#just... the whole thing is not happening in a bubble and involves multiple people and both the neolibs and cons

[awkward-teabag]

Can't even mention that a store near me is clearly using abusing the TFW program because they refuse to pay little more than minimum wage in a high cost of living area (also you won't get benefits and you'll only be part-time) because the fascists and right-wingers will jump in to say it's about immigration and white replacement.

No, it's because rich white people want to hoard even more money and found an intentional loophole to both make more money (via paying employees less) and also have more power over employees, employees who may or may not know Canadian employment laws (or safety laws) and even if they do, don't have the ability or support to try to hold the company accountable.

You can absolutely criticize the federal government for keeping the loophole open but it predates Trudeau by decades and it was Harper who both expanded the program and added a way for companies to fast-track TFWs. It was also under Harper that companies started firing Canadians (or not hiring them) and then requesting permission to mass-hire TFWs instead.

But the way the right wing talks, you would think Trudeau started this whole thing and the poor multi-million and multi-billion dollar companies are being taken advantage of. Also that housing prices, lack of new developments, and zoning issues started with Trudeau and are the fault of mass-immigration he has a boner for instead of being an issue for decades and experts warning this would happen if governments didn't act ASAP.

Instead the neolibs and cons kept cutting back and kicking that can down the road, a can that started being kicked by Mulroney and the Conservative Party.

[nburkhardt]

Somebody Loves You, You Got a Friend (part 5)

Other parts: one, two, three, four.

I know I said in the last part we’re meeting the CC boys, but I forgot about this. So we get a bit of what’s happening outside of Steddie’s bubble! (We’re fast forwarding a bit, Steve’s like five-six months along. Also if anything doesn’t seem accurate to real life, pls ignore that oh and the show timeline…don’t look too closely pls 🫡)

Being in a small town is still sometimes stupid, Steve will always say this. Because of how fucking true it is.

It wasn’t too long ago when all the town could talk about was “poor Joyce Byers, her youngest is dead” and then found alive it switched immediately to “poor Barbra Holland, just so young” and now? Now it’s his family.

Thankfully the rumors and gossip is about his father leaving suddenly and not about him being pregnant at sixteen.

Currently he’s hiding his tiny baby bump, because according to the doctors, he’s thirteen weeks along and the other day he noticed his stomach rounding out. So, he’s taken up to wearing a bit bigger shirts and sweaters. Since the doctors and his mom told him scent blockers can be harmful, he’s had to stop taking them.

Instead, he helps mask his scent with Eddie’s scent.

“How you feeling today?” Eddie whispers to him, as he subtly scents him.

He shrugs and notices Nancy and Jonathan staring at him, turning away, “the nausea is better today, I think. Right now I’m really wanting a cheese pizza oh, and a chocolate brownie”

Eddie laughs and pushes him just enough to start walking, “good thing it’s lunch, then?”

They make their way out of the school, Steve hearing multiple people whispering about them but ignoring it. It’s not new that he’s friends with Eddie, plus he isn’t really ‘King Steve’ anymore either. If anything, being popular was a huge disappointment.

As they reach his car, they hear someone shouting Steve’s name. Confused, and not finding anyone immediately, Steve’s a little surprised to see that Nancy and Jonathan followed them.

“Um, what’s up?”

Nancy looks between him and Eddie then narrows her eyes, like she’s trying to figure something out. “We wanted to talk to you about something”

Confused even more, he looks between the other couple before glancing at Eddie, who’s just as confused. “Ok? Can’t you say it in front of Eddie?”

Jonathan shook his head, “uh, we can’t- probably shouldn’t. It’s- it’s about my brother”

That’s when it clicks, it’s about the stupid Upside Down.

Again.

Shaking his head, he hopes they can’t tell his scent is spiking with anxiety. Eddie immediately picks up on it though, “Stevie, we should leave before our lunch break is over, yeah?”

Thank god for Eddie.

“He’s right and I really want some pizza, maybe another time?” He’s lying, there’s not going to be a next time for as long as he can ignore them. He can’t be involved with them anymore, especially with the tiny life growing inside of him. “Come on, Eds”

Eddie gives the other two a blinding manic smile before climbing inside the car and Steve just smiles and then they’re gone.

They drive to the closest diner that serves pizza and brownies.

They’re in the furthest corner of the whole place and hidden behind a wall, giving them the privacy they’ve been wanting. Steve’s not at all hiding the fact that he’s scenting Eddie and Eddie has a hand on his stomach underneath the sweatshirt.

“You know, I was told you can’t feel anything yet. There’s like a few more weeks, then apparently you’ll be able to feel them moving and kicking” he whispers against Eddie’s neck, “have I told you I love your scent?”

The alpha chuckled, “yeah? Your scent is better, it’s even sweeter now”

Shaking his head, he sits up and looks at Eddie, “it changed?”

Before Eddie can answer, the pizza is there. Along with two brownies, which Steve immediately grabs a slice. “Uh yep, I never realized how good this was” he nearly moans at the pizza, then he eyes the brownie and grabs a piece.

“You aren’t-“

Nodding, he puts part of the brownie on top of his pizza and takes a bite. An overly satisfied smile on his face, causing Eddie to laugh and shake his head. They eat mostly in silence, especially since the omega is happily eating the pizza with the brownie on top.

It’s only once they’re back in Steve’s car heading back, when he remembers. “Hey, you said my scent changed. What does it smell like now?”

Eddie lets out a hum, leaning over and taking in his scent before answering, “there’s a hint of I think cinnamon? It’s really faint, I only notice it when we’re scenting each other”

“I’ll ask my mom about it, this is still all outta my knowledge. I knew some of it but there’s things I didn’t know. Like, your scent is overly calming to me? It’s weird, I mean, before even back when you shoved me in my car at that party, I really liked it but it didn’t calm me down.” He explained as he parked but didn’t move to get out, instead turned to face Eddie, “I already knew the basics for pregnancy and all that. But apparently the baby will be able to hear both of us? It’s so weird. This is weird”

Eddie laughed, reaching over to grab his hand, “it’s metal as fuck, pretty boy. You’re growing a human, like right now. I know it’s not what we wanted but, I’ll be honest, I’m so damn lucky it’s you.”

Almost immediately, his eyes start to sting as tears well up, rubbing at his eyes, he laughs before shaking his head. “Please don’t make me cry, you sappy alpha.”

Eddie grins, “Your sappy alpha, princess.”

A Week Later

The Harrington house is quiet and all three people are currently asleep. It’s only eight in the morning on a Sunday anyway.

Steve has his face shoved by Eddie’s neck, arms wrapped around the alpha and their legs tangled together, peacefully sleeping. Eddie’s just as peaceful, with one arm holding Steve close and the other is thrown over his eyes.

Steve’s mom, Janet, is waking up only because of their annoying doorbell going off. She huffs, pulling on a robe and stopping by Steve’s room to see the boys still asleep.

The bell rings again and she sighs, pulling their door shut before making her way to the front door to be met with Nancy Wheeler.

“Hello, can I help you?” She never formally met Steve’s ex-girlfriend. She was too busy helping her ex-husband.

The teen is shocked to see her, clearly and she doesn’t know how to school her emotions yet, because the girl looks disappointed that she answered the door, “uh- yes, i’m here to talk to Steve?”

Frowning, “I’m sorry but Steve is asleep right now, is this important?”

She can tell Nancy’s an alpha that hasn’t figured out a way to control her emotions, because the girl is still disappointed and it seems frustrated, “I just need to talk to Steve, you’re his mom, right?”

“I am, and I won’t be waking him up just for a chat. You can come back later or wait until school tomorrow” she’s just as frustrated, if not more. This is the girl that called her son ���bullshit’ and she doesn’t ever want to see that sadness and that self-doubt in Steve again.

She watches as Nancy clench’s her jaw before trying and failing to school her face and straighten up, “I’m sorry ma’am, but this is important enough to wake him up. It- it’s about Will Byers and-“

Janet shakes her head and gives a sharp smile, “My son isn’t the police or involved with what happened to Will Byers and I won’t be waking him up just to see his ex-girlfriend.” And promptly shuts the door before Nancy can say anything else.

If she listens closely, she can hear Nancy let out a frustrated huff and walking away.

Shaking her head she doesn’t bother going back to sleep, goes into the kitchen to start on breakfast since the night before Steve mentioned craving pancakes.

The smell of bacon and pancakes is what helps wake Steve up, the other thing is the light kiss on his forehead.

Blinking away the sleep from his eyes, his lips curl into a smile at Eddie, the alpha is smiling at him and he can suddenly feel a hand rubbing at his waist and stomach, “good morning, Stevie”

“Morning Eds” he sighs and leans into him for a few seconds and then he’s bolting out of the bed and into the bathroom, throwing up last night’s dinner. Groaning he feels a hand start to rub up and down his back, “Eddie, I swear I’m never going through this again”

The alpha laughs then helps him up. After brushing teeth and putting on decent clothes, they find his mom humming softly to the radio and busy flipping pancakes. Despite the fact that he was just nauseous and didn’t want food, he wants nothing more than the food his mom is making.

“Oh! Good morning boys” she smiles and turns the burner off before pulling him into a hug with a kiss to his forehead, “how are you feeling, sweetie?”

Shrugging, “just weird, I guess?”

“Yeah, that won’t be changing much” she smiles, “come on, I have enough pancakes and bacon. Would either of you like eggs?”

As they’re eating and having small talk, it isn’t until Steve’s finished his food that his mom looks at him with a pinched look, “mom?”

She sighs and looks at him, “Sweetie, before you woke up someone came over looking for you. She was pretty determined to talk, but I told her no. I just wanted to let you know incase she shows up again”

Confused, he sees Eddie equally confused and before he can open his mouth to ask who, his mom says it, “it was your ex, Nancy, I don’t know what was so important. She said it was about Joyce’s son, but you aren’t involved with them.”

For a quick moment he panics at the thought of Nancy pulling him back in, but he’s been better at standing up for himself other than just relying on others.

He doesn’t bother waiting, he’s determined to stay out of their mess. He has more important things in life.

Eddie’s waiting in the car while he’s standing on the Wheeler’s porch. He takes a quick moment to control his breathing and then knocks on the door.

It’s thrown open by Mike, who immediately glared at him, “what are you doing here?”

Rolling his eyes, “your sister wanted to talk to me and so I’m here”

Mike rolls his own eyes before turning and yelling for Nancy, then he just stands there waiting and honestly just glares at him. It doesn’t bother him, it makes sense. Then before he knows it, Mike’s being pulled away and there’s Nancy.

“You can’t keep avoiding this, Steve. You’re in this now” is the first thing out of her mouth, “are you going to help? The kids almost got hurt without any help and I thought-“

“I went over to that house just to apologize to Jonathan, Nancy. Not to throw my life away fighting monsters, did you forget we’re also kids? I’m sixteen. You’re sixteen!” He’s never been ashamed to fight dirty, “I thought that the supergirl closed that stupid gate, anyway?”

He watches as Nancy’s frustration grows, and he suddenly realizes how much they wouldn’t work at all. Ever.

“It doesn’t matter! We need help and you’re in!”

Shaking his head, he decides it’s not worth fighting and just says, “it does matter and I’m out. I’m not your boyfriend, I’m not even your friend. Leave me alone and I’ll stay out of your way”

And he simply walks away.

—

That’s it for now! I’m sorry for making Nancy into this pushy person but I mean…she kinda is that way in canon? She’s an older sister with younger siblings so of course she doesn’t see that she’s still only a kid too. She’s pretty much like this throughout the whole fic btw 🫣

NEXT TIME for sure the CC boys make an appearance 😌 (just a heads up, the unnamed member is named Grant in this) 

 Taglist: @spectrum-spectre @itsfreakingbats @mysticcrownshipper @artiststarme @thereindeerlady @justforthedead89 @ronniescontinuum @freyaforestafay @littlewildflowerkitten @zerokrox-blog @callme-keys @maya-custodios-dionach @rajumat @yellowdevilkitten @munsonfamilyband @steddierthings @tartarusfairy @mx-jinxous @zombiethingy @lunaticmarunatic @izzy2210 @carlyv @thelittleclare @estrellami-1 @sierra-violet @grtwdsmwhr @epiclazershark @bookworm0690 @forest-fogg (if you would like to be added to this or the permanent tag list, let me know!!)

[jeannereames]

Dr. Reames, do you think Alexandros really had megalomania?

Alexander and Megalomania

So many, many problems bubble up the minute one asks, “Was Alexander a megalomaniac?”

First, what does one mean by “megalomania”?

You might think that should be obvious. It’s not. It is, however, a good example of non-clinicians (historians or others) dabbling in pop-psychology, which I wish to hell they wouldn’t for reasons I outline in the first four pages of my article “The Mourning of Alexander” from Syllecta Classica back in 2000. The same thing leads people to decide Alexander “went crazy with grief” when Hephaistion died (he didn’t), or that he suffered from an Oedipus Complex (he didn’t), or even that he was a narcissist (he wasn’t).

Second, megalomania is not, itself, a diagnosis. It tends to be understood as narcissism, typically with manic elements, and/or part of a paranoid diagnosis.

Specific diagnostic criteria exist for narcissism (See below). But these criteria (unsurprisingly) are written for the modern world. That’s the second big problem.

His world and ours are quite different.

Additionally, the criteria are typically written for Joe Blow Average Person, and standard tests such as the MMPI* are notoriously problematic. As an older teacher of mine once pointed out, one of the MMPI questions then to indicate narcissism, “Do you think everyone is looking at you when you enter a room?” For most of us, the sensible answer is, “No.” But if you’re, say, Taylor Swift, the logical answer is, “Probably.”

If you’re Alexandros Philippou Makedonon, the answer is a definite, “Yes.”

Of course that’s just one question and one question does not produce a diagnosis, but you begin to see the problem.

Alexander was the KING around whom an entire court and army revolved. One of the modern short-hand descriptions of a narcissist (like, say, Trump) is that he acts as if he thinks he’s a king.

If you are the king, can that even apply?

Third, Alexander lived in a society that genuinely believed the gods got involved, at least occasionally, in the lives of mortals, even sometimes had children with mortals. Sure, a number of the intelligentsia elite questioned those notions, even made fun of them. And yes, Alexander was a student of Aristotle.

But he was also a child of a fairly Traditional, conservative, and religious culture. Macedonians believed their kings were descended from Herakles. They also believed their kings had a sacred duty to mediate between the gods and their subjects, on behalf of those subjects, via daily sacrifice as well as conducting multiple ceremonies and festivals throughout the year, as king.

Alexander took that responsibility so seriously, he continued to make sacrifices—after he could do little else—until he literally couldn’t get out of bed or be cognizant enough to perform them.

He believed he was special because his people believed he was special, as a Temenid/Argead, and he heard that from the time he could toddle.

