#she always always gives me names of characters she thinks ill like when she suggests me stuff

[kdyism]

my friend predicting that ogata and tanigaki will be my favourites is what scares me

[syoddeye]

ill-advised

simon x f! reader | 1165 words cw: simon being a gross creep, terrible advice, slimy internet culture, bad usernames, unsolicited nudes a/n: wrote this silly thing on my phone. lightly edited. been thinking about how simon would be the world's worst agony uncle. enjoy a few easter eggs.

Simon doesn’t have a God complex. No. He leaves that to the Simulation 5 streamers who build complicated dungeons beneath their character’s cottages, forcing others to labor on paintings or crochet projects to sell and support their captor’s livelihood. Not that he…watches those. No, no. He’s simply seen more than his fair share of depravity. Some of it at his expense, some at others, and more than a chunk of it dealt by his own two hands. He knows how the world works. How people work. He knows his shit, plain and simple.

So when his schedule allows, he logs on after midnight. His username and password are two alphanumeric strings, but people recognize the cluster of digits and letters. Wait for his comments. Follow his account. Send him stupid digital gifts, some useless currency to dress up his default icon. The amount increases daily, as does his following. His own little cult.

He doesn’t care about the numbers. Not really. He just loves dishing out his honest opinion, and nobody’s safe.

AN [Advice Needed] Family forgot to invite me on a trip, expect me to go last minute Hi, it’s like the title says. I (25 M) live across the country from my parents, siblings (all all adults), nieces, and nephews. I am the only one who lives on this coast, but I try to visit twice a year. I recently reached out to my brother to see when he thinks I should come visit in June and suggested some dates. I know it’s only February, but I want to save money on airfare. He responded: “Isn’t that when we’re going to Hawaii???” It was the first I heard of it. It turns out my parents invited my siblings to Hawaii and planned a family vacation without me. I confronted my parents about it, they swore they invited me too then said I could send them my share of the bill for the resort and book a flight. Like it’s no big deal. I can’t afford to go and I don’t want to go, but I feel really pressured. And sad! They forgot me! Who am I, Kevin McAllister?

> 35J0G39GH6: Find out the resort name. Cancel the reservations. Cease contact.

Within seconds, a dozen upvotes. A minute later, a hundred. Up, up, up. And the replies? Oh, the replies. He smirks at the cracked phone screen.

>> michaelEthelcaine: Fucking brutal as always >> c0y0t3fug1y: LMAO it’s this simple OP - this dude is never wrong >> patcemetery79: I DID THIS BACK IN 2003 FOR A FAMILY REUNION. A REAL RIOT! HAVEN’T BEEN INVITED TO ONE SINCE@ HILARIOUS!!!!!! I LOVE YOU 35J

Simon receives a fair share of downvotes, too. Negative comments. He doesn’t give a shit, but some of them are fucking hilarious.

>> grasshopperwhirlpool: Not funny. Be better than this asshole, OP. I’m sure it was a simple mistake. >> thewildrumpussy: really mature advice. who shit in your coffee?

Every few weeks, a morally righteous do-gooder encourages people to mass-report him, and he gets a slap on the wrist. The idiots come out in droves after some of his more choice replies, like worms after a heavy rain. The most recent offense?

AN [Advice Needed] My husband (35 M) forgot my (33 F) birthday My husband of three years forgot my birthday. No flowers, cake, or gifts. When I came home from work he asked about dinner. I lost it, turned around, and left. I’m at my sister’s house now (and she started baking when I called and told her what happened!) but he won’t stop blowing up my phone. He says it’s because he’s been so busy but here’s the thing: he forgot last year too. I really love him but I’m tired of this treatment.

> 35J0G39GH6: Have your friend take you home between 3-4 AM. Cut his brake lines. Go back to her place. Wait for the inevitable.

>> 6polyesterbutthole9: i dont care if this is illegal its funny af >> passtheaggression: Hand to god, you need your own forum dude.  >> gordonramsme55: Where are the mods on this??? This shit is going to get someone killed. Report this psycho. >>> puffalo: Agreed I think this breaks Rules 3 & 5, reporting now >> austrianPrincess: not saying i did this but when my boyfriend’s brakes failed, i got a big check, OP!  >>> gordonramsme55: This is what I’m talking about!  >>> 6polyesterbutthole9: get that check >> tech60nyneme: WOW someone check this guy’s crawlspace. reported and blocked

That one earns him the most severe ‘punishment’ yet: A month-long commenting ban. No skin off his nose, he's deployed days later, anyway. If anything, the radio silence winds his followers up, their excitement a palpable thing when he gets out of forum jail. He rewards them with another series of blunt, to-the-point pieces of advice. 

His absence makes one particular fan particularly hungry, and a little desperate.

He’s no stranger to unsolicited dick and cleavage pics from his followers. They flood his inbox, giving him a side hobby of delivering pithy degradation the sick fucks seem to love. Saves the best for his private collection. 

But then he gets a picture from some cute thing with a comment about him being her favorite person on the Internet. Knelt all sweet in front of her mirror, haloed by a ring light, white lace barely hiding the goods. His eyes snap to her tits—where his ridiculous username is scrawled in sharpie. There’s nothing to critique except maybe the laundry in the background of the shot. Tugs his cock to it, then clicks her username to check her comment history, and wouldn’t you know. Her location is public on her profile. She’s a couple hours away from her idol and doesn’t even know it. 

>> 35J0G39GH6: Perfection. >> YN10282022: Oh my god, I didn’t think you’d reply. >> YN10282022: You know, a few months ago, you gave me good advice about my creepy boss. >> YN10282022: I posted about the stuff he’d say to me. >> YN10282022: It took some time, but I was able to record him. Sent it over to his wife on their anniversary. When he accused me, I told him HR was getting the next copy. >> YN10282022: I got a promotion and a raise, and sent the file anyway. >> 35J0G39GH6: Good girl. >> 35J0G39GH6: I’ll be in your neck of the woods in a week for work. >> YN10282022: Really?? I’d love to meet up! >> 35J0G39GH6: Probably shouldn’t. I’d advise you against meeting me. >> YN10282022: They do say you should never meet your heroes. :) >> 35J0G39GH6: Shouldn’t meet strangers off the Internet, either.

She still sends him the address of a cafe. It matches one he finds on her social media an hour later. She seems to be a frequent customer. Simon grins at his screen, the sole light source in his dark room. He taps back to her pretty picture.

She looks like an angel.

[perfectfangirl]

notes after rewatching fallout s1 ep1

so once again like a crazy person [i've done this with star wars sequels before] i've decided to take three and half pages of notes over the course of an hour. i've been a fan of the games for at least a decade and i'm actually always watching lore content between the installments though so while i do know some minute details, within the show, there was some things i was interested in and curious about that i just decided to jot down. some of this may be things discussed already and some of it might be something i wasn't sure if anyone brought up before but anyways! maybe i'll do the whole season, but here's my ramblings • them titling the episode "the end" was when i knew i'd love the show • ok but i really wonder if cooper can still do those party tricks? he was really good at them and lucy would probably love them too 🥺 • thinking back, the radio in the first scene mentions not knowing where the president is--- beginning to wonder if he was the guy sitting in on the vault tec meeting • just realized they introduced the mr. handy robot in some of the first scenes • ten years of nuclear threat according to anchor but the show is careful not to give away all the cards because why does the weather anchor make it seem like they know when the bomb will drop? idk but birthday boy mother turns off tv real "head in the sand" like • the nat king cole song that's playing though [wondering if the song is mirroring specifically cooper's feelings about barb despite everything hmm] • horse's name is sugarfoot 🥹 • him having to pay alimony... wonder what the prenup? was like... [still think he probably loves barb 😞]

• them calling him a pinko despite him being an architect of vault boy's persona, a quintessential presentation of a "man's man" acting as a cowboy, a real cowboy, a former marine--- wondering if there was a smear campaign after his situation with barb and vault tec, him working children's parties leads me to believe... • did the kid's say the birthday boy's name was boyd? [if so, there's another character in the games with this name and this is also the name of a character walton has played in another series, funny] • weather man show's up again distressed, wondering if we'll get more info about that day • everyone ignoring, cognitive dissonancing their own nuclear annihilation is so prescient if not disturbing and damning

• him teaching janey the thumb thing ☹️ • cooper's voice when he says "let me see if i can't rustle you up a piece" 😩 • janey being the only one to notice the first bomb • the fear in cooper's eyes • cooper being in denial one last time before realization sets in • people becoming animals the moment they realize what's happening--- one guy punches his friend not letting his family into the fallout shelter • people getting into their cars and cooper onto his horse to escape--- wonder how fast they could be since it doesn't seem you could outrun nuclear annihilation

• lucy being raised so well under the circumstances 😔 [hope she never becomes her father] • i haven't trusted steph since episode one • lucy being a teacher [amongst other things] and asking maximus about what happened after the bombs fell makes so much sense [and also much like another person suggested is an interesting juxtaposition to cooper's pre war knowledge] • lucy showing how skilled she is for being a marriage candidate when in reality we are seeing someone fit for the wasteland is crazy on second watch • is lucy not watching a cooper howard movie with her dad? hello??

• them reading "war and peace" in the family book club is rich • lucy [thinking] she's not good at guns, ironic • steph having to step in like a sisterly type because lucy's mom isn't there 😞 • the wedding dress on lucy being ill fitting, tight as symbolism for lucy not truly "fitting in there" and being constrained [foreshadowing] oof • the vault boy sign in the back saying "don't lose your head" lmao • didn't catch the "cousin stuff" until someone mentioned it on tumblr and twitter 💀

• the flashback we see of lucy ending up being almost a false memory, a misrepresentation of her actual memories, that she has been on the surface, in the sun • norm taunting lucy about her future husband being "anybody" and a "cannibal, crammed full of tumours" 😭 unfortunately for ghoulcy, this was some of the heaviest foreshadowing [the raider also could have been one too] • why didn't hank recognize moldaver? • so many things i still don't understand about vaults 31, 32, 33 • the growing realization they are raiders was pretty funny to me lmao

• moldaver having to sit through the disingenuous lies of hank ugh • norm going into vault 32 like they wanted them to know what was up? or is that just how vault doors work? they used lucy's mom's pip boy [that hank lied about burying] • lucy putting norm in a storage vault, she really is so strong • the handed down wedding dress getting messed up • i am curious if the raiders [shady sands survivors?] only mostly harmed vault tec aligners but maybe not • the way hank and steph retaliating a little too well • hank acting like he doesn't know moldaver when everyone really does know moldaver • moldaver telling lucy she looks like her mother is really such a tipoff

• realizing maximus is getting bullied 😭 • dane... might love maximus a little idk • from latrine duty to basically ruling over the brotherhood of steel • they really showed some dude jacking it lmao it's just normal i guess 💀 • maximus being defeated and having a rightful outburst of emotion, poor guy • the poster saying "the outside world can never harm you"--- funny • chet would've died up there 😭 • them not opening the vault back up for her, wondering if the vapourized bodies are from the initial bomb drop or the subsequent shady sands ones • dane almost gets maximus killed three times tbh • maximus joined the brotherhood of steel to get back at what vault tec did, essentially hank's doing, hank has many enemies • knowing the enclave, it makes sense why siggi is hunted • cooper the ghoul's introduction though • the bounty hunter saying his captors dig cooper up every once in a while to cut pieces of flesh off him 😞 no wonder cooper acts the way he does 😔 he's been taken advantage of, no wonder he doesn't trust anybody and is horrible to everyone • "why is this an amish production of "the count of monte cristo" or the weirdest circle jerk i've ever been invited to?" why would he say this 😭 • cooper's... been invited to circle jerks 👀 • does the bounty hunter know the ghoul is cooper howard?

• him not harming the chicken, him healing dogmeat, there's something there, folks • people only digging him up to use him again 😞 • what a coincidence he's dug up just as lucy leaves the vault • "i do this shit for the love of the game" he's a character, he's playing a character, real theatre kid • hence why cooper is introduced as "the ghoul", cooper is long gone • "us cowpokes, we take it as it comes" something about this lineee

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Imo I’d suggest writing it bc some people haven’t read everything (me tbh) and so idk who ur guys r or what their personalities r etc, but most importantly for u, if u wanna write it then u totally should, no matter what u think other people will think❤️

Anon, thank you LOL, I was going into quite the silly spiral. Anyway, I have A LOT of things to say about blorbos, so I’ll just talk about two who probably won’t get much fleshing out because I write piecemeal for them and their story isn’t really something that’s gonna be on AO3 or anything because they’re backstory characters.

