#they totally did end up embodying their parents

[acequinz]

Sometimes I think that the reason I love jgy is-

Because I too spent a long time forgiving my father for the sake of my mother despite his actions.

Then I remember that I love Jiang Cheng.

Because I too had to repeatedly see my mother be hurt by my father's actions and take it out on me.

But mainly I think it's because I can completely understand the need to protect yourself before even thinking of protecting others and constantly chasing for stability even if it rips you from certain things you love because you have no idea how to love right and are beginning to question if you even do love so all you are left as is a shadow of what your parents were with your hands holding desperately onto the few moments you know you made a better choice and lying to yourself that you made the best choice even when your heart screams that you didn't.

[muletia]

BRO NO what if Megatron kidnaps Parent! Reader’s kid to try and be The Dad That Stepped Up and Reader is jsut like “oh fuck no. FUCK NO YOU DID NOT JUST INVOLVE MY BABY IN THIS SHIT” and like. Genuinely threatens his life (human and Cybertronian biology are pretty similar… do you think they’d have a carotid artery?).

Tbh Megatron might like that LMAO Spike Spiegel ass

when you raise your voice at him, start gesturing furiously, and promise to kill him if he hurts your child, megatron experiences the most powerful and intense boner of his life lmao. this is also the moment he learns what adrenaline is—and that you’re not joking—which he finds both irresistibly charming and highly attractive.

the funniest part of this scenario is that megatron genuinely wants to be a good step-sire to your kid. correction, he wants to be the best step-sire, just to prove he’s leagues above optimus. every time you end up in his claws, he’ll do his utmost to show you he’s not joking and just how capable he is—that despite the terrifying aura surrounding him, he can take care of a family. this is why your kid ends up absolutely spoiled by him. they can sit on his throne whenever they please; they’re allowed to give orders to his subordinates, even if it’s about drawing with crayons or fetching gummy bears. soundwave shows them brainrot videos on his screen, and if your kid is a total gremlin, megatron takes them along for some chaos-spreading bonding time, where they smash rocks, mountains, and anything else in sight. kids love cool, edgy stuff, and megatron embodies it perfectly. so don’t be surprised when one day your kid starts talking about wanting to see dad megatron of their own free will.

[lueurjun]

neighbours to lovers! jake sim.

neighbour!jake x reader! in which jake sim has been in love with you from the minute he set his eyes on you. thank u so much for your support<3

OKAY LEMME TAKE A MOMENT TO GATHER MYSELF

because NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOUR JAKE???

WHO HAS BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU SINCE YOU WERE KIDS?

dead. cant breathe.

his family and your family obviously know each other well

and i see his house as being ‘the spot’ during your childhood where all the neighbourhood kids used to play

he had these monkey bars in his backyard that everyone always wanted to play on

but jake always made sure you got to go on them first

#whipped

#nineyearoldrizz

brace yourselves

are you braced?

i’m not sure you’re braced

… HE WAS YOUR FIRST KISS

i know!! so cute right?

fighting back tears rn

you were only eleven so you didn’t really think much of it. he was your first kiss and you were fine with that

jake on the other hand?

he still thinks about it

in fact, that’s one of the scenarios he thinks of to help him get to sleep

boy is hopelessly in love

and everyone knows it too

like he denies it but everyone just knows

because he will drop anything just to do you the smallest favour

“hey jake, are you busy? i could really use your help watering my parents flowers?”

jake, who is in fact busy, “nope. not at all. never. give me that watering can.”

i repeat: w h i p p e d

cant blame him tho. you’re the embodiment of warmth, the personification of excellence. you are simply amazing.

i got more rizz that jake just sayin… ;D

despite knowing you for so long, he still gets all tongue tied whenever you’re around

and you’re just clueless

a perfect little dumbass

no matter how many times your family and friends — and even HIS family and friends — try to tell you, you’re convinced he’s just being friendly

because boys like jake don’t like people like you

you’re not enough for him. and he’s certainly not attracted to you

keep thinking like that. i dare u. i’m outside of your house. ur perfect! MWAH MWAH. take all my love pls

in true neighbours to lovers fashion, your bedroom window faces his

#youbelongwithmecore

and sometimes like the little creep that you are, you peek inside of his room to see if he’s there

unbeknownst to you, little jakey poo does the exact same thing

soulmates fr

twins asf

people that creep on each other, end up with each other

i do not condone staring into your crushes bedroom. do not do that. you may get arrested… but if you do send me your mug shot, i bet u look adorable! KIDDING IM TOTALLY KIDDING PLS DONT GET ARRESTED

anywhooo, one particular night you peek into his room

at the exact same time as him

cue that spiderman meme where they’re just pointing at each other

you both just kinda freeze

staring at each other

because now what? you’ve both caught each other out

eventually, you shuffle forward and open your window which coaxes jake to do the same

the confidence comes naturally because it’s only jake, you know him like the back of your hand

tho ur screaming on the inside because a) you’re embarrassed and b) JAKE WAS STARING INTO YOUR ROOM WHICH MEANS HE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU

it’s almost like he’s in love with u or sumn idk

“are you stalking me, sim?”

his cheeks go bright red and he kinda starts spluttering

“i—no. i promise i wasn’t—i-“

well. that was disappointing. you kinda hoped he’d keep up with your flirty banter

“it’s okay jake, i was doing the same thing.”

honest icon. you truly can do no wrong

even more spluttering. even more blushing

because YOU???? WERE WATCHING HIM??

bro loves stalkers. IM KIDDING ILY

anyways there’s something about the atmosphere

and to jake, it just seems right to say what’s on his mind

which leads to him sitting with his feet hanging out of the window and the darkest shade of red on his cheeks

“i still think about that kiss.”

did u hear me scream?

your mind goes blank

because what tf does that mean?

the kiss?? THE KISS? THE FIRST KISS???

HE STILL THINKS ABOUT THAT???

he can’t look you in the eyes, choosing to fiddle with his fingers instead

and you just stand there dumbfounded

bby talk to him before i lose my mind

when you don’t say anything, jake scrambles back into his room which kinda snaps you out of your trance

his fingers are itching to close the window

“i’m kinda upset that you’ve never come back for seconds”

i literally have a lambo and nine mansions

marry me rn

now it’s jakes turn to be speechless

bro is FLABBERGASTED

“oh.” 🧍🏻

“oh?”

“oh.”

this is painful. it’s 5:30 am rn cut me some slack

you have this poor boy breaking out into a rash from stress

and it worsens when you grab your coat and demand for him to meet you outside

like the true gentleman, he doesn’t leave you waiting long and almost falls flat on his face trying to get through the door

what a loser. i love him

he shuffles towards you, hands in his pockets and a look that says he’s absolutely terrified

are you gonna slap him? tell him you never want him to speak to you again?

“look, i’m sorry if i overstepped—“

“are you gonna give me my kiss i’ve been waiting for or not?“

it’s then that he notices that you’re both in the exact same spot as you were all those years ago when the first kiss happened

literally giggling and kicking my feet rn

“a-are you sure?”

and those are the exact words he uttered the first time too

he was as nervous as he was back then, perhaps even more so this time around

because this isn’t an innocent childhood kiss

you’re grown now. it’s different

in true y/n fashion, you start to lose patience

so you trust your gut and you grip onto his shirt, tugging him closer giving you the perfect chance to collide your lips with his

jake’s hands waft around in stress until they finally settle on your waist and he gains enough confidence to pull you somewhat closer to him

i don’t want a boyfriend. i don’t want a boyfriend. i don’t want a boyfriend.

the kiss is a thousand times better than the first

it's passionate and sentimental, full of longing and tenderness. it’s everything and more.

pulling away is almost a chore as you rest your head against his.