Nor was modesty or humility a virtue in ancient Greece or Macedonia. That’s a pretty post-Christian notion. Hubris was a real fear, for which reason boasting needed to be moderated—and Alexander was critiqued for being too boastful even in antiquity—but we must take care with how we believe they “ought” to think or act. Furthermore, critique of Alexander’s hubris comes largely from later writers under Rome, who had somewhat different notions of proper behavior. For them, especially the Stoics, one topos about Alexander was the mad tyrant, who was a slave to his passions, so they exaggerated what he did do, and made up other stuff whole cloth.

Fourth, we can’t trust some of our evidence, especially when it comes to anecdotal stories, which a lot of folks try to utilize in order to make various diagnoses. Are these stories things he actually did, things people claimed he did, or just things somebody thought he ought to have done or said? If you don’t believe that could happen, I invite you to run a quick Google search on “Alexander the Great + quotes.” The whole lion/sheep quote found EVERYdamnwhere? He never said it. Not in any ancient source. But it’s become so embedded that I had a fight with the scriptwriters for the documentary on which I was historical consultant because they tried to use it. I think it still wound up in the final because they cared more that he “ought” to have said it than that he did. (poetic license)

You see the problem there, right? What you think he “ought” to have said may not be at all what he said, or even what somebody else thinks he ought to have said.

There was no little disagreement, even in antiquity, about what Alexander was really like.

For that very reason, we must be wary of the moralizing, editorializing, and thematic goals of the ancient historians writing about him. By Roman imperial times, Alexander had become an object lesson as much as a real historical figure. Where IS the “real” Alexander behind all of that?

So, with all these caveats, what does the DSM V list as diagnostic criteria? And keep in mind, one must have over half (e.g., 5+ of the 9). I’m going to strike through and put in green those criteria I don’t think can be supported. I’ll put in blue criteria that seem to be true, but can be explained by both his status and cultural expectations. I’ll put in red things that seem to be true. And I’ll put in purple things we have no way of actually knowing. After each, I give a short explanation.

Also, let me say that I’m considering Alexander post-Gaugamela only, after his phenomenal successes.

A grandiose sense of self-importance: e.g., exaggerates achievements, expects to be recognized as superior without actually completing the achievements (Dude totally did most everything he claimed to have done, then went looking to top that.)

Preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love (I’m really of mixed mind here, as, again, his position in society and the success of his father almost required him to attempt amazing stuff. Because, of course. But compared to other Macedonian kings, he did seem to have a big Romantic bone.)

Believing that they are "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people or institutions (He’s a king—of course he hung out with other courtiers, and as time went on, demands on his time increased to the point that access to the king had to be limited; he still interacted, at least sometimes, with the average soldier.)

Requiring excessive admiration (Does seem to have been true, especially when drunk)

A sense of entitlement: unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with their expectations (Again, he’s a king and a military general; of course he expects people to take his orders)

Being interpersonally exploitative; taking advantage of others to achieve their own ends (While in many ways he doesn’t fulfill this, I’m still tagging it because he did exploit his army to achieve fame for himself, and got angry when they called him on it at various points. So that’s not just a modern reading of him.)

Lacking empathy unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others (He seemed to show unusual sympathy for others even when he didn’t have to, although their relative status mattered.)

Often being envious of others or believing that others are envious of them (Expressing envy/competition as a form of admiration was a cultural “thing” in ancient Greece, so it’s half purple, half blue. It’s hard to say if he were any worse than one would expect given his successes.)

Showing arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes (If Plutarch can be believed, he adjusted his expectations for his audience and what they needed a king to be…except when he was drunk, then he got arrogant.)

So, we’re left with three probably/possibly accurate criteria. Another three that can be explained just by who he was, and what he could expect from others because of who he was. At least one we can't really know, and two more that don't apply.

One of the “don't apply”—a lack of empathy—is important to a diagnosis of narcissism, btw. If he has a few, but not that one…I’m gonna go with “not a narcissist.” Especially when the three he does display can be explained otherwise.

It’s much easier to understand Alexander as a product of ancient Greco-Macedonian culture and religion, as well as a victim of his own unbelievable success.

We need to STOP trying to hang modern psychological terms on him. Or at least, not until somebody invents a time-machine and can whisk him from the past, plop him on a clinician’s couch, and ask him a bunch of diagnostic questions—properly moderated for who he was and what he accomplished.

—————

*MMPI = Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Indicator, one of several standardized tools employed to help diagnose clients/patients. Issues with it have been raised many times, ranging from socio-economic, to cultural/racial/sexist, to its uselessness with certain select populations, and the limited pool of the original sample group. In short, it has limited usage and should never replace analysis by trained clinicians. It might could serve as a starting place.

[ncishi]

LONGLEGS MOVIE ANALYSIS

ITS GONNA BE shitty and contain SPOILERRRRRSSSSS so caution ahead. I will be jumping from topic to topic because I just want to get all of thsi out. Also I will be mixing multiple theories ranging from reality questioning, supernatural explanations and just trying to stay within the rules set by the movie so sorry if it's noncoherent cuz ik it is

Topics I'll be covering: death, suicide, murder, the fucken plot, cinematography, religion (mainly Christianity and satanism but i never know what ill get in my head so not only, probably), sexual assault briefly mentioned, abuse/domestic violence, probably more so caution once again

I REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoyed the movie, the tension was built beautifully and the contrast between the looming threat of a human murderer and literal Satan was great. The appearance of the shadows and flashes literally gave me so much stress but I really appreciated it that they didn't add an actual physical Satan. Just the threat and the idea that what's happening is real because I think it is a question of what's not real and what is.

Longlegs' character was so unsettling but also barely believable and that made me adore the character so much I hate him. He does his act of Satan's messenger beautifully and the fact that he's white just feels like an insult to angels. He's something so grotesque and angelic but works for Satan right? He's pale, his hair is dead and white, he's clothed in rags and pale colors. He gives off the impression of a literal disfigured angel.

The fact the audience isn't given any explicit information about the satanism or rituals or practices is both appreciated and as a absolute nerd for stuff like that a crime. The fact none is shown lets the people off the hook for showing "wrong" or wrongly influenced material AND stops people from trying to replicate things in real life. But considering the roots are clearly in Christianity and Satanism as a theistic religion there's a lot of stuff that could've been utilized. Though i adore that the script was connected to the bible instead of just random scribbles.

Lee Harker's character was beautifully written. The confusion of knowing things you shouldn't but not having the answers connects to a point I made earlier with not knowing if things are really real. Things are presented to the viewers as they are to Lee but things that happen shouldn't work out by all logic. I believe ever since the deal for Lee's life was made she became a part of the plan. It was never meant to be Ruby who died in the Family. It was meant to be the parents due to Carter's involvement in the case, the mother due to direct connection to Carter and Lee's mother due to her partnership with Longlegs. Her job ended when Longlegs died. The deal for Lee's life was a lie because her being alive ends up being more beneficial to Satan than not, He has time to wait to get her soul, prayers or not, deal or not. They are not eternal.

Also I believe the whole movie was a premiere for something greater, it was barely a glimpse into this world right. It feels like there should be more but with the destruction of Lee's doll there's no further connection. I think that Longlegs used dolls as a vessel specifically due to historical relations to voodoo and hauntings etc. They're humanoid vessels. I feel like the audience, akin to Carrie Anne who was locked in the doll, we were Lee's actual consciousness. Due to the difference in situation she wasn't fully locked away or killed but part of her was placed in the doll and the audience represents said part. We are watching the movie from this sterile environment where we are aware of the danger (shadows f.e.) but cannot convey it to the character's.

In the scene where Lee's mother asks has she prayed, Ruth bursts into manic laughter as her bubble gets burst. She has kept everything a tight secret so far but now that her daughter admits she has always been almost scared of the prayers that SHE believes could and has kept them safe aren't actually doing a thing, she loses the control of the situation. Realising she cannot hide anymore as her daughter is probably after her unknowingly or not she has to make the last murders happen no matter what or else they will be in danger.

The ending with Lee and Ruby leaving without the doll being destroyed is once again giving the vibe that Lee is already Satan's even if she doesn't believe it. Three murders (self defence or not) happened, the doll served it's purpose for now but the connection between the doll and the girl was never severed with the doll still intact. Lee shooting Carter TWICE used the bulled for the destruction of the doll and when she fails I believe she falls in to the final trap. And I do not believe Ruby will be safe with her.

Carrie Anne's character is a LITERAL KEY. The doll, her consciousness and her NAME. Carry on as a suggestion maybe by a god to try and keep Lee away from this case, or by Satan to egg her on to continue and fall further into the trap I believe the story is. Carrie Anne's minor interactions with Lee are important, they give insight to the power that Longlegs has. Even further her suicide. Her death that should've happened years ago was completed by herself through the discovery of the doll where her soul was contained.

The name Longlegs is also peculiar. The fact he's never present at the crime scenes, no evidence apart from the encrypted letters are a sign of his existence. Yet he lives a vaguely normal life, buying things from the store, driving a car etc. He is a mad man through and through. His death was a proof of his beliefs. Once again possibility of things not being real is brought up with this strange, crazy guy coming about wanting your daughters life, screaming about Satan definitely terrified Ruth. I don't remember exactly but I believe there was a scene where Lee picks up a baggie of pills, I have no clue what they were for but seeing the state she is and the state the house is some connections are easy to make. I wouldn't go for schizophrenia but hoarding and satanism (religious paranoia) and stress from being an accomplice could suggest some sort of mental disorder furthering the difference between reality and beliefs. Not that the paranormality can't be disproven due to actions of people like Carter who I believe wouldn't hurt his family. Though unsure of the conditions of the other families it could be a allegory for domestic violence and fucked up justice through a messenger of higher being. The Harker house/family being described as something white and pure, along the other victim's families and places could indicate issues within families. Because what use does Satan have for pure souls when his domain is the punishment of sinners. And hurting children is among the worst crimes I personally believe in (sexual assault being another unforgivable one). Continuing on the "pure" families Harker family doesn't have a father figure present. AT ALL. This is a far fetched idea but a connection nonetheless.

On the topic of cinematography there were few scenes that absolutely blew my mind. The first meeting of Lee and Ruby when they're talking on the bed and the image of the birds above the bed mirrors them. Or they mirror it. I'd love to figure out what birds they are if there's further symbolism but it's way too small and I really don't know anything about birds. The slow scenery shots. Beautiful, gorgeous, immaculate. The sense of normalcy and dread mixed together the same way I mentioned the humaneness of Longlegs and Satan, furthered by Ruth's involvement. Human danger. Supernatural danger. They give out the feeling you should be seeing something, somewhere but there's nothing. It's just a normal forest etc. This raises the tension as we see more and more and we expect to see the shadow everywhere and the lack of danger makes things seem out of place. There were others as well but i just might make another post with screenshots later.

I also read a critique on the movie about the ending that I disagree with. I get their point of view but I believe due to Satan's influence the ending is as is. Lee was HELPLESS. She didn't know she didn't have a choice, she didn't know it was meant to be like this. She fulfilled whatever horrible ritual it was. She just didn't know what she did. I believe if she hadn't entered the house and shot the doll through the window she could've saved them. The doll was a conduit for Satan and as long as the doll was intact the house was his domain. Like I get it kinda bothered me because Carter didn't seem like a guy who'd ignore a possible threat to his family, except once again abuse/negligent parenting etc theory. OR going with the full supernatural Satan had control over them the second they had contact with Longlegs. It was shown multiple times his singing has an effect on people so it wouldn't shock me if everyone present for the hearing is now "cursed".

Also I HAVE to comment on the fact I've seen so many people complain it's so slow??? Like bro, if it was any faster it'd lose it's tension. I feel like there could be like an hour of more tension and slowness. I totally get that it's not everyone's cup of tea but I just feel like it was built up so well, the horror apart from few jump scares wasn't cheap but instead went straight for the human ability to connect dots and want to solve puzzles. We're forced into a situation where we can see things happening and due to it being a movie can excuse the "unrealistic religious themes and events" instead of taking the perspective of this is happening to me. And people forget that. And the slowness allows all these little bits and pieces to connect instead of giving us new information CONSTANTLY

I'm probably gonna make more reviews cuz I loved doing this but for example I adore how all the movies in Insidious are connected and they are WAYYYY faster paced. But that is due to the fact it's a movie series. They can give information faster due to having a background from the earlier movies, with Longlegs we need time to process the information especially the way it is presented to us. Everything in the movie is a question with no answer. It answers NONE of the questions asked, just the off handed comment about satanism and murder.

[practically-an-x-man]

Talk shop tuesday!

Is there anything that is the same in all of your 'universes'? A character trait all your Main Character OCs share, an event that happened differently, or didnt happen at all?

Ooooooh, this is an interesting one! Thank you!!

Talk Shop Tuesday

So, first off, I don't know that there's something that remains the same in all of my stories/universes. I have a fair number of them, and they all feature very different characters, themes, and tones. I think in general I do incorporate a lot of hurt/comfort and a balance between angst and fluff, and there are a lot of themes related to found family, medicine/healing, and being accepted for your genuine self, but that's more an indication of what I find important and cathartic when I write than it is a devoted effort to include those themes every time.

I think when we look at when I have multiple distinct fics/stories for the same fandom (4 for X-Men, 2 for DC, 2 for the MCU, 2 for 6 Underground), there's generally a few things that overlap, but not extensively. For example, in both of my 6 Underground fics, I did choose to make One's real name a cheeky comic book reference, but that's just for my own amusement as an author.

When it comes to larger details like fix-it deaths, I try to focus on changes that could directly be influenced by my OCs and their role in the story. So like... I usually try to write a fix-it for Alex Summers' death in the X-Men movies, whether he's a main character in the fic or not - Rae's shields save him in ALON, a healing mutant will save him in a future Smoke and Mirrors sequel, and I had originally planned for Mira's extended story to involve a fix-it for him too - but his canon death sticks in Symphony in Silver because Robin joined up with the X-Men after X-Men: Apocalypse and there was nothing she could have done to step in.

There's some ebb and flow there too, some details I do change just because I want to and some things I let slide even if my OC could have stepped in, it really just depends on what will make the story more interesting and bring the most emotional depth. But as a whole, I feel like restricting the major changes to what the OC can influence is a good way to keep things controlled and consistent.

I honestly don't view my stories as one interconnected universe. I know plenty of people do, and I respect that viewpoint immensely, but I find it more fun personally to treat them as individual bubbles of plot without significant overlap. That way I don't have to keep track of extensive timelines or details, and I can shift around the events as best fit for the characters without being worried about confounding one of my other stories (y'know, like... if Eris and Nikoletta were both in the same universe, I could only write the Corto Maltese plot once and I'd have to think about how they both fit into it while also servicing their individual stories). Some of them might coexist or cross over more easily than others, but as a whole I view them as separate entities.

[wingsdreamt]

steeleidolon​:

There are ways to find out what happened, or rather what didn’t happen. The Turks would have to lodge the mission as a failure. Depending on who was involved, the Director might have needed to report directly to the President, or take ‘corrective actions’ if they didn’t lie outright. That is how that department works, beyond covering things up, beyond covering their own. Someone, somewhere, has an account of it. Sometimes it is better to try than to seek assurances that you helped someone, but…

Maybe. Maybe if they are feeling bold enough to breach General Affairs.

