#it applies to a lot of ships but the first one that comes to mind as of late is jayvik

[morisbasement]

oh and in celebration of the emerald wirch arc anime coming out next year, i have some tips for the new black butler fans!! or old if they apply to you lol

ALWAYS read the manga first.

the anime deviates so far from the manga that season 2 can't even be considered canon. im not even joking here. after the second half of s1, the animators just pulled shit out of their rears and called it a day. they didn't pull it together until book of circus, but to anyone who had watched the anime before reading the manga, the story made zero sense. i watched the series three times trying to understand it but it wasn't anything but crack until i read the manga.

if you can't buy the manga, read it on mangakakalot.com manganelo or mangareader.to, but PLEASE read it before watching.

sebaciel is (somewhat) canon, heavily implied at times, but so are lots of ships, so for the love of god please don't hate on shippers

yana toboso, the writer, has admitted that kuroshitsuji was originally intended to be a yaoi, but her publishers warned her against it. (← im told that's a rumor) there were still some sebaciel-esque scenes in the manga, so be warned! but there are also other implied ships (which is basically the entirety of s2), so suffice to say there are bound to be lots of ship wars. please don't turn the kuroshitsuji fandom into another mha fandom 😭

if you're sensitive to proship content, especially adult × child, STEER CLEAR of black butler.

while an argument may be made that it's not technically a proship since pedophilia isn't a crime in japan or since it's a human × nonhuman, therefore age gap rules aren't as cut and dry as they would be otherwise, sebastian is still portrayed as an adult and ngl it can be kind of triggering for victims of this kind of thing, and just icky in general if you don't know to expect it.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pay heed to the content warnings, not the actual rating.

some streaming services say that kuroshitsuji is tv14. TRUST ME. it's not. here's a full list of content warnings:

severe violence

lots of sexual themes including rape, not once but TWICE (in the anime, only once in the manga) by sebastian, and pedophilia

intense gore

there is a character who is somewhat minorly important who is a lolicon (duke whatever his name was)

deals with themes including cults, rejection of the christian faith, demons, rituals, supernatural phenomena, and generally disturbing stuff. for crying out loud a TWELVE YEAR OLD kid has summoned a demon servant, is a major underworld crime god, and has survived some major cult shit.

language is pretty bad

cults

arson

murder

murder

murder

mafia/underworld crime/organized crime

organized extreme abuse/ritual abuse, mind control, organized abuse, etc. is a MAJOR theme. it's basically the precursor to the entire series and is heavily discussed and shown. please please please don't get into it if you're triggered by that, ESPECIALLY if you're a victim/potentially a victim and healing. nobody would want you to uncover memories or harm yourself because of the series. stay safe!!!

one of the character's main things is he's basically obsessed with stepcest (lao)

lao is also a drug dealer

oh yeah, drugs and drugs and drugs and drugs and–

arranged marriages for kids (ciel and lizzy)

the second season (say what you will about it but i enjoyed it) had a LOT of torture and mindbreak over some dumb shit and was generally really really disturbing, objectively more so than the first season. we're talking waterboarding (i think is what it's called? correct me NICELY if im wrong) and making the mc's relive their trauma to achieve a certain goal.

also the second season deals with twice as much pedophilia, arson, demons, and murder since the second mc (alois trancy) is basically ciel phantomhive but blonde and a lot gayer (olé!)

stalking

lots and lots of murder

it's a horror series, what do you expect

both explicit and implicit sex scenes aplenty

manipulation, mindbreak, and abuse

there's a whole jack the ripper arc and it is MESSY

it's bad at the start and only gets worse! please please please only get involved with kuroshitsuji if you can handle that!

both the manga and anime are ongoing, so don't treat it as a one and done!

yana paused production of the manga to work on a game called twisted wonderland (edit: and apparently to focus on bb too? dunno how that works) , but more chapters and arcs are expected, and the series is far from over despite starting over a decade ago! i reread and rewatch every now and then to stay updated (and because it's a great series)! while i realize that can be a bit of a task, trust me when i say it's worth it!!

lastly, have fun with it!!!

kuroshitsuji fandom has been dying. REVIVE IT!! engage with fan works! cosplay! talk to other fans! make friends! convert people to the dark side!! be down bad!! be weird, be cringe!!! do whatever as long as it isnt toxic!!!

[burningcheese-merchant]

BurningCheese/GoldenSpice Playlist

Ok, time to stop being a bitch and post the ship playlist I keep harping on about already.

Gonna mark each song with an emoji to signify if it's meant to either be Burning Spice's POV (🔺) or Golden Cheese's (🧀). It's also going to be band/singer name first, song name second, for ease of understanding

Thank you to everyone who's reached out to me, both on here and on AO3, with song suggestions! A good chunk of these came from me myself, but a lot of people introduced me to plenty more songs that I loved and agreed suited these two perfectly. It's been fun putting a playlist together with this help, it feels like a fun group project now lol. (Hell, you guys are actually helping me think of new writing material. Music is a huge source of inspiration and creativity for me, as I'm sure you've noticed. In a way, you're all indirectly making fic requests lol)

You're all still more than welcome to keep shooting me song ideas to add, the playlist is ever-expanding! I'll just come back to this post and edit any new additions in. (This playlist is 3x longer than my PitayaFire one. I need you all to understand how big of a deal that is for me personally. I never thought I'd be this down bad for a ship besides that one. It's fucking surreal)

Some of it is meant to sound one-sided, others like it's a mutual love/relationship. I'll let you guess which is which lol. Now rock out to Evil Spice Man x Pretty Cheese Lady with me 🤘🤘🤘

Mindless Self Indulgence - Shut Me Up🔺

Fall Out Boy - I Don't Care🔺(with the Wild Spice crew as the backup singers!!!)

Mariah Carey - Obsessed 🧀

Three Days Grace - I Hate Everything About You🔺🧀

Lady Gaga - Bad Romance🔺🧀

Dead or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)🔺

Mindless Self Indulgence - What Do They Know?🔺

Britney Spears - Toxic 🧀

Fish in a Birdcage - Rule #34🔺(this is also a great PureShadow song ngl. It's how it was first introduced to me, even lol)

Shayfer James - Filthy Habit🔺

King Gnu - SPECIALZ🔺🧀 (look up the English version of the lyrics. Very BurningCheese-core imo)

Mindless Self Indulgence - This Hurts🔺

Jack Black - Peaches🔺(shout out to the anon in my inbox who suggested this. Joke's on them, I had this on the playlist right from the start lolololololol)

Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine?🔺

Lady Gaga - Poker Face 🧀

Olly Murs (feat. Flo Rida) - Troublemaker 🧀

Rihanna - Where Have You Been🔺(fun fact: I had this playing on a loop as I wrote "Our Little Dance" to get into the Yandere Spice mindset lol)

Lady Gaga - Judas 🧀

Miike Snow - Genghis Khan🔺

The Orion Experience - Obsessed With You🔺(this song is just really funny. You can probably apply it to all Beast x Ancient ships tbh)

Nine Inch Nails - Closer🔺

Mindless Self Indulgence - 5TR82HE11🔺

Air Traffic Controller - This Is Love🔺

Bad Omens - THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND🔺🧀

Isabel LaRosa - favorite 🧀

Bloodhound Gang - The Bad Touch🔺(listen I imagined Spice singing this to Golden and just started howling with laughter, it's fucking hysterical ok)

ENHYPEN - Bite Me🔺

Scissor Sisters - I Can't Decide🔺(GC would sing a few parts tho)

5 Seconds of Summer - Teeth🔺🧀 (mostly Spice though)

Buerak - Культ Тела 🔺(look up English lyrics, very Yandere Spice coded. Thank you to the anon who suggested it)

Tom Lehrer - The Masochism Tango🔺

Lady Gaga - Disease 🧀

G-Eazy (with Halsey) - Him & I🔺🧀

Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time🔺(imagine Spice singing this while stuck in prison. Please. He's singing and the other Beasts want to off themselves because it's so annoying and he won't stop. Please it is so funny. I have so much fun imagining this freak acting stupid-)

[hxhbigbang25]

HxHBB is turning 10... Let's get into what a Big Bang is!

A Big Bang is a collaborative event between writers and artists where lots of new content for a particular series, theme, or ship is dropped all at once. BANG!!

Writers complete a longer story and artists will create at least one full work of art based on the fic they choose/are assigned. The goal is to upload new, complete works that will inspire and add to the fandom!

Our HxHBB will result in an influx of new works for the fandom to enjoy and be inspired by and hopefully will inspire continued collaboration between writers and artists as well as participation in other, smaller fandom events (such as the Yorknew Auction and Greed Island Server events!)

How do signups work?

Signups will open Friday, January 10, at 12 AM EST! All roles will be on the same form, so Writers, Artists, and Betas will all be able to begin signing up on the same day.

There is no skill requirement and you will not be asked to submit a portfolio, we welcome anyone to participate in this event!

How do I get into the server?

Once we have received your application, you will be sent an invitation to join our Discord server via DMs. All main communications will be conducted through Discord, so please have or be willing to create a Discord account for the duration of this event! Additionally, please ensure your Discord DMs are open, otherwise Shal won't be able to send you the invite!

As in previous years, the only pause between applying and joining the server would be in the event that we have a wildly uneven writer:artist ratio. If that's the case, writers will be placed on a waitlist and invited to the server as more artists join the event.

