#or whenever they made that part of the gimmick

[sliipperypeople]

I was soooooo confident that Wuthering Heights would be number one bc there was a day i listened to it probably 15 times straight but alas! Phantom of the Paradise wins again.

[kaszuma]

Certainly Yours | Hoshina Soshiro

Part 1 of "Certainly Yours"

pairing: Hoshina Soshiro × fem!reader

summary: you and soshiro had been friends for a while now. But sometimes he really tests those boundaries of his

warnings: none. Just light touches but nothing suggestive.

wc: 1,420

--

note: first time writing for Hoshina. Sorry if there are inconsistencies or mistakes.

--

Soshiro Hoshina had always been unreadable. Even in the most dire of circumstances, you were always one step behind at predicting the carefully planned steps he took whenever you had the chance of encountering him.

It was evident in the fact that his smile never seemed to reach the crinkles under his eyes. And that cat-like appearance of his, though slackened. Had always made you feel as if he had been observing things thoroughly from a distance. Watching with keen interest as if he knew more than he let others perceive him to know.

And today was no exception.

The constant proximity between each other had been…frustrating to say the least. Whether that would be brushing his shoulders against your own during official meetings. Or placing a steady hand on the small of your back as he moved across the very open spaces of the hallway. You couldn't help but sneak glances at the way his expression had not changed one bit. In fact, it looked rather bemused. As if ignorant to the little touches he'd stolen from you during work. Let alone the glances you two would share even when Captain Ashiro had been right in front of you. Discussing more important matters that surely the Vice Captain had not been listening to.

But to your surprise, he always did. And was usually the first to provide solutions whenever the captain would ask. Leaving you to be the one flustered as you had not been distracted by his knowing gaze.

Because of this, your mind was instantly on the lookout for his next scheme.

I mean who would blame you?

You couldn't help but think this was all another gimmick of his. Entertainment. Just like how he had taken interest in that new recruit they had gotten recently. His motivations are as sly as they are intriguing it seems. And the more you try to decipher his laid-back facade, the less information you get. Keeping his cards close to his chest, as usual.

The Vice Captain had always been like that. His earnesty was often hidden from prying eyes. Though very few were privy to it, there were only very few who were familiar to him. Even Okonogi; likely the one who stuck around with the two Captains, would just let out a sigh at his jubilant expressions.

It had only been a good few years since you had been deployed to work under the Defense Force. Tasked on maintaining the Combat Suits in the case that they needed upgrades, or maybe a few repairs. And since then, the Vice Captain of the Third Division's force had always hovered behind like a thorn on your side.

Close enough so that it's able to poke and scratch you, but far enough away that it doesn't overstay its welcome. Yet somehow you lingered for those touches to stay just a little longer.

His usual friendly quips and visits had been frequent. But they were always curt, his teasing would always leave you with heated cheeks before he would soon disappear as quickly as he came. Like a storm who came to pass by momentarily. He was sure to make a mess out of you.

But the tension had always been palpable between you and Soshiro. Especially now when he had just so happened to enter the premises of your Lab. Wearing that familiar Tight-fitting Combat Suit of his. Respiratory mask and all.

“Vice Captain.” you had smiled. “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you grace me with your presence.”

“Just a maintenance check.” He replied just as quickly. Making you raise a suspicious brow.

“Oh really?” You had moved away from the desk. Neatly brushing away the stack of blueprints that had been piling up. Likely a courtesy from Izumo Tech who were your previous employers. “What's wrong with the suit?”

Hoshina had not wasted a second to step much closer to you. And though normally you would feel a little giddy from his proximity, you wasted no effort to move closer yourself. Hand against the coarse texture of his Combat Suit that hugged the hard ridges of his body. Willingly searching around for any such deformities in the armor. As even the slightest malfunction can mean life or death for frontliners like him. But alas, no such cracks were found. Leaving you to stare at his unwavering eyes.

“I don't see anything wrong with it. Can you tell me anything specific that I can fix up?”

Soshiro had hummed for a moment. Taking his time as he pretended to be deep in thought.

“I guess there's none that I can think of.” Soshiro had let out a soft chuckle. And although the mask had covered half of his face, you could tell that grin of his was definitely there.

“What? Then why did you even come here?”

There was a beat of silence before he spoke again.

“Aren't I allowed to visit a friend?”

And you couldn't help but playfully roll your eyes. The clear faux reasoning of his was amusing at most. But it's definitely making you second guess yourself.

“Friend you say?” You had chuckled, leaning back on your chair whilst facing him. His form had towered over you who had been caged against the chair and his arms.

“First time I've heard of it.” You shrugged. More of a jest in your tone.

“Hey now, and here I thought we had something special.” He chuckled, displaying faux hurt.

And you couldn't help but be frustrated at the way he so meticulously words things.

Something special, huh?

If it were any girl, they'd probably start getting delusional from his words alone. But Soshiro was someone who had no trouble deceiving. Facades and all. And you knew better than to take his words at face value.

But if it were not a joke, then..

…

“Are we Friends?” You had asked again. Just to make sure that you had not been misunderstanding things.

And there was another moment of silence between both parties.

You didn't know exactly what came over you at the moment. It just blurted out, almost as if you had been so frustrated at the way he tiptoed around you. Any confrontation, any meaningful conversation would always be cut short as soon as it started.

And you wonder if you had made the mistake of mentioning the giant elephant in the room.

His expression is as unreadable as ever. And for a moment, you thought you had made a fool out of yourself. Maybe whatever hint he was playing at had all been in your head. As if you had convinced yourself somehow that his interest in you was something more. Something that could indeed grow special. But second-guessing is part of Soshiro's package. And you can't really trade one without the other.

And for a moment a sinking feeling had placed itself in the pit of your stomach. Like you had made a painfully unwise decision that would leave you embarrassed for the next seven years of your life.

But Hoshina had simply stared. It felt like only mere seconds before he leaned in. Hands gripping the arms of the chair you sat on. Effectively trapping you with his body. With no chance of escaping away from his answer.

And just as you are sandwiched between him and the back of the chair. His face had neared your ear. And you could hear the faint breaths from the mask he wore.

“I'm yours certainly. Whether you are mine is up to you.”

His voice had gone an octave lower. And it made you wonder if you were truly hearing him right.

Yeah, no. Friend was definitely not the right word for this. But the admission of it was harder to coax out of him than when you had internalized the thought. The only way to have him say it straight is if you yourself came in like a bull seeing red.

And you sigh at your own lack of subtlety. “Is that your way of asking me out?”

“Maybe.” The slight hesitation in his answer made you raise your brow at him. And you end up sighing, letting go of a breath you didn't know you were holding.

“Your delivery could use some work.”

“I know.” He spoke with an awkward smile. “Do I take that as a yes?”

You smiled. This time, intent on playing his game of cat and mouse. “Maybe.”

And god will you be the death of him.

[livfastdieyoung69]

OH OH YK WHAT I NEED BAD? KO SIBLING X CODY OOOOO I NEED IT I NEEDDDD IT

NEW BEGINNINGS

(Cody Rhodes x Non-described!Owens!Reader, can be read as adopted or not)

Anger issues and complaining runned in the Owen’s family. It was what your family did, most of you on the side, but your brother, he did it for his literal career. Like seriously, Kevin just complained for a living- he got on a microphone and yelled. As jealous as you were, it wasn’t your gimmick unfortunately. The two of you grew up side by side, falling in love with wrestling together, and eventually even growing in the business together. Though you had pretty similar styles, Kevin loved being in the WWE and everything he stood for there, and you loved being in TNA, and all of the accomplishments you’ve made in the company.

Though you were on separate paths, whenever they happened to cross, you’d sit down and have lunch, or dinner, or whatever else you could manage and do what Owens’ did best- complain together.

“How’s working with all of the Bloodline guys, still?” You ask after taking a gulp from your soda. Before you can even finish, he’s rolling his eyes and groaning with a mouthful of cheeseburger.

“Still fucking terrible. There’s more of them! Like an endless amount, they just keep popping up out of nowhere, and the more that come, the crazier they fucking get,” His exasperated sound makes you laugh. “I’m serious!”

