#obviously its not a one to one but the THEMES

[utilitycaster]

Inspired actually by me nonstop thinking about the Young Witch Solving The Disappearance Of Her Neighbor's Cat In The Alps tweet since last night and a number of other unrelated posts I have been thinking about the concept of maturity in media, because I think there's a lot of different dimensions to that. It's a series of spectra, rather than a binary, and if you use the terms "mature" or "immature" you can quickly realize that a lot of our societal metrics for what's adult-appropriate vs. child appropriate are very skewed in specific and in my opinion untrue and unhelpful directions. This could honestly be a 10 page essay and I may very well write that when I'm on break but just to give you my outline here:

Stimulation - is it grabbing your attention with bright lights and loud sounds and fast action, or do you have to actively focus? Action films can be just as "jangly keys" as children's animation despite being an "adult" work, whereas something like Mad Men can have vivid colors but would bore a child to tears in terms of pace and action. However, and this will be an ongoing theme, you can have a very choppy, fast-paced narrative that is complex and a very slow and dull one that is incredibly simple and childish.

"Ratings" Subject Matter: Sex/Violence/Profanity. This is the one I think is most misleading, because you can have an incredibly puerile R-rated film, and you can have an immensely complex narrative without any of the above. [note: I have zero patience for people who act like sex and violence are inherently unnecessary wastes of time; they are merely things within a narrative that can be executed well or poorly, but it is true that something can have a simple plot and constant bright lights and stimulation and essentially be big old jingling mobile for infants but there's a sex scene in it so it's Adult Now. Unfortunately a lot of people are like "and this is why YA is inherently better" which we shall see is not the case.]

Other Difficult Subject Matter (I don't have a good name for it, but to give examples, death, racism, genocide, abuse, serious or chronic illness, etc). This one is tricky because all of the above are topics present in works for quite young children, because they can experience all the above or have someone close to them experience them, and fiction is a powerful teaching tool. Obviously the nature of how this is presented varies, and later points will cover it, but while in my opinion the simple presence of these topics says nothing about the work's level of maturity on its own I'm including it because you do get people who think that children should be shielded from all the above and would consider the mere inclusion of those topics as inappropriate. They're wrong, but it's definitely an axis of judgement/categorization that exists.

Adult-level processing of information (probably a misnomer in that teens can do this but like, teens read adult books all the time, and as Tumblr has shown us, many adults cannot do this): does the narrative require you be able to pick up on subtext? Do you need to understand what is relevant to the story and what isn't? Do you need to be comfortable with or at least able to tolerate not knowing entirely what is going on right away? Do you need to have a sense of irony? Is there an unreliable narrator?

Adult-level processing of moral complexity (in my limited, not a parent or educator experience, I honestly think teens do better with the information processing than this, ie, this is one of the last things to develop; also Tumblr is even worse): does the narrative require you accept that sometimes things are unfair and will never be fair? Do you need to accept a story in which the Quote Unquote Bad Guys walk free without real consequence? Do you need to accept a story in which no one's actions are entirely defensible or in which no choices are easy and clean and harmless? Do you need to attempt to understand an alien perspective? Is there senseless tragedy? This incidentally is how you separate out the children's books from the adult books on topics like illness or catastrophic events; a lot of children's books end with a message of "it's hard and sad, but it will be okay eventually" and focus on very relatable POV characters which is understandable! But, to use an example as someone who went to a Jewish school with a robust Holocaust education, elementary schoolers read Number the Stars in which the (entirely fictional) Jewish family escapes to Sweden; middle schoolers read Night in which Wiesel's (real) father dies painfully in front of him.

None of this is to say that escapism/cozy fiction/whatever you want to call it is bad - I am not interested in a diet entirely made of thorny moral quandaries and no happy endings. I enjoy a stupid turn off your brain action movie, or a fluffy romantasy. But I do think that a demand that every ending be happy and that Justice Be Served in every story is no less immature than saying "ew, there's kissing in this???"

[beepboprobotsnot]

So, I've seen a lot of stuff about how TotK's story is... not great. And I can't say I disagree with it. A number of decisions carried over from BotW don't work as well this time around, and a number of new decisions don't work super well either. But, I can't bring myself to call TotK's story bad. Because for all the things that it gets wrong, there are some things that it gets so, SO, right.

Spoilers. Obviously.

When Link first wakes up on the Great Sky Island, with a new arm and a broken Master Sword, he has one thought on his mind, represented by the first Main Quest. It's not "defeat Ganondorf", it's not "fix the Master Sword", it's not "figure out where I am", it's "Find Zelda." That's the first main quest, and it's also the last main quest, sticking with you all the way until the screen fades to black at the end of the final cutscene. For everything Link does, that's the driving force behind it. He could care less about Ganondorf, if it weren't for the fact that he is an obstacle in the way of finding Zelda.

And so, at the end of the game, TotK recognizes this, and plans appropriately. Because as fun as the Ganondorf fight is, that's not the climax. And as much as the Demon Dragon fight is a massive step up from Darkbeast, that's not the climax. The climax, the moment they pull out all the stops is the Final Fall. It starts with the heroic, triumphant brass from the trailer theme, moves into Zelda's Lullaby, and finishes with the main theme of LoZ to make my favorite music/story moment in a game since Little Goth from Celeste. And Nintendo could've made this a cutscene. After all, the final boss is already dead, and TotK is no stranger to 10-minute cutscenes. But they knew that this was the most climactic moment of the game, where Link undoes his failure from the start of the game, and that the player needed to be in control for it. And that's not even getting into the whole motif and hands and grasping hands throughout the whole game, but that's a whole nother thing.

TL;DR: For all its faults, TotK's story understands what its climax is. And that makes all the difference.

