#untitled short film

[thevampcave]

UNTITLED 77-A (1977) dir. Han Ok-hee

[dalishious]

A BioWare Guide on How to Murder a Fanbase

I have been a Dragon Age super-fan for almost fourteen years, now. I have played every game, with every DLC. I have read every novel, lore book, and every comic — yes, even the terrible ones that are better off forgotten. I have seen the anime film, the animated series, and the web mini-series. I have enjoyed all of these pieces of the franchise over and over, more times than I can count. So, make no mistake: the negativity you’re about to hear comes from a place of love for this fantasy world, developed by many creative people over the years. I would love nothing more than to see the resurrection of passion in the Dragon Age fandom again. But the unfortunate truth is, that resurrection is only needed because BioWare took the fandom out back and shot it in the first place.

In December 2018, three years after the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Trespasser epilogue DLC, BioWare first announced the then-untitled next Dragon Age game with a teaser trailer. At this point, most fans were anticipating this would mean within the next couple years, we would see the game. This assumption was based on the fact that Dragon Age: Inquisition was first announced in 2012, and released in 2014, with an extra year of development added last minute.

There have been dribbles of extra content since then, adding to the franchise. This was enough to keep some fans still breathing and interested. 2020’s Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights was a lovely anthology. 2020’s Dragon Age: Blue Wraith and 2021’s Dark Fortress were wonderful comics tying up the story started in Knight Errant. And 2022’s Dragon Age: Absolution was a well-animated series with an interesting cast of characters and story. But all these still left the fandom with a major question: What was going on with the next game? It was untypical of BioWare to be so secretive, in comparison to how they handled sharing information of the past games in the franchise. The only form of updates fans still have to go on is mostly just concept art and short stories, hinting that something must be in production. But why was the wait so long?

In 2015, the first version of the next Dragon Age began with a clear vision, clear scope of practice, and a reportedly happy developer team. Most gloriously in my book, there was no multi-player… but this did not align with the Electronic Arts typical money-mad schemes. EA’s push for “games as a service” meant they wanted to monetize all their games as much as possible, and therefore, they wanted them to be a live service — as Anthem demonstrated, that meant sacrificing things that are staples of good RPGs, like narrative and character choice. So in 2017, version one of the next Dragon Age was scrapped and replaced. This new version would have, in total or to at least some degree, an online portion of play.

There is one part of Schreier’s article, “The Past and Present of Dragon Age 4,” that really sticks out to me, regarding this:

“One person close to the game told me this week that Morrison’s critical path, or main story, would be designed for single-player and that goal of the multiplayer elements would be to keep people engaged so that they would actually stick with post-launch content.”

The idea of splitting up components of a game into single-player and multi-player is a terrible idea, because it means that there would be a large bulk of content only accessible through online gaming; something many fans, like myself, are repulsed by. Even if I did enjoy it, I spent most of my life growing up with either no internet or shoddy internet incapable of playing online games. I know many rural people who are still in that position, losing more and more of their favourite gaming pastimes because they are locked out of the ability to play them. It is a disservice to hide content behind a wall like this, especially in a world that is so lore-heavy like Dragon Age. The news of multi-player in Dragon Age understandably upset many, and this is when I first noticed a large drop off in excitement over the next game.

However, in 2021, the failure of Anthem (multi-player) and success of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (single-player) led the executives at EA to bend to the wishes of BioWare leadership and allow them to go back to the drawing board yet again on the next Dragon Age. This meant removing all multi-player content!

While I am very happy that there will reportedly be no multi-player in Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, I can’t help but feel bitter and a little disgusted over the ridiculous development time spent on something no one but EA wanted in the first place. If it weren’t for this foolishness, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would be in our hands right now. Instead, it’s been in development hell for nearly nine years and counting. Nine years is a long time to expect fans to carry a torch for you through radio silence, but it’s no wonder BioWare has shared barely anything about the next game; it’s been in flux for so long, they likely haven’t had anything concrete to show.

BioWare hurt its reputation even more when the news broke that the studio very suddenly laid off 50 people who were working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. This is pretty damning on its own, but BioWare took it a step further. Former developer Jon Renish shared a statement revealing that the studio was only willing to offer laid-off employees two weeks of severance per year of service, and denied health benefits. The denial of health benefits in particular is a pretty wild move for a studio with a reputation for “stress casualties”. The latest news on this is that BioWare has still so far refused to negotiate better severance packages, leading to a lawsuit. The lawsuit originally had 15 former employees, but this dropped due to the fear of not being able to afford to pay their bills. So now, while EA sits on $400 million net income, the laid-off employees are struggling to buy holiday presents for their children. These horrid business practices are not to be ignored when accounting for a lack of faith in a studio. What kind of monsters reward workers who make your games special with vaguely reasoned lay-offs?

The latest news on the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf front from BioWare came early this month, December 2023, with a trailer… announcing a trailer that will come next summer… that will announce the release of the game. Supposedly. Maybe. We’ll see. But by this time, BioWare is something of a laughing stock of their own fandom. Reactions to the video released with a pretty map graphic and a few rendered locations were, from what I personally observed, mostly sardonic in nature. People have commented on the vapourware nature of the game, and like all vapourware, that leads to disintegrating trust.

Despite all this, people like Mary Kirby, (one of the veteran Dragon Age writers who was a victim of the layoffs,) said, “it’s bittersweet that Dreadwolf is my last DA game, but I still hope you all love it as much as I do,” encouraging fans to still support the game when it eventually is released. But after every misstep BioWare has taken, that’s a tough sell now. Fans are finicky, RPG fans more so than others, one could argue. We have our favourites, and many of us stick to those favourites for life over our appreciation for the artistry — but that relationship between studio and fan should go both ways. EA and BioWare has betrayed that relationship, and it will take a hell of a lot to build it back up again, now.

[This piece is also available on Medium!]

[imsobadatnicknames2]

Music commission prices!

Update: Editing my prices again bc I still think I was undercharging a little bit from my work and also the payment processor I use to transfer money from P*ypal to my bank account recently increased their fees.

Hey everyone! My name's Carlos, I'm a composer and producer. I'm one half of the technical death metal band Beyond Flesh, and I've been doing commissioned music work since 2021. I did all the battle themes for the RPGmaker game Those Infernal Girls! and several battle themes for the "Chillen in Chult" arc of the the D&D twitch show Dice Dynamics. I also did one bonus track for the album We Will All Sing One Song by the James Connolly Upstate New York IWW.

I can make music for your:

OC

Climactic TTRPG moment

Videogame

Short Film

Whatever else idk

The main genres I do are metal, synthwave, and dungeon synth, but I've done a bunch of commissioned work in different genres, from 8bit to jazz to EDM to hiphop backing tracks. If in doubt, ask me and I'll tell you if I can do a particular genre or not.

Prices:

Base commission price (Includes 1 minute of music, 2 instrument tracks plus percussion track) - $12 USD

Extra instrument track - $6 USD

Extra minute of music - $6 USD

Examples:

Some examples of my previous work so you can get an idea of my range:

You don't need to know anything about music theory or related language to commission me, but do have in mind that the more ifnormation you're able to provide the better the end result will be. Vibe descriptions, reference tracks that you want it to sound similar to, writeups of the character and/or scene it's for, and anything else you can think of are massively helpful. I'll be continually sending you WIPs through the entire process so you can judge the direction I'm going in and provide notes if necessary.

You get to keep all rights to the song to use it for any purpose. I, however, keep the right to post it on my tumblr blog, my youtube channel, or any of my socials for promotional purposes.

You may contact me through DMs here, or through the following media:

e-mail: juan.hernandez9903@gmail.com

Discord: carlos7318

I only accept payment via p*ypal invoices, as c*shapp and v*nmo don't work in my country.

[ovokthen]

Untitled I was supposed to finish and post this drawing on Monday, but I was suddenly greeted by my teacher's feedback on my short film, and a final submission due the same week. Needless to say, I'm glad I started working early on this week's drawing <(¯︶¯)>

[greendreamer]

Torchwood: Up Close master list

Torchwood: Up Close was a series of 2-minute-long shorts released during S2 via the Torchwood Website. All shorts centre around different behind-the-scenes elements (some include the cast goofing around) This is a master list of all known shorts* **

*Currently there is no list of all shorts made. The ones in this list are all I have found or have found evidence that they once existed.