You shake your head while he takes another massive bite out of his burger.

“Who’d you just work with? Uh, what’s his name? That woo woo woo guy? Zak Ryder!” You nod, taking a bite of your own food after muttering the ‘You Know It’ part of the catchphrase.

“He’s Matt Cardona now- that’s his actual name. He’s a nice guy…a lot, but nice. Like so much, really, all smiles and enthusiasm all the time. When Chelsea won the title, he brought a replica the next day and everyone thought it was the real one.”

This was how it usually went- catch up through each others feuds and how annoying everyone else was, and eventually the chatter would die down and you’d eat for a little, and then someone would pick up an actual conversation. The only problem here though, was there was one more feud of Kevins you were trying to avoid, but it was kind of hard. He was a massive deal in the company and a massive part of Kevins life right now.

“I know what you’re doing.” Kevin states causally, leaning back in his chair after starting on his fries.

“What?” You try to laugh it off, but you don’t look up from your own plate.

“Cody. You don’t wanna ask me about him.”

“….I just figured you’d want to keep your mind off it with the match at the Royal Rumble coming up.” You try, but he shakes his head. That was still in a couple weeks.

“Dude. I know you’re a fan- you literally still have the shirt from when he did the Dashing thing years ago. You liked Stardust, you know who else liked Stardust? No one.“

“Okay, I get it, you don’t have to publicly shame me about it. You can complain about everyone else, that’s my exception.” The two of you are quick to go back to silence while you try to finish your meal, and he chugs down another soda. The man ate ridiculously fast, nothing could stop him.

“You know,” He broke the quiet again. “You would really like WWE. Paul keeps bugging me about talking to you.”

“So you’ve told me,” You shrug. “I don’t know. TNA’s my home at this point, I can’t imagine leaving.” A laugh rips through you at a sudden thought and he nods his head for you to continue. “Maybe, maybe if you got Cody to ask-“ His eyes close with a sigh, and he immediately starts shaking his head, which only makes you laugh harder.

“Don’t push it.”

That had been about a week ago. You’d both gone back to your regularly scheduled program, him on Fridays and you on Thursdays. His feud with Cody continued, with a whole bunch of shit happening over there, and you moved on to work with other TNA superstars. After another long Thursday night you’re ready to conk out from the very fun, but tiring, on top of the night of wrestling, celebration with Joe Hendry for his new, recent title win (you’d already given your condolences to Nic).

As soon as your head hits the pillow, your phone rings. And you know it’s Kevin because you had set his theme song for his ringtone.

“What’s wrong?” You answer on the first ring. It’s late, and this is unusual, the first thing your mind goes to is that something happened.

“Did you see the news?”

“What fucking news Kevin, you’re freaking me out-“

“WWE and TNA signed a contract, anyone can go anywhere,” He rushes out, your name following it. “Anyone can go anywhere.”

You aren’t even sure what to say, and the phone line goes quiet while you stammer before Kevin interrupts.

“I gave Paul your number- he wants you in the Rumble.”

And now, here you were. This was fucking crazy! Of the entire TNA roster, you, Joe Hendry, and Jordynne Grace had been picked to join the Royal Rumble. Everything was so different here, you could see why Kevin liked it. Everything reminded you of him, and to be able to see him this much was so great. You traveled together, for the first time since your teenage years, and with all of the excitement you felt that young again too.

The Guerrilla was packed. It was great to see people you had worked with in the past, like Naomi and AJ Styles, but it was also great to meet new faces. Maxxine Dupri was the nicest person you had ever met, and so pretty. And you finally got to meet Chelsea! She wanted to keep in touch in case Matt tried to take her actual belt next time, apparently she hadn’t known he bought the replica.

Right now, the women’s rumble was seconds from kicking everything off so it was mostly women in the area, but a couple guys were wandering around too. Joe Hendry had stayed near you, which both of you were thankful for, he was actually a pretty shy guy behind cameras and you hated being alone around so many people. Jordynne and Naomi were a lot more acquainted than you were with her, so they snuck off to the side to have a chat.

The match was quick to begin with Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan before others started to quickly fill in. Your number was later on, you’d gotten 22. You didn’t want to be so late, and had tried to fight Paul about it but he was adamant the crowd would be excited, plus you had enough spots behind you to stay in for a while. The crowd started to wear out in Geurilla, and eventually you found yourself in the small room everything led to, with about ten other entrants, Maxxine had just went through the curtain at number 14.

“So,” Kevin strolls up from behind you with a bowl of something from catering. “I don’t want to hear a single word of this. But I called in a favor.” Your eyebrows furrow as you turn to him, and he holds up a hand. “Not a word.” And then he walks out. What the fuck?

You don’t have time to think about that anyways, now you’re wishing Jordynne (number 19) good luck as the buzzer rushes. After her, is the great return of Alexa Bliss, who is granted the biggest pop so far, which Zelina Vega follows, and then all that’s left in front of you is the grey curtain covering the biggest opportunity you’ve received in your life.

That was both the longest and shortest minute and a half of your entire life, but when the crowd counts down, and the buzzer rings out, and your music starts playing, you’ve never heard anything louder. You fight to your last breath, and then you keep fighting. You make it pass Nia Jax’s mass elimination, and lots of other attempts, and somehow, its just you and Charlotte Flair. You give it your best, but the nerves get the best of you, and Charlotte ends up throwing you over the rope.

As disappointed as you are, you made it farther than you could’ve dreamed of, and as the fans yell for your attention while you walk back up the ramp, you can’t help but be proud. You walk through the curtain to find your fellow (past, and present) TNA stars cheering you on, and you’re too busy taking the praise with embarrassment and a shy gaze to the ground, that you don’t notice Kevins favor until you’re snapping a picture with HHH for media.

In all of his glory, standing directly across from you all the way across the room, is Cody Rhodes. Clapping. And staring at you, with that one smile. Y’know, the one, the Dashing Cody Rhodes shit eating grin.

“Oh my God, Kevin,” You mutter under your breath when the pictures are over and you can turn away. “What the fuck. Kevin. What the fuck.” Kevin is no where in sight, and Paul is laughing at you so hard.

“Heard you’re a pretty big fan,” You can hear him approaching from behind you and there’s nothing else you can do but face him and hope not to embarrass yourself any further.

“I’d say I’m an avid watcher, if that’s what you’d like to consider me, yes.” He’s still grinning at you like that, and it’s making this so much harder. The rest of the room is funneling out.

“Oh, okay, okay. Just a big Stardust fan, then?” Your lips purse into a fine line when you find you have no explanation.

“How much did he tell you, exactly?” God, you’re never coming back to this company ever again. Only to get back at Kevin for this. He shrugs.

“I’m just teasing, don’t worry,” His grin relaxed, and suddenly he looks more like the American Nightmare Cody, and his hand is resting on your shoulder. “I’m a pretty big fan, too. You were great out there.”

“Oh, I tried my best, thanks,” Your face is heating up again, and you try to push it off.

“Really, you were great. I hope I get to see you around some more.” You still can’t find any words, and the room seems to be getting hotter by the second. “Or, out of it either. Not to be this straight forward, and feel free to tell me to back off, but if you’re around tomorrow, I’d love to take you to dinner or something.”

“Uhm, uh-“ I’m between your sputtering you find yourself laughing. “You’re about to go fight to the death with my brother.” He laughs, looking down at his ring gear, and nods his head, because yes, he’s going to go beat the shit out of your brother.

“I’m guessing that’s a back off?” He looks back up through his eyelashes with the grin that makes you melt.

“No, no, please, bring him to hell and back.” You grin back, before nodding shyly. “Dinner would be great.” Before you have the chance to keep talking, Pauls calling him over, and he gives you an apologetic look and tells you somehow, he’ll get ahold of you before he rushes over to HHH. Kevin comes in shortly after, and laughs at you with no clue that his worst enemy thinks your fine as hell, and that you’re going to go chase Jey Uso down for his phone number. You sit in the Guerrilla for just a second longer and watch them both disappear behind the curtain before you run off to take a shower, and text everybody you’ve ever known that Cody Fucking Rhodes just asked you out.

Maybe you would be coming back to WWE a couple more times.

