#this is the only plot canon ship i have so enjoy it while it lasts

[choking-on-your-alibis]

First Thanatos, I heard cats.

Second, I heard boyfriend.

I need to know about both immediately.

thanatos: phosphorus is completely blind, except for when the sun rises! we have the cat to help him get around here… humans are not as accommodating as we thought

[mare-sanguis]

The queercoding in Sangcheol's and Jeongwoo's relationship

Let me preface this by saying: everyone is still allowed to see them as whatever they want (a work related relationship, best friends, close friends, soulmates, lovers, and and and) but I think most (if not all at least here on tumblr) can agree it would be ignorant if we completely overshadow just how much queerness there is.

This analysis is brough to you by this thread (why JW is snow white and why SC is the prince) and @thedevildeer latest post. Its not structured and really just a ramble so excuse me if it might sound a little confusing at some points.

Let's start by looking at it through a heteronormative kdrama lense below the cut 

How often do most kdrama fans watch a drama, see the lead man and the lead woman and think "woah, they would look so hot as a couple" even when the drama isn't a romance? Quite often, that's right. That's because most M/F leads are designed to be shipped even outside of the stereotypical romance genre. If it's a crime drama, thriller, mystery etc. Where the focus should solely lie on the plot they will still most likely try to create an M/F duo so most kdrama fans will have something to latch into. It has happened so many times that people dropped a non romance drama because it had no M/F couple, but people apparently want it so badly because how else can they enjoy a non romance drama, right? And kdrama directors/writers know this- they see and read the reviews and work with them; That's why in kdrama land M/F ships are still the norm, still seen as the most canon- even if there is a 2nd ML who has insane chemistry with the 1st ML (perhaps even more than the FL, cuz let's also face it in a lot of kdramas women are written flat)

When the ML is near the FL, everyone immediately interprets all kinds of thoughts into it, even worse when they go as far as to look at each other and hold eye contact, when they worry about each other, support each other, visit each other or are just having a work related conversation. They dont need to confess their love or kiss for the viewer to know they are in love*

Those are all valid points for shipping, that's obivously not the issue- The issue starts when they genuinely can't see the FL as her own character, when they can't seem to understand that men and women can be platonic friends, the issue continues when the 2nd ML appears whos got way more chemistry with the 1st ML or even takes the place of where the FL should be. Its then where the issue peaks- their relationship will automatically treated differently (2nd ML get potentially hated by the M/F shippers even) and it creates rift within the fandom, its shipping and arguments about queerness as a whole (discrediting that queerness is a large spectrum) by cishet fans

Suddenly, if it's M/M those actions I mentioned earlier dont seem romantic anymore, suddenly it's just a simple bromance (and while the term per se isnt homophobic, in these circumstances it sure sounds like it which is why I personally dont like it and rarely use it), best friends caring about each other because homies are homies. ("why can't men stay friends?" we all know that argument) *if they don't confess to each other outright, don't kiss each other, then they aren't i love (last part especially is targeted towards specific BL fans who only think a relationship is valed if they kiss and maje out)

So, this out the way let take a look at SC, JW, HS and BO approach (intentionally or not) on queercoding and the importance of a strong man-woman friendship.

First, let's look at tropes commonly (but not exclusively) found in queer media or media that tries to imply queerness and the similarities they share with SCJW:

Found family (the most common trope in queer media, especially the media that emphasises on realness, as found family serves as a safe space for queer characters when they arent accepted at home)

A strong opposite gender friendship or a friendship that defies traditional views

Color coding (mostly a warm and a cold colour, often times its blue and red)

Language coding (do the characters say they are queer, do they use specific terms, do they confess or declare their love for each other through something deeper; just what are they saying?)

The character design (this is not just about how they look but the desgin as a whole: background story, family, friendships, career, driving force, are they representing something (like a specific color, a flower); what was the creators thought process while creating them)

How do they express love around the person they ador (for example, men express love with touches while women often times use words and actions)

Broken friendships (because old friends dont accept)

Then of course we have common tropes found in all media highlighting love

Clothes sharing

Intense eye contact

Personal space

Lingering

Caring

Hurt/Comfort

Touches

And what do we have here? That's right. Black out s well as SC, JW and HS fit right into the common tropes and the queercoding tropes and yet we see some totally discrediting its validity to exist within the universe because god forbid both JW and SC are queer or viewed as such cuz they both were with women prior and they can't possibly be one of them queers... right?

HS is a really well written female character who's got nuances, a great backstory with a fair share of suffering and the additional nosiness which makes her so special. She is sweet and caring to everyone who seems nice in her eyes. She cares about JW's mother (prior to knowng he's JW's mother so thers no point in saying she does it cuz of JW), cares about Suoh and is genuinely interested in his hobbies. Her character takes care of everyone because she's a med student (you can take a med's job away, but you can never take the job out of a med). This is what her character is about- taking care, worrying. Her purpose in Mucheon was (as we know by ep.13) to find what shes looking for, to find her way back. She is by no means not connected to eithe JW and SC but her story is canonically detached from both JW's and SC's- it takes part in a different pace, in a different setting and through a different lense and most of it happens off screen or throug her observig the people. We rarely get any of her POV's, unless it's either around Suoh or Geonoh. The other times when we do get a POV of her is when SC and JW and in the same frame. Then she is postitioned as the onlooker, the one who observes. When she is alone with JW she gets almost no POV, even less that focuses on her feelings towards him. But the most important thing I said already: her story is detached from SCJW. She grows alone unlike SCJW who grow together. She is that friendship JW needed to show him a part of humanity that got lost with his fake friends. She is to represent and tell that you do not need a large group of friends to feel at home. 

Then there is JW. Beautifully written full of nuances, a tragic yet amazing written backstory- easily to read as a story of someone being queer. A big group of friends, a beautiful home with loving parents and then you got the catalysator which sets the whole plot moving. While for JW it's murder, abuse, gaslighting by friends and people he thought were family, prison and finding new hope in humanity through one person- how can one not look at this and think "yeah it's somewhat reminiscent of someone coming out in a conservative country with traditional family values"? Family and friends ditching before the person can even stand up for themselves, people spreading venomous lies, all the guilt trips, that person shutting themselfs off retreating into their own little world. JW was obviously never meant to be read as such and some even might find this part weird, but it's undeniable he has those classic queercoding tropes. He finds true meaning in humanity again through HS and SC at the same time, yes, but it is SC alone who stands by his side the whole time- every single day. JW feels the safest around SC, falls asleep in his home (therefore also in his presence) and gives in to being taken care of only when SC is around, he also laughs at his dumbs jokes and makes sure to catch his reactions when he is sassy (handing out flyers scene or the scene at the scrapyard). JW is meant to not grow alone but together with someone else- and that someone is SC. who he shares the exact same pain with. He sees the good in people- he sees the good in SC so he keeps on pursuing him even when he would reject him. Because he can see himself in him. Because he feels he's different- just like him. (And isnt it like: Queer people know someone is queer when they see one?). We cannot forget him being a metaphor for Snow White which imo solidifies the queercoding in him even more and how he steps in to save SC and then again to support him by beating up those debt collectors. (Also, just a random little side note: I think it's funny how he's either loved or hated, there was no inbetween. BM and MS hated him, they were eaten up by jealousy; BY, NG, DE and the twins loved him (also again, random side note to me any anyone who cares: it's so easy to read the feelings GO felt towards JW prior and post time skip as more than just friendship tbh which again, adds to the queerness layer))

And then there is SC, just as complex and full of nuances like JW. Having an almost identical tragic backstory to hm even- losing the love of his life. While hes story is way more difficult to decipher as queercoding, his character is most definitely not. He is portrayed as rude and rough towards any criminal and at the beginning of the story we genuienly dont know where we stand with him with this ever fluxuating personality. He is hurt, struggles, doesn't even seem to know himself very well, has seen a lot and he also doesnt trust anyone (as seen when he immediately clocks BM as suspicious when the review the CCTV footage) except JW. How come he trusts him more, even after he had accused him of the hit and run accident, but is side eying everyone the moment the incident with the mother happens? When he should have more trust in his own people then defending and caring for a guy whos accused him of causing the car accident. Even when he finds out JW apparently killed the girls, his actions towards him are differet than the actions we see him taking against the guy he chases after in the beginning. We see him falter and struggle even more in the manhole when he's threatening to shoot JW, we see it again when they are at the shed and JW is reinacting the murder scene- he is reluctant. Even when using violence against JW. Because, just like him, SC feels they are the same. And it doesn't even take much time for him to switch side- we can see him questioning everything onwards from from episode 4 during their first team dinner. And when he switches side he suddenly becomes so soft and caring- completely taking on the role of a possible love interest in both drama, romance and fairytale. Because he has seen the good in JW, saw the same suffering, this unfair treatment. He is a character not meant to grow alone but together and this togethes is only JW. JW still has HS by his side but in SC's world there was only JW who shows him all aspects of what it means to be a good human being. It's through him he grows. 

