#i remade them like. 3 times at least.

[raiiny-bay]

made 2 of cricket's group members so far - 3 more to go

[every-sanji]

[peak-dumbass]

I know I just got done with ranting about tfp/rid2015 starscream’s character but, if you couldn’t tell by my other rid2015 posts, I’m obsessed with rid2015 bumblebee and when I tell you I love this scene of bumblebee making fun of starscream I’m not exaggerating it’s so cathartic to me

“But bumblebee is a good/hero character, why is he being so mean—” did you forget how much starscream hurt bumblebee in tfp?

He killed cliffjumper who, while probably not as close to bee as he was to arcee, was still close friends with bee

He stole the omega keys from the autobots’ base and handed them over to megatron, practically dooming Cybertron at the time to be remade in megatron’s image — of course the autobots get them back last minute, but that doesn’t change how much that loss effected all of them (evidence: optimus shouting in anger for the first and to my memory only time in the series) — including bumblebee

And his greatest offense towards bumblebee in my opinion—

DESTROYING BUMBLEBEE’S T-COG

“But it was silas and M.E.C.H. that took it in the first place—” HE DIDN’T NEED TO HELP SILAS USE IT AFTERWARDS “but Ratchet was able to fix it—” THAT DOESN’T GET RID OF THE TRAUMA THAT WHOLE EXPERIENCE CAUSED HIM

It’s also incredibly fucked once you think about it more because the t-cog is literally a cybertronian organ — while silas is at least mostly detached from how screwed this is since it’s more like taking parts from a robot than surgery to humans, starscream shouldn’t be since he’s also a cybertronian

Instead of being freaked out and recognizing how messed up silas’ actions are like any rational bot would, he helps silas make his fake-bot-that’s-using-another-bot’s-stolen-organ work by providing him with energon (the [at the time] incredibly scarce resource that helps all bots survive) and — after that plan falls through because of bumblebee finding them — he destroys the bot’s organ for no reason other than he wanted to escape and thought that was a good way to distract him

I just—I’m sorry?? I feel like bumblebee is incredibly justified for clowning on this cringefailure of a bot for what he’s done to him

And this isn’t even mentioning what he’s done against the autobots as a whole (both on and off screen) that has probably hurt bumblebee by proxy

I feel like it’d be justified if bee also killed starscream — he already got to kill the bot that destroyed his voice box, I think bee deserves another murder as a treat <3

/joking but also what if—*gets shot by tfp/rid2015 starscream fans*

[love-quinn]

— GOOGLE REVIEWS

summary — carmen's never been good with his words, so when he finds you crying in the walk-in, he gets some help to convince you that you're capable of doing your job.

warnings — swearing, general customer-service nightmare stuff. reader is younger than carmen but i pictured/wrote her as being mid-late twenties (25-28 ish) and i think carmy is early 30s so there's an age gap but they're both fully adults, also boss/employee relationship so power imbalance but also nothing happens between them

pairing — carmen berzatto x fem!waitress reader, not established relationship

pronouns — she/her

word count — 1.9k

note — first carmen fic so obligatory warning that he might be OOC, i rlly work on dialogue and shit but i am finding my footing. waitress!reader is kinda special to me i might write some more about them cause they're both so silly if that's something people would be interested in? anyway i hope you enjoy :3

“Stupid… fucking useless- fuck!”

The rush is familiar. The lunch rush, the dinner rush, the fifteen different orders jumbling in your head as you struggle to write it all down in time. Holding nine full glasses of nine different drinks in one hand and struggling to push open the door to run the food out into the dining room. Having to go to Richie and tell him that someone’s card declined so you didn’t have to be the one to tell them. Going into the walk-in and just opening your mouth in a silent scream just to go back out there and finish your shift. 

The rush of cold air on the back of your neck is familiar too. You don’t know what Carmen’s yelling about in the kitchen. You’d just stepped in there to grab food and had caught the tail end of his rant and you’d left with your tray and a million possibilities running through your head.

You’d written something down wrong and now a dish needed to be remade. 

You’d left one of the fridges open and spoiled days worth of food.

You’d given someone something they were allergic to and now you were being sued.

You move through the restaurant on autopilot, avoiding people and chairs and one of Richie’s spitballs sent from behind the counter. You’re so sure that the next time you went back in that kitchen Carmy would be pulling you aside and telling you that you’re fired. 

You deliver the food to the table with a smile and stand back upright to check in with them about that being everything. One of the women sits up a little straighter, giving you an apologetic look. “Sorry, I ordered a side of the lemon herb dressing?”

You look down at her dressing-less plate. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll be right back with that one, so sorry.”

She waves you off. “You take as long as you need to, honey.”

You practically speed back to the kitchen. Oh, god. You hoped you’d at least get that poor woman her dressing before Carmy fired you. You can’t believe that you managed to screw this up. You’d been lucky to get this job. Carmen had brought you on right when he’d opened up the restaurant and the rest of The Bear had all been super welcoming.

You got on best with Sydney, the two of you were similar in age and she was one of the kindest people you knew. You and Richie also had a nice relationship, you thought he hated you when you first got hired and then he walked out into the alley to have a cigarette, found you crying and punched a guy in the face for you. 

You needed this job. You’d graduated a few years ago and were still struggling to break through in your field, and this job paid the bills and didn’t make you cry every single day. Some days, sure, but not every day. 

You knew you weren’t the best waitress ever, you screwed up and made customers yell at you pretty frequently. You were lucky that Richie liked you enough to stand up for your honor even when you were probably wrong. But you tried your absolute best, you came into work every day and genuinely wanted to help. You respected all of the chefs so much, they all worked so hard, and you wanted to make their lives as easy as possible. 

You go over to Richie and murmur something to him about the dressing, and he takes it to the kitchen. First whatever you’d done to upset Carmy, now this. If he didn’t think you knew how to do your job before, he definitely will now. You glanced over your section. All your tables were eating or had ordered, you’d normally be checking with Sugar when the next reservation was due and triple-checking the table was clean and everything was prepared. 

If you were going to get a walk-in minute in, now would be the best time. Maybe you could do it before Carmy fired you. 

You brush past Tina, not even hearing her concerned call for you. The walk-in was empty and everyone in the kitchen understood. When someone goes into the walk-in with tears in their eyes you leave them alone for as long as you can. 

You can’t believe that you were stupid enough to screw this up. 

The door slams open and you wipe your eyes, expecting it to be Tina needing to actually do her job or Marcus wanting to check on you. It’s Carmen.

“What happened?” He hadn’t been expecting to see you so upset. He’d heard the door slam and wanted to leave it alone, but then Richie had raised his eyebrows, stopping mid-sentence.

“God, I can’t wait to hear about whatever asshole yelled at her this time,” he’d shaken his head, trying to go back to what he’d been talking to Carmy about before. One of the shelves had been knocked and two containers of flour had been completely emptied out onto the floor. They had lids on, lids with clamps on them that were meant to stop that from happening but lo and behold Fak was now mopping up something that was beginning to resemble bread dough with how much water he was trying to use. . 

“Who?” Carmy’s eyes had still been glued to the walk-in. Richie had said your name and Carmen had practically excused himself in the same breath. This time? Did you get yelled at by customers a lot?

You wipe your face, shaking your head. “Sorry, Carm. I guess I just needed a second, I’ll get back out there.”

You take a step forward and he, without meaning to, moves to block the door. You feel your heart rate climb. This was it, he was going to scream at you in the walk-in. “You’re crying.”

You can feel the tears welling up in your eyes. You didn’t want this to happen, you didn’t want to be crying in front of your boss. Especially not Carmen. He’s a lot, you know that. You’re not in the kitchen a whole lot, but when you are he’s usually not super happy. He’s a yeller, half of Chicago knows that. But he’s always kind to you, he gave you a job when you were fresh out of college in an unrelated field with no experience because he could tell how much you needed one. You often felt out of place slightly, through no fault of the other staff. They spent all shift in the kitchen together and you spent your entire shift out there in the dining room. You know they’re not having sleepovers and braiding each others’ hair in there, but your work mostly took place in a different room.

But Carmen always makes sure you get Family, that you get your break even if it’s scheduled while it’s busy and that Richie isn’t skimming your tips (he’d never, but Carmen’s caught him with his hands in the jar so often that he isn’t sure anymore). 

It really doesn’t help that he looks like that.

You’re shaking, and he worries for a second that it’s because you’re standing in the freezer, but there are tears welling in your eyes and he doesn’t want to drag you out to his office when you’re so visibly upset. “I’m sorry,” you’re shaking your head. “Please don’t fire me.”

Carmen frowns. “Why would I fire you?”

The words seem to tumblr from your mouth without your permission. “I know I’m not the best waitress, I’m sure you get lots of complaints about me and I forgot that woman’s dressing and I know nothing about kitchens but I’m trying, Carm. I promise, and I’ll do better.” You’re talking so fast that he can barely keep up. He’s still caught up on the first part. 

“Wait, wait,” he holds a hand up to stop you. “Who told you you’re not a good waitress?”

You sniff, tears fully rolling down your cheeks. Carmen knows he’s rough. He’s prone to explosions. Carmen is a hurricane, he wreaks havoc on whatever environment he’s in. He sucks in everyone else’s bullshit, swirls it around and then spits it back out, leaving whatever is left in worse condition than he found it. 