Wow look at me goooo it feels like its been so long since i wrote for Cody (prolly cuz it has been)

I’m hungry, sick, and tired but I’m ignoring all of my problems and sat down during raw and couldn’t stop so here you go ig

Enjoy this you probably wont get much more from me this month but im gonna try my best i think the seasonal depression hit me mostly last month but its supposed to snow on Wednesday so that’s when we’ll really see

[dramaticals]

you're too good for him - chapter two.

pairing: theodore nott x reader

summary: you're theo's best friend and he's secretly pining over you... but you have a boyfriend. modern au.

author's note: truly was not going to make a part two, but i feel like there's angst to be had and i love a good slow burn, so perhaps you can expect a part three if there's interest.

✧ read: part one ✧

Of course you noticed his absence.

After the night you came knocking on Theo's door and you'd spent the night nuzzled in the warmth and familiarity of his strong embrace, it felt like the rusted gears of your friendship were finally oiled up and turning again. You spent most of your time with Theo, opting to spend your free time with him instead of your boyfriend, who had yet to apologize for his actions. Cormac claimed he was just trying to pass his class and it meant nothing, but there were far better options available than resorting to flirting with the TA.

Cormac's mistake was Theo's gain.

The next couple of days felt like you were transported back into a time when life was simple. When all you had to worry about was whether Theo would trade you his homemade sandwich for your lunchable and whether it was your turn to pick the movie that night or his.

Cormac came to his senses on the sixth day.

You were studying in the library with Theo, shoulders brushing together as he quizzed you on natural nutrients for your upcoming final. Theo was determined to help you pass, even going so far as to bringing your favourite sweets as a reward for answering correctly. Of course, there was the added challenge of having to catch said reward with your mouth as Theo tossed it into the air. Whenever you managed to catch it, Theo would flash you a cheeky grin, and it made you all the more proud for answering correctly. You always loved the way he smiled. He didn't do it often anymore.

Just as Theo lined up for another toss, shutting one eye for maximum aiming (which elicited a giggle out of you), Cormac tapped you on the shoulder.

You turned to face your boyfriend, your eyes immediately drawn to the bouquet of red roses, haphazardly packaged in a thin plastic film, in his hands.

"Y/N, will you go to the end-of-year gala with me?" Cormac asked. He bent down onto one knee, shoving forward the bouquet of flowers for you to take. "I'm sorry about what I did. Truly. And I'll make it up to you if you go to the gala with me. I swear it."

Cormac looked at you with as much sincerity as he could muster. For a moment, you just looked between him and the flowers, your mouth stupidly agape.

Theo watched in stunned silence. The cheeky grin that had found its way back to his face had twisted into a frown. Like Cormac, Theo was waiting for your answer. He hung onto every second of silence like it was the only lifeline of hope—hope that you would finally see through lover boy's cheesy and insincere gimmicks and finally say no.

"Yes," You say, and you pull Cormac into a side embrace so as not to squish the bouquet. He'd never gifted you flowers before, and plans to preserve them went rampant in your mind.

The excitement of Cormac and flowers distracted you, and you didn't notice Theo pack up his things and take off, leaving the opened box of your favourite sweets in his place.

The gears of your friendship rusted over again. If not for the small smiles of acknowledgement he gave you in passing, you rarely saw him. He'd mumble excuse after excuse as to why he couldn't stick around for long. He even stopped opening his door for you, claiming he had fallen asleep early or that he was just too engrossed in his studies to have heard you at the door.

The sudden loss of Theo's presence, especially after days spent by his side again, felt like someone had withdrawn an oxygen source. You were alive, but just barely.

You didn't think anything of it though. You knew Theo liked his solitude, and he always came back to you when he was ready. You weren't worried.

As days passed, Theo kept up the busy facade. It wasn't until you caught him turning on his heels as soon as he spotted you across the servery that you realized that this time was different. He was avoiding you.

For the rest of the day, you racked your brain for clues and signs to explain your best friend's behaviour. As you lay pensively in bed, you cursed yourself for not noticing it all sooner. The eye rolls, snarky remarks, and frowns whenever Cormac was brought up or was in close proximity played through your mind. Of course.

You knew exactly how to fix this.

Theo's dorm wasn't far from yours. Just two levels up using the elevator, and you were outside his dorm room, knocking with new-found determination. You weren't leaving until he opened up.

"Theo, I know you're in there."

From the slit on the bottom of his door, you see a shadow stop in its tracks.

"I promise I won't take long."

The door opens, but only enough to fit Theo's tall frame. It wasn't enough for you to slip through as usual. It wasn't an invitation inside.

"I'm busy," Theo starts.

"No, you're not. I can smell the burnt popcorn from down the hall." You cut him off, knowing he was probably watching a movie.

Theo had a strange habit of burning popcorn. He'd claim it brought out a sophisticated flavour that you just don't understand, but you knew it was really because he relied on the popcorn button too much—a button that was lacking on all the microwaves at your university.

Theo sighs, opens the door, and retreats back into his dorm. While it hadn't been long since you were last here, it felt like you were stepping onto sacred grounds. Your eyes glance around his room, catching sight of his disheveled bed, messy side table, and the paused movie. Stacks of books and loose papers littered his floor. Some crumpled, others tossed aimlessly near the trash can.

"I know why you've been avoiding me." You announce, turning to face Theo. You cross your arms over your chest, standing firm in your statement. Theo avoids your gaze.

"Who says I've been avoiding you?"

"I'm not an idiot, Theo. I have eyes, you know."

This makes him tense. You expected a playful quip about your need for occasional reading glasses (proving how faulty your eyes could be), but it didn't come. Instead, his jaw tightens, and he visibly looks uncomfortable—no, panicked. Like he just got caught for doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing.

"So, I took it upon myself to fix this." You continue, stepping closer to the boy. His eyes finally lock onto yours, and you can see the flicker of curiosity and hesitance flash across his soft, arctic green eyes.

"I found you a date for the end-of-year gala."

"You what?" Theo's tone is sharp. The softness in his gaze vanishes in an instant, replaced with a darker, unreadable expression. Anger, hurt, betrayal. You don't notice it.

"I found you a date," you say again. "I know how hard you've been studying and I'm sure you haven't had a chance for a real break yet—binge watching movies doesn't count, by the way. And with me and Cormac going to the gala when we—" You gesture between yourself and Theo "—usually go together, I figured I'd take it upon myself to find you a lucky lady so we can all go together. Like a double date. And I promise, she's gorgeous. I think she's actually in one of your classes, too. Her name's Daphne."

Theo looks at you with such stoicism that you wonder if he even processed the great news you just delivered. His lips twitch into a frown.

"So, what do you think? Will you come?"

"I'm not particularly in the mood for a fucking gala, Y/N." Theo scoffs. His eyes roll before meeting your gaze. His scorching glare burned into you like a woman scorned. "And I don't appreciate you going rogue and asking a girl out on my behalf. I'm capable of doing so myself if I wanted to." If he wanted to. And he didn't. At least, not Daphne.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked her for you, but I just really wanted you to come," you try to explain. "She seems like such a sweet girl, and you're such an amazing guy... I just figured I would nudge you two in the right direction, you know? And we'd all have so much fun together. It could be like old times. Cormac's going to rent a limo and everything."

Theo has to hold back another eye roll. Old times meant you and Theo. Not you, Theo, Cormac, and Daphne. Spending a whole night bearing witness to your and Cormac's love fest, surrounded by peers he didn't care for, sounded like his own personal hell.

"Please, Theo," you plea, hopeful eyes searching his rigid ones. "I really missed you. It'd mean a lot to me if you came."

Theo's icy exterior cracks at your words. How pathetic he felt, letting the fact that you missed him, dictate what he said next. His feeble, lovesick little heart practically jumped at your words.

"Fine," Theo grumbles with a sigh. He'd endure the sight of you and Cormac all night, even if it made him sick, all because you said you missed him. "I'll go."

tag list: if you'd like to be added to my theodore tag list, please let me know!

[comicaurora]

What are your thoughts on guardians vol.3? (If you have watched it) I went into it, expecting it went to the garbage like the rest of the mcu, but I was pleasantly surprised by its creativity, trope subversion, and how it wrapped up the previously unresolved arks of its characters.

