#mass teaser post

[ferniliciousness]

Teaser Tuesday

Cause why not. I've never done this, and this is a little, confusing to anyone who doesn't know the story but uh 😅. Gaia is my human Mass Effect OC. This is set on Omega while Garrus is going all vigilante.

"shit. Shit shit shit." Mercs were everywhere. At least 20 Blood Pack members just where she could see them. She wouldn't have had a chance even when she was at her best, let alone after 5 years away from the trigger.

Scanning over the building, her eyes were desperate to find something, anything that she could use, any way she could find in, instead all she could see was just more and more things to discourage her.

They had a small band of mechs and varren guarding the entrance. The upper levels were bustling with activity and from her perch she could see stockpiles of weapons. People were constantly running in and out, all of them carrying weapons, and all of them with the Blood Pack insignia.

"Dammit." Her fist pound into the wall, pain shooting up her hand as she tried to wake up her head enough to think. What could she do? This was too much for her. There was no chance she could get in there and run them out, and an even slimmer chance of finding the man she was looking for.

*No, no, no, I can't ask him, I can't. I can do this myself, somehow.* Biting her lip and leaning back over the railing, one last chance, one last look, there had to be a way. But she saw nothing. She's only one person, and she hasn't done anything like this in years.

A loud sigh escapes her lungs. Thinking that's enough looking she slips back into the shadows of Omega, letting the darkness of forgotten pathways welcome her once again. People pass by underneath her, their distant chatter floating up to her ears as she treads across the station.

The familiar sight of home greets her and she reemerges amongst the crowds. Auto pilot takes over for her, her mind completely occupied planning out what to do. Neighbors wave at her and offer friendly greetings but she doesn't notice any of them. She's completely stuck in her own head, at least, until she hears voices coming from her home.

Numbness returns, the world goes silent around her, and all she hears is those two Turian voices. She could hear the sadness behind their vocals even through the door. The low vibrations shaking her core.

Pain. Sharp and quick, stabs into her heart. The trills, high pitched and happy, they used to float through the hall, filling it with joy and laughter. All now just a distant memory that Gaia could barely even recall.

Stolen, they had been stolen. With one shot, the echoes had died, and only a sorrowful memory was left behind.

*Breath, breath, the last thing those kids need is to see you all melancholy. Hold your head up and smile. They don't need to know, what you're doing..... but it still needs done.*

Opening the door, Gaia was greeted by the faces behind the voices, Lunette and Kellic, the two Turians living next door. They were why she was scouting the base, they were why she was wrestling with herself. And they were why, she was finally asking for help.

[ask-the-wimbletons]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH IM SO NORMAL ABOUT THIS RETURN AND DEFINITELY NOT FOAMING AT THE MOUTH AND GROWLING

// Steady now, Like I said everything is still a work in progress. I haven't even started on the sprites yet//

[jonny-b-meowborn]

Gonna take a shower and start putting my therian fic on AO3 yippee yippee yippee

[tsvai]

it's n7 day!!!

the cut content restoration mod i paused my current playthrough of MELE to wait for is out, so i'm climbing back on my bullshit lmao.

[pariaritzia]

cannot believe I'm gonna have to watch pushpa. I was going to do it eventually bc it's such an Event Franchise like kgf but I must admit. the posters and the teaser for pushpa 2 SLAP

[aois-amaterasu-painting]

Ruki and his world building...

the GazettE 2015.8 RELEASE「DOGMA」THEATER FLYER

[s-4pphics]

moth. teaser. (e.w.)

SYNOPSIS: knights of the devil, you all are to be conquered. 

WORD COUNT: 881 

WARNINGS: vampire!ellie, vampirekiller!oc, a lot to come FUCK, violence… so blood(drinking), death, murder, gore, religion briefly,

A/N: yasss yaaas taglist?

prolouge

1809

“Oh, my precious darling…” 

Red, similar to her hair; palms painted from the tips of a finger to the points of elbows; knees sunk into begrimed pili drenched with fresh maroon. Panicked breaths are accompanied by prayers, wishes of denial. Desires for death. 

“… What I would give to protect you…” 

“F-F—“

Tortured hollers are directed towards the pouring skies. Bodies. Bodies everywhere; surrounded by decay. 

She sobs, deep from the pits of her stomach, “Father, for-forgive them! For they do not—“

Thunder claps. Lightning is being used as weapons from the Lord above, all meant to discover her and strike. The beams in the sky are intended to punish her discernment. It was a mistake. It was a mistake! Her eyes refuse to meet the battered corpse of the young babe, no more than three. Her crime was committed in a haze, blinded by starvation, all at the cost of the family before her. Villagers would deem the view a savage attack. A mutilation only made possible by the ravenous wolves after dark. The bears that protect the trees at dusk.

All on horseback, the strangers paused their ventures to inquire guidance. She swiftly became an aid for navigating the path, instructing them with a trembling finger and a blistering throat. Follow that trail to the end of the woods. Unbeknownst to their gracious eyes, she followed. Stalked after their mount for miles like the thoroughbred they ride, carried by the wind. Urged by bloodlust. 