Their shared journey:

To quote Leo Buscaglia again "Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around."

And isn't this what SC's and JW's shared bond is about? How they grow with and around each other- thanks to each other.

The little things SC does to make JW more comfortable, to show him love still exists? He takes him home without thinking twice because he's worried he might get sick when he could've taken him back to his house. He dresses him up in his clothes, let him sleep on his couch, in his blankets, gives him something warm to eat and drink (the glass of milk will never stop making me sob), showers him in touches and shows him warmth through them, always reaching after him because he's afraid something might happen to him, watches out for him, observes his reactions and waits for him. The little things JW does to SC- giving him a reality check that not everything is as it seems, graduately bringing back his old personality, stays by his side.

It's how SC brings JW's smile back and how JW brings SC's smile back. Its how SC not once but twice declares his worries, adoration and love towards JW: once when he's so worried sick JW might get hurt so he installs that app on his phone and the second time when they say their "goodbyes"- those words are so easy to read, so full of love. The "if you move" highlighting just how much he wants and hopes JW to stay in his life a little longer. It's longing and we can clearly hear it in his voice when he says "I'm sure you can" right after the monologue and then tilts his head. It's how JW doesn't know how to approach him after this, contemplating what to do and then goes on for the hug first. This is JW's way of showing his love. 

And yet, despite it all there are still people who only see it as a bromance. Those who think JW and HS will end up together because they are at the same uni, study the same. And are a man and a woman. If either SC or JW would be a woman, no one would even bat an eye to think they aren't in love- no one would even come up with the idea to even ship JW and HS. If one of them was a woman, every little gesture would be seen as romantic, betting on it the drama would perhaps even be a lot more popular as well as the ship. It's so disheartening to see how many deny an obvious queercoding between them just because they are men and for the sake of a straight, not well manouvred, ship because again apparenlty many kdrama fans don't dare to ship queer.

We know Black Out/Snow white must die is a fairytale because it very much is just one of many iterations of a snow white and exactly because is one of many nothing is impossible and queerness is allowed to exist within it.

[whinlatter]

sorry if you've discussed this before, but do you think ginny's quidditch talent came out of nowhere? it's a common criticism I see about her but I feel like that kind of overstates how much of a quidditch "star" she was at the beginning, like she was consistently described as good but not great until partway into hbp and I also think it makes sense she'd keep it a secret from her teasing brothers. but maybe they're right and I'm just biased towards defending ginny

thank you for the question, anon!

the short answer is - no, i think it's (just about) plausibly rendered in the books. i think the series gets away with it because:

the story is told from the perspective of a teenage boy aka peak obliviousness in corporeal form, so we see what harry sees (and harry notices big fat nothing)

there is an entirely adequate narrative explanation for ginny's sporting skills that most readers not operating in bad faith* can put together, as you suggest: ginny comes from a sporty family who are all good at quidditch; she is of middling-to-good seeking ability when she first joins the team in ootp; she then has a good few months flying several times a week where she would necessarily grow in confidence and experience, leaving her perfectly able to blossom in hbp in a high school sport where she is competing against other children. fine and dandy in my book.

also quidditch is a broadly dumb and pointless plot so ginny being good at it is just a fun extra that we don't need to deep too much because - let's be real - quidditch is a waste of page space.

*i say this because, most of the time, these takes come from those who don't like hinny as a pairing. which is entirely their right and prerogative! it personally doesn't float my boat to spend my days doing worst faith readings of the text in order to make the case against canon ships i don't like, but as this is a race to the bottom - we are all adults dissecting children's books written by a nasty spiteful woman rotting in her mouldy castle spouting slurs, after all - who am i to judge.

(i also suspect the 'ginny is good at quidditch out of nowhere' takes have enjoyed such a long shelf-life on eg. reddit because the films are still most people's primary reference for HP takes so complaints about them then get cast back on the books - and, in the films, ginny does in fact rock up in film 6 like she's mbappé, if mbappé had the charisma of an extraordinarily soggy bath mat.)

with that said... could it have done with a bit more foreshadowing? yes, probably. people who don't like hinny as a pairing and prefer another are never going to be convinced - that's fine! but here i am, a paid-up hinny supporter, and even i think ginny's character development is sometimes wanting, to a frustrating and problematic extent. good writing (usually) means showing not telling, and it's weird and lazy of jkr to be so slapdash about revealing this and other character details about ginny and other (often female) characters. i think it's particularly striking that jkr underserves characters (again, usually women) who exist to serve the emotional development of characters (usually men), rather than the mystery plot(s) that drive hp as a series. (wanted! tonks' personality! last seen making fake pig noses and being the only auror mad eye moody mentored as his successor, for no plot reason!)

while i'm not a die-hard adherent to the chekhov's gun principle, i think one of the strengths of many novels du jour - especially the nothing really happens postmodern novel that crowds the bookshop shelves these days - is that their conventions allow authors to add colour to characters without each tiny detail being pregnant with meaning and in service of a driving plot that must be marched forward at all times. that can be really nice! as readers, we like to get a sense of characters as well-rounded living breathing people who go for a wee and take the bins out and stick on an album because it slaps every now and then; in these novels, we're also happier with the idea that things can happen to characters beyond the protagonist that don't directly impact the plot or demand the protagonist knows more than their own very limited vantage point. you have more room to play with character as a result.

jkr, ofc, isn't that kind of author. jkr is in fact an author for whom everything about her characters serves the plot. this, after all, is the brain that brought you 'remus lupin' the werewolf, and named the bad-guy-turned-good-guy in a book using a big black dog as a red herring omen of death 'sirius black'. jkr wants her audience to notice clues and remember little details about characters because they might be significant later on. this is entirely her wont and - lupin and sirius aside - she's often very good at it. the hp books are all standalone mysteries, and, when they land, those mysteries slap. ginny being the culprit in CoS is a genuinely satisfying resolution to the whodunit plot: this was reflected in critical reception at the time and was part of the reason why hp was able to be marketed as a children's book adults would also enjoy thereafter. there are also very satisfying foreshadowing and mystery plots that straddle the entire series and that reward the reader with reasonably good pay-off at the series end. (my favourite is the foreshadow within the foreshadow - e.g. regulus black barrelling back from ootp in DH, but then regulus' plot turning out to ultimately exist to foreshadow snape's own double agent status... delicious).

for my part, it's also what i want out of the fiction i read and the stories i try to write. i want everything to mean something. i want the weather, clothing, setting, body language etc to all do heavy lifting. i want character work to do work. it makes it fun for me to write and (i hope) it can it a bit more fun for the reader.

the problem is that while jkr is good setting up some mysteries, she is bad at others, and the romantic plot is one she falls down (a bit) on. she sets herself up for this: she wants to be a plot-centred mystery writer, so she does have an obligation to do better in how she deploys character details. jkr does to try to write the harry/ginny romance like a mystery, with little hints throughout the series up to the reveal of harry's feelings for ginny in HBP. (even ginny's full name is nominative determinism, finally revealed in DH once the reader has been told her place in the plot - ginevra, so guinnevre, the hero's queen). and while i will never not tire of pointing out to all of reddit that harry/ginny didn't come out of nowhere, and there is some satisfying foreshadowing knocking about here and there, i think it's fair to say that the harry/ginny build-up is not as satisfying as it could have been because jkr is basically lazier about the clues that ginny is the character harry will ultimately fall for, while she is much better at dropping clues for the series' central plot. that ginny ends the series with no real resolution of the primary tensions that motivate her other than her love of harry is probably the most acute example of this. but there's lots about her character where jkr phones it in a bit in fleshing her out or taking it to any logical conclusions or interesting plot directions. a smattering of examples:

ginny is the character who spends the entire series demanding to be included and not underestimated ends the series... with no real major role in the battle other than causing harry panic, while all other central characters receive a satisfying narrative arc that speaks to their central motivators across the series as a whole. (for an interesting discussion of what should have happened with ginny and the horcruxes, see here. i didn't even pay @saintsenara to write this!)

there are lots of shades of colour to ginny's character that are introduced pointlessly. i have previously talked about my beef with arnold the pygmy puff. we know ginny is popular but we know nothing of her friends who are all faceless plotless nobodies. we know ginny supports the all-womens quidditch team in a way that implies a nascent feminist politics after a childhood being excluded from playing a sport she loves by her brothers - yet we know nothing of it. we know ginny loves the one wizarding band that seems to exist because she has a poster of them on her wall and it just.... is something we just get told about her. now, all of these suggest ginny is a good time gal and a right laugh at the pub. and that's nice! i too am fun at the pub! but why does it matter? it wouldn't, in another series. but in a series where Everything Matters, it really stands out.

now..... i don't think all of this is an unsolveable problem for those of us writing fanfiction about ginny or harry and ginny as a couple. i don't think this makes ginny an inherently bad character. i hope the amount of life i have wasted thinking about this character is testament to this (...) and i personally find trying to cook up some fleshed-out characterisation and a satisfying arc for ginny, and for female characters more generally, from the crumbs of the original source material to be a very rewarding way to pass the time and a fuck you to a woman who thinks she can gatekeep womanhood while writing some astonishingly antifeminist fiction. i think harry and ginny are a deeply compelling and eminently plausible couple, and i think i return to writing about them as much as i do because i think they have a ton of potential as narrative mirrors and as characters with a rich well of tension but also devotion between them. as i say a lot, i think one of the things the harry/ginny pairing does refreshingly well compared to other romantic lead couples in YA fiction is show a couple that, at heart, genuinely get on very well, have a laugh together and enjoy each other's company in completely mundane lovely day-to-day ways (laundry and taxes u know). i think that's a striking and refreshing dynamic that i like to spend time fleshing out and playing with and writing about. but i can also see that there is an inconsistency in jkr's character work here, particularly her character work writing female characters, of which ginny is among the most acute examples.

