#like yes of course I get it of course it's a funny meme image

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 42

Colors! THEY RETURN! This one was inspired by two things.

Thing number one, I really, really, REALLY, REALLY do not like Mikan’s Anniversary Outfit. Junko's? Amazing. Mikan’s? It fills me with unbearable sorrow, why did they do that to her. I generally try to live a life of positivity instead of bitching 24/7. I’ve had people assume that I just like everything, however I do feel hatred, I just choose to not make that everyone else’s issue. That said, I cannot pretend that looking at this outfit on Mikan makes me very mad.

So I tried my own take. Admittedly feels too simplistic compared to some of the other designs, however I still feel happy with it. The primary inspiration was Mikan’s own hair along with her bandages. A dress that wraps around her, all purple of course, throw in some jewelry and my desperate attempt at fancy shoes, and you’ve got a cute Mikan dress.

The other inspiration for this is another VanadisValentine Fic! It’s been awhile since I shilled for her work.

The Marvelous Makeover of Mikan Tsumiki

An absolute classic of Soft Junkan, in my definitely unbiased opinion at least. I didn’t go the whole way giving Mikan a haircut or makeup and all that jazz, I simply wanted to put her in a nice dress courtesy of Junko. But the vibe was definitely inspired by that fic rest assured.

Another fun fact, well not really fun. This is another pic I edited after the fact, not for colors, I did in fact color this from the getgo. However when looking back on this art I really did not like how i drew Junko. I made her chin look fucking awful. So I edited it to make it actually look nice. So now the only way to see that original version is through a (of all things) Jujutsu Kaisen meme video made by a friend of mine, EpicLinkSam (enjoy that completely dead tumblr account link). Below is the video, and further below is the individual images making the bulk of the vid.

and yes that is my voice. someday i will voice train.

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

This is the closest you're getting to a sneak peak at a future day btw.

For context the Junkan Folder, where I kept everything for and relating to the project was just a thing I found funny. Because how many people just have a massive folder of just Junkan art.

I've got another Junkan meme that I can't show off yet because it has a bunch of spoilers for future days.

[recklessmoss]

I really need to reiterate how if you little fruits make an ai image just for the sake of a funny tumblr post, you are part of the problem that so many artists are rightfully upset over.

[anonymouscheeses]

more obvious shit I wanted to point out but it's more than last time uhhh pt.2 (spoilers for dad beat dad and maybe welcome to heaven. Maybe?)

I love that Charlie just randomly goes into demon form sometimes like here ehhehehe. Also can I just say I love Charlie so much?? She is my favorite and I love her especially in this episode because it feels like the same optimistic Charlie but she was just put in a bad situation. I relate to her a bit TOO much, almost down to every detail like wow. You'll understand later once I get there. But just wow...

LOOK AT THIS FUNNY LITTLE MAN. SPOODER DUST <3 also. Live [image] reaction. Someone make that into a reaction image 🙏🙏

HONEY!!! NEW MEME TEMPLATE JUST DROPPED. (Aka the one guy going crazy trying to explain the stuff on the board iykyk)

OMG... THAT CANT BE CHARLIE... NOT CHARLIE'S EMO PHASE PLEASE BAHAHAHHAHAHA (also love that Lucifer has kept it all these years, if Charlie knew I think she'd be extremely embarrassed. Vaggie would love it probably xd)

HE IS SO GOOFY I CANT- I LOVE HIM SO MUCH ALREADY!!! NEED.

Broskie got character development and is NICE?!? I LOVE THAT SMMM YALL.... LOOK AT HIM!! I am very delusional yes, but I will take this over ass development(cough. Vaggie's "story" in ep 3. Cough).

Imagine this. *holds your hand carefully to help you calm down while talking to your father you haven't really wanted to talk to.* lesbian type stuff ngl 🤯 (relatable)

Angel looking at the gays while being a gay too. HE'S BEING SO KIND TO CHARLIE UGGHH I CANTTT!!(POS) NODDING HIS HEAD, SMILING TO HER, ALSO TRYING TO HELP CALM HER DOWN. I MAY BE ASS AT SOCIAL CUES BUT I NOTICED THIS ONE!! YAA

*SHE IS STILL HOLDING HER HAND. CHARLIE'S ALSO SWINGING IT AROUND NERVOUSLY. I can never get tired of them and will make art soon just you wait.*

COMMANDER VAGGIE! I love that she acts like this is a camp full of tiny kids and honestly? That's not too far off. Sir pentious is at the ready! (glad he's here more often in the episode, thought he would just get sidelined after his first episode but gladly no!) Angel is just surprised. Husk spilled his drink, ON WHITE FUR NO LESS! Niffty of course is on the floor face first. Charlie is just happy to be there yippee!

What is this?? I have no idea what the hell it is at all. Bro is just peepin- it doesn't look like Alastor, even in demon form. And... I can't think of anyone else who could be this. Anyone have ideas or maybe it's foreshadowing? Maybe it was revealed in the 6th episode I don't know I haven't watched it yet. (I am a freak. I don't binge I give myself a day to watch a single episode. Most of the time uhhh.)

WE LOVE A SHORT KING. I LOVE THAT. I LOVE HIM. THE EVERYTHING. HE IS EVERYTHING. LET ME STRANGLE HIM PLEASE. (Lillith and Lucifer's dynamic is 100% Gomez and Morticia but a little more silly short man)

"OH WOW! AN OLDER MAN WHO GIVES ME FATHERLY CARE!" *STARTS TO FUCKING CRY*

I FEEL YOU CHARLIE WAAAGHHH

Oh and there goes the silly guy again! Atp I'm thinking it may be the gal some people been talking about that they've been hinting since the pilot. I forgot her name but she's said to be the big bad of season 1 or probably 2. Not sure if that's what it's trying to imply but here's my little no-thought idea

Lucifer, no...

LUCIFER NO!! THIS IS SUCH AN ADORABLE RESPONSE TO CHARLIE DATING A WOMAN. (ADOPT ME)

AND THEN THE HUG! I GET IM LOOKING TOO MUCH INTO THIS ONE SILLY SCENE BUT I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH AND WANT THIS SO BAD IN MY LIFE.

Niffty really said, "Yes, I do the cleaning."

Get yourself a taller king who is a short king but compared to you is a tall king

Say what you will, but I genuinely want more dad Alastor, someone make an au before I do plsss and @ me 🙏🙏

alright.. now this is where it starts to be relatable and hurt my heart... yayy.... needing any sort of parent figure that actually cares about you than the actual parent who is rarely there? WOWZA! SAME CHARLIE <3 <3 (SO FAR VERY ACCURATE FROM SOMEONE THAT IS IN THE SAME SITUATION)

Alastor is letting her off kindly, atleast in his way. He may be pissed off she brought a shark gang to the hotel and put it on fire, but they were still close friends. With anyone else he would absolutely either murder them or have severely traumatized the person. She's the exception, although I don't think he'd let it off the hook so easily if there were a next time.

A father-daughter embrace! :,)

(This is gonna be messy asf) He wants to know who she is as a person. He always has, and that's definitely obvious, but from a person inside this, they may not know themselves what the other is thinking. To Charlie it was like he never cared and just wanted an excuse to not see her again, acting like he was truly busy as in the start where he made the rubber duck that breathed fire. Sure. But Charlie saw it as him finding ways to not interact with her again. The only times they talk was when it was related to business stuff or other things of the sort. Let me just say this song... is by far my favorite, including the episode. Sure, it's got problems it's own, but this extremely accurate portrayal of what my own situation with one of my parents just stole my entire soul. Yeah I got a bit of tears about to come out, BUT NOPE! NOT TODAY! I don't ever cry during shows or movies so if I ever get teary-eyed, YOU DID SOMETHING. THAT SOMETHING BEING GOOD. This episode was emotional and connected with me on a deep level that I dont think any film has ever done to me, which is weird because I've been actively trying to find one, any one that does. Then to find it in an indie company from a creator who has achieved the dreams that I myself want to one day? That's fucking amazing.

FORESHADOWING! FROESHADOWING! FORESHADOWING! VAGGIE EX-ANGEL THEORY MUST BE CANON AND IF ITS NOT I WILL TEAR MYSELF LIMB FROM LIMB WITH A CROWBAR. LETS GO TO HEAVENNN!!! TOMORROW! BECAUSE THE DAY I PUBLISH THIS WILL BE TOMORROW(FOR YOU TODAY) BUT TOMORROW FOR YOU ILL POST THE NEXT WHAT I CAUGHT SHENANIGANS AGAIN! SEE YA!

[sleepiestwizard]

okay im gonna put all my thoughts about the hotguy zinethology on here based on the incoherent ramblings my friends received while i was reading it

(obviously spoilers below the cut)

okay so first of all the first part was SO fucking funny i cried laughing multiple times

the first time i saw cute guy i SCREAMED

HOTGUY TRYING TO GET CUTEGUY TO JOIN HIS UNION AND GRIAN JUST GOING. NAH. WAS SO FUNNY

@cornpapers draws scar SO pretty

mumblr is SUCH a funny name 10/10

the "dont you think cuteguy and hotguy having matching names and outfits is queerbaiting" post is SO FUNNY

THE GRIANVERSE

SHE'S HERE !!!!!!! ARIANA GRIANDE !!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY. GRIAN LOOKS LIKE THE SAD HAMSTER

REALLY GOOD PANEL

this whole comic was so funny i loved it loved the cub

THE EMAILS PART WAS ALSO SO FUNNY

this is such an interesting and fun way to tell a story i loved the email part

in general the posts and stuff were SO funny and very realistic for the internet 😭

yeah

grian desperately trying to not let scar reveal his identity 😭😭 girl (this also hits so different now after reading the whole thing btw.)

the comparison to a wild horse in this first fic also killed me

i can't really put a lot of images but there were some really classic superhero comic looking panel that i thoroughly enjoyed

scar tangled in his own grappling hook. classic. very funny

I LOVED THIS FIC SO MUCH. scar voice this is gonna ruin the tour. grian voice what tour. scar voice the world tour.

scar saying he's playing volleyball. haikyuu reference!?!?!?

just putting this here

LOVEDDDD THIS GEM DESIGN

moon mask i immediately called pearl yes pf course

GRIAN REFUSING TO SHOW EACHOTHER THEIR IDENTITIES AGRHRGRHRVH

"you and your cuteguy" arggrgrhsggrgrhgr

murder camel REAL !!

