#this is why I didn't invite Roxy

[victorluvsalice]

So, as Guidry manifested (and told the group he was proud of them for sticking it out in the haunted farmhouse, so here is his jacket, unlocked for their pleasure), I figured it was time to try out the bubble blower! Victor, Alice, and Smiler all gathered around to sample the Cosmic Encounter flavor of bubbles. . .

And oh wow was that a disappointment. Not only did Alice and Victor keep choking on their bubbles, not only did the other guests COMPLAIN for some reason every time anyone took a bubble puff (look, I understand what it’s REFERENCING, but it IS a bubble blower), ALL THREE OF THEM ENDED UP WITH A BORED MOODLET. I was so excited to go ahead and put this into Smiler’s party space, and nobody liked it. :( I was so disappoint.

. . .and then Alice put the cherry on the shit sundae by turning into a rampaging werewolf. XD To be fair, this was my fault -- I KNEW it was a full moon that night, and I should have had her unleash a somber howl earlier, but I was hoping to deal her fury a bigger hit, and by the time I realized it had built up to out-of-control levels. . .welp. On the plus side, though, the transformation boosted her up a level, making her a Veteran werewolf! She also gained the Prideful Temperament, meaning she now gains more Fury while embarrassed and can take things more personally. *shrug* I can see it. I quickly sent her outside to avoid scaring any of the guests any more (Caleb in particular absolutely HATED this), and she spent the rest of the playsession either digging up the ground or getting the zoomies and accidentally scaring passers-by. XD If it makes you feel any better, Alice, I spent your latest power point on the “Lunar Resistance” power, so this is the last full moon that should stir you into a rampage!

Anyway -- as you might imagine, rampaging werewolf kind of put a damper on the party, and things just sort of broke apart after that, with the guests raiding the fridge and Smiler doing their best to calm the very upset Caleb down. XD As the guests trickled away, though, Smiler took the opportunity to quickly get in their own pumpkin before the holiday ended -- and of course made a big goofy smiley face. XD And it was masterpiece quality to boot. :) And so the holiday ended with everyone having had at least SOMEWHAT of a good time, a couple more ghost lamps in the household inventory, and Alice scrabbling in the dirt behind the house looking for goodies. XD Hardly the worst Spookfest in the world!

And next time -- well, I indicated before that I did some building to try and clean up the house, barn, and greenhouse and make the whole place look nicer, so you’ll see the results of that! I put down SO MANY RUGS. XD See you then!

[gideonsuggestions]

spto rewrite

okay so I've been thinking about how I would fix this thing in a way that pleases both the old fans and the new ones and I think I finally got it. since bryan didn't want to tell the same story over again, I'm going to respect his wishes (bear with me here) and have a fresh, new take on the franchise that completely does away with the genre, themes, symbolism, magical realism, slice-of-life elements, and pacing like spto did. in fact, why even make this a show? we could just have a great animated movie instead. 1h10, tops. that's probably close to the combined length of all eight episodes anyway. and in the spirit of glorious change I think we should switch dreary canada for somewhere more warm and humid, like a rainforest. bear with me here. like spto, I'm going to keep the time period vague and interchangeable, so my rewrite will combine modern humor and 2000s music with ancient incan society. good, right? right. of course, I'll keep the characters as close as possible to their original incantations, to satisfy the comic fans. scott is an egotistical, small-minded moron with a victim complex and a need to be worshipped. gideon is an old scheming, self-obsessed drama queen. roxie is a kind-hearted and caring but occasionally gruff person. ramona is cool and sexy. lucas is a secretly-good himbo. I would also make some other changes that keep in line with bryan's goals for spto: roxie, for example, will get a bigger role. in fact, she should be a main character. ramona has had enough screentime, so in the spirit of wokeness we'll make her roxie's wife. who needs a league of evil exes, anyway? we're tired of telling the same old story again, after all! also gideon and lucas have a pre-established evil friendship. so we begin the story in basically the same way: egotistical scott pilgrim thinks the world revolves around him. he's been spoiled and coddled his whole life, he's terrible to women, so on and so forth. he's got his own theme song. now let's say that one day he gets into some trouble with gideon- maybe scott is the one who takes away his metaphorical throne instead of spto matthew. so gideon and lucas head down to their secret lab to concoct a scheme to kill him and steal back their throne. their first plan, to create a league of guys who want to kill him, would probably cost too much, so they just decide to poison him. so they invite him over for a nice dinner to make amends, and lucas slips the poison into his drink. but it doesn't kill him! in fact, it turns him into a llama and h

[psychedelic-ink]

Loving the Dave York apologies all day every day obvi ✌️…now consider this your invitation for a teeny tiny jack rant? One headcanon you can’t live without?

Oh god you just opened pandora's box because my rant about the movie doesn't end with Jack it's for the entirety of Kingsman 2

buuut I'll just keep my rant limited to Jack. Spoiler alert, I'm a jack apologist as well, fight me

First of all, I'm still confused as to when Jack decided to let every drug user die. But from what I understand he just decided to switch during the snow scene since there was no indication in the movie that he was plotting with Poppy all this time

That man did not deserve to DIE, LET ALONE GET MINCED

I get so so mad that they just decide to shred him. Especially when Eggsy just brushes it off by telling him to "put jel on it now"

SO YOU'RE TELLING ME EGGSY, WHO WAS GONNA KILL THE ASSHOLE THAT WAS HITTIN HIS MOTHER WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT, DID NOT RELATE TO JACK'S STORY AT ALL??????? HELLOOO?????? NOT EVEN A LITTLE???????

As if Eggst didn't kill Charlie moments ago for vengeance

It's dumb that eggsy has 0 conscience there. They could've just sent him to statesmen prison or something. And I like the kingsman franchise, I had fun during the first movie (tho very salty about how they treated roxy which is my second reason why Kingsman 2 just rubs me the wrong way) but the writing for the second one is just not it. I hate shock-value death.

But loved the fight scene. Like can I point out just how skilled Jack is. He went head to head with two kingsman agents TWO

I know Jack was "the asshole" of the statesmen but no one questioned his death. Just how big of an asshole was he????? We don't even get much clarity about why he doesn't want Ginger to be a field agent, we're just left to assume he's either misogynistic or just jealous Ginger might do well or---which is my personal take on it; he was just worried for her. In my head I have conducted an entire angsty story about those two and why their relationship is strained

But long story short just like with Dave, Jack did not deserve to die like that. It's not like he was straight-up evil. Man was grieving, throw him a bone for christ's sake lock him up or something

JUSTICE FOR JACK

[sugarywishes]

Remember Monica? The oc sister of Gregory? I have a few ideas for her, Also, how would she interact with Cassie?

Outdated Lore Post

Yes I do! She is very much still an active part of my AU, she's just getting redesigned at the moment lol

(Sorry for changing her looks, her original design was too 'edgy' and 'cool' considering her backstory and personality lmao, had to give her a more loser vibe) if anyone wishes to help pick a design then reblog with your answers!!

As for the Cassie section, there are two ways it goes

So, considering that in my AU, Gregory presumably met Cassie while he was still a runaway orphan (IN UTAH NONETHELESS) Monica would've never met Cassie (if Cassie stayed in Utah anyway, which she didn't...later on lmao) and once they do meet, Monica was initially confused as to where this little girl came from and why she's talking about her brother (again, Monica thought he died, and once he did come back she just thought he stayed hidden for years)

I think it would be super funny if they did end up befriending each other eventually, think of it as a 'substitute' (bootleg) Roxy and Cassie, I guess (or maybe just, Cadence and Twilight from MLP kind of friendship 😭)

As for version 2 (for another...potentially work in progress AU with the Casas family, I know I said PBTA was the only universe they existed in but I wanna branch out...maybe) (Basically in this AU, no one died, but that doesn't mean everything turnt out good...especially for one, aged Evan Afton 👀)

Monica would've likely become the Roderick to Gregory's...Greg and Cassie's Rowley, annoying and messing with her brother (and his only friend at the time) all the way

(worth mentioning that in the 2nd doodle they're meant to be 6 years younger, 6 y/o Cassie and Greg and 10 y/o Monica)

I must clarify that she isn't a straight up bully/abuser like younger Michael was, she has limits she wouldn't cross no matter how much her friends would egg her on, she and Cassie do get along to an extent! Monica also kinda counts as the Buford (from Phineas and Ferb) since she's the 'mean character' who sometimes tags along on the adventures, so she probably got invited to a few play dates with Cassie and her brother sometimes (tea parties, video games, etc)

But regardless, I'll keep my ideas to myself for the meanwhile, this is still a work in progress AU, and I've got lots more coming ! (Hopefully maybe sorta I dunno :( )

[black-arcana]

Ex-NIGHTWISH Members TARJA TURUNEN And MARKO HIETALA Announce September 2024 European Tour

Following a triumphant series of performances in South America with several sold-out gigs where Marko Hietala joined Tarja Turunen as a special guest, the two former NIGHTWISH members are set to captivate European audiences with their enthralling collaboration.

The European trek, which will kick off in September in Germany, promises to be an unforgettable experience as these two familiar voices reunite on stage once again.

