#tough right?? well despite this being my favourite year and having many good stuff happen

[oddvanilla]

When you stay on your phone to distract yourself from being upset but it actually makes you even more mad lmao

[magnhild]

Nora Valkyrie, Identity, and Purpose

Hey everyone, Blaire here, and almost exactly a year ago, I made this mess of a post where I laid out all of my thoughts on Nora and what I thought the show could have in store for her.

And honestly, most of my ideas were way off, and not at all correct. Also, the post kind of flopped.

Thankfully, Volume 8 has given me a chance to redeem myself, and write another, more coherent, essay about my favourite RWBY character; where this Volume seems to be taking her character, and what it means to me, personally.

Buckle up.

To the vast majority of people in the RWBY fandom, Nora is the least-developed character, and the one most lacking in dimension. Most of her character seems to be defined by two things; her energy and love for fighting, and her relationship on Ren.

Volume 8 took note of these conceptions, and addressed them head-on.

Of course, any keen-eyed viewer will have noted Nora’s hidden depths even before this volume, which I noticed in last year’s post. She is perhaps the most perceptive of the main cast, at least, when it comes to people’s feelings and relaionships. She was the only one to really comment on Pyrrha’s crush on jaune, and the first to bring up Blake and Yang’s growing relationship. It was also her level-headedness that resolved RNJR’s argument in Volume 4, Chapter 9.

Volume 7 also showed us her innate desire to protect the weak, and her disdain to those who have the power to help, but refuse. I personally get the feeling that this was her driving motivation in becoming a Huntress; to protect people who cannot protect themselves, perhaps because she doesn’t want anyone to have to grow up as she did. Nora’s fury at Ironwood in V7C7 is esepcially signifigant, because it’s the angriest we’ve ever seen her before, even more so in that this anger is directed at someone with much more authority than her.

But these little details were only the tip of the iceberg. These were traits she already had, and while they help to add layers to her character, they’ve done very little in terms of her actual development. 

This is where Volume 8 came in stronger than any other.

Volume 7 hinted to us that Ren and Nora’s relationship was beginning to get more complicated, between their bickering, Ren’s dismissiveness at Nora, and their kiss in V7C6. By the end of the volume, it was clear that they were still struggling, despite their clear love for each other. Volume 8 carried this thread along, having them split into different parties, and Nora giving Ren a bit of attitude we’ve not really seen her direct at him before. 

She’s frustrated with him, and disappointed that he can’t see what she sees. But despite her tough front, V8C2 then hints that she’s sadder about the split than she’s letting on, after May brings up Nora’s ‘friends’. C3 then brings this to a head, where we get a conversation that sees Nora opening up to Blake and Yang, and revealing a deeply sad truth about herself- that she has no idea who she is without Ren, because she’s spent so much of her life with him and him alone, and her feelings for him have shaped so much of who she thinks she is. We’ve never seen her so hopeless and lost, especially after she reveals that, as far as she’s concerned, all she’s good for is hitting stuff.

Right in these few minutes, the show takes how the audience percieves Nora, and reveals to us that those two core traits are the gateways to a far deeper insight of her character. She’s known for her relationship with Ren, but wait- what about when he’s not there with her? She’s known for hitting stuff, but wait- that’s all she thinks she’s good for. 

It’s revealed to us that, not only is this how most of the audience percievs Nora, but it’s how she percieves herself. And for all her energy and upbeat attitude, deep down, she thinks incredibely lowly of herself. For all her confidence in her fighting abilities, she lacks confidence in herself as a person. 

Surprisingly enough, the ‘who am I?’ character arc is one that was hardly explored at all up until this point, despite it being one of the most common and signifgant character arcs in fictional media. And I don’t think many of us at all could have imagined that Nora would be the one to get that arc, when she’s always seemed so self-assured on the surface.

And then, when Penny is in need of help, Nora takes Weiss’ advice to heart, and does the one thing she believes she’s capable of- being strong, and hitting stuff.

Nora overcharging her Semblance to take down the wall is seen by a lot of the fandom as some kind of win for Nora; as her ‘big moment’. But while it’s certainly a really cool and badass scene, it was far from a triumph for her.

This was Nora at perhaps her lowest point so far in the series. This was Nora figuring ‘well, if this is all I’m good for, I’ll do it to the extreme’. This was Nora thinking her only purpose was to greatly endanger herself for the sake of others, because she figured she was the only one who could. And she almsot got herself killed for it. 

While certainly a defining moment, it was far from triumphant. It wasn’t a win. It was a self-destrcutive act that reflected how little she thinks of herself; that she’s not worth anything unless she’s pushing herself to the limit doing the one thing she thinks she’s good at.

And to drive the knife in harder, it backfires horribly. 

Because now she’s bedridden and critically injured, with scars that are probably permanent; a reminder of her lowest point, forever marked on her body. She can’t fight now, can’t help at all, and Salem has launched her attack on Atlas.

And in her half-unconsious state in V8C7, she realizes this, delivering an absolutely heartbreaking line:

As far as she’s concerned, her last attempt at doing what she thinks only she can do- what she thinks is all she can do- has prevented her from doing anything of worth at all. She lost one half of herself when she split from Ren, and now she’s lost the other half too. The two things that she defines herself by are gone. And the worst part is, we don’t know if she’s awar of the fact Salem has begun her attack. We could very well see her fully wake up, only to realize that the world has begun ending while she was unconsious, and she can’t do anything about it.

Now, this scene, and Nora’s struggle in this Volume as a whole, hit home for me in particular.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’re probably aware that Nora is only of my hightest- and only- kins. And I’ve only been able to relate to her more and more after what we’ve got of her in this Volume.

I am chronically disabled. I have a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which fucks up my body in a multitude of different ways, but signifigantly affects the joints. For me, it hits worst in my back, ankles, and my fingers. The fingers are my main problem. To make matters worse, I’ve also been victim to intense pains in my shoulder, which came out of nowhere a couple of months ago and have only gotten worse since. The slightest movement aggrevates it. As any follower of mine would know, I am both an artist and a writer. I create both for fun, and I’ve studied writing as a profession. It is these things I’m known for being good at, and not much else. 

Thanks to my disability and my shoulder though, I have to do these things less. Even on perscription pain medication, it still hurts. It hurts to write this even now; my shoulder feels like it’s burning up from the inside. It will only get worse over time.

So, I’m finding myself in Nora’s position. I can’t do what I’m good at anymore, and I don’t know what to do with myself as a result. Not doing these things makes me feel lazy and unproductive, and makes me feel that the people around me will abandon me so long as i can’t keep providing them content. And I’ve gotta say, it hurts a lot, and I don’t just mean physically. 

Because of what I’m going through, it’s especially important to see my favourite RWBY character just so happening to be dealing with the same problem; the same loss of idenity and purpose. We don’t know who we are or what we’re good for without the things we think define us.

While I’m unsure of my own future though, I find comfort in knowing that Nora’s problem will be tackled and addressed; that her friends will help her to rediscover herself and find her true worth. And while we’ve got a while to go until we’ll be able to see the Volume continue, I’m incredibely excited to see where Nora’s arc goes, especially if we can get some backstory along the way. I find myself wondering if her life before Ren is part of why she thinks so little of herself without him- was it the way she was raised to think? Is this the fault of her childood circumstances? Or is this just something she developed on her own, after becoming too dependant on Ren for comfort?

Whatever answers we get, I have faith that Nora’s story will be told well, and I’m very sure that it’s only just beginning. Even if she finds her worth before the end of the volume, her story won’t be over yet, not when we’ve still likely got at least four more volumes to go after this one.

In just seven episodes, Nora Valkyrie has gone from one of the least developed characters, to one of the most interesting and relatable, at least, in my eyes. There is so much more depth to her character than having a crush on Ren, and being the strong girl who hits stuff. There’s a layer of tragedy to her character that we’re touching upon now, and I’m excited to dive into it.

Thank you all for reading!

[crystal-moon-101]

Managed to do another redesign with rewrite notes, this time my second favourite character in Ben 10, Azmuth The First Thinker. And just like Ben, he's canon self is such a mess that I wish to fix in my own way. The other Galvans in this picture are his family, with his father from the movie "Destroy All Aliens", his nephews mentioned by DJW, and their mother who is Azmuth's twin sister. So let me get into the notes and rewrite ideas of mine!

-Retaliator-

Yes, I am aware that this is most likely not his name, but I could not be bothered to make up my own at this point, and I also find it funny to have a Galvan dad called this, so I'm sticking with it. So Retaliator is the father of both Azmuth and Divi, a very humble and calm old galvan, who has seen a lot through his years, now retired and mostly just trying to keep the family together through small things.

Retaliator has the rare gene of having aqua/turquoise eyes, a recessive trait in galvans, similar to human with the red hair gene.

Retaliator looks younger than he should be, and that's because he is, in a way. You see, right before Azmuth vanished to start working on the watch, Retaliator fell ill to an disease with no known cure, and this caused the family to...kind of break down. A lot had happen up to this point (Things that will be noted throughout this), and none of them wanted things to end like this. So Azmuth did something he know he shouldn't have, as such a thing takes so much time and resource, and generally frowned upon, and ended up creating a new young clone body for his father's brains to be transferred too. By the time Retaliator woke up from surgery, his son was already gone, off in hiding. It this was event that really made Retaliator realize he may not have been the best father for a long time...

While he is retired now, Retaliator use to do work based around energy stuff.

Since he's family's back together, he likes to host game or movie nights, or even little dinners and get togethers.

He adores his grandsons, and loves to share stories from his past to them, and he's one of the few people they calm down around.

He will admit that he did...go a bit wild when he thought Azmuth died, fighting Ben in the Galvanic Mechamorph suit, but him and Ben have since made up, and the old galvan likes talking to the young lad often.

He has most defiantly embarrassed both of his kids by showing off baby photos of them.

He met his wife through work, like most galvans, with her being a much higher up worker. Surprisingly, despite their statuses, it was his wife who asked him out first, having found him very charming.

Retaliator can never thank Ben enough for convincing his son to come home, and despite their bickering, he enjoys seeing Azmuth's bond with Ben, as the two have a way of balancing each other out.

While he may be in a younger body, his mind is certainly still that of an old galvan, and can often act like his body is older than it really is due to the mental age of his brain.

-Azmuth-

Ahhhh, dear old Azmuth, how I love your character concept, and yet get so frustrated with your actual canon self...There is a lot I have changed in terms of his placement and behavior on the show, and while I can't note all of them down there, the major theme behind them is that he is not a complete jerk in them. Don't get me wrong, Azmuth would still have flaws and issues with his off-standing nature, but he would act in a way that feels more natural, showing his growth and change while mentoring Ben. He genuinely wants to help and is a good person, it's just...he still has a lot to work through. In terms of his slight redesign, I'll like to mention that if you look closely, his outfit is a mixture of his first original outside, crossed with his UAF outfit.

I did mention that I couldn't note all changes of him in series plots, since most boil down to be him being nicer and more realistic, but I will note one change because it's big enough to mention. For the Diagon/Forever Knight Arc, Azmuth did not create Ascalon, because I while I get he's smart and created things like the Omnitrix, I don't think he should be such a big source of dangerous artifacts in the series so often, especially ones that cause trouble. So instead, Ascalon was a weapon crafted in Ledgerdomain, to help fight Diagon who orientated there, and at the time had been trying to conquer earth, and Zenith leaving Azmuth happened because of miscommunication and issues between them instead.

That being said, Azmuth does get involved in the Ultimate Alien Diagon arc when Ben himself calls Azmuth over, needing his help knowing he can better understand Ascalon, and eventually entrusted Azmuth and the Galvans to keep it and the trapped Diagon safe.

Azmuth and his sister had a very rebellious phase as teenagers/young adults, this being the age that Azmuth said he was a lot like Ben, though admittedly, Azmuth was slightly more of an ass than Ben ever was. They were going through a tough time, and Azmuth reacted negatively too it all. Funnily enough, the one thing that seems to make him doo a 180 degrees in personality was his massive swooning crush over Zenith.

He won't ever admit out loud, but he does find Ben's trait of nicknaming his aliens kind of funny...

He shares a mentoring role towards Ben with Grandpa Max and Tetrax, with Max handling the more emotional and human side of Ben's problems, Tetrax handling the physical training and teachings, and Azmuth handling the more logical steps and hard truth Ben needs to hear. He's one of the few people to give Ben the smack of reality he needs from time to time.

That being said, Ben is also one of the few people able to handle Azmuth right back, and give him needed talkings to when the man is losing himself to a bad habit.

Mostly due to the fact that Tennysons seem to have a habit of making people very close to them like family, E.g with Ben seeing Kevin and Rook like brother figures at times, there seems to be subtle hints between Azmuth and Ben that there might be parent and child like moments between them, though both would deny it if brought up.

It doesn't help that Azmuth ends up taking it upon himself on making sure Ben is healthy and happy, based on scans from the Omnitrix he reads daily. Of course, he'll just say he doesn't want the boy he entrusted his watch with to die in a stupid way, but people close to either of them know that Azmuth really does care deep down.

He has said both "I'm too old for this" and "I'm too young for this" many times.

Azmuth has admitted that he's nervous around the Omnitrix, and doesn't like putting it on. He's not good at handling the idea of becoming something he's not...

The Malware arc for Azmuth was...a lot more complicated than canon. Azmuth really did try to fix Malware, but for some reason he couldn't, and it scared him that one, this might be the first problem he can't find a solution too, and second, he just came back from hiding and had been wanting to make changes in his life, so to fail and hurt someone already? He didn't know what to think. It didn't help when Malware started refusing his help and ended up endangering the lives of others, including galvans and Azmuth's own family. And despite it all, Azmuth kept trying over and over again to let him help Malware, but the villain always refused, until Azmuth eventually had to accept that he couldn't do anything. When Malware was finally killed, Azmuth went quiet for a good while, and needed time to recover from his mistake.

Due to some past issues, Azmuth mostly refers to his father by his real name, and only calls him dad or father during emotional or quiet moments.

Whenever they're hanging out, Ben likes to bring him and Azmuth cricket smoothies to drink together.

Despite how they seem to bicker often, Myaxx and him play off each other rather well, able to dry wit each other every day.

Azmuth and Albedo's relationship is also very complicated. Before Azmuth returned, Albedo was an outstanding Galvan and protégé, being praised every single day. This, unfortunately, made Albedo develop a prideful nature and his close minded views on the galaxy, as he rarely was ever put down or critiqued. His ego also got a bit of a boost when the great Azmuth took notice of him, and made him his assistant, and while he loved it at first, some issues started to arise when Azmuth wasn't like the other Galvans who praised Albedo to no end. That isn't to say Azmuth never complimented him and liked his work, but he was an honest man who knew no one was perfect, and especially wasn't going to worship someone, knowing what kind of ego that could make in someone. It doesn't help that Albedo just can't understand what Azmuth sees in Ben, and how the two bond, despite Ben's young careless nature, and being human. It ends up making Albedo want a lot more from Azmuth, the man he looks up too, and when he's denied that he eventually turns his back on the First Thinker. Azmuth can only hope that being able to turn into other aliens, and being stuck as human, will teach Albedo that Galvans, including himself, aren't what make the galaxy function.

Azmuth is typically one of the must unfazed people you'll ever meet.

Given most Galvans have an issue of seeing themselves as the top race, Azmuth is kind of fond of Blukic and Driba for being very open and helpful to outsiders, and was even the one to suggest them to join the Plumbers.

Zenith and Azmuth too meet up again eventually, and while they don't get back together, they do make amends.

Azmuth was fairly small for a Galvan for a long time, until he finally hit his growth spurt late into his teen years, something his sister use to tease him over.

Greymatter's DNA mostly comes from Azmuth, meaning Ben actually looks like a Azmuth when he was young, his family having made comments about Ben being his "Clone".

-Divi-

Here we have the twin sister of Azmuth, Divi. A dry wit, no nonsense, sarcastic and feisty single mother of her three chaotic sons. Unlike Azmuth's father and nephews, she was something I had to completely make up from the spot, since Azmuth was said to have nephews, that meant he had to have a sibling, so it was fun to create someone with an interesting dynamic with Azmuth. She is, after all, one of the few people to exhibit some of those petty family squabbles out of him. So I hope you enjoy her and her sons.

As mentioned before, Azmuth and her went through rebellious phases after some downfall in their family life, with Divi jumping around jobs and never settling for one, and even dating another Galvan that neither Azmuth or Retaliator approved off. When Azmuth first left Galvan Prime to go into hiding, Divi and her boyfriend had still been dating. However, when he finally came home, he found the boyfriend to be gone, and Divi now a single mother to three sons. Azmuth never got a clear story what happened to the boyfriend, but he knows that the break up was nasty, and that the boyfriend isn't on Galvan Prime anymore.

Sometime after Divi had her children, she eventually settled for a job in the nursery/incubation centre on Galvan Prime, looking after eggs and newly hatched tadpoles before they go home with their parents.

Divi is quite a blunt and honest woman, who has no time for dragging things on, and while she may sound harsh, she ends up just wanting the best for people. In fact her open nature of speech is how she gets people to listen and see reason.

Her and Azmuth had a...bit of a dysfunctional relationship growing up. Azmuth was actually a slow learning when he was young, and Divi had a habit of picking on him. They did eventually mallow out, until tragedy struck their family and they entered their rebel phases, and the bickering and arguing come from both sides. They have made up since Azmuth returned, but the two have their squabbles here and there, but they're mostly just playful banter or family habits.

Her and Myaxx get along quite well, and the two like hanging out with each other.

She's also fond of Ben since meeting him, and the two like chatting whenever he plays with her sons, he's even babysat for her a few times.

She has no interest in dating again anytime soon, and is proud to be a single mother.

She's the one who points out Azmuth and Ben's family like roles to each other often, mostly due to the fact that she understands what a paternal feeling is like, and because she's blunt about it.

She got her wisdom feet first out of her and Azmuth growing up.

While Azmuth was off in hiding, Divi reconnected with his father when looking after to him after surgery. So, unlike Azmuth, she mostly just calls him father and dad.

-Trapez, Cieven & Aegls-

The three mischievous nephews, sons and grandsons of the family. Left to right, Trapez, Cieven & Aegls, who are the triplets of Divi. The three are like glue, and are often playing or up to little tricks, creating chaos around Galvan Prime. While they mostly look the same and are all tricksters, they do have personality differences. Trapez is the best when it comes to emotions and the phycology behind it, something most Galvans struggle with, and can come across as the kindest of the three. Cieven has a lot of traits from Divi and Azmuth, being fairly intelligent and wanting to be a lot like his uncle someday, though does have some of their sarcastic nature as well. Aegls is the most energetic of the three, hype up often and quick with crafting and thinking of ideas. When you combine all three together, you get a force of endless chaos.

Their mother has been honest to them about who their father is, and why he isn't around, but the three have grown up fine without him, and will forever be grateful for the work their mother put into caring for them.

They were born while Azmuth was away, and so have been building up hype about their missing uncle for most of their lives, enough so that when Azmuth did come back, they all tackled hugged him while he was still understanding the idea that he was now in fact an uncle.

They love Ben and the Omnitrix, roping Ben into some of their pranks and shenanigans, and while Ben mostly tries to stare them into the right direction, he can't help himself half the time and joins in on the chaos, much to Azmuth and Divi's dismay.

They do become a part of my Ben 10 Next Gen Series, given Galvans take forever to age, and will finally be young tweens when the Next Gen takes place.

The three each have different dream jobs for the future. Trapez wants to be a psychiatrist or doctor, Cieven wants to be an inventor, and Aegls was to deal with energy based matters like his grandfather once did.

Never give these kids sugar or coffee, it will end badly.

The three...had a bad encounter with Malware during his rampage, and for a while were scared around Galvanic Mechamorphs...They get over it eventually, but Malware does haunt them for a long while.

They once picked up some colourful language from Azmuth and Myaxx when overhearing them once. You can imagine how Divi took that.

-The First Thinker Family-

The traumatic event that struck the family was in fact the death of Azmuth and Divi's mother, who was killed by someone who was after Galvan Tech. The family fell apart after that, with Retaliator falling into a deep depression and being distant from his kids, and Azmuth and Divi going wild in their teen/young adult years to distract themselves from the grief. They've all come together now and have been taking the proper sets to honor her memory, and become a family again.

While no one has outright said it, Ben has kind of become part of this little family in a few ways, and after a while Azmuth stops being survived when the boy shows up for family dinners or game nights.