You were calm. You calmed everyone. If an asshole yelled at Carmen, or Sydney or Ebra, Richie wouldn’t even dream of going out there and yelling at the customer. Marcus made you a cake on your birthday and Sydney tries all of her newest recipes on you. 

The eye of the hurricane. 

You’re prattling at this point. “-And that time that I made that guy wait fifteen minutes for a straw, and-”

“Honey,” he doesn’t mean to, that slips out without him meaning. “You’re a great waitress, who gives a shit that guy had to wait for his fucking straw? Who cares, you’re…” he can’t think of a way to talk to you. Great feels too impersonal, wonderful feels too intimate. It’s what you are, though. “You have nothing to worry about. You’re… everyone loves you. We’re lucky to- I’m sure you could get a job at any other restaurant if you wanted. You’re not a bad waitress.”

That’s apparently the wrong thing for him to say. It only makes you cry harder. “Please don’t fire me,” you look pathetic. Crying to your boss while he fires you in the middle of the freezer. 

Carmen doesn’t let that slide for a second longer than he has to. “Why the fuck would I fire you?”

You don’t need to answer. Because I’m a bad waitress. It hangs in the air like the frosty vapor that flies from his mouth every time he takes a breath. 

“I swear to fuck, you’re a big part of the reason people come in here,” he’s not lying. He knows his name carries weight, he knows people hear “Carmen Berzatto’s restaurant” and that brings them in the door a lot of the time. He pulls out his phone, reception is shit but he’s able to google the name of the restaurant. 

He doesn’t have to scroll far down the Google reviews before he finds it. “Food was great, waitress was lovely, made us feel so welcome.” He finds another one. “Waitstaff was on top of it. Two people at surrounding tables smashed glasses and from what I saw one waitress cleaned them both up and still managed to get our appetizers out on time.” 

He goes to find another one but stops, looking back up at you. “You’re not firing me?” You take a step back, dropping your entire body so you’re sitting cross-legged on the floor. He watches you, gauging your reaction, before mirroring you. Your knees are almost touching his. 

“I’d have to be a fucking moron.”

The silence is deafening. 

“Hey,” Carmen can’t bite back the shocked laugh. “That’s… alright. Fine.”

Hearing you laugh makes relief bubbled up inside of him. 

“I should go back out there,” you nod towards the door.

Carmy shakes his head, knee nudging against yours. “Richie’s got it, Marcus can walk desserts, Syd’s on top of everything. No one’s gonna hold it against you if you stay here for a bit.”

He stands, hand brushing your shoulder as he moves towards the door. “Have you eaten today?”

You shake your head and he nods. “I’m gonna make you some pasta, okay? Richie can take over for a bit, you take your time in here I’ll be right outside, honey.” He shuts the door and your shoulder burns where he touched it. 

[sharona-sims]

Things I want in the Sims 4 in 2025...

I've seen a few people listing things they would like to see in the Sims 4 in 2025, and I thought it would be fun to do one of my own.

1. NPC Control - I want an option to turn off random sims from spawning in my game. I already have over 200 made over townies waiting in the homeless section, just waiting to be used. Along side this, I'd also like an option to assign townies of my choosing for NPC job roles. I don't want to see premade sims tending bars and stalls. It ruins the immersion and lore of said premades to see them like this.

2. CAS content specifically for infants - I’m going to need at least 20 new hairstyles. The lack of options right now is just not good. And when I say new hairstyles, I mean new age appropriate hairstyles. No lazy adult conversions that will look completely ridiculous on them.

3. Occult Overhaul for Aliens, Mermaids and Plant Sims - I'm of the belief that all occults should be treated fairly. Aliens, Mermaids and PlantSims deserve to have skill trees and be as good as the other occult life states gameplay wise...

Aliens - I'd like to see a whole pack revolving around them, obviously I want the above mentioned skill tree included. I would also like them to receive an appearance link option in CAS for quick easy appearance sharing between human/alien appearance, and, I want Sixam to be remade into a fully functional livable world. Mermaids - For Mermaids, I'd like them to have a skill tree, plus underwater exploration that isn't a rabbit hole. I'm sure this can somehow be achieved, even with the limitations of the Sims 4. PlantSims - Skill tree, permanent life state, and all the fun gameplay that PlantSims are known for in the previous Sims games. I've never played with PlantSims. However, I want to, but not as they are currently in The Sims 4. 

4. More Animations - Lots of them...

Social animations - More toned down animations that don't involve sims contorting their bodies in weird positions and waving their arms around constantly. I get sick of seeing them repeat the same animations while conversing with other sims. Repairing animations - More unique animations for repairing different items. The use of the electrical circuit board is so overused and doesn't even make sense for many of the repairs. General animations - More variation is always welcome.

5. Snow Depth - I still want it.

6. More Pet Types - Anybody that follows me knows I love animals.

7. A Hobby Pack - I want many more interesting and fun things for sims to do in their free time. Alongside this, I want a hobby discovery system where sims can discover through gameplay what their hobby interests will be. I currently use @missy-hissy's hobby mod for this. However, I always think it's better to need less mods for the game.

That's pretty much everything I can think of for now. The brain has gone empty... I also realise that I'm a bit late with this. We're already ten days into January, and I'm only just sharing. 😅

[respectthepetty]

Pride Petty Watch (SOTUS) 3/5

I'm making my way through the blacklisted shows I was supposed to watch during Pride. I already watched Love in the Air but paused The Untamed so I could deal with my sworn enemy, SOTUS. I'm watching it in five parts (first, second), so now I'm starting on episode seven and have decided 1) Kongpob x M are the perfect ghost ship, 2) this show feels much older than 2016 due to the language and style, and 3) this is a story of a masochistic dom looking for a sado sub.

Since I can't remember anything about this show, I'm actually excited to see all the ways Kong seeks out punishment warmth from P'Oon in the second half of this series.

Prem and Wad aren't going to be a couple, are they? I want them to be because Prem going instantly soft after they fought another faculty together and now being worried about Wad's wounds is the whole purpose for men to fight! Punch each other, then kiss the bruises!

I have no Photoshop skills, so I would never criticize someone else's work, but there are times when I see that this show was made with a budget consisting of two pennies rubbed together, and this is one of those moments because who added those people into the scene?! And why are they layered ON TOP of each other?!

For the people who hated Tae and Mee in The Trainee and the sports day episode in The On1y One, those people would be pissed watching episode seven of SOTUS because it's focused on the hets, capturing the flag, and nothing else. Someone could've at least passed out on that field, so this could be entertaining for me and the juniors, damn.

The man who played Deer has only acted in one other show, and I'm mad about it. The fact that a senior has to be on that field to answer these ridiculous questions from the freshmen is nonsense, but at least I get to see this man with his gorgeous hair.

Arthit says everything to Kong in the gayest way possible in front of all his homies and God without any sense of irony.

And Kong matches that energy every damn time! I'm already sick of them.

Forming a circle around Arthit to say thanks is kinda creepy to me, which is why it makes perfect sense that this was Kong's idea since these two continue to declare their love for each other indirectly while making everyone within two miles witness.

But this moment reminded me of Lisa's "Rockstar" music video, so Thailand stays consistent.

Kong is begging to be punished! Asking Arthit if anyone else knows he cries and likes pink milk is not small talk, and I know Kong just wants to feel like the most special boy for knowing all of this, but I also fully believe he wants Arthit to slap him.

M came on this trip so he could make heart eyes at Kong, and I will not be convinced otherwise. If I forget May exists, my ship is untouchable. M loves Kong, and it's canon to me.

Arthit is a Ken! He made all the boys go out to the water, so he could make the girls listen to him play a song on the beach. Someone needs to ask Greta Gerwig if she has watched SOTUS. Greta, if you're in the room with us right now, blink twice.

"If I tell you to die, will you do it?" YES! What the hell do you think this kid has been trying to tell you?! He wants you to choke him? He wants you to slap him? He has been instigating a fight with you since the first day because he wants your hands on him in the most violent ways. Baby is a masochist and needs to be kept!

I stand by the claim I made in an earlier post that the crew doesn't seem to like Krist because these title cards in-between parts of the episode do him sooooo dirty. There is no need for this to be the image, but here we are. This is rude.

I could never hate M. He is so kind and so dumb. I love those qualities in men.

And I love these qualities in women! (Sidenote: Let Jan kiss more homies, GMMTV!)

GMMTV's 2024 Outing, is that you player?

Since Love Sick and Addicted Heroin have been remade, when SOTUS is remade, M and Kong should be the main couple, and May should ship them while also trying to date Prae. Friends-to-Lovers, fifteen episodes, and make New and Singto play the characters again.

This is the biggest "hell nah" from me because I would not have that many people WALKING ON ME barefoot as some form of initiation. Walking on people is reserved for sex stuff! Just walking on people to walk on people is not normal, and should stop immediately!

I can see the wheels spinning in Arthit's head, but the pieces are not connecting for him. Your man likes when you yell at him. Kong likes when you get upset at him. The kid likes pushing your buttons because then he gets all your attention. Now say it with me, "Kong is a masochist"

Kong is practically begging to be slapped, and if Arthit doesn't do it soon, I will.