They have their contingencies. Multiple points of egress. They are intimately acquainted with the holes in security, although if they succeeded in their aim and SOLDIER came under scrutiny for Kalm, things might have changed. For the moment, though, everything is eerily the same.

Even the receptionists at the front are the same. There’s Daliana with the oversized Keepers of Honor mug and an otherwise pristine posh-prim demeanor, effortlessly fielding phone calls and directing would-be tourists to the kiosks that will issue them tickets to the museum and showcase floors. He’d ingratiated himself with Ms. Greene by way of printer repair at this point. Many a clandestine food delivery passed through her hands and underneath the desk, often with bubble tea or a coffee with her name on it…

“Oh yeah, totally censored the whole human battery thing–and the agents. I looked everywhere for Morpheus’ coat too, couldn’t find one that didn’t look like a trashbag on me. The shades were pretty sweet until they shattered on my face, though.” Nodding, nodding, more to himself as he scopes things out. “Oh! And the Mummy. Man. Everyone was too hot.”

A smirk under the lip of his helmet is nostalgic, which feels…bizarre.

Still. It would be suspicious if they were silent as they marched along on their way.

On the elevator, amid the distant cicada hum-buzz of surveillance, Zack short circuits Kunsel’s brain. Gawping to Zack’s megawatt grin, Kunsel takes just a couple of heartbeats to recover as the doors swish closed. A cough, and then a raspy laugh.

“No way. I don’t-” He’s blinking, attempting to parse. “How? Unless you mean literally. Was that the summer swamp deployment? I was a jacked-up scarecrow and the humidity was sous viding my thinkmeats.”

The elevator begins its crawling ascent. Slow. Just like all of the other lifts that might be used by civilians, it’s meant to soak up as much intel as possible while building anticipation for something awe-inspiring. One of the many reasons why he preferred the stairs. HQ Tower does boast a commanding view, though. Amazing what you can learn to take for granted.  

ShinRa crushes the wondrous down into the mundane, the mundane into drudgery. It always has, but people can still find ways to flourish given the circumstances. They did, until they didn’t. And now they are again.

Floors ding by. Kunsel folds his arms.

“Mmm… well.”

A step forward. Shoulder to shoulder, a bump of elbows.

“For me it was when you were talking about your hometown, and you’d repeat it when folks’d get it wrong.”

Guilty as charged, Kunsel intentionally mangled it to get Zack to ’GonGAga.’ Now it’s his turn to grin like an idiot. Maybe not an uncommon sight for anyone unfortunate enough to step into the elevator car.

Catching Kunsel off guard never gets old. Insanely observant and equally oblivious in other respects. 

“No, stupid– I mean yes, but also no.” Unable to hold back a laugh, Zack already has a hand halfway up to his face to cover his eyes in exasperation before remembering that there’s a helmet in the way. That takes getting used to, considering Zack never much loved wearing the damn things in the first place. Zack waggles his fingers where they hang just inches away from the burnished metal. His hand continues to hover in a way that clearly says, yank it off, but his mind resists the urge for lapses in judgment to instead loop his arm around Kunsel’s neck and hang his weight off him. “I didn’t want to say anything. You already…” Kunsel had already heard compliments plenty of times before, not always from the most benevolent of admirers. Zack shrugs. At the time, refraining seemed obvious. “I just wanted to be your friend.”

Zack bumps Kunsel back, elbow for elbow, but it does not take long before he feels compelled to turn away from the uninteresting steel doors to look out at the shrinking buildings spread out before them. 

From the vantage point of this tiny little elevator car climbing up along the length of the Tower, Midgar looks magnificent. A city of steel, smog, and lights. Filled with opportunity and broken dreams. The glittering home of progress and prosperity rising out of the wasteland. Endless. Zack remembers with perfect clarity the moment he realized he could probably end up at a different restaurant every day within the Midgar’s walls and yet still never be able to try every single restaurant if it took a whole lifetime. All sorts of people, places, phenomena he’d met and seen and experienced because he chose to leave his podunk town in the middle of nowhere. 

Gongaga.

Zack snorts and turns back around with a glance up to the glowing floor numbers sequenced over the top of the doors. A couple more. Not long now. “That supposed to be an opinion? It’s straight up facts.” 

He claps his fist into his palm with heart. “People were saying it wrong! Hell yeah, it was my duty to set them right. Gon-ga-ga. Tch." Evidently miffed that Kunsel found the constant mispronunciation of Gongaga’s good name amusing, Zack turns his nose upwards with a huff. Albeit with a grin curling at the corner of his mouth.

One final ding, and the elevator shudders to a stop. The SOLDIER floor. Zack isn’t entirely immune to the twinge of anxiety at what or who they might see while they are here.

“Supply pods first.” No reason to wander around HQ unarmed any longer than they need to. There wasn’t a chance in hell would this plan have worked with the Buster Sword clipped to his back. “Also…Any objections if I, say, wanted to make a quick pit stop by our room before we head to the Drum for check-up?”

[chenyann]

The mysterious case of the prideful apple

You and your friend has a sleepover but some unexpected things happen while watching a horror movie!

This took longer than all my other fic I wrote and the story is much longer too^^; im so sorry for the wait quite some of yall were excited for this and I delayed it for so long 😭 but I hope yall like this one ~yako Fluff/crack?/ maybe ooc epel?

"A sleep over isnt so bad" 

A sleepover is a social occasion whereby a person stays overnight at another person's house. A pajama party or slumber party is essentially the same, but may involve multiple people. Hence why it's a sleepover!

Grimmy had quote-on-quote moved to Heartslabyul since you hardly fed him. thats a lie you just didn't give him an extra can of tuna and he went off, you told the adeuce Duo to play alongSo you had ramshackle all to yourself for a while.

There were rare occasions when you got moments like these,Moments where you can have fun with your friends,but on each rare occasion, you made sure to treasure these precious moments like they were the finest silk.

                     [Nrc courtyard 1:20pm]

"So what do you think?" You said with a small smile, a smile that glowed ever-so-slightly.You and epel didn't get much time to hang out since Vil had been stealing epel to be his doll, so you wanted to catch up with him and the best way to do that is a Sleepover.

"What about vil?" The boy with hair that's as purple as lavender said with a frown, you hummed like a Hummingbird acknowledging his question.

"I told him you will sleep at a reasonable time and I'll do your skin care" the lavender haired boy groaned "don't tell me that's what we are gonna do the whole time,if so I'm not gonna go!"

A huff left your lips "I know you don't like it that's why I'll just 

Make you put on the moisturizer and cleanser." Epel groaned even louder "I don't wanna" he wined "why do I have to put them on why can't you–" he stopped complaining when you gave him a glare.

"You're lucky I'm making you put only the cleanser and moisturizer,cause if I didn't love you I would make you do the whole routine" you said as you took a bite out of the cookie trey gave you after another unbirthday party.

That moment a single glass heart was once more filled with an unknown feeling, that feeling had come and went dancing on his chest making something grow like a tree having its branches grow around his heart.The thing was that It only came when you were around and left when you were out of sight,that funny feeling was strange but never unwelcomed,in fact he encouraged it to come.

You love me…. Epel was lost in thought before you had to burst his bubble."You okay there?" You leaned In close and waved your hand in front of his face,swatting your hand away as the boy spoke."I'll go to the sleep over" 

"Really??? OKAY! Go to ramshackle at 5:40 okay!" You said with a giddy smile your feelings painting the air around yall to a beautiful blue and violet,Yet a bell screams In yalls ear practically saying 'your time is up go to class now'. Ya'll pack up your stuff and bid farewells and go to your next class.

              [Pomefiore lounge 4:25pm]

"Monsieur Cherry Apple!You seem excited, oui? Is it because of your date with our dear trickster?" Rook said with a smug grin and look at that, the diva is here too.

"Epel you better make sure you do your skin care and don't stay up too late with y/n other than that have fun." The queen walks off, the huntsman winks at the lavender haired boy and follows his queen.

The boy grabs his bag and slings it over his shoulder marching off to the ramshackle dorm.A walk with a calming flow to it, the air scented like a meadow and the quiet chatter of fellow students whispers in his ears.A warm breeze caresses his skin and holds him in a soft embrace….perhaps I should wait here for a while?

            [Mr s. Mystery shop 4:30pm]

"Heya! Little imp what can I do for ya?" Sam spoke in a sing song voice behind the counter."Nothing much just getting some things for a

sleep over." You said as you looked at the 'fake' skull he was polishing."Ah..!" The shop owner spoke in delight,"I just stocked up on movies and snacks ill give you a discount since you are a frequent customer!" A smile has appeared on his lips, not one of a deceiver but of a friend.

Before you knew it you were smiling too,"okay let's see what you got then" that giddy smile had yet to leave your lips but you didn't mind it staying for a while.Sam got a box from the back and explained what there was, movies, popcorn,drinks,games,fairy lights and blankets. 

"This bundle is normally 250 thusmarks/mandol but I'll give it to you for 195" you stared at the bundle and sighed "Sam I think you're spoiling me too much,am I your favorite imp" you said in a sing song voice as you got your wallet out.The shop keep just laughed and bagged your things, you took notice that he didn't deny what you said.

You waited for him to bag your stuff and you spotted something."Hey Sam, are these any good?" He stopped bagging your stuff  and looked up at you. You held a bag of chips. In big words read 'Miss Mary's ghost thins apple flavor' he looked at them and said "not many buy them but in my opinion they're quite alright" he said with a smile.

"I hope your opinion is good then!" You said as you handed them to him, he finished up bagging your things and bid you a farewell but you had yet to notice his sly grin.A grin that could rival Cheshire cat or chenya. 

                       [Ramshackle 5:39pm]

The young boy heard the pitter patter of what he presumed was the prefects running towards the door.With a smile they welcome the boy and step aside to show the boy what they did with the place; Fairy lights hung from the ceiling, the lamps was on,there was at least 26 blankets and pillows,the smell of freshly made popcorn lingers in the air as the looks in awe."whoa! This is like a whole dang dimension of comfort!" He said, letting his accent slip, "how in da world did ya do 'tis y/n!?" 

You gave him a smug grin and spoke "the ghosts helped me and Sam hooked me up with all this stuff" The boy looked around even more and said, "are ya finished?" You sighed and shook your head "no I still gotta go and get the tv" the nodded and interrupted you "I can help!" You looked at him and beckoned him to follow you.

You two were in a spare room epel was getting the TV on the cart so yall can use it and you were searching for the cords it needs.

           [Ramshackle lounge 7:01pm]

When yall got the TV out and working , the sun was already bidding its farewells and letting the moon take its seat on its internal throne, lighting the sky with stars and glowing against this old building;The crickets have already started making their blissful tune letting the life of night dance under the graceful moon.

"Look it's already dark" epel said,His eyes shining brighter than the stars out the window."we should get started then" you said as you sat down on the blankets and pillows,epel followed after you sitting down with his bag.

You put a movie on and get out the ghost thins munching on them with epel,the movie you put on was a horror due to epels request.It was packed with jumpscares and blood, on the contrary it was actually really scary, not one of those movie that try too hard to scare you.

You remember very vividly when epel latched on you due to a jumpscare, it was funny to see him play it off moments later.You chose to give epel an apple crisp and his face lit up so cutely why not toy with him a bit? 

"Open up epel" you said holding the apple crisp in front of his mouth, he looked baffled even a bit offended."Ya think I can't eat an apple chip myself!?" He said with a hint of anger, Yet you knew he didn't really mean it, maybe he was just embarrassed? "well, you won't get one with that attitude young man" you said mockingly , like how a mother would scold a child for breaking something,"now open you" all the boy did was sigh and open his mouth.You popped the chip in his swiftly since you knew he would bite down on your hands for teasing him.

And that's when it happened…

           [Ramshackle lounge 9:00pm]

The tv force repeating the same line over and over again like a broken record player.

I'm here….one 

I'm here…two

I'm here….three

I'm here….four

I'm here….five

….

Silence filled the room as yall stopped joking around…five times, it said ' I'm here ' five times…."That was weird. Maybe Sam gave me a broken dvd?" You said breaking the tension in the room like it was glowstick,you got up clicking stuff on the TV but there was nothing wrong with it.You took the disc out and and looked at it hm..? The disk wasn't scratched up and it looks perfectly fine,epel was watching you as you stared at the disk.

"What's wrong, is the disk broken?" He asked hurriedly, you turned to him and shook your head "nope the tv and disc seems fine" you walked to turn the lights on but the moment the switch flipped the bulb blew. Ah! Yall both screamed.Epel looked at you, he saw you standing there frowning from the fairy lights glow.

"Maybe the ghosts are pranking us?" He said trying to calm both of yalls nerves "no, it can't be they told me they were gonna chill in the school so they won't bother us….they even swore" you spoke in a low voice "we got some flashlights in the kitchen can you for me while I try to clean up the glass." Epel frowned and answered you quickly,too quickly."um…how about we get them together?" He said quickly as he stood up from his spot, you saw right through him though.

"What? Are you scared epel?" You teased knowing dang well you're scared too, the boy stiffened like a child would when they got caught doing something they aren't supposed to.“Scared who do you think I am prefect?” You looked smug….too smug at that moment he ran off into the kitchen…it's quiet….yep he's dead r.i.p you thought to yourself , you heard a noise from across the room and a chill ran up your spine ad you saw one spot was darker than rest of the room…where is he??? 

BOO!

Epel comes from your left and gazes into your eyes with a triumphant look,as he held 2 flashlights in his hands."told ya I'm not scared" he pauses as he sees you trembling "Hey what's up with ya did I spook ya that bad?" You didn't reply all you did was point across the room,the boy looked where you were pointing at and spoke again "what are ya pointin' at prefect??" You stare at him and said "didn't you come from over there…?" Your hand was now shaking  and he noticed it,shaking his head he looked back at the stop you were pointing at.

"No…why?" You went pale and faced him again, grabbing his hand and taking him to another room."i…I heard something in the corner of the room and I saw a silhouette…" he also turned pale thinking of something that could ease both of yalls hazey minds…"it's maybe nothing I'll go get check it out!" You snorted "really?" You put your hands on your hips "you're gonna beat up the ghost for me, princey poo" you batted your eyelashes at him, forgetting the fear that once laid in your stomach! 

He huffed and grabbed what seemed to be a table leg "just stay behind me yn" he said as he exited the room you giggled as you followed him down the hall “Don’t laugh at me y/n!” he yelled ''Okay my little cotton swab♡♡ go fight the ghost then!'' You point to the corner of the room where you saw and heard the thing.

Epel gets closer to the corner and he sees it, it had short black hair and some bald spots it's hair was everywhere and looked knotted and it looked scrawny and pale with its spine sticking out,it kept making low grumbles as epel raised the table leg it swiftly turned around and crawled on all four towards him.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!! Epel let out a bone chilling scream as it crawled towards him with its deformed face, you ran to him and grabbed his arm running towards the only room that had a lock….your room.You locked the door and hugged epel for dear life as yall sat on the bed "Epel calm down" you spoke to him whispering a mix of apologies and little nothings in his ears, little do you know your voice is like music to his ears slowly but surely you lulled him to asleep. 