Tarja recently released her first greatest-hits album "Best Of Tarja - Living The Dream". Her live show will feature a selection of songs from her career, also found on "Best Of", including fan favorites and her own personal picks.

Adding to the excitement, Marko and Tarja recently collaborated on the duet single "Left On Mars", which received widespread acclaim.

Marko will perform his own songs with his band before joining Tarja on stage for a night that promises to be nothing short of memorable.

Expectations are high as the duo continues to delight fans with both old and new songs, building on the success of their South American tour.

Tarja and Marko's "Living The Dream Together Tour 2024" European dates:

Sep. 08 - DE Berlin - Huxleys Neue Welt Sep. 09 - DE Bremen - Aladin Music Hall Sep. 10 - DE Saarbrücken - Garage Sep. 12 - DE Leipzig - Hellraiser Sep. 13 - DE Hamburg - Grünspan Sep. 14 - DE Herford - Kulturwerk Sep. 16 - NL Groningen - De Oosterpoor Sep. 17 - NL Utrecht - Tivoli Vredenburg (Ronda) Sep. 18 - DE Bochum - Matrix Sep. 20 - DE Ulm - Roxy Sep. 21 - DE Obertraubling - Eventhall Airport Sep. 23 - DE Frankfurt - Batschkapp Sep. 24 - DE München - Backstage Sep. 25 - CH Pratteln - Z7

Earlier this month, Hietala was asked by El Planeta Del Rock if there is any chance of him and Turunen launching a new project together. He responded: "I won't close that option off. We haven't talked about it, putting up a group together or anything like that. But at the moment, it seems that we've got a different kind of connection than it was [in the] past. Because then the camps were really divided already when I stepped into [NIGHTWISH]. And it was hard to find the truth of things, because a lot of it was like a managerial turf war where we got told certain things by one side and told certain things by the other side and lots of confusion — blah, blah, blah — and in the end, yeah, what we already realized a few years back when we were all together there doing the Christmas shows in Finland that after all the hassle has died and the noise has died and everything, you still find out that you lost a friend. And that was the main [reason] why we are basically doing this together again."

In a recent interview with Thiago Rahal Mauro of Brazil's Metal Musikast, Tarja spoke about what it was like to team up with Marko to perform a cover of "The Phantom Of The Opera" during their special open-air concert in July 2023 at Z7 Summer Nights in Pratteln, Switzerland. Tarja and Marko both played individual sets at the event, with their rendition of the main theme from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical coming during Turunen's portion of the show.

"I got a call from a promoter to take part in one festival in Switzerland last year in a European summertime in July," Tarja said. "And then I got to know, when I had accepted to be the artist of the evening, then I saw that they had also invited Marko and Marko's band to perform in the same festival. So I thought, 'Hmm.' And I was actually sending a message that I wished to reach Marko, because I didn't have his contact any longer, to ask him to perform with me 'The Phantom Of The Opera' in my show. And he responded 'yes.' So, after 18 years [laughs], we were about to sing the song together. And it was super exciting. It was really beautiful. The people got very emotional about this.

"We had met already before — we had been singing on a few occasions in Finland a few years before — so we kind of cleaned the table on that occasion already," she explained. "So we were in good terms, so to say, but now singing 'The Phantom Of The Opera' together after all these years was amazing."

Tarja also elaborated on her friendship with Marko, saying: "It's a new relationship with him, because he's not the same person anymore than he was in the band. He has changed a lot, and many years have passed by. I've changed myself. Life has changed us. So it is a new relationship, let's say. And it had made me very happy to get to know him better after all these years."

Last November, Tarja admitted to Chaoszine that she was "nervous" before performing "The Phantom Of The Opera" with Marko at Z7 Summer Nights. "I believe that he was nervous as well to meet up with me, but we were both very excited to go back to the stage and to sing the song," she said. "We sang 'Phantom Of The Opera' in Switzerland for the first time. Then we went over to Finland to perform it again, did a show together there — he with his band and me with my own. Wow. It was pure emotion. I think it was really beautiful, but it made me kind of… I was, like, 'I'm in peace,' sort of. The feeling was great. I think it was even more for Marko, because I saw him standing there after my concert, when I finished my set, and he came like almost in tears, saying that this was important. We reconnected, and it's great."

Turunen was fired from NIGHTWISH at the end of the band's 2005 tour by being presented with an open letter which was published on the NIGHTWISH web site at the same time. In the letter, the other members of NIGHTWISH wrote: "To you, unfortunately, business, money, and things that have nothing to do with emotions have become much more important."

NIGHTWISH keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen later called the decision to part ways with Turunen "the most difficult thing I ever had to do." For her part, Tarja said the way she was kicked out of the group proved that her former bandmates were not her friends. "Maybe one day I'll forgive, but I will never forget," she said.

In 2019, Turunen dismissed Internet chatter about her possible return to NIGHTWISH after her December 2017 onstage reunion with the band's then-bassist/vocalist Hietala during a "Raskasta Joulua" concert in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

"I know a lot of fans would love to see something happen, but it's a very long distance away," she told Kerrang! magazine. "Personally, I don't see anything happening with me and them, to be perfectly honest. Marko came a little later into the band; he wasn't there since the beginning. He was always a guy I was close to. Me and Tuomas Holopainen, however, haven't seen each other in a long time… but we have been in touch. It's not bad. The past is what it is; we can't change that. We can only change the future."

NIGHTWISH's authorized biography, "Once Upon a Nightwish: The Official Biography 1996-2006", was published in Finnish in 2006 and in English three years later.

Turunen's husband, Marcelo Cabuli, and his business partners later sued the parties behind the book for defamation. Named in the lawsuit were the publishing house Like Kustannus Oy and the author of the book, Marko "Mape" Ollila. Cabuli and his Brazilian business partners argued that the book includes false accusations and insinuations that have caused them suffering and financial problems.

The book blamed Cabuli for the events leading up to Turunen's dramatic expulsion from the band in late 2005.

In 2011, the Helsinki District Court dismissed Cabuli's lawsuit, ruling that the book — which criticized Cabuli on only a few of its 380 pages — did not detrimentally affect his work or reputation in South America. In addition, the court determined that Ollila did not maliciously portray Cabuli in a negative light.

Nearly two years ago, Tarja was asked in an interview with Top Link Music manager and concert promoter Paulo Baron and music critic Regis Tadeu if she would consider doing a tour with NIGHTWISH if all of her former bandmates apologized to her about how their split happened and invited her to share the stage with them again. She responded: "It is very, very hypothetical that all what you said will happen, first of all — it's very, very hypothetical.

"I'm living in a world, like we are all living in a world, that things happen without us noticing," she continued. "I mean, I can't really close any doors in that sense; I'm not that kind of person any longer. I learned so many things in this life already. I take them as they are.

"So I don't know. It would be very hypothetically possible," she added. "It would be unlikely to happen."

Hietala announced his departure from NIGHTWISH in January 2021, explaining in a statement that he hadn't "been able to feel validated by this life for a quite a few years now." He has since been replaced by session bassist Jukka Koskinen (WINTERSUN),who made his live debut with NIGHTWISH in May 2021 at the band's two interactive experiences.

In an August 2022 interview with Finland's Chaoszine, Hietala revealed that he went through a dark period in his life, which included depression, insomnia, anxiety and an eventual attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. Speaking about how he eventually came to the realization that exiting NIGHTWISH was the right thing to do, Marko said: "It was a long process. Of course, the COVID year that was there, where I had a lot of time for soul searching, it obviously gave me the last incentive that I need something else, that if I just continue with this I'm just gonna get sicker and sicker. But, of course, it's a process.

"I've been chronic depressive since 2010 [or] 2011, so I've been on a permanent medication ever since," he revealed. "Sometimes you get used to the meds [and] you will need more. We did raise [the dosage] during the years also, but it just didn't work. And now that I started to do… I had psychotherapy for over four years now, and then I also talked to psychiatrists and some doctors and did that also in Spain. Then my psychiatrist here in Finland said that I should do these ADHD neuropsychological tests, which I then did in Spain. And, okay, I got it."

Hietala reiterated that he "had been thinking about" leaving NIGHTWISH "for a while" before making the final decision. "Because I had a lot of weight. And I tend to… With the attention disorder, it tells me that when there are lots of trouble, then the disorder makes it into a real chaos," he explained. "There's a shitload of stuff coming and going and no peace anywhere. And for a year or two, I was already waking up every night at three o'clock to bad dreams and anxiety. So I'd say that the whole process probably started already with my former divorce [in 2016]. That was a very sad time when you think about your kids and your broken homes and all that. And then, when I started to get clear from that, then there were, well, all kinds of things. I don't really wanna go any deeper to what kind of things I'd gone through, but I'd gone through enough."

Acknowledging that making NIGHTWISH's latest studio album, 2020's "Human. :II: Nature.", was a "difficult" experience for him, Marko denied that his mental state at the time resulted in a diminished role for him on the final LP. "I think the original idea was to have that… we'll do a couple of [solo vocal appearances], or one solo for me and Troy [Donockley], and the rest Floor [Jansen], and then the harmonies; that was the idea originally for that," he said. "So I don't know if it affected. I think it was sort of as planned. But at that time I already had serious trouble with concentrating and serious trouble with a constant black cloud over my head."