This scene hit me so hard I had to pause because it woke me up like I was sleeper agent. I NOW REMEMBER THIS SHOW! Nine episodes in and I finally remember this damn show!

I am white-knuckling my way though this show now because Kong is dressed for a date, Arthit is late and looking like a mess, and Kong is telling Arthit he will do whatever Arthit wants him to, he will like anything Arthit wants him to like, and he will be anything Arthit wants him to be. I do not know how Arthit is experiencing all that Kong is throwing at him, and not realizing that Kong wants to be his pet.

"Call Me by My Name Number: A Boy's Journey to Become a Pet" Where's Mame when you need her?

And now Kong is eating a meal he didn't want, AGAIN, simply because Arthit told him to eat it! I'm not even joking anymore; this shit is kinky, and in this exact moment, I don't hate this show solely because of this reason.

Fuck going to sleep! I'm staying up and watching episode ten, NOW!

[sunnyseungup]

Skz reactions / headcanons / texts | fic recs 5

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Masterlist

[ updated 240726]

Sfw

Them accidentally pissing their crush off @svngiem-remade

Making up with them after a fight @blue-jisungs

Pranking them with another members sweater @silv3rswirls

Skz having their tummies’ kissed by you @svngcore

Stray Kids Most to Least: House Husbands @kiestrokes

When you have plushies @cheeseceli

You speak another language @/cheeseceli

Ribbon,Bicep,trend!! @jz12luvscl16

Nsfw

Favourite time and place to eat you out (maknae line) @becomingmina

Someone walking in on you @/luvyeni

How they are when they eat you @roseykat

Kisses @bbyquokka

Morning wood @/notsosweetchan

how often will skz and y/n have sex? @seungisms

Texts

I should call him… @skzfairyyydreamz

He accidentally spoils the proposal @sunboki

You’re on a business trip and they’re clingy little babies @giddyfatherchris

Random bf texts @pretty-blkgirl

Skz try to check up on you @thevampywolf

Can you peel an orange for me @channie-143

Skz try to flirt with you @/thevampywolf

“Skz as texts I’ve exchanged with my friends” @markiv3

Skz road trip @starrgaziinggg

Asking them if they believe in love @/thevampywolf

I’m not jealous @daaawnnn

Selling my boyfriend (smau) @luvyeni

Sending them a nude and then saying wrong person @imagine-a-life-like-this

You autocorrect “love” to “hate” on his phone @jinhyun

You got into a stranger’s car because they offered you chocolates @lixie-phoria

How skz would confess to you over text @1025flora

Random texts @cinnamostar

“Would you still love me if i was a worm?” @imagine-a-life-like-this

“Would you still love me if i was a worm?” @ft-3racha

Skz as your doordasher texts @taetr4ck

Princess treatment @wegc

What position y’all in ? @/luvyeni

Finding your tumblr account @/luvyeni

Skz ask you out on a date @/thevampywolf

Cancelling on bff!skz [valentine’s day edition] @jinnify

jealous, jealous, jealous, boy! @diddybok

STRAYKIDS FINDING OUT YOU CAN'T CUM @/luvyeni

bff skz finds out you read fan fics about them @snowyquokka

maknae line — crushing on their member @shoverse

↬"would you kiss the most beautiful person in the world for $1,000,000?" @/jinhyun

Sugar Daddy Stray Kids Hyung Line Maknae Line @thefantasyden

drunk texting stray kids @bbyquokka

"Could you pick it out of a lineup?" Hyung Line @/thefantasyden

"What position y'all in" @/thefantasyden

random skz text @/cinnamostar

Best friend Stray Kids knowing you had a bad day without you needing to tell him @bluejutdae

Random texts with BFF!SKZ Part 2 @/feelbokkie

Texting Skz “Happy Anniversary” Maknae Line @pretty-blkgirl

They dont want to be clingy @charmerchannie

'HE SAID HE LIKES CRAZY GIRLS' @/luvyeni

Easter Baskets from BF!SKZ @/feelbokkie

Drunk text with Stray Kids Maknae Line @/thefantasyden

random boyfriend texts @/thefantasyden

skz forgot your birthday @/snowyquokka

“there’s a man in my bed” @/sunboki

Jealous Stray Kids Texts @/thefantasyden

stray kids being bratty Hyung line Maknae line @crazyco0tz

"So this is how victorian men felt seeing ankles for the first time" @charmerchannie

Note: please let me know if the links are not working! I will try to fix them as soon as possible ^^

[cellarspider]

Rambles in Star Wars History: The extreme shenanigans that changed an Empire

Bioware games can absolutely fascinate me, in part because of their worldbuilding, and in part because of where the worldbuilding ends. I mean, I did a whole long series of posts on the grammar of Qunlat and I have at least a dozen essays worth of material of exegetical analysis of religion in Dragon Age kicking around in my brain, which I keep threatening to actually manifest.

But since I'm here with my worldbuilding hat on, I'm going to ramble about Star Wars: The Old Republic, focusing on some of the sometimes-hilarious drama that's implied by the plot, and the implications for how these shenanigans remade a major galactic society in the process. Involved will be a man who faked his death to get out of going to meetings, a wine uncle who might become emperor, a living scowl with dangerous shoulders, and other assorted animals.

Expect a lot of bonus rambles in the image alt-texts, which is where I store commentary and jokes that I can't fit into the flow of the main post.

———

Before I dig into the topic at hand, I have to set the scene for those who don't know the game, or have forgotten in the fourteen years since the game launched.

Spoilers in the post below for Act 3 of the Sith Warrior and Inquisitor storylines, Act 1 of the Jedi Knight and Imperial Agent storylines, the post-Act 3 Battle of Ilum flashpoint, and for various expansions including Rise of the Emperor, Knights of the Fallen Empire, Onslaught, and Legacy of the Sith. Assume that all reference links to Wookieepedia contain major spoilers.

SWTOR is an MMO set 3600 years before the Skywalkers crashed through the ceiling tiles of the galaxy, though it's not to say anything was less chaotic back then, just different chaos.

(Pictured: Anakin Skywalker, circa 32 BBY-4 ABY)

In this time, the titular Old Republic is opposed by a Sith Empire, which is precisely as functional as one might expect. After a decades-long conflict that ended with a Sith victory but left both sides exhausted, a state of cold war began. The Jedi, their Grand Temple destroyed, left Republic space to settle on an ancestral world. The Republic, battered and reeling, tried to recover its stride through use of its superior size and resources, and producing a truly unhinged number of superweapons.

The Sith Empire, in some ways, tried to pretend everything was fine for quite a while. They had successfully forced the Republic into a favorable treaty to end the war. They'd gained territory, they had a lot of work to do there.

…But as things started to look more and more like war again, they were left with the uncomfortable realization that they had sorta kinda killed most of the Sith in the last war, and Imperial citizens in good standing weren't producing enough Force-sensitive kids fast enough to rebuild the losses. Might've had something to do with most of them being dead.

The Empire, of course, is an absolute clusterfuck of a society. Slaves toil to maintain its power. Children of a slave and a citizen will be citizens themselves—unless they're "aliens", a category that includes everyone that isn't a human or a Sith pureblood, the original Sith species.

Being a citizen isn't great either: The Force-blind face mandatory conscription into the military, and can never rise to the highest echelons of society. Above them, the Sith act as a semi-hereditary aristocracy of evil space-wizards that serve an immortal, eldritch Emperor, their living god who has also kiiiind of gone AWOL for reasons only a few of them understand. He's torn between doing his job or staring at a living paperweight, and the paperweight has been winning. He also recently got trapped by an evil hole in the ground, it's complicated.

With the Emperor incommunicado, the duties of the state fall to the Dark Council, a ruling body of up to twelve Dark Lords of the Sith. Each have their own sphere of governmental influence, which are, one can only assume, very dark as well.

Presumably, the Dark Council had something to do with the inevitable yet still surprising solution to their space wizard deficit: over a thousand years of laws were suddenly overturned. Slaves, aliens, and prisoners were not only permitted to become Sith, it was now mandatory that they report for induction into training programs if they possessed any hint of Force-sensitivity.

This is how one of the eight protagonists of the MMO gets their start: if you play the Sith Inquisitor plotline, you begin as a former slave who has survived basic training and made it to the Sith Academy, where your teacher dearly wants to kill you. Your first mission: survive school.

I'm sure this is very relatable to quite a lot of you.

Now that I've got my PhD with only a few gray hairs, I'm looking back at this premise and thinking: This would completely upend the social framework of the Empire. You'd have every established Sith Lord in the Empire scrambling to kill these threats to their power, or harness them against their enemies, or both.

This is actually canon, but canon never touches on the broader, systemic implications of what the new Sith would do, and who they were before—Sure, the overseers of the training programs seem to be doing their damnedest to kill and undermine the newbies while maintaining plausible deniability, but enough of them survive to reshape the Empire. We know that. You play as one of them.

How in the fuck did the Dark Council ever manage to get this policy implemented in the first place? Obviously they did somehow, but the specifics are never mentioned.

But the specifics have the possibility to be hilarious.

The Dark Council itself is composed of Sith who either killed their way to the top, or inherited their seat from their Sith master—who they probably murdered. Turnover on most Council seats is incredibly high. The Spheres of Ancient Knowledge, Technology, and Military Offense each have three different Councilors within a single year, for example.

