#i now added the alternatives as a bonus so enjoy Tumblr posts

[itssoinevitable]

acgas season 5 rant

well I must say it’s been some time since I wrote a tumblr essay but I think this one has been building all season. in fact, it will likely be part one of (?) because there are many feelings that need to screamed into the void. let me preface by saying that I am not a “hater” by any means, because I absolutely and unabashedly love this show and it pains me so much to criticise it, instead of celebrate on cloud nine like I usually would be after the finale. I ranked it higher than downton abbey the early seasons, which is a massive compliment for anyone that knows me. and I repeatedly told others not to worry bc it’s the show that keeps on giving and that I trusted these writers implicitly with our beloved characters.

so yes, it royally sucks that I have to eat my words, and that acgas season 5 did not bring what it should have brought. and it also sucks that this is only part one of my rant (for you and me both). if you loved s5, then I am really happy you did, and please don’t read on bc I don’t want to taint your experience. if you hated it but don’t know why, or bc misery loves company, pls read on. spoilers ahead, obv. 

1. episode structure

yes so — structure wise, it was a hot mess. I can definitely see what they were going for, in that they gave the limelight to a pair of characters every episode, and thought it would be fine like modern family style episodes. except, another spoiler alert: it was not fine at all, unless your faves are the featured couple for said episode. I would do an episode by episode breakdown but @owlsiehoot already did that. suffice to say, it is not the kind of show where you can enjoy 40 odd minutes when it’s not “your” characters’ turn to shine. they have nearly an ensemble cast, but chose not to treat it like an ensemble show. and while I can see what they were trying to avoid, the chosen execution method was far far worse imo. (we may never know the real reason for this change, but I hate whoever greenlit this decision).

even if they wanted to keep the longer scene structure, fine, maybe it could have worked. but if I could have recommended one change in the writing room, it would have been to split the main cast into threes every episode, instead of pairs. that would resemble the formula a bit more like the prev seasons, and would’ve given much more interesting and diverse back and forths to play off of and keep more general balance. some ways the dynamics could have been done:

Tris & Carmody were fine in ep 4, but keep it in skeldale more and add Mrs Hall into the mix to mother them, even better. (reminding the audience she has a biological son too, and not just these surrogate dumbasses whom she loves would have been a bonus.)

Helen & James are always lovely together, but add Tris in there for some mischief or more Jenny and Heston Grange for some sisterly bonding. 

Tris & Siegfried were cute too, but again they were away from the house, and usually Audrey was right in there with them and added something to all their interactions. 

Alternatively, give the ladies something to do and put Audrey, Helen and Mrs Pumphrey together again. (I will say though, at least Mrs P had more to do this season). 

Where the show suffered most was giving Carmody two stand-out episodes tbh, when in reality, they only had time for one.

2. tone

not only did the previous seasons have an amazing balance of all characters, they also managed to balance the darker story threads with lighthearted humour in an inimitable way. usually three concurrent storylines, two being more serious, and one more lighthearted to break it up. some episodes of course, were more lighthearted than others. but season 5 seems to have turned that on its head because almost all storylines were quite silly?? I respect there has always been a certain amount of physical humour, but it seems now that the gags have now replaced actual plots and meaningful character development. this is not a sitcom after all, unless they’re trying to change genre at the nth hour. notable exceptions include Bingo’s storyline ofc, and Candy & Joan (both which were early in the season btw) and James’ war and brucellosis experience right at the end. the middle was mostly twaddle if you ask me.

which reminds me: overall, the animal storylines seem to have become something of a joke too. the animals used to mean a lot more to their clients before, and the vets used to show them a great deal more love and respect. contrast to this season, many vetting scenes feel almost cavalier. the poor dog with the phantom pregnancy was played for laughs, which I don’t think it would have been in prev seasons. the horse that fell down after the injection, had no greater mystery to solve. Siegfried and Tristan barely seemed to care, and chalked it up to shock. it is quite unforgivable to me, as their great reverence for the animals was one of the things I love(d) about this show. 

imo a few subtle changes could have elevated many of the stories to their usual form. I gave an example on discord, but I’ll repeat it here. it’s episode 5, and picture Bosworth coming into Skeldale the same was as he did in canon, asking Audrey to come out to investigate a potential bomb. everything could have remained the same except that Audrey could have told the others where she was off to, and Siegfried or Tristan maybe asked her not to go. the whole family would have gathered together for a moment, expressed their fear for her and she would have said it’s her duty to go and check anyway. in this version, we would have felt the tension and the stakes, and it would be a looming threat of the war finally touching Darrowby. the end would also be the same, a false alarm and nothing more but the emotional impact of the episode would have increased tenfold.

and to me, the worst part of it all is that the season actually started off so promising. the first two/ three episodes, combined with the interviews by the cast, it honestly felt like they were exploring some very interesting things. but they dangled the carrot, only not to deliver imho. 

it seemed that Tristan was hiding something painful under his playful exterior, eventually to be teased out, but apparently he really came back from war completely trauma-free.

I was under the impression that Siegfried was supposed to have an identity crisis, where he was feeling left behind, but it didn’t seem to pan out properly either.

Audrey was supposed to be overworked, right? but we didn’t see her actually buckle under the strain of her many, many duties because she’s basically superwoman I guess?

James had this beautiful connection with Banerjee, only for him to be alive but never show up again I guess? really thought James would bring him to Mrs P’s convalescent home but guess not.

3. characters

and here is the crux of it, the beating heart of the show which is now bleeding out. because a truly good show is character-driven, and unfortunately I cannot say that was true for season 5. a glaring deus ex machina comes to mind, when the doorknob fell off in episode 4, trapping Tris and Carmody in a room. never thought the show would stoop to these cliched tropes tbh and it truly disappointed me.

not only did the episode structures do the characters a great disservice, but it seems to have foiled the overall season story arc too for each character throughline. to me, it looked as if the only two people with clear defined story arcs were James with his war trauma, and Carmody (my beloved). was it Sam West who said the characters seemed “busy” this season? bc yes, it’s accurate. but not in a good way. mostly they all had only things to do on the surface, but there was very little going on underneath. which is a crying shame because basically, characters have to suffer a little to grow and be interesting. they need to face challenges and grow and change. let’s do some compare & contrast:

Tristan changed and grew in every season, from 1 to 3 and faced many internal (and external) obstacles to becoming his best self, whether it was by being more studious or responsible and mature in his work and personal life. Now he’s back and we’re supposed to think… what? That he’s already his best self, I suppose.

season 4 Siegfried was holding his found family together, trying to cope with the workload and missing Tristan, worrying about James, terrified that Audrey was going to leave. contrast to s5, and Siegfried is… being adorable with baby Jimmy, and attracted to a goat heiress? if there was something deeper here, please let me know bc I must have missed it.

while last season, Helen was looking forward to starting a family, and then working on keeping her baby healthy and her family (James) intact despite the war. s5 Helen started off strong, struggling with balancing being a mother and big sister to Jenny, but now… she’s what? planting too many strawberries in the victory garden? being a supportive wife to James is important, but it cannot be her only feature. 

and last but definitely not least, Audrey in s4 was learning what a life outside her marriage to Robert could truly mean for her, and figuring out for herself where she belongs. conversely, s5has her making jam, and finding non-explosive tinned potatoes. yes she’s a warden, but what is she feeling on the inside?

4. conclusion — an empty vessel

to summarise this not-epic epic is that my true grouse with this season is its utter emptiness. it is truly a season where nothing happened and nobody really changed. okay, some things were different — e.g. Siegfried being better with handling his “boys”, and being more open and less grumbly in general. or Tristan being more responsible with his work, and standing his ground more firmly. but imo those were the results of previous season’s changes. within the course of s5, they did not do much growing or changing.

Tristan’s homecoming episode comes to mind the most. so many missed opportunities for deeper to surface — James being torn between treating a patient and possibly missing his son’s christening would have added some true to character dissonance. Helen leaning on Audrey for support when she had issues with her mother-in-law, could have worked beautifully and explored the character foils in an interesting way. James and Helen asking Siegfried and Audrey to be Jimmy’s godparents would have been truly touching and a testament to how deep their familial bonds are.

anyway, TL;DR I guess? maybe it’s because they’re saving most of the juicy stuff for season 6, but it mostly felt like a filler season, and if you looked forward to it all year just to get that then it’s truly anti-climactic. with all that said now, onwards and outwards. we shall see was the CS brings.

[nerdie-faerie]

Now offering low quality, low effort Doctor Who memes. Insp

Bonus:

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[krysmcscience]

At long last: either an alternate explanation for or continuation of my prior comic regarding how Bill was ABSOLUTELY naked in Ford's karaoke night drawing. (Because errors in art do not exist. Artists do not make mistakes. So if you see any in this comic, No You Do Not.)

I am so normal about these old dorks.

I'm not really clear on exactly when Bill started throwing his desperation book at Ford just like a needy ex do, but I find it extremely funny to imagine it happening literally the day of or after the makeshift funeral. Bill just gets this weird sense of 'Ford is taking steps to move on' and CANNOT FUCKING ABIDE.

I hope you enjoy all the goofy things I added to each page of Bill's sad spieling. (Everything SHOULD be readable so long as you view the full size, but I have added basically this whole little fanfic in the image descriptions, LMAO, which lays out all the little written notes and such.) Also don't ask how Bill managed to sneak that vampire pen in there. I have no idea, and honestly? I don't wanna know.

Oh, and a little bonus comic:

Of course Bill would take it as flirting. Because between the two of them, Bill is the bigger masochist By Far. :)

Also I have continued applying The Good Place logic to any of Bill's attempts to swear. Case in point, one last bonus image, this time with a motivational line from my slapdash Theraprism OC, EV-01:

Yes, its name is just 'love' backwards. No, I will not be taking any feedback on this. Yes, EV-01 was only ever assigned to Bill's case due to the Theraprism being desperate to make some progress in rehabilitating him. No, it did not work anywhere close to staff's expectations - Bill didn't even appreciate EV-01's matching fondness for bowties! (He claimed the fondness to be "cultural appropriation" and insisted he'd been traumatized by it.)

Anyway, if you like my stuff, reblogs are very much appreciated, and if you really really like it, perhaps consider my commissions or yeeting a teeny tiny tip my way? I am trying to recoup over 500 dollars in vet bills, ahaha... 🙃

In other news, I loved all the fun tags people added to the prior naked-karaoke comic (such as 'the hat and bow-tie stay ON during sex' and the classic '[insert keysmash here]', as well as the many amused/bewildered remarks about how I either made the bricks a piece of clothing or just straight up peeled Bill's skin off). However, I think my favorite thing by far was the several people losing their shit over the fact that I gave Bill toes. Like, excuse me? The magical talking triangle can have fingers but not toes??? Since when was that a rule????? 🤣 (Also the one person who reblogged with the cropped panel where Bill's fishnets pants are falling off to ask why Bill peed himself. Dude, I want to examine your brain...?)

Okie-dokie, I'm sick of looking at all of this stuff now and I'm off to go to work, after which I will either scribble some more goofy "Billford" comics or perhaps draw my lame human!Bill in Situations, idk yet. Maybe I'll even finally draw more than just a single other person's human!Bill...? Who knows, but I sure hope I can mix it up a little and not turn whatever I draw into a month-long fukken project. >:\

[yanderes-galore]

If you're comfortable, could I request a romantic concept for Endeavor (MHA)?

I have mixed feelings about him because I know he's going to horrid to Darling... but at the same time he'd probably try to redeem himself later- This doesn't have much of a plot but it takes place after Rei. The original draft I was doing took place where you replace Rei but I scrapped it for now. Take this as an AU that doesn't really connect to canon.

Yandere! Enji Todoroki (Endeavor) Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling (A section mentions female anatomy, however. This section is in pink), Obsession, Age gap, Possessive behavior, Manipulation, Abuse of power, Lucid yandere, Stalking, Marriage, Mentions of wanting/having children/baby trapping, Isolation, Dubious (forced) relationship.

In an alternate timeline where Enji decides to start anew from his old family, I can see him hesitate for once when he finds a new obsession.

After all, it's clear he's been horrible with relationships in the past.

He's only ruined his kids lives, same thing for his wife.

He probably doesn't even think he'll love again.

