#plus they're both great chefs!

[the-cat-and-the-birdie]

Also don't think anyone has said this (thats a joke) but like, art styles aside:

The animation, expressions, movement, everything of ATSV is IMPECCABLE.

Like insanely, ridiculously, almost mind bogglingly good.

[This is a MEDIUM length post]

The main strength is the Emotion -

In terms of animation, the range of emotions Miguel is capable of expressing is like... crazy good. Gwen's emotions ARE UNSPEAKABLY IMPRESSIVE.

LIKE...ANIMATING HER FUCKING BREATHING???? AND BLINKS!! AS AN EMOTIONAL CUE. HELLO???!!

And the movie hinges on this - almost every scene has an emotional cue that HAS to hit. Whether is Jess's looks of hesitation or Peter B.'s looks of horror.

And this may seem like the most ridiculous comparison ever made but like...

The Bee Movie and Across the Spider-Verse came out FIFTEEN YEARS APART.

THE BEE MOVIE...THIS MONSTRASITY that has plagued humankind - was made less than two decades from THIS:

The fact that we progressed that far as a society (pun intended) in that short of a time will never not baffle me.

I genuinely cannot name any other animated movie that:

Has multiple styles throughout the duration

Can seamlessly change styles without the viewer immediately noticing (like Gwen returning to her universe)

Show two or more animation styles on screen at the same time (and no, Roger Rabbit and Space Jam don't count - that's half live action lol)

Just off the top of my head - ATSV shows up to three styles in one scene: I'm mainly thinking of the scene that shows Hobie (customized - style 1), Peter B. (standard - style 2), and Miguel (a light stylized - style 3).

It can be brought to four if you want to count Miles/Gwen, though their style isn't visible.

I can think of a couple scenes that genuinely blew me away in terms of animation -

One being Rio's 'What-EVER?!' because of the little stance correction and head bob she does, because it's such a natural thing to do. And it adds so much to an already perfect line.

It's something someone would genuinely do IRL without even noticing.

Another I LOVE is Pavitr and Hobie roughhousing.

Like, I can't yell about these five seconds of animation more.

It's SO fluid it looks like Motion-Capture and I left the theatre googling is any Mo-Cap was used in the movie (and from what I can tell - no, it's all original animation).

The way Pavitr falls to the side and bumps them - This not only being a natural reaction to Hobie and his weight, but it also LOOKS natural. So much so you can see it affect Hobie's model too. The movement has kinetic energy on both models -

Which is AMAZING CONSIDERING THEY'RE ANIMATED ON LIKE FOUR DIFFERENT TIMES.

In this shot alone, there's the guitar, vest, AND Hobie, all of which have their own animation rules. Plus the outline on his guitar AND him. And then there PAVI too, who's running at a higher frame rate, touching and interacting with Hobie.

So much so that Hobie's model nearly wraps himself around Pavi. Pavi's hair is moving, Hobie's guitar is moving, there's movement in the background - and it looks GREAT.

PLUS THE CAMERA IS MOVING AND GOSTLING. IT'S NOT A STATIC SHOT. The models and camera are moving AS IF THEY'RE REAL when they're not.

That's - My..I CAN EVEN COMPUTE THAT.

But by far, I think the range of expression used on Miguel is like... Chef's kiss.

(of course I was gonna trick you into reading another post about Miguel. Uh-huh that's what's about to happen)

Like... are you kidding me?

NAH DEADASS ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????

The whole later half of the movie hinges on Miguel looking buckwild crazy insane and they NAIL that. And like-

Oh my god what the actual fuck

?????????????????????????? I........ I have nothing to add. After that picture......Nah... LMAOOO

(left: actual photo of Moche watching this happen)

But Anyway chile, This movie is like.. genuinely a modern marvel.

If Marvel gave Tim Gunn 4 billion dollars and five years, whatever live-action rendition he would have made would not even compare to ATSV on any conceivable level - that's how good it is so jot that down.

And like...don't even get me started on Hobie..his design..his representation...girl I will start crying in this Arby's do not play with me

I just felt that needed to be said.

you get what I'm saying yall know what I mean iight coo

Here's a picture of Hobie to cleanse your palette.

Bye.

[deconstructthesoup]

What's been in my head lately is a Fantasy High pirate AU. Not a Leviathan AU, an actual pirate AU.

Bear with me---

Adaine is a bookish princess of a kingdom by the sea, and while she has everything from an outsider's perspective, she's neglected by her parents as the second child and is incredibly lonely. Her only real friend is Kristen, who's a representative of the church of Helio and is kind of Adaine's unofficial lady-in-waiting, and both of them are fairly sheltered... until one fateful day, while the two are enjoying a small day of freedom, they get captured by a motley crew of pirates.

Fabian is the captain and the son of the fabled Old Bill, and he's been making his own mark on the seven seas via sheer charisma and chaos. He's trying to build up a reputation of being a ruthless thief and murderer like his father was, but it's pretty plain to see that he cares a lot more than he lets on... like, for instance, upon realizing that Adaine's parents don't care enough about her to pay for ransom, he immediately offers her a spot on his crew. And once Kristen has a very public crisis of faith, she's granted a spot, too.

The other members of Fabian's crew are as follows:

Riz, his first mate and best friend. He's a son of two prolific spies from the goblin kingdom, and he initially wanted to take down the vast network of pirates across the world, but quickly changed gears once he realized that working for the monarchy was a lot more morally corrupt. He kind of acts as the voice of reason, while simultaneously being one of the most feral members of the crew.

Ragh, the ship's chef and the other first mate---Fabian couldn't decide between him and Riz. His mom used to be a pretty prolific pirate herself, and he and Fabian have known each other since they were kids... and, yeah, their relationship has changed from "best friends forever" to "work husbands" over the years. They have some good times.

Gorgug, the ship's resident gunner. He grew up in a family of blacksmiths, couldn't find a lot of honest work, and eventually got a steady position on Fabian's ship. He's happy to be here, he's happy to show off the fact that he's a beast in combat situations, and he's one of the most technically savvy members of the crew. Also, he's a surprisingly good listener.

Fig, the musician and "dark sorceress" of the ship. She used to be a traveling singer-slash-songwriter and used an elven disguise to blend in, but eventually decided "fuck it" and took on her true form as a free-spirited tiefling pirate who kicks ass, takes names, and curses anybody who badmouths her. She's great.

Tracker, the ship's surgeon. She was raised in the church of Helio before being bitten by a werewolf, after which she promptly left to learn under her uncle, who was a prolific pirate himself before he retired. Nowadays, she's learned the secrets of both witchcraft and medicine and made a name for herself as a skilled healer and fighter, and is pretty happy where she is.

Gertie, the ship's other chef and resident wildlife expert. She's definitely one of the most friendly members of the crew, and even though she butts heads with Fabian a lot, she's a pretty core part of the crew. And yeah, between her and Tracker, Kristen is definitely getting a big lesbian awakening.

There is, of course, still a version of Leviathan out there, and Ayda still lives there as a librarian... which is the reason why the crew regularly makes stops there, though getting more supplies is also a plus. Garthy is also there, along with Sandralynn and Jawbone (and Hallariel and Gilear, much to Fabian's displeasure). The Seven are also around---they're a fierce crew of pirates who have a bit of a friendly rivalry with Fabian's crew, though it's never escalated into outright battle.

[alexa-yukiyu]

I fully believe that the whitebeard pirates would be good but completely chaotic with an actual child like I know whitebeards whole thing is being a dad but I think you throw a four year old at them and they're like "oh God can it have beer yet?" And completely forget that tantrums exist and the first couple weeks are pure chaos

Fr

Correct me if im wrong but when aren’t the only kids who have been in the Moby Dick Hiyori and Momonosuke? And they had both parents to look after them so no one had to worry about taking any reponsability in that aspect and Whitebeard din’t have to step in as a dad in their case.

To me the best contenders to know whag the hell they are doing would be Marco and Oden, with Izou and Ace coming a close second

Oden, well he is a dad so that gives him an advantage on dealing with kids but regardless he is soemone who gives zero shits on what people think of him so he has no problem being the goofy dad 24/7. And despite his hotheaded personality and what I thought to be a careless lifestyle he is a man who will and has given everything to protect his family and retainers

Up next we have Marco, I don’t recall him having direct contact with any children on the series but he has shown to have a calm, mature demeanor, this paired up with his medical knowledge would aid him in things such as when does a child become ready for solid foods, when should they start walking etc. Not saying he would know everything as he is the Ship’s doctor and not a pediatrician but his love for his family would be enough encouragement to learn about children and their development. Plus this man can do no wrong sooo

Ace, now listen you may think, of course you’re going to say he’s up there he had Luffy and you would be absolutely right that is one of the reasons 😂. Listen in his youth he had a rough attitude and if even then he was able to fill that role he filled for luffy even years later is a testament to his qualifications. Second point is his personality, when he grew up he grew up to be a a goofball, at least I saw him that way, I feel like his personality would match up perfectly with a child. But a good match dosen’t feed the child so that’s why he won’t be up in first place. He would be great with the children but he would be as clueless as can be when it comes to needs of the kid, he would forget tk water and feed the child.