[begebege28]

My thoughts. Please don’t come for me.

Ever since that man is has been introduced back on our screens, and is now kissing Buck, it’s like we aren’t allowed to view Eddie anything other than, straight? It’s so interesting because we all over the years whether or not people shipped buddie, people viewed them as queer coded. Therefore, queer individuals identified and connect to their story. Now, we can’t because…… NOW it matters what’s canon in show? NOW, it matters what the actors say? REALLY NOW? Did we forget throughout the seasons, the SR and Oliver when discussing buck, classified him as straight… because at that time, he was. To buck and BuckTommy fans, you NEVER viewed buck as bi or queer coded DURING his previous relationships when he was CANONICALLY straight or when Oliver and co said he was straight in interviews? how he talked about his relationship with Natalia pre s7. Bi buck wasn’t even supposed to happen this season. So now they are tying to use Ryan’s comments as a “gotcha”…. They love to throw out the term “actual representation”.. but it’s like, you talk about “actual representation” but bi buck was simply a LAST MINUTE decision. They were gonna continue with buck and Natalia. But due to scheduling it fell though. Then it was gonna be buck and Lucy (same thing). Then Eddie and Tommy. AND THEN WE GET to buck and Tommy. They think Tim is master and this “great love story” but if that was the case, they would have planned them from the start. Not a last minute decision as Oliver admitted. Why have these scenes if you want the audience root for them. For example, their first date. Why include Eddie? Why make it awkward for buck. Why did Tommy leave buck stranded on the sidewalk looking like an idiot. It’s NOT Tommy didn’t have a right to leave. What we are saying is the “joke” wasn’t funny. Why even say it? Especially since Tommy is “so confident” Second, if Tommy knew he wasn’t ready, why continue with the date after buck made the “hot chicks” comment. He clearly saw and realized, and buck TELLING HIM. “THIS IS MY FIRST DATE WITH A DUDE, and IM AN ALLY”. Like…. It’s not rocket science. He led him on. Why not show the continuation of the date? They could have easily done that. But they mirror bucks and Natalias where they only showed like 5 minutes. Buck thought they were continuing with the date to go to the movie. Tommy couldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt. Especially he KNOWS what buck is going through… Tommy immediately, seconds after coming outside of the restaurant ordered the Uber and WAITED until he opened the door of the car to tell him. That’s fucked up and fuck him for that. Then they had buck apologize because he wasn’t ready to come out? LIKE HUH? Or Tommy’s continuation comments of being jealous of buck, the 118, and the way he belittles buck. “Enjoys while it lasts” after earning his medal? Like do you have to be a POS. WHY WHY for the life of me, have his LI say that if you have the audience to like him. The “daddy joke”. Really? In ANY other context, awesome! But there? I simply can’t. The way I have been watching since s1 and have never seen this much pushback to like a character or couple. None of bucks previous LI had this many “defenders”… AND HE ONLY HAS LIKE 15 minutes of SCREEN TIME. It’s weird.

Now, the plot hole that is 7x04 What stopped buck from reaching out to Tommy after the air hanger. NOTHING? He never called or texted… also, idk if anyone realized buck Tommy knew he was goi he to hang out with Eddie, and YET CONTINUED to invite buck… why show us the last maybe minute before they begin to talk about Eddie and where Eddie is NOW in the frame. Why didn’t they show the beginning where buck comes and meets Tommy? Buck getting upset at Eddie circling the basketball game? Buck grilling Christopher on his thoughts about Tommy? When did he care about Christophers thoughts before about his dads girlfriends or friends? Accusing Tommy of lying to get bonus points with Chris. You think he truly cared which movie is better? Why does he try to make him a bad guy to Maddie? He really didn’t have the time to talk to Eddie to go to the basketball game? Really? You mean to tell he HAD to wait until the gym scene? Or hell… even ask Tommy. When he does talk to Maddie after hurting Eddie, he says “i felt left out”. So that tells me something, he felt left out over not being able to do things with Eddie. the fact that buck didn’t know they were hanging out for 2 weeks? Not that he was trying to get Tommy’s attention

[kit-foley]

Nancy Drew Games are 50% off on Steam right now so here are some shitty descriptions of the games for newbies or partners (not in order, also spoilers)

Secrets can kill: dickface high schooler was pushed down a flight of stairs, find out who did it

The Silent Spy: Nancy has mommy issues and cosplays as a spy in Scotland

Sea of Darkness: all of the characters have trauma around a ship. featuring the only canonically queer character.

Deadly Device: tech bro gets electrocuted, who did it oh noooo. Feat: women in stem

Midnight in Salem: Glitch-wise, this is the fandom-equivalent of the first release of FNAF Security Breach but doesn’t nearly slay as hard and they didn’t patch any of the bugs. Haven’t played it but the fandom is 50/50 on it, maybe 80/20 against

Shattered Medallion: off brand amazing race goes wrong, feat. A recurring character who you’re supposed to know

Alibi in Ashes: Nancy didn’t commit arson (this time) so who the fuck did? See also, “I can commit major theft and prod you about your dead mom, but I draw the line at arson.”

The Captive Curse: monster and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus lederhosen.

Shadow at the Waters Edge: ghosts and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus kawaii

Ghost of Thornton hall; ghosts and intergenerational trauma, beautifully told story. Plus southern people.

The Final Scene: nancys friend who we’ve never met gets kidnapped. Plus magic tricks/Houdini. Plus old man.

The Haunted Carousel: Dead mom plus the most annoying daughter you’ll ever encounter and her emotional support robot. Also you’re supposed to fix a theme park

Danger by Design: Parisian fashion designer with anger issues and also might deny that nazis happened during wwii

Curse of blackmoor manor: British girl says oh no my stepmom is turning into a werewolf

Warnings at Waverly Academy; the trailer for this one said something like “I hang out with teenage girls in this one, it could be my scariest case yet”, basically be prepared to do other students homework. Also immaculate dark academia/fall vibes tho

Phantom of Venice: white boy of the month shows you his seven hour tesserae slideshow and you single-handedly bring down a crime ring while wearing stupid outfits

Trail of the Twister: someone is sabotaging a storm chasing team but Nancy cares more about asking the local general store owner about his dead wife

Secret of the Old Clock: It’s magically 1930 again, this game feels so far off brand from pretty much all of the other ones imo but the music goes HARD and there’s def some homoerotic tensions between a dead old man and his live-in psychic

Legend of the Crystal Skull: make a curio shop owner sneeze, collect glass eyeballs, watch a Gerard Way look-alike cry, and maybe get buried alive

Haunting of Castle Malloy: banshees and letterpress and a pub that conveniently only serves juice. Terrible Irish accents. Try to find a missing groom for a wedding but also enjoy a walking sim that walked so Stardew Valley could run

Creature of Kapu Cave: get stuck in a tourist trap resort by a guy who calls himself Big Island Mike, then get stuck in a forest with an entomologist who makes you do her work for her, then get stuck in a research facility with an angry white guy who makes you do his work and then falls asleep. Music slaps but no idea what the plot of the game is supposed to be. Also do a “freaky friday” style switch with the Hardy Boys every time you call them on your cell phone.

Last train to Blue Moon canyon: picture Paris Hilton inviting you on a train and then she goes missing. Also on the train with you: the worst police detective, Zak Bagans impersonator, and Colleen Hoover-vibes.

White Wolf of Icicle Creek: “I fired. And I missed. I missed again. I got sad. I had a popsicle.”