Her vision blurred when they tied their horse’s lariats to a nearby post that barely passed the trees. Her vision was shrouded in darkness, a substance so thick that her limbs felt trapped, even in frantic movement. They’d reached the end, just like she’d promised. 

Their screams satiated her hunger, but never hindered her guilt. 

Demons, I tell you! All of them, demons! Witches destined to be set aflame for the masses! 

And now she crouches over them with remorse in her chest. Remorse that will wash away her like the rainfall that pounds on her shoulders. Much like it had in the past when her purity was stolen. Another fatality. 

1919

“Hunting requires bouts of unwavering dedication. If the entirety of your being doesn’t relish in the suffering of the demons walking, then you are to be shunned.”

Being the youngest hunter-to-be amongst legends, historical monuments that leave trails of prosperous victories wherever they advance, is humbling. Your mother pestered you for as long as you could remember: never, never become a hunter, being her only protest for you, her only child. She used to pray beside your bed at night when she assumed you to be asleep, praising the Creator for forbidding you sickness or poverty. You were her only treasure, a gift from the frosted heavens. 

And the demons took her. 

Hunters searched the unoccupied lands that surrounded your home relentlessly, but no traces of the Devils’ were ever discovered. They attended your mother’s burial for your protection, and prepared to assist your transition into the orphanage, but you denied. You were permanently vexed. Forever vengeful. 

I wish to become a hunter! 

Your recruitment was immediate due to the shortage of volunteers, and that same day, you witnessed all of the treasures and memories of your childhood home — of your mother — get burned to the ground by the Hunters. No trails for the demons should go untouched by fire. 

“If you hesitate for even a second, you’re dead. Either by their hand…” 

Something unsettled you that morning as you prepared for school. Something in the air, something underground. A heaviness in your home that you couldn’t trace. Your mother ironed your skirt and pinned your hair up, brushed down the small curls around your hairline, and she eased you. The weather is changing, dear, she’d said before wishing you well. You studied relentlessly, all while she was shredded by teeth sharp as knives. You want the Devil’s lifeless heart in the palm of your hand, risks be damned.

“Or mine. And I will not hesitate.” 

The overseer of your battalion, who slowly paces before his future prodigies, aura menacing, pauses in front of you. With your gaze locked forward and a lump in your throat, you gawk right on the crescent on his belt — the hunter’s insignia — your feet shuffle, shoes slightly squeaking above the wood. 

“Are you prepared, child?” 

His tone is disparaging, and you swallow. Your head bobs and your breathing stutters. 

“Yes, sir.” 

He crouches before you and your cells stiffen, elbows perched on his knees, eyes finally level with yours. You appear stoic due to the grinding of your teeth, inspecting the stitched scar that sprouts at his right brow and crosses his eye.

“You are nothing,” He hisses, and your heart clenches, “You are not a child, and I am not your elder. Any identity you held prior to your arrival is worthless, now. We are vessels for the greatest power above. Hunter is your only name, do you understand?” 

No verbiage escapes you. It couldn’t with how your breath trembles, so you nod once; Quite mechanic. 

“Stand straight.” 

His conviction forces your shoulders into alignment, and snickers from the older prodigies erupt from behind you. Your cheeks warm and your palms drip. The overseer rises to his feet once more.

“That goes for all of you!” He shouts, and the room is quiet.

The crescent sparkles under the yellow candlelight. Your palms grow clammy at his viperous swear. 

“I will not hesitate.” 

[aropride]

ok picture it with me. the super bowl is on the 11th -> taylor swift sings her little songs and then flies on her jet to see her new boytoy -> lots of discourse sparked by this but the topic dies within the week -> she keeps posting teasers for different songs -> swifties are creating insane conspiracy theories as per usual -> her album comes out on april 19th -> the songs are all pretty good, one or two flops, one or two masterpieces, the usual -> guilty as sin is about the overuse of her private jet, in which she promises to Do Better -> people are shocked by the genuine lyricism and clear authenticity of the song -> she says she will start start carpooling (jetpooling?) with other artists to cut down on fossil fuels -> a week or so passes and again the topic fades into irrelevancy as trisha paytas gives birth a few weeks early and king charles the third dies of a heart attack on the same day -> the date is april 29, 2024 -> swifties take to tiktok, posting their videos to the lyric "do you really wanna know where i was april 29th?" en masse -> swift announces she's going to see travis from football on her private jet -> several hours pass -> no updates -> we haven't heard from swift or kelce at all -> night falls, the moon casts light over the quiet ground -> crickets sing softly as the world waits with open eyes for news of taylor's safe and heartwarming landing -> speculation runs rampant, twitter is ablaze, and as the night goes on, rumors only grow -> morning dawns and rumors fly through new skies -> someone leaks to the news that all contact has been lost with taylor swift's jet -> mass chaos erupts -> the us coast guard sends out a search party -> the world waits with baited breath -> a day passes, two, three -> a week. a month. -> the world moves on, for the most part. the news keeps churning out stories. trisha paytas is pregnant again. -> two months. it's late june. 24 eras tour concerts have been cancelled. fans are devastated. time keeps moving -> the day is july 9th when the news is announced. off the coast of northern europe they're found not her body, but three simple items: her custom bracelet from kelce, a chip of metal the size of your palm from the wing of her jet, and a single strand of blond hair.