For Izou, I think he would be a good option because like Marco he seems tk have that Mature and responsible demeanor , so he would be a good option for a child coming aboard. He would also be great with the needs of the child, reminding himself to do all the tasks needed to be done if the child is wrong or remind the child themselves if they are old enough. But despite being a big brother, he is only a big brother by a year so I don’t think thats adding tk his resume in this case. The reason why he is not on top is because even though he would be great at keeping track of what teh child needs he doesn’t neccesarily have the knowledge, he can be told about what and when the kid needs something but he wouldn’t know that by himself, so give him the information and he is up there with Marco And Oden, which would probably be the ones who teach him in the first place

Thatch would be a good option too, he has a playful and caring personality for the child and he would be able to adapt his meals to better fit the kid, but same as Izou he would need to be given that information. And similar to Ace he would forget about some needs of the kid or be incredibly reckless, he would remember to feed and water the kid since he is a chef and it’s his job but other needs eh, keep an eye on him ir next thing you know you’ll have a toddler making your meals, handling knifes and other utensils.

I do want to mention Haruta, I think kids would love his outfit, he looks goofy so he could be a good entertainer for them. The rest of the commanders though… well they would be good bug brothers but maybe from a little far away, they are more rady to handle bigger kids and teens who can take a little bit more force. They could be caring but if someone like Kingdew or Fossa approach a kid I don’t know if a small child would be…how to say it…. I don’t think they would be ready for their personalities and facial expressions….

[raeynbowboi]

HOW TO PLAY AS THE BELCHERS IN DND 5E

Today, we're going to explore how to build the Belchers as a DnD Party. Plus Teddy. We're not really going to touch on stats. Let's be honest, the Belchers aren't really great at anything. If we were building them accurately, they'd all be super low level and/or with terrible stats. But it's your character and your campaign, so you can make them more or less optimized as you see fit. They're also all basic Humans, so we're pretty much just focusing on their classes and subclasses.

BOB BELCHER

PALADIN OATH OF DEVOTION

Bob is largely defined by his principles and values. As Tina puts it, Bob is a good business owner, but a bad businessman. He cares more about providing a quality service and succeeding his way than making money. And in Little Hard Dad, he's shown to say "It's the principle of it" way too often. This to me reads as a Paladin. Given his belief in quality service and moral principles, I label him as an Oath of Devotion Paladin.

VARIANT BUILD

FIGHTER SAMURAI ARCHETYPE

Bob is pretty boring and straightforward, which makes Fighter really fitting for his personality. If he was going to model himself after anyone, he'd choose Shinji Kojima/Hawk. Thus, the Samurai archetype. However, if we're leaning purely into the boring practicality and straightforwardness of Bob, I might suggest Champion instead. It's the most Fighter-y Fighter you can build.

Regardless of his class, make sure to pick up proficiency with Cook's Utensils or the Chef Feat.

LINDA BELCHER

BARD COLLEGE OF DANCE

Telling Linda Belcher not to sing or dance is like telling Tina not to talk about horses or telling Bob not to cook. It's just not going to happen. She loves the theater, she sings all the time, and she was once in an amateur garage band. All the makings of a classic bard. Given her love of dancing, I went with the College of Dance.

TINA BELCHER

CLERIC LIFE DOMAIN

Tina is the family member who puts the most stock in things like fate, true love, karma, and damnation. She is also one of the characters that mentions religion more than anyone else. More specifically, she strikes me as a Cleric of Sune, the Faerunian Goddess of Love and Beauty. Sune's virtues include following your heart wherever it leads, championing love and romance at all costs, taking any risk in pursuit of love, being true to your heart and your passions without shame, and trying to make the world a more beautiful place. As such, Tina is the perfect candidate for a Cleric of Sune. Sune has two domains: Life and Light. Given that Tina has at least some interest in nursing, the Life Domain seems more in-line with Tina's values as a follower of Sune.

GENE BELCHER

SORCERER WILD MAGIC ORIGIN

I know, I know. It's a sin that he's not a Bard. But Gene and Linda are very similar characters, and both work as Bards. The best thing for a party is diversity. So, I looked at Gene's personality beyond just his music. And the core of Gene is whacky nonsense. Usually, when Gene tells stories, it's an excuse for weird imagery. The Banana-fullo, Fart School, radioactive pizza sauce. Thus, the Wild Magic origin for Sorcerers spoke to me. Gene loves whacky randomness, so he would be drawn to Wild Magic. Plus, he's not really a good bard. He hates practicing, he's unfamiliar with the concept of a workbook, and kind of just expects a music career to be handed to him. Hell, when he got cast in a play and had all of two lines, he didn't memorize them, and wanted to ad lib every take. Gene's a sorcerer with the Entertainer background, but he is NOT a bard. He doesn't take his craft seriously the way Linda does.

LOUISE BELCHER

ROGUE ASSASSIN ARCHETYPE

One of Louise's main skills is her ability to pick locks. Bob is literally afraid to go into her room as he expects boobie traps to hurt him. She's a clever tactician, masterminding several heists and revenge schemes. She's good at tricking people and lying to their faces to get what she wants. As for why she's an assassin, in the episode where Louise is uncertain of her future, one vignette paints as a John Wick style Wedgie-Sassin. She's also a fan of Francine, a Special Girl doll that spied on the Russians during the Cold War. She's not typically a fan of girly things, but she does like the one that's a spy. She's definitely the family member who would be the outlaw punk of the group.

RANGER GLOOMSTALKER CONCLAVE

In more recent seasons, we've seen a newfound interest in archery, with Louise even making a zombie movie centered around her blossoming hobby. The Gloomstalker/Assassin multiclass is also a very good multiclass in combat, which is why I felt it was the most fitting for Louise. She's also pretty accurate with other ranged combat like spitballs and throwing things at people.

TEDDY THE HANDYMAN

ARTIFICER BATTLE SMITH

This one pretty much goes without saying. He's a mechanic and handyman, he's used to moving and hauling heavy objects, plus he's burly, making him a great fit for the party's tank. The Battle Smith is an artificer built for the front line, and they get to be joined by a mechanical ally. Teddy would absolutely take a hit for any of the Belchers. The guy also fell off a roof and walked it off, so he's definitely got the highest Constitution score of the group.

I think this party turned out alright. Bob and Teddy are on the frontlines, Linda and Tina are the primary support, Gene is a ball of pure chaos and uncontrolled energy, and Louise is sniping people from the shadows. Everyone's doing what they should be doing to work as a unit, and also happen to be a fairly well-balanced party as well. This is an especially good party for low stakes and silly campaigns, but probably not the kind of party you want to bring to Barovia or Avernus.

[cannibalspicnic]

Maybe a hard question, but do you have an episode you like above all others?

This is actually not a hard question for me. My favorite is Don't Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape. It might be hard to pinpoint a second favorite, and I have a lot of love for all the eps, particularly in season 2, but Don't Be Afraid, Just Start the Tape stands a little above the rest.

The only downside to it, is no Claudia, but that does help relieve some of the dread that builds up in season 2 for anyone already familiar with the story. Which for me, at least let me lose myself in some of the funnier moments.

First off, Daniel and Louis are HILARIOUS together in 1973. They're both such giant fucking nerds, and I LOVE it. Daniel asking him to "do the fang thing again" is adorable, and Louis ranting (I can only assume he'd already been feeding off a coke fiend before running into Daniel, with the way he goes off) about Lestat. This man has been waiting decades to bitch about his ex, and he's having the time of his life.

Then the Louis/Armand fight is just UGH, I wanna cut that scene up and snort that myself because that was some GOOD SHIT. Both of them going below the belt was so funny and also really great insight into how their marriage has been going since Louis' Lestat-driven spite proposal. And if it wasn't great enough on its own, the fact that Daniel and Louis are awkwardly sitting there listening to that fight together really makes it.

Even Louis groaning from the next room as Daniel is being tortured into some psychosexual issues that have most likely followed him for life is just *chef's kiss*. And then Louis saving Daniel and giving him a crispy pep talk is very sweet and kinda cemented the friendship between him and Daniel. A friendship that is so so important to me for some reason.