** I think some of these might have been their own series/individual short on the website) aka no apart of Up Close

Sneak peek

KKBB - The New Hub

KKBB - Up Close with James Marsters

KKBB - Up Close with the Blowfish

KKBB - Up Close with the Stuntman

KKBB - Captain's Vlog

Sleeper - Special Effects

Sleeper - Up Close in the Hub

Sleeper - Studio Tour

Sleeper - Up Close with the Writer

Sleeper - Captain's Vlog

To the Last Man - Up Close with Anthony Lewis (WW1 look)

To the Last Man - Up Close with Anthony Lewis (location filming)

To the Last Man - Up Close with Naoko Mori & Anthony Lewis

To the Last Man - Studio Tour

To the Last Man - Captain's Vlog

Meat - Up Close with Kai Owen

Meat - Up Close with Barney Curnow (SFX)

Meat - Up Close with John Barrowman & Naoko Mori

Adam - Up Close with Naoko Mori & Bryan Dick

Adam - Up Close with John Barrowman & Bryan Dick

Adam - Up Close with the Photograph

Adam - Captain's Vlog

Something Borrowed - Up Close with Eve Myles

Something Borrowed - Up Close at the Wedding [Source - Wikipedia page]

Something Borrowed - Up Close with the Nostrovite [Source - Wikipedia page]

Adrift - Up Close with Ruth Jones [Source - Wikipedia page]

Adrift - Up Close at the Recce [Source - Wikipedia page]

???? - Shooting the Trails

???? - Up Close Fun on Set

???? - Untitled up close with GDL [source - sneak peek]

Here's all viewable shorts in a handy playlist [Link]

[I have no idea how many were made, but I like to hope there was AT LEAST one short per episode. Plus the same with the Captain's Vlog, one per episod.]

[daceofs]