In July 2022, Hietala told Finland's Iltalehti that he had not kept in touch with NIGHTWISH since his departure or followed the activities of his former band.

In May 2021, Holopainen said that Hietala's decision to leave NIGHTWISH "came as a bit of a surprise." He told Finland's Kaaos TV: "Marko informed us in December [of 2020 that he was leaving the band]. And even though he has been very open about his state and problems during the past years, it still came as a bit of a surprise for us. So it was a really tough pill to swallow. And for a few days, I was actually quite confident that there's no coming back, that this is it. I remember talking to Emppu [Vuorinen], the guitar player, and we were, like, 'You think this is it?' 'Yeah, I think this is it.' I mean, enough is enough. So much has happened in the past. Something that broke the camel's back, as they say. Then, after some time had passed — a few days — we started to think that it's been such a ride of 25 years, with so many ups also, that this is not the way to end it."

Tuomas elaborated on NIGHTWISH's reasons for carrying on, saying: "I think we still have something to give, and that's the main point. The music is still there. We felt that there's still so much music that needs to come out from this band that, 'Okay, let's give it one more shot.' And then finding the new bass player was really easy."

He added: "It's not like we do this just because we need to do it and there's nothing else to do. On a personal level, I feel that there's still so many stories and melodies that I want to share with the world with one lineup or another, so that's why you want to continue and keep on going.

"I've said this a million times, that a lineup change is the ultimate energy vampire, and that's how it really felt and still feels."

In June 2021, Jansen spoke about Hietala's exit from the band in an episode of her "Storytime" YouTube video series. She said: "That was a very sudden surprise that, of course, was not fun at all. But we understand — I understand — it was a necessary thing for him to do. And from there, we had to think of how to continue without him, and that also, in preparations towards the virtual show, that was a huge challenge."

In December 2020, Hietala was crowned the winner of the fall 2020 season of "Masked Singer Suomi" — the Finnish edition of the popular masked singing contest. He was disguised as Tohtori — the Doctor.

Photo courtesy of Nuclear Blast Records

[dasboligrafo]

7 Takes on The Double Life of Veronique

You know the thing where you like the same thing as a terrible person?

I guess even Lear-esque cringey edgelords like great movies and Keith McNally is not wrong about Sexy Beast and definitely definitely not wrong about the Double Life of Veronique, a movie I've now seen 3x, 2 of which ended in helpless tears (the only way I know if something is art).

This movie was a selection by McNally at a Roxy Cinema mini-festival in October 2023. As I told the crew who I invited (tricked?) to see the movie: now it's your turn to think about it for 15 years!

I love the moment after the movie when people are asking helplessly -- but what does the movie mean?!? And I really, really love the moment when people get angry at the end of the movie. These are real emotions! What's the last time a movie made you think anything other than "god, that was 45 minutes too long?" (The Double Life of Veronique is under 100 minutes! yessss)

[I didn't hear it cause I was, like, weeping, but my friend said at the end a guy behind us was angrily griping that the movie was too slow? Huh? Stuff is literally happening every moment of the movie? There is not a single wasted scene, line or frame? What even are these senses whose proofs we can so liberally ignore?]

Since it might be another 15 years until I see it again and I don't have the benefit of just having written a college thesis that was mostly about Lacan via Zizek, I thought I would type out a few thought exercises/interpretative frameworks that I think apply to this movie:

The contingent nature of the universe/the senselessness of existense -- probably the easiest to justify, especially in the context of Kieslowski's complete ouevre, in consideration of his personal history, based on the interviews he's given, etc...

What to do about emotional apocrypha — what do you do with and about feelings that seem to come from nowhere? Feelings are "real" and we know now (i.e. the science is now there to tell us, eg Lisa Feldman Barrets's fascinating work) they're not in any way subservient in value or usefulness to "reason"; like if anything the opposite, emotions are the "why" and reason is the very patched together and incomplete "how" behind what we are and what we do. Worth thinking about why it is Kieslowski's most compelling films have female protagonists given the historical association to the binary genders for emotion vs reason.

The duality and dichotomy of post-war East/West Europe -- I think this one is sorta obvious but not less resonant? There's a good article out there about how the film predicted a lot of the consequences of the EU. Elsewhere I've read that Polish critics pilloried Kieslowski for a traitor to his kind over this theme, which reminded me of the story about how Bach's works were sometimes not well received by the church patrons who got to hear a lot of it first because they thought it was too dour -- imagine you have the greatest musician who will ever live as your church musician and your biggest peeve is his music isn't fun enough for Sunday. In any event this is a major theme in Three Colors, and I'm sure there's no accident that this movie and the Trilogy are connected by the same fake composer (key work = "Song for the Unification of Europe"...)

Return to theory in film (Zizek) -- he wrote a whole book about it. I'm not sure I agree Kieslowski's films make the case for the return to Theory (ie I think you can interpret his movies without it.) But the fact that you can so unbelievably seamlessly integrate his films to a Lacanian framework gives me that feeling of the inevitability of Lacan.

Art Cinema's enduring interest in interrogating the limits of its medium -- which of course is also present in art literature for its own medium, and frequently not only present but foregrounded in theatre. The Puppetmaster is a clear analogue to the filmmaker (and of God, lmao...they can't help themselves), but also all the unbelievably uncomfortable sex scenes in this movie are a masterclass on the male gaze and how you constitute and undermine it...etc.

Space-time Travel (Zizek) -- right away, I'm going to say I don't think this one is all that interesting, but it's what Criterion chose to accompany the 15th year re-release of the movie. So...ok 🤷🏽‍♀️ I'd say that listening to physics podcasts has convinced me of the value of a literary education (those hermeneutical skills come in so handy), so I see the relevance of thinking of these two together, but I also feel like the fake math is the part of Lacan I always found a little too silly to stand.

The agony of art as vocation -- I'm sorta lazily splitting this out from #5 just because when I originally wrote this post I had 7 points and now I can only remember 6 of them, and I like the resonance of 7....There's a Badiou-esque invocation of the four types of truth procedures at work in this movie that could easily fill the pages of another unread senior thesis: science -- the zizek time travel thing, the way the movie is, actually, concerned with the explanation of what is happening and why, rather than just accepting as a premise that there can be doubles in the world; politics -- the scene where Weronika meets Veronique is at a political rally, the east/west thing mentioned above, etc; art and love, obviously.... But the key to the "plot" of Veronique's life is "Does she keep singing, even if it kills her?"

Random closing thoughts:

I'm still thinking about and cannot resolve the mystery of the subplot about Veronique testifying in her friend's divorce(?) trial. What does it mean?

One thing that always bothered me about Kieslowski is a feeling i have that his movies are slightly (high key???) exploitative of his actresses, which seems like shabby repayment for their taking considerable artistic risks. Maybe I'm just getting this feeling from applying Lacan and Zizek to his movies though (that's two dudes who definitely don't understand about women...). I'd like to think I'm wrong about this, his masterworks are all with women and "about" women. I don't think he doesn't get this, though, see again the Puppetmaster (surely one of the creepiest dudes to ever grace an art film and that's saying a lot).

[ninjadeathblade]

Moulin Rouge Discotrain AU (party thirty eight)

Summary: Now that they're together, Conductor and Grooves are slowly settling in with their love for one another. Both have strong feelings for one another but don't always know how to express it.

Beginning | Previous | Next

Word count: 949

Warnings: None

Author's notes: Sorry this took ages to come out. Anyway, I am finally allowing them to kiss so it was worth the wait. I got inspired by this art by @nasubeenwithcat. Her art is amazing, do go check out her blog. Anyway, enjoy!

Grooves smiled at the happy look on Conductor's face as both of them looked at the tree.

The lights decorating it twinkled in the otherwise dark room, spilling splashes of rainbow coloured light across the walls.Felt decorations of all shapes, sizes and colours were strung across its branches, giving it a cosy feel.

The owl sighed contentedly and leaned back against the penguin's chest.

Conductor was back to a chill temperature, having gotten a necklace from the train to suppress his powers.

“Thank you for inviting me,” Grooves said quietly as Roxie positioned the star on top of the tree.

Conductor tilted his head around a little further, pressing a quick kiss to Grooves' cheek. “Anytime.”

The penguin felt his heart stutter at the words and a small ripple of anxiety went through him.

It couldn't be anytime, could it?

Conductor would get sick of him eventually, the same way everyone always did.

Conductor turning around brought him back out of his negative thoughts.

“Would you dance with me?” Conductor asked sheepishly.

Grooves realised that the old radio on the shelf at the side of the room was playing a slow tune, piano notes cascading in the quiet air.

“Well, we do need practice for the movie,” Grooves joked, earning a chuckle from his companion.

Conductor hummed along with the tune until the lyrics began.

“That certain night. The night we met. There was magic abroad in the air. There were angels dining at the Ritz. And a nightingale sang in Berkeley Square.”