[xxnashiraxx]

WIP Wednesday - Kinktober Teaser (2)

I don't want to reveal this prompt yet because I'm still working out the kinks (haha I'm so funny), but it may be giving itself away here a little bit. Or it could still be mysterious!

I am hoping to post it this weekend, maybe Sunday in lieu of a WSTFMD chapter since the release schedule changed. It all depends on how I feel after I get back home from visiting relatives (and if I actually finish by then)! But the good news is I have 2,500+ words so far and I've barely even scratched the surface of the smut, so there's that to look forward to if you so choose. 💕

Enjoy! (subject to chaaange minorly)

“Astarion… what happened? Are you okay?” She asks, watching his head cock to the side as he listens to her. Her worry blossoms into unease as he remains silent, taking one careful step toward her. She feels the hairs on the back of her neck raise in response, but she holds her ground, careful to keep him cradled in her gaze as she notices two other large masses of fur behind the one he’d been hovering over. God, he’d taken down more than one? Her heart aches for him and as she refocuses on him she notices he’s covered the gap about five feet, so close she can see the stillness of his chest and the light wounds over his skin more clearly. “Please talk to me-” He snarls and she clamps her mouth shut, eyes widening. It’s too late to get away. He’s too close- too fast. He’ll be on her in a moment, and for some reason, he isn’t recognizing her. There’s an animalistic gleam to his eyes- sharp and keen as a predator tracking its prey. She feels her throat close and her pulse speed up frantically, watching in horror as he scents the air and gnashes his teeth. Shit. She turns on her heel despite every hiking guide she’s ever read telling her to always back away slowly- they always say that, what is she thinking? “Okay- I’m sorry! But can you please snap out of it? I can’t run faster than you!” She shouts over her shoulder, cursing her stupid sandals as they obstruct her leaps and bounds. She tears off in the direction of camp she has a vague recollection of, though truth be told, she’s too turned around and shaken by her lover’s strange shift in behavior to recall which way she’d come from. She can hear him behind, footfalls light but deafening in the quiet of the trees. She heaves for breath, lungs burning, terror closing around her rapidly beating heart. He’s so close that she can smell the blood in the air and the scent of his perfume, beckoning to her. She chances a glance, instantly regretting it when she trips over a tree root and falls flat on her stomach into the damp soil and leaves. “Ah!” She cries when he overtakes her, chest pressed against her back and hands closing like a vice over her arms as he holds her down. It hurts, especially the way his knees pinch her waist and her wrist bones grind together, gasping for air under the weight of him. Her cheek is barely cushioned by her hair and she looks up at him, eyes wide as his eerie, vacant red orbs spear through her. His lips part to reveal his fangs, the pair at the bottom elongated to match and shining in the dim light from above as his blood-stained tongue flashes over them. She’s never felt so afraid- every nerve ending wired and circulating adrenaline at the speed of light. “Astarion, please,” She pleads, whimpering when he tightens his grip on her arms. He lowers his face until she can feel his frigid breath against her neck, moist and fanning over her ear and upper back. He growls, low and gravelly, before opening his jaw wide. “No!” She shuts her eyes, bracing for the killing bite, but it doesn’t come. His lips find the mark he’d left her with earlier in the night, mouthing at it as a soft whine leaves his throat. He’s… never made that sound before… She shivers when his fangs press over the indents and his hands start to unclench, body slipping over hers until one knee presses between her thighs and nudges them open. Oh.

If you guys have anything you'd like to share! 💕 I crave your writing!

@khywren @verbenaa @inkymoonbunny @ladyduellist @kalmiaphlox @justabiteofspite @elinorbard @preciouslittlebhaalbae @roguishcat @pinkberrytea

[erinartemis]

OMGOMGOMGKFMSGSKB IM FREAKING OUT IT'S HERE!!! MURDER DRONES EPISODE 7 TEASER!! EEEEEE!!! I went frame by frame and picked out some cool scenes I wanted to scream about, so get ready for a bunch of crazed ramblings and some theories !! (Long post ahead, folks)

Okay first of all- just- the lighting in these shots ✨ simply gorgeous... Also that "poster" thing in the background of the first image is very interesting.. obviously it says HELP (though that looks scrawled-on afterward with probably blood), and it looks like there could be possibly eyes? EDIT: it's not eyes it's two drones standing !!!

