#well. more chill in comparison to others in the cult

[halfblackwolfdemon]

This is amazing, aaah!

I've recently been in the dpxdc fandom, it's awesome af and I just had an idea, a weird prompt.

We usually see Danny is or ends up as part of the batfam: Damian's twin, the new adoptee, something like that.

So how about Danny being Talia's older brother? Ra's favorite and the one who set all the standards that Talia, and later Damian, have to reach?

The original idea was: Danny left the LoA when he was young enough to never get to meet Bruce, so he never knew his sister had a son and thus that he was an uncle, he never knew his nephew was a hero nor that his nephew's father and his family were heroes.

So when an adult Danny, Phantom since 14 and High King of the Infinite Realms since 18 (or whatever age you feel like, I feel like that experience makes him very indifferent to a lot, and his morals are more similar to those of ectoentities than living things), met the JL and more specifically the batfamily, he felt the pits in RH and more slightly in Robin, and knew they were on some level involved with the LoA, so he just asked

"So… How did you get dad to let you use the pits?"

To which the batfam responds with "YOUR DAD!"

Then a second idea, derived from the og, was:

JL and JLD found out that the Ra's al Ghul was trying to summon the King of the Infinite Realms, so they go to stop him but fail to do it in time, then Danny in ghost king form appears.

He sees the scene, sees that his father is the one summoning him, and goes

"Oh hey dad!" as he transforms from his eldritch form to human form "You know you can call me right? I have a phone, no need for all this crap" .

Everyone, even Ra's, is shocked.

Idk sounds funny in my head

Feel free to make a fic out of this and sorry if I sound too formal or if there are mistakes, English is not my first language and I'm learning it

It is also my second time publishing something and I don't know how to use tags

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls in your Area ch 4 progress

(read other sections of this and more stories here)

Danny floated miserably through the stacks, pulling out books that looked remotely plausible. Maybe he needed help. Jazz would help him without laughing at him, right?

Sam and Tucker absolutely would not. They would think it was hilarious that he had so little game that the universe assigned him a boyfriend via Jeremy Waters. 

‘As if I could pull a guy who looks like that,’ Danny thought wryly, and then felt a little bad about himself in comparison. Jason was, uhhhh, physically blessed. He was tall and well proportioned and his hands- Danny fought down a shiver and resisted the urge to steal another look. Jason was out of sight anyway.

Well. He still hadn't seen Jason's face. Maybe he was ugly! You never know. Or maybe under the helmet it was totally smooth, no face. That would be neat. Danny paused mid motion to imagine that.

Haha. Sick, man.

That concept cheered him up a little as he grimly opened the first book and started skimming for likely words like marriage, spouse, and concubine. 

He didn’t bother reading anything in detail. He stuck a post it note on each page with a relevant term and then put the book in a pile to take back to his dorm. This wasn’t going to get solved in a day.

Ah, shit. Danny paused. This wasn’t going to get solved in a day. He bit his lip and looked off in the direction where Jason had disappeared to do his own research.

He truly didn’t have time to devote to this right now. He was not willing to drop his school life in order to solve a sudden problem. Jason was just going to have to cope with whatever timeline Danny could manage without setting his life on fire.

On the other hand, Jason was a human guy who probably had a life of his own at the biker bar/fight club. Whatever the hell required that kind of outfit probably kept him busy! So Danny couldn’t like, just leave him in the castle to chill.

“Not to mention the fact that he shouldn’t be able to live here very long anyways,” Danny muttered to himself.

That was troubling him. Frankly, Jason should have been intolerably uncomfortable in the ghost zone for this long without specialized protective equipment. It wasn’t meant for humans.

‘What did Jeremy do to this guy?’

Yikes. Did this mean… Did this mean Danny should have given that little cult thing more credit? But Jeremy was just such a doofus. He grimaced. Embarrassing. Why were his enemies so embarrassing? This shit didn’t happen to, like, Wonder Woman.

Danny buried himself back in the books to avoid the growing suspicion that Jason might have been uhhhh magically altered to make him an appropriate concubine to a dead king. That thought sucked! He didn’t like it. He really didn’t like the idea of bringing it up with Jason.

When he had what he thought was a good first round of research, Danny shelved the books he’d gotten out and went to find where his …

He whole-body flinched at the point where he needed to plug an appropriate noun into that sentence. 

“Jason?” Danny called, juggling books into a stack. “I think we should probably get you back to the re- the human world. Before something inexorable happens.”

A pause.

“I don’t think you know what that word means,” Jason said. A book shut. Danny headed towards the sound, phasing through shelves effortlessly. A spark of curiosity lit up at Jason’s voice. He sounded relaxed, even through the helmet’s filter. 

‘I want to hear his real voice. Bet it’s nice.’

Wait. What? Danny shook the thought away, discomforted. He plastered a wide grin on his face. “I don’t know any words,” he lied breezily. “I’m just ad libbing. Anyway!” He flopped dramatically down onto the big chair next to Jason’s, making sure to be extra physical to get a satisfying whumpf. “We really should go! I can get you to the human world, but, uh, I can’t promise to put you back where you came from.” He scratched at the back of his neck. “I think this is going to be a more than one day affair.”

Jason was watching him. There was nothing visible through his helmet, but Danny got the sense that he was tense, waiting for a threat. 

Which, what? Why would Jason feel threatened by-

Oh. Danny felt a knot in his stomach. Right. That made a lot of sense. He felt kinda sick. 

He didn’t let the feeling show through and barreled on speaking. “I don’t exactly have an easy way for you to contact me, but we probably need to stay in touch to fix this. Do you have any ideas?” 

The lie felt kind of gross. But he could hardly tell the guy; “I’m an engineering student in Gotham, you can just call my cell or come to the dorms.”

Jason seemed to relax at the cessation of control. “If you can stick around, yeah. I’ll get you a burner phone, exchange numbers. You’re not going to…” He trailed off. Danny felt a frown somehow. “You won’t have any signal here, actually. That won’t work.”

“I can make it work,” Danny assured him, hands up. “I mean, I can’t make it work here, or I would have offered to help with your tech. But I can pop in and out of the human world and check my messages.”

“That’ll work.” Jason’s helmet turned ever so slightly. “About the books…”

“You found something good?” Danny asked, impressed. “Yeah, awesome. Just be really careful with them, the librarian is a scary guy.”

Jason’s hand flexed over the closed book on his thigh. “I can take- how many can I take out?”

Danny scoffed. “I’m not your dad,” he said. “Whatever you can carry, man. You ready to go or do you need a minute?” He flipped back to his feet with a grunt. 

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

My starting point when it comes to the consideration of any issue relating to free speech is my passionate belief that the second most precious thing in life is the right to express yourself freely. The most precious thing in life I think is food in your mouth and the third most precious is a roof over your head but a fixture in the Number 2 slot for me is free expression, just below the need to sustain life itself. That is because I have enjoyed free expression in this country all my professional life and expect to continue to do so, I personally highly unlikely to be arrested for whatever laws exist to contain free expression, because of the undoubtedly privileged position that is afforded to those of a high public profile. So, my concerns are less for myself and more for those more vulnerable because of their lower profile. Like the man arrested in Oxford for calling a police horse, gay. Or the teenager arrested for calling the Church of Scientology a cult. Or the café owner arrested for displaying passages from the bible on a TV screen.

When I heard of some of these more ludicrous offences and charges, I remembered that I had been here before in a fictional context. I once did a show called Not the Nine O’Clock News, some years ago, and we did a sketch where Griff Rhys-Jones played Constable Savage, a manifestly racist police officer to whom I, as his station commander, is giving a dressing down for arresting a black man on a whole string of ridiculous, trumped up and ludicrous charges. The charges for which Constable Savage arrested Mr. Winston Kodogo of 55 Mercer Road were these:

‘Walking on the cracks in the pavement.’

‘Walking in a loud shirt in a built-up area during the hours of darkness’ and one of my favourites ‘Walking around all over the place.’

He was also arrested for ‘Urinating in a public convenience’ and ‘Looking at me in a funny way’.

Who would have thought that we would end up with a law that would allow life to imitate art so exactly. I read somewhere, a defender of the status quo claiming that the fact that the gay horse case was dropped after the arrested man refused to pay the fine and that the Scientology case was also dropped at some point during the court process was proof that the law working well, ignoring the fact that the only reason these cases were dropped was because of the publicity that they had attracted. The Police sensed that ridicule was just around the corner and withdrew their actions. But what about the thousands of other cases that did not enjoy the oxygen of publicity? That weren’t quite ludicrous enough to attract media attention?  Even for those actions that were withdrawn, people were arrested, questioned, taken to court and then released. That isn’t a law working properly: that is censoriousness of the most intimidating kind, guaranteed to have, as Lord Dear says, a ‘chilling effect’ on free expression and free protest.

Parliament’s Joint committee on Human Rights summarized, as you may know, this whole issue very well by saying ‘While arresting a protestor for using threatening or abusive speech may, depending on the circumstances, be a proportionate response, we do not think that language or behaviour that is merely insulting should ever be criminalized in this way.’ The clear problem with the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism is easily construed as insult by certain parties. Ridicule is easily construed as insult. Sarcasm, unfavourable comparison, merely stating an alternative point of view to the orthodoxy can be interpreted as insult. And because so many things can be interpreted as insult, it is hardly surprising that so many things have been, as the examples I talked about earlier show.

Although the law under discussion has been on the statute book for over 25 years, it is indicative of a culture that has taken hold of the programmes of successive governments that, with the reasonable and well-intended ambition to contain obnoxious elements in society, has created a society of an extraordinarily authoritarian and controlling nature. It is what you might call The New Intolerance, a new but intense desire to gag uncomfortable voices of dissent. ‘I am not intolerant’, say many people; say many softly spoken, highly educated, liberal-minded people: ‘I am only intolerant of intolerance’. And people tend to nod sagely and say ‘Oh, wise words, wise words’ and yet if you think about this supposedly inarguable statement for longer than five seconds, you realize that all it is advocating is the replacement of one kind of intolerance with another. Which to me doesn’t represent any kind of progress at all. Underlying prejudices, injustices or resentments are not addressed by arresting people: they are addressed by the issues being aired, argued and dealt with preferably outside the legal process. For me, the best way to increase society’s resistance to insulting or offensive speech is to allow a lot more of it. As with childhood diseases, you can better resist those germs to which you have been exposed.

We need to build our immunity to taking offence, so that we can deal with the issues that perfectly justified criticism can raise. Our priority should be to deal with the message, not the messenger. As President Obama said in an address to the United Nations only a month or so ago: ‘Llaudable efforts to restrict speech can become a tool to silence critics or oppress minorities. The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech.’ And that is the essence of my thesis, more speech. If we want a robust society, we need more robust dialogue and that must include the right to insult or to offend. And as, even if, as Lord Dear says, you know, the freedom to be inoffensive is no freedom at all.

The repeal of this word in this clause will be only a small step, but it will, I hope, be a critical one in what should be a longer-term project to pause and slowly rewind a creeping culture of censoriousness. It is a small skirmish in the battle, in my opinion, to deal with what Sir Salman Rushdie refers to as the ‘outrage industry’ – self-appointed arbiters of the public good, encouraging media-stoked outrage, to which the police feel under terrible pressure to react. A newspaper rings up Scotland Yard: ‘Someone has said something slightly insulting on Twitter about someone who we think a national treasure. What are you going to do about it?’ And the police panic and they scrabble around and then grasp the most inappropriate lifeline of all, Section 5 of the Public Order Act, that thing where they can arrest anybody for saying anything that might be construed by anyone else as insulting. You know, they don’t seem to need a real victim, they need only to make the judgment that somebody could have been offended if they had heard or read what has been said. The most ludicrous degree of latitude. The storms that surround Twitter and Facebook comment have raised some fascinating issues about free speech, which we haven’t really yet come to terms with. Firstly, that we all have to take responsibility for what we say, which is quite a good lesson to learn. But secondly, we’ve learnt how appallingly prickly and intolerant society has become of even the mildest adverse comment.

The law should not be aiding and abetting this new intolerance. Free speech can only suffer if the law prevents us from dealing with its consequences. I offer you my wholehearted support to the Reform Section 5 campaign. Thank you very much.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

The latest issue of the Obi-Wan comic has me wanting to write SO MUCH STUFF ABOUT IT it’s insane - but I’d have to brush up on Heart of Darkness, Apocalypse Now and Shatterpoint to be halfway coherent about it!! 

But!!!!

There’s this imagery of going up the river into the jungle to confront and probably kill a man tortured by death and war into a demented agent of death - with the risk of becoming the very same thing, and with the line between hunted and hunter blurring. It’s all swamp and mist and shadow and night! It’s that classic structure that has already been used in Star Wars so well! (In Shatterpoint, which was heavily inspired by Apocalypse Now and follows the same beats and atmosphere.)

We have that same insight into the pov character's struggle with the idea of killing a comrade who has lost their way, while questioning whether adherence to peace is even possible, or if it wasn't just denial and hopeless naivety.

Going up the river is a grotesque parade of dead bodies that chills the soul - and the living share the characteristics of the dead. The person looming over the story now inspires cult-like devotion in the other lost souls. It's SUCH an effective storytelling trope and one of my favorite explorations of war! Compare this to the previous issue.

This was the 'classic' examination of war: fairly straightfoward violence with clear goals that you either achieve or die trying, followed by the contemplation of how hollow and bitter victory feels.

This is the next step - there's no longer anything to fight for or against. Violence and death have become the very fabric of the world rather than an anomaly that can be rectified. Moral considerations have no weight and actions have no effect. The road is a river - you can't stray from it, and it only leads to one place, death (whether you want it or not. Anakin didn't want to kill Mekedrix, but he does). As Mekedrix says:

There's no point in virtue or honor or courage anymore, as all roads lead to death.