Mystic Falls High

Part 1

I honestly do not know what I am doing

~~~~~

"Paddd...muh...nee"

"Padhumanidhi Sundarrajan" I blurted stopping the counselor from making my ears bleed, "I am the new transfer student."

"Yeah that's what I said" she muttered, "You are signed up for...?"

I take a deep breath, "AP biology, Integrated Math, Racket Sports, Theatre, Drawing and Painting, AP World history, French and AP Literature."

I knew it by heart because each subject was hand picked. Ivy league here I come.

She flippantly gives me a form, "fill out your club applications."

I smiled. Tightly,

I look through it,  I need to pick a minimum of two and I know exactly what they are, I eagerly fill the applications for Photography and chess. I wanted to pick films, but previous experiences have thought me that film clubs in US are not fun at all.

Chess has Asians and Indians, whichever little population of them this back water town has.

I submit my forms and take my schedule with a smile. Inside I'm shaking.

I'm wearing a short red kurta and jeans, I have simple bracelet, two gold earrings, a small miniscule bottu and my hair is plaited into a single messy braid. I wore two until last year, but I'm 17 now, so I'll wear  a single braid. But that still gets me a few weird looks.

Thankfully, I have my earphones and my ipod, A birthday gift. Yeno Yeno from Aadhavan soothes my nerves as I scramble to my history class.

The teacher is late.

Apparently he's new too so he begins to introduce himself.

"ALARIC SALTZMAN"

The name on the board reads, then he begins to explain how to pronounce his name and honestly I wish I could do that.

But it would be of no use.

I sigh and gear up for a busy day.

~

A week later

I am at school, everyone is dressed up, I am wearing a hoodies and my hair is a bun. Everyone is going to the dance, I am going to the chess club. Because today is the last day to 'officiate' my membership by showing up. I didn't even have time until now and now it bit me in the ass.

It's not that I was missing the dance. My mum would have barely allowed, I would have been so out of place. It's just that.. I feel like a creepy stalker.

I navigate around the halls and rooms, trying my best to not be seen.

I just need to dump these books in my locker. Take my Ipod and go to the club. Someone had stayed behind today for me... because there was a dance, it was officially school hours. It was a rare chance and I should make use of it.

Determined I walk into the empty hallway.

And.. immediately regret it.

Two, decidedly hot but also kind of creepy guys are right at the end of hall standing at the entrance to the small eatery with the vending machine.

The guy who is good at history, Stefan... I remind myself and another guy. He's older and creepier.

And they....

are both looking at me.

Vary.

It lights up my nerves on fire.

"Padmuh" Stefan asks. Oh god he knows my name, that's how he butchered it so well. I'm going to die. This is so awkward.

"Yeah?" I answer fidgeting.

"This is like shady parts of a city right now, what are you doing here?" the man asking is smiling but I know that it's not an innocent question at all. I can sense it. I just don't know why.

"Uhhh" I mutter, my lip curling in confusion, "this is my locker." I point at it. What is happening?

"Padmuh" Stefan starts again, ugh, that is not my name, "Why didn't you go to the decade dance?"

Am I being interrogated?

"It's just everyone is there.." he elaborates.

"Oh I couldn't go... I have work" I explain.

He nods.

I walk to my locker. The other one is staring at me, Stefan smacks him and he stops and turns to look at him. I shove my books in the locker. I take my ipod and walk away from there like I'm running away from an animal.

The entire time I could feel someone's eyes on me.

The experience grates on me and I drag my tired body to the club. I just want some peace and quiet until I finish this.

I step in and there is music... blaring...

"Devudaaa..

(Oh god)

Naa mathi chedipoyenu poorthiga,

(My mind has completely gone to ruin)

Ayanaa..."

(Yet)

(Noppi noppi song from Pokiri 2006)

Well at least it's not some rock garbage, it's a good song. I step in to the club room. With a strained smile that says 'touch me and I'll kill you.'

There is a single boy in the classroom and... he is Indian.

"Baagundhi haay-"

(It feels good-)

He pauses the song listening to my steps and goes rigid. The strain leaves a little from my smile.  He looks up and relaxes. He stands up and awkwardly extends his hand, my smile is not strained anymore.

"Hey"

"Hey"

I shake his hand, "Padhumanidhi Sundarrajan! Call me Padhma"

"Venkat Ghattamaneni" he follows.

"A telugu guy huh?" I ask, he gives a 'yeah' with a smile and I follow with, "I'm a tamilian."

"You're the only one here?"  I ask as we both sit down by something that looks like a table. I take out my bottle and start drinking some water.

"There were two other members, one transferred and the other..."

"Left?"

"Died!"

I spit out the water I was drinking and coughed. He laughed dryly despite himself and gently patted on my head.

"I was not expecting that!" I said still sputtering.

He sighed, "It was an animal attack, I wasn't in town... I didn't even know her name."

"Hmm" I hummed in thought, "sorry though."

We had nothing better to do... so we talked.

He told me that he had started living in the town three months prior. But was out of town for a week. His father's friend/colleague's daughter's wedding.

He'd just got back.

I told him I moved here a week ago.

That I missed my country and I missed my elder sister. She'd gotten into Yale.

He told me had an elder sister, she got into IIM and was back home.

He missed her terribly.

We had history, theatre, racket sports, integrated math and French together.

"Wait you were going to stay at the Salvatore boarding house?" He asked surprised.

"Yeah" I said with a chuckle, "We didn't find a house yet, the motels weren't good at all. But it cost an arm and a leg and my mum got really bad vibes."

"I am even surprised that you got to talk to someone in the house" he chuckled, "The guy from history, Stefan, I assume you know him, he's really good. He lives there apparently and they don't get customers. Like at all!"

"Wow" I exclaimed, "Good thing my dad asked around before trying to check in."

"Yeah... Good thing" he agreed.

Soon the session ended, we absolutely did nothing.

Then my dad called, he'd come to pick me up. By this time the school was already empty.

He was waiting at the entrance with an umbrella.

He smiled as soon as he saw me and I smiled back. It was a mild drizzle but I still got under the umbrella.

"How was the session ma?" He asked holding me around my shoulders.

"Semma pa" I grinned, "I made a friend."

(It was great)

Venkat had come out too. He was wearing a rain coat over his jacket.

I showed him to my dad.

My dad waved.

"Vanakkam uncle" he waved back, "I'm Venkat."

(Hello)

I cocked my brows in shock.

"My mum is half Tamilian... So, I'm quarter Tamilian" he explains with a smirk.

I look to my dad and smile, "Avuna sare ayithe..."

(Oh okay then)

This time he is shocked.

"My atha married a Telugu guy when I was 7" I explain.

Then a car pulls up behind ours and he goes, "that's my father."

A man around my dad's age gets out of the car also wearing a rain coat.

My dad and him exchange a hello and something about the roads in the town.

~

Around two weeks later

Venkat's family had come over to ours for dinner. My mum and his mum connected as the only Indian aunties in the entire town.

We lived in the same street, a few houses apart.

So, we were neighbors and to be family friends.

"Ma... can me and Venkat go for a walk while you guys talk?" I plead.. no beg.

She gives me a stern smile, "Walk where?"

"Just out" I say in a small voice, trying to give her puppy eyes.

"Don't go out of town" She says.

I nod dutifully and then walk out with a smile to my dad and Venkat's parents.

Venkat does the same and follows me out.

We lived on the near edge of the town, so it was more like don't go out of the block.

"So, where should we go?" he askes me just as we're out of the house.

"You're the host" I answer, "to this walk.. you should decide"

"Remember that Salvatore boarding house?"

"Hmm hmm"

"It's right around the lane" he reveals, "we could walk until the property, look at what gave your mother bad vibes and come back."

"Sure" I chirp.

We start on the way, "So, how's the town?" he asks.

"It's okay" I answer.

"Okay as in I am getting used to it and it's gonna be great or I hate it but I have to get used to it" he asks with a mischievous smile.

I mirror it and answer, "One of those."

He laughs. I join him.

"It's just that it's so different from India, from home, this town doesn't even have a theatre" I whine, "it might have a prissy theatre but it's not gonna play any Indian movies."

"You like movies?" he asks. "A lot" I answer, "Especially Indian movies. You don't?"

"I looove them" he almost purrs.

"There's this new movie coming out" I say, enthusiasm filling me, "It's a Telugu movie. You probably know it."

"Which one?" he asks, curious and excited.

I think for it's telugu name, then it strikes me, "Magadheera" I announce.

"Ohh" he mirrors my excitement, "I am madly waiting for it."

"But how do we watch it" I dampen the mood, "it's not gonna play around here."

"It will play in Cincinnati" he points out, "it's a few hours  from here."

"My parents will never agree" I say rolling my eyes.

"Well neither will mine" he joins in, "but we could ask nicely. There's a train."

"One can try" I cave into his hope, "how do we do it?"

"Sudden perfect grades, chores.. what else?" He schemes.

"That should do it" I confirm, "We'll see if it works."

We're about to enter the property and we can see the boarding house from here.

"Ta da" he  says pointing at it.

"That" I mutter, "is definitely haunted."

"I know right" he chuckles.

Then we hear it. A strange rustle with a rush of air, it's not human.

Then it happens again, and..

"Jai hanuman gyan guna sagar, jai kapeesha tihun loka ujaagar

Rama dhoota athulitha baladhama, anjani putra pavana sutanamaa"

(Hanuman Chalisa)