Rambles under the cut :D

Orik/Link, Hero of Power – Born of a Hylian mother and a Sheikah father, Link lost his mother to childbirth and his father to illness shortly after. He was raised in his father’s culture, collectively raised by multiple families that pitched in to look after orphans after the illness that killed many in their tribe. Link went by the name Orik during his childhood, as Sheikah viewed the name Link as sacred, and not to be given to Sheikah children. He liked the name Link, though, and wanted to have something of his mother’s. He kept a shawl she wore and used it as a blanket when he was little, and later as a scarf when he was older. The cloth and the name were all he had of her.

Throughout his childhood, Link could tell that while he was considered part of the tribe, there were some who viewed him as being beneath the others. He once heard his father’s best friend say that Orik was his father’s greatest mistake, and it stuck with him. Link naturally seeks the approval of others (he is a MAJOR people pleaser), and he wants to prove himself to his people, so he strives to be the best warrior in the entire tribe. He makes a name for himself by becoming the youngest to pass the trials into adulthood, doing so at the age of 12. Once he does, this, he basically has to fend for himself now.

When Link turns twelve, his entire life changes. He has earned some respect from his elders, and he’s eager to continue doing so. He was always a quieter boy, and when he becomes a guard, he’s dutiful, obedient, and generally a little shy and not talkative. It makes him come across as either incredibly stoic or unnervingly/annoyingly lifeless. Despite his quiet, demure nature, though, Link is very keen and observant. He’s vigilant of his environment, and is pretty good at getting a vibe for people. However, he’s now forced into a position of responsibility given to adults, and he kind of just… skips over the development he should get in adolescence. Link has spent a good portion of his childhood trying to prepare himself for adulthood before he even became a teenager, so he’s internalized a lot at this point. He keeps his emotions to himself. He bows and obeys. He doesn’t argue, even if he doesn’t like something. It isn’t until Hemisi drags him out of himself, and until the war forces him to step up, that he really starts to come into his own.

As such, Link’s entire life centers around and stops at the war. He was so stifled as a kid, self-imposed but very much affected by his environment, and so the war is both horrible and freeing. He finally stepped forward to make his own decisions when he saw the casualties at the Battle of Hyrule Field, despite King Ozen’s orders for all the Sheikah—his best warriors—to remain at the castle. Link chose to join the war, and when he was going to sneak off to do so, acquiesced to Princess Zelda’s wish to sneak out with him so they could investigate something. What she sought was the Master Sword, as she suspected Link was the Hero, and he only drew the sword because ordered to. Being the Hero to him is a privilege, and granting him the approval and attention he sought as a child, but he really doesn’t know what to do with it once he has it. It does give him something he isn’t used to having: agency. While he obeys his queen, his status as Hero gives him the ability to befriend her as well, not just follow her orders. While he has a heavy destiny on his shoulders, he chooses to fight against Ganondorf, despite his feelings for him, because he wants to do what’s right. His agency slips through his fingers as the war progresses, as he loses himself to the constant fighting, and it isn’t until the war’s end that he feels like he finally has a chance to make his own life in marrying Hemisi, someone he is madly in love with, and rebuilding together.

And it’s all taken away when he has to marry Zelda instead.

Link’s marriage to Zelda… basically destroys him for a long time. He lost Hemisi, someone who treated him like a person and didn’t bother with the formalities and protocols that plagued his life, someone who made him feel like he could break the rules and have fun and be himself, someone he had just gotten back in the war after losing her initially to it, someone who shared his pain in losing a father figure, in having to kill said father figure. He feels like he shackled himself to the throne, having to obey every whim of the queen to make Hyrule look strong. More than anything, though, he feels like he finally did what he’d been trying to do his entire life: the Sheikah were more proud of him than ever, Hyrule adored him and recognized him and his abilities, Zelda needed him… and he felt completely powerless. He finally got the approval he sought and then realized it was pointless.

This, in turn, leads him to completely spiral. What’s the point of his life, if everything he sought was for nothing? He’d never had a father figure in his life until Ganondorf, only to lose him and have to kill him. Hemisi was his entire world, helping him discover himself and he adored her, only to have to abandon her. He’d tried again and again to make the Sheikah proud, and when he finally did he felt like he’d enslaved himself more than ever. And more than anything, it was his choice – Zelda didn’t force the matter. But he’s always done his duty, and really, why wouldn’t he try to help? He wasn’t going to abandon his entire country for his own needs and wants. That’s selfish. He can’t possibly put himself first like that. It’s wrong. It’s wrong.

So why the hell does everything feel so wrong now?

Link spends years trying to figure out his life after this, to figure out who he is and whether he even has freedom or not. He feels like he doesn’t, and given that he never really had a full childhood, he does not know how to cope with it. Despair, confusion, loss, hopelessness and frustration brew into bitterness and anger, and he does not know how to stop it. He’s prone to melancholy, usually being depressed and sluggish, until he’s pushed to a point of rage, because he doesn’t know how else to express his emotions anymore. He was trained to fight and kill. It’s all he knows. And now he’s stuck in a position where that isn’t entirely needed, and he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do aside from bow his head and do everything Zelda says.

He tries to pick himself up. If nothing else, for the sake of the children he made with the queen. They deserve better than what he’s doing. But it takes him years, and a lot of his anger and hurt is focused on the queen since she, buckling under her own pressure, orders him around expecting him to be okay with just obeying blindly since he agreed to the marriage.

Someday, Link learns to live with everything. Sort of. For the most part. At the very least, he learns to live. He focuses on helping the Sheikah, on developing their technology. He gets Terrako as a gift from the scientists for all the effort he puts into it. He tries to rekindle a healthy relationship with Zelda, though that takes much longer as they’re both hot messes with too much baggage to know what to do with. He tries to be a good father for his children. But he struggles hard, and sometimes he gets angry at himself for doing so - he’s not a child anymore, why can’t he just deal with this? (Because you never learned how, Link. You moron.)

Link loses himself when the war ends, what little he’d managed to find. It takes him over a decade to get that back. He doesn’t entirely succeed… not in time for his early death. But he does try. And he looks out for his family and his kingdom as best he can.

Queen Zelda, the Sacred Diplomat – Zelda spent her childhood mostly in solitude. Her father, King Ozen, was the second son of the previous monarchs, and watched his older brother get assassinated because his claim to the throne was viewed as weak both due to his weak magic and the fact that he was a man. As such, when Ozen had Zelda, he flaunted her existence like a badge of honor and a certification of authenticity. Zelda, however, wasn’t really given any leeway to do anything as princess. She was kept in the castle, like a bird in a cage, to be admired and viewed but not touched or spoken to. Her mother died when she was little, leaving her entirely under her father’s rule. While her father was weak and paranoid, though, Zelda has an inner strength that is not to be trifled with, and she dreamed of gaining her birthright and becoming queen.

During her childhood, Zelda really wanted to make sure she was ready to rule, thinking that her father would of course give her the throne when she came of age. She tried to seek his approval as best she could, and while she seemed to get it in some ways because she’s the princess, it never felt completely genuine. So she stepped up her game to be the best princess ever, learning everything of the politics of Hyrule, learning especially how to wield her magic as best as possible. She dreamed of becoming queen, of being the best queen there was, and of protecting and taking care of her people. Her family history and responsibilities were seen as stories of heroes to her, and she wanted to add to that story, proud of being able to take care of so many.

As the years went by, Zelda saw her father systematically tear Hyrule apart by allowing anyone who sweet talked him to gain power. She tried arguing to no avail, and by the time she was in mid adolescence she started to realize that maybe her father did not have the kingdom’s best interests at heart. She tried to hold on to hope, though, until she saw him fumbling the war and not taking Ganondorf’s threat seriously.

She took matters into her own hands. On the eve of her seventeenth birthday, fueled by confidence over the fact that she bore the Triforce of Wisdom, she overthrew her father with the help of Impa and half the Sheikah. Zelda regrets to the end of her days how her relationship with her father unraveled, as he wasn’t always particularly bad to her (they had plenty of good moments, but his paranoia outweighed everything), but she still thought the duty of her family was more important than her father’s approval.

Because of her mostly isolated upbringing, Zelda is very naïve to the emotions of others. She learns how to manipulate people quickly, but can sometimes lack empathy – she will 100% trample someone’s feelings if she thinks she needs to in order to accomplish a goal. She has a compassionate heart, but it hardens if the objective and the emotions clash. Most of the time, it isn’t even on purpose – she’ll order Link to bring their daughter and accompany her on a tour of Hyrule because she knows the people of Hyrule will want to see the royal family, because marrying Link and creating a family was for the benefit of creating stability and bringing hope to her people. She doesn’t bear in mind that Link’s suffering—she doesn’t even realize it for a long time, too caught up in her own stress and duties—or that showing their daughter off to the world to make people happy is exactly what her father did to her. She doesn’t understand why Link is so melancholy initially, and as for her his relationship with Hemisi, Zelda knew they were close, but clearly they couldn’t have been that close if Link chose to marry her anyway, right? Duty comes first anyway.

Zelda struggles in being a mother. She wants to be there for her children but she doesn’t know how – her parents were never there for her, after all. She spends time with them, nourishes them, loves them, but sometimes the best way she shows she cares is to drag her daughter into politics to teach her so that the nobles can’t take advantage of her, and Link hates that.

As for her personal feelings for Link, he’s one of the first people around her age to ever act normal around her. She loved his friendship during the war, and she doesn’t understand why it’s changed – she knows she isn’t necessarily in love with him, and that he isn’t in love with her, but he agreed to the marriage, so why is he acting like he doesn’t like it? It was his choice, after all. This frustrates her, and sometimes she can’t help snapping at him when he seems to be slacking off. After all, she’s got nobles nipping at her heels trying to take back the power she’s slowly siphoning away from them, given to them foolishly by her father. Sometimes Link helps her out, but most of the time he’s still struggling with his own issues and trying to raise their children while she’s consumed by her desire to take care of everyone. Zelda finds her happiness through protecting others, and she really enjoys the satisfaction of seeing her plans work, and it can make her enjoy manipulating people a little too much sometimes. Despite this, she genuinely wants what’s best for Hyrule, and she wants to make her husband happy too, even if she’s not sure why he isn’t already. (Talk to him, Zelda. Talk to him. Oh, wait, they both suck at expressing their emotions.)

Zelda is not a trusting person. She has too many enemies for that. So she keeps her thoughts and feelings close to her chest, which can cause hiccups with Link. However, she trusts Impa implicitly, considering the Sheikah chief literally had to overthrow the king and her own people in aiding Zelda’s coup. Impa fills the void of a mentor and mother figure for Zelda, and she is eternally grateful for her counsel, but sometimes, having been told her entire childhood that she knows nothing and should keep her head down whenever she tried to advise/talk to her father about matters, she gets fairly defensive. She does not appreciate being corrected by anyone aside from Impa, and she can get a bit dicey about it even with the Sheikah chief sometimes. But she tries to recognize that wisdom means knowing when one doesn’t know something – it’s just a sore spot for her.

Despite her not trusting easily—at all—and despite her having a difficult time figuring out what’s wrong with Link, she does try to reach out to him multiple times to extend an olive branch. Sometimes she rescinds it with her own mistakes, and sometimes he smacks it out of her hand with his own flaws. But eventually, they rebuild a friendship, partly with the help of Impa being injured in an attack organized by Ozen’s loyalists (nobles who know he’ll give them power if he’s back on the throne) – Link and Zelda both love Impa dearly, and they’ll put aside any differences to protect her (Link will burn the world to the ground if he has to, Zelda will temper that but inadvertently cause emotional damage, Link will temper her lack of empathy in turn).

In the end, Link and Zelda have similar backgrounds with very different results. Both wanted to prove themselves, one to his culture by becoming the best warrior and a dutiful servant, the other to her father and herself. They both have a lot of grit. Link’s far more sensitive, basing his identity on the approval of others, while Zelda bases her identity on her ability to take care of her people. This means Link was drowning when he got married and realized that the approval of others only left him feeling more enslaved than ever and unable to make decisions for himself, while Zelda was thriving when she got married because she was doing everything to save everyone. The roles reversed as time passed, when Zelda started to wonder if her efforts truly were worth it when problems continued to arise and she saw Link suffering, while Link started to step up and try to take advantage of the situation he was in and help Zelda.

