tell me and all the guys huddled in the living room, that you have never experienced an orgasm".

The undeniably jubilant glint in Y/N's eyes flickered out as she morosely stared out at the snowing window, "I know it's an utter travesty for someone my age", she wailed in grief. Y/N beseeched to some deity up in the air, "Is it too much for a girl to ask for a monster cock stuffed up her pussy and man who will play with her tits for 5 minutes straight"? y/n turned around to see Taehyung stare at her as though she were an alien and Jimin spit out his hot cocoa all over the coffee table.

Namjoon shook his head , clutching his forehead in his hands, "Y/N you need to stop this behavior. Too much desperation turns men off". Y/N scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion, "But men have fucked corpses before, that's why do not have many male handlers at mortuaries. What screams desperation more than dudes who would pork the unliving"?

Yoongi started choking at Y/N's bold statement. The girl always came over to spend Christmas with them every year since she was in college, being a close friend of Namjoon's since childhood.

Namjoon quietly stated to Y/N, "Why don't you make up your mind Y/N? Pick somebody to show you a good sexual experience then". Y/N ignored Namjoon as she started to pick up her novel , giggling to herself as she came across the part of the paranormal romance book where the monstrous kraken tentacle would fuck the heroine. The kraken lifted up the girl in the air with one tentacle, as he slid another one to clutch her nipples and stroke her pussy. Y/N sighed, it all sounded so dreamy. If only she had a kraken to abduct her and fuck her. And then...........marry her and put a ring on her, proceed to savagely take her against a flat surface everyday, and put five kraken babies in her. Then all her problems would be solved.

Namjoon grunted in frustration, "Y/N, we both know reading about monsters fucking women is going to get you nowhere. You need real human men to do you right now". Y/N glared at him, piqued at his insensitive statement. "How could you even suggest that preposterous idea to me Namjoon?!", she barked out. Namjoon continued without even batting an eyelash, "what about Jungkook? He is around your age group and he's a brilliant man whore. If anyone could get you to orgasm, it would be him". The room fell silent at Namjoon's proclamation as all the other boys in the room started laughing like a pack of hyenas.

Y/N winced , rubbing her palms together in fury, ready to knock Namjoon out with her bare fist. "HE CALLED ME AUNTIE, NAMJOON! AUNTIE!!! He saw my romance novels and insulted my fabulous taste! Flung dishonor upon my werewolf, kraken, and vampire book hubbies!!! I am not doing anything with a self righteous man whore who disdains the men of my dreams like that"!!

Before Y/N or Namjoon could continue their arguments, a doe eyed, coconut headed man entered the room bringing in the cold with him as he flung off his scarf and mittens. He smirked as he saw Y/n, "Hey Auntie! How you doing"?

Y/N simmered in indignation as she bit out, "Just peachy you ugly man troll". She reached for the remote and her face melted into a surreal smile as she saw her on screen husband, Edward Cullen. She forgot about Jungkook as she clutched her hands to her cheeks, rapturously exclaiming, " Just look at that jawline that could cut glass. My beautiful sparkling man. At least fill Bella with a bunch of your vampire babies if you can't fill me with them". To the irritation of Jungkook, she started sniffling as though it was her husband getting killed by the Volturi.

Jungkook smiled mockingly, "Why don't you let me show you a good time Auntie? Maybe then you would forget about your imaginary boyfriends".

Y/N stopped sniffling as her eyes burned flames of vengeance and pure hatred, " I'd rather have my mouth stuffed with troll dick and be fucked up my ass by a garden gnome, than to spend one more minute in your presence". She stomped out the living space into her room, slamming the door behind her, leaving Jungkook in shock at her dramatic vow. Why was feeling just a bit envious of the mythical garden gnome?

Namjoon sighed in exasperation, turning towards the younger man, "Did you really have to rile her up like that? I think for once she is truly making it a mission to get fucked by someone. She seems to be dissatisfied by her book boyfriends and her on screen husbands". Jungkook drawled out , "You sure she is going to actually get out of this phase? Even if she does, she is not so attractive that she would have guys jumping up to fuck her like that".

Y/N slammed open the door, wearing a sleeveless black lace corset dress that cupped her breasts and hips just right. She trudged towards the door screaming out, "I am leaving"!