Also can we appreciate how creepy cool that hole in the ground is :00

THEIR ROOMS! THE SILLIES' ROOMS!!! WHAT SECRETS DO THEY HOLD?? I hope we find out

EDIT: THEY'RE LOCKERS NOT ROOMS OOPSIES

Good to see we've still got a bit of that classic md humor: "not to be overdramatic but core collapse" xd

N oh no N IS HE OKAY?? what am I talking about ofc he's not (I'm going to cry at this episode)

OKAY NEXT-

This thing. What is this thing. Probably part of the Solver, as it's all organic and eldritch-y, and it has veins. It looks lit from behind, almost like we're looking out from the inside of something? I think it's possible somebody gets dragged into one of those physical manifestations of the Solver, and this could be their perspective from inside it! Oooor we're looking at it from the outside, and there's something glowing inside the mass.

Next up, these guys??? So many possibilities here... They look like humans, but they aren't necessarily so, just like the "Tessa Isn't Human" theory. And from what little you can see in the teaser, they are moving in an odd way- suspicious. I originally thought they could be manifestation of the Solver or something, created to confuse, but after considering it for a bit, I realized it's more likely this scene is a flashback to when the core collapsed.

SOLVERUZISOLVERUZISOLVER- OHHHH BOY SOLVER UZI

Okay. This shot is a bit confusing; can't really make out what's going on- To me, it looks like something is possibly exploding? And the red string things are lasers or something? Also the blobs in the foreground definitely look like Solver hands, but- that's all I've got for this one

Tessa. Tessatessatessa tessa are you pulling a sword on Uzi? oh no, you are, aren't you, ohh no

WHAT DID UZI SEE. ON THAT TV SCREEN. HELP SHE LOOKS SO TRAUMATIZED- Also also wanted to point out the "freaking ninja star" on the ground.. little callback there :,)

the crucifix will be important, oo religious imageryyy eee

DOG.

Small thing, this is clearly the same scene from the GLITCHx 7/8 teaser, but it's the shot from a little bit before the clip in that teaser plays. I wonder how much control Uzi has over herself at this point... These robots are going to so much pain someone help them

norinorinori nori I'M SO READY FOR THE LORE AND FLASHBACKS EEEE

OMGOMGOGMOGMOMG YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HYPED I WAS WHEN I SAW THIS- WE'RE GETTING MURDER N YALL!!! FIRST TIME SINCE THE PILOT EEEE!!! Oh my gosh I just KNOW it's going to be an emotional response to something horrible happening- something to do with Uzi getting fully possessed, or almost dying, or N THINKING she's dead, or just all the stress of EVERYTHING, along with V's (hopefully not actually) death, and it just pushes him to his breaking point OH AND all the repressing he's been doing this whole time WILL NOT BE HELPING WITH THAT !!! I'm SO EXCITED TO FIND OUT AAAA-

Oh it could also be that N gets factory-reset, causing him to actually lose his memories or something, which is AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT PILE OF ANGST, but personally I hope/think it'll be closer to the first one... It seems very likely to me that all of the stuff N's been going through (and how he's just been pretending everything's fine) would catch up to him, and it would lead to an "outburst" of everything he's been bottling up. PLUS do y'all remember that merch ad?? I know it was just a promo, but merch stuff has been shown to be kind of relevant to the plot in the past soo... yeah I'm feeling very good about this theory-

Okay so this is the same guy from the earlier image with all the humans- That feels notable, like they're going to be important. And is it just me and my poor video quality or does the Sentinel hand look glitchy?? Could it have turned on the humans like the one that turned on "Tessa" in Cabin Fever??

Oh dear, that's oil (or blood; they whole thing's too red to tell) coming from Uzi's eye... Feeling like the same thing that happened to Doll happens to Uzi... agh the ANGST hdfbsjsb

DOOOOOLL DOLL DOLL !!! SHE'S THERE !! I THINK SHE HAS BUTCHER KNIVES AGAIN !! I wonder who she's fighting... (I mean it could be a sentinel, but it looks like she's talking, so I'm guessing it's one of the group) ee I'm excited to see where Doll's character goes from here !!

ALLLLRIGHTY!! This has been a breakdown of my personal thoughts on the teaser! I am SOOO excited; these next two weeks need to go by FAST but ik they won't- Anyways... thanks for reading ! :D

[liveyun]

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐎𝐑 | MYG | teaser

pairing : min yoongi x oc

genre : gangster au , n s f w

w : [ redacted ] l m f a o

but this teaser!! isn't!! safe!!! for!!! minors!!!

a/n : the older version of this was originally posted on my old blog around a year ago. however, this is newly re-written and edited. you may imagine haegeum / D-Day Yoongi because i removed the ‘ buckaroo ’ ( cowboy ) elements which were previously inspired by “ That That ” mv. so if you feel like some parts feel familiar to you, you know now LMAO

main masterlist | taglist form

You feel as wobbly as jelly all over. Whimpering, you try to move slightly, but fail with a broken sigh.

That's when you feel a strong arm wrapping around your figure, hauling you up swiftly, as you let out a small gasp at the action. Your head spins at the sudden movement, as you squeeze your eyes shut.