Grooves let out a surprised huff of air as Conductor dipped him slightly.

“I know I'm meant ta be the confident one in the movie but I'm pretty sure yer the confident one out of the two of us,” Conductor teased.

Grooves pushed back upwards, counterbalancing them and leaving Conductor hanging in his arms.

“Didn't realise you were one for flirting, angel.”

The owl's feathers ruffled slightly before his mouth twitched into a smirk. “Yer gotta remember that although you had the ideas, I wrote the dialogue for Christian and Satine in almost every romance scene.”

“Okay. Fair point,” Grooves admitted, pulling him back to stand.

“I want some fresh air,” Conductor declared, beginning to tug him towards the door before stopping and turning back to his daughter. “Rox, yer good to get the little ones ready for bed?”

“Don't worry about me, go be lovey-dovey or whatever,” Roxie said, walking over to the pile of chicks on the sofa.

“The air is so clean out here,” Grooves marvelled as Conductor led him outside.

“It's why we raised Roxie out here when she was still little. Wanted her to grow up healthy,” Conductor explained, pulling him round one side of the house.

The owl climbed onto a ladder leaning against the side of the house. “Do yer wanna see something cool?”

Grooves gazed adoringly at his beloved’s excited grin. “On the roof?”

“Better view up there,” Conductor reasoned, clambering the rest of the way up to the roof.

Grooves chuckled and followed him, the two of them lying down side by side.

“Woah.”

The sky was adorned with sparkling lights, hues ranging from blue through to purple, painting it like a masterpiece. The moon shone like a spotlight above them, illuminating the edges of a couple clouds.

“I always loved lookin’ up at the sky out here. Made me wonder if I'd ever visit somewhere big out there,” Conductor said quietly.

“It's beautiful,” Grooves breathed as he looked at the night.

“Yeah, it is.”

Grooves glanced over at Conductor.

The owl had rolled onto his side, staring at the penguin.

“You brought me up here to look at the sky,” Grooves pointed out, a blush heating his cheeks.

Conductor slung an arm over Grooves and moved closer to him. “It's cold.”

Grooves smiled, knowing this was Conductor's way of subtly asking to be closer.

“You're always cold.”

“It's night time in winter, of course I'm cold.”

“You'll freeze to death one day.”

“You'd never see another of my movies.”

“I'd publish your theatre club acting.”

“You would nae dare.”

The bickering held no real threat, none of the venom their arguing would have about a year ago.

Conductor sat up slightly, leaning over Grooves. “You… you wouldn't really though, right?”

Grooves pushed himself a little more upright as well, their beaks hovering near each others'.

“I promise I wouldn't.”

Conductor's feathers puffed up slightly, as if hesitant.

The owl looked away, paused for a moment, shook his head gently, looked back.

He slowly raised a hand to cup Grooves' cheek. “Can I kiss you?”

Grooves sighed in relief that it wasn't something more serious.

“Yes."

Conductor smiled softly before leaning in and kissing him tenderly.

The owl nervously retreated a few seconds later.

“I'm sorry I should nae have done that it was stupid of me,” Conductor began to ramble, words bumping into one another. “I'm so sorry Grooves I promise I will nae-”

The owl went quiet as the penguin placed his flippers against his cheeks.

“It's fine diamond.”

Conductor let out a shaky breath before looking back up at the sky and let out a small gasp.

“Shooting star.”

Grooves looked up just in time to catch the streak of white light across the sky.

“Make a wish,” they said simultaneously before bursting into laughter.

“You first.”

Another bout of laughs.

“I wish that you would accept how amazing you are,” Grooves said.

Conductor chuckled nervously and pressed a quick kiss to his beak.

“I wish you would be remembered forever for yer role as Christian. You're a great actor.”

“When did you become so sweet?”

“When I met a very sweet penguin.”

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Okay so Castaway AU is a Jurassic Bark (Roxy x Chica x Monty polyship) AU where it has a similar setup to Sims 2 Castaway in that everyone was on a boat and a freak storm separates everyone onto three different islands. Basically, all of the animatronics from SB, Vanessa, Gregory and Cassie spread out over three islands, though this is subject to change in that, it'd be a lot to cover. Anyway.

This would take place in a universe where they're all furry people, with Vanessa being a rabbit, lioness, or a cat, Gregory as a cat and Cassie as either some kind of spaniel dog, or a mutt of some kind, or possibly a coyote or something I dunno haven't got that far.

Almost everyone was on the boat to celebrate Freddy's birthday. Roxy was there because Bonnie was nervous hanging out with the bear he has feelings for on his own and begged her for almost a solid month to come with. He now owes her several meals, video games and fuck knows what else but she's here and that's what he wanted. They're adopted siblings in this btw as they are in most things I do like this. Gregory is Vanessa's adopted kid so when Freddy invited her and DJ, naturally, their kids were invited too. Cassie was invited because Gregory went behind Vanessa's back and asked Freddy if he could invite his bestie and this bear has never said no to a child in his life. Everyone else? There for Freddy.

The focus would be on the first group, Chica, Monty, Poppet (a Mini Music Man), Roxy and Cassie. Chica wakes up on a beach all alone. She panics, and starts to search for someone, anyone else. The boat is washed up, upside down on jagged rocks nearby, but she doesn't think to check it, her brain scrambled and assuming that the others must have washed up somewhere like she did. She searches the beach up and down, before entering the gloomy looking forest. She finds some food and gets jumpscared by the local wildlife a bit before running into Monty.

They're so excited to see each other. They'd met on the boat and hit it off instantly, talking about this and that for at least a few hours before the storm hit. As it turns out, Monty had been swimming around the island searching the beaches for anyone else while she'd been in the forest and he hadn't seen anyone. He thought he was gonna be on his own this whole time, he's so relieved he's not! He explains that the island is fairly small and the two of them return to searching for the others.

They come up empty handed, but have a much better idea of the layout of the island now so that's nice. They head back to Chica's beach where the boat is, and start gathering up everything they can before night hits. They find all sorts of things washed up on the beach from the boat, along with driftwood and seashells that are helping lift the mood. The tide is out when they hear a noise coming from the boat they were gonna check in the morning.

Poppet is standing on top of the boat, whistling his little heart out to them. The two rush over and figure that someone else is still in the boat and Poppet had managed to get out to find help. Poor lil guy is beat up from his efforts and is frantically trying to show them where this person is... and after some serious struggling to get Chica into the boat, it's discovered that it's Roxanne, who neither of them really know all too well outside of Bonnie. Turns out, she was below deck the entire party and that's why Chica didn't even know she was there, and she's been baking alive in the underside of this boat in direct sunlight all day so yeah with her thick coat of fur? She's melted.

They're heavily relying on the boat not exploding with the lights on to get Roxy out since it's dark out. When they finally get her out, she's taken down to the beach, given one of the hammocks that Monty and Chica built earlier, a coconut or something to drink from and some fruit to eat. She's just glad to be out of that fucking deathtrap they call a boat that she didn't even want to be on and she's stuck here with fucking heat exhaustion from. Instead of being mad about that though, naturally, she's way more concerned about her brother, who she'll eventually return to making threats about murdering if the storm didn't already.

Come morning, Chica and Monty go and search the boat for supplies and anything they might be able to use, while Poppet keeps the fire going and Roxy... sleeps because fuck mornings. When she wakes up, she goes off exploring, searching for any sign of Bonnie or Poppet's siblings she can possibly find. She finds a ledge over the ocean that she can distantly see another island from and wonders if maybe the others wound up over there... and also a small storage container on the beach nearby. She heads down onto the sand to investigate and after discovering it's not completely on dry land, rather than walk through the shallows to it, she makes a lasso out of vine or whatever else she's got nearby and spends like... thirty minutes trying to loop it around the box and then drag it out of the water.

Curiously, Roxy opens the container and falls the kid she remembers seeing Gregory playing with a few times. Roxy has no idea what to do, and struggles to wake her up before rushing her back to the others. Roxy put her in her hammock, gives her coconut water, fruit and Poppet lends her his brother's plush bumblebee he found on the boat. It takes a few days of cold, damp leaves on her head and under her arms to cool her down, and a lot of water before she makes her recovery. Almost instantly, she takes a shine to Roxy, who's wandering around the island most of the day, and howling at the top of her lungs in the hopes her brother can hear her.

As Roxy's attention is dragged back to those that are still here though, she tries not to get too close to Cassie... and fails miserably. The kid was on the boat on her own for goodness sake! There's no need to worry about her dad surviving but she's still hoping and waiting for him to find her. She sits on that rocky ledge with Roxy, watching the horizon for her dad on a boat to take her home while Roxy howls for Bonnie to still be alive. She tries to howl with her and is almost immediately, unknowingly to both of them, taken under Roxy's wing as she helps her howl louder and clearer than she was before.

There's a lot they can do here but I've been writing this for ages so imma leave it and go do something else for a bit lmao see ya

[adams-rockstar]

Amanda’s Missing Piece: A Saw Fanfiction

Chapter 8: Just An Observation

“Watch your step.” Amanda warned, as she let Adam and herself into her apartment.