[athenasdaydreams]

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

summary: bucky spends Christmas rediscovering old traditions with you, decorating cookies, laughing over sprinkles, and finding joy in the simple warmth of the holidays.

chapter warnings: mention of food, other than that not any to my knowledge!!

A/N: merry christmas!! this is my first themed fic and lowkey i had so much fun writing it haha hope yall enjoy!!!

The snow fell in fat, lazy flakes, clinging to the edges of the window like frosted lace. Bucky Barnes stood in the quiet, watching the city transform under a blanket of white. His breath fogged the glass as he leaned closer, his reflection faint against the winter night. For years, snow had been nothing but a reminder of cold nights and colder missions.

But now, the sound of your laughter carried from the kitchen, bright and soft like a melody, pulling him back into the present.

“You’re just going to stare out the window all night, soldier?” you called, your voice teasing.

He turned, catching sight of you standing by the counter, your sleeves rolled up, a streak of flour smudged across your cheek. His lips curved into the faintest smile. You were coaxing him into this season the way sunlight coaxed a frostbitten earth into spring—patiently, gently, without expectation.

“I’m coming,” he said, his voice low but warm.

The kitchen was a riot of Christmas cheer. Strings of twinkling lights framed the windows, casting a golden glow over the mess of mixing bowls, cookie cutters, and open jars of sprinkles. The radio played something old and crackly, Bing Crosby crooning in the background like he’d stepped straight out of Bucky’s childhood.

It all felt familiar in a way that made his chest ache.

“You remember this? I mean obviously now we have flatscreen TVs and sprinkles, but other than that it's still...christmasy?” you asked, handing him a rolling pin as he joined you at the counter.

He paused, his metal hand brushing the handle as if testing its weight. His face scrunched up in surprise. "You think they didn't have sprinkles back then?"

You shrugged. "Not like these, maybe, but we still had little candy beads and coloured sugar. You think you invented sprinkles?”

You stared at him, your mouth slightly open. “I just—sprinkles feel so... modern.”

“But yes, I do remember,” he said, a flicker of something wistful crossing his face. “My ma used to bake this time of year. Gingerbread, mostly. Me and Becca would try to help, but we always ended up eating half the icing before it made it to the cookies.”

You grinned. “Sounds like my kind of Christmas.”

Bucky chuckled softly, the sound low and almost shy. He reached for the dough, his movements slower than yours, deliberate in a way that spoke to the years he’d spent relearning how to trust his hands.

“Did you ever have snowball fights?” you asked, pressing a star-shaped cutter into the dough.

“All the time,” he said, a spark of mischief lighting his expression. “I had the best aim in the neighborhood. But Becca? She had no mercy.”

Your laugh was soft and easy, like the sound of a fire crackling. “I’d love to have seen that.”

“You’d have been on her team,” he said, smirking. “I’d have been outnumbered.”

“Well,” you teased, nudging him with your shoulder, “maybe we’ll have to start a new tradition. Snowball fights, gingerbread wars... I’ll even let you win sometimes.”

“Oh, you’ll let me, huh?”

The banter was light, but underneath it was something heavier, something that made Bucky’s chest tighten and loosen all at once. This—this moment, this warmth—it was what he hadn’t realized he’d been missing.

As the cookies baked, filling the air with the scent of cinnamon and cloves, you brought over a box of ornaments. “Found these at the market last week,” you said, opening the lid to reveal a collection of mismatched treasures.

Bucky’s hand hovered over a wooden reindeer, its paint chipped and faded. He picked it up carefully, running his thumb over the worn edges.

“Reminds me of one we had growing up,” he said, his voice quiet. “It wasn’t perfect, but Ma always put it right in the middle of the tree.”

“Then this one should go in the middle too,” you said softly, holding out your hand.

Together, you hung it on the tree, your hands brushing as you stepped back to admire the way the lights caught on its surface. The glow from the tree bathed the room in warmth, and Bucky felt something stir deep inside—a quiet kind of peace that he hadn’t known in decades.

Later, after the cookies had been frosted (and more than a few had been eaten), you settled together on the couch. A blanket was draped over both of you, and a steaming mug of cocoa sat in your hands.

The snow outside was still falling, muffling the world beyond your little sanctuary. Bucky’s arm was draped around your shoulders, his metal fingers tracing absentminded patterns against your arm.

“You know,” he murmured, his voice low, “for a long time, I didn’t think I’d ever feel this again. Like... like it was all too far away. Too broken to fix.”

You turned to look at him, your gaze soft but steady. “You’re not broken, Buck. You’re still you. And you’re here, right now. That’s what matters.”

He swallowed hard, his throat tight with the weight of your words. “You make it easier,” he admitted. “To remember. To... feel.”

You reached up, brushing a strand of hair away from his face. “Then we’ll make more to remember,” you said simply.

His lips curved into the kind of smile that reached his eyes. “Yeah,” he said. “We will.”

As the night deepened and the snow piled high, you stayed curled together on the couch, the world outside forgotten. Bucky’s past wasn’t something he could change, but for the first time in a long time, he realised he didn’t have to. The present was enough—more than enough—with you by his side.

“Merry Christmas, doll,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to your hair.

“Merry Christmas, Buck,” you whispered back, and for the first time in years, he truly believed it.

[thewadapan]

Insane that the last Team Fortress 2 comic came out, and perhaps more insane is how effectively it resolves the themes of the story, considering the whole thing spun out of some silly gag comics for a first person shooter, which had a bunch of lore back-ported onto it, with this particular issue having spent nearly eight years in development hell...