That's what I've heard!

The thing is, Guardians 3 could be the most transcendent work of cinema ever made, and I'd probably still feel little to no motivation to watch it at this point. It's not Guardians's fault - it's just suffering from the same problem that superhero comics have been struggling with for decades: no matter how good an individual arc or run is, absolutely nothing good lasts or matters in the long term, and the stories are shaped in such a way that "the long term" is the only thing anyone gets to build towards.

Whenever I complain about the MCU I get a handful of people loudly complaining about my complaining, with the general thesis that if I don't like it I shouldn't watch it or talk about it - if I'm not having fun, just stop engaging with it. And the thing is, I have. I am intellectually interested in why this massive franchise is fumbling the bag so hard, which is why I still check in on it sometimes, but I've long since stopped turning to the MCU for uncritical entertainment. And even the good movies or shows with a lot of interesting ideas - good character arcs, fun concepts, interesting planting for future payoff - don't draw me in anymore, because they're hooked into a massive moneymaking machine that will scrap and squander anything if they think it'll make them more in the quarter. It doesn't matter how good the writing is, because the writers are not allowed to tell a complete, finished story, and they have no control over what happens to their characters outside of their own script.

Captain America's arc was set up from literally minute one to answer one burning question at the core of his character: does a world without a war still need Captain America? After that incredibly basic tee-up at the end of First Avenger, half a dozen movies failed to come up with a reason to say "yes," and now Steve is retired for good after getting fumbled through four different storylines that couldn't even pretend that they needed him (the unused Chekhov's Phone from the end of Civil War still haunts me). The foundational arc of his entire character never happened because nobody bothered to keep track of it past a single movie.

Taika did something interesting with Thor in Ragnarok - take away Mjolnir, force him to recognize what it means to be the god of thunder, give him a very Odin-y missing eye - and the very next movie undid all of it. Just kidding, never mind, here's an eye and a new weapon and also his old weapon again, and in one more movie we're even gonna give him his hair back, probably as an apology for all the completely unironic fatphobia we're gonna slather him in for two and a half hours. I'm not even surprised Love And Thunder was such an overblown mess that barely took itself seriously - why would Taika bother trying to give Thor another arc when the powers that be will just roll it back in six months anyway?

I hear Rocket Raccoon has a fantastic arc in this movie. That's great, and demonstrates that he's being written by a writer that deeply cares about him. But he's part of the MCU, and the MCU doesn't let anything end, so if current patterns hold, Rocket is going to continue to serve as quippy plushie-bait for the next dozen movies and none of that depth is going to come through in the long term. Hell, since they're making Kang noises for the Next Big Threat and Kang's entire gimmick is rewriting timelines, literally none of this is guaranteed to matter. By next year, it might not have even happened anymore.

The MCU has successfully shaped itself into a paradigm where the bright spots of good writing are overridden and lost as soon as the writers room turns over, and that makes it really hard for me to muster up the enthusiasm to watch even a really good movie that's locked into the exact same grist mill as everything else. I'm glad people liked it, I hope it gets to stay good this time - I just have no desire to watch it.

[thechicgirldiet]

The Chic Girl Diet

a personal diet.

The chic girl diet isn't necessarily a diet; it's adapting a specific lifestyle to maximize my body's health. Changing eating habits that have negatively impacted me, helps me grow not only physically but mentally as well. This isn't a one-time thing. We're tricking our minds by consistently repeating the same routine a number of times until it becomes part of my body and minds' natural reflexes.

my progress so far from 68kg - 57kg in 4 weeks

Week 1

Started off small. Pushed back morning meals as it made me so nauseous to eat early in the morning. Opted for more liquids such as tea or others that had enough electrolytes to get me through the day. Did moderate exercise, walking or cycling whenever. Never restricted but instead began to limit my sugar intake.

Week 2

Started noticing small changes in my appearance already. Began a juice cleanse for 7 days to help my gut. Tried completely cutting out sugar. Did light exercise twice throughout the week (stretches, light yoga).

Week 3

I could not cut out sugar completely, so I found an amazing replacement where you can't taste the difference at all. I was able to remain sugar-free while still satisfying my sweet tooth. Began making my own juices or teas instead of drinking artificial drinks from the store. Sugar is out, and protein/fats are the new in. Began doing more intensive cardio and light strength training, focusing on my core strength (all home workouts).

Week 4

Noticed a huge change in my appearance. My stomach became flatter, and my legs started to tone up from the cycling. Found more recipes that catered to my goals and that I enjoy.

Week 5

Adapted the new routine. Began allowing myself guilty pleasures occasionally to prevent binge-eating habits. Limited processed foods, no sugar at all, and still have a satisfied sweet tooth.

The chic girl diet isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan, and it’s not about quick fixes. It’s about creating habits that stick by making consistent, realistic changes. This lifestyle is built on balance and discipline, not restriction or gimmicks.

[athanwritesthings]

Fall Out || Fem!Reader [Izabella Bardot] x Damian Priest - Pt. 1

A/N: *snickers* all I had in brain was angst and with the ideas I got, it'll make perfect for this to be long and to have continuations. Expect another part or two in the next couple days after I get to requests. Have fun!

Word Count: 1,596

Summary: You've always been the one to cause issues, finding the solace in making your opponents and rivals second guess or become over-emotional. You tangle yourself into a rivalry with Rhea as your team feuded with the men of TJD, and in turn, always managing to find a way to get under their skin, especially Damian's. At least, you hoped you would... All (permanent) characters in Pt. 1: Izabella Bardot [Main character] Grayson Waller, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Rhea Ripley, Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor, Damian Priest.

It was another Monday Night Raw, another night listening to my teammates talk and bicker in my locker room as I pull my boots up, tying them as I listened to them. I sit up a few moments later, leaning my elbows on my knees, looking up to the three of them.

For as much as they bickered, they worked well together, even with them being extremely hotheaded and easy to anger. With this little bickering session, Grayson stood between Randy and Kevin as they argued, always acting as their mediator.

This was apparently their way of figuring out how we wanted to deal with the Judgement Day. As if we weren't equipped with the tools to do so already. Leaning back in my chair, I cross my arms, just listening to Randy and Kevin's arguments.

As much they fought about little things like this, you'd think I'd honestly find them annoying. That'd be quite the opposite. I found it comical, always having a smile broken out on my face as I'd watch on. I made it a thing to step in if it went way too long, of course, just so they'd divert their attention back to the match - and actually not waste energy on yelling each others head off.

After a few good minutes of listening to them, and Grayson shooting me a pleading look for help, I finally speak up. "Hey. We're not here to continuously fight or bicker with each other." Kevin goes to open his mouth again, but I tilt my head slightly from where I sat. He stopped before even starting, a small snort leaving Randy, who also quieted after seeing the look on my face.

Grayson, once the two other men hushed, looked to me, his brows furrowing slightly. "Ya gonna be out there with us at ringside, right?" I roll my eyes slightly, even though his tone was one of worry. Standing up, I walk over, my shoulder leaning into Randy's arm a bit. His arm snakes around my shoulders, my eyes staying on Grayson.

"I always am, aren't I?"

I could see the nerves that had Grayson in a vice grip, as all four of us stood in the gorilla. He had never been the type to be so nervous, always noted as the other, mostly, level headed member of the group. Kevin must've seen and registered this too, his hand giving Grayson a reassuring clap on the shoulder, a half smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

Randy's frame seemingly towered over me as he stood behind me, wrapping wrist tape around his wrists and hands. His gaze, after what felt like a good few minutes of drilling into the back of my head, looks to Grayson. "You'll be good. We're gonna be out there with you." Always blunt and to the point, Randy was.

A faint smile crossed Grayson's face nonetheless with the reassurance from us. The smile slowly fades for a split second as Kevin's theme goes first, hearing the crowds almost deafening cheers as soon as it hit, and he came out. Following suite a few seconds later, Grayson goes out with his theme, meeting Kevin at the stage.