[nerdyvocals]

Need to know your thoughts on Cynthia putting on that jacket when they get home from the dance. Cause I have a couple theories which both might be false.

1. The jacket is their father’s jacket and Cynthia needed some type of love so put the jacket on for comfort.

2. The jacket could be what Cynthia wanted to wear to the dance…

Would love to know your thoughts on this scene.

Hooo boy I am so glad someone asked me specifically about this, because I am actually very qualified to talk about it!!!

If you don't know me; Hi, I'm Levi, I am a theatre student, I'm currently working toward a degree in costume design and technology, and I have Big Opinions on clothing. Before I actually start talking about said opinions, let me first give a quick rundown on Costumes 101. Disclaimer: my education has been largely in the realm of stage production, but in Costume Land there is a very large overlap between stage and screen, with the main differences being on the technical side, which I will get more into later. That said, given the genre and tone of this show, my stage knowledge will apply.

And a word of warning: this anon has released a beast and this is going to be a long post, therefore I am putting my analysis under the cut. Also, apologies to those I tag, just want to make sure images and gifs get their proper credit.

Now, first and foremost, the purpose of costume on both screen and stage is to give insight into each character and passively tell a story. Therefore, nothing is coincidence and everything is intentional. Color, silhouette, piece, and style are all meticulously selected to bring a character to life and tell the audience who they are.

Example: In the live yesterday, Tricia Fukuhara mentioned requesting a beret she saw in the costume shop for Nancy, and while they did end up putting Nancy in several hats, she was told berets specifically were reserved for another character, Lydia. We do actually see another thespian with a beret, Alice (who IMDb tells me is played by Emilee Nimetz), which has... interesting implications, but that's for another post.

So let's see what we're working with here.

(gif by @stbot)

The first thing I notice is fairly obvious: this coat doesn't fit. That shoulder seam should be sitting right on the ball of their shoulder (think top of the shoulder cap); it's nearly halfway down their upper arm. Think it looks long here? Even when they're standing, it hits about mid-thigh. Not to mention that the sleeves themselves are baggy and way too long. They are swimming in this coat.

What does this mean? This coat isn't Cynthia's.

One could argue that it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that Cynthia would own an ill-fitting coat; given the time period, I imagine it would be hard for a girl to find men's clothing in her size. Except, for the most part, Cynthia's masc clothing does fit.

(gif by @greasegifs)

(gif by @wlwshipper)

(gif by @greasegifs)

(Image by @jealous-kippen)

Cynthia clearly has no problem finding men's clothing that fits. That said, there are technical reasons behind why a garment must fit beyond story-telling. Namely: actors' safety.

Out of any single one of Cynthia's looks, I would argue that this monstrosity:

(Image credit: promo shot)

would be the most likely candidate for ill-fitting garment, character-wise. Everything we know about Cynthia suggests that they aren't the type of person to buy a dress they will likely only wear once (i.e., they are poor: single-parent home, always hungry, excitement over free food (Buddy's campaign candy), and it appears that they live in an apartment).

All this to say, it would make sense for this dress in particular to not fit, and yet, it does. Why? There's a dance scene. While the hand jive itself is not a particularly intensive dance move, Ari is standing on tables, climbing on cars, jumping, crouching, all manner of things that would be dangerous to do in a garment that was too big.

(Side note: I've seen quite a few people suggest that this is an old dress or possibly a hand-me-down from somewhere, or if anything, purchased second-hand. I have reason to believe it's not, but again, that's another post).

Of course, Ari, and by extension, Cynthia, isn't doing anything in the Coat Scene (tm) that would endanger them by wearing something too big. Even still, given their previous wardrobe, it's out of place. And like I said before, nothing is coincidence and everything is intentional. And why is it significant that the coat is too big? Because nothing else that Cynthia wears is.

Now, all this was a very long-winded way to say that this is Papa Zdunowski's coat. It's clearly not Cynthia's, and their dad is the only other person they live with. So yes, dearest Anon, your theory is most definitely correct.

Cynthia had just had probably one of the worst nights in their young life. Their friend group has fallen apart, they've messed up big time with their oldest friend, Richie has been arrested, and they're being forced to confront that they are queer. They come home to an empty house, either literally (dad's still at the shop and mom hasn't been there in a long time) or figuratively (dad's asleep, and mom hasn't been there in a long time). Either way, it's not like they can really talk to anyone about what's been going on with them. But they desperately need comfort. So what do they do?

They wear their father's coat like a hug and get drunk on the couch.

Thank you and good night.

(if anyone wants to hear the costume tangents I forced myself to avoid or just wants to hear more costume rants, feel free to hit up my ask box or dms. I chose this career for a reason and if you give me permission, I Will Not Shut Up.)

[forever-will-last]

How did this amazing polycule come to be? Both in verse and in the discord if it isn't too much trouble

Sooooo in verse? I don't have an answer LOL the lovely thing about crackfic is you don't always really need an explanation for stuff like this. I have no idea how this polycule came to be but what I DO know is that the in verse characters do NOT follow canon. There was no burn book. There was no bus. Regina still got her back fucked up at one point (not entirely sure how yet, or if I'll go into the details of whatever accident she did have at all) but that's just bc I love disabled and chronically ill Regina and want to write her into some of the one shots.

When did these characters meet? Was it high school? Was it college? Who fucking knows! All I know is the EARLIEST in their four years we'll see is the fall semester of their sophomore (second, for the non Americans) year of college with occasional references to things that happened spring semester freshman year (I only mention this bc I literally reference exactly one thing from freshman year in chapter 3, not sure if itll ever pop up again) because I'm being purposefully vague about it. Maybe later on into writing in this verse I'll have more of a concrete answer but I wouldn't count on it lmfao.

As for the discord server, that I CAN give a better answer on! And this is going to be the WILDEST answer of all time so hang in there.

So we have channels for three different poly ships in our ships channel list on that server: one for Polystics (Regina/Gretchen/Karen (and sometimes Cady, depending on the person/mood/setting/etc)), one for Nightmare Blunt Rotation (Regina/Cady/Janis) and one for Dream Blunt Rotation (Cady/Gretchen/Karen). Now, Nightmare Blunt Rotation as a joke predates me joining that server, so I can't really give you much on how THAT came to be, but Dream Blunt Rotation's name was spawned as a riff on the other, obviously.

Literally just last week we were having one of our "blending sessions" where we basically just brainstorm back and forth about what a specific character or characters would do in a specific situation that can be varying degrees of angst. For example, one of these blending sessions is actually how the entirety of the first Dead!Aaron AU Fic came to be.

In this particular session we were taking a deeper dive into "what if Regina jumped in front of the bus and it wasn't an accident" essentially and I had said something along the lines of "Sui***** Regina in any partnership (take your pick from the standard and adjust their reactions accordingly) where she doesn't let on that there's anything wrong until an attempt."

I was primarily thinking of Cady, Janis, and Gretchen when I sent that, as those are the big three Regina x ___ ships in that server, but someone else said "consider Polystics where she attempts bc she thinks the other two would be better off without her" and this had me thinking. What if there was an insane polycule of Polystics + Cady + Janis...

So I asked the fateful question of "do we have a silly name for this yet like NBR and DBR?" The original suggested names were "Pile of Lesbians", "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall", "Mean Girls", and then... The brilliant Tumblr user Sexycornenthusiast busted out "The Psych Ward" and that was it. We all laughed really fucking hard and knew that had to be the insane name.

This all happened on 4/17 and then on 4/20 I got astronomically high as god intended but I really wanted to write. Now, I have a rule for myself where I don't write fic I intend to publish when I'm high or drunk bc I generally write very serious fic (I cannot imagine what hell chapter of a thousand pictures i would have put out with the level of high I was). But I still REALLY wanted to write so I was like fuck it and asked for one-shot suggestions.

Someone recommended hitting Regina with progressively weirder things throughout the day, as we have an ongoing joke about the various shit Regina gets hit by in fanfic (there's a PHENOMENAL cadina fame au another server member wrote where Regina gets hit by a golf cart and then in my main fic a thousand pictures Regina gets hit by a chair). I loved that idea but was like "wait what ship should I write this with bc I want the first thing to be her getting elbowed by her partner when she wakes up" and someone suggested psych ward and that was it. I knew what I had to do.

After I wrote that one shot i started getting more ideas for this crackfic and decided to make a one shot collection set in the same AU because fuck it. The world needs more crackfic and by God does the world need more psych ward.

(final fun fact before I end this behemoth of a post - I tagged every possible duo/trio of psych ward on the fic on AO3 because I do intend to have at least one chapter dedicated to each possible pairing or trio and there are SEVERAL tags where this is now the only fic in its tag and SEVERAL of the trio tags I had to fully type out because they straight up did not exist at all LMFAO)

[yukidragon]

Hi Yuki! I just want to say that I adore the character Alice and all the writing you do for her! Her personality, her backstory and family, and especially her story with Jack are always such a joy to read, and I love learning her lore or how she'd act in different scenarios! 💞 If it's alright to ask, I am also attempting to write a character who experiences a similar chronic pain/illness as Alice, but I'm having trouble finding information. Do you have any recommendations or references? Thanks!

Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm so glad that you like Alice, her family, and her story, as well as all the AU variants involving her. It really makes me happier than I can express that you and others like her so much.

Well... if it comes to chronic pain/illness, there's no one size fits all. You need to decide what sort of condition feels right for your character, and what you feel comfortable enough to explore with tact and empathy. After that, it's a good idea to look for places where people who have those conditions feel comfortable enough to talk about them publicly. Medical pages can give information about symptoms, but they don't paint the full picture about what it's like to live with that sort of condition. Chronic illness/pain takes a mental toll on the people who live with them as well as their loved ones, and personal accounts can tell a lot more than medical textbooks about the human side of things.

For instance, the reference I use for Alice's illness is from, well, my life. She has the same chronic illness that I suffer from. She's the first character that I've felt comfortable enough to express this very personal part of myself and explore it in various ways.

I'm afraid that I can't tell you what the condition is called... because the doctors don't have a name for it. That's why I intentionally chose not to name it in writing. Not naming it is its own form of self-indulgence for me, if I'm being honest.

Admittedly, I allowed Alice's reality to be kinder to her, and in her world doctors do know what it is and have a treatment for it, if not a cure. She can live a normal life with minimal pain as long as she takes medication, with only the occasional intense flare up, like I wrote about in this post.

Honestly, this is something that I really love about fandoms like SDJ and the OCs made for it. We're all encouraged to put larger pieces of ourselves into our OCs and really explore parts of ourselves that we might have been too worried to touch on. Alice is a very special character for me because through her and the fandom I've grown comfortable enough to finally explore a character with my same condition in fiction.

Alice isn't a self-insert of me, as there are still plenty of differences between us and our experiences, but I can't tell you how freeing it's been to explore these elements of my life through her. Every character has a piece of their author in them, and Alice is the first one I've given some of my harshest pieces. That's why I'm so, so appreciative when you and others tell me that you like her too. Thank you so much.

With that said, I'm afraid that I can't point you to a specific website for references on writing about characters with chronic illness/pain. I do think it's very admirable that you want to write a character who deals with that. Honestly, I would have loved to have seen more in fiction as I grew up with my illness. There's something truly special about being able to relate to a character on such a personal level, especially when they're going through something similar to what you struggle with. It makes me happy seeing characters who struggle with such harsh conditions still managing to have adventures, happy relationships, and memorable experiences.

Something I can suggest is to approach the subject with empathy. A chronic condition means that there is no magic cure for it, at least not completely. Often times there are ways to treat it, or at least manage it, even if it's something as simple as taking it easy and accepting that some things are more of a challenge for someone with that condition.

A chronic condition is something that someone must simply live with, but that doesn't mean they can't live full and fulfilling lives. If anything, it makes me happy to see someone with chronic pain/illness being the hero. I loved Eda from the Owl House all the more because she was living with a chronic condition, even if it was a magical curse. It makes me happy seeing stories that explore that sort of struggle.