Then you come into his life, just about as annoying as Hawks, yet make him feel funny.

It's a familiar warmth... and he dreads it.

You're a new pro hero which means he's going to be dealing with you a lot.

This leaves him conflicted as now he'll have a harder time to suppress the burning warmth in him when he looks at you.

You're younger than him, at least half his age if not a bit older, he knows it would be unprofessional to do anything.

The good news, after his original family and the retirement of All-Might, he's much better than he was.

Unfortunately, if you ever got too close, old habits may make themselves known.

There's times you're so bratty... yet he knows it's just because you're young.

You're overconfident, yet you have a decently strong quirk.

Enji wants to be better, part of him even wants another chance at love, but doing it here would be poor choice.

You look up to him, something he both enjoys yet pities.

Which is why he'd probably stay quiet about his newest obsession for a long time.

He doesn't want to ruin your life.

You have promise, you don't need him to ruin everything.

At the same time... He worries he won't be able to hold back the longer you're around him.

To talk about Enji in general, he's a possessive yandere.

Even when he leaves his old family behind to make them happy, he'd still be bad with you.

Enji no doubt eventually would want to marry his obsession just to be able to show everyone you're his.

He knows marriage didn't go well for him before... but when he looks at you, he can't help but want others to know you're his.

That he's picked you.

To add onto that, if you have a womb... Enji would no doubt try to put a child in it.

I personally believe this man has a thing for strong successors.

Based on past behavior, that is.

So, if you were capable of having kids, Enji would eventually want that.

At first he'd be against it, knowing how his last four kids went, but the thought of giving you his kid...

It just makes him think it's another way to show you're his.

Even after losing his original family he's still possessive.

Old habits die hard, too bad you are on the receiving end.

Enji no doubt tries to be better.

He doesn't want a repeat of Rei.

He doesn't want to hurt this second chance, maybe he's just lonely but...

He wants to make you happy if you're involved with him, it's not like All-Might is in the picture anymore.

Enji may not even suggest a Quirk marriage in this case, perhaps this one he'll take his time with.

But your quirk is an added bonus as a fellow pro hero.

Enji tries his best to stay away and help you from afar.

He shouldn't have you, he doesn't deserve you, he can't ruin another...

Yet you grow close to him and he's trying to put a wildfire out.

I feel most pro heros would take a subtle manipulative approach towards their obsessions.

Things like coaxing their obsession into being involved with them.

Enji would try to stay away from it more due to past experiences.

But you just know he'll snap and start being closer with you.

It's no doubt an abuse of power due to his seniority.

Which is what makes it so manipulative.

You're both skilled heroes and you may even find dating the Endeavor flattering.

At first you think there's nothing wrong.

Completely unaware that being around Enji can get you burned.

Enji doesn't want to keep things hidden when he manages to date you.

He wants other heroes to know he's dating you.

That way no one else can sabotage him.

He wants people to know you for dating him.

When dating you he tries his best to be more amicable.

He doesn't try to hurt you, he's learned.

He's possessive and easily irritated when people bring you up... but never blames you.

He probably buys you what you want, even if you have the money as a hero.

He remembers certain aspects about you, even does it before you're dating.

Enji tries to hold himself back from marriage, but he may use it as another way to show you're his.

It's like a flex to him to say you're engaged. (even if you're not... but that's okay, he can change that.)

Plus, when he eventually gets you to marry him, it feels euphoric to slip on that ring.

He's admittedly nervous to ruin his second chance... which means he does his best to tend to you, even when he has work.

He wants to make things better.

If he notices you're falling out of love with him, or if you notice his more toxic behavior... he distracts you.

Others pity the relationship you two have, even if you are well cared for.

Most of his old family pity you, while Dabi finds it laughable Enji found someone else to torment.

Enji doesn't seem to care about the backlash.

As long as you love him, as long as he has that chance, as long as you're his...

Everyone else can burn.

Speaking of burns, early Enji may have used burns to mark his darling.

This time he refrains from that... but the thought is tempting.

Although... anything to show his mark on you couldn't be that bad, right?

He may not kidnap, but he'd definitely manipulate you into staying with him.

By the time the rose tinted glasses are off, you're in too deep.

If you can have children, you may even already be with child before you realize this... might've been a trap.

Enji likes to show ownership over his obsession.

While he may be caring with you, he's still controlling.

You're no longer your own person, perhaps even forced to give up being a hero.

You're his partner, you'll be known as his partner...

Enji doesn't plan on letting you leave, he'll use whatever means he deems necessary to keep you with him.

He'll lock you away, he'll bribe you, he'll baby trap you... anything.

Enji isn't going to mess this up again...

You're going to be his...

No matter what it takes.

[victoria-grimesss]

Hello! Do you think you could write 141 + konig with a tall fem!reader who has a crush on them but is so used to taller men not liking taller women that she starts “preemptively rejecting them” (self sabotaging herself lol) but is still clearly crushing hard

Or alternatively maybe even someone else shamed her for her height when she mentioned the crush and now she’s acting more distant because she’s second guessing herself now

masterlist

->Warning: slight violence, self doubt.

->A/N: I'm chipping away at the requests but I love writing them so have patience I will get them all out, and don't feel afraid about asking for as many as you want! (I got a little carried away with Soap's).

->Price:

Price has a lot on his plate so I feel like he wouldn't care too much about the height difference. If anything that's what started his attraction to you. He would hate to see you bring yourself down especially if you were on the team and worked closely with them. Hearing the way you would talk about yourself when you think no one could hear. Or when he heard the talk in the locker-room, other men snickering about your crush on him and how he could and would never entertain the idea of being romantic with someone who's so much taller, when he could have anyone. He would find himself Infront of your door late one night, the lines of ranks and right and wrong blurring as he brings his hand up to your door. He would hear no noise after a second and third knock so he would turn to leave until your soft voice alerted him. He would notice you've been more distant than usual, not coming to the usual team drinking events and speaking less to him. Under a veil of tears that would fall from your eyes and a hurried confession of your feelings and a spew of word vomit about how he could have anyone and more self doubt would come out of your mouth before it was silenced by his embrace. He would give you the warmest hug, a hand stroking your hair as he lead you into your room to reveal his own confession. And through that someone beautiful would bloom.

->Ghost:

Ghost is quiet by nature, your lingering stares that would stay on him for longer than normal, how you would find yourself nearby to him in almost every briefing room. He would find himself irritated at first but as he got to know you and work more with you he found himself enjoying your company and in turn developed a small crush which festered its way deep into his heart. You being tall was just an added bonus. He enjoyed you being tall in fact because when standing side by side he could glance over and admire your profile. Although his head was filled with thoughts of you, your head was filled with doubt and insecurity. You noticed him staring more and being closer and it scared you, so you did the only thing you knew, you distanced. You didn't come to the rec room for the group chat, nor the pub that weekend to celebrate he grew concerned. He found you on the rooftop one night, his footsteps quiet as he approached you. He would question you on your lack of appearance lately, he thought he had done something wrong, maybe he read you the wrong way. Maybe he let his feelings get ahead of himself. You would brush him off saying you were too tired. He called bullshit, saying if he had to be there around drunk Gaz and Soap so did you. Your mood would lighten the slightest before telling him why you had become so distant, fearing your height would scare him off, deter him from you. He laughed then, his eyes casted down on you as he crouched down next to you. “That’s what you’ve been fuckin worried about?” He sounded exasperated when he said it but a sniffle from your nose answered for you. A hand clasped on your shoulder before he spoke again, “If you think you being taller is going to drive me away you’re wrong, now let's go, Soap’s been asking for you and I need you down there to get through this bloody night.”

->Gaz:

I have a feeling his type is taller women, from the moment you met he was drawn to you. You had a welcoming air to you and he could never quite get enough. He would be conjoined at the hip with you if he could. He didn't believe you could be insecure about something that he found so attractive about you. Well until he heard some guys talking shit to you after training, he was walking towards you, bringing you a spare water bottle since he knew today was a longer day for you. They were crowded around you as you laced up your boots. Gaz knew you could handle yourself if you needed to but something within him sparked to life as he watched them talk down to you about something that was far out of your control. He pushed his way past one, shoulder roughly bumping into one of them and his dark gaze centered on the one currently speaking to you. Your face grew heated, now embarrassed to be seen under these circumstances. “If you have something to say to her you can say it to me.” You had stood up by now, a hand on Gaz’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him. “It’s not worth it, c’mon let's go.” You pleaded with him but he was still burning. “All we was sayin’ is how no one would want to be with her, especially you. Guys are intimidated by tall women.” The other man wore a smirk on his face as he finished his sentence but it didn't last long before Gaz’s fist met his nose with a sickening crunch. The man clutched his face and to say you were flattered Gaz came to your aid would be an understatement. You both left the room in a hurry, his fury burning slightly dimmer as you walked. “Won’t you get in trouble for that?” You asked him and he looked over to you and smiled. “Maybe, but it’ll be damn worth it, seeing that guy get what he deserved. Can’t be talking to you like that.” You sighed, “Maybe he’s right though, don’t guys feel intimidated by taller women, I mean my dating history shows.” Gaz rolls his eyes, “Well then you’ve been hanging around shit guys. Let me take you out and I’ll show you how you're supposed to be admired.”

->Soap:

I think Soap would love having a girlfriend that’s taller than him. But your self-doubt really came into play when your crush on Soap grew to an immeasurable size. He’s a ladies man, confident, funny, and good at his job. Being on the team you had heard about his conquests and the women he found attractive, none of them being as tall as you.. Although since you had joined the team and grown to be better friends, he met up with random women at night less and less. You would ask him why and he would blame it on being too busy or not finding it as fun anymore. But the real answer was that he found himself head over heels for you. He had tried to distract himself with other women for a bit but he always thought of you. Even if you're taller in general or taller than him he would still be just as attracted, He would notice you would be less inclined to be around him, and he wouldn't know why, he craved your attention and admired you. His feelings for you had been growing and growing until he felt like he was going to explode. He found you in your room, still in your day clothes. You had seemed surprised to see him, not expecting him at this time. “Come to tell me about another girl?” You faked a smile as you let him in. “No. I wanted to talk to you, I was looking for you.” You sat down roughly on the sofa and patted the spot next to you. “Well here I am. Go on.” He sat next to you, his heart racing being so close to you again. “Where have you been bonnie? Been missin’ ya lately.” You rub the bridge of your nose, a headache blooming. “Just tired Johnny. That's all.” He scoffs. “That's a load of shit, ya know if something is wrong I’m here for ya.” You stand up, and turn to him, finally letting all your feelings out. “That's the problem Johnny! You’re always around and it drives me mental because I hear all about the beautiful women you sleep with and how they don’t look like me and how I’m too tall for you and you would never be with me and it kills me because I’m in love with you!” Your hand clasps around your mouth and both yours and Soap’s eyes are wide. Until a devilish smile breaks his lips and he stands as well. “You mean it bonnie? Ya love me?” You don't say anything but he steps closer, eyes glimmering. “Please say ya do, because fuck, do I love you too. I love everything about you, I kept trying to find what I wanted in other people when you were here right in front of me the whole time.”  You break into a smile then too and you confess that yes you do love him. He holds you the whole night and definitely takes a million candid pictures of you to hold onto.

->Konig:

He’s tall, incredibly tall and broad so anyone is going to be short to him. He would find his gaze drawn to you especially if you’re taller than a majority of the other guys on the team. His gaze would make you flush, beating yourself up for getting caught up in feelings for such a high ranked officer. Konig is confident when it comes to his job, yes but he’s on the quieter side when it comes to casual conversation. Unless he likes you, which he does, very much. He uses his rank as an excuse to be around you more, who's going to tell him no? He would oversee your training. And since you were taller it was easier to train you on his level. During these training moments you would talk, most of the time it was just the two of you in the area, others wanting to avoid having to train with him. But you never minded. You would be honest with him about your insecurity about your height and he would be able to relate to you. He was insecure about it until he was able to use it to his advantage in the field. He advised you to do the same, he told you to be confident even when you don’t feel like it. You also told him about the guys that turn you down or flat out criticize you for your height. His accent would grow thicker as he got more heated, and he did as he talked about how stupid those men would be for turning you down, how they should treat you with respect and admiration for all your hard work on the team. How he would never treat you like that. And he plans to show you. He most definitely talks to those guys that made you upset later, they're on bathroom cleaning duties for the next six months.