I DIDN'T TRUST THIS FOR A SECOND. PEARL AND HER SOUP I DONT BUY IT

"i cant believe you guys fucking killed jimmy solidarity" <- actual message i sent to mochi

SCOUR KNOWING SCARS NAME. AGRHSGRHRGRHV

i literally had to Go Take A Walk after this fic

i really like how the pearl thing was resolved in this it felt like such a good act 2 reoccurring villain exit. very superhero comic/movie like or even dnd like

'vincent berger' made me laugh

ZEDDIT

MOCHI FIC !!!!

first off every single fic has SUCH a cool cover i love them all

poor grian has ptsd :((

i LOVEEE how mochi writes angst always they're so good at it

the fact that he never found jimmys body immediately made me call the fact that he wasn't really dead and would come back btw

gem would lovee to drive grian slowly crazy tbh

"IVE COME TO PICK UP MY BIRD" AGRHRGRHGRHRVRBTBJRG

JUST LOOK AT THAT GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW !!!!!!!

i was going insane at this point

this whole zine had me feeling like that meme thats like first i laughed.. then i serioused (the first part was SO funny and then golden era was psychic damage /pos)

IMPULSE :D

GEMPEARL <33 they are so everything to me

SCAR WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE SUSPICIOUS POSSIBLY EVIL FOREIGN TECHNOLOGY ON YOUR BODY. SIR.

NOT THE DESTIEL MEME

they look SO fucking cute

both scar and grian look sooooo scrumptious in this comic argh

THE MIND CONTROL. THE. RHE MIND CONFNTOL.

THESE 2 FULL PAGES ARE ABSOLUTELY SO INSANE. I WAS AND STILL AM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

THIS IS SO. GOD THIS

THE WAY GRIAN JUMPED AND SCAR JUMPED AFTER HIM. THEYRE CRAZY !!!!!!!

THE WIPING THE BLOODY NOSE AND THEN SMILING LITERALLY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!

HE TOOK THE MASK OFF

mumbo <3

THE HUG. ☹️☹️☹️

great big beautiful tomorrow :((( the parallels :((

GRIAN BEING TOO FLUSTERED BY SCAR KINDA FLIRTING THAT HE DIDN'T REALISE HE WAS DROPPING HINTS ABT HIS IDENTITY WAS SO FUNNY

cutiebird..

scar playing w his hair when cuteguy was hurt :(( so cute

REALLY FUNNY

THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS ☹️☹️

the tcg voice: theyre holding hands.. i want them dead

SKIZZ !!!!

ETHO !!!!!!!!!!

awhh skizzly :((((

THIS IS SO UPSETTING

"It's our Impulse, Gem" IM SO UPSET SHUT UP

god the way she puts on the mask and immediately is emotionless im gonna throw up

OBSESSED. THEY'RE EVERYTHING TO ME

im so obsessed w this cuteguy i love him

grian voice omg im the only bitch serving cunt in this place im so embarasseddddd

they are serving SO much in this comic

ETHO EYHO ETHO ETHEO

SCAR APPOINTING GRIAN AS LEADER. EARURGRHVRH THEY'RE EVERYTHING

READING THIS WAS SO CRAZY IT LITERALLY FELT LIKE WATCHING ENDGAME

JIMMY SOLIDARITY !!!

MUMBO JUMBO !!!!!

impulse thinking about skizz as he's dying :(((((

HE DID IT ALL FOR SKIZZ :(((((((((

i was so upset this made me sob like a baby

SOUP GROUP :(((

SKIZZLY!!! :(((

warden :/

SCAR PEARL INTERVIEW :( HOTGUY RETIRING :( I LOVE THEM

THE CHEMICAL MUTATING PEOPLE IS JUST ESTROGEN BEING A GIRL JUST DOES THAT TO YOU

grian and scar playing volleyball is that a haikyuu reference....

OH THIS PEARL IN THIS COMIC IS REALLY GOOD

cuteguy is so spiderman coded

GREAT BIG BEAUTIFUL TOMORROW !!!!!! WE'VE COME FULL CIRCLE !!! SOBBING !!!!

god all in all this was so crazy. it was such an obvious labour of love and everyone who was involved with it did such a good job and obviously put so much love into it AND IT WAS WORTH IT !!!! insanely good work thank you to everyone for doing this and sharing it for free?? @hotguycomiczine y'all are crazy. incredible work <333

[pommunist]

This is mostly gonna be just a rant but it just baffles me how everything Qstudios has done since the beginning of the admins situation is a terrible pr move. So yeah this is just gonna talk how, even if you forget the immoral and potential illegal stuff that went on, I don’t think their strategy is doing any good for the studio’s image.

-Going radio silent publicly and privately : Kinda the original sin of all this mess tbh. This obviously just leaves the space for the ex admins to share their stories, even more so since they have been ignored privately beforehand when they tried to handle things internally. This also allowed for the union to publicly intervene and more ccs talking about it, and actual news article being made on it.

-Leaving the server open : Tbh I get wanting to leave it open, maybe to allow minecraft centered ccs to still make content or maybe because it’d be weird to close it right after new people got in but also I think it would have be better to close it temporarily while they focus on the changes they promised rather than having it getting deserted little by little until it feels like a ghost town. This + also not a good look to have so many npcs online when Q said there would be none until things get better (The current npcs are likely non volunteers, once again not a bad or illegal thing per say but not a good look). Closing it would also have made it so that the reopening would have been a big and probably positive event.

-Welcoming new ccs/new languages : This might just be because of scheduling necessities or whatever and something they couldn’t do later but it still made the community go :/// to get new people while on the flip side you had parts of the fandom leaving because of what was happening. Also not great for the new arrivals to start in such a weird climate, without admins help and with few people online on the server.

-Releasing merch at the worst time possible : This might have been something they couldn’t change, just like the arrival of the Koreans/Hugo, but it still isn’t a good look for them to release egg merch after it came out that some of the egg admins were poorly treated, especially when they haven’t stated clearly that benefits from the merch would go towards paying staff. It’s also not a good look for them to release new discounts every day, barely ten days after release. (Also the Qstudios Twt account retweeting every egg figures announcement except for Pomme will never not make me laugh)

-Making the twitter updates accounts active again : Yes it may just be that they��re using a bot or that it’s the people who are in charge of the Qstudios twitter account posting on it, both of which are not wrong per say. But of course people are gonna wonder if it’s new people being hired, of course speculation will happen when there’s a lack of transparency, of course ex admins are gonna be upset when it seems like things are continuing as if nothing happened, when they were fired without a warning, a thanks or even a sorry.

And now we have the two points that are kinda in a « you fucked up so bad it’s almost funny and I almost feel bad for you guys » category

-« Hey guys out of all the people we exploited and treated poorly you know which ones we’re gonna make eat dirt the most ? Hell yeah the ones that are from a part of the world who literally have a whole cliche about them complaining and rioting for anything and everything. Also happen to be the same ones whose community we alienated for months by sidelining them. Also happen to be a community who, during this time, has grown quite close to our most active community (who are themselves quite mad at us by now) to the point that they are making memes about the two of them being in love with each other. Yeah surely this can only go well »

-« Oh no, people actually really care » : QSMP Fans in general just loved and appreciated all the work the admins did, whether they were twitter admins, builders, actors, writers… This is even more true since the situation also revealed that some admins things people have been most critical on (lore being weirdly interrupted, french being ignored…) were not these admins fault. And of course, you have the eggs admins case. How do you make viewers and ccs alike get SO attached to these kid characters, as if it was their children, while mistreating the people playing them and not expect this to blow up in your face at some point. It’s like you managed to catch lightning in a bottle and then left it to rot thinking this wouldn’t end up badly. Weirdly this one makes me kinda hopeful bc Qstudios kinda HAVE to fix it or else they lose on of their main selling points.

[muffinsin]

Hey muffin. A lot of people tend to write the sisters as Cat like. With the purring and tendencies. I know you've mentioned it before. Along those lines how do you think they would react, if at all, to a laser pointer? I saw an image of this somewhere and was wondering what you thought.

Absolutely! HC them as cats is funny

*I need this meme of Alcina throwing the canon table*

(Post mentioned about purring and cat tendencies : here)

Let’s get into it! :)

Masterlists

Bela

She sees the red laser dot immediately, and immediately her head turns in its direction

You see her study it, almost. Maybe, to deem if it’s worth her time

Bela is the type to attempt to play it cool, really

Yes, she has this urge to catch it, but doesn’t want to make it obvious

As the laser pointer dot is moved to her bed, she will, slowly and elegantly, move over to sit on it

If it’s moved to a wall, she will get up and stand next to it, but not pay the dot any mind at all

In fact, she will do her best to seem uninterested in the shiny thing

And it does appear to others like she isn’t interested at all, until…

SLAP

Her hand slaps over the dot, with her sharp nails out and digging into the wall

Of course, she dislikes this feeling

She jumps and swarms, higher than you’ve ever seen, and pulls her nails back out, just to immediately tackle and cover the dot again

When you move it, she lifts her hand, confused how her prey got away

She keeps following the dot, and tries to slap her slap over it again, slow, steady movements

Bela has a bit of a fragile ego at times

Allow her to catch the dot and only continue a while after, or she will deem it as

“Stupid, below her, not worth it anyway” and ignore it entirely while she pouts

You might want to be careful, too

Bela- she has her eyes on the dot, yes. However…

She will figure out where it’s coming from

Cassandra

A toy? A toy!