Your breathing was strained as your chest heaved up and down, trying to gulp as much oxygen as you could. You realize that you're no longer lying on the floor, but rather. . .a firm, clothed chest, which rose and fell with each breath, as you felt the heartbeat resonating in your own eardrums with each second that ticked by.

Your eyes fly open at the simple realization that you were being hugged by someone, and that someone smelled like the subtle notes of lavender with a delicate undertone of citrus.

Your cheeks heat up when you realize how attractive you find this and how much your tired body seeks for the comfort his warm body provides you in the simple embrace.

You want this small moment of comfort to last a bit longer, as you try to snuggle in, but the guy seems to have different plans. He yanks your fragile body away from his own, snatching away the small warmth you had, a whine building up in your throat in exhaustion.

You don't dare to open your eyes which feel as if they're burning with hot tears, but you do feel the strong gaze piercing into your skull as you feel yourself still being in his embrace, him still holding you with a single strong arm wrapped around your waist. His unrelenting embrace felt sensitive on your skin as your muscles felt tight and sore, wriggling around a bit. Your limbs protested with pain the longer you stood on both of them, knees wobbling.

You struggle to stay awake and not surrender to the lull of pain and tiredness which wants you to.

You don't know where you are, or how you came here, but you surely know, you can surely feel that the room, or wherever you stand is freezing cold. Suddenly, the oppressive and eerie silence was shattered by a sudden and chilling sensation. A cold, metallic object pressed against your chin, and your eyes once again fly open with your heart racing, realizing that it was the barrel of a gun.

Your eyes can only pass away the unshed tears which had accumulated, soon finding yourself so close to a mass of silky but messy black hair, and you realize that you've been pulled back to your kidnapper’s embrace. It felt suffocating how his alluring scent still clouded your senses, now sending them to a hayware as you take in the close proximity.

You feel his grip on you tightening, his malevolent breath hot on your ear. A sinister, deep whisper slithered into your consciousness,

“Don't even fucking think about it.”

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

Can You Hear My Heartbeat Chapter 38 preview

Since I'm not taking a break from posting my works, here's a teaser for the next chapter of my YOI novelisation in which competing in enemy territory will bring out a deliciously dark side of Eros!Yuuri:

He did not waste one glance at Viktor as he ran his hands along the sides of his body. When this short programme was done, when all interviews were given, he would remind Viktor of his place. The music stopped. Yuuri stomped his foot, cast a sharp gaze at the barrier, and blew the judges a kiss. Although their faces were blurred, he believed that one woman raised her. With a small smile, he entered the step sequence. How does that feel, Viktor? He skated a half circle on his inside edges, sticking out his butt to the judges. I can flirt with the audience, too. But as he entered the second cluster, the exhilaration that his dark satisfaction had brought, faded as Yuuri recalled why he was here. If he lost, this would be the last time that he could skate Eros with Viktor at his side as his coach. His skin crawled. He had come to love this elusive programme, when he had discovered how he could utilise it to make Viktor lose his mind. He would not give up without putting up a fight. Maybe no one in Russia, or even the entire world, wants me to win. His intestines hardened with determination. The step sequence ended with a sharp camel spin. He had enough spite to pay them back by winning. He was a weapon of mass sex appeal. He would make the audience lose their collective mind. And by doing so, he would make Viktor lose his mind, too.

Eros! Yuuri is really a handful, isn't he?

In contrast to the Cup of China chapters, a huge portion of the Rostelecom Cup is told through Yuuri's unreliable eyes. That choice allowed me to explore his angst and to prepare some of the decisions he makes in the last couple of episodes. But don't worry, Vitya will get his fair share of character study as a set up for the big finale. Also, I deeply enjoyed fleshing out kinky Eros!Yuuri. It's really a shame that Makkachin is such a greedy dog!

I hope you're still enjoying the story! 🩷

The chapter will be on AO3 at the usual time on Wednesday night.

An insight into my process of preparing chapters for posting below...

I've spend the last week and a major part of the weekend to prepare the chapters that will go live in July. Usually, that doesn't take much longer than two days, but this time, the chapters were a bit of a clusterfuck. I've checked them on a surface level when I fixed Yuuri's characterisation in spring, but I didn't watch out for other issues. So last week, I rewrote and expanded parts that were sloppily written although important characterisation happened in them. I added characterisation, fixed timing issues, and rewatched the episodes to compare them to the text to make sure that I got the timeline right. For Chapter 38, I also fixed all the errors that my beta found.

All these things are part of the final revision before posting. Normally, they just take up less time to fix.

Sometimes, revision is a pain. But I want to post at least the best version of my work I can bring myself to.

[ask-the-wimbletons]

shitpost aside I like how your art improved I'm SO hype for the new sprites. Wank looks really cool already

//D JHASJDHASKJH thank you smmm <3 its taking awhile since i just finished a school term (and recovered from being sick) but im getting back to the groove of drawing...//

[amageish]

Reflecting on queer representation in X-Men 97 - and speculating on the future...