[kenobers]

What kind of music do you think the other Batboys listen to? (If you're interested in them ofc)

okay, first of all this is my first ask!! hello!! and it's about music, so extra bonus points to you!! 🌟

second of all, of course i'm interested in the other batboys! i'm working on their spotify wrappeds right now. for anyone’s who interested, here is my spotify!!

these are what i personally think each of them lean towards music wise based on canon and my own headcanons, please don’t stomp on me if you disagree :-)

Dick listens to clown music i really only found one panel of Dick listening to music and it was mostly Original Pilipino Music and mostly ballads, which i love. it also lends itself to Dick being a fan of indie and soft rock, as well very much being a child of the 90s. The Cure and Billy Joel are artists i see him enjoying. i know a lot of people envision him as a pop fan and i think he specifically listens to early rock-pop music from the 70s; think ABBA, the Carpenters, Donna Summer, artists who would mix well with his affection for balladeers. My self indulgent headcanon is that he's a huge Fleetwood Mac and Mavis Staples fan. i think it's a legal obligation to have an appreciation for grunge to be part of the batfam, but i think he sticks with the basics.

Jason canonically likes Slipknot, Lacuna Coil and Poison Idea (which i forgot to include on his spotify wrapped, oops). however, given his background, his continued interest in being connected to the streets of a large east coast city and the fact that we know he loves good writing, he's definitely a 90s east coast hip-hop guy. i really envision him being a huge Wu-Tang Clan fan (as we should all be) and DMX wrote his theme song Where The Hood At. both the metal/punk and hip-hop genres have heavily political roots and the flaws of political systems are a common theme, which is something he’d appreciate. however, i think Jason's criteria for adding a song to his spotify is if it's good. he's not a snob, he just likes his music to be loud and have good lyricism. he likes to be able to relate to it, whereas Dick would be more about the vibe. i love the idea that he's into Jack Johnson when he wants a softer sound. he also gives me major Artic Monkeys vibes.

Tim canonically likes The Clash, Green Day (i think this is another one they all have in common) and i believe Oasis. so one could comfortably deduce that he's into punk rock, early alternative and brit pop (which makes sense, these all tend to go hand-in-hand). i think he would be fond of alternative and indie, like i think he would dig Steve Lacy and Frank Ocean (he's also a bisexual man in his late teens/early twenties who's heavily online, so i feel like it's also a fairly safe bet that he listens to Frank and probably Tyler too). i think he goes through strong phases of certain artists/genres. i think, like Jason, he likes to be able to relate to his music, but he’s also a bit of a music snob.

Steph's most streamed artist is Mucous Membrane. i get strong punk rock, punk pop vibes from her. she likes anything she can scream along to. My Chemical Romance, Paramore, Avril Lavigne, Pierce The Veil, Hollywood Undead. she definitely had a very strong Panic! At The Disco era. she's got a soft spot for Megadeath too. but i think she’s also more than capable (and willing) to scream along to some bubbly pop music too.

Duke has been seen singing The Man on The Flying Trapeze by Spike Jones. granted, this is a fairly well known song and it had a specific context, but i also kind of love the idea that Duke listens to jazz, like also has a lot of Chet Baker and Billie Holiday saved. that’s his time-to-lock-in music. then i could also see him digging a genre that samples a lot of these artists, like r&b and hip-hop. i see Kendrick Lamar pop up on a lot of Duke playlists and i’m inclined to agree. i’d also add Jay-Z to the mix. a good chunk of his spotify wrapped is stuff he plays to get hyped up, which can vary quite a bit. there’s some Fall Out Boy, Chase Atlantic, Rihanna and some classic rock. i think he also daydreams to Holding Out for A Hero quite a bit as well.

honestly, i feel like Cass pulls the most from everyone else’s playlists. i would say that she’s family spotify stalker, but frankly i feel like she uses youtube music. anyways, her personal tastes would lean more towards the sad girl side; Halsey, Mitski, Phoebe Bridgers, Mazzy Star. maybe Penelope Scott and Grimes - i could see her vibing with the combination of the sad girl feel and a unique sort of sound. thanks to Jason, she also digs System of A Down. for Cass especially music is an emotional outlet, so i think she’d be drawn to more emotional stuff. that said, she’s definitely an ABBA girl.

i see people try to argue that Jason would listen to musicals, but if anyone is the secret theater kid, it’s for sure Damian. he likes the drama and the flair of a megamusical and as such, a couple of songs from The Phantom of The Opera make their way onto his playlist (he secretly relates to certain aspects of the storyline but he won’t say that part out loud). he’s a musician himself so it’s not hard to imagine him enjoying someone as genius as Sondheim, although i imagine he’s very picky about which cast albums/recordings he spins. he listens to a lot of classic music, with a special appreciation for Bach as he’s more or less the violin king. but Beethoven’s got a little more flair. i think he also has a playlist of songs he picked up from his siblings and Superboy

i think they all share an appreciation for Nirvana, The Pixies, The Spice Girls and A Tribe Called Quest.

and i do think The Spice Girls comes strongly from Dick’s influence.

what do y’all think they listen to?

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HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2024-08-04

(Previous post - current page 440)

Breaktime's over, it's about time to continue! Expect me to take a handful of days between each posting-day like this just to pace myself, and have time for fun video games and other such. But I've been really enjoying finally reading more HS2 too, especially seeing such hopeful stuff like this last pair of pages really hitting home on the optimism! Let's get back to it.

Meanwhile...

Wait did we SEE her keel back over like this? Alt!Callie in this younger/teenage corpse of Jade Harley's body I mean? When did that happen? *thumbs back through old pages...* Let's see here... my browser still glitches the fuck out seizureways at the few pages that were Blacked Out, so i'll use a backup browser for those... no, further back... oh wow I forgot Aradia got such a cool Calliope-supporting outfit to show off she's on their side, literally zero memory of that and that's some FINE drip...

Oh shit wait, so it happened back over here??? (289/290)

--I figured back then she'd gotten a snap headache because of having to abandon possessing Jade's MAIN body in the struggle Alt!Calliope had with Jade's consciousness culminating around page 168, but these cuts are all so far apart-- and being knocked out of the other Jade's body shouldn't have knocked her out of this CORPSE. So is somethign entirely NEW going on that has to do perhaps with Dirk Strider's plans to maintain control of the narrative when the other kids arrive there?? Hmmm.

Anyway now I know where that bonus panel I'd accidentally glimpsed with "god-tier bodies don't decompose right" that I mentioned last blogging session came from. But why the fuck?

==>

Gosh I've missed seeing panels like this.

Wait, why are we cutting to CANDY JOHN like that's relevant here? Wasn't he in Roxy's secret lab last we saw him? Does THAT have something to do with this?! Oh shit.

(John: Investigate noise.)

Following Roxy's instructions, you proceed in the direction of the noise to go and meet up with your old friends. You approach where you thought you heard them, but to your surprise you hear an unfamiliar voice grumbling something incoherent.

JOHN: uhhh, rose? jade? JOHN: ... kanaya?

Hm? What was going on upstairs again, Karkat met up with the other liberators right? Okay let me not be so lazy and go back and check again...

Excuse me for a second, I'm going backwards to review and post some older HS2 stuff for a bit:

No they left, then John came from his destroyed old house to his and Roxy's NOT-old house, then they transportalized downstairs to the secret lab buried "hella underground" not directly under the house, where Calliope is wearing... suspiciously the EXACT new outfit that Aradia is wearing, and gives her hints that she enjoys all sorts of alternate stories like watching Roxy be in a relationship with John here in Candy instead of with herself in Meat, and added fuel to our obvious theory suspicions that Meat Alive Calliope is the author-narrator shaping the (Candy) timeline with her wall drawings and Muse of Space powers, and that they are... standing in the location in their reality that corresponds to the exact center of the singularity / black hole they're trying to stabilize? I'd forgotten about that... and then Calliope told John that alt!Calliope and Aradia and such had broken out of the black hole's event horizon for their mission, while Calliope explained that (Candy)'s timeline is so WEIRD because they've been disconnected a little TOO much from the canon of reality, like a fanwork that strays a little too far from the source material, so they need to stabilize it somehow AND NEED VRISKA (to either steal some relevance back from Canon or to get swapped there with something else or, something else we might have theorized?) but I had plumb forgotten that they SPECIFICALLY say that for their plans to work they needed John to leave and do something:

ROXY: this is finally where u come in jegbert ROXY: we gots quests for yous CALLIOPE: hee hee, yes. CALLIOPE: or *a* quest, to be specific. JOHN: oh boy!

ROXY: i mean yeah ur gonna obvs facilitate it in a sense ROXY: but only by going and busting the person who can actually help us outta normal earth jail CALLIOPE: we need yoU to free vriska from the clUtches of oUr misgUided friend jane, and bring her here, to the singUlarity. ROXY: weve been calling it the plot point CALLIOPE: yes, the plot point is a key part of oUr plan. CALLIOPE: as far as we have been able to sUrmise, the only remaining method for escaping oUr grim confinement depends on leveraging the UniqUe properties of this location to create an event of sUch catalcysmic proportions that it simply cannot be contained within the black hole any more. CALLIOPE: something SO dramatic, so hyper-relevant, that it becomes ontologically impossible for anyone to ignore it. CALLIOPE: for that, we need an individUal of sUfficient narrative cloUt, so to speak.

Right, Vriska's constant focus on making herself one of the most relevant characters to Canon and her powerset actually making her perfect TO do that as a Thief of Light (relevance/importance) makes that a good plan. And I fully expected one possibility was that they somehow allow her to break through to the Canon Meat timeline and both (1) influence it some way, and (2) get to a place where she could eventually reunite with Terezi Pyrope finally instead of just having left her a parting message, which may or may not happen if Meat Terezi is going to focus possibly a bit more on her relationship with John(June) once somehow resurrected or such but would definitely be amazing to have them reunited when Terezi spent SO MUCH TIME looking for her that she wasn't even part of the (Candy) timeline of events? Enough re-theorizing let me keep re-reading-- And... oh right,

CALLIOPE: and to liberate her, who better than the embodiment of the aspect of freedom itself?

I'm sure I was happy as hell to see that explicitly spelled out in canon for once instead of implied, because it may have been obvious to those of you who follow theoryblogs but one of the big reasons I'm glad to see these things made more explicit out in HS^2 is so even casual readers can pick up that these aspects always had these additional more important purposes that line up with all the events that happened in the past of the original comic.

But anyway. John's about to go on his bust-Vriska-out-of-prison quest:

And it's not like he has other plans. He may as well do this! It's at least going to get him involved in things again, if nothing else. He turns to go, and then hears a sound. It's the sound of feet and knocking on doors, echoed through stone and digital static.

And then,

JOHN: did you hear that? ROXY: wha ROXY: oh yeah uh ROXY: i may have messaged rose and kan and jade to check on them too ROXY: so its prob onea them showin up ROXY: they don't need to know bout all this tho ROXY: we got time to chat with them b4 u go get vriska JOHN: i'll go stall em. ROXY: thx babe ROXY: oh is it 2 soon for that joke or JOHN: no, weirdly enough, that one's fine. ROXY: oh good ok see u up there soon!

And that's where we left off-- wasn't it their kids' team who got back into their house or something? Eh I'm done looking, now I at least know there was A NOISE that was playing through the monitors from the topside of their house above the teleporter that he's running to intercept.

Okay, past catch-up over. Back to present liveblogging. Looks like this isn't Rose and Kanaya like John expects, from the sound of it-- but the way John's running down a hallway makes it look like this is INSIDE OF THE LAB STILL, so the question is who is down here or CAME down here or...

(==>)

Oh, Sollux is helping Roxy and Calliope out with their project, playing on Roxy's pink retro consoles. That shouldn't actually be too shocking should it.

Wait, how is he playing video games if he's BLIND? Robo-eyes? It's gotta be robo-eyes.

(==>)

Stare

(==>)

Sandwich stare

(==>)

SOLLUX: eating a sandwich.

Brilliant. And yeah he lives here-- but he's actually LOOKING at stuff isn't he, with eyes of some sort? Even though he's still using the 0 quirk? Tell us what's up with that!