[tgammsideblog]

Alright, let's clarify some things regarding Tgamm shipping and behind the scenes stuff when it comes to Ollie and Mollie ship because i'm tired of misinformation being spread around. 1) Season 2 was being written around when the first episodes from Season 1 starting airing back on October 2021. That means that the creators didn't expect what things people were going to start to ship like Molibby and Molldrea (Molly x Libby) and (Molly x Andrea). The creators have zero control over the way the fandom online consumes media and they have already written most of Season 2 when people came up with those ships

2)Back when the show aired, around two days after the series premiere, one of the creators, Bob Roth, clarified on his twitter that the LGBT+ represenation wasn't what ¨people were expecting¨ and people were looking too much into Molly and Libby interactions, the creators explained multiple times that they only saw Molly and Libby as friends and that was their relationship in the series.

3)The creators in general don't have any problems with people having their own headcanons. They have stated this in podcats and AMAs that they are fine with people shipping things that aren't as long as the fans don't demand their ships or headcanons to be canon.

4) No, Ollie wasn't something that was demanded by the network. In fact Bill Motz was against the idea originally until the writers in crew convince him that they could do something interesting with it (That is the whole ghosthunter plot)

5) The fandom has been going just fine these last weeks. The show has been trending on twitter these last episodes. The regulars i know of from twitter, discord and tumblr continued posting as always. I know of someone who is a huge fan of the show who doesn't like Ollie much but she still appreciates others things that have been happening in Season 2 like Chairman Scratch, Jinx, Scratch's past among episodes that explore the Mcgee family.

6) There are people who are being way too dramatic about Ollie's character. Sure, he is part of one of the main plotlines in the first third of the season but he is a character that only appears in like 9 episodes from this season. Two being one half hour episodes (The New Paranormal and Frightmares on Main Street), the rest are the regular 11 minutes segments. So that's like 9 out of 28 episodes?. It isn't that much as people make out to be. He barely appears between episodes 8 to 13. For a while we didn't have much about his arc until recently. So, yeah, he isn't a character that appears in every episode from this season, just some episodes. You can still enjoy watching the show without having to like his character or be fan of the ship.In fact, there are plenty of people who don't care about Ollie but still really like the show. This is because they care about stuff beyond shipping or just don't care about shipping at all.

TLDR: It's fine to dislike Ollie or Mollie ship but, for fuck's sake, try to be normal about it.

[queen0fm0nsterz]

Kinda random, but if the characters are supposed to abstract while the series is running, I believe Kinger or will be last, or won't and will try to protect the others.

He is a king after all, the king is the last piece to be captured in chess. I think every character kinda fits a chess piece, but I don't have enough brain power to assign everyone.

I really enjoy this idea in a vacuum, but I think that in the context of the plot as we know it now it might be a bit of a reach. We will have to wait and see. However I am very happy you compared Kinger to the actual king in chess because I think his behaviour somewhat reflects what a king in a game of chess actually does.

((For those who don't know: I'm an aspiring chess nerd, and I have been learning how to play the game to the best of my abilities. Prepare for an infodump.))

A king in chess is the most important piece of the board when it comes to protection: losing your king means checkmate, a.k.a losing the game. At the beginning of the game, the king is surrounded by the rest of the chess pieces which act as his defensors. This reminded me a bit of how Kinger tries to constantly keep himself in a pillow fort in an attempt to self preservate.

When it comes to moves, the king is a bit peculiar. In spite of being so important, the king can only move a single square per turn; however, unlike most other pieces, it can move in all directions. Ironically, it has the same mobility of a pawn, but the ability to go everywhere of the queen.

Kinger himself is a bit of a nutcase. He is wildly unpredicatble (can move on all directions), sprewing out words of genius and genuinely insightful information while also acting completely nonsensical. Two sides of a guy... but the thing here is that he rarely takes action himself. The only instance of him truly deciding to do something besides keeping his fort was when he played rock paper scissors with Gangle. He moves with... caution is not the right words as I doubt he even is able of being cautios, but that's the sentiment; he can only "move" once, so he has to make it count.

An interesting detail about the chess piece is that it usually remains unmoved until the chess game enters its endgame stage. That would be when few pieces are on the board. Looking at the members of the current gang vs the many previous players seen on the crossed out doors, we can infer that at this current moment in time in the timeline the metaphorical endgame is taking place right now. And now, according to Jax, is when Kinger decides to start spewing out information about the digital world which he had never disclosed before. We don't know for certain if it was even a conscious decision, but it's certainly peculiar.

Concluding this with a bit of a sad thought: we all know that between those who have (presumably) Abstracted, there was another chess character by the name of "Queenie".

Due to her name and appearence, many have assumed that she and Kinger were formerly in close ties with one another possibly even prior to them entering the Digital Circus.

I think this headcanon has merit: they share a theme, appearence and the title of royalty, so why not assume a relation between the two? It'd be terribly sweet and tragic considering how she ends up...

However, I must point out something here that I haven't seen anyone bring up: Queenie is the black queen. Kinger is the white king. On the chessboard, they would be enemies, playing on opposite sides. With this in mind, I remember that the creator of the series said that there won't be any canonical ships in the show; with this knowledge, let's take this a step forward... what if the reason there won't be any relationship from an in-universe stand point is because the circus itself does not allow any deep interpersonal relationships?

Even if they were together prior to getting into the circus, Kinger and Queenie can't be together -- and this is reflected on their designs: king and queen on opposing teams.

And the Queen is a very active piece on the chessboard. I have no doubt that Queenie tried to figure out a way to escape and ended up Abstracted because of it. Mh... Since the queen is usually the one who targets the opposing king due to how powerful she is in chess... I wonder if Kinger got attacked by her when she abstracted, leaving him scarred - not so much physically, but definitely mentally.

[letteredlettered]

Hey lettered. How much do I need to know about The Untamed if I want to read the fics you've written? I know the gist of the novel/show, but have yet to read/watch them properly. Is that enough?

Hello! I know you asked this forever ago, so sorry I'm late to answer!

The short answer is you don't need to know any canon to read them.

While I usually write fics that are intimately connected to canon, the ship in The Untamed gripped me so hard that I would read about them in any universe, and since the universe of the show can be quite complicated, I wrote two "normal world" AUs for the show. I don't think you actually even need the gist of the show or novel to read the fics. To me, they stand alone completely, though you would obviously need to get a handle on a few of the names.

The first chapter of the fic Say More actually gives a backstory for the remaining chapters that actually spells out who almost everyone is. I believe it's one of the best stories I've written. I'm in love with it.

The fic Time Signature doesn't really give backstory but it really only has two characters. Say More really only focuses on two people, super intensely, but others get mentioned a lot and crop up. Meanwhile Time Signature is far more narrow until the last two chapters, when someone new gets introduced, and that someone new is given a backstory in the fic so you don't have to have any connection to the canon character to get the story. While I'm not as proud of this fic as I am of Say More, I'm pretty proud of it and there's a lot of sex without a lot of plot, so it might be easier to read first (though I will say Say More doesn't have much plot either).

I just think it's rare that I can write two fics that I love so much that imo are just very solid love stories. Maybe they're not as good if you don't know the source material, but to me it seems like most people who enjoy my writing would really like them.

[nerdynanny]

PITCH WISHLIST

Characters & plot ideas I'd love to have with the Nightmare King himself. Crossovers are listed under the cut. None of these will be for shipping [unless noted with one very VERY specific ship I enjoy]

Mother Nature - Ideally one that adheres to book canon, where she's [possibly] Koz' daughter. I'm happy to plot with one and blend headcanons but while she is quite strong-- she is nothing compared to the monster her father became. Though maybe she can coax the man he once was out of him.

MiM - Gimme yer MiM characters. Pitch has long since given up trying to corrupt the Lunanoff prince and would much rather continue playing this game of theirs. Guardians VS Nightmare Men and all that.

Katherine - She reminds him so much of his Em/ily Jane and while he's incapable of feeling affection-- there's something about her that makes it slightly difficult to willingly cause her harm. This is only while she's a child. The moment she's MG, the gloves are off and she's just like any other Guardian.

Nightlight - The Spectral Boy-- the First Guardian, and an amnesiac. Pitch knows who he is and will happily taunt him with the truth without giving anything away. I personally hc that Nightlight was pals with Koz and someone the General trusted. Nini seems to think the General is still inside Pitch--- what a fool he is.

Nick St North - Specifically a Book!North but I'm also ok with Film!North. This is my hateship y'all. North could make SUCH a good dream pirate if he just gave up on hope. I'm a Black.Christmas fan-- and Pitch has a begrudging respect for North's ingenuity and ability to think on his feet. He wants to corrupt the Guardian into his right hand man. [Krampus anyone?]

Bunnymund - Ahaha Pitch murdered his entire planet. Bunny's got a grudge and an axe to grind and Pitch loves to goad him on. Several Pooka were corrupted and made into Fearlings, and Pitch can and will parade them around like puppets to torment the last.

Jack Frost - Lemme get this out of the way. I despise the ship between these two with every fiber of my being. Its gross and I don't like it. Please don't approach me asking to ship it, I will absolutely block. That being said-- Jack is canonically Nightlight reborn, so the same stuff about Nini can apply here.