The server is a great place to meet like-minded creatives and share in the fun of HxHBB, even if you choose not to be super active in it. However it will be the only place we share important links and information, so be sure to pop in every now and again so you don't miss anything.

Roles

Writer

Writers are tasked with coming up with a new, unpublished story idea that will be between 5-50k words. While there is no theme or prompt to limit you, please be aware that NSFW or explicit content is not allowed! Once writers have their idea, they'll submit a summary with title, ratings, and tags included to inform artists for their selections. This is a completely blind event, so make it good!

Artist

Artists are tasked with creating at least one piece of art based on a scene or theme from their selected story. Once they have picked their blind match, they will receive the completed story from which they will choose to draw whatever they like. We are looking for at least one fully lined and colored illustration, but comics, physical crafts, or other media created for their assigned story are welcome!

Beta

Betas are tasked with reading over the first chapter or 5,000 words (whichever comes first) of their assigned story and providing feedback on spelling, grammar, and pacing. Stories that are in need of a beta will be up for grabs in the server. You can absolutely read more than the requirement if you choose, but we are only asking for the first 5,000 words.

Pinch Hitter

Pinch Hitters are the most valuable role we have in this event, they are in charge of swooping in to save the day in the event of an artist drop! They will be given extra time to complete their pieces as a thank you for stepping up to the plate.

Reveal Days

As in the past, our reveal days will be July 1 and July 8. The first reveal date will be for folks who do not need extensions, the second will be for folks who do and pinch hitters.

Please share your works to whatever social media or hosting site you prefer—AO3, ff.net, Twitter, etc.—and share a link here on Tumblr. This is the only account for HxHBB so be sure to tag it and use #hxhbb25 so we can reblog it!

Important Links

We realize this is a lot of information! All of this and more is included in our Guidebook, which is the most comprehensive compilation of all that is HxHBB information.

For quick reference, sweet countdowns, and other helpful links, check out our Carrd too!

As always, you can also send us an ask to this account or, once the server is up, we will have a dedicated ask-a-mod channel.

We can't wait to see where this year takes us! See you soon and Happy Hunting.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Ten Biopics from the Blackberry Bushes Universe

Modern-day Corege, Faysmond, and Lienne make their share of historical films about their past monarchs, just as we do, and these depictions say a lot about how these historical figures are understood by society. Here are several of the most notable of such films.

[These films do not exist. These countries are fictional. You cannot google them. I am just having some fun with concepts of how pop culture interprets history, as applied to fictional historical people.]

A War of Monarchs (1967): Four-plus-hour epic detailing the political machinations behind the war started by Odren. It’s kind of dry and hard to keep track of all the characters, but it includes some of the earliest screen portrayals of Odren, Delclis, Rietta, and Josiah. Odren is situated as a sort of villain whose more noble-minded son is at odds with him (which is an incredibly oversimplified depiction of them and their relationship at this point), while Delclis is characterized as a timid young man at the mercy of his prime minister and government, and Rietta is seen as a flirt whose first idea for combatting the Liennese is to arrange an alliance through marriage for herself. I…do not love this, but the actress playing her has a lot of charisma and makes the role endearing even if it’s so painfully incorrect.

Talfrin and Bethira (1973): A tragic love story based on the premise that Bethira was the true love of Talfrin’s life and she was deeply in love with him in spite of herself. The film gets a lot of dramatic mileage out of the difficulties of their relationship, much of which is at least vaguely based on actual events, but I can’t really get behind the interpretation of Talfrin’s and Bethira’s motivations. It glosses over the worst of his treatment of her, while worsening her behavior to suggest a jealous, possessive love (including having her be rather vicious to his mistresses and their children, which is the complete opposite of what actually happened). Delclis and Elystan feature in this film in pretty small roles, mostly as props for their parents’ drama. One particularly striking scene has Talfrin and Bethira standing on either side of Elystan’s bed arguing intensely as he lies between them, ill with typhoid—this is based on something that Elystan recalled in his memoirs.

Architect of Faysmond (1982): Biopic of Etriat focusing on his early architectural aspirations (including a very entertaining depiction of how he assumed a false identity on the side at university in order to study architecture in addition to politics), his romance with a ballet dancer whom he wasn’t permitted to marry, his military service during the war with Otionovia, his ascending to the throne and rebuilding of Faysmond, and his arranged marriage to Tietra, whose brothers’ deaths he was connected to. A reasonably accurate and enjoyable film that portrays Etriat with great sympathy, although it does take liberties with his love life. The filmmakers pretty clearly shipped Etriat/Rosenne (the dancer), and it affects how Tietra is portrayed—it’s not exactly negative, but she comes across as more of a pitiable, plain, childish foreigner whom Etriat has to chivalrously condescend to marry although he still carries a torch for the beautiful and sophisticated Rosenne. The film even goes so far as to suggest that Rietta was originally supposed to be named Rosenne! There is no historical evidence to indicate this.

Odren the Greater (1988): Biopic of Odren concentrating on his life before the war he infamously started, especially emphasizing him as an idealistic, driven, handsome young man dedicated to transforming his fractured nation. The film wants the viewer to see him as an ultimately tragic figure who had a lot of promise and good qualities but was steered by circumstances toward becoming the formidable figure of his middle-age. A lot of attention is given to his marriages; Liane is politely acknowledged, but the filmmakers ship Odren/Nyella hard—which is accurate enough, since Odren considered her the only woman he was ever truly in love with—and her death and its aftermath is depicted in a rather heartbreaking way. The film downplays Odren’s failings as a father, preferring to emphasize things like his investment in every detail of his children’s education and futures, his affection for and reliance on Ayra (no comment on what a difficult position this put her in), and his practicing “tough love” with Josiah (ignoring that Odren himself created the conditions for Josiah’s bad behavior by simultaneous overindulgence and high pressure). It’s actually rather moving, as a film (it won several awards), but if you’re at all familiar with the family’s history, you kind of have to watch it with your brain turned off.

The Botanist King (1991): Biopic of Delclis set around the time he attained his majority as king. It details his transition into full-fledged monarch, his almost abdication, his reluctant but ultimately amicable marriage, and, of course, his passionate love of botany. The broad facts are correct, and the film makes Delclis a sympathetic, endearing figure. But it also veers a bit into portraying him as a Quirky, Absent-Minded Eccentric who can’t function in society until his wife comes along and shows him how. This is very oversimplified and overlooks all the hard work Delclis himself put into becoming a role that he wasn’t raised to take on. Nevertheless, the film clearly intends to honor Delclis’s memory, not only as a king but as a scientist, and the depictions of his intellectual prowess are not at all exaggerated but lifted directly from his notebooks and published papers. And despite some creative license, his relationship with his wife is portrayed very sweetly, using lines from their letters. The filmmakers did do their research, even if their conclusions aren’t always spot-on.

Josiah I (1995): Award-winning biopic of Josiah as a young man, faced with major life changes after the death of his father, and how he adjusts to them—and, of course, finds love. Josiah is played by an actor famous for being quite a heartthrob (he’s tall and has a similar coloring but otherwise bears no particular resemblance to the rather ordinary-looking real-life Josiah), and this portrayal is heavily romanticized. This Josiah is a tragic figure, haunted by the deaths of his parents, pouring his melancholy into his music, which is one of the focal points of his character here (and beautifully depicted—the soundtrack won awards). His wife is depicted as having singlehandedly rescued him from the depths of despair, and their relationship plays out like a romance novel. (While there is every indication that Josiah and his wife genuinely loved each other, the film takes a lot of liberties.) It’s a touchingly told story that contributed to renewed interest in Josiah as a historical figure, but as a study of his character, it’s quite limited. It’s hard to imagine the Josiah of this film having been a stuck-up little brat in his youth!

Amarantha Melbray: Portraits of the Soul (1998): Made-for-television film for younger audiences telling the story (loosely inspired by true events) of artist Amarantha Melbray and her friendship with the young sister of one of the subjects of her numerous royal portraits. This Amarantha is a mature woman who acts as an artistic mentor to this young girl and learns from her in turn. It’s a very exaggerated story (we know that Amarantha was friendly with this girl, who did exist, but we don’t know how significant their interactions actually were), but what it does do well is capturing the broad strokes of Amarantha’s character—her perfectionism, her critical nature, her intensity, her often lack of humor, but also her insightfulness into her subjects, her passion for bringing people’s essences to life, and her genuine capacity for compassion. The actress playing her makes her very entertaining to watch, and you might find yourself quoting a few of her lines after watching this.

The Young Rietta (2004): Biopic of Rietta concentrating on her youth and young adulthood as she gradually takes on the role of queen. Similar in themes to the biopic of Delclis, but this one has a more off-beat tone that seeks to make Rietta relatable to a contemporary audience, especially through the anachronistic soundtrack. The film focuses on her relationship with her mother and on her complicated road toward choosing a husband and the early years of her marriage. Very little acknowledgment is made of her close friendships, although Rachel Doncath and Rietta-Coleinette Brammage have minor roles in the film, without much context given for who they are. Some viewers may find the tone jarring, but the actress portraying Rietta is clearly enjoying herself immensely in the role, and her performance is worth watching for the complexity it gives Rietta, especially in comparison to previous portrayals. The film may not be strong on all the facts, but it does provide a solid sense of Rietta’s personality.