She is already chasing after it the second the sees it

Doesn’t matter what is in the way, either

Chairs? She’ll knock them over trying to catch the stupid little, glowy dot

Tables? She flings herself across them

Curtains are pulled down and walls are scratched

Vases are shattered and decoration flies about the place when Cassandra mindlessly jumps into them

Cassandra already likes glowing things. This is the best, though

Cassandra, despite not as much as her younger sister, can be very energetic at times

And very stubborn

She won’t rest until she has the damn dot

When she clasps her hands over it and it disappears, she tilts her head in confusion

She isn’t quite sure what the laser pointer is or does, but knows she wants that dot

She runs into walls and slips on the floor, but keeps chasing the damn dot

You’ll need to move it fast, and everywhere

Cassandra wants this challenge

She attempts to bite the air to catch it, to no avail

Only once has the laser pointer almost been taken from you

When you played as usual and kept aiming it, and spotted Bela sitting in the corner, reading her book

You aren’t sure why you couldn’t help but aim the enticing red dot right at her forehead

Of course, Cassandra tackled her sister to get the dot

With her sister holding her up by the collar of her dress and Cassandra hanging unusually calmly- merely pouting- the laser pointer was snatched from you

Cassandra claims she’s killed the dot

Daniela

Ah, Daniela. It seems, she has endless energy

Luckily, this is a good way of letting most of it, if not all, out

Daniela immediately chases after the dot

Immediately. Its attack on sight

Like her sister, she doesn’t care what she knocks over or destroys in the process

She’s having her fun, and Alcina could never be angry with her anyway! At least never for long

Daniela can be occupied for hours, merely to chase the little dot

She loves when it’s high in the air and she needs to jump and swarm to get it

Unlike her sisters, she attempts to bite it rather than catch it with her hands, most of the time

When she does so and the dot disappears, as her head covers it, she immediately whines

She doesn’t know, it’s now merely at the back of her head because she’s covering it

When she turns around and crosses her eyes upon finding the dot on the tip of her nose, you aren’t fast enough to react

With her hands slapping against her own nose, you only hear a whine and a long, drawn out “Ouwwwwww!”

You are demanded to kiss it better

After this, the hunt goes on

It keeps going for hours and hours, with Daniela laughing and giggling nearly constantly, bouncing about the room like a little ball trying to catch the laser pointer dot

When you notice her energy slowly drain, you move the laser pointer less drastically

With a bite into the air again, you turn it off. Daniela is sure, she’s caught it, and makes a comment about it tasting like a mouse

At last, she flops down on top of you, snuggling and dozing off, demanding head scratches and plenty of kisses for her job well done

[ohwormwood]

random thoughts i have while playing isat pt. 7

[woe, spoilers be upon ye!]

opened the game and immediately went "im gonna make odile question my sanity!!!" but of course when i enter the house Siffrin decides to turn the scripted tutorial enemy into bean paste and ruins the run--

anyways. this panel will haunt me

i. i dont even know how but. I beat the king without him ever getting a chance to make his first attack. i just kept spamming slow and two jackpots later he was dead. i didn't even knoiw that was possible.

after a bit of fucking around i decided that i was gonna move on to act 5 and promptly burst into tears

update: i accidentally posted this too early dont look at me

sat and cried through the entirety of the party's interactions in act 5

screaming crying throwing up

even the king took one look at this dude and was like "are you good man like, you can take a rest before we do this you're literally about to topple over"

that post where odile says the oven copypasta during the mal du pays scene has permanently altered my brain and i literally laughed out loud when this line appeared

i haven't talked about it before but. a while ago i made a concept for a game based off the backrooms and omori, and odile talking about someone who is forgotten may not exist is the basis for the entire game's plot, it makes me want to go back and flesh it out a bit more!!!

i am deadset on the idea of making an edit with mirabelle's reflection craft but it's an uno reverse card

simultaneously in my brain: an edit where the sound mirabelle's reflection craft makes is the metal pipe meme

i am. such a fucking sucker for sickfics. i cannot get enough of them. act 5 has enough sickfic tropes to make a million spinoff fics on its own, it brings me life and i love it dearly

wailing

this line sends me into orbit every time i see it

odile attacking siffrin. hurts so, so so badly on an emotional level for me. Because like??? i get it. i get it and it sucks and she obviously doesn't want to, but she's scared. But siffrin is even more scared in that moment, and the immediate association of that pain with being hated by odile hurts me so much.

YEAHHHH ODILE GIRLBOSS SUPREME

they're so soft and squishy and cute in this image i c a n t

incoherent WAILING. this. this image. this image just about broke me. THEYRE SO HAPPY and RELIEVED, IT HURTS,,,

the tone shift to talking to the party afterwords is still so funny to me HJBDFBSBFH like lookit him. hes so smol. so silly.

we're kidnapping bonnie guys it's official

my honest reaction to this line: LESBIANS??????

and then she hits me with:

AND I LOST IT

more silly guy siffrin,,,,, my favorite

aaaa aAAAAAAAAAAA

ISABEAU'S SPRITE CHANGING TO BE DOING A HAPPY DANCE AFTER THE CONFESSION IS SOOOOO CUTE WAAA

bonnie and odile clapping for isabeau confessing will never not be funny but ALSO it implies the bonnie knew about Isa's crush. and i for one personally believe that they picked up on it from Odile's relentless teasing of Isabeau as the #1 Isafrin shipper

mirabelle: wait you had a crush on sif?????? and i didn't know????

my roommate, who is ace: this is the aroace experience for real,,,

literally all of the second interactions with Isabeau had me and my roommate SCREAMING

HOWLING LAUGHING

OK I NEVER KNEW???? THAT SIFFRIN TOLD ISABEAU ABOUT THE BAD TOUCH EVENT?????? IN CANON???? I ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS A FANON THING BUT THEY ACTUALLY ADDRESS IT IN GAME AND???? ISA'S REACTION HAD ME ON THE FLOOR

siffrin: i kissed you once,,,,

isa:

the words "im being perfectly normal about this" is something i say on a daily basis so i relate to this wholeheartedly

AYO???????? ISA WHEN DID YOU BECOME SO SMOOTH????

this. this image. made my jaw hit the GODDAMN FLOOR. I WAS NOT MENTALLY PREPARED FOR IT AT ALL AND BOTH ME AND MY ROOMMATE S C R E A M E D WHEN WE SAW IT

LIKE???? HOLY FUCK SIF JESUSSSSSSSSSSS CHRIST???? how did isabeau not implode on the spot from that look bro howwwwwwwwwww

AND THEN. AS IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH TO MAKE MY HEART START SOBBING. ISA BLOWS YOU A KISS???? AAAA???

annnnd scene!

i will continue playing to get some of the different loop endings and i totally plan on doing two hats in the future!!! so im not quite done with this game yet i just got impatient in act 4 and i needed the Emotional Catharsis of Act 5

[blackjackkent]

Ask meme prompt fill for @theajaheira from this ask meme: Even More Popular Text Posts Ask Meme Hector/Karlach - "concept: it’s 3 am. candle lit room. a record is spinning. you’re kissing me. we have no worries in the world. we’re warm and content." I had a couple different ideas for this, but this one stemmed from the realization that the prompt, completely by coincidence, already had exactly 25 words. XD (Also before anyone says it, yes, I know Sending can't actually be cast as a ritual spell but, crucially, I don't care. XD )

-----

Learning the spell Sending, Hector has come to realize, is something of a mixed blessing.

There are a lot of bright sides, of course. It’s been the culmination of extended, careful work on his part to maintain a connection to Selune in spite of his self-imposed exile in Avernus; the first day that he was able to communicate a message to Karlach when she wasn't in the room felt like moonlight breaking through ever-thickening clouds. And there’s no question that it makes all of them - him, Karlach, and Wyll - much safer, as it gives them another line of communication during the frenetic battles with the devils and demons they fight every day.

The downside, primarily, is that Hector is the only one who can trigger a message without assistance; Wyll and Karlach can only respond. The other downside is more subtle and far more selfish. With Sending in their back pocket, splitting up becomes a more viable strategy, and he and Karlach both feel it keenly when they aren’t able to keep a direct eye on each other.

But that, unfortunately, is how he comes to be here, curled up in a cave all by himself near the outer wall of the fortress of one of Zariel's top lieutenants. Strategically, the idea is sound - position themselves at three separate vantages, get as much rest as they can, and then strike simultaneously from different angles in the very early morning. Intellectually, Hector knows it's the best chance of success. 

However, that doesn't change the fact that this is the loneliest he's felt in a long time. Once, in his old life, such isolation came naturally to him, but no more. It's desperately hard to sleep alone in this bleak little hole, knowing that Karlach is similarly alone out in that dangerous wasteland and far out of his direct reach. 

He rolls onto his back for the twentieth time and states at the rocky ceiling with a sigh. Then, feeling somewhat pathetic, he drifts his eyes half-closed and focuses inward, prodding cautiously at the filaments of the Weave with the magic Selune has granted him. 

Are you still awake, love? he sends cautiously. 

She responds almost instantly, which tells him she too is feeling the strain of the night's isolation. Her magically transmitted voice resonates inside his head, vibrates at the base of his skull and through his teeth, and she answers in clipped sentences due to the spell's word limit, as he taught her. 

Yeah. Brain's buzzing. Can't turn it off. Need to sleep. This fucking sucks. I miss you. Taters. A brief pause, and then - rapidly before the spell can die out, filling the last few words: I love you so much. Keep sending. Please?

He smiles, relaxing a little and fully closing his eyes. If he holds very still, he can almost imagine she's there whispering in his ear, that he'd only have to turn his head to see her lying next to him. 

Taters, he sends. I miss you too. Only a few more hours. Then we fight, and then we can go home. And then I'm all yours. 

He half-expects her to take this as an invitation to tease him with images of what she plans to do to him when they're reunited. But she takes a gentler tack instead. Home. Yeah. Funny that Raphael's old shithole is “home” now. The safe place. A slight pause. You think we'll ever have a real home, Hec? Together? 

The gentle, weary pathos in her mental tone makes his heart turn over in his chest. I know we will, he sends fiercely. Those blueprints are the key, I'm sure of it. And we're finding Zariel's weak points. Pretty soon we'll-- He breaks off, counting rapidly on his fingers. Shit. Next message. 

Standing by, Karlach responds with a flicker of humor while the spell resets.

Pretty soon we'll finish her for good. I swear it, he completes earnestly. And with those blueprints, we'll fix your heart. And then we'll go. Away from here. Anywhere you want. 