And the only way to escape this apocalyptic and perilous night and go back to the sunrise of the last issue (the sunrise that Obi-Wan kept seeking) is even more death.

It's so bleak but SO POWERFUL and effective. I'm not kidding, as means of conveying a tragedy go it's next to the perfect trope.

Going back to the cult-like aspect, with people being warped into symbols...

(I wish they'd make Shatterpoint into a movie just for this comparison. THE COMIC STRIP LOOKS LIKE ACTUAL FOOTAGE)

I'm going insane over these personifications of the outcome of war, shrouded in shadows and stripped of personhood that you find in desecrated old Temples.

People who can't connect to their names anymore or are robbed of their faces by the shadows or robbed of their health or cannot talk at all anymore (Shatterpoint). Obi-Wan keeps trying to remind Mekedrix that identity and life are what give nature and death meaning, but THE NIGHT IS JUST TOO DARK.

The art is SO GOOD. THIS IS THE FACE OBI-WAN MAKES WHEN HE KNOWS SOMEBODY IS LOST

From the very beginning of the story he KNOWS he won't save Mekedrix just like everybody who goes up the river into the Temple KNOWS what they'll find will be far beyond any hope of rescue. The question with that trope is never - will we bring this person home? - but what will we be when we come back?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT WHAT DEFINES OBI-WAN IS THAT HE'S DEMONSTRABLY INSANELY RESILIENT TO THIS FORM OF HORROR. The original trope has the pov character coming back irreparably tainted. The variation in Shatterpoint has Mace's faith hanging by a string - by the end, he's beaten, bruised, exhausted and thoroughly tired of it all, and it costs him incredible pain and every last reserve of strength he has to make it through. But in this comic, Obi-Wan's crisis was last issue, when he could still see the sun, more so than in this one.

In this issue he's Anakin's rock and he's more focused on Mekedrix's despair than his own. HE'S CENTERED AND MOTIVATED BY THE THOUGHT OF PULLING PEOPLE OUT OF THE DARKNESS WHEN NOBODY CAN SEE THE LIGHT.

I don't even know where I'm going with all of this except that!!!!! The parallels and contrasts between William and Mace and Obi-Wan!!!! And Kurtz and Kar Vastor and Depa and Mekedrix!!!!!! The ART!!!!! THE POV CHARACTER NARRATING HIS JOURNEY UP THE RIVER INTO THE JUNGLE!!!!! THE IDEA OF A STORY ABOUT SEEKING A PERSON THAT TELLS YOU MORE ABOUT THE SEEKER THAN THE PERSON SOUGHT!!!!!!!! I just. It's good.

[lastemberss]

finished the vampire armand last night and i have so many thoughts. it's definitely the book that had me the most invested so far in the series, maybe because i just can't take lestat's self-inflicted problems too seriously lmao.

i'm going to quit my job to become a full-time marius hater. i didn't like him before (it's the paternalism) but now ohhhh hell for marius!! hell for 10,000 years!!

early marius/armand is such a tasty blend of horrifying and romantic, things got surprisingly explicit! and the drama... armand at like 16 breaking down the door with an axe because marius isn't talking to him? incredible. of course then it's all downhill from there.

the religious stuff was more interesting than expected, except when it got into memnoch territory. i skipped that book for a reason! why are we still talking about this!! but it definitely added to the tragedy of it all.

the indoctrination into the cult and what happened to the other boys is so nightmare-inducing, god.

and then when we get to iwtv uhhhh. armand, beloved, you're really the villain of that story and the justifications are just making it worse. what you did to poor claudia was. not being helpful. really funny that his explanation for not helping lestat when he came crawling to him is that lestat healing by himself would make him stronger. it was all tough love really. tower? what tower?

no mention of nicki either, wow!!

now i'm really really curious about how the show will handle the rest of the interview with armand there. what does louis even know at this point? daniel will for sure notice that louis's version of events is off. is armand going to just blatantly lie and we'll only get the truth from lestat later? if armand confesses his claudia-related crimes louis might just set him on fire. unless of course show armand is a better person but. that's unlikely. or louis already knows and that's why he's so dead inside???

but back to the novel. armand and lestat really both instantly fell for louis because he was just so beautiful and sad huh.

very little new info on louis and armand's relationship? just that they both learned how to be alone from it. ow.

also tragic is the absence of daniel, the few times he's mentioned are so fucking sad. and everybody wandering away from night island...

i know marius is useless in general but he could've at least killed santino. dude had all your children tortured and/or murdered and you're just having a chat with him??? then again as i'm typing this i realize he's not the only one to be remarkably chill about their kid's murderer huh.

it's so funny that armand apparently hates gabrielle. why her of all people. what has she ever done to you, she's just minding her own business.

hilarious that armand has a problem with lestat's "brat prince" nickname and is like "prince of what?? on whose authority???". but then that's because of their collective marius issues.

more fun info: louis likes baz luhrmann's romeo+juliet, because of course he does, and armand watches the x-files apparently.

i love sybelle and benji, their section feels almost wholesome in comparison with. everything else. like yeah ok armand is kinda recreating the relationship he had with marius and bianca with them but. in a healthier way, sort of. he's trying. he's supportive. i hope nothing bad happens to them. well. nothing worse.

fucking. marius.

[lamelinam]

The maid and the Cat, Ren and Akira: some musings

What gloomy love brightened the half-lives of the Sohmas’ most Cursed ones?

I often wonder what the relationship between the former Cat and his attendant would have looked like, twisted and sad as it must have been. Precious little is shown about those two, and only through Kazuma’s pov. We know she took care of and pitied the Cat, to the point that she even slept with him and bore his child. This is not unlike Kureno’s relationship with Akito. She might have treated him with the same kindness and devotion, distant, perhaps harmful, yet selfless.

Selfless? I think another way to extrapolate on the story of Kazuma’s grandparents is with Ren and Akira’s relationship.

Many great meta writers have already pointed out that those who fill in the positions at the extremes of the Sohma hierarchy, the Cat and God, or in this case the Cat and the idolized, deified family head, are foils to each other and are the ones that are dehumanized and isolated the most.

But now I think that you can also compare the way the previous Cat and Akira both chose ("chose" being a relative term in the case of the Cat) a romantic partner.

(Akira wasn’t God, but as the family head, he was worshipped just like Akito. His sickness also contributed to making him stand apart. Not only was he kept inside the compound because of his frailty, the hold that death had on him blessed him with this ephemeral, divine aura. “Was it the sorrow that befell him at such a young age that gave him that otherworldly beauty?»)

Both Kazuma’s grandfather and Akito’s father were doomed, Akira to die an early death, Kazuma’s grandfather to live the life of a living dead. Both were buried alive in the Sohma estate, either at the outskirts or at the center of it.

Both reached out to their progeny. (But Kazuma rejected the offered cake, and will endeavour to atone and honour his grandfather’s memory. Akito clung to every memento she had of her father and will need to learn to let go of him.)

And both the previous Cat and Akira found some measure of comfort in the affections and arms of their female caretakers, Sohma servants who saw their loneliness and expressed their compassion, though not in a particularly healthy way: Kazuma’s grandmother acting out of pity, Ren out of obsessive love.

It’s interesting to me how their respective position was reflected in their partners’ feelings : the imprisoned, despised Cat, Kazuma’s grandmother looked down on. The respected, otherworldly beautiful Akira was adored by Ren.

Kazuma sums up his grandparents’ relationship thusly:

Those correspond to the main "duties" that a wife is traditionally supposed to provide her husband.

The day-to-day caring.

Childbearing.

Attending their husband’s deathbed.

Obviously Ren wished she could have skipped the second one and be there for the last one. (I headcanon that she had prepared her last words years in advance, finding small pleasures and comfort, on the back of the wave of despair anticipating Akira’s death, in rehearsing the declarations of passionate love she would address to the dying man.)

The Cat’s companion attended her partner’s deathbed, seemingly very composed, even cold, as seen in Kazuma’s memories, while Ren, deprived of her husband’s last moments, that she felt were “stolen” from her by Akito (in reality by the maids :@), was mad with grief.

"The only one who can save him"

Those parallels make me wonder whether or not the Cat’s companion might not have developed a saviour complex, like Ren, both believing that they were the only one able to save this lonely, condemned person they were taking care of, and relishing it.

“I love you” vs "I pity you"

On Ren’s side though, it seems that she believes she truly saw Akira, as the person hiding behind that otherworldly aura, filled with sadness and fearful of death. Seeing that Akira agrees with her ("Ren noticed I was lonely"), fought against the Sohma leaders and regretted on his deathbed that he and Ren couldn’t reconcile, I believe this is not a delusion of hers. Her love was genuine and passionate, and she and Akira were happy. Unfortunately, that happiness didn’t survive her pregnancy, for she was also jealous and obsessed.

Kazuma supposes that his grandmother believed that she was doing something good. I wonder at her expression. It is shadowed, enigmatic. Is it a smirk or not, is she sad or not? i wonder whether she was selfless in her pity, like Kureno, or selfish like Kagura, perhaps feeling better by «sacrificing» herself in associating with the Cat for the sake of a miserable soul.

(Whatever you can say or imagine about her, Kazuma doesn’t seem to suffer from the stigma of being the Cat’s grandson, nor does he bear any trace of an abusive upbringing - in fact, he was among those doing the abusing - or even the echoes of the previous generation’s, so my guess is that she was an okay mother and grandmother... which would have made Kazuma’s disappointment and hurt at her words all the sharper... Like Tohru thinking of the zodiacs members she finds so kind and adorable secretly looking down on someone else she realizes she cares about more than she thought.)

There is no way to know how the Cat reacted to a pity-love. But considering Kureno and Akito’s relationship, this might also have been but a superficial balm, and potentially just as hurtful. Then it depends on the interpretation. Kureno’s pity cocooned Akito and kept her from moving forward, but the Cat was condemned anyway to an eternity of imprisonment. Moving forward was forbidden to him. And if his self-worth was already completely destroyed as his role and his treatment are meant to do, he might have just felt grateful towards the attendant. There’s no way to say for sure whether he would have been hurt or not by the truth, and I don’t know which option is the saddest!

... but I know what could be sadder. Because is the maid entirely to blame? We know that in Fruits Basket, love requires a measure of selfishness. The one cursed with the Cat has no self, no existence, no wants and no future, and they accept this fate. They believe they deserve it. (Which is why the Cat's Room doesn't need bars in the manga, nor locks. Rin was under lock and keys because either Akito didn't completely trust her to keep her word or she didn't want someone to discover her.)

It would be very difficult for someone to fall in love with a person who has renounced to everything, perhaps including love. Because who's to say that the Cat loved the maid too?

Recognition vs indifference

How depressingly fitting that we don't even learn the Cat's name, while Akira’s is remembered by all and echoes back and forth in the later part of the story.

Ren marrying the Sohma family head was such a big political deal it provoked a family schism. The Cat’s story with the maid gets completely ignored. It is probably known, just not "officially recognized", says Kazuma. Like everything related to the Cat, it was relegated to the back of the minds, in the dusty closet of the things that are uncomfortable to think about but that you tolerate if it doesn’t upend your little world-view. Ugh, some maid is being inappropriate with that monster! Well, as long as she doesn’t free the loathsome creature, who cares. (And she wouldn’t, because she’s no Tohru.)

In contrast, the maids of the main family thought that Ren was stealing Akira from their grasp. Ren didn’t seem to care for the family, and in a way, her love allowed Akira to also escape from them, "snatched away" by "that woman”, for the old attendant. Unlike the Cat’s attendant, Ren felt like a threat to the Sohma strict hierarchical system. (Fortunately, God will be born to bring back the right order of things, phew! Certainly she he will accomplish what Akira-san was momentarily too misguided to do and rid us of that woman!)

Inheritance.

Both women's profession of their true feelings deeply marked their progeny and the way they view relationship, whether personal or not, romantic or filial.

While her mother affirmed that "a woman only needs one man", Akito leaned on the love of the zodiacs ; Kazuma viewed and loved Kyo as a human and dreaded that his son would find himself in the same situation as his grandfather but also with the same kind of companionship. (His reaction to Kagura speaks of a long-held anxiety). But Ren's hatred for Akito coloured the way Akito interpreted her words, while Kazuma’s grandmother’s declaration shook Kazuma, his personal relationship with his grandmother notwithstanding.

This comparison isn't about good or evil, neither to judge those characters. Furuba isn’t about that. Obviously, they are not blameless. But it is very difficult to say whether or not Kazuma’s grandmother was wrong to act out of pity if it provided a bit of comfort to a prisoner. And is it surprising that Ren developed this saviour’s complex when it seems she was the only one willing to breach Akira’s isolation bubble?

Anyway, Takaya-sensei is really good at making foils. Either because she does it on purpose or because her characters are so deeply intertwined with the themes of the series the parallels appear on their own. But in this case, I don’t think it’s for nothing that the chapters recounting Ren and the Cat’s attendant stories follow each other (chapters 114 and 115).

Of course, this meta is less an analysis and more suppositions and conjectures (frankly, I wonder if I might not as well have written a fanfic). From the little we see, the Cat’s companion and Ren work as distorted yin-yang mirrors, their differences highlighting the similarities of their situations, from the ugly effects of the inner workings of the Sohma cult to the messed up inner workings of the heart. Genuine but obsessed, jealous love... Pity, perhaps self-serving, in the guise of martyred love.... One thing I can say for sure is that these two both gave me chills in their own way.

[obeiii-mee]

Hi! Im new to your page and i love your writing 💕 i have a request for demon brothers headcanons on how they treat MC after realizing they get anxiety from things like yelling/loud abrupt noises/ things like that? For example, they flinch, get quiet, or start fidgeting? Thank you!!!