(==>)

John stop thinking this is a relationship between Sollux and Roxy, your divorcee/ex. Unless it is, which would be pretty cool honestly.

(==>)

SOLLUX: y0u w0rried im m0ving in 0n y0ur ex? JOHN: ...hmm. SOLLUX: ... JOHN: hm. hmm. hm. JOHN: hm? HMMMM. SOLLUX: what is g0ing 0n here. JOHN: sorry, i had an answer but then i started actually considering it. JOHN: am i jealous? JOHN: hmmm... SOLLUX: if i tell y0u straight up n0 we arent h00king up will y0u st0p? JOHN: ...maybe? SOLLUX: g0ddammit.

I'm really enjoying all this for some reason.

JOHN: are you still hanging out with that creepy alive girl? SOLLUX: SOLLUX: 0n a spiritual level. JOHN: cool! JOHN: is ... she also dating roxy? SOLLUX: what? SOLLUX: idk.

I'm pretty sure I get excited at the idea of literally ANY relationship potentially happening between all these characters I love.

(==>)

Oh no John is offloading his personal problems on him in longform conversation. He doesn't want that! XD

JOHN: and it only changed because i started talking to people again. SOLLUX: (i did this t0 myself why did i ask) JOHN: i guess in gamer terms it's the same as screwing yourself over by not checking every non playable character dialogue box. JOHN: any one of them could have the clues you need.

Feels kind of like we're doing the thing from that Steven Universe: Future episode where Steven is critically upset that important things happened in the lives of his friends offscreen somewhere he wasn't around to be aware of it, when realistically as a person you can't keep up with everything, especially not John who kept to himself in a slump for a decade as he puts it in some of the conversation I'm not fully requoting.

Okay Sollux dunks on John a bit, possibly deservedly... and to some extent, in a misogynist gamer phrasing typical to Sollux, John's lack of agency? Which I think would improve somewhat once the gender issues Roxy alluded to both upstairs and in the lab with him are resolved in part, because he can't be FULLY comfortable swept up in a relationship while he's still considering herself "he"...

SOLLUX: i have n0t been able t0 play this game the wh0le time because s0me0ne was talking 0ver the s0und. JOHN: oh! JOHN: sorry : (

Oh he's been using sound-only and audio assistance to play the game like a speedrunner almost instead of seeing it. That explains that.

(==>)

I don't quite understand the shape of that thing to the right of Sollux's head, like there's some sort of watermark over it WAIT THAT'S A DOOM SYMBOL WATERMARK TAKING UP MOST OF THE FRAME WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE

SOLLUX: w0rds d0nt mean much. SOLLUX: 0nly acti0ns.

(This is a perfect sort of thing someone for someone on the Life/Doom spectrum to say, which would be MUCH MUCH HARDER for someone on the Light/Void spectrum to say or especially a Light player. Doom being about the consequences of one's actions in part and all.) Is he about to use some Mage of Doom powers visibly onscreen?

(==>)

Ohhh. So he was making a dramatic Doom Prophecy that will matter to John's choices in the future if he heeds the right lessons, while also hinting toward the nature of Doom itself as I covered. Got it. That's fun! Also it was a pink cat pillow behind his head, that's the thing I was having so much trouble seeing.

(==>)

SOLLUX: WAIT. JOHN: !

He's gonna ask him to pass him a soda from across the room or something.

(==>)

SOLLUX: change my game f0r me.

This is so cute.

(Be Vrissy.)

GODDAMNIT JAILBREAK AGAIN LOL

Vriska the elder has decided to take it upon herself to test if you measure up to the arduous task of being a Vriska. For your first test: find a way to bust out of this dump. What will you do?

Stop judging her on your stupid Vriska standards, Vriska! I hope the way this plays out eventually plays straight into the idea that this very-Vriska-like-but-not-quite-Vriska individual has her own unique strengths. I'm not sure I mentioned it earlier, but when I said that it's possible that Vrissy is a Mind player, I'm actually really excited to see the comic demonstrate that (regardless of whether or not Vrissy is or isn't completely genetically identical to Vriska) because not only would it be a good lesson for the original Vriska that Vrissy has her own value, it's also a great Classpect demonstration of how the difference in their characters and action styles amounts to a different effect on reality in the form of a Hero Title that is different...

...and in fact now that I think about it, even though it may have rubbed me just slightly wrong somewhere inside that Vrissy and Vriska could have different Hero Titles even if they WERE genetically identical, I'm actually gonna turn around and say I've decided I love that, because if Sburb gives the genetically identical Vrissy a different title and she unlocks a different powerset purely because of the unique combination of nature *AND* nurture that resulted in her, that would emphasize much more properly that Sburb isn't FORCING or pigeonholing you into a Hero Title that doesn't suit you, it really is reading into your future and soul to tell you THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY you PERSONALLY would find right to influence reality around you. That makes the lesson of its title assignment and the answer to the Ultimate Riddle that I've long discussed a STRONGER answer, not a weaker one.

And I'm encouraged by the very first thing Vrissy tries being something the original Vriska would NEVER have tried first, which Vriska over here probably is gonna be snide/discouraging about:

(Vrissy: Call for help.)

Have we SEEN their chumhandles before? I feel like we've seen Vrissy's before at least-- "adamantGriftress" is an awesome chumhandle for her, and I know for SURE I've already seen thespiansGlamor as Harry Anderson's. Who the fuck is glutinousGymnast, is that Yiffy's handle, and what does glutinous mean again?!?? (I had to google it just in case, it's New Tavros's handle. Glutinous is "like glue in texture; sticky.", often referring to sticky rice or baking dough. Ew. Stickiness sort of implies the opposite of Breath doesn't it...? And he's a gymnast?)

Now. Who the fuck is "recidivousGainsayer"? Vrissy didn't know Yiffy existed, so she wouldn't have her in her phone already unless they'd been internet friends without knowing each other personally, which would be... kinda sweet really. And Yiffy is certainly rebellious, but she seems more recalcitrant than recidivous, though I can't rule it out, especially since she's basically grown up at a boarding school; a quick google to see if we'd seen the chumhandle before also highlighted someone commenting that "RG" doesn't follow the ACGT DNA pattern, and even if you switch to RNA it just swaps the T with a U. Could be that this is a chumhandle of one of the characters we had been following over in the Bonus Comics or something.

You're pretty sure that would be an automatic fail on Vriska's test. But even if it wasn't, it isn't like you could message anyone; not anyone worth talking to anyway. There's no service in here, the only bars you've got are the ones on the windows.

Yeah, Vrissy at least knows Vriska well enough to know what she'd approve and disapprove of most broadly, unfortunately. I hope she comes to understand how Vriska should really not be her role model.

Oh not this again--

(Vrissy: Get key.)

Vriska drew this shitty key on the floor "juuuuuuuust in case you need a reminder of what you should be working towards ::::)."

Vriska, you asshole!

(Vrissy: Try the door.)

You fruitlessly pull on the bars. Vriska says it looks like it's still locked. Yeah???????? No shit, you tell her. You're just trying to see if you can get a guard's attention. She says ooooooooh that's a good idea.

If you don't keep complimenting her I'm going to be very cross with you, Vriska.

Hm, it'd be really fitting and interesting if Vrissy Mindgames her way out of this one by putting on a façade of distress and convincing the guard to barge in, maybe saying Vriska's escaped or such.

(Vrissy: Get a guard's attention.)

One of those guards Jane intentionally had all dress like Dave to taunt Jane about Dave's death or just make them harder for her and Rose to stomach fighting, right.

Maybe you should use some of your SICKNASTY BRAIN EXPLOITABLES on this jabroni.

How much practice does she have with her psychic powers? All Aranea was able to do with Cerulean psychics on humans was get a vague sense of the emotions of people around her toward her like she always does, and Vriska WAS able to put a human to sleep or wake them in another universe but only when trying so hard that her Light symbol flashed in her eye, emphasizing that a Cerulean troll who WASN'T using the powers of a God-Tier Thief of Light wouldn't necessarily be able to do the same to a human. Stealing wakefulness or stealing through wakefulness, wakefulness being a part of Agency and thus Light, where Void is associated with sleep and dreams, et cetera. (Vriska put people (like Jade D:) to sleep FAR FAR MORE OFTEN than she woke them up, and when she woke John that one time it could have been considered "stealing THROUGH Light" because it deprived him of an opportunity in his dreams to meet his Dad as his dreamself just to give Vriska the selfish opportunity to speak with him at the exact time she'd wanted to speak with him.)

Also, if Vrissy DOES refer to her Cerulean mind powers as "sicknasty BRAIN exploitables" that does put Mind more in mind than usual... and exploitables could just be flavor or it COULD be a reference to EXPLOIT, the theoretical Knight/Page action verb?! --Nah that's probably a stretch.

(Vrissy: Use your Sicknasty Brain Exploitables.)

You apply the focused totality of your psychic power into this douchebag's cranium. Frustratingly, it looks like this guy is resisting your psychic enthrallment so he can get at that donut. Other than occasionally making Tavros dance when he's being boring, you honestly don't do this much.

Holy shit, if she could make New Tavros DANCE, this actually means that Vrissy has more control over human minds than Vriska ever had?!? That or New Tavros is uniquely impressionable, which is ALSO a possibility; the original comic itself emphasized that the "impressiona8le" were more vulnerable to her abilities... those who had less control or agency over themselves.

Also, Vriska had only just met her first humans when her psychic talents were limited to making them sleep-- Vrissy grew up alongside other humans, and that might just be enough for her to understand their minds enough to do some occasional manipulation.

Your mom is always like, "You Need To Listen To Me Vriska Its Important To Keep These Skills Honed In Case Shit Gets Real", but shit so rarely if ever gets real so mom should get OFF your CASE!!!!!!!! Until now, you guess. Wow do you hate realizing your mom was right about shit. ANYWAYS, LAY OFF THE FUCKING DONUTS AND GET OVER HERE ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!

On the one hand, it's unsurprising that Vrissy didn't keep her talents honed for battle or anything, and wouldn't have invested nearly as much energy into exploiting people with psychic powers as Vriska's twisted childhood forced her to; but on the other hand, like I said, this is STILL a bit more direct influence over humans than Vriska ever had, even if it's not working right now!

(==>)

Hell yeah!!!!!!!!

HOLY SHIT SHE ACTUALLY OUTCLASSED ORIGINAL VRISKA IN CONTROLLING A HUMAN MIND.

Is Vriska going to feel jealous?! Holy shit?!?? Or is this old hat for her now and she's gonna say she could do it all along, or a retcon along those lines or-- gosh just PLEASE I WANNA SEE VRISKA JEALOUS AS FUCK OF VRISSY'S PSYCHIC TALENTS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE HAVE ORIGINAL VRISKA GO "WHOA HOW DID YOU DO THAT"

(Vriskas: Exit the cell.)

Damn that felt good. After locking up the guard you turn to Vriska and ask her what next. Vriska says that now it's time to fuck some shit up. You like the sound of that. You ask her if there's any specific shit or place she wants to go fuck up. She says you'll just walk around until you land somewhere cool. You both laugh. You ask her what her real plan is. She keeps laughing as she walks away.

That's definitely her real plan. But anyway-- UGH, missed opportunity here. I guess we're just supposed to take it as a given that if original Vriska had had enough time, or grown up more, she could do the same thing to impressionable-enough humans as she did to trolls too, or the like.

(==>)

ALARMS BLARING, GUARDS RUNNING-- yeah they didn't cause this, this is some other assault on the Jail, right?

Okay, that's a lot of goons. You suggest to Vriska that you should go the other direction. Vriska says nah this is definitely where we wanna be. She says between the two of you, you've probably got enough luck to take this whole place off the map if you really wanted. You ask her what the fuck she means by that. She says you know like with your Thief of Light powers. You tell her you don't have anything like that. She says huh, weird!

VRISKA WHY THE FUCK WOULD IT BE WEIRD, VRISSY DIDN'T PLAY THE GAME OR GO GOD-TIER, YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD LUCK-STEALING POWERS UNTIL YOU PLAYED THE GAME!!!

Wait, let's back up a sec.

