#q’s are just menace to the universe

[sad-trekkie-life]

The duel started because of a woman, but still squire sabotages Kirk with shooting Spock and Kirk agrees immediately. With a genuine fear in his eyes.

[hwanghyunjinenthusiast]

17:12 — JOSHUA

inspired by this clip of shua at the airport today. special mention to @duhnova i've never been the same since she sent it to me <3

"s-shua."

"hm?"

"why're you being so..."

"so what, baby?"

you flash your boyfriend a little pout that makes him laugh. joshua's large hands massage your thighs as he leans forward to press his lips to yours. you nearly melt into him again when he licks into your mouth only for joshua pull away the moment you let your guard down—earning himself another whine in protest.

"you're such a tease," you complain, lightly punching his chest for good measure. "i thought you said you missed me."

he laughs again, that sinful tongue swiping along the plump curve of his bottom lip. you know he doesn't miss the way your eyes catch the movement and it only makes that stupid smirk grow wider.

"i did miss you, sweetheart," he coos and if he thinks he can distract you with the way his hands grip your thighs with just a tinge of possessiveness, he's not wrong. "it just so happens that i also miss the way you react whenever i tease. why? does my baby hate it so much when i do?"

you want to say that yes, you do hate it when he strings you along like this. but part of you is well aware of joshua's penchant for building up your arousal and anticipation. he likes the chase. likes holding the prize over your head to see how desperate you're willing to get just to get his hands on you.

well, in this case: his tongue.

"just want your tongue in me, shua," you mumble, the muscles of your aching cunt clenching around nothing as your boyfriend gazes up at you with a lazy, hooded gaze. "gets me so hot whenever you kiss me like that... please, please, baby. i've been good for you, right? you'll give it to me, right?"

a low laugh reverberates in joshua's chest as he reaches a hand up to tuck your hair behind your ear. when you beg so prettily like that, how can he ever refuse you?

that's how he finds his face smothered between the plush give of your thighs as he slurps at your pussy like he's been dreaming of the entire week. your fingers are tangled in his hair, eyes screwed shut. every breathless moan that slips from your lips rushes straight to his cock, but joshua doesn't have any plans on relieving himself until you've coated his face with release.

"fuck, joshua," you breathe sharply—air whistling down your throat when he slides two fingers inside you. coupled with the sensation of his hot tongue alternating between flicking across your clit and licking long stripes across your soaked folds, you're completely at the mercy of your merciless boyfriend. "s-so good..."

he laughs again—those deep-seated vibrations humming across every nerve ending between your legs. it doesn't help that your boyfriend knows exactly how to drive you insane at any given moment, curling his long fingers as he flattens his tongue across your slit.

your spine immediately straightens at the stimulation and joshua's hands migrate from your legs to twine them with yours—making it much easier for you to rock your hips into his face as he brings you to the apex of pleasure.

"shua," you nearly sob, loving how your fingers fit in the spaces between his, loving how he makes you lose your mind every time, loving him. "'m close."

he parts from your sopping cunt for just a moment to breathe out, "i know, baby. i know," before he dives back into you—tonguing at your entrance until all that's coming out of you are high-pitched keens of his name.

you come undone on your boyfriend's tongue when he squeezes your fingers with his. like a wordless confirmation that he's allowing you to come and the authority he has over you magnifies the sensation a few hundred notches.

joshua helps you ride it out the entire time—peppering your inner thighs with butterfly kisses as he goads you on. my beautiful baby, you look so fucking sexy when you come all over my face. that's it, pretty. let yourself feel it. i promise i'll make you feel even better in a minute.

[stellarred]

You know, I just noticed something.

Zoom in on Q as he is coming towards Picard in the AGT clip below. If you look closely, he is rubbing his red-gloved hands together--not like an evil villain, who rubs their hands together as in " Hehe. This is going to be good."--

but as though he's caressing one hand with the other, running his palm and fingers down the length of his other raised hand.

Now, why would he do that?

Could it be that while Q is being forced to put Picard through this challenge by the Continuum, he is internally desperate to feel some kind of tactile sensation with Picard, and he is, in a way, self-soothing or pleasuring by caressing himself?

I mean he's doing it while he's coming towards Picard, and it bears repeating that even though Q is supposed to act menacing and be all Judge Q-ish--a stark difference from the Encounter at Farpoint Judge Q--Q takes every little opportunity he sees to get very physically close to Picard in AGT (leaning very close to him to whisper into his ear, and even inserting his fingertips into old Picard's tunic, his nose barely two inches away from his capitaine's. HELLO!)

I mean, I have no doubt that Q touches himself when he is obsessing over Picard in some remote corner of the Universe.

Who wouldn't?

Such a menacing judge.

A judge in love, for sure!

[deepspacedukat]

So, like…..what’s the consensus on Q insisting on dressing his S/O (w/their permission ofc!)? I personally think he’d be really into it lmaoooo. He’d completely replace their wardrobe (and possibly all of their “distasteful” starfleet uniforms. Good luck explaining to Picard why you had to go to your shift on the bridge dressed in a sparkly purple and gold evening gown). I also think he’d be a little confused by human gender norms around clothes; I don’t think the Qs as a species really have that the way humans and other mortal species do. In other words, he’d see no problem with putting a masc s/o in a fancy ballgown or a fem s/o in a stylish tuxedo, unless they expressed to him that it made them uncomfortable.