They all live on Galvan Prime, though Retaliator is known to take trips here and there around the galaxy, wanting to see more of it during his retirement.

On the outside, many Galvans treat the family as there wise people, who have sage advice. And while that isn't wrong, once you get to know them they're a very chaotic family...

[selfwriting-sugarquills]

70 George Weasley headcanons in celebration of 700 followers!

A/N: I hate to repeat myself but I do still love and appreciate all 700 of you! Thank you for reading my stuff and here’s to 700 more! <3 

Find the 70 Fred Headcanons: Here 

George is well known to be the brains behind the twins’ operations. He sorted out finding the location for the shop in Diagon Alley, he came up with most of the names for their products, even if Fred came up with the idea for the product itself, and for the longest time, he was the one who sorted out sales and orders for stocking their wares as well as overseeing the owl post-service while Fred sorted the more practical parts.

It might sound crazy, but if you ask George, he didn’t actually like Fred very much until they were about eight or nine years old. George was a lot more quiet and emotional than Fred and frankly, probably feared his mother more than his twin, and so George always thought Fred was too brash for his liking. Eventually, as we know, Fred’s crazy ideas rubbed off on George, and he started liking his twin more and more until they became the inseparable duo we know and love today. Mostly this was because the two found out how well they complimented each other, which meant that whatever they got up to turned out a lot better than when they’d attempt the same alone. 

Fred added an extra oomph to their escapades, daring to aim just a little higher, and George was sensible enough to make sure that a little higher wasn’t too high. 

It’s only their older siblings who noticed this change and remember the times where Fred and George didn’t get along as well as they did, which is why Bill, Charlie and Percy tend to treat the twins more as individuals whereas Ginny and Ron are more likely to see them as a duo. 

Since George is more sentimental, he’s also the bigger worrier. Did they like that joke? Did that prank go too far? Is this worth it and what are we going to do if it isn’t? He’s usually also the twin who’s more likely to step back and apologise to anyone they’ve pranked or teased, not liking the idea of upsetting someone.  

This also means he’s incredibly considerate concerning relationships, he’s not afraid to voice his concerns and worries. If his s/o is struggling with something, he notices, worries and tries his best to support them. 

Essentially, if their s/o is upset: Fred is more likely to make a joke to make them laugh and take their mind off it, George is more likely to take them aside and talk to them about it, letting them let their feelings out for as long as they need, he’ll listen for hours if that’s what his s/o needs. 

Speaking of letting feelings out: It’s been pondered if the reason George is the better beater, despite Fred being the more brash and extreme of the two, is because he uses the quidditch pitch as an outlet for his aggression and considering his anger doesn’t just involve beating bludgers but also resorting to elbowing people in the face (or beating Malfoy up) I’d say that this is incredibly true for him. Most people share the opinion that if something angers George, he’d let it build up until he explodes (myself included) and playing quidditch is a good way to let off steam without it being directed at anyone in particular, making him extremely violent on the pitch, though after every game he plays, he’ll probably be in his most zen and relaxed state of mind.

I do also like the idea of George being very emotionally mature in the sense that he knows how his feelings tend to build up, and since George is also a worrier, he probably doesn’t like the side of him that explodes in people’s faces and yells until he’s done being angry, so: He does try to confront his feelings as soon as he feels them so they don’t get a hold on him. If he’s angry with you, he’ll tell you, if he’s upset because of something that’s happened he’ll tell you. If he doesn’t and seems all quiet and broody (cause he’s not a saint and sometimes he doesn’t confess his feelings) then it’s probably a good idea that you ask him about it. 

George is also not afraid to cry, or at least he’s not as afraid to show it as Fred. He actually cried quite often as a small child, as Fred will happily remind him. The only times George will hold his tears back is when he doesn’t want to make the people he loves the most worry, like when he lost his ear. 

He was so close to crying he thought his throat would split open but he kept it in while his parents and Fred were there; he couldn’t bear to worry his mother more. Not to mention Fred for that matter. Instead, he waited until he was allowed to take a shower and let it out as quietly as he could, though little did he know Fred was standing guard on the other side of the bathroom door, crying as well. 

George doesn’t want a lot of children, he’s so used to the large family dynamic. It’s not that he disliked having many siblings but he’d prefer to have a few kids, three at most and be able to spoil them rotten. 

George has only broken one bone. It was his collarbone from a bludger. Besides that, he has dislocated his arm once due to hitting a bludger too forcefully from a wrong angle and sprained his ankle from landing too quickly more times than he can count. He’s also been concussed from taking bludgers to the head twice. 

George is actually a bit of a neat-freak. He likes having things in order and in the right place so he doesn’t lose track of things. He can’t put too many things in cupboards because if he can’t see them he’ll forget he has them and buy more and more (cause ADHD, baby), so instead he keeps things where he can see them, though in racks and specific orders which Fred often messes up.

Generally, once they moved out, George was better at doing the housework and he didn’t mind at all. Doing all the housework means it gets done the way he wants it done. 

His favourite season is winter and his favourite holiday is Christmas because it’s “a time for family”. 

George prefers Molly over Arthur (though it’s a tough pick), and he especially loves spoiling her once the shop takes off. He’ll buy her gifts often and always writes to remind her how much he (and Fred) appreciate her. 

He’d never admit it but he also does this as a way of proving himself to her. It really hurt him in those years where Molly would disapprove of his and Fred’s plans and even when he found success he still grappled with the feeling of his mother not being proud of him, despite her telling him that several times. All this just added to his disliking of Percy when he was at his going through his insensitive-git-phase.  

 George’s favourite time of day is the evening. When everything’s quiet and still he can concentrate better. He wrote most of his essays and came up with most products for the shop during this time. 

George loves intimacy. He’s not big on PDA. Cuddling alone together, being all tangled up in each other and having whispered conversations when everyone else is asleep are more his thing. 

He does love being close to you in public though, he’ll sit next to you, hold your hand, have an arm around you, lean his head on yours, bump his knee against yours under the table if you’re in a lesson or at a meal together. Small yet intimate touches are George’s romantic love language. 

George’s favourite sweet is chocolate. Anything with chocolate is good. If there’s caramel or coffee involved too then even better, mint is also accepted (his favourite flavour of ice cream is mint chocolate chip and he will fight you on why it’s the superior ice cream flavour) 

George prefers tea over coffee and drinks AT LEAST two cups a day but can easily have up to four or five depending on how long his day is. 

George takes a lot of naps. He’d occasionally nap at Hogwarts, like most students. He really started after he lost his ear because Molly kept fussing over him and forcing him to go lay down and rest, then it became even more of a regular thing after the battle of Hogwarts when he’d stay with Fred at st. Mungo’s, while he got better, and then when Fred forced him to go back to work because “sitting here, is not going to make my leg work, now go make us some galleons you git!” he’d work the shop mostly by himself, well, actually completely by himself beside his employees, which was still a small team at the time and he’d often just have to excuse himself to go upstairs and take 30 minutes to nap before he’d pass out from exhaustion. 

George struggles with some sensory problems since losing his ear, he gets a faint ringing sound in his ear every now and then, and though he can hear out of his missing ear, it’s less than his other one and he struggles determining where sounds are coming from which is distracting sometimes. He also got a bit of vertigo every now and then as well as some nausea for the first few years after he lost the ear, it got better and better and today it barely bugs him, though he gets dizzy easily.

On the subject of the ear: George enjoyed telling his nieces and nephews (and heck his own kids too) these wild stories of how he lost his ear: he paid it as a toll to an ancient spirit to gain superpowers, it froze off on a particularly cold camping trip with their uncle Fred, a bludger blew it right off, he was possessed by the spirit of van Gogh…. the list goes on. 

George was also slightly self-conscious of his ear for a while, he often worried if people were grossed out by it, though with time he forgot about it more and more until he hardly noticed it himself. Now he doesn’t notice if others notice and frankly, he couldn’t care less if they do.

Fred and George mention in OOTP that they took turns testing products, George tested puking pastilles and ended up taking several days off because of what Madam Pomfrey thought was a bad case of the stomach flu, nosebleed nougat (he said himself how it kept bleeding and at that point he let Fred do more testing because Madam Pomfrey was starting to get wayyy to suspicious of him having some terrible disease that was thought to be long gone) and fever fudge though Fred also tried that one. 

George takes after his mother as a parent, his platonic love language is definitely cooking for his kids, making them hot cocoa and baking with them during Christmas breaks. 

Does he fuss over his kids as Molly does? Noo, absolutely not no. no way. no. no. (yes)  

George’s boggart is being left alone. 

Despite that, he hates it when people assume that he and Fred are interchangeable and incapable of being without each other. He loves his friendship with Fred, he’s very happy to be his twin but he’s still his own person and it would be nice to be seen as such and not just “one of the Weasley twins” 

Mostly his hatred of being seen as “one of the Weasley twins” stems from the fact that people always assume Fred first, meaning George has been mistakenly called Fred more times than he can count. 

George is very timid, to begin with, in any relationships because he’s worried his s/o wants him to be like Fred, and that they don’t really care about him as a person but see him more as an asset or “the next best thing to Fred” Which is also why he’d never marry Angelina after she’d dated Fred, even if it was just for a while. 

George spent his first salary from the shop on a gift for his mother, a necklace, and a mixed bag of sweets from Sugarplums'...He knows it’s stupid but he just wanted to buy as much candy as he wanted without feeling guilty about spending money for once. 

George is not squeamish what so ever. He has got a stomach of steel. It’s almost kind of freaky how unfaced he is but then again, he did invent and test puking pastilles and a product called you-no-poo, so he’s seen a lot.

George’s favourite dates are movie nights and going for ice cream. 

George (and Fred) regularly attends quidditch matches, they also love to go back to Hogwarts to watch their kids play (you know at least one of their kids would be into it, considering the Weasley’s history with the sport) and they always yell out their support v e r y loudly. 

George really likes wine. The older he gets he appreciates it more and enjoys talking about it without any knowledge on it at business dinners, he’s impressed quite a few potential clients and business partners by giving them a long tirade about wine, without a single thing of it being necessarily true. 

George (+Fred and Lee, lol) experimented with eyeliner for a short while, they stopped because it was quote-unquote: “too much work” which made a lot of their female friends roll their eyes because, oh you’ve no idea, do you, Weasley?

I mean someone had to test the wonderwitch products, right?

George is a very light sleeper, and since Fred is anything but that- what with his sleepwalking and tossing and turning- George rarely got a lot of sleep, meaning there’s a large percentage of his detentions in school that were solely from “inattentiveness” aka “falling asleep in class.” 

George always thought that if he really really couldn’t work with the joke shop, he’d be a healer. He doesn’t know if he’d be any good at it but it’s a nice thought and he does have a caring gene from his mother. 

George’s first sign of magic was when he was a year old. He summoned a blanket into his crib, so it wasn’t much. His first noticeable thing he did was three years later by blasting Fred off him when they were play-wrestling, he basically shocked him with a defensive charge which sent Fred flying onto his back. Fred’s reaction was sitting up, looking shocked, rubbing his head and then whispering: “cool!” They spent days trying to recreate it but to no avail. The story of the event has been greatly exaggerated by both Fred and George to their nieces and nephews. 

They still joke that George has a secret superpower that can only be unlocked by play-wrestling him. 

As George gets older, he requires glasses like his father, though mostly for reading and sometimes for working on products. 

George’s favourite genre of music is soft rock, he’ll belt out an 80’s power ballad any day (and preferably while cooking) 

Oh, cooking. George gets super into cooking and baking after the twins move out, he tries his best to recreate his mother’s recipes and is still to this day attempting to perfect her cornish pasty (a personal favourite of his) and every Christmas, George and Molly practically never leave the kitchen in the burrow, as George desperately tries to learn everything he can. 

George is the godparent of all Fred’s kids as well as Albus, Dominique and Lucy. 

George buys the best gifts, I’ve already touched on this, but he has a weird ability to get you not only what you wish for but what you really need. 

Also, his gift wrapping skills are out of this world (his kids + nieces and nephews will never not receive those gifts that are wrapped in like 100 layers of paper)

George loves pet names, he loves the overly sweet, cliché ones and the simple, common ones. His favourite to call his s/o is darling, sweetheart and, weirdly, pumpernickel (he just thinks it’s a funny word).

George’s favourite dates he’d take his s/o on is: museum dates, cooking for them at home, picnics and going to the beach. 

George actually kind of liked the Hogwarts uniform. It was easy to keep track of and it meant he could spend minimum time in hand-me-downs that rarely fit perfectly. 

George would love to have (and probably has already got) a dog, he doesn’t care what size or breed (but personally I can see him getting on well with a cavalier or a Stabyhoun) 

George (also) has a small size kink: He loves wrapping his arms around his s/o from behind, enveloping them in his jacket when it’s cold and resting his head on top of theirs. 

George is either full of energy and wants to do five things at once or wants nothing more than to lay flat on the nearest soft surface he can find and watch movies until he falls asleep. 

He often takes his s/o on random adventures, he does it as a way to escape boredom or if he’s lost his inspiration. He finds it helps to come up with new ideas if you throw yourself off your rhythm (if you get it you get it) by doing something random you don’t normally do. 

George has big John Mulaney energy and if his s/o ever showed him his shows, he’d probably never stop quoting them. 

George’s favourite body parts on his s/o: Neck, hands, lips (and butt) (this is where it gets steamy just fyi) 

George is very respectful in bed, he’s the type to ask “are you ok?” and “is this ok?” a lot, at least the first couple of times he’s together with his s/o until he gets to know them better. 

George def. has a praise kink, he loves giving praise but he also loves feeling like he’s appreciated and loved and doing a good job, you know? 

We all know George has a thing for lace, we’re way beyond that at this point. Consider silk, though. He’d totally be into silk over the lace, it’s a light fabric, pretty and really easy to tear away…. *wink* 

George is surprisingly good at opening bras. 

Generally, he’s really good with his fingers…

He has a pretty dirty mind when it comes to sex but is also super embarrassed about it so he’d only admit his kinkier thoughts when he really trusts and knows his s/o. 

I think he’d be pretty two-sided in bed, he loves the intimate, sweet sex but also the rougher, tearing-your-lingerie-off-you sex. 

He prefers receiving more than giving oral but it is by such a small margin, he’ll happily give. 

He can only last one round (maybe two if you give him a long break) but he’ll absolutely make it count.

George’s fav position is missionary. As much as he likes trying other positions, he prefers the intimacy of missionary. Plus he thinks being able to see your face as you unravel under him is really hot. 

[deepperplexity]

Prompt: 5. Memories

A/N: So, we are on day 5 of SNAPEMAS and I have a little longer fic for you today! Fair warning though, it is very mixed between joy and sorrow because I try to shine some light on tough subjects with my writing. I know it's a jolly time of year but it is also around this time of year many suffer - often in silence. So, with that said, I hope you enjoy this one!

Setting: Your home on a little hill covered in snow, Christmas morning

Pairing: Snape x Wife!Reader

ABBR.: │(y/n) - Your Name │

Word count: 4240

Warnings: Sexual content, Angst, Sorrow, Mentions of miscarriage, Fluffiness & Cute stuff

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST

Christmas, it's finally here! It was the first thing you thought as you woke from a soft slumber next to your husband. It was still early, pitch black outside despite the heavy layer of snow you knew was just beyond the frost-covered window. You sighed, completely content as you snuggled up next to Severus. His arms snaked lazily around you as he grumbled a 'good morning' with that raspy voice you adored.

You kissed his chest as you were tucked into him, your head heavy on his pale shoulder. "Good morning hubby," you purred and you saw a little smile tug at his thin lips. Your fingers traced idle circles on his chest, swirling in the black chest hair you always loved to drag your fingers through. He chuckled and moved his free hand to be beneath his head.

"How long do you think we have?" he murmured and it vibrated through your skin where your head rested against him. "'dunno, an hour maybe," you whispered back, he chuckled. "That's more than enough." Before you knew it he was on top of you. He held up his weight with his arms on either side of you as he snuggled in between your warm legs. Fitting perfectly together.

You giggled as your arms snaked around him; your warm hands landed on each of his shoulders before you moved them down his scarred back. You barely noticed all the marks he bore any longer. They were a part of him and nothing with him could be ugly. Not even the near-white marks that covered most of his back. You knew what memories they carried and you had been determined, from the first time you saw them, to take away his pain. As he did yours.

His lips travelled down your temple, cheek and jaw; ventured down your throat as he purred against you. A soft moan escaped you as one of his hands stroked down your ribs and hip; then up again. "Severus," you whispered and he hummed. "I love you," was his answer to your call of his name before his head dipped further down to your breasts as he kissed, licked and nibbled. "I love you too," you panted softly as your hands grabbed on to his back. Your nails slightly dug in and he moaned against your warm skin.

He ventured further down and your opening was slick with want. A feverish need pounded in you as he stirred you awake in every way possible. You loved him dearly. The perfect man that was yours to love and cherish, to care for and support. As he did for you in all ways possible. The way he made you tremble with arousal was just the biggest of bonuses. He was masterful in the art of seduction and just as skilled when it came to the actual deed. He never left you unsatisfied if he could help it.

"Oh, Sev, please," you pleaded as he suckled and licked at your most sensitive spot. As he tenderly stroked and sucked the little bundle of nerves. Your body stiffened ever so slightly as he hummed against you. It was a far better experience than any vibrating toy could ever give you. Could there be a better way to start of Christmas? No, no I don't think so...

"I love-" Just as he was about to say something you both froze. Then in a flurry of movements, he threw himself up and you both snuggled up to each other pretending to be asleep. You tried to calm your body and breathing, he was trying to do the same. You both inhaled and exhaled a long, deep breath and just a second later your door gently squeaked open. Just as you both were able to scold your faces into sleeping masks.

You pretended to be asleep as little feet padded the floor on their journey towards your bed. The mattress bent and the bed groined a bit as a little body climbed onto it.   "Mommy," a sing-song voice whispered. You feigned sleep and tried with all your might not to smile. "Mommy," the little voice whispered again, a little louder. But you did not stir. You knew to lay still and be quiet, pretend to sleep as this, this very moment, was your husbands favourite part of Christmas morning.

The bed dipped, someone small crawled over you and snuggled in between yourself and Severus. "Daddy?" the little voice whispered, "daddy wake up." You felt Severus stir as he feigned waking up with a grunt. "What is it my little princess?" he murmured with that raspy voice and you laid still, listened. Tried to still the yearning and pounding Severus had stirred in you a moment earlier. "I can not sleep," your daughter whispered with a sigh. Severus chuckled and you knew it was because she spoke like him. Said each word. She never used 'can't' or 'won't', not even 'I'll'. No, she spoke every word just like her father. Except if she was mad. Then it was a splurge of words of all kinds.

"You can not sleep, you say?" You felt the nod she gave. "Should we go and make breakfast then?" Severus continued in a hushed tone, "so mommy can sleep?" "Mommy is sleeping hard," your daughter said with a sigh and Severus chuckled. "She is indeed," he whispered and your daughter giggled as you presumed he gave her a little tickle or kiss to the top of her head. "Come on then." They both left the bed with muffled steps and you knew Severus was holding her hand and in her other hand his old, nearly worn out, pyjama pants of black silk was most likely clutched and trailed after her.

She had never had a teddy bear to fall asleep with or anything like that. No, your daughter had laid claim to Severus's pyjama pants when she was no more than 7 months old. His favourite pair. But he had given them up freely. You smiled at the memory of his shocked eyes as your daughter had screamed and screamed only to fall asleep instantly when you gave her the pants. They smelled of her father and it soothed her immensely. Since then, the king had lost his garment to the little princess who refused to share.

The door closed and you heard the stairs groan under their weight as you turned over and sighed. Sure, you had not had the satisfaction of sweet release but you had so much more to feel content about. So as you layed there you allowed memories to flash by. Some happy and some sad. Some horrible and some wonderful.

Your mind drifted away to Christmas's passed. The first Christmas you had ever spent with Severus had been a, well, trial. He had said no to music, no to garlands, no to Christmas cookies and star-shaped lamps. No to a tree and no to a party. He had blocked you at every turn as you had tried your darndest to decorate his house at Spinner's End.

Well, he lost that battle and every Christmas battle since, you thought as a chuckle escaped you. You had gone up at two in the morning and decorated the whole damn house in red, green and silver. Everywhere hung decorations, in the oven cookies were being baked and from the radio in the kitchen came soft Christmas music. You had ordered a tree to be delivered at exactly six in the morning as Severus was a bit of a sleepyhead back then and usually didn't get up until after nine in the morning.