The world layed comfortably on your shoulder and you held him as if he was sand slipping through your fingers, you held him and his heart like it was glass with care and precaution.You soon found yourself tired wanting to aslo rest you laid your head on top of his and fell in a deep slumber;not before saying you love him and giving him a goodnight kiss though.

Knock …

      Knock….

             Knock….

The knock stopped and the sound of the jigging door handle echoed in the room, with two oblivious and sleeping nrc students.The Door slowly creaked open due to ramshackle being old,Looks like they are asleep?Jack spoke,"no fare they had a sleepover and didn’t invite us”Ace spoke, crossing his arms in the process,“shut up Ace you're gonna wake them up” grim spat at him,making a fuss between the two of them.

“We will give them five more minutes" deuce said as he looked up at Jack, only receiving a nod of approval.

"Hey" deuce said "ain't these those chips that makes creepy illusions?" He looked at them once more and sat them down, "come on guys let's let them rest a bit more"

[bridgeportbritt]

The Toxicity of Royal Simblr

alright guys. I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t have to make a post about this or that it would just go away. But, I’m seeing now that this is not the case. As the owner of the Royal Discord Community, I along with others in the community feel like this behind the scenes toxic behavior needs to be addressed because it’s been going on for a while now and a lot of people have been affected.

Please note that the intention is to bring attention to some of the toxic behaviors shown here so those involved will not continue further. We’ve blocked names of some people in the following screenshots to remove their identity as this is not about he said/she said stuff. It’s about bringing light to something that’s been affecting all of us.

This is a long post so be prepared to do some reading if you continue on. The following screenshots were provided to me because I took over the Royal Discord once the previous admins no longer wanted it. The rest is under the cut.

*Before you read on, I’m happy to let you know that a resolution has come since this initial post. Please read this post. Thank you!*

A lot of these messages are disheartening because myself, the other admins/mods, and the community as a whole has worked hard to bring the community back from a place where people honestly felt too scared to join because messages like these were playing in the background and this sentiment seeps into every part of Royal Simblr unfortunately. Due to how things were run previously on top of this toxic underbelly it’s made people hesistant to join in.

There is one thing I’d like to address first as it was directed at myself and I want to own up to anything I have done in this. When I first joined Royal Simblr, I participated in a Royal Sim Pageant. In one of the rounds, derogatory and racist remarks against Asians were made without the participants knowing. I truly regret to have been apart of it. When it was brought to my attention, I worked to correct the damage done with the owners of the pageant. I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be, but I’m always working to be better especially when it comes to correctly representing other cultures as it’s something I take very seriously.

To preface these messages, there are two things to know. There are two seperate servers. Server A) The server I’ve been admin of for a little over a month after the last admin transferred it to me. Server B) A smaller server that was created before Server A and made up a lot of the folks who also created and ran the Server A initially. The other thing is most of these people are not in Server A and haven’t been in over a month.

The conversation you see here started with a member of the community being accused of copying storylines. This person being accused is in Server A and this conversation took place in Server B on July 15, 2021.

The person speaking is saying they left Server A because a person is accused of copying storylines. For some reason, the whole community is then somehow involved in this as the conversation shifts. The person accused of copying happened to be a moderator in Server A which is mentioned. 

From what I’ve seen from this server, this is fairly common behaviour and multiple people have been bullied, accused of copying, etc. many stemming from this server.

In this shot, Server A is put into question. Many stating they left because they don’t want to pretend to be positive or show interest in other stories as if they are being forced to. As you can see one person states that this is not the case of the server since I’ve been admin and don’t encourage people to show fake positivity.

However, this person is actually in Server A which I’m guessing is why they decided to sort of defend it. But, then they agree that those running Server A are questionable (ie myself and the other admins/mods).

More of the same, but speaking about the previous ownership of the server when referring to being asked to step down. Also more just toxic talk about the entire Royal simblr community for no reason. This comes from those who have “built the community” and “do so much for it.” But behind closed doors this is what is done.

In this shot, those in Server A are accused of not “making an effort to be anyone’s friend” with those who rarely interact, being nice to each other for clout, and just overall being fake. Although, keep in mind, one of these people (”I stay for the drama”) is in Server A and never expressed any of this to me or other admins. Yet talking trash about us in Server B. Note: the pageant is also brought up here which I’ve addressed above and I believe I was the only admin or moderator apart of the pageant. 

Here they make fun of people speaking about their stories and other people encouraging them. Also, just want to point out if anyone ever feels unwelcomed in the server, please reach out to me of the other admins. It’s our goal to make everyone welcome, but we can’t do that if we don’t know. Also, being a jerk to people in another server for no reason isn't really a good way to make friends.

Some general nonsense about the server and those in the server. Again most of these people haven’t been in the server since I took over so sentiments about the status of the server are all from a month ago when those in Server B were in charge of Server A. The “felt like a corporation” and “crickets” is all things we’ve been working to reverse since we’ve taken it over.

In these shots, it’s talked about how so many people are stuck in their Royal stories and don’t plan methodically and decorate and how they take bad screenshots. Basically making fun of everyone else because they aren’t doing things exactly as they are or think they should be done. The community they “built” mind you. Then, they talk about some plan to rejoin Server A and bait people, but not wanting to get caught up so deciding against it.

This gives you a gist of what is happening in the Royal Simblr community. Some of the most beloved and talented among us are spending their time poking fun at everyone else, bullying, and being toxic in a server that is “not exclusive.” Many of my friends have been apart of this and even got swept into the toxicity which shows you the nature of this group. It’s very exclusive and meant to bully and mock others even going as far as making people want leave the community alrogether.

This is not me trying to bash anyone or continue bullying or single out these people specifically as bad people. There are a lot more screenshots that I did not share of just really mean stuff, but we’ve all done messed up stuff. I won't say who said what or even who had this particular conversation because at this point it doesn't matter, but I will address those who are in the server and actively participate in toxic conversations including @royaldevilliers @thesimsroyalfam @wa-royal-tea @royalfamilyofgrimalldi and @markinghamroyals​

We all have a vision for the community and we’ve been working towards that and this is NOT it. It’s not about who’s best or being being better than everyone else. It’s supposed to be about community, sharing stories, and overall just having a good time with a fun HOBBY. Others are just taking it too far and too seriously. Things like this ruin it for EVERYONE. 

When I took over Server A, no one interacted, people were nervous to join, and it was a place where people didn’t feel welcomed. Now, we just had a random 6 hour server stream yesterday, people are helping people daily and sharing their stories again. This is what we want for the community. But with behavior like this, we will NEVER get there.

To those who are doing this, please look at these nasty messages and see how this does so much harm. The toxic energy you bring does not stop just because it’s in your little bubble. 

This is who you want to be known as?

This is how you want to “build a community?” 

None of us are perfect and we don’t expect you to be either, but this is just mean especially to folks who haven’t done anything to you and even look up to you.

To those who’ve been affected by this, I’m really sorry. We have to do better if we want this community to continue and be a good place for us all.

[ldss-interactive]

At Alter’s End: A CYOA Novel

Overview:

Trentworth, Maine. A town of ten thousand southeast of Ellsworth and North of Bayside. Its only bragging point since its conception in 1867 was being a shoreline city and cheaper than any of the other big tourist towns. Nothing ever happened here, besides the occasional drowning or fishing trip accident, until the killings started. They lasted five years in total and 48 people were lost to the killer’s sick desires. Robert Hall terrorized this small town, slipping under the radar by focusing on those considered “undesirable”; sex workers, orphans, drug addicts, and the like. Now ten years later, ten years after the killer has been put behind bars, murders have begun again. A copycat killer has come to Trentworth. And they seem to be targeting the ones left behind, still trying to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives…

You take the role of a highschool senior; your parents having died in a home fire shortly before the killer was put behind bars and now under the care of your workaholic aunt. Make allies of your classmates or attempt to go it alone, clear your parents’ name from their believed involvement with the killer or fight to put the past behind you, deal with the skeletons in your closet and mind or bury them deeper... Oh, and make sure your history project is turned in on time. With two young siblings depending on you and a whole host of problems a highschool student should never have to deal with, can you survive this nightmare made real?

Trigger Warnings: This game will go into very heavy topics including the following; murder, death, various mental health issues (such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety), abandonment, gambling, various types of drug addiction, self harm mentions (not happening to the MC or shown in graphic detail), suicide, sex work, child abuse (mental, emotional, and physical), and dangerous situations. This is a murder mystery/thriller, it is NOT intended for audiences below 18.

Hello! Thank you for showing interest in At Alter’s End. This is a Choose Your Own Adventure style novel in the Thriller and Murder Mystery genres. It would also fit nicely in the Drama genre as well, but Drama is not the focus. This will be a rather lengthy project, with fifteen chapters plus a prologue and epilogue planned.

You take on the role of a senior at Trentworth High. Join an after-school activity, take care of your younger siblings, prepare for finals, get a part time job, find a date to homecoming, and survive your worst nightmare come to life. The copycat killer is targeting the students of your school and no one is safe. With the police dragging their feet, no help coming any time soon from any higher up law enforcement, and the locals refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a copycat killer, it’s up to you and your classmates to find the person responsible...before it’s too late.

- You can play as female, male, nonbinary, or trans!

- You can be straight, gay, or bisexual!

- A highly customizable MC including hair color, eye color, skin color, hair length, height, and personality and interests!

- The ability to choose which mental illness the MC suffers from due to the trauma of their past from the following:

Anxiety, Depression, or PTSD.

- The MC is deaf in their right ear ear due to the way in which their parents died; this is not something that can be changed.

- Choose from 7 different official after-school activities! Trentworth Volunteers, Up and Coming Artists, National Debate Society, National Honors Society, Co-Ed Varsity Basketball, Creative Writing, and Trentworth Gardeners!

- Bond with your classmates, explore your town, and help raise your younger siblings!

- Rescue your parents’ bakery from corporate clutches or let it go!

- Find the killer, stop the murders, and put a stop to the rumors that have plagued your every step for 10 years!

Vanya: Oldest adoptive twin sibling to MC’s adoptive siblings, 6 years younger than MC. Strong-headed, intelligent, and always getting into trouble. She looks after her brother and MC in the ways she can.

Ajay: Youngest adoptive twin sibling to MC’s adoptive sibling, 6 years younger than MC. Nearly completely blind since birth, he enjoys painting and other artistic endeavors. Obedient yet opinionated.

Aunt Emma: The workaholic aunt that takes custody of MC and their younger siblings after the death of their parents. Well meaning but absent most of the time on business trips or at the office.

Kwan Hall: An adoptive relative to Robert Hall; aloof, intelligent, and completely ostracized by Trentworth as a whole. When the killings start again the town’s attention is immediately turned on Kwan. He’s the first to begin investigating the killings when the police prove their incompetence. He is of Korean descent, standing at 5’6” with dark hair and dark eyes. His most notable feature is the long scar that stretches from his forehead’s hairline, down his left temple, and ends just below his jawline and the constant disinterest on his face. He is asexual in that he doesn’t experience sexual attraction at all. He is also bisexual.

Alessia D’Agostina: Trentworth High’s school president. She’s clawed her way tooth and nail up to earn the respect of both the school faculty and her fellow classmates; she’s strong-willed, dependable, and always looks at things through a logical lens. When she sees her classmates dying, she takes it upon herself to try and stop this once and for all. With dark skin, deep brown eyes, long braided hair, and standing at 5’8” her confidence and sense of self always make sure she stands out from the crowd. Alessia is bisexual.

Georgiy Kuzmin: Twin brother to Anastasiya Kuzmin; he is, in the kindest way possible, not the brightest bulb in the box. Yet he always means well and is more than willing to offer a helping hand. As the co-captain of the basketball team, captain of the baseball team, and the star of the swim team, Georgiy is one of the most popular and well beloved students at Trentworth High. When he realizes his friends are in danger, he willingly throws himself into the investigation to do all he can to help. With fair skin, dirty blond hair, bubbly green eyes, and standing at 6’1” he cuts an approachable figure to anyone who knows him. Georgiy is gay.

Anastasiya Kuzmin: Twin sister to Georgiy Kuzmin: she and her brother are alike in so many ways apart from just appearance. Anastasiya, who goes by Ana more often than not, is head of the Co-Ed Varsity Basketball team, the Girls’ softball team, and the Tennis team. Just as popular and loved as her brother, Ana may not be the smartest but she makes up for it with passion and dedication. Like her brother, she has fairer skin, dirty blond hair, and bright green eyes. Also like her brother, she felt she couldn’t just sit around while her friends were put in danger and agreed to join the investigation. Ana is gay and demiromantic, meaning she only gains feelings for someone after having a strong relationship with them.

Lillian Triano: A quiet, withdrawn girl who mainly keeps to herself. Due to the fact that Trentworth High demands for every senior to be apart of an elective, she is mainly seen in afterschool reading club run by Ms. Habeeb. She’s MC’s closest friend, having been one of the only people who didn’t believe the rumors that MC’s parents were assisting Robert Hall in his murders. She has an olive complexion, brown eyes, a heavy dose of freckles, and stands at 5’1”. Lillian is gay.

Jasmine Abernathy: Jasmine is Trentworth High’s self proclaimed “Best news source!” After the school newspaper was disbanded, Jasmine took it upon herself to keep freedom of the press alive. She’s fierce in her pursuit of the truth and never one to back down from a fight, though her rash attitude can get her into some sticky situations on occasion. With vibrant red hair, dark brown eyes, and standing at 5’3” she puts the term “fire” in Fire Signs. (She’s an Aries in astrology!) When the copycat killings began, it was no surprise when she took the case head on. Jasmine is bisexual.

Asa San Nicholas: Asa is the oldest of a set of triplets; they’re the type to march to the beat of their own drum, often not listening to what anyone has to say about themselves or their interests. Asa is a firm believer in the paranormal and it isn’t uncommon to find them indulging in their interest in various ways. “The spirits are distrubed. These deaths aren’t meant to happen.” Asa’s reason for getting involved seems to tie directly back to their “connection” with the spirits of the town. Asa has black hair, most often tied in a ponytail, hazel eyes, and an olive skin tone. At 6’4” they tower over most everyone...something they seem to enjoy a great deal. Asa doesn’t see gender and is interested in people regardless of how they present.

Leo San Nicholas: The middle of the triplets. They are genderfluid, okay with any pronouns. Leo is, for lack of a better word, eccentric. A bit of an adrenaline junkie, you can often find them cliff diving or giving their siblings heart attacks by playing russian roulette with a chocolate gun. To them, it isn’t fun if there isn’t a little danger involved; naturally, an investigation into a serial killer scratches that itch quite nicely. Their black hair is clipped short, multiple piercings visible on each ear, and their heterochromatic hazel and green eyes are often stated to stare through a person. Although Leo is genderfluid, they are only interested in people who present as female.