My justification for this: He sees mortal species as lesser beings, so obviously he finds their sense of fashion lesser too. So it’s only natural he step in and save his poor, lovely S/O from the peril of the drab clothes the rest of their species insists they wear! (He dresses them in nothing but gaudy silk fabrics, rhinestones, and glitter…..the only three things humans ever got right about fashion, in his opinion.) And also I read a line in a fic where he called mortal clothes boring and my mind chased that plot bunny down like I was running a marathon lmao.

OMG I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT MAKEUP!!! That man can fucking ROCK a sexy red lip, and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to do matching, coordinating, or at least complimentary makeup looks with his S/O (Again, unless they expressed they don’t like it).

Matching lingerie? Probably.

The inspirational fic in question: https://www.tumblr.com/unknownfacelessfanfictions/755468839619280896/i-have-an-idea-for-a-q-x-reader-specifically-the

🌑

Ooooh, honestly, given all of the knowledge that the Q have about the galaxy, they'd probably be pulling fashion inspiration from species Humans haven't even heard of.

"Where'd your dress today come from?"

"Oh, y'know, I have no idea. Q said it was some species inn the Gamma Quadrant? I think?"

Personally, I think Q would love having a cute Human partner to dress up like his own lil doll. He'd be so insufferable about it, too. "Darling, you simply must try this neon green lipstick from [Insert Random Planet Here]! It would pair excellently with your bone structure! And oooh! It would go so well with this whole ensemble that I just happen to have right here!" *snaps his fingers and an obviously planned out and not-at-all-spontaneous outfit appears*

OH MY GOD AND WITH LINGERIE. That man/entity would be absolutely unstoppable. He'd have soooooo much lingerie set aside in lil universe pockets for his partner.

Obviously, if they really didn't like him doing that, I think he'd stop, but if his partner enjoyed it, he'd become an absolute menace.

And Ooooh, coordinating looks? Abso-fucking-lutely! After all, in his logic, what higher compliment could a mortal get than having a god want to play dress up with them? To match their appearance?

[ninyard]

thanks for answering my previous ask‼️‼️ it’s okay if you can only write tips for your pov, i asked you YOUR process not someone else’s cus i like whatever it is you do to write, if that makes sense? i also don’t mean to shit on the way other people do things tho sjsjdnddjdj. you weren’t rude at all and i do see where you’re coming from‼️ i guess if i need to ask more specifically, how do you plot out ur socmed posts? i think that’s what i struggle with when it comes to writing my own? like i can find funny haha tweets or tumblr post for my/my friends charas to say but i wanna be able to write funny original stuff too? if that makes sense? 🫶🏽

I get that!!! This got long and it’s really messy so,, sorry if it doesn’t make sense~~

When it comes to making posts I personally don’t like to use already existing tweets. sometimes I can find inspiration in em but I’ve never intentionally looked up tweets to use for my socmed stuff. To each their own but it’s not for me! I don’t think they’re really socmed aus so much as like… incorrectaftgquotes type things? And I don’t really find much inspiration from it tbh. I might have one or two somewhere that are loosely based on a tweet I seen but I try my best to avoid that n make most of them as original as possible.

I guess know what kind of thing you’re going to make, in a way. My Exy fans au is essentially every big event in canon from an in-universe fans perspective. So that one’s easy to plot because it already exists and it’s just about coming up with the posts. Sometimes the fox tweets will just randomly branch off into their own things (like the Kevin-outing-Jeremy au) or sometimes they’re just their own standalone au series’ (like the andreil outing au).

I don’t really make long multiple-post “plotted” socmed stuff in the same way someone like Jas did with the Trojans au, but that’s just my personal preference. it takes a lot of work and it’s a lot like a fic in some ways!! It’s like writing a fic except it’s all dialogue and the dialogue has to be under 260 characters. And SOMETIMES there’s pictures. But they’re kind of just the same thing when it comes to plotted stuff. So maybe just do what you’d do if you were writing a fic!

In terms of coming up with funny things I guess it’s just like… don’t force it. If you’re finding something isn’t working, then don’t force it to work. I have all these ideas and scrapped tweets that just didn’t quite work for the post I had bc sometimes ya gotta accept something isn’t quite right. If you don’t want to just copy tweets and use those then try to find somewhere to start - for me that’s the hardest part of the ~random~ fox tweets and why it’s 1000000x easier to make a post that has purpose (like the party, or the q&a, or X au). I think finding pictures is a pretty good place to start, but I swear I’ve spent more time staring at a wall just trying to get into the zone of making tweets than time I’ve spent actually making them.

And I suppose it’s important to check like,,, are you (in the general sense) making them because you want to and have a funny idea, or is it because other people are/fomo/you see how many notes some of em get? Neither answer is wrong! But it’s easier to be funny, in my opinion, when I’m making them because i just randomly thought of a funny idea, versus making them because I feel obligated to or forcing things that aren’t funny because I “have” to post. Does that make sense? I always like to see when peoples’ socmed aus have some sort of story or reason, like the psu intern, or the foxes kids, or the Trojans au, or the au where Seth is still alive and tweeting like the menace that he would be. They’re always more interesting to me than posts that are just reposted tweets with Neil Josten slapped on em. But again that’s my personal preference!!!! Do whatever you want!!!!