The place, although fairly cluttered, was definitely in better shape than his…...then again, whose place wasn’t?

The bar was pretty much below the ground, as far as he was concerned.

“It’s alright, I’m used to it.” He chuckled, browsing around the general area, as she shut and locked the door behind them.

“It’s not, really, but thanks anyway.” She insisted

Adam just chuckled even more at the idea that anyone could actually feel the need to excuse a place like this, after seeing a place like his, even if she did…...to his knowledge, anyway, only see a quarter of his apartment, and only very briefly at that.

“Are you kidding me?” He laughed. “Didn’t you see my place? You’d think I’ve never had anyone over.”

He followed her back, toward her kitchen area, where she paused her little tour to set some stuff down on the dining room table and start skimming through her cupboards for something.

In doing so, he immediately became sidetracked, when he noticed a familiar little piece of paper laying near the middle of it.

It looked a little more worse for wear, for sure, likely having spent some time folded up in Amanda’s pocket or bag for who knows how long, but the name and details for his buddy’s show, the very one that he had originally tried to invite her to, could still clearly be read.

He smiled to himself, staring down at the flyer while Amanda did her own thing in the kitchen, before peering up from it.

“Hey, what does Roxy like to eat?” She called out to him. “.......Adam!”

She called out to him again, still waiting for an answer.

“Huh?” He finally responded.

“Roxy.” She repeated, coming back out to where he was. “....what kind of food…”

She smiled back at him when she saw how his face seemed to have lit up, upon noticing she still had the flyer. “.......what kind of food do you usually feed Roxy?”

“Hmm? Oh.” He chuckled, sort of embarrassed-like. “I actually have no idea.”

“What?” She laughed.

“Yeah, my uh…” He started to explain. “..one of my neighbors was generous enough to pour something out from their dog’s food, for me to keep on hand for her.” His face lit up at the recollection of it, and her. “Like I said, I’m not exactly the only one around there, she's got wrapped around her little paw.”

“Well, from the looks of it, you were at least her favorite.”

“Well, no. I’m pretty sure that’s you, from what I saw.” He pointed out. “...anyway, why do you ask?”

She smiled at the claim, opting to let him have his little win rather than argue it, as she offered him a small, rolled up bag of kibble she’d found left in one of her cupboards.

“My last roommate had a dog, just a little bigger than her.” She shrugged. “..guess she didn't take everything with her.”

He opened the bag and smiled a little more, as he gave it a quick skim over.

“Well, she’s definitely not picky. I can tell you that much. I think it’ll do.” He chuckled. “Thanks.”

“Well, I just remembered you mentioned you didn’t like the idea of her being outside all night, so that’s assuming you think we can catch her, of course.”

“It’s definitely worth a shot.” He agreed, smirking a little, as he glanced back down towards where he’d set the flyer to take the bag from here. “...so, what’d you think?”

“Your call. If you think we can, and bring her in for the night.” She shrugged, turning back to grab something from the fridge, thinking he was still talking about the dog.

“I’m grabbing something to drink, you want anything?”

“I’m okay, thanks.” He laughed, sensing he might be about to call her on a bluff. “...and I meant about the band.”

“What about it?”

“Ohh, so that’s not why you kept the flyer, then?” A little smirk crept back across his face. “...interesting..”

She shot him her own little amused look, one that was expressing just a little more amusement than she’d intended to let on, before rolling her eyes. “What? Would you rather I have thrown it away?”

“No, no.” He assured, that same little smirk not leaving his face. “....just an observation..”

“Mmhmm…” She smirked back, her tone clearly conveying just how unconvinced she was. “...an observation, huh?”

“An interesting one.” He corrected.

“Right, then, smartass…” She teased, glancing out her kitchen window. “It’ll be dark in a couple hours or so, you wanna go try our luck with that now?”

“Like I said, it’s worth a shot.” He chuckled. “I usually bring her a couple little slices of ham, as a little treat, when I can.”

“I see…” She returned back to the fridge to scope it out a little more, before comin back with some roast beef slices. “Will she settle for some roast beef?”

“She’ll love it.” He assured her, as he took it and slid it into the kibble bag, as they headed back for the door. “...am I driving this time? Or you?”

“Very funny.” She teased back, watching him, as she let him go out ahead of her.

“I thought so.”

She grinned a little, to herself, over him as she shut the door behind the two of them.

It didn’t matter in the least to her, how much time she spent with him.

Seeing this side of him, the side that had caught her completely off guard and which she completely adored while she was watching him before, was never going to get old

“You coming?” He called back to her when he noticed she hadn’t caught up with him yet.

“Right behind you.” She chuckled.

[2btheanswertothequestion]

Tagged by @stevethehairington 🖤

RULES:

Post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to post.

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in or just post.

WIPS:

High school reunion

Breathless (Buckingham, Steddie)

(medieval?) outlaws

Cheating Douchebag notfic

fleabag_ask_steddie_angst

SNIPPET:

High school reunion (long, but this is the entire last bit I wrote for it)

Chrissy jerked upright.

"Oh my gosh," she said, wide eyes trained on something behind Eddie and Jeff.

They turned just in time to see Steve Harrington walk in, fashionably late, with a beautiful woman on his arm.

Contrasting the majority of their once-popular peers, Steve wasn't looking washed up or miserable – he looked as amazing as he had in his youth. That fact filled Eddie with as much ire as it did relief. Like most of the men, Steve was wearing informal attire, but he wore it better, the silver suit and indigo shirt fitting his body so well they had to be bespoke. The way he carried himself had evolved from obnoxious cocksureness to poised and mature confidence. And, of course, the hair.

It was shameful, but Eddie stared. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one – everyone stole at least a glance of their former ruler. Yes, even ten years later, King Steve was the center of the room. He seemed to barely notice it, too preoccupied by his companion. She was almost as tall as he, and the cut of her emerald jumpsuit elongated her legs while her pixie cut displayed an elegant neck. They resembled a pair of super models.

"What's he doing here?" Jeff murmured. "He didn't graduate with us."

"I think his… wife? I think she did," Chrissy said. "I recognize her."

"She's the girl he drove to school every day the year after he graduated," Eddie said.

Chrissy gasped.

"That's right!" she hissed excitedly, thankfully not questioning why the fuck Eddie knew that (he still cringed at himself). "She was in band? What was her name… Roxy? Roslyn?" She frowned and shook her head. "Anyway, everyone was gossiping about them."

"Everyone?"

Chrissy awarded him the kindest eyeroll of his life. "Everyone in my circle. No one knew what their deal was – they seemed close, but he dated other people and she didn't date at all. It started after he and Nancy broke up, and… I guess she was waiting for him to notice her like that." Her gaze followed them as they made their way forth, making pleasantries with the brave souls who dared to approach them. "Seems like she got him in the end."

Chrissy sighed dreamily, like it was the height of romance. Eddie was inclined to agree. After being dumped and nearly dethroned, the most handsome boy in town befriended this ugly duckling who helped nurse his wounds and his heart. Staying by his side, a loyal friend even when he courted others. Quietly hoping he would open his eyes to what was in front of him all along. And at last, her patience was rewarded, and he realized it was her he wanted.

A clichéd, juvenile, teenage dream. A fucking fairytale. But a romantic one.

"They're a good fit, aren't they?" Chrissy mused.

"You think?" Jeff said.

"Yeah. He's always been gorgeous and she's stunning." She rested her chin on her palm, drifting away with a smile. "She looks kinda tough. I bet they're a total power couple."

"No Pressure" tag list: @spinmewriteround, @madaboutmunson, @metalhoops, @loveinhawkins, @anything-thats-rock-and-roll

[29pageshomestuckeveryday]

Homestuck, page 1,931

[S] John: Reunite with your loving wife and daughter.