All the boys watched as she pulled out of the drive way in her red maserati. Jungkook felt an irrational pang of jealousy as she left. Who the fuck was she going to see dressed like that? He inquired quietly, "Namjoon, where is she going"? Namjoon sighed again, as though he held the weight of the world on his shoulders, "Probably to worship at the shrine in her house, like she does every Sunday".

Jungkook sat there confused, "A shrine of who exactly"?

Namjoon took a long sip of hot chocolate, as he calmly said, " Mr. Rochester. The book husband she recently divorced. He is her ex so it should be fine".

Jungkook bristled in his seat silently. He shouldn't be feeling this way, but............why the hell was he feeling slightly bitter towards Mr. Rochester?

Mr. Rochester in the flesh , just for reference

[thetragicallynerdy]

10, 20, 21, 23, 30, 39!

Hello buddy!! I'm so sorry it's taken me literally a month to get to these, but here we go!!

10) Top three favourite fic tropes.

Oooooh GREAT question. Hmmm they're all like whumpy XD

When someone shows up at someone else's door bloodied or sick and then passes out when they answer it

love confessions when they think the other person is dying

any enemies to lovers (bonus if it's enemies to fuck buddies but still enemies to lovers)

extras: hiding an injury/illness, and taking a wound for someone else :3

20) Do you work on a single project or many at the same time? How does that work for you?

I work on so many 🫠 (melting face emoji)

But honestly, a combo of both! I always have a massive list of WIPs (think: upwards of 30 at a time), because I start projects and then have difficulty finishing them. I typically have around 5 fics on rotation that I am actively working on at a time.

However, I do finish things best when I buckle down and like, dedicate a week or two or whatever to finishing a single thing. So typically when something is getting towards being done, that's what'll happen, and then I'll go back to slowly picking away at many things.

21) Can you accurately predict how long your fics are going to be? If you can, what's your secret?

Answered here! Short answer though: LMAO NOPE

23) Dialogue or description? Why is the other one so hard?

I love writing dialogue SO much more hahaha! Honestly part of description for me is that it takes a lot more cognitive work - especially if it's setting/space and place type stuff. I can picture and think about how bodies move in my head pretty easily, but I find it really hard to do with places!!!

Dialogue, on the other hand, just comes naturally (most of the time). I think I could 1000% write a fic that was entirely dialogue, I just won't because it's not what I find fun to read.

30) Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

God. I mean I have many, many abandoned or half-abandoned fics - more for UnDeadwood than OFMD, but definitely in both. (Ranging from anywhere from a couple thousand words to one that is 90K and long abandoned [someday I'll give in and just publish shit as is])

A big one though was an UnDeadwood Watership Down AU - in which everyone (main 5 cast members, at least) were shifters, and Clayton's shifted form was a rabbit. It was Clayton POV, and laced with all sorts of the Watership Down rabbit religion etc. I think I had like 3-4K written for it.

Oh my god I also had a Ladyhawke AU??? For UnDeadwood?? That was devastating and very fun to write and never got finished - it also had somewhere around 5K written for it.

And that's not even considering the number of "hey omg this would be so fun" ideas - I love thinking about new fun wild AU's, and am very grateful for friends who listen and "yes and" me!!

39) Wildest AU scenario you have written?

Oh god that's a fun question.

UnDeadwood - I think it's a toss up between the jaws that bite, the claws that catch (snake creature Matthew, smutty Matty/Clayton(/Aly) in which Matthew has two dicks. That's it that's the fic. It is unfinished.)

The other UDW option is i found love where it wasn't supposed to be, written with @lovewithagirl, which features a whole lot of ghost sex (as in, sex between an alive person and a ghost)

I have a lot of different AU's for OFMD, but I think they feel a little more "normal" in comparison - they're more stuff like the Remington Steele AU or the Die Hard fic. The wildest is probably Ask Me Anything, written with @yerbamansa, which is a TealOranges Tumblr SMAU in which there is timey-wimey bullshit. Or maybe the Plumbing the Depths series, which is the Jim/Olu/literal kraken! Ed series, mainly for the rarepair.

Thanks so much for the ask, friend!! This was fun, and a nice lil distraction. And thanks for the patience as it took me so long to answer!!!