Ex-Queen (2015): Biopic of Antavia, covering most of her life. It portrays her as a misunderstood and deeply sensitive creative stifled by the restrictions and responsibilities of her royal position, who is finally liberated by her bold decision to abdicate the crown and estrange herself from her family and who finds fulfillment in joining scandalous bohemian circles that encourage her to cultivate her talents in all forms of art. Antavia is portrayed by a well-known, elegant actress (who bears almost no resemblance to the real Antavia) who well captures Antavia’s wit, vivacity, and deep sense of hurt. It’s a very sympathetic depiction of her that allows her to be more than a failed ruler that was only a footnote in history. But like many biopics, it is limited in its angle. There’s perhaps more emphasis on Antavia’s bohemian friends and lovers than there needs to be, and the narrative completely ignores that Antavia in later years became mostly reconciled with and closer to the Coregean royal family, especially Delclis and Bethira.

Last of the Liddicks (2023): Biopic of Elystan from his youth through adulthood. Recent discoveries such as the Lamplight letter, which recontextualized a lot of historical scholarship on Elystan, inspired this controversial film’s take on his character. The film ages him up to sixteen when he starts at Hollingham and presents him as a sympathetic rebel against the oppressive regime of his half-brother and the influence of their mother. The brothers’ eventual reconciliation is interpreted as insincere on Elystan’s part, a ploy to get an opportunity to take down his brother from within. His attending Claverworth is a way of thumbing his nose at Delclis, who had wanted to attend but couldn’t, and his career as an author is revealed to have been a means of expressing subtly subversive ideas. His friendship with Josiah is a way to form a valuable alliance (because, the film seems to argue, why else would anyone bother to make friends with a jerk like Josiah). And although Elystan never gets his throne back, he is portrayed as craftily fighting for his rightful place to the very end. The Elystan of this film is clever, passionate, misunderstood, and constantly mistreated, especially by his uncaring half-brother and mother. This raised quite a stir with viewers, since Delclis V and Queen Bethira have been historically well-remembered. The actor playing Elystan gives a heart-rending performance that calls attention to some very true details of what the historical Elystan lived through, but the film conveniently ignores any information that contradicts its thesis—Elystan’s more negative traits and relationships, his ridiculously lenient upbringing, the fact that he and Delclis did actually work out their differences and Elystan showed no interest in seizing the throne in adulthood. While Elystan does deserve a more nuanced understanding by historians than he has previously received (mostly being dismissed a sickly, unimportant brat) and this film does sincerely seek to reevaluate him with sympathy, it ultimately misunderstands him in a completely different way.

[20dollarlolita]

Did you hear about joannes going bankrupt? Do you have any thoughts on that?

(Quick note so no one um actually's me: I'm aware that not all bankruptcy is Chapter 11. Thank you)

As a crafter, I'll say: oh dear, that's going to make shopping harder.

As a person who was aware of the insides of how that company was running, I'm going to say, "about fucking time."

See, here's what was happening with Joann. Problem #1 was that they stopped taking the "you have to spend money to make money," mentality and applying it to labor. A store is not about the products or the customers. The life of a store, the thing that keeps it beating, is the employees who serve the customer and serve the corporate ownership.

When they first started notably cutting labor, the store did have a lot of driven, passionate people who were willing to pick up the slack. It's possible to cut the freight shift one night a week when you have daytime floor associates who can do the freight when there's no customers immediately needing help. You can expect store managers to clean and recover the store, because it's a task that keeps them free to disconnect from when a store needs a manager to be acting as a manager. You can expect any free employee to fill in at the register or cut counter to cover a break or a lunch or fill in during a high-customer time. The store had a lot of employees who didn't mind doing some multitasking, and didn't mind being completely busy from the start of the shift until the very end.

However, when these labor cuts proved to be an effective way to save the store money, the amount of multitasking, and the amount of expecting one shift to cover for cuts made to another shift, started going up. It was no longer cutting the freight shift one day a week. It was cutting the freight shift until it was ONLY one day a week.

And that's where they made the big mistake in labor load. Instead of, "serve the customers, and do these tasks when you have time," it became, "do the task, and serve the customers if they demand your attention." A store is not the customers; it's the people who work in the store. But one of the key players in a retail store's staffing is the employees for whom making the customers happy is their primary drive. The way that stores were staffed, people whose primary drive was to serve customers were not allowed to adequately do so to reach customer satisfaction.

We need to add to this that, in addition to demanding more from every employee, Joann corporate has several of their demands on employees to be automatically measured. Customer response surveys, ship-from-store fulfillment, buy online pickup in store response times, number of remnants that were rolled to be sold, all of that can be sent to corporate with a pass/fail number assigned to it. Other elements of the store, like how much freight from a box actually makes it onto the shelf on time, or if a wheelchair can navigate the store, are not measured. This means that the company prescribes which tasks will actually be done and which can be shoved in the back for later. With the work load that was being put on employees, corporate decided that the ONLY tasks that should get done are ones that have specific metrics tied to them.

Employees whose drive is to help customer, who are not permitted to help the customers asking for help, will quit and go to a place where customers actually come first. Employees who are okay with doing two people's jobs, but who are asked to do three jobs, will leave to a place where they only have to do one job. Employees who have worked for the company for 4 years and never received a raise despite being praised for excellent work will go to a job where they get paid more. And suddenly, the only people who are left are the people who aren't overworked, because they're the people who will only do one job no matter how much demanding corporate has for them.

The last two years that I was at Joann, there were tons of employees asking or begging for more hours. It was not that they couldn't hire people. It's that they wouldn't assign labor hours. Employees who would happily work 35-40 hours a week, but who are assigned three hours a week, will leave and find a job where they can get a consistent number of hours. When they made all floor managers part time, a lot of people who had been with the company for years left to get more hours or some health insurance.

But, despite all of this, corporate never said, "if we put more people on the floor, our customers will be happier, and will spend more money." They still continued to treat labor as an unnecessary expense that should be limited. Why put more people on the floor when you can just overwork the people who bothered to show up for work today?

So, weirdly enough, that business model was absolutely not working for them, and it's all come crashing down. Damn right, as it should be. Respect the people who work for you, and they'll work for you. Take away the things that they're there to do, and they'll go somewhere else. Simple math.

Also, in the last decade, the fact is that, "Joann has a lot of coupons, so I can save money!" changed in the eye of the public into, "Joann is overpriced unless you know how to play the coupon game."

So yeah. I'm not surprised, and I hope their restructuring does good things for the employees who work there. Hell knows they need it, because their current system just proved that it cannot survive in that state.

[amevello-blue]

Things in Rise that Echo 2003 TMNT

Hi Ame here back on my bullshit-- getting right into it. I can't remember where or who said it, but one of the creators of Rise mentioned that 03 was their favorite iteration, and it really shows sometimes. Spoilers for 03 and Rise below ;)

The first thing that comes to mind is Shredder. "But Ame, 03 Shredder was a little alien guy-" NO I'M TALKIN ABOUT THE ORIGINAL SHREDDER. In 03, Ch'rell took on the mask of a well-known boogeyman at the time; the Shredder, who was a demon that had lived 1,000 years ago. Oroku Saki was a man who defeated the demon alongside the rest of the Ninja Tribunal, and after he defeated it, became possessed by it after falling prey to its promise of power.

The most obvious I think are their markings. In 2003 they use 'chi' to give them mystic abilities. It's the act of becoming one with the world around you, but it also seems to work when you are connected to the people around you. Even the medallions over their chest mimic the Hamato symbol that glows on Rise's chest when activating their ninpo.

Their markings even mimic each other (except for Raph, whose Rise version doesn't have any markings, which is a travesty). Leo has slash-like marks, Donnie has geometric marks, and Mikey's got a lot of circles!

NOW OKAY THIS ONE'S A BIT OF A STRETCH, BUT-- Leo has made portals with his sword before! Specifically, he held one open with it.

It's the little things <3

Like the ghost of dead Hamatos coming back to assist their rat sons in the final moments :)

Some more small things! Raph and Donny's brains being rifled through! (Which also happens to 2012 Mikey)

Raph's and Leo's shoulder! (Hard to get a good shot of Leo's, thanks 4kids) Ironically both happening at a moment where Leo has "failed" to protect his family.

Rise Mikey being the "greatest mystic warrior" reminds me a lot of what is alluded to many times with 2003 Mikey; he's very good at what he does! He's a Battle Nexus Champion! He's the one who can channel chi the best! He could surpass Leo even in skill if he actually applied himself, but he doesn't. Because he just doesn't find it fun. But it's shown a little in the episode Same as it Never Was, where he's able to dispatch a whole group of guys with guns all on his own, including three armored cars and a HELICOPTER.

Also making comparisons between 03 SAINW!Mike and Rise F!Leo losing their arms is kinda a stretch but I'll point it out anyway.

And speaking of the movie. My absolute FAVORITE thing to compare is the Krang of Rise to Sh'Okanabo of 2003's Fast Forward season. It's like they took all the concepts of Sh'Okanabo and made it BETTER. Everything was executed SO MUCH BETTER.

Gooey tentacle villain? Check

Weirdly organic flesh ship? Check

Alien invaders turning people into drone versions of their species? Check

(Also side note about that one, I think it's hilarious that in 03 Raph's the only one who DOESN'T get Kanaboe'd but in Rise Raph is the only one who DOES get Krang'ed.)