You had moved some furniture and placed the tree smack in the middle of the living room and boy oh boy had it been decorated. There were all kinds of decorations and so much glitter you could barely see the tree beneath it all. The house was a Christmas Wonderland by the time Severus shuffled down from the bedroom and his face. HIS FACE! I can still not get over it, you thought and you had to muffle a laugh with your hand not to be too loud.

He had looked utterly outraged and shocked. His exact words were 'What devil has spewed Christmas all over MY house?! (y/n)! What have you done to my house, you wicked woman!' You had stood your ground and the minute he had whipped out his wand to take it all down you had snatched it and ran into the kitchen where the smell of cookies hit him like a wall of sweetness. And you knew, the battle had been won when he saw the gingerbread heart decorate with glace that spelt 'I love you, my sweet Grinch'.

He had choked on a rumbling laugh and he seemed to have lost the anger and outrage as he gingerly looked at the cookie you had made only for him. That saved my arse, you chuckled again as the clear sounds of breakfast in the making reached you from downstairs. "Daddy, I ... ham ... plate..." You could hear some of the words your daughter was uttering but the unmistakable sound of Severus's praise was impossible to miss.

More feet clapped and thudded against creaking floorboards. "Oh boy, you have your hands full now my Grinch," you chuckled and how right you were. Jolly voices rang through the house, chaos broke out as apparently everyone was awake and up - ready for Christmas. You heard the unmistakable sound of begging with words of gifts. Then grumbling about waiting only to be followed by shouting and feet stomping the floor.

Three, two, one- "Go get mommy!" There it is, my queue to save my poor husband, and here comes the cavalry! The door burst open and several little bodies filled the bed. "Mommy! Mommy! It's Christmas!" a boyish voice with a high pitch rang out and you opened your eyes only to grab all of your kids and gave them kisses as they struggled to get away while laughing. "It is my little darlings, it is!" you said with joy as you looked at your daughter and your three sons.  Happiness filled your chest and you could barely keep the tears away. You had not always been so fortunate as to have a family, to have children. There was a time when you feared it would never happen.

Jacob, your oldest son of nine years, fortunately broke your train of thought as he pulled on your arm. "Let's go, mommy! Daddy says we can't have our gifts yet!" he hollered with a disgruntled sneer he had learnt from his father long ago. He was adorable with his father's black hair and your eyes paired with his pale skin. "Daddy said so! Daddy's mean!" Ethan and William declared at the same time, their twin behaviour was getting almost spooky. Despite only being seven years old they already acted like one - no matter how hard you tried to make sure they always knew they were their own individual persons.

You sighed and shook your head, "daddy is not mean. Daddy is very nice and loves you very much. Don't hurt his feelings like that." The twins looked a little sad at that but seemed to quickly shake it off with a hasty nod. "Mommy, can you come now?" You looked at your daughter, little Elisa who had slid off the bed and stood next to your head. You smiled and nodded. "Let's go make sure daddy has set the table properly guys," you said and the cavalry filed out of the room in a thunder of hurried steps as the twins raced each other to get to the kitchen first; despite the fact you called after them not to run.

In the kitchen, Severus was preparing tea and coffee while your children messed up the table setting as they moved things around to their liking. You leaned against the door jamb as you watched the chaos that was your family. Your perfect little home with the messy fridge covered in the children's art, the worn floorboards, the creaking cabinets and that one drawer that wouldn't fully close in the little kitchen. There laid toys here and there, books as well. Now during Christmas times, there was even more stuff everywhere as you were crazy for Christmas decorations and your children seemed to have inherent that as well. But it was your mess, your family's things and it made you smile.

"Ah, there you are, about time," Severus smiled as he filled your cup with tea and his own with pitch-black coffee. "Hot chocolate! Hot chocolate!" Elisa hollered as she tugged on her fathers pants before you had had any time to answer him. "Alright, alright. Easy does it," Severus chuckled and gave you a silent look. You nodded and started to prepare the hot chocolate as all the kids swarmed towards you with their favourite mugs in their little hands. they were all twinkling eyes and wide smiles as they were dressed in their Christmas pyjamas and slippers.

You made each cup to their liking. Elisa's with rainbow marshmallows. Jacob's with whipped cream and chocolate powder on top. The twins, Ethan and William, preferred theirs with an extra scoop of chocolate and exactly five blue marshmallows. No more, no less. "Careful now," you chided as they started to walk towards the table with their filled mugs and they all slowed down so as not to spill the warm drink.

Again, it was chaos. Elisa only wanted Severus to make her breakfast, Jacob wanted to have more of everything, the twins wrestled for the same pieces of ham to put on their sandwiches but all were happy. And once everyone had what they wanted a soft silence fell as you all enjoyed a hearty breakfast while the littler radio played soft carols in the background.

You sipped your tea and nibbled on a sandwich as you made sure the kids sat properly and didn't flail their arms about too much. Severus gave you sweet looks and little smiles whenever little Elisa allowed him to not be fully occupied by her talk of reindeer and snowmen.

It didn't take long for the nagging about Christmas gifts began. You simply rolled your eyes, it was the same thing every year. The kids were always so preoccupied with the thought of gifts that they somehow always missed checking their stockings and you never reminded them before breakfast, always after. You had done that mistake only once and would never do it again as the whole breakfast was ruined. The kids only played with the things they had received instead of eating. It had been a mess and a struggle to get a Christmas breakfast that year.

So you smiled and hummed, added little words like 'oh no' and 'really' when needed as the kids babbled about everything they could possibly think of to try and persuade you to give them their gifts. Breakfast was always like that - full of talking that is - but on Christmas, you actually let them babble for as much as they wanted. It was a time for freedom and joy, not reprimands and silencing. And, who wouldn't want their children to feel like they always can speak to their parents? About anything. Well, you wanted them to feel that they could do just that.

When breakfast had been cleared away and you were about to tell the kids to check their stockings Jacob shrieked before you even had a chance to say anything. "Stockings! WE HAVE STOCKINGS!" he hollered loudly and for a moment everything was quiet and still. Then the cavalry literally ran to the fireplace where six stockings hung. You chuckled as both you and Severus followed silently. Holding freshly filled cups of tea and coffee respectively.

The kids played with their morning toys - a tradition your family had had for many generations. As a child you didn't think much of it but now that you yourself had children you understood why the tradition came to be in the first place. To keep the little ones calm, and occupied, for a few hours. Until they get the bulk of the gifts, you thought with a smile and a swift glance around the room.

Around your wrist were a silver bracelet, it had waited in your stocking. The chain was adorned with little letters in between even spaces. All the first letters of your children's names. Your husband had always been a thoughtful and caring gifter so you were not surprised to find something you wanted without even having known you wanted it to begin with in your stocking. He, on the other hand, was enjoying a rather hefty book. A muggle book to be precise; a collection of classics from Charles Dickens, Bram Stroker and Jane Austen.

Your husband would never admit it but he adored classical romance with all it's intricate emotions and linguistics. So you bough collection edition for him; just so he could pretend it was the other stories that fascinated him rather than the once with a lot of romance. Even if those were the ones he read over and over. In this particular collection 'Pride & Prejudice' was the most romantic story and you already saw him skipping to the latter half of the book to read it.

As you sat there -the kids played, your husband read and you enjoyed a fresh cup of peppermint tea - memories flooded in again as the happiness you felt poked at the less happy times that seemed to always linger in the back of your head. No matter what you did to cast those memories out. They were, truly, useless as they held no sway any longer. They were healed wounds. Merely scars now.

However, they pulled you back to the third Christmas you had had with Severus, the first one as a married couple. It wasn't a happy Christmas. The gifts he had given were perfect, the food delicious and the house sparkled with decorations as a hefty smell of gingerbread cookies filled the air. He had done it all. Severus that is. You, you had barely had the energy to get out of bed.

It was the first Christmas you could remember not being jolly, or singing, or dancing. Not baking or cooking or decorating. No, you had been curled up under heavy blankets with one of Severus's sweaters tightly held to your chest as you sobbed and cried for hours.  

The memory made you shudder, Severus noticed from the other side of the little living room. "Love?" he asked in that worried tone of his, "are you cold?" You shook your head but grabbed a blanket to put over your folded legs anyway. He arched a brow and you gave him a tight smile before your eyes returned to rest on the children, as they were playing on the rug before you. I'm so happy I have all of you, my little darlings...

But no matter how happy you were the memory kept pressing, as it had done every Christmas. Your children reminded you of it, more often than you cared to admit. But you didn't hold that against them and you never spoke of it. With them, your husband or anyone else.

It was 12 years ago and you preferred not to utter a word about it. After all, why speak of such horrible things as miscarriages with the lovely little humans that were your children. Why torment yourself and your husband with words of what was lost when there has been so much gain afterwards. It was just useless. And, usually, the memories faded away hurriedly after you just let them play out. It was still hard to allow them through.

But you remembered. Always remembered the pain, horror and dread from losing a child before it even arrived in the world. The emptiness, that hollow feeling where something - someone - would always be missing. You had only been three months pregnant when it happened. But the fact it had happened a mere two days before Christmas seemed to make the experience even worse. And now, now those memories were at their peak around the happiest time of the year.

But you never let it take over and you always cherished what you had. Four beautiful children, a loving husband and a warm place to call home. After all, some unlucky souls never got children. No matter how hard they tried or how many times they manage to get pregnant or how badly they wanted it. If it was a choice to not have children; you were happy for that person. But to never have children, or to miscarry, when you desperately wanted to have your own little family was nearly unspeakable.  

So, you never spoke of it. You were slowly getting past it even if the memories remained. But they were further away now. Not so demanding and not so vivid any longer. Scars rather than wounds. You were thankful for that. I have more than I could ever have hoped for, you thought and a warm smile spread across your lips as Elisa crawled up on the couch and snuggled into your embrace with her new dragon plushie held tightly.

"Do you like her?" you asked, your daughter smiled. "You think it is a she?" she asked, "I mean, it is green." You gave her a smile as you stroked her hair. She already spoke so clearly. A fast learner it appeared. "It can't be a girl because it is green?" you asked, your daughter pondered the idea. "It has purple spikes," she stated, "and purple eyes," she continued. "Elisa, you decide if it is a he or a she. Listen to the dragon, what is it telling you?"

Your daughter stared at the plushie and seemed extremely focused. "It's not a he or a she," she stated firmly. "Oh, what is it then?" you asked with a smile, she looked at you with her face set in a determined expression. "It's a dragon." You smiled and laughed, good answer my little clever darling. "That sounds very good sweetheart, what is your dragon's name then?" "Dragon," she stated flatly as if it were the most obvious thing in the whole world that the genderless dragon's name was just Dragon. Yeah, how could one not immediately understand that? You nodded with a wide smile - and a damn good try to not laugh at how cute your daughter was - and she returned to hugging the plushie; obviously happy with her own logic.

The memories of the sorrow and heartache, the loss, faded away and you sat with your daughter in your arms and a wide smile covered your lips. Life is good, you thought for yourself and as if faith had little tolerance for your enjoyment all hell broke loose as the twins stole Jacobs toy. They screamed and fought for the toy. All six hands grabbed after it. Severus was quickly over at them and settled the situation though so you continued to cuddle your little daughter.

It didn't take long for Jacob to come over and Elisa swiftly moved over to her dad where she seemed even happier to be curled up. You took Jacob in your arms, quite happy he still wanted to cuddle despite being nine years old and always proclaimed he was 'a big boy now' when you tried to hug him or kiss him. So you enjoyed it. Loved the moment as he talked about all the things his robot toy could do, how his robot had saved the universe and always remembered mother's day. It was quite amusing as Jacob always seemed to forget about that particular day.

You kissed the top of his head and he ran off to his room to play with the toy, the twins followed - always wanting to be close to their big brother - and Elisa was quick not to be left behind. A calm quiet fell over the living room and Severus came over to you. You smiled and he lifted your legs before he sat down next to you and placed your legs over his.

"Happy?" he asked with a glance at the bracelet. You beamed at him. "Very, you? Enjoying your new book?" you asked with a little wicked smile and he chuckled. "I know you know, but I'll be damned if I ever admit it." You laughed loudly at his words and he kissed your temple. "My sweet Grinch," you whispered and stole a quick kiss from his smiling lips before he had leaned too far away again.

"Think they will play for a while?" he asked as his hands stroked your legs atop the blanket. "Half an hour maybe, why?" He smiled wickedly. One of those grins that made your body vibrate with want and lust. The heat from earlier ignited instantly. "Let's finish what we started," he murmured as his hand slithered in under the blanket. Your cheeks flushed and you both knew you were playing a dangerous game out in the open of the living room. You hid under the blanket and in an instant, all thoughts of Christmas, gifts and losses were torn away from you as Severus took over your mind, body and soul yet again with the soft sound of children laughing and Christmas carols in the background.

So, before I write anything else - I know it's Christmas and it's supposed to be light-hearted, jolly fics and stuff but I still feel like holding true to reality as Christmas his a hard time for many people for different reasons. This being only one of them. And I do want to shine some light on tough subjects through my writing - I try at least - but I am trying to keep it as light as possible during Christmas. Considering it's supposed to be a jolly time ^^

So, I hope you enjoyed this little longer fic. I have been trying to keep my writing a bit shorter for Snapemas as I won't otherwise be able to do as many prompts as possible - hopefully all of them. But I will do a few longer ones when I feel it's required or I have the time to do it ^^ After all, you guys are used to my fics being a bit lengthy xD

Masterlist page // Masterlist post // SNAPEMAS POST

Tags: @lizlil​ @snapefiction​ Want to be tagged? 💚 You can tag yourself HERE! Or tell me and I’ll gladly tag you! 😍

[Dec:2020]

[pluviophile-bookworm]

HSMTMTS 2x9: so dreaded, so exciting, 'Sword!' (yeah, I went there, I've been thinking about this scene - you know the one - since yesterday for some reason)

After two computer malfunctions and a very tough, very sleepless night, here I am with a third attempt to write this post. The universe is against me today. Is Mercury in retrograde or something? Ugh, I just want to get this over with already. And I haven't even managed to see half the episode yet. You better like this cursed post because it's taken me two hours at this point, and will probably take another to finish - and that is if nothing goes wrong this time. Please bear with me. This is my reaction to HSMTMTS 2x9, take 3. Let's hope and pray it's the last one.

I'm normally [unpopular opinion alert] a very spoiler-positive person (it's the combination of anxiety and ADHD and a bunch of other stuff, I suppose), but for this one I've been refraining from looking at the tag all morning, so by now I'm simply bursting with impatience. But before we dive in, I need to get some stuff off my chest.

Some pre-watch thoughts and feelings (let's see how well they will have aged by the end of the episode):

Seriously, what is with whoever writes this show? I know it's impossible, but I feel like they've been toying with my emotions specifically all season. Like:

Ah, so you were a Rini shipper last season? Great, now we'll make them obnoxious and borderline toxic to the point where you actually want them to break up, but then their old chemistry will be back just for the breakup scene so that you can cry your eyes out over the one couple you couldn't stand - even though you can't seem to relate to a single song from Sour, we'll make you feel like you do for a hot second. At least it will remind you that you loved Ricky.

So you say Redlyn own your heart and soul? Great, we'll make you dread something going wrong with them for a week straight, and mess up your sleep schedule beyond repair over it. You're welcome!

We heard you said Rodfini give you life? Perfect, how about a big Seblos fight? And would you like a side of questioning your choice to stan Carlos with that? Because what is life without a little anxiety, a bit of doubt of your ability to read people, and a pinch of existential dread, right?

Ah, so you claimed not to ship Portwell romantically, is that right? Brilliant, we'll make you ship them and then we'll use that to torture you, too.

You've been excited about ABF and Asher Angel guest-starring ever since they were announced? Magnificent! We'll make you hate ABF's character to the point where you can't even look at him, and we'll make you call him names you thought yourself incapable of uttering. And as for Asher, you'll be left waiting for him until the last third of the season, and then you'll dread the possibility of hating his character, too. Do you love us yet?

Oof! Right then, I've got that out of my system. Time to dive in.

Miss Jenn playing around with the backgrounds is, like, 90% of the people who had online school this year, and honestly, I love that for her.

Wait, why is Nini first on this call? Are they going through with the Rose thing? Cos like, the song is nice and all (and, might I add, much more to my taste than nearly all of Sour, don't @ me), but if they use it, it will get them disqualified. They’ve been told that! Gosh, please let me be wrong about this.

We get it, Carlito, rich and fancy and over-the-top is kind of your thing, but have you stopped for a second to think about how others will feel about this? Especially Seb, whom you claim to care about. Seriously, though, I love Carlos and would not hesitate to die for him, but I’m getting the feeling that, unlike my other favourite (you know the one), he wouldn’t do the same for me. Oh well, he’ll figure it out. He’s just a kid. Give him time.

Wait, Milky White? Is that an Into the Woods reference I smell? Cool! If I had a cow, I’d totally name her Milky White (or Gertrude, but don’t ask me why). I just hope they don’t have to, like, take her to the market and exchange her for magic beans, if you catch my drift.

Ahhhhh, Caswell cousins content! We love to see it!

‘You guys are watching, like, old old movies’ WTH, Nini (or is it Nina)? Scary Movie is literally younger than me. But what do you know about it, you 21st-century baby! Ugh, I don’t know why I’m being so hostile today... must be the lack of sleep. Hope it doesn’t influence my reactions to the episode so dramatically as to make me forget how much I love this series. Because I do.

Yay! Big Red is here! I can finally smile. And did Ash just say they’re soulmates? Because yes they are! Ahhh my heart is going to explode.

‘Nini, have you heard from [Ricky]?’ Yikes, awkward... but of course, Big Red can be counted on to save the day here, too.

Ok, so that was a cool cold open. Time for some nice in-person scenes, though. I did not spend all of three semesters doing online school just to have the characters of my favourite series do the same.

Wow, Gina is really embracing that French accent thing! And I really don’t want to think about, erm, ‘Napoleon over here’ right now, but I really think the fact that she’s doing it better than him will be another piece of evidence towards my theory of fake-French!Antoine... ugh, I said his name. Oh well. Back to Gina. Too bad the French thing didn’t work out for her.

Ahhhh, Portwell with Ash in the background! And Ash is going to paint EJ’s nails! I feel like he’s going to end up loving that, despite what he says right now. But seriously, I just love how comfortable these two are with each other. Can you blame me now for shipping them as friends? Well, I mean, it’s obvious they will be more than friends, and somehow, despite the amatonormativity of it all, I’m here for it.

Wait, was that Asher? That was Asher, I’m 100% sure of it. And Gina said ‘a sign’ and then looked at him, even from the back... what am I supposed to think and feel here? I’m confused. Moving on.

Ahh, poor Ricky being a burrito... good thing that breakup scene last time reminded me that I love him, because the entirety of the season before that was very good at making me forget that.

Wait, did she say ‘the Bean’? As in, that Bean? The infamous Bean? LOL.

‘So the only time you two talk to each other is to gossip about me’ Boy, did I feel that. I once got my hands on my dad’s mobile and I... kind of went through his texts with mum. Yep, all about me and my brother. At this point I feel like they’re only together because of us. But this is getting too personal. I’m here about the episode, not to rant about my family. Moving on.

Yikes, looks like Nini’s got writer’s block all over again. Am I supposed to feel sorry for her? Because I kind of don’t. I mean, no hate towards her, none at all, but that entire scene just felt awkward and unnecessary. And not just because it’s her first time going live. That I can understand. What I don’t understand is why the writers can’t seem to do anything creative and interesting with Nini. Olivia is being wasted there. Idk, that’s just how I feel. Again, no hate.

Ahhhhh it’s Asher! And well, he’s not Jonah, but I kind of really like him as Jack. I wonder if that will last.

So is it just me, or is anyone else not quite sure how to feel about Ricky’s mum? I mean, their interactions seem kind of awkward and strained, but that’s how it’s supposed to be given their recent history, and yet something just doesn’t sit quite right with me.

‘You there, Muse? It’s me, Nini!’ Ah, so it’s Nini again? I didn’t get the memo. Gosh, this episode is kind of really underwhelming. The most exciting thing so far (but not nearly as exciting in practice as it was in theory) – Asher and Sofia’s on-screen reunion. The second most exciting thing? The thought of Ash painting EJ’s nails. Everything else? Kind of ‘whatever’. Is this what I tossed and turned about all night? Totally not worth it. This episode better get, like, 300% better right this instant. It’s just not worth all the frustration and excitement and dread so far.