Vriska is smart enough to know that you CAN tap into your Hero Title powers even if you're not someone who's hit God-Tier. As a gleaner of deep lore about the game, Vriska ALSO would put together that the powers you get in the game are inherent to you even before you PLAY the game if you're skilled enough or high up on your echeladder enough to access them, so even if she never Stole Light directly before she played Sgrub, she technically COULD have. Maybe she figures Vrissy, as a coincidental genetically identical alt-version of her, should have access to the same powers just by virtue of having the same genes and training from her Seer of Light Mom knowing she'd have that potential in her genetically, OR, hear me out--

Vriska has already let us know that she's PLANNING ON STARTING A NEW GAME SESSION which we all figure will include Vrissy and the other kids as the players, and Vriska probably figures those kids will be the players too!

So, and I know this is some 3D-chess assumption-maneuvering here and I might be way off base, just taking so much from this single exchange...

...My guess is that Vriska thinks Vrissy ought to ALREADY HAVE inherent Thief of Light powers deep inside her and untapped, because she thinks Vrissy is going to be a PLAYER and thus ALWAYS WOULD gain her powers! Powers which she, of course, would ASSUME would match hers given their genetic similarity-- she would ASSUME Vrissy would also be a Thief of Light.

Except that none of the way Vrissy has actually behaved has resembled a Thief of Light much at all, and Hero Titles are inherent to your PERSONALITY and its method of action of influencing reality around you... and we already have background hinting that matches MUCH closer to her character and her behavior/actions in dialogue with others that she may be a Mind player.

Vriska didn't scold Vrissy for not having tried hard enough to develop the Thief of Light abilities she ASSUMED were inherent to Vrissy. She instead seems confused that she's never manifested any, and said "huh, weird!". Despite the knots in her psychology, both Vriska's smarts and her hero title are likely hinting to her that there might be some flaw in her assumptions here-- something that's keeping this from being a sarcastic scolding and instead telling her something isn't right about the knowledge she thought she had at hand.

(==>)

Vriska says that's perfectly fine as she always prefers a challenge. Vriska Serket, the daring Thief of Light and her imitation kid Vriska sidekick against countless foes. Marquise Spinneret Mindfang leading her Neophyte Bluehair, it's a tale for th- w8 w8 hold the fuck up. You ask her what the fuck does she mean "imitation.

Of course, just because Vriska isn't going to be an asshole in that PARTICULAR direction was never any assurance that Vriska wasn't going to be an asshole. She still views (Vrissy) as the less important version of the original her, and she's still going to frame everything in that light because of course she would, it's still in her nature and she still hasn't fully learned her lesson yet.

(==>)

I'm at the image limit so I'm gonna hold off on posting Vriska's hilariously condescending greasy expression and Vrissy squinting hilariously absolutely having fucking none of it:

Vriska says to not let it get to you, but she's pretty much figured out that this whoooooooole timeline is phony. You know, inauthentic. Fake. Bogus even. She says it's somehow the off brand equivalent of a universe and she really hopes you kept the receipt. You assure her that both you and this timeline are in fact, real as shit. She doesn't seem convinced. She says it's mostly from the little things she's noticed. You ask like what, she's only been on this planet for like a day and a half. She gestures vaguely and tells you to give her a boost so she can reach that ventilation shaft.

Yeah, the way this version of reality isn't as tethered to Canon means Vriska isn't going to take it seriously-- she shares Dirk's view of the (Candy) timeline in that regard, really. And they BOTH are going to receive their comeuppance and learn their lesson.

Phew-- that image limit was a good sign, I was already hitting the limits of my energy for the day, that was hours of liveblogging and typing. I guess we'll leave off here until another day! As I said at the outset, I'm still going to be pacing myself and only doing liveblogging every few days like I mentioned, but that doesn't mean I'm not VERY MUCH enjoying this and very looking forward to where it's going. If I weren't liveblogging, I'd get there a lot faster, I assure you, but then you wouldn't get to see me go off on random Classpect tangents about stuff you already guessed! :D

See you in a few days!

[supercorpkid]

I was going to send this as an ask too bc tumblr screwed me and put my reblog as a draft but then I saw the new pics of Katie McGrath, got distracted and forgot about it until now lol

Anyways

So, ok, I need to ask (and you can say no, no problem at all) but ever since I read The Other Kryptonian I can’t stop thinking about how I just can’t fucking choose between Kara and Lena!!! You wrote it so fucking well that I can’t choose one and see the other sad. So, could you do an alternative ending where reader end up with both?

I even have this headcanon (I have a bunch of them for this story tbh) where she says she now has two hearts (bc of the device Lena made for her) and they belong to two people, so she can’t choose.

I actually have the whole thing in my mind but idk if you’d like to read it all

But as an added bonus: I also see Lena and Kara falling in love for each other and reader kinda seeing this happen but not wanting to interfere and let them do it in their own pace

The Other Kryptonian - alternative ending.

Ending with both Kara and Lena :)

Word Count: 3215.

Notes: damn it was fun revisiting this story. Hope you enjoy this!

part 1, part 2, part 3

They are all so nice. All of their friends are nice and genuinely good. It makes your guilt sit heavier on your stomach because they are heroes saving the world from people like you. Your heart is also heavy, you don’t think you can tell them many of the awful things you’ve done.

After a while talking with all of them, you spot Lena coming out of the elevator. You don’t know exactly what your face says, but Lena can read it perfectly when she comes closer and holds your free hand -the one Kara isn’t still holding.

“I’m glad you all got a chance to meet Y/N, but I think it’s time for her to rest.” Lena blinks at you, etched with support. You nod, suddenly feeling that you should rest for sure.

“You know, I was about to say that.” Alex adds, her hand makes way to your shoulder, and she squeezes lightly. “Go rest, we’ll be here when you wake up.”

Kara looks at you, query in her eyes. “You ok? I can fly you home so you can rest better.”

“Oh.”

Home.

That’s a word you haven’t said in a while. Where would that be? The room Lex used to keep you in? Your old house in Midvale? The ship? Krypton?

“I think Kara meant her home.” Lena explains when she sees how confused you are. “But maybe you should come with me.”

It’s almost unnoticeable, but at that Kara holds your hand a little bit tighter. And Lena’s heart beats a little bit faster.

“No. I mean, what if Lex comes back for her? I have to protect her.”

“Well, she can protect herself, she is also Kryptonian. Besides, I should be around to see if the second heart is working properly.”

Alex, hearing that, takes one little step backwards, aware of something you are not. Everyone else that was watching the interaction, looked somewhere else and engaged in meaningless conversations. You look down on your hands, intertwined with both women, feeling incapable of letting go of any of them.

“If the heart stops working, I’ll fly her back here in a blink of an eye.”

“Sure, and if Lex comes back for her I’ll use the watch and you’ll be there in a blink as well, won’t you?” Lena pulls your hand slowly. “Besides, I have extra space. Your apartment would be kind of cramped. She needs to actually rest; she won’t be able to do that on your couch.”

“My couch is very comfortable.” Kara speaks out of greeted teeth. “And she would obviously sleep in the bed with me. We’ve done that many times before, right Y/N?”

You’re not sure it’s a real question when Kara gives Lena a wry smile. Everyone else in the room is clearly trying to hide their discomfort at the situation, but all breathes are stuck in their lungs after the question, and you can feel the tension wrapping around your throat as your breath also gets stuck in your lungs.

“Oh.” And all of sudden all eyes are on you. “Maybe I should stay on the med bay?” You plead at Alex with your eyes, and she agrees promptly.

“Yes! I have yet to clear her permanently.” Alex comes back closer, hands on your shoulders. “Well, come on. A little bit more of the yellow sunlight won’t hurt.”

Both let go of your hand, unable to argue with that logic. Alex helps you back into the med bay, turning the yellow lights back on.

“You know,” She starts, giving you another pillow so you can get more comfortable. If only she knew this is the most comfortable you’ve been in years. “It’s a hard choice, but one you’ll have to make.” Alex taps on your hand lightly. “I can’t hide you out here forever.”

You let out a smile at that, and she smiles back at you.

“Hey,” You call her a moment before she leaves the room. “Thank you. Lena told me you’ve helped, and I know you did the surgery too. I know I’m a wanted criminal…” You choke on your words after that. It’s true, but still not easy to admit it out loud.

Alex assures you. “It was all Lex. I can tell the difference.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t really like me before that either.” You force a smile out.

“Water under the bridge.”

And just like that, all of those times you thought about Alex and why she hated you faded away.

It’s funny, having dreams. You were never once for having different dreams every night. But this time there was no falling from the sky. No yelling for you to run and protect yourself. No begging for your safety whatsoever.

It was only blue and green. Blue sky. Green grass. Blue ocean. Green trees. Blue eyes. Green eyes. Love and love.

It’s a hard choice, but one you’ll have to make.

It's a decision between secrets, deep understanding, familiar touches, hearts that play the same symphony, and love. It’s about going back to what is known. To what was supposed to happen all along. It’s choosing blue.

It’s a decision between blunt honesty, desperate trust, touch-starved skins, strong holds on hearts, and love. It’s about taking the leap. It’s about closing the distance your body has been protesting all along. It’s choosing green.

A hard choice, indeed.

--------------- different ending starts here ---------------

You wake up to the warmth of the artificial sun on your skin. You haven't felt this good in—well, maybe ever. Now, you're free to use your powers as you wish, not at the command of others. And best of all, beside you are the two women you’ve loved most in your life.

"Baby," you hear, the voice as familiar as your own heartbeat. You open your eyes, hardly daring to believe they aren’t playing tricks on you. But there she is—Kara Danvers, standing in front of you with a hot plate of waffles, just like she used to when you were both teenagers. And right beside her is Lena Luthor, her eyes bright as she hands you a steaming mug of coffee. You think this might be the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen.

"Can we talk to you for a little bit?" Lena asks gently.

You nod, a bit wary of revisiting the uncomfortable situation from last night. Kara places the plate on the bed, and you start eating before either of them can say another word. It’s been ten long years since you last had waffles, and you’d forgotten just how good they taste. Your mouth is full when Lena begins again.

"We talked about what happened last night." Lena pulls a chair over and sits down in front of you. Kara turns off the sunlight simulator, then joins her, sitting down in front of you.

"We don’t want that to ever happen again," Kara says, reaching for your hand. "We made you uncomfortable, and everyone around us." She takes a deep breath, clearly holding back tears. "It’s obvious that we both have feelings for you. You were the only person I’ve ever loved like this. I tried to have other relationships, but no one understands me like you. No one ever will."

"I know," you whisper, biting your lip to keep the tears at bay. "I feel the same."

"And I would give anything to have you by my side again. It would be—Rao, baby, it would be everything. We’d fly around the world, helping people like we always dreamed. And you’d finally get to explore Earth’s history. There are so many things I want you to see."

You squeeze her hand tighter. "Why are you saying this like it can’t happen?"

"It could. But I'm not going to make you choose me. I want you to be happy, and if happy is Lena, then — then I want that for you."

"And I want the same." Lena says reaching for your free hand. "I want you to have it all. You’re here, and you’re safe. And I finally have you next to me and darling, I’ll do everything I can to give back all that Lex stole from you." Lena smiles at you and you can no longer hold the tears back. "If you want to be with Kara, I'll support you no matter how I feel. I’m not going to hold you back from happiness"

"I—" There's a tennis size ball on your throat and you can't even swallow. "I can't decide. I love both of you. And I — I need the two of you equally. I've gone so long alone. I don't want that anymore."

Kara's arms are the first you feel around you, but Lena is quick to hold you too. 

"You are never going to be alone again, darling. We are all here for you."

The embrace feels like home, a place you never thought you'd find again. The warmth of Lena's arms, the steady comfort of Kara's presence—these are the things you've missed for so long. The weight of years of loneliness and fear melts away in their hold.

When you finally pull back, you see the tears in their eyes mirror your own. Kara's smile is soft, and Lena’s touch on your cheek is gentle, grounding you in this moment.

“I don’t know how this will work, or if it will at all.” you admit, voice trembling. “But I don’t want to lose either of you. I can’t.”

Kara nods, squeezing your hand. “We’ll figure it out together," she says, extending her hand to Lena. In a moment, they’re holding hands too. "All of us.”

For the first time in what feels like forever, you allow yourself to hope. Maybe this can work. Maybe you don’t have to choose. Maybe love doesn’t have to be divided like it has been all your life. Maybe the three of you can find a way to share it.