Taking over structures with their goop? Check

And finally. Small boy son that is a descendant of Casey Jones. Check :)

[moonydustx]

hey! how are you?

so, I've feeling kinda of pretty bad lately, and today I tried to bake a cake to my bf and his family and I half burned the cake and burned my hand on the process, so now I'm feeling like crap and my hand it's hurting like hell :')

could you please, if you want of course, write something similar to Sanji and fem reader? With a lot of comfort please? Your writting always comfort me, so thanks <3

hope you're good.

heey! First of all: I really hope you're feeling better! I think your request is so sweet, it's one of the things I can see Sanji doing. Despite all this womanizing side of him, I see him being a very sweet boyfriend.

I hope you like it and thank you very much for appreciating my work <3

--

requests here | rules and guides | masterlist

Comments, reblogs and likes are greatly appreciated.

The Cake

Sanji x F!Reader

warnings: just our dear F!Reader trying to cheer Sanji's spirits with food and having some incidents.

glossary: Ma belle - my beauty/my pretty, Mon coeur - my heart, amour - love (yes, I have him speaking French in this one because it's incredibly delicious to me)

Some days felt heavier than the next. Sometimes you just wanted to hide, or just avoid talking to anyone. This same maxim would apply to anyone, including Sanji.

You had noticed your boyfriend was feeling down the last few days, you just didn't know why. The times you asked, he would let the question fade away with some other compliment or conversation, avoiding the main topic.

Could something be wrong with you? No, impossible. Even discouraged, Sanji continued to treat you like the most precious thing his eyes could have seen. It should be something different. Maybe it wouldn't make him say what hurt him, but an idea that crossed your mind could help cheer him up.

The first step was to ensure that you were left to look after the ship while the others explored the island and he seemed to want to complicate that part.

"Ma belle, are you sure you don't want to go? I can stay." Sanji proposed and saw you vehemently deny it."

"Do not even think about it." you turned him around by the shoulders, guiding him to the outside of the Sunny. "You already have the shopping list and you're the cook."

"Okay." He found the behavior strange, but he didn't want to bother you with thoughts lost in his head. "I promise to come back soon!"

"Don't worry about that either." tiptoeing, you reached his cheek and placed a quick kiss. "Enjoy the day."

As soon as he left the ship, you started to put your plan into practice. Going through some books in the small library - which were mostly books for Robin and Chopper - you could find a copy of recipes. You knew some more basic cooking dishes, a cake was not included in it.

Remembering what you had seen Sanji do countless times for countless dishes, the first thing you did was separate ingredient by ingredient, quantity by quantity. Flour, eggs, baking powder, chocolate. It was impossible for a chocolate cake not to bring at least a little joy to him.

Dirtying a lot more dishes than you expected and spreading twice as much flour around the kitchen as you actually used in the recipe, you soon managed to put the dough on a small plate and then in the oven, crossing your fingers that it would work. The baking time passed quickly and you could see the cake rise through the glass.

"What are you doing?" Sanji's voice startled you, placing some bags on the table, he seemed genuinely curious. "It smells good."

"It's a little surprise for you, it's practically ready." you moved away from him, motioning for his arms to wrap around your waist.

"What did I do to deserve such a surprise?"

"Besides being a fantastic boyfriend, I've seen you a little sad." You said it clearly, you didn't provide reasons that prevent you from taking the information to him. "I'll understand if you don't want the cake or talk about it."

"Mon coeur, don't worry about me, really." the taste of cigarettes didn't bother you when his lips touched yours. "I swear this has nothing to do with you."

"Still, that doesn't stop me from wanting to see you happy, doesn't it?" he just agreed, you're letting go. "I'll go see our cake."

As soon as you were late opening the oven, the first thing that bothered you was the immediate hot breath in your face, but the cake looked beautiful. Under Sanji's watchful and caring gaze, you can feel the trust placed within you.

Confidence enough to simply forget about wearing any kind of gloves and place both hands straight onto the hot board. Your scream was the thing that brought Sanji back to reality.

"Shit!" you fell into a sitting position, the cake sliding down and stopping between your legs. "I can't believe I did that."

"Calm down, love." Sanji immediately - and wearing gloves - first took the cake and placed it on the top of the stove. Soon, he grabbed you under the arms and lifted you to your feet. His eyes met yours on the verge of tears. "Let me see."

"It hurts." Your voice came out much more sly than you expected, the burning sensation spread across both palms of your hand.

"I know babe, let me see, okay?" he asked gently, taking your wrists gently. "That was a bit ugly, we need to add water first."

With one hand gently holding both of your wrists and the other guiding you around your waist, Sanji took you to the edge of the sink, turning on the cold water.

"It's going to bother you a little." his warning wasn’t enough to prepare you for the sensation. Out of instinct, you tried to retract your arms, but his hand held yours firmly under the current of water. "I'm so sorry, just hold on for a little while, can you do this for me?"

"How could I be so stupid?" Taking advantage of the proximity, you let your body lean towards his chest. "I'm useless."

"Don't talk about yourself like that." some kisses were distributed on the top of your head and the hand that was on your waist, caressed one of your arms. "I think it's good."

He took your hands away from the water and could notice your palms were still red. Damn, that would bother you for a few days. Without much explanation, Sanji guided you to Sunny's infirmary and placed you sitting on the stretcher, while rummaging through some drawers.

"What are you looking for?" You asked, watching him. In fact, you just didn't want to have to look at your hands.

"Chopper once said he had separated an ointment…Here!" he lifted the small tube and walked towards you. "They're for burns. I'm going to pass them and then I need you to be a little more careful with your hands, what do you think mon coeur?"

With a murmur you nodded, watching him fill two fingers with the substance and lightly run them across the palm of your hand. Pausing every time he saw you squirm a little.

"You did very well." he warned as soon as he removed his fingers from your hand. "Now come here."

Intertwining part of your body with his again, Sanji guided you back to the kitchen and without any effort, placed you sitting on the counter. You watched him walk back and forth as he picked up plates, cutlery and cut the cake.

"I don't believe." you sighed in frustration, seeing that the cake had turned out much less soft than you expected. Instead of giving you a plate, Sanji placed a generous portion on a single plate. He took the first bite and prepared another. "It must be horrible."

"It's not horrible, amour, it's quite the opposite." he insisted and tasted the piece of cake once again. "Try it."

Opening your mouth and accepting the piece he offered you, you tasted the cake. It wasn't bad, actually. But it was far from what you had expected, especially visually.

"Cakes are complicated recipes and in addition to the ingredients, they also depend a lot on the temperature, how you open the oven and even the weather." a smile dared to cross your lips as you reveled in seeing Sanji explain with so much wisdom. "I bet you did everything right."

Another growl came from you, this time partly out of frustration and partly because you were eating yet another piece he was offering you.

"I really loved it." He placed a light kiss on your lips. "And well, about these last few days… Sometimes I miss Baratie, sometimes I think about how everything must be there."

"I can imagine." the saddened smile indicated that Sanji was still disturbed by such a feeling. "Sanji, you know we can write to them."

"I know, it's just a feeling that appears occasionally, but it soon passes." He tried to look excited and put the cake aside, fitting himself between your legs hanging on the counter. "Especially when I look at you, when I imagine everything we are and what we can be."

"I love you amour" You tried to bring your hand to his face, but the groan of pain came out automatically.

"And about that, young lady, can we make a deal?" he asked and you immediately agreed. "You will keep an eye on that hand and let me take care of and pamper you, no complaints."

"Sounds interesting to me."

"And once you get better, I can teach you a few things about cakes, what do you think?" your smile gave more than any other answer Sanji could have expected. "I love you and you will always be my favorite cook."

[turboacek-blog]

Random: I wouldn’t mind Katara x Zuko and Aang x Toph in the Netflix adaptation

So with the Netflix live-action Avatar series coming out soon, I figured I should get this thought out the way

Back when it was first announced I remember they said they were going to slightly age up Katara so that she would be essentially Zuko’s age and Aang would still be 12 (112) basically instead of her being 14 she would be 16 like Zuko

And people speculated that it’s because they want to do Zutara (Zuko x Katara)

Amongst a number of other changes that’s has been revealed in the pre show premiere life cycle like the recent info they’re getting rid of Sokka’s sexism

I’ve mentioned it before but I’ve became neutral on remakes and reboots and such

Which includes changing things from the original is fine as the original still exists

It’ll be ininteresting how they handle it as the original show had a sizeable focus on Aang liking Katara and I can see it shifting to just being friends but it would also change a lot of scenes involving the two as the Gaang's dynamic is the way it was because one of the threads is that Aang and Katara had the romance aspect

And without it, you will need to sell their friendship in a different way which can be fun with a more platonic take but I think it has to be done well as Aang getting upset he can hurt Katara with fire bending or just the Haru and Jet situations are different if there isn’t a potential romance brewing

And might be worse if it’s fully one-sided as in Aang still has a crush but Katara doesn’t like him in that way at all, which ties into the other ship's angle

Katara x Zuko

It can work, I don’t think the people who shipped them were just crazy fans putting two characters together, there’s evidence

But without the Aang influence, it can be weird if not handled well let alone how they handled a character like Mai

Aang x Toph

I think when people mention this, it’s mostly because she’s the only one who would likely still be in his age range meaning she's the most realistic option if Katara and side characters are off the table

And you can pull it off I think, from Aang being Toph’s first friend, and the mentor-student dynamic can be tweaked plus they also have an opposites attract dynamic like Zutara. And reshift the crush Toph had on Sokka and Zuko to Aang it's possible

I just think it’s a case of they would have to truly commit and not tease too much / if it gets some backlash don't double back to the original canon pairs as you would basically be a season behind

Like don’t still do AangxKatara stuff if they are really going to do ZukoxKatara as the endgame

2/2/24 edit:

@vibee2001 let me know the Katara aging up was a rumor and she's more than likely still going to be 14, while Sokka and Zuko are aged up 1 year so most of what I said doesn't matter lol

But since they have said it's going to lean more into the drama genre I think a lot of what I said can still be applied to leaning towards drama by having different pairings and such and the general they are making changes to some elements of the story like characters

[taki118]

IruClarAzz Master Post Part 15

Just collecting all of the cuteness of the Love Trio and adding my commentary. Spoilers ahead very current with the manga. (Also warning I may make jabs at the IruAmeri ship here and there just small comparisons showing why I don’t like it as much, no hate but if you don’t like your ship being talked about even slightly negatively probably look away.)