I love video games, and I love trying to rationalise the insane logic of how they work using fiction. Or not even to rationalise, just to kind of like... take it at face value? There's a great bit in one of the Team Fortress 2 comics where the mercenaries are going to be fighting an army of robots (in the game's PVE mode) and, at that point in the story, Mann Co. is bankrupt, so they're not getting paid—but they're mercenaries, so why are they fighting? And Ms. Pauling just comes right out and says, "For reasons I can't comprehend or explain, the robots run on piles of money. Destroy them and whatever falls out is yours." Risk of Rain has a similar conceit, where the aliens explode into currency, something that's diegetically acknowledged in the in-game logs.

The comics also deserve serious credit for genuinely pushing the limits of the comic medium, by explicitly using the fact that this is something people are reading on their computers. You see Webtoons currently are doing something similar, optimised for phones with their infinite scrolling. Well, here everything's landscape, and you advance through the comic using the arrow keys or whatever, and there's all these little gags that rely on hiding a speech bubble at first, or tweaking a panel, or doing a jump-cut, which are borderline impossible to replicate in print (the closest thing traditional comics have as a tool is the page-turn, which some writers do use to great effect).

It might just be that Team Fortress 2 was one of the things that heavily informed my sense of humour at a formative age, but I still come back to it and think it's the funniest thing in the world. And a big part of what makes the humour work, for me, is that it is just barely grounded in the real world. When someone gets their hand cut off and it's played for laughs, they've still just had their hand cut off. All the blood and guts is right there to see. Characters like Spy and Ms. Pauling frequently ground the story in these bureaucratic material concerns—like, someone is having to go around burying all the bodies.

Which means that when the story takes something which genuinely started as nothing more than a joke, and uses it for pathos, those beats can actually hit home. The big example is the joke about Spy having sex with Scout's mom, which in the comics morphs into this running thread about Spy probably being Scout's father, which in turn plays into these themes of regret and cycles of violence... and that was obviously never planned from the start, even the early examples in the comics are very much within the realm of plausible deniability, but over time they're clearly like—well, what if that was the case? What then? It's such good yes-anding.

Certain characters—the Pyro and the Engineer—do get pretty short-changed, which I think is mostly because the other characters just lend themselves much better to the extremely dialogue-dense style of comedy. The Engineer spends most of the numbered issues completely sidelined, looking after the Administrator; I mostly played Engineer when I played the game, so I do find that a bit disappointing. I don't think the Sentry Gun even gets a look-in! But still, nine playable characters plus the supporting cast is a lot to keep track of, and I think they chose the right ones to focus on (Scout, Soldier, Spy, Heavy).

Part of what made Team Fortress 2 always appeal to me above and beyond any other first-person shooter was its obvious awareness that the fighting is not, in fact, good, or just, or meaningful, or anything other than a pointlessly cynical greed-fuelled slaughter over nothing. It's just these drab industrial sites and bodies being thrown at one another, on repeat, forever. I think if you want to take a multiplayer game like this and build up a narrative on top of it, it's kind of the only honest approach you can take. Seeing similar stories in this and in RoosterTeeth's Red vs. Blue around the same time left a big impression on me as a teenager.

Contrast Overwatch (of course), which always billed itself as a superhero story, which had clearly-defined good-versus-evil flavour, which purported to depict a global conflict of world-shattering stakes, where every single piece of fucking tie-in media was a saccharine sentimental little snoozefest where characters will say things like "Oh no!" unironically. In Overwatch, the playable characters come from all over the world, they're these collar-tuggingly direct stereotypes, and it's like... wow, the military-industrial complex is so inclusive, you guys! Meanwhile, Team Fortress 2 has stereotypes of its own, but the intent is so completely different. Sniper, Heavy, Demoman, Medic, Spy have these clearly-defined national backgrounds, but they've shed all nationalistic ties, civilized human society would shun them, and now all they can do is kill for money they will never have cause to spend.

And the supporting characters invented for the comic all support this theme of bitter, cynical hate, of pointless bickering and petty feuds. Brothers Redmond and Blutarch turn themselves into monsters trying to outlive each other solely out of spite, not even just to enjoy their lives for as long as possible! When Gray Mann offs them, his characterisation sees their mindless, stupid schemes replaced with cold rationalism, to match the Administrator's own ruthless efficiency, but the substance of their conflict is no different. Wait, is the moral of the Team Fortress 2 comics just... old people bad? Look at the Team Fortress Classic guys...

I don't know. Overwatch was heavily billed on the quality of its worldbuilding and writing and characters (I was always like, what worldbuilding? What writing? What characters?), and like the many, many MCU films which nobody thinks about or talks about or cares about any more, I don't think I've ever seen someone actually talk about that media as art, except to point out its shortcomings. Nobody will remember any of it. Oh god, I just remembered about all the Overwatch porn. Okay, people will remember it, just not for the right reasons.

Meanwhile, I've known people over the last eight years who routinely joked about the final Team Fortress 2 comics never coming out. For something so ancillary, so inessential, to have made such a big impression on people, is something that in this case speaks to its success on a creative level. If anything, I wish it was less of a transmedia narrative, that this was just a single book I could pick up off the shelf and give to someone like "read this!" and that's all they'd need to know. Maybe I should try to compile some sort of reading list, hmm.