“i could get used to that.”

jake goes to respond, a breathless chuckle ghosts your lips when suddenly a wolf whistle cuts through the street

“AYO JAY OWS ME 20! I KNEW HE’D GROW SOME BALLS EVENTUALLY”

sunghoon, the neighbour across the street who also happens to be jake’s best friend, is leaning out of his window.

that definitely should have ruined the moment but you were far too wrapped up in the bliss of having jake so close to you, that nothing could ruin the happiness you felt

not even sunghoon and his idiocy.

[snowglobe-system]

Systems, be kind to your “problematic” alters. No, I don’t mean don’t give them consequences for their actions, and no, I don’t mean just let them wreak havoc on your life. But I do mean try to work with them instead of against them.

We have one of these problematic alters. Her name is Nyx. She holds a lot of the trauma and holds a lot of mental illness symptoms and addiction problems. She embodies some of the worst parts of our abusers. Nyx has intense emotions that she can’t always control, she can be manipulative, nasty, mean, she takes front and suddenly we’ve been on a bender for four days and she’s been a total bitch to everyone who loves us and who we love. She self-harms, she’s the reason for a lot of our near misses with suicide. When we say she can be problematic, we MEAN IT.

We’ve spent years fighting with her, trying to keep her in headspace, treating her coldly. She always breaks out of containment. She’s weirdly good at it. But recently we’ve started thinking that Nyx’s propensity for breaking out is, in part, our brain trying to tell us something. Because after years of fighting against her, we decided to try something new. We saw her being angry and bitchy about a particular guy our partner was talking to, and instead of condemning her and locking her up, we asked her why.

Nyx didn’t know the answer at first, so we waited with her until she figured it out. She then explained that she feels like expressing her needs makes her a bad person (which is almost definitely an internalized message from our abuser), but circumstances around this particular guy were making her feel really insecure, and in the absence of being able to talk about what her actual feelings are, she tried to get rid of the threat by being overall angry and negative about him. In essence? Nyx feels like she can’t express needs because she feels like she should be able to meet them independently. So, the needs go unmet, and she ends up resorting to underhanded tactics to meet them, which doesn’t always work because people can’t read her mind, and then it builds up into a much bigger problem than it was originally.

And you know what? That’s something we can work with.

In one of our first acts of real system cooperation, we coaxed her into talking to our partner about how she felt, and she did, and she even wound up apologizing for her behaviour, on her own, without any of us making her. 

We decided that instead of locking her back up, we’d give her the grace of letting her have a little freedom, and asked her not to go on a bender or self sabotage relationships. And you know what she did with front the next day?

She put on a cute outfit, put temporary pink hair dye in our hair, had a drink and a smoke at dinner with our parents and brother, and went to see the Barbie movie with our mom and nana. Not exactly the unhinged behaviour we’ve come to expect from her. The most unhinged thing she did was the hair dye, and honestly? The colour is temporary and it looks good on us. She showed off the outfit to anyone who would give her the time of day, and it was honestly adorable. She was so happy and excited to feel like a cute girl! It’s a very different side of her, but one that’s been here the whole time.

And all it took was offering her some understanding, teamwork and trust. She hasn’t gotten better overnight. She still has a lot of problems. There is still work to be done with her. But you know what did happen overnight? She’s agreed to work with us at all.

So yeah. Be kind to your problematic alters, because that’s the first step of cooperation.

[halowishes]

october favs!

what i recommend this month.

(my reviews are getting longer… i will not apologize T-T)

burden of blame

e. 91.2k. violence. yakuza au.

i’ve finally read the iconic fic. the writing for this and atsumu’s character deserves more praise than i can do. his fears, motivations, dreams, and hopes are so gripping and emotional. i just love long fics so much. you learn so much about the characters and there’s so much DEPTH. i always feel so lucky to read them.

the MSBY black jackals guide to self care

t. 4.5k. canon compliant.

it’s sakusa with a religious self care routine versus 6 in 1 shower wash. such a sweet fic of sakusa learning a new routine, befriending the jackals, and getting praise (as he should!). and i love a sakusa pov <3

insert coin to play

e. 178k. cyberpunk/ bounty hunters au. violence.

finally was brave enough to read this and it did not disappoint :’). this dynamic of loudmouth but extremely competent atsumu x observant and stealthy but full of sass kiyoomi is SO fun. not to mention them being absolutely obsessed with each other (and not realizing it). this fic is so creative, beautifully written, and embodies every possibility in fanfic. they mean so much to me and i could write essays on how good this fic is. fairycake has never let me down.

fan behavior (series)

t/ e. 41.3k total. 4 works. canon compliant.

there’s something cosmically right about teenage kiyo being a fanboy and an atsumu apologist. the premise of the jackals trying to differentiate the miya twins fit sooo well😭 this series had me giggling into my pillow.

strawberry

t. 8.5k. american college au.

i was expecting a silly college fic but it ended up being so much more. i have complex feelings about the asian american experience and college (im graduating soon), so this fic spoke to a few different parts of me. highly recommend if you have a weird relationship with your culture, ethnicity, your parents, or have a crush on your friend :P

crash course

e. 6.0k. all-japan youth camp.

ah yes, horny high schoolers at a sleep away camp. teen kiyoomi wants to lose his virginity and sets motoya on a mission to find the best choice. enter miya atsumu: five star reputation, good at volleyball, hot, and willing. perfect candidate for kiyo’s big moment!

it drives you crazy getting old

m. 45.9k. 13 going on 30 skts!

atsumu being an asshole to kiyoomi at the all-japan youth camp only for them to wake up at 32 years old, MARRIED, in their osaka home! both are horrified as they realize they’re stuck together in a future they don’t know! this fic made me look forward to getting older, facing changes, and finding people who love my quirks <3

your best american boy

t. 23.3k. asian american high school au.

this fic left me speechless. it’s filled to the brim with emotion, experience, raw and open wounds, and such beautiful prose. learning your culture, appreciating your family, talking to your parents, forgiving your parents, being seventeen, feeling wrong in your skin. it’s a love letter to coming-of-age and asian american-ness (however you choose to define that). it changed how i think about family & identity.

constellations we call home

e. 53.5k. end of the world au.

i LOVE apocalypse aus and this one did not disappoint: the dread, the hope, the wonder, the magic of having no future!! pro volleyball player atsumu finds his cog in the corporate machine neighbor at the end of the world. what does it mean if your life begins with three weeks left to live?

do i dare disturb the universe?

t. 14.9k. parallel universe au.

corporate machine kiyoomi (again!) wakes up in a parallel universe next to the man he dumped 10 years ago— so why does he seem so happy in this life? this fic is gentle and emotional and introspective. i love these kinds of fics bc life is sooo fast and confusing. we never know if we’re making the right decisions and sometimes it’s hard to listen to your heart, but your life is still in your hands. let yourself feel!

nowhere man

e. 40.5k. college band au.

nonlinear storyline of famous atsumu and restaurant owner kiyoomi and their 3 meetings. i’m a sucker for “right person, maybe next time” because if they’re the right person you WILL find a next time. internetpistol’s fics are always emotionally charged and liberating. although sad at points, it’s also very genuine.

again, like this

e. 55.7k. mid-time skip fwb.