Looks like my prayers from just now have been heard! That improv scene was hilarious! Guess it was lucky that Miss Jenn had them do improv before this moment. But I need to know more of Jack’s backstory now.

Ok, so that was awkward! So Kourtney is talking to Howie again, I guess. And I guess I know now what Carlos did that was all public and no subtle. Still, what’s wrong with posting photos from your holiday? Guess I don’t exactly know yet what Carlos did to piss the others off so much.

Great, now I’m tempted to google butterfly faces. Good thing I’m not eating anymore. *** Ughhhhh this was a mistake! Please don’t ever look a butterfly in the face if you want to stay sane. Don’t be like me.

Ahhh the Duke sweater! ‘Is that your boyfriend’s?’ Well, not quite yet, it’s not... *screams in Portwell*

Oh, now we’re talking! But seriously, Ricky? The ‘my friends think’ card? Why don’t you just say ‘I think’? It’s clearly something you’ve thought about a lot. I feel like I’m going to love this scene or cry over it or both.

Ooh, therapy. It’s not just... basically the entire fandom... who says it now. Please tell me that means Ricky will be going to therapy at some point. Says the girl who is currently firmly refusing to go to therapy in favour of hyperfixating on HSMTMTS and getting back into the good old practice of having imaginary friends... yeah, I’m one to talk.

My, my, my! Seb has really had it now. I mean, it was about time, but... not quite like this. My heart is starting to do some weird stuff, I can feel it. I might need to lie down.

Ok, so as much as I envy North High for getting to see so many shows on BWay – basically living out my dream – stalking East High on Instagram and being shady about them taking a well-deserved break... just goes beyond all limits. I mean, if you’re so into Broadway shows, you should know as well as I do what happened the last time a certain founding father did not take a break. Maybe you’re the ones in need of a break here.

Nini on the call with the Caswell cousins, though... ‘I’m obsessed with both of you’ – first relatable thing she’s said or done all season. And EJ playing with old toys is pure gold.

Oh, so Jack’s dad is a pilot. Makes sense, I guess. I’m kind of intrigued by this guy. Just as long as he doesn’t try to come between Portwell before they’ve had the chance to happen, you know...

Ashlyn might need to stop swooning over Nini’s songwriting or Big Red might get jealous... I mean, I would not have pinned him as the jealous type before 2x7, but ever since then... I guess insecure + dating a girl like Ash = the jealous type. And although that looks good on him, I’d bet anything it doesn’t feel particularly pleasant on his side. So... wait, why am I talking about Big Red? He hasn’t even got anything to do with the scene at hand. But then again, there’s been so little Big Red content in this episode that I seem to be trying to make up for it. Still. Stay focused.

Ooh, so Big Red did edit that video! Is there anything my boy can’t do? Ok, now I feel like he’s even more criminally underappreciated than he was before. But let’s look at the video. I’m curious to see the whole thing because that sneak peek from yesterday simply hasn’t been enough.

That was... really, really cool! I love how they took the ‘when they go low, we go high’ line from last time and run with it. Now if only they were putting as much effort into BATB... North High wouldn’t know what hit them.

Hmmmm... I guess Gina and Jack could be what I originally wanted Portwell to be... really cool friends. Unless it’s one of those ‘airport magic’ things. Oh well. It probably is. Was that all we’re seeing of Asher here? I did not wait 2/3 of the season for this. Though it was nice.

Ooh, Ricky’s solo song... why is there more Rini chemistry in this song than there was in all the season? Not counting the breakup scene, of course. Also, I feel like it’s just as much about him and his mum as it is about Nini. Some say music is the best therapy. I think they might be right. And no, I’m not crying. You are.

The granola bar, though... this episode might have been very underwhelming in the first half, but... it delivered in the Portwell front, and the music was *chef’s kiss*, so I’m willing to let it slide that the advertised Seblos ‘big fight’ was not touched upon nearly enough. Maybe next week...

Ok, now that we’re done watching the episode, let’s see how my feelings from the beginning have aged:

The Rini breakup: apparently, along with reminding me that I love Ricky, it has rendered me unable to look at Nini. What’s up with that? If this is some sort of tactic along the lines of ‘Olivia might be leaving the show so we’re making you hate her character so that you won’t miss her’, it’s not really working. Because I don’t want to hate Nini. Believe me, I don’t.

Redlyn: ok, so there’s nothing wrong with them whatsoever - we even got a ‘soulmates’, which I loved - but first they’re being swept under the rug, and then the antis come at us with that ‘their relationship is underdeveloped’ nonsense. Individually, though, I liked them in this episode (even if there was a significant shortage of Big Red), and Ashlyn collaborating with Nini again was cool, but... what I really wanted to see was her painting EJ’s nails. Did she even get the chance to actually do it? Maybe next week.

Seblos: I’m still failing to understand exactly what Seb thinks Carlos did wrong (please enlighten me if you did catch that, I’m kind of slow), but he (Seb) does have reasons to be mad at him (Carlos)... and at other people, too. Still, if you want to have a fight between two people in a relationship, you could do much better than whatever this episode was. Maybe next week. I notice I’m saying that a lot. Guess I’m putting a lot of hopes on 2x10. I just pray it doesn’t disappoint.

Portwell: boy, am I happy that my frustration on this front did not age well! What I mean is, apparently they’ve decided to bless us, not torture us for once. Even a rather disappointing episode like this one had to have some sort of silver lining. And Portwell is it.

Asher as Jack: well, luckily I didn’t hate him, but... it’s kind of the opposite problem. I loved him and now they’re taking him away from me. Guess I just can’t win here. Oh well. At least he didn’t have the screen time to get in between Portwell...

All in all: 2x10, my hopes and prayers are with you!

[songwritingtipsandtricks]

To be, or not to be a songwriter transcript

Hello and welcome everyone again, to a new episode of Songwriting Tips and Tricks. My name is Kieper, and I am really excited to talk to you again today. Thank you so much for the reviews and messages you send to me in the last weeks. If you like the show so far, please consider sharing it with friends that could benefit from it and leave a review on whatever platform you are using.

In the last episode, we've been talking about songwriting while at home during the corona pandemic and a possible lockdown. This time, however, I want to focus more on what a songwriter, in fact, is. Are we modern-day poets? Are we, full-fledged musicians or are we authors? Playwrights to some degree perhaps? What do the lines that we write really mean in context?

Maybe some of you ask themselves what art they are producing. And to be honest, I ask this question most of the time. I mean from a literature point of view, we are developing plots, we are searching for rhymes and words and maybe even look for the meter. On the other hand, as musicians, we try to make the lyrics fit the melody and meter of the music that was composed by us or others, or we are trying to find a suitable melody to words we have written. So what really is a songwriter?

One could argue that songwriters are modern-day poets. But this definition is somewhat limited. Because as songwriters, we do what feels right to us, and fits the music. We do not count the meter rigidly or know about iambs, dactyls or anything else. Another thing is that most of us write about day-to-day life. This sure is something to write about, yet it means that a lot of other issues are not being touched by songs. Many songwriters, think about marketing too early and write what might attract an audience. But that is not art, is it? I mean, you could be paid to write a song about something, but the most powerful songs are those that are inspired by things that happen to you or you observe. These songs also cover things that were not in the spotlight or only had little media coverage.

So if you are an aspiring songwriter, what would you chose to do? Would you like to write songs that are empowering people and have topics and viewpoints that no one else uses, or would you like to be someone creating standard pop songs that will be lost over the centuries, decades, or years? Because it is not those that do things like the rest that stand out, but those that dare to do something different. Perhaps when you are writing your next song, try to write about something else except love. Maybe you are familiar with Emily Dickinson, who was a famous American poet from the 19th century. Her poems got published only after her death, so she never got any credit for it in her life. She wrote about her experiences, and often time her thoughts on death and the life that follows. As a woman, she was not allowed to neither vote nor did she had access to a proper education. She was not religious or spiritual in any way. And despite all this, she kept writing and kept around 2000 poems hidden in a chest in her room. She wrote about everything that inspired her, not thinking about how to market it or how to put it on Spotify. Now you might argue, alright, there was no Spotify or anything like it at that time. You're right, and to make it worse, as a woman, it was appreciated to publish anything or have a perspective on things. But poetry was her life, so she kept writing but to save the reputation of the family, she never published anything herself.

I would call this dedication to art. If you want to have an insight into some poetry of this great poet, head over to Tumblr and search the blog to this podcast, as this month is the month of Dickinson on Songwriting Tips & Tricks.  

So songwriters are poets in a way, as we write poems in a way. But as I mentioned before, we need to find original topics to write about or incorporate to stand out and not just be one more songwriter. The most natural approach is to read poetry. Really do it every day. Ranging from ancient greek or roman poetry to modern-days there is tons of poetry or writings from philosophers that might ignite a spark of some sort and get you off that beaten track. Be the one songwriter in a room at open mic nights, that has read the most poetry and consequently has songs that carry something more. You will know how poetry works and how to build tension. Don't let the music do that, it hardly ever will do the trick on its own.

Are we authors? Well, in a way yes, as songwriters try to write a coherent story with different protagonists, and various narrative approaches. If you need more insight on this, listen to the episode "Wait, who's talking' to hear more about narrative situations. But most beginner songwriters do not think about structuring their songs beforehand. They just start writing.  Which is good of course, as we need to start somewhere. But have a look at famous songs, there is a clear structure in the plot. I am not talking about the verse, chorus or bridge, but about the introduction, central part, and the closure. It bears a close resemblance to novels sometimes. But we do not have 500 pages to get to the end, instead just 3 1/2 minutes until the end, or a minute to get to the chorus. So it is essential to know what to say when. People will need to understand immediately what the story is about and what to expect, even if the theme is new to them. Still, it is essential to surprise them at any part of the song. Structure your plot before and while you are writing. Try using a mindmap or a storyboard to help you structure. Try to know that character in detail, how she moves, how she looks, what sound her snore has and so forth. Try to find inspiration in people around you. Maybe let her say a phrase that your co-worker in your sideline in a fast-food restaurant says or have hair like a person on the train. Basing story upon facts from reality is a potent mechanism to make a story relatable. You could as well chose traits of characters from your favourite film or tv-series to adapt in your songs.

Are we playwrights? Well, that is a tough question, in combination with the previous question, I would say to some degree we are, but only while writing the song. We direct when a character is to appear and what it does. Adding the music, this is a lot more relevant. We need to know, at what point what part of the story is suited best, if the music does fit at all. You might as well want to put your favourite book or film into a song. Then it is crucial to strip it down to the key-concepts to make it fit the time frame. And when I say time-frame, this is a part that authors are less concerned with. We know that we have limited time to tell our story and we know when a change in the music happens and how it sounds. So perhaps think of yourself not as a playwright but as a songwright, as you are focussed on auditive input rather than visual input. The song is our stage, and we need to know what has to happen when, why and how.

So turning over to music. Are we musicians? Well, yes, of course. This is what got us started on songwriting in the first place, wasn't it? But think about your music education, have you been taught traditionally, or did you learn most of the stuff yourself? If you know how to play your instrument, do you play other instruments as well? Do you know music theory by heart or do you need to google all the times? Did you play in a band or know about arrangement through YouTube or other sources? How solid is your music background really? This is a question that bugs me most of the time. I taught myself how to play the guitar, and I have been singing my whole life, but I always doubt my musicianship. I'm binge-watching music theory fundamentals and teach myself other instruments to close these blank spaces that a traditional education would not have left perhaps. I even bought a midi drum set to work on micro timing with apps like melodics and co. Yes, we are musicians, but at what stage of our musical journey we are is in our own hands. It is essential to learn new things every day. If you don't, you will get frustrated. So consider taking half an hour each day to learn music theory, listen to intervals, learn fancy chords and songs that use it. Listen to new music even. Dare to make your own set of rules and break it again. This is how you grow, both in music and in writing.

So next time, when you are writing a song, use a random song and try to use the chord progression or time signature, combine songs and styles, take as much input from other as you can. Because this way, your music will always be different, but still yours. Your music will be instantly more exciting and attract audiences as it incorporates a lot of genres and styles.

So now let us talk about something, I am raving about. Painting pictures with words really is in the domain of poets, but try to imagine for a second that you were an artist and you have a blank canvas in front of you. Where would you start? What colour would you use? And in the end, what picture do you see in front of your inner eye? What should this picture invoke in the mind of an audience? Pictures might tell more than a thousand words, but the right or wrong words in context could meet or destroy expectations. Try to describe as vividly as possible, shed light on detail that was previously hidden. Dare to be the Picasso that paints melting clock. Try to be irrational in the creation and later judge what you've done. Dare to take bold turns. The song is yours, and if you do not want to share it with anybody, put it in a box like Dickinson did.

So much on what we as songwriters are. Do you have another comparison or idea, that could touch the work of songwriters? Don't bother sending any feedback or opinion you have via Facebook, Instagram, Wordpress or Tumblr. I'll gladly reply and perhaps talk about this in the next episode.

If you like the program, I'd really appreciate, if you rate and review the show or episode on the platform you are listening to right now.

Thank you again for tuning in once more and staying tuned on Songwriting Tips & Tricks.

[thisbluespirit]

Ten Favourite Characters

Memed from @mariocki​  And despite the numbering, not really in strict order, although I tried and no. 1 is definitely no. 1. 

10. Kathryn Janeway

"There are three things to remember about being a starship captain. Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship... and never abandon a member of your crew."

Okay, basically, me and Star Trek is: I like it if it has Captain Janeway in it.  If it does not have Captain Janeway in it, I might go so far as to mildly enjoy it from time to time, but Janeway is the essential thing.  I walked in one day and saw Kate Mulgrew on the screen and sat down immediately, eventually asking my friend, in hushed tones of awe, “Who is that?”  (I’m not even joking.)  (I don’t hate the rest of ST or anything, but, you know.  It’s not Doctor Who and it doesn’t have Captain Janeway in it, what can I say?  I like the one with the whales, too?)

9. Jenkins

“Magic is not an exact science. If it were, it would be science.”

With Jenkins (John Larroquette), The Librarians takes a mythical character I never gave a thought to, or imagined I would want to, and gave me All the Feels about him.  By the end of S1, I was drawing hearts around Jenkins every time he appeared and that happens all too rarely at the moment, so I think he has to go on this list.  (I’m a Doctor Who fan, how could I not love a grumpy immortal caretaker with a magic door and a heart of gold?) *draws hearts around him regardless of his disapproval and annoyance at said hearts*

8. G’kar

“No dictator, no invader can hold an imprisoned population by force of arms forever. There is no greater power in the universe than the need for freedom. Against that power tyrants and dictators cannot stand. The Centauri learned that lesson once. We will teach it to them again. Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.”

G’kar’s arc is just beautiful (from semi-villainous schemer to unwilling religious icon), as is every part of his epic relationship with Londo, and he is my favourite.  There was a period in S1 where there were about 7 episodes without him and I nearly died.  And, I mean, I really like Babylon 5 and everybody else in it, but that was just cruel and unusual.  Thank goodness it never happened again.  Andreas Katsulas was just brilliant.

7. Seventh Doctor

"That's what guns are for. Pull the trigger, end a life. Simple, isn't it?  Why don't you do it, then?  Look me in the eye, pull the trigger, end my life.  Why not?"

What do you do with a thing like Doctor Who in a meme like this?  I could do my top ten fave characters just in Doctors, let alone companions, before we even get started on minor characters, so let’s have my favourite Doctor do the honours for everyone here.  He hates unrequited love, loathes bus stations (terrible places, full of lost souls and lost luggage), and knows we all have a universe of our own terrors to face, and he’ll be back in time for tea.

With Ace, of course, who is also the best.  As are so many of the rest.

6. Servalan

"There’s no one as free as a dead man.”

It’s so hard to choose Blake’s 7 characters!  They’re all so fascinating, that’s why it still gets watched and loved.  If I’m honest it’s Vila or Servalan, and today I went for Servalan, which probably will save anyone from getting stabbed in the back.  I love me an evil lady and Jacqueline Pearce’s Servalan is probably my favourite villain in anything, especially in terms of characters who remain irredeemable, but are also plausible and interesting.  She’s certainly the most fabulously dressed, anyway.

5. Lynda Day

”I don’t do conversation.  Everything I say comes out like an order.  I say hello and people salute!”

Like every other girl of my very specific age demographic in the UK (Press Gang was watched by something ridiculous like 80% of its target teenage audience, which I don’t think has ever happened before or since), I wanted to grow up to be Lynda Day, dictator editor of the Junior Gazette.  It’s probably as well that none of us did, but she was the very best, and I remain grateful to have had her around, and Julia Sawalha was always fantastic right from trespassers will be exterminated to there are crocodiles. 

4. Silver

Sapphire: “You’re supposed to lose sometimes.”

Silver: “Oh! I wondered why I wasn’t having any fun.”

So, Sapphire and Steel are pretty amazing, right, but let’s be honest, I was always watching this for the red-headed guy in Assignments 3 & 6, and he did not disappoint.  I mean, Sapphire & Steel is the weirdest, creepiest low-budget thing with our srs bsns inhuman heroes and then suddenly David Collings turns up and makes light-bulbs glow and turn into glitter.  He is the sparkliest, no one can deny it and he can slide right into the perfect OTP and turn it into the even shinier OT3.  Not that that stops him flirting with everyone else as well, of course.

3. Regina Mills

“There's no redemption for me. There's only suffering. Because now I have a curse. The curse of knowing the difference between good and evil. And I'm caught between them. If I revert, I lose everyone I love. Henry, my friends, everyone. And if I go forward trying to be good, I have to live with my past darkness and all its well-deserved consequences... But for me, it's a simple choice really. I'd rather suffer than see that pain on the people I care about. This is my fate.“                            

Regina gets to go from being Once Upon A Time’s original OTT fairytale villain to hero (and plays out every possible shade in between, plus various cursed and alternate versions of herself, not to mention her evil doppelganger), and Lana Parrilla’s just amazing at All The Things.  I went from not even liking her to somehow letting her rip my heart right out of my chest when I wasn’t looking.  (Bonus shout out to her mother Cora Mills/Queen of Hearts (Barbara Hershey) too.)

2. Frank Marker

"Have you heard about old heads on young shoulders?  Well, you employ me, you get an old head.  You get old shoulders, too, but then no-one's perfect."

I’m with @mariocki​ here: Alfred Burke’s run down, small-time enquiry agent in Public Eye (TV 1965-75) is one of the most utterly 3D, real and compelling TV characters I’ve ever come across.  (With a bonus mention for the very lovely Helen Mortimer (Pauline Delany), because I might even love her a tiny bit more than Frank some days. <3)

1. Ruth Evershed

“I like to think no institution in the country is safe from me.”

I had to think about this long and hard a while ago, and Nicola Walker’s Ruth from Spooks | MI5 is still probably my favourite character in anything.  It’s tough.  But RUTH.  I love her so much.  There’s a S2 DVD commentary with Howard Brenton and Nicola Walker on her first episode and basically Nicola just sits there going, “I love Ruth.”  And I’m: “ME TOO.” From her first appearance, dropping the files, buggering the Home Office, and breaking the desk lamp to more serious, angsty, later stuff, she’s just so damn good at her job (and in Spooks that’s a tragedy waiting to happen).

It’s really hard to list only 10 though.  I’m an all-eras Doctor Who fan.  I’d need three posts at least just to start on that, I keep falling in love with characters from ancient telly and every now and then I even watch new things...

[leahpuckermxn]

Marvel Marathon || Gabrileah

Tagging: @gabriellaxdias and @leahpuckermxn

Location: Leah and Anthony’s Apartment

Date: 25/05/2020

Summary: Gabriella comes to visit Leah while she is off sick due to her last asthma attack, and the two begin to bond.

Warnings: No judging us for taking almost three months to finish this. The group moved locations twice since starting this and I can’t be bothered to edit the names. Also, my UK English.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Despite her tendency to keep people at arms length, guests were a fairly common thing for Leah. She liked having people around, as long as nothing was too deep. Leah got into the habit of keeping everything personal; bills, medication, family photographs, among other things, out of sight. She was sure that everything was put away, but that didn’t stop her from double checking once she invited Gabriella over for a movie marathon. She wasn’t even sure why she hid those things; it’s not like anyone would care enough to read that stuff. Maybe it was just an instinct she picked up throughout the years of being smothered by her mother over her asthma, which she appreciated when she was actually struggling with it, but her mother certainly knew how to overdo it. Once she was happy that everything was put away, Leah gave the apartment a quick tidy. Guitars on stands, cushions straight, trinkets organised. She wasn’t expecting Gabriella to take long, so she kept an ear out for the buzzer.