[devilith]

crazy how this unhinged rant manages to not only be objectively wrong, but also somehow queerphobic and misogynistic all at the same time. wild

mc is NOT a "total pushover" there are many many cases where you get to directly call out the brothers bullshit to their faces. the characters DO apologize for shit, just not at every single opportunity for every single slight up to your personal expectations. its almost like they are flawed characters. its almost like theyre DEMONS. its almost like them not being wholesome, pure, untrained, and virtuous is literally the entire fucking point

obey me has never been "aimed at women" and the players pronouns have ALWAYS been they/them in the game from day fucking one. no idea why youre lying about "getting to change mcs pronouns later on" because that has literally never been a thing, not ever. the people who made the game have explicitly said that they made the decision to have a genderless protagonist early on in development and that inclusivity was their main goal. the only reason obey me gets classified as an otome game is because the love interests are all men. the player is not not supposed to be a woman and the game has been intentionally, deliberately aimed at men, enbies, and queer people in general since before it even came out. shut the fuck up about this "ultimate female fantasy" about men groveling because youre talking out of your ass. thats some radfem terf shit and you have no fucking idea what youre talking about

"ooohhhh the world is full of nasty evil male cruelty, and the pure angelic afab girls are desperate to have their suffering eased by anime characters prostrating themselves" this is actually so hilariously bad i dont even know where to start. shut the entire fuck up forever

women are not pure, wholesome, simpering angels and men are not ontologically evil monsters. shove your disgusting bioessentialist and genderessentialist radfem terf shit up your ass. afab ≠ women, and dont fucking erase and speak over obey mes VAST audience of men, trans folk, enbies, queers, etc

the obey me characters HAVE growth and development, youre just too fucking stupid to read the words that the game puts in front of your face

the reason why "theyre demons" is an irrefutable argument that you cant counter is because THEY ARE LITERALLY FUCKING DEMONS and their flawed negative character aspects ARE THE ENTIRE FUCKING POINT. you cant just disregard the fact that theyre demons as if thats just a piece of bad writing, ITS LITERALLY THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE FUCKING GAME. theyre SUPPOSED to shitty, bad people. if that doesnt please your delicate sensibilities then play a different game

"oh, those poor stupid afab women are too corrupted by the fictional anime demons. obviously theyre just coping because they dont know whats good for them and theyre too dumb to understand the themes of an anime mobile game. those helpless, incapable girls need me to be their divine savior and tell them whats actually good for them, otherwise theyd never even know what they REALLY want. they need me, a misogynistic radfem, to utterly police their every thought for their own good"

you should be fucking ashamed and embarrassed

stop writing fucking call out posts for fictional anime characters as if theyre real fucking people causing harm in the real world. this is the most egotistical, performative bullshit just for you to play moral police over how random strangers play a god damn mobile game. you are a fucking joke

I think why we all feel unsatisfied with Obey Me is honestly just the lack of accountability or closure on ANY conflict. The characters are never really held responsible for any of the shit they do to MC, MC is a total pushover who endlessly forgives them, and we never, NEVER get a single apology.

It doesn't matter how suave or romantic they make any of the boys: the most vital requirement of any romance aimed at women (because OM was originally written for a female protag even if they let you change pronouns later) is The Grovel. The ultimate female fantasy is accountability.

In a world awash with male cruelty in our daily lives, what so many AFAB players ache for in romance media is just an apology, an honest to god admittance of "I hurt you. I'm sorry."

The most beautiful phrasing of the Grovel Trope I've ever seen is this post:

--and it's the mark that Obey Me just fails to hit over and over. Real growth means accountability and there is none.

What I see behind every "well thEy're dEmoNs" and "if they were NiCE wouldn't it be boRiNG?!?" is a lot of AFAB people learning to cope with never getting the real satisfaction they crave.

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

Realized that last night was the Feast of the Parting and I had a question. When it comes to soulmates in Pieces Verse, are they the same every life? AND are these 6 entangled with each other in every life?

(actually, feast of the parting happens on the new moon closest to the hibernal equinox, which this year is in about a week on the 30th!)

okay so to explain this ive gotta get into the nitty gritty details of how reincarnation works in this religion, and across different religious denominations

the overlap - people are believed to reincarnate into new lives for the purpose of Learning A Lesson. each life teaches you something, and this is supposed to improve your souls sort of resonance with the rest of the world. More Harmony Good

in the denomination patton and virgils families follow, the pattern is typically that they believe you will be a person when you need a very Big Lesson, because being a person is one of the harder things to be, and then you get a kind of 'break' and then you get to be bugs or plants for a hundred years or so to rest up a bit

in this framework, when people are 'made' before theyre born/getting ready to 'come back,' -

(side tangent this isnt considered a *separate* afterlife really, the idea is that dead folks and other souls are sort of floating around in parallel ether- this is a house with two rooms and thin walls, and birth/dying is walking back and forth through the door to the other)

-theyre made as one 'piece' in pairs (or triads, etc) in the position they'll be in when they first touch, and then theyre split the idea is that theyre sort of snipped apart at the soulmark and sent on ahead separately

also irt being human being The Biggest Lesson, they are also the only species that has soulmarks, animals dont - so the soulmate is considered an integral part of this lesson (which conservatives usually flatten to 'learn to love (romantically) better' but which more liberal churches stress can be anything)

so in fact, in this framework your soulmate is explicitly different every time. your soul is fashioned in a new shape and needs a new pair, supposedly.

as for the second bit we gotta talk about the nobles

the broad strokes are very similar - you are reincarnated to learn/improve yourself, but the nobles view this on much less emotional lines and more materially, and they dont typically believe the alternating-human-plant-animal thing - nobles believe you go directly from being a noble human to being A Higher Noble Human, until the very best smartest most awesome people /heavy s are reincarnated into the royal families and may or may not become monarch

ah but when the monarch dies, what then? because westrand is obviously the best country, and the monarch is the best person, theres nowhere better to go! /more s

well they believe that the monarch 'Ascends' and becomes permanently immaterial ie in the other room, manipulating the world from there because theyve 'earned' their way into being in charge of the eventual One 2: Electric Boogaloo

the nobles also believe in absolute predestination, that every part of their lives from birth to death was written by them and the souls of their family members before they were ever born. they believe souls who were tied by blood ties in life will always be born still tied by blood. so when a noble makes a marriage match in an attempt to gain political clout, they are also trying to improve their 'spiritual' clout by blood-tying themselves to an equally 'spiritually superior' family

they do think that a soulbond teaches you a lesson, but they usually think that lesson always ought to be 'i dont need a soulmate or indeed any human love or connection at all, wym' - some more liberal nobles believe it more along the lines of 'we have to make sacrifices in order to be the best rulers we can be' but its still not great vibes

as for which of these is materially true, since the series deals so much with sometimes traumatic religious themes, and i because i have multiple denominations and do plan on introducing some minority religions (soon!) im not actually going to say any of the things above are canon or otherwise except that theyre the canonical beliefs of the in-universe religion. i just dont feel like it makes sense to say 'you dont have to do all the bullshit that your religion raised you to do' and then turn around and make one of the religions explicitly and confirmably real

[hanjisungslag]

christmas party with attack on titan characters 🧣 modern! au

the annual christmas work party is just around the corner & you and your partner need to bring something to this work party whether it be food, gifts or an activity for everyone to do - you’ve all got to bring something! the only question is.. what?