Writer Ask Game is here, for the curious - if you ask tho, be aware it may take me a while to get to it, life is making inbox answering more difficult these days <3

[suburbanbonfire]

tagged by @18minutemajor for a hockey art share tag game! I enjoy talking about myself but am terrible at posting so this is perfect. i WILL talk too much, this is a threat.

rules: post your first ever hockey art, your latest hockey art, and your favourite hockey art, then tag three hockey artists.

FIRST ART

I made the Kraken Orb (Korb) at the end of the 22-23 season, as a commemoration, although a sort of ironic one considering i had only gotten into hockey in time for the playoffs so there are a couple players here i actually never got to see play at all before making this (Joonas, Jaycob, Burky, Fleury)

it was a whole lot of fun though! Prior to this i was in a months-long art slump after leaving a fandom, so it was a total surprise to have hockey of all things be what revitalized my art.

technically, the very first hockey art from this was Matty; you can kinda tell by the way his lines are a bit thicker than the rest since i wasn't in my groove yet. i also knew coming in that i wanted to arrange the faces in a circle, but didn't plan out beyond that, so i just made sure that i was getting a variety of head directions in my references and hoped for the best. My favorites from this are Gru, Soucy, Dunn, Schultz, Borgen, and Eeli. I think they all turned out really well.

LATEST ART

MEAT CUT MEAT CUT

this one is fun for me because it's quite different from my usual style of art, with lineart and non-realistic forms/face. I've had the concept in my head for awhile after hearing/reading so many interesting descriptions of the physical qualities that good hockey players possess.

'Sacrifice the Body' actually came in mid-art when i had an epiphany doing something like driving my car or an activity similarly unrelated. Before that, it was going to be a lil heart drawn on the chest and the going contender for the label was 'Ferda.' which would've been great, but sacrifice the body just worked too dang well with the themes.

FAVORITE ART

i mean, c'mon. it's gotta be this one.

my magnum opus, my white whale. it came out even better than i saw it in my head and i love everything about it. when i came up with the idea, i had TOTALLY forgotten that Climate Pledge has those giant windows, so when i set out to find references and saw it, it instantly made everything even better with LIGHTING!!!!

It was my first time drawing this kind of interior architecture and although there's definitely things i would do differently now, im so so proud of how it looks and turned out. I was also still drawing through my decade-old laptop at that point, so I had to split up the work on this into two files - i sketched everything, then worked ONLY on the bg until it was about 90% done, then made a flattened copy to open as a new file to draw the players on top of.

I also have a bunch of WIP shots of it in my drafts I guess I'll throw in here now!

initial sketch to get down the composition before i remembered the window | lines of the building! i actually found a 3d virtual tour of CPA from before it was built which had the PERFECT angle, so i screencapped that and straight up traced the architecture. Ultimately, the scoreboard and the paint lines ended up getting moved around.

planning out my lighting in greyscale (i really need to do this more often, i struggle with values so much, alas) | in progress bg! at this point, the ice and the boards/glass were the only things completed. I eventually said 'fuck it' to being able to see the areas behind the stands like you could in all my references, and just put the people dots all the way up.

Now the most gut-wrenching part

THE TAGS

this is where me being bad at posting comes into play, because instead i just lurk and thats not great for forming connections HERE GOES

@ruinedcasket - it has been awesome seeing your art progress! would love 2 hear your thoughts about it

@rouzys - your kraken stuff is so pretty, love how you capture likenesses

oh god oh fuck everyone else i know has already been tagged fuck oh sshit

If You Are An Artist On Hockey Twit And See This, It Is A Sign

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Just Another Day | Or Is It?

feel free to ignore this lol, but i love your roman angst and was wondering if you’d do a part 2 to just another day ? maybe thomas gets involved ? idk, but thanks for your writing !! – anon

you want clamor? you want begging, screaming, groveling???? here it is right here right now, I'm pretty sure the fic came out ten minutes ago but the creativitwins are SO IMPORTANT to me !!! ok, getting to the point, Just Another Day is one of many incredible fics you have produced and i have a dire, extreme need for a second chapter (obviously)! maybe you have an idea for it, but maybe it's the next day, and since the others can tell that roman is so disappointed and upset, but they can't just go up to him and immediately make up for it, they come up with smaller, more gradual ways to give him something special for his birthday (ie: Patton bakes/cooks for him, Logan plans a brainstorm, Janus and/or Virgil do his makeup, and of course, obligatory cuddle ending) just a thought anyways love you love your fics have a fantastic day!!! <3 – vinbee631

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: none?