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella was excited to get to have a movie night with Leah. After the break up with her boyfriend she knew it was time for her to go out and spend time with people. Start making more plans apart from some things with a few close friends. It was important for her to do what she planned to do when she came to Doveport, to live her life. And that is exactly what she was going to do. Gabriella brought some extra snacks for them, it felt only fair for Leah being so kind to invite her over. She was always good company whenever they hung out. Which honestly wasn’t enough. When she arrived she rang the doorbell, smiling once the door opened. “Leah! Hi, it is great to see you.”

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Leah managed to tidy the apartment just in time. It helped that Jovi was sleeping, and not following her around chewing up everything she put back into place. She just finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher when she heard the doorbell. Once she heard the bell, she made her way to the door and pulled it open. “Hey, Gab! Come in.” She said, stepping aside.

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella smiled as she stepped in, "Thank you again for inviting me, I even came with snacks. I picked a variety since I wasn't sure of your favorites."  She offered, glancing around for a moment before looking back at Leah. Glad that they were getting to spend more time together. Not only had she always enjoyed spending time with her, but she had always admired her and her confidence. "Really though, I'm excited. I can't tell you the last time I really got to marathon Marvel movies."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Of course! A bit of company never hurts.” She said, with a smile, taking the snacks. Leah’s apartment was incredibly small, but it had a small balcony and basement storage space that she could put her motorbike in during the winter, which was the two most important things to her. “Why don’t you sit down while I set the Roku up.” She added, nodding to the sofa.

GABRIELLA DIAS

She handed over the snacks, hoping she made some good choices. Making good impressions and little things like that were always important to her. Gabriella nodded moved over to the couch and sat down, making herself comfortable. "So what do you think we should start with? I have seen everywhere that there is a certain order they should be watched in. Personally I always just watch my favorites or the new ones when they come out."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Leah set the snacks down on the coffee table, before sitting herself down on it and taking the main remote to turn the TV on. “Well, we could watch them in release order or chronological order.” Leah said, turning the TV on. “Those are the two most common orders. Release order starts with Iron Man and chronological order starts with Captain America.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella hummed as she thought for a moment. "Lets do chronological order, I always like it when things can tell a story." She got herself comfortable on the couch, leaning back slightly before crossing her legs. "I've seen them in the order as they come out but I am sure it is a lot more interesting this way. Do you have a preference?"

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Nah, I don’t have any.” She said, setting down the TV remote and picking up the Roku remote as soon as she finished adjusting the AV settings.  “Chronological it is.” She then made her way to Disney+ to find Captain America. It wasn’t too hard, though, since her recommendations was chocked full of Marvel and X-Men, alongside Star Wars and the more sci-fi based Disney and Pixar films. “How shocked would you be if I told you Mulan was my favourite Disney princess?” She said, jokingly.

GABRIELLA DIAS

As Leah went through the recommendations. Realizing how many more movies she really needed to sit and watch. With her busy schedule it was hard to really get into anything. When Leah spoke, she looked over with a smile. “I think it would make sense. Badass, confident, I think it fits.” Gabriella complimented with a smile. “Mine would have to be Jasmine, I loved how strong and independent she was.” It took awhile as a kid for her to really find a favorite. She remembered thinking it was a very important moment in her life to pick a favorite princess. Just the memory of it made her smile grow.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Leah smiled at Gabriella’s compliment, before finally selecting Captain America and and sitting herself down next to her. “That makes sense for you, too.” Leah remarked. “Pretty but refuses to be held back.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella's smile couldn't help but grow, "Well you certainly make it sound so much better when you put it like that." It was easy for her to give out compliments but hearing them was something she was getting use to all over again. "How about Marvel characters? Who do you see yourself as? Or who was your favorite?"

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“It’s true.” Leah said, with a shrug. Leah’s lips pursed at the question, she knew her answer, but she wasn’t really sure if it would count. Crossing one leg over the other, she glanced over to Gabriella. “Are we talking about just the MCU? Or Marvel as a whole? If it’s just the MCU, my favourite is Peter Quill, and I’d say he’s the one I’m most like... but if we’re talking as a whole, my favourite is between Wolverine and Storm. What about you?”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"I guess as a whole, I really have a lot to learn." Gabriella said before she chuckled, giving her focus to Leah. Bringing her knees up to her chest, her arms wrapping around her knees. "I love those choices," She said with a smile growing on her face again. "I always thought it was so interesting how Guardians of the Galaxy worked in its own world but also mixed in so well with Earth too." Gabriella started before continuing, thinking for a moment, "That's tough, I know I love Captain Marvel because she does such a great job of thinking on her toes. Just going with her gut. And I loved the Doctor Strange movie. But who I'm the most like? That is a good question, I'm not really sure. I get the feeling of being known and wanting to make my family and fans proud. That isn't too exciting of an answer is it?"

LEAH PUCKERMAN

"I just really loved X-Men since middle school." Leah explained, repositioning herself so she could focus on Gabriella. "Fox owns the movie rights to them, but I have read so many comics, so many cartoons. I also had a huge crush on Hugh Jackman because of Wolverine.... Have." She let out a small laugh, and glanced to the TV for a moment. She honestly forgot that a movie was playing in the background. "Nah, they're good choices. I only know who I'm most like because of many buzzfeed quizzes that I took."

GABRIELLA DIAS

“Maybe we need to have a marathon of those movies too.” She offered, she couldn’t say no to them if she watched them with good company. When she watched Leah turn to focus on her she felt her smile grow. Finally turning her body towards her, interested into learning anything that she could. She had always enjoyed spending time with her. “That is awesome, I’ve never read comics before but I’ve heard good things about them.” Gabriella laughed with her, “Hey no one can blame you, he is talented and good looking and a nice person. How could someone not?” She followed her eyes too the tv remembering the movie again. “Sounds like it’s about time I start taking some quizzes. I have a feeling once I start taking them I won’t be able to stop.”

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Well, I can never say no to an X-Men marathon.” Leah remarked, a quirky excitement to her tone. X-Men was by far her favourite franchise. She then nodded to her shelf full of comics behind the sofa. “I have a whole library if you ever want to start reading them. They’re fun and light.” She rested her head on her hand as she continued to listen to Gabriella. “Yeah, it’s not a good rabbit hole to fall down.” She said. “Only fall down those jokes because there just... honestly isn’t much to do in hospital.” Leah then let out a small laugh, to avoid the tone going bleak.

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Well then we'll make it happen!" How could she say no after hearing that excitement. "I would love that! I'll take any one of them you suggest." She couldn't imagine what it would be like to spend a lot of time in a hospital. She wished Leah didn't have to go through all of that, but she seemed to handle it so well. "I could only imagine," Gabriella started, a soft smile still on her face. "I hope it doesn't happen again any time soon but if it does you can have me to keep you company next time. I would hope I'm a little more amusing then those quizzes." She teased at the end, "And I mean if anything we could just take all of those quizzes together."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Leah gave Gabriella a smile. “Sounds like a plan!” She squinted at the shelf for a moment at Gabriella’s words. It would be easy for Leah to just recommend her own personal favourites, but that would be too easy. “You might like The Vision and the Scarlet Witch.” Lean took in Gabriella’s following words, and briefly thought about her last stint in hospital. It really bothered her much more than she ever let on. “At the very least, you’ll be better than the crap they put on the TV when I’m in intensive care.” Leah said, with a smirk. “You can’t use technology in there, so the TV is all you can watch. They just put on bad reality TV. Not even the kind that you can laugh at like Jersey Shore. It’s just... bad and boring.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella looked over at the shelf, amazed at the collection. It had always been tough for her to keep things like that with all the traveling she had to do. "I look forward to reading them then." If there was any time to try new things it was while she was here in Sanders Bay. "I would be now? I would be honored to be that great of company." Seeing her smirk made her smile grow. "Wait seriously? That's terrible, that is the kind of stuff you watch with company so you can make fun of it." Gabriella teased, trying her best to keep the conversation light, she couldn't imagine it being easy to think about. "And I'm great at tv commentary."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“I know, right?” Leah said, letting out a fragment of a laugh. “But all the old ladies in the room with me live for it. The one on the bed next to mine didn’t appreciate my opinions on property value one bit.” If there was one upside to intensive care as an adult, it was the weird trivia that she stored in the back of her brain from these shows. “Next time I’m stuck in hospital without my phone, I’ll call you.” She pondered that sentence for a moment, letting out another laugh. “I’ll have someone call you.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh, "You'd think they'd like a fresh opinion on things but it can't be that easy." She teased, her eyebrows rose at what she said, she made a fair point. She didn't really know the first thing of what it would be like to be in a hospital. But she relaxed at her next words. "Good, I'm glad." Gabriella said with a smile, glad to hear her laugh again. "I'm interested in hearing the various opinions on the show. Sounds like that alone would be amusing enough."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Boomers, man.” She said, her eyes rolling at the thought of her many hospital roommates. “I miss the children’s ward, sometimes.” Leah remarked. “Everyone there were much more chill.” She shuffled in her seat again, giving Gabbie a smile. “Good, because I have strong opinions about reality TV.” She joked.

GABRIELLA DIAS

"I could only imagine." Gabriella replied, a small smile still on her face. "I hope in the midst of all of that there are some highlights too." She hoped at least, she couldn't imagine what it was like. "And at least now that you're home you get to enjoy good shows and movies." Her eyes glancing back at the television for a moment.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“The staff there are nice.” Leah said, her mind wandering to McKenna and Tessa specifically. She’s always had a huge appreciation for people who worked in hospitals, ever since she was a child. She wouldn’t be alive without access to medical care; access that she could honestly see herself losing. Leah tried to not let that crushing fear show on her face as she turned her attention back to the TV. “Yup. I didn’t get to see Chris Evan’s ass in hospital. That was sorely missed.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

When she looked back at her for a moment she gave her a small smile, "That is really good, I'm glad to hear that." Glancing between both her and the movie they had almost forgotten about. Gabriella laughed at what she said next, her smile growing, "What a pity they can't take that honor away from you for any reason." She joked, stealing a glance at her again before looking back at the tv. "If there is any great motivation to try these movies it is certainly the good looking and talented actors. I can't wait to get to learn more about them."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“I had that privilege back in General Ward.” Leah said, with a smirk. She took another glance at the movie, it was very rare that she just straight up forgot about a superhero movie. She really loved her superhero movies. “They finally let you have internet once you leave intensive care.” She explained. “Then I can go back to being an obnoxious Gen Zer who has no idea what life is like without her phone.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

“Well that’s an improvement, at least then you could watch what you want.” No matter how hard she tried she knew it would be hard to focus on the movie. It was so nice to get to know someone, learn about what their life is like and what they enjoy. And she was certainly having a great time learning about Leah. “I could not imagine what that’s like. I’m not even on my phone often but I am so use to having that ability to reach over for it. I know very stereotypical of people our age.”

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Yeah, and there’s more people my age there.” Leah remarked, thinking of the faces she saw in both wards for a moment. It was a shame that most of her hospitalisation in Intensive Care when General Ward was much more tolerable. “I mean, how old were you when you got your first phone? I know I got my first one when I was like... fourteen. That’s ten years with technology constantly at my finger tips.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

“Id imagine that’d be better or at least I hope so. Easier to talk to too.” Her next question brought her back to memories of working and being on sets. “Oh god when was it?” Gabriella thought for a moment, “Honestly? Probably eight or nine. But didn’t get social media until I was older. It’s crazy isn’t it how use to it we are. And who knows what else will be invented in our lifetime. Maybe more of the Marvel universe will become a reality.” She teases glancing back at the movie for a moment.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“I can’t even wrap my head around an eight year old having a phone.” Leah said, with a small laugh. “But nowadays, I guess five year olds are just out there with the latest iPhones these days. My first phone was my mother’s old Nokia.” Leah glanced over to her own phone, a second hand iPhone that the guy at the store told her was good but affordable. She couldn’t imagine living without her smartphone now, and it amused her and concerned her. “I couldn’t live without a smartphone now.” She remarked. “If they do, I’m first in line for superpowers.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh with her, "Well if I wasn't working on so many sets I don't think I would have had it. My parents just liked having contact with me. Wanting to know how I was and general updates." Nodding though at what she said, "It is crazy to me but times change, I suppose." Knowing how much she relied on her phone it wouldn't shock her if younger generations wanted it too. "Me too," She started before her smile grew, "Oh really? And what will your power be?"

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“So your mom was like... never on set with you bulldozing the whole thing?” Leah said, with a small laugh. “I guess the movies have been lying to me. Though I do wish I got one sooner now that you put it like that. Maybe my mom would have let me leave the street when I wanted to play outside.” She couldn’t help but think about all the freedom having a phone gave her once she got to high school. “Honestly? I kind of want super healing like Wolverine. His metal skull is cool too, of course, but the healing would be sick.” She remarked. “What about you?”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"She was sometimes, I always had someone there. A family member or an agent. I was very lucky she didn't try to take control of anything or force me into jobs." Gabriella couldn't help but laugh with her. "I mean they aren't all wrong, some parents are just like that." She nodded in agreement, "It was great and being able to always call was even better. I swear they gave some of the best pep talks." The memory making her smile soften. "I think that is a great power to have." She started before thinking for a moment, "God, I feel like so many would be great to have. I guess it has always been a tie between mind reading or teleportation."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Well I’m glad she didn’t bulldoze, and she made sure you were safe at the same time.” She remarked, knowing her own mother sometimes struggled to find the line between the two. “Isn’t it? Imagine just being able to survive anything, live for hundreds of years and still be hot throughout it all?” She said, before going to listen to Gabriella’s answer. “Interesting choices. Any particular reason for them?”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Sounds like an option to be a vampire of some sorts would be just as fun." Gabriella offered, just like she knew her fair share about superhero movies she also knew about the supernatural ones too. When she was younger she really enjoyed them. "But you know you would look good regardless, superpowers or not." She assured with a smile before thinking for another moment. "Well...I think sometimes it would be nice to know exactly how a director or a scene partner would feel. Sometimes there is so much to assume but actions it would be nice to know it in words. But the teleportation? It would be nice to get to travel and see more. Or also work in LA and New York and be able to jump here more often."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Yeah, but Wolverine doesn’t burn in the sun.” Leah remarked. “Burning in the sun while living near a beach is just a cruel curse.” She added, with a small laugh. She didn’t know much about vampire lore, but she was pretty sure that was a huge aspect. “I’m not going to look this good at eighty. It’s just a fact. No one does. I’m holding out for my tipping point being sixty, though.” She added, with a small smirk. “I’ll be on those click bait ‘dermatologists hate her’ articles, living the dream.” Leah rested her head on her hand as she listened to Gabriella talk, a small frown forming on her face, but she quickly turned it into a laugh. “So it’s all about work? Superpowers are meant to be fun, Gab.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh with her, "Okay you make a great point! That would be far too cruel." She shook her head but gave her a small smile. "I am sure you will be beautiful always. Plus looks aren't always the most important thing." She assured. "Not all about work! Those were just the two perks I could think of that would work with those powers. Being able to teleport could also just give me a chance to travel more. I really didn't get the chances to explore many places if I worked there." Gabriella offered but Leah was sort of right powers were suppose to be fun. But work has always been the most important thing to her.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Exactly. Going to the beach when it’s nice out is one of the best things about this town.” Leah remarked. “That and the stunning bar staff, but I can’t exactly get a kick out of myself, now, can I?” She teased, giving Gabriella a small wink. “Finally!” She said, letting out another laugh. “Travel, that’s a really fun way to use a superpower. But what about mind reading? Can you think of a fun use for that?”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Well who says you can't? There is nothing wrong with knowing how great you are. I really admire it." Gabriella said honestly, but her smile still grew at the wink. "I know how to have fun, I swear." She insisted once she heard Leah's laugh. "Well I think it would be nice to know how to make people happy. Figure out what they really think or need. Plus I wouldn't mind knowing what goes through some people's mind."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“It’s not like I can check out myself as I’m serving myself a drink, is it?” Leah joked, with another hint of laughter. “Unless I had that multiplication mutation like that bank robber in The Last Stand.” Leah interjected, thinking back to the third X-Men movie. “Aw, that would be a fun power.” She turned her attention back to Gabriella, a soft smile on her lips as she spoke. “You’re gonna have to prove it to me.” She remarked. “I can see the fun in that. It’d certainly come in handy when trying to hook up with someone. It’s better to know sooner rather than later if they’re into some weird shit.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Looks like I'll have to catch it on video for you. Seems like a happy medium." She laughed with her, her smile growing. Raising one of her eyebrows at what she said next, "Is that a challenge?" Gabriella couldn't help but laugh again, "You know when you put it like that, that is another great perk of it." Shaking her head for a moment before resting it on her hand as her elbow rested on the back of the couch. "Figure out if the two of you really do click or not. It may seem like such a silly thing to think about with how important looks are to hook ups these days. But in my eyes that actual chemistry and attraction feels just as important."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

Leah let out a small laugh, and shook her head. “It seems like my only option, so go ahead.” Leah shuffled in her seat yet again, and took another brief glance at the movie. “Maybe.” She said in a teasing tone. “Oh, it’s all about looks for me if we’re talking about a one time hookup.” Leah said candidly. “I just need to know if they’re a furry or something. I’m not doing that shit.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Well if that's the case I can't back down now, can I? I hope I can manage to prove it." Not being able to help but tease back, enjoying the banter. "I guess you make a fair point there. Maybe I'm not quite use to that scene." She admitted, she tried her best to be careful with it in the big cities. Her eyebrows furrowed at her next words, "Oh god, yeah. No shame but that seems like a big no thank you to me." It was stories like those that made her glad that she was quite selective."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“I hope for your sake that you manage to, as well.” Leah teased. “But if you can’t, I’ll be more than happy to show you.” She added, thinking back to her own childhood and how different it must have been to Gabriella’s. “You never just hooked up with someone?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Oh, shame all the way.” Leah said. “This is coming from someone with a gross old man kink, so that is saying something.”

GABRIELLA DIAS

"Well when you put it like that maybe you would need to show me a thing or two." Gabriella said with a smile, "I feel like my fun may not be the most exciting. All I really knew was going to some parties, maybe knowing how to sneak away without being noticed." She thought for a moment, "Well I've had one or two, but mainly flings I guess is the word for them. I didn't have a really serious relationship until this last one I was in." Her eyebrows rose at what she said, "Oh really? Well I guess in some ways I could see that."

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Name the time and place and I will.” Leah said, with a smirk. “Well, who were you sneaking off with?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. “Ah, I see. I’m not really into the whole relationship thing, either. I was never actually in one.” Leah let out a small laugh. “Am I that obvious?”

GABRIELLA DIAS

“Maybe sooner rather than later?” She asked not being able to help but notice her smirk. It sparked some excitement inside of her. “Some...people I knew.” Gabriella said suddenly getting a little bashful. Ducking her head down for a moment glad the conversation moved to relationships. “Wait no...no I didn’t mean it like that! No just I could see how someone could find some older people attractive. I’ve had my own crushes on older actors and actresses.” She admitted, shocked that she even did that. It wasn’t often that she would open up to people but it seemed to feel okay with Leah.

LEAH PUCKERMAN

“Sooner works.” She said, the smirk on her face only growing wider, let out a small laugh at Gabriella’s explanation. “Alright, alright. I’m glad that there’s someone out there who understands it at least.” She responded. She then turned her attention back to the screen. “Maybe we should pay attention to the movie. Not that this isn’t a great conversation, but we’re so far in already.” She said, noticing how far into Captain America they were. She took her superhero movies seriously. Leah shuffled in the spot and turned her attention back to the TV.

[doomedandstoned]

An Interview with UK Sludge Mongers SWAMP COFFIN

~By Shawn Gibson~

Let's take a moment to get everyone acquainted with you. Where is Swamp Coffin from?

Jon Rhodes (guitar/vocals): We’re from Rotherham, England. The armpit of the North.

Shawn Denton (bass): It’s a bit grim but it’s ours. Yorkshire is the best place in the world.

Dave Wistow (drums): It was either “Swamp Cough” or “Swamp Coffin”, it was a tough choice.

What are your favourite bands from this area?

JR: Disaster Forecast are a great fast hardcore band from Rotherham and there’s Bodach who are a riffy two-piece. Down the road in Sheffield there’s Kurokuma, Ba’al, Deltanaught and Blind Monarch. We’re lucky to have such a thriving local scene.