You'd expect it not to be such a loud pop whenever Randy's theme would play, but the crowd always proved you wrong. At that point, with my first step out to the gaze of the crowd, I threw my gimmick on, a wide, yet sly smile on my face as I walked out with Randy. His fingers were intertwined with mine, before letting them go after a few seconds as I walked out in front of him a couple steps, him following me.

It didn't take me long to look away from the crowd around us as we made our way to the ring, my gaze connecting with Damian for a split second, before sliding over to Rhea, who stood in ring with the three other members of Judgement Day. One would think she'd kill with the looks she doled out to others.

I lift my hand, waving with my fingers to her, and partially to Damian, Finn and Dominik's eyes fixated on the other three in my group. Damian's jaw was set, an almost permanent seeming scowl on his face, ever since we walked out.

His shoulders rolled back, ripping his eyes from me as Randy let me up the stairs first, Kevin following suite behind him, Grayson electing a different way up, pulling himself to stand up on the ringside.

A little laugh leaves my closed lips, ropes opened for me by Randy. Damian's eyes didn't dare look back at me again, my mission seemingly being effective up to this point in time. Getting under Rhea, Damian, Finn and Dominik's skin, had been a total success so far.

Perhaps my mission had been more than a total success. With the ref not looking, and with Randy and Kevin off the apron and on the ground after Dom and Finn attacked them as Damian went for his finisher to reach the matches end, I pulled Damian off Grayson, canceling the pin just as the ref went for the three count. A grin, and a laugh as a look of complete surprise and anger crossed his face. "What the fuck?" Was all that he let out, his voice an angered yell.

Rhea, just as she looked at the crowd, a smile on her face as she counted along, had missed me pulling Damian off. I wave, once again, my fingers at him, an innocent smile on my face. That had been wiped off my face quick, seeing him move quick as he slid out of the ring fully, fully deciding to chase me then.

A look of fear flashed in my eyes as I took the initiative to run, making sure to run towards where Randy and Kevin were.

As soon I passed Randy, who was already standing up, his body blocked Damian from passing him. "Touch her, and you're dead." When I heard this, I knew it was safe to stop and turn. I laugh lightly, a grin on my face once again.

"Oh, so sorry about that! I didn't mean to do that." My grin still on my face, as I watch Damian, scoffing, his gaze on me for a few seconds. With my eyes on him, I kneel to Kevin, who's sitting up now, on his way to standing. "Get Dom and Finn dealt with, you two."

Randy, looking to Kevin when he called his name, easily registered the look on Kevin's face, as Damian turned to get in the ring before getting counted out. Grayson, on the opposing side of the ring, watched, as he leaned against the middle rope, on one knee.

All it took was Damian to look at me one last time when he got into the ring, then seeing his team taken down from ringside, and Grayson capitalizing on the distraction, hitting Damian with the Rolling Thunder Stunner, and getting the one… two… three count!

Rhea, who was already screaming her head off at Damian, stared in complete shock, with her hands almost resting on her head, before she stuck her hands out at the ref. Grayson, rolling out of the ring, had a huge smile on his face. I ran up, Kevin and Randy following, all three of us smiling. Grayson's arm rested around my shoulders, one of my hands resting on his back, as we walked backwards, the crowd cheering loudly.

Back in my locker room, I packed my duffel bag, my face slack and not full of any emotion, except showing off how tired I had been. I was ready to go to the hotel room. Rest assured, I was due to see someone from TJD as soon as I walked out, all before Randy got back from his locker room.

Sure enough, with my luck, when I opened my locker room door, Rhea and Damian stood a few feet away from me, Damian's arms crossed over his chest, Rhea's hands in her pockets. "Finally coming out of her cave, hm?" Was all I was greeted with from Rhea first.

I snort, as I look the both of them over. "Upset about your match results? Didn't like the taste of your own medicine?" Damian's arms drop as he walks over, his 6 ft 5 in height towering over me like Randy. Yet there was a different feeling to him than Randy. Maybe it was the aura or vibe he gave off.

Damian's eyes trailed me up and down with an unhappy look, crossing my own arms as I leaned back slightly. "You are meddling with the wrong people, chica. If I were you, I'd call my guard dogs off before it becomes a huge regret of yours down the line." His voice was gruff, yet the look in his eyes didn't match up with how he sounded.

"Matter of fact... Next Monday. I'll bury you so far into the ground, perhaps they will back off." Rhea states as she steps up too, an unbelieving laugh leaving my closed lips as I looked at them with an incredulous glint to my eyes.

I didn't think much of it. I never really did. As long as they were boiling because of me... that was all that truly mattered to me in the first place. I watch them leave with one last look, before I go off to find Randy, Grayson and Kevin.

I never told them about the interaction between Rhea, Damian and I...

(to be continued...)

[copper-9spurgatory]

"Defective J unit" implies there are other J units that were made correctly, why don't you just find and kill one of those and use their parts to fix the strictly negative defects?

MANA(mod): XP if she (Jane) can find them..most likely at Earth. Even if she can get back to Earth, she’d need to break into a JcJenson facility and do all that breaking and entering (or wherever Cyn keeps the bodies)

Also, she doesn’t have any repairing knowledge as the AS repairs her whenever she’s damaged + along with the fact she has a completely different body structure compared to the other Js.

Even if she’s defective in some parts, she’s still functional in other areas. Shes considered defective because she doesn’t fit company standards and her whole gimmick is defying the company as a whole. She’s a whole TANK of a drone, why change that? Don’t fix what isn’t broken.

[barbedwirepens]

Fake (A Love Letter To Professional Wrestling)

I have been wanting to write something like this for ages. Professional wrestling has been such a big part of my life and I just wanted to write something to capture it.

“There are times where I watch wrestling and I don’t understand how everyone doesn’t love it. And then there’s other times where I watch wrestling and I don’t know how anyone likes it.”

-Chuck Taylor 

I was introduced to the crazy world of professional wrestling at a young age. Most of my earliest memories are dominated by it. I’m four years old watching money with JBL’s face on it rain down from the ceiling with my dad. Rey Mysterio soared across my television screen like a real-life superhero. I have pictures of me dressed in a one-piece bathing suit with one of the straps pulled down because I wanted to be just like The Big Show. 

And then I’m four and a half years old learning about death for the first time. In November 2005, my absolute favorite wrestler, Eddie Guerrero, had died in his Minneapolis hotel room. I remember sitting cross-legged on the floor looking up at my TV as the tribute episodes aired. 

Professional wrestling can be anything to anyone- as it had been to me growing up. There is so much to love and admire about it. 

Those men and women put their lives and bodies on the line whenever they step through those ropes. They spend countless hours on planes, missing holidays, birthdays, and other family events. 

All of that for us. 

And that’s not even mentioning the different styles of wrestling that they bring to the table. 

Do you want to see aerial acrobatics and moves that you’ve never thought possible? Then you can look at lucha libre and the likes of Rey Mysterio, Bandito, El Hijo del Vikingo, and Juventud Guerra. 

Wrestlers like Bryan Danielson and Bret Hart bring more technicality to their matches. They will put their opponents in holds that you are sure will break their bones. 

There’s also such a variety of gimmicks and body types in this sport. 

And despite what many may say- 

They all deserve to be celebrated. 

You can watch men like Orange Cassidy and Eddie Guerrero battle beasts like Big Bill and Brock Lesnar. Both of those examples are quite literally David vs. Goliath scenarios. And let’s just say that I am always a sucker for those matches. It is always satisfying to see the underdog come out on top. 

So far, I have discussed the wrestlers that put on the matches we see- not the stories they bring to life. 

One of my favorite (and perhaps my all-time favorite) storylines is the saga that occurred between Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and ‘Hangman’ Adam Page. 

When I discovered that storyline, I was on the verge of quitting watching wrestling altogether. I just wasn’t interested in it anymore and it was no longer fun to tune in. 

That story single handedly pulled me back in. 

I had never seen something like that before. In a sport where the men and women have to act tough all the time- I had never seen a story where they were allowed to be vulnerable. 

Hangman had literally hit rock bottom.

He lost his friends, tag title, and was hiding away from anyone that dared to get close to him. And what made it more compelling was the fact that he wasn’t blameless, either. 

Hangman held Nick’s leg and cost them a shot at the tag titles. Which resulted in him getting kicked out of The Elite. 