The demo is upcoming! When it is available I will make a post announcing it! I will also update this post with the link! This game is written in choicescript; the demo will be published on Dashingdon and the final game will be published for free on itch.io. I am open for questions regarding this game/novel and once the demo is published I will also be publishing a link to my Ko-fi! Until then, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions!

[leamy-world]

Reaction to The Devil Judge (spoilers for ep. 9 & 10)

It’s been a while since i’ve last been on tumblr, but i got invested in this drama every week & the fandom’s analyses to not talk about it sometime! (Last time i was hooked, it was with Beyond Evil and i watched it by the time the finale already aired so i didn’t suffer from the weekly wait!)

So here i am, this is mainly self-indulgent with essay-long interpretations of some scenes in a totally random order, but i’d love to interact with whoever reads this if they want to react!

I’m sorry for the potential awkward phrasings, english is not my first language!

- The recap was nicely done and tied everything together, it made me realize so many things happened since the beginning! The repetition didn’t make me skip it, the narration was dynamic & fun.

- The ‘power display’ & threat Yohan showed to Soohyun (by lashing out at Juk Chang and strangling him, as proxy for Soohyun, in front of her while staring at her) were something …! She answered in the same fashion, passing by him saying she will ‘arrest Juk Chang’. I wonder how their next encounters will unfold.

- Many people already pointed this out, but Soohyun’s decision to leave Elijah, a minor, alone in her car (with its doors open, daring to tell her to stay there when she has no other choice anyway) + stop the gang alone and unannounced off duty was irresponsible. Anyways, i wonder if she will interact again with Elijah because they were adorable, i would miss it!

- The conversation between Soohyun & Gaon at his apartment (ep. 10) was interesting on both parts: 

It sounded casual, but Soohyun wanted to see where he stood in the Kang family and make sure he wasn’t in Yohan’s plans (i hope she didn’t seriously mean the ‘weird’ comment about Elijah, it’d be sad since Elijah enjoyed her company!).

Gaon was anxious professor Min told her about their last conversation (i think she’ll talk to him in the next eps). He also indirectly defended the Kangs by associating himself with them (« I’m pretty sure i’m just as weird ») and voiced his concern about Yohan, speaking more to himself than following the conversation at hand. 

When Soohyun changed the subject with the ‘i’m jealous’ bit, maybe it was to brighten the mood with a light-hearted comment, hoping Gaon would follow. And by the look of her pause right after, it seemed she was also expecting GO’s ‘positive’ reaction to her jealousy, giving in to the kind of teasing/flirt they have in their friendship. But deep down, it was also to voice her true unease about Gaon’s involvement with Yohan she had since the beginning and ep. 8. 

It’s obvious to us she meant she was jealous of Yohan. And GO could’ve understood it this way too, since she confessed to him multiple times and her feelings must be known to him (i think he takes it as a ‘joke’ given how many times she confessed and each time when he was crying, so maybe he thought, very reasonably, it was to cheer him up? I also guess he’s too absorbed by his current worries about the Kangs and her potential suspicion, to notice her attempts). 

But instead of that, he’s not in the same line of thoughts at all and picks up on the « rich », musing on what makes one’s existence rich, thinking Soohyun was envying Yohan’s position and life and proving her he’s indeed in a whole different world, empathizing with Yohan. 

She then looked like her face fell, until her eyes lit up again when he was about to admit she was precious to him along with his family.

By the way, this scene picks up right where we were left off in ep. 8, when Gaon tends to his plants:

« - Are you back for good? - Not really. They need some looking after. - You should come back, not drop by. This is where you live. - Someone there needs some taking care of too. - Take care of your own self, please. - What about me? I’m living a shamelessly comfortable life. Soohyun. - Yes? - What are you thinking about? - Nothing. By the way, Gaon … » (i wonder what she was going to say!)

Lost in thoughts, Gaon’s mixed emotions when he said Yohan was not rich (« he’s not rich. If you get to know him, Kang Yohan is really poor. ») were very well depicted by Jinyoung’s acting: the soft voice and the ghost of a smile that convey understanding and endearment, leaning on his counter in a relaxed stance, but also at the same time the stare lost in the space, maybe to all the memories tied to the Kangs and Yohan, and the tension in his left lip corner by the end of his sentence which betray his sadness and empathy with Yohan’s life. After this, when he became aware of Soohyun’s gaze, it’s like his bubble popped. He looked surprised with his eyes widening, and was fidgeting a little, then changed the subject to himself.

And « I have you, Soohyun » sounded truly grateful but also sad and conflicted, GO lets his worries show when she’s gone, maybe wondering if they would be bound to be against each other one day as he continues to side with Yohan, menacing to jeopardize their friendship to the point of no return. In these kinds of stories you expect these kinds of twists, but i grew fond of the cast send help

- I loved how Yohan’s confession to GO about his brother was filmed: the camera faced head-on his pain, slipping unbeknownst to him through the façade he always showed to protect himself. But this time, despite his (late) attempts to dismiss these feelings both for him and Gaon to regain composure (the hand gestures to hide his tears, pretending to be tough with the  « there’s no such things as innocent people », drinking away his sorrow with a bitter laugh that rings hollow), all this façade fades out in front of Gaon literally by being blurred out in the shot, as if he clearly sees his pain through (his silhouette appearing clear-cut between Yohan’s gestures). I know it’s a pretty classic shot but it fit well with this scene. He clenches his jaw in the next shot, moved by Yohan opening up. 

- The dinner scene was really moving …! Especially when you put the colder tones the kitchen had when we first saw Yohan have dinner by himself next to this scene, full of light in contrast! I wonder when the OST playing will be released, it was so beautiful and reminded me of My Mister’s OST (especially Rainbow!). I look forward to the lyrics, because most of the time the OST gives more layers & depth to the story and the characters! (please don’t let it be about Yohan’s budding feeling of a true ‘home’ ;;) I didn’t realize it upon my first watch, but Gaon really took the cutlery hostage, it cracked me up!

- The parallels in this show will be the end of me: Yohan went from the « i’m so sick of this place » (ep. 5) to asking K to drive him « home » with a delighted smile. 

- I liked the parallel of Yohan’s reaction to GO/Sun-Ah sitting in his office chair, impeding on his space (he reminds SA to stay out of it, the first time politely, the second time almost grimacing, his jaw clenched: « Just because you’re the head of the OSC doesn’t mean you can barge in like this (…) So please stop barging in like this. », while he says nothing to GO)

- At the beginning of ep. 10, we have Yohan saying he doesn’t like «  hanging out with people » & by the end of it, Soohyun saying « My childhood’s best friend is hanging out with a rich guy ».

- These two episodes gave more insight and nuance into Sun-Ah’s character, which was very nice ; and also Cha Kyung-Hee’s comeback (and her last confrontation with Sun-Ah!!!!)

- The people following Juk Chang also targeted sexual minorities according to the subs i had, i wonder if it will be addressed again sometime in the drama. 

- I loved Elijah’s « hacking » technique scene, i felt proud too! I always look forward to her scenes (and Kkomi’s too haha)! And her reaching out Gaon’s shoulder for the first time ;;

- The ‘humans lose their minds when they think they’ve lost what they have’ ……… repeated twice by YH ………… It will hit hard and all those lines will come right back at us viewers, but i’m not prepared haha! And also for the ‘if you want revenge, don’t hesitate’, i hope it doesn’t foreshadow a future revenge Gaon will execute without hesitation aaaaaa

Also, what lawyer Ko said about himself in ep. 8 may apply to Yohan’s case by the end, will he atone for what he did someday? (« I’m no longer a lawyer. I’m just a criminal. When all this comes to an end, I’ll pay for what i did. »)

- I really loved Yohan’s efforts to take into consideration both Elijah’s (he refrained himself from acting rashly like the last time she went out and listened to her) and Gaon’s feelings (stopping him from endangering himself recklessly, not forcing him onto the revenge path lest he’d regret it afterwards, and helping him to face the truth rationally). 

- « She’s hungry for affection. No matter how much you hate the world and the people in it, you can never live alone. You always need someone to rely on. As long as you’re a human being. » Many people commented on it, Gaon must speak from his own experience and empathizes with both Elijah and Yohan’s situation. These two episodes showed how Gaon cares for the Kangs more openly, and i live for it! 

- Give me that domestic scene where Gaon plays cards with YH, the nanny and Elijah! And also more K and lawyer Ko scenes!

- Jinjoo’s and Gaon’s intervention in the trial were gold! And Satie’s Gnossiennes rearrangement playing in the background during Juk Chang’s speech, it’s the cherry on the cake haha

- By the way, there was also an arrangement of Rachmaninoff’s piano concerto no. 2 during the first charity event Yohan went with Jinjoo in the earlier episodes, it was also beautiful!

- GO’s Awkward Smile. I have no words, it is now forever imprinted on my mind.

Have a nice week and take care!

[liminalweirdo]

spoilers for super dark times and josh’s character/motivation behind the cut. seriously, it’s spoilertown. proceed with caution.

Hate those articles that say that Josh is a character that helps us “spot the warning signs” in Psychopathic Children tm “before it’s too late” and honestly first of all what the fuck????

second of all, bitch WHERE?!

Look at him, he’s DISTRAUGHT. He literally almost passes out after Zach pulls the sword out. His scenes alone after Daryl’s death are Josh fucked up with guilt. This isn’t a kid who sits and plays with coins on the hardwood for the entirety of a school day in his day-to-day life. Look at his bedroom. This is a kid who keeps himself busy. He shows multiple clear indicators of stress and guilt afterwards. Josh doesn’t have any psychopathic “warning signs”, he’s a kid, a literal kid, that made a fucking MISTAKE?! The trajectory of the film doesn’t make sense for this reason, this is my biggest problem with an otherwise pretty perfect movie.

Like, this kid made a very big mistake and then very rapidly lost a very small but crucial support network, and it overwhelmed him.

Also, not only are psychopathy and sociopathy real personality disorders that real people have, and thus shouldn’t be used as just a “movie villain quirk” or the entire reasoning/motivation behind why someone “acts evil” (which is just incredibly lazy character creation), but Josh just... isn’t a psychopath. Neurodivergent? yes, absolutely. (I realize there are other problems with this. To be 1000% clear, NO I do not think that it’s Josh’s neurodivergence that causes him to be violent either. It’s a tragic thing that happened and spiralled a collection of tragic events, and I don’t think any of them are related to his ND brain. Neurotypicals can be and often are perpetrators of violence.) Again, this is more of a film canon issue, but: Why was Josh so weird? Why is Josh so blunt and straightforward and why doesn’t he look anyone in the eye? Why doesn’t Josh want to change their safe bubble of Josh&Zach to Josh&Zach and OTHER PEOPLE? Why does Josh shut down under (immense) pressure? Why does Josh have persistent, canonical stims and tics? If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person and Josh is not going to be like everyone on the spectrum, but as an autistic person, I spent the whole movie thinking “oh this kid is me, it’s me” and then?!!??! This kid is SURPRISE, a “psychopath” who murders people! I’M SORRY, LIKE WHAT?!

I’m not explaining this as coherently as I want to but I am percolating on it more so I can write more cohesively about it later. Basically, my overarching thought is: Josh is clearly ND and it SEEMS LIKE (i’m not saying this was the intent) but it SEEMS LIKE that neurodivergence just translates to “psychopathic murderer” as though that’s some kind of a) logical reasoning or b) a real and common thing (it’s not), and that is not great. That’s so not great, particularly because things involving violent teenagers and violent men involve the media FREQUENTLY pointing out that those people are autistic, often without any actual medical confirmation. This associates violence with autism. This is so incredibly rarely the case and is playing on such cause/correlation bullshit that it’s like saying “the killer was lactose intolerant.” And it sure does vilify autistics for no fucking reason.

I’m not a professional, but Josh is more clearly on the spectrum than he is exhibiting signs of psychopathy, even if they wanted to go the (bad) “psychopathic villain” route. This is one of the main reasons why the ending was so disturbing, but also confusing. The ending’s nonsensical “twist” is actually kind of just throwing people with real personality disorders like psychopathy or sociopathy under the bus, while somehow also saying “people who act autistic are going to become violent” and those things are both super not great. (new title? no, i’m kidding, i still adore this film)

I just... I don’t know. I guess I don’t know why this choice was made, in the film. I don’t even know if it was a choice. It’s extremely possible that I’m just reading into a character too much because my autistic brain relates strongly to Josh’s character. Until the murdering happens.

Even the scene where Zach comes to see Josh in his bedroom afterwards and Josh is just in shutdown mode is so similar to my autistic shutdowns that I have a hard time seeing that scene as anything else. Is he annoyed with Zach? YES, but not because he’s “a psychopath” now, it’s because he’s fucking done. He’s out of spoons. He cannot handle any more of this shit. Zach is outwardly expressive, he’s raised by a single mom who’s a good parent, he can voice his feelings. Josh doesn’t have that upbringing. Like, a lot of the time I think Josh has Zach and no one else and now he feels like he doesn’t even have Zach.

Also, hopefully we all know by now that autistic people are MORE LIKELY TO BE THE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE than they are to be violent themselves. And psychopaths and sociopaths are also uh... not commonly or inherently violent, either.

If they wanted to make a film about a psychopath, I feel like they could have done it with more attention and tact (and also like... maybe not made him one that murders people), but as it stands Josh is not the main focal point of the film, adding to the confusion of the ending.

Anyway I would like to talk about this more.

Again, I’m not a professional and I am open and willing to hear other people’s criticisms of this theory (if you’re polite), and would love to talk about all this more in general. Like I said, my headcanon of Josh as autistic might just be me. I’m not saying it’s fact.

Disclaimer #875 I really do love this film. I’m not trying to call anyone out, I’m more just wanting to discuss this as the theory of the film itself because I really don’t think any harm was intended here by anyone, I think it was just more a case of unfortunate ignorance.

[ackerfics]

hi! i don’t know if you’re taking requests but if you are would you be interested in a soulmate au with mikasa. i adore soulmates au a lot! mikasa x fem!reader (aot cast reincarnated into the modern world and they get to have a happy and not stressful life)

she is half of my soul, as the poets say  — mikasa ackerman

— mikasa ackerman x female reader (soulmate au)

— warnings: none, just fluff

— summary: you finally found each other.

— word count: 3.2k

— author’s notes: thank you so much for the request !! i hope you enjoy reading this because i had a blast putting this all together. plus, i couldn't help but place a quote from 'the song of achilles' bc that was a masterpiece.

Underwater.

Your surroundings were submerged in the depths of the ocean to you.

The professor in front of the lecture hall continued his lesson in a cacophony of white noise. The occasional flipping of textbooks and the clacking of the keyboard droned, a majority of the students tried taking down what the middle-aged man was reciting. You should be doing those, too, but there was something about your day that made you want to skip class and bury yourself in a mound of blankets. The air-conditioning wasn’t helping at all, it just made you drift away, even more, images of flying people and humanoid giants flickering through your mind. Even your vision was becoming blurry as you stared at the seat in front of you, not noticing how your Ethics professor dismissed your class with a reminder of the paper that was due the following week. You were still seated as most of the students stood up, eager to spend the rest of their day inside their dormitories and apartments.