This also means that whoever ends up in charge of a Sphere might be entirely unsuited for it. Who heads up the Sphere of Expansion and Diplomacy? The least diplomatic guy on the Council, naturally. He goes by Darth Ravage, which fits in well enough with the three different Darths whose names mean 'death' (Thanaton, Mortis, and Rictus). The player can even end up as Darth Nox--'Darth Night'. You get the title by killing one of the Darth Deaths.

So, which of these barely-domesticated evil goths probably voted to allow 'inferior' beings to become Sith, overturning a fundamental tenet of imperial sith philosophy? Probably not the guy in charge of Sith Philosophy! We never see him, but he seems to have been a traditionalist. On the other hand, Darth "Murder has no rules" Ravage might not be huge on tradition, so we can mark him down as a "maybe". But he doesn't seem to be an instigator for something like this.

But on the subject of instigators: Darth Jadus.

Darth Jadus is an experience. While many of the other Council members make it quite clear they're angry enough to chew on the furniture, Jadus unnerves all of them by being utterly calm and composed, as long as you don't count how intensely fervent and irrational he sounds when he starts talking about the Dark Side. He's unhinged in a distressingly hinged-seeming way.

Heading up the Sphere of Intelligence, Jadus is a noted iconoclast on the Dark Council, using his authority to open Imperial Intelligence positions to aliens. He chooses slaves and Force-blind citizens to be his advisors and agents, ignoring the traditional power structures of the Sith. He prefers his literal cult following of fanatical adherents instead, who see him as a visionary savior, a terrifying inevitability, or both.

This means he seems to have basically no interest in elevating other Sith. In fact, he hates the way the rest of them run the Empire. Making more of them might potentially be against his interests.

Or at least it would be, if he didn't have some long-running secret plans that he wants to keep the other Dark Council members from catching wind of. Advocating for slaves, aliens and convicts to become Sith would superficially fall in line with his philosophy, and just raising the idea in public could cause such social chaos that his true plans would benefit from it. Jadus is also the most genre-savvy sith in the entire game: he seems to almost be aware at points that he's neither the protagonist nor main antagonist, and thus his evil plans involve not messing with either of them. When he jostles up against the main plot and realizes he has no plausible means to derail it, he responds by leaving the plot entirely.

Given the tactical chaos and uncomfortably fourth wall-touching strategies Jadus makes use of, let's mark him down as a "yes".

But Jadus is an unpopular one on the Council. He's creepy. Sith HATE feeling creeped out. That's supposed to happen to other people, dammit, not them! And with his disinterest in politics and his deep interest in foisting his manifesto on everyone, he's not the most effective Dark Councilor.

He might be able to pull in a few—Darth Decimus, head of Military Strategy, seems to have been quite willing to exploit any advantage he might be able to squeeze out of a situation. Fun side note, his voice actor also played the First Order officer who was just so done with Hux at the beginning of The Last Jedi.

[Video Description: A compilation of Mark Lewis Jones as Captain Moden Canady from The Last Jedi, with the video quality partially encrunchified by YouTube. This includes all of his shots from the film, from arrival of the Seige Dreadnought Fulminatrix, to the extremely annoyed look he gives the fireball that kills him. Sound supervisor Matt Wood was apparently pretty sure "FIRE ON THE BASE!" was going to be used as an EDM drop, and I can confirm, I've heard it out in the wild.]

Who else have we got rattling around in this Council, who might have extremely ridiculous reasons to vote yes? Well, we have Darth Vengean, head of Military Offense, was all about the Offense. Who needs defense? That nerd Darth Marr? HA! No, Vengean wanted to restart the war with the Republic. More bodies for the war machine would probably be fine with him.

Speaking of that nerd Darth Marr, Darth Marr.

Apparently he designed this armor himself. Solid effort, my man.

Marr is in his sixties by the time the game happens. He's one of the longest-surviving Dark Councilors, and he sounds so tired of his coworkers in every scene he's in. Heading up the Defense of the Empire, Marr also is the de facto leader of the Dark Council, by dint of being the only adult in the room.

Much like Jadus, he distances himself from the backstabbery and rivalries among the Council members. Unlike Jadus, he 100% means it, and has been focused on not making the Empire explode. He eventually ends up as the unofficial leader of the Empire until he gets one-shotted so hard it makes his ghost chill out a bit. He keeps the spikes, though.

So, if there's anyone on the Council who might vote for this on purely practical grounds, and has the power to push others into agreeing with him, because so help him if they don't stop holding duels in the conference room he's going to turn this Empire around—

Nobody listens to him on that, by the way. Both the Sith main plots involve duels in the conference room.

In fact, one of those duels is egged on by our last suspect. Marr might be a contender for longest-running Dark Councilor, but there is another candidate: Darth Vowrawn, who seems to be having a much better time being on the Council than Marr. I suspect the only reason why he doesn't have a bucket of popcorn with him in the Council chambers is because somebody made a rule that he had to stop doing that.

Vowrawn is a surprisingly cheerful old bastard who seems to have turned his hobby into his job. He shows up 'fashionably late' to someone else's attempted coup, after lamenting he can't sell tickets to the clusterfuck that's about to commence. In the expansions to the game, he can outmaneuver and outlive all of the competition and end up becoming the Emperor, at the age of 87.

Vowrawn is also indifferent to against the Empire's policies--he supports the ascension of a Zabrak to the Dark Council, and takes one as an apprentice as well. Beyond that, Vowrawn would have to support this move, because he's instrumental in any large project like this, both politically and practically. While the others I've mentioned all have roles explicitly to do with the aggressive expansion or protection of the Empire, Vowrawn heads the Sphere of Production and Logistics. In essence, he's the one who can decide whether all these other bozos get to eat or not.

If Vowrawn didn't accept this change, then it would have failed. So, he's a definite "yes" by default.

Speaking of bastards who are still active well into their eighties, we have one last major figure who isn't on the Council that likely advocated for this: Darth Malgus.

[Video Description: The "Deceived" trailer, set ten years before the game. God, I love this thing. This was the first trailer I saw for the game, and it got me, it really did. The Sith are just as ridiculous as they should be, combined with choreography that feels a lot more crunchy than lightsaber combat had been before, with distinct combat styles for the two main fighters. It's quick, it's impactful, and it's got a memorable conclusion. Love it.]

Malgus is as anti-racist and anti-classist as Jadus is, but without the insane transcendental Dark Side philosophy. Instead, he has an insane philosophy of bettering the Empire through eternal war, which he believes everyone should have an equal ability to participate in. He is what would happen if a Warhammer 40k character had an inside voice.

[Video Description: The "Disorder" cinematic trailer, set before the Legacy of the Sith expansion. Malgus is 75 here. Man's held together by spite and screws and whatever nutrients you can absorb by being thrown through walls. He's fully given up on the Sith Order at this point and is trying to do his own thing, and he makes it look rad. The choreography has only gotten better, goddamn. Why did it take me three goddamn years to watch this. IT'S REALLY GOOD.]

Malgus is a big deal in the military, with a lot of support from both the Force-blind soldiers and earning the loyalty of a surprising cross-section of Sith. We know this, because he nearly hijacks the Empire at one point in the early expansions. He'd be into this idea, and he probably advocated for it. While he'd have the most direct interaction with the military-related Councilors we already have in the "yes" column, he also has a history of annoying the bejeezus out of other Sith on "his" turf, so who knows! He may have been more persuasive to the others we haven't dug into.

And we can't really dig into all of them at the depth we have with some. Despite how bogglingly huge SWTOR is and the two thousand four hundred and ninety-five named characters and "Additional Voices" credits in IMDb, we never meet some of the Dark Councilors. If you don't play all the eight main storylines, you won't see all of them in the game. I'll admit, I've never seen Darth Hadra, because I've never gotten that far in a Republic-aligned storyline! The Sith you encounter in their stories can often be more one-note, because they're purely there as antagonists rather than people you are legally required to hang out with, and thus have more opportunity to pester mercilessly.

[Video Description: A clip from my own Warrior run-through, featuring my big lad Rejalgar, his coolest friend Vette, and his boss, Darth Baras, who is presently having a screaming tantrum, which Rejalgar makes worse with the most delightfully straight-faced "Is there a problem here?". The Warrior plotline lets you play things sincerely evil, sincerely noble, or sincerely hilarious. Do you want to see Jedi bluescreen when a Sith just straight-up refuses to be violent? Do you want to sidestep a boss fight by offering a family a government pension, something your boss commends as being very devious and evil? Do you want to break up a fight between gangs by threatening to eat them? Come play the Sith Warrior storyline, and be the chaos you want to see in the galaxy!]

[Video Description, from a clip I uploaded to YT specifically for this post after I found out you can only upload one video per tumblr post wtf: A clip from my Inquisitor run-through, featuring my extremely shirtless lad, Sericus, playing coy and a little airheaded when called up by his Sith master, Darth Zash. Back in the day, Purebloods weren't supposed to be played as canon for this storyline, but there were tweaks later made to dialog that provided a canon explanation for how someone with visible Sith ancestry could end up in this situation. The storyline, however, unfortunately does not fully account for a character whose ideal job description is 'villain's beautiful and deceptively intelligent consort, the true power behind the throne'. It assumes you're playing a character who wants to go conquer and/or do mad wizard-science. Bonus points for eventually letting you marry your eight foot tall razor-faced cannibal thrall though, that's very fun.]