PLUS, it sets up Devil's Minion pretty nicely if you ask me. I think Armand would definitely follow Daniel around after that, and with his relationship with Louis being so strained at that point, it would make sense that he would even fall into an actual affair that he kept secret from Louis.

And then the end is so funny and perfect with Armand walking in from lunch with the shades and the smile. Ugh, I wanna watch it again right now.

Thanks so much for the ask!

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  dartlekey! @dartlekey has 11 fics in the Stranger Things Fandom and 9 of them are in the Steddie tag!.

Our anonymous nominator recommends the following works by @dartlekey:

If you were church (I'd get on my knees)

RUSH! (T4T REMIX)

At a medium pace

With great power

"I read the "with great power" series not long after I got into the Steddie fandom and was instantly like "I need to raid this author's other fics" and subscribed to them. No regrets for that choice!!" -- Anonymous

Below the cut, @dartlekey answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

For me, Steddie hits that sweet spot of strong characterization but woefully underexplored details, both for the individual characters but also their dynamic with each other in canon. That makes their relationship the ideal writer's sandbox - since they're both so fluid, you can explore the characters through each other, showcasing many different and even conflicting facets of each other while still retaining their original characters and behaviors. Either of them can be rich or poor, famous or an everyguy, Gay or Bisexual, Dom or Sub, Top or Bottom, Trans in any direction - the details are up to you! 

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

I love a good slowburn friends-to-lovers fic. It needs to be a specific kind for me though - I'm not much one for prolonged pining, but I love it when the friendship is explored in such depth that the next step feels like an inevitability. Watching that deep platonic affection turn not-so-platonic, that's the good shit. 

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

My specialty as a writer, I think, is crack treated seriously, or crack with a twist. Usually the first question that sparks one of my fics is “If X happened, would that be hilarious or what?” and then the second is “But if it was because of Y, would that be fucked up or what?” I think you can see it best in If you were church I'd get on my knees (what if Steve was a stripper at Eddie's stag party BUT it was actually a social commentary on queerness and sexuality in the face of religious oppression), but it's in At a medium pace too (what if Eddie couldn't move his arms because of injury so Steve “has” to jerk him off, but it's actually about how growing up queer can warp your perspective on healthy sexuality) , or even in Don't look back (What if Eddie had to dom Steve for plot reasons, but it's all body horror and trauma and spiraling codependency). 

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

I don’t think I could name one all-time favorite, because what I enjoy most about fanfic is that different writers bring different character interpretations, storytelling styles and plot ideas to the table, which I find incomparable. I have enjoyed many of the well-known classics, of course (pukner I owe you my life--), but let me use this chance to give a shout-out to some less well-known masterpieces! My top three underrated fics are Three Days on the Red Planet by CaptainHoney/@grandmastattoo on tumblr (retro scifi, gritty but humorous hopepunk, every single fic of theirs is a certified banger but I love this one the most for some reason!!), Love dirty men alike by wrenowich (chef au, an ode to kitchen culture in all its griminess, I love a detailed backstory plus Steddie being wonderfully weird about each other), and That’s just wasteland, baby! by fastcardotmp3 (post-s4 apocalypse survival, sweet and aching and tired and yet hopeful, made me cry in the best way). 

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

One that's pretty unique to the steddie fandom, or perhaps general stranger things fandom, is “if canon event x had happened differently/hadn't happened at all/had happened to a different person, how would the rest of canon change?” I still need to work out a lot of details in my head, so that's all I'll say for now, but it's something I'm very interested in exploring.

What is your writing process like?

Much to the horror of fic writers everywhere, I don't do first drafts, I just write out everything in detail, scene by scene in chronological order. I edit as I go, and consider the many-numbered, often unplanned writing breaks an important part of my process - when I let the written portion sit for a while and the unwritten ideas percolate in my brain for a bit, I often end up with new plot points or solutions for problems I've been having! And when that inspiration strikes, I can write anywhere - on the train, during lunch break at work, in the vegetable aisle of the grocery store… I have gdocs on my phone and I use it liberally; I'd say I write at least 80% of any given fic on my phone. 

Do you have any writing quirks?

Apart from the hot mess I just described, I'd say it's that I never use Beta readers. I'll occasionally ask friends to help with specific details if I need an expert on certain subject matter, but I've found I get very grumpy and fussy if someone pokes at my plot (even if or rather especially if they’re right lol), and I don't want to subject anyone to that. 

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

For oneshots or series comprised of single-chapter fics I like posting as soon as I'm done, but for multi-chapter works I've recently found that starting to post only after I've finished most (if not all) chapters beforehand improves the quality of the story! Since I tend to integrate new ideas or shift around plot points a lot while writing, I often end up in completely different places than my original concept, so if an early chapter isn't posted yet I can retroactively edit it to add foreshadowing or tone-match the end of the work, remove loose threads and suchlike. Don't look back is a good example of how this has worked out for me; comparatively It don't bite (Yes it do) - which I wrote and posted chapter by chapter - is tonally all over the place. 

Which fic are you most proud of?

Naturally I love all my babies, but I consider Don't look back my magnum opus - both because it is the longest fic I've ever written (13 chapters and 90.000 words in total, that's practically a novel!) and because it's the most plot-rich, labor-intensive, and overall serious in tone. I even worked in subplots about the rest of the cast, so it almost reads like its own season. I wrote it for last year's Steddie Bigbang, which means there's also a gorgeous accompanying artwork by @the-chilly-kat. 

How did you get the idea for With great power?

At the time I'd seen a few marvel AUs floating past me on the tumblr timeline, usually with Steve as Spiderman and Eddie as the human component of Venom, and having just recently seen the Venom movie depicting the rich relationship between Eddie Brock and the symbiote, it surprised me that most left the symbiote as its own character, and not substituted one of the ST main cast. The symbiotic relationship of Stobin immediately came to mind, though I also still loved the idea of Steve as Spidey - then I remembered that in the Toby McGuire movies, the two are not mutually exclusive, and it all spiraled from there. Eddie as Deadpool just made sense - immortal wild-card with a dubious moral code but a heart of gold? Obviously! Plus Spideypool is, of course, a classic ship. 

When writing With great power, what was something you didn’t expect?

I actually got several curious comments about the sex toy Steve uses in Because the night - a grindable or grinder, which is a flat-ish silicone structure, usually ribbed in an interesting way, that one can grind against to get off (as the name suggests). I thought it was pretty common, but apparently it's not very well known!

What inspired  RUSH! (T4T REMIX)?

Oh, it's my time to gush! Because the idea for the first work actually came about from a late night conversation I had with the beautiful, amazing, wonderful @maikaartwork, back when we were, how should I say, in the courting stage? Seeing as we met through the Steddie fandom, I decided to write Baby Said basically to seduce them - and I am happy to say it worked, as we've been dating for over eight months now and are planning to move in together next year! Both works from RUSH! - T4T REMIX (and the secret new WIP, shh) are thus somewhat inspired by our conversations and our t4t relationship, but also by the many interesting and different trans people I've met over the years, and trans solidarity and relationships in general.

What was your favorite part to write from At a medium pace?

The small-talk in between position changes - no, really! I love a mindless marathon-fuck story as much as the next person, but there's something very sweet and intimate about those little breaks in sex, the pass the lube, move your leg a bit, what's for dinner later of it all. That's where you see that emotional connection - there's no admission of crushes or big love confessions in this fic because it's right there in the details.

How do/did you feel writing RUSH! (T4T REMIX)?

Honestly, it's just really really fun and self-indulgent. The Steddie dynamic in it is so bitchy, all the bickering makes me laugh even as I'm writing it. It's also just really fun to write about the trans experience in a way that is curious and loving, and reflects all the very different and yet similar ways people experience living in a body that defies expectation. I've loved all my fellow trans people sounding off in the comments about their own transition experiences, it's wonderful to have such a fantastic community!

What was the most difficult part of writing If you were church (I'd get on my knees)?

Curiously enough, not the many religious trauma bits! Much like Eddie in the fic, I'm only church-freak adjacent - I grew up in a non-religious household but with extended family that were extremely catholic, so the odd juxtaposition of being occasionally close to but definitely not involved in what is pretty much cult behavior inspired much of this fic. The most functionally difficult part to write was actually the wedding - as an aro-spec & trans relationship anarchist, church weddings have never been relevant to me, so I had very little idea what actually goes into one! Very little of the research I conducted on the topic actually made it into the fic, but hey, the more you know. 