A chronic condition is another challenge for a character to face and overcome. It's a constant struggle, but it can be rewarding to persevere and succeed in spite of the added difficulty. It's also something that can leave them feeling vulnerable, and how they deal with that can tell you a lot about that character. It can also serve as an opportunity to explore how the people around them will react when someone they know has to deal with a chronic condition that can't be cured, and how they continue to deal with it as an outside observer.

Good luck with your writing and crafting your character. I eagerly look forward to seeing what you create, and I hope you have a fun and fulfilling experience. 💗

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur

[kiasnocturnality]

How do you come up with names for your ocs? They're so cool!

hehehe I'll never get tired of answering this question, I love talking ab naming them <3

ALOIS LEBLANC came from a list of 15th century French boys names and I liked how it means famous warrior bc it suits him. The Leblanc house is a huge name in the night court and he might have suffered great loss but he came back with vengeance and reclaimed the estate and status that his family has lost as its last remaining member - this was a all the talk of the night court for decades when they found that the Leblanc house had not, in fact, been entirely wiped out. Leblanc simply means 'the white' as it relates to the albinism gene in his family - you can read all about the significance of albinism in house Leblanc here.

NASANA is just based on the phonetic sound! It's an entirely made-up name and I liked how the consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel pattern with the s in there gives his name a slithery sound - very fitting for a naga!

TAKESHI was actually chosen by @edenspetals from a list of names that I had (I'd already looked into the meanings though and liked the warrior theme to the name as it suits Takeshi's bloody past). She's got the biggest sway over my creation of his character hehe

DESDEMONA NAUSIKÁA was very nearly called Adrienne because it means 'dark lady from the sea' which suits a dark-haired siren very well! (As I write this I'm considering making it her middle name hehe). However I left the choice between Desdemona and Adrienne down to @itseivwhore who chose Desdemona! I really enjoyed studying Othello and Desdemona was one of my favourite characters. My Des and Shakespeare's are two very different women but I quite like the contrast. Desdemona means 'ill-fated' which I think it fitting for a siren who was born from a human woman's violent death. Nausikáa means 'burner of ships' - perhaps a link to how she died? She cannot remember ;)

APHAELEON definitely has the most metaphoric name. It's a different spelling of the astronomical term 'aphelion' which is simply something's furthest point of orbit from the sun. In this metaphor, the sun represents holiness and Aphae's name therefore puts him at the furthest point from holiness but he has convinced himself that his way, his aphelion actually makes him more holy than anything that's ever been seen before. Aphae has a lot of solar imagery to him, right down to his name!

VA'ARINIEL is another entirely name up name that took me around an hours to come up with I think lol. I knew that I wanted her to have a sharp and uncommon letter at the start of the name like a V or Z and the apostrophe was to name her name seem unusual/uncommon to emphasise the distance between our world and the fae court. The -iniel' ending was to make her name seem more feminine and is inspired by fem Tolkien elves!

TARUQU'INEL is another name up name. I really loved the name Tarhuinn from a Wattpad book (Children of the Water) that I read years ago and so his name is based off that one. I've always adored the name! I wanted Taruqu'inel's name to be able to be shortened to something a little more playful too in order to convey his stolen youth and how he's much softer than his advisors make him out to be so Taru was perfect! The '-inel' ending was to match Va'ari's but for different reasons. @itseivwhore suggested I do so to emphasise their familial relation and I thought it was right to do so and wouldn't name his name seem feminine unlike Va'ari's as it had the stronger, sharper R and Q sounds. (I'm sorry but so much of this is just based on my own phonetic perceptions lol).

KHIONE was actually decided in a poll!! The most popular results were Winter, Delwyn or Khione and Khione won! Khione means 'snow' (fitting for an ice dragon) and is based on a nymph of Greek mythology who was turned into a snow cloud by Hermes!

[itsnothingofinterest]

Not worries, I get it. In fact, I prefer that response anyway since you all actually explained the issues I’ve been thinking about in the the more recent chapters. At the end of the day the stakes are pretty much nonexistent and there’s definitely a lot of arbitrary nonsense happening in the hopes it’ll kept the story going. Kind of hard to take it seriously when they slapped characters like Hanzo, a guy who can shape water to his whims, on an island where it’s more than likely he got curb-stomped offscreen.

Still, the leaks we got helped stir some interest since Ochaco is finally showing that she’s been listening. Although I admit the cynic in me has me going “Don’t listen to her Toga, it’s manipulation, plain and simple! Go and and get your chicken dinner before it gets cold!” But who knows? Maybe we’ll actually get some real development rather than usual Tell don’t Show routine we’ve been getting.

(In response to this (see here for the extended version), and specifically my tags in the initial post: #I imagine you probably wanted an answer more focused on the heroes disrespect to their opponents #Just judging by your wording #But this problem feels too rooted in the writing itself for me to give that answer; sorry.)

I know right?

Like, I heard it said by a hero stan that the massive power imbalance is rectified by AFO & TomurAFO being Aizen/Madara levels of unbeatable. But I just cannot see that due to how we have seen the get beaten. Tomura got beat in Jaku by like 12 guys, and then barely escaped Star & Stripe with his life and a heavy nerf to his powers. And AFO just got pushed to the edge by just 4 heroes, 2 of whom are high-schoolers.

And that’s just what the named heroes have done, and low estimated of the total hero numbers has them make up ~5% of them. Any assumption that the heroes are in danger kind of has to assume the nameless heroes are completely irrelevant to proceedings, instead of the OP hyper-competent agents they’ve been presented as so far, and also that all the named characters suddenly have a tenth of the skill they were last seen having. Because any serious fight involving either AFO quickly reveals, while they are powerful, just how in over his head AFO is to think his remaining 5 powerful villains can take on the over-saturated hero forces of an entire country. The power ratio of this war so far is like that of a fully-armed SWAT team raiding a one-man meth lab while said man’s asleep.

Also I totally get what you mean about hoping one of the kids have finally gotten the villains’ words through their think skulls, but also cynically worried they’re just trying to manipulate them. Or maybe “manipulate” is the wrong word, but like: The few attempts made of the kids to save the villains can sometimes feel kind of self-serving; as they keep telling the villains to change while never suggesting the heroes need to change anything. Even though if the heroes win while learning nothing and convinced they were always in the right & the villains always in the wrong; another set of naturally-occurring misanthropes are just gonna form a new League in the next 20 years and plunge society back into the bad state it’s in right now.

But the heroes don’t care about any of that, or what they need to do to stop it. They’re the good guys, why would they be responsible for society’s ills? They just want the villains to surrender so they can win and everything go back to normal already.

[kimageddon]

Sins of the Father - 3:6

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Maul x Nightsister OC (Zaiya Valessa) - Modern/Crime AU -

Word count: Approx 2200 Contains/Warnings: Mentions of violence, death, fire, toxic behaviour/relationships and manipulation. Chapter Summary: Palpatine has a meeting with one of his contacts and reminisces about the past. Notes: (at the end!)

Devilish When Respectable

“Is this the place sir?” the driver asked, and Palpatine looked up from his tablet. Indeed they were in the agreed upon location. A storage facility, and one that was far from any of his other businesses. He had a unit here, under an alias, it was one that held some… sentimental things. It was the perfect place to meet an undesirable fellow that he could not trust anyone else to stand in his stead. 

“Yes,” Palpatine replied and put down the tablet, donning a pair of sunglasses and adjusting his long coat. “Drop me here and wait around the corner, I will summon you when I am finished.” The old man instructed, and covered his head with a hat. He took up his old-fashioned cane as he stepped out of the luxury vehicle, the driver leaving him there as instructed. 

Palpatine walked into the warehouse and past the men standing guard just inside the doorway. He swept past, they knew better than to stop him, and made his way up the stairs to a mostly empty  office above where many of the storage units lay,  where his ‘guest’ awaited him. 

In the room stood a hunched figure, wearing a leather jacket with a hood, a black tshirt, and cargo pants tucked into combat boots. A quick glance spotted a knife tucked into one boot and dog tags hanging around his neck. The most striking aspect of this man, was of course the eyes that peered out from behind a skull-like mask. Grungy white and two red lines painted down almost like tears. 

“I saw your work,” Palpatine said with no preamble. “Well done, I should imagine that she will have a hard time avoiding questions.” He chuckled and reached into his coat pocket. 

“I wasn’t expecting her to rush out when she did… but it does throw a dispersal on her character,” the man rasped in an accent Palpatine could not place, his voice further disguised by the mask. He let out a cough, and Palpatine could not tell if he was ill or simply smoked. 

“It doesn’t matter, it works out for both of us in the end.” Palpatine handed the man an envelope, stuffed full of notes, payment for a job completed. 

“Do you have any other work you wish me to carry out?” the man asked. 

“Not currently, but be assured, I know that if I need a job done, I know who to call, Grievous,” Palpatine chuckled at the little name the man had given himself. He was sure it was probably very scary to the little people on the street and made the man feel like he was powerful. How quaint. 

“Heh, I am sure you do, a man like you will have many enemies I am sure. The rich always do,” Grievous laughed, which again became a cough. Palpatine regarded him coolly. 

“I shall contact you if I need anything further,” the older man said dismissively. With a nod of his head, Grievous turned away and strode out of the office, their business complete. Palpatine waited a few minutes to hit send on the message ready to be sent to the driver, and by the time he’d sauntered back down to the street, the car was pulling up. 

There was a lot to think about. Now that Amidala had survived, there would be more planning in regards to the campaign, just in case she was foolish enough not to give up her bid for his seat. 

She would not win of course. Already he had his people asking the questions of self-sabotage, and having evidence suggest a story that he wanted. There wasn’t much to it, the only point that irritated him was the way the Skywalker boy defended her. Anakin was supposed to be his son! Swearing fealty to his adopted Father… Ungrateful whelp. Still, the boy remained  useful, until that usefulness ended, he would keep trying to convince Anakin to give him information on Amidala. He could at least do that. 

He read through the tablet as they drove back to his office, having removed the hat, glasses and coat. He decided he had to visit the accountant soon, to get an idea on how his current operations were going. It would be quite the trip but he did not like to go too long without checking in. 

The tablet chimed and he opened the file, ah, he’d been waiting on this report. His watery blue eyes scanned the information and he smirked. So… Maul had decided to make an alliance. With a transport company of all things. Palpatine let out a little chuckle. He wondered if Maul’s gang of miscreants had taken the merger well. Was the boy going to get himself into more trouble or was he going to actually succeed for once?

He kept scrolling, reading through the information, a little smug smirk on his wrinkled face. 

“Stupid boy,” he muttered to himself, “ don’t you know you're nothing without me…?” He shook his head. The fool could try as much as he wanted, but unless he came crawling back, he would amount to nothing! Just seeing how far he had fallen made Palpatine’s lip curl in disgust. How very pathetic and pitiful the Zabrak had become. Perhaps taking the boy with him back then was not the best choice… but he had at least served his purpose thus far. 

As the wheels turned in his mind, Palpatine wondered if Maul could become useful again, perhaps, if someone were to dig too deeply, there would need to be someone to stand in as the perpetrator? 

That could be easily arranged. 

══════════════════

Returning to his office, he had his secretary fetch him a coffee, it was all he really kept her around for… that and keeping his appointments in check. She was efficient and good at keeping things in order… but beyond that, social interactions she was practically braindead. 

All the better to avoid asking questions that did not need answers. The fewer idiots he had to deal with, the better. 

He took to his chair, and turned it from his desk, looking out at the setting sun over his city. For it was his city. And he did not plan on letting it go. 

Once, he had been forced to surrender control of the little isolated town that had once been firmly under his control. Were it not for that foolish woman spreading her malfeasance. She had always caused trouble for him, though his fondness for her had blinded him to her treachery. He should have known better than to give in to such weakness. 

He was older now, he had learned to be stronger. 

Once, the little town housed a thousand people or so, and all would hang on his every word. They would obey his laws, his commands. He was their prophet -- he spoke and it was gospel. 

In his youth he had never found religion to be of great interest, though when people believed, when they had Faith… well they would do almost anything. He had taken an interest then. When a person had Faith, they would do almost anything in its name.

Palpatine glanced at the tablet in his hand again, his eyes scanning the words. He remembered Maul’s mother… a woman far too like Palpatine himself. Oh they made a wonderful team, and she was indeed a great spiritual leader, but he could never fully trust her. She was too devious, too controlling, and she had started to believe the words they spouted. That was part of the danger.