If you didn’t see it Part 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 3 here Part 4 here  Part 5 here Part 6 here Part 7 here Part 8 here Bonus here Part 9 here Part 10 here Part 11 here Part 12 here Part 13 here Part 14 here

So Irumas making a weird face as Clara signs her um property

I think a Lot of kinks are getting unlocked for Iruma in this arc. Um anyway Clara leaves to do school stuff. So they escape.

Azz makes an interesting note and this is true, this isnt really what she wants.

Iruma recalls how Ameri's personality change was stuck due to her own desires so they start going deeper into Clara's mind to figure it out. And this is so Clara love that both are not allowed.

They know Clara too well they know its real.

So while they go further in Clara's mind we get another Irumas Army mentioned

Side note Clara's appeal in her evil cycle gets to her classmates too. But again she wants all three to be together no matter what.

Anyway back to Clara's space, they have to answer a Clara quiz to move forward. I love that they answer at the same time.

They are brought into a room of her favorite tings. It's filled with things they did together. Also Iruma and Azz are on the same level as her family.

More questions and again same time.

This room is filled with her regrets and guilt. and the two are so embarrassed.

Side note I am trying to do my best to not put the entire chapters cause dear god.

Anyway this room is filled with memories, meeting iruma and azz is one of her most important. The two are very touched.

I love how they look to each other cause they know. But also I don't think its an accident that for the first time Iruma and Azz are separated in clara's mind. You can't say she just associates Azz with Iruma he has is own place in her mind/heart.

I am dying so sweet.

Awww the softness of this chapter page, Azz's hand on her head so cute.

So they make it to the end, theres two albums and they open the first. Its filled with events from the series from Clara's POV. Primarily about the two. (I wonder what Clara would think of Azz's evil cycle?)

They get a little shy about it but are also happy to read the praise.

As you can see the second book has the same images but is filled with her negative thoughts on the situations.

I feel like this arc is really about the people who think Clara is just an idiot, she's not she just's afraid to express her negative thoughts.

And before they can really think Clara comes back. She starts to freak out over them escaping and going here. She reveals shes afraid to show this part of herself to them and think the two will hate her now.

Iruma tries to end her negative thinking but well

That kinda back fires.

Clara decides she has to trap him even further inside her psyche. Which sidebar again but these chapters really show how terrifying her powers can be if she applied them.

Azz rushes in to stop her and this looks so like romantic

Its' Azz time to save Clara from herself and just look at their faces so good. And this is where i will end this post. don't worry I'll post the rest soon cause they really arent beating the polyship allegations.

[aethon-recs]

Tomarrymort Starter Pack: 10 Recs for Getting Started in Tomarrymort

I've compiled a list of 10 medium to longfic recs that I think represent a great on-ramp to the Tomarrymort ship, as inspired by @sitp-recs’ Drarry for Beginners rec list. These are the fics that I would use to on-board people to the ship — gorgeous writing, superb characterization, and just as enjoyable on the first read as the 20th reread. 

As always, I am stunned by the talent in this ship! I tried to pick a good mix of different themes/tropes/settings, with a focus on elements that make for a good introductory work: the characters are recognizable; the setting skews more recognizable; both characters in the ship are a meaningful part of the story; the ship is central to the story; and the fics are for the most part complete (or updated within the last year). 

(Standard rec list disclaimers apply: please mind all tags and warnings on AO3 before reading; this blog abides by the age-old fandom axiom of don’t like; don’t read; recs are in alphabetical order by title.)

This is Part 1 of a 3-part series — I also have an Intermediate reading list and Advanced reading list coming up for readers who have been with the ship for a longer time.

For now, please enjoy these 1.3 million words of absolutely brilliant Tomarrymort reads that I hope will keep you hooked until the very last word:

*

Tomarrymort Starter Pack Recs

A Dangerous Game by @cybrid (E, 284k, WIP)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 5 Premise: If Tom’s diary horcrux gains a body at the end of Harry’s 5th year (instead of his 2nd), and then promptly kidnaps Harry and holds him captive over the summer. Lots of smut ensues. Why I rec it: The characterization is truly stunning — Tom Riddle is undoubtedly a psychopath — manipulative, thrill-seeking, kind of an irredeemable shithead — but he’s also dazzlingly charming when he chooses to be, someone whose presence Harry quickly grows addicted to. Their relationship can get incredibly toxic and fucked-up at times, but Harry has top-notch instincts and can hold his own against Tom. The plot is absolutely gripping, with the threat of (the main) Voldemort, who has set his sights on reclaiming his wayward horcrux, looming in the background. 

A Future Without a Face by @dividawrites (E, 115k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry travels back in time to Tom’s 5th year at Hogwarts, and Tom becomes obsessed with the new transfer student and wants nothing more than to possess him every way. Why I rec it: A 1940s time travel fic told entirely from Tom Riddle POV! Divida absolutely nails psychopath Tom — how he quickly gets singlemindedly focused on Harry, how the idea of possessing Harry consumes him, how he has no compunctions about doing completely fucked-up and destructive things to achieve his goals. There is so much tension between them from the start, so there’s not much of a wait to see some hot Harry & Tom action — and the conflict and tension only continues to build and build in dramatic fashion throughout the rest of the fic.

Either must die at the hand of the other by @metalomagnetic (E, 260k, complete)

Setting: Post-Canon Premise: If Voldemort survives the Battle of Hogwarts and is initially kept prisoner in Azkaban, until Harry takes him into Grimmauld Place under house arrest. Why I rec it: This fic is an incredible exploration of Voldemort at his most terrifying. Even if he starts off the fic with his magic temporarily blocked, he is no less powerful without his magic. The force of his personality is powerful enough for him to chip away at Harry’s initial resistance — @metalomagnetic manages to write one of the most charismatic, brilliantly manipulative, and psychologically devastating versions of Voldemort I’ve ever read. Harry ends up in a good place by the end of the fic, but the journey to get there is a roller-coaster of emotions that have permanently imprinted onto my soul.

In Somno Veritas by ladyoflilacs and @lordansketil (M, 158k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Harry starts appearing in Voldemort’s nightly dreams during Book 6, and Voldemort becomes obsessed with Harry after realizing he’s his horcrux. Why I rec it: This is one of the most unique fics I’ve ever read in this ship! Every scene is told in alternating POV between Harry’s POV and Voldemort’s POV, so you get to see how every scene unfolds from both of their perspectives. Voldemort is so intense and just as terrible as he is in canon, so his character is not at all sugarcoated, and Harry has so much compassion and heart and manages to fall in love with Voldemort anyway. The writing style is gorgeous, with richly detailed and emotionally-laden prose. Also, one thing that pleasantly surprised me is how funny their banter is! There were definitely a number of times where I laughed out loud in the middle of an otherwise really intense scene. Bonus content: also comes with a lovely sequel that made me melt.

Inevitabilities by @shadow-of-the-eclipse (T, 103k, complete)

Setting: Same-Age AU Premise: If Harry and Tom attend Hogwarts together and go traveling around the world after they graduate. A betrayal leads to their break-up, but after many years, Harry returns to find Tom in Britain, and the two of them are drawn back together again. Why I rec it: An excellent same-age AU with unhinged dark Harry and just-as-unhinged Tom. Their relationship starts out quite dark and twisted and unhealthy — and only devolves from there. The fic ends with the two of them as equals — utterly devoted to each other — but in an incredibly fucked-up way: “He loves Tom like a forest fire; wild and all-consuming, he wants to devour Tom, to claim him, to mark him, break him.” Isn’t that absolutely breathtaking?

love is touching souls (surely you touched mine) by @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger (M, 34k, complete)

Setting: Time-Travel (1940s) Premise: If Harry gets thrown back into the mid-1940s and meets Tom Riddle as a young man just graduated from Hogwarts working at Borgin and Burkes. Why I rec it: When Harry accidentally travels back in time and chances upon Tom Riddle as a fresh graduate, he realizes this is his chance to make a difference. While Harry is only in the past for a brief interlude, he leaves enough of an impression to change the trajectory of Tom’s life. The dynamic between Harry and Tom is rife with tension and witty dialogue, and the story is set during Christmastime, which lends a very festive and heartwarming atmosphere for falling in love with each other.