Do you care if it’s ooc or not? Is it something that could happen in canon, or canon adjacent, or is it just an au where canon compliance doesn’t really matter at all? For me I try to make them as in-character as possible (with the exception of the fact that I don’t believe Neil, Andrew or Jean would tweet at all irl). I know it doesn’t bother some people if they’re ooc because they’re just for fun and that’s fine too. But them being “in-character” for me takes up a lot of space when it comes to coming up with the “plot” of the posts, if that makes sense!! (There’s always leeway when it comes to this tho - they’re never going to be 100% book accurate)

For me I almost have the characters as their own characters in my posts - which sounds crazy but bear with me. Like Kevin always typing with proper punctuation, and Dan always typing in lowercase. Neil doesn’t use text speak or shortened things like ‘bc’ or ‘lol’ whereas Nicky and Allison do. Nicky uses a lot of punctuation marks, Andrew uses proper grammar but doesn’t always use periods at the end of his posts, and he’s more likely to just post a picture than type out words sometimes. Does that make sense? Figure out how your characters are going to somehow have an individual voice through tweets. And it’s little things that probably don’t make a huge difference to most people but I care about those kind of little things way too much!!

TLDR; Why are you making them? Find where to start, don’t force it, and how in-character do you want them to be? Come up with your characters “voice” - how do they type/tweet? Just have fun!!! And don’t care about what other people are gonna think!!!!

[foggieststars]

Did girl!george get prettier once she entered f1? Got a better haircut and learned how to do makeup etc that suits her features? I felt bad for her that she got shit on by the guys in the backstory snippet you shared - and esp if she is constantly getting compared to Charles in f1 as well..

thought a lot about how to answer this thank u for the thought provoking q!! i think it's not that george got prettier because it's not really about being pretty - it's about how men use beauty as a tool to tear women down and compare them to each other.

like charles was considered prettier than george when they were karting and thus it's a reason to call george ugly, when really it's not about how pretty they are, it's about them trying to systematically undermine george/charles especially because they're a threat. like charles isn't taken seriously BECAUSE she's pretty, and george isn't taken seriously because she's maybe a bit more gangly and awkward than charles at that particular moment. they can't win either way and no matter what they do, it's the fact that their talent is being reduced down to how palatable and good looking they're considered to men even when it doesn't MATTER, because you can't see their faces anyway when they race! (not that it would matter if it was a sport where you could see their faces, but this sport especially the drivers are SO anonymous when they're in the car).

things definitely improve for them when they get to f1, though! there's still thinly veiled sexism and Comments but in this universe about a quarter of the grid are women, so there's support in place in my mind. also yeah george in this is still like over 6' so she just swans around being a leggy menace, and her history with beauty still troubles and upsets her but she's working on it with a therapist djkfldf

[gingersp1ce547]

ok it’s jojoever i have brainrot now i need to assign stands to every qsmp eggs

ramon : Killer Queen - bombs + cat what more do i need to say

Chayanne : Pearl Jam - Just making extremely good food

Tallulah : Hermit Purple - Thorns design that reminds of Rose

Leo : Purple Haze - Color matches + rabid dog vibes

Sunny : Emerald green - using jewels to fight is perfect for her

Empanada : Paisley Park - don’t have an explanation, em just gives me yasuho vibes

Pepito : Bohemian Rhapsody - go make spider-man real king

Dapper : Gold experience - gruesomely killing your enemies with your knowledge of living creatures is such a dapper thing

Pomme : Sex Pistols - go my little sniper queen

Richas : Heaven’s door - Perfect for an artist with a taste for fofoca

Dude i saw the word sex pistols in the context of stands my brain went “part 5? PART 5!” Like a dog hearing its name being called so im more than happy to brain rot with you bout all of this!

-killer queen is so perfect for ramon. If he had it during the election arc, fit would have to have stopped him form making foolish a speck of ash on the floor after he arrested tazercraft

-chays fits so well from a symbolic, “stands are a reflection of ones soul” perspective too. Like even though he’s a warrior, at heart he the main thing he cares about is taking care of his family though both physical protection and just general wellbeing. Such a good pick for him

-Hermit purple is such a good pick with tallulah. Im imagining phil sighing as he pulls out another camera for her to destroy before they eventually start having super cheap ones on hand for that exact purpose

-Listen i see purple haze for leo, i get it i can see the vision. But my fugo loving brain refuses to let go of what purple haze means for him as a stand symbolically and wants to give it to q!cellbit EVEN THOUGH WERE ONLY TALKING ABOUT THE EGGS.

Anyways in context of only assigning stands to the eggs 100% i think she should get out purple haze, but if were talking about everyone i also think born this way would be a really good fit for her and i cant quite explain why outside of the vibes just mathcing in my head

-sunny would so be besties with emerald green. Like tubbo would have to not only give sunny stuff but also it. I can totally see her giving it a nickname and its own room and stuff

-Your so right about empanda having yasuho vibes. Something about the crypticness of the power of paisley park coupled with all the shit both the characters have been though mashes really well together

- Bohemian rhapsody is so fucking funny for pepito. Especially because like idk if youve ever read any jojo’s fanfics but theirs this really good one called chimera were long story short the ascended version of dio from eyes over heaven goes to another universe and just fucks with the dio their by basically forcing him on a part jumping self-betterment arc? Anyways during it the author had the reason ungalo’s life became so shit was because he accidentally used his stand to make the story of holes come true with him acting as the main character and now every tine i think about that stand i cant not think of that.

But anyways him and roier would abuse the fuck out of his stand and it would in fact be hilarious

-As a giorno lover, dapper is so giorno coded. He would be so fucking unstoppable with that stand even without it being its requiem version. I can so see him using it to fuck with his dad for funnsies too.

-Pomme would be so sweet to the pistols too, she would make sure they get the best treats. I think at first she would struggle with keeping them in line but with etoiles help she would be the perfect balance of stern and sweet.