｡･:*:･ﾟ★

you and eren jaeger could not figure out what to bring to this work party for the LIFE of you. you guys were the last ones figuring your shit out and everything you thought of, that was relatively fun, had been taken already. what were you guys gonna do?!

but then suddenly.. eren remembered how you guys had ice skating booked for the next day, after the chrismtas party, although it was meant to be for hits the two of you, you were running out of options.

you both sat in silence, scraping your brains for any good ideas and that’s when eren breaks the silence.

“hey, y/n..” he looked at you mischievously

you raised an eyebrow at his expression “oh god, what now?”

“you know how we’re going ice skating tomorrow?”

your jaw dropped, “BUT ERENNN” you pouted “that’s supposed to be our day outtt, ughhhh”

“ITS OUR ONLY OPTION, Y/N” he yelled dramatically

you sighed deeply “i suppose you’re right. god”

“imagine everyone trying to ice skate while hungover though.” eren said lightening the mood

you burst out laughing “OH MY GOD. they’re all gonna be wrecks!”

so you guys called up the ice skating rink and asked for an extra ELEVEN.. people to be added onto your time slot, safe to say the workers were in shock and horror when you said that but, it was all booked now!

eventually when the party rolled around and it was your guys’ turn to say or bring out your surprise, you both looked at each other and blurted “WE’RE GOING ICE SKATING!” some reactions were better than others.. aha. sasha and connie were supperrr excited and reiner was so confident that he’d be great at it. levi.. erm. he’ll go on! he just needs a little push (quite literally).

“right. mikasa.” you looked at her dead in the eyes,

“what activity should we do at the party?”

“we’re doing an activity?” she questioned

“yes! why not? it’s probably easier to think of one rather than bring something.” you said.

��should we just search something up..?” she asked

“yeah, honestly, good idea!” you pull out your phone and get googling.

you both sat in silence as you scrolled.

mikasa looked at you and asked, “christmas charades?”

your face lit up and you giggled, “YES! oh my god, yes.”

you gasped and jumped out of your chair “i just thought of the BEST IDEA!!”

“we should write down a bunch of christmas themed charades, put them in a hat and then it’s completely random!”

mikasa smiles widely “hahaha, oh my god, y/n- you’re a genius!”

your guys’ idea was a HOOT at the party. it was super fun and everyone got so competitive, so fast. (connie ended up winning btw)

you and armin already had this planned out for a while, you knew about this months ago and wanted to prepare something really nice for everyone to do :).

you bought paints, accessories and many chrismtas baubles for everyone to decorate!! you made sure to buy extras in case anyone wanted to do a few for themselves, for the others or family.

as you laid out all the equipment on the table, you heard awe’s and sweet cheers from everyone,

“guys!! this is sooo precious” historia said as she pouted from the cuteness of such an idea.

you chuckled “oh, it’s nothing really. thank armin not me, anyways, he came up with the whole thing.”

armin strolled out as you said that “no no,” he waved his finger around “no time for saying who said what, let’s get decorating!!”

he was the most excited about his own idea, bless. safe to say, he made the most beautiful christmas bauble anyone had laid eyes on, the same cannot be said for reiner, annie or levi aha… art is not their strong point.

what’s something that you can make with your co workers but eat afterwards? gingerbread houses. OBVIOUSLY you and sasha brought this! it was her idea, of course, and everyone ate this tf up!! it also may have slightly turned into a competition..

you guys were strolling through your local super market, doing your usual rounds of grocery shopping etc. but you made sure to keep an eye out for anything you can bring to the work party later that month.

you two usually split and meet up in some random aisle and when you did, sasha was holding a gingerbread house.

“pleeassseee can we get it, y/n?!” she begged as she squeezed the box tightly

“it would be super cute and coupley of us!” she fluttered her eyelashes.

you stare at her, god those fluttering eyelashes get you every time😡!

“okay fine! those dammed eyelashes of yours.”

“YIPPEEEE” she cheered but then, that’s when it hit you.

“babe…” you said ominously

“what?” sasha asked, confused

“buy another like 10 of those boxes”

“TEN?! REALLY? i thought that was overboard but, im so glad you agree—”

“NOT FOR US GIRL.”

at the actual party, everyone turned into a huge competition. houses were built poorly, amazingly or they were smashed by competitors *cough, cough* eren, jean and connie.. but, reiner ended up ‘winning�� because his gingerbread house was the only one left standing. what can i say, the mans good at defending.

now, although it was a christmas work party, you had this incredible idea of bringing the karaoke machine you got connie for his birthday a couple years back.

you drag the karaoke machine across the carpet of your apartment harrowingly as connie sits on the couch and watches with an eyebrow raised.

eventually, when you’re done struggling, you slap the top of it and say,

“this is what we’re bringing to the christmas party.”

connie’s eyes light up.

“REALLY??” he jumps off from the couch, grabs your shoulders and starts shaking you aggressively.