SD: Depends on how “local” you mean for the Area but if you think about a 15/20 Mile radius of us, there are the ones Jon has said, but we’ve also got Hidden Mothers, Temple Steps, Son of Boar, Gandalf the Green, Drawn from Ichor, Spaztik Monkey just far too many good bands. Not only that but we have some great venues and promoters such as Holy Spider Promotions, The Green Wizard, Circle Sounds etc who just make the scene thrive not only locally but are a linchpin to that scene across the country.

Why do you guys play sludge/doom? Would or do you play other music?

JR: I think we’re pretty lucky in that we can chuck in elements from a few styles into our songs and it still works. I’m a big death metal nerd so being able to add those sorts of riffs and vocal styles to the slow NOLA riffs we all love is perfect for me.

SD: I can’t play anything else. I’m self-taught and that’s just how my bass playing is. I love all sorts of weird and wonderful and varied stuff, but at the crux of it, I just love a big nasty groove.

DW: I’d have to hit the gym if we wanted to play anything faster.

Name a great book you have read.

JR: I like a good autobiography. Ozzy, Schwarzenegger and Bret Hart’s books are all great reading.

DW: Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton, that’s the last great book I read.

SD: All of the releases by 27b/6 David Thorne is my hero. Such a wanker

What gear do you use and setups to create this badass heavy music known as Swamp Coffin?

JR: Volume and fuzz are the two main ingredients. I like old solid state amplifiers, a Big Muff, a couple of overdrives and then the signal is pushed even more by an EQ pedal so I’m hitting my amps as hard as possible. Guitar wise it’s a stock Telecaster copy with single coils.

SD: Don’t even get me started, big old solid-state peavey head and jazz basses. The pedalboard is mostly COG Custom stuff. He’s a local fella from Sheffield and is an absolute wizard. I run 6 drive/gain stages with various stacking and combos for different songs for a different feel. As a three-piece we need to make sure we can still achieve that WALL OF SOUND and for me, I need to make sure I can cover a broad frequency spectrum and cover some of the typically “rhythm guitar” areas to allow Jon that space and freedom to take lead sections without it feeling like something is missing. This is a section I could bore you on for hours.

Flatcap Bastard Features by Swamp Coffin

What are "flatcap features" and who are the "bastards" wearing them?

JR: I’ve always wanted our music to represent where we’re from. We were stuck for a name for the EP and did a thing on our Facebook asking for title suggestions. Flatcap Bastard Features stood out. To me, it invokes the area’s hard-faced steelworkers and coal miners. Also it gives us an excuse to use Sean Bean saying “Bastard” for our intro tape.

SD: Everyone is Bastard Features, just not all wear flatcaps.

What heavy bands influenced Swamp Coffin?

JR: Crowbar, Down, Eyehategod and C.O.C are the obvious ones but I’m hugely influenced by British extreme bands like Carcass, Iron Monkey and Labrat.

SD: For me, the obvious is Black Sabbath, but also bands such as Iron Monkey, The Abominable Iron Sloth, Deftones, Kyuss, Karma to Burn, Dozer, Truckfighters, Hangnail. I’m more from the Groove/Desert/Stoner side of things.

Who are some current bands that Swamp Coffin is listening to these days?

JR: Goblinsmoker’s first EP is still on heavy rotation. I’m a big fan of Conjurer, Employed to Serve, and Slugdge who are all doing different but amazing things for British heavy music. I’m always trawling Bandcamp for something new and horrible to listen to.

SD: Definitely not Tides of Sulfur. Fuck those guys. [editor: he was joking, they’re actually good friends.] I'm digging loads of underground bands at the minute, Battalions, VOW, Torpor, Wallowing, Hidden Mothers, Blind Monarch, Under. There are just so many good bands and so many good releases at the minute it’s impossible to keep up.

Tell me about an awkward time that Swamp Coffin has had?

JR: It took us near enough two years to find a bass player that would stick around for more than a couple of practices, that’s always awkward when they don’t want to come back! Shawn is as big a cunt as me and Dave so he fit in perfectly.

DW: Those two are always creating awkward situations, I just sit back and laugh.

SD: I feel most awkward when we’re turning down shows, especially when its promoters we don’t know or have a relationship with. It feels awful as we’re offered some really killer shows with some great bands, but we all have families and full-time jobs that we have to prioritise and plan around.

On your Bandcamp page your picture shows you guys messing around in the back yard and smiling. I love it and think we need more of that! People looking hard or like they are straight from Satan's asshole in these pictures sometimes!

JR: I don’t mind bands doing serious faces and folded arms, there’s always a place for anger in this genre, it’s just not us though. That picture was taken at a family barbecue at Dave’s house and is us just fucking around and having fun. I like that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

SD: We play in a genre that at times, falls victim of taking itself too seriously. For me, this is fun, it’s a release and time to do it for me. I’m not a dark and miserable person. I love having a laugh, and taking the piss and trolling and winding up my friends. If you take a look at our Facebook page, as much as there is the serious promotional stuff, a lot of it is us having fun with the fans of the band and other bands we know and love.

Are you guys playing any shows or tours?

JR: 2019 was our first year as a gigging band despite us being together for three years now. We’ve played some amazing shows with some amazing bands so hopefully more of the same for 2020 and beyond. Our first gig of the year was with UK legends Raging Speedhorn in February in Sheffield, after that we’ll see where we end up. If anybody wants to book us on Bloodstock or Damnation we won’t say no.

SD: We’re not in a position to do a “tour” at the minute although never say never. Like Jon says We have Raging Speedhorn in Feb, which is a personal highlight for me and can’t thank Greg at Record Junkee enough for that show, and we’ve got a couple of others waiting to be announced. We’d love to play a few festivals, big ones and the small, local underground ones. For us though, it’s about playing shows with other bands we love and enjoy.

Something I like about your music is that it's heavy as hell and has a groove about it! Please tell me a little about your process for songwriting.

JR: Generally, I’ll turn up to practice with a few riff ideas and a rough idea of where I’d like the song to go and the overall vibe. I normally jam these out with Dave and we improvise sections until we hit on something cool. Shawn is the glue that holds it together and chucks his bass line ideas on top, brings the groove out and helps keep things interesting. Lyrically, I just try and scream about whatever is pissing me off at that point in time.

SD: Riff on the root and see what happens. Jon comes up with the bulk of the riff ideas, I’m not an ideas man, but I’m the sort of guy that once I hear the framework of something can come up with ideas and approaches to change and shape it. It kind of just happens, there isn’t a process of sorts. Just play until its right to our ears.

Hey Ho, Stolen Logo by Swamp Coffin

"Last of the Summer Slime" is my new jam! I love the end where it slows way down. Tell me about this song and was it fun to make?

JR: I loved recording Slime. We were bouncing a few ideas around for how to end it and Owen Claxton (who recorded the EP) suggested the ending you hear on the record, everything slowing down and detuning. It’s 13 minutes long so we wanted to almost reward the listener for making it that far with the ridiculous ending. The song is about my kitchen burning down last year and the shitstorm that followed it so there’s a lot of venom on that recording and when we play it live.

DW: I think we started out with that slow riff at the end, did we not. We built the whole song around getting there. It was pretty fun explaining to Owen how we wanted to record it.

SD: This is one that just happened naturally. I really wanted to try some stuff down-tuned a step further to A, we started jamming and then there was a song. It just kind of happened. But as Jon says, the ending is all Owen, great idea of his to fuck with things in that way and fuck with the listener. I think he captured us, our approach and who we are extremely well there.

What is in the future for Swamp Coffin?

JR: We’ve got a few tracks lined up ready for a follow-up record and we’ll hopefully be in the studio mid-next year. There are a few more gigs lined up and we’d love to try and get on some festivals. After that, who knows? We’re just enjoying taking each day as it comes.

DW: Beer?

SD: Who knows, it would be good to get a release out there on a small independent label. Vinyl would be nice but who knows. Mostly it’s just taking it as it comes, play the gigs we want to play and hope people like it.

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[bbs-backlog-challenge]

BB’s Games Of 2019

2019 as a year felt like it lasted two years, and a lot happened in my personal life. Got a new job, learned to drive, got my first car, moved out of the in-laws’ basement into our first real apartment, started my first long-term game of DnD (which in itself has involved a new relationship and an emotional breakdown)- and between it all I somehow managed to play 77 games. Backlog’s down to 35 titles, lads- at this rate, I’ll be down to zero by July 2020. (Not gonna happen.) In 2020, I’d like to explore the SNES catalogue a little more, but before that happens we have to review everything 2019 brought me, in a somewhat chronological order.

- Near A Tomato Carry-over from last year’s post since I was in the middle of playing it at the time. I definitely never quite got a handle on the combat and I think some of the themes went over my head, but I still had fun here, and the 9S hacking minigame never got old. It was a gift from an old friend who I miss. Was nice to reconnect. - SSBU With my new main Zelda, I cleared all of WoL and got every spirit on the Spirit Board. I never really used her before but she’s cute now! Really liked the attention to detail in the spirit encounters. Unfortunately, Cloud is still in the game. - Mega Mans 1 2 and 3 I actually spoke about my experiences with the Mega Men in my BBLC post for Mega Man Eggs, so you should read that right now. - Metroid Samus Returns It’s Good. Like, a solid Good. Never Great, never Bad, just Good. It’s nice to see one of the least accessible games in the series get a remaster, but it feels very disposable, if that makes sense. Like they just needed a Metroid to keep people busy while they reboot Prime 4 development. AM2R is vastly superior, go play that. One point of amusement- the game tells its story without narration, and also seems to pre-suppose you know Metroid lore. I was entertained by the thought of a newcomer to the series being completely mystified by the sudden space-dragon that comes out of nowhere to wreck you at the end of the game. - Khimera: Destroy All Monster Girls You can click here to download it, ‘cos it’s free, which is almost criminal. This is one of the higher tier games I’ve played this year. A little bit Mega Man, a bit Metroid, with hints of Touhou and Undertale, it’s pretty tough at times but never to ‘precision platformer’ levels. It’s a lot of fun and the dev deserves your support. - Steve And Ollie RPG Oh, I made this one. Making something else next year? Question mark? - Prof Layton 3 Feels like these are getting weaker as they go along. The story has always been absolute boohockey, but the puzzles feel like they’re degrading in quality too. With over 200 in each game, that’s not super surprising, and I’m glad they didn’t bulk it out with a load of the awful block-slider puzzles. Still, it’s Layton, if you liked any of the other games you’ll like this cos it’s the exact same thing. - Fault Milestone Two Yo, there ain’t a damned thing I can say about Fault, so go play the first one and then play this and you’ll understand. - Full Throttle I never bothered to finish it. The obtuse old Sierra puzzlers were hard enough to deal with back in the day, and just feel kind of inexcusable now. I don’t have the patience for it. - eXceed 3rd Slick and fun bullet hell with a nigh-incomprehensible story and great music. Touhou fans will like it. Music by SSH who is relatively well known in doujin circles. - ASAMU Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Eternal Senia Everything I said in my post rings true- do your best to look past the wonky translation, because there’s a heartfelt story underneath it. Very accessible gameplay, by design. - Inivisble Inc You have never before been, nor will you ever again be, so aware of having left a door open. I fully expected to hate Invisible, but I got hooked pretty hard. Quite tempted to do another run of it once the backlog is clear. - Pyre GOTY. Supergiant’s best game so far, and that’s not an easy thing to say for this Bastion veteran. I sobbed by the end. I’m not being dramatic- literally sobbed. Please play it. Music and writing and, just, heart, are all top tier. All the Nightwings are the best, but Hedwyn is the best best. - Ellipsis Finished it before writing my BBLC post! - Just Cause 2 I found myself getting bored very quickly. The main missions are all identical (really, they are) and the side missions are very uninspired. Blitzing around in a jet or grappling around a mission target is a lot of fun but it feels very shallow. There’s a lot to do but not really any reason to do any of it. I dunno, it’s a kind of hollow experience, that I nonetheless had fun with. - LiEat It went over my head a little, but that’s more on me I think. These horror-esque, eccentric japanese RPG Maker games usually do. But, it’s neat, and short. If this sort of thing usually sticks on you, I think this is a good title. - Shantae Pirates Curse These games always felt non-essential to me; I’m not sure why they never stuck. They never really go below or above Good. Entirely enjoyable but I don’t feel like I’d have really missed anything if I hadn’t played them. It is, however, absolutely worth investing in for the utterly superb sprite work. That doesn’t sell a game by itself, I know, but Shantae is a pixel art masterclass. - FF5 I’d more or less finished it by the time I wrote my BBLC post, so I don’t have much to add. It’s a refreshingly goofy entry in a series known for taking itself too seriously, even compared to its predecessor. Look forward to my entry for this game in my Games Of 2020 post, having played the Four Job Fiesta! - Touhou 17 It’s mid-tier in the touhou hierarchy, IMO. Didn’t set my soul alight but I did enjoy it. Playing as Wolf Marisa makes the final boss too chaotic to really enjoy, but playing through again with Reimu made it more fun. I beat Extra on my third run through, which gave me false confidence that after 10 years I might actually be good at these games- to then be quickly humbled by attempting Th11’s Extra. Final Boss’ theme song has one of the greatest lead-ins of all time, especially given you start the fight by running away from her! Also really loved the Stage 4 theme as you barrel head-first into Hell (the real one this time), and the haunting, calm-before-the-storm serenity of Stage 5, overlooking the City Of Beasts. - HackNet + Labyrinths GOTY. (Yes, I know I already said Pyre was GOTY; it’s my post, I can have two GOTYs. Make your own damned post!) It’s hard to say what I loved about these games without spoiling too much- just know that they play very much like investigation games, and figuring out the puzzles feels great. Labyrinths technically takes place during the events of Hacknet, with a somewhat more Black Hat approach to things- despite this, play all of Hacknet first, and then play Labyrinths. The expansion introduces a lot of new stuff and much trickier challenges, such that going back to the base game afterwards to finish that would leave it a little hollow- a disservice to how great the ending is. - Mega Man X I said everything I wanted to say in my BBLC post, and anything I didn’t cover was better said by Egoraptor. - Octodad Finished it before my BBLC post! - Chroma Squad The final mission is disappointingly poor, but everything up to that point was pretty good. Huge variance and creativity in the bosses. However, the most fun I got from it was when I realised the game allowed me to customise my team name, transformation name, and other such terminology. Dave, Dayve, Davy, Davina, and Dehve shouting “It’s time to Chromatise, Chroma Squad!” very quickly became “It’s time to shit, you bunch of fucks!” and it was funny every single time. (Personal favourite bit of dialogue- “I tried to shit! It worked!”) - Pyrite Heart Finished it before my BBLC post! - Starfox 2 Finished it before my BBLC post! - Burly Men At Sea Finished it before my BBLC post! - Disc Room Finished it before my BBLC post! - Kokurase Finished it before my BBLC post! Should have broken these ones up a bit! - Metroid Rogue Dawn Very, very impressive romhack let down by a distinctly un-fun final section. They managed to fix so many of OG Metroid’s problems, I’m surprised the gauntlet of terribleness that is Tourian escaped with only a cosmetic change. Nonetheless, it’s free, and the other 95% of the game is superb, even from a purely technical standpoint. - Wuppo I dunno what happened here! I was full of praise for Wuppo when I played it, but somehow I just couldn’t stick with it and just never felt like playing it. It’s a very aimless game, and I wonder if that might be why? It’s a shame, I feel disappointed in myself for not seeing it through, but ultimately I play games to have fun and I just wasn’t quite there with Wuppo. - Super Mario Odyssey I loved it, obviously. I wrote my BBLC post towards the end of my time with Odyssey so most of that stands- I do want to add that the controls always felt a little loose, like I wasn’t quite as in-control as I was in Galaxy. Also Mario prioritises walljumping over ledge-grabbing and it’s super-hard to unlearn that instinct after 20 years. Finally- Long Journey’s End is just bullshit. - Secret Of Mana Dropped it pretty soon after Finning it. There’s some logic to the way the game works, some kind of hidden turn-order system, that I could not at all figure out. My AI companions (useless, btw) would hit an enemy which meant I couldn’t, except sometimes the hit would still register but only actually go through 3 seconds later, without any way to tell which way it was going to go. It takes like 7 months for your character to get back up after taking a hit. It’s just, wonky, and I couldn’t solve the puzzle of how to make the game do what I wanted to do. - Pokemon Shield Still working my way through it. It’s- yeah, it’s pokemon. Get a similar vibe to Sun/Moon with it that it’s kind of unfinished- lots of small (and some not so small) parts of the game just feel like there were bigger plans that couldn’t be realised in time. I’m still enjoying it! They did a great job of making the gym battles, and the whole process of 8-badges-then-champion, feel like a spectacle. I think only the anime has managed it to this degree before. - Earthbound Man, I really, really want to like this game, but the battle system is terrible. I need to play through the game again buffing my party up with cheats or something, because it’s so unbalanced and cheap. Everything else about the game is wonderful, but I got so frustrated with the fights! - Mario Kart 8 Didn’t play any of the single player this time, it was midgi’s christmas present so I just joined a couple of multiplayer games. Absolutely baffled that the game features F-Zero style anti-gravity courses, has Mute City and Big Blue, and even has the Blue Falcon as a selectable vehicle, but they haven’t put Captain Falcon in it. Like he’s ever going to get another game of his own? Let him have this! - Carmageddon 2 It’s pretty clunky by now, being 20 years old, but still plays well enough. The physics are super loose so you slide around like your tires have been buttered. It was more fun when they were zombies instead of just normal people. Missions are brutally hard and should be skipped with cheats. - Neopets After 15 years of playing, I finally got a Ghostkersword. The site as a whole has gone through a lot, and certainly its heyday is long gone, but there’s no other game quite like it. I’m playing the Food Club every day, still. - SIF New phone can’t run the actual gameplay section well enough, so I just log in occasionally to grab free scouts. Here’s another one whose golden years are behind it, sadly, but I certainly still have a lot of affection for SIF. - FF1 Mobile version, which fixes a lot of the bugs with the NES original. This year I completed a solo run with 1 Red Mage, a 4-black belts run, a low-level run, and a 4 White Mages run (which ended up being a lower-level run than the low-level run). I’m fairly comfortable in calling myself an expert in FF1, now. There’s still not really any other games like it- build a party as balanced or imbalanced as you like, and see how they fare. I’d like to build my own game in a similar style, one day. - Re: Live Gacha games and RPG just don’t mix! Both gacha and events do not gel with core RPG mechanics of your character(s) developing in strength as the game goes. It seems impossible to balance the game well- do you cater to the whales who spend and spend until they have the strongest teams possible, meaning the free players or the terminally unlucky can’t stand a chance, or do you cater to those players and give them no reason to spend for the more powerful characters? It’s a shame, because the anime was baffling but in that enjoyable way where you just kind of go with whatever it throws at you, and exploring that in a non-freemium game with a solid beginning middle and end would be really interesting. - Tiny Thief Mobile game that’s not available any more, I think my BBLC post covered it well enough. - F-Zero One of the criticisms most commonly levied against F-Zero is that it wont hold your attention for long. While that’s true, it’s not like you have to make a purchasing decision about it any more- it comes bundled in with the other games you’re buying, so the only investment is time. Ignoring that, it’s still fun to burn around the tracks, and the sense of speed hasn’t ever diminished. The music, too, is underappreciated, with Port Town being my personal fave. - F-Zero GX I can’t believe Nintendo hasn’t done anything with this ridiculous universe for 15 years now. The cutscenes are so hilariously overwrought, and the cast of characters is huge! It could so seamlessly intersect with the Starfox universe, too. There were rumours of a Starfox Racing title some time ago, and I really hope that’s the case. It’d work so well (by which I mean, a particularly enjoyable kind of awful). Anyway, the game still plays great, Story Mode is WAY too hard, Dr Stewart’s theme is a Tune. - Stratosphere This game is from 1998! Build a flying fortress, deck it out with fortifications and weapons and power supplies, then use it to destroy other fortresses. I only ever played the demo as a kid, never got the full game. Took some cajoling to get it to work on modern hardware, but eventually I got in and it wasn’t worth it at all. Wow, that performance, apparently it was designed to run at a terrible frame rate and it wasn’t just a result of my 1998 PC not being up to the task! A shame, but I guess it put one of my ghosts to rest. - DKC 2 The best of the three SNES games, despite the inclusion (and protagonism) of Diddy Kong. Lots to love here, but the OST is top notch. - DKC 3 Not as good as 2, but IMO better than 1. There was a much heavier emphasis on gimmick levels in 3, not all of which hit their target, but does provide a great deal of variety. Consensus is that 2 is better, but if someone claimed 3 was the best DKC, I’d let them get away with it. - King Arthur’s World (SNES) Speaking of putting ghosts to rest… We somehow always managed to get this game whenever we got a SNES, and kid!Beebs most certainly didn’t have the patience for it. Adult!Beebs barely does, either. It’s a very ambitious attempt at some sort of RTS/Puzzle hybrid, somewhat comparable to Lemmings? King Arthur must make his way from his starting position to the throne elsewhere in the map to claim it as his own, using the myriad abilities of his soldiers to get him there in one piece. I decided this year that I was finally going to play through the whole damn thing, start to finish, for the first time ever. With copious use of save states and rewinds, I was finally able to slay this demon. For as fiddly and frustrating as it is, I would still say people should check it out if they have the tools to do so- there’s not really anything else like it, on SNES or otherwise; you’re guaranteed a unique experience, if nothing else. - Oscar (SNES) Terrible. - Spanky’s Quest (SNES) With a name like that, how could I refuse? It’s a weird little puzzler, aping (wahey!) Bubble Bobble and Parasol Stars a little. You’re a monkey who can blow bubbles that stun enemies, but if you bounce the bubble on your head it gets progressively larger and can be burst to send a barrage of similarly-sized sports balls at your opponents to knock them out. You know, just like real life. - Addam’s Family (SNES) This easily-dismissible movie tie-in is actually a very competent platformer with some very, very light metroidvania exploration involved. Gomez has to go through Addams Mansion and rescue the members of his family who have been kidnapped by… something. There’s hidden secrets everywhere and the family can be rescued in any order you like. Genuine recommendation. - Panel DePon/Tetris Attack The only vs puzzler I enjoy (yep. Not even puyo puyo. I know.) I played the HECK out of this in my teenage years, and got crazy good at it. Tendonitis says I’m not allowed to do that any more, but once I shook the rust off I was still pretty strong! It was released as Panel DePon in Japan and was fairy themed, but for the western release they replaced all the fairies with Yoshi characters and renamed it Tetris Attack despite having nothing to do with Tetris at all. Up to you which you prefer- language isn't too much of a barrier here. Soundtrack is killer. - Subsurface Circular Finished it before my BBLC post. Still not decided if I liked the way it ended. - Master Of Orion 2 C’mon. After playing three other pretenders to MoO2’s throne, I had to give the real deal a couple of spins too. It’s Civ 5 in space. Customisable race builds. A whole galaxy to bring peace to, by whichever means you prefer. Would love for someone else to get into it. - Touhou 8 Last minute entry I just played yesterday ‘cos I wanted some Touhou and I haven’t played this entry in a long while. A Solo Marisa Normal Final B run, if you’re interested. Kaguya beast-mode tearing apart the Spell Of Imperishable Night at the end of the game is still an awesome moment, but it’s a shame you can miss the last couple of spells if you take some unlucky hits. - And here’s the list of Bins, which are all covered in their BBLC post: No Time To Explain MoO Skyborn Jumpjet Rex StH 4 Ballistick Munch’s Oddysee Outland Project CARS RiME Magicka Waking Mars Urban Chaos Divinity: Dragon Commander Strike Suit Zero Hell Yeah! Lambda Wars Beta Stranger’s Wrath MoO 3 XCOM Lots more Fins than Bins this year! Good to see!