True, one had to live it as genuinely as possible, but it was dangerous to let oneself fall completely into the role. One must remain above the narrative. It was this fact that meant the night of the fire, he’d been able to survive. 

He recalled all his loyal followers, how they had been so very devoted -- his sermons had been inspiring, had they not? So inspiring, he had been able to part his parishioners from their money, from their families and their own thoughts. He could scarcely believe how easy it was. Clearly his lessons and his words were helpful to those pathetic people. He wasn’t really saying anything wholly untrue. He had given them purpose! Meaning in their lives and a place to belong!

So often in life, people did not know their rightful place. They clawed for things that were never meant for them! Of course they would be unhappy if they were striving for something that was utterly unattainable. 

He had done wonders for those ignorant and pitiful people! He had given so much! The absolute disgrace made his stomach turn. Completely ungrateful! He had given so many years of his life and for what? 

The fire that had burned it all -- right when deliverance was at hand! He had finally showed them how powerful faith could be, and how they did not need all the trappings and luxuries forced on them by commercialism and the media. Extravagance was a false happiness! He had taught them that! Had they just listened to him, they could have lived calm and peaceful lives. They simply had to do as he had instructed! It was for their benefit after all. 

Palpatine let out a sigh as he stared out the window to the sky now stained a reddish purple. He soothed the front of his designer suit and reclined in his high-backed leather chair, his fingers tapping on the armrests. 

He had certainly learned his lesson, Faith was important, but it was not the only factor. Had he had more than Faith, that fire may not have happened had he had a little more than Faith. 

He remembered it blazing behind him as he’d fled into the night, the little Zabrak boy in tow.

“Father! Where are we going?!” the boy had asked, snivelling like the weak little child he was. Sidious had little patience for it. They had to go! 

“Keep moving boy!” Sidious snapped, dragging him by the wrist. “You will walk the path! You will keep your Faith!” They made their way through the dark, through the bushes and trees surrounding the little town. He’d had to prepare for this eventuality. Through the woods, in the darkness was a small shack and the only functioning vehicle outside of the ones he had authorised for his security committee. 

“Father, what is this place?” little Maul had asked, stumbling over sticks and rocks on the overgrown path. 

“Silence!” Sidious snarled, he’d had enough stupid questions. “Another word and I will leave you for God’s judgement in the dark where all of the Devil’s beasts lurk awaiting the Faithless that linger too long…” The boy whimpered but said nothing more. Smart enough to not be left behind to be savaged by wild cats it seemed. Upon reaching the shack, he unlocked it with a key around his neck, and threw the tarp off the car hidden beneath. An older model, but still in perfect working order. The keys were left in a safe at the back of the shed and only Sidious had the combination. Perfect for a quick escape, and also to protect it from anyone else being able to get in. 

In the distance, the fire had grown, perhaps the entire temple was ablaze now. Fine. If those ingrates wanted to stop his deliverance from God, they could all burn. Every one of them. Even his other children and his wife had proved a disappointment. The boy had only joined him out of fear. 

He did recall one… her blue eyes blazing as much as the flames that had begun to rise around her. She had not been afraid. She had been angry. Had he the chance, maybe he should have taken her instead. 

The car started after a spluttering start, and Father Sidious shoved Maul into the back and threw a blanket over him. 

“Not a sound,” he warned. 

The chaos back in the town, no one saw his car slip away into the inky darkness. He had learned much from the people of Dathomir, but their usefulness had come to an end. 

Let them burn.

He didn’t rightly know what had become of Dathomir since then. Was that fool Talzin still there? He wasn't sure, and that thought kept coming back to him. Perhaps he did need to ensure the past was dead and buried. 

The door opened and he heard his secretary entering. 

“Your coffee, sir,” she said quietly. 

“Just leave it on my desk if you please, Francesca,” he told her with a wave of his hand. He heard the clatter of the cup and then her retreating steps. Before she got to the door however, he spoke again. “Do you believe in God, Miss Burtoni?” he asked. He heard her steps pause. 

“Yes,” she replied and he smirked, still facing the city below. 

“You follow his teachings then? Go to church and obey your Priest?” 

“Yes of course,” she said with no hesitation. He almost laughed. 

“That’s very good, Miss Burtoni, I think that perhaps in these uncertain times, you will need Faith.” 

“I have faith, sir, always,” she assured him, then he heard her leaving the office. 

“I’m sure you do, girl,” Palpatine said quietly to himself. “Faith is important of course… but only if you have the power to bolster it. After all, there is no sacrifice too great for the sake of a true goal.” 

Notes: Hello! I hope you are all well! Apologies for the late chapter, I had a lot on my mind yesterday and I actually forgot what day it was! I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though there's not Zai or Maul, sometimes it's fun to delve into the mind of an asshat. I mean… villain. At least we got an itty bitty flashback in there! Lil Smaul being tormented in this AU too. T^T RIP.

As always, I appreciate all of your comments and feedback, it's really helpful and really makes me smile!

In the final verse of chapter 3-- Fives and Zaiya embark on their dangerous mission in: Beauty in Danger!

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[thesorcerersshadow]

i wanted to address these tags briefly, i hope you do not mind <3

okay, so, i generally agree that gaius is very flawed/less passive than he thinks he is (one of the major themes of this show, i'd argue, is that each of these characters have and make Choices, even if they don't always feel like they do) and his behavior/attitude toward edwin is not exceptionally appropriate or great. (also big agree on killing uther. everyone should kill uther forever.)

but i want to address this specifically—"i don't think we can discount edwin saying gaius gave people up"—because i don't think i was clear enough about something in my original post.

so, i don't think what edwin says here confirms anything about gaius giving people up during the purge.

*GAIUS You would betray another sorcerer? EDWIN You did. When you turned a blind eye and let my parents die at the hands of Uther! At least Merlin doesn't have a son who will try to rescue him from the flames!

*emphasis mine

the writers were very intentional in their wording when they had gaius say 'betray another sorcerer', because they wanted edwin to be able to turn those words back on gaius. if they were trying to insinuate gaius did give people up during the purge, they could very easily have had him say, "you would give up another sorcerer?"

but they didn't. edwin turns gaius' words back on him, but when he does, he positions the betrayal gaius committed as being one of inaction, of standing by and watching as edwin's parents/other sorcerers get executed. and while i am sympathetic to this (and am not even saying it's not betrayal, of a kind), gaius not intervening in uther's persecution of magic users during the purge is also not the same action as literally giving up names. i do think he's wrong to threaten to give edwin up here, but i do not see it as being indicative of previous behaviors. (i also want to lightly push back on edwin doing nothing else wrong besides threatening merlin; he also endangered morgana's life, when she is also not someone who has hurt him. whatever he/we may feel about uther, i don't think it's fair to hurt morgana because of it.)

in other conversations with characters present at the time of the purge (with kilgarrah, in this episode, with nimueh in le morte d'arthur), they, too, position him as a traitor, but once again, never implying he gave up names, but because he stood by while others died.

KILGHARRAH Then turn a blind eye. That is, after all, your talent.

NIMUEH With all my powers of prediction, I could never have foretold this. Gaius the hero. Why should I grant your wish? You stood and watched as our friends burned in the Great Purge. You are nothing but a traitor.

which, again. i am sympathetic to! i understand why each of these characters hate him.

but something i often feel gets left out of the conversation when the wider fandom talks about gaius is that he, too, was a magic user during the great purge and thus a member of the oppressed class. he was also in danger during the purge, and it has always appeared to me that the only reason he was spared was because he swore off magic and swore loyalty to uther.

which brings me to this:

UTHER I, my family, and my kingdom are deeply indebted to you. And in honour of this, I not only reinstate you as court physician, but henceforth, you are a *free man of Camelot.

*emphasis mine

this scene happens at the end of a remedy to cure all ills, and it is startling and significant to learn that gaius was not considered a free man prior to this. the show never really goes into this, so it's hard to know exactly what that means. but to me, the implications seems to suggest that gaius was spared during the great purge, but was still punished for his 'crime' of having practiced magic with some sort of indentured servitude, that only ends because uther decides he's finally loyal enough, and that has been his lived reality for twenty years. (again, i don't know exactly what the writers meant by this, but i think there are undeniable implications that fall somewhere along these lines.)

so, for me, there is no talking about gaius without understanding the fact that he was part of the oppressed class uther targeted and also suffers under uther's rule. (this won't even be the last time; see the witchfinder for another example.) does that justify everything he ever does? no. as i said, i do believe gaius is a very flawed person. but i do think he is also a more sympathetic one that often given credit for and the fact that he was, too, a magic user colors every single one of his actions, as gaius is, fundamentally, someone who was once very scared and didn't want to die.

the reason that i feel the need to delve into this a little further is that i often feel in these conversations, some of the criticism toward gaius affords him very little nuance or empathy (that people often do afford to other equally, though differently, flawed characters within the show) in ways that - i think very unintentionally! - reassign blame to him for things that are fundamentally uther's fault. gaius did stand by, and he'll have to live with that forever. but he was also one man with considerably less social, political, or military power than uther. he was also vulnerable and at risk at the time. he could not have single-handedly stopped the purge or talked uther down. in the purge, gaius did what he had to do to survive, though it's clear in multiple instances that he feels a lot of guilt over it. (we do, however, actually know of a few instances where he did intervene where he could - he helped balinor flee to ealdor and helped to smuggle baby!morgause out of camelot.) in the series, he definitely makes choices i don't agree with but it never escapes me that he is often trying to protect people (particularly merlin) in those situations, even if i think he's going about in the wrong way, and that the circumstances in which he's doing that are always under the oppressive environment that uther is causing.

“people like you and i, we must look after each other”

they obviously wanted this line to foreshadow edwin’s backstory and gaius’ role in it/inaction, but what he says to merlin here is in direct contrast to when he threatens to gaius to expose merlin to uther.

edwin falls into the pitfall that many of the antagonists-of-the-week in the show do, which is that, while his vendetta against uther (and his hatred of gaius) is understandable, he uses it to justify hurting other innocent people—including another magic user, despite what he claims he values. and while we absolutely can and should have discussions about WHY so many magic-user antagonists on the show were written that way, and what the creators are trying to say about resistance, in-universe we still have to analyze edwin’s actions accordingly.

merlin wasn’t around for the great purge, and he hasn’t yet done anything to edwin. he is relatively irrelevant to the conflict edwin has with uther & gaius, other than being Around and a vulnerable young magic user (that edwin has been lowkey manipulative toward.) but he’s willing to (or at least willing to threaten to) give merlin up when threatened. and while i have sympathy for that, it doesn’t actually excuse threatening merlin here, no matter his feelings toward uther or gaius.

also. i understand why edwin hates gaius, and i don’t begrudge him that. i’d probably hate him too if my parents were executed while he stood and watched and then continued to serve the regime. but the way edwin justifies himself for threatening merlin by spinning it back around on gaius—“you did”—doesn’t ring quite true to me. gaius did watch as people were executed during the great purge, but there’s nothing to suggest that he gave anyone up (and in fact, we know of a few instances where he helped people flee—balinor, baby!morgause), so it’s sort of a false equivalence. i think the far more appropriate comparison would be to point out that that’s what gaius is doing RIGHT NOW by threatening to expose him to the king.