“THATS AN INCREDIBLE IDEA!” he jumps up and down like an excited child on christmas. you giggle and smile at his adorable-ness🥲.

it was literally the perfect thing. LET ME TELL YOU! everyone LOOVVEEDD it. especially when you all got drunk, everyone would be standing up, dancing, singing along to all these christmas songs while very drunk on wine. the drunk singing duets were impeccable, safe to say you’ll be seeing those in the work group chat in the morning.

my man, jean knows his goddamn wine. so you best believe he went out and bought the most scrumptious wine everrr.

“let’s hear it, what’ve you got?” you say, intrigued by why he’s been out for so long.

“okay so.” he begins and claps his hand together, “everyone is bringing boring ol’ drinks like beer” he gags slightly at the word of it, “vodka, cider and whatever. but, i’ve got some incredible stuff” that’s when he whips out a huge bag full of wine.

“i got wine. and not just any wine, THE best!”

your jaw drops “that’s a lot of wine, babe.”

“i know but, it’ll be kinda like a game, people can try different wines see which one they like best, maybe do a guessing game of which is most expensive”

you think about it for a minute then, you look proudly at him, “honestly, you’re so smart.. THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT”

you guys high five in celebration.

everyone loved the wine and you did play loads of guessing games (jean excluded at some points because goddamn that boy knows his wine) and jean was showered in compliments for his impeccable taste in wine and partners ;).

reiner had this idea for a while, to be honest, he knew a few co workers who were bringing their kids only for the first half while everyone was still sober and what not so, what better thing to do than dress up as santa?! the kids get to meet santa claus and the whole work place gets a laugh out of reiner literally being dressed up as st. nick himself.

you knew this was reiners idea of an ‘activity’ but you hadn’t got a chance to see him in the full get up yet and just as you were about to leave, he was putting on the costume.

as you wait outside the bedroom door, you hear it creak.. the door slowly opens and out comes reiner claus. oh my god. you burst out laughing at the sight of your boyfriend in a SANTA COSTUME, beard and all😭.

“ohhh, this is gonna be a goooddd party.” you say wiping away your tears.

“what?! do you not like it?” reiner says as he starts posing.

you grab onto his arm while you’re kneeling over, grabbing your stomach with other arm.

“pleas— stop it.” you laughed so hard, you couldn’t breathe.

after you had your laughing fit, you guys were off to the party! everyone ATE UP this santa outfit. the kids loved having santa at their parents boring old work party and after the kids left, the drunk adults LOVED IT.

everyone was sitting on his lap taking photos, asking him what they wanted for christmas. but, this wasn’t even the best part. reiner whipped out something for levi……

a fucking elf costume.

the whole party burst out into laughter and tears when they saw what he had but levi.. did not take this lightly. this little joke went up in FLAMES.

levi started chasing reiner around the whole place whacking him with his own santa beard anddd next week, reiner definitely got given a lot more work to do😊.

bert does a little photography on the side here and there and what better way to practice than with all your co workers? so, he brings this very professional photography camera just to take the silliest and goofiest photos of everyone😭.

everyone lines the flip up to get their photos taken, they all thought it was a super fun and cute idea from bert. he take candid photos, ones with silly props and most importantly ones of everyone sitting on santa (reiner)’s lap!

bert really loved taking candid photos of everyone having a good time, playing games and chit chatting - he’s definitely the type of guy to shed a tear at a wholesome candid he just took. but, one thing that was so frustrating was connie and sasha would not STOP pestering him😭.

they wanted pictures of the dumbest things, literally anything they thought was somewhat worthy of a photo they were like “bert! bert! get a picture of this” while he was in the middle of taking pictures for eren and the gang like… he really felt like a tired father in these moments.

mostly importantly… the drunk candids WENT CRAZYY. even when this man is off his rocker, he still took some incredible pictures and some… not so incredible.. maybe even blurry and slightly shit photos but, you just know they’re the best ones.

annie whipped out the BIG GUNS for this. she whipped out her most precious collection aka her christmas film collection - she has been collecting since she was a teenage and has never stopped and what better time to whip them out than at a christmas party?!

now, annie keeps this collection that’s very near and dear to her heart, a secret. it’s a silly tradition her dad started where every christmas, annie would pick out a new film for them to watch and seeing as the options to what you could bring to the christmas party were limited… this was her last option.

everyone was so surprised that annie had this strange but also very cute hobby. everyone loved it! the movies were being played on rotate, one after another, in a more quiet room for when people just wanted to chill out and a watch a film! at one point as well, everyone gathered in there to watch a film together and although it took about 30 minutes of discussion to decide what film everyone wanted to watch, it was so worth it because it truly felt like everyone was a family.

annie stood by the door as she watched reiner and bertolt,

“what you doing, annie?” you creep a hand on her shoulder

she jumps “w-what?”

“are you watching reiner and bert?” you question her

“well…” she smiles warmly “it’s just nice to see.”

then you burst into giggles, glitter and sunshine because she’s so cute when she turns sweet.

oh what’s that? everyone is feeling parched and wants a hot, sweet treat?? well levi ackerman has got you covered! you have nooo idea what kind of shit this man puts in the hot coco he makes but it’s SOO good & with marshmallows? holy fucking shit.

you guys build your own little lemonade stand but, obviously make it hot coco. AND LET ME TELL YOU… if you guys had charged for this stuff, you could’ve retired early because everyone was looovinngg it. levi has truly mastered the art that is making hot chocolate.

obviously, everyone was absolutely obsessed with this hot chocolate and some lactose intolerant people (armin) even decided to ignore their intolerance just because levi’s stuff was soo good. although, safe to say i’m sure he regretted ignoring this vital part of his life. anyways, you did try to get levi into a cute barista outfit… but he said no. (😔)

“absolutely not.” levi said with his arms crossed

you stood with the barista costume in hand, disheartened by his response.