Anywhere? she answers. Again that dash of amusement. That's a big promise, Hec. Gonna take me to Mount Celestia if I ask? 

A pause. He summons the spell again - and it takes a little more effort this time around the sudden surge of emotion clogging his thoughts. Anywhere, he repeats earnestly. But it should be the Gate, really. Your city. Near that park, maybe. A dash of green. No more brimstone stink. Clean air and--

The spell cuts him off mid-sentence, but Karlach picks it up in her answer, almost at once. --and the river. Yeah. My city. He can feel her emotion rising in answer to his, an odd thickness in the mental ‘voice’. You and me in my city. Little place near the river, maybe. Somewhere we can hear and see everything… 

A long pause. He's drifted into utter stillness now, all his attention focused inwards. It's a strangely meditative state, and it simultaneously comforts him and makes him wish for her touch with an ache that is physically painful. 

Picture it: it’s 3 AM, he sends, his mental voice low now, as he might murmur against her ear. Candle lit room. Music's playing somewhere. You’re kissing me. We have no worries in the world. We’re warm and content… 

There's a long pause before she responds. Well. We've got the ‘warm’ part already. It's a weak attempt at a joke; he can hear the weight of tears in her voice even though it's not spoken aloud. His own eyes feel damp under their closed lids. Promise me. Promise me we'll get there one day. Somewhere soft and safe. Somewhere far away from here.

I promise. He can picture exactly how he'd touch her if she were here - a gentle brush of his fingertips over her lips, along her cheek and back through her hair. Soothing. Reassuring. I promise. We'll get through this, and we'll be free one day. I love you. I love you, and I promise. I promise. 

I love you, she answers. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. Taters. 

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 30/04/2024

guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?

Season 2 Featured on: Haltmann's Highest Quality Video Game Rips

Ripped by alden wolf

Requested by eg_9371! (Request Form)

It's Gonna Be May!

Saying that SiIvaGunner has in-jokes is perhaps the most obvious statement of all time - it is an in-joke upon which the entire channel is built upon. Yet there's obviously always different LAYERS to each joke, how obvious each of them are - and even today, there are many running gags on the channel that fly over people's heads despite having followed along for so long. Indeed, such is the case today with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?, as requestee eg_9371 made me aware of a channel in-joke that's been running quietly in the background for the better part of seven years as of today. All of it built on one simple truth - tomorrow, it's gonna be may.

To reiterate - beyond the funny ha-ha memes we all know like Mr. Grand Dad and more, the SiIvaGunner channel is filled with little nods and gags that oft go overlooked. I of course covered 5 Nights of Snop Dog recently which is a great example of one, there's how rips like Kill & Learn (Recut Ver​.​) reference a running joke by long-time mashup artist Triple-Q about how Sonic Adventure 2 and Kill la Kill have an immeasurable amount of similarities, rips like Kermit in the Ocean being spiritual successors to very specific years-old rips on the channel - you get the jist. Some of these gags eventually get special attention on the channel through specific channel events, but such has not yet been the case with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?'s joke - it's a gag that's stayed in the background since its very beginnings, and is only being kept running by a select few rippers. If you're listening to the rip now and it still hasn't landed yet, you may need to be enlightened to the ways of hit boy band *NSYNC. Or, well, really the band itself matters very little compared to the song of choice - It's Gonna Be Me.

Boy band music has a pretty interesting track record on SiIva in general, honestly. One Direction, Backstreet Boys, Boyzone, *NSYNC - to me the typical audience that obsesses over these kinds of bands feels at odds with my image of the average SiIvaGunner fan, and yet whenever they're prominently pushed I get reminded of just how good their music can be when wielded by good rippers. We've had two explosively quality events focusing on two bands in particular, the Big Time Rush takeover of Season 5 with Famous Surprise and the One Direction day of Season 7 with Beautiful Dreamer. *NSYNC hasn't had the same explosion of notoriety, but It's Gonna Be Me in particular has stealthily appeared on the channel every year since 2017 on April 30th. The joke is originally an ancient Tumblr meme from 2012, based on the way singer Justin Timberlake (yes!) pronounces the titular line in the song as "It's gonna be May" - the joke writes itself, and so Tumblr users have annually celebrated the day-before-May in Timberlake's honor.

eg_9371 writes in his request for this post that he's actually one of the most active rippers in keeping this joke going on SiIva for all these years, which I find extremely commendable, and it all started in Season 2, with guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​?. It's a rearrangement of the song in the style of Donkey Kong Country 2's Mining Melancholy, a track most notable for its rhythmic percussion of steel drums sounding like steadily-working pickaxes deep in the mines. Its a fantastic track on its own, yet that percussion especially is a shockingly natural fit for the harpsichord(?) backing prominent throughout It's Gonna Be Me. Mining Melancholy's usual percussion and other parts of its melody stick around for large parts of the rip, making it more of a melody swap/mashup of the two than a full rearrangement a la Sog-Gee Ambiance - but it only serves to enhance the two tracks used, giving It's Gonna Be Me a more melancholic sound and Mining Melancholy a more self-assured feel in return, a super interesting blend of moods. I don't think the It's gonna be May bit would have worked nearly as well if the rip it was paired with wasn't of high quality, and guess what​?​?​?​?​?​?​?​? clears that threshold effortlessly - its a great rip that's made me appreciate the quality in both songs used.

*NSYNC rips have, again, continued to show up in all the years since, always on the dot, often even deliberately placed as the LAST rip of April 30th to drive the joke home. I think it's really sweet that the joke has stuck with eg_9371 in particular, likely in part due to alden wolf's initial contribution to the bit - he's even made It's Gonna Be Me rips on dates completely unrelated to the beginning of May, just because its a genuinely fun song to listen to. There's tons of these "secret" gags left to find on the channel, reoccurring dates or rips that reference jokes from other rips that are years-old by now - and really, a huge part of the fun in running this blog is getting to discover so many turning gears of the channel that I'd never been made aware of. Keep an eye out for these gags yourself - and keep an eye out on SiIvaGunner channel itself later today, to see if It's Gonna Be May for yet one more year.

[jeannereames]

Do you see memes and shitposts about Alexander and his time? If yes, do you like them, you hate them? Would you change something about these memes?

I’m sorry. I’m just really curious about what a professor thinks about this. Do you perhaps have a favorite Alexander meme?

Well, for me there’s a big difference between memes and shitposts. The former can be rather entertaining, the latter are just trolling. Don’t feed the trolls. I realize I’m perhaps defining shitposting more narrowly than some, but there’s enough of the narrow sort out there I don’t want to confuse it with memes.

Meme are great. I have two favorites, although not about Alexander, ironically. I’ve shared them below. Both show up in my class Power-points, btw! Many of my colleagues also enjoy clever memes. My buddy Borja Antela was trying to collect some on Alexander last year. For a while, I followed Alexandergoatmemes on Instagram, but finally left because about 85/90% of them seemed to be about Alexander naming cities after himself. Sure, it’s funny maybe the first 20 times, but at 100+?

So memes are great. Shitposting and ignorant-posting, however, are annoying.

I’m deliberately creating that third category. Shitposters know they’re posting shit; ignorant-posters (usually) don’t. The latter put up videos, tweets, or blog entries about (in this case) Alexander that perpetuate a lie, a false quote, or an oversimplified-and-mostly-wrong factoid. Some ignorant-posters are just reposting what they heard because they don’t know any better and may receive correction well enough—especially if offered politely. Yet others get upset (sometimes disproportionately so) when their errors or distortions are pointed out.

This can be about controversial matters, such as Alexander’s putative “sexuality” or it can be something surprising. I once had a fellow fly off the handle when he posted that Alexander was left-handed and I (gently) corrected him.* You’d have thought I’d called his mother a whore. It seemed quite silly…except that left-handedness used to be considered a Very Bad Thing. So being able to claim famous people as lefties was apparently more for him than just leftie pride.

Aside from oddities, most of the ignorant-posting I’ve seen comes in three main types.

First, we have the religious/spiritual/life-coach sorts who usurp Alexander for a moral lesson—not unlike the orators of the (Roman-era) Second Sophistic, or both Muslims and Christians in some of the Alexander Romances. Alexander has ALWAYS been a malleable figure for lecturing. Ergo, he pops up in homilies/sermons as a parable, like his supposed Last Three Wishes. It is, of course, total bullshit, but there’s quite a lot of stuff like it out there. People read it, go “Aww,” and reblog without bothering to check if it’s correct. It has “the authority of hearsay.” These can be either Alexander-positive or Alexander-negative parables, btw.

See also: quotes attributed to famous celebrities that they never, in fact, said. Alexander gets these too. The ¡Inspirational! “Army of Sheep Led by a Lion” is especially egregious, as it’s a general proverb that appeared well after Alexander (no, he didn’t say it). It seems to be currently popular, along with, “There is nothing impossible to him who will try” (also not ATG). Yet these make great quotes for those damn “Inspirational Posters.” Here’s a whole page of them, lion quote right at the top, suitable for a Power-point!...with no attempt to verify their authenticity or say where they got them. But the image with the quote below is especially funny as they even put a date on their fictional quote. If it has a date, it must be true! Netflix, btw, used that bloody quote even though I told them not to; it was fake. Didn’t matter.

Second, we have the alt-right/white supremacist groups, or hangers-on who might reject the label (coyly or not) but embrace much of its Eurocentric thinking. These folks present Alexander as spreading good [white] Western values to the poor benighted East [brown people]. It’s essentially warmed-over Plutarch with a dash of Curtius and some Arrian. Their Alexander even sometimes has longish flowing (blond) locks and is oddly tall.** Like Thor. I stay the hell away from them but have occasionally stumbled over them on Tik-Tok.

Anyway, the alt-right crowd may have read some about Alexander, written by other alt-right guys who take material from a carefully curated set of “accepted” histories: Arrian and Plutarch, and not just Plutarch’s Life of Alexander, but his double-essay from the Moralia, “On the Fate or Fortune of Alexander.” They tend to be war/conquest-approving and see the Greco-Roman past as some pure Aryan utopia from which we’ve fallen into our “wretched age of iron.”*** Of late, a lot of their associated images are AI generated, btw. A couple examples below.