Before X-Men '97 was revealed, I made a post all about queer X-Men characters and the possibilities for this show... and now the show is out... so I figure I should do a follow-up! Let's discuss what happened and the possibilities for the future.

This is a long post, so I'll put my thoughts under the cut!

Part One: What We Got

Morph

The show's primary form of queer representation is in the character of Morph. They're the main "OC" of the original 1992 cartoon - they've always been important to the animated series canon despite not having much presence in the comics - so this is a pretty bold choice from that perspective...

They are a fairly unique type of gay by 2024 mass-market corporate standards. They're sassy bordering on mean in a way that would feel very typical for the 2000s but is sort of refreshing in the 2020s... They are non-binary, though their gender is never really discussed in the show itself - their voice actor sees them as being on a gender journey, though my personal reading is that they seem quite comfortable with themself and their gender already... Everyone who refers to them uses they/them pronouns thus far, though most dialogue is written to avoid gendering them entirely.

They are also notably attracted to Logan, something reflected throughout the show though most directly acknowledged in Episodes 3 and 10. They joke about showering with Logan and, when they think they see him in the showers, they give themselves Wolverine claws to help him reach the "hard-to-reach places"... Morph then actually says "I love you" to him in Episode 10, taking the form of Jean Grey to do it.

Whether a queer character pining for the "straight"* friend is good representation or an overplayed trope is subjective, but we will see where this arc goes in future seasons!

*Logan definitely isn't straight, but Marvel Corporate and Season 1 showrunner Beau DeMayo both say he is lmao.

Cipher + Boom Boom

I made an entire post about these two, but we also got a same-gender duo dancing at the Gala on Genosha... These are Cipher and Boom Boom - two characters who are not currently explicitly queer in the comics, but are interesting characters to read as queer IMHO! Cipher especially is a fascinating choice - the background gay is someone with the power to literally turn herself invisible lmao.

Northstar

Marvel's first openly gay superhero made two cameos in X-Men 97 - he appears in an X-Men recreation of A Different World in Episode 4 and with his fellow Alpha Flight members (plus Cipher and Psylocke) in Episode 10. He doesn't do anything of note really, but his hair colour is correct at least - the original show mistook his hair having white streaks as a trick of the light in some famous books and comic covers as him actually black-and-white hair in-universe...

Pixie

I'm not 100% sure if this should count, but the ever-perky Pixie turned up on Genosha in Episode 5 alongside her fellow New X-Men. As of writing, she's more of a queer-coded character than a capital-C canon queer in the comics... but she is solicited to be in the next Pride book alongside Bling! and Anole, who are canon queers, so I feel like her long-implied (and confirmed in an AU) bisexuality is likely to be canon in a couple weeks... so yeah - Genosha had a queer fae on it! Good for her.

There were a couple of other background gay characters, but nobody recognizable from the comics - there are some theories Blink and Husk were presented as a couple, but the "Blink" character appears to be a shapeshifter, so I would guess they are just OCs...

Part Two: Who is Teased

Like any modern Marvel project, we ended on a bunch of teasers... Two big explicitly queer names appear in those final moments - let's chat about that...

Iceman

After a season of appearing in the portrait of the O5 X-Men in Xavier's office, Bobby appears in Forge's DoFP-style board of potential future teammates at the end of the show.

In the comics, he famously comes out as a result of time-displaced versions of the original X-Men team showing up. A teenage Jean Grey reads the mind of a teenage Bobby Drake, who has been obscenely remarking on his very-real totally-not-fake attraction to Magik, and tells him that he is gay. This... probably isn't going to happen in the show, but I could see them taking this as a chance to do another take on Bobby's coming out.

They also could adapt the older story where Emma Frost possesses Bobby's body and, among other things, informs him that he will not be able to master his powers to their full potential until he works through his internalized identity crisis - though she doesn't say that he is gay at the time (the Comics Code prohibiting such things was still in effect), just implying it.

Bobby's had a lot of pairings in the comics, but in the show I think he is likely going to be Morph's actual love interest. He's gay. He's also a queer jokester. They'd probably get along and enjoy ribbing each other. We'll see what happens, but that's my guess...

Rachel Summers

Mother Askani was a shadow that lingered over the entire show and finally revealed herself in the final moments. The woman who raised Cable in a distant future alongside a cult of her worshippers, Mother Askani is a variant of another Summers-Grey child, Rachel Summers from Days of Future Past.

After decades of queer-coding, Rachel was finally confirmed as queer in 2022 when she kissed Betsy Braddock. This coming-out took around a year to be approved by corporate, but it did indeed finally happen and she even has a story in this year's Pride special. So I am hoping that she will be doing some queer stuff in the show itself...

Rachel's younger form was already present in the original show, albeit as a non-verbal cameo, so my prediction is that she has done all her time-travelling stuff and got split into her Askani and Mother Askani forms off-screen... but we will see how they adapt this character - Rachel's never really had a chance to be multi-media before, so I'm unsure how much they will streamline things.