[stellaferous]

MY GUIDE TO CREATING CHARACTERS

+ tips on creating a cast

@maydaywriting on instagram

my username here is my art account lmao

hello everyone this is my first writing advice post on Tumblr !! ill probably write advice here instead of editing it with nicer fonts behind a nicer background when i'm feeling lazy lol, today's post is about character-creating and i'll be talking about my method of creating characters (funnily enough i sometimes don't even follow my own guide and just do what works), it may not work for you but you may get some inspiration and find your own method instead !

typically, i either come up with a name or a design for the character i have in mind, usually a substance/job/trait will help me visualize what the character will look like/what their name should be:

e.g i have the word "space" in mind, so i either come up with a name that pertains to space (say, Stella) or i doodle down a random design that's space-related (for example, someone wearing saturn earrings, a blue/purple colour scheme, etc) — from there i expand my character and brainstorm more information such as backstory, personality, how they fit into the world, etc. 

i'm an artist so i don't have too much trouble drawing designs i have in my head, though if you need help visualizing your character you can use websites such as picrew to help you ! some people leave the design for last as it's the least of their priority but i personally love designing characters since it helps me come up with ideas to flesh them out + it's a neat way to show instead of tell -- i usually come up with these details while drawing them and i then write down anything that's interesting/important (its quite a messy process)

coming up with names can be tough, you can always choose something simple (like the Stella example i gave) or you could be a bit more creative and come up with a unique name to make your character more memorable — this character is named Minyi or 旻宜 (旻: heaven, 宜: suitable/proper)

you may want to choose a nationality for your character before designing them since it can influence their fashion style. for example, Minyi is Chinese and she is wearing a chinese blouse + a horse face skirt/mamianqun, which is part of hanfu (China's traditional clothing)

next, i put on my thinking cap and ruminate about this character and their important aspects e.g backstory or personality, often using my design/name for assistance: the "yi" in "Minyi" means suitable/proper, so i decide to make her rule-following and organized (you could also do the opposite, you come up with traits of a character and then name them based on those traits !). i then give her more traits after some brainstorming such as kind-hearted, reliable and validation-seeking.

if you need help finding some personality traits to give a character, i suggest you look through the types in a personality test such as MBTI, enneagram, etc – Minyi here is classified as an ISFJ 1w2 !

to go even deeper, i ponder on why she has these personality traits — in other words, the backstory that developed her into having this personality, and this often leads to me fleshing her out even further: she's kind-hearted but validation-seeking, so maybe in her childhood she realizes that she needs to act nice and helpful to receive love (due to neglectful parents suffering from their own problems), and this in turn causes her to become a people-pleaser who relies on external validation. im able to roughly draft a backstory with this idea in mind.

if you're really into making your character more interesting by incorporating trauma/an interesting backstory that made them the way you are, i'd actually suggest studying a little psychology — i genuinely think this helps me write characters better as i have better insight as to why they became that way + it allows me to add little details to their backstory that will help flesh them out more.

moving on, i come up with other information that will develop them such as hobbies and likes/dislikes, and it'd be a good idea to integrate your backstory into these aspects:

for example, Minyi's dad is a martial artist and her mom is a dancer, so she decides to become both these things to seek their validation and be seen as "worthy" in their eyes. i already had the space idea in mind when creating her so her hobbies will obviously be something like stargazing/studying astronomy, though if you didn't follow this route you could have a similar thought process to this: Minyi's parents were neglectful so she was often left alone, she found company in the stars and ended up having an affinity for space, which explains her love for stargazing/studying astronomy.

from here, i like to create a reference sheet where i neatly organize her main traits – and if i'm up to it i tend to develop her even further (even if its unnecessary lmao) by giving her little quirks such as her way of speech (clear and proper), body language (always tries to keep a smile up), and other little fun facts that serve to make her more interesting (she rarely eats sweets and keeps a healthy body, she cracks her knuckles often, she likes wearing traditional clothes, etc).

tips when creating a cast:

diversify your characters: refrain from having them share the same traits to the point that they're more or less the same. since i have a proper, kind-hearted character, i can try creating one who's more feral and cruel

it's important to develop the character's way of speech and body languages when interacting to other characters, some characters will speak the same way to x as they do with y, others will speak differently

try creating some similarities between some characters so they have a reason to become friends: for example, both x and y like gardening and they bond via showing each other the plants they grew, etc – you can also do the opposite and create some differences so they have a reason to dislike each other

if you're in need of more characters but are running out of ideas when it comes to personality/backstory/other, try implementing the types in personality tests (like in MBTI and enneagram), take inspiration from other characters in different media and integrate a trope you like into that character (you can find many tropes on tvtropes !)

and thats it from me ! i hope this post managed to give you inspiration as well as help you create your own characters. i might post more writing advice on tumblr but i think this decision just depends on my mood lmao, if you decide to take any of my advice and post it on instagram, etc please credit me by tagging my account: @maydaywriting

[quindolyn]

hi can i request the maurauders going to see the reader do a musical like heathers or mean girls and they are just confused and turned on bc they didn't expect it to be this dirty (can lead to smut or not). luv you and hope you are taking care of yourself, if not go get something to eat, drink some water, take a nap, or do somthing you enjoy. or dont not trying to be pushy :)

Creature of the Night || Poly!Marauders

Word Count: 3029 (excluding song lyrics)

A/N: I think I liked how this turned out? I didn’t make it smut but it’s certainly suggestive, I went with Rocky Horror, I know that the musicals mentioned in the request are more modern but I fucking love Rocky Horror and I think it works with the request. When I first read this request I smiled so much because I love live theater, I don’t perform as much as I used to because as I progress with my education I’m focusing more on the stuff I can use to pad my resumes for college and stuff but I still love going to see productions. One of the worst parts of the pandemic for me has been not being able to go see shows, I miss it so much.

Warnings: theatre enthusiast reader, erections, suggestive material, song lyrics, slight teasing, wearing very little clothing in front of an audience, I believe that that is it

Masterlist

500 follower celebration

antici-

The magic of the stage was second to none. Sure, Hogwarts may have had witches and wizards, subjects like Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, and ghosts that spent their time meandering about the halls but there was always a part of you that looked forward to the summer between your years at Hogwarts. Because no matter how magical Hogwarts was, the theater always made you feel completely and utterly alive. 

Every summer since the one after your first year at what all of your muggle friends thought to be a very prestigious boarding school up in Scotland, you’d taken part in your local youth theater’s productions. Your parents both being muggles thought that it would be a great way for you to be able to stay in touch with your muggle origins. 

The first year you’d been far too nervous to actually audition for a role, the very thought causing bile to churn in your stomach and threaten to make you sick all over your kitchen floor when your father first pitched the idea. So instead you’d done costumes and it was the most wonderful experience of your life. 

Who needed drugs when you had live theater? The hustle and bustle behind the scenes was electrifying but after two summers of costuming, of quick changes in the wings, learning how to use the ancient sewing machines they stored in the depths of the storage rooms, and pulling pieces for the actors to try on you decided that you wanted to try something more.

The moment you had stepped onto the stage it was like you’d come to life and you cursed yourself for not taking the risk earlier. You belonged on the stage, with the harsh stage lights on you and pounds of makeup plastered onto your face you could feel the magic thrumming through your veins and it was addicting.

If it was possible, you were even more excited to perform this summer, the previous school year you’d finally gotten together with your long time best friends the Marauders, turning them from friends to your boyfriends.

When your mother had sent word of the production being put on this summer you’d squealed while seated next to James and across from Remus, who had Sirius hanging off of his side. After explaining to them, mostly Sirius and James really, just what live theater was their first reaction was to ask if they could come see you perform.

“I don’t even know if I’m going to be cast,” You had explained gently, not wanting to get their hopes up in case you weren’t cast this year.

“Bull shit of course you’re going to be the cast,” Sirius had contested through a mouthful of jam and toast, waving his hand theatrically through the air, watching him that day was not the first time you’d considered how the way he acted often reminded you of an over enthusiastic theatre major.

Remus, the only one with any knowledge on muggle theatre had snorted, wrapping an arm around Sirius’ waist to pull him closer to his body, “She’s not going to be the cast Pads, she’s going to be casted,” He’d corrected gently, pressing a kiss into his long, dark tresses.

“Whatever,” The smaller boy had grumbled, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

Which brought you to where you were right now, five minutes to curtain touching up your make up in the mirror of the shared make-up room.

“Hey (L/N),” One of your cast mates called settling into the makeup chair next to you as she plucked a tube of dark red lipstick from the small canary colored makeup bag she had previously abandoned on the counter, “Your boyfriends coming tonight?” She asked, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

“Yeah, they are,” You responded, applying mascara to your lashes.

“Excited to meet them, that photo you showed us,” She smiled, fanning her face with her hand, “Smoking,” She smiled, making eye contact with you in the mirror.

Rolling your eyes you ignored her comment, “It’s five minutes to curtain, you’re just now doing your make-up?” You chuckled, noticing her black face.

“Oh, shove it,” She laughed as you pushed yourself from your chair, traipsing out of the room, giving her the middle finger on your way out.

“Break a leg!” She called after you as the door latched shut.

You weren’t usually this nervous before a performance but knowing that your three boyfriends were sitting out there somewhere in the audience had you pacing back and forth backstage wondering what they were going to think of the whole production.

“Rocky Horror?” Sirius’ confusion evident in his voice as he plopped down in his seat next to Remus, throwing his arm around the werewolf’s shoulders, drumming his fingers on his clothed shoulder hidden behind his knitted cardigan.

“Yeah,” James collapsed into his chair on the other side of Remus, tucking one leg under his body, “No clue what it’s about but I’m sure our angel will be wonderful. Can you guys see her?” He straightened himself up in his seat, craning his neck in attempts to catch a glimpse of you.

Remus being the only one with any ties to the muggle world knew a bit about the show and had to do his very best to suppress a smirk from overtaking his face as he knew exactly what he and your other two boyfriends were getting themselves into. 

“Just hush up you two, the show’s gonna start any moment,” He scolded, patting his large, scarred hand on James’ thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Rem,” Sirius whined, puckering his lips and closing his eyes, signaling to his boyfriend that he wanted a kiss.

“My needy baby,” He crooned, leaning in to connect his lips with Sirius’ in a quick liplock before pulling back, allowing Sirius to drop his forehead to smear against his shoulder.

“That’s mean,” Sirius murmured discontentedly.

“Poor baby Pads,” James cooed mockingly.

“Both of you,” Remus hissed as the lights in the theatre dimmed, “The show’s about to start, be good for me and be quiet yeah?”

Their response came in their silence as the crowd started settling down and the music from the orchestra pit began a voice coming from somewhere out of sight as it was played through the speakers,

“Michael Rennie was ill

The day the earth stood still

But he told us where we stand”

Not 20 minutes into the show all three of them were as hard as rocks, James had already made Remus check the playbill for the name of the character you were playing, not being able to remember what you’d told them as all of his concentration was focused on a certain place.

Janet Weiss.

Remus couldn’t remember either, but he was almost certain that’s the name he could make out in the dark theatre, printed next to a picture of your smiling face.

When you’d stripped down to your underwear the boys could barely focus on the plot line of the show, only being able to watch the way your bare skin shone under the harsh light of the spotlights. Watching as sweat glistened on your skin, making you shine as you moved about the stage. 

Enchanted by the melodic cadence of your voice they all felt a certain jealousy burning deep in the pits on their stomachs at the thought that there were dozens of other people packed into that theater, all observing you in your vulnerable state of under dress. Only they got to see you like that.

Sirius missed much of the first act glaring at members of the audience who he deemed as looking at you for too long for his liking, but if you were being honest a 4th year smiling at you in the hallway was sometimes too long for his liking.

It wasn’t like any of them had never seen you naked before, in fact they’d all seen you naked more than their fair share of times but something about you on that stage in a white bra with a matching slip was driving them all crazy.

Especially Remus, whose ultimate weakness was seeing you in anything white which was one of the reasons you’d been so excited to invite them in the first place, knowing that they would be horny messes the entire time.

On stage you did your very best not to look out into the audience looking for them, knowing that you wouldn’t be able to stop a ginormous grin from forming on your face and you couldn’t afford to break character. Not if you wanted the night to go your way.

As the opening notes to “Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me”, rose from the orchestra pit you had trouble stopping a small smirk from pulling at your lips as you opened them, inhaling deeply before singing the first words of the song,

“I was feeling done in, couldn't win

I'd only ever kissed before”

Despite yourself you caught a glimpse of long dark hair in the audience, quickly taking a glance at Sirius’ face, eyes glazed over in lust, legs shifting uncomfortably with his mouth hanging wide open. 

Out of the corner of your eye you noticed another raven-haired boy’s mouth dropping as you shrugged off of your robe

“I thought there’s no use getting, into heavy petting

It only leads to trouble and, seat wetting

Now all I want to know, is how to go

I've tasted blood and I want more”

It was impossible to miss the way Remus’ jaw clenched as you laid your palm against Rocky’s chest, he was being played by your good friends who’d been working with the same theatre company as you since forever, he was like a brother to you. But that didn’t mean you couldn’t lay it on extra thick tonight with your boyfriends in the audience.