-richas with heavens door would be the absolute worst. Like the biggest menace ever. He would use it on his parents to make it so they could never give him a bath again and then they would have to find a work around for what doesnt count as bath but still technically got him clean until their able to convince him to reverse it.

[lifezvictory]

Okay, so today’s (technically yesterday’s since I’m writing this post at midnight but I don’t really consider it to be the next day until I either go to sleep, or the sun comes up, whatever comes first) episode of SaMS was very emotional, to say the least. Normally I don’t write posts about those because my possibly neurodivergent brain (haven’t been officially diagnosed but I’m almost certain it’s true) doesn’t really know how to formulate coherent, smoothly flowing pros about hyper-emotional stuff, especially when I’ve recently been exposed to it. But, I have some thoughts that I have to share, so I’m releasing them into the chaotic bowels of Tumblr. (These thoughts, of course, contain spoilers for the latest episode so only click read more if you’ve seen it or are willing to be spoiled.)

So, I have a feeling that Eclipse is really, truly dead this time. And when I first got acquainted with this orange menace, I would’ve been extátic at this. I was the first time he “died.” But now? I’ve actually got mixed feelings.

On one hand, Eclipse really was a terrible person and he kind of deserved what he got. But on the other? I’m a little disappointed with the writers’ decision. Because, it felt like they had been leading up to a redemption ark for Eclipse. All this talk about him having nobody and no purpose, I just felt like it could have been leading up to something bigger. And even though I used to hate Eclipse with a burning passion, I have read two amazing fanfics that did an ark for him insanely well, and I would have loved to see the original creators of this character’s take on it. Although, there was a part of me that thought it might not go that direction because in one q & a, someone asked if Eclipse could be redeemable, to which Sun and Moon understandably denied and I thought could possibly be the opinion of the creators themselves, and not just Sun and Moon’s.

The little scene near the end of the video, with Eclipse and Solar Flare in the mindscape right before their death really got to me, especially with Eclipse’s reaction. He was genuinely terrified unlike his first version’s death, and I’m pretty sure the guy went through the five stages of grief in those thirty seconds or so. It resonated with me because it humanizes (animatronicizes?) Eclipse, showing that he fears death as much as anybody else, but it’s also relatable to me, personally, because I have quite a bit of anxiety surrounding my own death.

One thing, or rather one person that i feel like people aren’t focusing enough on however, is Solar Flare. I know many people didn’t care about them much (The Blue Guy, in his video talking about SaMS lore said that they’re basically just Eclipse’s minion which fair) but they always held a special place in my mind. I felt like there was so much possibility for their character, especially the way the lore episodes were going. They were just developing, or at least appearing to develop, sentience and a personality/identity of their own, only to be killed off along with Eclipse when they hadn’t really done anything wrong. They were only following their programming to serve Killcode when he was evil, and actually seemed to be forming into a decent person before their demise. Only for all that potential to just be wiped away in an instant, with not many people taking notice, in universe or out. Eclipse was the only person who got to know the true them, if only slightly, and he never even appreciated them or treated them well. Hell, I don’t think Solar Flare even got a single positive interaction with anyone in their entire short existence. Yet they still somehow managed to remain so well-intentioned and wise? (I have to continue writing my Solar Flare-centric fic in their memory)

In real life, death is just like that. It cuts lives short, removing vibrant beings with lots of potential (I have no clue what happens after death but I’d like to think of it as a permanent absence and not an absolute destruction for the sake of my sanity.) But, this is fiction. And there’s a point where I’d just rather not have fiction be quite this realistic and devastating, you know?

The fact that Solar Flare was so accepting of their death made it even more heartbreaking for me, personally. They were completely accepting of it, and didn’t seem afraid at all (although it could be because they weren’t yet emotionally developed enough to express it.) This, to me, meant that they had nothing left to live for, and felt as though they no longer had a purpose. And for me who, as you would know if you’ve been reading my posts for a while, likes Solar Flare quite a lot, it devastated me. I want to give Solar Flare a big hug.

I’m not sure how to end this post. But, that’s my thoughts on the latest lore. I think this was probably the longest post I’ve made to date.

[ch0colate-cake]

so I had an idea

I personally enjoy the new cookie run update. During the first part I had an idea; the second update merely fueled my interest. So what if, in an alternate universe, good ol' xylitol nova cookie absorbed the black hole? Let's say he was going back to save Xyl-Q. He already knew what a competent leader astronaut cookie was, so he believed that in sacrificing himself he would have a good follow up to continue leading the cookies in their quest to defend the cookieverse from the black hole. By building the ship as a plan-B-temporary-safe-house, he would ensure the continuation of his people. Blah blah, Xyl-Q dies, and with this devastating loss xylitol nova cookie raises his staff and (i onno how) he takes in the black hole. I don't know where I'm going with this there are several plot holes I can name off the top of my head 😦

At first this was just a fantasy, i didn't even know what the black hole looked like up close . By the second update i had enough reference pictures and information to draw it and make a below decent introduction. I don't have a good drawing app and I know my current computer/tablet is just a generally shoddy piece of tech; therefore I drew on paper

this is what I would think of the costume to look like.