Part Three: Askani's Partners

Rachel Summers has only had one textual girlfriend, but she's somehow still gotten around... Let's discuss some possibilities!

Betsy Braddock

Betsy Braddock is Rachel's current and thus far only textual girlfriend. Not unlike Rachel, Betsy has some... complicated lore. While she is currently the leader of the Captain Britain Corps, she spent a lot of her publication history with her mind trapped in the body of the Japanese Ninja Kwannon, operating as the assassin Psylocke.

Yes. That Psylocke. Most Psylocke appearances are actually a white British woman inside of a Japanese woman's body. I am sorry if anyone had to learn that this this way.

In a not-so-hot take: I think the show should just skip the body swap... but with rumours of Captain Britain in the MCU and the Captain Britain Corps being a multiversal entity (it is basically the Spiderverse movie's Spider Society, but done in the 80s) there may be some red tape around the use of Betsy. I hope there isn't though as I would like to see them in animation!

Kitty Pryde

Rachel's other big queer love interest in the comics is Kitty Pryde. Chris Claremont, the architect of what most people associate with the X-Men, has gone so far as to say that she is the "primal love" of Pryde's life and tried to imply that they had gotten married and had kids together in his epilogue for the X-Men brand, X-Men: The End. It's never been textual, but they are pretty darn gay in plenty of the Claremont stuff - including his Excalibur, the run that Kitty Pryde's design on the Episode 10 billboard is taken from.

Kitty Pryde is a complicated character when it comes to queerness. In 2020, Pryde kissed a girl and plenty of news publications ran stories about how she is finally canonically bisexual... and then, uh, nothing really happened in the comics? She has continued to be bi-coded since, but it doesn't seem like Marvel Corporate considered that kiss to be a coming out at all? Which is wild as it is, uh, a same-gender kiss, but she hasn't gotten to be in a Pride book or anything since then... I am unsure if '97 would be able to make it explicit when the lower-stakes less-widely-read comics are currently struggling to do so, but we will see?

Though speaking of Kitty Pryde being queer...

Illyana Rasputin

Cameoing in Episode 3 via Morph and appearing on the DoFP billboard as well in Episode 10, the marvellous Magik seems set to make her 97 debut! She's Kitty Pryde's OTHER roommate who she has a soulbond with. Yeah, uh, Pryde got two of those. We love that for her.

Like Rachel, she's also a long-queer-coded woman with a history of violence, having her autonomy taken away from her, and deep-rooted insecurities which Pryde uniquely is able to help her through...

I'd be surprised if either Illyana/Rachel or Pryde/Illyana managed to happen in this show, but this is one of my favourite X-Men pairings so I had to mention it... I am a sucker for soulmate "Our subtextual queerness gives us EXTRA SUPERPOWERS" stuff and Illyana and Pryde have had some truly S-tier moments like that that I'd love to see in animation. Honestly, I'd even take it if they were just "soulmates" and they played it in a campy Xena-y way too...

Concluding Thoughts

I feel somewhat mixed on the queer rep of 97 in general. The show is super bold politically and thematically, but feels below the level of queer representation projects like Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur or even Hulu's Runaways provided. The show thematically is so invested in queer experience, using mutant metaphor to tell a number of incredibly well-written and resonant queer stories via several characters (especially Sunspot), but it doesn't seem as interested in explicit direct queerness.

I'm optimistic we'll see more in the future seasons though... but we'll see if this post ages any better than my last one lmao.

[aois-amaterasu-painting]

The GazettE symbolism analysis - part 3 - black, red and 13 stairs

DAWN lyrics translation:

I sing, digging up [memories of] my past I’d loved so completely From within the depths of the void Time stood still while the distorted dark clouds swirled all around I was bound up in innumerable shackles And I want to lose myself in the reality reflected in the chaos around me I’ve already had a lethal dose of misfortune The ruined gallows towers above me Overcast sky, Counting song, the sound of approaching footsteps Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled That day was the beginning of it all 13 stairs foretell the metamorphosis

Moving past my momentary confusion, these roiling emotions rise up Hung up high on that 13th stair The beautiful answer redefined becomes the new dogma I was bound up in innumerable shackles And I want to lose myself in the reality reflected in the chaos around me I’ve already had a lethal dose of misfortune The ruined gallows towers above me Overcast sky, Counting song, the sound of approaching footsteps Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled Accompanied by the end of  peace I lay my hands on the blackened altar Wild party with emotions running high A merry-go-round of deepest red unfurled That day was the beginning of it all 13 stairs foretell the metamorphosis An evil spell my life

So I was watching DOGMA preview vid and DAWN featured the Scarlet woman from the 13th anniversary teaser. That's why I got interested in the lyrics. The one frame where she is going up the stairs is the most significant and sums up the whole song. (The text is the song lyrics but translated with google lens).