But Kenny and The Bucks returned their betrayal and hurt in kind. 

And the culmination of it all with Hangman defeating Kenny for the men’s world championship was the absolute cherry on top. There was all the potential in the world. 

(Which got squashed by the way- but that’s a story for another day.) 

For my entire life, I heard that professional wrestling was fake. It was something that I always hated. 

However, professional wrestling is anything but. 

The injuries are never fake.

And the escapism that it provides isn’t fake, either. 

It’s always there when you have had a bad day. 

It’s there when you have nothing and no one else. 

On that note, I would like to leave you all with a quote from the late, great Windham Rotunda. Who, I believe, encapsulates everything about professional wrestling so well: 

“Wrestling is not a love story- it’s much more. It’s hope. And in a world surrounded in hate, greed, and violence- a world where closure may never come… We all know a place that has hot and cold hope on tap.” 

[bloodpen-to-paper]

Underrated QSMP Duos/Groups

Tina and Forever

Since day one Tina has had a soft spot for Forever, of which she stated during the Bagina date. She talked about how much of an impression he made on her when he welcomed them to the server, and she really did feel welcomed by his presence. During the Happy Pills arc, she was probably the most consistent person to ask and worry about his state outside of the Curing squad

Felps and Maxo

Fofoquieros who gossip about other people's love lives, enough said

Maxo and Baghera

They can match each others' energy so well in both comedy and with lore and investigations. They're also surprisingly keen on picking up on each others' subtleties

Forever and Pac

Probs not underrated after Happy Pills but they're moments sometimes go unnoticed. Pac is one of the people Forever trusts the most, and Pac looks up to Forever probably more than anyone save for maybe Fit. Pac was given a direct message in Forever's goodbye message, and his reaction should show you just how much they mean to each other (os moços <3)

Foolish, Mouse, Tina, Felps

They hung out together and did dungeon raids that one time after a big lore event and while Foolish, Mouse and Tina already know each other quite well, Felps fit in and matched their energy perfectly. 10/10 vibes that stream was

Ironmouse and Philza

Don't have too many moments together but when they do, they always make each other laugh. That one time they had to be spies but couldn't keep quiet cause they kept making each other crack up pretty much says it all

Tina and Badboyhalo

Somehow Bad annoys Tina more than Foolish does and that in itself is an accomplishment, but just like Bad and Foolish, Bad and Tina still hang out together quite a bit, and they're bickering has just become part of the friendship <3 (also this post)

Rivers and Roier

Rivers is a bit more reclusive so I don't see her talk to people that much, but her and Roier are great friends who can be themselves around each other. They're very funny together and have come up with some great bits/gimmicks, and we get to see Rivers being herself at some of her best when he's around. Roier also gets to joke around with her in ways that sometimes fly over other peoples' heads (sometimes its cultural, sometimes its just a Rivoier thing)

Etoiles and Antoine

They won't be underrated to the French community, but the non-French may have missed how great these two are (and all the French tbh, Baghera + Etoiles are another great duo). Etoiles and Antoine are those friends who have been married for 1000 years and also insults each other whenever the other one breathes; they know each other like no one else and can bring out the most in each other (whatever that "most" is depends on the time of day)

AyPierre and Maxo

Despite the breakup, at their peak Maxo and Pierre could always convince each other to say and do the most batshit things that most other people wouldn't be able to draw out of them. They make each other act way more cursed in the best way (see the Furry club for evidence); there's a sort of freedom in being able to find someone who's just as much of a freak as you are

Foolish and the Capybaras

Foolish actually knows the capybaras quite well, and has each of them distinctly memorized in his mind (he even named most of them). He pays attention to who they are as individuals, and he finds genuine delight in their antics. They've felt appreciated and happy enough with him that they allowed him to be their king, and its because of Foolish that they developed stronger lore relevancy

Honorable mentions (Egg Edition): Roier and Leo, Tubbo and Ramón, Bad and Richas, Pomme and Tallulah (can match each others angst levels), Tallulah and Richas

[ozdical]

UM!!! QUESTIONS ABOUT RET!! YOUR OC

does he have a job / does he Like having a job?

how was he made / who was he made by?

whenever i see robots wearing clothes i have to ask: what kind of world does he live in? is this a futuristic robot / human harmony type of situation? is it all robots? a parallel dimension? etc

can ret eat or sleep + how? can ret dream ? what does he dream about, if at all?

answering the third question first bc i wanted to show y'all Ret's full outfit, he likes jus stayin shirtless to avoid overheating, plus in the house he lives in, everyone's a robot so no one bats an eye.

full lore blurb under the cut!

Ret's world is actually within the same world as my object head ocs! same time frame as well, its just that Ret's continent is filled with humans and my object head guys live on another continent, p far away. in-universe, Ret's time frame isnt really that far from us! i'd say around 2046, technology has advanced significantly but not to the 'robots and humans live in harmony' level, but are still very intelligent to operate on their own.

Ret does have a job! hes one of those 'amazing ai makes creative project' robots, think miku if miku wrote her own songs and made her own dance choreography, drew her own posters- etc! Ret, to executives, is a self-sustaining machine that doesnt need a team, which lets him have a lot of creative control over his music videos and add his own 'X-factor' to them thats very eye catching to audiences [its the autism. the autism is the x factor]

if you asked HIM, he would say that he likes having a job, smth to do, a set purpose, but he does wish he could try smth different every once in a while nd it shows in his projects. oddly enough, he communicates his feelings really well in his videos but as soon as he has to verbalize them he tends to lie to appease whoever is asking.

originally, he was a gimmick bot, his gimmick was 'put your data into this machine, and it will write a song about your deepest desires!', just a song-writer ai, what he did as a prototype was as rudementary as psychic hot-reading [or cold-reading if the date input was insufficient], he grew to learn how to read peoples data better with time, and became a 'viral moment' so to speak.

at the present in my story, Ret still has his job but he won't have it for much longer :)

Ret does not know who his creator is because by the time he was sentient, he was a part of a huge media company that housed a lot of these sorts of robots. [hype-house sorta deal, I designed 1 of the other robos... i need to show y'all the others!]

[his creator was a young male developer who was better at coding than he is at song writing, so he thought starting a project like Ret, originally named Rhett before his launch, would be a fun challenge]

Ret cannot dream, but he can 'sleep', he likes to charge via a mobile charging station if an outlet is not readily available and convenient, and during charging his body becomes inactive, but his mind is partially awake. [he can still hear everything around him. he chooses to keep that tidbit of info to himself]

[mogamuncher]

Ok ok I know it hasn't been that long but it just hit me and now I have to inflict this on y'all as well (also season 3 of Re:Zero dropped and I've been gnawing at the walls)

So, remember how in my last Cakeverse post I proposed a Re:Zero branch of this au, with Subaru as the Cake and a lot of other characters as Forks? Well now I really want to brainstorm and analysize more closely what exactly this would mean for Subaru as a character, and how it would affect the story.

Because, like, here's the thing right: Subaru already gets killed by his own friends, a lot. Like, a concerning amount. If you made a tier list of the people most adept at killing Subaru then you'd see that a lot of his friends are up there (with himself being way higher ofc), so what's the point of this Au? What would it change for Subaru if his friends killed him for being a Cake instead of literally anything else?

See, this is where the themes of love in Re:Zero come to play, there's a reason why I specifically picked this fandom for this AU (outside of my own bias), this story is inherently about love. Every character has their own definition of love, their stories are permanently marked by it, Re: Zero is fundamentally a story about love.

Similarly, Cakeverse is an Au all about love as well. Both mediums represent all the visceral, ugly, terrifying and gory aspects of love, exploring them through a gimmick and metaphors as to drive the point home. The time loop is a metaphor for love, the cannibalism is also a metaphor for love, both are utilizing their most brutal aspects to literally hit the audience over the head with a hammer with their themes of love and what it means to love someone.

i think fusing both of these perspectives of how to explore love would be amazing. Thinking about those deaths with Rem or the kiss of death, how meaningful it would be to have the two women that Subaru loves most, who he would sacrifice himself over and over again, who consume and own his soul literally consume his body.