“but, levi it adds to the whole thing—”

“nope. i am not a barista, i am there to just make my spectacular hot chocolate.” there was no way you are getting him into the costume, i fear.

little did this poor man know, you trying to get him into a barista costume was not the last time someone tried to get him into a costume that day.

we got a chef in the house and his name is erwin smith. obviously being the manager of your workplace, he had to bring something goooddd so he brought his good ass food.

he wanted to do something else, something better since in his words, his food ‘isn’t that good’ - a good cook and humble😩. however, you begged and PLEADED with him to cook and he can never say no to you (he also didn’t have any other ideas).

“erwin please! you’re such a good chef, i don’t understand—”

“it would just be better to get a caterer!” he argued back

you cross your arms “what other ideas have you got, then?”

he stared at you blankly “well- i…” he coughs awkwardly

“exactly…” you say as you slowly walk to grab your keys, you guys were going food shopping.

YAY YOU GOT YOUE WAY! he was in the back, apron on that obviously said ‘kiss the chef’… and you did. a lot. ANYWAYS, he cheffed up the most scrumptious, gorgeous, mouth-watering christmas meal you can imagine.

everyone cheered and clapped as he brought out the banquet of food, and oh my god, everyone LOVED it. everyone asked for seconds! sasha obviously asked for thirds… and fourths… and someone please make sure she doesn’t throw up.

of course, hange would be the one to bring the most random activity ever, this mf loves a treasure hunt and wanted to do one but just make it christmas themed…

“how about…” they pause for dramatic effect “a christmas treasure hunt!” they jump with joy, doing weird jazz hands.

your eyes widen, how odd.. “oh wow! a-and how is that going to work?”

“i’m glad you asked!” they beamed, suddenly pulling out a large notebook filled with all the information you needed. and they will word vomit the whole thing to you.

now when it came to actually conducting this, you guys had to show up to the place that was booked out for the work party early of course, to hide the prizes and clues and such. hange had you working like a DOG, they had everything planned out and needed it to be that exact way.

the day of might have been the most exciting day of hange’s life /srs. they gathered everyone around and informed them of what was to come, they genuinely looked like they were going to explode with christmas joy at any given moment.

and everyone was off! it was actually super fun and enjoyable for everyone, even if SOME people tried to cheat… connie & ymir… i’m looking at you. unfortunately, hange hadn’t thought of the fact they weren’t allowed to partake, which sadden them but, it was all worth it seeing all of their coworkers have such an amazing time. (levi won btw)

[ventismacchiato]

Okay I have far too many headcanons/ideas about scarayn and music they’ve done or would later do post-swy. So bc I have no life atm and this is all I can think about here are a couple:

• I’ve already mentioned them shifting their music to literally only writing shit about each other (largely to spite everyone telling them to write about anything else than each other for the rest of eternity), but I raise you — one of them finally writing about something else like a breakup or other relationship issues and dropping it with no prior warning to anyone. Naturally this causes everyone and their mother to question if their beloved otp is going to break up or if they’re having trouble getting along again. Only for their friends to find out they wrote the song bc a) they just felt like it, literally no other reason or b) they wrote it together just to fuck with everyone

• second/last one (bc I didn’t realize this was already pretty long and I wanna get out of your hair abt this before I end up writing you a 50 page essay and analysis on this smau 💀) — I was listening to My Kink is Karma by Chappel roan and can’t get the idea out of my head that that’s a song y/n made in this au. The music video is this au is similar to Chappel’s actual mv. And it just so happens that one of scara’s previous mv’s have a very similar vibe to y/n’s, leading to a now very popular scarayn edit where Simone used clips that work surprisingly well together to make the my kink is karma mv with both y/n and scara together and it’s hot and done concerningly well to where a small amount of people have seen clips of the edit and thought it was the real mv. (Hopefully that makes sense 😅)

Okay, that’s enough from me, I loved the new chapter tho!! Got me giggling, kicking my feet over two characters unable to express their emotions ❤️❤️

omg i love long asks don’t even be sorry SEND ME ALL THE ANALYSIS’S U WANT MY WAY EVEN IF IT TAKES ME A WHILE TO REPLY

omg i love this i can see scarayn in their lowk honeymoon phase and only wanting to release songs about each other or related to each other. like obviously the albums do well but the fans r like wow we miss scaras old style can he release smth different and scara fucks around and releases an album that’s the opposite themes of his usual happier songs centered around u and ppl think u both broke up for a few hours anyway i have more but ill save it for the end of the au so i don’t spoil too much

OMG YES I GET WHAT UR SAYING it reminds me of when ppl edit together hyyh yoonkook with their new mvs ,, another song i had a head canon about was close to you by gracie abrams and its a song one of them wrong about eo, maybe scara about yn and he releases it a while after the show and gets yn to be in the mv and it cuts between them two do u guys see the vision or do i sound insane

and ahh thank u!! im so glad u enjoyed and i’m always so flattered people have headcanons for my fic

[not-that-good-at-breathing-in]

i was reading this Robert Frost poem and it made me think about Tony Soprano (almost everything does) so i am deciding to post the poem in it's entirety into the sopranos tag:

Home Burial

He saw her from the bottom of the stairs

Before she saw him. She was starting down,

Looking back over her shoulder at some fear.

She took a doubtful step and then undid it

To raise herself and look again. He spoke

Advancing toward her: ‘What is it you see

From up there always—for I want to know.’

She turned and sank upon her skirts at that,

And her face changed from terrified to dull.

He said to gain time: ‘What is it you see,’

Mounting until she cowered under him.

‘I will find out now—you must tell me, dear.’

She, in her place, refused him any help

With the least stiffening of her neck and silence.

She let him look, sure that he wouldn’t see,

Blind creature; and awhile he didn’t see.