Frozen Characters - I know in one of the books there's something to do with Elsa's fear manifesting. Let's build off that. [Plz no ROTBTG or whatever the fuck it's called now.] I could see Pitch working with Hans-- with the goal of corrupting him-- but 'assisting' in his revenge to push him deeper into the darkness.

Kingdom Hearts - I once had an AU for this-- but Pitch isn't a heartless or linked to them. He's fear and corruption manifest-- he's older than the keyblade war, a primordial entity of darkness made flesh. Rumor has it an old famed warrior lost a battle to him and had his body taken over.

Villain Characters - Any and all villains from various franchises. Let Pitch work with them-- manipulate them and play ally while planning to stab them in the back.

D&D Muses - I'm working on an AU for Pitch where he's an old god from before time began-- a relic of a time of darkness and chaos. Pitch can make pacts and have champions-- but interfering in the mortal plane himself is difficult.

[kitsunefyuu]

I got in an argument with two bkdk shippers AT THE SAME TIME on a thread on twitter and it was just.... DELUSINAL

Sorry if this bothers you, I just need to share this with someone else cuz I'm so shocked after that.... If you don't want to post this then don't.

I thought that I knew how they can be but having a direct confrontation made left me literally SHOCKED because I've never encountered & talked with people so onto something to the point that they misunderstand what they read with their own eyes.

They claimed that Bakugo and Izuku's character developement only happeneds when they are together wich is just SO WRONG. For Bakugo you could argue that it is like that because he learns to calm down and accept other ppl but with Izuku it is clear as hell that it's not the case. Take vigilante deku arc as an exampre, take those last chapters as an example of Izuku's developement that is not done alongside Bakugo's.

But what actually shocked me the most was the "Bakugo saw All Might's vestige so he must be inside ofa" but it didn't go in the direction you might think it went.

Instead of saying that he still has ofa embers left or something the guy who started the thread with their bkdk ramblings said that it was confirmed by Hori that Bakugo has no embers left and that the reason why he can join the vestige realm is because his "feeligs of love" broke the rules of ofa. Wdym broke the rules of ofa you ask? Well he was bringing up the panel in which it was explained Afo's plan to steal ofa by using Tomuras hatred. Yeah. That is how Bkg "broke" ofa's rules. Bc if Afo is "enhanced" by hatred, whatever this means, it has NEVER happened nor implied, then ofa's rule for new users to be passed on/someone to exist in the realm can be affected by love. This was never even implied to be able to happen. It's just bullshit. HE AIN'T COMING BACK THIS ARC LET HIM STAY PASSED OUT WHAT DO U HAVE WITH HIM AND LET IZUKU HAVE CHARACTER DEVELOPEMENT WITH TENKO

I SHOULD'VE SAID THIS TO THEM BUT I DIDN'T CUZ I COULDN'T CONTINUE WRITING TO TWO FRIKIN ANNOYING, DELULU PPL AT THE SAME TIME.

They ended up telling me that I didn't read the manga. Yeah, sure, I didn't read.

Oh and the guy that rambled about bkdk had 'proshipper' in his bio so, yeah, he was already disgusting.

And it seems that the other bkdk's also think the same delusions bc this is what I found on another unrelated post: "Soooo Izuku going to share Explosion Quirk with Kacchan. This really have sense, he losing every Quirk he have but Kacchan went to OFA alive, since Deku will not lose OFA but only OFA quirk he can share Explosion Quirk since Kacchan break OFA rules."

Frickin delusional

Sorry if I bothered you.

And this is why I just avoid talking to BkDk shippers or interacting with anyone on twitter in general. Sorry twitter users I know you need to rely on it but I draw the line at interacting with insane people. You should just block them there no reason to debate them.

On another note, Proshipper was originally meant to just say for shipping. As in leave people alone and let them ship, it other people who turned it into problematic ship. Just wanted to clear that up since it feels like Anti's have took something meant to be about being inclusive into something disgusting, and people with bad intentions ran with it. It sad.

Now back to BkDk, don't worry most of these delusional people aren't going to stay long. With how shallow and delusional their love for the series is they will eventually run out of steam once the series in. That's my hope anyway, love or hate the DFO theory but at the least the people in the fandom are actually talking about the plot and story.

While BkDk are only hyperfocused on their ship to the point of obsession. Ignoring everything that contradicts it like you can enjoy a ship and not be insane about it. I like TdDk but you don't see me trying to twist canon into something unrecognizable for it. As I know it not end game nor is romance even important.

It's a shonen manga first. Romance is not it main goal or purpose, again it's twitter. Just ignore them or block them. They aren't worth your time at ALL, your mental health will thank you for it.

[a-world-with0ut-dr34ms]

Burn the Witch

From Control - Full Story in Progress on AO3!

Soap x Shadow!Reader x Ghost Light Graves x Reader

This is your first operation away from Shadow Company, as your skills as an undercover operative will be put to the test on your hunt for Hassan Zyani. With help from the 141, things should go smoothly. You could only hope...

Word Count: 2.2k

Tags: Foreshadowing Future Action, Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Tension, Light Romantic Tension, Canon-Compliant, Foreboding, Probably Military Inaccuracies, Reader has hidden agendas, part one of two for these next two chapters basically

Masterlist

Let me start by saying I HATE this chapter with a burning passion. It took me a month to try and brainstorm every possible way I could convey the plot how I wanted without it being boring. But alas, I've said fuck it, because it's been over a month and we've gotta keep it pushin'.

The chapter's slow, obviously meant to be the prologue to the next chapter. Once again, I'm sorry I made you all wait so long for this. However, with this mundaneness out of the way, I hope the next chapter improves.

Please enjoy.

Chapter Twenty-One - Burn the Witch

What does it mean to be ready for the inevitable? You've pondered that a lot lately, though it sparks in your mind more so once the trucks have parked and your team has offloaded onto an airstrip swirling with chaos and urgency.

Helicopters raged above you, convoys and other armored vehicles driving to their designated areas, ready to ship you all into battle. All the while, the night sky sits plainly above you. An empty sea of black set fit to remind you of the uncertainty which lies ahead of you.

In five minutes you would be heading out.

By now air support has most likely already started bombing the AQ bordering your LZ, meaning the firefight starts the second your flight touches the ground. The rest of the details involving your mission came to you as hectic as the night had already been. Comm chatter blistered on every channel, new information getting spoon-fed to you by every half-hour mark.

There had been no time for any other thoughts, in fear of missing something crucial. But one detail had been an especially hard pill to swallow, all things considered.

They're splitting everyone into two teams, both tasked with sweeping separate areas for Hassan. Once each building has been neutralized, the teams will regroup, with Hassan either dead or alive in your custody.

A sound strategy as any you've heard before, though you would have preferred to stay placed on the same team as 141, had you any say.

Instead, you were to lead Team Alpha in there stead, as Ghost and Soap lead Team Bravo.

Your placement had been deliberate, to say the least. Shepherd always had a way of pulling the strings to his advantage in the background, and you had just become his latest puppet.

Your real briefing came to you via a quick, virtual meeting, having had to wait for the others to break off and start loading up their gear before you could slip off somewhere secluded to meet. From there, you'd gotten the video up and prepared yourself to be greeted by your two-faced general.

But instead of some old, bald man appearing before you on your screen, you had been greeted by a pair of steel blue eyes, sharp, and consumed in all sorts of stress and business.

Your commander.

It took your breath away to see him again, still with his authoritative look and short, blond hair he's spent the last few minutes combing his fingers through, you're sure. Even through the screen, you could have sworn you might have seen the light come back in his eyes. Then, you're reminded of how you two left things off, and the radio silence that had fallen soon after.

He hadn't changed a bit, you'd say.

You frown, not wanting to reward the man with any expression beyond mild irreverence, even as he smiled at you like nothing changed. You knew a mask when you saw one, and frankly, it was getting old.

You have more important things to worry yourself to death over.

"You're lookin' good," he compliments.

You pause, taking another second to look over your commander again. What you can see is the small joy he feels, having caught you doing so. But before you've allowed him to speak, you've made his mind up for him.

"The briefing? Commander?"

Graves cleared his throat, straightening himself up on the other end. He hadn't expected to still be so taken aback seeing you after what felt like over a month now. "Right then," he begins. "Your mission..."

Graves did his best to give you the highlighted version of whatever it was Shepherd told him about your orders. While the clarifications had made things more clear, it didn't make tonight any easier.

With you separated from 141, the General's hopes had been for you to investigate what you can about the missiles and "take care" of Hassan. With no suspicion or incident. It only figures that regardless of what the AQ General knew about his missiles, Shepherd would want him dead. And if he wanted him dead, then that's just what you had to do.

Anything to put an end to this.