Song used: How Do I Live (Bunny Back in the Box Version) by Michael guy bowman

Storyboards: http://readmspa.org/storyboards/11931.swf.html

Author commentary:

Now we get to "watch" the goofy Con Air animation without the critical musical accompaniment, Bowman's cover of Trisha Yearwood's "How Do I Live." The animation experience is an emotional rollercoaster. A cumulative celebration, if you will, of Homestuck's whimsical essence and its uncompromising spirit of absurdity. Now, here in this book, examining the frames will be more of a somber, meditative practice. I invite you to quietly behold Nic Cage's face for several minutes. Reflect on his visage the way one shows reverence for a religious icon during moments of silence in a church. You will come to understand that this sequence doesn't need funny music at all, and your appreciation of the content will be all the richer for it. This does admirably explain how Rose and Jade got these bunnies as their Birth Objects. It wasn't their own attraction to the bunnies, which wouldn't have made a lot of sense. It was John's attraction to the idea of performing this stupid skit at a highly inappropriate moment, which resulted in them being shipped off to Earth with a couple of ratty bunnies, thus setting the stage for them to grow up and regift the bunnies back to John in the first place. The official Con Air bunny I own is not the [real one Nic Cage is holding]. That's the ruined one at the end of the movie. I don't know where that one is, or frankly, if it even survived the shoot. The one in my possession is the bunny still in its original package, which Nic Cage buys for his daughter at the beginning of the movie. I'm just assuming that at some point in the future, I will have to travel back in time and give Cage the bunny for him to use in the film in the first place. The skit is essentially complete once Rose gets the bunny. But Jade gets one too, as kind of an afterthought. John does have another bunny to spare, so why not? That way these three young ladies all go home with something nice. Jane, however, gets fuck all, since she's offscreen at the moment, having decided to crawl into a man's filthy hat. Karkat is being melodramatic and pretending not to enjoy every minute of this spectacle. We don't know it yet, or have the context for understanding what it means, but at this moment he has a hate crush on John. It was hate at first sight. Every morsel of conversation we have read between these two has been driven by these feelings. What he is doing here now, bonking his own head, is nothing more than an act of powerful sexual frustration. The scribbled sequence above is misleading. By the time the plane crashes into the giant guitar in Vegas, the sports car it was keeping in tow had long since been severed. Also, there's another floating arm. What a great place to sneak an arm in. Generally when I was retconning arms into the story, the more surreal and incomprehensible a location was for John's arm to show up, the better. Not only did this moment not even take place inside the canon of the comic, it didn't even take place in the canon of the movie. It truly happened nowhere. And yet, there is his arm. There is nothing remotely stupid about any of this. John, his name is Bubbles Von Salamancer now. Respect his new identity. Roxy seems to be really getting into that hug there. I think I did a tremendous job in seeding her overwhelming attraction to Egbert men here in Act 4. Stick this fact in your pipe and consider smoking it toward the end of Act 6. There's a part in Con Air when John Malkovich holds a gun up to the bunny during a tense moment and says don't move or the bunny gets it. Or something like that. The rowdy criminals like to keep things loose and fun up there on the jail plane, as you will know if you have seen the film, which you have, at least a hundred times. Don't deny it. At some point in this song cover, there's a guitar solo. But nobody is playing a guitar. It's just some guy making jackass noises with his mouth. So John here is working his air guitar to go along with that riff. Actually it make sense that a Hero of Breath would play an air guitar. I really do think of everything... It's incredible.

[hatchetnewsarc]

@horrour ( Roxie ) : kissing at a crowded party.

Being who he was had his pros and cons, but he tried to not think on either of them. Why should he? He was trapped where he was, sold his soul long ago to the very God that proclaimed her right to the souls that cross over on her carnival grounds. He had done it by his own hands back when, stood outside the very cabin he first met her with a knife in hand. He was told to prove himself, prove that he wanted to be alive for the rest of eternity-- soulless, but alive. He could have it all if he wanted... just had to give up his soul and his first life to gain eternal.

He drove a dagger through his eye, silencing himself immediately and without question. He had nothing to lose, no one to love him or care for him. He had been orphaned and abandoned, left to survive whatever this world had to offer him-- but what did it have for someone so poor, someone so scared, and someone without a soul to care for his? Nothing. Not a thing. But Her? Mother? She could give him whatever his heart desired as long as he did her bidding... and he did. For over four hundred years as whatever she needed, but in the last century or so he'd been playing ringleader to a carnival darker than any red room the internet could offer. The lowest lowlifes came to this place, but so did the desperate souls looking to fit in somewhere.

That's how he'd found her. How he'd found Roxie. His spotlight, manipulated by someone forever enslaved to Mother and Malachi's bidding, landed on her in the crowd and he sunk his teeth in with easy charm. He let her make her own choice when invited up, giving her the option to dunk someone into a tank or see how far they could stretch--

'... or you could do both.'

Her choice was hers to make, but by the end of it he was marveled by her. She seemed anxious when she first stepped up, but the moment she was in the light? She shone.

And she did every night after that in aerial stunts like no other, stunts that he narrated and marveled over with the crowd as she moved about with such grace-- no net prepared to catch her. She would die if she fell! If only they knew there was no life to lose...

Malachi was taken by the woman, always watching her.. always studying her. He rarely approached her beyond a piece of conversation here or there, but tonight was different. Tonight he'd seen Mother and spent hours tending to whatever needs she'd wished of him before retiring to a private car that sped her away. To where? He was never sure, but he knew it would be quite a few days before they saw each other again. At least he was semi-confident of it. She'd seemed interested in the new recruit tonight and perhaps that influenced what he was to do.

'You like her.''I don't hold things like that.''Don't be such a prude, Malachi. You want to know what she feels like.''Can you read minds now?''Your dick told me.'

The response had infuriated him, but she hadn't given him time to respond before dismissing him. What use did she have for him in such a state of being if all he was going to do was think after some acrobat? She'd made it clear before leaving that he was to figure it out or he'd lose focus. He couldn't be distracted-- he couldn't--

'So either fuck her or make her one of your victims.'

The celebration that happened after every show was in full swing when Malachi reached the big top, entering the open flap of the tent to find those locked away in this place forever mingling about-- an undead group of ex-bards leading the music on the main stage. Most of those in the room where moving around interacting with the event, but others were settled off to the side in the stands. It was clear who sold their soul, who was on the fence, who was used to it, and who didn't want to be here.

He ignored all of them in favor of moving to where he usually resided, off to the side in a place where he could see everything. That's where he normally did his thinking during this. Not caring what anyone else was doing and deciphering what was to come next of them, where they were to go next. But tonight was different, tonight he thought about Roxie. He thought about the way she moved, the way she talked, the way she gave herself to this place with such easy influence. He lost himself in those thoughts, slipping into them until he caught the familiar scent of perfume that always dragged his attention.

He brought his eyes up to find her stood there in front of him, the acrobat and ex-gymnast. She was giving him a long look he couldn't read, but one he was hypnotized by. He let it lead him away from where he stood and closer to her, taking her by the hand and turning them to bring her deeper into the tent where everyone moved to the music or spoke in conversations. He didn't pay mind to what looks were tossed their way, not wanting to bother with the idea of explaining what was occurring. But he knew they were curious and trying to understand just what was transpiring between Malachi and someone so new.

He was Mother's attack dog, was he not? He never put himself down with the lower dredge of the soulless pool and yet...

Malachi drew Roxie in by a hand on her waist, other rising to capture her chin so their eyes could meet in a close proximity. He lifted his upper lip and growled out a low, "I'm going to make you scream tonight." His thumb stroked against her lower lip, scarred expression hardened as he flickered his gaze over her face. He let the words sink in before leaning down, eyes fluttering shut and lips finding hers for a warm pressed kiss.

[minalblood]

Ep 7, finally! Sorry fellas took a while.

I will try to skip past the Despair destiel parallels since they've been mentioned often enough and focus on other stuff i find interesting.

Ok 1stly Carlos jokingly saying they should try jumper cables for the Ostium only to then look back at Lata judgingly was A++ friendship moments.

Love the Tony mention from Ada so much!

I will say all the shell company and warehouse talk reminds me of spn season 7 and the Leviathan plans which to be fair, the Akrida's plans are basically the same. Both hungry, some type of shapshifting beings. Kinda wanna know which came first for Chuck, cuz we know the Leviathan are meant to have been genuine creature vs the Akrida who were deliberately made as fail safe plague.

Mary big mad this ep beginning and it's all because of her worry.

God I still love the Akrida design and I also adore their growls!!! Tho I add that the fact that they can feel pain but cannot be killed save for something out of this world is hella intriguing, feels like something a, to quote Chuck, "cruel, capricious God" would do.

I adore Carlos brain! They're soooo smart and it's constantly shown in all the subtle ways but it's so consistent throughout that I love it. And not just generally, but also emotionally speaking, especially highlighted in the scene with Mary. Putting the right blame on the shifters, being honest about dealing or not with their parents death and still succeeding in bringing Mary's spirit up.

Why would John be so shocked that Henry would've written something for the MoL? Henry was a MoL so it really shouldn't be that surprising that he wrote stuff down. I personally think it's because he chose not to ask more questions because it would've fucked with him too much and he couldn't handle it.

Millie in the Clubhouse! Finally! She's still too harsh, but this time I tend to give her tiny bit more benefit of the doubt since it's obvious being in the Clubhouse is bringing up all the very complicated feelings she has deliberately not dealt with about Henry. It's why she can go from mentioning love letters with a soft gentle loving tone one moment and then insulting Henry's chicken scratch and its supposed use in saving the world. She has dealt a lot more with her feelings about Henry these past... weeks months? since all the stuff began, especially having received a clear answer about where Henry disappear to (he died), but that in many ways likely made it so much more complicated because the anger hasnt gone away but now it feels almost unfair to aim it so much at someone that seems to have not had a choice in abandoning them as she initially thought. She's still mad tho, not just because of that but also because she was never allowing in by Henry, not really, and we learn later that he deliberately distanced himself from her as well so being invited to the Clubhouse is a huge step in slotting into place what she feels. It's also why I think she demands so staunchly to know exactly what's happening because last time she didn't, Henry died.