Just a sketch, a doodle if you will. I turned his staff into a halberd/pole axe because a staff was not imposing enough and weapons are menacing😦

I tried to keep the staff gem but I don't think it's recognizable. Also I made it cracked because he is in his flop era. 💔

the wings were another problem that I had trouble with, mainly because this is my first time drawing and coloring crystals of any sort

the little robot things were a little confusing, and even worse to fit into the design (I forgot about them😨)

the creatures ended up being a little crushed in there. A sharp teleport is only what I could describe as people drawing lines for where an object used to be, before drawing the object in a different place. Also I turned them into critters because the black hole itself is a critter.

on the left is my first drawing of this costume. I decided to keep the shattered mask, and make only one eye visible (so I cannot draw the other😀).

am I aware that this would be a nightmare to make sprites of/animate/draw? Yea. Which is why I will keep this au in my mind where it belongs.

will I be drawing again? No probably not this so don't look forward to it. Maybe something else but don't get too hyped up (and yes it will be on paper)

will I be annoyed if this doesn't get above 2 notes? Yeah maybe. Probably. I don't know myself that well

Costume info Super epic costume, mainly because it would fit in with the epic costumes. Bio? I'm too lazy :4 sorry.😟

Name? Idk something like xylitol nova cookie's reign of terror or xylitol nova cookie's black hole-ly ness or xylitol nova cookie's refrigerator running or xylitol nova cookie's kys or xylitol nova cookie's shoulda stayed in drafts

No there is no name😔 not yet anyways

[miriasuu]

Posting OC stuff because i love her ^q^

Her name is Maeve di Angelucci, the sole princess of the Italian monarchy in my little universe ^q^ She's (un)happily married to her yandere hubby, Noël von Weissmann ♡

To sum it up, he's an angel (as a race, rather than a 'divine religious being') and told the King and Queen of a false prophecy that their daughter would be taken away on her 18th birthday and killed so they raised her in total captivity from the outside world. while he made his schemings to steal the German crown prince's identity and plan to get married to her since her hand would be offered much earlier (ye olden times, at 14) so they could avoid the prophecy. but he's the menace here! and he killed all the other candidates. oopsie

I'll put more art of her under the line~~ otherwise the post will be too big. More art (that cannot be posted here) on her Toyhouse! Plus i'll update it with her entire bg + noël later ♡ just uhm. be advised some quiiiiiite unnerving stuff below. not gore violence or anything but theres 1 uhm. well just to sum it up she has a lot of pregnancy themes, is all

Royal Wedding (TL would be too extensive, sorry!)

Maeve at 14ish (L) and 18~20 somethings (R)

happy family?

quick sketch to demonstrate height diff (ssorry for the yaoi hands. im not. fixing it) and discarded sketch of a previous height diff of them

M: "Ah! That's right, you don't pray... In fact, there's no reason to... I'm sorry... (Christian)" N: "You realized that just now? I'm only making company... (Angel)"

Although their marriage is a very disturbing and manipulative one, I still like to imagine some rare casual moments between them. They mostly occur later, when she's past 24 (which is when she finally mentally breaks and gives in for this sick love and becomes equally yandere). Did I say? They eventually have like, 5 kids total. LOL all before that though.

("How cute... It's like a puppy...)" "Maeve~, what are you doing?"

Generic yes but bunny x wolf, it's cute

A discarded idea of an unicorn au or. something. i still like the idea but hmmm. nah. or maybe yay? i don't know tbh

Oh and a little preview for her general reference for Artfight! I still need to finish painting, but hehe :3c it's only for general conception because i like varying her with dresses but im not gonna draw like. 5 diff ones for 1 ref lol

Anyway if u saw all thank u look at her TH theres like looots of love between them 2 ( ^_^)b oki ily byee

[jorjorbonks]

Book Review | The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spoiler Free Review:

It took me over a month to read this book. Not because of its length, 600 pages the longest book this year thus far, but because it infuriated. It was boring and it felt like it was never going to end. You read 300 pages and it should be over, but we’ve barely nibbled into the meat of the book. It takes a very long time for the book to get any real traction. We get a couple scraps at first with some weird things, but nothing super interesting. I did find many parts of it interesting however. I find the mystery of the book interesting, the characters, and whatever crazy things happen are interesting. I also found the main character to be incredibly dull. Although Toru Okada is supposed to be an “Everyman” sorr of character, it does not mean he has to be the most boring man alive. He does get less boring as the story goes on, but he also just really weird and a little creepy. Overall an ok read. I don’t think I’s read it again.

Spoilers!!!:

I do not like Toru Okada. He hangs out with random 16 year old girls, waits for them to come out to seem him by waiting outside their house. One of the last things he says about said 16 year old girl is that she looks good in a bikini when he is possibly dying in a well. But the scene he sees her in a bikini he comments about her still being underdeveloped. Like huh?? He also goes to visit her at the end of the book in this village work place thing. And they hold hands and she makes a comment about people thinking they’re lovers and he says you’re right. Huh???? Toru please leave her alone. The plot also takes a long time to start and it’s just incredibly mundane at first with a few notes of weird going on. I suppose that is the best way to introduce the craziness that ensues. It still does not make the beginning any less boring. Of course the spoiler part isn’t just for me to talk negatively about the book, but it’s also for me to give insights. The themes also remind me of The Stranger by Albert Camus with the go with the flow thing in a sense. The world is ultimately random and trying to fight it will just lead you to self destruction. Mr. Honda, a psychic Toru and Kumiko, his wife, that they used to visit tells him to be careful of water. Not just that but to not fight the water. To keep still at times and other times to move with it. And going against that can cause major issues. This happens to many characters such as Lieutenant Mamiya who tries to fight against the water, the world, and suffers greatly. Besides the conflict of challenging the universe, the antagonist Noboru Wataya is also a rather menacing one. Having such a powerful role in society as well as having so much money he already is very scary. Going against him can be deadly. But also, his power of being able to manipulate others is even more terrifying. My remaining questions and possible answers to them are:

Q: What is the Wind-Up Bird? A: It is probably a sort of sign for change? It shows up to Toru granted for a long time, but the moment a major change happens, his wife leaving, the bird stops. A soldier hears the bird, and the next thing we hear about is the fate of the soldier and his company.