Now this is 13 STAIRS[-]1 performed in Venomous Cell finale (2012). It left a massive impression on me because Ruki used this 7 pointed star (Star of Babalon) background. I couldn't figure out the exact connection from her to the song at the time, but I see it now. 13 stairs have been his symbol for the whole thing all along. Also from Venomous Cell:

The hexagram has been a recurring symbol throughout DOGMA and the Mother of God statue is very reminiscent of the NINTH cover, except NINTH cover is red + green specifically. Scarlet red is the colour of Babalon (I talked more about it in the 1st part of the analysis) and emerald green is associated with Daleth and Venusian sephirah Netzach.

The Reita pick saying CATALYST is very interesting. A catalyst is something that initiates or accelerates an (al)chemical reaction or transformation. His is the only 1 in full NINTH colors. Uruha with white/red, Aoi with black/green - the yin yang guitars + goddess colors.

Seeing these picks made me think the 3 songs composed by Uruha (99.999, The Mortal, Babylon's Taboo) are the 3 Red goddess songs. (Fun fact: I was googling Netzach for the preceding paragraph and came across this sentence "The sephirah of Netzach stands firm forever and never regrets. Netzach is not a mortal who fears death and would feel regret in the face of death" and I was like... That's.. a song title.. The song meaning seems to be about the Red goddess slipping away especially if you look at how it was performed in NINTH final)

(the hand is so reminiscent of Babylon's taboo, except then she actually goes into the heart - link to my post about this)

DAWN - 20th anniversary:

Babylon's taboo - 20th anniversary:

13STAIRS[-]1 - Mass Final:

NOX - Mass Final:

Ninth Odd Smell - Mass Final:

NINTH ODD SMELL lyrics translation:

First　「disorder」　is an ignorant blade Heresy raising its middle finger in rebellion Reverberation running rampant heading towards the ninth stair of desire Second    「nil」     the future that tore through the darkness Nameless lights The grim precursor soon becomes Stacked up, wriggling Rubbish Draped in crimson despair crawling from the murky depths A tower of fear and doubt looks down upon the world Poison gripping your voice as the days jumble around you Your heart painfully being sliced to shreds Exhilarating in the feeling of destruction Filled with strange distortions You fight your way to the 13th stair So embrace the black black black darkness [Die] We fucking never die This soul can never die We fucking never die Can’t never die

The beginning of NINTH ODD SMELL is referencing all the previous albums. And the overall meaning of the song sums up the message of all their music.

This is from Stacked Rubbish finale [RCE] 2008:

The Scorpio which they used as a backdrop is a symbol of death and transformation, in astrology it rules the 8th house. 8 was on the cover of that DVD. Ruki doing the Jesus Christ pose has been a constant for years, and that crucified Jesus was shown on the screen for a really long time.

But let's go back to MASS:

These 2 pages from MASS limited edition are quoting NOX. NOX lyrics translation: Sorrowful enough to kill The unquenchable flame burns up Thoughts that cannot be put into words Hold you the answer A color that cannot be yielded Spit out your choking heartbeat Peel off your bloodshot eyeballs I will not hesitate anymore

And these pages have all the members on the red page while their shadows are on the black one. Except for Aoi, the Yin guitar, but his red page is Red circling back to Black. So from black to red and back to black again. Unlike everyone else's who's just simply black to red. And the lyrics book has the negative image of the cover art. They did a similar thing with Dogmatic final poster being white and then the DVD booklet having the negative version of that.

This is the Yin triangle from To Dazzling Darkness live:

When I 1st saw that Yin triangle I knew that they know the Goddess like I know her. That's what made me start looking deeply at what else they are doing with symbolism.

To Dazzling Darkness lyrics translation:

The colors bleed from the landscape You hope you’ll wake from this dream The light Vanishes completely before your eyes Let’s have these hearts Now join together as one

The Sacred Heart represents the long-suffering love and compassion of the heart of Christ towards humanity. (This symbol comes from mystics and not the bible)

They played all 3 - DAWN, NINTH ODD SMELL and 13STAIRS[-]1 at MASS final and they were pretty much the only non MASS songs:

DIE is always shown on screen in red and black when NINTH ODD SMELL is played. It's important to remember it's meant like the symbol of the Death tarot card (associated with Scorpio and number 13) - meaning strong emotions, transformation, major change.

Link to my 13STAIRS[-]1 post Link to my Project: Dark Age post

13th anniversary poster vs MASS final. Both at Nippon Budokan:

Part 1 of the analysis Part 2

[felassan]

We're told that in the new Mass Effect teaser vid, we should look closely at it [source] as some things are not as they seem [source], they put some interesting details in there [source] for us to puzzle over, and what we see in it may be connected to the 'broken relay'-looking ship/object from last year's teaser [source].

The video was made in-engine [source]. In the video it notes "gameplay not final. Represents game in development".

On the figure's coat, one of the original design directions for it was that "cosplayers need to have a field day" [source]. (A copy of that new art piece will be available from the BioWare Gear Store tomorrow [source]).

The art director is the same one who designed the MET [source].

If the contents in the "insert code" links are not loading for you, you may need to wait for your cache to clear [source]. All three links have now had their teaser text and vid clips posted online anyways tho. :)