Last, and on the opposite end of the spectrum are the Alexander-was-Queer-AND-Wonderful, and oh, boy, some of them also don’t want a single bad thing said about their hero. They may know relatively little about his life aside from his putative gayness, but are just as resistant to/resentful of being corrected in their errors and romantic oversimplifications.

And that is what all of these categories share: oversimplification for the sake of a particular social and/or political agenda.****

Isn’t it, then, also shitposting? No. Because shitposters intend to stir the pot. They may or may not believe what they say, but they’re saying it TO get a reaction. Like the Tweet Heard Round the Alexander-verse after the Netflix thing (below). THAT was a shitpost. His entire goal was to go viral, and he succeeded.

By contrast, ignorant-posters usually aim for a particular audience and rarely expect to go viral outside their circle. Nor do they expect to be corrected. When they are, they react with surprise and anger. (Again, there are exceptions.)

I tend to observe these things, but rarely engage—although I did engage more when I was a young grad student. Now if I reply, it’s general (as here), not to the original post/tweet itself. TBH, I have books and articles to write, classes to teach, and papers to grade. 😉 I don’t have time for flamewars.

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

* Yes, I made Alexander left-handed in Dancing with the Lion, partly for the hell of it. But there’s zero evidence one way or the other—which I point out in my Author’s Note at the end of book 2, Rise.

** BTW, there’s a Whole Thing out there online about Alexander as tall, even Super Tall, claiming evidence which they don’t actually cite (correctly). Note the “many stories suggest….” Oh, really? These are? Anyway, I don’t think the author of that blog entry is alt-right—which is why I put it as a footnote—but dig the wacko AI white-haired Nordic Alexander at the top! And I’m still chuckling at a 7-foot-tall Alexander. Good Lord, how tall would that make Hephaistion?

*** Yeah, that’s a little bow to Hesiod’s theory of the Ages of Man.

**** Note that I didn’t include Greek Nationalists. While some of them also swing right (Golden Dawn, Front Line, National Reform Party, etc.), many are more moderate. Alexander is a Greek hero, and if what’s presented about him by some is also oversimplified to fit a national narrative, it doesn’t spring from ignorance so much as deliberate choice and what they learned in school/at home. Think about what the average (white) American knows about George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, or for that matter, the average native person about Tecumseh or Crazy Horse.

[spiribia]

i do get why it's a meme but to be genuine if i saw what i believed to be a real bird in a chocolate fountain being passed around as a funny gif it would distress me too. i probably wouldn't say 'listen here cum-slut' about it granted but as someone who was there as it was unfolding and to this day i think theres this sentiment that people are just annoying spoilsports for thinking a funny animal image or gif or video is concerning and yes chocolate can be highly toxic to birds and no amount of replies going 'the bird looks like it went in the chocolate fountain of its own free will cool your jets' would make that fact untrue. My oddest hangup of all time about a tumblr trend. and then of course it was a fake bird from an adam sandler movie so no real birds were harmed in this discourse and i sound nuts but the fact that after that addition got out everyone used it to act like op was being uniquely hysterical about a fake bird as if everyone in the reply additions arguing against them wasnt also treating it like a real bird. get behind me all who would get upset about bird in chocolate fountain

[colorfulmetaphors]

Maul fic rec because yes please

Hello friendos. In the last few months or so, I took a break from tumblr and in that time read through the near-entirety of the (maul centered) Maul fic on ao3. It was a blast and I wanted to make a rec list because these were amazing and I want to gush over them. my goal here is to rec something for any maul mood you may be in. there's flash (short) fic, medium length, and long-ass novel fic; some fluff, some angst, some character studies; i tired to hit each Maul Genre. And I'm categorizing them because organizing things is fun. So:

O66 fallout:

To The Wild by @d0nkarnage (43,251 words; rated M)

This one is by far my fav of the Maul and Ahsoka team up during O66 (fall) ones. Giant buff gay Ahsoka? Yes. Good. But the greatest draw of this fic is the way in which these two characters learn to understand each other. I like how hostile it begins and how the author shows Ahsoka's opinion changing over time. And of course, because my focus is going to be Maul, I loved the way the Ahsoka POV catches his acerbic demeanor and lets him just be kind of an asshole. Then that first chapter of Maul POV hits to reframe everything and youre like *dog in a burning room meme* this is fine. It balances tone really well, with growth built on small moments, parallels I didn't expect to punch me in the heart, lines of dialogue that bring every that's crashing beneath up to the surface, and just being fucking funny. Every other line has me going Oooooooo that's some good-ass writing. Love it, please read it and enjoy the image of Ahsoka and Maul arm wrestling while you try not to sob over the ways theyve learned to care for each other.

Cocaine and Abel by storm_warning (18,431 words; rated T)

On the other side of Maul and Ahsoka team up (fall), we have my favorite of the Maul and Ahsoka team up (balance), or 'Ole Palps gets defeated. Not only is this fic awesome, so is the playlist (which the author has linked in the notes) that accompanies it. My favorite part of this fic is Maul's denial, or his inability to understand/confront himself. He's working through allying with Ahsoka, seeing his master defeated, and figuring out where his place is, all while fighting through the horror of [his entire life.] It all coalesces into my favorite line: "--and then his knife is letting the blood out of the Anomid’s throat, and it runs gushing and thin in the rain, and all the wretched voices are quiet with shock." Switching the subject of the sentence in a moment of intense emotional struggle is such a clever use of language, reminiscent of Windham using the passive voice to signify Maul's dissociation, and I went back and re-read the passage like seven times. Read this one if you want to lie awake at night, haunted by birdsong.

The Heavy Center by bluestalking (41,790 words; rated G)

This one snuck up on me! Not because I didn't like it, but because it didn't sound like something I would normally be into. But I was determined to read almost everything in the tag so I tried it and I'm so glad I did. It's a post-O66 (fall) fic that centers around Padme, Ahsoka, Maul, and Obi-Wan. And It's one of those fics where I have to stop every few paragraphs or so to just repeat a sentence to myself and roll the rhythm over my teeth. The turns of phrase are exquisite. I really appreciate how reasonable Maul is in this fic. I feel like in a lot of Obimaul scenarios, he doesn't get to be the one to say hold on wait a minute let's talk. I think this one does a great job showing the shift in his motivation/reasoning and how that affects the way he approaches other people. I also like how there's so much he and Obi-Wan don't talk about. They skirt around stuff because its difficult to confront, but they find a way anyway.

Smaul:

Keep Running by @greenreticule (two parts, combined 26,094 words; rated T)

God bless Maul is rescued young fics. I think this series gets the exact balance of aw what a cute bby and oh shit that is one traumatized child how tf do I raise him. I like that the relationship between Dex and Maul isn't easy, but it is careful. I like that Dex messes up and that Maul is a rebellious fearful angry curious little guy, prone to all the folly of any young child, let alone one raised by Sidious. And I love that those behaviors appearing are signs of healing! The world-building in this one is really cool too. I found myself enjoying the locations and imagining the spaces around the characters. And HOLY SHIT the trans feelings in part two. Please heed the author's warnings carefully. I was having a great time, enjoying smaul, and then felt like I got hit by a train. It's good, but it's painful, but it's good.

Twin Suns/Kenobi on Tatooine:

the past is another planet by anonymous (329 words, rated T)

I so admire authors who can say a lot with very little. This snippet of an altered Twin Suns uses action to convey thought very well, touching on themes without ever naming them. The last line left me breathless.

Just This Once by A_Hodgepodge_of_Nothings (35,451 words, rated E)

This fic is exceedingly warm. It made me happy reading it, and I had to pace myself-- stop myself from finishing it all in one go. This is a desert hermits fic in which Maul and Obi-Wan's relationship develops very slowly and naturally, spaced over time skips that flow together really well. The Maul would be good with kids, actually, representation we need. The learning to be vulnerable around each other and learning how to rely on someone else scenes we also need. Just two tired, sad men clinging onto what little hope remains between them. And some chapters have art!

The Nature of the Beast by Carmarthen (@carmarthenfan) (1,384 words; rated G)

After I've spent 20 minutes staring at the ceiling, despondent over Maul, I turn to this fic for relief. Maul and Obi-Wan adopt a puppy. What's not to love. The author does some really interesting world-building regarding the Tusken raiders, and Maul himself is curmudgeonly to cover his affection. He's a stinker who buys things he knows his partner will like but also intentionally spooks him because he can. Peak Maul.

TPM AUs:

The Lost & The Forgotten by @shadowmaat (5,651 words; rated G)

It was really difficult to pick just one work by shadowmaat. I highly recommend checking out their entire Maul catalogue. In the end, I chose this one because I was instantly charmed by its opening. Maul shouting "Fight me!" and Obi-Wan replying like no lets have lunch made me laugh and I was ready for the What If The Naboo Duel Never Happened ride. I love Maul's characterization in this one. There are touches to his presentation that I subconsciously look for now, and this one hit all the marks: his strange brand of kindness, his maladaptive coping behaviors, and the brusqueness that covers intense care. Their use of character voice is really powerful and I enjoyed each swap in POV. Maul and Obi-Wan being mutually stranded (abandoned?) alters their dynamic from the more standard one-saving-the-other, and I enjoyed the reciprocity of their equal standing. And if this one doesn't pique your interest please check out the Tooka Cafe AU. Guess I'm not just picking one ha. Her Twin Suns AU is also very good...... FUCK. moving on.