(ao3 exclusive)

none of you understand how in love with this fic i am. fwb whose feelings become too much to ignore. it was one of the first skts fics i read, i go back to it probably every week, and the characterization fits SO perfectly. i could read this again and again (heh get it?) and i’d fall in love every single time. my ultimate emotional support fic.

miya atsumu, adored by all (loved by some)

t. 41.1k. canon compliant.

atsumu just wants to be liked, so everyone lets him know they like him (and some love him). my heart really ached for this one. we’ve all had moments of self doubt where we don’t feel like good people, so this fic feels like a warm hug on days like that. find the person you share stardust with <3 you’re all very lovable.

brain fish - bokuaka

(surprise! i read other ships sometimes!)

t. 12k. pre canon(??)/ high school.

this was the SILLIEST and CUTEST little fic ever. bokuto texts the wrong number about the fish he desperately wants. akaashi just keeps texting back. this fic was so reminiscent of all the awkwardness that comes with high school crushes. texting way too late, sounding a little different than real life, and that meeting after all the texts. so adorable.

[orchidsandtulips]

Rewriting Descendants 4

*Contains spoilers for Descendants: Rise of Red*

*Also this is rather long-ish*

Mostly, I’m just tweaking plot details because the movie felt bland, and the plot points that my sister and I came up with while trying to predict the movie feel like a much more exciting story.

Exposition can stay more or less the same. The only problems with the exposition were the dialogue execution and a heavy reliance on telling backstory rather than showing.

The main change is that, rather than the young villains being the ones to prank Bridgette, it’s Ella. As in Cinderella. Why would Cinderella dismiss the Queen of Hearts’ backstory as a “stupid prank” if she wasn’t a part of it? Why would she be cryptic about the prank to her daughter if she didn’t do it? This was the logic going through my mind during the exposition, it would give Chloe more character-developing trauma to work through, and it gives Cinderella a reason to be the second main character’s parent.

Why does Cinderella prank Bridgette? Well, Castlecoming is coming up. Despite what she may say about princesses and princes, Cinderella has a crush on Prince Charming. However, Charming is more charmed by Bridgette and her peppy, cupcake-baking, outgoing personality (because there’s no way Ella is Bridgette’s only friend when Bridgette is the living embodiment of kindness, generosity, and sunshine). In “Get Your Hands Dirty,” Ella says she would do anything for someone she loves. That is SO easy to turn into a twist villain song. Ella wants to find some way to prevent Bridgette from wooing the prince, and figures a little magic can’t hurt too badly. She didn’t intend for the prank to go that far, but the damage was done anyway. Betrayal from her best friend affects Bridgette much more than the bullies doing bully things. Red and Chloe don’t stick around to see this after stealing the cookbook (which they do much earlier in the movie for climax purposes), and only find out about this event when nothing changes upon first returning to the beginning-of-movie ceremony.

Chloe is heartbroken upon hearing that her mother did such a horrible thing. Red consoles her, and the girls bond over not wanting to follow in their mothers’ footsteps. Then they actually fix the timeline, exposing Ella’s deception and preserving Bridgette’s faith in humanity.

When they return at the end of the movie, one of the girls is erased from existence due to their meddling with the past. I personally think that girl would be Chloe, given Cinderella’s villainy, meaning she doesn’t have to face her mother again after learning stuff. My sister thinks that girl would be Red, since Bridgette would have a totally different life after the event. All I know is one of them needs the whole time-travel-erased-my-best-friend’s-existence-but-I-still-remember-them trope for a bittersweet ending.

Basically, nothing bad can come from actively breaking characters’ and audiences’ hearts to drive the story and make it engaging.

[yullsmb]

I shall say something about the Secret History? Sure as hell, I shall. And I shall base this ramble on my thesis.

So, we all know how important the Greek allusions are in this book. Literally, Ancient Greece is a motive of the book. We can definitely look into something here. Say, don't you think that the guys are the mirrorings of the Olympians? Because I do.

First of all, they're very secluded group of people. They literally don't have the external contacts, or this contacts are very limited. The classroom is not even in the literal class. Doesn't it look like the Mount Olympus?

Every one of them has, let's say, "a godly parent" who gave them certain qualities and allows to better understand the character.

Camilla is Artemis. We all gather, that she is that perfect girl in the eyes of Richard. But she is so much more than that. As Artemis, she is gorge, she is smart. But let's not forget that Artemis didn't like when someone disturbed her, and the only person who unwillingly did this ended up dead. So, if Camilla is Artemis, we can make a conclusion that she could be pretty harsh and even violent.

Charles is Apollo. Everything about him screams Apollo. He's that sunshine boy, but even the boys with the sun in their hair do know the tragedy of the sadness and despair. Apollo's loved one was turned into a laurel tree, and as a sign of remembrance he wears the laurel crown. Charles, who pretty much lost his hope, has an alcoholism as his laurel tree.

Bunny. I said it once, I'll say it forever. He is a litteral embodiment of Dionysus. He's driven by his pleasure, he would do anything to get it. And he is the total opposite of Henry.

Francis is a tough one. I see him as Hermes. He is a trickster sometimes. He knows how to get on the right side of the person, but he will never truly open up. Also, Hermes is know for being the gods' messenger. Literally most of the time he's the one to whom Henry comes. Having a chat after casually killing a friend? Francis is a nice person for it. He is usually the one to whom Richard talks on the phone, and then Francis could pass that information. Not to mention, that sometimes both, Hermes and Francis have to be creative about doing something.

Henry. The toughest choice for me. Well, if take into account the fact that the original title of the book is God of Illusions, then Henry could be Morpheus. He could also be Ananke - the personification of inevitability. He is the one behind every scheme, controlling its pace and turns. He also could be Zeus. Everyone just listens to him and does whatever he says. Just pure obedience to the God of the gods.

Richard, our little Californian boy. He is a human. He is a watcher, a bystander. He aspires to be like the gods, but will never get there. That's another reason for him and Camilla not being together.

[theredhoodedcryptid]

(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR GOTHAM KNIGHTS VIDEO GAME)

Ok, so I finished Gotham Knights, and here's my review.

I loved it! The story was amazing, and the plot twists! I totally did not expect Kane to be The Voice. And the Court of Owls!!! They're my all time favorite Batman villain/organization, so for them to be such a prominent villain made me undeniably happy. And the Labyrinth, it was so well done, I literally cried. The mind games and the way it hits you in the feels, it embodies the Court perfectly. The League of Shadow was well done as well.

The sibling bonding! I'm sad that only Dick, Babs, Jay, and Tim were there, but they did them so well! They showed Tim's insecurity and grief for losing Bruce, and I totally believe he's autistic. Dick struggled with whether to take up the cowl and whether he was good enough. Babs struggles through her own grief with her father's death. Jason grieves a father he barely got to know, and apparently the Lazarus pit gave him powers??? I'm all for it. And how Jay still struggles with the pit's effects, finally someone did my boy right.

But it's not all sadness and pain for the batkids. They bond, have fun and make fun of each other, true BatFam content.

I was spoiled for the end of the game, but even if I hadn't been I still felt the dread and realization that as we approached the Wayne cemetery that Talia was going to revive Bruce. That whole scene hit me in the feels and having to mourn Bruce a second time.

And Gotham city, I adored swinging/flying/driving around and patrolling. The subtle details like the fact that there is actually a Batman Musical in universe made me smile. The way citizens have differing opinions on vigilantes. I've never played a spider-man game, but I imagine they're pretty similar.

And the way Wayne Family Botanical Gardens was in ruins and not used, it made me so sad. How Bruce is buried next to his parents, how in the belfry he had the highest ranking score on the video game. I couldn't even bring myself to play it, if i removed Bruce from the leader board I would have felt so guilty and sad.

The graphics were amazing, the attention to detail made my artist heart excited and inspired, and I only ever experienced minor glitches, like the subtitles occasionally flashing, I've had way worse glitches in Skyrim or Knight of the Old Republic, so it really wasn't a big deal to me. I loved how both the end credits and Main Title adjust to whatever your heroes are wearing at the time. I haven't played multiplayer, nor do I plan to, so I can't give you a review on that.

This game was not only gorgeous and well thought out, but it actually made me feel with the characters. I would 100% recommend playing it. 100/10 would play again.

I'll be starting Arkham Knight soon, so stay tuned for that review. I've heard good things and I'm excited!

[detectivedarling]

Metaphors

I had the very lovely opportunity to participate in @ecto-implosion this year! My partner was the delightful @stockincereal, who provided an original artwork for me to base a story of! Please do check out my first dip into the phandom fic writing space, with this Choose Your Own Adventure styled Fairly Oddparents crossover~

I didn't want to risk spoiling anyone reading the fic with my authors notes, so I have put my thoughts under the read more for you to check out at your leisure.

There are four ending total in Metaphors - two that branch off from picking Maddies gift, and two from picking Jacks. Both sets come from Timmy asking the reader to choose between wishing or not, but depending on the gift chosen they vary wildly.

Maddies route leads to the endings Chloe, from not wishing, and Sugar, from wishing. The last scene of Chloe is actually some of the first writing I did for this fic, while still in the brainstorming and idea sharing phase. Stock told me about the character, a girl Timmy's age who had to share fairies with him in the later seasons, and they made it so compelling I couldn't help myself from wanting to play around with that story.

In this world, Chloe and Timmy never had to share fairies - she was simply a neighborhood kid that also had one, the fairy dog Sparky. Her and Timmy discovered they both had fairies, and it formed a friendship based around each being the only person the other could talk about fairies with.

But fairies aren't permanent. They're only there to help the godchild for a short while, until the problems in that kids life is addressed and fixed enough for them not to need a fairy anymore. Timmy is a rare case for how long he's kept his fairies, and Chloe lost hers just a short time before the Fentons came for a visit. It's something Timmy couldn't talk with anyone about, because no one else could know that Chloe used to have a fairy, not even her. For Timmy only, it's like his friend suddenly got amnesia, and no one else knows.

And even though he can't tell Jazz exactly what the problem is, it still helps to talk about it, and trying to reach out to Chloe and build something new.

It's very similar to the no-wish ending on Jacks route, Fairies. Timmy and Jazz talk in that one as well, but not about Chloe. Timmy's loss of their friendship is a symptom, and in Fairies, they come closer to addressing the cause - his fairies. Because they were only meant to be with him for a few months, not the years it has been. And part of that is due to Timmy being so terrified of losing them that he refuses to even try and fix the problems in his life long term.

Jazz' talk of struggles with showering comes from personal history. I wanted to find something similar but different for her, but just couldn't think of anything else that said what I wanted it to the same way. Well, not any that felt more in character, at least. My autistic elder sister girliepop<33

What hides inside Timmy is a deep belief that it will never be better. Not without his fairies. He can only imagine change being temporary, episodic in nature. When he thinks about fixing anything in his life, from Vicky to school to his parents, he can never imagine it sticking. He sees himself try more in class, work harder, only for everyone to get their expectations up and be disappointment when he inevitably fails. Because nothing will ever get easier - he will just suck it up until he can't anymore.

His fairy godparents embody and augment this fear. He knows they'll leave if they think he doesn't need them anymore, and he can never imagine not needing them - only pretend to, and loose them forever.

It's a rough conversation for him, but it's a good one. One he needed.

Sugar, the ending that comes from wishing after picking Maddie's gift, has far less impact on Timmy's life. He's spared from difficult talks and reflection, but that also doesn't fix anything. But hey, now that Danny knows about fairies, he might be able to actually talk about them in full, one day in the future.

This ending came from me wanting something simpler. Danny isn't one to have a full heart to heart, but the idea of him becoming a little like Jazz is to him for Timmy, knowing his secret but not letting that fact slip, was just fun. Hopefully he will get to actually talk with Timmy's godparents one day, and not just hide in the shadows.

The last ending I wrote, Loss, is unique in more ways than one. Dubbed the 'Bad Ending', it comes after picking Jacks gift, with the ghost weapon that sets Danny off, and wishing, which makes Timmy wish for everyone to forget him and lead Danny to come to wrong conclusion. For all that Timmy's childish and magical perception of the world was what was supposed to give the fic title Metaphors it's meaning, they forced their way quite heavily into Danny's pov as well.

I had something close to the idea of that ending for a long time, but struggled a lot with the execution. I wanted Danny's discovery to result in the fairies leaving Timmy - but I also Didn't want that to happen in the Sugar ending. It came to me while driving home, and I could barely stop myself from speeding to get to my keyboard faster.

The problem in Loss isn't that Danny knows - just like genies and other magical beings can know that Timmy has fairy godparents, so can ghosts. The problem is that Danny, freaking out over the strange magic and missing kid, tears through the magic enough for the glamour to fall and everyone else to discover it.

Could the fairies have magicked everyone to forget? Seems so, even though canon makes it into a big deal, but Danny will always know, and they can't trust him not to do it again.

Now is the moment I realize why I write these in the authors note, because there I get self conscious over the length and don't ramble on for too long. Whoopsie.

[tigreblvnc]

BLUE LOCK MATCHUP — @yutacchin

Your match is...

— Isagi Yoichi

✦ My sweet little sunshine.

✦ Because that’s exactly what I thought while reading your bio.

✦ Oh Lord, you’re not someone who can be handled by just anyone.

✦ "I like open-minded people, patience, the sense of security people can radiate, and their confidence." This one was both the easiest and the hardest, because from my point of view, there are very few patient characters in Blue Lock, most of them being focused on being the best.

✦ The most patient ones are usually the most analytical and calculating, but I think that wouldn’t mix well with your traits.

✦ Our most balanced contender to meet your needs is, of course: our favorite main character.

✦ Without a doubt, you two would be the couple holding hands in public.

✦ I even imagined you both wearing woolen mittens in winter…

✦ Isagi is more on the introverted side, but he gains confidence as he evolves.

✦ He also tends to find himself in complicated, even impossible situations because he faces extraordinary and overpowered opponents, but he always ends up finding a solution all by himself, most of the time during the match, live on the field.

✦ So it’s not really a problem that giving solutions isn’t your strong suit. In fact, he really appreciates that you’re a good listener and always available. Isagi often confides in his teammates about what’s bothering him, which helps him find answers, even if they don’t actually say anything.

✦ He’s great at encouraging and motivating people individually. He knows the right words, the right arguments, and has an optimistic aura that calms everyone down, even in the most critical moments.

✦ "I'm naive so I tend to never think bad of people" Isagi is good at seeing through people’s games and understanding their motivations; he can also tell when someone’s trying to trick you, and he’ll react accordingly. He regularly reminds you to be careful, to take care of yourself, and to be cautious. He’ll ask, "Are you really sure you’re okay?" and that usually helps you admit when something is bothering you.

✦ "The video games I tend to play are open world, turn-based, and asymmetrical types." Did you know he has a PS4? And it’s totally canon. I can totally see him enjoying games that challenge his mind but also let him escape and go on adventures. Open-world games would totally be his thing if you ask me. And co-op games too!

✦ "My love language is acts of service, gifts, and quality time for giving." Since Isagi often ends up doing everything, even the cleaning, he would find it both surprising and delightful if, for once, you took on some of the boring household chores. Also, he’s the type to treasure all the little things you buy for him, like keychains. He even has one attached to his phone, and people often ask him what it is. Of course, he blushes and responds evasively, "It’s a gift."

✦ My superficial side is talking here, but I’m sure he’d really find you attractive. In fact, you have all the traits he lacks, and vice versa.

✦ Can we talk about those adorable moments when he waits for you after class?

✦ Where he even took the time to buy drinks and your favorite cake from the bakery?

✦ Can we ALSO talk about how he reserved the movie tickets for tonight?

✦ And that he’s already asked his parents if you can stay over at his place…

✦ The purest soul of Blue Lock gave birth of the sweetest couple.

A word about your match: I thought of Kunigami first because he embodies the strength, confidence, and loyalty that you love. But at the same time, I thought his open-mindedness might be lacking at times. He’s sometimes rigid, too stuck in his principles, and I think you wouldn’t like his overly strict side. Of course, we’re talking about pre-Wild Card Kunigami. (It's even worse after)

© TIGREBLVNC 2024 | AUGUST '24 MATCHUPS EDITION.

[itsmeanyango]

THE SEVENTH HOUSE IN ASTROLOGY: ITS RULER IN YOUR CHART

The ruler of your seventh house in a different house tells you a lot about your relationship. The seventh house rules all types of relationships, not just romantic.

Please note, these are pointers to help you understand. These are not total explanations. The whole is greater than the parts. That means the whole chart needs to be taken into consideration. The planet, also says more. We shall look at two almost similar charts for comparison and examples. See the end of this article about the two charts, yes I do offer astrology readings here.

In the first house it shows your relationships playing a huge part in your identity. The first house opposes the 7th, so this shows conflict and opposition. You have to grow as a person so that the relationships you are in both professionally, family, friendship, as a parent, as a sibling, as a relative as a partner etc, do not be a bad picture about you. For instance people who are known to be people pleasers and also those people known to always fight with everyone. Another group is people who suddenly become a new person with each relationship, like a shape shifter.People who have committed identity theft and also those who have taken a partners criminal charges, tend to have this placement.

In the second house means your values strongly influence your relationships. Overly religious people, red pillers and podcast bros plus their followers, are explained by this. Unless Gemini is the sign in the seventh or second house, then the above applies. However, with those placements, this is someone who goes about embodying other peoples values so that they can fit in and be accepted.

In the third house this shows communication styles. You speak to people the way you speak too yourself and you may find yourself heavily preoccupied with dissecting what was said to you and what you want to say to others because you either don't care(Aries) or you don’t want to hurt anyone.

In the fourth house shows someone looking for home in everyone.

In the fifth house shows over extending yourself.

In your sixth house shows being unable to navigate relationships, being unavailable or people pleasing. Pushing everything out of your schedule to be over accommodating. The type of person who worries that if they do not show up for people, something bad will happen. Relax, they will be okay without you.

In your seventh house shows taking all relationships seriously and not being willing to let go.

In the eighth house shows someone seeing relationships as transactional where they keep taking from people. This does not come out point blank as someone always borrowing, this is also someone seeing themselves as a charity case and just depending on everyone around them.

In the ninth house shows relationships with smarter people(usually more educated) and also from different cultures. Foreign relationships.

In the tenth house shows relationships being very terms and conditions. Very conditional love. If there is an aspect to the first house,this also shows very conditional love to yourself.

In the eleventh house shows a lot of online friends. This is someone with success under anonymous accounts. Great ghost writers. Great writers with pen names. A community person on the ground. These type of people tend to be very different offline and online. Very different people at home and outside. Yes, this is an indicator of abusive people.

In the twelfth house is people that gravitate towards cults and performative spirituality. So easy to be scammed, so easy to be dragged into dangerous spiritual, psychological and ‘mindfulness’ practices. Finds belonging and peace in lies and manipulation. They lie to themselves more than they lie to others. For instance, believing you have a cryptic pregnancy and you gave birth yet you never did at all. Theres a documentary in Nigeria on that. Also when very Michelle Phan.

These two charts below seem similar. (Birth time 12.11pm and 9.11pm on December 19th 2024, Nairobi, Kenya.)

However they aren't. They belong to people born on the same day, same location but different times. One is a Pisces rising and the other is a Leo rising. The Pisces rising has Virgo in their 7H which makes Mercury the ruler of their 7th House(Mercury rules Virgo). The Leo rising has Aquarius in their 7H which makes Saturn the ruler of their 7H(Saturn rules Aquarius in traditional Astrology, which I'm using here).

As mentioned, you also need to take into consideration the planet. In this case, Mercury rules communication and the mind amongst other things. Mercury is also trickster energy. Saturn rules hard work or doing things the hard way, responsibility, rewards and punishments amongst other things.

So for a start, the Pisces rising will view relationships with trust issues and scepticism. They will try to tricked before they are tricked and always believe someone is out to get them. They may also have a tendency to view relationships as transactional such that the relationship ends once the transaction ends.

For the Leo rising, they may view relationships as hard work. That they have to take their time with relationships and also, be very professional with relationships. Now, this particular placement has an aspect to their 1H. Remember when we mentioned the 10H? That part also applies here because Leo rules the heart and Saturn rules the 10H. Because Leo's have a hard time setting boundaries and seeing people for who they are in the beginning plus also pacing themselves in relationships, they punish themselves for failed relationships even if they were the victims in these relationships. Be it abusive caregivers, siblings, lovers, work places etc. When Leo risings pace themselves with all relationships, they get fulfilling relationships.

Now for the Pisces rising, Mercury is in the 10H. This means that for this Pisces, amidst all the trust issues and dog eat dog society they view all relationships as, they find it very hard to make and even maintain relationships. 9 times out of 10, they actually are the problem. Because they actually went out of their way to be horrible to genuine people since they never even sat down to know the person.

For the Leo rising, Saturn is in their 8H. This shows an individual who is ALWAYS in debt because of their relationships. It also indicates parasocial relationships. This particular person, never gets anything good out of relationships they have not taken their time in. Whether it's the workplace, family, school, and even with the local shopkeeper. In romance, these are the ones who allow others to misuse them sexually. Because they have very conditional love for themselves, they are actually a danger to themselves when a relationship of any type "screws them over". When they do pace themselves with relationships, then they do get rewards. A successful dominatrix could have this placement especially if they also had the moon in their 8H. This is also a great placement for someone who studies human behaviour and offers such services and makes money out of them.

Let me know if you have any questions. You can book an astrology reading with me here. Merry Christmas 2024 and a happy New Year 2025.

[fashion-foxy]

Ok, Descendants fans, genuine question: Arent a majority of cast useless and could just be Ben and Harry with little to no change in the story? (I'm using them because that scene with Ben kidnapped on the boat and Harry fucking with him was peak dynamic. ) Like :

Mal : Leader of original VK group, sarcastic, and insecure,and acts as Isle figurehead; being the 'bad' and more negative to Ben's more positive and 'good'. Ben is ~16, and his parents are very closed-minded and see in blank and white. Ben being that young and having no one around him who shares his view of the world would (in my opinion make him relatively insecure). I don't think I really have to explain Harry fitting sarcastic. Harry could just as easily fit into being a figurehead to the Isle. I think he embodies the Isle a bit more because he has a much more free spirited personality and demonstrates a lot more how being on the Isle is "every man for himself"

Evie : Optimistic, friendly, smart business minded. Ben is, tying back in with the last statement, a very positive person. He will always see the good the good in everyone and everything and because of this he's a very friendly guy. The 'smart business mind' can totally also factor into running a kingdom. Considering every possibility and factoring what that would mean for you and your people.

Jay : Charming, Kleptomanic tendencies (it's a personality trait in the sims 4, I genuinely couldn't think of anything that wasn't already covered by 'charming') Harry has a scene where he flirts with 4 women in ~1 minute. He also has 'was in a situationship that ended horribly, and neither of them want to admit it ended or even happened' energy with everyone. He is like the definition of charming. I don't have to really explain Kleptomanic tendencies, but I think it also builds the 'knows what it takes to survive on the Isle' that I think would bring a lot more to the table than when Mal said that they should close the barrier for good and BEN (someone who has no reason to care about the Isle and only does because he genuinely wants to do the best thing for the people) was the one who advocates for the Isle. Harry would never turn his back on the Isle like that.

Carlos : quick-witted, and awkward has this played for laughs a couple times(I may be misinterpreting the situation because Dude being comic relief is not funny at all to me but I assume most things he says are supposed to be humorous) (Sidenote : Rest in peace Cameron Boyce.) This one isn't even really specific to Harry because basically all of the VK's and quick-witted and very good at thinking on their feet. (Growing up on the Isle will do that to a motherfucker) but I think Harry is probably the best at it. I mean, just take the exchange where he says that there's 20 minutes left to noon, and Ben corrects him. He doesn't get hostile he takes the situation and makes it into a joke and like it's part of him messing with Ben. Obviously the awkwardness is something that Ben possesses. The man is the human embodiment of a hurt puppy. If he's trying to be nice and friendly with someone and they are rude or ignore him, he just freezes. He's got nowhere to take the conversation, so he awkwardly laughs and walks away.

Uma : Pirate gang leader. I think that she and Mal have very similar personalities, and a lot of these points are going to be building on my talking points with Mal but I will bring up that Uma is a lot more stubborn and vengeful than Mal is/was. Harry and Ben aren't exactly that stubborn. What I would say is that if anything, Harry is more self-assured, and Ben just has very strong views of the world that he won't compromise on.

Gil : The most friendly dude, caring, little dumb sometimes, but he means well. Gil literally is just the Isle equivalent to Ben, in my opinion. Like they just share most of their traits.

So, how grossly did I oversimplify them? Are there more strong character moments in the book? What am I missing here?

[zimulacrum]

Total Drama Camp Island au

Fuck it. Au where Camp Wawanakwa is a Theatre camp. Chris is the director, Chef is the technical director. Mixing Gen 1 and Gen 2, the cast and crew splits up like this:

(PS, if two people have the same role, it’s just double cast.)

CAST

Alejandro - Joined because he enjoyed theatre as a class. He easily gets roles, though his charm is sometimes seen as an unfair advantage to others so he doesn’t audition much.

NOTABLE ROLES

the Phantom

the SQUIP

Emmett Forrest

Rocky

Kenickie Murdoch

Sierra - Joined because OBVIOUSLY she wants a place to nerd out! She gets good roles because she’s one of the only people who put all her emotions and being into her lines AND songs.

NOTABLE ROLES

Sandy Cheeks

Jenna Rolland

Columbia

Ronette

Delia Deetz

Duncan - I can’t decide whether he joined as a joke, or if his parents forced him to hang out with other teens. Maybe both. But surprisingly, he’s a good actor—AND can, surprisingly, do an incredible Mr. Krabs impression. He also constantly fights with crew to not wear a wig, keeping his mohawk onstage.

NOTABLE ROLES

Mr. Krabs

Jake Dillinger

Eddie

Orin Scrivello

Beetlejuice???

Tyler - Joined because he thought it would be like High School Musical. His roles are never big, but he has fun with them and always treats them like they’re the lead.

NOTABLE ROLES

Patchy the Pirate

one of the businessmen that purchases an Audrey II

Harold - He WOULD be a threatre kid if he could. He auditions with rapping EVERY TIME. And it works for him.

NOTABLE ROLES

Sheldon J. Plankton

Kevin G

Riff Raff

Geoff - Joined as a dare, and ended up loving it. He’s super chill about cast lists, and whatever he ends up with, he makes sure it’s including Bridgette.

NOTABLE ROLES

Patrick Star/Larry the Lobster/Gary the Snail

Damien Hubbard

Heather - She likes being in the spotlight. She expects roles, and she gets roles. .. not always. She’s typecast as the mean girl.

NOTABLE ROLES

Chloe Valentine

Regina George

Magenta

Vivian Kensington

Betty Rizzo

Lindsay - Loves movies and musicals and wants to be like that!! But she usually forgets her lines… and when she does, they’re all from Mean Girls. Even if she’s doing Rocky Horror, she’ll say her Karen Smith lines. Oh well.

NOTABLE ROLES

Karen Smith

Paulette Bonafonté

Frenchy Facciano

Leshawna - She has a big voice, so she’ll join to get big roles. Although, she’s never really cast in dance heavy roles…

NOTABLE ROLES

Pearl Krabs

Janice Ian

Audrey II/Chiffon

Elle Woods

Owen - He thought theatre camp could be fun! He has a surprisingly nice voice, and is just really good at embodying characters.

NOTABLE ROLES

SpongeBob SquarePants/Patrick Star

Michael Mell

Noah - “Joined as a joke”. He secretly really wanted to. He has the gay theatre kid energy here… his voice is also quite pleasant.

NOTABLE ROLES

Squidward Tentacles

Adam Maitland

Brad Majors

Warner Huntington III

Trent - Joined for fun since he had a free summer. He always brings his guitar, and sometimes plays it for script read throughs.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Aaron Samuels

Cody - Family got him to join. They hoped he could get really cute roles, and he acts like he doesn’t care. He does.

NOTABLE ROLES

SpongeBob SquarePants/Old Man Jenkins

Seymour Krelborn

Bridgette - A friend suggested she signed up, so she did—tries to get a couples role with Geoff ever since they got together.

NOTABLE ROLES

Mayor of Bikini Bottom

Brooke Lohst

Janice Ian

Brooke Wyndham

Courtney - She’s done every subject and activity, of COURSE she’ll try theatre! She’s destined to be a star! She takes everything extremely seriously. And if she doesn’t get the role she wants… it’s scary.

NOTABLE ROLES

Christine Daae

Jenna Rolland

Gretchen Weiners

Vivian Kensington

Barbara Maitland

Crystal

Katie and Sadie - They picked a summer camp they wanted to do together, chose this, and auditioned for EVERYTHING together. They don’t really do roles that aren’t a duo.

NOTABLE ROLES

the Delta Nu girls

Justin - Decided to join because he assumed he’d get roles IMMEDIATELY for how he looked. He did not.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Kyle the delivery man

Cameron - His mom suggested he joined a theatre camp because it felt “safe”—plus, he can actually sing and dance pretty well, since he grew up with his mom’s disco music.

NOTABLE ROLES

Seymour Krelborn

Anne Maria - She REALLY wants a shot at being a lead in a musical, but is painfully… tone deaf. But she’s pretty good at dancing, actually!

NOTABLE ROLES

Cha-Cha DiGregorio

Mike - His psychiatrist suggested he take a theatre camp, since his excuse for his switches is that he just “likes to act”. In reality, Mike… doesn’t really like acting. He’ll take one role, but all his others are usually done by… not. Him.

NOTABLE ROLES

Jeremy Heere

Beetlejuice (Mal)

Danny Zuko (Vito)

Zoey - She actually loves musicals! Big theatre kid! She can make her own costumes and knows way too much about the shows she’s in, but barely says anything about it because she’s nervous about appearing as weird.

NOTABLE ROLES

Karen

Christine Canigula

Cady Heron

Chutney Wyndham

Janet Weiss

Lydia Deetz

Sandy Olsson

Lightning - Joined by accident. He doesn’t know where he is. He likes the attention, though.

NOTABLE ROLES

an Electric Skate

Brick - He was too nervous to join theatre at school, so he tried a summer camp no one had ever heard of… and it was perfect!

NOTABLE ROLES

Perch Perkins

Dr. Scott

Scott - Joined as a joke. Auditions as a joke. Usually tries to get someone to mess up a line or say the M word onstage…

NOTABLE ROLES

Rich Goranski

Dakota - OOOFF COOUURRSEEE she has to be center stage! Of COURSE! It’s not Broadway, but this’ll do!

NOTABLE ROLES

Brooke Wyndham

Miss Argentina

Dawn - (is usually crew)

NOTABLE ROLES

Audrey

CREW

DJ - paints sets!

Eva - helps with exercises and choreography!

Gwen - head of makeup!

Izzy - she does the practical effects/special effects/visuals!

Courtney - she has FOUGHT with Chris and Chef to be allowed to act and do crew at the same time. she does lights. do NOT let her be stage manager.

Ezekiel - also pants sets!

Beth - assists in costuming!

Cameron - prop master!

Mike - when he can avoid acting, he helps Cam!

Dawn - she’s an assistant stage manager, and always knows who’s playing what before the cast list gets written somehow…

B - to save money on hiring various companies for flying or using other big machinery, he handles that himself.

Sam - sound master!

Brick - when he’s not acting, he works on being head of costumes!

Jo - stage manager!

PPS. I know most of these are adult shows, but do you think Chris gives a shit

[heartofspells]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAL!!! 🥳🎂🎁

It's officially @tracingpatternswrites birthday by her own timezone, which means it's time to celebrate her! Personally, I think we should spend every single day celebrating her (and i DO), but today is extra special.

To give her just a small piece of the love she deserves on this super fantastic day of her birth, I thought I'd highlight some of my favorite fics of hers that I'll forever love and can always use so much more attention.

(and i totally stole this idea from her because she did the same for me, so how could i not do it for her?)

Presenting just a small selection of the best Mal fics in no certain order:

🥁🥁🥁

1 - over blackened water (E) Jegulus Summary: Regulus knows it as clear as anything. He might be a Death Eater, might be one of the Dark Lord’s most trusted, but Regulus Black belongs only to one other man and that is James Potter.

-- I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I've read this. James is so perfectly grey and the way Regulus thinks about him just sucks you into James' trap along with him. I swear I've had dreams about this fic.

2 - Hanging by a Thread (T) Wolfstar Summary: The Fates does not interfere with worldly things, but that does not mean they cannot see where the road will lead. That is why, when the second boy is born, they look to the star and the moon as they weave their red string.

One end fastened to a boy with raven hair, and the other to a boy with brown curls. Hence they belong together, even though their story will be much too short and their journey will not be an easy one.

-- Mal worked so hard on this one to try a different style of writing and she nailed it. Every word is like a mysterious, omnipotent fairytale rolled into a tragedy that makes me drool.

3 - Prey (E) Wolfstar + Greyback Summary: The man was half-naked, his silk shirt hanging torn over his shoulders. Remus’ gaze snagged on his naked chest, the splatter of ink across porcelain skin. A constellation, Remus could tell, he recognised it as the Canis Major. Greyback had taught him how to read the stars, how to use them to guide his way in the darkness. He wondered briefly what it meant that the man had it painted on his chest.

“For you,” Greyback said, inclining his head towards the man but his yellow eyes were focused on Remus, watching for his reaction.

“For me?” Remus asked, hesitantly, taking a step closer.

“Yes,” Greyback said simply as he leaned against the wall of the cave, watching them both with a predatory shine in his eyes.

-- Hang on. Give me a second while I scream, except I never stop screaming about this one. This fic is soooo twisted and messed up and perfect that I can't ever form cohesive thoughts about it for very long. Just do yourself a favor: read the tags and go read it, then come back and scream with me about it. And what's even better about this one is that Mal wrote it for meeeeeee! I love her so much!

4 - Little Lion (E) Sirius Black/Regulus Black/James Potter Summary: Sirius Black and James Potter are two sides of the same coin. Rivals since the first day they set foot on the Hogwarts Express, constantly trying to beat the other whether it’s on the Quidditch pitch or in the classroom. Together they are the embodiment of the Gryffindor and Slytherin rivalry. Regulus Black is caught in the middle, stuck between his older brother and his Quidditch captain.

Everything comes to a head when Regulus’ parents decide it’s time to bring their wayward son back into the fold through an arranged marriage. Refusing to lose his brother and determined to control the situation, Sirius enlists Potter to make sure his brother doesn’t stray, all in the name of doing what is best for his little lion.

-- If there's one thing that Mal does exquisitely (there are numerous things, but we're focusing on this one), it's crafting into existence the perfect Slytherin!Sirius. The entire dynamic in this fic - the rivalry between Sirius/James, the control between Sirius/Regulus - is blindingly superb, but Sirius is like chewing glass into liquid form, spitting it back out, and injecting it into my veins, my god.

5 - A Mother's Love (M) Sirius & Walburga Summary: Sirius might have left, but he was going to come back. He was going to come back. He had to come back.

-- This fic has haunted me since the first time I read it. Walburga's conviction that she's doing the right thing, the imagery with all the fire and smoke, her perceived slow descent into madness as she repeats to herself that her son will return to her...Walburga isn't a great mother, but Mal's writing makes you almost believe she is, that she's right in all that she does, because she does it out of love.

Obviously Mal has a ton of amazing fics, but I really wanted to highlight some of my favorites that have gained less attention than others. Do yourself a favor: take a look at these, then go read everything else she's got. You won't be sorry. Give her the birthday love she deserves. Leave a comment, send her a note through an ask, tell her why you love her writing so much because she's extraordinary.

And I hope you have the BEST birthday, my sweet! <33

[thevindicativevordan]

Superman & Lois Season 3 Review

Another season is over, let's take stock of how the show did in comparison to S2.

Well for starters their poster game dramatically improved, the pic above is the first one that I would describe as cool. The writers seemed to have taken feedback from S2 into account because they made several corrections that I think led to S3 being the best season of the show yet.

First off they dropped the emphasis on the Multiverse which had previously played a strong role in S1 and 2. Good timing considering that the general audience at large has started to show signs of fatigue with the very concept of Multiverses, Spiderverse aside. I myself have grown utterly sick of the Multiverse and was grateful that like X-Kryptonite, the show decided to put that storytelling crutch on the shelf.

Second, they did a much better job with juggling all the characters' storylines this time. Lois, Superman, the Irons, and Smallville all connected to the overarching Intergang plot in a way that made sense and worked to flesh out Mannheim in contrast to the Parasite Twins last season who suffered from too much vagueness and multiple plotlines that failed to connect emotionally. Sam and Lana having similar emotional arcs - where they learn to move past the pain they suffered from previous relationships and be ready to explore new ones - was a great way of connecting the two that I did not see coming. And sue me but I enjoyed the Kyle/Chrissy romance as out of left field as it was.

Bruno Mannheim was easily the best villain of this series thus far. His actor was able to switch from charismatic and sympathetic to terrifying with startling ease. My favorite example of that is the episode where Nat and Matteo had dinner with the elder Mannheims, Mannheim was cracking jokes and being the cool dad one minute, and getting ready to beat John Henry Irons to death the next minute. Great casting and acting for the entire Mannheim family, odd choice to use a take on Onomatopoeia for a Superman show, but I thought Peia's love for her family and ruthless nature to protect them contrasted well with Lois. Loved that scene at the end between Supes and Peia where he tells her it's ok to let go, opposite message of the iconic All-Star scene which they also homage, but one that I thought can be just as comforting.

Speaking of her, Lois benefitted from being the star of her own storyline this season. She got to deal with cancer and investigate the Mannheims, she got to make mistakes (like when she hesitated to keep digging into Mannheim after her bonding with Peia), have struggles with her self-esteem, and her past actions regarding Lex help set up S4 nicely. Eager to see the fallout of Lex's hatred for her next season.

Clark didn't get as much to do this season other than butt heads with Mannheim and Jordan, but he got enough cool Superman saves and nice Clark moments for me to be satisfied.

New actor for Jon is great. Not only does he look more like the Jordan actor's twin but his performance was on par with his predecessor. Making Jon a firefighter was a nice way to give him something to do beyond being Jordan's emotional support, or take the fall for his girlfriend. Writers appear to have finally caught on that most of the viewers see Jon as the true sympathetic kid who embodies the best of his parents. Jordan however... what the hell are they doing with this kid? He was a total creep this season regarding Sarah and towards the end it felt like maybe they were going to pull a twist ending by having him start falling into villainy. Then they had the scene at the end where he apologizes to Sarah and I have no clue where they're going with him anymore. Having S4 be Jordan's fall while Jon finally gets his powers and has to confront his brother would be the best way to end this series, a way of coming full circle back to S1 being Clark vs. his own evil half-brother without being a total rehash. Dunno if the show has the balls for that, I expect they do not, but man it would be a great set up for a series finale

The Irons were far more involved this season which made me happy. Scene where Irons and Mannheim confronted each other after Irons saved his sister from the bomb was pure classic Superman/Lex hatred, made me wish we had gotten more scenes between Wole and Coleman because the two played off each other beautifully. Grinned when I saw this show follow through on the Steel/Lana romance, happy to see something of Pak's influence reach outside of comics.

The Lex actor is the best live action Lex since Rosenbaum, have to give the CW credit for being able to adapt Lex while the film side struggles. Really looking forward to him stepping up as the Big Bad next season. Given the show's emphasis on family and that they won't be bringing the actor playing Sam back as a reoccurring support, I firmly believe they should have Lex kill Sam in S4. Would be a great way to establish Lex as a threat, show how determined he is to punish Lois, and write Sam off in a way that serves the story.

On the bad side I guess this season ending on Doomsday didn't do much for me? Doomsday being a weird adaption of Nuclear Man from Superman IV (they even end the season with a fight on the moon!) and DCEU Doomsday is one of those times where I just ask "why?" when I see this show taking influence from the DCEU. Oh and there's all those supporting cast plotlines that aren't going anywhere now that the show has basically trimmed the cast down to the Kents and Lex. Nothing will come of the Irons moving back to Metropolis and building Steelworks or Kyle and Chrissy having a kid, not that the writers are to blame for that.

People would have been pissed if the show ended on this cliffhanger, lucky for them that S&L are at least getting what is likely to be one final season to wrap things up. Tulloch was saying that she wasn't sure if S4 was the last season, but I don't believe S&L can get another one. Between Nexstar just barely renewing this show after months of negotiations with WB, Nexstar making it clear the show isn't very profitable and they want to transition away from scripted content, most of the supporting cast members being laid off to cut costs, the real life town that scenes for Smallville are shot at only being signed up for three seasons, and of course Superman Legacy being primed to release in 2025, there's no way S4 will be anything but the final season. Especially with the WGA (and possible SGA) strikes delaying S4 scripting and shooting until late 2024, I expect that S&L S4 will air just a little while before Legacy's July 2025 release date, much the same way as the CW Flash series ended a little while before the Flash movie released.

Between MAWS and Legacy it's unlikely this show will have much if any impact on the Superman franchise, but it's been a nice diversion while the film side sorted itself out and MAWS got worked on. I'll definitely check in for the final season, I'm sad that the Irons won't return but I think the show might benefit from having to focus on the core cast rather than get sidetracked by focusing on everyone else like how the Flash show botched it's final season.

[semper-legens]

48. Gideon the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir

Owned: No, library Page count: 475 My summary: The Ninth House needs a cavalier. Their only necromancer has been called to face the challenge to become a Lyctor, an elite magic-user in line with the Emperor. But Harrowhark Nonagesimus needs a sword at her side, and she’s calling on Gideon Nav. Who is very much tired of her bullshit, thank you very much. The reluctant pair end up in the games of wit and skill, but the challenge is harder than they might have anticipated. When the other necromancers and cavaliers start dying around them, the mystery begins to deepen... My rating: 4.5/5 My commentary:

Gideon the Ninth! Everyone on tumblr loves these skull-faced ladies. And now, reader, I have to inform you that I am among that number. This was recommended by...a lot of people, honestly, but particularly my friend Cleo. It's about space lesbians doing bone rituals! That's totally my thing! And the book did not disappoint, let me tell you. It wasn't quite what I expected, but in all fairness I'm not totally sure what I was expecting. It was brash, it was fun, it was dark, it was spooky, the main characters are fucked up ladies who hate each other, and I am very much into it.

There's a lot of characters to juggle here, and I gotta admit to forgetting some of them - which names matched up to which specific person and the like. In all fairness, remembering which of the Houses they belong to was easy, because they all have names like Octivus or Sextus, the Latin numbers being prominent, but still. (Once they started dying, the survivors were way easier to keep track of.) Our main girls are Harrowhark Nonagesimus and Gideon Nav, the necromancer and reluctant cavalier of the struggling Ninth House. And they hate each other. With a passion. Harrow wants to prop up her House at all costs and doesn't care who she has to trample to do it, Gideon wants to get out of the Ninth House and has been blackmailed into helping Harrow. Both are skilled at what they do, but need an edge over their competitors if Harrow is going to become a Lyctor. The tension between them and the slow reveals of their histories and exactly why they are at each others' throats is very compelling. I love Harrow's stuffy know-it-all mannerisms, and I love Gideon's devil-may-care stroppy teen outlook. It's delicious drama.

I really like the setting for this story. Nine planets, each with their own House and their own politics, all specialising in different forms of necromantic magic. Skeleton servants! Skull face paint! Giant bone constructs! There's so many little details, like how necromancers sweat blood when they're doing their magic, or how complex the skeleton servants can be, or that necromancers can essentially use corpses as puppets if they need to. Harrow's been puppeteering her dead parents for years. Creepy as hell! Everything revolves around inter-House politics and the prosperity of the Houses. Gideon and Harrow are the only children of the Ninth House, after a mysterious illness wiped out all the House's children but Gideon before Harrow was born. Which turns out to have been a desperate plot by Harrow's parents to have a necromancer child, sacrificing the next generation in order to fulfil their duty of birthing a new necromancer. Which is part of the reason why Harrow is the way she is, why she's so desperate and determined and highly strung - she is the sacrifice of an entire generation of innocents, a war crime embodied as a person. She needs to be the person her parents needed her to be, because otherwise it will all have been for nothing.

The plot is intriguing, simultaneously a challenge for Lyctorhood from the necromancers and their cavaliers and a murder mystery, as the bodies start piling up and the necromancers and cavaliers are picked off by forces unknown and unseen. There's a months-dead body in the furnace, nobody trusts anybody, and everyone is pushed to their extremes as they try and uncover the deadly mysteries of the First House. I won't spoil exactly what happens, but I was very surprised by the turn the story took at the end - I didn't think they were going to go there and have it stick! I was expecting Harrow and Gideon to end up making out, and yet this is in a twisted way somehow gayer. And more messed up. It's a fun book, is what I'm saying - not right now, but I'm definitely gonna track down the rest of the series when I have time.

Next up, a transition story.