The tension that once filled the room dissipates, replaced by a sense of peace. You take a deep breath, feeling lighter than you have in years.

Lena looks at you, her eyes full of warmth. “You don’t have to rush anything, darling. We have time now. We'll figure out how to make this work for the three of us.”

Kara nods in agreement. “Yeah, there’s no need to decide everything right now. Let’s just take it one step at a time.”

You smile at both of them, feeling a sense of relief. “I’d like that.”

Kara's eyes smile, as well as the rest of her face, and she comes closer to kiss your forehead. You close your eyes to it, can't help but to. It's been years since your touch-starved skin has received any love, any proof that you are deserving of more than suffering. You can’t help the way your heart swirls with joy at this small gesture.

It's almost too long to be considered innocent. And before you even open your eyes, you feel another pair of lips, and you can't believe how well you know the difference, kissing your temple.

"I was never not thinking about you." Lena whispers in your ear, and a smile tugs at your lips, unbidden but welcome.

"I've missed you everyday since the last time I saw you." Kara whispers in your other ear, and you feel another kiss being planted on your cheek. 

And another on the other cheek. And another on the tip of your nose. Eye. Chin. Every inch of your face is showered with love and devotion, and your heart, Rao! Your heart has been beating so fast and hard, you're scared of failing you.

"We'd do anything for you." You're not sure who said that, or at least who started the sentence, but you know that by the end of it, both voices had mingled and it was your favorite sound. 

You slowly open your eyes, when you don't feel any kisses on your face for a few seconds. Kara and Lena are still so close, you can feel that you are all sharing the same breath. Eyes so close, blue and green are about to become one. Or even better, yours.

"Please," You reach for their faces, each palm on one of their cheeks. "Please," You beg again. You beg with your mouth, and with your eyes. Your love begs in silence and preaches in scream.

"Anything you want." 

Lena's lips touch yours for a brief second before they are replaced by Kara's and oh Rao, if only you knew all along this would be your future. If only you knew it was not a choice, but a balance. Not division, but unity. If only you knew you'd get what you've been searching for all your life.

"Lena," You blink at her and you can read her eyes perfectly as if you never once stopped seeing them, "I — I love you. It's you and all the things you do. You're all that I would think about."

She blinks too, starry-eyed and understanding. Face etched with love and desire. So, before you even ask her permission for it, she leans in, her lips meeting yours, her breath mingling with yours. This—this feels sacred, like something holy. And who else would hold you if not her?

It's perfect, incredible, but there is an itch on your throat, there's something more to be said. There's someone else to be touched and felt and loved. And Lena knows it too, for when she separates your lips, she gives you a nod and space so you can tell Kara what you need.

"Kara," You hold her face close to yours so you can whisper in her mouth, "Shovuhodh khuhp w rraop ehm tiv ewuhshehd im tiv aorghuhs uldifirstunia chao ukep."

Kara's eyes are full of tears because she remembers your mom teaching both of you a few sentences in Kryptonian and this is one you'd always say while looking deep inside Kara's eyes. I love you to the end of the ever-expanding universe and back.

And as an answer, she holds your face closer and kisses you like she would all those years ago. Hearts synchronizing playing the known symphony. Souls bleeding so. And who's gonna know you if not her?

This happens once every few lifetimes. You're sure. Who else can tell that they found love in two beautiful souls? In two people who care about you so deeply, they're willing to share and come together and overflow. 

When you look at their faces again, you're sure. The three of you will be able to make this work. The certainty is bone-deep within you.

But your life has never been just about good things. In fact, it rarely was. Even as your heart swells with love, threatening to burst from your chest, a voice slices through the warmth, pulling you back to a darker reality. And in a heartbeat, you find yourself thrust to the opposite end of the emotional spectrum.

“You all have something that belongs to me,” Lex’s voice cuts through the air, icy and cruel. Panic surges through your body, locking the breath in your lungs as your eyes widen in fear.

“Stay here,” Kara instructs, rising to her feet immediately. But Lena senses the shift in the atmosphere and follows her instinct, standing up as well. You’re left behind in the med bay, though you can see and hear everything unfold with alarming clarity.

“I’m sorry, sis," Lex sneers. "But I won’t share my pet with you. I thought I made that perfectly clear. Now hand it back, or suffer the consequences.”

A kryptonite gun gleams menacingly in his hand, and it’s pointed straight at Kara’s head. No. No. You will not let this happen. Lex will not hurt anyone else because of you, nor will he use you as a weapon against the people you love. Without a second thought, you speed into the room, positioning yourself in front of Kara and Lena, shielding them from the man who’s tormented you for so long.

“Lex,” you say, your voice steady despite the storm raging within.

“Oh, there she is. Come on, alien," he taunts, brandishing a remote control in front of you. But you hold your ground, eyes fixed on his face.

“You can’t hurt me," you declare with quiet resolve.

Lex scoffs, then presses the button meant to flood your body with kryptonite. But nothing happens. His face contorts in disbelief, fury simmering beneath the surface. He doesn't wear his frustration for long, though, as he snarls through clenched teeth, “I can always hurt you.”

You glance back at Kara and Lena, and in that moment, you know his threat is hollow. No matter what Lex does, no matter how much kryptonite he throws at you or how far his malice reaches, these two women would lay down their lives for you—just as you would for them.

“Are you sure you want to do that?” you warn, gesturing to those standing around you. “You’ve managed to piss off two Kryptonians, one Martian, one Coluan, one human-Naltorian, one badass agent, and your genius sister. Do you really think that a kryptonite gun will save you now that you’ve run out of people to fight your battles for you?”

It’s not the victory you’ve fantasized about for years, nor the vengeance you once craved. It doesn’t come close to the justice he deserves for all the horrors he’s unleashed. But to watch Lex Luthor stand down, to see the realization dawn on him that he no longer holds any power over you feels more liberating than anything you could have imagined.

“Don’t come near us again,” you say, your voice filled with the steel of conviction. “You know the terrible things I’ve done for you, and what I’m capable of doing to you now.” It’s an empty threat, but he doesn’t know that.

“Aliens,” he spits, disgusted, before opening a portal and vanishing from the Tower.

Lena's house is huge, but lacks character. Kara is happy to change that by moving things from her flat. Slowly, the space begins to fill with her colorful additions—bright pillows, whimsical lamps, and blue throw blankets that add a pop of warmth to the cool, neutral tones.

Lena’s massive bed, once so wide and cold, feels smaller now. Cozier. Especially with you sandwiched between the two of them, pillows surrounding you like a fortress.

Routine comes easily. What started as one-on-one moments with each of them gradually blossoms into a shared rhythm, a natural flow in which all three of you find comfort, passion, and peace in each other’s arms. Their love for you is steadfast, unwavering, and it only deepens with time. Just as your love for them grows stronger, you also witness the quiet affection they nurture for each other getting less hinted and more obvious. You’re grateful that you get to see it unfold, to experience it up close.

It turns out, you do have a home. It may have taken you long to figure it out, but now you know. Home, for you, is not a place—it’s the people who complete you. Kara is your Krypton—your origin, your understanding, your soulmate. Lena is your Earth—your deep-rooted connection, your forged and enduring love.

And together, it feels just like home.

[merakiui]

I've finally managed to catch up to TMDG! I can’t properly express how everything was perfect from the beginning to the end. You singlehandedly raised the bar so high. Your Fic got me kicking my feet into air and giggling like a high school girl in love. I had to take multiple breaks to let the information in. And JADE, omg jade! the balance between his calculativeness, sly personality, and his romantic softness was on point! You nailed it! This is how i imagine he would be like if he genuinely had feelings for someone. All the details and subtle hints that you added were a nice bonus!

In fact, especially because of the details and subtle hints, I have read the fic twice now to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time I read it! I did notice quite a few things that i didn't notice the first time, and i'm surprised no one asked about this yet. But there was this one scene that made me go ":00". It's not about Jade nor floyd. Nope, it's actually Ace! 

This scene in particular: "Giggling, you throw yourself into the booth and wrap your arms around Ace to smother him in friendly affection. He fights it halfheartedly, his cheeks flushed pink." and the fact that Ace was the first to ask if there's something going on with you and Jade?! Am I reading too much into this? But does Ace have a crush on the reader?!

Also, i wondered if you had other endings in mind for TMDG? What if Floyd did, in fact, return the reader's feelings? That would mean all the practising on Jade was worth it in the end, and they'll get their happily ever after, but then would have become of jade? Or what if Jade knocked up the reader in the old Merfolk way with eggs? What will be become of the reader once she realises she's pregnant? or if she knew that Jade was the one in the bedroom with her? Assfgjk@£^&asfhjk@#£^ I'm so invested into this fic! Once again, i absolutely adore TMDG! ♡

-🌸

Hiii, 🌸 anon!!!!! >w< omg thank you so much for the kind compliments!!! I'm happy you enjoyed tmdg as well as Jade's characterization!! I think there's so much romance in subtlety, especially when it comes to Jade. He says so much without speaking sometimes. <3 aaaaa I loved writing him when he's soft and sweet with this underlying calculative edge!!

As for your observations regarding Ace, you're correct!! It's implied he has feelings for Reader. >:D Jade suspects it as well, evidenced by these instances where it looks like he's almost trying to expose Ace's crush to you (or at least make you aware of it):

I'm sorry, Ace. Jade isn't going to let you have Reader. >_< your chances of having anything more than a friendship with her are nonexistent. orz

Oooo alternative endings!!!! I actually did consider going the eggs route. I was going to write Jade with two dicks in his mer form, but I disregarded the idea after some thought. Although a route with eggs would have been fun to write about! I like to imagine in the unofficial sequel Jade will continue to be his charming, sly self and you'll continue to enjoy your fwb relationship. Jade's goal would be to slowly but surely snuff your affections for Floyd so that he can inhabit the empty space in your heart. And if you start to fall for him, perhaps you won't be so upset when you finally learn he's the one responsible for getting you pregnant. By then, he hopes you'll be happy. You won't have to know about that day in the dorm room. After all, what you don't know can't hurt you. :)

[l0uterstella]

Eternity for Two (Sirius' Eternal Gaze analysis)

(Blue Bouquet voice drama ep 2 spoilers!)

LYRICS

Sirius is a binary star, just like how Louter is described in his character description. This star is what represents both of the Stella twins.

One star shines brighter than the other, which is a lot smaller in size. Louter is the smaller star, being worn out after draining his magic to protect the kingdom in ep 2.

The song is a love letter of comfort to Louter. Louter pushes himself too much to prevent change, and Klark only wishes to see him happy again, making a promise that they'll always be together in the future, even in "eternity".

In ep 2, Klark mentions that he and Louter got close only recently, when Kiki and Lala took them in. Alternate translations for the 2nd pic are "I want my heart to reach you/I want my heart to feel touched". Klark still doesn't completely understand Louter, and after the Seed conflict, they agree to start over again, even if it takes long for the two of them to learn to trust each other fully.

Louter isolates himself to keep up the barrier to protect the kingdom, but in doing so, he created another barrier keeping people from getting close with him. He doesn't realize that he's already surrounded by people who love him like Klark and all the citizens. Despite everything, the Sirius still shines bright with love. Through sadness, Louter is still filled with light.

The twins created a secret world all to themselves, one where they can just be one with each other (fusion theory coping).

Mobius strips repersent infinity and unity, but it can also show feeling trapped and losing control. Change, what Louter fears most, is something that you can never escape. It's a rocky road filled with uncertainty, but Klark will be there with him through it no matter what happens.

MV / BONUS

For majority of the song, everyone sings with gears in the background. They're inside the clock, which ticks quickly. Klark wishes to speed up time so he and Louter can find happiness quicker, but it would be better to take his time and enjoy every moment they have together, and the clock slows back down before stopping at midnight.

The Gemini constellation (close to it at least) is seen glowing twice. It would be obvious to make this the symbol for the Stella twins but it's Not (I think) and Sirius is in a separate constellation (Canis Major) so idk what to do with this yet

This is the part where Klark sings "Using your favorite paints, adding more color, the two of us in the galaxy you've drawn". Louter gave Klark color in life and is the only person Klark can be soft around 🥹

This light, this love spilling over The future ahead waiting for us Please always, always shimmer on As the light shines on you someday As things are now... Through eternity's radiance, my eyes shine with Sirius

[ecoamerica]

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[ja-lin]

Hello all, after a whole year I've finally wrapped up the last episode of my visual novel fanfic. But, I'll be releasing an epilogue and Ranza PoV in the weeks to come to fully wrap up the alternate universe prequel story.