No Glory by @obsidianpen (E, 254k, WIP)

Setting: Voldemort Wins AU  Premise: If Voldemort figures out Harry is his horcrux when Harry surrenders in the Forbidden Forest, and decides to keep Harry instead of killing him.  Why I rec it: This fic showcases the absolute, terrifying genius side of Voldemort, in a universe where he wins the war and captures Harry at the end of book 7. I am stunned at how skillfully @obsidianpen portrays Voldemort as a brilliant political strategist — the courtroom scene where he manipulates the story and the audience so well stands out as a top 10 fanfic moment in my mind. Harry and Voldemort’s relationship is chilling from the very start, and grows even more unhealthy as Voldemort gets addicted to Harry’s touch due to the presence of the horcrux, but Harry later learns to turn that to his advantage.

The Fire, Burning by @parsimmony (E, 35k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort discovers Harry is his horcrux after Book 6, and kidnaps him to keep him captive by his side in his bed, inside of a lovely greenhouse setting full of friendly snakes on the grounds of Malfoy Manor. Why I rec it: The prose!! I am swooning over the prose! Harry is Voldemort’s captive in this fic, but he is so much more than that — and the emotions that gradually blossom between them have so much richness and depth and are utterly moving that I’m still drowning in the depths of intimacy that were portrayed. Their relationship unfolds in such a gorgeous and unrushed way, and the setting is so unique too — a lush and overgrown greenhouse that’s exploding with exotic plants and friendly snakes around every corner that imbues the fic with a very romantic, dreamy quality.

the pleasure, the privilege by @being-luminous (M, 20k, complete)

Setting: Canon Divergence – Book 6 Premise: If Voldemort is doused with Amortentia keyed to Harry, and starts sending Harry bizarre and gruesome courting gifts, like the bodies of the Dursleys.  Why I rec it: Breathtaking prose! Voldemort somehow ends up more terrifying when he’s trying to woo Harry than when he’s trying to kill him. Every single sentence had me on the edge of my seat, as Voldemort’s ‘gifts’ become more elaborate and devastatingly dramatic, until Harry basically has no choice but to respond to his overtures. The ending is incredibly clever in how it parallels certain plot elements of book 6, with an added Harrymort twist. 

The Untouchable by @treacleteacups (M, 75k, complete)

Setting: Canon Rewrite (Books 1-7) Premise: If Harry starts out his first year a little bit more suspicious and a little less wide-eyed and guileless, and subsequently gets sorted into Slytherin. He has many of the same encounters with Voldemort along the way as he does in canon, but his interactions with Voldemort will end up leading him down quite a different path. Why I rec it: A snappy, fast-paced full canon rewrite that still manages to fit in all the essential Tomarrymort plot points, between Horcruxes and Hallows and the major events of books 1-7, in a compact 75k words that doesn’t at all feel rushed. It’s a delightful journey following Harry’s character evolution from an overlooked, peculiar child who relies on wishy-washy wish magic to a confident (and still endearingly peculiar) young man who can challenge and hold his own against the great Lord Voldemort. Voldemort’s obsession with Harry deepens with every encounter that they have, as he finds ways to continually insinuate himself in Harry’s life and his mind and his dreams.

*

[utilitycaster]

Regarding that ask about Essek: I find the dislike of Essek among CR3 die-hards very funny, because I do think that he had some of the most tangible complaints regarding religion vis-a-vis the theocracy of the Dynasty.

Not saying "Predathos should have eaten the Luxon" or "Ludinus was right actually", but more that there are some serious issues hinted at, I would even go so far as to say, systemic ones, tied to the Dynasty being first and foremost a theocracy, and that, while I'm firmly in the "Essek absolutely was wrong to do those things, he did those things first and foremost for his own selfish gains, and his journey throughout CR2 and supplemental appearances work SO well as a foil to Caleb's own thematic journey of coming to terms with the consequences of ones actions" camp, I do think he wasn't wrong to have seen issues with how the Dynasty works and to say "Hey, doesn't this seem just a little fucked up?"

And like...maybe part of the issue is that all of this is tied to Luxon worship and can't easily be retrofitted to also apply to "The Prime Deities are actually horrible tyrants that need to die for mortals to truely flourish" argument. And that this is, again, not actually a "God" Problem but more a "Mortals using religion to gain and maintain power over others" Problem...

Still funny, tho. Thoughts?

Hi anon,

This serves as both a response here and also kind of one in general to a lot of criticism of Campaign 3 and those who think it is good, particularly those who must use criticism of Campaign 3 to prop it up rather than find a defense on its own merits:

I think there is a case to be made that the Kryn Dynasty and Luxon worship is by far the strongest analogy to real-world religion and particularly Christianity: it is an explicitly proselytizing and expansionist theocracy with a head of state who is both a religious and political figurehead, worshiping an entity that does not specifically answer, ie, a degree of genuine faith is involved. There is a reason Essek, as someone who struggles with the dynasty, is catnip to many a lapsed Catholic.

However, you may have noticed that I've really pulled back on writing up new criticism of C3 other than in direct response, and even that has been terse, so here is the thing. You cannot argue with people who aren't smart enough to argue back and I am personally, as a person who loves arguing, making an effort to focus my energies elsewhere. I don't think the people who like Campaign 3 are even getting the point of analysis of Essek as a character within the context of his culture, or his character development over the course of Campaign 2, or as a narrative foil to Caleb, or getting to the point of rejecting him because he is, as the nonreligious person, also very much portrayed as a traitor. I think the truth of the matter is that most of them are too fucking stupid. They are motivated in their dislike of Essek by stupidity and spite and jealousy that he's more popular than their blorbos and shadowgast has more fics than their ship and Campaign 2 is more widely beloved. It's that simple. The mere fact that the talking points of "you cannot criticize improv", "you cannot criticize something the creators enjoyed making," and "the real problem is that people say Campaign 3 is bad instead of explicitly spelling out that it is only their opinion please don't be mad at me uwu" had significant buy-in and traction among c3 defenders probably should have, in retrospect, been more than enough for me to go "not worth it" like 3 weeks ago. The fact that at this point they're just making up lies and unsubstantiated hypotheticals is enough for me to say "not worth it."

So with that in mind I am very open to talking meta about Essek and C2 just like, on their own, and I'm not shutting down all conversation of/questions about Campaign 3 until post-wrap-up - indeed, I'm sure I'll have shit to say about the wrap-up, but at this point it really is like. Campaign 3 was not very good, a not-insignificant portion of its fans are stupid and unpleasant people who bite your ankles if you don't validate them in their unpleasant stupidity, and I think that my goal is to move on and focus on the many superior CR works, ie, pretty much all of them.

[fallenangelicss]

Voices In The Air

PAIRING | Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Jack Frost (Guardians of Childhood)

WORD COUNT | 1158

SUMMARY | After being picked up off the streets, thrown in a sack and tossed through a portal, Jack is a little worse for wear as he emerges in Santa's workshop. The soothing voice of an unknown spirit seems to catch his attention and make the situation a little bit better. Well, until his guard dragon attacks.

RATING | General Audiences

WARNING/TAG(S) | No Archive Warnings Apply

A/N | Soooo this is my first HTTYD and Rise of the Guardians fic so I hope you all like it. I'm planning on doing maybe two different series with this pairing, maybe a third one if I'm really feeling into it so lots to come from me I hope. I'll also probs write more one-shots like this in the future as I used to love this ship so much. Also, if you'd like to support me then you should consider downloading the Kinder World app with this link. My referral code is WV9K4X but if you need a new referral code then feel free to reach out!

EVENTS | @aug-kissed | Hand Kiss

“Can we hurry this up please?” Jack heard a voice murmur from the other side of the sack he had just been shoved in and thrown through who knows what. He did however know that whatever he crossed through had made him feel sick to the stomach. A note to self, if Bunny’s ever around, check your surroundings. Finding the opening of the bag once the nauseating feeling in his stomach settled down a bit, Jack began to claw his way out, hearing the same voice as before said as he did so, “Toothless and I need to get back to the Hidden World before-”

“You and your dragon will be able to leave soon. But for now, quiet,” A much deeper voice spoke up, cutting off the other midsentence which Jack thought was a real shame since he found the voice rather soothing. He wouldn’t mind if the deeper voice with a Russian accent was the one to quiet down and the voice from before started speaking, making this whole scenario a bit more bearable. Maybe he had a face to match the voice, Jack thought, some haste being pumped into getting out of the bad. “Hey, there he is. Jack Frost!”

“Wow… you’ve got to be kidding me,” Crawling out from the bag, Jack came face to face with Santa Claus, Sandy and some hummingbird creature. This is not what he had been hoping to come across after being kidnapped off the streets by the Easter Bunny. Come to think of it, where was that little rodent? Jack didn’t have much time to ponder as he was yanked from the ground by two Yeti’s and flung into the air. With a strangled breath, Jack quickly called, “Hey, hey, put me down.”

“I hope the Yeti’s treated you well,” Santa said with a large grin, partly covered by his white mustchase and beard. By simply placing his hands on his hips, Santa looked like a force to be reconned with and if Jack was anyone else, he might’ve just started shaking in his non-existent boots. But he was Jack Frost. The embodiment of snow, fun, and everything good in the world. Some ancient and overgrown Guardian wouldn’t change the fact that he had a reputation to uphold.