(Hail hanuman who is an ocean of knowledge, who is from the kapi clan and who is known in all three worlds…

Rama’s messenger, strong beyond comprehension, the son of anjana and the heir of the god of wind.)

Venkat nearly screams, I look at him ready to laugh, but he is completely serious and gesturing at me to move. So,

"Mahaveera vikrama Bajrangi, Kumati Nivaara Sumati Ke Sangi

Kanchan varsna viraaja Subesaa, Kanan kundal kunchit kesa"

(Greatest of warriors, valiant as thunder, friend to the good and exterminator of the bad)

I sing with him as we kind of, no, definitely ran from there.

We're at  "Raghupati Kinhi Bahut Badaai, Tum Mama Priya Bharata Sama Bhaii" by the time we reach the road and then he stops, so I stop.

(Rama gave you the greatest praise, ‘you are as dear to me as my dear brother bharat’)

Then I start laughing while I am panting and he's just panting.

"Did you seriously just scream Hanuman Chalisa?" I ask him, incredulous and near hysteric.

"I did not scream it" he says, weakly.

I laugh some more.

"It worked didn't it" he points out.

"That it did!"

~

What on God's Green earth was that?

Damon has been alive for lot more than a century and this is the first time, he had seen such a reaction when he preys on someone.

He was so weirded out that he didn't even eat them.

"Only in mystic falls" he muttered as he vamped back to boarding house.

"Found anything" Stefan asked now changed from the shirt Frederick stabbed him in, but still wincing and favoring the side.

"This is exactly why I tell you to drink people blood"  he pointed out again.

Stefan gives him a bitch face. Well your loss baby brother, just don't bleed on my carpet again, just don't bleed again.

"No sign of any tomb vamps" he says, then pauses, considers.

"but?" Stefan asks, "There is a but, I feel that but."

"I saw that girl from the other day" I confess.

"Padmuh?" he asks.

"Yeah she was with an Indian boy" I continue.

"Whenkat?" He asks again.

"You know him?" I ask him back, I could do with information like that.

"How many 17 year old high school going Indian boys are there in this town?" He deadpans.

"Well something is weird about them" I brush him off, "I tried to scare them..."

"Damon" Stefam admonishes.

"They were on the property, right after two vampires tired to attack us unprovoked on a perfectly good evening" I droll the dangers into his dense head.

"They were on the property?" Stefan asks puzzled.

"Just outside" what does it matter duh! "The point is they're suspicious. The boy came into town with you and the girl came into town with Alaric. They might be working with Noah!"

"Damon" Stefan whines, "they both have families. They are perfectly normal. They-"

"How are they in school?" I cut him off.

Stefan rolls his eyes. Rude, "Well they're polite, nice. They're very studious and have strict parents. They mostly keep to themselves though."

"We saw her right after the dance being all sketchy. They weren't at the dance. They weren't at the desirable bachelor thing."

"Because it was for people in mid 20s like you... there were rarely any kids present" he counters again.

"Well then explain this brother... the day I didn't get Katherine out of tomb... every stupid child in the town was at Dull or Duke or whatever's party. Except for them" Damon presents fool proof evidence.

"Strict parents Damon"  Stefan drawls.

"I still think they're fishy... they don't act like regular students" I emphasise.

"They're not regular students" Stefan points out, "both are emigrants and exchange students."

Yeah sure Sherlock

~

Hindsight is such a bitch.

Stefan is now an anti therapeutic punching bag and he needs Van Helsing ripoff and little miss Katniss to get him out.

He manages to goad the hunter/teacher into helping them. He shows them stuff he had specifically brought  to kill Damon and oh goodie how useful.

They each stock themselves and come up with a fool proof contingency plan.

Well it's not fool proof but he doesn't have the time for it.

I exit the room, Alaric and Elena on my heels and there she is.

The suspicious girl from other night.

She doesn't look like a hermit this time but she shouldn't even be here.

When he's making a plan to get his vampnapped brother out.

I give a smile which is actually a sneer and she clutches the books in her hands tight as if they could offer any protection.

Alaric jumps in, unnecessarily, "Padmuh... what are you doing here? It's not a school day.."

"Mr Saltzman" she greets him, then continues, "Ms Jones asked me if to help her with a project for extra credit."

She looks at Elena and fidgets.

I roll my eyes with a sigh. Have we learned nothing?

"Were you eavesdropping on us? Answer truthfully" I compel her.

"Damon" I hear Elena... Gee Elena, it's not like we have the clock ticking to a rescue and cannot risk any failures.

"Chiii" the girl exclaims, uhm, then she continues, "why would I ever do that?"

(Ewww)

"Well then I want you to forget this conversation" I compel again.

"I want that too, I'll try" she replies with barely hidden disdain.

You'll what...

"I'm sorry, we were just doing some founder's business" Elena covers immediately. Ooh clever.

Except she's on Vervain Elena.

"Yeah no problem" she says in a rush and sidesteps me.

Before I can act, "We need to go" Elena drags me ahead.

"She's on Vervain" I hiss.

"We can worry about that later"  she hisses back.

"Paagal Saale" I hear a murmur. Is she hexing us?

(Lunatic bitch)

But I feel nothing and I don't have time for this now. So, I comply.

~

Founders day rolls around and hell breaks loose.

Damon is still greedily gulping his blood bag. He reeks of ash and smoke and hates it with every fibre of being.

He feels Stefan's eyes on him and that grates him even more.

"What were you doing down there?" he manages to ask. He knew Stefan wasn't down there, he'd checked, it was the first thing he did.

"Saving your ass" comes the answer.

"Why?" he wants to know.

"You're my brother... Go Figure" Nonchalance huh brother it doesn't suit you.

He doesn't even say it out loud. Just gives a listless smile.

"That went so well" someone squeals and they both become alert.

'Went well?' what kind of diabolical-

"We should do that again" some else says and they're bloody chuckling and he wants to snap their neck.

"Who was that?" he grates, "Someone from council?"

"Has to be" Stefan says, the tomb vampires are all dead after all.

"We should plan it better though" he can hear it better now and he knows it's a girl and he's heard her before.

"Yeah it got quite late" the other one's a boy and he's heard him too.

"Yeah well..." the rest turns into garble as a taxi stops by them.

"Padmuh" Stefan realises, "and Whenkat!"

They're too weak and slow to follow them now, "We've got to deal with them."

"Damon" Stefan chides.

"You heard them" Damon hisses, "they had a plan, it went well... who knows what they did!"

~

"So... we watched Magadheera" Padhma squeals into her phone, "Akka it was so good."

(Big sister)

"Wow" Maitreyi, her sister replies equally enthusiastic, "You sound like you enjoyed it a lot. How was Cincinnati?"

"It was okay" she answered, "better than this backwater town."

"I wish we could have watched it together" Maitreyi says with a small whine.

"Next time come to Cincinnati" she suggests.

"Or I'll take you all to New York" Maitreyi counters.

"Brilliant" she chirps.

They chat for a few more minutes before hanging up, she comes down to the living hall.

Her parents are talking about something seriously.

"Ma" she asks tentatively, "everything okay? How was the celebration?"

"It was great kanna" her mother answers, "but there was an accident. The mayor died."

(Sweetheart)

"Oh" her eyes widen in shock, "that's so sad."

"Yeah" her father sighs, patting her shoulder, "We're all going to the memorial tomorrow."

"Should we take anything?" her mother ponders.

"Lasagna, apparently" Her father answers.

"That is so weird" her mom says and they all chuckle.

How very morbid!

~

"Hey there's Tyler" Venkat says taking a sip of water, everything else is alcoholic here and their parents would kill us if they as much as drank a glass. They're at the memorial, the entire town is.

Their parents are talking to other adults and after the formalities, here they are, in the garden.

"Oh yeah" Padhma ponders, "should we go say hi?"

"We don't even know the guy" He points out.

"It's a minimum curtesy" She counters.

Their argument comes to moot when he walks inside the house, away from the crowd with a guy who just arrived, must be a relative.

"Well" he smirks. She shakes her head. The she smiles.

"Oh hey there's coffee" she chirps. He perks up, "Now you don't have to worry about feeding only water to your manly body."

"I never said that" he says abashed.

"No?" she teases. She picks up a cup of it, with a straw in the lid and hands it to him. He takes it with a tip of an absent hat.

He sips it and immediately spits it out.

Padhma looks at him startled, then looks around embarrassed. He collects himself and stops sputtering. They both look around before he puts the cup aside.

She clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes, "Wow!"

He raises his finger to point in his defense, "It was hot and there was no milk. Why are they serving espressos at a funeral?"

"Would you prefer they served Iced caramel lattes?" she asks with a huff.

"As a matter of fact" he answers, "yes!"

~

"No" This idiot. We watched it all happen, they're frolicking chatting something we can't catch and he's still in denial.

"Stefan, listen" Damon implores despite himself, "he took a sip of coffee and spit it out. The coffee has vervain in it. That's exhibit 1, Exhibit 2... the other day I couldn't compel her. Exhibit 3, she was being shady in an empty hallway. You were right there, Exhibit 4-"

"Damon" Stefan sighs, "you're spiraling. The other day you were convinced that they were in the council. Now you're convinced he's a vampire and she's a witch. This isn't fanfiction Damon."

"No little brother" Damon drawls, "This is our very real messed up life which is why there are no coincidences. Especially because Katherine is here."

"Fine" Stefan relents, finally, "there's a high school carnival tonight..."

"We'll take care of them there" Damon finishes.