Aww, thank you so much. That means a lot to me and I’m really glad you like my writing considering I have such a chaotic style lmao. Also, welcome to this mess of a blog. We give off ‘cult’ vibes but at least we have hot, fictional demons to make up for that.This was super sweet because I know for a fact every single one of them would be very understanding of MC’s anxiety of anything.

Enjoy!

———————————————————————

The Brothers with an MC that gets anxiety from loud/abrupt noises:

Lucifer:

-He may not get anxiety from it, but Lucifer definitely prefers a quiet atmosphere/environment where he can focus on his work

-Which makes living with his brothers a living nightmare because they don’t have the capability to shut the fuck up

-That being said, he catches on rather quickly that you do not feel comfortable around loud noises in general

-There’s a limit to what he can do but every time you feel like you need a bit of peace and quiet, know that you are more than welcomed into his office at any time of the day. Even if he isn’t there

-He definitely prioritises your mental as well as your physical well being seeing as living with demons can have a massive effect on your sanity

-He’s not judgemental about it either because, while he doesn’t understand why loud noises may cause you to be so anxious, he understands that humans are built differently to demons

-Lucifer has no chill at times and will tell all of his brothers off every time they make a big scene, whether in public or private

-He can be a tad overprotective at times but he means really well, especially if he sees you’ve gotten oddly silent for the past few minutes or has caught wind of you fidgeting during dinner

-I don’t know how much I stressed so far about the observation skills this man has but I will keep doing, he can spot you flinching at loud noises from a mile away

Mammon:

-I believe that he can read people really well and can recognise when a person is feeling a certain way

-But he’s still a complete dumbass so he might still miss a few clues hidden in your mannerisms

-Like, he realises you’re uncomfortable but he doesn’t understand the degree of it or why it exists

-You’ll have to be blunt about it and tell him about your deal with loud noises because otherwise he will be stressing about it for weeks on end

-Dating him as a result of your anxiety over loud noises can prove to be...difficult

-He’s a very boisterous and obnoxious being, everytime a particular emotion of his flares up, he gets significantly noisier

-Whenever he enters the room you happen to be in, you’re forced to cover your ears and flinch because he has a way of announcing his presence

-But he tries so incredibly hard to act calmer around you and he so hates it when he fails to do so because he knows how uncomfortable you get as a result of him screaming like an idiot

-His brothers usually blame him when you start fidgeting because they assume he’s the cause of your rising anxiety and he started to believe it as well

-He sees that look on your face and he is just gutted

-He is ready to get on his knees and start apologising profusely until you forgive him for being such a noisy bastard

-The times other things/people are the cause of you going weirdly quiet, he will use his threatening tactics

-“Listen ‘ere, you’re makin’ my human uncomfortable so if you don’t shut the fuck up, I won’t let you see the light of day again. Do ya hear me?!?!”

-He says to the godfather clock when the sound of it striking midnight startled you

Levi:

-He 100% understands

-He hates loud noises as well and they usually make him scamper back to his room lol a rat in hiding

-Levi is slightly more immune to them however seeing as his brothers do have a habit of raising their voices all the time

-But do not worry, human, for he will protect his Henry from the annoying sounds people in general make at the cost of his life

-Take shelter in his room, please

-He loves having you in there and usually you only have the noise of video games in the background

-If you’re there and an anime he’s watching is getting too loud, he will turn it down for you ahead of time

-Sometimes, he can be as noisy as his brothers, especially when he rages at one of his games

-Bu he’s so quick to shut up once he realises you’re there

-And then, like Mammon, would start apologising for being not only an ugly otaku but an obnoxious one at that

-So y’all end up comforting and cuddling each other because.....uh....mutual hatred for loud things?

-Also, he would decapitate his brothers for you if they crossed a line (like he’s not really a Yandere but he’s a demon with demonic instincts to protect I guess)

Satan:

-Much like his father eldest brother, Satan also prefers silence in general

-After all, it’s a lot easier to read when his brothers aren’t there to muck about the place and make too much noise

-Humans are very different to demons, especially psychologically speaking and he understand that

-That’s why he doesn’t question it when you follow him into the library to seek refugee from his siblings

-If anything, he’s rather happy he gets to spend some time with you so the two of you sit in silence, each of you doing your own separate thing

-He knows if something is bothering you again, he can probably notice you suddenly start fidgeting in public

-He’s very cautious with you when you are in this state as he deems you are at your most vulnerable

-One time, a teacher at RAD raised his voice too high while scolding you for not paying attention and that earned an involuntary flinch from you

-That guy was officially on Satan’s shit list from then on, just so ya know

-Overall, he’s very sweet and patient with you and absolutely does not mind spending an entire day with you indoors away from loud noises

Asmo:

-He has no problem with loud noises whatsoever

-If anything, he loves being in crowded public places like The Fall, since partying and socialising is one of his many talents

-Not to mention, he’s so used to own family being so loud it just doesn’t affect him that much

-However, when you first arrived and he noticed just how badly you reacted to loud noises, he started avoiding things like clubbing as if it were the plague every time he hanged out with you

-Asmo needs social contact but he is more than willing to spend time indoors with you if it makes you feel better

-Or going out shopping in a relatively quiet shopping centre

-I mean, getting his nails done with you by his side sounds absolutely amazing to him

-So as much as he loves making noises and spending time in rowdy places, he’s always going to make an exception with you

-Always

Beel:

-Beel is unbothered by noise

-Sure, he does like it better when his brothers aren’t fighting and things are peaceful around the house

-But, he’s not fazed by yelling, loud music, heavy things falling and thudding against the ground etc.

-He picks up on your anxiety riddled gestures the first time Lucifer has a go at his brothers in front of you

-Because you started fidgeting like crazy and in that moment he was the only one that saw it

-So Beel grabbed your hand and led you outside of the room and Lucifer was so caught up in the moment he didn’t even realise it

-Probably, maybe he just let it go

-Basically, Beel decides that he shall protect you, the tiny human in comparison with him, from any loud noises that might startle you

-He will do it, do not test him

-One time, Mammon was screaming because he was chased by the witches and it made you flinch enough for Beel to see

-A couple hours later, Mammon disappears completely and shows up at your door, looking absolutely traumatised but genuinely apologetic and says sorry

-Sometimes people forget Beel is a demon

Belphie:

-I’m gonna make a wild assumption and presume that if you are vulnerable to loud noises, you are very likely a light sleeper

-If that is the case, (apologies if you’re not) then Belphie would be very quick to notice because a lot of shit goes down at night time and most of the time, it’s loud

-Belphie doesn’t have a problem with it, he can sleep through anything, even his brothers and especially Lucifer

-But he definitely notices if you aren’t cuddled up to him any more, even if he was asleep, because you sat up in bed suddenly at a random noise at 3am

-Note: That was Asmo sneaking back into the house trying to be as quite as possible but tripping and breaking a window

-“You’ll have to get used to that. My brothers are idiots, they don’t know when to be silent.”

-He prefers quiet places like the attic so he can actually sleep, but again, could do so either way so it doesn’t matter to him

-But he is going to be...let’s say ...upset.... if you were to wake up from a nap session because of someone something

-“Make one more sound and I’ll rip your tongue out.”

-Even when you aren’t napping, he gets very angry when people get unnecessarily loud, especially with you reaction

-But that just gives him an opportunity to bring you to the attic or something so the two of you can actually chill by yourselves for a chance

-Beel is invited obviously, but Belphie is just as happy to be left by himself with you

-Ironic how much his feelings for you have changed, huh?

————————————

So I really finished this by the end of the week. Hope this is actually some good because I spent all of my brain cells on an another giant request I’m working and the rest were used to write this. Thank you for sending me requests though guys! Now every time I get bored I can just answer your asks. Have a nice Monday!

Al~

[nat-20s]

what’s poppin everyone please have this fun lil writing warmup/short story inspired by me thinking “Dancing in the Moonlight” was definitely 100% about werewolves

~*~

“So, this your first transformation?”

The counselor? Leader? Tour guide? Asked this with a perfectly jovial tone, as if the typical social mores surrounding, ugh, lycanthropy, didn’t apply to her. They didn’t know what exact title to call her, and her name tag just said “Luna”, which, reflecting on it, either was a joke on her part or a reflection of her parents’ sense of humor.

Picking at the scabs from last month, they cringed and replied, “No. Uh. Second.”

Luna lets out a low whistle. “Oof. That sucks. Guessing you got bitten rather than inherited the ol’ wolfman gene?”

“That’s...kind of personal?”

Unlocking the front door of the log cabin that served as King Harvest’s Headquarters, Luna shrugs and says, “Shit, sorry. Forgot the whole weird stigma around your source of the once monthly nightmare, as if it fuckin matters. Also, I know, I know, ass out of you and me. Hey, you got any dietary restrictions? Gluten, peanut allergies, the like?”

Voice flat, they tell her, “I’m vegetarian,” and waits for the obvious response.

As they wander through the cabin towards the kitchen, Luna flipping on the light switches, generic club music starts to filter in. Instead of the obvious response, Luna asks, “You like veggie burgers? Or maybe pasta? I’d offer salad, but that’s really not gonna cut it for tonight.”

“I ate before I came.”

With a snort, she tells them, “Oh yeah? Did you have about 4000 calories?”

“No? Why would I have?”

Sweeping out her arm, she gestures at the food laying out on the counter and tells them, “Then eat up! 4000 is really a minimum for the night if you don’t want to feel like someone physically beat out all of your energy in the morning. 6000 is more the target area, but we got, hmm, about 15 minutes before things get uncomfortable, and half an hour max before things get dire.”

They glance down to the food, and, admittedly, the broccoli alfredo does look pretty appealing. Still, they have to ask, “Is this a cult?”

Luna lets out a bark of a laugh that has nothing to do with her (maybe) being a werewolf. “Okay, first of all, what kind of cult is like ‘fuck yeah, we’re a cult’? Secondly, despite the first thing, I can say that we’re not a cult. I know how “King Harvest: Center for Movement Therapy” sounds, both clinical and vague enough to be suspicious as hell, but I didn’t come up with the title, blame my long deceased dad for that one. Plus, ‘King Harvest: Bitchin’ Wolf Dance House’ probably wouldn’t look good on the grant applications.”

“Grants?”

“Oh yeah. This bad boy’s been publicly funded since its opening in 1972. Hence no membership fees.”

“Is that why animal control is giving out your business card? Are they one of your sponsors?”

“Nah, that’s just Jack. Me ‘n’ him go way back, hell, to his park ranger days.  I mean, yeah, I think he’ll campaign for us, but mostly I think he just hates capturing a wolf in the night only to have a naked, trembling human in the morning, and he knows that our program significantly reduces the odds of that happening, at least in this neck of the woods.”

They let out a hum, then glance back down to the food. As appealing as it down look, they’re still about..30% convinced this is an elaborate organ harvesting operation. Or sketchy sex thing.

Apparently sensing their hesitation, Luna says, “You got a favorite chip?”

“Salt and vinegar.”

Grabbing a sealed family sized bag from the overhead cabinets, Luna tosses it to them. “If you come back next full moon, either eat enough in advance or have a real meal here. That being said, excuse the turn of phrase, you should wolf that down. It’s sure as hell better than nothing.”

They catch it, and the bag opens with a puff of air that speaks to a reassuring lack of tampering. As they toss a chip into their mouth, Luna grabs a water bottle from the fridge and places it down next to them. “So? Any questions for me? We’ve still got about ten minutes before we have to go out there.”

Rolling their eyes, they tell her, “No. None at all.”

“Great! Soon as you’re done eating we’ll get you started.”

“I was being sarcastic.”

“Yeah, no shit, smart-ass. Seriously, what are your, we haven’t got much time.”

“I don’t know? The whole..thing? I mean, how is it supposed to..work? Like? At all?”

“You ever see Amok Time?”

“Is that relevant?”

“It’s a yes or no question babe.”

“And if I say no?”

“Then the explanation is going to be a lot more technical and take a lot longer, ultimately to likely make less sense.”

“...I’ve seen it.”

“Great! So, Pon Farr is basically this chemical blood imbalance that results in fuck or die disorder, yeah? But then Spock neither fucks nor dies, and eventually the vulcans get their shit together and find out that an intense fight can serve the same function, and the blood fever chills out. Lycanthropy operates on a similar enough basis for comparison. You’re compelled to act out on energetically heavy base instincts, returning to the ways of the wolf or whatever. Traditionally, that’s done through running and hunting, which has, historically, been a crapshoot at best. Theoretically, sex can also get the job done, but I’m sure you can imagine how that gets extremely dicey extremely quickly. Either restraints or isolation has been implemented for a while, but, c’mon, they’re bandaid solutions, and they’re far from foolproof. Luckily for us all, my grandmother decided to connect back with her ancestors, and there was a handful of stories having huge festivals to deal with ‘moon violence’. She tried it out, and, yeah, dancing works.”

“That sounds…”

They don’t know how that sounds. Made up, mostly.

“Like a bunch of hippie bullshit? Yeah, it kind of is, Grandma Josephine was a huge hippie, but it’s hippie bullshit that works. In fact, let’s go see the others, it almost always makes things clearer.”

Figuring that whatever they’re about to see can’t be worse than their transformation last month. They head through the sliding glass door out the back, the thump of the music suddenly loud enough to be felt in their chest. The sight that awaits them makes them drop their chips and let out a gasp. Barely able to speak, they exhale out, “None of them...they’re not wolves. How..how??”

Indeed, the roughly forty people jumping to the pulse of whatever they’re listening to (some to the in house DJ, some, apparently, to what’s playing over the large headphones they have adorned), resemble the image of a wolfman much more accurately. They bare claws, fangs, elongated snouts, upright ears, and  serious amounts of hair, but they’re on two legs, and moving like humans. Some of them are even singing along to the lyrics, which really shouldn’t be possible.