“[Name].” Somebody called out to you but the raw feeling of swinging in midair acted like a bubble, keeping you from going back to reality. The voice groaned in frustration at your lack of response. “Earth to [Name]! Hey, wake up!”

You shook out of your stupor with a blink, turning your head slowly at the person waiting for you. You took in her casual attire, so different from the daydream you were in. At first, you didn’t know about your whereabouts, making you look around the lecture hall — empty except for the two of you and the professor at front. The feeling of confusion once again dominated your sound mind as you breathed out, “Where am I? I thought I was just outside in this desert and I was surrounded by people who were crying like they were a hopeless case. Then there was someone screaming my name, saying they wouldn’t let me go.”

The person pursed their lips, concerned and slightly creeped out at the nonsense coming out of your mouth. There weren’t any deserts near you right now because you two were in the middle of the city, inside a university. The way you phrased those words sounded like a plot from an apocalyptic movie you were bound to binge during academic breaks. There were accounts scattered around the internet about reincarnation that the person drank in the early hours of dawn when they couldn’t go to sleep but witnessing it in front of them, was another whole level of conspiracy theories. A hand was planted on your shoulder, your friend smiling sympathetically at you, knowing that you sometimes have these episodes inside your shared apartment. The look you gave them was enough to erase the wariness bubbling in your friend’s stomach, which spurred them to gather your things and placing them inside your backpack. Your friend worked in silence, however, they were aware of the stare you never took off from the side of their head.

“In case you don’t remember me,” your friend looked up at you with a twinkle of mischief in their irises, “I’m Hitch and I’m your roommate.” She was speaking to you as if you were a toddler, something that made annoyance tickle your chest.

“Hitch?” You mumbled, looking down on your lap for a solid minute until you gasped out loud, the sound echoing inside the lecture hall without any warning. The professor looked up from his seat, glare already in place at the disruption you caused. You buried your face in your hands, face erupting in hues of red because of the embarrassment creeping in your throat. “Oh, my God, don’t tell me I did it again.”

Hitch nodded with a shrug. “I mean, I’m used to your episodes but it always amazed me how you wake up from them all disoriented.” Finishing with her task of tidying your bag, she pulled on your arm. “I think I should record whatever you say next time, this could be my viral moment.” When you gave her a dry glare, she laughed. “Oh, come on, think of the possibilities! But pushing that aside, let’s have dinner first.”

“Hitch, it’s only four in the afternoon.”

She scoffed lightheartedly. “We can always have a midnight snack later. Right now, I’m craving something savory.” The two of you went outside the lecture hall’s door, not missing the look of relief from your Ethics professor as you linked your arm with Hitch’s. She turned to you expectantly. “Any ideas for dinner, bub?”

There was a churning feeling inside your stomach, very much like those life-and-death situations during exams where you rely on your gut for the correct answer if the test includes multiple-choice questions. This time, instead of the nagging voice telling you to encircle the first choice, your gut was telling you to head to the café near your university. Aside from their famous coffee blends and teas (the latter being one of their specialties), the café houses a variety of dishes in its menu, which doesn’t make them a café anymore but the owner still insisted that they’ll be known as that establishment. It was more of a restaurant than your regular coffee shop, making it a hit among the students in the University of Eldia, where a majority of the student body was either caffeine-dependent or reliant on fast food take-outs. The quaint café owned by Levi Ackerman was the perfect solution to yours and Hitch’s grumbling stomachs. 

“How about the café just outside of uni?” You suggested, hoping that Hitch will consider the idea.

The said girl hummed, a finger placed on her chin. “The one owned by that grumpy short-stack?” 

“Hey, that’s rude.”

Hitch shrugged without care, hoisting her tote bag up to her shoulder. “Even his cousin calls him that, you know?” At your raised eyebrow, all Hitch could do was laugh at your adorable, clueless expression. Between the two of you, the light-haired girl was the social butterfly in your friendship and you wouldn’t be surprised if she even had an inkling of the gossips happening around your year level. 

“Relax, his cousin is a good person (that is if she doesn’t kill you with her blank stare), along with their little friendship circle. I must say, all of them look so adorable. You remember Annie, right?” She continued when she saw you nod, the mention of the blonde made you remember your time when the three of you shared your apartment. It was a good kind of chaotic, the three of you balancing out each other’s personalities. Annie was always the indifferent one, Hitch the most sociable, and you being the mediator of the two. “She’s dating one of Mikasa’s friends, Armin. Mikasa is the cousin, by the way, and I can clearly see the resemblance between her and the café’s owner. With the permanent scowl and all.”

“Uh-huh.”

You didn’t know what to do with the information so you only hummed and nodded your head every time Hitch spewed out a couple of trivia involving people you have heard down the hallways or being called during roll-calls. She even told you how one of Mikasa’s friends, Sasha Braus, was reprimanded for eating inside the class of an infamous terror teacher, which landed the girl on that professor’s blacklist. The girl, Sasha, was actually in one of your classes but you never really talked to her, all of your attention poured out into absorbing what the teacher relayed in the class. All of Hitch's ramblings spanned the entirety of your walk to the café — a talent your roommate has that amazed you every time it happened. 

The smell of cinnamon greeted you once you stepped inside the café, the homey decorations making your heart warm in an instant. There were a couple of college students in separate tables, all of them draping their textbooks and readings in front of them, headphones plugged in despite the soothing background music brought by the café’s speakers. Now that you mention it in your head, midterms were coming up in a month and you hadn’t started organizing your revisions. As your mind was filled with the scent of flowers and coffee, Hitch tugged on the sleeves of your blouse, your light-haired friend wordlessly gesturing her head towards one of the empty tables overlooking the window showing the small garden beside the café. You nodded and flashed a thumbs-up, already knowing what Hitch’s order is the number of times she went home with take-outs from this establishment.

Thinking that you should order something for a change, you looked up at the menu board above the counter. With your order listed in your mind, you faced the person manning the counter, ready to relay your order to her. What greeted you, though, wasn’t a smiling cashier, instead, wide gray eyes stared at you with a slacked jaw — irises flecked with an emotion that sent your heart lurching inside your chest. She was a tall girl with muscles in the right places, black hair styled in a pixie cut that made you appreciate her features more. You faintly recalled that she was in one of your majors, which should explain the air of familiarity surrounding her. Her hands on the small notepad hovered over the current lilac paper, her posture rod straight as her breath hitched while staring into you. You weren’t sure what made her react like that so you slightly tilted your head back to look at the booths behind you. Hitch caught your eyes, raising her eyebrow in a silent question. Facing the counter attendant again, you were shocked to see that star-like tears were decorating her eyelashes, chapped lips wobbly. 

It felt like you’ve seen that expression too many times but you were sure this was the first time you saw her face to face.

“Oi, Mikasa, why are you stalling?” A short black-haired man entered the space behind the counter, arms crossed and gaze questioning as he took in the breaking form of his employee. “It’s been a full minute and you still didn’t take the customer’s order.” 

“Can I stay in the breakroom for a while?”

Your breath was taken away at the sound of her voice. It sounded like all four seasons were present in the soft-spoken tone she carried, very different from her tough physical appearance. You were left staring at her back, chest nearly bursting open because of how fast your heart pounded just from that sentence. Images of late-night trysts played in your head; of secret kisses that created an ocean of emotions inside you; of eyes looking at each other with tendrils of hope before the gates open, death beckoning you in its arms; of desperate promises, neither person could ever keep. All of them were so familiar and nostalgic that a swarm of butterflies was starting to infest your ribs and chest, sprouting flowers that clogged your throat from speaking. 

Levi glanced at you, eyes analyzing your form with a hint of concern for his relative and wondering what made Mikasa act like that. “Sure, go ahead, brat, your friends are at the back. Hello, ma’am, I’ll be taking your order.”

“Oh, sure,” you murmured before beginning to list down the food you and Hitch will be indulging in, eyes curiously staring at the girl going inside the breakroom. “Uhm, is she going to be alright?” You tried asking Levi, who only looked at you with a raised eyebrow. “It looks like she had a fright here.”

“It’s the first time I saw her in that state, to be honest,” Levi simply answered, with no room for other discussions. “Your drinks will be served shortly.” He gave you a small gadget, his pointer finger pushing a button on the device, making it light up in a blinding red. “Once your drinks are ready, this will light up and you can get it here on the counter. Thank you for your patronage.”

“Thank you, too.”

It was only when you seated yourself in front of Hitch that you realized Mikasa’s voice sounded like the one always shouting your name in your daydreams, failing to keep the promise of never letting you go.

-

Mikasa was a mess.

First, before waking up for her 7 A.M. class one autumn day, she was haunted by the memories of her previous life (or this is what Armin told her, with him also remembering being born again from a different timeline, another universe altogether rather). In that more outdated version of this world, they were on the constant grapple with these beings called Titans. Her dreams became more complex the more time passed by as these Titans disappeared, replacing with it a looming war between two countries. Her daydreams always resulted in tear-stained cheeks, eyes then finding her best friend who started a mass genocide in their previous lives, Eren. When Mikasa remembered that part of her last life, she would often find herself staring deeply at the side of Eren’s head, resulting in the brown-haired man complaining about her soulless eyes. It looked like Eren didn’t remember it, which nearly drove Mikasa mad. 

Until that day Eren came up to her after a three-hour lecture, all haggard with his man-bun in disarray, and shouting, “I’m so sorry for laughing at you, Mikasa! I had a dream during a lecture of those titan things you and Armin are talking about. I believe you!”

Second, the warmth of somebody was a constant in balancing out the horrors of her daydreams. Among the carnage, a body fitting against hers with the morning rays passing through the slit of the windows was a sight she didn’t want to wake up from. Threads of soft hair tickled her cheek, making way for an unforgettable shade of irises that she compared to the crystals they found underneath the Reiss estate. A smile so vibrant that it paled in comparison to the blue expanse of unknown waters they saw after killing all the Titans in Paradis. The smell of freshly picked flowers lingered in the air, acting like the comforting blanket Mikasa had when she was young. At first, she couldn’t see the face of the person but as the episodes became more vivid, Mikasa finally saw the woman of her dreams. 

Pulchritudinous — that’s what you are.

After that encounter with you in the café, Mikasa immediately talked everything out with her two friends.

“So you’re saying that you kind of knew her but you don’t?” Eren pointed out after a spoonful of ice cream. “This is some conspiracy theory shit right here.”

“Eren,” Armin sighed. “This is not one of those videos you watch at 3 A.M., okay?” The blonde glanced at the last member of their little trio, who was pacing in front of them with a queasy expression on her face. “Mikasa, I know you feel like you’re in a pinch but please calm down.”

Eren leaned forward and took a spoonful of ice cream from the tub on the low table. “It’s no use, Armin. You know Mikasa.” He nodded his head towards the said girl. “Once she enters that state, we can’t do anything about it.”

“I know,” Armin trailed off, dejected.

Mikasa buried her hands through her hair. “This was so unexpected.”

“Clearly,” Eren dryly stated.

The blue-eyed boy beside him instantly hit the back of his head. “Eren!”

Mikasa stopped pacing, not hearing how Eren exclaimed ‘finally’, her face and neck erupting in a warm shade of red that made her two friends exchange a concerned glance. Placing a hand on her pounding chest, she murmured with half-lidded eyes, “She’s much more beautiful than my dreams depicted her to be.”

Armin breathed out a silent ‘oh’ while Eren snickered, “Great, she turned into a simp,” to which the former slapped another hand at the back of the green-eyed boy’s head.

“That explains it,” the black-haired girl exclaimed. “There were times where a voice inside my head tells me to be at this specific place at a specific time.” (“I’m concerned,” Eren stage-whispered to Armin.) “While applying for this university, I had a feeling that I should take up medical sciences. Every time I’m at the campus, I will always find myself in the library after five o’clock and there are instances that I would search the tables. And you guys know how I hate helping Levi in the café.” Eren and Armin nodded as if they were children. “I just realized that she was always there, I can see her now. Why did I miss her when all this time, I was meant to find her? And now that she’s finally in the café right when I told Levi that I felt like helping the shop, I ran away! I’m such an idiot!” Mikasa then sunk on one of the plush chairs, her groans mingling with the gloomy atmosphere she created.

“You’re not an idiot, Mikasa,” Armin told her, to which she replied with an aggravated groan.

“Yeah, you’re not an idiot, you’re just having a gay panic moment,” Eren casually announced. Both of his friends slowly turned their heads toward him. He stared right back, blinking as he shrugged. “You have to admit, I’m not wrong.”

“You’re not helping right now.”

“I’m just stating a fact, Armin!”

The blonde boy rolled his eyes. “So what are you going to do about this, Mikasa?”

“About Eren?”

“No,” Armin shook his head. “Eren will be fine with his two brain cells.”

“Hey, I’m right here.”

Armin rolled his eyes and fixed his gaze on his gray-eyed best friend. “So are you going to tell [Name] that you two are star-crossed lovers pre-destined since your previous lives?”

The confidence she gained the day before during that conversation with her childhood friends dissipated as Mikasa awkwardly stood in the middle of the university’s library, eyes widely staring at you, who was browsing the shelves for the reference material for your papers. She didn’t expect to meet you this suddenly. All she was supposed to do was borrow a reference material and there she realized that the two of you share the same major so most of your schedule line up with one another — the both of you share a free period. Almost as if you were surrounded by a magnetic field, Mikasa went in your direction, her heart matching her footsteps. Meters became feet as she looked at your captivating figure. Even with a shirt tucked inside a pair of jeans, you are still the most beautiful girl inside the library. 

And as you lifted your gaze, your glinting irises meeting her gray ones, Mikasa swore her orbit was waiting for this moment to be tilted to you.

Tears were immediately present in your eyes when she stood in front of you, it was as if you remembered her.

“Hey,” Mikasa breathed shakily, hands gripping the strap of her backpack.

“Hey, starlight.”

That nickname. The one you blurted out when Mikasa invited you stargazing in the meadow beside the Survey Corps Headquarters. You said it suited her because her eyes reminded you of the glow of the stars forming a canopy above you. But for her, you were brighter than any star in the sky, you were an entire cosmos altogether. “You became a part of me the moment I laid my eyes on you in our town. Right then and there — wherever you go, I’ll go. Because I know, I’m a part of you as well.”

“You finally found me.”

You are half of her soul, as the poets say, and the Fates will do everything in their power that it stays like that for eternity. 

[x-x-just-a-little-witchyy-x-x]

Circle Casting

Circle-casting is one of the foundational skills of Wicca and witchcraft. Often, it’s one of the first things that newbies learn to do as part of their training.

But circle-casting is a complex idea, even though the techniques are rather simple. Whether you’re casting a circle for the first time or thousandth time, it never hurts to think about what, exactly, you’re doing and why. In this article, we’ll get “back to basics” on circle-castings, and also consider some of the finer points of building the Witch’s circle.

What is circle-casting?