Leaps of Faith, Acts of Kindness by @trixree (1,298 words; rated T)

My favorite type of fic are the ones where Maul and Obi-Wan just talk. This is exactly how I think a conversation post-Maul-losing-on-Naboo would go. Maul's fear and courage are on equal display-- Maul is a collection of conflicting traits and I think this fic shows that with clarity. He's stoic but expressive, terrifying yet terrified, paranoid and all too ready to trust, and all of that conveyed through an outside POV . There are so many gaps in this fic, in a good way. The characters don't have all the answers and neither does the reader, but there's enough for the characters to act and enough for the reader to understand why they act in that way. That's really damn difficult to do. The dialogue is strong and carries the narrative without requiring a lot of description, only needing some emotive action to convey what's going on in the characters' heads. 10000000/10

Staring into open flame by SLWalker (@sl-walker) (100,526 words; rated M)

To me, this is THE Maul fic. It’s an insightful dive into his character; it’s stunningly beautiful in both language and composition; the ending was so satisfying that I immediately wanted to read the entire thing again. In it, Maul is found by the Jedi after Naboo, but the fic takes place during TCW (Wild Space novel) and bounces back and forth between the present and the past as Obi-Wan and Maul work through their relationship. And by God. The parallels the author draws. The way she uses those jumps to juxtapose different scenes. Reading it the second time was even better because I knew how things connected and could further appreciate how carefully they'd been woven. This fic made me fall in love with Maul’s character all over again and that’s the highest compliment I can give. (And honestly, anything by Steff is going to be a banger. I haven’t read all her stuff but Im confident it’s all good because her mastery of craft and understanding of character are that solid. AU where Bail Organa takes Maul in? I know nothing about Bail but that one ended up being my favorite of her work. A series where the base premise is just “maul has wings?” im already in the car with a full tank of gas let’s go. "WORDS" IS REALLY GOOD. "IT" IS REALLY GOOD. and im terrified to read her Twin Suns internal monologue because *mr incredible voice* im not strong enough. uh. This one tho. Please read this one.)

There my heart lays sweetly in the velvet moor by @texasdreamer01 (12,856 words; rated E)

I'm incredibly fond of this fic. Reading it feels like nesting into the couch, fireplace going, thick blanket on, and shaking up a snow-globe to watch the sparkles settle around this little encapsulated world. It's mesmerizing, comforting. Has that oooooooo a damn good writer wrote this pizzazz. In this one, Obi-Wan didn't "kill" Maul on Naboo, and afterwards they keep running into each other as time goes on, until those coincidences become purposeful. The author is great at describing places in a way thats tangible. I can hear the scenes, feel them. You can tell a lot of thought went into the smallest details. The vocabulary in this one is also great? Precise words are used in ways you wouldn't expect within the sentence structure. It makes reading it fun and engaging, like playing tag with phrases. I really really like this version of Maul; he's a little more loose than your typical TPM-era Maul, but he has the same awkwardness and endearing happiness in doing things efficiently/well. Settle in!

Misc Imperial Era:

Mannequin Dream by anonymous (1,477 words; rated T)

Maul/Rex as a thing kinda hit me out of left field but I think I like it? Maul's characterization in Maul/Rex fics is always so !sharp and this one is no different. The description alone sold me on it, and the content (Maul and Rex having a philosophical discussion about purpose and ideology and solitude) sealed the deal.

he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist by trophygoth (2,131 words; rated M)

What initially caught my attention about this one is how Maul thinks about his past self. He feels matured, aged, changed from who he was when he was younger, and i think that that’s significant because his ability to self-reflect is initially so stunted. It's not a long fic; it’s a post-nightmare scene that captures how Maul and Obi-Wan have come to understand each other. They have gentle banter, intentional body language, and Maul's inner-monologue is knowing. It also portrays Maul well, with his tempered contemplation, rough edges, and warped thinking. "(He is still young enough that he allows himself to quantify this feeling as pain)," knocked me tf out.

TCW (ending where my love of Maul began, in true Maul fashion):

Far Above, Far Below by nobody_expects_the_inquisitorius (@nobody-expects-the-inquisitorius) (788 words; rated G)

Gen fic has a special place in my heart. Maul's venator rampage is probably my (second?) favorite TCW scene, because it's so calculating and brutal, but it also carries a sense of simultaneous hopelessness and determination to survive. Of you want a "monster?" Fine. And I feel like this internal-monologue fic does a great job of showing why Maul is feeling that way. The prose is incredibly pretty and it's so... desolate. Yet rebellious. It has the same gravitas as the scene it frames, and I think that's really impressive. It's in the verbs, evocative and visceral. I want to plant flowers around this fic, like offering respect at a sorrow-laden grave.

Until I am Whole by dimtraces (@doorsclosingslowly) (1,934 words, rated M)

Maybe I am slightly cheating on my parameters with this one, but I don't care because I love this fic so much. This one is Savage-focused, but his relationship with Maul lies at the center. (If you want something more Maul-focused with a similar tone, try Keep quite still and wait ((2,984 words, rated M)) by the same author ((yes I'm doing two in one because it's my list and no one can stop me)) listen dimtraces is where I go for Brothers) [Both have] everything: character work, beautiful writing, and that sweet sweet ~~~~~body horror~~~~~. This one is about Savage's lost arm, but that's such a simplistic way to summarize it. The imagery is visceral and the way the author follows a single thread through time/emotion is extremely well done. I want to talk about it a bunch but I also don't want to spoil it because seeing the way it unfolds is a large part of the appeal. It's spooky! It's got heart! It's gorgeous! Please read it and go-- go-- feral with me. (falls to knees in anguish)

and then the singing by @sunsetofdoom (10,007 words, rated T)

Okay. This happened to be the last fic I read as I made my way through the tag and worked off of my list of to-reads. And it's the best way to end. If you want just a straight-up character study of Maul, this is the one for you. It's haunting in a way that has stuck with me, and, I feel, will never leave because it has fundamentally altered my brain chemistry. I wept repeatedly while reading it-- it's so tender, but blunt about who Maul is. I'm struggling to put my thoughts into words, because it's not the kind of thing you talk about; it's the kind of thing you just feel. To try and give you a synopsis, then: it follows Maul's life from pre-TPM into Rebels (but is mainly focused during TCW) and has him braid his experiences with various songs (mostly old English folk), poems, and lullabies, all while the narrative hovers around a theme of clinging to individuality/person-hood, the part of him I hold most dear. It's triumphant and mournful, victory and tragedy. It's "This is why I love Maul." It's just-- achingly, beautifully, written. Achingly, perfectly, Maul. I'm going to start crying if I talk about it any more, so. Actually, too late. Pressing save as draft and coming back later. <3

Those are the recs! Thanks for taking a look and please come talk to me if you end up reading any. (or if you want even more recs, because I've got 'em) If any of the authors happen to see this, thank you! Your work has made this dive so enjoyable. You've made me laugh and cry and send impassioned raving messages to my friends. I appreciate you posting and allowing me to swim in your worlds for a while.

[cowgurrrl]

omg! another thing to add for oftm lol, ik there's already so much content regarding the series lol but you know that meme where it has rdj and Chris Hemsworth and their kids? it's like this parent vs this parent or something like that?? well it reminds me of a thought of how there'd for sure be photos like that of rockstar!joel and actress!reader or even videos of them that or just so out of context and it's hilarious! it could be a video of reader explaining something but people take it the wrong way or think it's something inappropriate she's talking about LMAOO or a photo of joel and his band on stage and he makes a silly face. it'd be great truly lol, the fans make memes out of those moments and, again, the fan comments are great too

HAHAHAHA YES

I think they’d be asked about the kids in talk shows and as they get a little bit older, they’re willing to share a little bit more!! Like I can totally imagine actress!reader and Joel on a show like the Graham Norton show where there’s multiple guests at one time and a picture of Joel launching Sophia into the water while you, Ellie, and Sarah look on from your chair on vacation gets shown on screen, her excited and only a little terrified face makes everyone laugh. When you get asked to explain the image, you look at Joel. “I don’t condone this by the way,” you say and Joel gives you a look. “It’s a little fun.” “For them!” “Okay, fine,” Joel concedes. “When my oldest daughter was little, she would always wanna jump in the pool like wouldn’t even wait to take off her shoes. So, I started telling her she’s only allowed to jump in the pool if I’m in the water, ready to catch her, and of course that wasn’t enough so I told her I’d throw her instead ‘cause I figured I could control how far and how many times and whatever. Turns out, the little daredevil gene doesn’t get skipped ‘cause all five of ‘em are the same way so this is what I call ‘preventive parenting.’” “And I call it ‘giving me a heart attack’”

Maybe a few years later, you’re on a different talk show and someone asks you about a video Joel recently posted of you and you immediately know what they’re referencing. “Okay, this was not my finest parenting moment BUT,” you start. “It’s still super funny.” The video starts playing and you can hear Sam practicing his trumpet in his room during his middle school band stint. You and Joel are stifling laughter down the hallway when Violet suddenly comes out of her room in all her eight-year-old attitude, slams his door opens, and yells, “can you shut the fuck up?!” Joel starts laughing and you’re immediately in mom mode. “Violet Isabelle, that is not how you speak to your brother!” You scold. She spins on her heels and throws her arms up in defeat at being caught before changing tactics. “You say it to Daddy all the time!” The video ends with Joel hysterically laughing on the floor and you trying to keep it together to explain what “adult language” is. “In my defense,” you say. “Being married to a musician is like being married to a human noise machine and after so many years of playing shows, his hearing isn’t the best. So, yeah, sometimes he needs a little reminder that he’s being loud.”

I also see the kids posting TikTok pranks once theyre teenagers like one time Sam recorded a video of you and Sophia pretending to get into an argument when she stomps away with a “Shut up!” Joel, watching the whole thing from the kitchen, jumps into action. “Hey! Do not tell my wife to shut up!” Or there’s another video floating around of Ellie and Sarah surprising you at work after not seeing them for a while but they hid in your trailer’s bathroom so you didn’t know they were there until you went to take off your makeup and they jumped out and scared you. “Don’t fucking do that shit!” You yell before realizing it’s your daughters and they’re on the ground, giggling together, and you got caught. It’s all in good fun and demonstrates that no matter how crazy your life may be, you’re just another family at the end of the day

Here are some silly images that remind me of this little group too :-)

[sumikatt]

frankly, i think your point about "some people train their own AI art models" is inherently flawed because rhe vast majority of people are not training their own model. they are paying for a service which was trained on art that was taken from the internet and used without permission in order for a machine to try snd recreate something similar bit by bit. i havent gotten a commission from someone who isnt a friend of mine in well over a year because people are just choosing to generate art with AI. i dont think AI art isnt "real" art because yeah, i agree with you, the whole idea of real art or not is complex. however, it is an undeniable reality that AI is trained on the work of artists all over the world who do not even get asked for permission before a tech company makes money off of their hard work.