Pairings: also none

Word Count: 2140

After the...not-great birthday, it's the next day.

      When Roman wakes up, it takes him a few minutes to work out that the big, soft, warm thing he's cuddling into isn't just his blanket or something he conjured in his sleep, but Remus.

Fingers card gently through his hair, an arm squeezing him gently around the middle, and Remus's sleepy voice murmurs something like we gotta feed the Krakens.

"Wake up," Roman mumbles, swatting his side lightly, "you're still dreaming, Re."

"No, 'm not," Remus says back, shifting slightly under him, "Ollie misses you, you gotta come with me next time I feed him."

An unexpected warmth ricochets around Roman's chest. "Your Kraken misses me?"

"Well, yeah." He starts to sound more awake, one arm reaching over to the bedside table to do…something, check the time on the clock or his phone, presumably. "You're the one who spoils him with scratches and pets, of course he's gonna miss you."

"You said it helps keep him healthy!"

"Yeah, it does, but it's like brushing a cat, you don't gotta do it all the time. Plus, it helped you two bond when he was still skittish around you but now I'm pretty sure you're his favorite."

"No, Re, I'm sure you are."

Remus snorts as they sit up, the red comforter falling from their shoulders as they rub the last of the sleep from their eyes. "He has to love me 'cause I'm the one cleaning his lake and making sure he's got all the food he needs. You, on the other hand, he squirted water at me last time I said you weren't with me. He fucking adores you."

"W-why?"

Remus squints at him like he's being purposefully obtuse, and when he realizes that no, Roman really has no idea why, he softens and ruffles his hair. "'Cause he's a creature of the Imagination, for one, and they all fucking love you, he's a creature of my Imagination, secondly, and they all get that from me, and third: it's 'cause you're Roman."

***

    2.

He's still fixing his damp hair when he gets back to the kitchen, having taken a quick rinse to get the smell of lake and Kraken and morning off of him after going with Remus. Ollie had, in fact, chirped and squeaked and trilled upon realizing that Roman had come with Remus and it had been simultaneously the easiest and hardest feeding they'd had in a while. Easiest because Ollie sat so perfectly as Remus checked him over, and hardest because he hadn't wanted Roman to go.

They'd persuaded him eventually by saying that Roman would come back for an entire day coming up, but he's still reeling with the aftereffects of realizing that the Kraken missed him that much.

So when he gets down to the kitchen and sees Patton there, he doesn't think much of it.

"Roman!" Patton spins around and has this bright smile on his face and Roman instinctively freezes. "The muffins are almost done!"

"…muffins?"

The oven beeps just as he finishes asking, Patton whirling back around just as quickly to pull on a pair of oven mitts and take the tray out. Roman drifts forward when he sees the steam curling up from the tops of the perfectly golden muffins, blueberries and all…oh, he can almost taste them…

But then Patton's pulling out a sieve and another bowl—oh, it's cinnamon-sugar mix, and dusting it over the tops—a noise leaves his throat before he can stop it.

Patton just giggles, looking over his shoulder. "They're not going to taste very good from all the way back there, you know."

He blinks, ready for the chide that's sure to follow, except all Patton does is wave him all the way over and gesture to the tray.

"Which one do you want?"

"A-any of them is fine, they all look great."

"I know they do, but which one do you want?"

Roman swallows warily, but points to the one in the very left corner. Patton beams and quickly slides it free onto a plate, reaching over for another dish with—fresh raspberries, for crying out loud—and then he hands the plate to Roman.

"The others will be down soon."

Roman just stares at the plate. "I can—this is mine, right?"

"Yeah, kiddo, that's all for you. Go on, you can eat. Enjoy the quiet down here while you can."

The muffin is delicious.

***

    3.

"Yo, Princey! Princey, wait up!"

Roman pauses, looking over his shoulder as Virgil jogs up to him. "Yeah?"

"So guess what, Dungeons and Drag Queens is out now."

Roman blinks. "It's like, fully out? Or just the first episode?"

"No, no, fully out. It's only four episodes—I know, I know," he holds up a hand when Roman squawks, "I wish it were longer too, but it makes sense."