Unfortunately since I had to fit in so many things, I wasn't able to add anymore Lovestruck series or character cameos as bonus scenes.

So, here it is, Night of Sin: Pride, episode 7 for Windows PC and web browser (mobile ok) now available here: nightofsin.itch.io

Night of Sin: Pride, v3.41 notes

Windows PC, web browser (mobile ok)

Episode 7 now available!

Interface improvements for Windows version

New weapon poses added

New characters, new costumes added

Two large fight scenes coded in with lots of animations, sfx

Several new mini-CG, main CGs

Over 1.5hrs of auto-play time, 6700+ words for ep7

Around 45000 words total for prologue, ep1-7!

Thank you everyone for your patience and support! I'll be releasing a poll later to determine my next visual novel fanfic projects. Hope you all enjoyed this little twist on the original Sin w/ Me story. And, I hope to make more alternate universe visual novel fanfics.

And, now...my favorite part! To enjoy my own story after working on it for so many weeks lmao...

(If there are bugs or grammar errors, I'll ninja update the files when I wake up tomorrow, I'm sleepy lmao...)

[rallamajoop]

I love your Wintersberg smut fics 😭😭😭 Do you have any more fic drafts/ ideas that are bouncing around in your brain? I'd love to hear... Ethan getting his smart mouth shut up for once and getting fucked stupid is my favorite trope.

Aha, I take it you enjoyed Atypical Side-Effects? Does Medical Log count too? Either way, now I'm very amused that the last ask I got like this one was from someone who was into Ethan bantering his way through sex ‒ I mean, nice to know I'm appealing to multiple markets here! XD

I did post a list of stuff I had in the works back in September, but a lot of those have been checked off and posted since then, so maybe we're due for an update. There's not as much wintersberg on the current list as there was, but we'll see where it goes.

So, fic I have actually made progress on in the last month or two:

The second chapter of Atypical Side-Effects I've been promising everyone is with my beta now, though I cannot tell you there's much smut in this one, and it's currently second in the queue behind...

That post-RE7 Mithan fic where Mia actually gets to come clean that I mentioned in my last WIP post, which has somehow grown into a veritable monster (how tf did this thing break 15k I do not know), and is responsible for stalling progress on most everything else around it while it ate writing time. But it is at last (hopefully) done, and my beta is trying to sort out if it's ready to be unleashed on the world now.

As mentioned in a comment or two, I've also been working on a sequel to my Yuletide Lost Boys fic Pater Unfamilias. It's about halfway done now, I think?

In other misc fandom news, I've still got a couple of semi-cast-off bits of Deus Ex fic that came out of my Spare Parts anthology not-quite-finished (and which I've been promising myself I will totally get back to and finish sometime after that big one above was done). Whether they end up getting added to that story or whether I wind up posting them as their own things remains to be decided.

But back in Resi-land, I may have mentioned in that last post that I had part of a continuation of That One Where Heisenberg Follows Him Home, and that's one I'm still picking away at between other projects. Eventual Ethan/Mia/Heisenberg, just for a little variety, but it's got its teeth in me and definitely wants to go somewhere.

So overall, possibly not quite as much wintersberg as you might have hoped? Though I may have kind of promised someone there was still more of that one Beauty and the Beast wintersberg AU still very much in my plans. And one or two other things from that older list are still in the 'may get back to' pile too.

But if you’re asking about ideas that haven’t necessarily made the draft stage, well, I could always list you a few…

I have forever been toying with the idea of a post-canon Heisenberg-lives idea, where he ends up working for Chris’ outfit as a medical examiner who specialises in cutting apart whatever horrific BOWs have been brought back for study, and also in terrifying any hapless intern who so much as wanders into his lab. I mean, he’d be perfect for the job: plenty experienced in studying bioweapons, utterly un-squeamish about cutting up dead things, and as a bonus, completely qualified to defend himself whenever some ambitious specimen decides to get up again unexpectedly. Speaking of which, mundane AUs where Heisenberg’s some kind of medical examiner should really be more of a thing too (sure, mechanic works too, but is it really gross enough for him?)

Speaking of Heisenberg-lives possibilities, the idea of a universe where he survives (unbeknownst to our heroes) thanks to having bought a ‘life insurance policy’ from the Duke which involves him being resurrected via mould trickery is another one I’ve had forever. Did actually mention it in my last in-progress post (it’s the fairy tale idea titled simply ‘Koschei’), but haven’t really made any progress on it since.

Alternately, in a hypothetical Ethan-lives-Heisenberg-doesn’t AU, the idea of a Heisenberg who continues to haunt Ethan as a mould-ghost ala virtual-Eveline has to rank pretty high on the “has no-one does this? Because someone should totally do this”-scale. No really concrete ideas for this one though, so consider it very much free to a good home.

In more recent ideas, someone pointed out to me a little while ago the possibility that Heisenberg might be able to feel it when Ethan touches anything metal (which sure does cast Ethan’s own arsenal in an interesting light!) Don’t know if I’ll ever actually get around to doing something with this one, but I’ve definitely given this one some thought.

On a related note, look, I still say the idea of Heisenberg deciding to make Ethan appreciate his genius by trapping him in a massive soldat-orgy is one I want someone else to write for me, but I’ve definitely now spent enough time explaining it to certain people that I can’t deny having given it some real thought.

In other free-to-a-good-home ideas, has anyone ever written a decent little Eveline-wins-AU horror story, with Mia and Ethan stuck playing ‘families’ with her, and only conditionally conscious of what’s really going on? Because there just is not enough real horror or fic willing to treat Eveline as the horrific little monster she canonically is around this place.

And just for something completely different, some kind of surreal Mia/Zoe thing set during RE7, with Mia constantly shifting between different levels of awareness of what’s going on, how much she can remember, and what she thinks her relationship to Eveline really is preferably with some at least R-rated Mia/Zoe smut is another of those ideas I’ve been sitting on forever now.

...and I hope that about answers your question, because that's me about out. *g*

[rising-in-the-ash]

Welcome to Ash’s guide to creating a character!

Follow these steps if you wanna make a character that’s both neat and hurts your soul!

Step 1: Initial Sketches

Just your concept drawing. I wanted to do an Eevee that could evolve and devolve at will into all of the Eeveelutions. At first, I gave her a bracelet and a Soothe Bell. I put a kink in her tail for interesting shape. She’s cute, but needs more individuality.

Step 2: Adding Character

Added some hair and little braids(?) hanging by her face. This is where the evolution stones are going instead of the bracelet. Made the bow bigger. But she doesn’t have a sad backstory!

Step 3: Give Them Trauma

Sad backstories will make you want to draw them more! This girl lost her ears after she got stuck in the Whirlpool Islands and died(?), but was resurrected with the Silver Wing. Next, we add color.

Step 4: Color

I figure blue matches up with drowning fine, so make her blue and the default color of the stones red to pop and match the bell cloth. The stones and bow change color along with her as she evolves. And I added wings because I wanted to :) Now you’ve made a character!

Bonus Step: Alternate Forms/Designs

I also gave her an “alive form” from before the whole incident. I swapped around the colors of normal Eevee for some variation.

—

I made this for fun, and while you can use these steps as a blueprint, it was kind of intentionally goofy. Hope you enjoyed this funky post!

[tranakin-skywalker]

🥺 would you perhaps be okay with sharing the three…

Of course

Festival by sinking815

Naboo's Festival is a time to celebrate family, friends, the turn of the year and new beginnings. Padme wouldn't miss the chance to be home for anything in the galaxy… except for maybe her new secret husband. Or how the newlywed Skywalkers spend a rare holiday opportunity and realize some secrets aren't that easy to keep…

This one is mostly just fluff so far, but I've been enjoying it a lot. Found it last night while looking for fics that scratched the itch.

Uncle Ani by my beloved @keistance

Pooja and Ryoo Naberrie know that Anakin Skywalker is their uncle way before he comes out and says it. They love him, even when they cannot tell anyone of his true relation to their family. The Clone War is a brutal time, and it doesn't leave the children unscathed.

The ending is a fucking gutpunch. This fic inspired an au where Pooja sees Leia playing with Artoo and Threepio while attending a senatorial event on Alderaan and connects some dots. I am slowly working on it. Very slowly.

now i want my letters white again by @ozvezdja (also how did I only just now make the connection that you wrote one of my favorite fics???!!!)

This was no time for sadness. The war had ended; the darkness had lost. A new life was being born, right here and now, in the ashes of the old one. alternatively: after their relationship is made public, Anakin and Padmé try to re-discover their happy ending on Naboo

I've already recced this one before but it is seriously so good. RotS au where Anakin kills Palpatine and no one is doing okay. Just such a fun look at Skywalker-Naberrie insanity from an outside pov.

And as an added bonus, have an angst chaser

Midnight Thunderstorms by Artikka

"If you want to help me," Padmé says, leaning her head back against the cushions of the couch and closing her eyes, "then stop interrogating me about my dead husband." Sola freezes. "Your what?" * Or, the night the Empire rises, Sola's sister finally comes back to her.

[ecoamerica]

Apply or nominate: https://ecoamerica.org/american-climate-leadership-awards-2025/

Calling all organizations, individuals, and small businesses successfully engaging Americans on climate! Showcase your creativity and climate solutions by applying for @ecoamerica’s 2025 American Climate Leadership Awards. You can win $1K - $50K by submitting your efforts for consideration by a stellar line-up of judges and individuals leading on climate. It’s quick and easy to submit your application or nominate inspirational climate leaders. Apply or nominate today!

[abirdie]

"For me, ultimately maybe that's the aim: let's make a film that transcends"

Awards Radar has a fifteen-minute audio interview with Gael, chiefly about Cassandro, but there's no transcript so I transcribed it.

Gael García Bernal: Hello, how are you?

Joey Magidson: I'm doing alright. You know, it's cold. But such is winter in New York, so...

GGB: Yes, yes, exactly. Oh, but good, excellent.

[Ed: I would have trimmed out the small talk establishing that it's winter in New York — later it will emerge that both of them are in New York, but different locations — and it's cold, but that's relevant to some discussion that happens later so I left it in]

JM: Yeah, exactly. The alternative is much worse. I imagine this must be such a fun thing to do, because any movie you make you hope people respond to, you want to have a good experience, but not all of them you debut at Sundance and then you spend literally the entire year kind of celebrating it, in a way.

GGB: And a bit of silence as well because of the strike, no?

JM: Oh yeah, the added bonus there of “Oh, wait, now I just can't talk about it at all, but it still exists, right?” You know, it does, just — shhh — as long as you're quiet...

GGB: Exactly, yes. But now, fortunately, we're able to talk about it and also to, you know, close the circle a little bit — because it's always that energy, I mean, of doing something and afterwards seeing it come alive and see people's reactions and everything is so important. So, very happy to be able to do that, and very happy with the result as well and, yeah, it feels it's just beginning in a way.

JM: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean I think it's definitely a movie that's going to get discovered, even beyond this year, because I think it's serving more than one master, in a way. It's telling an important story. It's biographical. It also appeals if you enjoy wrestling. It's also — and not to undersell this point — it's entertaining.

GGB: Yes!

JM: And so many movies forget about that when they have an air of importance, and I can imagine a version of this movie that just forgets to be entertaining and you're like “But you know, it's about a guy who puts on a silly mask and fake fights people, right? Like that should be fun, still…”

GGB: Well, I mean, the nature of wrestling also involves… I mean, it's not only a very, very tough sport, and it's very highly skilled, and you have to be in top shape, and know how to do it, and train for many, many years to do it, but you also have to give a good show, you know, to give a good spectacle. So, it is a part of… I mean, we had to honor that as well. So, you know, we had to honor the fact that the film had to give a good show as well.

JM: I was just like curious what that experience is like because, as an actor, I'm sure you're ready to do your research, and you know what you're doing, and you know the character part is not necessarily challenging, but to also look and feel the part of a wrestler I'm sure is a slightly different experience, especially in a movie that— you know, it's still small and character based but, like you said, it has to work. If that part doesn't work, people will not respond in the way you guys want them to respond to.