Q: What exactly can Noboru do? A: I think he can manipulate people, or at least bring out their true selves sooner than they should be.

[kipperlillycopperkettle]

hiiihiiii i feel like i know less than i want to about your spyreverse thg au but i'm fascinated (and so glad i've inspired you to ask for questions about it-- its been so fun to get q's in about np <3) but !!! what is the moment/pov/section/idea you are proudest of for your au !!!! either smth you've written or smth you're excited about !! also also im so interested in who all this fic is centric on? i know you've referred to it as the bad kids thg au before but your tag is spyreverse specific? are the Seven in this also (fingers crossed?) other npcs or characters from pirol ??? idk how povs are working in your au- whether it's multi pov or just one/two but either way: how did you choose how to write pov/s for this fic !! if just one, why did you pic the person you chose; if multiple, how do u choose how to write which pov/s when ??!! xoxoxoxxoox and congrats on fellow huge long involved au <3333

this* fic is bad kids centric BUT because i am a menace, i have slotted a LARGE majority of the characters from fantasy high/the seven/pirates of leviathan into this universe! i went back and forth for a while on whether or not to make the seven tributes (which i didn't like because i wanted kristen and antiope to both be from district two and etc) or to make them have won the year before (which i didn't like because then i didn't have enough npcs to fill out the whole hunger games bracket, and then what do i do with characters like penelope who thematically would be fun to play with in either games, etc) and so i ended up splitting the difference and making it a quarter quell where the twist is that it's double the tributes (like haymitch's games in canon); though the games in the FIC are 75. because i felt like it lol.

so yes! the seven are here! the seven are actually up against the bad kids in the arena (sam is one of fabian's district partners! antiope is one of kristen's!) and there are SOOOOO many npcs in this fic <3 (i had to start a google doc with a quick summary of who was doing what in this au to keep them all straight which i may release as an npc guide after the fic is published!) unless i have made the active decision to not have a character in the au (chungedown bim is not here. because i simply do not want him to be) they're probably in the au! including npcs no one else cares about like tulwar from pirates of leviathan (he's one of the d4 mentors and also his dynamic with cathilda is SO important to me in this fic) and also talcidimir tallbreeze from the seven is the caesar flickerman esque figure <3

the pov thing is fun, actually, because i wanted to do a hunger games au. but i couldn't decide who won so i was just like. i will write all of the bad kids winning in slightly diverging timelines and each of the sections where they win will be from their pov (and somehow i thought this fic would only end up about 60k lol). i am also trying to write a few scenes from different povs during each larger section for a look at what's happening outside of the arena. so like midway through the adaine section, aelwyn (who is her mentor in this au) gets a scene and then a little bit later on, arianwen gets a pov.

i don't really pick per se; basically each of the bad kids has a section, which, aside from those two little out of arena povs midway through, follows them from the first important event in canon (eg: for some of them, it's the reaping for the seventy-fifth games, for fig, it's her first reaping, etc etc) until their arc wraps up (some point AFTER they win the games). for the out of arena povs that's a BIT more complicated, but usually it's just whoever's pov i feel like will be most significant/add the most to the story — so adaine has aelwyn and arianwen, but fabian has cathilda and halliariel (cathilda being, in this au, not his mentor but bill seacaster's).

*i say this fic because i DO have two prior to canon spinoff fics rotating in the back of my mind and also hanging out in my google docs that are a few thousand words each for sandra lynn and cathilda. i don't think either of those will get finished before the main fic but! they're fun and i like writing them! i think sandra lynn's is largely going to be about her thing with the adventuring party (a capitolite and his gamemaker wife in this au) and also her early romance with gilear and also her dynamic with her mentor, who is a signifcant figure in fig's section as well. cathilda's is both about her relationship with tulwar and also about her losing all of her children to the games. both of those spinoffs kind of spawned after writing their povs in the main fic and going, oh i want to explore more of [x character] in this au, so that's how i chose the povs for those two!

i'm pretty sure i switched to calling it the spyreverse thg au after i started the sandra lynn spinoff fic! bc the MAIN fic is the bad kids thg fic but the au is more encompassing y'know?

for how i choose to write which pov when: i just write whoever i feel like when i have inspiration! i write out of order so if i have a good scene idea for adaine, i'll write that one day, and then i might write a fabian scene the next day, and a riz one after that, and so on and so forth.

there's a lot i'm really excited about in this au: one of my favorite things about this au is getting to write dynamics that don't exist at all in canon (fig and max durden, who is one of her district partners; antiope and kristen; corsica and kristen, tulwar and cathilda), i love the fact that i got to take all of the listed canon names for aguefort teachers and turn them into interesting characters with fun dynamics (ellen fleetfoot the survival teacher my best friend), i love getting to write victor dynamics and this fic provides ample oppurtunity to write differing victor dynamics, but if i had to pick ONE scene/moment i'm proudest of, there's a scene after adaine wins where it finally hits her why aelwyn is the way she is that i just think is really striking. it was also one of the first scenes i wrote so it's just very dear to me <3

send me an ask about the spyreverse thg au!