How enhanced would Subaru's own complexes be once he realized that the people whom he cares for literally want to eat him? Furthermore, how would he react to the fact that he's the only thing they can taste? Fate cruelly stripped them of a basic function everyone else has from birth, potentially turning them into a social pariah from the jump if others found out, and most importantly, they'll never know the feeling of eating for reasons outside of strict necessity, no enjoyment to be found in a plate.

I mentioned the concept of Cakes wanting to give parts of themselves away because they enjoy the feeling of being useful, of making someone satisfied and happy even if it tears the asunder. I do truly believe that Subaru, once he has the full context of what being a Fork entails, would spiral into this sort of behavior—ESPECIALLY if Rem and Emilia are Forks.

While, yes, he learns to not abuse Return By Death and to value himself in Arc 4, I do believe that some of his issues with being a Cake would still be mainly unresolved, because Subaru would genuinely feel awful for all the Forks that are in that sort of situation, especially if they're someone he knows.

His bleeding heart looks at the isolation Forks face, he sees how they're fundamentally missing something that everyone else around them already had effortlessly, they're being left behind by the world itself inherently for who they are, stagnating, and it's like looking in the mirror. Forks and Cakes didn't exist in his world, but he knows what it is like to feel misplaced in the world at large.

So he puts his bad habits to "productive use", food soaked in blood to give out flavor, telling Emilia to kiss him whenever she just wants to taste anything for a change, letting Rem or even Otto take a bite whenever, maybe this can even extend to Louis down the line. Out of seeing Forks as his kindred spirits, a misplaced feeling of guilt and his own skewed self perception, I fully believe Subaru would actively serve himself up to the Forks around him that are close to him.

As you can guess, the reactions to this behavior would vary, a lot. I also think that rest of the cast that aren't involved in these dynamics would be extremely concerned when seeing it from the outside. Like: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE LETTING YOUR FRIENDS BITE YOU?!" Sort of stuff.

For a record, in my brain I believe that a few of the folks that would be Forks in this Au would be:

Elsa, Rem, Ram, Emilia, Satella, Otto, Reinhard, the gluttonies, Shaula, Todd, Cecilus and maybe Vincent.

And here are the Cakes:

Roswaal, Heinkel, Subaru (obviously), Felix, Aldebaran, Wilhelm, Betelgeuse, and maybe even Echidna herself

Anyways, much to think about. Feel free to come up with more ideas and concepts as well, I'd love to hear everyone's ideas for this Au!

[cookies-super-secret-blog]

something something grow a pair and state thoughts on ai?

So, funny story, I made a post about this before, whenever the topic tag for it was trending. And like, I still stand by that, sans the part where I call the AI itself a form of art under my definition. A little bit after that, I saw a post, while definitely not in response to my own post, made the point that while we should hate AI art for the rampant theft of jobs and content, that its somehow bad to dislike it as Bad Art or Not Art because "gatekeeping art is baddd". Which like, in the context of someone drawing stick figures or painting giant blocks of color, is valid; we shouldn't gatekeep art from people. I still think AI doesn't deserve that privilege. Like, not to try and define art again, but, like hold on ket me grab something.

This is an ai generated adoptable from deiantart. Now, I have to ask, what's being expressed here- besides "cute girl in big hoodie (despite the one on the left not having a hoodie)"? Like it's easy to take these apart mechanically, but conceptually? It's somehow easier. Like, part of character design is visually communicating stuff about the character. There's nothing here besides anime girl in big outfit with minor armor details maybe? Like nothing else here is coherent! Like she looks sampled off of genshin and honkai characters but that's it. Like the cutains are just blue, and its dull and boring because of it. Why is the jacket neon green? The prompter wanted it that way. Why does she have the shoulder pieces and the case she's holding? Because the prompter likely put "battle girl" and/or "solarpunk" into the prompt. And it's not bad to have design elements for the sake of it, but the ai can't do anything but that, and the content it generates suffers because of it. There's no artistic value there, imo.

Now, not to toot my own horn, but here's my take on this design:

This is still a "cute girl in a big lime green jacket", but there's more to it. It's a high visibility jacket, with stripes reminiscent of construction vests. In the other doodles on the page, this high visibility theme is expanded to a theme of her being some kind of rescue personnel, and/or an angel (see; the halo in the bottom right). While it's fairly easy for me to point these themes out- it is what I intended- I'd still argue an obersever would be able to point out similar, or other themes and motifs that bring this character together.

No ammount of prompts and generation models can recreate that. Even if the prompter had the exact same intent I had when making the og ai content, that intent doesn't come across whatsoever. Because AI cannot replicate human intent and artistic processes.

These image generators register to me as the miserable end point of the sad, art-illiterate belief that art only is, and is only meant to "look pretty". Every time modern art is decried as "ugly and pointless", another prompter gets validated in their shameless attempts to assert their narrow-as-fuck vosion of what art is.

Art is human. Art is messy, art is intricate, art is sloppy, art is beautiful and art is ugly.

No machine on earth can comprehend or replicate that. And the ceasless attempts to commodify and capitalize on art have made some people forget that fact. The kinds of people who prompt really only see art as a gimmick product, pretty knickknacks that will make them rich quick.

For lack of better terms, the dehumanization of art itself is disgusting, and so like hell am I going to consider AI's mass-produced, slot machine-esque, drivel as art.

And I will not be guilted by other people on this hellsite who think its a moral failure to call mindless content what it is because its dressed up in distorted frills and anime girl boobs.

Art is human, and AI is not human. And what a sad world it is, that we're automating and strangling human creation, instead of letting it thrive.

Thank you for reminding me to share my thoughts.

[sn4pozu]

my headcanons of Eddie Gluskin if he had a twitter :

he'd repost those RETVRN incel trad memes where its like a woman doing house chores & man doing job stuff

would get into arguments with a woman and subscribe to her onlyfans at the same time (gets mad when blocked)

tries to be professional and a know-it-all but also his entire likes tab is porn (he doesnt know it shows publicly)

calls someone a whore & drops a bible verse in the same thread arguing with them

idk if he'd be delighted with minion memes or viscerally hate them

USES DISNEY REACTION GIFS WITH NO SHAME , USES A CRYING STITCH GIF AT A DODO VIDEO OF A DOG DYING

If twitter bans his account mid argument he'd flip the fuck out and make 3 gmails & alts at the same hour

100% posts creepy comments under peoples post and gets upset if it gets hidden

flirts so much you'd think hes a bot but no he's just sending random women his number (does he care if they're married or not is completely dependant on his mood)

uses the nice guy card whenever shit starts going south

he gets doxxed he goes like "that's not me" (lies, is scared)

either that or he lashes out and start sending them death threats who knows

menace with the twitter Voice Note feature

not even a mutual KYS no hes going to write out his whole murder fantasy in a person's DMs and blocks them before they could respond

gets IP banned on twitter like, weekly, he just figures out VPN apps and finds a way to harrass people constantly

media tab is his breakfast and someones mutilated genitals, bi-weekly photo updates maybe

im not saying he would complain about hairloss but he would complain about hairloss

"i got declined by the pharmacist for asthma medication, fucking bitch *insert something mysogonistic*"

thinks bitcoin is stupid and not a real "manly job" so he dogs on them pretty horribly

thinks tech jobs are for NERDS and says it outloud whenever them NFT bros are commenting under his shit attacking him for calling them nerds

Cracked phone screen with blood in the cracks (he tried to clean it with soapy water on a towel but it just ruined the lcd now its forever stained yellow) ((free bluescreen eye protector mode ?)) (((also has to violently tap the home button because its already broken & that part of the screen died))) ((((has an odd smell))))

he wishes he'd have glasses for the phone screen but all he does is squint

would post dress updates though <3 maybe retweets sewing patterns and videos of old women knitting and go "my grandmother used to do that pattern, ❤️ Wow."

goes back to shitting on women

*posts black coffee with 2 fruitflies in it* "A Good Way To Start A Morning ☕"

posts half eaten food and the dirty plate and would be like "Delicious food today 😋 i almost forgot to pots." -- deletes & reposts because of the typo. PEOPLE CANNOT THINK HE'S WEAK.