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

People keep asking me that, and I never know what to answer! If I had to pick one, though, maybe the last few paragraphs of Don't look back - where you can see the tragedy coming, but there's no way of stopping it, because it was always going to end this way. And then Eddie's last words before the end of the fic call back to the title as well as the general theme of the fic - it just all comes together for such a crescendo of an ending. 

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

Yes, actually! Coming soon in the SteddieBang'24, me and my lovely artist @hawkinsleather have been working hard on a 20k post-s4 fic called A glimpse of your canvas, which is about closeted transfemme!Eddie, women's solidarity, and Steve's very confusing no-good trip to the gay bar. Both With great power and RUSH! (T4T REMIX) have another WIP pending which I'll eventually finish (I promise, I'm just easily distracted!!), and for those who are still mad about Don't look back’s open ending, I'm almost done with the sequel, which features a lot of bad decisions by all characters involved, the healing power of community, and a bit of accidental child acquisition. 

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Given the chance of this platform, I would like to notify my readers that I'm a terrible procrastinator when it comes to replying to comments, but I read and cherish every one of them - and repeat commenters, I see you, I love you, I am chewing on your arm like a dog with a bone!! I would also like to thank the steddie fandom in general for giving me the hottest partner known to man or God, and for the many friendships I've been so fortunate to build here. Talk about transformative works, am I right? <3 

Thank you to our author, @dartlekey, and our anonymous nominator! See more of dartlekey's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

[afrofairysblog]

I know it's been a week but I haven't forgotten @spywhitney ( check out her blog it's great Mwah)

Here are my thoughts on all of the The Bear ships (both canon and non canon)

SYDCARMY: They honestly have a special place in my heart( one of if not the main reason I downloaded this app) and I was not ready for the chockhold it was going to have in my life but here I am 🤷🏿‍♀️. I first saw them in an out of context clip while watching a YouTube video ( ot was when Carmy asked Sydney to say yes chef in S1) and i was like oooo they intrigue me and ngl when I finally did watch the show I thought it was just gonna be platonic. However when I saw that last shoot in the S1 finale I was like OOOOO this is a slow burn and then I got to Ao3 and it was history ( as you can tell with my page I have been fighting to the nail with this ship lol).

SYDRICHIE: ngl.... I have a soft spot for this ship 👀 what can I say I love a good enemies to lovers or enemies to friends pipeline 🤷🏿‍♀️. I think it's because they have good banter and they are pretty funny together where I can see but I am so far gone with the Sydcarmy Army that I can't fully commit to this. Also the age gap, lowkey micoraggresstions Richie was throwing at her in S1( he did change so I'll give him that and me not seeing Sydney being a StepMom are so factors too. Regardless, they are my Top 3 Bro-Otps on the show cause I love their friendship and shootout to the Sydrichie girlies tho.

SYDMARCUS: sign... in another life I would have been a full time sydmarcus girlie cause I've had a had a ✨️ Ooooo are they gonna start something ✨️ moment with them but then I saw Sydcarmy and that I was like yeahhhhh Sorry Marcus . I just feel like they are better off as brother and sister you know what I'm saying. Plus there are a few people that only ship them because they are the only two prominent black characters that are around the same age. Nevertheless, they are also apart of my Top 3 Bro- Otps on the show!!

SYDLUCA: They're cute 🤷🏿‍♀️. Like ngl, I can see the appeal, but not for a long-term relationship, you know what I'm saying. Like it's giving plot device ship so Sydney can get her Stella got her Grove Back moment ( not that I don't mind that cause honestly she needs it and it'll be good to get a different perspective and a jealous plotline)but Luca is a supporting guest star and not a main so even if we do get the relationship it's not gonna be fully fleshed out ( and they always do this with black female characters). Also we know what this can develop for Sydney but we don't know how this can develop for Luca( not to say that Luca has no reason to not like Syd cause who are we kidding she's a catch but still" . Sydluca girlies are cool so shootout to yall too

CLAIRMY: Yall already know how I feel about them, THEY NEED TO JUST END IT !!!! Like idk why this ship brings out the hater in me but it just does ( it's mostly field by the metas I read which give a more perspective about the relationship and how weird it is). Like at first when I watched S2, I mostly just didn't ship them cause I thought they looked related and were boring. However, rewatching I, both of them don't let themselves be authentic with each other, it's like they try to be this witty Wes Anderson ahh type of couple where the manie pixie dream girl falls for the shy wonder bread art boy who just needs to find he's way with the power of love and unnerving eye contact ( see they truly bring the hater in me)which just don't work both character wise and for the show( ot derailed the show a bit. It'll be better if they are not together before they get even more Toxic.

CHEF FIELDS X CARMY: JAIL!!! Idc JAIL!!!!!!

MICHEAL X CARMY: ......To each there own but JAIL just JAIL

CARMY X RICHIE: I don't personally ship it cause they are very cousin coded to me but they're dynamic is really fascinating to me cause it's like a I hate you , I love you but your the only person I have in my life but why does it have to be you sorta vibe.

NATALIE X PETE: They are the Absolute cutest and underrated ngl. They show a depiction of a healthy relationship on the show that pretty refreshing to see like I love them.

MARCUS X LUCA: This is a sleeper hit ,I'm telling yall like they are cute!!!! They have such an ease and calming vibe when they interactive it gives so much warmth. I just feel like they would be a lowkey type of couple, and idk if the show will commit to the ship or even hint at it, but if they do, it has an audience 🤧

RICHIE X TIFFANY: They got some cute moments but I'm glad they are just friends. I feel like both of them needed to grow separately and not be together romantically.

RICHIE X JESS: Ngl, I don't really care about them but they're moments are really wholesome and I like there banter. I ship it 🙂‍↕️💅🏿. Also can reddit not make it weird with this couple like we get Jess is a good woman ( I like her) but let's not make it weird oof.

RICHIE X MICHEAL: Tbh o see the appeal, but damn if they ever were a couple, it just makes it more tragic .

TINA X HER HUSBAND: Once again they are the Absolute cutest and I lo e how they are married in real life!!!

SYDCARMRICHIE: Unpopular opinion ig, I really like this ship like they are the big three for a reason. Plus, I feel like when I come to stories involving this ship( kinda underrated), they bring the best of both worlds ( or worse if you wanna get messy with the story with both respective ships.

Well that's it for me guts, let me know ow your thoughts. This was fun and one of my longest post lol.

Also, wow, Sydney is in a lot of these ships lol

[dullgecko]

If the bad kids ever get stuck in the wild without provisions or just go camping they each kind of have a task they all fall into.

Getting food is given to Riz as he is a good shot with both guns and crossbows and his stealth is the best

Preparing said food is figs job. while Adaine is the best baker and there are better chefs than fig in the group thanks to Sandra Lynn teaching her the basics of ranger stuff and taking her out in the forest camping she is the best with stuff in the wild.

If there fully lost Fabain is the best at locating where they are and where to go. Years on pirate ships with his dad as a kid helped him learn navigation.

Kristen and Adaine will try and set up some kind of shelter if they don’t have tents if they do they set those up if not they can generally do something with the wildlife and a bit of magic (Kristen makes great shelters form branches and leaves it’s one of the few good things to come from the harvest men camps)

Gorgug helps where he can often helping Kristen get branches for the shelters or getting firewood. He’s strong and smart so there are a lot of small things he can do around the place.

Riz will often drag Fabian along with him when he hunts, its safer to go in pairs and even though he's a great shot he's still technically a prey species. Any large creature that notices him is going to try and take a swipe at a lone goblin, even if he's got amazing stealth and a weapon. Plus, he needs someone with a bit of strength to help haul anything he catches back to the camp (Gorgug is a little to big to be considered stealthy, at least Fabian is light on his feet). Fabians ability to navigate also makes it easier for them to head further away from camp without the fear of getting lost.

Fig got the basic ranger stuff like making fires and dressing kills drilled into her by her mom when she was still incredibly young. She's a terrible shot with a bow though so hunting is completely off the table. Her and Adaine will usually make sure they at least have a decent fire going when the boys get back (magic makes it so much easier to light). Adaine is fine with cooking meat, but there's something about cutting it up while it still looks like an animal that makes her a little queezy so she usually goes to help Kristen while Fig gets to work.

Kristen is great at setting up shelters, and Adaine is excellent at following directions. Between the two of them (and Gorgug to chop down some decently sized saplings and branches) they can usually get a couple comfy shelters set up in only an hour or two. They're great for keeping the rain off and it means they only have to use her Leomund's Tiny Hut spell if the weather is really bad saving her from burning a third level spell slot.