"Get this done, and we're one step closer to being home free," he feels the need to remind you again. Only lately you've wondered what that even means anymore. It didn't help that trapped sensation you'd been unable to shake all night.

"I've heard that before," you roll your eyes.

"Don't make it any less true," he says. And then he pauses, hesitant from the looks. Silent. You knew what often came after that.

"Are you... Have you been doin' alright?"

His question doesn't come as a surprise to you, however, you admit you're unsure how to answer him. You wish he had asked you weeks ago.

But he hadn't.

"I'm fine."

Graves opens his mouth to say more, however, something stops him. Perhaps the look he sees in your eyes, or the lack thereof. He knows bridges have been damaged between you two, if not burned. He's not an idiot. He's also only human.

"Don't get yourself killed, OK?"

Though it made you feel rather pathetic, his words felt more riveting than you had wanted them to be. And you had missed it.

"No promises, Commander." You wink.

You tap your leg against the metal floor below you, feeling it shift and sway as the heli races through the dark skies of Al Mazrah.

Two minutes now and you would be separated from the 141. Alone and on a mission of your own. One only you were aware of. Your mind needed to be right.

You take a look around at the soldiers gathered around. They had everyone crammed into the heli like sardines, your rifles hugged to your chest and your eyes forward. Awaiting the sound of gunfire.

"No songs to whistle?"

Ghost's gruff voice from across the heli brings your eyes back from the row of dark boots your eyes had been glued to. They had been all down there all night, doing whatever possible to ignore the eyes of Ghost's on you all flight long.

Your behavior tonight had been a stark contrast to the last op he'd run with you, where there you'd been jovial and nigh overconfident, chatty in most instances. Tonight, you had been completely quiet, eyes razor-focused, and mind everywhere and nowhere all at once. It gave the man a rough feeling about tonight, and watching you tap your leg finally drew him to a point of speaking, it seems.

You look up at the lieutenant, more wide-eyed than intended. Everything needing to be done tonight had been buzzing through your mind so much this past hour, it hadn't even crossed your mind to calm yourself to a tune.

"I can't think of one," you admit. "But I take request."

Ghost holds his gaze with you for a moment, his eyes so dark in this interior that he almost appeared inhuman, the large shadow that he was sitting across from you. Meanwhile, he wondered if there'd ever be a day you weren't trying to delve in a subtle way and hear his music taste.

Perhaps you've finally worn him down. Ghost looked as though he were about to actually answer you for once.

And then, the comms cut in.

"Approaching the LZ."

All casual conversing had now just ended.

Bombs and gunfire grow louder outside the heli, replacing the rumble of the spiraling blades and the vibrations of its metal. Like a song drumming you into battle, you hear it beckon you all near.

"Bravo Team offloads here." Ghost stood from his seat to address both teams now, his entire aura changing from endearing to brutish in the blink of an eye. "Alpha Team stays onboard to land downrange. Both teams meet in the middle. Remember, we want Hassan alive, but this is capture or kill."

You watch as Bravo Team stands from their seats, gathering near the end of the heli to exit. Your eyes track Soap, who passes by your peripheral briefly until he's paused right before you.

With all his gear on, helmet strapped tight, and weapon loaded and ready, he looked a man ready for anything. He always seemed to be in most cases.

You'd been aware of Soap's watchful gaze since boarding together. He had smiled every time you looked his way, giving you an assuring nod, and sharing a comment when a thought would come, but you see the worry he held for you in his eyes. He had just wanted you to be OK.

His positivity alone hadn't been enough to ease your troubles, even as the man desperately wanted it to be. He only feared not having more to offer you beyond a smile and promise to keep you safe. He'll keep making that same promise 'til he's blue in the face if he has to.

Soap raises a fist to you gently, giving you a warm smile.

You tell him, "Try not to have too much fun."

Soap had wanted to say more, by the way his lips parted and the glint in his eyes twinkled, even beneath the red lighting. But he holds his tongue, knowing he must prioritize the mission. Duty above all else.

"Aye, aye lil' bird."

Soap gives you a parting wink, and then joins Ghost and the others at the front of the heli. You watch him the entire way, until the doors open, and a gust of wind barges into the heli, whipping through the fabric of your uniforms. This didn't feel real until now.

From where you still sat, you watch the lieutenant give him a scolding look, the men preparing to exit. "Keep up, Soap," he says.

The heli doors shut behind them, leaving you in a metal coffin shared between other marines you knew no better than the men you were about to fire on. With Ghost and Soap no longer around, it now leaves you to lead this team through thick and thin.

Gravity feels a lot heavier all of a sudden.

You hear the pilot speak into the comms, "Razor-1, all Bravo deployed. Moving to secondary HLZ."

The heli shift to the side, and you feel yourselves soar through the night sky, the sounds of gunfire increasing at every second.

"Alright," you call out to your men. "It'll be hot once we've landed. Check your gear and weapons now while you can. The faster we get this done, the faster we can call it a fucking night."

The marines all give you an affirming cheer of agreement, and for the first time all night you start to feel more positive about how things will go.

Yeah, you told yourself. This mission's like no other you haven't done in the past. Find your target, neutralize the situation, and get out. Simple.

You adjust your grip on your rifle and straighten up, your leg tapping even faster than your heartbeat. No word from Ghost or Soap on the comms yet. That had to be a good sign.

The helicopter dives to the right suddenly, sending you all back into your seats, before the chaos outside is instead drowned out by the sound of blaring alarms from inside the heli.

"All stations- Razor-1 is bracketed," the pilot chimes in. "We're getting lit! Incoming- Flares! Flares!"

Your heart sinks, your insides shifting and moving like waves in the ocean at every quick sway and dive the helicopter took in its evasive actions. Helplessly, you sit, not even able to see the enemies that fired upon you, bitter to not even of had the chance to step foot on the ground yet before this happened.

You all grab hold of your seats, doing what you can to remain stable. The heli sways, the sounds of flares deploying outside ripping through the rocket fire. The flight settles and a few seconds go by. It isn't until the warning alarms have been silenced that you finally release a breath of relief.

A narrow dodge.

But then, it shifts again, only this time you're not so lucky.

There's a loud crashing noise, followed by the erupting pop of an explosion, as it twist the metal of your helicopter, tearing it open.

"Razor 1 going down!" The pilot shouts. "We're going down!"

You watch in horror as one of the marines is sucked out of the hole, screaming the entire way out as they're eaten alive by the flames of your crashing coffin. You see the dark world outside painted in the passing glare of gunfire, spinning around you, your helicopter falling from the sky.

You clutch onto the straps to your seat and brace yourself for impact. Closing your eyes, you hold your breath and simply await the inevitable, doing your best to be ready. Just as you've been trying all night.

Metal and fire twists around you in a loud hurricane of booms and clashes, before all sense of the world around you became nothing but a cold, quiet air.

Dark.

An endless void.

You're not sure why, but the first thing that came to mind was Soap. You hadn't wanted to think of the horror he must be experiencing having just watched you get shot out of the sky. What flurry of emotions now twisted in him because of you.

So instead, you thought of him as he was before. Of his smiles, his eyes, the warmth of his embrace and the safety you felt with his words, even if he promised the impossible. You'd give anything to have John by your side now.

You still needed to tell him your name.

To Be Continued...

[dbzebra]

Why I M O, Pokeshipping is dead. ( kinda hot take, sorry pokeshippers. ) So, pokeshipping. The very 1st ship in the Pokemon anime’s history. I personally am not a fan of it, I did watch the original anime, and I personally don’t like misty’s character. It was off putting to me.

Now as to what your here for, what killed pokeshipping. There are 3 main contributors to the death of pokeshipping.

1.) The length of time from when misty was replaced to now,

2.) Serena and Amourshipping

3.) The Pokémon sun and moon anime

The length of time from when misty was replaced to now. Now while this might not have been much of an issue if the other 2 bullet points didn’t exist, it has been over a decade at this point, since we last saw misty, meaning that we have a severe lack in character development, and that gives time for other potentially better ships to be created, which leads me to my next point,

Serena and Amourshipping. Possibly one of the biggest ships right now, (which at this point isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon. ) With Amourshipping going so far, as to introduce a major plot point in ash’s story by having Serena be his childhood acquaintance, many other points that multiple poketubers like Catch ‘Em All Saul, bring up in their videos from years past, to the kiss, and even the writers basically confirming the darn thing.

Amourshipping Confirmed?

So at this point, ( unless they throw all that away, which please. Don’t. ) there is next to no hope of pokeshipping to ever become cannon, which is only further proven by my last point,

The Pokémon sun and moon anime. Now, this is honestly the iceberg that sank the ship, because Brock and Misty returned twice in the Sun and Moon anime, which I’m pretty sure was for let’s go promotion. Now this is where all hope is lost for pokeshipping because even though they returned twice, Misty had literally zero emotional moments with ash whatsoever. No pokeshipping pandering, no flashbacks, nothing. Here’s another video explaining that further.