"No" Ugh, Stefan, "We'll investigate."

"Fine" Damon relents, "how do we know they'll show up, given everything they've... skipped?"

"I'll invite them" Stefan answers.

Well...

~

They're, embarrassingly, chuckling like teenagers when Venkat sees Stefan approach them.

"Oh shit" he mutters.

She follows his sight and her eyes widen, she hits him lightly and mumbles, "I told you this wasn't appropriate behavior."

She turns to Stefan who is now standing just a couple feet before them, "We're sorry. We know this is disrespectful."

Surprisingly, he chuckles, "Oh no.. I know funerals can be boring, especially when you know no one."

"Yeah" Venkat nods with a guilty smile, "but we're still sorry."

"Don't worry about it" Stefan says, "I'm not policing you guys."

She gives him a strained smile, he continues, "I was just wondering why you guys didn't show up to the Founder's day celebrations..."

"Oh yeah" she drawls, they skipped it, "We were out of station. Our parents went, initially we were supposed to come too but well our schedules clashed."

"Your schedules clashed?" He asked confused, "What happened?"

"Well" Venkat answered, "We went to Cincinnati to watch a movie."

Stefan looks baffled, "you went to Cincinnati.. to.. watch a movie?"

At the expense of not sounding crazy, Padhma continues, "It's an Indian movie. It doesn't play around here."

"Oh" he almost sighs, "I see. You guys like movies huh?"

Venkat shrugs and Padhma chuckles. "I like them too" he continues.

"Really?" Venkat asks and Padhma follows, "are you in the film club here?"

"No" Stefan says with a dry laugh, "listen there's a school Carnival tonight. I'm sure you know.. are you planning to come?"

"Uhm" she mumbles not knowing what to say.

"You should come" he implores.

"We will come" Venkat answers, "thanks for the invite Stefan."

He nods with a smile, they smile back and he leaves.

"You think they'll agree?" Padhma turns to Venkat.

"Sure they will" Venkat answers, "It's a high school event and we've been on our best behaviour."

~

"Well played Fincher" Damon teases him as soon as he comes back, "smooth."

"We have to find out who the 'they' they were referring to is." Stefan says not playing that game.

"We will" Damon smirks.

~

"This is the worst high school carnival of my life" Damon says phantom dusting his pants.

"This is the only high school carnival of your life" Stefan points out standing beside him.

"Har har Stefan" Damon bites. Stefan smirks.

"So... we've got problems 1,2,3 covered... moving on to problem 4... where are the brown love birds?" Damon quips.

"I did spot them earlier, they were playing some games" Stefan answers, "They should be around."

"Let's go find them" Damon smirks all evil debauchery in glory.

Finding two shifty possibly humans or maybe vampires should be easy for two fine vampires such as the Salvatores.

Except they've combed the entire ground and haven't found a whiff of trace.

"Where are they?" Damon almost shouts, annoyed.

"They'll be here.. they'll be here.." Stefan placates.

"Who are you searching for?" Elena asks them having seen the fuss.

"Have you seen Padmuh and Whenkat?" Stefan asks her, in a 'this is important but don't worry' tone.

"Padmuh and Whenkat?" She asked.

"Yes" Damon hissed, "the Indians."

"They left" she stated.

"They left?" Stefan asked, incredulous.

"Yeah.." she said confused, "something about a curfew."

Stefan looks at Damon, completely exasperated.

"Curfew?!" Damon bites, borderline hysterical, "IT'S 9:30!!"

To be continued

Part 2 https://www.tumblr.com/daceofs/767922715345764352/so-we-start-from-season-2-episode-3-season

[soobnny]

just gonna share some things that i’m working on to hopefully motivate me to continue them

WHICH ONE WOULD U GUYS WANT ME TO TRY AND FINISH FIRST

the short film project (jeongin) — enemies that have to play lovers in their semester’s final film project

kiss cam (seungmin) — strangers who end up on the kiss cam at your uni’s sport event

new year’s day (minho) — established relationship cleaning up their apartment after an intimate new year’s get-together with friends

something there (hyunjin) — your friend comforts you over unrequited love

play along (felix) — based off the prompt, didn’t wanna tell my friend who my real date was so i pointed at a random stranger and he’s playing along

untitled (chan) — inspired by that scene in little women where jo and laurie dance at a party

untitled (han) — how it becomes love for jisung

untitled (changbin) — changbin steals a kiss at the gym lockers

[l0vedove]

This post is simply to state what my taste in everything is because I’m bored and need a list to reference when someone asks what I’m interested in and I completely blank, fair warning it’s really long and semi controversial (/j on the last part)

Music artists:

Destory Boys

Will Wood

Nine songs from musicals sung by Christian Borle

Tally Hall

Ricky Montgomery

Los Campesinos

NOAHFINNCE (idk it’s capitalized on spotify)

TV shows 🤷‍♀️:

Bones

The good place

Lego ninjago…

B99

Modern family

Gravity falls

Young justice

The finder

Backstrom (the rainn wilson one)

Totally spies…

Taskmaster

Avatar the last air bender

Game changer

The hollow (someone please know what this is)

Heartstopper

Mystery files and ghost files (I love my silly ghoul boys)

Movies:

Dead poets society

Princess bride

Mr.Hollands opus

Cruella (the soundtracks awesome okay??)

Free guy

Deadpool

Into the spiderverse

Beyond the spiderverse

Ratatouille

Coraline

Zootopia (DO NOT MENTION THE FIC)

The aristocats

Tangled

Atlantis

Legally blonde

Baby Driver

Ghibli films; howls moving castle and Kiki’s delivery service especially

Musicals:

It’s a really short list despite all my friends being in musical/regular theatre

Falsettos (2016)

Ride the Cyclone

Something Rotton

Guy who didn’t like musicals

Nerdy prudes must die

Anyone who makes it to the bottom, I’m sorry.

Games:

Breath of the wild

Unpacking

Stardew Valley

The Sims 4 (with mods EA just make it a good game plsss)

Untitled goose game

Stuff to watch:

The rest of something rotten

Hamilton if I can get through it without laughing at Lin Manual Miranda

Live action Avatar show

Percy Jackson show

Andrew Garfield spiderman

Toby spiderman

Nimona (I wanna read the book first)

Good job you reached the bottom have a cookie

🍪

This was a really unnecessary endeavour, I have a paper I have to write right next to me rn uuuhh sorry this was so long and probably showed up on some poor saps feed

[from-izzy]

especially to you... | masterlist

navi/masterlist!! 🤍 series introduction

☂ - angst | ♡ - fluff | ➳ - hurt/comfort | ⋆⁺₊ - suggestive | ʚ - external challenges | ɞ - internal challenges

this summer... | tbz lee jaehyun | hyunjae ☂ ♡ ➳ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy who has had a lot of physical changes ⛅: thank you for everyone who loves me for who i am and made me realise that i'm very swayed by society's ideologies

i'm home | tbz lee sangyeon ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ

🌧️: to the izzy who has had many opportunities to go overseas for hobbies and/or academic purposes but turned it all down ⛅: hearing how others had a good time abroad makes me hope that someday if the right time and place comes along, maybe it could be me too

that's him, that's just who he is | tbz kevin moon ☂ ♡ (just a little bit) ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy who was anxious that she wouldn't be able to get a chance to be on the stage ⛅: my favourite moon, kevin moon!

[17:58] | tbz kim sunwoo ☂ ➳ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy who is learning to hold on to the happiness that other people can give her and to live in the present moment with them ⛅: dbn loves

[03:21] | tbz kim sunwoo ♡ ➳ ʚ

🌧️: to the izzy that is going through a new journey in her uni life after thinking a lot about the new opportunity given ⛅: izzy, you 100% miss the chances you don't take. you're doing well. congratulations on getting this offer! hold onto hope and believe in yourself!

cupid's mistake | tbz kim sunwoo ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy that's lost trust ⛅: not everyone is the same

"what do you think of flowers/bouquets?" | tbz ot11 text messages | hyung 🤍 98 🤍 maknae ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy that is compared to delicate, fragile flowers ⛅: no flowers can grow without the sun and rain

that's him, that's just who he is | tbz choi chanhee | new ☂ ♡ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy that is unhealthily obsessed with saving money to the point that misses out on a lot of things and regrets a lot of things ⛅: my favourite penguin and one of my favourite vocal timbre, choi chanhee!

[03:10] | tbz kim sunwoo ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the izzy that is scared and is stressed about sleeping ⛅: learning to take it step by step and accept that sleeping can be rewarding. thank you to my supportive friends!

yesterday's petal | nct na jaemin ☂ (slight ♡) ɞ

🌧️: everyone seems to fit in with each other so easily and so well ⛅: and even though i have friends close to me, who love me as i am, i sometimes can't help but wonder: someday, will i be left out?

every day is a lovely day... | tbz lee juyeon ☂ ♡ ➳ ɞ

🌧️: short reflections about all of earth's life forms and how we all go through different difficulties and challenges ⛅: being appreciative with the world

love me unconditionally | tbz kim sunwoo | teaser 🤍 full ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: to the me that is scared of being too much and too burdensome for others, stemming from other aspects of life that led to insecurity ⛅: if you find the right people, they would never make you feel that way

[21:15] | nct huang renjun ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: the the izzy who hated looking at the mirror ⛅: learning to love how to love every single part of me. thank you to my supportive friends!

[00:05] | nct mark lee ☂ ♡ ➳ ʚ ɞ

🌧️: i'm living in a high-paced world where time doesn't and will never wait for me ⛅: and as much as i cry over that, i will keep continuing to do my best with every second that i get

one more chance | tbz lee jaehyun | hyunjae (coming soon!)