“Oh, yeah,” Jack began, picking up his stick and swinging it over his shoulder. Stepping forward, he physically relaxed his body as he began to look around Santa’s workshop, taking in every single detail from the inside, many of which he had missed when spying from out outside. The forced smile that had stretched across Jack’s face quickly dropped when his eyes landed back on Santa, “I love being shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal.”

“Oh, good. That was my idea,” Morphing his face into even more of a deadpan at Santa’s words, Jack couldn’t believe what was leaving the man's mouth. Was he dumb or did he intentionally ignore the sarcasm that was radiating off of him? Turning to the people next to him, Santa began to introduce them one by one, something Jack didn’t need nor ask for.  “You know Bunny, obviously. And the Toothfairy. And Sandman. Sandy? Sandy…? Wake up! And of course, you know-”

“I doubt he knows me, Santa,” There it was again, that voice. Jack’s head whipped around to where it had come from to find a boy just like himself perched on one of the many ledges that Santa’s workshop had to offer. His gear all seemed to be made out of leather or old metals that didn’t seem like anything from this century. That wasn’t the only thing Jack noticed about him either. Wrapped around his being was a large beast with black scales and piercing green eyes. “He might know what I represent though.”

“I definitely know something,” Jack said before his mind could catch up with what he was saying. A gust of wind burst into the room, smacking the windows open as it lifted Jack, allowing him to guide up to where the man sat. There was a small voice in the back of Jack’s mind telling him to be careful with that dragon present but like with most things, it went ignored in favour of something better. “Hey, I’m Jack. Jack Frost. And you must be?”

“What is he doing?” Bunny questioned, not even trying to keep his voice a whisper as he almost laughed at Jack’s attempts to talk to the unnamed man. He didn’t understand what was so funny, not when it was clearly a dig at him as he tried to talk to the unknown man. 

Looking past Jack, the man called out to Santa before getting up and getting ready to walk past, “See? No idea who I am.”

“Like I said,” Jack quickly got in front of the man, stopping him in his tracks. The dragon that Jack had been ignoring up until now let out a low growl, a warning that more was to come if Jack didn’t watch himself. One of the man’s brows raised at Jack’s hindrance, waving a hand back at the dragon to calm him down. “I know some things. Like how you’re one of the handsomest spirits I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

“Do you even know who you’re talking to mate?” Bunny called out, making Jack groan a little as he turned back to face the overgrown kangaroo. Shrugging a shoulder at him, Bunny took that as the go-ahead to keep talking. “That’s Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, former Chief of Berk and the Spirit of Dragons.”

“He’s hot,” Jack says not too sure of himself now that everyone was staring at him as if he had made a mistake. When he turned to look back at Hiccup, he saw a light blush spread across the man's cheeks, his eyes adverted so as to not look Jack directly in the face. Just the sight of the flustered man put a bit more confidence in Jack as he reached a hand forward, taking ahold of Hiccup’s and lifting it. He continued to ignore the growing growl from the dragon behind Hiccup as he brought his hand up to his lips, placing a soft kiss there. “Like I said, I’m Jack. It’s nice to meet you Chief of Berk, Spirt of Dragons.”

Jack didn’t even get to see Hiccup react as he was being pounced on, a mass of black obstructing his vision as he was shoved to the floor with a massive weight on top of him. The air was immediately knocked out of him as he lay there for a second, staring up to meet some blasting green eyes staring down at him with fury. Almost as if he was charging up, Jack could see something purple glowing from his throat. “Toothless, no!”

“Definitely not Toothless,” Jack screeched as he was picked up by some wind and swept away.

“Now you’ve done it, mate.”

[blackbloodteeth]

hope you won't take it the wrong way, but I'm curious as you are a Soul fan - do you feel that Crona, either in the manga or anime, should have adressed Soul more, apologised for the whole church slashing and infecting him with black blood?

I'm myself open to that, but it seems some Soul fans are really bitter about that plotpoint so I wondered what the oppinion on the other side is, because often it is hard to have a dialog, with some people saying they only want to vent so any questions like that seem like trolling or bad faith.

While I understand where others are coming from, I find totally disengaging a character to be a bit of an odd phenomenon. Crona's an interesting case to me, and there's actually been some recent conversations that've gotten me thinking about their parallels again.

The question is a hard one to answer, though – Soul's already avoidant on talking about tough stuff like this, and I don't reckon Crona would even know where to start, let alone how to approach his personal space on their own in most cases, haha. In regards to canon, there simply wasn't enough time to really let either of them warm up to each other enough for them to eventually begin wanting to deal with the elephant in the Black Room (which I think would take a good few years at least for that to happen on its own), so it's difficult to say whether or not things should've played out differently in either version.

That being said, Soul in the anime already has a scene where he doesn't necessarily hold it against Crona, and the manga kinda gives the sense that it's not really on his mind much. I personally believe Crona is not guiltless (which you can actually see in their second fight, almost) for hurting him, so if having been given the time, I do think Crona would've at least tried to acknowledge that in some way. Maka is very much the connective tissue for Soul even trusting Crona as a person to begin with (and Medusa is very easy to hate), but it would be a little dismissive to say he wouldn't recognize that Crona (and Ragnarok) weren't necessarily dealt the best hand, regardless of any potential frustrations he harbors.

Now if you want some of my own personal takes (we're doing that a lot lately, it seems, haha), I'm something of a fan of Crona helping Soul deal with being more "comfortable" with the Black Blood (which was something I actually touched upon in my SoCroMa fic for Ship Week), but that obviously doesn't apply to all realities, haha. As one can infer, I also like to dip into the perspective of Crona's guilt towards hurting him, and while I haven't written about Crona a ton of times, exploring their autonomy as an estranged individual is... well, I've lost my train of thought, but you get the idea that it's something worth thinking about, haha.

Now if you really want my personal takes, I think more people should be including Ragnarok whenever they deal with any canon-adjacent Crona, hahaha. Fitting we're not too far away from it having been almost a year ago since I first started getting Soul variant asks with that Soul-Ragnarok Swap AU, hahahah

[decks-writing-blog]

Campfire Fest Day One: Sap Wine

For @outerwilds-events Campfire Fest event!

[A/N] Content warning for this first day: non-graphic use of alcohol as a coping mechanism. Non-graphic in that it's not being directly shown but it is the main topic of the piece.

~

Too focused on getting ready to go to space, Auri had never had much interest in sap wine. They didn’t even like the stuff, though they had had enough to get tipsy a few times. General consensus was that drinking was a good way to not remember an evening though. Doing that on purpose was a bad thing, a sign of addiction. Sometimes people supposedly did it on accident though and that wasn’t always viewed as an issue, just someone getting a little bit carried away and/or not being fully aware of their limits yet. But well, if Auri did it it wouldn’t be accidental so the nuance and leniency there wouldn’t apply. They weren’t addicted though so it shouldn’t be an issue for them, right?

Getting some from Porphy had been easy. They were going to visit all the other travelers they’d said so could they have some sap wine bottles to give as gifts to celebrate their first space adventure? Add in the two crates stolen from Porphy’s storage shack and they had a whole bunch of it. Surely enough to black out the whole rest of the loop… maybe. Three days – less than that by now – was a lot longer then the promised evening.

No long term health effects would be suffered if they did do it though. They wouldn’t get addicted because their body would reset. Nothing would happen other than them blacking out most of one single loop. … Though if they did it once that would open the door to doing it again. Probably next time they’d spend less time standing in the middle of their ship as it floated through space, staring at their ill gotten sap wine stash while they second guessed themself. Each one of those would be undone too though. There would be no lasting health effects, just the occasional loop here and there forgotten under the haze of alcohol.

Gabbro was always telling them they needed to take more breaks. That would certainly count as a break, right? … Speaking of Gabbro though, one person drinking alone was sad but two people drinking together was supposed to be a good time, right? Nothing wrong with two pals drinking and having fun until they forgot everything for a little while. And no lasting health effects for either of them. Yeah, doing it with someone else would make it okay.

Decision made, they turned to climb back into the pilot’s seat. After they buckled in, they pulled up the real time map on the console. Ah, perfect; the drift they’d settled into after fleeing Timber Hearth before anyone noticed their theft had them heading vaguely towards Giant’s Deep already.

~

“Gabbro,” they called as they strode into the camp, lifting a hand in a wave.

“Hey, time buddy,” Gabbro said, lowering the flute as Auri neared. “You seem excited. Find something cool?”

“Not this time. I have a fun idea though. You wanna hop in my ship, blast of into the void outside our solar system, and then get black out drunk as we drift away from all this nonsense?”

Gabbro was silent for a long few seconds. “You seem to have an interesting idea of ‘fun’.” There wasn’t judgment in their tone but… their words seemed to carry it.

“Drinking’s supposed to be fun, right? No one in their right mind would drink that stuff if it wasn’t. And you’re always telling me I need to relax more, this is that.” Maybe Auri shouldn’t have brought this idea to Gabbro after all. Saying it out loud made it sound almost bad again. Only almost though because any damage done to their body would be undone like it always was. “You don’t have to come, I just thought it would be more fun to have two people along.”

“So you’re doing it whether I come or not?”