Luna grins, making it obvious that she’s used to this level of shell shocks. “Ultimately, you do have to give into some damn rigorous instincts. But dancing is a human instinct, not a canine one, so you end up, well, humanoid. Pretty nifty, huh?”

“And they all..they all keep their minds? I didn’t...they don’t blackout?”

“Not since we banned alcohol in the 90s! Here, watch this.”

Luna nods her head at the DJ, and the DJ, obligingly, turns down the music for a moment. The members of the crowd not listening to their own music pause, then look towards the door. She cries out, “Hey gang! HOW WE ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT?”, and gets a mix between a howl and “WOO!” cried back. The DJ then turns the music back up, and the general movement of the crowd resumes.

They should be more skeptical. They want to be more skeptical, they were just minutes before, but it’s hard to disagree with something right in front of you. “This will work for me? I just..have to dance?”

“Well, it’s not guaranteed. Few things are. But we have yet to have someone turn violent on us. If you start to fell yourself slipping from consciousness, though, I do ask that you start heading further into the woods, as to not hurt other guest. If you find yourself just getting tired, there’s beds inside, and a fair amount of pillows around the edge of the quote unquote dance floor, if you end up in more of a nesting mood. Also, I recommend taking off your shoes before you start.”

“What? Why?”

Luna gives a pointed glance at the dancers’ feet, which, ah. They’re about twice as large as normal and at least twice as sharp. The converse on their feet would be no match. “Ah.”

“Ready?”

They shove off their shoes and place the remainder of their chips aside. “As I’ll ever be.”

Good thing, too, as they’re starting to feel an uncomfortable pressure in their chest that was the prelude to disaster last month.

Luna strides to the center of the dance floor, which is really a plush lawn surrounded by forest. The crowd naturally moves around her, and she yells out, “Aiyana! Play my song!”

Aiyana gives a nod, and the opening notes of “Dancing in the Moonlight” start to sound out. “Seriously?”

Luna shrugs, grinning like a fool, and says, “It’s a classic!”

“It’s cliché at best.”

Luna shrugs, and then begins dancing. She’s hardly elegant, but she is dazzlingly joyful in her uncoordinated movements. As the song reaches the first chorus, she gives a twirl, and in the split second it takes, she’s transformed. They blink in shock, not knowing you could transform that seamlessly, that quickly, that painlessly. Luna in half wolf form is just as expressive as the human Luna, and she gives a nod over her shoulder as if to say Come on.

Feeling somewhat foolish, they start to bop their head to the tune. Luna lets out a huff and grabs their hands, spinning them around and forcing them to get moving. At first, it’s them indulging Luna, but as they let themselves get lost in rhythm, they feel a stretching sensation in their face and limbs. It’s not unpleasant, more like when you wake up and work out the tension in your spine. They open their eyes and look down at their hands, now covered in fur in and made for slashing. It didn’t hurt. It didn’t hurt, and they’re still themselves, and they had no idea that full moons could be like this, maybe for the rest of their lives.

They turn their head to the night sky, and their body can’t help but continue to dance. Despite all their fear, all their dread, “movement therapy” worked, and they can admit, at least to themselves, that they feel warm and bright.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

I have a head cannon that when technoblade becomes friends with someone he braids their hair he's so far done it to Tommy philza and ranboo but only philza knows why

This is such a good prompt thanks! I went a little overboard and added a lot of my own hc's, hope that’s okay! Quick note I’m not past exile yet so my apologies if bedrock bros and just Ranboo in general are slightly inaccurate

When Philza met Techno, Techno was only a child, barely even able to talk, sitting dead-eyed in the ruins of a piglin village, hiding under the rubble in the hopes he wouldn’t be spotted. Philza, of course, being Philza, basically immediately adopts him.

Philza tried his best, he really did, but this was in the middle of a war, and Philza didn’t really know that child soldiers aren’t the best thing (he never quite learnt that, honestly). Techno learnt to fight before he learnt to read.

When Techno was young, he always had his hair cut short and out of his face, but he really liked the small side braid that Philza always wore in his hair. He had started to grow it out a bit, but not long enough to braid, by the time he became the vessel of the Blood God.

Short side note, he and Philza were fighting against a cult, and they’d managed to capture Techno and brand the sigil of the God into his flesh allowing the Blood God to make Techno his champion. Needless to say, the cult was near immediately completely wiped out after this process was complete, but also Technoblade wasn’t exactly super thrilled with all this.

Along with the more obvious changes- glowing, blood-red eyes, growing to almost nine feet tall, an insatiable desire for a good fight, and the constant voices ringing in his head, the growth of his hair was barely noticeable. Sure, it touched the floor and regrew rapidly when cut, but it seemed to mystically never get in his way during combat.

During combat being the operative sentence. Even if it isn’t life threatening, constantly tripping over your own hair when you’re still trying to get used to being a good two feet taller than usual and the voices in your head constantly mocking you for it.

This is when Techno gets the idea to braid it, like Philza does! The issue is, he doesn’t know how to braid hair, and he’s been so terrified of accidentally hurting Philza with all of his changes that he’s been avoiding him best he can, so his attempts fail horribly.

Meanwhile, Philza's very concerned that Techno's started avoiding him. He’s actually really frightened that Techno hates him now, since as the champion of the Blood God, with the voices of it’s angels in his head now, he might well view all other gods as enemies, and Philza, as not only the most esteemed angel but the husband of the goddess Kristin, would be included in that.

Still, he was very concerned about how Techno was avoiding him, and eventually came into Techno's room to have a talk with him, and he walked in on one of Techno's honestly awful attempts at braiding his own hair.

Philza offers to help braid Techno's hair, and during this they have a long, long conversation about both of their worries. Techno reassures Philza that he doesn’t hate him (or Kristin, for that matter), and Philza reassures Techno that he’s not going to lose control. The voices decide that Philza is pretty pog, actually, and chill out a bit. Overall, it’s just a massive relief for everyone.

After this, Philza starts teaching Techno how to braid his hair. It’s a slow process- especially since braiding nine feet of hair is an ordeal- but it’s one of the few moments of peace in the Angel of Death and the champion of the Blood God's life. Once Techno learnt how to braid hair, he started braiding Philza's too. The two of them knew what it meant. I trust you, unconditionally, and without fail.

Hundreds of thousands of years pass. Nations rise and fall, legends are made, but Philza and Techno stick by each other’s side throughout it all. They maintain the tradition of braiding each other’s hair. Techno does not do it with anyone else, but Philza does it with whatever random of assortment of children is under his wing at the specific time. Techno can’t quite understand the mans attachment to whatever orphan he finds on the street. Even the ones who don’t die in the battlefield die too soon, and he can’t understand how you could let yourself go through the heartbreak of seeing their inevitable demise.

He doesn’t expect the latest batch to be any different. Sure, one's Philza's biological kid, so he’d theoretically be able to survive indefinitely, but he’s a creative type who’s so inept with a sword Techno's certain he’ll perish the second a war comes around. One's a failed clone of Philza, but the hybrid and human DNA he was given to stabilise him made him a mess of instincts with atrophied wings and constant sickness. And while the shine in the ram-boys eyes shine with an energy that's definitely a sign of some relation to the older species, everything else about him suggests a regular child who’ll pass and die in maybe a hundred years tops.

Still, when he receives a letter from Wilbur about a rebellion, Techno was excited to go. More for the fun of combat and of course overthrowing a tyrant, but he can’t help but feel proud of the boy he remembered once trying to pick up a sword blade-end becoming a capable general.

He honestly developed a respect for Tommy and Tubbo during Pogtopia. They were so young, and already capable warriors. He felt they were naive, with their talk about restarting a government, but held hope in them that they’d realise that anarchy would be preferable.

Still, they drifted apart, in no short part due to being pressured into canonically killing Tubbo and non-canonically killing Tommy. Techno would never admit it, but the anger in Tommy's eyes and the fear in Tubbo's whenever he was around stung a bit.

His few interactions with Tommy after the sixteenth lead him to believe that the boy didn’t want anything else to do with him, so he was surprised to find the boy shivering under his house, bruised and eerily quiet in comparison to the Tommy he was used to who would never stop talking.

The Blood God may be more traditionally thought of as a god of combat, of killing and of blood shed by violence, but that’s only scratching the surface of the Blood God's dominion. It is also a god of anarchy, of freedom, of vengeance, and of protecting those who cannot protect themselves. And as a champion of the Blood God, Techno would have hesitated throwing out even someone he despised in those circumstances, but Tommy? There was no way he wouldn’t have helped him, despite how much he grumbled and groaned (that, at least, was easier than admitting attachment).

Techno tries, he really does. But he mistakes bruises and scars caused by cruel hands to the ones a younger Tommy came home with on accident due to his frailness, the possessiveness of the man who hurt him as he came in search as him as overbearing concern instead of obsession. He chalks up confused feelings to some awful accident, unwilling to pry in the clearly distressed child's business (and while he doesn’t want to admit it, he doesn’t want to think that Dream, his friendly rival for thousands of years, might be truly a monster.)

The first time Techno offered to braid Tommy's hair, he didn’t even realise what he offered until he’d already said it. Tommy was just sat, shivering, despite being curled up in one of Techno's cloaks in front of the fire, and Techno'd noticed how Tommy's long hair always got in his face, and he kept raising a shaking hand to push too long hair out of his face, and Techno couldn't help but be reminded of himself long ago, scared to leave his room and dealing with hair far too long for for himself.

That’s not to say he had any regrets, though.

Techno braided Tommy's hair every day after that. Honestly, on the days where he wasn’t shaking bad enough that he couldn’t braid his own hair it sort of annoyed Tommy- he felt a bit like he was being pitied, and that’s something he absolutely can’t fucking stand, but Techno's pity was far, far preferable to being back with Dream, watching the light slowly drain from his eyes in the reflection in the water every day, so he stayed quiet.

After Tommy's betrayal, Techno felt hurt- far, far more hurt than he’d ever found himself before. He’d given the boy his unconditional trust- showed it to him, every day, and Tommy couldn’t even show enough trust to stay by him.

The first time he saw Tommy after, still wearing a braid in his hair, a mockery of friendship, he punched through the walls in his home afterwards. Anger hurt less than sorrow, so he stewed in it, refusing to admit he still cared about the boy at all.

As such, it took him a long time to even braid his own hair, let alone anyone else’s. It was something that was safe, and now just reminded him of a boy who used his kindness and left it unrepaid.

The first person he started braiding the hair of again was Philza, not long after this. It was Philza, and Techno doubted he could lose trust in the man, even if he flat out stabbed him in the back quite literally. Philza was much closer to a friend than a father, but he was still the closest thing to family Techno had ever known.

Eventually though, somehow another boy managed to sneak past his defence. Ranboo was awkwardly tall and quiet with a crown and inexplicably good fighting skills, and Techno couldn’t help but like the boy who reminded him so much of himself. He supposes this is probably the closest he'll ever get to understanding Philza and his children.

Still, it takes a while for him to feel safe and comfortable braiding Ranboo's hair for him- as far as he was aware, Ranboo almost never had it loose out of the braid it was already in, anyway. The last time he trusted someone who reminded him of himself, it only hurt.

Eventually, though, Technoblade came around. Ranboo had just come out of one of his weird sleepwalking states, hair a mess and very distressed. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if the kid had enough memory to know who he was, but he relaxed as Techno braided his hair and talked about nothing in particular.

Now, as Technoblade's founded the Syndicate, he's grown a little more comfortable showing affection to others, especially Philza and Ranboo. Niki's a little new, but Techno knows that someday soon he'll trust her enough to braid through her hair, and put his trust in her completely.

[cherry-interlude]

Lana Del Rey Unreleased Ranking (5)

This is a re-ranking of Lana's unreleased songs, after making a first a few years ago. This is all my opinion, which I don't mind anyone disagreeing with but don't come for me for it - honestly, I like every song, despite any criticism, and this ranking is very vague. It's based on objective and subjective opinion.

This is the fifth of five posts, with my favourites.

Wild One

Lana is nostalgic without the sadness, remembering how she’d shake it for Mike but is embracing her freedom. She lets country influence seep through her voice and her uncomplicated instrumentals – it would be an unsurprising addition to Chemtrails

True Love On The Side

Though simple in structure and lyrics, it’s more Lana’s grittier rock sound and her incredible vocals that make this one of my favourite unreleased tracks. Lana lets herself go and goes full pop rock chick for this track, whilst keeping in with her ‘other woman’ trope that makes the song still familiar despite its departure from her usual music.

Driving In Cars With Boys

Dripping in nostalgia, Driving In Cars With Boys makes you yearn for the kind of 1950s/1960s era Lana often laments over. Lana is a bad girl just having fun, doing what she pleases and giving in to her vices, and it’s this kind of song that is relatable in its escapism and desire to just do what you please. There are two versions, one with a more monotone chorus that matches the rest of the verses and another where Lana sings in a higher register, letting her cheerful, breezy love for driving with the boys shine through in her vocals.

Angels Forever Forever Angels

Perfect for Paradise, Angels Forever Forever Angels has that slow, rhythmic summer drive feel, a relaxed version of Ride which also has associations with the bikers that feature in both the music video for Ride and the lyrics to this unreleased song. It’s dreamy but grounded by Lana’s patriotic love for the grungier side of Americana.

Hollywood

It has a breathy chorus you could sing to, the feeling of a summer evening and blue skies. The ever building and dropping beat that keeps the song ticking as restlessly as Lana’s hopes and dreams gets me feeling pumped as much as her emphasised, dragged out “Hollywood” in the chorus makes me soothed. Lana is wishing for fame and fortune but it has the feel of an eighties American teen movie, iconic and deserving of a cult following.