But at last he murmured, ‘Oh,’ and again, ‘Oh.’

‘What is it—what?’ she said. ‘Just that I see.’

‘You don’t,’ she challenged. ‘Tell me what it is.’

‘The wonder is I didn’t see at once.

I never noticed it from here before.

I must be wonted to it—that’s the reason.

The little graveyard where my people are!

So small the window frames the whole of it.

Not so much larger than a bedroom, is it?

There are three stones of slate and one of marble,

Broad-shouldered little slabs there in the sunlight

On the sidehill. We haven’t to mind those.

But I understand: it is not the stones,

But the child’s mound—’ ‘Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,’ she cried.

She withdrew shrinking from beneath his arm

That rested on the banister, and slid downstairs;

And turned on him with such a daunting look,

He said twice over before he knew himself:

‘Can’t a man speak of his own child he’s lost?’

‘Not you! Oh, where’s my hat? Oh, I don’t need it!

I must get out of here. I must get air.

I don’t know rightly whether any man can.’

‘Amy! Don’t go to someone else this time.

Listen to me. I won’t come down the stairs.’

He sat and fixed his chin between his fists.

‘There’s something I should like to ask you, dear.’

‘You don’t know how to ask it.’ ‘Help me, then.’

Her fingers moved the latch for all reply.

‘My words are nearly always an offense.

I don’t know how to speak of anything

So as to please you. But I might be taught

I should suppose. I can’t say I see how.

A man must partly give up being a man

With women-folk. We could have some arrangement

By which I’d bind myself to keep hands off

Anything special you’re a-mind to name.

Though I don’t like such things ’twixt those that love.

Two that don’t love can’t live together without them.

But two that do can’t live together with them.’

She moved the latch a little. ‘Don’t—don’t go.

Don’t carry it to someone else this time.

Tell me about it if it’s something human.

Let me into your grief. I’m not so much

Unlike other folks as your standing there

Apart would make me out. Give me my chance.

I do think, though, you overdo it a little.

What was it brought you up to think it the thing

To take your mother-loss of a first child

So inconsolably—in the face of love.

You’d think his memory might be satisfied—’

‘There you go sneering now!’ ‘I’m not, I’m not!

You make me angry. I’ll come down to you.

God, what a woman! And it’s come to this,

A man can’t speak of his own child that’s dead.’

‘You can’t because you don't know how to speak.

If you had any feelings, you that dug

With your own hand—how could you?—his little grave;

I saw you from that very window there,

Making the gravel leap and leap in air,

Leap up, like that, like that, and land so lightly

And roll back down the mound beside the hole.

I thought, Who is that man? I didn’t know you.

And I crept down the stairs and up the stairs

To look again, and still your spade kept lifting.

Then you came in. I heard your rumbling voice

Out in the kitchen, and I don’t know why,

But I went near to see with my own eyes.

You could sit there with the stains on your shoes

Of the fresh earth from your own baby’s grave

And talk about your everyday concerns.

You had stood the spade up against the wall

Outside there in the entry, for I saw it.’

‘I shall laugh the worst laugh I ever laughed.

I’m cursed. God, if I don’t believe I’m cursed.’

‘I can repeat the very words you were saying:

“Three foggy mornings and one rainy day

Will rot the best birch fence a man can build.”

Think of it, talk like that at such a time!

What had how long it takes a birch to rot

To do with what was in the darkened parlor?

You couldn’t care! The nearest friends can go

With anyone to death, comes so far short

They might as well not try to go at all.

No, from the time when one is sick to death,

One is alone, and he dies more alone.

Friends make pretense of following to the grave,

But before one is in it, their minds are turned

And making the best of their way back to life

And living people, and things they understand.

But the world’s evil. I won’t have grief so

If I can change it. Oh, I won’t, I won’t!’

‘There, you have said it all and you feel better.

You won’t go now. You’re crying. Close the door.

The heart’s gone out of it: why keep it up.

Amy! There’s someone coming down the road!’

‘You—oh, you think the talk is all. I must go—

Somewhere out of this house. How can I make you—’

‘If—you—do!’ She was opening the door wider.

‘Where do you mean to go? First tell me that.

I’ll follow and bring you back by force. I will!—’

[beaulesbian]

⚔️ ONE PIECE || Zoro smiling & being silly - Fishman Island Arc ⚔️

[yourhighness6]

I've been thinking a lot lately about how so many people miss the point of TSR completely. Like Katara did forgive Zuko because forgiveness is earned and no Katara didn't forgive Yon Rha because she can choose who to forgive/ who not to forgive and no Katara shouldn't have killed Yon Rha because the whole point of the episode is that you don't have to forgive someone to show them mercy. That's why Bryke insisting that Katara "forgave Yon Rha" after the fact is not only fucking stupid because she literally says something exactly to the contrary in the episode and it doesn't just remove her agency it removes the complicated moral theme

[daisywords]

thinking about this post but also it's more than that. do you ever think about how stories starring men are allowed to be about humanity but stories starring women have to be about Womanhood

[deoidesign]

Look at these stickers my brain is literally so huge. God. I love them so much.

I hadn't tried to do a sticker sheet at home before because I knew it would be difficult, and I was right! Getting the cut lines to line up with the print was super hard and there were many failed attempts, but it was so worth it I'm so happy with them!!!

This sticker sheet is for my patrons this month ^^

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

3l!grian is frequently depicted as a tragic figure and sometimes i wonder if we even watched the same series

[techno-rat]

techno and his relationship to dehumanization is SOOO important to me .

[the-vampire-squid-from-hell]

its always wild to me when I go into the mouthwashing tag and someone is like "the game isn't about [x] its about [y]" because like...it can be about multiple things. Like you do understand that right? Like well written pieces of media are often exploring and can be about multiple themes??