“Yeah.” Auri had decided on the way here that if it wasn’t bad with two people doing it, one person alone wouldn’t be that much worse. It was a perfectly fine thing to do because there would be no consequences. They could afford to basically skip a loop here and there. No one could blame them for that.

“Hmm… I suppose it’s not an unappealing idea. There’d be no nasty hang over to worry about assuming you have enough to keep us shitfaced the whole rest of the loop.”

“I stole two whole crates of sap wine and have a few more big bottles on top of that that I was supposed to give to all the travelers so one of them is supposed to be yours anyway.”

Gabbro was silent for another few seconds before rolling off the hammock to their feet in a fluid motion. “I’ll go but…” here they stopped and lightly tapped the end of their flute against the top of Auri’s helmet, “I need to make clear that I think this isn’t a healthy way to deal with stuff.”

“Nah, all the negative health effects will be undone. So it’s fine.”

“I mean it’s not healthy mentally. So let’s try not to make this habit, huh?”

“Then why’d you agree to come?”

Gabbro started leading the way back towards the ship, their pace leisurely. “Because I understand the appeal of the idea, you doing it by yourself would probably be worse for you, and I’m curious what the memory playback will look like if we do get black out drunk. Also, it’s been a while since I last got high or anything of the sort, not exactly many opportunities on Giant’s Deep, you know?”

They ‘understood the appeal of the idea’. Did that mean they understood it from Auri’s perspective or on a personal level? They were having a hard time too? … Of course they were. Auri had already determined that and had had to put much effort into breaking them out of the habit of lying in the hammock all loop, every loop. Being more willing to get up and go places didn’t mean they were perfectly fine again. It was a time loop that ended with the sun exploding and the end of the universe for fuck’s sake. That wouldn’t be an easy thing to bear for anyone no matter how stoic and cool. Auri really should specifically ask them how they were doing more often. Later though. This loop the two of them were going to spend the rest of their lives blasting off into the void and drinking themselves stupid. Sure, it wasn’t a good coping mechanism so they shouldn’t make a habit of it, but it was going to be fun to do just once… hopefully once they got past how awful the stuff tasted.

[windvexer]

hello chicken!! i'd love to get your input please, on an upcoming witchy project that i'm working on. last week i was back up north in my old village + surrounding areas, which was an extremely surreal experience but really drove home that i'm way more magically connected to that land than i realised. i hadn't been back on limestone for nearly 10 years and it was so soothing to feel that energy again. i just felt so much better. so, a friend of mine has given me a swaledale sheep skull from that same trip, and i've been cleaning her up for the last couple days. i'd really like to make her into a spirit vessel for a land wight of the limestone and the underground rivers and the wind in the trees ..... but i don't know if that is too much to be asking for. i'm aware that i can invite spirits according to certain specifications, ie, "does not wish me or my loved ones harm, is willing and able to help me learn xyz thing" and so on. but without the ability to travel back up there for materials like earth and water that might make the request a little easier, i need to get creative, but i'm at a little bit of a loss. i've never done a big spiritworking like this before, especially from so far away. (on the same landmass but in like 150miles away rip) and obviously spirits can travel, but i'm really not sure how to, in a controlled way, light that beacon for a narrow band of spirits, without fucking it up.

because i've really cleaned the bejesus out of this skull, i'd also like to put a bit more life into it and prepare it for spirit-vesselry. was thinking of some kind of enchanted oil or a balm on the forehead, and the shelf that it's going on will have a little cloth beneath it. i'd also like to adorn the skull with flowers and jewelry and things if that works for all involved. i would also give regular offerings of food, water and fire like i would to any other inhabited thing in my practice. i guess i'd like to know, does anything come to mind that might be helpful? perhaps also ideas for what kind of oil to use, and how to go about applying it in a ceremonial way? for some reason, im leaning towards infusing with yarrow, but i really need to do more research first. it wouldn't do to accidentally create poisonous fumes in my kitchen.

thanks for reading, i know this got kinda long! hope you're having a lovely day, all the best :>

Sounds like a fun project. Wish I had me a sheep skull. So my focus is a huge issue for me lately and I hope I'm summarizing correctly:

You have a sheep skull that you want to use for land wights in that area, but you are no longer in that area, and you're not sure how to connect the vessel.

but without the ability to travel back up there for materials like earth and water that might make the request a little easier, i need to get creative

Yes but you have the sheep skull, which based on your post I'm assuming the sheep was raised on that land. So it's not as if you have nothing; you have a lot. Skulls are magically potent as spirit vessels already.

Having things like earth and water and so forth would be ideal. Is it feasible to have your friend ship you small samples of these things?

But regardless, I mean you have the skull. So that's already a pretty big deal. If the sheep lived and died on that land that's an excellent taglock.

i'm aware that i can invite spirits according to certain specifications, ie, "does not wish me or my loved ones harm, is willing and able to help me learn xyz thing" and so on. [...] and obviously spirits can travel, but i'm really not sure how to, in a controlled way, light that beacon for a narrow band of spirits, without fucking it up.

The 'fucking it up' in this circumstance would be IMO either A) making a keyhole so narrow that no spirits could fit through it, which is remedied by widening your approach, or B) incorrectly calling the spirits so that they never hear your call and wouldn't arrive anyway.

These problems are not fuck ups so much as they are early steps in the trial and error required for all experimental magic. It's not like you get one shot. There is no failure condition, so it's not a fuckup so much as it is experimentation.

I recommend starting narrow, seeing what happens, and then broadening your approach. I've had great success writing evocations poetically. Try to call the spirits based on how you felt when you were in their presence. The 'certain specifications' you list are IMO for people blindly calling spirits and hoping to filter them out. You are not blindly calling spirits; you know who and what you seek to connect with.

Candles make excellent beacons. Compasses make excellent roads. You can engage in Travel to try and find spirit roads that lead to that place, which spirits can traverse back and forth.

Anticipate that many rituals may be necessary to fully connect with the spirits you desire to connect with. Eschew the idea that you get one chance which is possible to fuck up. Embrace the idea that you are building the steps to a pyramid - the height will never be reached without many steps before it.

because i've really cleaned the bejesus out of this skull, i'd also like to put a bit more life into it and prepare it for spirit-vesselry.

Reddening the bone. Red ochre is popularly used, but also very much your own blood. Red is the key ingredient - red wine, beet juice, or any natural dyes may be of service. But blood, especially. Typically the entire skull would be reddened but I don't know if this is strictly necessary.

i guess i'd like to know, does anything come to mind that might be helpful?

See if the sheep's spirit is still around that is willing to work with you as a helper. It may be an invaluable ally in helping ferry spirits back and forth across the land, and also to help you control the project once it's reached its fruition.

[queenbeyondthewall]

Oh who am I kidding I think a lot about a lot of things because I am a massive nerd. HOWEVER two things I definitely think too much about are asoiaf and my favourite songwriter Andrew Hozier-Byrne, so what better subject for my inaugural post? The album Hozier, with all its themes of identity, toxic relationships, disillusionment, love, sex, and substance abuse, was unintentionally written for the Lannister siblings. Here's why.

Ladies first, so let me begin with our disastrous girl Cersei and the absolute banger that is Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene. This one starts off strong:

I watch the work of my kin, bold and boyful

Cersei’s one half of the famous incest ship from the famous incest series, of course, so we’re talking of her kin. Bold and boyful sounds to me how Cersei would describe Jaime in his youth - the picture of Westerosi masculinity and everything she could never be on account of her sex.

Toying somewhere between love and abuse

How better to describe Jaime and Cersei’s dynamic? Twisted, toxic, narcissistic, and yet the two definitely see their feelings for each other as love.

Freshly disowned in some frozen devotion

To me, this lyric can be generally applied to all three of the Lannister siblings and their relationship with their father. Tywin has disowned them all in some manner - Cersei for being a woman, Tyrion for being a dwarf, and Jaime for his refusal to forsake his position as a Kingsguard. Cersei, however, is the only one of the three who has not been completely disillusioned of her devotion to the man - a primary motivation throughout feast is an aspiration to live up to him and prove herself as his heir. 

With her sweetened breath, and her tongue so mean She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene With her straw-blonde hair, her arms hard and lean She's the angel of small death and the codeine scene

The whole of the chorus couldn’t be more Cersei - Jaime’s continually calling her his “sweet sister,” she has a famously mean mind and sharp tongue, and of course that characteristically Lannister blonde hair and beauty. “Small death and the codeine scene” is Hozier-speak for sex and substance abuse, which are both things that Cersei defines herself and her relationships by. I can’t help but think of the Sansa POV Blackwater chapters, where Cersei is getting drunk and “teaching” her a horrifying lesson about the power of female sexuality.

All fetor and fertile, it’s bloody and raw but I swear it is sweet

Fetor like the rot that Cersei inherits from Tywin’s legacy and that permeates his corpse at the funeral, and fertile like the one value she has as a queen in Westeros. Her blazing rise to power after Tywin’s death is built on cruelty and avarice - it’s also what Cersei craves beyond anything else.

I’ll wander the concrete  Wonder if better now, having survived

Coming down from her blaze of glory, of course, is the horror of her walk of shame. Cersei intended to get through it on pride alone, but where we left her POV in feast was with her horrible realisation of the intense vulnerability of her exposure to the public. She survived it, however, and with the hints in the Kevan epilogue of her scheming at full force once again… damn it George we need to see winds!