Circle-casting refers to the practice of setting up a temporary space for magick or ritual. It is, by definition, round. Circle-casting is a term that’s most commonly used in Wiccan traditions, but other magick users may cast circles, as well. The magick circle is a mobile temple, a place apart from the ordinary world where magickal happenings can more easily occur.

Generally speaking, the circle is put up at the beginning of the rite by the leading priest and/or priestess. Solo practitioners cast circles, too. At the end of the ritual, the circle is released. (More on that later.)

A circle is a psychic boundary. You can’t see it with your normal five senses. However, a properly cast circle is detectable energetically and/or clairvoyantly by someone who has those skills. The magick circle is said to extend through the worlds—not just the physical plane, but the astral planes as well.

Why cast a circle?

There all kinds of factors that can interfere with ritual magick: Distractions from the mundane world, the contrary wills of others, chaotic entities that feed off the Witch's efforts, just to name a few. Casting a circle is one way to shut out disruptive influences and stay focused on the work. Magickal trance can be a psychically vulnerable state, so many Witches cast the circle with psychic protection in mind.

Just as important as the circle’s outer barrier is its inner one. Magickal energy—like all energy that we know about—tends to bounce around and scatter off into the Universe. Motion is its natural habit. The whole point of ritual is to concentrate some of that energy temporarily, for a purpose. A circle allows you to gather more energy up and hold onto it longer. If your work involves the evocation of spirits or deities, a well-built circle offers them a cozy place to land for the duration of the rite.

We can summarize all this by saying a magick circle has two main purposes: To keep disturbances out, and to keep the energy of the ritual in. This is certainly a vast oversimplification. So we’ll do it one worse and say the circle is a tool to make your magick stronger.

I’ve heard the circle described as a vessel, a workbench, a fence, a welcome mat, a spaceship, a gate, a bubble, and many other metaphors. Like the story of the blind men and the elephant, all of these words describe something about the circle, without really being a complete explanation of what it is.

How do you cast a circle?

There are simple and complex ways to cast a circle (and all points in between). You can cast a circle with tools or without, either aloud or silently. All methods of circle-casting require concentration or visualization, and a commitment to the belief that the circle is real.

A traditional circle has four cardinal points, set equidistant around the circle’s circumference. They are linked to the four directions, the four Elements, and the Wiccan seasonal calendar. I think of the Quarters as ancient intelligences that appear in many of the world's religions. If you prefer, you can think of them as tent poles that balance the circle’s shape and energy.

These are all common practices in circle-casting: Visualizing the boundaries of the circle, walking the circumference of the circle, cutting a barrier with a knife or sword, calling the Quarters, lighting candles, placing objects around the edge of the circle, ritual cleansing of the space inside. Your casting may use a few of these elements, or all of them.

The following is an example of a very simple circle-casting technique: Visualize a ring of light at the edges of your ritual space. The light burns and purifies the space within the circle. Take some deep breaths, and focus on the pulse of energy within your body. Feel the heat and light of your own energy expand with every exhalation. That light also has a fiery, purifying effect on the space between you and the circle. When you feel the warm edges of your own energy reach that boundary of the circle, clap your hands together and say, “As I will, the circle is cast.”

Some people prefer to cast the circle with the aid of various tools: The athame, a length of cord, stones or candles for each of the quarters. These items can be very helpful in setting up the boundaries of the circle.

The larger and more public the ritual, the more tools tend to be used, since attendees may not be accustomed to the ins and outs of circle-casting. Large public circles often use multiple callers, altars at the Quarters, chants and written evocations to help make the circle more visible.

There is no method that is better than the others. The strength of the circle will depend on the will of the participants and other factors (such as the psychic geography of the place where the circle is cast).

Is circle-casting necessary for magick?

No, certainly not. The magick circle is not used in every tradition. Norse, Kemetic (Egyptian), and many shamanic and folk magick practitioners work just fine without one. Circle-casting is a useful technology, not a hard-and-fast rule.

The Witch’s magick circle is a legacy from the grimoires of Western ceremonial magick, what is sometimes called Solomonic magick. Its original purpose was to protect the conjuror from demons and fallen angels, and to assert the authority of God over such rebellious spirits. This commanding, adversarial approach to magick is now out of step with how many magicians view their relationship with the spiritual world.

Among Wiccans and others who do cast circles, most will say that not every act of magick requires a full-blown circle-casting. Meditation and devotional practices (such as giving offerings) often take place outside of the formal circle. Experienced Witches may choose to cast a circle only when they feel they need the extra protection and focus.

Can a circle cast itself? This is a fascinating topic! While circle-casting is far from universal, the concept of the aura, or energetic field around the body, has traction within many more spiritual paths. Many people have observed or felt this permeable barrier of energy. If you think of the magick circle as an extension of the aura, circle-casting becomes a lot less Wicca-specific.

When working magick with others outside of a formal circle, I’ve sometimes noticed the collected energy take on a circle-like shape. (Or a blob, at least). Other have commented on this phenomenon, too. It may be that the magick circle is something that forms spontaneously as the energy of the participants knits itself together.

How large should the circle be? What shape?

Nine feet in diameter is the traditional size for the Wiccan circle. Nine, or three times three, is an important number in Wicca. The customary nine-foot ritual cord, folded in half, is anchored in the center and walked around to trace out the circle’s edge. The resulting circle will be just over 27 feet in circumference.

The nine-foot circle is not a commandment, just a suggestion. Feel free to tailor your circle to your needs and the available space.

How small is too small? The circle should be large enough to completely contain the Witch and his or her ritual items. You don’t want to accidentally penetrate the edges of the circle while gesturing or reaching during ritual. For group rituals, you want to leave enough space for people to maintain a comfortable distance from each other. (If that is in fact the goal…no judgement here.)

If you’re working in a bedroom or other small space, the nine-foot circle may not be practical. Cast a circle that fits the space. It’s better to have a circle that’s small and round, rather than a larger one with boundaries that extend through walls, furniture, etc. Ideally, the circle should include the altar (if there is one), ritual tools and nothing else—no other items that could pose a hazard or distraction during the ritual.

Theoretically, there’s no upper limit to the size of a magick circle. But smaller is often better. I’ve worked with groups that cast circles to the edge of a building or field to miminize the disruption from people wandering in or out. These circles are not very round, and they don’t have sharp boundaries. They tend to dissolve well before the ritual is over. Smaller, tighter circles are just easier to visualize and maintain.

Now that we’ve covered circle size, here’s a few words about shape. A lot of people visualize the cast circle as a ring of energy laying on the ground like a hula hoop. Some people visualize it as a vertical tube (or stack of circles) standing up like a paper towel roll. Some people visualize it as a sphere, extending into the ground and up overhead. Some go with a cone, with the circle at its base. That’s all fine. It’s really up to you and how many dimensions of visualization you’re comfortable with.

Circles are made of energy, and there are subtlely different energetic functions to each of these shapes. As you grow more experienced with circle magick, you may find that some shapes are better than others for certain tasks. If you’re working with a group, make sure you’re on the same page, shape-wise.

However, don’t worry about the people who say that a simple two-dimensional circle is inferior or ineffective or dangerous. That’s just wankery. Fundamentally, it’s always intention that matters. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that nobody’s ever died because their ritual circle didn’t have a lid on top. If you intend your circle to be impenetrable and set it up that way, no baddies are going to be hopping the fence like goats in a garden…trust me.

What does being in circle feel like?

Being in a really solid circle is a bit like having an orgasm. You can read about it and get some ideas…but when you have one, you’ll know.

People experience all different kinds of sensations while standing within a ritual circle. Heightened sensations of energy and a distorted sense of time are common. Words, images, and objects within the circle may take on special significance. The boundaries of the circle can feel quite strange—giving off heat, resistance, or a tingling feeling when you approach them. It’s also normal for objects beyond the boundary of the circle to appear hazy or out-of-focus.

Here are some notes about standing inside magickal circles:

Being in circle is like having a lucid dream. It feels real and not-real at the same time.

Being in circle is like being wrapped up in a blanket that smells like you.

Being in circle is like being in an airplane cabin with the pressure turned up too high.

Being in circle is like being very tall and still with your feet deep in the ground and your head among the star.

Being in circle is like looking at an alien planet through frosted glass.

Being in circle is like being able to move while the rest of the world is frozen.

How do you take down a circle?

When the ritual has ended, it’s time for the circle to be taken down. Some Witches call this “opening” the circle, while some call it “closing” the circle. Both phrases mean basically the same thing. The language can be confusing, so I usually seek out other words to describe the dissolution of a magick circle.

Releasing the circle allows the energies contained to dissipate, and the room or patch of ground to return to its pre-ritual state. There are many techniques that can be used to help the energy to disperse, such as ringing a bell or visualizing the walls of the circle dissolving. Gathering ritual tools and putting them away also helps scatter any lingering energy. The sensation of taking down a circle can vary in intensity, from a slow fade to a dramatic rush as the circle collapses back into the aether.

If a formal circle has been cast, formally un-casting it is good form. Often this means following the circle-casting ritual in reverse. For example, say the circle was cast by walking the circumference clockwise, then calling the Quarters, then lighting a candle on the central altar. You could un-cast it by blowing out the candle, releasing the Quarters in reverse order, and finally by walking the circumference counter-clockwise. Ideally, the person or persons who cast the circle should be in charge of taking it down. (If necessary, another person can take over.)

What if you fail to properly shut down the magick circle? It will eventually fade away on its own, usually within minutes or hours. Ley lines, water features, and heavy foot traffic are some of the things that can cause the circle to fade away faster. Temple furnishings, buried crystal or metal deposits, and regular use of an area can slow the dissipation of the circle’s structure. Using a pendulum or dowsing rods can help you detect the presence of lingering energy in a ritual space.

The cast circle is never more than a temporary psychic construction. However, leaving an unattended circle is a weak coda to your magickal working. It also can leave an open portal through which unwanted entities can travel. For best results, always pack up your circle when you’re done.

Information found on: https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/circle-casting-basics-all-you-need-to-know-about-magick-circles

[undertaker1827]

For your Halloween prompt list, can you do 2 for Sebastian and Claude (separately) where the reader convinces them to wear a maid dress for the day? 👀

No worries at all, hope you enjoy!! This was hilarious to write

2] Dressing up (costumes, cosplay and the like)

Masterlist

-

Claude

You want him to what? Why?

Exactly what purpose is this humiliation tactic supposed to serve

And ‘Because it would be funny’ really wasn’t the answer he was looking for

Be prepared for literally no verbal answer, just the slow raising of one eyebrow and a sudden feeling of being very small

You start laughing - nervous laughing - in an attempt to cover the flush creeping up your cheeks and how embarrassed you are beginning to feel

However, instead of a straight out, deadpan ‘no’, which is what you were expecting, you get instead a “Are you being serious?”

It’s said in that monotone voice of his so you can’t tell exactly what he is thinking, equally you can’t manage that most of the time - it’s something of a goal you set yourself to get his expression and or tone of voice to change

Frankly you were expecting at least some sort of emotion to show itself at this request

A huff emits from your partner’s lips

Well that counts as something, right? Better than-

A chuckle

Your eyes widen and your head shoots up in surprise, but your eyes tell you what you heard was indeed correct

His lips were quirked upwards at the corner and his eyes slightly narrowed; a hand brought up to his face in an attempt to cover it

It happens again when he takes in the look on your features, utter shock and disbelief

What shocks you more is when he gently pushes his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and steps closer to you to rest his hands on your waist

And then says yes

You’re sorely tempted to ask who is standing on front of you and what have they done with Claude

“This is perhaps one of the most ridiculous things I have been asked to do during my time in the human realm,” you were already aware that amounted to a good few centuries, “but fine. If and only if it would serve to amuse you.”

You couldn’t keep the cheeky grin off your lips

“It definitely would”

Getting an outfit big enough to successfully fit him was the first issue, the second was convincing him to put it on in the morning and wear it for the whole day

“I doubt many dress up for Halloween until the evening, afternoon if it involves children”

You tell him that yes, people definitely do dress up earlier than that

What finally tips him over is you saying that you’ll put your costume on as well

Which turns out to be a matching maid dress

You’ve successfully confused the demon more than anything else, but he does actually wear the costume for the day

Sebastian

Sebastian looks about as confused as you’ve ever seen him when you make your request

His eyebrows draw together almost comically as his gaze flicks between your eyes, working out whether you were joking or not

Evidently you weren’t

You laugh to cover up your nervousness as he just kind of stares at you, grinning as you wait for your reply

“May I enquire as to why?” The demon asks in the end, amusement now starting to bubble just under the surface of his straight face

You just shrug lightly, smile growing, and tell him you think it would be really funny

Sebastian steps towards you and wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you close to him

You rest your hands on his shoulders and keep eye contact with him

“You think it would be funny,” he repeats back to you, raising a teasing eyebrow as you nod slowly

“Then what would I get to amuse me in return?”

You open your mouth to answer, then falter, hesitating as you ponder what exactly he would want you to do

“I’ll wear whatever costume you want?” You ask, mentally crossing your fingers and hoping he doesn’t pick anything too ridiculous

The sudden, decidedly evil grin you get makes you question that thought

What he decides on in the end (after multiple dramatic pauses for effect) is to get you to dress up like a butler

Not too bad all things considered - you were expecting to end up wearing something far more ridiculous and less Halloweeny

That said, when it turns out you want him to wear the costume the whole day, Sebastian’s conditions change

You have to also wear your costume for the whole day, but on top of that, you have to play butler to him

You can’t help but laugh when he says it, wondering what Ciel would think if he were around or happened to find out about your deal

It seems a comparatively small price to pay though, so you agree to it quickly

And that was how you ended up spending Halloween doing all the things Sebastian wanted to which you had previously disagreed on

He wanted a cat and so did you, but you didn’t think there would be enough time for you to look after one

Therefore you went to a local shelter and came back with two cats, Sebastian insisting the two of you would be able to look after them

He knew how much you loved Halloween and wanted to treat you to an awesome grave decoration, one you’d previously told him was too expensive

If Sebastian got weird looks from people, he really couldn’t care less

He just carried on regardless

You got home again in the early afternoon, ready to start preparing for trick or treaters

[pepperonitimeline]

There is an interesting emphasis on timelines in Steven Universe

but like. Why?

Hypothesis: Steven Universe is made up of multiple timelines, but shown in an order that makes the events seem linear. read part 2 here!

I'm not the first person to speculate this at all. A lot of this stuff has been pointed out by @dogcopter​ @arrozbrillante​ @stevenutheories and many others on various platforms!

I just gathered the most conspicuous "evidence" into 1 post. If you’re interested in SU theory and analysis you should check out their blogs. :o) This was as short as I could make it..

And a big thank you to @love-takes-work for her podcast summaries!!! 

So, most ostensibly there’s Garnet, who can see multiple futures. In Pool Hopping she begins to call her visions timelines specifically.

Garnet: In this timeline, we do the opposite of that. Hey, you! Have a pizza!

Steven: Hey, Vidalia's house is around here. Let's bring her the last pie.

Garnet: Now, that would be nice. She must be upset that her son was taken into space by those Homeworld Gems. (referring to the events of I Am My Mom)

Steven: You mean Onion? He isn't in space. He's right over there. *points*

Garnet: Sorry, I-I must be thinking of a different timeline.