Why don't we see all of the Dark Council? Well, because they're ultimately not important to the story as a group. Events keep you locked tightly under the purview of just one or two of them on the Sith side of things, before the post-game and expansion plots launch you into the experience of being a major player in Imperial affairs, and Imperial affairs launch themselves at you in return.

Everyone realizes the Emperor wants to eat them. Then he dies, except he doesn't. Malgus takes over the Empire for a few weeks. Marr takes over, but half the Council is dead and the rest are still in orientation and are probably also dead, because their would-be successors assassinated them. The Emperor, only mildly inconvenienced by also being dead, eats a planet. Then things go completely off the deep end, and the Dark Council is no longer your concern at all.

It's economical storytelling to not belabor the rest of the Councilors, and playing through as an ex-slave Inquisitor, you continue to face enough challenges directly linked to your background that the resistance feels systemic, even if you don't actually see all that many others who are facing the same issues.

But I think there's a lot of potential for some really wild storytelling in there. Your character receives some level of basic training before they reach the Sith Academy, along with a whole batch of ex-slaves. What did that entail? How was it organized? What happens when folks from abolitionist movements start being trained as sith, gaining all the attendant legal authority over the life and death of others?

And what about the prisoners who were released for training? While one canon option is to play a character who was facing immediate execution for participation in violent anti-Imperial resistance, at least a fair chunk of Force-sensitive prisoners were probably serving longer sentences. What happens when prison gangs start gaining a foothold in the Sith Academy, where they're too dysfunctional to even form Mean Girl cliques? What happens when some of their members become full Sith? How many of them might have Hutt backing, or even funding from the Republic Secret Intelligence Service?

These are the sorts of things the Sith themselves are terrified of. This earns a very sarcastic thoughts and prayers to them, of course. Yet it truly is wild to think about the decision-making process that went into this massive societal shift that the game treats as simply a piece of inciting incident for two plotlines out of eight: Twelve unhinged people sat down in some extremely high-backed chairs one day and voted to give everyone equal access to lightning.

I love Star Wars, it's just the funniest shit imaginable sometimes.

[atamascolily]

Analysis: Alleyway Scene, Rebellion

After Sayaka rescues Homura from Mami, their conversation plays out in a souped-up version of the alleyway where Sayaka first met Kyouko in the anime. But first the original version appears briefly in a montage of landscape shots to indicate the passage of time between Homura's first day at school and the first conversation with Madoka in the park.

This is also where Homura broke up that fight, so staging the conversation here is an interesting move on Sayaka's part. She's taking advantage of the labyrinth to re-enact the past, now taking the role of the experienced veteran.

Like all of the spaces in the false Mitakihara, the alleyway responds subconsciously to Homura's thoughts and emotions, so instead of the straightforward line above, we get a series of panels that can shift and rotate in space.

In keeping with Sayaka's musical theme, both versions still have the "instrument motif" on the walls (confirmed as such in the Rebellion Production Note) - the Puella Magi wiki also notes the resemblance to the "Hof der Elemente" in the Art Courtyard Passage in Dresden, Germany. So it's also representing water as well.

Sayaka using her sword to open the lock and release Homura is laying the groundwork for her using the same trick on Homura's shield.

This scene does a lot of fun things with reflections and upside down imagery, but using the sheen on Sayaka's sword right before she sheathes it is so creative. Note the wavy edge, like the ocean, where the glare is. Also note Homura is upside down and falling (this appears to be a recurring motif in WnK trailers).

Like cats, magical girls always land on their feet. Homura does a little flip (circular motion!) first.

Homura is backdropped by red, Sayaka by blue. The cityscape in the Homura shots is very similar to what we see in Walpurgis no Kaiten trailer with the reddish light--fitting since Homura is dominant there. There is also a giant moon, which is associated with Homura--it round and marks the passage of time (each of her loops is approximately one month).

If you're thinking "how can an alleyway have 3 different views?" it's because this is actually a crossroads, both literally and metaphorically. Homura is deciding what she wants to do and where she wants to go and also who she wants to be. All of these questions are interconnected in the world that is also her soul.

I think the panels rotated in-between shots, which aligns with the spacial wonkiness in previous scenes--but it's also supposed to be disorienting, both to Homura and to us. The moon is also moving way too fast as well - compare the shot above to this one with the moon directly above them.

As you can see, the reflections change from moment to moment--sometime reflecting stars and sometimes the alleyway pipes. Some of this is due to changing camera angles and some of it is good old reality wonkiness. As the conversation progresses, the puddles get weirder and weirder... only to distort as Homura realizes Oktavia is directly below her.

For what it's worth, the Rebellion Production Note says this is not Oktavia but Homura's memory of Oktavia, which is why she has her original series form rather than her new form that we see in the battle against Homulilly later. If I understand correctly, Homura is "filling in the gaps" by hallucinating what ought to be there because she can't perceive Oktavia directly.

It seems like Sayaka is doing her own reality-warping to (at least temporarily) counter Homura's, or at least that's how Homura and the audience interprets it.

After she stops time, Homura pulls away the sheet, revealing the illusion. Everything is now blue, as Sayaka gets the "last word" visually as well as orally. The discarded cape is also the "bridge" connecting this scene to the next, as Homura reflects.

One of the many profound ironies of this scene is that in the end, Homura does exactly what Sayaka advises her to do--she traps everyone in her remade world, and maintains the status quo--only Sayaka is furious. In some ways, this makes Sayaka a hypocrite, but I would argue no more so than Homura--they each change their minds and adapt the other's original position by the end. The difference, of course, is the scale and the stakes--Sayaka is happy to play around and get a second chance as long as it's a separate bubble and not the entire universe, whereas Homura is the exact opposite.

The circular structure of Rebellion means that every scene has a counterpart elsewhere in the film and this is one of the more obvious pairings.

[nightmanatee]

reasons why it might be safi all along PART 2

part 1 is here

or why the final choice to "accept" is the only correct one (for max at least).

i have a few things to talk about: safi's threat (talked a bit about it in part 1 addition) and what she might do with it later and what i think might (should) happen in DE2. i only talk about bae timeline bc i've played in that timeline but i'm pretty sure it applies to bay as well (replace chloe with joyce/warren/kate/victoria).

part 1 (again). she wanted to threaten max.

if you look closely at safi's pattern with gwen and lucas you can clearly see that she can do a lot of things bc of the book cancelation and considering that max has been in her life during this time in the end of ep3 safi thinks that max was responsible for it as well. she's had 2 chances to threaten max:

once where she didn't know max had powers:

ngl pretty sure safi was gonna say something along the lines of "that's why she left you - bc you're fucked up and evil and ready to mess up with your friend's book deal for a little "fame" caledon can offer you" had max not fallen from that place.

and once - when she knew max had powers.

"how best to hurt lucas" and it's her literally messing up with a KID who had nothing to do with that. but what does safi have against max when she WILL hurt her?

part 2 (again). "how best to hurt max caulfield"

wait will? yes will. bc someone did end up lying to her and last time it happened the other person got shot (and it was her own mother!!)

she has 1. max's memories box with lots of info on arcadia bay, max's parents and CHLOE+the fact that chloe and max were impersonating pirates as kids (important for later). AND WITH A BREAK UP LETTER.

2. this photo of chloe and max being very close (is it really a coincidence that they've remade this pic to look more intimate?)

3. THE PICTURE IN A WALLET that will tell safi who to look for in max's house

4. potentially! diary entries (they're different from timeline to timeline or at least should be bc max didn't write about her powers here but these are same in 2 timelines):

5. max's own words

so ugh this ex-friend of hers who hurt her by not agreeing with her and decided to stay with others has ugh photos, diary entries (written to someone as if they're unsent letters) and stuff about some girl who max even mentions in her confession about powers. someone who made her stop using her powers for YEARS before getting into caledon? ugh i wonder what she's gonna do with this info...

part 3 (again). safi the investigator.

okay. so. safi's turned into present day max. unless max will try to change her hair style/hair color/do some piercings to alter her look so that everyone can know it's safi and not her doing this stuff and considering that safi can "act" as someone else as well she can do whatever she wants to hurt max's reputation or meet someone who knows max?

and oh. safi knows about chloe. she knows she's max's old friend/ex who max sacrificed the whole town for. she's the most important person in max's life and if safi wants to hurt max this is the person she should be looking for. but how?

oh easily. not only does max have no friends but she has a memory box with her and chloe with lot's of polaroids and pirate themed kids stuff. she knows that chloe's name is chloe and what she looks like. so who is this _CaptainChloe_ girl who max follows on social media?

the girl that so stupidly (i can't blame her she doesn't know that a fucking shapeshifter is after her) left the info for where to look for her in her posts? and who also comments under another person who max follows??

i wonder if one brokenhearted shapeshifter would want to meet a close... friend of a person who betrayed her when she was in the most vulnerable state considering how she's messed up with people for less and without evidence of them being guilty.

so yeah if done right max will wish she accepted that thing with safi.