I agree it’s a small, small portion of people making their own models that ensure that all art involved is used with consent. Many people buy a subscription or credits to generate what they want. Most people probably use free credits on Discord to make a meme or anime girls. Many people use it many different ways, yes.

I’m sorry you’ve lost a client over it. I know commissions are hard. Freelancers without dedicated clients would be the ones to suffer most from the popularity of AI art. I can’t say I’ve felt the impact myself, since it’s also very popular to be anti-AI.

Actively searching through job boards, I also feel like it has barely affected those listings. Maybe one of like 300 art jobs in the USA/Sweden asked for AI experience (Prompt Artist), and it was an AI startup. The “normal” art jobs like UI/UX, Environments, Materials, Concept, Technical, Animator, etc all still asking for 3 years experience for entry level lmao. Saw an intern position that required an “industry-standard” portfolio. So still a pain as it was before advanced AI gen.

Many paid AI art services have takedown options for their training sets and can block names from being prompted. If you were a popular enough artist to be in a training set, you can remove it and block the majority of AI art users from copying you—like you said, a majority of people use these services instead of self-hosting.

(Sending DMCA takedown requests are actually pretty easy. I had to send one to an old teacher who reposted my art and a bunch of classmates’ art on her ArtStation. that was funny lol)

I’m not sure how I felt when I went to search up my art on haveibeentrained. Because I’m a nerd, I’d preemptively blocked scrapers on my portfolio, so nothing was there when I looked. Searched up my legal name, my old Twitter (which had some popular pieces), my old DeviantArt usernames. Nothing there, either. I was probably pruned from the set for being low-quality. Kinda funny, I thought I’d be good enough to include at least once. Maybe next time.

.safetensors / .ckpt files (which are the models Stable Diffusion runs) have no image data in them, by the way. It is all math and numbers in there. There is no way of telling what was included in the training set, unless the dev(s) that made the model release it publicly. The models themselves are usually around 3–6 GB, though there’s larger ones and mini ones.

Like my own silly brain, there’s no way of tracking down the exact art pieces the software was referencing off of when it generates something. Am I making money off of another artist’s hard work when I remember how to draw heads from a Proko video? Am I ripping off photographers when I recall their pictures when drawing my characters? I’m not a tech company, but I still make money off of the things I copy and filter through my mind and hand.

I’m rambling at this point, sorry. Of course, the core issue is capitalism. How different would people see this medium if money were not an issue? How futuristic, how exciting it is to visualize something from words alone. It’s that art machine I’d always wanted as a kid, where I think of something and it pops out on the page finished.

I think it is worth to uplift those who use the medium as ethically as they can, as @are-we-art-yet is doing—having a do-not-use artist list, avoiding corporations, don’t try to undercut traditional artists. Like with any medium, there’s a variety of artists. Some are nice and do their best to have a good impact, some don’t care at all about the ethics of their art.

I’m still pretty firmly a “traditional” artist. I won’t stop drawing or give up because of AI. I play with AI on my own hardware and power for fun and for getting ideas (is that stealing?). It’s mostly replaced scrolling through Pinterest for me, but I still save people’s art and photos that I like in my computer, so I can look at em later, maybe get inspired. And steal like an artist, I guess.

[lovelyrecs]

wowowow ari i won't lie i read through the entirety of this two days ago while i was half asleep in bed and i loved it so much. definitely seeing what captured me so very deeply with harmless and i enjoyed it SO much. now i will do what i was too sleep to and reblog PROPERLY. your memes btw. huge fan. huuuuge fan like i cannot, i slept and i dreamt some of them no joke

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

of course they do and of course he is. sam is kind and funny and would actually talk to his fans, nat is cool and scary and they like the intrigue and clint is insane

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

HELP ME the wittiest one liner he could come up with is a three-year old's snotty mumble. matches up.

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

this is very sad to me. however, the image of steve rogers hunched over a tiny laptop, angrily typing an email to the dmv is very very nice. but not nearly as nice as him later on going to the actual dmv, waiting in the long ass line with his arms crossed and then talking sternly to the clerks and etc while bucky stands behind him silently

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.” Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

THAT WOULD BE SO

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

scott!!! he WOULD and i would gobble it all up. i love that man. he's the people's princess and every time the interns get to work with him they let out a collective sigh of relief

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

THE BACKGROUND??? LIKE A CRYPTID?? the content he will give is my profile picture-esque. just a blurry very petulant small face

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

LMAOO i have to say, though, what works works

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

ari is that an actual thing that exists

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

THAT'S SO SWEET STOP IT I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HIS LITTLE FIGURES

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

PUPPET HISTORY also imagine if he'd said yes to puppets

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

IMAGINE THE AUDIENCE CHEERING LIKE IN A SITCOM. SHE'S BACK OH MY GOD DEAR READER

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

HELP ME she's so me

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?”  “No.” “That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

I CANNOT THEY (you) MAKE MEMES OF HIM WHERE HE'S THE SKINWALKER LMAOO also like how she didn't expand at all like you get what you get suck it up you can use context clues “At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

she's right, you have to look at the bright side. skinwalker bucky boyfriend. small wins.

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?” “For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.” Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

i love her <3 also very clever way of leaving it open for readers ari u are a genius

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud.  He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

LMAO why is he such a problem child and then pretends he doesn't know that. bucky barnes you make a conscious effort to be a little shit

ari shurisneakers you have done it again. live in my brain.

unsolved (i)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or any shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, Very Loud reader, images and memes that all have alt texts.

A/N: yes this is literally harmless in a different font. do not ask me if anything doesn't make sense. i cannot explain. i resurface every 3 years to present you with ideas born from menty b's. ANYWAY shout out to my beloved ryan and shane. pls enjoy <3

Bucky doesn’t appeal to the youths.

Apparently. 

On God, he cannot fathom why.

He had definitely left the house in the last six months, maybe. Smiled in at least two pictures that existed on the internet. He even knew what Discord was. Sort of.  

By all accounts, he should be treated as the modern day icon that he was.  

“The youths?” he repeats, the word so foreign on his tongue it felt odd to even say it.

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

Bucky has the audacity to look offended. 

“Anything to say?” Their PR head, Maya, asks him, amused. 

He stares, formulating the wittiest one liner he could in three seconds.

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

Maya sighs. “Look, the team took the decision together. As far as I’m aware, you are still a member. You need some PR if you guys want to stay in the public’s good books.”

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

“That’s why it’s important to get them to like you,” Maya emphasizes. “Or the idea of you at least. A very sanitized, corporate friendly version.”

His eyebrow twitches unintentionally.  

“And also you signed the contract.”

Well. Shit. 

Truth be told– and he has openly and rather loudly stated this on numerous occasions even especially when no one asked– he doesn’t understand why they need a PR team. The world has calmed down significantly over the last few years. Bucky hadn’t really been out crime-fighting as much as he was people-watching. There hasn’t been an earth-shatteringly dystopian-level event in the longest time, and there seemed to be a group of spandex-clad teenagers who seemed to do a good job at taking care of them when they did threaten to occur. Go kids.

Even if they needed PR, he could arguably understand the appeal of Sam and Nat and why the people would want to see more of them. Bucky, on the other hand, looked like he crawled onto Earth most days of the week. 

“What do I have to do?” he asks ultimately, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Interviews?”

The intern shares a look with Maya. Bucky shares a look with the ceiling. 

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.”

Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

Maya stares at him.

Bucky stares back.

“So,” she says slowly, like he’s a moron, “you would–”

“No.” 

The intern sighs heavily like they discussed that this was going to happen. Bucky was getting predictable. This annoys him even further, for some reason.

“Only once a week, and it doesn’t have to be anything crazy–”

“I’m not doing videos,” he interjects. “I’ll tweet a few times. I’ll even go outside. But ’m not doin’ videos.”

A big step was to get the Avengers off Twitter after the regular shit-storm that occurs every time they’d quote-tweet another politician calling them shitheads. Getting them back on seems counterproductive. 

“Fine,” Maya relents, looking at the intern. “We'll work something out.”

Bucky leans back in his chair, and meditating on ways he can weasel his way out of those too.

So they stick him in a couple of interviews.

Bucky, as the recluse extraordinaire that he was, does unsurprisingly terrible at them.

Variety does a piece on him that was supposed to take up 2 pages. They send back half a page worth of usable material and Bucky gets a lecture on how monosyllables don't count as answers.

He grunts in return. Maya’s itch to smack his shoulder with the rolled up draft increases.

They set him up for pap walks. Just him getting fast food for the team, or sitting in the park.

They don’t take into account that Bucky was trained professionally for years on how to hide, sneak in and out of places without a soul knowing he was ever there. 

The paparazzi spend three hours waiting for him outside the pizza place, while he’s been home for two hours with two demolished pepperonis and an order of mozzarella sticks. 

They give him access to his Twitter. 

He tweets some dumb shit and gets shadow banned by that evening. 

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

“Play nice,” Sam tells Bucky one evening. 

It’s an off-hand comment, not even really looking at him while he says it. 

Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he’s referring to, but he thinks that maybe he has gone too far.

He begrudgingly agrees. 

Therefore, it begins. 

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

Then the jokes really start.

“I just don’t got anything to add,” Bucky tries, in a failure of an attempt to justify his lack of contribution. 

Maya only stares at him, but Bucky swears he can hear her curse quietly, even though her lips don’t move even a millimeter.  

He is not put in another video. 

And so he finds himself here. 

In a meeting room that he’s convinced is barricaded from the outside so he can’t slither out the door again. Another intern with pink-tinted glasses that took up half their face.

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

“Videos seem to be working,” she ties it together. “But we need more than you just standing silently behind Captain Rogers.”

“But it’s working,” Bucky objects. “I don’t see why it has to change.”

Maya sends him a glare. Bucky decides then it’s good to shut up. 

“Are you on the internet a significant amount?” the intern asks. The glasses on their face have changed colours to green. Bucky’s eyebrow furrows. 