"It makes sense, that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Right, but hey—here's the thing: they got Brennan in drag."

Roman blinks. Then he blinks again. "Brennan. Brennan Lee Mulligan. Brennan 'I Wear the Same Five Shirts' Lee Mulligan. They got him in drag?"

"Yes, for all four episodes!" Virgil rubs his hands together. "Which got me thinking. Because obviously if Brennan's in drag, we can't just be watching in our hoodies and shit—we gotta look the part too. So—I was, um, I was thinking we could…y'know, plan out some makeup looks too?"

It's astounding to watch Virgil lose confidence halfway through a sentence, and by astounding Roman does mean devastating. "Yeah, Virgil, that sounds like a great idea."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah, I miss—"

Virgil softens when Roman cuts himself off, nudging him. "Miss what?"

"…miss doing makeup stuff with you."

"Aww, Princey," Virgil coos like he wasn't just a flustered mess too, "I miss you too. C'mon, let's get started."

"Hey," Roman asks as they set off down the hall, "what's the next season supposed to be?"

"Oh, it's another sidequest. Mentopolis."

"What's that one about?"

"It's—um, well, I think I should just show you the trailer."

***

    4.

Logan finds him after lunch, holding out a notebook. Roman takes it, not opening it because he's learned his lesson about doing that before Logan talks, and folds his hands over it in front of him.

"I had an idea," Logan says, that breathless smile threatening to burst all over his face, "and you're going to like it."

"Okay?"

"The anthology series board game—you remember?" Roman nods. "I think we can play it the way we did the other one."

"Wait, the timeline one? Where we do, like, multiple runs and stuff?"

"Yes. I think if we plan it out so that we pace ourselves getting through the different stories, we might be able to get a more efficient layout."

Roman can't help the bubble of excitement. He hasn't gotten to play board games with Logan in a long time and that time stories one had been…well, one of the last things they actually did together. But he keeps himself in check. "What sort of time frame are we looking at?"

"That's the best part." Logan nods to the notebook. "There's a margin of error of about thirty minutes, but I'm pretty sure I'm close."

Roman opens the notebook. He scans the page of careful calculations, the schedule, and Logan's neat print around the edges.

His eyes widen.

"We can…we can do this any night?"

"The runs shouldn't take more than an hour or so, and we always have time after dinner before everyone goes about their evening routines, so…yes, Roman, any night you want, I'll be free to play the game."

Roman looks up, his breath in his throat, and he sees the same excitement in Logan's eyes too. "Can we start tonight?"

"I've already checked out the character builds."

***

    5.

"I thought you might be here, sweetie," Janus murmurs, sitting next to Roman on the large rock outcropping.

He doesn't come here often, only when he needs to sit and think by himself without needing to worry about anything in the Imagination getting out of hand. The rocks overlook the grand falls, hundreds of feet of water plummeting from the tops of one of the mountains through the forest. Small treehouses sit just off to the sides, sentry posts that are really just meant for appreciating the natural beauty up close. The water churns and thunders into the river at its base, creating a soothing rumble that acts as a pleasant white noise.

Normally, he doesn't let anyone else here, but the Imagination's let Janus through.

He sits next to Roman with a soft grunt, adjusting his legs so he won't get cramps. He can see Janus turn to look at him out of the corner of his eyes.

"This is beautiful, Roman," he says softly, "it really is."

Roman hums.

"Did you make it for any reason in particular?"

"I didn't. The Imagination did." He shuffles. "I only make some of the things in here. It does the rest."

Janus makes a small sound of understanding. The two of them watch the falls for a moment.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

A softer opening than he was expecting, but he knows there's no way Janus is just gonna let him dodge it. He sighs.

"Why should I have?"

"It was your birthday, Roman."

"And?"

"And you're allowed to celebrate it the way you want."

"But to you, it's just another day."

"It's not," and Janus's voice gets a little firmer, "it's not just another day, because it's your birthday. We care about you, Roman—"

Roman scoffs, his laugh utterly humorless. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that."

"We do!"

"Here's a question for you," he says, turning to properly face Janus, taking him by surprise, "if yesterday wasn't my birthday, would you guys still be feeling this bad about how you treated me yesterday?"