[the-californicationist]

Scenario for the gif game 😊

okay, this was a challenge! it took me a while to think of a scenario, but here's what i came up with. i hope it's okay! thanks so much for the ask, my friend!! <3

TW: ghoap written by someone who doesnt write ghoap (sorry, im trying to get better!), references to anal sex, masturbation, smoking

Menthols

Simon had been out on a mission for nearly two weeks, and Johnny was stuck in their apartment, losing his mind. He’d binged three Netflix series, all absolute shite, and finished the novel he’d been putting off for months. The house was spotlessly clean, and his hands had angry calluses from how often he had used the gym to blow off some steam. 

Nights were the worst. Johnny would lay, spread-eagle, legs wide with his ass in the air, and his mind would wander. He could almost smell Simon’s body as his scent lingered on his pillow, and he crushed it to his nose, trying his damnedest to get to his scent. 

Johnny’s cock twitched, thinking about all of the nights he’d laid here like this, prone, keening like a whore underneath Simon’s heavy thrusts. Shameless and desperate, he allowed his hips to rock into the mattress, his prick humping lewdly across their sheets, feeling the way his foreskin threatened to slip over his swelling cockhead with each vicious, teasing movement. He squeezed his thighs tight, hips popping forward, showing himself little mercy, the pillow still crammed into his face, muffling his broken whimpers. 

Each rushing thrust was like crackling, sparking torture. He was so close, but it wasn’t enough. He needed more.

He could use his hand, or…

Johnny paused his efforts, digging around in Simon’s nightstand, finding his stache. The little white box of menthol cigarettes seemed to taunt him, laughing at his pitiful need. Then, like some sort of fiend, Johnny held the half-used pack to his nose and let his hips grind into the bed once more. 

With his nose buried in the pack of menthols, the minty smell of stale tobacco filled his mind with memories. Like Pavlov’s faithful dog, he was flung backwards in time to all of the nights, after Simon had made a mess of his holes, stretching him cruelly, making his muscles ache with his girth, he would light a cigarette and come down from their high together, letting the smoke billow and curl through the open window. Meanwhile, he’d play inside of his sated sergeant, flexing his thick fingers into Johnny’s well-used hole, smearing his own come along his walls, making wet little circles with his fingertip. 

As Johnny inhaled again, he began to come. His hands hadn’t even made it to his shaft, and he was spilling his seed like a teenager, rattling through a fierce orgasm just at the memory of Simon’s affection. The mint and the harsh nicotine spurred him on like a bull as he bucked into the wet sheets, and he could feel his own spend swiping across his belly, dampening his hair and ruining the middle of the bed. 

He rolled over, panting, and suddenly brightly aware of what he’d done, more than a bit embarrassed. Johnny felt like he was his own voyeur, judging himself for being so thirsty for his partner that he’d sniffed a pack of old cigarettes like a damn bloodhound. 

“Fuck me…” He lamented, stripping the sheets and avoiding looking at himself in the mirror. 

After he remade the bed, he sat on the edge of the mattress and looked into the pack of smokes once more, studying them as they stood up in the pack, all in a jumbled group. Just as he was about to toss them back in the drawer, he heard the keys jangle in the old lock of their front door, getting stuck in the strike like they always did. 

He jumped up, thankful that he’d at least thrown on a pair of joggers after he’d cleaned his mess, and rushed to meet Simon coming through the door. 

“Si! You’re back,” Johnny smiled, going in for a hug. 

Still in his mask, the helmet of his motorcycle in his fist, Simon stopped him. 

“What’re those?”

The enormous Brit’s brown eyes peered down at Johnny’s hand. He was still clutching the menthols.

“What? Och, your smokes. I was just —”

“Are you pickin’ up my habit, love?” Simon’s voice was dark, and it made Johnny’s hair stand on end. He’d heard that voice in the field, but never in their peaceful home.

“Well, no. But I –”

Before Johnny could answer him, Simon’s gaze twisted into a fearsome rage, snatching the pack from his hands and launching it through the den. It fell with a soft slap against the wood floor, lost somewhere behind the couch.

“Don’t you dare start,” Simon crossed the space between them, clutching his lover by the nape of his neck, towering over him, pulling up the bottom half of his mask, “Don’t… I don’t want to lose the way you taste.”

Johnny was stunned by his aggression, and he tumbled into a sort of pliant submission as Simon claimed his mouth, pressing his warm, pink tongue through his lips and down his throat, forcing his jaw to open to take more and more of his kiss. 

It was everything Johnny needed. The minty flavor mixed with Simon’s own unique, human musk went straight to his core. Johnny’s cock seemed to have forgotten its recent release, and it was preparing for round two, eager to be plunged into whatever part of Simon he’d be given, hungry for that sacred gift. 

Simon pulled away, ripping his mask all the way off, throwing it down on the floor with his other gear, staring at Johnny in disbelief,

“You didn’t smoke?”

“No, you mad bastard,” Johnny smiled, shaking his head, “I just… I needed you, and… uh…”

Simon’s lips curled into a sultry grin, pressing his body against him, tugging playfully at the handful of mohawk he was still grabbing,

“Johnny… were you havin’ a wank with those?”

Johnny felt the flush rise into his cheeks, staining them red. Worse still, his cock jerked in his pants, too obvious to hide, eager at the thought of living out his fantasy in real life. He didn’t answer him. He couldn’t think of the words. His mind and his body were slipping out of his control.

Simon chuckled in a deep, warm rumble, his hands digging into Johnny’s elastic waistband, sliding over his dripping rod. He pumped him once, twice, watching as his sergeant’s eyes fluttered closed from the pleasure, so sensitive from his recent release. 

“You needy little slag. Come show me how much you missed me.”

[shsl-hubris-guy]

The V3 Survivors Mirror Image Danganronpa's Previous Game Protags. Here's Why

Idk if this was intentional or a happy accident on behalf of the crew behind V3, but in replaying that final trial once again, a few distinct points about each of the 3 survivors stuck out to me as being very reminiscent of their predecessors- Shuichi with Makoto, Maki with Hajime/Izuru, and Himiko with Komaru. So I wanted to yap about it a little bit, because that's just so cool to me, and v3 has always had my fav surviving cast anyway so this just makes them a million times better

Shuichi -> Makoto

Shuichi, first and foremost, grows into the protagonist role during chapter 1, in which he's believed to be the killer for most of the trial and the player has to prove his innocence. This is a direct parallel to Makoto, and it's not difficult to see. In addition, the one who made it look like he was guilty was the one musical girl he'd gotten attached to in the early game, and it was her plan failing and being revealed that led to his proved innocence, similar to that of Sayaka's failed murder plan.

At the end of the game as well, though, he's the one who gets the rest of the cast one by one to reject the game and choose to end the cycle, rather than vote the way that the mastermind wants. This is a deliberate deviation from Makoto, defined by K1-B0's presence acting as the SHSL Hope Robot, and that's just as important to note, because the V3 survivors are mirror images and grow in a similar but reverse imaged way to their predecessors. Where Makoto chose to become hope no matter what, Shuichi chose compassion no matter what, and broke the system entirely by appealing to the outside world, rather than acting in spite of its despair.

Maki -> Hajime

Maki starts the game in a position similar to Izuru. Playing her backstory especially assists this, but she's living a life inherently disconnected from her peers because of what she was made into by the people in power over her. Like Hajime, she was approached while in a vulnerable state to be remade into something new and dangerous that the system she was raised within could use. She accepted this offer and became an assassin for the sake of someone she loved- a childhood friend that cared deeply about the others in their orphanage and protected them over herself. This has a lot of interesting similarities to Hajime's agreeing to become Izuru for the sake of Chiaki in DR3, but the distinction here is that the childhood friend was the one being targeted. Maki taking on the role of assassin was her choosing to shoulder the burden knowingly rather than being tricked into it, but still for the sake of sometime that ended up dying to save another orphan, like how Chiaki died trying to save her teacher and classmates.

Maki's arc is also the immediate inverse of Hajime's, to a tragic degree. Whereas Hajime's arc ends in him losing to choose himself and refusing to back down and sacrifice either his memories of freedom, Maki's arc is in learning to open her heart to others and thus, in the V3 final trial, her arc projects into her choosing to be the sacrifice so that Shuichi and Himiko can escape the game. Rather than break the cycle like Hajime does, she chooses to be an active participant in it, and become the next SHSL Survivor. Were it not for Shuichi's deduction, this would have been the outcome, and she would've entered a new game with no memory of her previous identity, mirroring how Hajime entered the sdr2 game as its mastermind without knowing he set this up for himself.

Himiko -> Komaru

This was actually the character that made this whole mirroring thing stick out to me, despite being perhaps the least obvious of the 3. It started with just me seeing the back of her head in the epilogue and going "haha that's funny, she has the same fuckass bob as Komaru lol :)" but then I kept thinking about it and more mirrored traits between Komaru and Himiko started to stick out to me.