[greengargouille]

So like I've been scrolling through some of your Ass Class stuff because your posts are neat, and I kept seeing villain posts mixed with your 3-E posts, which made me think of a weird question: If we ignore the fact the villains did bad things to the Class E characters, like if we have an AU without Takaoka punching kids or Gakuhou enforcing unfair rules, who do you think each student would get along with most? You don't have to do all the students, just maybe a few of your favorites!

Aww, thank you Anon for this sweet message! And for your patience because I sure took my sweet time writing this. Also it’s going to be long. Be warned.

To be honest… I’m not sure how to tackle this question. If Gakuho don’t enforce unfair rules, then class E as it is can’t exist, ie no separate building, no ‘only one teacher for all of them’, no exclusion from club activities. Which means the story of AC can’t exist, as Korosensei’s presence would be found in like… three days. And without Korosensei around, you don’t have Shiro, Takaoka or Nidaime. Which is kinda a problem if we want them interacting.

So, for this, let’s just ignore all the reasons all those villains would or would not interact with class E students. They’re just… here, I suppose.

Now, let’s go on and define who do I include as villains. Of course, we have the main four, Gakuho, Yanagisawa ie Shiro, Takaoka, and 2nd gen God of Death aka Nidaime. But… should we include every antagonist? I’m sure you will agree that Gakushuu and the other Virtuosos, while big rivals, don’t really count as ‘villains’. Nagisa’s mother? She’s certainly a villain, and actually my current favorite of the lot, but also she doesn’t have enough development to really see how she would act without the abuse. The three hitmen? End up being friendly in a way, if you include then you must also include Irina, Itona and Kayano to the villain lists, so no, they’re antagonists. Then I guess there’s Houjo or that random soldier in the anime, but nobody care about them. You might as well talk about Kunudon instead. Is that your true goal, Anon. Make me talk about Kunudon. Right, I thought so. Let’s just talk about the main four instead.

Before we go into which student would have who of the four as a favourite, we need to understand how would they interact with them without punches, kidnappings and all that.

Gakuho is probably the easiest to imagine, from his flashback personality and his post-assassination attempt moments. A cordial man who have his students’ interests at heart, able to speak about many subjects (and might brag a little about that), but have a few tricks up his sleeve to get them to study (like how Ikeda had one daily chance to defeat him every day), or just casually insert learning opportunities in conversation (the way he suddenly ask Terasaka how much chances Korosensei had to win). Frankly, the only students who would have a problem with him are probably the Terasaka gang, as they aren’t fond of authority figures, and Takebayashi, who don’t dislike authority figures so much as would feel a lot of pressure in interacting properly and leaving a good impression. Strangely enough, I feel like Karma would get along very well with him, as Gakuho would probably take him seriously and try to find challenges to nurture his potential. Plus, Gakushuu would be so annoyed that those two get along, it would be hilarious.

Now, the whole “have plenty of talents and can probably talk about various subjects (and is proud of it)” is also something you will find in Nidaime, but as for interactions, he would have no interest in teaching the class E students, nor is he in a position above them (as far as they’re concerned), so it would be way more casual. I’m not sure he would actually care much about them, without the whole assassination thing- it would be more of a business relationship, and just him being cordial whenever they happen to pass by, as part of his persona of the kind neighbourhood florist. He might end up having discussions with them on the subject of flowers or plants in general, which would certainly interest Kurahashi and Kanzaki (a former Ikebana club member), and maybe money-related subject (how to save money, how to make people pay more…) which Isogai would be really invested in.

Now, on someone who actually wants to teach but of a completely different character, we have Takaoka. Even without the punching, kicking, and all the physical violence, he’s a very tactile guy. Pat on the shoulders, slap on the backs, pulling someone almost like an hug… He’s also a loud and very enthusiastic guy. This kind of overbearing personality can be really divisive, you either like it or hate it but it’s hard to stay indifferent. Mostly he will make the shyer, calmer ones a bit uneasy, while people like Sugino or Okano would probably really be into it? And also, he buys lot of sweets. Which is automatically an A+ for the sweet alliance club (aka Hara, Kurahashi, Fuwa and Kayano).Which leave us with Yanagisawa. Which is a really tough case, as I just don’t see him interacting with children or teenagers more than he have to, and even less than that. Too emotional, too stupid for him. Plus, Yanagisawa… even taking into account that the whole tentacle experiment must have been a really stressful/tiring time, and that he was in a superior hierarchical position to everyone else in the lab… in the flashbacks, he was kind of a jerk. And I see him as one that lack the self-awareness that he’s a jerk, which make it really troublesome to interact with him. Sure, he can be a pleasant person whenever he wants to (as Akari explains to her big sis, ‘he looks fine on the outside’)- but why would he want to be pleasant to a bunch of 14 year olds who don’t have anything to bring him? (Or at least in this AU- this is why Anon’s question is tricky, as in a Korosensei setting it might happen differently).However… despite this, I feel a few students could still approach him.Okuda, without a doubt, as her fascination with science surpass any apprehension she could have to any potential hostility. She is a girl that stepped out of her comfort zone plenty of times, and she doesn’t seems to care about past reputations, if we consider her friendship with Karma? So, surely, she would certainly find the courage to ask questions about Yanagisawa’s work, because it must be so interesting. Plus, for all the disdain he can have, I don’t feel like Yanagisawa would be one to mock a particular science subject (for example, physicists that downplay how hard chemistry is), as the whole tentacle thing touched on both physics, biology and probably chemistry? So, really, as long as Okuda don’t try to ask for an internship under him she would probably actually appreciate him.Takebayashi… would probably respect Yanagisawa’s achievements, but I don’t see him going out of his way to interact with him. Mostly, if he pass by and the conversation peek his interest, he might end up exchanging.

Then we have Yanagisawa’s other interests. We do see him do magic tricks, notably some with doves. He also play with a rat in some chapter that he absolutely did not eat, what the heck Matsui, that was so…. So there are chances Kurahashi might just coo at the birds and find a common subject to talk about, pet raising and maybe insects? I could see Yanagisawa appreciating entomology.Another thing he seems to like is mangas- or at least the WSJ he’s seen reading. So, of course Fuwa have ignored all her previous assessments of the man just so she could talk about the latest chapter of whatever is trending. And Yanagisawa is sure to have very different point of views from her, so it’s bound to be interesting! How many times do you bet he actually root for the antagonist and defend the villain’s side. Or point out how stupid a plot point is. Or how science don’t work that way.

So! With that in mind, here are a list of which student would get along best with which villain, in this strange AU where they’re just here and not doing anything villainous; an incomplete list, as I only put the cases I felt really sure about:

Karma would, surprisingly, be partial to Gakuho? Because he’s paying attention to his students and also one who would actually try to challenge Karma intellectually. Plus, he likes to brag about his own son, and that’s just free teasing material against Gakushuu. What’s not to love about this situation.

Isogai would probably like Nidaime more. All the good advices for money savings and how to get a good relation with one’s clients that he could reuse as a waiter. 

Okano and Kimura, I’m replying for them together because it’s a similar reasoning. They’re both physical, simple people, which I feel would get along more easily with Takaoka.

Okuda’s favorite would probably be Yanagisawa, at the surprise of most in the class, because really, how interested in science is she to ignore his unpleasant attitude, but most of it goes over her head in the first place.

Kanzaki… probably Nidaime due to her club, as mentioned earlier? And then it is revealed that, among all prizes and titles the Chairman got, he also won some video game competition that just make Kanzaki wants to challenge him.

Kurahashi is the girl that get along with everyone because she’s just like that. Incredible.

Sugino’s easy, he’s an enthusiastic guy who get easily friendly with people and who put a lot of efforts toward his sport of predilection, so he would probably go along well with Takaoka.

Takebayashi could go either with Yanagisawa or Nidaime, which is funny since they’re not really alike, but then that’s often the case with Takeban, isn’t it? Model student, with a good understanding of science and a respect of high achievements (but that would probably feel too pressured talking with the Chairman of his school), but also one that want to trace his own path and might be more dangerous than one might think at first. 

Nakamura likes to be silly and want to have fun, so it might seems she would be partial to Takaoka, but I’m not sure she wouldn’t appreciate Nidaime more? More… mischievous, I guess.

Maehara… oh god, wouldn’t that be really ironic if his favorite was Takaoka? I mean, Maehara’s a bright young guy that was in the soccer club, and also pulled some nice dance moves in Korotan D, wasn’t he? But then, being around someone like Nidaime would be a real lesson on how to seduce the ladies and gentlemen too

…As you can see, I’m missing a lot of people on the list because I’m not sure what to think of them. Terasaka’s gang, for example, would probably not get along with Gakuho because he’s a symbol of authority, and neither would they appreciate someone like Yanagisawa; but would they actually get along with Takaoka, who’s someone uncomplicated, and also a physical kind of guy, but at the same time one who ask people to be really invested in their activities? Even for Hazama I’m not sure; she does stay around the rest of the gang, so it’s not like she feels uncomfortable with those kind of people. Plus, the whole enthusiastic thing, as one can see with Kurahashi that it exaust Hazama (well, starve her from her darkness) but at the same time, ‘They say that darkness is drawn to the light… ‘

In fact, on the subject of Takaoka, as I said he’s really divisive, and on the ones not on the list, I feel he probably wouldn’t be a favorite of the less social ones like Chiba, Hayami or Sugaya. Given Mimura’s awkward face in some panels I would say he would have an hard time, too. And I don’t really see them get along with Yanagisawa, so really, it’s a matter of chosing between Gakuho and Nidaime, and I can’t really tell which one they would chose.

Hara, on the contrary, is one that’s ‘good at handling the boys’ and is part of the sweet alliance, but would that be enough for her to choose Takaoka over one of the other not-villains?

…And I still have no idea for Kataoka. Neither for Fuwa- I evoked earlier she had a common ground to speak to Yanagisawa but that just mean I don’t exclude him, so I have even less of an idea what she would do. I absolutely don’t know about Okajima either- Gakuho probably knows about photography because he knows about everything, but he would probably be jugemental of Okajima’s other hobbies. Well, I guess Nidaime would be great at photography too that’s a basic spy/recon skill, gotta have that blackmail material. And Yada? I feel like she would appreciate Nidaime more but I don’t really have a basis for it?

Akari-Kayano, too, she could go a lot of ways- except one because her ex-brother-in-law is totally her unfavorite, for reasons that might all not be all that objective.

…Who’s Nagisa. Now you’re just inventing students.

[dawniessummers]

i was tagged by @i-only-have-eyes-for-you! thank you!

pick 5 shows, the answer the following questions. don’t cheat. tag 10 (or however many) people.

1. buffy the vampire slayer

2. doctor who

3. stranger things

4. the x-files

5. lucifer

1. who is your favourite character in 2?

clara oswald. she’s short and bossy and reminds me of me :)

2. who is your least favourite character in 1?

i don’t really have a least fave, but i don’t really have any strong feelings towards xander, one way or another.

3. what is your favourite episode of 4?

6x03 “triangle”. i love the vintage outfits, the music, and of course the adorable mulder/scully moments.

4. what is your favourite season of 5?

i haven’t actually finished season 4 yet, so i’ll go with season 3! the season finale is so good in that one.

5. who is your favourite couple in 3?

i love mike and el, and i also love joyce and hopper. of course, i’m salty after the season 3 finale but still crossing my fingers that it’ll happen.

6. who is your favourite couple in 2?

ten and rose, but i’m not huge on shipping in this show. i prefer the friendship dynamics.

7. what is your favourite episode of 1?

i’m a musical theatre nerd, so “once more with feeling” holds a special place in my heart. i also love “tabula rasa” (as sad as it makes me) and some of the more lighthearted earlier episodes.

8. what is your favourite episode of 5?

probably 3x23 “quintessential deckerstar” for the super sweet moment between lucifer and chloe at the end.

9. what is your favourite season of 2?

season 9. i love the clara and twelfth doctor dynamic and her character arc, and i always cry through the last few episodes.

10. how long have you watched 1?

i started watching it right before my exams last summer, so about a year.

11. how did you become interested in 3?

in eighth grade my best friend would not stop bugging me to watch it (season 1 had just come out) and when i did i loved it.

12. who is your favourite actor in 4?

gillian anderson does scully so well and makes me feel all the emotions all the time.

13. which do you prefer, 1, 2, or 5?

btvs. this is a buffy blog after all ;)

14. which show have you seen more episodes of, 1 or 3?

btvs again, because there’s seven seasons as opposed to st’s three.

15. if you could be anyone from 4, who would you be?

dana scully. she’s smart and also a badass, who doesn’t let anyone tell her what she should believe. she goes through an insane amount of tough stuff but never lets it break her down or affect her morals. i love her.

16. would a crossover between 3 and 4 work?

despite being set a decade apart, i think there could definitely be a really cool crossover between x-files and stranger things. i mean, x-files is about fbi agents investigating the paranormal, and st is about a town full of the paranormal. it would be interesting to see how they would all get along though, since the characters in st have good reason not to trust the government.

17. pair two characters in 1 who would make an unlikely but strangely okay couple.

i would probably have to agree with @i-only-have-eyes-for-you and say buffy and tara. they have a good relationship in season 6 that could potentially be the basis for something healthy later on.

18. overall, which show has the better storyline, 3 or 5?

i’ll go with stranger things because i’ve seen it more recently and can remember more of the plot points. st is more my genre than lucifer and i love the way each season has different subplots that come together as the characters do.

19. which has the better theme music, 2 or 4?

this one is really hard because both doctor who and x-files have iconic theme songs that i love. i think i’ll go with dw just because it’s more fun for me to badly sing to.

i’ll tag @dykedawn @elizadusku @ofstormsandwolves @ghostsapphic @slayers-every-one-of-us @slayercommasthe and anyone else who wants to!

[lordshaxxion]

AAALL for Cidrex because he is my favorite boy

alright u asked for it >:U all of this fuckery will be under a cut

Where were you rezzed?

“In a forest somewhere in the EDZ, I think. I don’t really remember much of it, I was pretty much immediately attacked by Fallen, so there was a lot of running for my life.”

How long ago was it?

“During the Dark Ages, so a reaaaally long time ago. Like, during the prime of the Iron Lords.”

Did you have anything in your pockets?

“Just a lump of crystal quartz, but it was rose-coloured and I guess that’s where my obsession with shiny things and collecting crystals from? Oh, I also had some old currency from the Golden Age. No idea what kinda currency, but I cleaned them up and they’re super shiny and really cool.”

What was your first week alive like?

“Stressful. It was a lot of learning how to survive and trusting my Ghost to heal any injuries and bring me back if I died. That was a shock in itself though, when I died for the first time.”

How did you react to your new role as a Guardian?

“Well I became an Iron Lord before I became a Guardian, and that was pretty alright until SIVA happened. After that, being a Guardian and being an Iron Lord became the same thing - just doing the right thing because no one else will, or can.”

Do you have any regrets?

“I couldn’t save my brothers and sisters of Iron from SIVA. Saladin has always told me that I couldn’t have saved them by myself, but I still regret not doing more to at least try.”

Does your ghost have a name?

“He’s called Socks-”

“IT’S SOX!”

“-because he used to hide in my sock drawer at the Iron Temple.”

What is your ghost like?

“He calls himself Sox because he wants to look cool, and I think he cares too much about how he looks from the perspective of other Ghosts. I dunno if Ghosts are judgy to one another, but what I do know is that Sox used to hang around a not-so-great group of them. He’s small for a Ghost and I think this group sorta... took the piss. He tries to act tough a lot, but I know that deep down he cares a lot and he does like his actual name.”

How do you feel about the last city and the vanguard?

“I was sent to the Last City by Saladin to act as a so-called ambassador between the City and the Temple, so it’s like a second home to me now. I know all the streets like the back of my hand, even the sectors I’m not really meant to venture into. The Vanguard are alright, they have their hiccups but I know they mean well and try their best. Well, the did until Cayde... yeah.”

What’s your favourite place to go?

“Cayde used to describe it as wanderlust, but I like wandering all over the Earth and seeing all the ruins and wilds there are. Though my favourite place out of all is the Lost Sector in Winding Cove. It’s so beautiful there with the glow-worms in the dark and the reflection of them in the water. Nice and quiet too, when it’s cleared out every other day.”

Do you participate in strikes or the crucible?

“Strikes. I leave the Crucible to my brother, Othion.”

How do you celebrate the holidays?

“I used to celebrate in getting blackout drunk with Cayde and the rest of the Vanguard, we even used to persuade Shaxx and Othion to join us sometimes. Now though I spend them by myself just tinkering with the stuff I’ve collected over the years.”

Who is your favourite NPC and who is your least favourite?

“It was and will always be Cayde. I can’t get along with Ada-1, though. She unnerves me and acts rather stuck-up despite allowing Guardians into the Black Armory now.”

Where do you sleep/call home?

“I have my own apartment in the Tower, of course, and unlike most Hunters that’s where I call home. It gets me weird looks though, I know a lot of Hunters prefer sleeping under the open stars and it gets Sox to tease me and call me ‘a domesticated hunter’.”

Do you have any pets or companions?