His vest would 100% be posted on those gimmick accounts and gets picked on for it being crusty & grody 😔

DMs like multiple women at the same time and either gets immediately blocked or ghosted after a face reveal

he Has cried because of twitter comments before, never again......

has twitter warning threads made of him and has tried to draw a stupid fucking wojack on paper with pencil & pen because he doesnt know how to edit photos but he still wants to own the haters

posts gore to own the haters as well and then got mass reported to death when people found 0 similar images of the gore he posted

'A Thread On @/Eddie287367927 TW: Gore, Mutilation, Harassment, Transphobia, Misogyny'

probably had a youtube documentary made about his twitter acc and all the drama he got himself into (either by accident or for fun)

ok this idea kinda came up to me after i saw a trad meme come up on my tl and i just HAD to dump this all out somewhere

[scarlet--wiccan]

You've made several posts about witchcraft, like the worldbuilding, surround it, and your ideas of the witches' road. Do you also have ideas to flesh out its magic system?

Nothing as detailed or sophisticated as you're probably imagining. Considering how magic and magic users typically function in Marvel comics, I think it's important for these things to be left open-ended. I would not want to box witchcraft into a hard magic system.

I've written at length about what distinguishes witches and witchcraft from other forms of magic in the Marvel world. There's already a lot there, but the thing that's often missing, for me, is a consistent use of characterizing detail. Witchcraft would feel more like its own thing if the writers and artists were consistent about using aesthetics and motifs that set it apart. If I was writing Wanda or Agatha, I'd want to familiarize myself with folk magic and traditional witchcraft practices, so that I could incorporate some of those images and modalities. I don't expect every writer to literally be a practicing witch, but if you get a sense of what kind of tools, symbols and methods a witch might use-- and how they'd use them-- you can create a more immersive atmosphere where witchcraft feels tangible and lived in. This could also be a fun way to give different characters their own specialties and create more variety in how they do witchcraft, without falling into the taxonomy trope.

That aside, a good place to start, if you want to do more world building, is to look for unanswered questions. For example, Scarlet Witch (2016) put a lot of focus on the cost of magic. Casting spells takes years off of Wanda's life, to the point that it's clearly not sustainable. I've always assumed that this was meant to be an imbalance caused by Witchcraft's illness-- when she's healed, Wanda's life is restored, but that begs the question, what does the magical ecosystem look like when Witchcraft is in balance? What is the "normal" price of magic? How does that work for "normal" witches-- you know, people who aren't super powerful like Wanda?

We've talked about how witchcraft fits into the eco-, ego-, and exocentric model, which can be used to explain where a witch's power comes from, but what does that look like in practice? How does one go about honing their innate powers and forming relationships with spirits, nature, and higher beings? What do you have to give, in order to get, as it were? Are there rituals involved? How much time is spent studying or crafting? How do we find space in an issue of comic book storytelling to showcase these quieter parts of magic-as-practice in a way that feels organic and moves the plot along? That's something that's missing in a lot of books these days, not just SW.

I realize that page space is limited, and comic book writers are very busy people. But if I were given stewardship of a character like Wanda, I would be taking this kind of stuff really seriously. You don't have to come up with a whole bespoke magic system, but asking yourself these kind of questions is just a good practice. You want to have those answers ready to go whenever the opportunity arises to inject a little imagination and detail into your world.

Just to give some examples, I wanted to throw out a couple ideas I had while I was noodling over this ask--

Billy lives on a foreign planet and is immersed in alien cultures that each have their own folklore and religion. Does being in such a different environment change his relationship with magic at all? As the Court Mage, what are his responsibilities? Taking a look at Billy's daily life and role in the Alliance would give him a chance demonstrate magic in a way that's more nuanced or intentional than his usual chanting gimmick. Personally, I'd really like to see Billy and Mur-G'nn working together to revitalize holy sites from both cultures, and have Billy respectfully learning about their beliefs while working on cultural unity projects, something that was hinted at in Scarlet Witch (2023).

We haven't really seen Amaranth casting spells yet, and her unique abilities seem to nullify most magic. Is she able to cast spells in the same way that as Wanda? If not, are there other ways for her to work with elemental powers, or access the magical properties of plants and natural materials-- synthesizing what's already there, rather than seeking to conjure or transform? This could be an engaging way to bring in more elements of practical, traditional witchcraft that you might not see with Wanda or Agatha, whose powers are so elevated. Plus, she's named after a flower-- it'd be a fun motif!

In general, having a student or protégée character creates a natural opportunity to talk about witchcraft on a more practical level. It would be very simple to just open an issue with a short lesson scene, and I think that it would go a long way to making Wanda and Amaranth's teacher-student relationship more believable. This brings up a few unanswered questions-- we know, as readers, that Amaranth is connected in some way to the Witchcraft goddess, but what was the pretense or purpose for Agatha tutoring her? What does she get out of being a witch. Where'd she get that costume? Did Agatha give it to her, and does it have any significance? I'm thinking of how Jennifer Kale's outfit is meant to be traditional priestess garb.

[zanysmurf]

Sorry if this has been asked before but what is Zany's Smurf gimmick?

see, you think this would be an easy question to answer and by all means it should be! so get ready for a disjointed one. multiple, even. i just kind of say things here:

my original idea was that he'd have a gimmick similar to flighty (always doing various "zany" activities when he's not helping greedy) or jokey (annoying misc. mischief). "zany" is a word people use to describe like any cartoony nonsense, basically interchangable with "wacky", OR a noun to mean an eccentric person (which he was supposed to be) so it's hard to narrow that down. that was supposed to work to my advantage but at the same time it really didn't LOL

one of zany's activities is taking dares when he's bored and he'll do the dumbest things. jokey likes taking advantage of that and smurfs such as smurfette are like "oh for smurfs sake leave him alone. stop daring him to stick his head in dirt for hours" and greedy would say something like "you shouldn't do that type of stuff you need self control." [a smurf dares him to eat 30 cookies] "30???? i can do more than that"

the thing is: i created zany in 2019 for the sole purpose of interacting with my favorite smurfs / shipping him with greedy. i didn't want to use jokey for that stuff, i wanted something that felt more like me at the time. i was like. having a lot of trouble figuring all this out because i usually just wanted to focus on his dynamic with greedy. in older posts you might see him in scene gear with a patterned bandana because i was generally embracing my younger self back then and self-expression / having fun. he fell under 'smurfs if it was modern' or 'what if a modern day smurf was in the show's canon like a time traveler' au imaginings whenever i wasn't picturing him in the show canon, but i think i've drifted away from that (though i still completely get the appeal of the scene zany design)

speaking of him and jokey, i figured maybe they'd pull pranks together or something and when i learned the historical definition of a zany i was like *JAWDROP*

anyway: i'd say zany's gimmick was meant to be unpredictable by nature, but he could also be a vehicle for lighthearted poking at the show itself. ie. he'd be in a cage and notice the bars are tall and wide enough apart so he'd just slip right out. greedy/another smurf would say "how did you do that". and he'd shrug. that's more self-aware than i usually go for but if i was making a joke like that i'd want it to be silly

overall zany is a lot of things the show wouldn't allow: peyo hated when hb made new smurfs so a bunch of them never made it into the show / only lasted a while. his design is very simple but says nothing about his gimmick in a way that i feel would piss off both hb AND peyo. (which tbh i was thinking about redesigning him in some way at some point). there was also a bit of dissonance in terms of "i want this character to be more fleshed out than the show would allow, but i treat the other characters a similar way so it's fine" and making jokes like he's just some minor smurf who by all means shouldn't exist in-universe, ie. "omg remember zany he was in scampering smurfs in the background at 5:06". at one point he had a backstory and stuff that really honed in on the latter idea of "he's too different/not supposed to be here" ie. he used to be something other than a smurf or created artificially but i don't think i even like those ideas anymore

in comparison to fan characters/sonas i've made recently, zany is not one i'm particularly proud of. i love him and greedy but everything was suuuuch a mess. as the above demonstrates, i had far too many conflicting ideas. maybe that's part of the joke of who zany is. or maybe one of these days i'll try and give him something more cohesive. we'll see