Yes To Heaven

Hazy like a daydream, Yes To Heaven is made of sunlight and soft grass, closer to nature than the spotlights of Lana’s often alcohol-soaked, money drenched stages. Lana’s voice is tentative until it shimmers in the chorus, and though it was made for Ultraviolence, it wouldn’t be out of place on the shining beacon of hope that is Lana’s positive turn, Lust For Life.

Life Is Beautiful

This gorgeous song was intended for Age of Adaline’s trailer, and it’s been years of waiting for the full song to be released. Now we have it, it’s certainly worth the wait. Dreamy and soft, this track is a timeless classic that could underwhelm from it’s gentle feel but works perfectly well as a pure little love song.

On Our Way

Stripped back and with a country twang, Lana doesn’t add fuss and frills to this song, instead just crooning precisely how she feels in the kind of song that keeps you daydreaming for hours. Not even the smattering of her favourite imagery (Chevrolets and K-Mart lip gloss) overshadows the love that’s at the forefront of this track.

Never Let Me Go

Like On Our Way, Never Let Me Go has the country twang and stripped back feel that makes this a more subdued song, her lyrics shining even more. Lana’s additional strings layer this song well and her comparisons to the dangerous couple that is Sid and Nancy gives this track an edge, keeping it from being too frothy.

French Restaurant

A piano ballad, Lana strips back the hurt of Without You and dual dedication of Video Games to sing about how fame matters so little to her while she’s torn between two men. Her voice is beautiful and it does well to be so minimal in its production, her emotion driving the song clearly enough. Especially pretty are the backing vocals of the choruses, echoes of her thoughts that hammer home her broken feelings.

Trash Magic

Lana’s delicate and soft vocals help tie into the Lolita-esque character Lana often plays in her music. It has a similar feel to 1949, dripping with her delicious imagery, and wouldn’t be out of place on AKA Lizzy Grant. Lana is the fragile ‘daddy’s girl’ again in this song, and the sharp yet soothing music in the background sets the tone for a quiet trailer park night.

Us Against The World

Though fairly chilled out, Lana still hooks listeners with her characterisation of waitress by day/stripper by night, a dangerous girl tempting an equally dangerous guy. Lana drips sexiness in this song and though it’s not as exciting as some of her other unreleased pop hits, it is perfect for the Del Rey character.

Your Girl

Much like Caught You Boy, Lana is desperate for a man she can’t have but is instead a complete wreck. Lana just repeats over and over how she wishes she was this man’s girl, practically pleading after describing how she needs to be led off the stage from falling apart. Yet it’s still sultry, still passionate, and is topped off by her honey-like vocal demonstration in the bridge and the chorus.

Roses

Lana is the other woman with a twist – instead of moping about her man (Other Woman, Sad Girl) she is taking action. Fighting against him, not letting him go without making some noise and getting rid of his girlfriend, Lana storms into the song with a vengeful wrath and calls him out for his poor attempts at apologies. When this song first came out, I adored it, since it was the exact kind of strong-girl track I wanted from her with a great hook and all the right Lana-isms. Now, I still get that thrill listening to this song and its kick-ass fuck-you to the man she loves.

Playing Dangerous

The churning drums, the spoken verses and the coy vocals set this song apart from her others. It falls shorter during the choruses, the verses being the best parts of the track, but the way Lana interacts with the listener ultimately and is a more direct character of ‘innocent’ seductress who might actually be downright bad (arson is hinted).

Serene Queen

Lana is unbothered and unruffled, as collected as she is in Put Your Lips Together but this time with a definite Ultraviolence/Honeymoon feel. Lana is unshaken by the blazing guns, instead completely calm with her dangerous lover, questioning why he even has a problem in the first place. As it picks up in the chorus, almost smirking, it becomes one of her finer unreleased songs yet.

Ave Maria

This is just an instrumental but there’s something so beautifully haunting about it. It wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood movie, with shades of the Lolita soundtrack instantly coming to mind when it first starts. It even works well without singing, and I hope we get a full version soon.

Puppy Love

From the perspective of a Marilyn Monroe figure, Lana plays the teenage girl wishing for a traditional romance with her lover. It’s ever-so-adorable, harking back to the sweeter parts of the fifties, but there’s a sense of sadness throughout it. Under the surface of the puppy love is the reality that the references to Monroe do not forget her sadness, loneliness and ultimately her overdose. The tone shifts to such an unhappiness in the bridge, directly calling back to Monroe’s phone call shortly before she overdosed, twisting the song to something more melancholic.

Cherry Blossom

The lullaby that grew into the marvellous, completed Cherry Blossom is a lovely tribute to someone small and beloved. Though Lana doesn’t have children yet, the care in her voice and each of her heart-warming compliments and promises is still thoroughly enjoyable – and comforting.

Colour Blue

In a song that reminds me of the love/hate relationship of Norman Fucking Rockwell, Lana takes her time to question why she loves the men that she does and, ultimately, grow from it, beginning to want something different. It’s raw and personal, with a gushing chorus that is complimented fully by the guitar. This song is blue all over, from Lana's opening harmonisation to her abrupt, unhappy ending.

Paradise

This song is, of course, pure paradise. A summery beat, a flippant Lana simply enjoying her lover no matter how long she’ll have him for and her coos of “sick!” and “that’s dope!” make this into a tasty distraction fit for the sunny months. Her casualness in this track is fresh as well as the dance-happy music that she doesn’t often create in her albums.

Meet Me In The Pale Moonlight

Lana is the waitress with a crush in this bop of a track, trying to convince a guy to get with her instead of that “bitch”. Convincing she is, as she uses all of her charm, wit and insistence that there’s no promises behind her intentions to have a good time with him. It’s just a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of her music, not too heavy and perfectly polished. It’s self-assured as much as it is breezy, and calm as it is it’s still a riot to listen to.

Caught You Boy

A dream-esque confession of desire, obsession and pure, crazy love, Lana isn’t outright insane in this track (Kinda Outta Luck, Jealous Girl, Serial Killer) but she hints towards being slightly too attached to her beau and describing herself as an army of one. The song is sweet and flowery but there’s a sadness and danger to it that keeps it from being too sugary.

Fine China

Some of Lana’s best lyrics are in Fine China as she sings of her fractured relationship, unhappy wedding and many beautiful yet easily broken things. It’s a slow, unfussy ballad but her strong voice and stunning lyrics make it so much more than a throwaway unreleased song.

Thunder

What feels like a coming-of-age slow dance song but is ultimately a choir-backed break-up track. Lana’s lyrics are clever and her voice is the perfect complement to The Last Shadow Puppets, this combined work a sure hit that deserves some kind of release and recognition. Lana is frustrated but tender as she leads the song with plenty of presence.

Prom Song Gone Wrong

The fifties feel, the teenage romance, the warm and gorgeous vocals that switch from dreamily longing to a cheeky talk-rap suggest this is a song tied tightly to Puppy Love, except with a more hopeful feel to it. Lana is ready to leave and she wants her lover to come with her, and even if it’s a youthful mistake there’s no mistaking that the love she – and her man – feels is real. It’s a pretty dedication to the kind of head-spinning romance of younger years, though it has an edge to it. Lana’s choruses are desperate, her pleading genuine and the strange way the music builds and collapses right at the end give the illusion all isn’t the sunshine and rainbows Lana sings of – and hopes for.

[ocdhuacheng]

@dumbweebracoon hiii not bothering, I talk shit about starember a lot but I’m not sure if Ive ever made a coherent post listing all the reasons why so here we go:

(Also I hope it’s okay that I made a separate post about this rather than just replying on the other one, because I’m petty and I want it in the tag)

draws incest: if you do a google search of starember lotr art you will find a whole bunch of sexual (either suggestively or explicit) art of thranduil and legolas, who, idk if uve ever read or watched it, are in fact father and son

Draws pedophilia/shotacon: in a lot of these pieces Legolas is portrayed to be visibly underage

Used naziism for the aesthetic???? : There was at least one of these where the characters were being all “”””sexy”””” in SS uniforms and with the nazi flag/imagery which is. Barf. This is a bit harder to find because I think they deleted it but there was a post out there with more information but I can’t find it anymore sorry. If anyone knows where the evidence for this is feel free to link it, but i hope you’ll trust me when i say I’ve seen it so like it iiiis real and I’m not making it up 😅

Racism/colorism: the way the banyue people are drawn, especially in comparison to banyue herself is really bad. Theyre pretty much arab stereotypes, while banyue, who is supposed to be of the same race as ke mo & co. (At least from one parent, forget which one) is super pale and dainty. Saying ie. Dark skin = barbarism, being wrong, etc, and light skin = being good, etc. Considering ke mo and squad are the only dark skinned characters in the entire manhua entirely (iirc) is also. Not a good look. It seems they’re allergic to drawing darker skin unless it’s on antagonists. I’ve seen a lot of asian/middle eastern ppl explain this better than I can but yeah that’s the gist

Similarly, exotification of the Middle East: remember that one awful hualian art where xl is in really revealing, “””sexy””” (putting this in quotes because it’s not actually sexy it’s just really uncomfortable) “””middle eastern harem””” clothing and is sitting in hc’s lap like he’s about to get fucked and it’s all very embarrassing and gross. Like starember Idk why it’s so hard for you to not draw other cultures in a superficial objectified way but like go off queen I guess

Fujoshi crimes lol: yea u mentioned drawing hua cheng super buff but like imo this isn’t just a personal taste issue it’s just she draws him so ridiculously masculine (San lang is better I think iirc, but hua cheng....... that is not hua cheng. That is refrigerator kylo ren) and xie lian so dainty and feminine it’s so obvious that they only see them as ~seme and uke~. Their visual designs, and also the way I think they ignore their canon personalities just to make xie lian all blushy and vacant (especially in their separate fanarts) and shit and hua cheng all 😏😏😏😏😏shows they do not give a shit about gay men at all beyond how well they can get off to them.

Personal taste but also not really: Also the ugly ass redraws are increasing this fetishy kind of thing too. Why does everyone always look like 👁👄👁when they draw them????? Why change their eye color and face shape to be more “white” for a lack of a better term. It’s so uncomfy. Their original style from the earlier chapters was fine, and actually even enjoyable in places so idk why they’re changing it. Also they’re just incapable of putting any emotion into their art like yeah it’s like. Pretty or whatever but everyone is so 😐 it’s just boring. ALSO SAME FACE SYNDROME. LMAOOOOO. The other complaints I have about their art are pretty much all just objectively personal taste so I won’t go into it but yeah. Their art is so overrated.

Their stans: okay I’ll admit that this isn’t really starembers fault but I have to put it in here because the way a lot of you people talk about them is super embarrassing. Like. Kind of cult like. And if anyone has criticisms of them, you harass the shit out of them. Like chill, unclench, they’re not a god (people have unironically said they are) and it’s not a war crime for people to not like them or their work. Also always going to the “people hate starember because they’re jealous of their talent” comeback is so tired like no I hate them because they’re a shitty overrated person, or even just because I don’t like their art style, definitely not because I want to draw like them. People have valid reasons for not liking starember and Idk why that’s so hard for their stans to accept, and they act as if not liking starember is some moral failing it’s ridiculous. Cult, I swear to god.

Not really explained well But yeah. If I’m forgetting anything feel free to add on lol

[ryuichirou]

Please can you share more eruri headcanons in any AUs you want? :3 Love your art sm btw, ty for sharing it

Anon!! Sorry for taking so long to reply to your ask. It made us too excited haha, so I tried to compile headcanons from as many AUs as I could… Although I wouldn’t call them headcanons: these are from our AUs after all, so think of them as little snippets of our stories?? Something like that, yeah haha.

(And thank you for enjoying our stuff <3)

1. Cleaning Company AU:

I probably mentioned it at some point, but Erwin definitely tries to make his apartment as dirty as possible just so he could invite Levi for cleaning more often and just so he stays there longer.

Erwin is addicted to anime, hentai, weird porn and gacha games in this au, especially gacha games. He plays a lot of visual novels too, and there are a lot of weird and confusing background noises happening while Levi’s cleaning, but he doesn’t ask questions. Well, maybe sometimes. Erwin’s fave games are the ones which combine hentai and gacha/gambling.

2. Sea AU:

Despite not showing it, Erwin doesn’t like leaving Levi alone for a long time when he goes on his business trips. This is one of the reasons he doesn’t mind Levi handing out with Eren while he’s gone.

When  Erwin has day offs, he transforms into NEETwin instantly. One second he’s a clean beautiful man in a white shirt (that Levi ironed this morning) and a tie, then you blink, and he’s a hobo in smelly sweatpants. Levi bitches about it, but he doesn’t mind seeing Erwin getting comfy. As long as he’s clean…

3. Cult AU:

Erwin is very intrigued by Eren’s cult, so he’s excited about Levi going there and checking out all the rituals and stuff. Every time Levi comes back, Erwin asks a lot of questions, and who can refuse these shining with excitement eyes? Well, Levi. Sometimes, when it’s too annoying and he’s too tired…

Erwin got a rash once because he fucked Levi after Eren made him the chosen one, so Erwin had to join the cult to make the rush go away.

There is a huge boar at Eren’s farm that reminds Levi of Erwin. There’s something about his energy… it’s hard to explain or point out. Plus, Erwin is annoying Levi with his questions, so the least Levi can do is to call him an actual pig. When Erwin heard about the comparison, he laughed and asked for a picture.

4. Serial Killer AU:

Just like in the canonverse, there is a lot of trust between Erwin and Levi. Erwin trusts that Levi can handle any situation and doesn’t shy away from sending him to really dangerous placed even without an official permission of the police, just because he feels like they’re going to catch the criminal if Levi does that. And Levi always trusts his judgment.