“I wanted to get a cat when Cayde was still around, but we never got round to doing it. Though I kinda have magpies that come to stay when I’m at home. I put feed out on the window sill for them and sometimes they come back with shiny trinkets for me. Oh, and I look after Colonel too, but I’m not allowed to keep Colonel in my apartment because other Hunters would throw a fit.”

Does anyone live with you?

“Cayde and I talked about it, about him moving in with me or something. Again, we never got round to it.”

How do you unwind or comfort yourself?

“It’s embarrassing to admit, but when me and Sox went exploring a while back we found a stash of what used to be called ‘stim toys’. Lots of pots of squishy clay-like dough. Sometimes if I’m overwhelmed I just dig out one of the pots and just sit there squishing it for an hour or so. In terms of general relaxation, if I have the attention span I’ll read or if I don’t then I’ll watch some movies. I got a good collection of Golden Age and pre-Golden Age movies now.”

What would truly break you?

“Losing someone close to me again. I lost Cayde and I wasn’t myself for a long time. If I were to go through that again, I really don’t think I’d recover at all.”

Most embarrassing moment?

“When Sox resurrected me for the first time after dying and I sat there crying and threw up for two hours. It wasn’t... my greatest moment.”

Any cherished memories?

“All of my time with Cayde, to be honest with you. Even when we argued, I cherish those memories greatly. Also the first time I discovered a rare crystal, that was a pretty good moment too.”

What was your highest and/or lowest point?

“Like I said, losing Cayde devastated me almost to a point of no return. Highest point? First Crimson Days with Cayde, we wrecked shop in the Crucible together and got banned in the same day! The look on Izel’s face was glorious.”

Views on the enemy races?

“I don’t like the Taken or Scorn, those are practically a given. Vex are annoying and freak me out a little. Cabal I loathe for what they did to the City, though that’s predominantly the Red Legion but whatever. Hive also freak me out now I think about it, though the worms they drop are kinda cute. Fallen? I just feel pity for them. They lost everything in their own version of the Collapse and are just trying to get by, and yet we keep attacking them.”

Which enemy race is your most/least favourite?

“I hate the Scorn for what they did. On the flip side of that, I rather like the Fallen. I got a chance to get to know a few, like Mithrax, and they’re honestly not that bad when you do get to know them.”

What’s your role in a fireteam? (Tank, support, buff/healer, comic relief? Or are you the dead weight?)

“Dead weight.”

“No you aren’t, Cidrex, you’re a sniper.”

Do you have any mentors/mentees?

“Saladin and many of the original Iron Lords were my mentors, but I don’t have any mentees. Hunters ask me for advice every so often, but I don’t give it. I don’t want to be in that position, I’m not a good teacher.”

What is your favourite weapon type/favourite weapon?

“Give me my DARCI and I’m good to go. I like auto rifles a lot though, despite me using snipers a lot I’m not that great up close so it’s easier for me to just kinda spray and pray without the instability of SMGs.”

Do you play Gambit?

“Sometimes. It can get really stressful trying to deal with invaders that use utter bastard weapons.”

How do you feel about the Drifter?

“I don’t know. Everything about his operations just tell me that I can’t trust him at all, but then I got to know him better and I just feel... kinda sad?”

If you could be any class/subclass (not just your own), what would you be and why?

“Striker Titan, cuz it looks like fun and a great stress and tension relief. Though, I’d like to be able to use Gunslinger properly, I’ve never been able to use it all that well even when Cayde tried to teach me. I’d just like to do it, for him.”

What are your thoughts on the Nine?

“Fuckin’ weird. I don’t trust them at all, especially not after I saw the Emissary for the first time. Though Xur’s pretty cool.”

Any secret crushes or relationships we need to know about?

“Well.... there is this one guy. Hunter, but he’s built like a Titan. Got no social skills and the emotional range of a teaspoon, but he’s charming in his own way regardless.”

“It’s Ataric.”

“SOX!” @crazy-bone-lady

Does your Ghost approve, or haven’t you told them?

“Sox is a piece of shit that tries to out my crush at every given moment. Luckily, he’s a tiny piece of shit so I can just hold him in my hands and he can’t do anything.”

You’re about to go off-planet on assignment, and will only be able to eat protein rations and food gel for a month. What’s your last meal?

“I don’t really have a preferred meal or anything, so I’d just get take-out somewhere in the City. I know a couple really good joints.”

If you could take over any NPC’s job, who would it be and why?

“Cayde’s job as Hunter Vanguard. I know every Hunter has just about run for the hills, and will always do so when they hear the words ‘Vanguard Dare’, but I’d be happy to take up the position. I’ve already taken up his cloak, might as well take the job that came with it right?”

What is the most beautiful sight you’ve seen?

“When Sox and I were exploring an Io cave system, we fell through into a massive chamber filled with crystals. The light from where we’d fallen through shone on the crystals in such a way it created an utterly breathtaking spectrum of colour. We took so many photos of that moment, it was just so amazing to see all these crystalline spires lit up and practically glowing.”

“What about that sunrise in the EDZ?”

“Oh yeah, this one was pretty good.”

Do you have a favourite colour?

“Not particularly, though green’s pretty good since I dyed my hair with it.”

Show us your favourite outfit!

“Top picture, switch the pants for the Lucky Pants and you’re sorted. Bottom picture, I miss my BrayTech hood. It was super cosy, and paired nicely with the Taimat(?) chestpiece.”

What’s your favourite shader?

“New Monarchy Diamonds and Metro Shift.”

If you could make a wish to an Ahamkara for anything - no strings attached - what would you wish for?

“To save all those I failed to save. The Iron Lords, Cayde. All of them.”

[dilfhakyeon-moved]

Uhhhhhhh ralbert 38 please boo

hello yes it took ten years and a half but in my defense,, i hadn’t expected i’d get requests for that prompt post ahfjkdshf

it’s just big fluffy tbh there’s no angst at all they’re just good boys. yeet

“Isn’t this amazing ?”

For as long as he could remember, he’d been working for the same people… forever. Maybe at first it wasn’t really working, because he was too young and all, but he’d always been there. No memory of his family, just that everlasting smell of hay, horses, and freedom. This really felt like freedom, didn’t it ? It was all he wanted. All he needed, maybe. The freedom he could try to pursue away from this place could never match with this. Surrounded with his favourite animals, working with them ( it didn’t really feel like working, to be fair ) and taking care of them, even sleeping with them sometimes, wasn’t it great ? He couldn’t ask for anything more. And that was his mindset, for it had been his mindset forever.

But… how old was he, now ? Sixteen ? It’d been a long time. Had he not grown up ? Had he forgotten to age ? His body hadn’t, for sure.

He couldn’t afford to keep thinking this way. Yes, this could be a life - but he’d changed so much since his youngest childhood. He’d managed to get good things, actually, for a homeless orphan child - the man he worked for paid for his education like he paid for his own sons’, wasn’t that neat ? One of them was his age, too. And they all had funky hair, funky red hair. Race only really got to play with the youngest’s hair, though. The one his age. And not when he was awake, at least only recently.

But they’d always known each other, hadn’t they ? The blond was safe in saying they were friends. Yes, they were ! They went to school together and had always shared the same classes, and maybe, just maybe, they’d gotten really close. Inseparable. Best friends. Told each other secrets - although Race didn’t keep quiet about many.

He did, for some. A few. He had to main the mystery of that one horse kid working for your father all your life, but you don’t know all the basic things about him ! Because he liked being interesting, in the eyes of that kid. Albert.

In a way, maybe his mindset had changed indeed. Life wasn’t all about his freedom - a large part of it was about that kid. They were always together, how could it not ? Always talking, playing and messing with the other, probably the best addition to his life the taller kid could’ve asked for. In a way, wasn’t he so lucky to have found someone he could stick with ? For a child initially most likely meant to either die a baby or survive and have to deal with homelessness and lack of education for a long, long time - if not forever -, he was truly lucky to have housing, free food, school… although he’d rather skip on that one. All that just for him to “work” with horses. And the bonus was an amazing friendship he found himself cherishing way more than he’d ever thought he would, but here they were.

Race had managed to trust that other boy so easily, but when living together, it probably wasn’t that hard. Albert’s father never considered or treated him like a son, though. He was still that poor kid for whom he’d felt just enough pity, and now there they were. Impossible to develop a brotherly bond with his son ? Great, they’d just be best friends, that was fine too.

Best friends were better than brothers, Race often thought. From what he could observe. Albert and his brothers used to be close, but as the others aged, more conflict settled in.

There had been conflict, that sure. He couldn’t enjoy thinking about it.

Either way, what they had was so much better, wasn’t it ? Genuine trust. Teasing and messing with each other, but no actual… tough fights, mean fights, ill-meant fights. There was nothing vicious between them. Although they weren’t always too honest with their feelings, they knew each other enough to keep that trust - and this, it was so much better than brotherhood and breaking your family bond eventually. He wondered what Albert thought of it, but why would he ask him ?

… And he’d been lying in the hay for hours, thinking about this instead of falling asleep. Ah, right. He couldn’t sleep in his bed, and that was how he’d ended up there, like… most nights. Sleep wasn’t the easiest, for some reason. Life there wasn’t a lot, but school could be… exhausting, right ? Not the best people. Not… the best environment, and-

“You should put a shirt on, ‘case dad comes by.”

Oh, the shock of hearing a voice. What, was it so bad he wasn’t wearing a shirt when he was simply having some lonesome time with his tall friends ? God.

He sat back up, his eyes quickly meeting the other kid’s, although his hair was being really messy for once - and he really wanted to stare at it. And mess with it. Maybe brush it. Oh, whatever.

“I’m flat, ’s fine. Ain’t like he’s gonna notice anythin’.”

“Maybe flat, but probably not flat enough.” Albert spoke into a yawn, stepping closer to sit in front of his friend. “I don’t think he’d wanna see you shirtless either way. Always asks us to put our shirts back on even when it’s awful hot weather, and we’re surely as flat as it gets.”

“Yeah, 'know that. I just don’t like clothes.”

He puffed his cheeks for a second, staring at one of the horses who were watching them. But this time, his mind couldn’t rightfully on said horse, and he quickly dismissed it to turn around and look at Albert.

“What’s you doin’ here anyways ? It’s late, usually y’ always sleep at that time.”

“I was bored,” the other retorted with some sort of… bore, in his voice.

“Huh. Bored.”

“Yeah, and I couldn’t really text you. It’s not the right time period.”

“Ah, fuck. Progress.”

They both sighed. Fuck you, twentieth century. You sucked ass.

“But like, d’ you even plan on doin’ stuff or are we just sittin’ here waitin’ for one of us to fall asleep ?”

Albert raised an eyebrow. Fuck if he knew, it wasn’t like he was great at planning things. Maybe they should be going outside, at least in Race’s opinion - it’d be more fun. Even if he’d have to put his shirt back on, maybe.

“Well, maybe we could go… in the field. It’s nice out, the sky’s clear an’ all…”

That was his only idea, and it just so happened Race absolutely loved it. How surprising ! Race loved hanging out in the field, which coincidentally consisted of his entire life since he was a child ! How unexpected. No, really, the biggest grin formed on his face and he immediately pulled himself up, his long legs allowing him to stand taller than Albert even when the other was standing. Which is why he was referred to as 'taller’ early on.

“Yea, right ! Let’s go now ! Do I gotta put my shirt back on ?”

Albert glared for a second. The blond thought the answer would be 'no’, but quickly, the other’s features softened, even adding on a soft smile. “Nah, it’ll just be us anyway. Not like anyone comes in the field at night 'cept for us.”

Success. No one could truly force him to wear a shirt, tiddies or not ! Well, he’d rather do without, but top surgery isn’t a safe procedure yet, is it ? Oh, and probably expensive if it does exist. What year is it exactly ? 1910 ? Whatever it is, he has to wait.

Race pulled the other up with little to no effort, and in a few, quiet but sort of clumsy seconds, they were sneaking out of the stables, running off to the field and laughing quite loudly for a night situation. Did they care ? Would it wake anybody ? No, to both. They were free to do what they wanted - that same freedom Race had held onto for quite a long time. He loved sharing it with someone else. Made his heart flutter, and oh god, was that part of his mindset change ? He didn’t mind it so much as it was unexpected. Was he meant to feel so great with his only friend ? Probably, that was how friends were. Probably.

Once in the field, the two boys looked around them. It was quiet. Some wild animals jumping here and there - rabbits, mice, lizards and whatnot. Maybe snakes too, for all they cared. That wasn’t scary to them anymore, at that point in time.

It was all quiet. Quiet felt nice. And it was nice, up until grass was thrown at the blond, and a loud noise of protest left him.

“Hey, what !”

Soon enough he was running after Albert, who despite being a good runner, didn’t manage to match with Race’s speed. And a few seconds later, he was being tackled to the ground, them rolling in the grass for a few metres before they just laid there, panting a little and resting against each other, breathy giggles leaving them as they caught their breaths, Race’s bare chest pressed against Albert’s arm, who didn’t seem to pay any mind to it. Race felt comfortable. Race felt accepted, just like his friend had always made him feel, and no one was here to judge either of them.

That was freedom, wasn’t it ?

As they slowly calmed down, they both laid down on their back, their eyes staying closed for a little while until they both made the decision to look up at the sky.

The stars were beautiful. They had the privilege to witness a moon not covered by clouds ; they could totally see in the dark. With such a bright light, no one could… trip on their foot, or a tree’s roots, or anything that could possibly be an obstacle on the ground. Either way, Race’s eyes were lost in these stars, a hint of a smile back on his lips as he did so. And Albert had decided to watch him instead, to watch how his eyes reflected that sight he admired.

“Hey…” Albert spoke softly after a while.”

“Hm ?”

“Isn’t this amazing ?”

“Like… the sky ? Yea.” Race sounded sort of absent-minded, but if there had to be an emotion, it’d be… joy.

“No, I mean… like, us. Our… friendship.”

“Ah.”

The blond paused. He blinked, then closed his eyes again. “Yea. I think it’s probably on my top three favourite things ‘bout livin’ here an’ workin’ for ya old man.”

This earned a chuckle from the other, who shook his head. “Better be, punk.”

“Hey, oh.”

They both laughed. Then, more silence. Fortunately, awkward silences between them had stopped after the age of six ; all silence was just silent understanding. Silent conversations where all they had to say was ‘hey, I really trust you and what’s happening is really comfortable ; I feel safe and happy’. A nice conversation.

Then Race felt Albert’s hand on his own. A reflex: holding it. So he did. And no one said a word.

Could he have held anyone else’s hand ? That kid who couldn’t let anyone approach him without being aggressive or offensive to keep people away from me, the one who always got in trouble for nonsense on purpose, that kid whose trust was only given to Albert. Probably not. He’d maybe made a few friends, but no one came close.

And while silence reigned, someone had to break it off. This time, it was Race.

“Can we… cuddle ?”

“Sure.”

Albert sounded sleepy. Race found it quite adorable, but he held back from commenting and brought himself closer to his friend again, resting his head on his chest and his arm wrapping around him. Albert responded by wrapping his own arm around the blond’s waist, and pulling him just a little closer.

Sleep became so tempting.

Maybe Race fell asleep there, thinking about that evening that had passed by so quickly when he’d thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep well and nothing could help that. Maybe Albert took this opportunity to press a light kiss to Race’s head, humming quietly and looking up at the sky one last time.

“You’re killin’ me, Racey…”

He kept his voice quiet so it wouldn’t wake his friend. But they were both smiling, and maybe a field wasn’t the best location to sleep in, the happiness on their face was worth every uncomfortable spot in the grass.

Tag list:

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[dancinginmydressinthesun]

Sooo I just watched Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and I am gonna rant 

THERE CAN AND PROBABLY WILL BE SPOILER SO PLEASE BE AWARE OF THAT

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soo the movie just ended half an hour ago or so and so these are my very first impressions. I need to say that I am gonna watch the movie again tomorrow and I am pretty sure I will see it with different eyes then but I wanted to share my initial thoughts as well. 

So tbh first, I was not too surprised with everything but this is only due to the fact that I kinda assumed some things before because I already talked to a friend about it. (Anyway, this is totally fine bc I am pretty sure I couldnt have kept track otherwise because there are a lot of things happening very fast and being prepared is not too bad). I do believe that you are going to be VERY surprised by everything if you have managed to keep all sorts of spoilers away from you tho. 

I don’t really know if I like the movie yet (we will see in the next days) but I do feel like something is missing. I mean, this is obv bc you should feel like “wtf what is happening” at the end still (and I do) but it kinda feels unsatisfying to me. I am, however, aware of the fact that this is because I dont like that you are only left with questions and no answers and everything just seems like there is a second half missing that needs to follow. This is going to be the third movie then apparently but having to wait for 2 years man? Thats tough. 

Even tho there is a lot of darkness and you feel like you wanna jump right into the movie and change stuff (*cough cough* saving the poor beasts & child & BASICALLY EVERYONE *cough cough*) I kinda liked the whole atmosphere a LOT tbh. bc I expected it to be darker actually, it was the perfect mixture of cute and funny scenes and intriguing moments. I like the characters a lot too (most of them) and I felt like even tho its more about the storylines (and there is a lot of plot and twists and everything) you do get a good glimpse of the beloved characters from the first movie and Dumbledore as well ofc. (keep in mind: I might change my mind watching it again).

I liked the beasts OF COURSE so much (they are the best tbh) and I am very happy that they decided to include so many of them and still let them play a role despite them not being a real focus anymore. I also adore Leta’s character so much now (and not only because Zoë is so unbelievably gorgeous I wanna look at her face forever *gay sigh*) and this is probably why I cannot really accept her fate yet.

What I also enjoyed a lot was Dumbledore. Although I had no clear vision of how he was when he was younger (I just assumed him to be like he was when he was old just with less beard) I think he was probably the character they made the most believable (ok but this is also because the others are mostly new characters so there is no real comparison) but he did remind me so much of a former teacher of mine, his expressions especially, and I do admit that sometimes I have daddy issues in a non-sexual way (where is the adult role model in my life who gives me advice and makes me feel appreciated ?? looking @ u dad) but well enough about me lol, Jude Law was great and he gave me a cozy feeling lets admit that. 

I loved seeing Hogwarts despite it being so short and I loved loved loved the flashbacks (i love flashbacks in general everywhere all the time so idk what this says about the quality but ...,,,) and newts case !!!!!!! sorry but those are my two favourite places tthey are really amazing ughhh dont remind me they are not real. 

Gellert Grindelwald was ... well idek. I feel like I am not equipped to judge any of it, not depps performance and not the depiction of the character so I will leave it to that now. 

Now there comes a huge spoilers dont blow this for yourself really if you havent watched it 

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I kinda assumed credence could be a dumbledore before (dont worry, this was bc of information i got, i am no genius lol) so that was not too surprising (IF this is true) BUT that I was actually right did surprise me lmao. This is why I have already thought about the possibitly of credence being a brother of albus but tbh I twisted and turned it around (bc i also knew that “dumbledore” was the most likely option) and even after having heard it now I .......... still dont get how this can be (but nobody does apparently) and idkkk it feels kinda weird ?? bc well even tho you maybe havent occupied yourself with the dumbledore family 2 much (even tho you have probably dont get me wrong but if you are not a hardcore stan maybe you have only to an extent) but I kinda spend my time thinking about the dumbledores PASSIVELY SO MUCH. I probably would not do it that often on my own but I do consume it passively bc of my friend a lot and tbh i already have a clear picture of the family now and there being another one seems so fake I have to get used to that first. Also that its not something completely new but a character you knew as credence for 2 years who i did like but never really paid 2 much attention to and not finding particulary interesting makes it worse. Now I feel like I should get to know him at leats now (like he is my long lost forgotten brother who returns home) but i cannot get to know him AT ALL bc i have no way to start. so i either have to ignore everything (i wont) or I will paint a clear picture of him ( I will) that is going to be destroyed whatsoever lets not try to cheer me up ahdjsdhs what a weird feeling I am having I was told I would have but it feels SooOOO ... yes weird ( i kinda wanna cry but I also wanna watch again and I wanna dance but I am also v tired (have been the whole day almost) and i just really wish I could talk to jkr now? like i would love to talk to her all the time but rn would be kinda good to just ask her if the next movie will end this confusing too bc i dont know if i can make it then) 

anyways, i could come up with more things i liked now actually than I disliked (its the little things)and my negative mood is probably rooted in this whole flood of information that gives me so many questions that are left unanswered and also that i missed a few lines sadly. I am happy to have the chance to watch it again and making up my mind soon.  

the best part of it all was flamel running tho bc tbh this has been me every year in the bundesjugendspiele (@german people we all know the pain)