[vinnylignes]

Illmatic By Nas- Album Review

Few albums shine as brightly in the pantheon of hip-hop classics as Nas’s Illmatic. With a runtime of just under 40 minutes, this 1994 debut album not only introduced the world to a young rapper from Queensbridge, New York, but it also completely changed the face of East Coast rap. Illmatic is still regarded as a classic nearly thirty years later and is frequently listed among the best rap albums ever made. However, what is it about Illmatic that continues to be discussed, and how does it fare in the radically altered musical scene of today?

Nas, the Prodigy from Queensbridge

Even though Nasir Jones, often known as Nas, was only 20 years old when Illmatic hit, his lyrical skill, intelligence, and wisdom suggested that he was a much more experienced musician. Nas was raised amid the hardships and obstacles of inner-city living at Queensbridge, one of the biggest public housing projects in the country. This background would serve as the conceptual center of Illmatic, as Nas painted striking portraits of societal oppression, street life, and pursuing ambitions in the face of overwhelming odds.

Illmatic has a who’s who of 90s hip-hop talent behind the boards, with beats from producers like DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor, and L.E.S. The tone of the album, which is rough yet beautiful, soulful yet minimal, perfectly reflects the essence of New York City during the height of boom-bap production.

Foundation of Storytelling

The first track, “The Genesis,” instantly immerses the listener in Nas’s universe with its subway noises and conversational fragments. The album then shifts into overdrive with “N.Y. State of Mind,” a terrifyingly accurate portrayal of Queensbridge life. DJ Premier’s menacing beat features somber piano loops, and Nas’s lines are sliced through with surgical accuracy. Hip-hop history’s most frequently cited lyrics, “I never sleep, ’cause sleep is the cousin of death,” capture the paranoia and hyperawareness required to thrive on the streets.

Though every song on Illmatic has a sense of purpose, “The World is Yours” stands out for its upbeat message and catchy Pete Rock production. Nas provides glimpses of hope and fortitude within the adversity, asking, “Whose world is this? You own the earth.” Illmatic is so captivating because of the way it strikes a careful balance between hope and actuality. Although Nas avoids romanticizing the streets, he also resists giving in to negativity.

Perfect, But is it?

Illmatic is still hailed as almost flawless. One of the album’s advantages is its compactness—with only ten tracks, there are no fillers or wasted time. With Nas serving as both narrator and participant in the grim realities of New York living, each song adds to the whole story. It is important to note, though, that Illmatic was so firmly rooted in its era and location that some may find it lacking in the genre-defying innovation that came to hip-hop later on with albums like OutKast’s Stankonia or Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.

Nas doesn’t go too far outside of his lane, which might be criticized as an Illmatic drawback. Although he is a gifted storyteller, the themes of poverty, street violence, and survival are largely restricted to his surroundings. Although Nas creates these images with great detail, listeners anticipating more variety in material from track to track may find the subject matter repetitious. However, Illmatic never intended to be anything more than a moment in time captured in the life of a young man in Queensbridge, and it succeeds admirably in that regard.

Relevance in 2024

Even while listening to Illmatic now feels like stepping back in time, it’s hardly antiquated. The production may allude to the heyday of boom-bap, but Nas’s concerns of poverty, survival, and systemic inequality are true today. Hip-hop can be poetic and rooted in the hardest truths of existence, as Illmatic reminds us in a time when the distinction between “conscious rap” and commercial trap is striking.

Nas stated as much on “Life’s a Bitch,” “Life’s a b***h and then you die / Which is why we get high / Cause you never know when you’re gonna go.” Illmatic’s force and relevance come from its enduring realization of life’s fragility.

Conclusion

Illmatic is still regarded as one of the most important hip-hop albums, setting the standard for production, lyrics, and storytelling. Its influence on the genre is indisputable; it has influenced listeners’ generations and shaped the careers of upcoming musicians. Illmatic is not only required listening for anyone wishing to comprehend the foundations of hip-hop, but it also serves as a roadmap.

#IllmaticForever #Nas #HipHopHistory #NYStateOfMind #ClassicRap

Sources:

Nas’s Illmatic is a Canonical Album for Hip-Hop History. Available at: Pitchfork

DJ Premier on the Importance of Illmatic. Available at: Complex

Nas Discusses The World is Yours. Available at: Genius

A Reflection on Nas’s Memory Lane. Available at: Okayplayer

Criticisms of Illmatic and Nas’s Lyrical Density. Available at: The Atlantic

Illmatic's Place in Nas's Career. Available at: The Guardian

[stellarred]

Q-riosities!

Interesting stuff here.

In True Q, in scenes, such as where Q sees a shadow on the wall demanding a report from him regarding his progress with Amanda, as well as the scene when Q visits Amanda, but not before pressing the bell outside her quarters, Q is doing something odd.

--> Q is walking along the corridors among the crewmembers on the Enterprise as if he belonged there. Why would Q just be strolling around the corridors like that? He could use teleportation. Was he looking for something? 🤔

In Death Wish (VOY), Q tells Janeway that Starfleet bedsheets give him a rash.

-->Now, how would he know that? Makes me think of Tapestry. 🤔 The Qcard lover in me headcanons that Q did crawl into Picard's bed at least once while he was sleeping to observe him and be close to him. I shamelessly admit I love this notion. 😙

The Qcard Significance of Guinan's Words

In Q Who, before the crew finds out that Picard is no longer on the Enterprise, we see Guinan stop mid-conversation with a Ten Forward patron to gaze out the windows. She asks Riker if everything is okay, and says she has this feeling.