GGB: Yeah, I mean, the preparation was quite extensive and there were, you know, we had the time to properly gain that ownership of the character, no? I trained like six months before, gaining muscle and just gaining like really, really… like strength, you know, but like inner strength, quite heavy workouts. And then afterwards it was the wrestling training, and that was really fun. It was hurting all over, you know, but it was nice to learn— I mean, it was essential, I’d say, to learn a lot of the tricks and the way to do it. You know, the codes of conduct, and just how to do… I mean, lucha libre is a mix of judo and Greco-Roman wrestling, acrobatics, and performance — you know, theater, carnival — so it's a mix of many things and it's amazing. I really, really enjoyed doing it.

JM: I think for the character also you have to sort of know the ins and outs because of the violations that happen within it with the opponents. If you don't have that feel, it'll… you know.

GGB: Yeah, exactly.

JM: Also I think for just for the experience of like, “Oh, if somebody did it wrong, this is what happens. Oh, I did it wrong fifty times before I can get it right. It hurts when I get it wrong. OK, I get why that happens.”

GGB: Exactly. Yeah. And that's funny because some of the wrestlers, whenever they get their character, you know, like whenever they start to play with the character and start to develop it  — because that requires a lot of… you know, you're training wrestling, but at the same time you're also finding the character at that point. And most of them, you know, their first tries of the characters that they come up with, they don't work. They’re trying, like… they don't connect. You know, there's something that is not there. And then all of a sudden, when they find it, it becomes amazing because it's like “OK!” It's something that that goes beyond, also, what they can control, because there is like… you know, it depends a lot on the alchemy that happens with the audience and… I don't know, just the accident of what works and what doesn't, so that is also very interesting about lucha libre, the finding the character kind of thing.

JM: I can imagine very appealing for an actor to go “Why does this character work more than this other one? I thought that was going to be a big hit. There's something there, I can tell.”

GGB: Exactly, exactly. It's very similar to that, yeah.

JM: Backtracking a little bit, what made the project something you wanted to do in the first place? I'm sure you get offered things in both native language and also in the States. It's not like there aren't movies looking to cast you, but what makes a specific one — and really, specifically, this one — the one that you say yes to, because you can only do so many at a time. This is especially… like you said, there's physical demands here; what makes it, essentially, the camp you want to go to, because it's like going to camp?

GGB: Yeah, well, this one, immediately what sparked my attention was the lucha libre aspect. You know, I was like, “OK, sounds great to do a lucha libre movie, you know, like never done it, maybe I'm only going to get one chance, you know?” So it's like, “OK, let's go for this!” And then the other thing was the character of Cassandro is something that also appealed to me, you know. I used to follow Lucha Libre when I was a kid, so that… you know, all the dots started to connect. And then little by little, like all films, all of a sudden the thing starts to become something that I get excited about, you know, for many reasons, and all the people start to collaborate and start to join, and then you're full of a huge album of reasons why you want to do this, that you later forget what was the clicking point?. But I'd say that, just mechanically speaking, the answer to that was when my production company got involved. It was when the film started to become a reality, you know, and that was really nice to do that.

JM: Because almost up until the camera rolls, you have no idea if it's ever going to happen, especially when it's…

GGB: Oh yeah, even before the film opens at a festival, you know, like you're still thinking, “OK, might not exist”, you know.

JM: We've learned that that can actually be the case now, so it's dangerous… like “I thought I really thought we made a movie, I got paid, how did this not come out?”

GGB: Yeah, it's been happening recently, right? Yeah, that's so weird.

JM: It's very counterintuitive. These things are expensive; you’d think they want to make money… Especially I think with a movie like Cassandro, you're watching it and it's easy to get sucked in, I think. Because you're as good an actor as you are, but also it's directed by someone with a documentary background.

GGB: Oh, thank you.

JM: The idea of, you know, we're not going to… it can be a big story and fantastical, but it's so locked in on character and it's so locked in on the story that I think Roger just does such a good job also and you guys combined to do something that —  I think there's a reason it's going to be a year soon since I saw it and people are still talking about it.

GGB: How cool. Hopefully that happens. You never know. You know, with films, it's like that's… I think, for me, ultimately maybe that's the aim, you know, like “OK, let's make a film that transcends, you know, like in some way or another.” Because we're full of… everyone's full of great ideas, but never know if these films are going to work, you know, and have that kind of transcendence. And so hopefully, hopefully, hopefully what you're saying becomes a reality, hopefully.

JM: Well, so far you’ve got eleven months already, so that's pretty good. But I think it’s true also that if you don't like it to start it's never going to work, because why would you commit the time, right?

GGB: Yeah, exactly.

JM: So at the end of the day you liking it is the first step, right? You— you've got to be happy in your life. You’ve got to be happy with your job. But if only you liked it, I'm sure that doesn't feel as good as “Oh wait. People stop me to talk about the movie” or people doing press for it after, you know, I've made other things. And then the idea of “it's got a life, and it seems to have staying power” is sort of the added bonus. So, when it happens, I'm sure you can't even plan it out. You can't go “This is the one!” because...

GGB: Yeah, exactly, exactly.

JM: It does feel like one people organically want to gravitate towards and I think it's partly the character, never having seen that before on screen like that. But also, I think the fact that it's a story about a storyteller in a way — like you were saying, wrestling is very much a combination of acting and sports and standup comedy, in a way.

GGB: [laughs] Yeah.

JM: And I interviewed John Cena a couple of years ago, and he said it's amazing training because you get told immediately if your joke landed or not. There's no audition process. If the audience doesn't respond. Whoops, you did it wrong.

GGB: Yeah, it has that. You have to read the audience really well and — that's the thing — you have to give a really, really good show, and a lot of sports should do that, should really also give a good spectacle. [breaks off] Oh, these are real people! I'm sorry, I'm looking at people that are... no… you think there's people like with no… they're statues, no... or wax figures or something. OK, there's people that are with bathing suits out in Park Avenue. You know, like… they look very real, though.

[Ed: I assume that what Gael’s looking at out of the window are in fact Carole A. Feuerman’s hyper realistic swimming sculptures]

JM: It’s “Why are you doing that? That seems like a choice…”

GGB: Exactly, a strange choice.

JM: “Choices have been made and I respect your choice, but I won't be joining you.”

GGB: Exactly [laughs]

JM: I'm down in Brooklyn, I'll be in Manhattan later or something. Actually, I'll now go look at that. I'm curious what that is... I think as we wrap up, I think the idea of — even for you just in terms of your satisfaction with it — you can tell in your voice how fun it was, but as a kid, having watched wrestling, you were saying… Can you imagine, beyond that even just like, “Oh, if I can be an actor one day that would be amazing”, but to get to be an actor who gets to essentially do the thing you watched as a kid has to be doubly satisfying.

GGB: Yes, yes, yes, that's exactly… that logic is beyond bonkers, like it's crazy that that can happen. And it does happen, and it's fun. It's incredible because it’s really “Wow, I can't even believe it,” you know, that I was able to be flying in the ring at this age. And I used to play that with my friends when I was a kid, and we used to destroy the room, we used to jump and destroy the beds as well, like kids do. And now I'm doing it as an adult, and also living from that, and enjoying it, but also without the training and the dedication that this sport requires. Like, I mean, I did a little bit of the training, but not like these guys really do, you know, because it takes ages and ages to get really good at this. So, yeah, that is amazing. I was very, very happy, and very happy to be an actor.

JM: And I think it shows. I think it shows in all of your performances there is a joy in getting to do this.

GGB: Oh, thank you.

JM: And I think it's something that people respond to. You know, we don't lack for actors in the world. There's always another one, right? And they'll probably find one who looks just like them, right. There's never… you never have that problem. But I think when you see someone enjoy the work. Or, you know, seek to do stuff that's interesting, but also connect with the audience. There's something there that people respond to, you know? There's a reason that your career is now, you know, twenty-something years old. It's the idea of people want to watch you and, you know, you don't always know why: you're happy it happened—

GGB: No, of course...

JM:  —but I think it feeds into why you want to do good work, also. There's a back and forth. There's a conversation happening.

GGB: Thank you. Well, I hope it continues. I hope it continues because it's important to also… it's like, to enjoy something you have to, let's say, nurture it or like, you know, water the plants, no? And also go always go back to those essentials that make the whole system kind of still in place. You know, the whole joy of that. And I think, I think… I hope I can— I mean it's also great to see actors that are very old, very veteran, and they've been doing this for many, many years. And they're great at this, but also they have a lot of fun doing it, no? And so that's fantastic to see.

JM: Exactly. There's nothing better than people still having fun. And it's the same for directors, same for everyone. I mean, look at who you've come up with. You’ve come up with people who have staying power behind the camera, in front of the camera. And they seem to be having fun. I think at the end of the day, if you can have fun, if you can see the people you respect and like also have fun, and you guys can do something that people want to see and respond to, I think you have more than sufficiently watered the plants, to put it as you said. I look forward to the conversation continuing because that's the thing about the longer it goes, the longer it continues.

GGB: I hope so. Yes, yes, absolutely.

JM: Thank you so much for doing this and congrats on the movie again, it's just so much fun.

GGB: Thank you. Thank you. That's really nice of you. Thank you, man. Thank you for the conversation.

JM: Likewise, take care. Have a good one, man.

GGB: You too. Bye. Bye. Ciao.

[dailycharacteroption]

Operative’s Arsenal Operative (Operative Alternate Class Feature)

(art by Luk999 on DeviantArt)

I do enjoy the operative class, but offensively it can be often pigeonholed given that the trick attack is limited in what it can be used with. (which I get, given adding extra damage to already powerful weapons would be a bit much) Sure, some exploits can let you at least get the debilitating effects on a sniper weapon, but the only real exception is the sniper alternate feature, which gets you a lesser form of bonus damage on sniper weapons only, and the heavyweight skirmisher, which grants the damage but at the cost of some of the more defensive and agile abilities associated with the class.

If you’re looking for that holy grail of using trick attack damage with bigger guns though, you’re better off with the heavyweight skirmisher, but if you’d rather stay agile while also having some better use for bigger guns, today’s alternate feature may be for you.

While the heavyweight skirmisher feels like a true blend of paramilitary might with the sneaky tricks of the operative, these arsenal operatives feel a bit more like they’ve chosen to diversify and master a particular class of weaponry to give them more options in combat, though of course their actual origins can vary quite a lot.

So let’s take a look, shall we?

This alternate option is fairly simple, they trade the third and fourth attack they can get at later levels for training in a class of weaponry normally outside of an operative’s wheelhouse, particularly using them with trick attacks. While they don’t get extra damage with them, they do get to apply their various debilitations with them. Later on, they learn to do so with another category of weapon.

There are two things to consider when trying to make this alternate option work. The first is, the weapons you plan on using. They have to have some useful qualities that you don’t see in pistols or normal operative weapons, such as reach, or the ability to hit multiple targets at once with blasts, lines, explosions, or automatic fire. Second, you have to consider what debilitating trick exploits you plan on taking. Combine those together than you can potentially spread a lot of debilitating effects around the battlefield. I would definitely also keep a proper operative weapon on hand though, so you have some way to deal that bonus damage.

No matter how specific their training, a good operative knows that limiting oneself can be a death sentence on the battlefield or on the job. As such, there’s no doubt that plenty of operatives take this path. The question is, what sort of formative moment might have given them reason to? Was it just part of their training? Did they desperately need a weapon but the only ones available were bigger and heavier than their normal equipment? Or did they simply think it silly to not also wield some of the more impressive melee implements?

The party is meeting with a client in a crowded nightclub when halfway through the meeting assassins with concealed rifles and other weapons burst in, killing indiscriminately as if looking for something. Getting out alive with the client is the first step, then comes figuring out who sent these killers.

Going by the callsign “Sylvan Huntress”, the moyishuu assassin for hire is a mystery, but what she is known for is her lethal grace with a various advanced blades, toying with her prey with strikes to their limbs to cripple them before finally bringing them down.

The party thought that the danger was over when they finally took down that assassin, but they rose again as a voidshard vampire, becoming all the more dangerous and deadly. Now it has become a race to prepare before the next nightfall from this nocturnal threat with both deadly weapons and powers.