[purplesimmer455]

Ten people I'd like to know better:

Thanks so much for the tag @abbysimsfun @changingplumbob @matchalovertrait and @perolesims 💖😊

Last Song: No one mourns the wicked, by the original Broadway cast on YouTube 💚💖 I was listening to it while doing some work.

Favorite color: It's obvious as heck but purple for sure. 😄💜

Last movie: Wicked 2024. I saw it in theaters first and loved it so much that I bought it digitally and started rewatching it. 😊

Last book: There's two current books I'm reading right now. One is called One of our kind by Nicola Yoon, who's one of my favorite authors, and is about a Black couple and their son who move to an all Black neighborhood that promises to be a Utopia. At first its great, but weird things are going on under the surface and at this fancy neighborhood wellness center, and everyone seems almost too placid and unbothered. Although it's a classic "weird perfect town" thriller, it does go into real world issues such as racism and police brutality and a lot more. It's an amazing book, and I'm half-way finished.

Another is a romcom called Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander, who's also becoming one of my favorite authors. I read it already but I love the slow romance between main characters reserved and smart Chef Simone and a golden retriever of a person who is her new kitchen manager, Ray. It discusses some serious issues like gender discrimination and the way Ray gets treated at work when they come out as nonbinary. It's also an amazing book, and I love the way Simone and Ray are with each other, they're both so cute. *

Sweet, spicy, or savory: it's hard to choose because all three flavors can be so amazing.

Last thing you Googled: "how to train a kitten not to bite" because my new kitty Ollie likes to play bite. 😳

Current obsession: all things Wicked! I haven't watched the musical yet, but I love the movie and was slightly scarred by the book but read most of it before I had to return it to my library but I'll try to finish it. Plus, I play the songs non stop, I even found this cool instrumental Playlist to listen to that's good for doing work (because with the lyrics on I get distracted):

Looking forward to: I think finishing reading One of our kind and Chef's Kiss, plus snuggling my kitten Ollie when I get back home. He's very playful but he'll have some moments of calmness and sit by me and purr and be snuggly, which is sweet.

I tag @medleymisty @weisskralle @nitrozem @hashimasims @miss-may-i @fallstaticexit @igglemouse @itmeansiris @strawberriesnpopmusic @payte @silwermoon-sims @silverspringsimmer @oimygiblets @simari @simscici @whyhellosims

[jq37]

So, Jumanji by way of Last Action Hero. Ok, Never Stop Blowing Up. I'm in for the ride. They managed to put together a great table for this one. I'm delighted they got Rekha back in the Dome. It's exciting to see Alex Song-Xia again. Izzy is always a treat. I'll never say no to more Jacob Wysocki. And of course Ally and Ify are always strong performers. We're in for a good season.

What a crazy start! I'm so glad I watched Last Action Hero a few weeks ago in prep because those vibes are very apparent (in addition to Jumanji 2 of course, but I'd already seen that).

A quick rundown of everything going on:

Ally Beardsley as Russell Feeld as Jennifer Drips

INSANE swings from Ally right out the gate. I love that Izzy was both in character thirsting over Russell and out of character being like, "Pull it back." Also, I think they're the only one playing a girl movie character so that's interesting. This season is gonna be such a trip pronoun-wise. Wonder what direction Ally wants to go with that.

Ify Nwadiwe

as Wendell Morris as Vic Ethanol

I was STUNNED to hear Wendell's voice come out of Ify's body. I didn't know he had an Urkel-esque bone in his jacked as hell self. And I assumed that once the PCs turned to their MCs (movie characters) they'd use their MC voice but nope. It seems like he's still doing the Wendell voice which is wild. I love a sweet nerd so Wendell is one of my early faves for sure. Very much the vibes on the main character from Jumanji 2 turning into the Rock. Also, Vic Ethanol is my fave expy name.

Isabella Roland

as Paula Donvalson as Jack Manhattan

Izzy had, by far, my favorite movie bit with her and Brennan walking into that chicken bit which was golden. Sometimes a bit drags on too long but they drove that to the exact funniest point and then left it there. Chef's kiss, no notes. Very much looking forward to seeing this very tightly wound mom in this unhinged setting.

Rekha Shankar

as Usha Rao as G13

Something I really respect is building a character who is specifically bad at the main thing they have to do and a woman who barely has grasped the concept of phones having to be the hacker is so funny. Rekha, you've done it again. I didn't notice until it was pointed out on Twitter but one of the fave movies listed on her card is literally the first movie ever made (The Horse in Motion). And her immediate 1 when trying to do hacker stuff is a portent of more hilarity to come I'm sure. Love to have her back in the dome.

Alex Song-Xia

as Liv Skyler as Kingskin

Also, love to have Alex back in the dome! I loved them in Mentopolis and they picked such a fun dichotomy of characters to inhabit in a teen girl who's giving me Vanessa from In the Heights with a little compulsive shoplifting plus truly just Kingpin from Marvel. I found her really endearing and she was also one of my faves.

Jacob Wysocki

as Andy 'Dang' Litefoot as Greg Stocks

I'm not as familiar with Jacob as I think some others are but he matched the table's energy right away. I would think the aliens thing was a weird swing except that there's someone in one of my games who has a very similar deal (their PC not the actual person lol) so it's kind of like yeah, that's a normal thing for a PC to believe. Maybe it's because I just binged all of The Bear but he kind of reminds me of a more assertive Fak. And it's a very funny contrast to a suave James Bond-type (also, Stocks/Bond. Ha).

So it looks like we have Fast and Furious, Die Hard, and James Bond. Kingskin is Kingpin from Spiderman and maybe just repping mobster flicks in general. G13 also seems to be a generic hacker. And Jennifer Drips is a generic femme fatale.

I think it's interesting that everyone seems to be a protagonist except for Kingskin who is an obvious baddie (unless he comes from a Breaking Bad type world where it's bad guys all the way down and no real heroes).

Also, I'm curious about how they'll cross over with each other. In Last Action Hero, it was kind of implied that many action movie scenarios take place in a shared universe (which is why you had Arnold in the same police station as a talking cartoon cat and other archetypes waiting to get paired up with their wacky mismatched sidekicks). Could be something like that, but we'll see.

Anyway, yeah! I wasn't sure how this season was gonna look but I'm VERY down for it now that it's started. Oh! And the animatics???? Amazing! D20 just keeps outdoing itself!

[hunterbunter3000]

imagine 141 meeting sweethearts family and them being just as weird as her😂

LMAOOO G O D IT WOULD BE SO FUNNY

(Dude I'm gonna info dump so damn hard I'm sorry)

Her family is literally crack personified. They are HEAVILY, EXTREMELY AND HARSHLY based on The Amazing World of Gumball, because that was my favorite cartoon when i was growing up and i adored how crazy the family was 💀HUGE ASS FUCKING FAMILY INCOMING Her dad practically married himself in woman form (but shes more chill and introverted than him- they're both chaotic as hell), and then her siblings (eight older brothers; two are adopted, two older sisters, middle siblings who are triplets ( sister, brother and ftm brother) three younger brothers and an adopted younger sister (BASICALLY AN ALL BOY FAMILY AND SOME GIRLS SPRINKLED IN 💀)

There's the oldest brother, Who's name I have no idea yet I just call him T. He's 42 years old and is a fucking unit. He has a family with a wife and three kids. (No idea how he looks either)

The second oldest brother idk his name either is 41 years old and is also a fucking unit. He's single and is an engineer

The third oldest brother is 39 years old. Don't know what to name him lol Also another unit but has a bionic leg. He's a single father and has a daughter.

The fourth oldest brother is also 39 years old. He's tall as shit but more skinny. He has a girlfriend and a boyfriend and is a mad scientist. (Legally? Probably not. Insanely smart and makes weapons? PROBABLY YES)

The fifth oldest brother is 37 years old, his name is Grizz. He's built like his dad (big and burly with a gut) and has his personality. He's a firefighter

And then the sixth older brother, he's 36 years old (no idea what to name him) he's a CEO of a company. He has a wife and five kids

They're all absolute units like good lord

There are two adopted older brothers. One of them, who is also 36 years old, was a son to a family friend. His family died and they took him in. He's a chef. The other one, his name is Sammy, he's 35 years old and is now a musician.

The two older sisters, aka: The Domino twins, the animator and the police officer. Idk their names dammit-- but they're both 35 years old. The police officer has an eye patch and grayed early, while the animator has a scar over her other eye and black hair. (Hence why people call them Domino)

And then the triplets, all 28 years old. The sister is a hairstylist and a cosplayer, the brother is a game designer named Ezekiel, and the other brother who is trans (ftm) is a voice actor and a professional gamer. (GUESS WHAT- DONT KNOW THEIR NAMES LMAO)

And then a younger brother, who's 18 years old (last year in high school BABBYYYY) And then the younger twins who are 10 years old and then the adopted sister who is four.