Himiko and Komaru both have a character arc that primarily centers on expressing their emotions. For Komaru, she does nothing but cry for the first couple chapters, only barely surviving with the help of Toko and Syo, and is a total open book. She's easily excitable, way too trusting, and all-around joyful when she's not under immediate fire. Himiko is the exact opposite, being totally closed off from her emotions and writing off any and all efforts as 'just a pain' out of a depressed laziness. Similarly to Komaru, however, she's pulled through this and helped to grow with her two female "friends" with very differing beliefs- Angie and Tenko. Both Komaru's and Himiko's relationships with these women inspire them to face what they fear with more emotional strength, and bring them to the conclusion that, regardless of how it hurts them, they owe it to their "friends" to try. Komaru chooses to stay in Towa City, and Himiko chooses to help in the trials from here on out. While both these girls start on opposite ends of emotional imbalance, they both get brought to a point of stability through their love of their fellow girls. Yuri stays on top. Anyways

This is more of a meta point as well, but both Komaru and Himiko are the most underrated of their respective groups. Komaru isn't nearly as popular of a protagonist as Makoto and Hajime, and Himiko is the least popular of the V3 survivors in comparison to Shuichi and Maki. This makes sense; she's not as focused on as Shuichi and Maki were(for obvious reasons), and while I doubt that was intentional, it is another funny little connection that's there.

Anyways, that's kind of it. Idk if any of this rambling makes sense, but I saw it and thought it was cool so I had to share :D

[frigidpaws]

why meadowlark is literally a masterpiece

tl;dr :: me yapping about how @yaelokre is amazing at music and you should go follow them :3 [not forcing you,, haha]

and to keath, if you didnt want to be tagged that's perfectly okay and i apologize :~) you can skip to the ending section for more info haga

everything under the cut

alright !! thank you for taking the time to read my silly recommendation :D before we begin i'd just like to say i really hope this doesn't come off as weird at all, i just really love meadowlark :3

and some of this might be wrong !! PLEASE correct me if i said anything incorrect !

so, what's meadowlark?

meadowlark is the world in which four children sing tales of fables to all that will hear them. they tell stories of the harkers, who are "concepts" in a way. they are the storyteller, the bell-ringer, the croon and the enkindled. yaelokre is the name of the creator and story as a whole, and the author and singer behind the story is known as Keath, a splendidly talented artist who truly loves their work.

the lark

the lark consists of the aforementioned children:

cole (represents the storyteller)

clémentne/clémentine/clémmie (represents the bell-ringer)

perrine (represents the croon)

kingsley (represents the enkindled)

all of the children are genderless, and do not use gendered terms. they all use they/it pronouns and it is best to respect yaelokre's wishes for their characters. i do believe cole and clémentine are dating (or something romantic), as there is official art of them kissing, though i don't know the details...

the young minstrels are good friends and enjoy preforming their songs together. each one has a distinct voice, design, and personality traits. each one of them is crafted so beautifully, you can see yaelokre put work into them :D

the songs

the tales of meadowlark are told through songs, and goodness, are they amazing. i have never reacted so positively to a song myself, but bird cage blue and yellow makes me so happy :) i do hope yaelokre knows that at least one person enjoys their music as much as i <3

here are the songs !!:

hayfields

harpy hare

hartebeest

and the hound

neath the grove is a heart

songs of origin

my farewell to the fields

bird cage blue and yellow

there is another song, cole's response, but i can't find it anywhere, nor have i heard it. i believe it's being remade, or something along those lines.

closing statements !!

i hope this convinces at least one person to listen to and support yaelokre's works :3

again: i do not wish to cross any boundaries with this post, and i will take it down per the request of keath if they so wish. i am quite anxious of hurting others, so communication is best for me...

i am deeply excited when i like something, music or other, so i just want to share yaelokre with more people :~) so if that makes them uncomfortable, i apologize. i chose to tag them because i feel they may like knowing someone really appreciates their work? i don't know. i don't know them personally so take that with a grain of salt.

thank you, yaelokre, for being cool :D

[swordsandarms]

Knowing the rebellion needed to happen to stop a corrupt king isn't saying the rebels were perfect? Just because you guys aren't capable of acknowledging flaws in the Targaryens doesn't mean other fans are the same way.

But that isn't quite right, is it? "Targaryen fans" are discussing Targaryen nuance all the time. "Targaryen haters" are talking about their flaws all the time. 50 posts a day. A critical post about, say, Ned Stark, appears every few month, and people get mad.

I answered a post going "Jon Arryn is a nice, neat guy :)" post with his actual messed up actions and got pushed back on just a while back.

This phrasing is also distorting the actual argument brought against Rebellion defenders: which is that the Rebellion being seen as an improvement to some evil regime, and Targaryens being the one flaw in this world that once removed is the biggest of deals. (Also the use of "corrupt" is quite distorting in itself. Robert's regime is more "corrupt" than Aerys'. Aerys was mentally ill, unfit to rule, and there is no safeguard within their government in this kind of situation).

Not only does nothing in the regime/government changes with the Rebellion (hence the problem with the argument that the Rebellion puts an end to any "corruption"), but it gets worse in all significant ways, but people act like it's better because the King does not act in some cartoonish cruel way as Aerys was written to (though, once more, Aerys, yes, should have been made to step down in some way or other, as he was unfit to rule; him making these clearly chaotic, cruel decisions shouldn't have been allowed).

Economically, Robert manages to get a full treasury from a mentally ill Aerys in command, and throughout 15 years of fruity years, turn it into being owned by a foreign bank.

Dynastic-wise, he takes it from the Aerys situation where you (AGAIN) have the main problem being that the guy who causes family/vassal conflicts is literally too ill to act better. That results in a 3-way conflict (if you include Rhaegar vs Aerys). Somehow, the Rebels men with no such excuse whatsoever, have such a catastrophic fragmented legacy that they leave behind a 5-way conflict only to start with, and more claimant Kings keep stacking up.

It's almost embarrassing. We are, again, comparing them to the legacy of a man straight up INEPT.

But the fandom talks of them like Ned patting Robert gently on his dead bed: "It's OK. At least you weren't as bad as Aerys" (coughtheguyliterallytooilltodobettercough). Seriously?

Point remade: the Rebellion "support" in fandom almost always lacks nuance in the interest of the Rebels' defense in particular, all while the idea that the Targaryens were this unique problem is almost always promoted.

This kind of nuance isn't even only applicable to the Rebels. One could also address the faulty "Jaehaerys was a good king but a bad father" given that his decision AS father and grandfather are what created huge dynastic conflicts for their "government" down the line. Or "Aegon V was a good father but a bad King" in spite of the fact that the conflicts with his Lords had to do with gains they couldn't get by marrying into royalty BUT also even more from Aegon trying to take care of the commoners which is actually what a good King should do (but protecting the commoners means he was stepping on his Lords' "rights" to do whatever the Hell to whoever).

But there's nothing as pushed back or diluted as when you remark it about the Rebels.

[handers-time]

Handers Gift Exchange 2024 Round-up! 

This year's Handers Gift Exchange has officially come to a close!

We'd like to give a huge thank you and shoutout to all 20 of our participants this year. Congratulations to you all, for doing so well creating beautiful works for your giftees.

On behalf of the mods ( @dismalzelenka, @un-shit-yourself, @storybookhawke, and @hollyand-writes ), thank you to everyone who remains in the Handers fandom—in addition to authors and artists, it also includes readers, commenters, serial kudosers, and avid rebloggers! We appreciate all the love, enthusiasm, support, and cheerleading everyone did throughout this event. Everyone involved keeps the love of the ship alive and well even thirteen years after the game came out.

If you participated in this event, we ask that you please leave a comment on the gift you received, at least three lines in length! Participation goes both ways, so please give some praise and adoration to the person who devoted their time and energy to create a gift for you.

You can view the blog's tag for this event here, and the AO3 collection here, but below is a compiled list of all the amazing gifts shared over the course of this exchange. Please mind the tags and ratings as you go through them!

Invitations by replicatortrash for ghostbunny M!Handers | Explicit |

Summary: Garrett Hawke has been trying to open his home to Anders for weeks and it's been slow going. Is he keeping distance because of something from his past, or because Garrett is a vampire... or is there something else going on Garrett hasn't considered?

Mélange by dismalzelenka for Sulkyvalkyrie F!Handers | Explicit |

Summary: “I want Justice involved.” It was a marvel, Anders thought, how four words flipped his entire world on its head. “You what?” Hawke tilted her head, catlike curiosity peppered across her face. “Justice,” she repeated. “I want him involved.” In which Hawke confesses some secrets, and Anders and Justice both learn there is far more to Hawke than meets the eye.

The Short Straw by autumninfall for DemonicPersephone F!Handers | Mature |

Summary: A quick way to earn some coin while fleeing the Templars of Kirkwall. A dragon up in the mountains. Surely nothing will go wrong, right?

at the end of the world by PhantomsLost for barbex F!Handers | Teen |

Summary: “Hawke, no.” She shook her head and took a step back, both hands still gripping her staff tight. “You and I both know we don’t have a better option.” Tipping her head slightly in the direction of the looming Nightmare, she added, “Go. I’ve got this.”

Broken, yet Remade by Actually_An_Insane_Fangirl for PhantomsLost F!Handers | Teen |

Summary: Hawke may be broken, but that doesn't mean she cannot be remade with the gentle hands of a healer.

Lunacy by Sulkyvalkyrie for GhostGarrison M!Handers | Explicit |

Summary: Hawke wanted to wait another night, but Anders can't stop worrying about him...