The implication that Samuel Campbell is messy from Mary gave me such a John's room in Pilot vibes. Love that parallel (read: hate)

The mention from the Akrida possessing Roxy bout Roxy's beauty is made sooo much worse by the later episode about her possession, but with it in my mind, it give such icky vibes now. Besides the sheer disregard about Roxy's life. It makes it even more clear how much humans are just things for the Akrida to use and discard whenever. And that will only be made more apparent in later episodes.

Carlos' miiind!! The hex bag!! God I love them.

Interesting just for me I guess, but the fact that u just need to know the ingredients of a hex bag to find it, is sooo fun. I have so many questions.

I also love seeing Millie adjusting to the whole supernatural thing, her mind just going and her saying shit only to find out she might actually be onto something to them using her plan. Love that, especially love that it happens in connection to Ada. Millie and Ada have been pretty linked throughout the show so far, and I love that it's while Millie is talking to Ada, one of the few people who actually knew Henry and Henry allowed in, that she gets the idea she does. I also think it's very important that Ada does tell her the stuff Millie didnt know.

Ok, maybe controversial opinion here but I actually agree with Ada here, John is not closed off like Henry. He just isnt here. He is extremly reactive which means you will know what you get with him cuz he will make it clear, in a very bone headed way, sure , but it will be clear what he feels. There are of course things he doesn't disclose, but it aint about him being open, its just that he isnt closed off like Henry. Henry who his wife thought didnt even think of her or if he did it wasn't good terms at least toward the end, Henry who planted a protective plant for his family but never said anything about it. John, in spn, certainly does become closed off like that, id say he gets even more closed off but not this John, not yet and hopefully never. This john is just angry. Really angry, but it's still not the same insurmountable situation.

I adore Lata's excitement about all things monster.

Ahhhhhh I miss you all too Carlos 😭😭😭 #SavetheWinchesters

Nixon being Akrida is a nod to Lucifer possessing the president vibes to me.

I kinda love that Millie sold her wedding ring, it makes sense on so many levels. 1. Shes a single mom with a business to run. 2. She s trying to distance herself from the pain Hwnry left her with. 3. She is very much a dont think about it and it'll not affect you denial stage of grief person.

The music box!

It says shit about Millie that she didnt know john still had the music box all these years. It makes it clear which parts of John's life she paid attention to (or could allow herself to pay attention to) and which not.

I hate that they cant actually deal with any of the stuff because of the short window they have, but that's how things are right? both generally and def in the spn verse, you never have the space or time to actually confront the person thats traumatised you, not really, you just have small pockets of chances to process what happened in the middle of world ending events.

Fun fact, I rewatched Inside Man recently and the spell they use here to summon Henry is the exact same one Sam and Cas use to talk to Bobby in Heaven. And the fucking meaning always hurts me, cuz it calls onto dead loved ones to answers their calls/questions abd it feels like a prayer to me tbh. I also headcannon that the reason the spell works differently here is because Henry was still in the veil rather than in heaven, but ive nothing to substantiate that.

Once more Mary and John have such a genuine relationship tho, they really are honest with each other as often as they can because of the connection and similarities they felt when they first met and everything experienced since. Unlike their spn counterparts who were very much not honest about themselves.

I really love that John gets to hear Henry unequivocally say "it was my fault, not yours". It's so so important, both that Henry immediately owned up to it, and that he made sure to let John know first that it wasnt anything he did and that he wanted to explain everything.

I also wanna point out the immediate dif in Henry's demeanor once John mentions the Akrida aka work. Henry instantly compartmentalizes alll the feels he had about seeing John and getting to see Millie because he very much knows the importance. Better to have ur family alive even though you can't get closure than risk their lives just to explain yourself.

The paaaiiinnn, the emotionssss ahhhhh!! They can't get through everything they want to say but they make sure to say the things they need and my heart hurts now thx! Im very glad Millie got to see him though. It helped close another leaking wound in her. Damn this whole ep is Millie being put through the emotional wringer as much as John and Mary are. It prolly felt really good to hit the cop in the face with a bat after all that.

Love Mary's fighting advice. It shows she gets the urgency and the need to not linger on too long since the end goal isnt to kick ass, but to actually defeat the Akrida. Her hubting experience shows and her reason for doing this shows too.

I just know Lara wouldve had a field day if she couldve gotten that monster essence. So sad for her actually.

Also you know if Ada had been left to her own devices she wouldve followed Tragic Haircut and found the Akrida queens location. We've seen she can be very cutthroat when needed and her input wasn't really needed in the van, but it was needed to follow the Akrida. Thats what i think anyways. Millie for all her harshness, would never leave the kids behind. Shes suprising soft underneath it all, Ada is surpsingly cutthroat. Yay more parallel and contrasts between them.

Oh Mary, you were wrong there and it almost cost you dearly (just like how Dean going after Billie assuming shes thanosing people went wrong). Love the call back to their first meeting. Hate the despair vibes cuz ouch. Samuel to the rescue, congrats, you did the bare minimum. ( i am not a fan of Samuel and all the call backs to Spn!john only make it worse everytime, especially the heroic last second save when he's been mia and shitty throughout otherwise).

God can't wait talking about the queen when she finally appears properly.

See y'all later for a double special of Dean alive (ish) and Trickster/Loki discussion.

[sosimsofmaddi]

Gunnar Shifts in Front of Kelley

"How can you invite him over here?" Roxana demanded, following her sister downstairs and lowering her voice as they passed Kelley, asleep on the couch. "It's bad enough that you slink out in the darkness to meet up with him. How can you invite him around your son?"

Reese took a quick steadying breath and braced herself at the sink with her sister at her back. "I only told you to give you the option to leave if you're not comfortable, Roxana. I didn't tell you so you could make me feel like a bad mom continuously for the last day and a half."

Roxana stuffed a stray strand of blonde hair back into her bun. "You're not a bad mom, but you're making a bad choice. The further you get in with this guy, the harder it'll be to separate yourself. To separate your son."

"My son needs help," Reese argued, turning around to face her sister. "He's eight years old and he's going through something nobody understands. I barely survived it myself, Roxie, and I won't have Kelley go through it the way I did. He needs help, and Gunnar can help him."

Roxie was quiet for a moment. They rarely, rarely talked about Reese's life prior to Roxana showing up here in town. Reese never shared any of the difficult parts, and especially not the wolf parts. So Roxana had to bite back the urge to ask Reese about her life and refocus on her nephew.

"I don't want either of you to get hurt," she pushed, wanting to take her sister's hand but knowing that Reese wouldn't like it. "I don't understand why you have to go somewhere with him? Why can't you stay here and talk?"

"Because Kelley needs to see the truth," Reese answered. "He's been told what will happen to him, but he needs to see so that he can learn not to fear it."

The word 'fear' hit hard with both sisters. Their childhood was steeped in it. Their father even more so. They both feared the wolves their entire lives; Reese had feared herself and what she might do to others. She saw her father's fate like a premonition of her own.

But if Gunnar could stop it, if he could teach Kelley control, then maybe Kelley wouldn't struggle the way she did. Maybe he wouldn't be a werewolf with a deficit. She knew that Kelley would never be as strong as a werewolf raised in a pack, but he could certainly be stronger and more capable than her.

Gunnar showed up at the back screen door moments later, but Reese knew that he'd been outside for at least ten, giving the sisters room to argue. She felt him arrive like a tension at the base of her spine, and that hook only grew tighter when he opened the screen door and stepped inside.

He watched Roxana warily, glancing to Reese then to Kelley asleep on the couch like Roxana was something they needed to be protected from.

Roxana and Gunnar saw each other when Kelley was sick. Reese hadn't even stopped to think of the consequences of letting her sister see him before Reese even explained, told her, that she befriended a wolf. Roxana had been dropped into the deep end, and Reese was unapologetic as she chose Gunnar's presence -- his ability to help Kelley -- over Roxana's feelings about werewolves.

She hadn't wanted them to meet again, but Roxana hadn't left like she expected. So now she had to introduce a wolf and a woman who hated them. Reese stood between them, backing up into Gunnar. "Gunnar, this is my younger sister, Roxana. Rox, this is Gunnar."

Saying his name alone felt so underwhelming. She wanted to share the truth of him so her sister would understand the depth of who he was. She wanted to explain his life and the experiences that paralleled hers. She wanted to say his name again, then again, then again until Roxana could understand.

But Reese couldn't even understand that drive, so she bit it back. "I'm going to wake up Kelley and get him changed," she warned Roxana, letting her in on the fact that she would be left alone in the room with a werewolf. She wasn't going to ask Gunnar to wait outside.

Roxana nodded, but didn't move.

Reese gave Gunnar a preemptive apologetic look. He took everything so easily, so unbothered, but she worried what Roxana might say to him. She knew he would recognize the hostility, even if Rox didn't say a word.

"I'm sorry for how my sister acted," Reese told the wolf as they walked side by side. Kelley raced ahead of them toward the playground they brought him to a town over. It was filled with other children and parents, swathed in light from the setting sun.

"She didn't say anything bad," he answered, defending her in a way. "She didn't say much of anything really."

Reese squeezed his forearm, watching her son race around a group of other kids and head for the monkey bars by himself. "Still, it must be difficult to be around someone who openly hates wolves."