Tracing a dainty finger down Rocky’s chest you pushed your body against his singing out the next lyrics of the song,

“I've got an itch to scratch, I need assistance”

You turned you and your cast mate so that looking over his shoulder you were able to meet Remus’ eye, sending him a quick wink before focusing back in on Rocky.

“Toucha, toucha, toucha, touch me

I wanna be dirty

Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me

Creature of the night”

Pressing your back up against Rocky’s chest you guided his hands with yours to your breasts, squeezing them as you followed the choreography you knew by heart.

You ripped your slip from your body with the help of Rocky leaving you in only your white bra, matching panties and a pair of small heels as you paraded around stage, belting the suggestive lyrics into the theater.

“Then if anything grows, while you pose

I'll oil you up and rub you down (down, down, down)

And that’s just one small fraction, of the main attraction

You need a friendly hand, oh i need action”

You smirked, thinking about all of the action you’d be on the receiving end of later that night as you sunk to your knees in front of Rocky, your hands grasping his thighs. Deciding to tease them perhaps a little more than necessary as you went through the number, curling your leg around his and pressing your bodies together so that there was no space between your two questionably clothed bodies.

As the number was brought to a close it was impossible for you to ignore the excitement bubbling up inside of you as you continued your way through the show you kept throwing glances at your boyfriends, always finding their eyes already trained on you. More often than not, on some body part other than your face.

If your boyfriends thought that they had a bit of a problem before that song they were in a terrible predicament now.

Remus caught Sirius on multiple occasions trying to move the hand that he was holding to grope at his crotch as he tried to buck up into his boyfriend’s hand. And much to his own dismay, Remus would pull his hand away, thinking it probably wasn’t the best idea to give his boyfriend a hand job in a crowded theater. Knowing that he wouldn’t have to worry about James touching himself because he would never dream of disobeying him, Remus divided his attention between you on the stage and keeping Sirius in check.

Each of the boys were counting down the seconds until the show came to an end and they could get out of there and relieve some of their tension.  As the curtains were pulled closed they all breathed a sigh of relief before they reopened, leaving all three of them bewildered and slightly annoyed, even more so when they noticed everyone around them standing as they applauded the actors.

Remus forced both of them up when you rushed to the front of the stage, curtsying as the crowd went wild, your boyfriends most notably. As you took your bow you blew a kiss to your boyfriends taking note of the uncomfortable way they all stood, trying to adjust their erections to make them less noticeable while simultaneously applauding you.

As you cleared the stage after curtain call you took your time, doddling towards the dressing rooms where you had left the clothes you’d arrived at the theater in along with a special outfit you’d brought for after the show. Usually you were one of the first actors to clear the theater after a show but tonight you took your time. Hanging up your costume with more care than anyone really should treat any garment with and certainly more than what it needed. 

You smirked mischievously as you pulled the you’d brought outfit from your bag and shimmied it up your legs before slipping the delicate straps up your shoulders. You glimpsed yourself in the mirror, the red satin of the dress clinging to your curves in an attractive manner, short enough to display miles of legs and low cut enough to show off a decent amount of cleavage and perhaps a sighting of the matching red bra you were wearing beneath it.

Slinging the back of your black heels over the heel of your feet you snatched your purse from the armchair in your dressing room before striding out to go meet your boyfriends in the lobby, where you’d told them to wait for you.

Their heads all turned as they heard the clacking of your heels against the tile of the floor, “Boys,” You greeted as they unabashedly took in your new appearance.

As he most often was, Remus was the first one to collect himself, “Puppy, you were wonderful,” He praised, walking to meet you as you approached him, leaning down to smear a kiss against your cheek, “You did amazing up there, so proud of you,” He threw his arm around your waist as you walked towards Sirius and James.

“We got something for you,” He explained, his grip on your waist tightening, “Jamie give it to her, yeah?” 

“Oh yeah,” The smaller boy grinned, remembering the bouquet he held cradled in his arms as he handed it over to you, “Here you go angel.”

“Thank you Jamie,” You said as you took it from him, closing your eyes as you buried your nose in the sweet smelling flora. As you opened your eyes you made eye contact with Sirius, who stood across from you, practically drooling as he took in your appearance without any shame, “They smell wonderful.”

“You okay Si?” You asked, looking up through your eyelashes, batting them innocently.

“Like you don’t know exactly what you did up there to us (Y/N/N),” Remus whispered in your ear, pressing his nose into your temple.

“You guys are the ones who wanted to come,” You lilted, rubbing one of the velvety petals between the pads of your thumb and forefinger.

“Could’ve warned us,” James mumbled, his eyes not leaving your thighs as he licked his lips, if it were anyone else you would’ve been uncomfortable but you couldn’t help but feel flattered whenever any of them ogled you. 

“And what’s with the dress Pup?” Sirius nodded his head appreciatively towards your dress, obviously admiring the way it hung on your body.

“What, you don’t like it?” You asked with fake hurt in your voice, knowing that he more than liked it, he fucking loved it. 

“S’not that,” Remus mumbled, nosing at your jugular, “Just that whole show, got us a little bit worked up. We didn’t expect it to be so sexual Puppy,” He nodded towards James and that’s when you noticed the erection he was still sporting. 

“Got us really worked up, can we go home now?” James asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, trying to distract himself from his little problem.

“Jamie,” You whined, smiling wickedly, “I wanted to celebrate, I was thinking we could go eat somewhere, I was thinking maybe Thai food?”

You watched as Sirius ground his teeth, conflicted between needing to get home and not wanting to deny you from what you wanted. 

“Having fun teasing us Bunny?” Remus asked you with a sly smirk, knowing exactly what you were doing.

“M’not teasing,” You insisted, turning indignantly to your other boyfriend.

“Sure you aren’t,” He chuckled, “Thai sounds great (Y/N), wanna talk with you about the show,” The idea of teasing Sirius and James even longer was very appealing to Remus and he was ready to make the sacrifice of being teased himself, knowing that he’d be able to get back at you later that night.

“But-” James began.

“You wanna argue with me Jamie?” Remus challenged, raising a singular eyebrow.

“No,” He moped, “Of course not.”

“Good,” Remus said, nodding his head approvingly, “We wouldn’t wanna deny our Princess would we?”

James shook his head, eyes pleading, desperately seeking Remus’ approval.

“Pads?” Remus challenged, turning his attention to the other raven haired man.

“What? Oh um, of course not,” He agreed distractedly, dragging his eyes from your form to meet Remus’, his reluctance evident in his voice.

“Good,” Remus said pointedly, his eyes cold, daring Sirius to question him. When he didn’t the werewolf continued, “Let’s get going then, there’s a nice little restaurant a couple blocks away yeah?”

As you all hummed your consent you made your way to the exit, “Ten galleons if you can make James cum in his pants at dinner,” Remus whispered in your ear quietly enough so that  James and Sirius trailing behind you wouldn’t be able to hear you, you could hear the smirk in his voice as you exited the theatre.

“Deal.” This was going to be fun, you considered that you might have to invite them to come see the show again.

-pation

tagging: @randomoutsiders @weasleyposts @kittykylax @amourtentiaa @superbturtlemakerathlete

[blood-sucking-whore]

Gender in Killing Eve and Hannibal (TV Series)

WARNING: LONG TEXTPOST!!!

(pls tell me ur thoughts)

Both Killing Eve and Hannibal feature characters who perform gender (or don’t) in particularly interesting ways.  Killing Eve’s subversion of female gender roles is rich and complex, especially for a crime drama - a very male dominated genre.  In crime shows, female characters are typically either non-existent, or badly written props for insufferable male protagonists.

The women of K.E. (namely Villanelle and Eve) are not only extremely intelligent and driven, but have a sensitively-described moral greyness.  It is fascinating to see both women’s moralities evolve throughout the series, especially in relation to each other.  

There are consequences to their actions, but the writers allow them to do bad things, to be bad people.  It is refreshing to see ‘strong women’ written in this way: they don’t have to make women look ‘good.’  Often this moral flexibility is only tolerated from male characters.  

That’s not to say that Villanelle and Eve are never vulnerable.  They are people: their worth as characters cannot be based on filling the age-old mold of cold, dull, emotionless male detective characters.  Eve is manipulated by her employers, by Villanelle, affected by the death of her friends, and is a victim to her own guilt.  Villanelle, similarly, is subject to the needs of her employers, is orphaned, and is overall dysfunctional.  

This inhibits their control of their own situations.  But both characters make decisions, and take power for themselves.  And while their intentions are muddied along the way, they both keep fighting for something, even if it's just for themselves and each other.

The two central characters of Hannibal, Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter, exhibit a similar relationship to that of Eve and Villanelle.  While they (Will especially) don’t flout the rules of gender as decisively as Villanelle, for example, they also are not typical male crime protagonists.

Will Graham is vulnerable, quiet, and uncomfortable with power.  And, unlike other male underdog characters, this isolation isn’t resolved by, or blamed on a woman.  These descriptors apply most obviously in the first season, but even through Will’s development, he doesn’t exactly become masculine or powerful (at least in the traditional way.)  He is consistently affected by mental illness, which is sensitively depicted, and (character-wise) is sympathetic to other mentally ill characters.  This is a point of weakness which is constantly exploited by other characters such as Jack and Hannibal.

Hannibal, on the other hand, is not very vulnerable (until he becomes more sympathetic to Will.) He is always in control, always able to manipulate the situation to his advantage.  But even he isn’t exactly masculine.  He enjoys art and music, and even through murder, is opulent and flamboyant.  

This is easily comparable to Villanelle’s (fashion, visuals, performance) 

Both Hannibal and Will are very clearly queercoded, and in a relationship that can’t really be described as platonic.  Scenes with them are written, acted, and framed in an intimate way.  Even when stabbing each other, there is romantic tension. This is a union between two people who understand each others’ deepest, most hidden nature. 

I am hesitant to compare murder entirely to queerness, because of how this has been used to suggest evil inherent to queer people.  But murder, and wanting to murder, is sensitively and subtly compared to the way queerness is viewed by society, and to an extent how it can be experienced by queer people and their own self-discovery.  The way both characters talk about murder is intensely intimate.  And Will’s development as a murderer, and someone who understands murder, is parallel to his evolving relationship with Hannibal.

Villanelle and Eve are canonically bisexual, and have scenes that are clearly romantic.  They share a similarly obsessive relationship.  It is endlessly entertaining to watch this relationship play out.  It is infinitely toxic, as opposed the clean, unpassionate lesbian romances we’re used to seeing on TV.  It’s also not an oversexualised, voyeuristic male fantasy.  

TV writers need to stop avoiding making queer characters that are bland, moral, nice and boring for fear of making something problematic.  That’s just lazy writing, and it’s up to them to write these characters well.  I am tired of clean, easy ‘girl power’ types, or tick-box diversity.

Another interesting facet of gender performance in the two shows is fashion and costume design.  In particular, Villanelle’s penchant for two or three piece suits is considerably masculine, but not a masculinity typically performed by men in crime shows.  She chooses fashion outside of the default, minimal idea of masculinity, and embodies gender performativity.  

However, Villanelle is just as likely to wear overly feminine clothing (eg. pink tulle dress, black tulle dress) in a way that is just as deliberate and theatrical.  She is fully aware of herself and how she is perceived, and is able to manipulate and enjoy it.  This is an especially enjoyable rebuttal to the ‘beautiful but doesn’t know it’ trope, which I despise.  Her self-confidence is not granted by a man: she seizes it herself. 

Eve is almost the opposite of this.  She wears very neutral, almost utilitarian clothing throughout the show, and rarely considers what she wears, except when she has to.  But this doesn't give way to the aforementioned display of female insecurity.  Both women show a performance of womanhood that is unconventional on TV.  What I think causes this is that the male gaze is rarely applied to either woman.

Will and Hannibal have somewhat of a similar visual comparison to Eve and Villanelle, simply: Hannibal is very attentive to his clothing,  Will, for most of the series, is not.  Hannibal, despite dressing in typically masculine clothing: three piece suits, does it much more deliberately and precisely than many masculine male TV characters.  Will’s clothing is perhaps a choice, less by him than the writers, to make him seem unthreatening and unaware.  This changes in the third season when Will begins to wear fitted suits, and seems to brush his hair more often.  