(If yall are curious about them don't be afraid to ask!)

One of her aunts on the dad's side practically lives in prison because of the unlucky luck that runs in the family, the other one is the most normal one and she's a nurse, and her uncle on the mom's side that's literally a revolutionary war (to a war NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF) hero with HIS crazy ass family... NOT TO MENTION THE GRANDPARENTS AND GREAT GRANDPARENTS (ON BOTH FUCKIN SIDES) one was in the Italian mob and has connections that shouldn't be connections, and the other one owns a tiger, a lion and a raccoon that was the replacement for the bear when the tiger and the lion ate it. (I'll let yall decide who's who), and then one has a fortune but forgot where it's buried, and then the other one is a musician! (As I said, I'll let you decide who's who)

they invited her team(yes, Keegan as well), Los Vaqueros, and Krueger plus Graves to have like a welcome back cookout at their big country home

And the chaos IMMEDIATELY started when they got there.

The younger twins forgot that they set up a trap on the house, so when Sweetheart opened the door, she got hit in the face with a pan, fell on the ground, and then whip cream came flying out, hitting Soap in the face.

Sweet's mom: MY BABY ARE YOU OKAY???

Grizz: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED

Police sister, to Soap: Are you okay??? Can you breathe???

Sammy, shaking Sweetheart: SWEETHEART??? SWEETHEART ARE YA GOOD??

Sweetheart, out of it: MOmMy I LoOk PreTTy?

Sammy: SHE'S DISGRUNTLED

Zeke: THAT'S THE WRONG WORD FOR THIS SITUATION YOU IDIOT

(Sammy's a bit stupid)

After that happened, Zeke led Soap to a bathroom, feeling around for any more traps. The younger twins went into a time out and Sweetheart has an ice pack for her head.

They all started talking, Sweet's mom REALLY like the boys (Especially Alejandro and Price) and Sweet's Dad really like Ghost and Roach. Grizz and VA brother like Gaz, and the adopted sister really likes Soap and Keegan. Police sister likes König's vibes and hairdresser and Sammy fuck with Krueger and Graves. All in all they like Sweetheart's co-workers and accepts them

Sweet's mom to all of them: Y'know she's single

Sweetheart: M A

And then Granny Jo Jo and Grandpa Hare, grandparents on the dad's side, came to visit and Soap and Ghost just gravitated to them.

Grandpa Hare: So yer from Manchester, eh?

Ghost: Yes sir

Grandpa Hare: I used tah live in Manchester

Ghost, a bit interested: Oh wow--

Grandpa Hare: I buried many businesses an' people there. That's why m'banned from a couple of cities.

Ghost:

Omg and then the younger twins meet Keegan:

Twin #1: Hello sir!

Twin #2: How are you?

Keegan, a bit nervous: ...I'm good, thank you. How about yourselves?

Twin #2: Good, sir? By the way--

Twin #1 and #2: What's your body count?

Keegan: Ex- excuse me?

Twin #1: How many people have you bodied?

Twin #2: Do you use knives? Or assault rifles?

Twin #1: And how did you do it?

(The animator sister covers their mouths and carries them)

Animator sister: Sorry about that, Keegan. They'll go in time out again

Their muffled "no's" go on and on while Keegan just stands there 🧍‍♂️like wtf why'd they ask me that LOL (and time out is just them being in their room HA)

OMG Alejandro went to open a drawer to find spoons, and instead he found MANY restraining orders and banned letters

Sweet's mom saw his surprised face and she quickly closed the drawer

Sweet's mom: Wrong drawer! And also those were a long time ago, half of them either forgave us or went out of business!

Sweet's mom, mumbles: Except the ones out of country... they still remember the fires...

Alejandro: still remember what

(Bro I could go on and on about them LMAO I want to flesh these characters out some more too, so if you have any input SEND AN ASK!! 💗💗)

[augustameretrix]

arcane abstinence so acute i stumbled into The Council Archives, a little point-and-click style game released in the league client in november 2021 where you you get to sift through some form of in-universe files relating in some respects to jayce, vi, caitlyn and jinx

btw the promotional video for jayce's collection is also where the 'i discovered discovered sextech' template comes from I think which is great news to me personally because god knows how much i like that stupid meme

anyways, they're an interesting short read, the epistolary form is always great for immersion and there's some interesting stuff going on.

both jayce's and jinx's collections consist primarily of their own writings, his work journal and her diary respectively. as for jayce, there's some details on the practical workings of hextech, followed by his disdain for the other piltie inventors - a bunch of glorified toymakers, almost, according to him - vs his self-confidence that his invention is Good and Noble. then there's a cute little section dedicated to his partnership with viktor and you can tell just how much that rocks his professional and personal world

jinx's diary is the least revealing: it's super short and almost everything she says is either repeated or can be easily inferred by watching arcane. it makes sense as these are just her personal thoughts in written form, plain and simple. but there's some painfully concise musings about herself and vi that didn't make it in the show quite in the same form. it retrodates her suicidal ideation by a lot. plus we get a little drawing of small ekko

now, cait's and especially vi's collections get into aspects the show didn't go into in depth, as in both cases we're dealing with official enforcers/wardens documentation

vi's for me is the absolute standout out of these collections. her files consist of the various internal reports of her misbehaviour in stillwater throughout the years, which document a devastating picture of her progressive decline under the watchful yet utterly uncaring, if not a bit unnerved, eyes of the wardens. there's a whole (small) character arc in there that arcane only hints at.

we learn that she goes from trying to escape, to beating information about powder out of newly arrived detainees, and finally to seemingly resign herself to a cycle of increasingly dangerous violence with other zaunite prisoners: provoke people, foil murder attempts, retaliate, rinse and repeat. any fight against the wardens she might've had in the past now she takes out on fellow inmates, recognizing the futility in trying to punch up. her reputation with the prisoners is so bad the wardens imply she sometimes relies on the guards interrogating her for some human contact - by making fun of them (one of the very first interactions between vi and cait is vi cracking a joke)

another killer thread in the collection is the guards systematically misunderstand vi's search for powder, which they interpret as drug addiction. at some point vi stops uttering her sister's name altogether, and the guard's report simply notes: "addiction to substance is cured". ain't that something

the formal and dehumanizing linguistic style of the prison wardens does wonders for this little character arc. the last file, a dismissal of a transfer request, contains a play on the words "foster" and "fester", which is just *chef's kiss*

finally, cait's collection is made up of the murder/missing person reports and autopsies she pilfered from the police station as a junior officer to conduct her private investigation on grayson's murder and on zaun's shimmer ring, as well as to whom among the enforcers is covering it up + interviews with suspects, most of which she conducted herself + one disciplinary action against her from marcus. as is usually the case for cait, we don't get a lot of direct personal info, instead we see her methodically connecting the dots while ignoring direct orders from her superior, and going deeper, deeper, and always forward. a nice little touch is the trial-and-error nature of her system: every time she gets a lead she needs to confirm or deny it, and sometimes that means suspects will laugh in her face because she submits to them an assumption that might very well be wrong. this in - apparent - contrast with her marksman (markswoman?) status. but as always, she remains unphased and keeps marching on... and ends up closing in on the target anyways.

then of course from her files you can gaze at the typically league-esque depiction of a zaun ravaged by the chem-barons' cynical endeavors, in particular by silco's (and singed's) shimmer-bloated brutes roaming the streets, or his kidnapping children for experimentation.

also of note and somewhat confusing, among caitlyn's objects in her collection there's a photograph of vi laughing (!) taken.... i'm not sure when, actually? the game mentions her "self-inked tattoos" (how, btw?), so it has to be after her arrest, but since it's unlikely vi had anything to smile about in stillwater, not to mention the description (which does NOT match the illustration btw) which reads "former inmate #516", so it must've been taken after she got out... which is weird, because the rest of cait's collection refers to events taking place up until she leaves for stillwater near the end of episode 4 aka before she gets vi released. but the photograph is described as "pinned" (to the board...? the board is treated as another object entirely), and visually depicted as one of the files in a folder, so it's a piece of evidence which would imply cait already had it. damningly, there is a camera on cait's desk, which could mean nothing, considering she likely uses it to collect clues from crime scenes. but then....