Gunnar gave her a look. "It's the same for you."

That made her falter, but she just gave a conciliatory smile and hoofed it across the sidewalk to the wood chips. The benches were taken by other adults, so she found a spot at the side of the playground and sat on the wooden beams that denoted it.

Gunnar sat at her side, thigh flush against hers.

"Do you spend a lot of time around humans?" she whispered to him, taking in the other children and families dotted around. For an evening, it was busy, and it occurred to her that she was sitting with a werewolf in the middle of a park. As he said, it was the same for her, but she'd grown up in the human world, raised her son in the human world.

Gunnar was inundated by his pack, sheltered within in his own community. It was strange to think he didn't belong here.

He smiled at the question, because she already knew the answer. He knocked his shoulder into hers, but his eyes were on the people. "This is you," he said, nodding toward the mothers and the fathers. Her world.

"What would you like to experience next?" she joked. "Maybe a $17 movie at a theater and another $40 in snacks?"

He gave her a look, confused.

"Okay, maybe not," she assuaged, "but what about a child's birthday party? Let's say, a nine year old's with cake and presents and twenty hyper children?"

He grinned at her, eyebrows raised. "I grew up in a pack, Reese," he reminded her. "Twenty hyper children is a small number where I come from."

She smiled, nodding.

"Who's birthday?" he added. "Kelley's not nine yet."

She tucked her smile into her shoulder and shrugged. "He got an invite from a friend at school." She sounded overly pleased, relieved almost. They'd been here a year and he'd never been invited anywhere. He talked about his two friends at school, but they didn't live in Moonwood, and she didn't know much about them.

Gunnar shrugged into her. "I'll go with you if you want," he offered easily, not thinking twice about it.

Reese flushed. Taking Gunnar into her world. She wasn't the PTO parent or sitcom mom, but she was human -- in a way -- and she had a human life that she had to show up for. Taking Gunnar into it felt like claiming him. In front of all the other human parents.

That's what it felt like tonight too, as they sat and watched her sun race around the playground. He was tall for his age, so he easily scampered up the pole to the top of the money bars. He laughed so brightly that Gunnar and Reese heard it clearly, and his blonde head whipped around to look behind him, where they sat.

He lifted both his hands and moved like he was about to push to his feet. Gunnar must've heard Reese's heart miss a beat because he was on his feet in seconds and crossing the distance.

He was tall tall so he easily reached her son atop of the bars. Reese scanned the immediately area, watching one of two heads watch him. His t'shirt rode up, exposing the delineated muscles of his stomach and the flat expanse of skin. The bottom of his chest scars just barely peeked out as he lifted Kelley from the top of the monkey bars and set him on his feet.

Something squeezed in her chest when they walked over hand-in-hand.

"You ready to go?" Gunnar asked, words full with double meaning.

Kelley whined, but Reese got up and playfully clamped a hand over his mouth. "We're not going home," she placated, brushing the wood chip dust out of his hair. "We've got something to show you."

Kelley's eyes lit up. He'd been asking to see them change into wolves for weeks. He'd seen both of them as wolves, but Reese never wanted him to see the transition. It was almost gruesome for her. For Gunnar, it much faster, but still brutal. She'd finally agreed to let Kelley watch Gunnar shift.

He needed to know what he was in for.

[celticsorcerer1]

Aisling McKeen Vs the Question

—-

Roxanne “Roxie” Richter looked out her bedroom window one morning. Snow was falling, blanketing the neighborhood in white. It looked pretty, like one of her paintings, but Roxie knew that winter was brutal in Canada. Especially for her. She didn't like the cold.

Roxie shivered. “Nothing can get me out in that weather. Nothing short of a galley opening, anyway.”

Just then, her phone blasted the chorus of S Club’s hit song “Reach.”

Roxie smiled. Her awesome girlfriend Aisling McKeen was calling. She answered the call quickly. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”

A light giggle. “Oh, nothing much. I was just wondering if you wanted to come over. I have something to ask you.”

“And it can't be asked over the phone?” Roxie asked.

“It’s something I want to ask you face-to-face. It’s important.” Aisling implored.

Roxie looked out the window again, frowning. “But, baby, it’s cold outside.”

“I know, I know, but I promise, you’ll want to hear what I have to say. Besides, I want to see you. I miss my half-ninja cuddle bug.”Aisling countered.

Roxie blushed. “Well… I can’t say no to that, now, can I?”

“Oh, you can if you want. I know you don't care much for the cold.” Aisling replied gently.

Roxie shook her head. “No, I’m on my way. I want to see you. I’ll be over as quick as I can.”

“Well, be safe all the same, Honey. I love you.” Aisling said.

Roxie smiled. She hoped that she would never tire of those three words. “Love you more, Ash. See you soon.”

As soon as she hung up, Roxie dashed to her closet and put on her thickest black winter coat, pulled on some mesh leggings (they wouldn't do much against the cold, but she liked wearing them), and tugged on her winter boots. “Hold on, Ash. Roxie’s comin’,” she whispered.

—-

*ding dong*

Aisling walked up to her front door and pressed her ear against it. “Who is it?”

“A humble half-ninja seeking shelter from December in Toronto,” Roxanne replied.

Smiling, Aisling opened the door. “Then, come right in. “I’m brewing tea as we speak and I’ll grab the fluffiest blanket I have.”

Roxie smiled as she shut the door and shed her boots. “Huggies first.”

Aisling hugged her girlfriend, shivering. “Roxie, you’re frozen solid!” she squeezed Roxie’s middle tight and kissed her cheeks repeatedly. “Gotta warm you up!”

Roxie laughed. “And to think, three months ago, you thought you weren’t into girls. Now you can’t get enough of me!”

Aisling giggled. “I guess you’re just good for me.”

When the tea kettle whistled and the girls had steaming mugs in their hands, Aisling draped a white Sherpa blanket over them.

Roxie smiled as a familiar scent tickled her nostrils. “I see someone’s been using the mint tea I gave you.”

“Well, it’s delicious,” Aisling replied. “Where did you get it?”

“One of my ninja cousins makes it herself. She sends me some for my birthday every year,” Roxie nudged Aisling’s shoulder. “Which reminds me, I still don't know when yours is. I haven't missed it, have I?”

Aisling shook her head. “I don't make a big deal about it or anything. But, to answer your question, it’s the 14th of December.”

“Hey, that’s right around the corner,” Roxie huddled against her. “So, not that you need a reason to invite me over, because I love spending time with you, but why the invite? No way it was just for tea and snuggles.”

“Well, no,” Aisling admitted. “I wanted to ask you something and I thought it would be best done snuggled up together.”

Roxie gently blew on her tea. “I’m all ears, Ash. Lay it on me.”

“Well. I’m planning on visiting the family for Christmas. I'm going back home for two weeks.” Aisling began.

Roxie winced. “Two weeks? How the hell will I manage?”

Aisling blushed. “I was thinking the same thing… so, I was wondering if you would…like to come with me?”

Roxie let out a small gasp. “R-really? I mean…you don’t think that’s moving too fast? We’ve only been dating for a month.”

“Well, maybe… but, if I’m being completely honest…” Aisling looked at Roxie and shyly smiled. “I can’t imagine going without you.”

“Aw, Ash…” Roxie kissed Aisling’s cheek. “I’d be honored. When are we leaving?”

“The night of the 13th. Is that okay?” Aisling asked.

Roxie smirked. “As long as you don't mind if I fall asleep against you on the plane.”

Aisling giggled. “I wouldn't mind. I’ll probably fall asleep on you too.”

“And I get to wake you up with birthday kisses. It’s a win-win.” Roxie smiled.

Aisling raised an eyebrow. “What exactly separates birthday kisses from regular kisses?”

“I don't kiss you 23 times in a row every other day,” Roxie replied.

“Alright, fair,” Aisling smiled and rested her head on Roxie’s shoulder. “Want me to put on a movie?”

“Nah, I’m good just sipping tea with my favorite person by my side.” Roxie kissed the top of Aisling’s head.

“You’re my favorite person too, Roxie Rose,” Aisling smiled. “I can't wait to show you where I grew up.”

“It’ll be nice visiting somewhere that isn't a big city,” Roxie admitted. “And I hear the seafood there is something special.”

“Oh, you have no idea. There’s this amazing restaurant in Sydney that you’ll love.” Aisling beamed.

“I can’t wait,” Roxie playfully booped Aisling’s nose. “Of course, by awesome girlfriend law, if you take me to that restaurant the night of your birthday, I’ll be treating you.”

“Then I guess I have something to look forward to,” Aisling replied.

“And I’ll make it worth the wait,” Roxie pulled Aisling close. “Cuz you deserve to be treated like the amazing girlfriend you are.” she locked her lips with Aisling’s. Asking kissed back, her eyes closing as she surrendered to it. Outside, Winter was unleashing her frozen wrath. But inside, both young ladies were toasty warm, their love like an extra blanket

[atomic-taco-muffin]

Ansem: mind explaining why Roxy didn't get her invite?

Y/N: ...

Yui: it’s cause she doesn’t check her mail

Roxy: I do too!