They did Misty DIRTY!

Now while the only good thing to come out of the re-return episodes was Brock possibly finally finding a girlfriend,

Brock x Olivia

This was the point of no return for Misty and pokeshipping in general. Misty, even though she returned twice, in the most recent anime, had literally no development, and nothing to show how she grew as a character since her absence, her return seems pointless and devoid of substance, and with another ship still gaining popularity at an exponential rate, I’m sorry pokeshippers, but,

It’s time to pay your respects, and move on.

RIP pokeshipping

1997-2023

I literally don’t care

Why are you sending this to me now? Every Ash ship is forever non canon and that’s a fact. Including yours. Let me enjoy my og ship in peace

“Sorry pokeshippers” you’re not sorry you just wanna be a fucking dickhead.

Get a life

[lacependragon]

Listen I love the Bees. They're my preferred ship for the both of them. I love the healing and the tenderness and the trust and the giggles matched with the sarcasm and the jokes.

But. But.

I do genuinely believe that sometime around V7, RWBY became a soulless cash grab, and the Justice League movies really, really slam that home for me. And I'm sorry that was when the Bees got all their shit together. The characters could be in a much better story! But they're not, in canon. They're stuck in RWBY.

And RWBY, for me, has sucked since about the midpoint of V7. It feels soulless, out of character, like it's slapping the lowest common denominator in plots, reveals, and characterization, and it's so full of Bathos it's impossible to take seriously without feeling like the actual showrunners are making fun of you for enjoying the show.

I love the characters. I love so much of the lore. But it does, to me, genuinely feel like the last 3 volumes exist just to exist, that everything is solely about money instead of story, and that everything interesting and nuanced about this world has been sanded down and filed off to make nice smooth, non-corners so that everyone in the audience without any reading comprehension still doesn't cut themselves on any sharp edges because none exist.

And that's not even getting into my problem with the way the series handles tone across a single volume and multiple volumes. Which I think has been seriously failing since V5.

There's so much in the modern canon that fascinates me - the tree in Ever After and the concept of Ever After is one of the most interesting things RWBY has done in a while, IMO, but I wish it had been better thought out, better implemented, better foreshadowed. I wish it didn't rely on fairytales we've never heard of and didn't fuck with stuff we already knew without any sort of clarity.

In a lot of series I'd give the showrunners some benefit of doubt, but RWBY has proven multiple times that it doesn't care about clarity of worldbuilding, only coolness factor. So things aren't consistent, and they don't make proper sense, and they're changed whenever the writers think of something better - or that's how it fucking feels.

Not to mention I am still firm that the characters have been acting wrong for a while. Some more extremely than others, but in ways that are convenient to plot and comedy, rather than true to themselves.

If I wasn't so invested. If I didn't love so much. I'd just walk away and let it go. Gods know I've never finished a shit ton of series for that reason.

The problem is I love so much of RWBY and it's hard to just. Be so frustrated with it.

[mellohirust]

In the dark timeline, what do you think would happen if Neil Gaiman wrote it so Aziraphale and Crowley didn’t reunite and reconcile in S3? 👀

In the infinite sunshine timeline, how would everyone react if S3 was just South Downs fluff?

Finally, what’s a plot twist nobody would see coming?

OK OK putting my good omens thoughts under the cut because we're gonna be here a while. strap in.

-Dark timeline where they don't reunite and reconcile is admittedly VERY hard to envision. They've always relied on each other in some capacity whether they like it or not (literally their FIRST INTERACTION before the beginning is Crowley needing Aziraphale's help). I'd imagine Aziraphale would have a LOT to sort out on his own, and it would not be easy at all for him, if even possible given the circumstances. He'd have the whole Second Coming to handle (and also hope he can somehow thwart), all while Heaven is likely watching like a HAWK, all while he wouldn't want to be doing any of it at all. For the first time in thousands of years he'd be truly alone, and I doubt he'd have a plan that would feel reliable. It would be awful. There's only so much a single angel can do. The Book of Life is also a very real threat. Falling is also something he's still worried about. He'd have to get VERY lucky. I doubt he could just sway the Metatron into a different opinion (although I'm sure he'll try). I think he's pretty fucked unless God were to intervene and look out for him.

Not that he'd be satisfied in the end, even if the world was saved and everything was fine. He'd never forgive himself if he didn't reconcile with Crowley by the end of things, I'd imagine.

I also think Crowley would never shake the feeling of something being wrong, even if Aziraphale doesn't reach out to him for help (which... come on. He will. Where else could he go?). He always expected a "big one", he just doesn't know when or where it'll happen, but obviously Heaven would need Aziraphale for SOMETHING. They wanted to erase Gabriel's memories because he refused to do Armageddon 2.0! Do you really think that's gonna stop them? That they won't just try again? Their whole deal is that they're insistent on this. They won't let up. That's not gonna change no matter who's in charge, and he knows it. I can't see Crowley giving up on Earth until it's too late, maybe abandoning ship last second as to avoid his own demise, but it's a question as to what he could piece together on his own, whether or not Hell would still tell him things, etc when it comes to what he'd actually try to achieve. After all, you can't thwart what you don't know the details of. It would be a lost cause. (Personally, I don't see him becoming a Duke of Hell either; it's something I can enjoy in fanworks but I don't see him as the type to take that deal even to 'spite Aziraphale' in canon. Not unless he hoped to get intel? But I think he'd much rather not have them watching him.)

Could either of them thwart the Second Coming on their own or with others besides each other? Very, very unlikely, and it would be a very close call, and probably still entail other sorts of disaster. Could they do it without crossing paths at least once? Also very unlikely. (After all, the entire driving force of S1/the book is how many people come together for Armageddon in attempts to either start or stop it). If they work at this and want to stand a chance they're doomed to reunite, and therefore, doomed to reconcile. They would quite literally have to be exterminated or wiped out of the Book of Life in order to never reunite (and I just don't think this is that kind of story). Make of this what you will.

(I also can't see them just being able to go back to before their feelings were revealed to each other, either. There's no pretending it isn't there, anymore. Crowley said as much. No more hiding. I don't think this doomed their relationship going forward, even if it may take a while to fully smooth things over.)

TL;DR They'd fight like hell for Earth, probably wouldn't be able to succeed without the other, probably die trying anyways and with many regrets regarding each other. Best case scenario God personally intervenes out of the blue and mercifully decides to thwart Heaven's own plan but they both still spend the rest of eternity thinking of what could've been. They'd hate it. They'd miss each other SO BAD and would (fail to) pretend they didn't.

-Pure South Downs fluff would be such tonal whiplash lmao and would also feel kinda unearned? I think fluffier moments shine brightest when the characters have had to work for it a little and Aziraphale/Crowley still have a LOT of problems that need to be sorted in order to be able to be happy together. (Also it's just... not gonna happen. You can't tease the Second Coming and then skip past it to an "everything's fine" future.) The entire point of S3 for me is we KNOW where they'll end up- we want to see HOW. It's not a story without stakes and consequences and a bit of risk, at least when it comes to Good Omens. That isn't to say that they need to be tortured or whatever in S3 to feel earned, but we need to see a lot of things get wrapped up (Second Coming, Aziraphale needs Heaven to leave him alone + needs to be able to work through his complicated feelings regarding it, Crowley needs for Hell to stop calling on him, they need to be able to safely communicate what they want, they need to talk about the kiss, etc). We want to see these!! We can't get these without a bit of hurt. I wanna see them break free more than I want pure fluff. That's just me though.

(With that being said, I hope that at least they get a BIT of time next season to just... be together. Happily. And do some of the things they couldn't before. And by a 'bit of time' I mean 'I sure do hope it's more than like 2 minutes before the credits roll but I will take literally anything I can get at this point'. There's potential here!!! So much of it!!! And they deserve it!!! It's just not the show's tone for it to take up that much time. I'd miss the chaos too much I think, and I'd miss the catharsis of seeing a character finally getting what they want in real time. Just a BIT of fluff at the end though, all I ask. This could insta-kill me.)

TL;DR Bit too much!!! I want them to bicker!!! In a way that's framed comically!!! This is a comedy show!!! And I want to watch them get through hard times!!! I just also want them to make out afterwards and also save the world and stuff. Then I'll be satisfied.

-Honestly I haven't thought much about possible plot twists in S3? I take the Final Fifteen pretty "straightforward" (I don't think the coffee is spiked, I don't think they stopped time, I don't think they body swapped, I don't think the Metatron will be "secretly good", etc) so I don't think there's really enough to go off of at the moment for me when it comes to the plot itself, let alone plot twists for it. I will say though if God is in S3 I will lose my shit; I have a feeling She wouldn't be "caring" but not 100% pure dark evil either if we DO see Her. I don't think She won't be what most fans expect. (Of course, that's just in the hypothetical that She appears. Who knows?)