🌧️: to the girl who made another name for herself to forget all the traumas that was attached with her birth name ⛅: with the new and own-chosen name, the hope to heal and create more lifelong memories

untitled | tbz kim sunwoo (coming soon!) collaboration with @??

🌧️: to the girl who threw herself away to stick to the rules ⛅: may you learn to always listen to your heart and what it desires

navi/masterlist!! 🤍 series introduction

tags (send a dm/ask if you would like to be here!): @deoboyznet 📢❤️ @k-labels 💙🤍 @k-films 🤎🎞️ @kflixnet 📺🍿

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Friday, September 13th

XANDER: No, it's just... this Malcolm guy? What's his deal? I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged. BUFFY: Okay, slightly. I mean, just not knowing what he's really like. XANDER: Or who he really is. I mean, sure he says he's a high school student, but I can say I'm a high school student. BUFFY: You are. XANDER: Okay, but I can also say that I'm an elderly Dutch woman. Get me? I mean, who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room?

~~I, Robot... You, Jane~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

cherry lipgloss by sapphistically (Buffy/reader, not rated)

Oblation by The_Crazy_Knight (Buffy/Giles, E)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Shadowed Suspicion, Chapter 341 by madimpossibledreamer (Ensemble, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossover, T)

Don't Swerve, Chapter 9 by thisyearsgrrl (Buffy/Faith, E)

My (love) Kill, Chapter 3 by witchywriter3 (Buffy/Spike, G)

Book Stew! Chapter 5 by MGAllan (Michael (from Gingerbread)/Lance (from The Pack), G)

After Life, Chapter 5 by Alwaysandforevermylove (Buffy/Faith, E)

A-Z of Sex, Chapter 1 by KatyAmberAuthor (Buffy/Giles, E)

Soul Mate Magic, Chapter Three by emma-m-black (Giles/OC, 18+)

Out of this World, love..., Chapters 7-8 by Miss Kitty (PG-13, in French)

The Neighbor's Point of View, Chapter 130 by the_big_bad (Buffy/Spike, PG)

Little Light, Chapter 7 by Melme1325 (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Way Beyond Chaos, Chapter 1 by Girlytek (Buffy/Spike, R)

Wallflower, Chapter 24 (complete!) by Girlytek (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Manip: MerMade For You by Claire (Buffy/Spike, PG-13)

Lego: my custom Lego Buffy the Vampire Slayer by buzzlymuzz

Artwork: Collage #160 by thedecadentraven (Buffy/Spike, worksafe)

Collage: Spike by thedecadentraven (worksafe)

Gifset: Buffy/Cordelia by lovebvffys (worksafe)

Fanvid: Andrew Wells | Puppet Boy [slight flash warning] by homoeroticvillain

Fanvid: Spike/Buffy - The Albatross by DarkEleni

Fanvid: Andrew Wells | Puppet Boy [slight flash warning] by homoeroticvillain

Fanvid: Don't Stop Me Now [BTVS Season 6 BLOOPER REEL] by Aurora Edits

Fanvid: Buffyverse by juliaroxs241

Fanvid: willow and tara | i know the end by editsbysarahx

Fanvid: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 Opening Credits (Charmed Style) by Rotten Lemonade

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike - Are You That Somebody By Aaliyah by Naki-a Littlejohn

Fanvid: Buffy and Spike - Bang Bang By Ariana Grande by Naki-a Littlejohn

Vidlet: hello kitty | buffy summers | mep part by DreamingWithDragons

Vidlet: Buffy summers || legends never die || by CaptainSwann

Vidlet (untitled) by cupcakexmeow (Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Angel)

Music: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER THEME SONG / ‪by JETT Fighter Drumming‬ (age 12 )

Acting: Anya's Monologue by Skyler Brown

Song: Something to Sing About - Singing - by Sparkly Rainbow Kaz

Song: Rest In Peace - Spike - Once More, With Feeling - Buffy - Singing by Sparkly Rainbow Kaz

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: Top Grumps - Buffy The Vampire Slayer by Nerdy Up North

Video: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 4: Episode 7 - The Initiative by The Cheshire Kiwi

Video: Our Love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer PART 1 by It Crept From The 80s

Video: Buffy 2.15 Phases by Jen Katz and Ryan Something

Video: Buffy Vs Charmed | An Observation of Unnecessary Comparison by They Call Me MR. G

Video: Buffy S02E22 "Becoming (Part 2)" Spoiler Review by LGRN - Entertainment

Video: Sleeper-Slayer Sunday by Jane Talks Buffy

Podcast: Showtime S7 E11 Buffy and the Art of Story by Lisa M. Lilly

Podcast: BwB 609 - Point Insertion [Smashed] by Beer With Buffy

Podcast: Tales of Music and Film Season 8 Episode 8 Buffy The Vampire Slayer Take Two by Tales of Music and Film Hosted By Christian Taylor

Podcast: Tales of Music and Film Season 8 Episode 9 Angel by Tales of Music and Film Hosted By Christian Taylor

Podcast: The Quintessential Buffy The Vampire Slayer by Sure Look Sure Listen Podcast

[Search & Recs]

Fic search: Actor spike fic lost by YummyCookies333

Vid rec: Anya Jenkins | Why? [Character Study.] by HostilePoet17 recced by IceStorm22

Fic rec: The Devil's Elegy (Buffy/Angel, M) by coalitiongirl recced by I Will Remember You Marathon

Fic recs: favourite Spuffy recs by userttpd

Vid rec: Charles Gunn - The Loss and Recuperation of the Self by Honeycutt Videos recced by umbralsong

[Community Announcements]

Buffybot and Gilesbot, sitting in a tree… by Buffyverse Kinkmeme

[Fandom Discussions]

Buffy saying “I just wish my mom was here” really falls flat by canary-prince

Rewatch thoughts and questions [Shells, Underneath] continued by multiple posters

Two comics artists who've worked with Joss have died this week by Skippcomet

What happened to the parents in Buffy? continued by multiple posters

Podcast : "Alyson Hannigan Reveals Her #1 Hidden Theory About Me" by Klaus Kartoffel

Spikes justification for not reuniting with Buffy from the episode Harms Way by wtffu006

If I were her relatives, I’d request a refund from the funeral home by Jade_Pratt953

Anyone else believe that the police/coroner/hospitals knew about the undead Americans? by CountChocoula

What is your favourite single scene in the Buffyverse… by tommywest_123

Which ep would you choose [to watch for 24 hours straight]? by No-Jaguar8044

On S2 - watching for the first time and loving it! Will it continue with this quality? by RedRxbin

So I watched a theatre show called Buffy Revamped by CaptainZir0

Your Own Buffy The Vampire Slayer Episode Concept? by Big-Restaurant-2766

[Articles, Interviews, and Other News]

Video: Buffy The Vampire Slayer | Full Q&A | For The Love Of Fantasy (London) 2024 by Monopoly Events

Video: Anthony Stewart Head interview, Buffy the Vampire Slayer - Regis and Kathy Lee (with Tom Arnold) by Cleverkio

Video: Episode 364: Interview With Julie Benz by Don't Go Out There Podcast

Submit a link to be included in the newsletter!

Join the editor team :)

[hongyangi]

a bunch of prompts i am working on

note: they're not final, but i wanted to save the ideas. they may not be done or written soon 😔 this contains both fluff (to be posted on @coboftea) and nsfw contents, reader discretion is advised, all of these are tbz fics (because they're literally my only ult rn ;-;) and summaries focus on the "you" in the stories hehe (to avoid major spoilers)

lee sangyeon

-untitled-

being a single parent, you always wanted to give the kids only the best and be a good role model to them as well all on your own. not until you got tangled up in a top secret mission after bumping into an undercover police named sangyeon lee. now, not only did he suddenly become a colleague, he also... babysits the kids?

jacob bae

clouds will send my lullabies for you

summary: anonymous letters kept appearing inside your locker. those poems make your heart race and ache a little. later on, you embarked on a search to find out who sends you these letters after finding the same words from your late composer dad's stash of old written lyrics.

our closing scene

summary: after quitting the brilliant world of film industry, one last story needs a proper ending. and it involves you, and a person who was there even before you started your career.

when the dark blooms on a moonless night

genre and warnings: kingdom au, revenge, knight!jacob, crown prince!hyunjae, mentions of suicide and abuse, will include nsfw scenes, divided into chapters, there are dark and fluff scenes too :›

summary: you're starting to believe that your own existence is a mistake. your hell of a family only uses you to gain power over the kingdom, your first love betrothed you to his right-hand man, and your husband, who only follows his master's commands, is always away from home. on a dark melancholic night, when you decided to end your life, the hands of your savior held onto your hopeless existence, unintentionally planting a revengeful flower in your heart.

winter ends tonight

genre: smut, angst, broker!jacob, short chapters

summary: when you accidentally killed your fiancee because of him abusing you, his well-off family is determined to get rid of you. with the last of your means of escape, you planned an escape to another country. but with the winter hindering your journey, you're stuck in the refuge your broker provided, and in the middle of a forest where all you could do was wait, eat, and share a bed.

lee hyunjae

never not love you

genre: enemies to lovers, high school, dilemma, delinquent!hyunjae, setting in the early 2000s, coming of age, angst, a bit humorous, ft. sangyeon, chanhee, changmin, divided into chapters

summary: lee hyunjae is the most unexpected person to ever enter your life and change it poignantly. and you do the same to his once purposeless and frivolous life. but high school doesn't last forever and you won't always be 18. when bad boy hyunjae changes his reputation and decides to study in seoul with you, a heart-rending event stops your plans and leaves you with a dilemma to lie, or to tell him the truth and leave.

kim sunwoo

frxxnds

genre: friends to lovers, family dilemma, marriage of convenience, gonna be chaotic and humorous, thinking if this will be divided in chapters or just a one long story, inspired by big naughty's masterpiece 'frxxnds'