-

Garnet: My bad. I was sure we were in the pepperoni timeline.

-

Garnet: It's important to keep in mind that all these horrible things did happen to you in alternate timelines. Safety is fun.

In Steven and The Stevens:

Yeah

It was confirmed on the podcast that the Steven we see from that episode on is a different Steven than the one from episodes 1-21. In “The Fantasy of Steven Universe” Sugar explains:

"I think, early on, we knew for sure what we wanted to do was to create episodes that feel self-contained but give you a new piece of information or change the characters fundamentally. So, Steven and the Stevens, is tight but Steven does change fundamentally after having that experience. He's not the same- in THAT case he's LITERALLY not the same character..."

It’s muffled because they're all laughing but right after they say this Matt Burnett goes “He died.” 

Link to the episode

Love-takes-work also has a text summary of the episode

But something I haven't seen discussed very much is the time travel chase scene. Granted it’s very blink-and-you’ll miss it, there are some Stevens who witness the other Steven’s fighting but that don’t end up in the Sea Shrine at the end.

Way back in 2015 @stevenutheories already did the math as to how many alternate timelines may have stemmed from the time shenanigans: 3 to 5. Not counting the original one who is definitively gone. 

Technically quantum mechanics don’t work like that and those Stevens should have been Thanos’d too. I’m not going to pretend I understand physics, that is just what I’ve been told by someone who does. But then again the magic time thingy wasn’t bound by rules of real-life physics in the first place… so ??

Let’s cross-examine SATS’ accompanying KBCW post.

“At any given moment, if you asked me what I was thinking about, the answer would be one of two things: katana swords, or THE POSSIBILITY OF ALTERNATE TIMELINES RUNNING PARALLEL TO OUR OWN!

Proving the existence of these timelines can be pretty tricky, even for a seasoned paranormal investigator such as myself.  An inter-temporal incursion caused by the momentary weakening of the time-space continuum doesn’t really photograph well.  And all the cross dimensional time travelers I know don’t want to go on the record about their experiences.  Frankly, the only thing I can submit as evidence of alternate timelines is the fact that THEY ARE PROBABLY JUST SO COOL AND AWESOME THAT THEY HAVE TO BE REAL.

Think about it!  What about a universe where that asteroid missed Earth and we had DINOSAURS for pets instead of dogs?  Or a universe where someone was like “Hey, zeppelins are way cooler than planes, let’s just do that!”  Or a universe where AN ALTERNATE VERSION OF ME CAN GROW A FULL BEARD?!  What an amazing life that Ronaldo must have… in THIS stupid reality I have a really hard time getting my moustache to connect to the rest of my facial hair and it’s incredibly frustrating.”

KBCW and Ronaldo’s commentary in general are usually half-right. Like the “Polymorphic Sentient Rocks are aliens who want to hollow out the earth… to make it lighter so they can transport it back to their star system” thing.

I can't help but think the "Dinosaurs for pets instead of dogs" is a reference to the live action Super Mario Bros. movie- where the meteor that killed the dinosaurs sent them to a parallel universe instead, causing mammals to go instinct in said universe. (Don’t know about the zeppelins.)

And then, and THEN there’s Keep Beach City Safe, KBCW’s more obscure rival blog run by (most likely) Onion under the pseudonym "The Observer". Apparently he’s planted cameras all over town to record Steven’s adventures. There's also a "Recruiter" and second mystery narrator calling themselves "Marco Díez", it's a whole thing,

Assuming it’s real, here’s one of the posts I think are the most relevant.

“I have been on zero gem hunts over the years, and what i have learned over the years is: always be prepared for anything, and everything. Connie’s already knows that and this her first mission. I, wasn’t so fortunate on my first mission. It was a crisp Autumn morning, - with notes of cinnamon in the air. I was the mountains, the air temperature, humidity and level elevation levels, were perfect.

Then, I noticed the creature, it was charging me. I tried to evade the gem monster, but it just kept on coming, and coming! There was no escape! And then- Wait! I just remembered. I never been on a gem hunt! So where did I get that story from?”

This was posted on August 1st alongside Gem Hunt… and the day after the Greg The Babysitter post, which was deleted earlier this year, right after people started interacting with it again.

Being a Babysitter is hard, especially if your Greg Universe. This guy, in the picture above me. Wait did I just become self aware? Hey, I did! Haha, I always knew I was more to me than just a narrator. Actually this is the first time I thought about, Because I'm self aware baby! Woohoo, yeah! Wait, what was I talking about? Ah yes, Gregory. So this Greg guy,Has to Babysit this cool baby, because he owes her for letting him mooch off her. And Greg, is like totally irresponsible, he some how lets the baby climb a Ferris Wheel. How does that even happen? This dude is so not getting payed. And what's up with his hair!?!

So here it is, another story, told by Greg, about his past self. I wonder how many times I started a paragraph with the word so. And when he was telling this story, we got some clues that could finally tell use when all of this started. We know about the gems and what happened  thousands of years ago, but we don't know about the hems and  what happened thousands of years ago. They wee being very vague about the whole thing. Almost intentionally, well it was obsessively intentional.

?

There are subtle inconsistencies in Beach City's layout. ("The Observer" points this out, too.)

Remember Danny’s? In Bubble Buddies and Joking Victim, there’s a shop named Danny’s Salt Water Taffy.

Then in Watermelon Steven it’s gone.

As for a prop: Chaaaaps used to just be Chips

That’s from Monster Buddies, the episode right after Steven and The Stevens.

It's just as likely someone on the show simply thought the background/chips looked a little too busy or whatever. But re-doing stuff costs a lot of time and money, yknow? Neither of which is the animation industry very generous about. Did you know even props have model sheets?

Of course it could just be another brand of chips. Maybe Utz got involved somehow.

Lastly I want to highlight a quote from a Rebecca Sugar interview regarding SU ending.

“The story is continuing off screen and I do know what happens next, at least in certain timelines, for the characters,” Sugar says. “But I would have to decide how and when I’d want to dig into that, or if it’s best to give them their privacy.”

yeah so like what the fuck

[zedwards]

MOVIE DATES WITH STRAY KIDS

stray kids x reader

genre: fluff

word count: 1.8k

warnings: intended for male reader, but can be read as gender neutral; my first fic 👉👈 im nervous; lowercase aesthetic; does “bastard” count as a swear word..?

i hope you enjoy this little gift :)

bang chan

he likes romantic comedies

tbh being chan’s s/o would feel like a romcom of its own

since he doesn’t like crowds, your movie dates together usually wouldn’t involve actually going to the movies

instead you’d probably both opt to stay in for the night and watch a movie on the couch

under multiple blankets

in each other’s arms

hugs and cuddles

with the occasional kiss on the top of your head

it’s so soft

it’s chan :)))

he does the little claps at the end of the movie

because happy endings ^–^

y’know those awkward scenes where the main couple meets for the first time?

he likes to point out which character you were most similar to when the two of you first met

“i didn’t know you were in this movie!”

“you look so different! i could hardly recognize you!”

he’s such a dork

all your movie nights would end in one of three ways:

1.) you falling asleep in his arms

2.) him falling asleep holding you close (yeah not really, this man doesn’t sleep that much T_T)

or 3.) you both make it through the movie, and one of you says something like

“this is nice...i wish we could just stay like this”

and so you both (in theory) fall asleep right where you are

either way, chan is the best boyfriend and neither of you know what you did to deserve each other

lee know

he’d get you to go see a horror movie

even if you protest, he’d manage to convince you somehow

pokes fun at you every time you get scared

during a suspenseful part in the movie, he’d suddenly put his hands on your shoulders and shake you (lightly) out of nowhere, just to startle you

and he’d have to stifle his giggles because your reaction is just too priceless

absolutely relishes in how you never let go of his arm

like ever

seriously, his arm might as well be an extension of your body at this point

he may act like he’s annoyed

but he loves it

cuz he knows it’s because you feel safe with him

and if you hide your face in the crook of his neck

he’d get this look on his face...

something between an evil smirk and an amused grin

why? because his plan is working

plot twist: the whole reason he chose to see a horror movie with you was so that you would cling to him

surprise!! >:]

but even if you catch on, he’ll never admit it

tsundere

“did you even see any of the movie?”

you just kinda grumble in response, still latched onto his arm

“i can’t believe it... i so generously paid for your ticket, only for you to hide your face the whole ti- OW!”

you jab him in the side with your elbow give him a “love tap” :)

but it’ll take more than that to get him to stop teasing you about it

he’s a cocky bastard but you love him to death for it

seo changbin

superhero movie!!!

like something from the mcu

seeing him get so excited/invested in the movie??

wholesome

but he might get a little too excited

in other words, going to the movies with changbin is an...interactive experience

meaning that he talks at the movie

not to the movie, but at the movie

like...he talks at the characters on screen

as if they can hear him

honestly it’s kinda cute

but occasionally you have to remind him to keep his voice down

“HE TRIED TO TELL YOU NOT TO TOUCH THE STONE”

“shhhh alright calm down a bit-”

“...AND NOW YOU DEAD”

“changbin i love you but please don’t get us kicked out of the theater”

10/10 would have his arm around you throughout the movie

even if his arm goes numb, he’d refuse to let anything stop him

“changbin, you don’t have t-”

“CUDDLES.”

lowkey feels like a pillow

bc he beefy

on very rare occasions he might fall asleep during the movie

if he does end up dozing off and you catch him in the act, he’d deny it profusely

he likes to spontaneously slip his hand into yours :)

and lace your fingers together :))

you’re holding hands now :)))

his presence is just so warm and fuzzy and you make each other so happy

hwang hyunjin

THIS MAN

the funnest(?) most fun bf in existence

he’s definitely the type to try and smuggle outside food into the theater

he insists that he’s inconspicuous about it

and he tries to be

but he’s not :)

“uh... hyunjin, why are you wearing two hoodies?”

“i uh... i’m... cold?”

“so you’re sticking bags of microwaveable popcorn in between your sweatshirts...to keep warm?”

*visibly sweating* “i can explain...”

ok ok

so y’all seeing a comedy

why?

because HIS LAUGH OMG

it’s so bubbly and contagious

so naturally, you’d both be laughing up a storm at the back of the theater

and sometimes it’s because of the movie

but most of the time it’s because of the side comments the two of you keep making to each other

and it doesn’t help that he keeps making these ridiculous observations about the characters in the movie

“what’s up with that guy?”

“what about him?”

“why is he built like a refrigerator?”

about halfway through the movie, you both reach that delirious state where literally anything and everything becomes funny

even if it’s not supposed to be funny

...especially if it’s not supposed to be funny

the two of you? lowkey hyenas

long story short, you’re both asked to leave the theater not even two hours into the film :)

han jisung

action!! movie!!

finishes the popcorn within the first ten minutes of the film

that is, if he doesn’t scarf it all down during the previews

he talks through the entIRE THING

he’s always got something to say

it’s like watching the director’s commentary version of a movie

but instead of the director talking about the film-making process

it’s jisung muttering nonsense in your ear

sometimes pertaining to the movie

and other times...

“hey did i ever tell you about the time i saw a seagull eating garbage?”

...yeah, other times it’s...not

either way, you don’t mind

because you aren’t really paying much attention to the movie anyways

you’re too busy admiring your boyfriend

how could you not?

the way he’s on the edge of his seat, giving the movie his full attention...

the light from the screen flickering dimly on his face, highlighting his gentle features...

you’re the luckiest person in the world, no doubt

his eyes light up whenever something particularly cool/badass happens in the movie

but he also gets startled by the explosions every now and then

when that happens, you just look at each other for a moment

and then burst into a fit of giggles

“stoooppp!! it was loud, ok??”

you just hum in response and rest your head on his shoulder

y’know that thing he does where like...

he’s giggling, but he has something he wants to say, so he keeps trying to talk?

but his words keep getting cut off by his own laughter?

yeah... that’s what he’s doing

he’s adorable

lee felix

animated movie

a firm believer that you’re never too old to enjoy cartoons

he never lost that child-like energy/enthusiasm, which is part of what makes him such a gem

so of course, when the new disney movie came out, he knew he had to go see it with you

he would definitely load up on snacks from concessions

if you don’t stop him, he’s gonna be buying two giant things of popcorn and at least five different kinds of candy

and when he walks back to you after paying, he’d just smile brightly from behind the mountain of junk food in his hands like

“snacks :D!!!!!”

seriously though, try to keep track of how much popcorn he eats

bc he might overeat and get a stomachache :((

obviously he can take care of him self, cuz he’s an adult

but like

he loves when you look out for him

because he knows just how much you care about him

sunshine boy :((

y’all already know how much of a cuddle bug this man is

so of course that means lots of cute, affectionate gestures during the movie

skinship

holding hands

you resting your head on his shoulder

and him resting his head on top of your head

and most importantly SNUGGLES

snuggles are a must

for him, movie dates are just an excuse to be extra touchy with you

even though he never needs an excuse to get cuddles whenever he wants

because c’mon

it’s felix

what are you gonna do, say no?

kim seungmin

murder mystery film

tends not to talk all that much during movies

he’d just be so completely engrossed in the movie that he’d forget about his surroundings

but that’s not to say he won’t hold your hand or drape his arm over your shoulders

every now and then you can catch him leaning forward in his seat

with his mouth slightly ajar

it’s so endearing

but if for whatever reason you want to get his attention...

heh...

yeah, good luck with that

you’d have to maybe give his hand a lil squeeze to get his attention

and at first he’d just turn his head in your direction, keeping his eyes glued to the movie

but if you gave his hand another squeeze, he’d snap out of it

“psst...seungmin”

“mm.”

“hey, seungmin?”

“huh? yeah?”

“i love you”

if that doesn’t make his heart SWELL—

his dazed expression would quickly shift into one of pure elation and fondness

he might not respond verbally

but he’d gently bring your hand up to his lips

press a soft kiss atop your knuckles

and then lower your hand again without letting go, turning his attention back to the movie

but that bright smile of his would never falter for even a moment

he loves you too

so so much :)

yang jeongin

another one for romantic comedies

he likes it when there’s a little less “rom” and slightly more “com”

and so do you

because it means you get to hear his laugh more

oh god...

his laugh

the little giggles in between the short gasps for air...

so cute

“no. i’m not cute.”

he is very cute

probably won’t initiate any skinship

but if you do, he will absolutely go along with it

sometimes he’ll nod off in the middle of a movie

and then wake up during the credits, completely disoriented

“where am i”

“you fell asleep”

“huh??”

“you drooled a little on my shoulder, you goof”

unlike hyunjin, he’s really good at sneaking food into the theaters

like really really good

almost to the point that it’s scary

usually people try to sneak in popcorn or candy or maybe soda

well not jeongin

“hey, you want some?”

“what the- HOW DID YOU GET A BUCKET OF FRIED CHICKEN IN HERE”

“:]”

he’s not telling

like or reblog if you enjoyed ^^ feedback is always welcome and very much appreciated!