“No.” 

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

“What do you like doing?” the intern enunciates, pulling up a spreadsheet of niches that had built a dedicated community around themselves over the years. “Makeup? Cleaning? Parkour?”

Bucky wonders if they’d really create a montage of him just micro cleaning the kitchen every week. It doesn’t sound half bad. 

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

“You really are dead silent,” the intern breaks his train of thought, tone almost that of wonder. “Guess the whole ‘ghost story for seventy years’ is more true than I thought.”

Bucky throws him a weary look, and works on unclenching the fist that tightened involuntarily. 

“Was that necessary?” Maya’s voice comes coldly. “Take fifteen. Go find the other one we were supposed to meet.”

While sheepish and somewhat apologetic, the kid still looks relieved to be out of there. To be honest, Bucky isn’t really offended– he’s grown a thick skin over the years. But he also thought the guy was a little shit now. 

Maya turns back to him, but Bucky finds that the table contains wonders far more interesting than the conversation at hand.

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

He wordlessly shakes his head. 

Been the former, seen too much of the latter.

Maya’s head tilts abruptly. “You like ghosts?”  

He wonders if the prior conversation had anything to do with this insightful question. 

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t exist.”

“Really,” Maya deadpans. “Aliens and multiversal baboons are fine, but no ghosts.”

“I’ve seen aliens and multiversal baboons. Never seen a ghost in my life,” Bucky argues right back.

“Other people have seen ghosts.”

“Good for other people.”

The door swings open right as Maya’s eyes narrow at him. Guess it wasn’t padlocked. 

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

Bucky had met you. The newest addition to the team that had made a grand entrance a couple of weeks ago. He thinks you stay on the floor below him, but he has nothing backing this hypothesis other than the disco funk music that had started appearing at odd hours of the night. 

“Please sit,” Maya cracks a smile at you that Bucky had yet to earn. “Sorry, I know our meeting is scheduled for later, but I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.”

You look between her and Bucky, who hasn’t moved an inch since you got here, much less even said hello.

“You must be really bad if Maya had to call me in,” you tell him outright. “I’m usually like, her last option.”

“Thanks,” Bucky replies dryly. 

“Look, here’s my final pitch.” Maya sighs, before turning to you. “You’re new, and we need something to introduce you slowly to the public.”

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

“And he needs… an upgrade.” Maya’s thumb juts out towards Bucky who simply rolls his eyes.

“Right.” Your sight lands on him from across the table. “I’ve seen the memes.”

“What memes?” he grunts, because while the team had definitely seen them, it didn't occur to anyone they should show it to him. He loves them. Really. So much. Die for them. 

You only look too happy to pull out your phone and start typing.

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?” 

“No.”

“That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

Bucky doesn’t look impressed. He can’t say he blames them either, which makes him inexplicably maddens him.  

“At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

“Right.” Maya clears her throat. “The both of you–” 

“Are getting paired together, I suppose,” you hum. 

Bucky’s eyebrows pull together. 

He barely knows you. Just a little bit on how you ended up here, that you enjoyed hanging out with the team, figuring out your place in the compound, and were seemingly doing a great job at it. 

You were… loud. And open. 

Bucky feels the compulsive need to compensate for that by doubling down on how silent he could get, as if the two of you couldn’t co-exist in the same space in equilibrium. 

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.”

Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

“Great.” Maya slams her laptop closed. “See you later.”

Bucky’s left staring as she exits, not even throwing the both of you another look.

“That was quick,” your voice cuts through the silence. “What was that all about?”

 “Don’ ask me,” he grumbles, with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was about to follow. 

“Ghost hunting?” Bucky echoes a week later, as expected.

“Yes,” Maya tells him simply. “Two of you. A series based on paranormal activity.”

“I don’t even believe in them,” he reiterates. 

“That’s the point,” she emphasises. “Skeptic and believer. It makes for a good contrast.”

“Why us both?” He hopes it doesn’t come off as offensive. He just doesn’t see why he can’t do this with Sam. Even Clint, if a gun was really pressed to his head. 

“I’m new, no one gives a shit about me,” you say brightly and full of promise. “Yet.”

“Exactly. It’ll be low key. Not an overwhelming number of viewers, no expectations. It’s perfect for launching one Avenger and re-launching another.”

“Sounds rad.” You grin, leaning back as your feet rest on the chair in front of you.

Maya looks relieved for a moment that at least one of you was on board. “No promises on anything. We shoot one video, and if it does well, we stick with it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky argues. 

“Then you have until tomorrow morning to give us another feasible idea,” Maya dishes back.

Bucky retreats into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. 

Truth be told, he considered himself to be the most boring person in the team and though he had made his peace with that, he was sure thar bringing that up now would entail Maya shooting him in the foot.

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud. 

He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

“Put her there, partner.” You stretch ungracefully over the large table, sticking out your hand.

Bucky eyes your hand. “Do you even believe in ghosts?” 

“I do now, yeah.” You nod seriously. “Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of them.”

“One video,” Maya reminds him as a balm. “And if it doesn’t work, you’re off the hook forever.”

Off the hook? Forever? For Bucky?

Yay. 

“One video,” he reiterates.

You roll your eyes before smiling when he leans forward to grab it. You yank it up and down clunkily. He blinks at you, letting go slowly. 

“Thank fuck,” Maya groans, head dropping onto the table. 

Your smile is wild. “Guess we’re doing this shit together.”

He doesn’t even have to look very deep in his soul. He already knows he’s going to suffer.

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also i'd absolutely love to make this a community led fic like how harmless was! if you have memes or any paranormal ideas or just any prompts in general, please please send them my way <3

Next part

[shoggoth-the-bitch]

Scavengers

I have 10 episodes left, have wasted my whole day, and have work in 7 hours. Let's do this.

Who is this? What's happin-

Oh? "Private contemplation" you say? You suddenly have my full attention. Hold on, I have to check something on Ao3...

I'm disappointed in this fandom. Oh well, let me just...

Alright, where was I?

"The tunnels do have a tendency to echo." Oh my god! How many times did it come up do you wonder?!

Wait! They said they have a cult or something? Is this them?

"First name basis with the profits..." I'm sorry, they're profits?! That's hilarious, actually! Also, Jon being a smartass here is actually really funny to me.

They can sleep here. That would make me so happy.

Wait? Okay, I've seen some stuff for TMAGP (spoilers) and I know Celia apparently comes back in that series and she's the girl who talked to Martin in episode 100. The one with the bad ghost story and who he gave money for coffee. I'm sure it will come up later in the episode but honestly an A+ choice on the writer's part.

Oh, maybe you shouldn't tell them this part?!

Oh? They know each other? From therapy? Can't imagine she has the best mental image of Jon then?

Yeah, was wondering when the- Oh god the tape recorders refuse to be told no today... Stop acting like this is Jon's fault!

I was gonna make a quip of "Only seven people, you didn't even get one from each fear?" but apparently they lost a bunch of people and that is very sad actually.

The implication that the tape recorders seem to like Martin is interesting. It reminds me of Jon saying that the Eye is fond of him a few episodes back. I can't help but wonder if that's because the Eye finds him particularly interesting or capable or if it more because Jon loves him and thus the Eye kind of loves him too?

I'm not sure why but the concept of something eldritch and vastly beyond human comprehension being fascinated and possibly in love with a human is actually kind of scary to me in a way. Like, I made a post forever ago about fan translation of Uzumaki, where the characters said something to the effect of "It's like the Spiral is in love with you." and that had fundamentally changed the story and it perspective for me at the time. Because something that thrives on fear and chaos simply can not express love in a way that's human or even really safe to interact with. Case in point, Jon is one of the Eye's favorite humans and look at everything it's put him through so far.

This is all to say, if that is the direction that the story is going and the Eye is actually in love with Martin to come extent then all I can really think is "Oh god no."

Anyway, unpause.

Yes, thank you! Stop being blaming Jon for this shit!

A convenient fear that's a never ending supermarket? What fear would that even be? Like, I've worked in customer service so I guess that would be a constant and unending nightmare for me to have to go back to but interesting that it might have been enough of an issue for it to have it's own place at the end of the world.

Wait, yeah, where is the Admiral! He's just hanging out in a Hunt domain, I thought those were just memes! I'm actually really sad about that!

More of the tape recorders following Martin then... Okay, Melanie, you don't gotta be mean... Melanie, you were always this way...

Your therapist thinks your the chosen one. Weird...

Ah, that's cute...

"One of the profits chosen to walk the end time unscathed," and "the anti-christ's plus one." Aren't you two just a pair?

Yes, fantastic question! How?!

A Spiral maze? Of course a therapist would fear madness.

Gosh, that's awful! So they just explained the fears to these people and they took it in a religious way. Oh, I hate the thought of that actually! Like, what happens if you start to worship after the fact? Can you become a chosen of the fears after they've already won, I wonder?

Melanie, you lied to them, I'm guessing? Damn, okay. I'm guessing it gave them at least a little hope? That's good I guess? Yeah, this doesn't seem great.

Oh, Melanie, you are tragically sweet. Martin, you are also tragically sweet. I wish you both the best.

Okay, this is a hard conversion... Daisy, I miss you still. Basira too!

"Careful of Helen." She says. You don't say hon? Yeah, don't worry about that actually.

Yeah, I liked her too... Okay, Martin you can't just drop "Jon killed her" like that on someone and give literally no warning. Pace yourself bud!

I would argue that- I am very curious who Aaron is?

Uh? This person sounded a lot like Helen for a second and I almost went "Oh god no!"

Fair enough...

Hello Aaron? I don't know if I like you but okay... Sorry, hon, no gods of hope.

"What do you know about poetry?" Well he is dating a poet... "Nightmare Strider." That's a fun title-

"I do not want a poem." Damn Jon. Why is everyone in this hellscape either tragic or just mean?

Jesus Jon, you're becoming way more of a dick?

There was a lot to take in from that episode. Like, wow. Melanie and Georgie are profits, Jon is a prickly disaster, me wondering if the Eye is overly obsessed with Martin or if I'm just interpreting the series wrong, I have another new fic to read, just wow...