If we’re going the “Eren kidnapped Levi” route, Erwin is going to randomly show up at their doors at some point. Not to run away with Levi, but to live with them: it feels like a much more interesting scenario to him than whatever’s left of his police investigator career back at home. Plus, it feels good to be with Levi again after not seeing him for god knows how long.

5. Ghost!Eren AU:

Erwin is a stalker who knows a lot about Levi and spends all of his free time either stalking him, lurking for more info about him or editing videos to send him tapes.

Erwin has this luxury to do whatever he wants, because he is quite a lucky gambler and actually won a lottery that made him rich as heck. Once he outs himself to Levi and starts talking to him face-to-face, he doesn’t shy away from using the fact that Levi is poor and offering him money for both info and other stuff (not the sexy stuff though :( ).

6. Trailer AU:

While Levi is chilling at Zeke’s place, Erwin never contacts him personally, but stays in touch with Zeke just to check how things are going. And he is probably not going to tell Levi about it.

7. Zombie apocalypse AU:

After what happened and Erwin turned into a zombie, Levi’s entire life is pretty much dedicated to looking after Erwin and making sure he isn’t a danger to everybody. He feeds him fresh meat, he tries his best to keep him locked and tied up (he had to get very strong chains and a muzzle just to be able to be around Erwin with smaller risk). As a result, they spend a lot of time together. Levi talks to him, even though he knows Erwin won’t be able to respond and probably doesn’t even understand or recognize him anymore.

8. Island AU:

Like we mentioned in our masterpost, in this AU Erwin loves sending Levi to dangerous places to get souvenirs. And he has a lot of them, but one of his most precious ones is a small ancient figurine of an elephant. He keeps it on his work desk in his office where he spends the majority of his time.

Oh yeah, Erwin is a very important CEO in this AU, and he pretty much gave Levi a very good place to work, because he always needs him around… or somewhere else, if he wants Levi to get him something new, exciting and shiny. But anyway, they can afford it easily.

9. Okusan AU:

The one where Levi wears kappogi and Erwin is into cuckolding looool; the first time Levi agreed to roleplay a classical “a housewife and a plumber” scenario (and he really thought it would be their first and only roleplay…), he got a random call from Erwin’s phone right when they started to do the thing. It turned out that Erwin just gave his phone to a random dude and asked him to call Levi and pretend to be his husband, just so the roleplay feels more believable.

[solar-pxwered]

A List Of Norman Reedus Movies/Shows I Have Seen And My Opinions On Them

1. The Boondock Saints

The Best. A classic. Bloody and inappropriate and if I remember my count correctly, contains 194 “fucks” or variations of it (this movie certainly illustrates the diversity of the word). Terrible Irish accents. A KICKASS soundtrack. Willem DeFoe crossdressing. Dropping toilets on people’s heads. Over the top action sequences. Cheesy dialogue. Campy as fuck. I freakin’ love it.

2. The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

Some people didn’t like this one as much as the first one, and I admit that I wasn’t as fond of the new detective in this one as I was of Smecker...but, overall, I really enjoyed it and I drove 2 hours to see it in theaters. I love Romeo more than Rocco. The humor was on point. It was nice to see the original actors for Doc, Dolly, Duffy and Greenley. There was more terrible Irish accents, another KICKASS soundtrack, cheesy dialogue, over the top action sequences, still campy as fuck. I freaking love it.

3. The Walking Dead

Cannot even describe how much I love this show. I have ALWAYS loved zombie related shows and movies so this show was right up my alley from the very beginning all the way back in 2010. I watched it religiously every Sunday. I adore this roller coaster ride of a show and I especially adore Daryl, Carol and Jerry. This show has it all: Comedy, drama (hella lots of that), tragedy and triumph...and it never fails to pulls me in and hold my interest.

4. Mimic

Honestly, I saw this a LONG time ago and I hated it because...well, because I have a cockroach phobia, ok?! Don’t judge. Norman’s part was pretty small, not one of his lasting impressions on me.

5. Six Ways To Sunday

This is a weird one. It’s about an overly innocent 18 year (played by Norman) who gets involved in the Mob and develops an alter ego that’s violent and his complete opposite. There’s murder, prostitutes and good ol’ fashioned mother-son incest and it wasn’t a movie I suggest for the lighthearted or anyone with those sort of triggers. 

That being said, I watched the whole thing and didn’t hate it. It was just uncomfortable...as seems to be a theme with Norman Reedus movies.

6. Dark Harbor

This fucking movie...

Ok, so, I’ll be straight with you: I really enjoyed this dumbass movie. It had me guessing right up to the very end and it took me on a very strange ride along the way. 

If watching someone sexually feed a woman a poisonous mushroom, lots of dark eyed staring scenes or Norman Reedus making out with Alan Rickman is your thing, then go for it. 

7. Let the Devil Wear Black

It’s modern Hamlet. What else is there to say? If you like Hamlet, you’ll like this movie. If you like pre-car accident, baby face Reedus with the black hair, you’ll like this movie. I liked it.

8. 8MM

You know what the best thing about this movie is? Nicholas Cage. He steals the damn show no matter what movie he’s in and no one can even deny that fact. Norman’s part in this one is pretty small too but I liked this movie anyway because...well, Nick Cage. Enough said.

9. Bad Seed

I honestly can’t remember how this movie ends, all I remember was that it wasn’t at all how I expected it. I liked this movie because it’s a psychological thriller and that’s my most favorite genre of all time. The movie’s premise is a guy suspects his wife of having an affair and comes home one night and finds her murdered so he goes after her lover (Reedus) to try and kill him because he believes he was the one who killed her. It’s a cat and mouse chase sort of thing...now I need to rewatch it because I can’t, for the life of me, remember how it ends.

10. Gossip

Ok, no JOKE, this is the best movie I ever randomly discovered and I can’t believe how many people have never heard of it! It’s got some big names in it (Lena Headey, Norman Reedus, James Marsden and Kate Hudson to name a few).

It’s a psychological thriller/mystery drama in which three friends start a rumor at their school as a social experiment for their class. The rumor grows, however, and suddenly it’s out of their hands and spiraling out of control. People start getting hurt, reputations get dragged through the mud and then it escalates to the point of someone losing their life. The three main characters {Reedus, Headey and Marsden) try to figure out the truth behind the out of control rumors and discover more than they ever imagined, or ever wanted.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie. I really, REALLY do. The ending is one of the best twists I’ve seen in a LONG time.

11. The Beatnicks

This movie is so weird. It’s like...it’s just really weird. It revolves around two beat poets who find a magic box that somehow magically helps them get good at being poets but it’s like...an evil box and so they decide to only use it once and then get rid of it. Yeah, it’s a weird movie. Not my highest suggestion.

12. Blade II

Ok, if you’ve never seen the Blade Trilogy then I just don’t even know what to tell you. 

My favorite of the three movies, Blade 2 gives us the glorious Reedus character of Scud, the pot smoking, horrible-shirt-wearing, mechanical genius and Blade’s sidekick. Not only is he precious and adorable, the movie in all is enjoyable and has a fun rave-esque soundtrack. 

The one thing I hate? *SPOILER ALERT* Scud’s scummy betrayal.

13. Tough Luck

This is another one of those movies that I liked but it’s just so freaking weird. 

It’s a psychological drama where a down on his luck con artist, Archie (Reedus), tries to rip off a carnival worker and gets caught. As punishment, he’s hired to work at the carnival  to pay off the debt. He gets involved in a scheme to murder the owner’s wife, but falls in love with her in the process.

Things go to shit. He gets the short end of the stick. More plots and lies develop. It’s all twisted until the end and the answers fall into place.

I really like this movie, it’s one that I kept and still have my copy of. 

A word of warning though, never leave this movie on your movie shelf for your father to find and watch while you’re away at college, resulting in your mother calling you and asking you why you have such a nasty movie. Because the sex scene at the end is OUTRAGEOUS. I mean, it is the FUNNIEST fucking sex scene I have ever seen in my life and I can’t ever watch it without cringing and laughing. My mother, however, didn’t think it was funny at all and my father was too shocked to even form a sentence.

I highly suggest this trippy as hell movie.

14. Octane

Ok, to be fair, this movie is actually alright, although Norman’s character gets the shittiest death possible. I mean, imagine dying because some psycho vampire kisses you and bites your tongue out. That’s one shitty death.

But, overall, this is a good thriller. Johnathan Rhys Meyers plays the villain and he’s always pretty quality. The story is basically a teenager has a disagreement with her mom and gets picked up by this drugged up, blood sucking, vampire wannabe cult and indoctrinated joining them. Her mother joins up with a tow truck driver (Reedus) whose daughter was also kidnapped years ago and who has been hunting the cult down ever since. 

It was a cringe filled, yet interesting, movie and I didn’t hate it.

15. John Carpenter’s Cigarette Burns

This is John Carpenter....OF COURSE I liked this one. 

I won’t say what it’s about because that would ruin the story, but it’s part of an anthology and John Carpenter loved Norman’s role so much he STILL talks about it today and suggests Norman to people in the industry.

It’s a good one if you’re into horror shorts or anthologies or the genius of the legend that is John Carpenter.

16. A Crime

I had completely forgotten about this movie until I started making this post, but now that I remember...I REALLY liked this one!!

This is a pretty sad one, but it was very good and Norman’s acting in it is absolutely wonderful. His character’s wife was murdered and the suspect was never found so his neighbor, who really likes him, creates a fake culprit so that he can finally get some closure. 

This is a good one. I suggest this one if you’re in the mood for a strange sort of romance movie that has underlying thriller tones.

17. Moscow Chill

I remember watching this one, and I remember enjoying it, but I honestly can’t remember anything about it except that it’s a Russian film in which Norman plays a computer hacker who gets hired to hack into a Russian bank and gets caught and put in prison. But I honestly can’t remember what happens in detail.

If you like foreign movies with hacking and subterfuge plots, then give it a try because I do remember enjoying it while I watched.

18. Red Canyon

This one is kinda fucked up. Imagine Daryl Dixon mixed with Breaking Bad mixed with Deliverance and you’ve pretty much got the story...

A brother and sister return to their mother’s hometown to settle things and put their horrible past behind them...but upon returning they end up reliving the nightmare all over again.

It’s a good thriller/horror watch, but there are scenes of sexual violence so if that’s not something you can handle, then don’t watch this one.

19. Hero Wanted

This. Is. A. GOOD. Movie.

Cuba Gooding Jr. is the lead and he does an AMAZING job. Gooding’s character is a garbage man who falls in love with a girl who never takes any notice of him. To get her attention, he stages a heist in which he is supposed to jump in, save the day, and win the girl...only the heist turns out to be real and he is shot and the girl is also shot in the process. He sets out for revenge and gets in way over his head.

Norman’s part in this isn’t very big...but HOLY SHIT, was it impactful. His character didn’t have a lot of screen time, in comparison to a lot of other people, but he had a solid backstory and reason for being involved and MY GOD did I cry about it. This was actually the first movie of his I watched AFTER discovering Boondock Saints and it solidified my love for his acting abilities.

A very good watch. Highly suggest.

20. Messengers 2: The Scarecrow

This one is pretty ok, actually, as far as lame horror movies go. 

The plot is simple: Blonde, beardy, corn farmer Norman gets slowly driven insane by the haunted scarecrow in his field that he thinks putting up is a good idea for some damn reason. He starts to get more and more violent and rapey as time goes on until his family is forced to take up arms against him.

It’s not bad. Second part in what I THINK is a trilogy? I’ve only ever seen the first two. If you like horror movies then this one is a good watch. As I mentioned though, there is an attempted rape scene in this one so just be aware.

21: Pandorum

It’s an alien movie. Astronauts run into a species that is stronger and hungry for tasty humans. Shepard (Norman’s character) doesn’t make it out alive. If you’re not in the mood to see Norman get LITERALLY gutted or other characters get nommed by aliens, then don’t watch.

If you ARE, then go ahead and watch, because it was pretty alright.

[ddarker-dreams]

Cult Leader Chrollo - Part Two

collab with @ramwrites​ ♡

click for part one!

That was the smile of a monster, not a human.

At that moment, it didn’t really matter what he was, all that mattered was getting out of this surreal nightmare. Thoughts ranging from escape to calling for help flood your mind, dulling your ability to make a proper decision. Chest constricting and dizziness rising, your eyes desperately searching for any way out.

Did the sanctuary always feel this small? It felt as if the walls were closing in on you as you realize that all the exits had people standing by, most likely for a situation like this. For someone to so confidently commit murder in front of a large crowd, they must be trusting that the information won’t leave these walls. That means no one will help you, you’re on your own.

The numerous pairs of eyes staring at you, unblinking, doesn’t help your panic. How this many people were numb to the horror unfolding in front of them was beyond you. 

You need to run. There is no other option here, no other way out. 

From the entrance, you notice that there were only two unremarkable looking guards. They had patted you down when you walked in, and unless they were concealing a weapon, you couldn’t spot one. Any other exits from this room were guarded with more people, who definitely weren’t there before. 

These fanatics must not have wanted to alert your suspicion by having too many guards at first. 

Without another moment to waste, your adrenaline filled body turns to make a run for the exit. The girl next to you breaks out of her trance like state at this, immediately springing up from her chair to stop you.

In a string of luck, her initial grip was on your coat; not you. She pulled back on it, taking only the jacket but failing to capture you. The fabric slips away in a minor victory, and she flails backwards, no longer being held upright by your weight.

All you felt was the sudden chill of winter air against your skin, but it wasn’t enough to keep you distracted. Running forward towards the exit, horror overwhelms you as the formally seated congregation has also gotten up. Hands desperately attempt to grasp at you from both sides of the pews. 

It didn’t matter how much you tried to dodge all of them, every one that missed you would be remedied by two more reaching out. You made it a few, pitiful inches away from your seat, before you’re no longer able to move. They only hold you in place, the strangers uncaring of your crazed thrashing.