...to make things even weirder the tone in which the game goes on to describe the photo is so cheesy... dare I say romantic in a trite way. get this:

"[...] an image captured from reality, a moment frozen in time with this Zaunite urchin. In all you've researched, there was no indication that the criminal was even capable of smiling. But in this picture… she's laughing."

what is happening here?? did cait take this picture after vi's release? when? is this one of those not-so-subtle hints at cait and vi's relatonship riot likes to sprinkle in league and in the lore site? it would match the style and would explain the discrepancy between text and image, but it's so out of place and time here. oh well!

[mostotherthings]

My perfect little show is still perfect. The framing for these two shots are just *chef's kiss*. Plus they are surrounded in Pink! Love!

They had their perfect little date. Neil knows he's older, he doesn't want to push. It's probably Xiao Hai's first time being serious with a guy, and he just wants to enjoy his first date. Everyone's got to have that ambiguous date where you obviously like each other but it's not time for kisses or hugs yet... right? Not to mention, they've both been alone for so many years, everything's so unreal you're just admiring it and not really sure you can touch it yet...

Taiwan, you gotta stop it with the Darcy hand flexes. My heart can't take it

But hey! don't forget the indirect kiss!

The perfect first date ends with the perfect forehead kiss *squeal* Look at my babies they're so cute!

Xiao Mei's definitely doing the you're gay so I'm terrorising you with my boobs- get back into confessional!

She's so cool I want to be her when I grow up

Everyone's growing and getting to know each other. You know that process when you're getting together, and your friend group is getting to know your partner's friend group? That's what's happening.

This episode, Reese tells Neil to treat Xiao Hai well, and to guide him properly and not take things so easily.

I got very distracted by Michael's lashes- and also this has got to be the funniest deliberate-misunderstanding I've seen in a while. Charles Tu, you're so great at this.

Next episode it looks like they'll hold their mini-showcase at Ah Liang's place, all their found family getting together to help them out.

They have the blessing of the people closest to them, and most importantly- the courage to be the best they can be for each other.

It's time to move on.

That new song had better be a banger, show, don't let me down!

[tdvotes]

Ranking the Votes, s1a

Welcome to... Total! Drama! Ranking... the Votes! This series is a spinoff of Counting the Votes. I will rank each episode in season 1a (pre-merge Island) based on how confusing it was. There were 12 votes this season, so 12 will be the most straightforward elimination and 1 will be the most confusing.

For reference, here are the episodes:

Not So Happy Campers, Part 2 (Ezekiel)

The Big Sleep (Eva)

Dodgebrawl (Noah)

Not Quite Famous (Justin)

The Sucky (or Not So Great) Outdoors (Katie)

Phobia Factor (Tyler)

Up the Creek (Izzy)

Paintball Deer Hunter (Cody)

If You Can't Take the Heat... (Beth)

Who Can You Trust? (Sadie)

Basic Straining (Courtney)

X-Treme Torture (Harold)

Now, let's get a few technicalities out of the way first. Yes, Heather's math was off when she had Justin eliminated. No, we don't know whether Izzy or Lindsay was scheduled to be voted out that night. Yes, Harold rigged the votes against Courtney. And in the course of writing this post, I realized that some of my takes here are slightly different than they were in the original posts. I'm not changing that.

All that said, let's get to it!

12. The Big Sleep. No reason for the Bass to vote off anyone other than Eva, so this was pretty easy. 9 votes for Eva, 1 for Harold

11. Dodgebrawl. Gwen could have received votes for napping during the games, but a) she at least tried to play and b) she had just won the Awake-a-thon, so I think her teammates forgave her. Lindsay probably received votes for running off during the game, most likely from Heather and Noah. But Heather needed Lindsay in her alliance at this point, and she agreed with Gwen that Noah should "cram it". And Noah received votes for not even pretending to care about the games and instead focusing on his book. I'm going with 10 votes for Noah, 1 for Lindsay

10. Basic Straining. Harold may have rigged the votes, but we can be fairly certain that all of the others voted for him. The only other Bass I would believe didn't vote for Harold is Bridgette, who probably voted for Duncan because he kept making Chef mad. 6 votes for Courtney, 4 for Harold, 1 for Duncan

9. X-Treme Torture. Geoff, Duncan and DJ definitely voted Harold. Harold definitely voted Duncan. The only wild card is Bridgette, who I'm guessing liked Harold more than Duncan due to her comments in Hide and Be Sneaky. Still, it wasn't enough to save him. 3 votes for Harold, 2 for Duncan

8. If You Can't Take the Heat... Heather and Owen voted onscreen for Beth. Beth and Leshawna obviously voted for Heather. Being superstitious means that Trent probably voted for Beth for cursing the team. That leaves Gwen and Lindsay. I'm thinking Gwen voted for Heather. So by process of elimination, Lindsay had to have voted for Beth. 4 votes for Beth, 3 for Heather

7. Not Quite Famous. Yes, Heather's math didn't add up. But really, only one vote is unknown here. If anyone outside Heather's alliance voted for anyone other than Heather, that would save her butt. Gwen definitely voted for Heather. Leshawna probably voted with her best friend Gwen. Trent and Cody probably voted Heather as well because they're both friends with Gwen. That leaves only Justin. While he probably understood that what Heather did was way out of line, his morals are not all that straight either, as he showed in season 2. Perhaps he voted Gwen for skipping out on the challenge, or maybe Cody for following Gwen. Or maybe Cody voted for Trent because he was a love rival. I think most likely is that Justin voted for Gwen, putting the vote at 5 votes for Justin, 4 for Heather, 1 for Gwen

6. Not So Happy Campers, Part 2. Zeke got all 5 female votes for sure. And I'm guessing he voted off Courtney for being a chicken. Duncan could have also voted off Courtney -- by his logic, she and DJ were "the only ones wearing chicken hats, and if we ever have to lift a truck, I like our chances with the big guy." Plus, I get the feeling that at this point Duncan isn't quite the ladies' man he became later on. And Tyler's tone in telling Lindsay that he could kill a cockroach too, makes me think he also understands that men are generally physically superior to women. We can assume Geoff, DJ and Harold voted for Zeke as well, since they all have a slightly better attitude towards women than they thought Zeke did. So I'm going with 8 votes for Zeke, 3 for Courtney

5. Paintball Deer Hunter. Owen and Leshawna voted for Cody onscreen. Beth and Cody probably voted for Heather. Given Heather's reaction to seeing Beth get her marshmallow, I think Heather (and by extension her puppet Lindsay) voted for Beth. That means Gwen and Trent had to break a 3-way tie. I want to give Gwen's vote to Heather but that would mess up the count, so I'm going to say that they both voted for Cody as a mercy vote. 4 votes for Cody, 2 for Heather, 2 for Beth

4. Phobia Factor. Harold and Geoff didn't receive a point for completing their challenges, but they didn't not do them because they were scared either. That's why Bridgette, Courtney and Tyler were on the chopping block. Guessing Tyler and Courtney voted for each other. Also guessing Bridgette voted for Tyler since she was friends with Courtney. And looking at who was making fun of Tyler after he was eliminated, it was probably Duncan and Geoff who joined them. That leaves DJ, Harold and Sadie. I can't give them all to Courtney because that would force a tie. I also can't imagine DJ voting for Bridgette, so I'll give his vote to Tyler since he was already good friends with Duncan and Geoff. That means Harold and Sadie could both vote for Courtney and it wouldn't matter. 5 votes for Tyler, 3 for Courtney

3. Who Can You Trust? Courtney made it clear that she was voting for Sadie. Sadie, knowing that Courtney was voting her off, probably returned the favor. But beyond that, it's not exactly clear who voted for who. The bottom two made it seem like the Bass were just voting off their weakest link. So I could definitely see Duncan and Geoff voting for Harold. By the process of elimination, Sadie has to have at least two more votes from Harold, DJ and Bridgette. I'd say Bridgette was one of them because she was friends with Courtney. And Harold obviously didn't vote for himself, so I'm giving his vote to Sadie as well. And DJ? Who knows. My first guess would have been Harold but that would cause a tie. So I'm going with Sadie as well. 4 votes for Sadie, 2 for Harold, 1 for Courtney

2. Up the Creek. I mean, Izzy did give the other team advice on how to win, and Leshawna seemed pretty ticked off at her. So Leshawna and Izzy probably voted for each other. As for everyone else? They spent a lot more time bonding with each other than turning against each other, particularly between Trent, Gwen and Cody and between DJ, Geoff and Bridgette. Gwen probably voted with Leshawna because they're best friends at this point. Maybe Trent and Cody voted with them too. I guess if the Gophers heard Izzy when she told the Bass how to get back, she would have earned their votes. But perhaps Lindsay and/or Trent earned a few votes too for falling into the quicksand. I think Izzy would've been eliminated anyway though, just because she made a much bigger mistake. But it depends on who is voting. Heather's priorities seem to be #1 helping her team win and #2 crushing Leshawna and Gwen. Plus Izzy was informally a member of Heather's alliance, so it's possible she convinced Heather, Lindsay and Beth to vote Leshawna. And Owen probably didn't vote for Izzy. But he could have voted for pretty much anyone else except Cody because he had that bet going with him. Maybe, given that Lindsay was in the bottom two, Owen voted for Lindsay. I'm going to say 4 votes for Izzy, 4 for Leshawna, 1 probably for Lindsay

1. The Sucky (Not So Great) Outdoors. (The word Sucky in the original Canadian Teletoon version was edited for the US Cartoon Network version.) This was the hardest to rank because it's easy to tell that there were 7 votes for Katie and Sadie, but impossible to tell who voted for which one. I'm also going to say that Katie and Sadie both voted for Courtney because she berated them when they returned to the campfire pit. So I'm going with 4 votes for Katie, 3 for Sadie, 2 for Courtney

I found as I was Counting the Votes that a lot of people's votes are easy to narrow down, but not so easy to pinpoint. The next installment of Ranking the Votes is coming at the conclusion of season 1.