Shock colors Janus's features and he stares dumbly at Roman. Roman raises his eyebrows, a challenge. Janus doesn't say anything. After a few moments, Roman scoffs again and turns back to the falls.

They sit in silence.

***

    +1.

Remus tackles him to the mattress as soon as he gets down to the living room for movie night and Roman just sighs.

"Remus, your knee—"

"Oops." He snuggles down once Roman says he's in a comfortable enough position, humming. "So, Ro-bro, what are we watching?"

"Uh, anything's fine."

Remus makes a sound like a basketball shot clock running out, right in Roman's ear. "Wrong answer! What do you want to watch?"

"Anything that makes it so you don't make that sound again."

"So answer the question, I don't understand what the problem is."

Roman glances around for help—literally, anyone could suggest something and he'll say yes to get Remus to not scream in his ear again, but then Patton's grinning and snuggling on his other side, Virgil's sitting basically on top of his legs, Janus has one of his hands in his and Logan's carding his fingers through his hair.

"G-guys, what—"

"What are we watching," Logan asks in a soft voice, this isn't fair, "what do you want to watch?"

"I-I—"

"Hm?" Janus trails his fingers lightly over his palm, that's really not fair. "What was that, sweetie?"

Using my touch-starvation against me is low, guys. Really, really low.

"…can we rewatch some of Night on Earth?"

"Great choice, kiddo," Patton says as Virgil scrolls to it, "what episode?"

"I like the underwater one."

"Ooh, great choice, Princey, that stuff is cool."

"You missed Ollie too, huh?"

"Maybe a little."

Of course, it's a little hard to focus on the screen when he's being cuddled so thoroughly, but there are worse fates, he's sure.

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

[rimouskis]

every time someone talks about/links to fic (ANY fic, not just RPF!) in non-fandom spaces, I think about TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel, who deleted all 380 of their fics on AO3 because people won't stop linking to them from GoodReads. despite many entreaties over the years to not do so! but people still did it! and it makes me so mad because it's so easy to NOT post about fic and discuss fic on GoodReads, but NO, they HAD to use that platform and not, say, Tumblr or discord, or whatever. some people really don't know, or care to know, why it's a good idea to not discuss fic outside of fannish spaces actually 😤

eons ago I found some deleted pens fics recced on goodreads, with download links even though the author had clearly wanted to wipe their fics off the face of the earth. it's disheartening, and also ... strange ... to put fics on goodreads, of all places.

(I blame wattpad [I always blame wattpad] because it appears wattpad readers call fics "books," which is confusing to me! apparently some of the works on wattpad are original fiction, but nonetheless: a fic is not a book, and goodreads is for books, not fics)

my issue w/ the tiktoks abt HRPF is that it's exposing our #niche #fandom #interest to people outside of said niche fandom interest and blurs way too many lines.

we already have romance novel readers commenting "😍 BOOKTOK NEEDS TO FIND THIS!" under videos on the kraken's official account, where they're literally begging in public TO the organization that they want fictionalized smut about these players (as face-grabs or stand-ins for romance novel characters), which is (imo) crass !!

we do not need Everyday Random People (some of which are hockey fans, as the algorithm is feeding them content they like, and this nominally counts as hockey content) being introduced to HRPF, especially by a person who—while familiar with fandom—is not familiar with HRPF's struggles with the fourth wall over the years [READ THE FANLORE ARTICLE ON IT].

and man... we aren't a big fandom. we seriously aren't. like yes, we're the largest sports fandom [even though men's football RPF is coming in CLOSE with 30,061 fics and F1 is gaining on us with 22,504 fics] but look at us compared to actually big fandoms on ao3:

star wars: 230,985 fics sherlock: 147,728 fics marvel: 628,295 fics kpop: 584,096 fics spn: 277,618 fics minecraft: 106, 521 fics

in hockey we have a humble 32,180 fics.

we're not even cracking six digits! we're not even HALFWAY to six digits! I feel we punch above our weight when it comes to fic quality by-and-large, but we are not a big fandom. when we get 26,300+ people seeing a tiktok about it... it's weird. it feels exposing! I sure as fuck don't want my fics plastered over the roulette of the internet.

also the original poster of the tiktok said this, which is just... ok, pal.

anyways go be kind to people! since some people need the reminder