"I've had it a couple times before; it's probably nothing. Sorry I bothered you. Ten-Forward out." --Guinan

--> During those times Guinan had that particular "feeling", Q HAD to be in the vicinity of the Enterprise, or on it!

Furthermore, we know that it has been a long time since Guinan made the connection between that feeling and the presence of Q because she wasn't entirely sure it was him.

When Q and Picard return to Ten Forward in Q Who after Q's little excursion with Picard in the shuttlecraft, Guinan snarls at Q, " I knew it was you!"

During the other times Q was there, he was likely just observing humans--as in Picard to be more specific. Q was definitely interested in Picard and became obsessed after Picard had bested him in Encounter at Farpoint and in Hide n' Q.

🎉🎉BONUS!!! 🎉🎉

I wonder if Q was actually UNDER Picard's bed covers with him during those times when Guinan "felt this feeling a couple of times before" (or perhaps Q could've been there more often than that, but Guinan didn't sense him because she was asleep, for example) because when Q appears in bed with Picard those two times that we canonically know of, he is ON TOP of the covers, not under them! That could explain why Q complains in VOY that Starfleet bedsheets give him a rash, much to Janeway's inner disgust.

Now, he could've taken on a non-human form, such as a twinkling light or just becoming invisible, for instance, to be more stealthy and more comfortable under Picard's bed covers to do whatever it was he was doing. 😏😏😏 I'm happy to roll with that.

Who knows what Q is doing when we don't actually see him?

**Now, I concede that Q's presence on board the Enterprise when Guinan had that feeling could've been the presence of another Q, either passing by, or purposely visiting. But, given our favorite Q's predilection for obsessing over Picard, he is most likely the Q that registered on Guinan's vibe radar.

Plus, consider the fact that the ominous music that is being played during this very scene not only adds an aura of menace to the moment, but also strongly supports this idea that her "enemy" from two centuries ago is nearby and has been hanging around multiple times before. However, if Guinan can sense Q nearby, but Q and Picard are nowhere near the Enterprise, then Q's vibration, for lack of a better word, must be extremely far-reaching in space. Wow.

I'm curious if members of the Q Continuum each have their own "signature vibe" in the Universe, and that's why Guinan yelled at Q, "I knew it was you!"

I'd hate to think all the Qs had the same unpleasant effect on her.

[sskk-ao3feed]

Never a Dull Day

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/PyhYkC3 by MagicCandleQueen In the midst of a heatwave, Chuuya barely has the energy to do anything besides lay on the ground and simply wanting to perish the heat is that bad. Not just him, but also his friends as well. And apparently, also to their friendly neighborhood tiger spirit. Words: 1956, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 8 of Countryside's Spirits Fandoms: 文豪ストレイドッグス | Bungou Stray Dogs Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen, M/M Characters: Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Ozaki Kouyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Izumi Kyouka (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Gin, Higuchi Ichiyou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Tachihara Michizou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Hirotsu Ryuurou (Bungou Stray Dogs), Yumeno Kyuusaku | Q (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Fukuzawa Yukichi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Background & Cameo Characters Relationships: Nakajima Atsushi & Port Mafia Ensemble (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Kunikida Doppo (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu & Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Akutagawa Gin & Akutagawa Ryuunosuke & Nakajima Atsushi Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Ability Users (Bungou Stray Dogs), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, OR IS IT, Hot Weather, its too hot to think of anything-, Tiger Nakajima Atsushi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kitsune Dazai Osamu (Bungou Stray Dogs), Tengu Fukuzawa Yukichi (Bungou Stray Dogs), Kunikida Doppo is So Done (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu is a Menace (Bungou Stray Dogs), Dazai Osamu is Bad at Feelings (Bungou Stray Dogs), Nakajima Atsushi Has a Bad Time (Bungou Stray Dogs), i am so sorry qwq, I'm Bad At Tagging, How Do I Tag, Slight OOC read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/PyhYkC3

[seph-on-an-irrational-planet]

I really want to like The Giggle but it’s missing something the same way the worst Q episodes of Star Trek miss something: Q doing random bullshit cannot be the primary driver of the plot. Wacky Q nonsense is fun but it needs to have a purpose and in all the best episodes (Q-Who, Tapestry, All Good Things…) Q does just enough silly bullshit to get Picard to the real plot: whatever lesson he’s intended to learn. The Toymaker has none of this going on, he’s messing with the Doctor just because…. he’s an antagonist I guess?? So what was the point of the companion puppet show scene? If the Toymaker is trying to critique how the Doctor has handled caring for his companions and losing 1/4 of the universe to the flux then it’s really interesting! Or is he contriving this situation to warn the Doctor about the One Who Waits? But no he’s just being irritating because that’s who he is. The puppet show scene is so good and yet it goes nowhere (WELL THATS ALRIGHT THEN).

I don’t need or want the Toymaker to be a rehash of Q, but this episode would’ve really stuck the landing he had an actual reason for doing what he did. It would also make the sudden ‘losing the game of catch’ make sense. Q intends for Picard to win once he grasps the point. The Toymaker intentionally losing as a covert message to the Doctor (because that’s the only way he can communicate/he’s afraid of something idk) would be brilliant. And he could still kill people and be a menace! Q didn’t particularly care when people died in his episodes (Q-Who especially) in fact he blamed it on Picard being reckless even though it was he’s fault they were there in the first place.

Anyway this episode was so close and yet so far ughhhh I need doctor who to get better and fast