Looking the Part by acesdesire M!Handers | Teen |

Summary: While visiting Chateau Haine, Hawke finds himself enjoying the party more than expected, especially with Anders looking so dashing in his formal wear. Infiltration can wait (even if Tallis might have other plans). He would much rather indulge in this rare and beautiful moment.

Some Guys Have All the Luck by barbex for dismalzelenka M!Handers | Explicit |

Summary: Watching Anders fight, powerful, controlled, turns Hawke on like nothing else. That's a man he wants to get on his knees for. And more.

Hunting by DemonicPersephone for Actually_An_Insane_Fangirl F!Handers | Explicit |

Summary: Nothing like a near death experience to make romance bloom <3

Chasing the Light by leonidskies for SalsedinePicta M!Handers | Teen |

Summary: Anders is having a bad day. Hawke, forever down bad, refuses to let it go.

Hurt Less by ghostbunny for PorlPoint M!Handers | Mature |

Summary: After coming close to killing the mage girl, Ella, Anders is in a bad way, consumed by guilt and shame and beginning to spiral. Hawke attempts to help him through it, while dealing with some of his own insecurities.

The One That Didn't Get Away by FactoryKat for winebearcat M!Handers | G |

Summary: Of all the things that could have happened to newcomer Garrett Hawke after moving to Kirkwall, picking up a date outside of a walk-in clinic wasn't exactly on his predictions list.

Healing the Healer by PorlPoint M!Handers | Teen |

Summary: Anders is seriously injured and out of mana, with only Hawke there to heal him before it's too late.

Rose Cottage by winebearcat for leonidskies M!Handers | Mature |

Summary: Anders reaches his 50th Name Day. He never expected to make it past 30, let alone have his happy ending.

ART: storybookhawke's piece for autumninfall M!Handers | G |

ART: notomys-mordax-blog's piece for ocean-in-my-rebel-soul M!Handers | G |

ART: salsedinepicta's piece for notomys-mordax-blog M!Handers | G |

ART: kittyopera's piece for acesdesire M!Handers | G |

ART: gevascloset's piece for factorykat M!Handers | G |

ART: moosu's piece for kittyoperas M!Handers | G |

[bi-bard]

Original Characters Masterlist [Vol.2]

Hello!

This masterlist feels both sudden yet incredibly expected. Over the years, I have created original characters (OCs) for a variety of fandoms. I adore them all, but many of them were not made with the intention of being more than a one-off story. That led to some stories that I am simply not as proud of as I would like to be. Also, they were written when I was a coward and was terrified of changing known canon. Now that I am much more comfortable doing that, I want to make something that I can feel much prouder of.

This will serve as a new beginning for many of my OCs and as the new official masterlist for all of the stories in those current timelines.

I have remade an OC before. I am not remaking all of them. This is merely a way for me to keep moving forward and not get stuck in one spot.

The remade OCs are the Hannibal OC, the Criminal Minds OC, and the Supernatural OC.

The other OCs will be left as they are, though I have done a lot of work behind the scenes in order to get those characters to flow much better than they did before.

I hope you all enjoy these stories!

If you want to read the original stories for the remade OCs, click here.

If you want to go to the main navigation guide, click here.

Special Note: Some stories feature other original characters outside of the reader. I utilize face claims for such characters as to have physical descriptions to separate them throughout the stories. No such face claims are used for the reader (main oc).

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

Criminal Minds OC - Spencer Reid X Gideon!Reader

When Jason decided to take in a newly orphaned child after a particularly rough case, people had many thoughts. Some called it kind, some impulsive, some even called it fate. More begin using that last term when (Y/n) and Jason begin working alongside each other.

“I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

Pre-Show:

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Season 4:

Season 5:

Season 6:

Season 7:

Season 8:

Season 9:

Season 10:

Season 11:

Season 12:

Season 13:

Season 14:

Season 15:

Season 16 [Reboot]:

Post-Show:

Criminal Minds/Supernatural Crossover OC - Emily Prentiss X Winchester!Reader

Changing your name and running away doesn't always free you from your past. (Y/n)'s past rears its head just as they're making a name for themself. (Y/n), their brothers, and their team learn a very important lesson: "monster" can be both literal and figurative.

“There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature.” - Jane Austen

Pre-Show:

Season 1:

Reunion [ep. 1 - Supernatural]

The Moment Spencer Reid Became My Best Friend

Scrapbooks

Season 2:

Tragedy in a Pair [ep. 1 - both]

Revelations [ep. 14 & 15 - Criminal Minds]

Season 3:

Season 4:

Season 5:

If the World Was Ending... [ep. 22 - Supernatural]

Season 6:

Season 7:

Just Between Us, Did the Love Affair Maim You Too? [ep. 2 - Criminal Minds]

Rebuilding [ep. 23 & 24 - Criminal Minds]

Season 8:

Season 9:

I Didn't Mean To

Season 10:

The Retreat [ep. 8 - Supernatural]

Season 11:

Season 12:

Season 13:

For Those Who Don't Know Who I Am [ep. 15 - Criminal Minds]

Season 14:

Season 15:

Season 16 [Criminal Minds Only]:

Post-Show:

Doctor Who OC - The Doctor X Timelord!Reader

(Y/n) spent most of their early life as nothing more than a weapon. Continuously called the Savior by the Time Lords training them, (Y/n) knew all too well about the weight sitting on their shoulders. However, when Time War comes and (Y/n) fails their very purpose, they have two choices: hide away from the universe forever or travel the universe and help as many people as possible.

“It must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work and to know that, as a result, one will live in the memory of at least a few and leave a good example for those who come after.” - Vincent Van Gogh

Other Important Original Characters

Pre-Show:

The Savior Fails

Series 1:

Plastic Promises [ep. 1]

Familiar Foes [ep. 6]

Special: Reckless [2005 Christmas Special]

Series 2:

Series 3:

A Normal Life [ep. 8 & 9]

Arguments & Paradoxes [ep. 10]

Series 4:

Series 5:

Series 6:

Series 7:

Clever Boy [ep. 1]

Series 8:

Series 9:

Series 10:

Series 11:

Series 12:

Series 13:

60th Anniversary Specials:

Season 1:

Post-Show:

Hannibal OC - Hannibal Lecter X Reader [Sunshine Character Trope]

(Y/n) had been sheltered for quite some time. When they finally get a chance to see the world around them, they did not know how vulnerable they truly were. If they had, maybe they would have turned away from the first man to show them affection.

“Dreams are sweet, until they're not / Men are kind, until they aren't / Flowers bloom, until they rot, and fall apart” - Anaïs Mitchell, Flowers

Pre-Show:

Gathering Flowers in the Light of the Sun

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Post-Show:

House MD OC - James Wilson X House's Sibling!Reader

If you were to ask anyone at Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital how the House siblings ended up working at the same place, then there would rarely be a straight answer. It went without question that it wasn't because Greg had put a good word in. And in the end, maybe it didn't matter how they both got there. All that mattered was that they both stayed there... and didn't end up killing each other.

“Talent isn’t genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great, or nothing.” - Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Pre-Show:

Season 1:

Season 2:

Season 3:

Season 4:

Misdiagnosis [ep. 9]

Season 5:

Season 6:

Season 7:

Season 8:

Post-Show:

The Last of Us OC - Joel Miller X Reader

(Y/n) and Joel had never meant to cross paths. However, when (Y/n) and Tess meet, Tess's protective side rears its head and forces the two together. Ellie's presence pushes Joel and (Y/n) together in a very different way.

“There comes a point when you have to realize that the sum of all your blood, sweat, and tears will ultimately amount to zero.” - Max Brooks

Pre-Show:

Season 1:

Changes [Episode 4 & 6]

Those Three Months [Between Episodes 5 & 6]

Something Good [Between Episode 6 & 7]

God’s Plan [Episode 8]

Post-Show:

Shadow & Bone OC - Kaz Brekker X Sun Summoner!Reader

Ketterdam had been the closest thing to home that (Y/n) had known. With that home came the Crows, the closest thing that (Y/n) had ever known to a family. When their secret is exposed in order to protect their family, it's all stolen from them. Now, (Y/n) needs to find a way to tear down the Fold and get home to the people they care about.

“Men mock the gods until they need them” - Leigh Bardugo

Pre-Show:

The Easiest Way to Steal a Man’s Wallet is to Tell Him You’re Going to Steal His Watch

No Saint Ever Watched Over Me

Season 1:

They Tell Each Other Who to Look After and Who to Watch Out For

When They Took Everything from You, You Found a Way to Make Something from Nothing

You're the First Glimmer of Hope I've Had in a Long Time

Season 2:

Stay till the End... And After, And Always

Post-Show:

Supernatural OC - Winchester Brothers & Adopted!Cambion!Reader

The Winchester brothers find themselves caring for a being far more powerful than they had ever known. In a story of about the constant battle between good and evil, the question of nature versus nurture is taken on in the most extreme of examples.

“Take courage, my heart: you have been through worse than this. Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier; I have seen worse sights than this.” - Homer, The Odyssey

Other Important Original Characters

Pre-Show/Story:

Season 4:

Season 5:

Season 6:

Season 7:

Season 8:

Season 9:

Season 10:

Season 11:

Season 12:

Season 13:

Season 14:

Season 15:

Post-Show: