#they’re my favorite duo to just pit against each other | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gagmebucky · 4 years ago

Text

hiiii i wrote this awhile ago but took it down because i was 👉🏼👈🏼 embarrassed about it (because i do not have the skill to pull off peter parker) and sorta still am but everyone’s been so nice to me about it i thought the best way to repay the kindness by posting it for those who did like it 😅 (originally inspired by spider man 2 with andrew garfield but loosely set in the 2018 issue of the amazing spider-man.)

in which the guys are making fun of peter and accidentally see a video of him fucking you. (includes avenger!peter x girlfriend!you, peter’s pov, voyeur!steve and voyeur!bucky, a sex tape featuring d/s dynamics, bondage, praise kink, exhibitionism, unprotected sex.)

do not repost.

—

Despite being twenty-one years old; a proper adult who lives with his high school sweetheart, a photographer doubling as a seven-year veteran vigilante in the dangers of New York, Peter Parker is still considered as a super-powered amateur to his seasoned peers.

Nonetheless, given his success in countless battles in the state, country, world and even galaxy-wide, he more than qualifies to hold the title of Avenger; it’s official now. A laid-back induction ceremony and his very own identity card: a sturdy rectangle, shiny with full clearance and all. Yet, as an official member, his teammates still treat him like he’s that same goofy, out-of-his-depths sixteen year old.

To be fair, yes, his style of heroism isn’t the most serious. He favors levity in the face of danger, a cheeky flare with smart quips and an infuriating grin. Even after taking a beating from the worst of foes, his demeanor never wavers because in the end, he wins. The villains are slayed and the people are saved, even comforted by the boyishly confident way he works.

But beyond that persona, he has grown into a skilled warrior. On that note, he wants to be regarded as such—at least, to a certain extent. The jokes and teasing, poking fun at his age or the shenanigans he gets himself into, don’t bother him. No, his playful wit handles it with relative ease, and he’s a good sport about it. The only thing that he’d want to see change is some recognition that he isn’t a naïve kid anymore and is fully capable of taking charge when needed.

With his recent acceptance into the gifted pantheon, he’s intent on making that known. The jesting can continue but he wants it to be with an understanding of his capabilities. Luckily, a perfect opportunity has presented itself to showcase his abilities: a training session.

He’s late. And yes, he knows that’s probably not a good impression to make.

In his own defense, it isn’t technically his fault. He forgot that you, his personal alarm clock (amongst other things), left early this morning because you volunteered to help his aunt move. Four years of mornings and nights, he’s gotten used to—and prefers—your languorous wake-up call.

Without your reminder, he regains consciousness fifteen minutes after the scheduled time and ends up scrambling to the compound. In a flurry, he throws on his suit—unknowingly backwards, he realizes later—trips at least three times over his own footing before he finally springs out of the balcony with webbed bursts.

When he reaches his destination, Captain America and the Winter Soldier are unimpressed; mid-simulation, it powers down. Both super-soldiers whirl around to face him, fixing raised eyebrows at his disheveled arrival.

He adjusts his now front-facing suit and shuffles forward into the space with as much confidence as an interrupter can have. “H - hey, guys,” Peter greets sheepishly and manages what he hopes is a charming smile, absentmindedly fidgeting with his phone. “Lookin’ good for a couple of geezers.”

Unfortunately, Steve Rogers is not charmed or disillusioned from the tardiness. “You’re late, Parker.” His arms fold, and he shakes his head when punctuating his disapproval with an echoing, “Again.”

Thankfully, to his right, more relaxed and cool, Bucky Barnes steps up. “C’mon, Stevie. Y’can’t be that surprised,” he chimes in matter of factly, contrasting against his friend with amusement sparkling in his blue eyes. “What’d you expect with Parker?” He gestures at the younger superhero. “Kid’s gonna be late to his own wedding.”

(Beside the point, but worth noting, he will not be late to meeting you at the altar. That is, of course, if you accept when he pops the question. Which is going to happen relatively soon, considering he has the ring in his nightstand drawer.)

The consult seems to relax him. “Yeah, I guess you’re right and—Peter, you—seriously, man?!” Steve sputters the last bit when he glanced over to see him blatantly check the notification that’s vibrated in his hand (on the device that is ruled to be stowed away during training). “Now the phone?!”

Even though he shouldn’t, being on thin ice with Cap and all (pun not intended), Peter’s gaze flickers down to see your contact name appear on the screen, and he can’t resist. While Bucky guffaws a laugh at his audacity, he’s swiping up to pull up your text thread.

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:37AM: spider boyyyyy you’ll never guess what i found in a box labeled ‘peter’s junk’ ;;;)

peter, 10:37AM: those magazines are NOT mine and i don’t know how they got there.

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: not quite but close, naughty boy

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: for a man who depends on keeping secrets and a penchant for home movies, you might ought to keep a lock on your phone unless you want someone to see me like this...

> you 😛❤️🥰, 10:38AM: (video attached)

Immediately, he recognizes the pornographic thumbnail. One glance, and he’s remembering the first couple of times you guys explored the exhibitionism side of things. It was at the end of his freshman year of college and taped on a phone he thought he had lost. But he must've forgotten it at his aunt’s house, and she tossed it in the box until you came along.

Although there’s been plenty more made, he recalls that one being a shared favorite, his especially. When long-distance duty calls, it was his go-to media. The angles, your face and body beneath the lights, the sounds it caught, you once asked if he considered switching to cinematography instead of photographer

Subconsciously, his teeth run over his bottom lip, feeling that blazing spark of desire igniting in the pit of his gut, partially at the memory and partially at what’ll happen once you guys can re-watch it together; his thumbs start typing away with that message.

“Peter!” Steve’s exasperated voice snaps, but to no avail—the real gall of the youngster, or the effect of you. His weight shifts toward his best friend, and he nudges him with his elbow. “Kids these days!” The hundred-something year old’s gaze cocks a brow back over. “Is that why you were late? Blowing off training to text your girlfriend?”

The text delivers with an audible bloop. Finally, his concentration gives, and he can look up, though his expression is clueless from the last minute. “Huh?” His brain registers what he missed, and he winces. “Sorry, Cap. My bad.”

Bucky chuckles. “Give him a break, Steve,” he faux comes to his defense, a teasing quality underlying his tone. “He’s young and in love. It’s not his fault he’s pussy-whipped.” He cracks him an antagonizing grin as Peter rolls his eyes. “He can’t go an hour without sending those little weird pictures with heart eyes, or she might not know he’s thinking about her.”

“As if you know anything about romance, old man,” he fires back and presses past them with squared shoulders, correcting him quite seriously: “And they’re called emojis, by the way. But that’s not what I was doing, if you want to know so bad.”

The brunette tilts his head thoughtfully, and small hackles arise for reasons he doesn’t understand, or pay attention to. “You know, I do want to know really badly,” Bucky decides and poses a question to his left, “Wouldn’t you, too, Steve? Aren’t you curious what his girlfriend sent that was so much more important than training?”

The blond mimics his actions and clicks his tongue. “Yeah, I am.”

Peter’s eyebrows pinch while his skin tingles and the hair on the back of his neck stands straight up. “What—” Before his senses process it, one of the super-soldiers plucks his phone out of his hands and darts back beside his best friend. His jaw drops as he tries to follow after him. “Bucky, you asshole—”

“Some spidey senses, huh?” The Winter Soldier lifts it high over his head, utilizing his six-foot stature against his five-ten like elementary school bullies do and older siblings to their juniors. “Haven’t ‘cha heard about sharing with the class?” He laughs and practically stiff-arms him to squint up at the screen. “Aw, he can’t wait to see her. What’s it been, more than two hours since you two saw each other last?”

Conceding to the height difference, Peter stops his physical efforts and diverts it to someone reasonable. “Cap, you gonna help me out here?” he addresses the entertained onlooker in the most friendly voice he can manage.

“The kid’s got separate anxiety not just from his girlfriend but phone too, Buck,” Steve drawls with a lopsided curve of his lips. He side-steps Peter to stand next to Bucky, and for a second, he thinks he’s on his side despite the tease, but he simply adds a stern, “So be careful. You don’t want to break it, or Parker will have a fit.”

Peter crosses his arms and scowls. “Ha, ha,” he retorts dryly, only somewhat amused by their banter. He tilts his head up at them, and the duo look thoroughly pleased with themselves. “You know, you guys are kind of dicks.”

“No, we’re your mentors, kid,” Steve corrects with a wink and rests his arm on his friend’s shoulder. “This is a lesson. No phones—” He jabs his thumb back in reference to the device’s unlocked screen: “—when you’re supposed to be training.”

“Yeah,” Bucky chimes in upon glancing up from his phone. “And a little advice, women don’t like clinginess. Try being a little more stern and see how that works for you. If you’re able to manage that. But I won’t hold it against ya if you can’t.”

“Uh-huh,” Peter patronizes with a bob of his head, biting back a response pointing out the hundred-something year old’s inexperience. Instead, he focuses on the electronic readily loaded up with some private content. With that, he decides to do the rational and mature thing and ask nicely. “Noted. So, uh, can I have my phone back now?”

To his shock, Bucky merely flashes a smirk and his thumb scrolls half-heartedly over the thread. Thereafter, he leans toward Steve and raises his cell for him to see. “Oh, look, it’s a video,” he teases. “What could Y/N send that would take priority of training?”

There’s an unspoken let’s see then a metal finger taps the play button. Before Peter can think, much less react, Captain American and the Winter Soldier are watching how he effortlessly renders his pretty little girlfriend into a cute nonsensical yet eager mess—

In his point-of-view shot, the ratio holds in portrait view in a bid to capture every bit of you. Above you, the camera focuses on you and your beautifully debauched state beneath warm lighting where it’s unalienable that the camera was made for you.

Your eyes are dilated brightly, desperate with desire as your lashes flutter up at him. A sheen coats your features and glistens like glitter at the highest points of your face while the shape of your face is framed by your stretched arms.

Your wrists are bound over your head, splotched with expertly sprayed strong, white webs. The mesh sticks them together in a criss-cross, comfortable but nearly impossible to break out of, fixed in place atop his headboard. The tautness tugs a mild strain on your figure so your breasts are jutting out like an offering, and it’s obvious he’s taken advantage of it. Darkened marks adorn your glowing complexion, peppered across your décolletage with imprints of his teeth; including your nipples, sucked swollen and tender.

The angle trails down until it reveals the sight of him mercilessly pounding inside of you. His better-than-average girth is sliding in and out of your tight channel; slicked in shared translucent essence, creaming around the base, your inner walls visibly clinging to his cock with every backward stroke. His hand splays on your mound, using his thumb to abuse your engorged clit. He easily keeps the sensitive nub pinned under his control despite your wildly twisting hips.

Like the display, the soundtrack is equally obscene. Loud, your stuffed depths gush and squelch as skin slaps rhythmically. Your breathy, wanton moans overshadow both, drawn out whimpers, almost nonsensical other than the syllable of his name. A melody of neediness, you sound so fucking pretty, (depraved, like a whore, you once told him during your little film marathon with a sly smile), and for him specifically.

The frame pans upward and confirms you look just as good. A perfect mess, unhinged by the skilled ministrations of your boyfriend. Passion beads on your forehead like reflections off of a diamond. Panting, your lips are plumped from kissing parted with mewls of pleasure.

“P - please—I need to—can I - I please—” You’re begging like the sweet little thing you are, incoherent babbling the result of his excessive edging. Of course, you know better than to give into the sensations ravaging you; instead you ignore your visceral desire and ask him for your release. “Peter, please!”

A deep chuckle vibrates behind the camera as his big hand slides into view, trailing over your jiggling tits to the slope of your throat. “Maybe,” he says breathily and grasps the line of your jaw between his fingers. “Open your mouth first, babe.”

No more preamble necessary, you follow his direction, your pink tongue flat over your Cupid’s bow. Immediately, a long string of his saliva drips into view and onto your taste buds; the vulgar act is accepted with a swallow and a quivering moan of, “T - thank you.”

“Good girl,” he praises huskily, and the voiced approval has you visibly shivering. “Alright, then, pretty girl. Make it good for me, and c’mon—”

Before your otherworldly reckoning washes over you and his teammates can watch your bliss immortalized in film, Peter snatches his property back.

Not much force is necessary as Bucky’s grip has been stunned loose. A dark expression permeates on young hero’s face but not because of embarrassment; if he was still nineteen or eighteen, he would’ve been mortified that his titular superiors caught a depraved glimpse of his sex life, on both his and your behalf. Rather than, there’s just a flit of annoyance when he folds his arms.

“Shit,” Bucky is the first to speak, exhaling the swear raggedly. His blue pupils have widened in obvious attraction, dilated dark, blinking rapidly as if it’ll help calm him down from the clip of you, his innocent seeming girlfriend, all ruined and begging. “Parker, fuck, I - I didn’t know you got down like that.”

There’s a swell in his chest, pride beating steadily while he remains reticent-faced. He prefers you keep your bedroom activities secluded there. Yeah, he likes to be in control and you like to be controlled but it’s only in a sexual nature. Yet, their reactions—stunned, embarrassed and viscerally affected—surges smug satisfaction he’s never known before through his veins.

Even the prestigious Captain America is bothered, though he may try to hide it. He clears his throat, a flustered pink coloring his cheeks. “Peter, uh,” he says, barely maintaining the confidence to look him in the eye after witnessing his girlfriend like that. “We - we shouldn’t have invaded your privacy like that.”

“Uh-huh,” is Peter’s response, a hint of a smirk curling on one side of his lips. “Why don’t you guys call me after you’re finished with your cold showers, and we can actually train. Until then, I’m gonna go to my girl who’s more than eager to handle mine.” He pauses. “Maybe if you guys ask nice enough, I might let her show you how well I’ve trained her.”

#peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #marvel smut imagines #spiderman x reader smut #marvel smut #heh I am going to pass out #I..#goodnight im off me ass sjdjjsxj

387 notes · View notes

nat-20s · 4 years ago

Text

MEDIA THAT I RECOMMEND YOU CONSUME INSTEAD OF SUPERNATURAL FOR BOTH HEART AND HEALTH BROKEN DOWN BY TYPE OF MEDIA AND WHY YOU MIGHT LIKE IT IF AT ANY POINT YOU, LIKE MY POOR POOR SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD SELF, WERE INVESTED IN THIS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE FIRE OF A SHOW

with apologies to anyone on mobile who’s readmore function APPARENTLY doesn’t work

(I haven’t watched supernatural for at least five years and, given any sort of luck, I will never do so again, do not @ me)

hello babes. I am talking to you know bc I keep seeing supernatural, unironically, on my dash, and I think we can all do better. I see what’s happening and I think: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hU3i_o5Xd4g

Supernatural is fudge stripes. You are Megan. We can fix this.

So a list of alternate things that I think are overall better written/characterized/just generally more enjoyable that might scratch some of those itches:

TV SHOWS

Good Omens

okay look if u were on tumblr last year u probably already watched this show but like. If u haven’t, it’s only six episodes babe and there’s a large enough fandom that u can go down a fanart hole for days on end

Basic summary: the antichrist has reached that lovely young age where he’s supposed to bring about the apocalypse. An angel and a demon who have decided that actually they like the world as is, thank you very much, try to stop the end times. They’re not very good at it though, which makes for a comedy of errors.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: theologic (mostly christian) exploration/parody/imagery without inherently being a religious show. Fighting off the apocalypse narrative, which I think pretty much always goes hard as hell, but that’s just me. There’s a gay angel who’s socially awkward. There’s a fun very British demon. Touches on the hierarchies of heaven and hell, with framing Heaven as a bureaucracy and blurs the differences between angels and demons. Pining. Tenderness. A deep nostalgia for 80s music, though in this case it’s specifically queen, and who doesn’t love queen. Main character has a weirdly strong bond with his black vintage car. Satan is (sort of) fought.

Gravity Falls

sometimes...things that are kids shows...with a set story and a predetermined ending...are better

(also this isn’t relevant to any of what I’m talking about but I really appreciate that Gravity Falls specifically went against the thing that most begged me about ATLA aka that a 15 year old girl would be like yeah I’m into a 12 year old boy because the 12 year old boy has a crush on me and I apparently don’t get to really have a say in this. How does that make sense.)

Basic Summary: Twelve year old twins Dipper and Mabel go to stay with their Grunkle Stan for the summer in a small Oregon town called Gravity Falls. Turns out this town is filled with all sorts of strange phenomena that they often have to confront, work around, learn about, or befriend!

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: The core focus of the show is a close sibling duo, but like It’s obvious that the siblings actually like and love each other and while they have their spats it’s still incredibly clear that they deeply care about each other even with their differences LIKE SORRY SUPERNATURAL YOU CAN’T JUST TELL ME THAT SIBLINGS CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER AND THEN THEY SPEND ALL THEIR TIME FIGHTING AND LYING TO EACH OTHER AND GENERALLY ACTING LIKE THEY CAN’T STAND EACH OTHER’S COMPANY BUT THEN OOOHHH YOU CRY ON TOP OF THE HOOD OF A CAR EVERY THREE EPISODE AND SUDDENLY THEY’RE SOULMATES OR WHATEVER

Anyway. Yeah. GF has a solid sibling dynamic. Monster of the week that builds up to greater over-arching plot. A little bit of body horror, you know, for humor. Fair amount of meta humor playing with the tropes of the genre. A Good Ol Big Bad that tries to pit the siblings against each other. Have to fight the apocalypse (you’ll see this point on like a good half of these recs, I really like ‘what are we gonna do about Armageddon’ media). Interesting creature design. Planned, satisfying ending (which supernatural absolutely does not have, but I still think if it had ended with the season 5 finale like it uhh pretty obviously was supposed to, that would sort of counted. Don’t revive shows that have clearly already told their stories kids.) Tie in media that gives you some fun extra stories when you miss the characters. (yes I read some of the supernatural novels when I was a c h i l d, yes I’m pretty sure there’s one or two of them still buried somewhere on my laptop, no I don’t wanna talk about it.) Older father figure (?) who owns a tbh kind of shitty shop. Both already in place and found family.

It’s a good show, and it’s two seasons. John Mulaney Voice: I dunno it’s 40 episodes

MINI REC ALERT! (mini recs are basically things that I’m not gonna go into detail about for whatever reason [probably either due to i’m not familiar enough with it OR I just don’t like. Have a bunch to say about it in regards to how it will scratch the itches presented to u by spn] but still seem like a Good Watch)

Mini Rec: Over The Garden Wall. Spooky Kids Media! Episodic! Miniseries so you can watch it in like 2 hours! Cool ass Animation! About two brothers encountering said spooky stuff! Big Bad tries to pit brothers against each other! Might haunt you for the rest of your life! Check it out!

The Haunting of Bly Manor

I think about this show every goddamn day of my life. (Also not relevant but Greg Sestero makes a brief cameo in it and I was like hi greg my friend greg!)

Basic Summary: An girl named Dani, while staying in London, decides to take on an Au Pair job for two young children, an older brother named Miles (age 10) and the younger sister Flora (age 8) at the spoooooky and mysteeerious Bly Manor, and she gets far more than she bargained for.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: Okay so supernatural doesn’t actually do this but I know I KNOW why we let ourselves be queerbaited in 2012. Four words for you: CENTRAL! GAY! TRAGIC! ROMANCE! You want some pining? Some tenderness? Some LOVE? Some dealing with internalized homophobia but no, like, actual violent onscreen homophobia? HAVE I GOT THE SHOW FOR YOU. If ur favorite episodes where the ones that make you sob (for me it was kevin’s death on god), I recommend this show. If you wished that supernatural literally ever had consequences or perma deaths or didn’t retcon major plot events like every five goddamn episodes so that there could be some exploration of like grief and trauma through the lens of/ higher stakes of horror, I recommend this show. If you really do stay up at night picturing a supernatural that wasn’t made by dumbass cishettie white men hack writers but was actually allowed to have Dean and Cas be in love over the course of the show so they could have like actual development and not the most homophobic gay reveal of all time, I recommend this show. Hell, if you just want a banger ghost story in general, I recommend this show.

As for what they actually have in common: horror setting/aesthetic without actually being all that scary most of the time. A strong sibling duo, though they’re not nearly as much of the focus of Bly Manor. Found family. Strong themes of grief. Questions of what turns someone into a monster (and done much better) An actual, much better noble sacrifice done out of love. Escalation of stakes until there’s a big final confrontation. Semi-big bad trying to tear this family apart. Found and pre-installed family. Sad orphans.

Watch this show. Vibe with me. Cry with me. Yell at me about Owen Sharma

MINI REC ALERT!

Haunting of Hill House- spiritual predecessor to Haunting of Bly Manor, though they’re not actually the same universe/story. However, it’s made by the same dude and has a shared aesthetic/sensibilities/some of the cast. This is only a mini rec bc I haven’t actually seen it, but I’ve heard good things and that it, while much more heavily leaning into family dynamics, has similar themes of exploring Grief and Trauma through ghooossstttsss.

Community

Okay I know that this may seem like a Wild rec considering community is a school sitcom with basically Zero paranormal elements but just like. Hear me out. And no this isn’t just because I think it’s a realy good show and I want more people to watch it, though that is a factor. If I was just recommending comedies that I think are good and more people should watch regardless of them serving as a replacement for supernatural I would demand you all go watch Galavant and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I’m gonna demand it anyway. Everyone go watch Galavant and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Now back to your original program:

Basic Summary: A group of students at Greendale Community College form a Spanish study group, and things quickly go Off The Fucking Rails in the best way possible.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: All right I’m gonna be real honest this rec is for all of my (correct) bitches who’s favorite episodes of Supernatural were French Mistake, Changing Channels, and/or Mystery Spot. You think if Supernatural would’ve been fucking fantastic if it had been a committed comedy instead of a CW melodrama that occasionally landed some admittedly really fucking funny episodes/concepts, Community (and the movies on this list) will gently take you into its loving arms and give you everything you desire. It’s about the Meta comedy. It’s about the discussion, exploration, and subversion of common tropes within the format. It’s about the grand use of group/ found family dynamics in order to max both the goofs and the heart. It’s about fantastic callbacks. It’s about having one of the few “asshole with a heart of gold” leads I can actually stand because. You know. Growth. It’s about the INCREDIBLE genre and pop culture parody. Which genre do they parody, you ask. All of them. They parody all the genres. The glee parody episode is a fucking masterpiece of television. If you don’t want to watch a show that features a Halloween party where everyone turns into zombies and the ABBA discography blasts in the background, you can stop reading right now, because I can guarantee you won’t be interested in a damn thing I have to say.

MINI REC ALERT: The X-Files. I’ve also never seen this but a: everything I’ve seen out of context has been fantastically weird and delightful b: it appears that there’s a general consensus that Scully and Mulder are one of the only valid straight couples so it’s probably pretty fun and c: let’s all be honest. Supernatural was already basically an x-files rip off, it had like half of their original writers swiped from the x-files crew, I’m pretty sure if you liked especially the first couple of seasons of supernatural, you’re gonna like the X-files.

Subcategory: TV SHOWS ( A WHOLE TWO OF ‘EM, OR MORE LIKE ONE AND HALF IF YOU WANNA GET TECHNICAL) I’M SPECIFICALLY RECOMMENDING FOR THAT COCAINE HIT OF PURE UNADULTERATED UNCUT 2012 TUMBLR NOSTALGIA

BBC Merlin

Yes, I know the show ended in 2010. Yes, it still provides that 2012 Tumblr nostalgia. 2012 Tumblr is a feeling, not an actual time period.

I love this stupid show. I plan on rewatching it all over the month of January. I harbor a deep amount of fondness for it. It’s why every time I see literally any depiction of Merlin I get just so fucking excited, and why I’ve consumed as many ridiculous Arthurian adaptations as I have (side note: my two favorite other ridiculous Arthurian legend adaptation are Avalon High, a DEEPLY silly DCOM that is required viewing to level up friendship with me, and The Kid Who Would Be King, which is the only movie that I think truly understands the comedic potential of playing a King Arthur Adaptation mostly straight but everyone in it is 12. I’m not sure it intended to be as fucking funny as it was, but again, they’re all middle schoolers. I have never been more jealous of an actor than I was of the 22 year old that got to play a 16 year old dumbass Merlin who was sometimes also Patrick Stewart and did all of his magic with ridiculous hand gestures That should’ve been me that should’ve been me that should’ve been me. Also Sword in the Stone by TH White is pretty good, because Merlin knows germ theory in the fantasy 400’s and he just uses it to be petty mostly. Also listen to High Noon Over Camelot by The Mechanisms. Also Also I tend to prefer family friendly adaptations because they don’t have the uhhh. You know. Incest and sexual violence of the original legend. Love to Not have that shit!) Whether you watched it initially and are due for a rewatch, or you’re intrigued enough by the concept of the show to watch it for the first time, you should join me on this wild wild ride.

Basic Summary: You know who Guinevere, Arthur, and Merlin are, come on. BBC said let’s make em all YOUNG let’s make em SEXY let’s make em FAMILY FRIENDLY and let’s make magic REALLY SEEM LIKE A THINLY VEILED ALLEGORY FOR BEING GAY BUT TO THIS DAY IM NOT SURE IF THAT WAS INTENTIONAL OR NOT BUT IT SURE SEEMS LIKE IT WAS. @ THE BBC MERLIN CREATORS WHAT IS THE TRUTH BECAUSE THERE WAS SOME INTERVI-

Basic Summary but like a bit more helpful: A BABY version of Merlin (and by baby I mean like 20 year old.) is sent from his small town to the big city the Kingdom of Camelot to find his destiny. Staying with the town physician and friend of his mom’s, Gaius, he ends up as both his assistant and personal manservant to Prince Arthur. But in a kingdom where magic is punished with death and the prince seems hell bent on getting himself into situations that are going to kill him, the young sorcerer has his more than his share of work cut out for him.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: Primo supremo queerbaiting. Like, yeah, okay, it’s queerbaiting, you know it’s queerbaiting, but you watch some of the scenes and ur like okay. I know why I let this bait me. Obviously with a modern show, I would expect more, I would expect better, I would raise my standards, but I gotta admit. Some of these scenes are fuckin compelling as hell, and the subtext is like barely sub. Monster of the week shenanigans. Some awful CGI creatures but like a charming awful. Like the kind of awful that tells you their very limited budget was more focused on cool swords than realistic creatures. Episodic stories build into a more overarching plot, with things getting darker in season 4/5. Shitty father that end up eating shit and while the son of said father is rightfully conflicted and upset over the death it’s cathartic and victorious as all hell for the audience. Multiple hot evil women, and I love hot evil women. There’s also nice hot women, which is a bonus. These women don’t all immediately stupidly die, so that’s a nice change. Also like a LOT of sarcastic humor and shenanigans if u like Sass Merlin is there for u personally name a more iconic line than “Oh I’m sorry, how long have you been training to be a prat, my lord?” AND THAT’S IN THE FIRST FUCKIN EPISODE brilliant amazing fantastic show stopping. Also you know those like dumb hijink episodes where like Dean was possessed by the spirit of a dog or some shit? You bet your bottom fuckin dollar BBC Merlin has those kinds of storylines. Also I know some people go to spn bc it had that HUGE fanbase and like BBC Merlin’s fanbase is still SURPRISINGLY poppin even though it’s been a decade since there was new content so like. Have fun!

Doctor Who but Specifically the RTD Era

Look I’m not here to say that the first four seasons of reboot doctor who are the only good doctor who or inherently better than all the rest (though the RTD era is my favorite personally) BUT when ur seekin that sweet sweet superwholock frenzy nostalgia, this is the ‘who’ that is being referred to. Also like. Stan 9. We should all collectively stan the ninth doctor. Chris Eccleston, the Objectively Best Famous Chris, deserved better.

Basic Summary: An immortal alien that goes by “The Doctor” travels across time and space with a variety of different companions, often to try and save the day or fix a (sometimes self created) mess. It’s distilled campy sci-fi with a family friendly tone that has made me cry on several occasions.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: Monster of the week that, you guessed it, builds into bigger overarching plot style narrative. Fighting off the apocalypse, but like every couple of weeks because worlds are in danger a LOT. A semi-tragic romance that made people go absolutely buck fuckin wild bc pining n shit. Wamen, but they aren’t fridged. (actually for real though none of the main women die and I just think that’s really fun and flirty even though I could go on a COMPLETELY SEPARATE rant about the injustice of one of the character’s ending YES season 4 is my favorite season and one of my favorite pieces of media ever and I am currently actively recommending it to you YES im still fucking pissed over how it ended YES we exist) Specifically, a Wonderful and Very Excellent woman named Donna who goes on a spa trip that doesn’t end up going very well. That seems like a highly specific example, and it is, but it did happen in both shows. (Also, to anyone that continued watching SPN after like idk season 9 what happened to Donna? I always liked her and I know she became a recurring character so like DM whatever probably injustice was the end of her story line pls and thank you) I’m also extra specifically recommending for Supernatural Fans and also The World At Large: Season Four of Reboot Who. I rewatched it last year and it still goes so fucking hard. Donna Noble is the best character in existence. In regards to the appeal for SPN, personally I think the best part of SPN was when people who are soulmates went on adventures and tried to save the day and it was a good mix of banter and sincerity AND GUESS WHAT’S BASICALLY THE ENTIRETY OF SEASON 4 OF DOCTOR WHO. It’s so good y’all I wish Everything was about soulmates going on adventures and trying to save the day.

OKAY TV SHOWS DONE TIME FOR M O V I E S which I don’t have nearly as many recs for but uhh here goes

What We Do In The Shadows/ Shaun of the Dead

I’m lumping these two together bc my reasons for recommending them are largely the same, and I would call them tonally similar enough that if you like one you’ll probably like the other

Basic Summary (Shaun of The Dead): Uh-oh! London’s had a break out of some of that good ol’ zombieism. Shaun and friends decide to hunker down in a local bar, but they have to get there first. Will they survive? Will they fuck up some zom zoms? Who’s to say?

Basic Summary (What We Do In The Shadows): Some vampire roommates dick around. I think there’s technically, like, a plot, but it’s really just about some vampires Doin Their Thing. Vibin.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: This is kind of similar to the Community recommendation, in that supernatural had the opportunity to be one of those things that was both a parody of a genre but also just a really good example of the genre. WWDITS and SotD are both those things for vampire and zombly movies, respectively. Have the aesthetic and some of the themes of a horror but is not actually all that scary. Horror Comedy is a god tier genre and I don’t know why it’s not more widespread. Fun monsters/cast of characters in general, so at least one person in it is probably going to make you go “oh gender” ya know? With SotD you have the fantasy power trip that comes with like any piece of media that involves hunting monsters. With WWDITS I go “yep that’s how bisexuals dress” and I Will Not Clarify which character I’m talking about.

MINI REC ALERT: All of Taika Watiti’s filmography. Thor:Ragnarok is one of like 3 marvel movies that I consider genuinely fucking fantastic completely independent of the MCU and my own tendency to be like “hurr bdurr I love. Superheros”. For the one that is most tonally like Supernatural But Significantly Better and Written By Someone Competent I think I would say try out Hunt For The Wilderpeople. It’s got a reluctant curmudgeonly father figure and I KNOW some of you motherfuckers were so invested in spn when you were like 16 bc you had daddy issues. This is a callout post for my friend [REDACTED], who I should text to watch Hunt for the Wilderpeople, actually.

MINI REC ALERT X2!!!: Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I’ve never seen it but it has both Winona Ryder AND Keanu Reaves so like. Goth bi rights.

Happy Death Day (and Happy Death Day 2 U)

happy death day was one of those movies that I saw the trailer, went “eh”, heard other people say it was great, watched, and went holy fuck this slaps. Not nearly as much of a slasher film as the trailers implied if im remembering the trailer correctly

Basic Summary: Our main character Tree keeps waking up on the day she was murdered. The day resets every time that she dies. That’s right, it’s a time loop storey babey!!!!!!!!!!!

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: If you were anything like me you were foolishly lulled into supernatural for way longer than you should’ve been on the promise that the characters would idk like grow and change and become better and learn lessons and some of that would be through the power of receiving love and kindness. You know. Like how good writers would do it especially if their main characters are kind of dicks that really should make some changes. Well, Happy Death Day fucking delivers on that promise in SPADES. It’s about growth! It’s about change! It’s about making the active decision to become a better person and putting effort into doing so! There’s heavy themes of like grief and trauma and acknowledging them and facing them head on in order to move on and the negative consequences of refusing to do so and just trying avoid it until it goes away. There’s a romance that makes my dumb little self do the pleading face emoji. Tree is also one of the only good asshole with a heart of gold characters. I also think media is improved by having at least one character that is a Good Good Boy (note: Good Good Boy character does not have to be a man.) and Happy Death Day has Carter. Oh on that note: Tree Voice: I’ve only had character for (the same repeating over and over) a day but if anything happens to him I’ll kill everyone here and then myself. Also the movie is funny so like hell yeah.

that’s all I got for relevant movies right now

BOOK RECS

jk i’m illiterate. Everyone should feel free to go ahead and add their own suggestions for this section The best I can do is uhhhh I think y’all would probably like Mira Grant’s novels, particularly the Newsflesh stories, bc sibling dynamics. Also the book The Haunting of Hill House is really good. Ballad of Black Tom slaps? There’s of course the Good Omens novel that the show was based on. I’m about to recommend some podcasts after this section which will include to Welcome to Nightvale because of course it will and the tie in novels for that slap, especially It Devours!, and I’m pretty sure they work as stories even if you know nothing about the podcast. Also also I think you should read “The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers It’s not thematically similar to supernatural at all but it’s one of my all time favorite sci fi novels and only like four people have read it which is a goddamn TRAVESTY.

Anyway yeah that’s it that’s all there is. Onto the medium that is like books but I can fold laundry or cook while consuming their narratives.

PODCAST RECS

Okay so this is getting uhhh wicked long so I’m gonna limit myself to only three full blown recs and a

mini rec

Alice Isn’t Dead

Fuck me running this show is so good. Literally hands down my all time favorite (and scariest!) horror podcast. Mamma mia, that’s a good fuckin story. The Book version is also good and has fewer Weird events but some further character development so I recommend them both.

Basic Summary: After her wife Alice disappears mysteriously, Keisha takes up a job as a long haul trucker, traveling all across America in order to find her, but ends up finding so much. Pursued by a deadly creature she calls The Thistle Man, the stakes of her journey are raised.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: okay so I have a lost of bullet points of things that appealed to me specifically about supernatural and how no other shows covers all of them which sucks bc it means I basically Yearn for a show that’s supernatural but good. Alice isn’t Dead, however, hits the most of these bullet points AND is so fucking good. It has monster hunting. It has stopping a cataclysmic event BUT also discussion of the cyclical nature of events such as these and how the fight never truly ends but you can make some fucking progress nonetheless. It has a central gay romance that’s actually a central gay romance. It’s the ONLY show on this list that really hits that the weird and dark underside of americana vibe but specifically the americana of not like suburbs and shit but that eerie haunted feeling you get when you’re hours into a late night drive on open roads with no civilization around and an expansive sky and it just Seems like something should be watching you. Have you ever been out for a walk at midnight and encountered a deer and you looked into each other’s eyes and it felt like it was telling you a message that you couldn’t possibly hope to parse? Have you ever felt an incredible sense of deja vu eating in a restaurant you couldn’t have possibly been in before, because you’ve been to a thousand diners a thousand times just like one, and there’s an incredibly sense of homogeneity even though you’re 2000 miles away from anyone and anything that could possibly know you? Have you ever traveled to an area that seems to be stuck in a bubble of time, the only thing that shows any evidence of having aged past 2006 being yourself, and you wonder how your cell phone even works around here? THAT’S the spooky americana I’m fuckin talking about! Messed up road trips! Too much goddamn space! America is scary because it’s big and Filled With Things but also Not Enough Things! Fuck yeah!!!!! That time bubble fuckin EXISTS in Wyoming the most recent song on the radio I heard was fuckin Hey Soul Sister!

Also has a thing where like are there even good guys and bad guys in a conflict or is it all just one umbrella nightmare that you’re trying to stand against in anyway possible (u kno..like how the overarching structures of both heaven and hell were kinda fucked in spn? No spoilers but similar shit be happenin in Alice Isn’t Dead). Exploration of what makes someone into a monster, like how do you go down that path? Also this is the only show on this whole damn list that southern gothic music really suits it so points for that.

The Magnus Archives

You know I had to do it to ‘em.

Basic Summary: Jonathan Sims has just become the Head Archivist at the Magnus Institute, a “research” “facility” that looks into paranormal/esoteric/unexplained phenomena.

John Mulaney Voice, Again: Nobody knows what the archivist is going to do next, least of all the archivist. He’s never been in an archives before, he’s just as confused as you are.

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: Oh fuck this document is over 5k long I said I wasn’t gonna do this hhhhh so lipton lightning round: Slowburn Gay Romance but Actually Canon, Monster Hunting but Hey What Even Is A Monster Anyway, Acts Somewhat like a Loosely Connected Horror Anthology until it DOESNT, Little Things Build to Bigger Narrative, Characters Be Goin Through It (On God These People Need Therapy), Trying to Prevent/Fix The Apocalypse (X2!!!), Smug Asshole Big Bad, Horror as a Metaphor For Various Shit, Basically if you thought that the Men of Letter concept slapped and you think it should’ve been the whole damn show including being Deeply British you would probably really fuckin like TMA. Also if ur like the ideal piece of media is a horror tragedy but also like it’s a wacky sitcom but also also fuck cops. U will like tma.

Welcome to Nightvale

IF ANY 2012 TUMBLR FANDOM DESERVES TO MAKE A MASSIVE COMEBACK AND BE EVERYWHERE AGAIN AND ABSOLUTELY FLOOD MY DASH IT’S WELCOME TO NIGHTVALE WHY DID WE ABANDON THE SHOW THAT TREATED US THE MOST KINDLY DID YOU KNOW THAT EPISODES 108-110 ARE THE BEST FUCKING BUILT UP NARRATIVE REVEAL THAT I HAVE WITNESSED IN MY LIFE DID YOU KNOW THAT IT CONTINUED TO BE REALLY FUCKING GOOD AFTER MOST PEOPLE STOPPED LISTENING DID YOU KNOW CECIL AND CARLOS ARE MARRIED AND THEY HAVE A DOG AND A TODDLER NOW BECAUSE OF ALL THE GAY PODCAST PROTAGONISTS CECIL GERSHWIN PALMER LOVE OF MY LIFE ELDRITCHIAN CHEERLEADER AND CERTIFIED BIMBO KEEPS FUCKIN WINNIN BABY. DID YOU KNOW THAT CECIL THINKS PEANUT BUTTER IS A ROCK.

Basic Summary: Welcome to the sleepy desert town of Ņ̶̏ight V̶͚̰̮͗̔̊̊ale! Community radio how host Cé̵̟͚͕̗̞̙͂͑̽̄́c̵̤̼̞͈̪͓̍̽̋̚̕͜il Pǎ̵̧̨̢͚̻̈̂̄̇͐̇̊̀̆ͅl̶͚͎͕͉͖̬͓͑́̐̒̍̿̈́͢͜͝ͅm̸̧͙̟̖̠̳̬͋́͋́͌̚̚ͅȩ̙̖͎̖͂́̒͐͜͞r̢̢̛̰̻̮̺̩͙̼̈́͋̀͘ is here to k̠̠̰̦͙̯̥̎̄̆͌̎̀̿̔̌̚ê̷̢̬̥̞̩̯̘͒̽̈̓͐̂̔̍e̶̡̝̗̺̫̪̜͆̓̿̈͌͌̆͒͞ͅp̵̹̗̬̼̠̬͙̏͐͐̉̅͊͊́͟͞ͅͅ ỷ̛͙̞̦̦͖̑̉̌̎͞͡͡͝ͅo̧̧̥͎̻̥̲͇͋́́̔̈͌͞ǔ̸̬̯̫͇̦̮͕̤̲̯̽̔̀̔͆͋̈́͘̚ up to date all the local happenings, including w̸̢̢̢̧̡̡͍͖̻̳̹̼̼̰̬̭̱͔̲͙͍̰̠̥̺̝͖̺̖̼̮̼̞̳̞̜͉̤̯͇̖̳͖̠̙̺̲̤͇͈͚͓̮̭̱̭̩͚̟̥̬̟̻̝̼̖͚̘͐̆̅̂̃̈́͆͊̉̏͒́̈́̋͗͑̄̉́̐̌́̿̌͛̾̎̊̾̃̈́̉̔̍̐͛̕͘̚͜͜͠͠é̵̢̡̧̨̨̡̧̨̡̛̹̥̥̞̮̯͙͈̻̝͓͖͙̦̰͍̖̜̲̰̞͎͈̭̯̳͕̗͓͈̭̫̼̯̪̞̯̰̲̘̭͎̪̱̗̝̝̞̤̱͉͙̯͎̬͎̙̜̗͉̩̦͕̪̳͇͙̺̙̰̠͚͎̜̠͔̬͎̺̣͕̜̊̓̃̐̂́͂̎̐̾̔̽̀̉́̍̊̂̿̎͂͐̎̐̄̍̔̋̐̃͗̈́͂̀̒̊̎͘͘̕̚̕͜͝͝͝͠ͅͅa̸̡̧̡̡̨̡̨̛̛͙̣̘̳͎͖̥̝̟̱̩̥͙͉̝̲̙̮̩̩̹̱͔͎̥̹̻̜͚̭̬̳͚̤̙̖̯͎̱̫̞̪̻͖̱̞͔̭̻̺͚͚̯̬͓͓̳͇̳̦͓̞͈̮̤̭̣͉̲̞͚̘͗̆̃͌̅̍͊̓̈̇̌̒͊͑̊̏̊͌̈̓̿͗̒̏̒͊͒̏̃̎̒̀̅̾̍̀͘͘͜͝͠ͅt̵̢̡̨̧̧̛̛̛̯̤͓̘̻̤͓̪̰͔̪̝̫͎̻͔͈͎͔͙͕͈̰͓͍̀̏͒̆͋̈́̈́͂̔͋͆͂̅͗̍̆̍̆̔̑͊̏̈͒́̽͊́̿͂́̓͛̽͐͌̌̐̈̇̃̓̆̍̅̃̔̚̕͜͝͝͝ͅͅh̸̨̨̡̢̢̡̢̧̡̧̢̡̨̡̭̜̬̬̙͕̗̙̻̯̠̘͙̻̥͉͚̼̗͚͇͉̰͍̥͉̗͎̬̫͖͉͔̼̮̯̞̫̬̟̻͉̖̙̥̫͖̬͚̟̜̭͇͎̭̘̝̲̤͕͎̰̭̗̯̮̤̙̙̯͍̞̭͚͔͎̞̹̲̟͉̩̭̖̱̠͍̺͈̟̩̋̆̈́͆̍̆̄̏͜ͅͅȇ̸̢̢̨̨̧̛̜͍̺͎̬̪͙̻̝̣͓͈̺̩̳̟̲̠̣͈͎͎͈͉̙̪͖̳̺͇̹̊̍͊͑̿͊̌͛̿̓͊̾̀͂͛̉͆̾̽͆̈̏͛̊͛̍̈́̇͋̔͂̑͐̂̿͊̽͑͘̚͘͝͝͠͝ͅͅŕ̵̨̡̨̨̢̧̡̧̨̘̟͙̦̲̲̪̦̙̼̠̳͚̞̦̞͖͚͇̳͖̲̭͕̜̫̳̖̙͖͉͎̘̘̤̠͈̬͕̝̻͚̥͍͕̠̥͙̙̪̖̯͍̘̘̲̣̹̜̪̲̭̟̮̫̖̤̰͔̩̩͉̲͚̟̝̦̬̪̘̬̮̱͔̻̦̼̃̐̂͋̐̅̋͒̉͛́̅̈́̒̒͆̑̆͊̒͒̀̍̈́̍͌̍̏̔͋͌̒̍̌͛̓̈̂̐̕͘͘͜͜͝͝͝ͅͅͅ ̶̢̡̨̛̠͇̹̯͕͍̻̟̼̼̗̩̱̗̙̱̥̜̬̫̜͎͉̺̣͓̟̯̱͖̣̞̠̝̥͍̲̳̙̠͔̹̘̲̲̻̖̈́̊͋͜͜ą̵̡̧̟͕̬̳̜͈͈̳̝̜̣̬͔͈͈͎͉͍̯̟̞̺͎̝͇̰̥͖̬̯͙̤̬̼̲̦̯̭͓̠̺̳̱̰̮̎͋͆̈́͌͆̎̉̓̇̐͋͋́̃̉̈̄̏̓̉̿̅̒̉̒̉͂͛̄̀̇̒͊͛́͊̎́͆̌̆́̌͂̈́̽̋͛͗̑̊̀́̍͊̌͆͊͐͆̅̒̊̉̾̄͛̑̕͘͘͘͘͝͝͝͝͠͠͝n̸̡̛̛̛̛̛̙͎̬̦̠̼͓͈̝̾̍͑͛̅̒̾́̌̍͛̇̋̇̓̏͛̔͛̈́͆̿̌͐̿͊̿́͒̍̃̀̈͐̐̆͐̉̒̂̉̀̅̇̾͋̍͒̋̈̌̿͒͐̍́͗̀̌̌̚̕̕̕͘̚͘͘̚͜͠͝͝͝d̴̡̢̢̛̛̛̺̠̳̬͎̞̲̣̲̱̳̪̹͉̝̠̱̗̙̫̠̹̼̙̝͉̲̟̮̙̙̮̻̹͈̦̙̞͚̜̙̖̞͓̙̭͉̃̽̌̅̔̾̈́̒̽͑́̒͋̓̈́͆͋̽̒̃̽̋̐͌͂̍͑́̽̋̍͗̋͗͂̅̽̈̈̾͐̄̃̕̕͜͠͠͝͠͝ͅͅ ̵̡̡̢̛̛̗͚͍̺͇̲̳̯͓̰͍̙̮̙̜̟̞̣̼͕̝͔͙̺̫͈͈̠̻̘̱͍̦̭͔͈̤̺̗̮͕̦̞̘͍̯̻̝͓̤̳̫͔̩͉̬̈́͋̈́̐͒́̔́́̿̓̆͐̎͆̇͒̄̈̿̓̑̾̏̔̿͊̌͆͒̒͊̓̅̓́̔̅̀̀̀̃̿̂̑͂͆̅̎̾̏̓̂̈́͛͌̇̾͌͐̈̂̆͐̅̓̍̓̃̆͗̃͛̏̒̌̀̅͊́̽̐̆̿́̌͘͘̚̕͘̕̕͜͜͜͠͝͠͝͠t̷̢̥͓̄͗̾̄̅̚͜r̵̨̡̨̧̧̢̛̛̛̛̛͍͙͚̥̱̞̜̦̜̼̺͉̠̬͎̰̻̜̼̫̤͓͖͖̤͇̞̥̖̈́͊̆̓͊̑̑̋̒̈́̔̆͆́̐͛͑͊͋̇̈́̓̑̍̏͐͛̽̋̎͑̃̈́͒̇̂̇̌͂̀̍̊̇̓̋̈́̌̏̕͘̚̕̚͝͝͠ǎ̴̡͓͓̯̘̥̱̱͖̦̺͓̘͉͖̞̟̦͈̜̥̰̘̞͈̦̠̼̯̙̭̼͚̟̖̲̠̝̜̐̅͆̏̈́̍́͂̃̾͑̓͋̽̄̾́̾̆̾͒͋̎͂̈́͘̕̕̚͜ͅͅf̷̢̡̡̧̢̨̡̧̢̢̧̡̧̫͖̖͇̲̫̮͕͉͓̩̪̳̹̩͎̖̟̤̤̲̟̪̫̻̻̖̟̦͉̼͎͖̭͍͖͎̖̳̳͙̜͉̝̘̺̖͚̙͉͕͙̯͖̞͚̮̲̻͉͙̺̭͓͎̤͙̦̦̺̯͕̜̰͍̳̙̦͉̪̥́͋̓̅̀͋͐̀̄̊̆̉̒̐͒̀̏̈̇̊̉̆̐̏̾̀̀̓͛͆̍̾͗͌̀̄̔͒̀̍̈́͆̔̒̑̏̍̏͆́̾̐̂͋̂̔̂́̓̓̌͌̉͛́̒̐̽̏́̑͊́̌̆̂̑͋̇̈́͌̑̿̅͗̚̕͘̕̚͜͠͝͝͠͠f̴̨̨̛̹͌̂̓͌͛̀͑̾̓̍͗̽͆̉̊͗̇́̍͌̊͐̔̈́̊̇͆̄̃̑̕̕͘͘͘͠͝͝͝͠i̴̧̡̢̢̧̢̨̨̧̧̧̛̛͎̗̳̦̘̙͓̦̙͔̜̼̘͇͇̺̭͉̠̩̟̤̥̘͙̤̩͔̪̱̻͈̪̼̼̞̠͎̟̹͕̻̭̤̪̲͕̟̺̻̻͖͕͚̣͇̖̰̝̩͈̤͕͇͕̝͙̙̪͔̗̫͇͎̙̲̲͖̗̘͉̲̣̤͎̔̐̆͒̄̈́̀̎̃̃̅͆̌̈́̽̈́̅̈́̑̄̇͒͐̀̐̀̒̍̀̓͌͗̓̽́͗̓̎͂͛̅̑̔̀͛̈́̽̾̃̊͊͆̄̍͑̍̆̌̾͗̄̊̽̉̅̆̀̎̀͑̿̎̋̄̆̃͐̾̏͛͒̍̋̅͘̕̚̕̕͜͜͝͝͝͝͠ͅͅc̷̛̛͚̝̻̣̞̓́̃́̀̃̓͗͌̂͛́̒̊͑̓͆̇̈́͑̏̆̀͌̑͂͂̄͌̉̔̋́̎͒̿͗͒͛̇͛̿̎̍̕̕̕͝͝͝͝͝ ̴̢̧̢̡̨̢̡̨̡̢̢̛̺̘̹̯̤̩̘̯͔̞̟̬̠̣̟̻̥̜̤͔̥͕̠̥̞͎̗̩̱̮͉͔͎̲̯̱̙̜̥̳̮͔̦̣͖͔̜͉̗̪̳̹̦̤͇̣̙͕̯̫̖̝̼̹͍̠͎͓̗͎̦͓̲̯̱̠̰͇̮̹͔̝͉͙̹̜̹͈̹̥͖̣̳̲͖̓́͌̈́̈́̀͌̄͂̌̾́̍̔̊̓̿͋͂͋̈́̋́́̒̓̀̒̃͂̀͑̐͛̆̆͒̈́̅̿͊͌̍͗̌̌͆̂͌́̉̏̒̓͊̾̒̓̋̽͐̏̾͘̕͜͝͠͝ͅͅr̸̨̢̛̪̞̬͓͔̥̤̣͔̭̥̙͉̦̗̠̳̩͙̂̈́͑͑̿̋̓̀͋͆̋̕͝͝ë̴̢̡̨̬͈͉̖̞͔͎͓͖̼̘̬͕̰͈̥͈̝̩͎͉͉̫̜͚͕̤͔̟̯͓͎̟͙̜̭̩̗̮͎̗̤͇̝̩͎̜̺̯͕͇̝͎̯͙̖͙̮̗̮̘́̑͑͛̂̅̄̌̽̓̒̾̿͆̏̏͐͛̾̂̃͑͆̅̄̿͋̅͂̈́̽͋͒̎͐̒̓͆̌̉͑͊́̀̈̾͛̋͑̋̎̈̀̽̀͊̏͘͝͝͝͝͠͝ͅp̴̧̧̡̢̢̢̛̛̛͚̟͓̖̭̪̻̪̲̬̥̙̥̰̼̹͎͕̪̞̮̺̰̬̘̫̤͉̦͙̮̖̙̹̻͔̖̮̲̞̣̻̜̠͇̬͚̱̦̼̲̮̀̂͌̍̈̒̍̋̌̏͐̓͛̉̂̈̀͑̈́͊͗͋͗́̂̎̎̃͆͒̅̑̇́̈͐̾̀̔̒̉͑͒̅̓̈́̋͋̀̍̄̿̌̀̉͆̇̔̈́͗̋̄̓̇͗̎̉̆͊̒͗̚̕͘͘̕̕̚͜͜͝͝͠͠͠͠͠ͅͅͅơ̶̢̡̧̨̡̛̛͔̦̼̰̠̯̰̟̲̣̜͙̲͙̪̱̱͕̺̪͈͉̺̻̙̥̲̩̲̩͔̠͚̩͓̞̠̯̟̫̣̗̦̰͉͚͙̺͎̼͖̥̙͈̯̲̝̞͎̻͕̮͔̰̖͔̭͙̩̼͔̫̹̘͓͔̜̘͍̍̅̄͋͑̋̍̊̉̄̈̽̈͐̀͌͐̆͊͂̐̋̃̎͆͛̐̀̂̿̈́͂́̈̌͐̇̀̒͋͑͐́͌̐̇̊͆̀͂͋̏́͋͆̏͗͂͑̂̓̽͘͘̚̕̕̕̕̚͘͜͜͠͝͝ͅͅͅr̴̨̨̨̧̨̛̘͕͈͔͙̠̬̯̩̗̰̗̬̦͈̗̝̣͓͓̟͕͙͈̠̘̻͓̭̝̘̦̦͓̭̘͙̻̙̼̩̰̝͈̱̝̱̬͉͙̣̖̮̲͈̙̱̩̣͕̦̰̮͔͈͓̙̮͍̳̟̠̞͎̱̣̰͕̩̝̲̝͐́́̍̈͐͋̐̑̌͋̓̈́̈͗̿̈̈́͗̑̚͜͜͜͜͜͝ͅͅţ̴̢̨̧͇͉͎̣̬̣̝̗̬̹͇̮̞̈́̐̌̇̈́̌͊̐̅̂̌̂͒͌́̈͌̂̊͗̍̿͑͋̎̓͂̀̎̎͒̾̏̒͌̃̄͋̌̾̍̈́̐̏͑̊̍͑͆̉̓́̆̌̾̓͊̊̈̑͘̚̕͘͘̕͝͝͝͝͝s̴̢̢̡̛̬̹͚̻͉̦̦̣̦̠̜͕̤̳͓͙̟̬͕̘̦̿͗̉̏̒͆̓̄͊͌͛͂͑̒̃͛͘͜͝͝!

Shared elements with supernatural that you might Vibe with: Honestly, probably bc Nightvale and Alice are by the Same Dudes, a lot of these points are the same as Alice Isn’t Dead, but it’s less scawy and more funney. Also hits the “horror, but make it kind of a sitcom” vibes. Doesn’t have the same road trip vibes, but DOES capture the exact weirdness of South Western USA, so I’m still giving it “fucked up americana” credit. If you’ve never been to New Mexico ur like this is an exaggeration clearly no desert town is subject to like ACTUAL cosmic horror and unexplainable sights but I’m telling you New Mexico is just Like That. (I highly recommend visiting the land of enchantment if you ever get the oppurtunity it is a deeply odd and wonderfully unsettling experience.) Look man it’s gay it’s a horror comedy cecil has a wonderfully soothing voice and it hates capitalism so fucking much like oh my god so much what more could you want.

MINI REC ALERT: Wolf 359! I have nothing deep to say about this I just like it and my gut tells me that y’all would enjoy it too I know there isnt much for physical descriptions in the show but I know in my heart that the main character is so so pretty and so so stupid. I KNOW yall like some himbos that experience character growth.

Okay since It’s my party and I’ll speak if I want to rapid fire list of podcasts I just like and want more people to listen to even though I’m behind on like all of them shhhhh: The Penumbra Podcast, BomBARDed, Dungeons and Daddies, Stellar Firma, Wonderful!

SONG RECS

okay these aren’t like replacement recs or anything they’re just really good and I almost certainly would have put them on some sort of supernatural playlist in 2013 but I don’t, like, have a good playlist for them now so I’m subjecting y’all to them also they all have the youtube link for ease of access

Woah There Kimmy- Felix Hagan & the Family

Devil’s Backbone- The Civil Wars

Blood On My Name- The Brothers Bright

Awake O Sleeper- The Brothers Bright

The Bottom of the River- Delta Rae

Old Number 7- The Devil Makes Three

The Bullet- The Devil Makes Three

In Hell I’ll Be In Good Company- The Dead South

Bartholomew- The Silent Comedy

Pomegranate Seeds- Julian Moon

Curses- The Crane Wives

Tongues & Teeth -The Crane Wives

OKAY THAT’S IT! THAT’S ALL FOLKS! FUCK!

#long post #if you didn't want this blame of-mice-and-mentality for enabling me posting #supernatural

47 notes · View notes

poisonepel · 4 years ago

Note

jade kun 🦶

hi taku 🙈

How I feel about this character:

THE SUAVE EEL 🐬 he’s my favorite of the octatrio-- by a lot more than than the other 2

All the people I ship romantically with this character:

🙅‍♀️ none

My non-romantic OTP for this character:

I know this is the obvious one but fr his relationship with Floyd... ofc there’s Azul too but the sibling duo *chefs kiss* Jade can often be malicious but I think he really does care about them,,,

+ Every time he interacts with Rook it’s always so tense but I like seeing them together too sjjsk. They’re both so secretive about themselves and kind of distanced from the rest of the student body -- ie. Rook is perceived as weird/creepy while Jade is the Octavinelle vice™

Pit Jade’s fake asf front against Rook’s melodramatic personality and it’s INTERNAL CHAOS who knows what the other one is thinking about, on the outside they’re just smiling at each other like they’re good friends !!!! there’s only supposed to be one secretive people-watcher character what happens when there’s 2 of them !!!? (but only one of them is truly a threat and it’s not the stalker)

My unpopular opinion about this character:

n/a

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I want to know what Jade does in a normal day 🗿 where does he get all his connections,, what does he . do ?!!?!?!?

#thank you for the ask !!#ask game

8 notes · View notes

jcmorrigan · 4 years ago

Note

blakeworther- I personally I love your hc’s so much- any au’s or anything ya got for them? I really wanna know more about what goes on.

This was once again a BAD QUESTION TO ASK

Aside from the Skyward Sword AU, which I never went back to again, there’s only one AU that I like for Blakeworther, which is the AU that I like for everything ever. I’m not even sure I consider it a true AU, even though it absolutely is. So, okay, I have this thing called the WHAM ARMY, which is a massive crossover group of my favorite villains (led by the eight who make up the acronym but this ain’t about them). Obviously, because Victor, Vincent, and Albert are all pretty firmly villains (even if they lean “those weird morally bereft people we end up being friends with somehow”), I want them to join the WHAM ARMY. So my thoughts for them here are pretty much how they’d react in a multicrossover setting, which of my other villain loves they’d get along with, and what the intro arc is for them. Keep in mind I haven’t gotten here in the fanfic yet, so some of this could change in practice, but here are my plans right now.

Cringe ahead.

-They aren’t the originals. I want to make something that doesn’t trip over canon’s current trajectory, even though I don’t know exactly where canon is going, so what happens is that Vexen (Kingdom Hearts) is going to rebuild the three of them as replicas, since he can easily find memory cores for Victor and Vincent in Myers’ storage rooms and there’s just going to be an Albert core there for no reason.

-Vexen then pulls some Chain of Memories magic and restricts the memories they have access to. They will only remember things we have literally seen in VTSOM/TWDAK, and then I can have him release more of their memory banks to them as we get more chapters. (Even if they all three get redemption arcs, my replica versions can stay little shits!)

-He DOES NOT tell them that they’re not the originals! For all they know, they fell asleep at the last day they remember and woke up here. But they figure it out on their own despite his best efforts. They still want to get their memories back anyway so they know what the people they were replicated from were like and have a framework to build their personalities from.

-Yes, of course they’re cyborgs! Cyborg replicas. Since they’re operating by KH rules, they prooooobably don’t need to eat human meat? But also I like when villains do fucked-up things and I have jokes about the others packaging “cyborg chow” to embarrass them so maybe they still do engage in a little cannibalism, as a treat

-Each was engineered with a different specialty. Vincent’s is raw physical strength; he can walk into a gunfight without even needing a weapon and still have a chance of winning. Victor’s arms have been upgraded to hold a variety of cannons; he’s the team sniper. Albert is the team “mage”; he can conjure Dream Eaters. In this AU, TWDAK Dream Eaters and KH Dream Eaters are basically the same thing. Albert has mastered a strange art of being able to draw Dream Pieces out of the Realm of Sleep and implant them in physical forms of creatures in the waking world, creating his army. They look like they do because he hates the pastel aesthetic of KH Dream Eaters and redesigned his personal ones to look more fitting with his aesthetic. He’s also a speedster.

-The intro mission involves Vexen attempting to track down a newly-rebuilt Xion (this AU is divergent from KHIII) in Radiant Garden so he can bring her back under his control with some brainwashing. I’m also bringing in the Tsviets as past experiments of Vexen’s, so he’s basically pitting his newer models of experiment against his old ones.

-The party he already has built by this point is going to be Demyx, Simon Laurent (Infinity Train), Tsumugi Shirogane (DanganRonpa), skekSil (The Dark Crystal), and a couple other people I haven’t hinted at instory yet and don’t quite want to spoil. But Simon, Tsumugi, and skekSil will all also be Vexen’s creations - Simon and skekSil are replicas and Tsumugi is an android.

-Vincent, Victor, and Albert wake up for the first time, and while Vincent and Victor remember each other as friends, they’re just like “And why is our nemesis from RMU also here?”

-Albert probably fights with Vincent for dominance of the trio and I’m not sure which one of them is the trio leader at this point.

-I moved Nine Bean Hill from World of Final Fantasy to Radiant Garden because Radiant Garden needs a coffee shop and first of all, thanks to Hunger Games Simulator fuckery, my friends and I have an in-joke about Vincent Edgeworth having an eternal grudge against Dunkacino, so I’m going to use the coffee shop to reference this somehow without having to put actual Corporate Brainwashed Al Pacino in this ‘verse

-But also I like to think Lann and Reynn play a lot of bubblegum pop, so catch Victor and Albert dancing to the PA like idiots and then getting Demyx, skekSil, and Simon in on it while Vincent and Vexen are like “Oh God why are these our friends”

-(There are reasons this particular Demyx goes by a different name instory and it’s weirding me out to type “Demyx” for this post)

-Without spoiling too much of the arc, there IS a part where Blakeworther beats up the Tsviets, there IS a part where they battle the Anima summon from FFX and win, and there IS a part where despite all of this, Xion kicks their asses across the city

-They go through this mission seeing each other as partners and friends (though Vincent and Albert are reluctant to use the “friend” word at first), but after they all get back to base, they’re just...suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that they’re strangers in a strange land missing half their memories.

-They room together, and they end up crawling into the same bed for solidarity reasons. This is actually where I first envisioned the “rough day” sleeping position - Vincent and Victor are chest-to-chest, then Albert just snuggles in behind Victor and the other two are like “Okay, we’re gonna just let this happen” and Vincent and Albert touch at one tangent point where their arms cross.

-The days might get a little rougher after they realize they aren’t even the originals.

-Eventually they assimilate into the chaos house with no problem.

-Vincent tends to hang out with the party poopers of the house. Especially Mozenrath (Aladdin: The Animated Series). (P.S. If there are any VTSOM fans out there who also know the 90s Aladdin TV series...I CAN’T be the only one who noticed the surface similarities here, right?)

-Victor Blake and Roman Torchwick (RWBY). Oh, God, this is the hell duo. They’re party animals who love to dance and drink and dance drunk. It was not a good idea to let these two redheads meet.

-Albert and Neopolitan (RWBY)! They both love stabbing people and Victorian button boots! I actually kinda have this idea that they would pick up more fucked-up serial killer types to hang out with them - Mad Madam Mim (The Sword in the Stone) is their patron despite being a much tamer example, but Albert also decides he really likes Scaramouche (Samurai Jack), Junko Enoshima (DanganRonpa), and Jerome Valeska (Gotham).

-For a real deep cut, Albert also opens up a joint Dream Therapy office with Dr. Cheshire Broach (Crypt TV). It’s either called “Krueger & Broach” or “Broach & Krueger” depending on how long it takes either to notice that the other moved his name to the front of the sign again. You should ABSOLUTELY not trust either of these men to give you legitimate therapy (though if you’re good friends with them, they can and will use their dreamon powers to help you best your nightmares in a bloody fashion).

-Actually this ‘verse is the entire reason I thought of them doing drag karaoke to “United We Stand” by Amberian Dawn because the WHAM ARMY is all about karaoke, drag, and any combination of the two

-I haven’t decided yet if their romance will be a slow burn or a faster affair. I’m expecting them to tell me as I write out the fic. But I think in a lot of respects, it’s going to be more of a friends-to-lovers story than their original forms had. The three of them are forced to become an elite cyborg warrior unit created by the same mad scientist, they had a big bonding mission together where they became ride or die (whether or not they want to admit it), and eventually...we can start revealing that they’re CATCHING FEELINGS.

-The WHAM ARMY has many, many power couples and ships of various numbers of people but Blakeworther ends up becoming yet another POWER THROUPLE around base, and it’s understood that messing with one of them will earn the wrath of the other two

-They go on to assist in many, many missions with the purpose of taking over various worlds and kingdoms and just fucking them up

-Vincent Edgeworth will kill the TBTC equivalent of Dunkacino

You have to understand that TBTC is my hyperfixation to end all hyperfixations. Every piece of fiction I touch ends up related to it in some way. At some point the majority of how I interact with Blakeworther is going to be through this AU. I’m just a sucker for crossovers and villains having a place to be bros and party.

#vincent edgeworth #victor blake #albert krueger #blakeworther #friendly reminder that i do also take headcanon requests about the wham army!#just saying!#ASK ME ABOUT MY CROSSOVER UNIVERSE!

7 notes · View notes

they-handed-me-the-moon · 6 years ago

Text

Okay, so I went to see a screening of the first episode of Good Omens last night and Neil Gaiman was there to answer some questions, and it was. Very amazing to be there.

Unfortunately the interviewer wasn’t great, but there were still fantastic moments and lots of details I hadn’t heard before, so I’ve put the highlights of the conversation with Gaiman under the cut. Major disclaimer here, though: I didn’t record any of the conversation and didn’t take notes during the panel. I wrote down all the interesting bits I could remember immediately after, but none of this is Gaiman’s own phrasing unless I specify otherwise, and its entirely possible that I’ve accidentally fudged some of the details.

There’s here that I’d consider a spoiler, but in case anyone is being particularly careful I’ve separated anything that could be seen as sort of vaguely spoiler-y.

Anyhow, here goes:

Okay, my absolute favorite story that I hadn’t heard before was when Gaiman was talking about the audition process. Apparently when they started searching, all the audition tapes were horribly, horribly, horribly (I clearly remember his triple emphasis here) wrong, but he couldn’t pinpoint why. And then ... Nina Sosanya auditioned for the part of Mary Loquacious. Now, apparently Good Omens has been her absolute favorite book since she was quite young, and she rereads it every year. And according to Gaimen, she just *got it* in a way no one else had. Apparently everyone else, knowing that they were auditioning for a role in a comedic show, was pitching themselves as comic actors. What Nina got, with her understanding of the book, was that the humor doesn’t come from the characters being funny in a making-jokes-and-pulling-faces sort of way. The comedy comes from the circumstances, from the storytelling (whether that’s narration or editing, camera angles, etc), and from characters being completely ridiculous with utter sincerity. Nina, he said, played the role straight and trusted that the comedy would be constructed through and around that. And seeing her act made it click in his mind, to the point that he then told casting directors to look for applicants who played their roles like Nina played hers. So basically what I’m saying is that Nina Sosanya personally saved Good Omens with the power of good acting and being a fan. (I’m tagging @shaxpere just for this, because I feel like you’ll have the appropriate level of appreciation).

Continuing the theme of comic acting not being right for Good Omens, he mentioned that he and Terry were approached through the years by multiple comedic duos who tried to pitch themselves as Aziraphale and Crowley, and they always turned them down without a thought.

I think he also said something about taking the characters seriously even as they and their circumstances are ridiculous, because they aren’t just trying to make the audience laugh, they want them to be invested in the characters. I may be getting things a bit mixed here; but he definitely said something along the lines of wanting the audience to be genuinely emotionally invested in these characters.

He then went on to say that instead of going the comedic duo route, they instead went and got the “premier Welsh actor” (that is one phrase I’m quite sure he used) of his generation and the “premier Scottish actor” of his generation.

From there he went into talking about Aziraphale and Crowley. Regarding their on-screen chemistry, he said: “the chemistry wasn’t instant. During the read-through it was a little awkward at first; they were tripping over each other a bit. But after only about twenty minutes in they started to find their characters and how they exist in relation to each other, and it was like watching them learn to dance.” (Again, I’m very much paraphrasing, but he definitely used the learning to dance phrase).

Next he talked about going out for a meal with some big deal writer fellow (I *think* it was Richard Curtis, the script writer of Love Actually) and Richard asked: “okay, so David and Michael have never acted together, but now that you’ve worked with them you can tell me: which one is actually the better actor?” And gosh of everything that was said that night I wish I could have an exact recording of Gaiman’s answer to that question, because it’s not exactly new, but I’ve heard it more from Tennant and Sheen than Gaiman directly, and the way he said it just made me very happy. But the gist of it was that he genuinely cannot answer that, because when it comes to this show you can’t separate them enough to pit them against one another. He compared them to a film or tv duo, I’ve forgotten who, but one of those pairs that are just impossible to think of apart from one another; it’s never just ‘x’ or just ‘y’, it’s always ‘x and y’. That’s what Tennant and Sheen are as Aziraphale and Crowley, he said. He said they make each other better when they’re acting together, and that, essentially, it’s less like they’re not doing two individual acting jobs but rather are creating a single thing together.

He talked a little more specifically about Sheen’s process of finding his character, and said that for Sheen his breakthrough with Aziraphale was approaching it from the perspective of Aziraphale being an angel and therefore a being of love. Sheen has said that before, but its worth adding than Gaimen then went on to say: “He loves Crowley, he loves books, he loves food, he loves wine, he just loves things”—and I may have misremembered that list a bit, but Crowley was %100 the first thing on it.

Oh, and fun fact: I’ve heard several people talk about how they love the radio adaptation of Good Omens but really feel that it’s missing something without the narrator. Turns out you’re not the only ones: apparently it was listening to the radio drama that convinced Gaiman that there had to be a the narrator in the show.

I imagine he’s said this before, but I haven’t heard it: apparently Good Omens was born in part from Gaimen reading some of Douglas Adams’s work, thinking, “I could write that sort of humor,” and then sitting down and writing that first portion of Good Omens that he sent to Terry Pratchett.

Speaking of Pratchett he mentioned how he really made this show for him several times, and that’s not new I just :,)

He talked about two deleted scenes I hadn’t heard about! They were initially supposed to be the scenes introducing Aziraphale and Crowley. I sort of missed the context of Crowley’s scene, but I think it was him messing with the phone lines? Which he apparently did by, um, recruiting a bunch of rats. Which implies that, a). He can talk with rats? Like there’s a bit of a conversation in the scene that they seem to understand. And b). he can either control rats or has some sort of business arrangement with them. Personally I lean towards the latter. So yeah. I don’t have any particular thoughts about this but it does raise Questions.

Aziraphales’s scene was him on the phone doing something book related (I believe he was negotiating a deal/trying to find a rare book, possibly Agnes Nutter’s prophecies) while doing helpful little miracles like keeping a pram from tipping over or something. Ultimately I don’t really miss either of those scenes, especially since the Crowley one had a bit of dialogue I’m happy to be without, but the Aziraphale scene in particular sounds solid, especially if he’s being snippy on the phone while absently doing pleasant little miracles.

Kinda-sorta-vaguely-spoilery-stuff:

The panel began with the interviewer saying something about how closely the first episode sticks to the book (that’s it that’s the whole spoiler; like I said these aren’t really spoilers) to which Gaiman said something like, “Well, I guess that’s what happens when the author writes the show and is also the showrunner who decides whether to approve the script.”

The first few minutes of the show are a tribute to Douglas Adams, and specifically to the film or tv adaptation (I forget which) of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I’m not going to explain what Gaiman meant by that because a). you can piece it together when you watch, and b). I’ve never seen either adaptation so I’m not actually sure what he meant.

#okay that's it!#there were some other things i really enjoyed #but this is already very long #and the rest was either general stuff about writing and stories #or things i've already heard elsewhere #that he didn't add anything new to #anyway i'm not gonna tag this #because i just remembered he's here on tumblr #and while i can't imagine he'd read this if he came across it #i really don't want to tempt fate with the chance #of him reading me extensively misquoting him

161 notes · View notes

iwritefanficsometimes · 6 years ago

Text

Lysa Recs Fics - June 8, 2019

So as some of you may have seen, it’s @ao3commentoftheday has begun an initiative to celebrate fanworks every day of the week, and Spotlight Saturday is dedicated to highlighting other people’s works. This week I went for a theme of unrecognized stuff, plus WIPs, just to really get in the spirit of things, but in the future I think I want to do different themes. Maybe dark!fic? I don’t know, I’m open to suggestions, so please leave them in the comments/reblogs/tags or send send me messages about it. I love fic rec lists, and it was a lot fo fun to make one.

So I have four categories that I recced under, and two fics from each cateogory. The categories are

rare pairs

WIPs

IronStrange works with less than 30 kudos and -2

non-fic recs from AO3

For a total of 8 recs.

See the recs under the cut, I hope you enjoy!

Saying Your Names by babywarg (morphaileffect) (@babywarg) - completed - 5/5 Chapters posted - 18775 - Stephen/Pepper/Tony

This is one of my absolute favorite DrPepperony fics. It’s sweet, it rounds out well, it has all the best parts of DrPepperony. And the ending is happy. I repeat. The ending is happy. It’s a fantasy setting, where Tony is King, Pepper is his knight and Stephen is a battle mage and they work together and fall in love. Includes some TAO & Stephen, clueless Stephen, and Loki doing what Loki does best. If you haven’t read it and you like DrPepperony, you are missing out. I reread this fic more than I’m willing to admit. (Also, babywarg is awesome)

falling for death by enkiduu* - complete - 1/1 Chapters posted - 3581 words - Tony/Thanos

This is a dark fic, but I don’t want to give anything away. Just know that if you’re a Tony stan this may be hard to read, but the emotional pay off is worth it. It hurts, but in the end it feels very true to Tony as a character. It’s well written, and it makes you confront the less positive sides of Tony’s personality, the sides that are willing to to whatever it takes.

The Only Way by gurkenpflaster* WIP - 6/7 chapters posted - 13480 words - Stephen/Pepper/Tony

One of my favorite WIPs right now, and it’s DrPepperony! (No I don’t have a problem.) It’s nearly done, we’re just waiting for the epilogue, and it’s so so so so good. The Stephen angst is high, and Pepper and Stephen bonding abounds, which really, what else do you need from a good fic? Stop by, leave a kudos and comment (subscribe to read the ending!)

Citizen Erased by Imagined* WIP - 25/47 chapters posted - 92221 words - Tony/Stephen

Do you like Tony angst? Me too. This is a WIP that I have been following religiously for a time. I don’t comment as often as I should, but I’m working on it, because this work is again, amazing. Everyone has forgotten that Tony exists. He tries to go to Stephen Strange for help, but there are a lot of barriers to getting his help, like Stephen keeps forgetting him. And then things get crazy. Trust me, this is worth the wait for updates. It’s so well written and plotted and it’s completely written, so there’s no chance that it’s just going to be abandonded. The characters are emotionally complex, and just... I can’t say enough how much I love it.

Dying in LA by BananasofThorns *- Completed - 1/1 Chapters Posted - 567 words - Tony/Stephen

An interesting song fic that pits Tony and Stephen against each other, indirectly. It’s an interesting little duo character study, emphasis on little. A lot of good stuff gets packed into one little fic. Highly recommend, and not just because I love songfics.

The smoothie challenge by Queenofthemontain* - completed - 1/1 chapters posted - 1294 words - Ships are background to the adorable gen happening

So, this was a fun read, light hearted and silly. It’s just a chance to see all the Avengers interacting and being adorable. There’s no love on that battlefield, except for my love for these characters.

Good Morning, I Love You [Podfic] by Codee21* - completed - 1/1 chapters posted - 4:36 - Stephen/Tony

Does anyone remember how much I love podfic, and how much I wished we had more IronStrange podfics? Well, here it is! Codee21 has another podfic that you should also check out, but this one has the fewest kudos, so it made the rec list.

Tattoos and Tulips by MassiveSpaceWren* - completed - 1 image - Bucky/Tony

I love flower shop AUs and I love winteriron, so I’m glad to be able to rec this piece of art to you guys. It’s sweet and simple and just look at them. They’re so cute!

💗

So, that’s eight recs! Next week I’ll try and start compiling works not the night before 😂 Let me know if you have any ideas for themes, specific pairings, or stipulations. I think works with low kudos were fun to search for, and rare pairs too. I’m thinking maybe dark!fic would be a fun category, maybe specific kinds of AU’s? Works over 100k? Idk.

Anyway! If you have works that fit any of the above categories, rec them in the comments/reblogs/send in an anon ask! Let’s appreciate our fandom friends!

*Authors with asterisks by their AO3 name do not have their tumblr/other socials linked, because I don’t know what the are, but if you do know it please shoot me an ask so I can add it. :)

#fic rec #Lysa recs fics

9 notes · View notes

douxreviews · 6 years ago

Text

The 100 - ‘What You Take With You’ Review

"Things are about to get weird."

Aren't things always getting weird??

If you showed up this week like I did thinking we were getting a filler episode, I hope you held on to your hat. We went for a ride.

The episode does remarkably well juggling multiple plot threads and character points of view. Even within each sect the performances are layered and felt on more than one front. That's not easy to do. I mean I was even starting to feel something for Josephine at one point.

Pike: "The path to the future goes through the past, Miss Blake. Psychology 101. We are what we've done and what's been done to us. I'll ask you again. Who are you now, Miss Blake? Your brother's sister or the monster who would have watched him die in this very arena?"

I really hate that she's still widely labeled by other people (brother's sister, monster, girl under the floor, Blodreina...) but the first order of business is Octavia's redemption. Not that she's redeemed herself with anyone really, but acknowledging that she wants it is at least a start. I've been looking forward to watching her let her walls down for weeks now and secretly hoping that it wasn't a sloppy after school special. I wasn't disappointed. Taking her back to the moment that she decided to kill Pike in cold-blooded revenge and not one of the 97 tragic things that happened to her was genius, if you ask me.

Pike said that we are what we've done and what's been done to us. For Octavia, killing Pike was maybe the only choice she ever made on her own. Being stuck under the floor or forced to fight to the death for your people or watching the love of your life die (just to name a few) were all traumatic events that shaped who she is, but she more or less had no wiggle room in the corners that she was backed into. Killing Pike, though, that was a calculated decision. He saved her life and fought along side her looking for his own redemption and Octavia made the decision to end his life. Going back to that moment and seeing Blodreina as Pike and Pike as Lincoln, she was able to make peace with the fact that he, Pike, was a person that (maybe) deserved to live just like Lincoln was and her mother was and she is now.

Everyone deserves a second chance and when she made the decision to take his away, that was when Blodreina was really born. When she gave into the violence and anger, that was the moment she had control over and could have made a different choice. I never liked Pike and was glad to see that mustache-twirling villain get the boot, or axe as it were, but something about that being the moment that Octavia needed to redo in her mind resonates with me. If Lincoln had shown up to whisper sweet encouragement in her ear, it wouldn't have played as well. If her mom had shown up to give her a pep talk, it wouldn't have carried the same weight. But Pike pointing out the moment she became the dictator that she never wanted to be and Octavia being able to figuratively prove that she would make a different choice was really beautiful. Love love love. You go girl.

For whatever it's worth, I was mildly thrown off for a while thinking that because Octavia lived under the floor that she wouldn't have taken earth skills with Pike so it was grating my nerves that he was being so teachery with her. Later I remembered a flashback episode where he was brushing up the OG 100 before they got shipped to the ground and felt better about it, but it's not a great sign to be distracted so easily.

The next order of business is Abby and Kane and the case of the missing bottle of ooze consciouses.

Indra: "On the Ark, you floated people for stealing food. On the ground, my people cheered as children fought to the death to lead us. Is this so much worse?" Marcus: "Yes, lives have been lost in the worshiping of false gods before, more than can be counted. But if we let it stand when we could stop it, then our new world would be no different than the one we left behind."

I love that we didn't listen to Abby and Raven whine about what a stellar moral compass Kane is just for him to show up and embrace this new body-snatcher reality. I love that he, like so many others, recognized that taking peoples lives is downright rude and unlike Gabriel and that other mechanic prime dude (Striker?), he didn't ignore his skeevy inclinations and keep his consolation body prize. More than all of that though, I was so, so happy to see Indra back with us and very happy that these two bffs got to have once last powwow. And how on point was it that she was barely fazed by yet another ridiculous turn of events. I mean she and Kane did live through cannibalism and cage-fighting to the death. I can see how this could've easily been written off as just one more atrocity on the list. Not on Kane's watch!

I appreciate that three-way conversation hammering home why they can't stand for this. Why it can't be weighed against other horrible things and why it's important to stand up now and push back. Be the good guys. Do better. Now that he's gone, though, who is going to make sure that the next thing gets addressed and not simply added to the list? I don't love the idea that everyone that puts their money where their mouth is on the moral high ground finds themselves dead. I prefer a little levity in my TV.

RIP, Kane. Again.

Josephine: "My father was a fool for letting you people stay. All that time spent building a sanctuary for the human race, and he destroys it because of the most human thing of all – love."

Was letting them stay really the big mistake here? Because my money would've been on the attempted murder of Clarke Griffin. If Russell hadn't let them stay, they would've taken Sanctum by force, right?

And while I'm harping on unreliable characters, there was the moment that Josie seemed genuinely upset at the thought of seeing Gabriel and taken aback at Bellamy's declaration to Clarke. Why? She had to wonder if Gabriel was still alive somewhere in the weird woods and Bellamy didn't say anything that he hadn't already said. And Josephine is a master manipulator.

My love for the dynamic duo that is Clarke and Bellamy knows no bounds. They were part of this episode together for such a tiny speck of time, but I still lived for it.

Solid 3 out of 4 ghosts of massacres past

Bits and pieces

Do we know what was in Octavia's green box? Any guesses?

There was something particularly heart-wrenching about Octavia being chained to the fighting pit that she created. It made me think of all the time she spent under the floor and confined to that tiny room practically chained to the wall there as well. Marie G. played it very, very well. It was my favorite choice in a very well acted scene.

Octavia had to make a choice between a red box and a green box. Red is the color of blood and violence and anger. Green is the color or nature and renewal and peace. In the pit there was a small green light surrounded by a lot of red smoky light. Blodreina has a lot of red blood on her hands. The woods have a lot of greenery going on. Was the swirly green too? Is any of this relevant? Also, do I have to start calling the swirly the anomaly?

Kane came completely full circle floating himself to save humanity. When we met him, he was mercilessly floating people – also to save the human race.

Exceptionally lovely that Indra gave Kane the SpaceKru and Grounder sendoff. Her whole thing got me in the feelings. Much more than Abby snotting on the glass. Why am I so annoyed with Abby? Even Raven is cutting her slack.

Kane: "Everything is wrong."

Kane: "I am not one of the sheep you raised to follow you into oblivion." Wow.

We're all meant to blindly accept that Kane needed to be holding the serum to get it to fly into space, right? Okay. Okay, fine.

Josephine: "I’ve been in love with Gabriel for 236 years, the last 70 of which he’s been trying to kill me. You know, relationships."

Bellamy: "When the people we care about are in trouble, then we do what has to be done."

Bellamy: "I won't let you die."

Are TPTB going to do anything with the Children of Gabriel?? They're so one-note.

Gabriel: "Things are about to get weird."

---

Laure Mack

#The 100 #Clarke Griffin #Bellamy Blake #Octavia Blake #Raven Reyes #Marcus Kane #John Murphy #The 100 Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

4 notes · View notes

halfshelled · 6 years ago

Note

I have been waiting for this moment my entire life... How do the boys function as a team? And does anything that Draxum says to them actually affect their team dynamic?

BOI

i have been thinking about this for ages get ready for the ramble of your life

the boys in the Draxum AU have extremely tense and complicated relationships, especially when they’re with Draxum but hopefully i can put them into words well enough here SO

im gunna start with the actual team dynamics for when they’re on missions/in training and then go into more personal interactions

for ease of reference since donnie isn’t a fighter raph, leo, & mikey will be referred to as The Soldiers and i’m gunna put this under a read more because its gunna be LOOOONG

OFF WE GO!

Donnie doesnt go on missions or train with his brothers. he did when they were younger (they all started extremely young, like roughly 5-7 years old) but once he showed not only an interest in but an extreme aptitude for mechanical and biomystical science he stopped training and instead draxum took him under his wing as a lab partner/apprentice. the praise and pressure from draxum towards donnie was the first big wedge driven between the brothers

The others were taught how to fight individually before Draxum began having them spar with each other and eventually allying himself with Big Mama for more intensive work fighting in the Battle Nexus

Raph is a defacto leader of the Soldiers since he’s the biggest (most physically imposing + raw strength) and the oldest (been training the longest). He doesn’t say much and doesn’t usually need to, quite literally following “actions speak louder than words”. He doesn’t see his brothers as competition quite the same way Leo does but rather takes great pressure on himself to be the strongest to protect them, whether they need it or not. His destructive power is the one thing he’s certain he’s good for but it’s driven a fear of hurting his brothers and a refusal to show weakness.

Leo falls in as a second in command but Draxum and Big Mama’s comments (direct in Draxum’s case and indirect in Mama’s) tend to undermine his ability compared to the others and foot him as the underdog nobody really believes can win. His specialty lies primarily in his agility and stamina, especially as his greatest chance in a fight against Raph. He’s extremely jealous of the other Soldiers and has a deep rooted inferiority complex towards them because of how often he’s put down as a drag on the other two, especially after the loss of his leg.

Mikey is happy to be the follower in the group despite clearly being Draxum’s favorite warrior. Mikey’s early cockiness and pure skill/intuition at besting the others in combat quickly led to him being separated from them during training as individuals. Draxum is extremely hard on Mikey during lessons and it’s burnt out a lot of his confidence. He’s got a perfectionism streak a mile long and it eats at him every time he feels he’s made a mistake, especially when he sees his older brothers all cover and take the fall for him.

Raph & Leo are constantly pitted against one another in sparring, far more so than either of them have been pitted against Mikey combined (though they are occasionally set up as a team against Mikey). They rarely talk to each other and they both see one another as reckless and selfish. Despite their pointed differences in combat styles, strengths/weaknesses, and personality they’re really rather similar at their cores but because of the rivalry Draxum’s set for them they can’t slow down long enough to see it. Both of them want to be better warriors to take care of the others and above all want to prove they’re worth something like they feel Mikey and Donnie have. They butt heads and have torn each other up pretty bad, but they’ve got to watch each others’ backs and have a silent pact to keep on eye on the other two. At the end of the day, they have an understanding of each other that begins rather shakily but grows incredibly strong after the boys escape to the surface.

Raph & Donnie do not get along. They weren’t particularly close as kids and the isolation of both of them from one another hasn’t helped, self imposed or otherwise. Some of the rare occasions they interact are when Donnie is testing some new invention/weapon or when they’re on caretaker duty for Lou Jitsu. Raph doesn’t trust Donnie half as far as he can throw him for numerous reasons (primarily his proximity/loyalty to Draxum and his opinion that D’s betrayed the Soldiers and thinks he’s better than the three of them). He only yields to Donnie’s demands to give him medical treatment when he’s too damaged to refuse or Draxum steps in to force Raph to sit still for 30 minutes and let Don work. Donnie on the other hand finds Raph’s stubbornness and tough guy attitude incredibly annoying since it’s an obstacle and he knows he’ll have to fix whatever Raph breaks, whether its an actual object or his arm again. One of the things they have in common though is that more often than not they’re going to be awake. They’re both the first and last ones asleep on any given day.

Donnie & Leo are fairly close despite not being able to interact often. Leo doesn’t see Don as competition and isn’t afraid to talk to Donnie about weakness or issues he’s having. Donnie finds trying to explain his process to Leo a good way to find issues in any places he gets stuck while working. It gives each of them a chance to be talkative even if just for a little bit out of the day. They confide in each other openly and since both of them strive for Draxum’s praise in differing fields they often provide one another with pointers to try and improve. They’re ideology and morality scales can make it hard for them to see eye to eye on some subjects and when they disagree they disagree hard and it puts both of them in a set of bad moods that rival tornado season thunder storms.

Donnie & Mikey don’t connect much but they’re never hostile. Sometimes Mikey’s high energy can rub Donnie the wrong way, especially if D’s extra sleep deprived. Donnie knows Mikey can get freaked out by all the medical stuff so he tries to explain it and lets Mike ramble because he knows it helps calm him down. A lot of their interactions are short and somewhat stiff since they don’t have as many opportunities to bond. Draxum expects highly of both of them and they have an unspoken bond over it, occasionally exchanging a few jokes about it to try and lighten one another’s mood and keep their collective mind off the stress. Like Leo & Raph, they end up becoming closer once they escape. They both shoulder a lot of confusion and anxiety about if it was the right thing to do and Mikey helps ease Donnie into the idea of starting from scratch while Donnie helps Mikey adjust to his newfound need for structure when they’re suddenly without any.

Mikey & Leo have one of those dynamics where they’re constantly exchanging quips and snarky responses. A pair of speedy acrobats, they tend to run circles around their oldest brother and together can drive Raph up a wall, especially when they decide to team up and take over a mission instead of listen to him. They do get along but it can be hard for them to be genuine with one another. Draxum’s instilled each of them with the belief that they aren’t on any sort of level playing ground together and they’re attempts at crossing the gap are awkward at best. It’s not uncommon for them to misinterpret one another’s kindness as patronizing and get into a spitting match over it. Leo’s intensely jealous of Mikey and Mikey often feels like Leo purposefully tries to exclude him. The duo can more or less be summed up in the phrase “it’s all fun and game until someone loses an eye” as they metaphorically street race one another at any given chance.

Mikey & Raph are extremely close in a similar way Leo and Donnie are. I’ve mentioned in passing before that Mikey tends to climb on Raph whenever he can get away with it and that it’s a security blanket act for the both of them. It’s a silent exchange of personal weakness between them. It’s a reminder to Raph that his brothers trust him to take care of them and not just fight for them while it lets Mikey be childish and solidifies his place as a member of the family in his own eyes. Mikey manages to get Raph to talk a little more/talk more freely about what’s on his mind and distracts him from all the weight on his shoulders as the protector. Raph meanwhile allows Mikey to be quiet or afraid when he needs to as well as indulging in his little brother’s need for physical affection. They help one another escape momentarily away from the need to fit in their roles and process their emotions, whatever they may be.

#frens #i need a good tag for you my dude #i say words #au info #draxum au #new lore hot off the presses #my writing #i went on a massive ramble i hope this actually answered the question akjshjdh #feel free to ask me more if you want to know or any something clarified i loved the chance to babble about my boys

5 notes · View notes

pisswizard420 · 6 years ago

Text

LMFAO this doesnt have a title

Since I don’t have an AO3 I’m shoving the 1st chapter of this thing here because why not. It’s all after the cut

Warnings- you know WOnderland? That’s the warning. There’s some stuff that makes me feel a bit squirmy. (Body horror, some violence, memory loss)

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she doesn’t come out. It’s been two months, and Davenport drinks the Voidfish Ichor because he’s thirsty and hungry and there’s no water or food. He drinks it and he remembers and it is horrible and painful, and he goes to find his crew. He goes and grabs Taako, Barry, Magnus, Merle and they start looking for Lup again. They don’t look for Lucretia. At this point, they decide, Lucretia is dead; they see no point in going to find a corpse.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she doesn’t come out. It’s been six months and she and Cam aren’t doing well. Her body shakes, she’s been spasming since the boss fight. Her body remembers the damage done by that lich on the 90th cycle now- Wonderland exposing her to that agony again. The hosts offer a bonus round, and they choose the escape game. They both get stuck, neither willing to leave the other when they have to be so, so close. “You should’ve left, Luc.” He’s taken to calling her that, ignoring any complaints she raised. “You look like shit.”

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and she turns to Cam, “I couldn’t just leave you behind. You’d die in a second if I wasn’t here to watch your back.” He could hear the unspoken reason: they have to be close and even if they aren’t she can’t stop now, she’s committed herself to this , looking for the bell, spiting the liches, inducting him into her family. “Maybe we should rest for a bit before we go into the next room. We may not be able to heal magically, but you finally stopped bleeding from where that one got you.” He looks down and sees she’s right. “Let’s wait a bit.” She hands him some jerky she conjured into existence. He rolls his eyes at the showing off, and then he conjures them up some water.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. They have a lead on Lup’s location and Lucretia’s location. Taako and Barry go off to meet up with some Dwarf named Gundren, who’s questing in the area where Lup disappeared. Davenport takes the Starblaster with Merle and Magnus to a clearing in the Felicity Wilds. The earth is charred, and they see four liches fighting, two on two, each team with one of the relics. They hear the bell, and there’s a shield that warps around the ship suddenly- Davenport fancies he can see the soundwaves bouncing off of the shield.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. She looks at Cam, cataloging all that they’ve lost. There are patches of magic where skin should be and limbs have been replaced with enchanted constructs and he looks at her half wild. He looks at her, cataloging all that they’ve lost. She’s lost memories, and she’s thrown herself under the bus for him, giving him time to recover after the liches asked for too much (they always asked for too much, always always always asked for too much these days.) She lost her memories of home, and her family, and so much and so had he. All he remembered was Wonderland and the fact that they came looking for a bell- she once confessed the same. It was upsetting to think about.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and it’s been a decade. She looks at Cam, the only person in years that she hasn’t been pitted against. She looks at Cam, someone who she can fight with flawlessly, who there are inside jokes with, who she knows the favorite foods of, someone who is a brother to her in all but blood, her only family. She looks at Cam and she grins, and it is all wrong. Her cheeks stretch too wide and her eyes, her teeth, they all glint with strange new magic; the effect of the glinting and the unnatural movements would terrify most but not Cam, never Cam, he knows her too well for that. “I have an idea. What do you think about becoming liches?”

Cam looks at her, someone who he fights with flawlessly, who he shares inside jokes with, who he knows the favorite foods of, someone who is a sister to him in all but blood, his only family. He looks at her and he grins, and it is all wrong. His skin glows in patches, and his eyes seem to look almost through her. The effect of the glowing disjointed nature of his smile would terrify most but not Lucretia (Luc, his Luc), never Lucretia, she knows him too well for that. “Tell me more. This sounds like it could be useful.” He listens closely to her whispered words and- and- and he agrees that it would be a good idea- send two liches to beat two liches- necromancy against necromancy- complacency versus hungry determined angry. He thinks that it’s obvious who will win. He is the only one who thinks that.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, searching for a bell, and its been a decade. Lucretia and Cam (Cam and Lucretia) set up and do a ritual to become liches, and they anchor themselves with each other, emotions tied together, stabilizing each other, keeping each other sane. It goes well and quickly and Lucretia casts a shield with that staff (Where did she get that staff from? She doesn’t remember) around their bodies to protect them. After that they start wrecking shit- trading focuses in midair and toying with the energy around them. They pull at the right string of necromantic energy and Wonderland burns away around them, freeing the other inhabitants. They don’t care about that though. Cam hurls off a spell that screams out wrongwrongeldritchwrong and it knocks Lydia back. Lucretia slams them between walls of magic. The twins retaliate.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, looking for a bell, and its been a decade, and Davenport and Magnus and Merle can’t do anything except watch two sets of liches fight and fight and fight and fight and- and Taako calls Davenport on his stone of farspeech. “So- there’s a bit of a-“ One of the liches bursts, taking another with it and Davenport can’t tell which duo won or whether or not it’s a good thing and the bell rings loud and clear and nothing happens and Taako says, “Is something going on?” The stone cuts out and the shield falls, and the two liches that survived drift over to the ship.

Lucretia leaves off into Wonderland, looking for a bell, and its been a decade. It’s been a decade and Wonderland is gone and she and Cam are free and they try and undo what the bell did and it doesn’t work, so Cam sets it down and she shields it and they drift over to the ship. In unison they touch down lightly on the deck. “Hello.” She smiles, and from the way that the gnome pales it doesn’t seem like she did a very good job. She probably didn’t- she doesn’t have lips in her lich form. “I’m Lucretia. You are?” Surprisingly enough, the gnome pales further, mouthing her name. She thinks he might know her. She feels a strange sort of disinterested curiosity. “This is Cam.” She doesn’t go into more detail; he doesn’t need more; it’s obvious who he is. She gestures at Cam, who gets less than a cursory glance. She notices that. She doesn’t like it.

Lucretia and Cam burn down Wonderland, after a decade of looking for a bell. They burn it down, and they sit there watching a group of people looking a mix of horrified and sad and the tall tan ruffboi looks at Lucretia and puts a hand out to shake, saying, “I’m Magnus.” There’s a pause while she shakes his hand, and then he gestures to the dwarf and gnome. “These are Merle and Capnport. We knew you before that place.” His hands move around nervously at the end of his sentence. Lucretia looks at Cam, asking him, asking him something with her eyes.

Lucretia and Cam burn down Wonderland, after a decade of looking for a bell. They burn it down, and now Lucretia is looking at him wondering- just- just wondering and he nods. He vaguely remembers her mentioning them in the past. He opens his mouth to speak, to cover for her discomfort. “Why didn’t you come?” He sounds dangerous and for a moment seems to fizz with lightning and then Lucretia puts a hand on his shoulder and he zooms back into himself. “Why didn’t you come for her?” Her hand stays on his shoulder- a steady presence. A grounding presence.

Taako and Barry go to find Lup, and Phandolin burns. Phandolin burns and they find Lup and Barry grabs the umbrella and smashes it and she flies out. She flies out and they wait for Davenport to come pick them up. Davenport comes and Lucretia-but not quite- and someone else are standing casually on the deck, each holding a relic, and neither recognizing any of them. Neither seem to recognize Taako or Lup or Barry and Taako walks over to Lucretia and opens his mouth and then in unison Lucretia and the other one say, “Don’t remember (she doesn’t remember) you sorry.”

“What the fuck, my dude.” For a moment he is shaken out of his anger, for a moment he sees the way magic seems to coat the pair, slick and oily and sliding down over their bodies. For a moment he sees two small elves, short golden hair and long golden braid. For a moment he is shaken out of his anger, and when that moment passes he shoves it to the side because he’s Taako and its no good being mad at someone if you can’t constantly rub in why you’re mad. “That’s some fucked up shit.”

“Big mood.” Lucretia-and-Cam, Cam-and-Lucretia have a habit of speaking in unison. Taako-and-Lup, Lup-and-Taako had a habit of doing that, so Taako isn’t overly weirded out by it. Lucretia grimaces a bit though and says, “Sorry. We’re trying to work on doing that a bit less often. It seems to be a bit of a thing when talking to other people.” Taako nods, jerky and stiff. He’s not really enjoying the similarities with a younger him and Lup (Lup and him) but- but- but they’re there. The similarities are there, the hungry eyes, and the standing close, and the speaking as one, and he understands. He pushes his understanding aside. He speaks.

“The name’s Taako.” He tries not to be a little unnerved by the lack of recognition in her eyes. He does, of course, succeed at that because he’s Taako mother-fucking [insert last name here] and it takes a little bit more than not being recognized at all from someone you spent one hundred years on a ship with to unnerve him. It takes a lot more than that (okay, so he wouldn’t admit it to anyone except maybe Lup, but it does unnerve him. It does scare him. It does make him uncomfortable- and where is Lup when you need your other half, your moral compass? And he looks at Lucretia and Lucretia stole Lup from him and look at her with all of them stolen from her, all of the crew, her home, her family, one hundred and twenty years gone, and how is he supposed to respond to that? Vindication? Anger? Anything would be better than this dull sense of empathy, this dull understanding that he doesn’t want to have.)

“Lucretia. Nice to meet you, again I suppose.” Her expression is bland. It is the polite disinterest when meeting a distant relative. He hates it. It makes him uncomfortable, especially because when he first saw Magnus, and Merle, and Davenport before he got inoculated he looked at them like that. Barry (his brother in law! The guy who married his sister!) looked at him like that. He really, really doesn’t like it.

“Cam,” says the tall half elf standing closely next to Lucretia. He looks at Taako like Taako is a threat (Which ‘cha boy is, natch, but still, it kind of stings.) “So, you knew Lucretia.” The tone is conversational- how about that weather- but the eyes are not- they’re more how about I kill you. Lucretia elbows Cam in the gut, and Cam and says nothing. Taako gets elbowed in the gut with an image of Lup doing the same to him, and then it hits him again. There’s a tiny hint of the closeness of a younger him and Lup, and of course there is. Of course there is, because look at the two of them and doesn’t it just ache with sick familiarity. Don’t they just reek of it, and each moment it hits him he hates it. He hates that everything about Lucretia and this stranger screams out in familiar wrongness. Its like the dark mirror version of him and Lup except one of them is an amnesiac traitor and the other is her amnesiac codependent lackey. He hates it so much, so much, so much.

Cam doesn’t know how he feels about these strangers, these ones that claim they know Lucretia. He doesn’t know how to feel about how in the two hours since they met both in and out of their bodies they’ve given Lucretia weird looks and him none at all- like he doesn’t exist or matter at all. He also doesn’t know how to feel about the elven wizard standing in front of them, looking at them with a strange expression on his face. Then the elf speaks, and Cam makes up his mind.

“Yeah,” the elf says. “How much have they told the both of you?” He puts an emphasis on both. Cam thinks he likes this elf.

“Nothing,” he replies.

Taako (the elf earned being called by his name rather than simply being “the elf”) tilts his head and begins, “Did they give you any of the ichor?”

“No.”

“Then this might be a bit hard to explain to you. Lucretia is around 130 years old.”

“What?” “What?”

“She died around” static “times, but she” static. “There’s a vore cloud. There’s also a memory voring” static “There was a plan to” static static static “but Lucretia didn’t agree with it so she” static static static “then she went into Wonderland, leaving the Captain alone, and he inoculated himself accidentally. He thought she was dead, so he didn’t go looking for her. He started looking for” static static static static static “Then a decade passed before he decided to go and find her body.” A beat. “We were angry.” He turns to Lucretia. “I’m sorry we didn’t force the issue.”

Lucretia stares at the elf (not Taako anymore) “I- thank you for telling me the truth. I’m sorry, for what I did to you. That was unfair to you.” The elf nods. He looks vaguely distressed, vaguely angry. He says nothing. He turns to Cam.

“How much did you understand?”

“Not much. It was mostly static.”

“I have a sister.” Pause “Lucretia.” Pause. “Stole” pause static static static.

“I didn’t get some of that.” Taako, Cam thinks he understands a bit now.

“We’ll have to get you inoculated.” Taako does a heel turn and starts walking off. “Have the two of you eaten?”

#fanfic #taz balance #lucretia adventurezone #lucretia #i love her shes great #cam adventurezone #taako #davenport #basically this is going to be like 3 maybe 4 chapters of re-familying #and anger and reconcilliatioin and recovery and learning to be people again and just #yea #and weird and vaguely poetic writing becasue im a shit

10 notes · View notes

quellines-stories · 7 years ago

Note

Can you imagine a world where both Jerome and Jeremiah are the "joker." Like a brother duo and they still hate each other in the way some siblings do (old arguments and bickering). Bruce is So Tired.

!! I actually already talked about the concept of Jerome returning so he and Jeremiah can both be two sides of the same coin as Joker together, rather than just one of them being a single Joker alone!

Tbh it would make for SUCH a good twist considering that despite having two characters which heavily resemble Joker when it comes to physical traits, personality, and easter eggs, the writers still insist neither is the Joker, which would be disappointing unless they’re using their phrasing in a clever way to make us assume the real Joker hasn’t been brought in yet, when in reality what they mean is exactly what they say– Jerome OR Jeremiah isn’t THE Joker… Jerome AND Jeremiah ARE Joker.

If the writers end up going with this route, it would be a witty twist, a satisfying outcome given Cam’s talent in how well he portrays such an iconic character, and make a lot more sense than having the Joker turn out to be an un-original copycat.

If you want to read what I’ve already written about pertaining to this subject, feel free to refer to the link below!

http://quellines-stories.tumblr.com/post/173060454266/what-do-you-think-about-the-suprise-twin

Essentially, the link just goes into a bit more detail about my opinions on how the Gotham crew handled introducing Jeremiah and exiting Jerome, as well as further discussing the concept of Jerome and Jeremiah making up the Joker in which a crackling Jerome could play the trope of being spontaneous and chaotic for the sake of entertainment while a smirking Jeremiah could play the part of being calculated and cruel for the sake of amusement.

I love talking about this concept since it’s my favorite concept for Gotham’s Joker, so I was really excited to answer this ask! Despite already discussing the Jerome/Jeremiah/Joker concept, I’m glad to hear I get the chance to discuss it a bit more!

First of all, the way Jerome could come back yet again could be through a plot this season (season 4) heavily revolved around, but then just kind of left hanging– lazarus pit water.

Hugo has his focus on reviving Lee and Nygma through the methods he used upon Theo, Fish, Jerome, and so forth, due to Oswald’s orders. Considering Hugo’s both seemingly working with Penguin and showed a fascination towards Butch, Penguin will likely want Hugo to bring the man he genuinely considered an ally back while keeping Tabitha none the wiser of course so she continues suffering, and Hugo will likely be more than glad to help if it means carrying out experiments to study Butch.

Who does that leave the lazarus water for? Jerome’s the only major character that was killed in season 4, and his actor is more than likely confirmed to return in season 5 as Jeremiah. While Sofia’s in a coma and whatnot, she’s not dead quite yet, and while Selina’s received a dire injury, she’s stabilized. True, the lazarus pit holds healing powers, but its primary focus is on revival more than anything, which leaves Jerome as the most likely candidate… unless someone important gets killed off in the beginning of season 5.

Despite Ra’s being a major character that was “killed off”, considering he doesn’t have a body for the lazarus pit water to heal, he’s probably just transferred back to another body– likely Barbara’s… or maybe even his heir that killed him– Wayne… but that’s a different theory ;)

So, let’s say Jerome ends up getting revived with the lazarus pit water one way or another. This could happen a number of ways… one of his copycat followers steal some to bring him back, Ivy gets pissed off at Jeremiah for what he did to Selina and brings back a vengeful Jerome to kill his brother, Wayne ends up realizing the only way to stop Jeremiah is to have Jeremiah meet his match AKA Jerome and reluctantly finds a way to get the water and use it to uncertainly bring Jerome back as a way to fight fire with fire.

Heck, maybe Jeremiah ends up deciding he wants to bring Jerome back to punish his brother for what he’s done to him by showing Jerome that he’s succeeded in areas his brother hasn’t. Maybe Jeremiah’s having withdrawals from the insanity gas and wants his brother to convince Jonathan Crane to make him more. Maybe a shred of the old Jeremiah briefly takes hold again wants to instead find a cure and as a last resort desperately revives his brother to find out whether there’s an antidote or not. Maybe Jeremiah wants to find out what Jerome knows about Wayne that he doesn’t, because Jerome’s known the boy longer, after all. Maybe Jeremiah wants to use Jerome to get to Wayne upon finding out Wayne considered his brother his responsibility.

One way or another, let’s say Jerome comes back. Perhaps Jerome doesn’t quite recall who he is, and for a brief while, Wayne hesitantly tries to guide him in the right direction, before Jerome recalls everything and goes back down a path Wayne can’t follow. Or, perhaps upon Jerome’s return, he and his brother instantly clash, and Wayne has to figure out which one to side with to take down the lesser of two evils.

Eventually, however, something would happen. Eventually, Jerome and Jeremiah would see eye to eye for the first time in years. Eventually, Jeremiah and Jerome would realize there’s more benefit in working with one another to achieve a common goal quicker, than constantly trying to one up each other.

Maybe they bond over Jeremiah confessing dear ol’ Lila Valeska wasn’t as good as he’d assured himself she was all those years. Maybe Jeremiah admits he used Jerome to get out of a place he realized was becoming toxic when he noticed Lila began drinking more and more, and getting harsher and harsher. Maybe Jeremiah doesn’t quite apologize, but he does confirm he turned against his own flesh and blood for his own self preservation.

Perhaps Jerome admits that Jeremiah isn’t all wrong, because Jerome admits he was a screwed up kiddo even before Jeremiah left and the beatings began getting more frequent, but he would have NEVER brought harm to his twin– at least not back then.

The might even confess to initially missing one another in the beginning, before resenting each other as time went by, because Jerome realized Jeremiah had abandoned him, and the only way the old Jeremiah could cope with what he did to Jerome was through acting like Jerome was the bad guy, because Jeremiah didn’t want to blame Lila for that one drunken night that resulted in Jeremiah deciding he had to get out– no matter what.

Then, let’s say Jerome and Jeremiah realize they both essentially want the same things. Jerome wants entertainment, Jeremiah wants amusement. Jerome wants to make Gotham fall through reckless chaos, Jeremiah wants to make Gotham fall through calculating and cruel methods. Jerome wants to corrupt Wayne since he’s the only goody-two-shoes to not fall one way or another under his direct influence, Jeremiah wants to bring Wayne by his side.

It’s not that Jerome and Jeremiah forgive one another– it’s more of them no longer turning a blind eye to the past in attempts to save their sanity, which they are quite honestly out of, and Jerome’s accepted who he truly was long ago, so the fact that Jeremiah has accepted who he really is just makes them get along that much better. Things can never go back to how they used to be when they were kids, but when it comes down to it, as far as they’re concerned the only one that can truly understand them and level with them is their own twin.

Jerome and Jeremiah realize they have more in common than they don’t. As far as they’re concerned, it’s everyone else who’s insane.

Now all they have to do is take the common interest they have and do what they’ve done. Now, all they have to do is show Wayne that Wayne is just like them deep down. Now, all they have to do is coax out the corruption out of Wayne that Jerome faced on his ninth birthday, and Jeremiah faced when opening that present. Now, all they have to do is take everything away from Wayne, because they had everything taken away from them, and when Wayne has nowhere else to turn, they’ll be there ready to show him how to just let go of his high horse he’s desperately grasping at, and hit the rock bottom they’re relaxing upon.

As time goes by, Jerome and Jeremiah begin acting as one persona. Sometimes, they almost forget they’re twins, and not the same person. It’s easy to get your own story mixed up when you’ve been using the stories of your copycat followers for so long to throw people off your trail– always changing your past to someone else’s, and giving your own less and less.

Over time, however, Jeremiah’s interest shifts to someone else he sees a glimmer of himself as well as Jerome within. Jeremiah’s interest shifts to this peculiar bat-like vigilante that shows such rage against criminal scum, yet always restrains himself from going too far. Jeremiah still revolves much of what he does around Wayne, of course, because he just wants to bring his best friend back by his side by showing Wayne true clarity through taking away that which is holding him back.

Jerome, of course, becomes rather interested in this vigilante as well, however Jerome’s focus stays on Wayne more than anything. After all, Jerome, in his own way, cares about Wayne, too. Perhaps not like how the old Jeremiah that viewed Wayne as his best friend did… but still, Jerome does care about the boy, just as much– if not more so… even if it is a bit differently.

After all, Wayne proved he wasn’t like everyone else when he refused to take the stab at Jerome’s throat with a broken piece of glass, unlike Theo. Not to mention Wayne was the first person to stand up for him– to save him and tell his uncle and the strongman to stop torturing him, and Jerome had stayed in the diner to cheer Wayne on and make sure the boy didn’t get killed by strongman, because while Jerome could have easily killed them both, he wanted to give Wayne a chance to show his true nature and let it all out on strongman, and if the strongman had gotten close enough to nearly killing Wayne, then Jerome would have killed the strongman, of course.

Heck, if that cat girl hadn’t shown up, Jerome would have totally thanked Wayne properly by murdering the knocked out man that had tried to kill his little hero. Jerome sometimes felt like Wayne didn’t appreciate the fact that Jerome- unlike Jeremiah- chose to not kill Selina when he most certainly could have while they were distracted cozying up at the diner, and instead just left the two lovebirds alone.

Regardless, Jeremiah would still show interest in Wayne despite shifting his attention primarily towards the bat, just as Jerome would still show interest in the bat despite keeping his primary interest on Wayne, and that would balance their Joker out.

Little would they know that they were both going to town on trying to corrupt the exact same person.

Although Batman would know exactly who Joker was the instant Joker called him his “very best friend…” with a smirk, just as Wayne would know exactly who Joker was the instant Joker called him “darli'n!” with a grin.

Despite how the vigilante would become more and more weary of Jokers attempts of corruption upon him, he would keep offering to rehabilitate Joker, because Batman wants to get back his very best friend, and Wayne isn’t about to drop his responsibility.

When the citizens of Gotham try to figure out just who Joker is, it’s not always Joker using a multiple choice past in which they pick and choose the pasts of their favorite copycats, such as one that went by the alias Jack Napier. Sometimes, the Joker is honest. In fact, there’s been twice the Joker hasn’t lied.

There was a time Jeremiah didn’t lie to Batman, and a time Jerome didn’t lie to Wayne.

A time in which Batman was standing on a rooftop while holding the mask of a robin that he initially was convinced he’d lost for good, before finding him alive, only to have that once joyful robin fly away in bitterness.

A time in which Wayne was standing in the alleyway, and noticed Joker approach.

There was a time in which Jeremiah didn’t try to corrupt the bat, and Jerome didn’t try to corrupt the billionaire.

There was a time, in fact, in which the vigilante didn’t immediately take the twin to Arkham, and instead allowed the twin that was for the first time in a long time not smiling and looking rather serious to rest a hesitant hand on his shoulder.

A time in which the hero didn’t pull away, and instead leaned into the touch, and quietly thanked the twin by their real name.

A time in which the twin didn’t deny being the name the law enforcer spoke, and instead just gave a nod and said, “I’m sorry.”, in an even quieter voice.

A time where the attempts of corruption briefly came to a halt, and the Joker was actually serious.

A time that happened twice.

There was a time Wayne wanted to tell Jerome he was a bat, and Jeremiah he was a billionaire.

Wayne didn’t, though, and sometimes he wonders if he should have just shown some trust in them, as crazy as that might sound, because maybe Wayne was just a bit insane after all. Yet maybe if he’d stopped hiding from them as they’d stopped hiding from themselves, then perhaps he could have gotten enough trust to rehabilitate them the right way– not Arkham’s way.

Sometimes Wayne regrets not telling them. Sometimes, Wayne misses being Jeremiah’s best friend, and he wonders if he could have given Jerome a chance to be by his side if he’d just kept pushing to get through to Jerome by showing Jerome he was only trying to help.

Sometimes, Wayne regrets how harsh he can be as the bat, and he feels like he only keeps getting colder and colder as he tries to shut himself off from his past, because it’s hard to fight those around you when you recall giving a shit about them.

#valeyne #wayleska #baby batjokes #jerome valeska #Jeremiah valeska #bruce wayne #jerome x bruce #jeremiah x bruce #anon #ask

431 notes · View notes

royalbloodlp · 7 years ago

Photo

ROYAL BLOOD cover & interview in French magazine MYROCK #47, July-August 2017 (click to enlarge)

Translation of the interview below (thanks to @believersdie for their help)

ROYAL BLOOD

AN ALCHEMY IN THE MIDDLE OF CHAOS

Three years after winning the title of this generation's most exciting challenger, the duo composed of Mike Kerr and Ben Thatcher is coming back with "How Did We Get So Dark?" a long-awaited second album which exceeds our expectations by far. It's an authentic classic, played with only drums and bass guitar, to prove once and for all that no, guitar isn't the ultimate rock instrument.

(Thomas Malfrouche / Photos Manon Violence)

Three years ago, no one had heard about Royal Blood. Since then, you've played shows all over the planet and you've been taken under the wings of Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page and Iggy Pop. Doesn't all of this make your head feel dizzy?

Mike Kerr (lead vocals, bass guitar) : My head feels good, thank you!

Ben Thatcher (drums) : So does mine, but I try to protect it as you can see [he's wearing a typically French beret, note from the author]. Hats are my new thing. I decided to swap my usual cap for the local hat. Today, we're in Paris so it's a beret, but I intend to get a cool cowboy hat in the US!

M.K. : To answer your question, our lives did completely change in the space of three years. When we started Royal Blood, we didn't think that one day, our music would be listened to by people other than our friends. Playing our songs all over the world, in front of an audience who was always asking for more, that's what I'll remember from this two-year madness.

People are under the impression that playing shows helped a lot to increase your visibility. When your first album was released, some were skeptical. But whoever saw you live joined your adventure. Each night, each concert, were they just battlefields?

M.K. : Absolutely. Since the beginning, concerts are the essence of Royal Blood. It started up like this, making the most noise we could in a basement. We kept this. The location doesn't matter, whether it be a club, a stadium or a festival, each time we try to see ourselves in our small rehearsal premises and play with the same spirit as we did there. Moreover, being only two in the band accentuates this. We can look each other in the eye, react automatically to the other. On stage, we just follow our guts. And we lived awesome things on the last tour. I remember this concert in the plains of Quebec for the Festival d'Eté, where we opened for Foo Fighters. We played in front of a hundred thousand people, it was huge. There was a tornado notice, and the weather was becoming more and more chaotic as we were playing. We were literally seeing the lightning unleash. So much that we had to leave the stage after playing six tracks, for security reasons. But these six tracks will stay in my memory forever.

Did you get the chance to party with Dave Grohl anyway?

M.K. : Obviously! We spent almost three months on the road with the Foo Fighters guys, and we saw Dave every day.

Is the rumor true, is he the coolest guy in the rock'n'roll scene?

M.K. : No, he became number two. Right after me (laughter).

B.T. : And after me! So Dave is the third coolest dude. But it's okay, he's still on the podium!

M.K. : We're joking around, but for us, two small guys from Brighton, all that's happening to us is still unbelievable.

B.T. : Every day, I feel like I'm living a dream. For example today, being in Paris to talk about our music is completely surreal. And we were just told we are headlining a show at the Zénith [huge concert venue in Paris, note from the translator] at the end of the year [November 9th, note from the author]. That's crazy! This world is crazy!

M.K. : We would never have imagined all of this. Let's take Jimmy Page, for example. One of our heroes. An untouchable musician. An icon. He came to see us live a few times, and he met us after the show to talk and party. He's a real gentleman, he is very polite and sophisticated. He doesn't live in a castle tower, like most of the rockstars of his level. He keeps being passionate about music, he goes out a lot, sees many concerts, discovers new bands. It's an honor to know he likes our work.

MELODIES BEFORE ALL

With all the concerts you played, how did you find the time to write this new album?

M.K. : The secret is that we didn't take any vacation, we got back to work right away. It's impossible for us to write on the road. We could have, during sound checks, especially since we're only two. But we prefered to rest and keep our energy for the show. So we wrote this record after we went back home, in Brighton, like we always did up to now. We're used to going to the Brighton Electric, a small rehearsal studio that we love. Then, we recorded at the ICP studios, in Brussels. It's the best studio which we ever had the chance to work in, a place filled with gear, with lots of microphones, amplifiers, and other toys. The location is quite isolated, and at the time the weather was cold. It was very immersive and very solitary. We spent two months there, literally cut off the world. It did us good. Especially when you see the state of the world we're living in...

The production of this record is incredible, the audience feels like you wanted to highlight the melodies. Of course, there are good old riffs, but the choruses are overpowering, they remind of the 80's, when Kiss', Alice Cooper's, Bonnie Tyler's and Joan Jett's hard rock was on the radio.

M.K. : We've always loved pop music, choruses that blow you away and make you want to sing them. For this album, we wanted to declare our love to melodies and stop hiding them behind our wall of fat sound. For me, a good chorus is the heart of a good song, it is what makes you want to listen to it over and over again. As such, I consider that this album is our most direct album. What's melodic isn't necessarily hot tempered. It's just a matter of balance and dosage. Desmond Child mastered this harmony perfectly. For instance, "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi [co-written by Desmond Child, note from the author] is a pop song, and at the same time it's very hard, with fat guitar riffs. I love this kind of contrast.

BEHIND THE ALBUM COVER, BY MIKE KERR

"Firstly, we wanted to create a unity between the cover of our first album and this one. When I saw this photograph for the first time, I felt like it represented exactly the impression I wanted to give with this record. It's difficult to choose an album cover. It must be aesthetically pleasant, but it must go well with the music too. And especially, it must be cool on vinyl format! What's funny is that, on our first album, you could only see the eyes of the character. Here, it's the opposite, you can see everything except the eyes. Is it the same person? You can create your own story..."

BASS, DRUMS, AND NOTHING ELSE!

Just like the previous one, is this album guaranteed without any guitars?

M.K. : Totally! You know, we worked hard to find our own sound, and I'm sure that if I played a guitar, we would sound like many other bands. And we'd rather keep our identity with the restraints which became our strengths, than make it easier with a guitar and blend in with the crowd. But I have nothing against guitars. Maybe one day, we'll end up adding some here and there.

B.T. : We'll call Jimmy Page then. (laughter)

Speaking of sound, did you use some new finds on this album?

M.K. : Not really, I always combine a lot of pedals with effects that transform my bass' sound. But no need to hope that I tell you my tricks, they're secret. (laughter) Let's say that this time, we minded the details way more, we made each song unique, when in our first album, all the tracks had the same sounds. In these new songs, there are a lot more variety and textures.

The drums are very wide, as if you were playing in a stadium. Did you play in a huge room with a natural reverb in the studio?

B.T. : Not at all, it was actually the opposite! The drums were in a tiny room, with a very muffled sound. I moved them in an angle of the room, which left me more space so that my hits could resonate. Sometimes you just have to be creative in the studio. The best thing is that for the first time, I was able to play in live conditions, with enough microphones to record all the parts at once. In the first album, I had to learn to play differently and record each part separately. It's very different, and it makes the tracks more groovy.

STRENGTHENING THE BLOOD RELATIONSHIP

The album gets its name from this song, "How Did We Get So Dark?". A good old rock hit just the way we like them, heavy and overpowering at the same time. It's so efficient that we're under the impression that writing songs is quite easy for you.

M.K. : Yet we suffered with that one! The music was composed quickly, but as much as I wrote and wrote the lyrics again, I couldn't find a catchy melody. So, we left it out, and it nearly didn't make it to the album! Then, last January, I made our producer Tom Dalgety listen to it. He saw the potential of the song right away and encouraged us to keep working again and again on the chorus. Eventually, we managed to dig this crazy melody up. And in the end it became my favorite track. But it was far from easy.

Is this album title, "How Did We Get So Dark?", an assessment about the current state of the world which we live in, or is it more personal?

M.K. : A bit of both. How did we get there, why are we at the bottom of the pit? Is the planet fucked? Am I speaking to politicians? To my girlfriend? To my friends? It's hard to tell. This ambiguity made us choose this particular title. Each one can read into it whatever they like, I find it more interesting. And, well, I don't like explaining my lyrics.

Why?

M.K. : Because once they are released, they don't belong to me anymore. They literally belong to the audience. They can listen to my lyrics the way they want, there are no instructions for use.

A track like "She's Creeping" is really surprising. It's got a very 90's groove, it reminds of Nirvana, Weezer, and even the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

M.K. : We wanted a track that reminds of the greatest hours of alternative rock, with a groove that smells like sunshine. There's also a bit of a Bill Withers side. It's the first time we had ever written a song like this, and it was very pleasant to do. The approach was very minimalistic, but it reassured us on our process, because with only a bass guitar and a snare drum, you can write fucking good songs! The groove doesn't need anything else. It's also a song that says a lot about us, since it was born from an exchange between Ben and I. That's a band, it's an alchemy, an improvisation in the middle of chaos. We're in the same plane, we're working together to reach our destination. The complementarity which is the base of Royal Blood, you can really hear it on this particular song.

You were friends before starting the band, did Royal Blood change anything in your relationship?

M.K. : Oh yes, Royal Blood tightened the bonds between us. We have shared so much during these last three years... We spent more time together than with anyone else. In this kind of situation, hatred and love are your only options. We could easily have torn each other apart on the road, we could have learned to hate each other, but the opposite, we became closer than ever.

#royal blood #mike kerr #ben thatcher #royalbloodvevo #royalblooduk #yall better read this interview till the end i spent an entire afternoon working on that translation #but well it was fun & it made me practise english so thats cool #also my scans are not really high quality but thats the best i could do :((#also dont let this flop pls #**

87 notes · View notes

boltaku · 6 years ago

Text

The Great Ace Attorney Review

Snap out of it, Ryuunosuke!

The Disappointing Turnabout

Story:

The Great Ace Attorney is the fan translation of the first Dai Gyakuten Saiban game. Taking place at the end of the 19th century, it tells the story of Ryuunosuke Naruhodou's journey to Britain as part of an exchange program between the Japanese and Great British Empires. On his journey, he meets THE Sherlock Holmes, and a fearsome deductive duo is born. The game is a prequel of sorts to the Ace Attorney series and really leans on the good will built up across the history of the series. Unfortunately, the long history of the series means the game has a lot to live up to. The game really starts off on the wrong foot with the beginning of Ryuunosuke's journey. Ryuunosuke gets thrust into his role as a defense attorney with zero experience. As a common university student with no interest in law, Ryuunosuke gets accused of murder and somehow falls into the role of defending himself in court while assisted by his law-student best friend who happens to be a prodigy. The entire game takes place over eight months, which is also the entirety of Ryuunosuke's exposure to law at this point in the series. His newness is treated as a bit of a joke, but it falls flat. The game jumps through some pretty big hoops after this to set Ryuunosuke on his path as a lawyer, and I did not appreciate them. Furthermore, a lot to test how much you can suspend your disbelief in many other ways. I'll describe more about the jury system later, but the thing that irked me the most was that the jury was often filled with witnesses from the previous trial or else people who have intimate knowledge of a certain part of the case that can then serve as a deus ex machina to get Ryuunosuke out of being cornered. They even reuse jurors from previous cases occasionally (though I'm sure that's in part a way to cut down on the number of models they had to make).

Another sticking point for me is lack of character growth. The characters are pretty flat and boring. Ryuunosuke’s arc as a whole didn’t work for me. The main prosecutor antagonist, Barok von Zieks has lots of personality when you first meet him, but you’re given nothing in the way of character until the very end of the epilogue of the final case, and even that’s barely anything. This leaves a lot to be desired, especially compared with Miles Edgeworth in the first Ace Attorney game. Edgeworth’s journey as a prosecutor is an essential part of the first game where he starts as the shady and unbeatable prosecutor and becomes a defeated man accused of murder and prosecuted by his adoptive father. Barok von Zieks is known as the Grim Reaper for his reputation of sending every man he prosecutes to their death. When he’s finally (obviously) beaten by Ryuunosuke for the first time, von Zieks is already over any feelings he may by the beginning of the next case, which also takes place 2 days later. Sherlock remains the intelligent buffoon. Iris Watson, Sherlock’s assistant and John Watson’s daughter, remains a cute, genius child. Often times, too, the game tries to use tragedy to shade characters, but with nothing to grab onto characters in the first place, the emotion falls flat and feels unearned. On the other hand, the two characters best served by character developed are Ryuunoske’s assistant Sato Mikotoba and a plucky pickpocket named Gina Lestrade. Gina is perhaps best served by the story in the game and was my favorite character by far.

As for the cases themselves? Well, they’re fine, I guess. I’ll cover them more extensively at the end, but, briefly, they’re really stymied by the time period the game takes place in. There’s no Little Thief or fingerprinting analysis to help out, so the game has to rely a lot more on witness testimony and blood spatter. Iris does whip out some pseudo-science in the final case (she’s and Sherlock are genius inventors, you know!), but it doesn’t do a whole lot to spice things up. The first case is too long by an entire trial segment. While I appreciate what Case 2 was trying to do, it ended up being my least favorite case for the unearned moment. Case 3, on the other hand, was by far my favorite. It really takes advantage of Ryuunosuke’s inexperience and takes you someplace unexpected before you even realize what happened. Case 4 is boring filler. And, finally, Case 5 was okay but the least exciting of any of the final cases other than Dual Destinies in the series due to a thoroughly unimpressive culprit. When compared to the interesting scenarios and masterminds of previous games, like the hostage situation in Justice for All, the multi-year-spanning cases of Spirit of Justice or even Apollo Justice, and the incredible reach of Quercus Alba in Ace Attorney Investigations, the final trial felt pretty lacking.

Gameplay:

There are two new gimmicks and one new-ish gimmick in the Great Ace Attorney: Great Deductions, the jury system, and the return of multi-witness cross-examinations. The multi-witness cross-examinations were a fine inclusion.

The Great Deductions have Ryuunosuke partner up with Sherlock Holmes to deduce new information from people involved in investigations. Sherlock will come up with a really crazy theory to explain something and it’s up to Ryuunosuke to review the logic, survey the scene, and correct Sherlock’s mistakes. The camera direction for these scenes is great with Ryuunosuke and Sherlock dancing and twirling in and out of frame while a spotlight from nowhere shines on the person being interrogated, causing them to be startled. I truly can’t explain how much fun these scenes are, though the mechanics did get a bit boring by the final case. They’re still worth it for the fun and the killer music.

I really did not like the jury system for a number of reasons, including the odd choice of jury members described previously. The way the jury system works is that each trial has 6 jurors who are responsible with determining the ultimate sentence for the defendant by voting guilty or not guilty at any time as the trial progresses. Once all 6 jurors inevitably vote guilty, the defense is then granted time for a Closing Argument, wherein you pit the jurors’ reasons for voting guilty against each other to show contradictions in logic until 4 people change their votes to not guilty, at which point the trial will resume. At first the jurors interrupt at different times by changing their votes. However, it felt like the writers realized how much this slowed the pace of the trials down because, by the end, the jurors just all vote in unison. Overall, this gimmick was pretty unenjoyable and ended up making the trials feel slower and more predictable. I especially did not like the deus ex machina jurors.

Graphics and Sound:

Okay, now this is where the game really stood out. The soundtrack was exquisite (especially all 5 Deduction themes). The character animations were very well done, and the game through in quite a few new tricks. Lots of dramatic, changing camera angles really made the court segments stand out, especially the camera rotating all around Ryuunosuke as he winds up for his iconic finger point. The Great Deductions, too, are filled with tons of fun little character moments for the people being interrogated. However while all of the character models were really great, I do wish they had paid more attention to improving the actual story...

Translation Quality:

The translation team did a great job of portraying the attitudes and mannerisms of British people towards the Japanese at the end of the 19th century, warts and all. It was a little galling to see the language and insults being thrown about, but that was how the Japanese were treated at the time. The team made the interesting choice of not localizing the character names to be puns but it wasn’t terribly missed. I think this must have been quite a daunting task with all of the accents and references to Sherlock Holmes. With only a few typos, it was pretty well done overall.

So should you play this game?

Eh. If you’re a die-hard Phoenix Wright fan, sure. It’s definitely not the best, but the Great Deduction scenes were charming enough. Don’t expect anything revolutionary, though. I pointed out a lot of the flaws in this game as a fan who knows the series is capable of so much more. I will say that this game was the hardest I’ve had to work at staying interested in the story, though. If you’re new to the series, I recommend playing other games instead.

LONGER CASE SPOILERS AND THOUGHTS TO FOLLOW SOON

0 notes