But what do you think? Which eliminations are the easiest to tell who voted for who, and which are the hardest? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

[some1probably]

In the interest of... uh... coping i think, i've decided to cast the 2024 US Presidential election as muppets.

Candidates:

Swedish Chef as Joe Biden- One of the common criticisms (and memes) of Biden on from both sides of the aisle is his indiscernible mumbling, and the fact that he wasn't entirely coherent even when his words could be made out. The muppet whose dialogue is entirely gibberish thus makes sense.

Janice as Kamala Harris- One of like 2 notable female muppets (and i have plans for Miss Piggy), plus her large mouth seems appropriate given that Harris's laugh was the only thing Republicans could find to make fun of her for.

Miss Piggy as Donald Trump- Hear me out here. Similar build, iconic blonde hair, both present very macho. Piggy has also shown enjoyment playing both villains and royalty, Trump being a villain and trying to become a king. Finally, it would make some people very mad, and that sounds great.

Running Mates:

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as Tim Walz- Idk, it vibes to me.

Sam Eagle as J.D. Vance- Given how patriotic, or rather nationalistic, the Republicans can be, Sam's "The American Way" schtick fits well. Sam isn't eccentric enough to be anyone else in this race.

Others:

Kermit the Frog as Elongated Muskrat- Mostly for the jokes about Musk being Trump's first man, or vice versa. Kermit also rarely gets to play a villain, and when he does its usually kinda lame, but i think he's got potential. Briefly considered Honeydew or Beaker, but they're both much to cute for Musk.

Barack Obama as Barack Obama- The one human character each muppet movie needs

Statler and Waldorf as the debate moderators- I want them to moderate a real debate. It would be so funny. The best possible version of all of those debate parodies. They could also be news pundits or something, but they need to do this.

Mr. Wilkins as The Assassin- putting this here might be in poor taste, but i feel like everything political has been in poor taste for years at this point, so screw it, its funny. Still not basing it on the actual individual, that seems a step to far.

That's all i got so far.

[mermaidsirennikita]

I don't usually read college romance books because they don't work for me. But I love Kristen Callihan so I read her Game On series. And it's so good. I love all the books but the hook up is my favourite. You should read them if you haven't. If you have though, can you recommend some contemporary romances. God knows I only trust your recommendation. We have similar tastes.

I have read those, and I enjoy them quite a bit! Also not a huge fan of college romances (though I guess, to be fair, those dip out of college fairly quickly) but I like those, especially the first two. (The Friend Zone is my favorite of the bunch—and I typically dislike friends to lovers.)

Some great contemporaries (outside of erotic romance, which is like... my favorite kind of contemporary, lol):

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. I really like this one! It's a genderflipped When Harry Met Sally retelling with an uptight chef who just wants to settle down with someone and a freewheeling standup comedian. They meet when they realize that they're both sleeping with the same woman, are sorta enemies for years, then become friends after her marriage falls apart. It's funny, it has heart, there's a lot of "the lines of this friendship are ridiculously blurred". Again, a rare friends to lovers that works!

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn. This is Kate's most recent release, and while I do like Georgie, All Along and totally get the hype, this one is probably my favorite I've read of hers (I'm not SUPER well-read with Kate yet though, I need to work on that). It's about sisters who go on this road trip with a famous podcaster and her protegee (who happens to be a HUGE ex football player who's quiet and secretly has heart aplenty) to find their mother, who ran off with a notorious conman years ago. There's a lot of like... quiet romance in this one. Very original, too.

Alexis Hall is always a rec of mine, but Glitterland is one of my favorites of his. It's a m/m romance in which a snarky, jaded formerly successful writer hooks up with a glittery sparkly random and then they accidentally spend a weekend together, and sort of unintentionally end up in a relationship despite being total opposites? Super emotional and super hilarious. One of my favorite depictions of bipolar disorder.

Forget Me Not and Not Another Love Song by Julie Soto. Ooooh so good. Forget Me Not is about a wedding planner who's very afraid of emotional intimacy having to work with a florist she used to hook up with (before she broke his heart) on a high profile wedding, and Not Another Love Song is about rival classical musicians competing for the same first chair spot. While he's obsessively composing songs about her. PERF.

Chef's Kiss and Triple Sec by TJ Alexander. Chef's Kiss is about a broke woman getting roped into helping this French guy who's like, the heir to his giant rich restaurant family, complete this ancestral cooking challenge... And they're fake dating... And he's paying her to be his fake girlfrined... It's wild lol. Another bonus: they're both trans, which is super hard to find in romance. Triple Sec is a poly romcom about a bartender who starts dating this sparkly lawyer lady, with the twist being that the sparkly lawyer lady has a spouse and they're very ethically poly. But then the bartender and the spouse also start having some unresolved tension... GREAT. Love this one. Very hot, very emotional, but also funny? Really into TJ Alexander.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez. A recent release, in which a librarian who's long been in love with her best friend finds out he's gotten engaged... And then walks in on his BROTHER rehearsing a spiel to the new fiancee, confessing his love. Which leads to her fake dating the brother, which leads again to them being in a real situationship. Great book, has some awesome stuff about library issues happening right now, some of my favorite plus size rep in a while, and... he tosses her around a bit.

I looove Kylie Scott. In general, recommend her Stage Dive series about a rock band and their loves and lives. My favorites are Lead and Deep, but I'd recommend reading them in order for the full effect—those two especially have some payoff factors. I also really like her recent lightly magical contemporaries, like The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck (the heroine is told she's dying imminently by a psychic who also gives her a lot of other accurate predictions... including the name of her soulmate, and a man with that name just showed up, and he's the gruff ILLEGITIMATE SON OF THE KING OF ENGLAND LMAO).

Kennedy Ryan is one of my favorite authors—her All the King's Men duology is a rather dramatic, high stakes contemporary (the heroine is a Navajo activist turned political consultant who finds herself running the campaign of a billionaire's son... after having a torrid affair with his brother years ago). I also looove Reel, which is about a famous director finding his muse in an up and coming actress as they fall in love on set.

Sierra Simone and Julie Murphy's Christmas Notch series is finishing this September, and I can't recommend them enough. You can read them close to the holiday or not, but they're basically these super hot, super funny, and super emotional romances about sex workers, Hallmark-style Christmas movies, and this weird little Christmas-themed town. Some of my favorite contemporaries ever.

Tracey Livesay's Duchess books are so fun!! Must be read in order, kicks off with American Royalty, which is about a nerdy, camera-shy, uptight Prince of England organizing a charity concert which calls in a famous American rapper... and the attraction is ELECTRIC. It's been pitched as "what if Harry and Meghan were Harry and MEGAN (Thee Stallion)" and honestly... accurate in the best possible way.

Annika Martin's Billionaires of Manhattan series is soooo funny, yet they also come through with some emotional serves? The Billionaire's Wake-up-Call-Girl is still my favorite, though I also love The Billionaire's Fake Fiancee. And in general it's really fun.

Reckless by Stella Rhys is so good! I should really read more of her. It's basically about a boss and his assistant/Girl Friday/work wife beginning a situationship after she finds out her fiance is cheating on her. The plot isn't revolutionary, but you FEEEEL a lot and it's super hot.

Of course I love Helen Hoang's books, starting with The Kiss Quotient. So very good. I'd also recommend Angelina M. Lopez, especially Lush Money. And if you want more Kristen Callihan, her VIP series is also really good (I'd skip the first book though personally—Managed, however, is FABULOUS).