Some interpret this as Will mirroring Hannibal, but it could be read as Will rivalling Hannibal.  Hannibal was able to, quite literally, keep up appearances of himself as competent, sane and respectable.  He asserts himself as Will’s superior.  However, Will understands that maintaining his appearances is beneficial to him, and shows the viewers, and Hannibal, that he understands the way he works.  He is, by season three, no longer a vulnerable stray, but not a ruthless, efficient killer.

Both series display complex, well written characters: and this is their strength.  But I do wish the writers of Hannibal had developed their female characters better.  

[xlbrh]

Genshin Impact - Small things they do to show their love

notes : so i’ve been trying to think of an idea for a long story to write for one of the characters, but i’ve been having a little bit of trouble :( if anyone has any suggestions i’d love to hear them! hopefully i’ll be able to come out with an introduction or something soon 

in the meantime i wrote this up, so i hope that you guys enjoy!

Genshin Masterlist

warnings : none

format : bulleted, headcanons. fluff

pairings : diluc, kaeya, childe, zhongli, xiao, albedo, aether x gn! reader

word count : 1426

everything under the cut-

Diluc:

during your nightly walks around mondstadt, he notices how chills can rack your body, especially when the wind blows

he’ll remove his jacket and drape it around your form, no matter how much you may protest

sometimes his arms will circle around your waist, drawing you towards him in an effort toto keep you warm until you get home

if you’ve been out adventuring close to the dawn winery, he’d invite you to the manor to share a meal or drink, whichever you’d like

whatever you desire, he’ll see to it that you receive it – most of the time he wouldn’t even ask you due to how well he can read you and your actions

when you try to refuse his offers, he’ll tell you ‘just let me look after you, my love’  

when you come to visit him in the angel’s share, he always has a seat ready just for you

he’ll keep a blanket and some books under the bar, since he knows how you like to curl up in the corner, engrossed in your reading

if you’d like he’ll come and sit with you for a short while, bringing a drink of your choice over while you tell each other about your day

Kaeya:

kaeya is the kind of man to call you every pet name under the sun

whether it be sweetheart, darling, love etc. he loves to use these types of names for you frequently, as a form of affection

he loves your reactions to them, especially when your cheeks flare up and you turn away out of shyness – he finds it extremely endearing

he would offer to train you in swordsmanship, regardless of whether you can already wield a sword or not

he likes to not only see your strength grow, but also offer you a way to protect yourself since he cannot be with you at all times

kaeya takes pride in the training sessions you have, after all they give him another reason to spend even more time with you

he loves for you guys to have matching things, no matter how small they may be 

for example, he’ll buy you a bracelet to wear, one that matches with one on his own wrist as well

jokingly he once bought you an eyepatch to match his, but he finds it sweet but hilarious when you’ll wear it around him sometimes

Childe:

since this man is a literal walking wallet, he has no problem with spoiling you with gifts

whether that be a necklace you’ve had your eye on, a new shirt because you ripped yours in battle, or a book he knows is the next in the series you enjoy

when asking him why he leaves you so many small gifts, his response is just ‘well, because i love you, of course!’

if you ever get hurt during a battle, he’ll be the first to help you

whether that be taking down the enemies if you haven’t already, or tending to the wounds you’ve received

he’d work with utmost caution, wrapping each wound gently and finishing them off with a kiss on top

when strolling the streets of liyue together, childe ensures that your body is connected to his one way or another at all times

whether that be intertwining your hands together, an arm loosely wrapped around your waist, or stopping to give you a brief peck on the forehead

he has no qualms in showing the public that you’re his – something he makes you well aware of

Zhongli:

he knows you love when he tells you stories of his past and the history of liyue, and he enjoys telling you about them

he finds the childlike wonder in your eyes adorable as he tells you tales of adepti and archons alike

zhongli will try his best to make them as entertaining as possible for you – drawing you in with every word he uttered

he likes to play with your hair, and for you to do the same to him

if you have longer hair you can guarantee he’d be braiding and styling your hair in all different ways, adorning it with hairpins he’d purchase for you

if your hair is on the shorter side then he’d love to run his fingers through, stroking your hair and massaging your scalp until you fall asleep with your head against his chest

if there is anything in particular that you take a big interest in, zhongli will try his best to research around it – even though he probably has the knowledge anyways

he wants to be able to talk to you about things you’re interested in, as well as share in the enjoyment that you get from it

he would leave small notes to you when he can’t always be around you, sometimes with small facts he learned of

Xiao:

he would for sure watch over you if you ever go on a long adventure, no matter what other duties he may have to attend to

expect to see a good few hilichurl and treasure hoarder camps abandoned thanks to his interference

‘anything to ensure your safety’, he thinks

some nights, when his duties have been fulfilled early, he’ll try his hand at preparing a meal for you to share

of course nothing especially fancy! After all he doesn’t have to eat himself – its all for your enjoyment

if he struggles he’d probably reach out to verr goldet some help

just imagine him setting a small picnic up on the wangshu inn rooftop iM WEAK

once xiao finally becomes accustomed to physical contact, he’d make an effort to hold your hand a lot more often

lightly squeezing it or tracing shapes with his thumb every now and again

if you’re lucky he way even take his gloves off – just to feel that warmth from his hand can be very comforting indeed

Albedo:

you’re literally the only person he will listen to when he is engrossed in his experiments

as we know he tends to block out the rest of the world when he is deep in though

but as soon as he hears your voice of concern asking if he’ll take a break to eat, you wanna bet he’ll be leaving his office in an instant to join you for lunch

he does the exact same for you when you’re hard at work, so he appreciates the way you always look after him

when out looking for more specimens to analyse, he stumbles across his fair share of flowers

of course he knows which are your favourites – he knows everything about you, after all – so he’ll be sure to pick some to bring home to you

when giving them to you, he mentions ‘well, they reminded me of you, so i thought you’d like them’

if you ever get ill for some reason, albedo becomes your personal doctor

he’ll spend hours preparing serums and medicines for you to alleviate your pain – but will never let you out of his sight while doing so

he’ll ask noelle if she can fix up some food for you in the meantime, since at every free opportunity he’s sat at your bedside, hand in yours as he whispers words of comfort to you

Aether:

aether is always ready to make you something to eat whenever you’d like!

he for sure has a small section of his brain dedicated to learning of recipes that he knows you enjoy, no matter how simple or complicated they may be

will make sure that you always have some lunch ready to take with you wherever you go, even if it means he had to wake up early and travel halfway across teyvat to bring it to you

he will bring you back numerous treasures from his travels

sometimes he’ll ask the locals in whichever area he’s in if they can craft the raw materials into something that you can treasure

there would be a shelf in your room specifically for aether’s gifts, where he’ll occasionally point to each one and tell you the story of how it made it’s way back to you

he makes sure to let you know how grateful he is to have you by his side

every time you do something for him, no matter how small it may be, he’ll thank you and let you know how much you mean to him

when on his travels he makes sure to write letters and send them home to you – just because he’s far away doesn’t mean he’s not still thinking about you

[princesssarisa]

Character ask: Beth March (Little Women)

Not tagged by anyone; I'm just having strong Beth feelings that I'd like to share.

Favorite thing about them: The way she highlights the value of people who are easy to overlook or dismiss. Not only is Beth shy, quiet, unambitious, and self-effacing compared to her sisters, she’s clearly not “normal” either. She’s not just shy, but “afraid of people”; she’s been homeschooled because her social anxiety is too strong for regular school; she still plays with dolls and has imaginary friends at age 14; she has no desire to get married or have children and wants to always live with her parents. If she had lived past her early 20s, she would never have led a “normal adult” life, and for that reason she has low self-esteem and thinks she was “never meant to live long.” Yet her life isn't "useless" the way she fears it is. Her warmth and kindness, and the simple good deeds she does for everyone she knows, make an enormous impact. Everyone adores her, the lives of her family and friends are made better by her presence, and during her illnesses they teach her how much she matters as they all rally around her and care for her. I’ll admit, I relate to Beth much more than most readers seem to: as a person with autism, I’m also quiet, socially anxious, highly sensitive, less “grown-up” than other people my age, still dependent on my parents, single, with no full-time job, and without much drive to “achieve” anything (thank you, executive dysfunction). But I hope that my kindness and friendliness to others, and the small good deeds I do like volunteering to help the homeless, still give my life some worth. The emphasis on the value of Beth's life reminds me of the value of my own.

Least favorite thing about them: Not about her personally, but the views that so many readers take of her. I think most commentary written about her is terrible, especially when people argue that her death really is necessary because she’s not suited to this world. That’s just the opposite of the beauty I see in her story! I detest the way SparkNotes interprets her as a symbol of weak, insipid 19th century femininity, who “needs” to be killed off in the name of feminism, and it annoys me to think of all the students probably being taught to view her that way because they rely on SparkNotes’ study guides. Possibly even worse is the idea that she “needs to die” because she’s pathologically unwilling to “grow up,” or that “domesticity kills her” because she contracts her illness by caring for sick children, or that she’s not really happy in her domestic life but just lacks any “talent” for anything else, or conversely, that Alcott idolizes her as the perfect role model of passive, self-effacing femininity whom all her sisters need to learn to be like, making the entire book anti-feminist. (Nonsense – if any character in this book is framed as “the ideal woman,” it’s Marmee, not Beth.) More people who empathize with her instead of just viewing her as a foil for Jo should step up and write about her for a change!

Three things I have in common with them:

*I’ve always been socially awkward and solitary.

*I love music.

*I’ve always been “young for my age.”

Three things I don’t have in common with them:

*I’m not very good at sewing.

*I’m more of a dog person than a cat person.

*I can’t play the piano.

Favorite line: From Part 1, in response to Marmee suggesting that she doesn’t have a “burden”:

“Yes, I have. Mine is dishes and dusters, and envying girls with nice pianos, and being afraid of people.”

I like that she explicitly spells out that she’s not an impossibly perfect saint (even though countless readers still view her as such). Her intense shyness isn’t just “sweet modesty” but something she struggles with, she feels longing and envy like anyone else, and she dislikes tedious housework too.

And from Part 2, about her fatal illness:

“It’s like the tide, Jo, when it turns, it goes slowly, but it can’t be stopped.”

brOTP: Her sisters, especially Jo.

OTP: None.

nOTP: Mr. Laurence, or any member of her family.

Random headcanon: She’s on the autism spectrum. It’s not the only way to view her, and yes, I’ve read argument that she only shows traits of social anxiety in the book, not autism, and that only the 2019 movie gives her more autistic traits. But as a person on the spectrum myself, and based on the book alone, I think it makes perfect sense to view her this way.

Unpopular opinion: She’s a person, not a symbol. Yes, she’s the most idealized March sister because she’s based on Alcott’s beloved dead sister Lizzie. But she’s not “a two-dimensional self-sacrificing Christ figure,” nor is she a symbol of domestic femininity, nor of Jo’s fleeting childhood, nor of anything else. She’s a human being, and she has feelings, desires, likes, dislikes, quirks, and yes, even flaws, however small. She also grows as a person just like her sisters do: in Part 1 overcoming enough of her shyness to make new friends, and in Part 2 coming to terms with her illness and impending death. So many readers insist on seeing her as a symbol instead of a fully realized character, but I honestly don’t think that was Alcott’s intent.

Song I associate with them:

"Come, Ye Disconsolate," her favorite hymn.

“Some Things Are Meant to Be” from the 2005 musical – the duet she sings with Jo during their trip the beach, where first they enjoy fantasies together, and then Beth reveals that she knows she’s dying and comforts Jo.

Favorite picture of them:

This illustration of Beth with Jo, by Jessie Wilcox Smith:

This illustration by M.V. Wheelhouse of her sickbed, watched over by Jo:

This illustration by Frank T. Merrill showing her spirit being carried up to heaven by an angel (yes, it's cheesy religious sentimentality, but still beautiful):

This decorative plate illustration by Elaine Gignilliat:

Jean Parker in the 1933 film:

Margaret O'Brien in the 1949 film:

Eve Plumb (yes, Jan from The Brady Bunch) in the 1978 miniseries:

Claire Danes in the 1994 film:

Annes Elwy in the 2017 miniseries:

Eliza Scanlen in the 2019 film:

@littlewomenchannel, @thatscarletflycatcher, @joandfriedrich, @ariel-seagull-wings, @faintingheroine, @the-blue-fairie