summary: being the eldest daughter in your family has never been easy, and worst part is that you felt like you were never allowed to rest or feel tired. you're on the verge of an outburst and you're barely holding on. an opportunity to get away from your shackles arises when your mom finds your friend's pregnancy test in your belongings, a light bulb lights up in your head and you admit that it was yours. thinking your mom will kick you out without second thoughts. but what's worse, your childhood best friend, sunwoo, supported your claims and admits he's the father.

dal: that will be all for now! i do reallyyy hope that i could finish even just ONE from these prompts 😭 ciao for now!

[duffsmckagan]

Untitled Post

A short story. Metallica (Mid 1985) were just hanging around. Each member had a beer in their hand.

Lars: (Takes a sip from his beer) So, um guys, what should we do today? James: (Takes a sip from his beer) How about we go check out that new skate park? Lars: Um, James we've been there 10 times this month. James: (Sighs) You're right. You have any idea on what we can o today, Cliff buddy? Cliff: How about we check out that new pancake house? Lars: Um, Cliff we've been to that pancake house 15 times already. Cliff: (Sighs) Yeah, but we haven't been there for the sixteenth time. How about we make a 16th trip there? Lars: I'm sick of pancakes. Kirk: (Sees two very beautiful girls) Dudes, (Points in the girls direction) how about we go talk to those cute girls over there. James: Good idea, Kirk! Cliff: Oh yeah! Lars: Um, that's a great idea. Kirk.

Little did the guys know that the two girls are Kim Hammett (Fem!Kirk) and Lara Ulrich (Fem!Lars). Both are holding glasses of wine in their hand.

Lara: Um, what do you want to do today? Kim: (Points in the boys direction) Boys are approaching us, Lara! Lara: How nice (Rolls her eyes).

The boys approach the two lovely ladies.

Lars: Hello ladies-

Lars notices that Fem!Kirk looks like Kirk, but with b00bs. Everyone else notices that Lara looks like Lars, but with longer hair and b00bs, plus she has hips.

Cliff: (Whispers to Lars) Woah, she looks just like you, but with tits and longer hair. Lars: Hello ladies. Um, what nice weather we're having, huh? Lara: Um, yes. It's going to be sunny all day and dry. James: (Mumbles while staring at Kim) Oh, it won't. I'm going to make you wet. Kim: Huh, what'd you say? James: Uh, nothing. It'll rain today. I saw the forecast.

James chugs his beer nervously.

Kim: You cuties haven't introduced yourselves yet. Lars: We're very sorry for that. I don't know if you have heard of us.

Lara and Kim stare at Lars blankly.

Cliff: We're a thrash metal band called Metallica. Lars: (points to himself in pride) I came up with the name. Lara: Um, that's cool. I'm Lara Ulrich, the drummer for Metallicunt. I came up with the name by the way. I like tennis, skying, scuba diving, film and art. I hope to have kids one day. Kim: I'm Kim Hammett, the guitarists to Metallicunt. I like horror movies, skateboarding, surfing, manga, anime, and comic books. I also own a cat. Lara: She's heterosexual. Kim: That's bullshit! I'm bi, and you're my Bi lover (kisses Lara on the lips)

The bands eyes widen.

Cliff: (Whispers to Lars again) See, I told you. Lars: (Nods) Cliff: Nice to meet you two. Anyways, I'm Cliff, the bassist of the band. That's Lars, our drummer- Lars: I can introduce myself, thank you pal (pats Cliff on the shoulder). Cliff: Anyways, I love pancakes, beer, classical music, jazz, and animals. Lara: Um, that's ni- Cliff: I also have a big drumstick (winks at both Kim and Lara). Kim: Wait, I thought you were the bassist? Lara: I'm not surprised. They say bassists can do it better. James: I'm James Hetfield, lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist. I like skateboarding, snowboarding, football, and hunting. And I fuck like a beast too (winks at Kim). Kim: Oh my. Did you hear that, Lara? Lara: (Crosses her arms and bites her lips) Yeah. Kim: And what's your name, cutie patootie? Kirk: (Blushes) I'm Kirk Hammett, the guitarist. I also like comic books, anime, manga, horror movies, and skateboarding. Lars: He's basically the awesome weird little brother of the group. His riffs are hot, but his jokes suck. Kirk: My jokes don't suck. Lara: You're adorable. Kirk: I go down girls all the time. They call me the genital torturer.

Lara and Kim start to giggle. Lara and Kim are now each side of Kirk holding his arms. He is still holding a beer in one hand.

Lara: I think you won. Boyfriend material right here. Kim: A man that goes down on a girl is the hottest thing.

Kirk and the two girls walk away.

Kirk: Bye, guys.

James, Lars, and Cliff just stood there as Kirk walks away with two lovely girls.

Lars: Um, so what do you guys ant to do now?

[s4pphic-sh3nan1gans]

WIP Weekend

thank you so much for the tag, @mint-ty <3 I didn't think I had that many wips to share but after looking through my notes app, there are actually quite a few things there gathering dust that I mostly forgot about 😭 sooooo here is my list, starting with the earliest:

Zame, si čisti dopamin - this is a bojere fic I started nearly a year ago now, based around the infamous tavastia 1.0 gig and Bojan both discovering and navigating his feelings for Jere. as I remember, I had one more chapter planned that I unfortunately lost motivation for, buuuut as it stands now, I guess it's kinda left on a cliffhanger? sorry 😅 but it holds a special place in my heart as I was just beginning to get very deep into my joker out hyperfixation when I started writing it hehehe

This ship of love is loaded - another bojere fic that I never finished and didn't post, this one was inspired by the release of Huhhahhei by Käärijä 😌 y'know the song's implications of fucking someone on a boat? yeah, I took that and ran with it whilst wearing my tin-foil hat and made it about bojere 😭 it's set on the 2023 eurovision pre-party boat and includes the scene of what is now the first snus proposal. ultimately, I abandoned it because I wanted to include smut but wasn't yet ready to (properly) write mlm smut for the first time back then

untitled jance fic - this is the only time thus far I've written jance (which is actually criminal tbh). it's a very short wip so I'm not entirely sure where I was going with it, but it appears to include Nace attempting to flirt... 👀

it's better if we remain a memory - now, this one is a little more obscure. it's based on the film Bojan is in (Kaj pa Ester?) that I unfortunately haven't watched (c'mon, slovenian film industry, make it available internationally, I beg of you 🙏). basically, I watched the trailer, made up a plot, and made it very very very gay. and then posted all but the final chapter before succumbing to lack of motivation again 😭

Immortalised - .......okay, I just realised I was wrong about only writing jance once, this is another time I tried to write it! this one is all about the incredible jance photoshoot by Damon Baker, exploring their relationship behind the lens. not sure why I never finished this one, if I'm honest 😅

Forgotten Nights - here, we have a bokris wip. this one was going to be a classic friends-to-lovers fic, littered with flashbacks and snippets from the past that both of them were repressing. I found that I didn't properly plan out the sequence of flashbacks though, or where I was going with it so it ended up a little messy as I was writing it and eventually I moved onto other things

a bunch of bokris "5+1 things" fic ideas I never got round to writing properly - specifically, I have 8 fics that I planned for 😭 if you want to know more about one, send me a number between 1 and 8 and I'll tell you what the 5+1 idea was :)

untitled damkris fic - finally, this is what I started most recently. it's inspired by Kris and Damon's recent trip to Ljubljana Castle, and basically they flirt and gay panic all day whilst being idiots and not realising they're both actually crushing hard on each other 😭

if you want to know more about any of these, or read a snippet from one, go ahead and drop into my ask box!!! I shall be more than happy to provide 😌

no pressure tagging (and apologies if you've already been tagged): @trips-around-the-sun @graysantimony @paperphilia @electron-road-suspect :D

[soenoire]

i need to stop forgetting this site exists.. salutations! here is an art dump :D

a screencap from an untitled short film i was working on two months (?) ago.. i will lock in and finish it EVENTUALLY

this has been a wip for 2 years and at this point chile i might just start over or CAN IT

a sneak peek of a finished piece i just recently made! its making its silly debut at this art show im a part of this weekend.. can't wait to put it out in the world i was working on it on and off for like 2 years so i glad to finally be DONE

a sort of autobiographical drawing, i have a good feeling im not gonna ditch this one so YIPPEE!

[spacedinosaur2000]

Future Projects Plans

I will try to make as many Projects update posts as I can but I will assure you I have soo many Ideas on the plate for future projects. So I will just simplify to ten projects that I will announce I am Eyeing Up.

1-Fenton Fly Sequel Short:

Like I said, I have a couple scenes shot for the follow up short for Fenton Fly. I need more shots of Fenton Fly being crushed, also before I go forward I need to make a new Crushed Fenton model, right now my room is so diorganized and I lost all my Wire for Armatures so when I find that and start making that second model, things will continue.

2-Garry's Mod Multiplayer Gamemode-M Force:

Years ago I had an idea for a multiplayer gamemode on Garry's mod where its soldiers vs giant monsters, Inspired by Godzilla obviously but also sequences in things like Cloverfield. Basic premise is its multiple players as soldiers and One player as a Kaiju. Other options may be included but I want to start simple before I do updates. I spent the past few months just compiling a list of links to tutorials on coding for Garry's mod, all the relevant stuff for my mod, so now I'm Ready to start coding. Again there's a slight chance it could come out this year but if not, It's definitely gonna be ready for next year considering how easy some of the more basic aspects are to implement. There's gonna be some elements to my mod that might be more tough but I think that won't be towards the end of its development.