TL;DR Where is God I'm scared

It took me over an hour to draft this response my bad

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

Star Trek Is A Failing Theme Park

Much like many others I used to be a bonafide Star Trek Discovery hater, and even though I thoroughly enjoy it now, I honestly don't regret that time in my life.

I think Discovery season 1 and most of season 2 were a little ashamed of having to be an old sci-fi show, so they kept trying to be a show about violent, impulsive, very special unique people that happened to go to space every once in a while. Which Star Trek has been, on occasion, but never in a way I personally find better than what it usually is -- philosophizing and talking about real world or allegorical drama for 40-50 minutes until a solution arises that doesn't really make anyone super happy and not everyone comes out unscathed, but the compromise means there's hope for a better solution tomorrow, and the day after that, until it works.

The personal dramas usually related to their reactions to storylines, but were ultimately secondary to the bigger pictures, and acted as bows you tie the narrative with at the end. If Kirk did not make it through the episode unscathed, that's cool, but the episode was rarely only about his demons. It could heavily relate to his demons but that wasn't the whole source of the spectacle. The Naked Time works as a way to examine characters in crisis, not necessarily as a Kirk episode where it's all about him.

Because of that, I was basically the audience for seasons 3 and 4. While Season 3's ultimate plot wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, the idea that they were now dealing with their "own version" of the galaxy, writing their own plots that didn't have to come before everything else and figuring out their own threats that didn't have to eventually connect back to Star Trek canon was a massive improvement.

The decision to interweave character drama into storylines as opposed to making the storylines about the character drama also greatly expanded upon people's roles in the ship, and you finally got to see people like Detmer or Owosekun doing shit and being useful, instead of just being on the bridge nearly unnamed. I genuinely think Season 4 of Discovery is one of the best seasons in modern Star Trek; even if it trips and falls sometimes, I think it's well worth the creative risk and I was left very satisfied after watching it.

So when Discovery season 5 turns around and tells me it's about an episode of TNG I watched once, and then they start going to a planet from an episode of TNG I watched once, and then here comes another episode where they go to an episode of DS9 I watched once, and there's more 24th century-specific stuff that's gonna happen, it's...

It's very hard to feel like we're not regressing? I realize at this point the show is very, very cancelled -- they weren't even told it was happening until they were filming the finale, but at the same time, is this really what the plan was? To not boldly go into something original, instead picking up threads from episodic shows released decades ago? What are we, Star Trek: Picard?

Now for the sake of transparency, I feel like this is might be more of a personality problem than a media consumption problem for me, because I am genuinely allergic to nostalgia. I have no respect or attachment for media whose only mission is to remind me of things that existed, and franchises that have made that their entire MO have basically died for me. Like, I can't watch Star Wars anymore. It stopped mattering how good or bad it is for me because all I see in stuff like Mandalorian season 2 is pilots for shows I'm not gonna watch, and cameos from characters I don't want to see right now. The stories are no longer the point, the point is the brand and how easily recognizable it is.

So when Discovery tells me that their last hurrah is going through the Star Trek theme park, pointing at rides I've already gone to and saying "Isn't it cool we get to say these words again? That we get to see this thing again?" I'm left cold. I don't want to see the Progenitors again. I don't want to see the Promellians again. I like seeing the Trills again, it's one of my favorite species in the franchise, but we have seen so much of the Trills between DS9 and DIS, I really feel like this is... not the way forward. This theme park is not the reason why I think about Star Trek.

It reminds me of why I stopped caring about Star Trek Online. The practical reason was me not liking the minibuys and the combat, and the game's only mode of operation being to attack -- it's a fine ship combat game and a mediocre but working third person shooter, I just don't care enough to play it forever. But the secondary reason, and the reason I think about the most, is because every single storyline is less a story and more a Star Trek reference.

It's always someone coming back, or an alt universe version of a character being introduced, or picking up on a random episode that I already watched, making the action figures fight instead of anything else. Instead of using fanservice to broaden the appeal, the only appeal is the fanservice; there is very little to Star Trek Online that isn't just the equivalent of going to Star Trek Land and looking at the Harry Kim bust again.

I keep looking at Burnham, a character I have come to like in spite of her place in the franchise, in spite of the fact that her entire conception was made to connect her to Spock, and to Sarek, and to Pike, and to all these characters I already know, in spite of the shortcomings of her original character arc -- I look at her and I see a character who has built her own path after being allowed to exist separate from the others, after being given the same chance everyone else was to be more than a Star Trek reference, and then she just knows to go to the planet of the Booby Trap aliens because that's Star Trek, we're going on the ride.

I'm so sick of going on the same rides. Specifically, I'm sick of going on rides after they just proved that they can do something different, that doesn't need Star Trek references to exist. Please I am begging you stop showing me Picard's face, I get it, I like TNG too. But I tuned in to watch Discovery. I am not into this brand because I am into the brand, I am into this brand because it's fucking good, stop acting like I'm here for nostalgia's sake.

"Hey, what about Lower Decks? You love that show!" eh Lower Decks can do it, don't worry about it.

[vanillahub]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN.

respond to the prompts out of character!

what made you pick up the current muse(s) you have? Obviously, I'm heavily influenced by a set list of characters I personally love, which means I come up with a take/portrayal as I delve deeper into the lore. I tend to have a preference for side characters, rather than protags or lore heavy ones, bc of the freedom I get... BUT at the same time I've had numerous muses that carry a lot of weight in their respective franchises (see: Seto Kaiba, Captain Rex, rival Barry, Richter Belmont and Sea Dragon Kanon just to name a few).

I mainly write as canon characters, I genuinely have little to no interest in making or RPing as an OC. At most, I have 1 OC in two out of the RPCs I'm currently part of. Which explains this huge disparity.

is there anything you don’t like to write? My hard nos are Incest, Adult/minor types of relationships. Bodily fluids/toilet stuff and fetish focused RPs. One-liners and really short replies aren't fun for me, sure, they can be fun for crack/joke interactions. But they won't last long. I really love working and expanding on the source material, so RPs for me really need to have that good plotting to back it up. While I'm totally open for exploring darker/taboo subjects (e.g.: adultery, toxic relationships, etc.), they MUST carry weight on the characters and be handled accordingly.

is there anything you really enjoy writing? GIMME ALL THE WEIRD COMBOS TO INTERACT WITH!!! Characters that never met or barely interacted with one another in canon but, they can interact in our RPs!!! My jam is doing worldbuilding and expanding on the source material!!! I also enjoy writing comedy, fluff, romance, slice-of-life, over-arching stories that connect/get refferenced in other threads.

how do you come up with headcanons? I look for plotholes or anything that was barely touched upon, in the source material, and I go off from it. I try establishing connections or make them clearer, to serve as future reference for me and my RP partners. I also love taking influence from other medias I'm into.

do you write in silence or do you play music? I used to be able to multitask a lot easier in the past. Now, I mainly prefer writing in silence. Only in very rare cases, I may play some kind of lo-fi beat or lounge music.

do you plan your replies or wing them? It depends on the thread in specific! Most of them have been plotted out, so I go off what we have laid out. Only in a few cases I try to wing it.

do you enjoy shipping? YES YES. GIMME. However, due to some bad experiences in the past, I'm really picky with platonic and familial stuff (popular fanons my beloathed).

what’s your alias/name? Vani

age?  27

birthday? 19th of July

favorite color?  Purple, blue, white, red-

favorite song?  Tô de pé - Maneva

last movie you watched?  I genuinely can't remember it LOL. It must have been Saint Seiya: Legend of Sanctuary.

last show you watched?  Saint Seiya Omega

last song you listened to? Discoholic - Disco Soul (Mr. Hoosteen's "Disco's Revenge

favorite food?  Pesto Pasta

favorite season?  Summer

do you have a tumblr best friend? Check these fellas out <3

These ppl know me for the longest time Gen ( @gems-of-lirema ), Simone (@unchcsen ) , Shiba ( @celestiialnotes ), Retto ( @245s ), Bobo ( @roleplayersoul ) and Smeargle ( @ofpokemon ) !! Really special mentions to @radi0activesmile, Val and @mxlik you guys will forever hold a v special place in my heart!!

Then I'm always chatting with Ama ( @gwiazdowe ), who genuinely is one of the best ppl I've met!! Honestly, I couldn't feel anymore happier to have met you! Can't forget urs truly Mica, who lives rent-free in my walls LOL. Lea ( @todefendlife ) and Mars own my house smfh.

And also special shout out to folks I've met more recently, but still deserve a place here: @shouxryuuxha / @wayfaringstrangxr / @eternalstarlights / @triko-the-fluffy-artist <3 Love u guys!

TAGGED BY: @mayxthexforce TYSM <3333

TAGGING: Anyone wanting to do this!! Just say I tagged you <3 !