It didn’t matter if it was accomplishing anything, it felt like you were at least offering some resistance. Unfortunately, your movements only further served to exhaust you, your energy slowly depleting with each tug. 

Footsteps echo behind you, the only other noise reverberating in the hall aside from your cries. As a sign of respect, the people next to you straightened up as the figure behind you approaches. A shadow looms over you, and a cold hand touches your shoulder.

“Let her go,” The voice from before commands. “You all know her significance, do you not?” 

He wasn’t making any sense to you before, but now, you felt confused to a dizzying degree. Your significance? What did he mean by that?

The moment the words left his lips, you were freed from the constraint of their hands. 

“Come. Let me see your face.” 

Biting your lip, you silently debate your options. Maybe, just maybe, if you were lucky, you can bide your time. Look for some way to escape. That was what you wanted to believe, but it was also possible that they planned on killing you on the stage as well; in some fucked up ritual.

The hand on your shoulder squeezes, gently yet firm. You realize he was prompting you to do as he said. Not wanting to be killed for your disobedience, you hesitantly turn around. 

Your head is hanging down low, as you’re unable to muster the courage to look him in the eye. He hums, seemingly pleased with your actions. His eyes focus on each of your features, as if hoping to confirm something. Finally, his hand leaves your shoulder, gently trailing towards your shaking hand. 

He begins to move forward, towards the platform. A piercing ringing begins in your ears as you’re crippled with anxiety, breathing labored and uneven. There was no doubt in your mind now, that he was going to kill you next to Leslie. 

You didn’t want to see her corpse, you wanted to look anywhere but at her paling skin. But it felt impossible to rip your eyes away from the macabre scene, her face peaceful despite the cruel action that was performed on her. Why didn’t she struggle? It felt as if she were content with what was in store for her.

The platform grows closer, as the reality of the situation finally kicks in. Breaking out of your stupor, you resume your resistance; but you were met with even less success than before. Whoever this person was, he was insanely strong. His grip on your hand grows tighter, and you’re forced to follow behind him or risk falling. 

Now walking the few stairs up to the platform, you feel that your own body would soon be laying down next to Leslie. But much to your surprise, the man in front of you doesn’t stop. He continues on towards the door, where he had entered from before.

Should you feel relief? Was he going to spare your life? Or could this be a cruel trick, lulling you into a false sense of security before murdering you nonetheless? 

None of your questions were going to be answered anytime soon, it seems like. All you focus on is the blank walls around you, forming a long hallway. Numerous doors lined the halls, but none of them seemed to be your destination. 

Finally, with his free hand, he opens the door at the end of the hall. It’s dimly lit, with similar aesthetics from the room before. You take note of the desk in front of you, a variety of candles arranged on the dark wood. Among an assortment of religious items, a name plate with the name Chrollo Lucilfer catches your eye.

In comparison to the room you were in before, dark aesthetics were more prominent here. The one occurring the most being the black silhouette of a spider. 

“I’m sure you have a lot of questions.” he begins, loosening his grip on your wrist. When you were eyeing your surroundings, he went behind you, locking the door with an ominous click. The noise brings with it a fresh wave of adrenaline, your body wanting nothing more than to run far from this situation.

But that wasn’t an option now. All you can do is straighten your back, in a sorrowful attempt to appear less meek. Your face flushes as his eyes soften at your movement, as if he found it cute. How demeaning.

“It’d only be polite to introduce myself, right? I’m Chrollo. Would you tell me your name?” 

While speaking to you, Chrollo returns to his former place by your side. With the door locked, you assume he no longer sees reason to detain you with his hand. Much to your dismay, nothing in the room would serve for a proper weapon to fend him off if need be. 

“I-I don’t need to tell you anything,” you speak up, your voice shakier than you wanted it to be. “Whatever you plan on doing, it’ll be a mistake. My family -- they’ll know I’m missing. I don’t know about Leslie, but, I would definitely be reported missing-”

You cut yourself off at the lack of reaction. Chrollo takes in your words without a hint of concern. Instead, much to your embarrassment, he smiles. He wasn’t taking you seriously. He was letting you say your piece, patiently waiting without interjecting. It felt unnerving how little control you have. 

“You think I’m going to kill you?”

He was ignoring your previous threat, presenting you with an alarming question. Any confident facade you had before melts at the chilling proposition, as you mentally picture yourself in the same, horrific position as Leslie. Your legs feel weak, but you force yourself to respond.

“I… I don’t know.” you murmur, your answer painfully honest. Chrollo 

“It’s your choice whether or not you believe me, but I have no intention to kill you,” he explains, speaking the words as if they were common. “What you witnessed out there was your entrance into our family. Into the spider.” 

“Then why am I here?”

You blurt it out, without much thought. A part of you feels like it would be better if you remain ignorant to that, if he even did respond with the truth. Overwhelming curiosity is impossible to sate, and you find yourself hoping for a less vague explanation. 

“To marry me.” Chrollo responds in earnest, the affectionate declaration contrasting his relaxed visage. 

You blink. Once, twice. Your lips part as you attempt to release a noise, only to find your vocal chords incapable of doing so. Any sorry attempts you previously made to control your breathing slip away, your chest once again heaving for air. This can’t be right, this had to be a joke, right? None of this makes sense.

“You’re insane.” you murmur, stumbling backwards to produce distance between him. Your sweaty palms desperately lunge behind yourself, towards the doorknob, shakily attempting to twist it. None of your attempts are successful, match to your inner despair. You realize he must’ve used a key.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck--’

A cruel chuckle leaves his lips. “It makes sense you’d think that way. That’s what you’ve been led to believe your entire life, isn’t it? You think that everything that happens is coincidence, that your fate isn’t predetermined… that it’s all random.” 

He walks towards you, confidently, a few ebony strands of his hair framing his face. You press your back against the wall, gritting your teeth. He has to have the key somewhere on his person, if you could overpower him, then maybe there’s still a chance you can get away.

Chrollo continues his eerie lecture. “I don’t think that way. Our fates were intertwined before you even walked through the door. It’s been too many years to count, but, I know your face. It came to me in a vision -- the day I first realized my true purpose in life. It was blurry, but the message was clear.”

He reaches into his pocket, and for a moment, your heart stops as he takes out a syringe. 

Before you could even scream, he injects the contents into the side of your neck; your eyes growing heavy from the unknown contents. With all your remaining strength, you will yourself to stay standing for a few more seconds, as your knees buckle underneath you.

Chrollo places his lips to your ear, securing you in his arms so you wouldn’t fall against the ground. You feel all your ability to stay awake slipping from your fingers, as your heart goes from a rapid beat to a much slower rhythm. All panicked thoughts cease, you’re incapable of doing more than breathing.

Black spots appear in your vision, taunting you as you succumb to whatever was injected in your body. The beginning of your nightmare is accentuated by Chrollo’s last words to you before you pass out, a prophecy that would bring you nothing but misfortune.

“The message that you’ll spend eternity with me.”

[punkscowardschampions]

Amber & Cosmo

Amber: What’s your schedule like for today?

Cosmo: Depends who’s asking

Amber: Me, boy, I’m asking!

Cosmo: 😏

Cosmo: Had an exam earlier so basically got the day off, as much as I ever do

Cosmo: What do you want, girl?

Amber: we’re gonna start decorating our room later so I NEED you to pick up the phone when I call to give the virtual tour or 🥺 about the lack of progress

Amber: okay?

Cosmo: You think you’ve got enough now to be starting then

Cosmo: What about the brushes and the trays and dust sheets and masking tape?

Amber: Enough time finally

Amber: and we’re gonna take the furniture out so we won’t need to cover anything in a sheet

Cosmo: It’s for the floor too

Cosmo: If you have wood, and it’s already kinda fucked, you could clean it up with some spirit but if there’s carpet you probably wanna put it down

Amber: oh, well we’ve collected a lot of rugs, because I’m not sure the wood could be rescued even by actual 👻 spirits

Cosmo: I could see, if you like

Cosmo: my nan has an electric sander, a lot faster than trying to do it with your admittedly massive 💪 power

Amber: Do you think she’d let me borrow it?

Cosmo: Of course

Cosmo: I doubt she has any sanding she needs to do right this second

Cosmo: I think that’s what she did to the floor upstairs here though, I can show you how but it’s pretty easy

Amber: Are you home yet? I’ll come over for the demo if you are, it shouldn’t be too big of an ask for my 💪🏽 to carry it back here, right?

Cosmo: I can bring it

Cosmo: it wouldn’t kill you but it’d take you a while to get back

Cosmo: and I’ve got 🏍🚗🚘🏍

Amber: I know you do, but are you sure?

Amber: about coming here, I mean

Cosmo: You wanna show me your room, don’t you

Amber: Yes, but you can’t close your eyes to the rest, there’s too many stairs for that to be safe, and I don’t know if I want you to see anything other than my room

Cosmo: I don’t mind

Cosmo: I can handle it, I do still live with my brother, you know

Amber: if you promise 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 not 😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒😒

Cosmo: Why would I offer to come otherwise

Cosmo: if you don’t want me to I’ll just drop the stuff off then

Amber: Because you’re sweet

Amber: which is also why I do want you involved

Cosmo: yeah well you’re a nerd

Cosmo: it’ll be quicker with more people and we can’t have you 🥺 if you don’t finish, as I hate it so much, like

Amber: no, we won’t have me 🥺 because you like it too much and you just called me a nerd when I’m trying to be vulnerable

Cosmo: Aren’t you always vulnerable?

Cosmo: or are you admitting to being sea urchin

Amber: I’m admitting to never bringing an outsider in before

Cosmo: I reckon I can say I fancy my chances against ageing vegans without being offensive

Cosmo: if they wanna get Resident Evil about it

Cosmo: Don’t worry, really

Amber: Sure, but do you feel like meeting my parents?

Amber: and do I wanna ask what Resident Evil is?

Cosmo: You’ve met my ma now

Cosmo: it’s a video game, cult stereotypes mixed with occult and zombie shit, but I WAS joking about the comparison

Amber: your mama is chill, mine is intense, but I was joking too, they should both be working

Cosmo: You’ve not had any school friends over, have you?

Amber: No, I can’t imagine what would be worse, them running away as fast as possible or wanting to move in, and I’m friends with both types of people at school

Cosmo: I don’t have my friends over either

Cosmo: it’s not as 👽 you think

Amber: so you’re saying books and films have lied to me about what’s normal?! That sounds unbelievable x more than 9

Amber: I just wanna be allowed to be excited about it all, including having you here

Cosmo: some 🌍 don’t mix

Cosmo: or only mix in certain ways… if my ma wanted to come to some of my matches, that’s not weird, but my friends at my house here? Really weird

Cosmo: what’s stopping you being excited?

Amber: in this 🌍 what we’re trying to do with our room is 👽

Cosmo: Well it’s your room and that’s what the 🚪 is for

Cosmo: they don’t have to like it or look at it

Amber: Arguing with them isn’t the same as arguing with you, I don’t like doing it

Cosmo: I don’t know if I should be flattered or offended

Cosmo: but seriously, what’s their problem? ‘Cos you know it’s bullshit, however they spin it, just ignore them and they’ll find something else to be mad about

Amber: having you to distract me will definitely make them easier to ignore

Amber: now I’m calling you sweet AND useful, you best be flattered

Cosmo: anyway, having a nice space is proven to benefit your mental health so just tell them that

Amber: I already did, it’s not like I don’t know how to get my own way around here, usually

Cosmo: Alright 👸

Cosmo: you can’t please everyone

Cosmo: and if you know they’re wrong, then you shouldn’t try to, tbh

Cosmo: Are your roommates okay with me distracting you?

Amber: Maybe I won’t use that word to describe what you’re gonna be doing here when I introduce you, being a height disadvantage for a lot of the painting and not as 💪🏽 as you think, I’m the weak link without that

Cosmo: Useful for my height, again 💔

Cosmo: I’ll give you a boost

Amber: I’ll give you a bonus workout then, I guess

Cosmo: Somehow I don’t think you weigh as much as I usually bench but

Cosmo: It’ll stop the gym from missing me, too much

Amber: How much do you usually?

Cosmo: [something impressive without saying you’re an Olympic weightlifter lol idk but swoon gal]

Amber: are you serious?

Amber: having me on top of you wouldn’t faze you at all!

Cosmo: 😏

Amber: you’ll have to do it one handed or something

Cosmo: Okay, you’re doing it on purpose now 😂

Amber: I’m not doing anything except trying to keep you out of the gym

Cosmo: They’re not as 😱😡 as all that

Cosmo: Come before breakfast one time and I’ll show you

Amber: okay, but you’re gonna have to shout to be heard over my stomach rumbling

Cosmo: You can have a protein shake

Amber: I don’t think so, they don’t look or smell edible

Cosmo: You’re such a diva

Cosmo: After breakfast you’d feel 🤢

Cosmo: work up an appetite

Amber: I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it, but doing it with a 😁 isn’t gonna happen, I’m preparing you for that

Cosmo: 🥺 is it?

Cosmo: Generous

Amber: It’s the least I can do if you’re gonna show me all your best moves

Cosmo: You already do a lot, breakfast, everything

Cosmo: hence I can carve out some time to come over and help you

Amber: I’d do more if you let me

Cosmo: I’m not gonna abuse that

Cosmo: and you’ve got as busy a schedule as me

Cosmo: until Summer is fully here, at least

Amber: replacing my tutor is taking longer than I thought, but I wouldn’t claim a schedule as busy as yours, not with a straight face, anyway

Cosmo: You’re always helping someone out, your mum, dad, your roomie

Amber: every one of those people give me as much back, more most of the time

Cosmo: I know, it doesn’t mean you aren’t busy though

Amber: but it doesn’t feel like I am, I suppose is what I’m trying to get at, when I’m doing those things

Amber: homework or commune chores are a different story

Cosmo: I get you

Cosmo: reciprocal

Amber: and worthwhile, I know schoolwork will be eventually, but that seems so far off right now

Amber: I don’t get anywhere near where I’m meant to be, even with all the help Lux insists on giving me

Cosmo: You’re smart

Cosmo: You’ll do better than you think

Amber: Thanks

Amber: if I say 9 prayers before each deadline or exam question maybe I’ll catch up to the amount of faith you have in me

Cosmo: Have you thought about repeating a year, at all?