3-Untitled Space Cat Girl Project:

Been going through my old art for material to mine for projects. In general and going forward on this list I intend to re organize Some of this art, Remaking them and than trying to work them into a project somehow. This one is a little iffy to write around cause in some ways I have two different game projects this COULD fit while also not, Rocket Rex a sci fi platforming game about space farring Dinosaurs and Beast World a fantasy top down pirate game about cat people, neither one the Space Cat Girl fits. So I might work them into something else.

4-Turtle on a Fence:

Short Stop Motion film I realized I could do based off of a one off piece I did in 2009. A Simple Short to add to my library of works just to fill out my portfolio. Really I just wanna make a bunch of shorts and get in the habit of it as much as possible especially before I start on bigger projects. And I have to keep myself doing more simple projects that I can do Under budget. I have a premise and storyboard done, I think I just need to put together a set to film it on.

5-Untitled Robot Girl Series:

I Might reconsider and make it a short film but I wanted to plan out a big project for another one of my oldest and reoccurring characters in my art, a Robot Girl I keep recycling. One Idea was hey what if I join in on the Cartoon pilot trend and try to make a mock up prototype pilot that I could potentially sell and make it a big series. Although I should just focus on it being a Pilot short that I can post online and hope it gets some kind of attention. It will also be a stop motion project and I feel like making robot character models is an easy type of armature I could make for the series so I think I could with a low budget make a basic mock up. This one might have to wait a bit and I still need to finish a treatment and than move on to a screenplay for the pilot.

6-Untitled Stop Motion Horror Short:

took me a bit to decide what to do with a few one off pieces of art I had on hand of various characters and what to put them in and write around but I think I have an idea of a stop motion horror short animation about a Skateboarder and a a track suit runner girl running into a strange guy. No treatment written yet, just a few pieces of art that I also want to do remakes of and add a few more pieces of concept art for. Again Big reason I haven't started this yet either is cause I need to organize my desk so I have space to start building sets for these types of projects.

7-Untitled Dragon Project:

I did have an Idea for a fantasy Game but might hold off on that for a bit, and the art inspiring me to do this I considered for that but I might do something different for that project later. Instead, I might take inspiration from Dragonslayer and try to get a cool stop motion Dragon short done just to give me some more cool monster action short films out there from me.

8-Skull Planet:

Unless I bundle this with the Space Cat girl project, I did want to do a full claymation feature inspired by an unmade Guillermo Del Toro movie that almost became his debut until a vandalizing incident happened and he did Cronos instead. Thought Hey I like wild creatures, and I can probably do something like that all in Claymation. Just not Human characters yet which is what I really really wanna do, but Seeing if I can get a fantasy barbarian alien world movie like that off the ground would be fun. That Might be a longer and gruelling project at the same time though. But I am willing to start writing the screenplay for and getting things ready for that.

9-Zombie Girl Project:

Another one that will either be a short OR a series pitch that I should be developing. Now the Zombie girl aspect might change as there's multiple paranormal girl characters I've created separately over the years that I could combine into one Project, up there with your hotel transylvanias or Drak pack or Groovie Ghoulies and etc. This depends and right now I just need to collect more art throughout the years of these disparate characters I've created and decide what to with them and if I want to make separate projects out of them or have them all be cast members in one big project.

10-Untitled Mermaid horror project:

Not sure if this will be a short/series/movie or whether this will be animated or live action (in which case it would be a WHILE before anything of this would materialize). Based once again off some old designs that I do want to remake again. The Redesign will be drastically different (The old design is a terrible xenomorph/hr giger lite anthro thing cooked up by a 13 year old).

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

I got some word from the trenches... Well, someone else got the word from the trenches, and gave me the word...

Regarding MOANA 2's ascension from Disney+ show to feature film.

It was indeed speedran into this process and fast-tracked for this past Thanksgiving because an original animated feature slated for this season had gone down a particularly rocky road.

It was indeed the film set to be directed by Suzi Yoonessi, who was named director of an upcoming untitled original WDAS movie waaaaaay back in November 2019. That Middle Eastern-set fantasy... Something about it being a "massive mess", and Yoonessi "running out of time and chances" to fix it...

I think that translates to: Jennifer Lee and studio management and focus groups micromanaged the picture to death, trying to chase some kind of perceived greatness and great box office. It indeed often worked out for John Lasseter a lot, but not so much Lee most of the time, for STRANGE WORLD and WISH did very badly at the box office. MOANA 2 may be a juggernaut right now, but it's got mixed critical reception and won't be locking an Oscar nom. But we know why it's doing numbers, it's a freaking Moana and pals movie! That was destined to be massive on opening weekend. The film could have the worst legs and still be profitable.

So it seemingly is true, if the birdies are to be believed...

We just witnessed a very weird, frustrating, and fascinating chapter of Walt Disney Animation Studios' century-long history...

Following the start of a global pandemic, a flawed leadership turned out two films that failed miserably at the box office - STRANGE WORLD and WISH, the latter of the two films intended as a centennial celebration. Their next original was set for Thanksgiving 2024, but because of the micromanaging that helped hurt STRANGE WORLD (remember, that film's director Don Hall left the studio shortly thereafter) and WISH, it got put on hold. Possibly cancelled...

... and amidst the streaming bubble burst of the early 2020s, the same leadership decided to take a serialized spin-off of a past hit movie - MOANA - meant for Disney+ and hastily turn that into a feature to fill the vacant Thanksgiving 2024 slot. Turning it into a stopgap feature that pretty much made up for those past losses at the box office probably on brand recognition alone... Oh, and the chief creative officer stepped down prior to its release, with only a six-year tenure to her name...

I think I see what's happening here... They realized that this kind of leadership wasn't working out, or the way Lee herself was doing it. Again, director removals from movies and their stories being micromanaged is nothing new in feature animation. The big Renaissance faves went through iterations that were torn to shreds by Jeffrey Katzenberg. Lasseter made sure every movie made under his watch was to his liking, that the directors were making "Lasseter movies" at the end of the day. But Lee just wasn't cutting it, though not to the point where she completely departed the building. She's still there, now in a filmmaking position, so there's that.

But there's something screwy about all of that. This isn't like Walt Disney rerouting after World War II took the wind out of the studio's sails, and opting for anthology movies made up of multiple shorts and scrapped feature ideas (such as WIND IN THE WILLOWS and MICKEY AND THE BEANSTALK). Nor is this like how WINNIE THE POOH got fast-tracked at WDAS during Lasseter's tenure, about merely 2 1/2 years before its eventual release. Or even the rumored fast-tracking of FROZEN a little after it had been put on ice. Or even WDAS looking to Marvel after the parent company recently acquired them, for a feature only once. This was done very, very quickly and almost out of nowhere. When it was announced back in February, I was taken *completely* by surprise.

... and the thing was a huge success out of the gate... A temporary save for WDAS, and likely to become one of their biggest movies financially. This thing, a literally rushed TV show to movie...

It's a real first, and likely the only time that happens. At least, in terms of closeness to release date. I already emphasized that TIANA likely stays a Disney+ show, but if it gets turned into a movie, I can only hope it's a decision made well before any projected release date.

I think the era of WDAS (and Pixar) making quasi-movie-caliber shows for Disney+ is over, what's left for now is TIANA, and on the Pixar end there's the long-delayed WIN OR LOSE in February, DREAM PRODUCTIONS this month. I know of nothing else in the works for Disney+ that's like any of those shows or what came before (i.e. BAYMAX!, ZOOTOPIA+, CARS ON THE ROAD, DUG DAYS, etc.).

So now the next chapter begins...

Stopgap movie/former D+ series MOANA 2 is here and already made massive coin, Jennifer Lee is no longer CCO, two confirmed movies on the release calendar - ZOOTOPIA 2 and FROZEN III - started out as movies... And are also sequels to recent favorites. No matter who is in charge, more of them are simply inevitable. You'll likely hear a MOANA 3 or ENCANTO 2 announcement some time soon. But yeah, more sequels will keep coming. Been the nature of the beast for a while now...

It now seems that Suzi Yoonessi's movie is either dead in the water, was given to another filmmaker, or is being retooled further and will be held off for a while - maybe finally debuting in 2026. Maybe not. Maybe a completely different original movie has been cooked up over the past few years and will be ready for a fall 2026 release...

We'll have to wait and see where all the pieces fall...