Cosmo: Not saying you should but it could be something to look into

Cosmo: you aren’t just catching up a year’s worth of schooling, after-all

Amber: I thought it’d make me feel even more 👽 but maybe that’s stupid

Amber: stubbornness talking

Cosmo: It’d feel weird, especially as you’ve made friends now

Cosmo: but you wouldn’t be the only person doing it, it does happen

Amber: if Lux decides she wants to go, we could do it together, that’d make it less weird

Cosmo: definitely

Cosmo: ask her

Amber: You’re full of good ideas today

Cosmo: The implication I ain’t always… 😏

Amber: we aren’t always together and I’d hate to get into assumption territory, for all I know, it could be me bringing out your ⭐️

Cosmo: Maybe

Cosmo: [pic of the tools ‘cos we know the barn coming in clutch with all the goods]

Cosmo: Should be enough?

Amber: We could probably renovate the entire commune with that stuff

Amber: unfortunately I can’t skip that many days of school

Cosmo: and I don’t have that kinda time to give either

Amber: I don’t have the patience, even if you were really distracting

Cosmo: IF

Amber: I can’t say when yet, you haven’t done anything

Cosmo: I’ll be over in a few

Cosmo: gotta load up

Amber: I’m not gonna compare you to a 🐪 they’re worse than 🐐

Amber: how are you gonna fit it all on your 🏍 though?

Cosmo: I’ll drop it in the car maybe, then come back and forth on the bike

Cosmo: I can come back tomorrow or the next and get the stuff when we’re done

Amber: Teach me to drive overnight and I’ll bring it back for you

Cosmo: let’s see how much painting you can get done first, short stuff

Amber: 😂 anywhere that doesn’t get painted will be your fault for not lifting me high enough, or for long enough

Cosmo: not gonna happen

Amber: And I thought you were competitive when we did 🏊🏽‍♂️ and ⛳️🤡

Amber: unfair when I have no way to

Cosmo: you’ve got plenty of ways

Cosmo: the floor needs doing too, for a start

Amber: If you put me down, ever

Cosmo: If you let me

Amber: I’m not holding you hostage, you’re holding me up

Amber: when you wanna drop me, warn me and I’ll 🤸🏽‍♂️

Cosmo: Don’t kick me in the face, tah

Amber: I don’t know if I’m flattered you’re recognising how flexible I am or offended you think I’d do that, accidentally or on purpose

Cosmo: You’ll have to be on my shoulders to reach anywhere

Amber: you’ve not even seen the room yet, maybe you’ll have to be on your knees so you don’t bump your head

Cosmo: You aren’t under the stairs, are you?

Amber: You’ll see

Cosmo: 👍 got it, omw with first drop

Amber: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amber: I’ll be outside and keeping a lookout

Cosmo: 🔭

Amber: Shhh you’ll crash

Cosmo: No chance

Amber: 😶

Amber: 😠

Cosmo: We’ll see if that’s actually what you look like when I turn up

Cosmo: [actually go now boy]

Amber: [We know damn well she's gonna look more like 😁😍 especially as she hugs him and excitedly thanks him for coming and bringing all this lol before bouncing off carrying far too much of it cos we're buzzing and wanna start]

Cosmo: [just the same energy but so bemused like you nerd but we love to see it]

Amber: [introduce him to your besties cos in my head they are in the room moving stuff etc, try not to give away how blatantly in love you are with him yet again haha]

Cosmo: [polite but a tad overwhelmed lmao, at least there’s a lot to keep busy here for all of y’all and Lux is already well aware you love him so we ain’t shook]

Amber: [The levels she isn't gonna shut up all day talking this poor boy's ear off because not only are we buzzing about decorating but also having him here in general cos love and miss him]

Cosmo: [we’ll get more relaxed as the day progresses for sure, when it’s clear this isn’t a free for all and all the commune peeps aren’t coming in and out]

Amber: [and you can't not have a good time when there are bops and all these gals are dancing and loving life, it's simply contagious, even if Nora's dance partner is probably a cat]

Cosmo: [do we wanna vibe out what happens or just roll with it being an overall good time but we know peeps/Dash esp is getting pressed in the background about this all]

Amber: [I’m down with saying it’s just a fun time because these gals deserve that and also Cosmo is gonna get enough grief from his footie mates and Ruby without saying anything happens between you and your actual bae, other than the very flirty vibe obvs, unless you’ve got anything specific you wanna say goes on]

Cosmo: [nah I’m thinking the same, if you wanna in this we could do a bit after ‘cos she’s clearly going to read those delightful comments about herself but up to you]

Amber: [I’m always down to waffle on some more so I’ll do that]

Amber: Thanks again for everything you did today

Cosmo: No problem, I’m glad we got it done

Amber: Me too, and we wouldn’t have without you

Cosmo: Your one friend is quite tall but still not as tall as me

Amber: if anyone would wear sky high heels to paint…

Amber: it was safer the way it happened though, I should probably thank you specifically for not dropping me too

Cosmo: You reckoned I would?

Amber: you’re not a goalkeeper and I’m not very good at keeping still

Cosmo: I noticed

Amber: And? How many ⭐️s are you giving me now that you’ve finally seen me dance?

Cosmo: You mean you want back the ones you put on my ceiling now?

Amber: I don’t think they’re coming off, sorry, unless your nan also has a tool for that in her barn

Cosmo: Probably

Cosmo: but I think your room looks sick enough without stealing from me

Amber: I’ve stolen plenty of your precious time, so it’s a relief you think it was worth it

Cosmo: Nah, you asked first

Cosmo: weren’t a window ambush this time

Amber: It’s your turn, now you know which window is mine

Cosmo: That an invite?

Amber: yes, if you don’t already know you’re welcome any time

Cosmo: I don’t think everyone feels the same way but I appreciate it

Amber: it’s from me, not anybody else

Cosmo: I wouldn’t come back for no one else so

Cosmo: s’good

Amber: as long as you would for me

Cosmo: ‘course I would

Amber: even though nobody else understands why

Cosmo: Who?

Amber: You know who I mean, you’re still having to reply to comments

Cosmo: Oh, they just think they’re funny

Cosmo: don’t worry about it

Amber: I’m not worried about it for my own sake, they’re not my teammates

Cosmo: It’s locker room talk, they should leave it there

Cosmo: I’m used to them

Amber: and I’m used to boys objectifying me in a lot worse ways but that doesn’t mean it’s okay and we should just forget about it, you wouldn’t tell me it was

Cosmo: I told you it’d be like this

Cosmo: I can delete the picture

Cosmo: I probably should

Amber: because?

Cosmo: you said, nobody else understands

Amber: but they’re not gonna if you delete it

Cosmo: What, like I should put out a PSA about you? Would that not make you feel weirder

Amber: All my friends know we’re friends

Cosmo: Your friends aren’t lads

Cosmo: not that type anyway

Cosmo: maybe some of them are saying as much, just not in the comments

Amber: Don’t you wanna say something? Don’t you feel weird keeping this some kind of unnecessary secret?

Cosmo: It’s not a secret, idk what you’d expect me to say

Amber: You’re right, it’s not my 🌍 you should handle it however you feel comfortable

Cosmo: I honestly don’t care

Cosmo: how is posting that not putting in out there?

Amber: maybe right now you don’t but if we’re gonna keep spending time together and this is gonna keep being a thing that your friends do and you don’t know what to say, you might start to

Cosmo: If I asked them to stop it’d be worse

Cosmo: I can’t explain

Amber: Is there anything I can do?

Cosmo: aside from be a different person?

Cosmo: no, just don’t let it spoil anything

Amber: I kinda meant something more like keeping our hangouts off socials, as they don’t actually know the sort of person I am

Cosmo: Sure

Cosmo: we can

Amber: without spoiling things?

Cosmo: ‘course

Amber: then we should try, see if it makes things better for you

Cosmo: things are fine for me, honestly

Amber: I don’t think you’d believe you should delete the pic if that was true

Cosmo: They’re not being grim about me

Cosmo: I thought you might be upset

Amber: I’m used to way worse, I told you, there’s very little they could say that I haven’t heard before

Cosmo: Fuck that

Amber: besides, me replying back 😠 changes nothing for me and only would for you in ways I don’t want to

Cosmo: Yeah, I know

Amber: it’s okay, I’ve had the best day and they haven’t got to me

Cosmo: It was good to see you

Amber: You see me for breakfast most mornings, are you politely saying I’m less grumpy later on?

Cosmo: 😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏😏

Amber: 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Amber: next time we’ll do something you’re excited about and you’ll keep on thinking it’s good to see me

Cosmo: I didn’t take an IOU for payment

Amber: Fine, we’ll do something else I want to

Cosmo: You took SO much persuading there

Amber: you snooze you lose, boy

Cosmo: I’ll live

Amber: I took Lux to the beach, she really loves the ocean, are there any others we can get to on 🚲s or are you gonna have to teach me to drive for real so I can take her to ours?

Cosmo: [tell her where the good ones nearby are ‘cos clearly we know]

Amber: You’re the best! I’ll say thanks tomorrow with the most edible breakfast yet

Cosmo: I’ll try not to get jealous about your other beach dates in the meantime

Amber: I’ll start believing you’re jealous if you comment 🥺 on my posts

Cosmo: Can’t steal your one move, be rude

Amber: Oh but it’s not rude to try and suggest I only have one move?

Cosmo: Realistic

Amber: no, the opposite, if that’s what you’ve convinced yourself of

Cosmo: calm your 😠

Amber: I have a LOT of moves, I’ll calm down, maybe, when you realise it

Cosmo: *admit it/defeat

Cosmo: and I won’t

Amber: Why do I like you?

Cosmo: Why wouldn’t you 😜

Amber: I remember now! It’s because you’re tall, I really like how tall you are and how useful that is 🙃

Cosmo: 🟥

Amber: Can I come before breakfast for that workout you were talking about earlier?

Cosmo: You better

Cosmo: I know where you sleep now so I can come find you if you no-show

Amber: Waking up to your serious face sounds so much fun but I’d lose friends, unfortunately

Cosmo: Best behave then

Amber: I’ll be there, ready for you to lead by example, including on how to behave

Cosmo: Plenty of people have no idea what they’re doing in the gym

Cosmo: I promise you won’t look 👽

Amber: It’s a promise you’ve kept everywhere else you’ve taken me

Cosmo: I didn’t want them to make you feel like that

Amber: I know, but it’s not something you can always protect us both from

Cosmo: They’ve just never met a girl like you

Amber: I’d feel sorry for the girls they do meet but I doubt most of them would jump to my defence

Cosmo: Pretty much

Amber: I’m so fucking sick of being that girl, because it’s never the compliment it’s supposed to be

Cosmo: They’d kill to be you

Cosmo: being special, you can’t complain about it, it’s not endearing

Amber: I’m not special I’m unusual, usually in the negative, and nobody kills to be that

Cosmo: Nah

Cosmo: that’s not what I meant when I said they’ve never met a girl like you

Amber: But that’s what it means

Cosmo: To you, maybe

Cosmo: not to them though

Amber: what are you saying?

Cosmo: That even if it feels shit, no one else will ever see it as anything less than ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and they’ll always be jealous

Cosmo: You come across as special, that’s what shows

Amber: I don’t know what to do with those ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cosmo: Me either

Amber: or all the new followers I have now

Cosmo: Sorry

Cosmo: it’s weird

Cosmo: I had quite a few but then when my contract was announced there was this huge influx

Cosmo: plenty of the comments aren’t even my friends, actually, or people I think I’ve even met

Amber: What advice did your dad give you?

Cosmo: Ha, it’s actually not his advice but it’s the royal’s motto

Cosmo: Never complain, never explain

Cosmo: It sort of works

Amber: not for me, I love doing both of those things!

Cosmo: 😂

Cosmo: I guess you’re not cut out to be 👸 after-all

Amber: or I am and they’re overdue a change in the way they do things

Cosmo: I don’t think you can put yourself forward, doesn’t work quite like that

Amber: yet

Cosmo: Stranger things have happened than you marrying a 🤴 no doubt

Amber: I love the amount of faith you have in me, it’s so consistent, no matter how 🚀👩🏽‍🚀 I’m acting

Cosmo: Maybe I’ll get into motivational speaking instead then

Amber: I can’t wait to hear your wedding speech

Cosmo: I think my dad will have dibs on the ‘never complain, never explain’ joke first, devastatingly

Amber: I’m not gonna make a think on your feet ⚽️ joke right now because you’ve got time, it doesn’t look like there are any princes in my dms

Cosmo: I could say I can imagine but we could just compare

Cosmo: girls ain’t no better

Amber: let’s do ANYTHING else

Cosmo: like what

Amber: I don’t know

Amber: you could close your eyes and pick an activity emoji, or food

Cosmo: alright

Cosmo: 🥡

Amber: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 if you wanna get competitive 🥵

Cosmo: do you know me at all?

Amber: I was being polite and giving you the chance to back out before I beat you, because yes, I know what you’re like

Cosmo: Politeness is the excuse you’ll cop when I win and you claim you let me

Amber: my manners don’t extend that far

Cosmo: Good

Cosmo: you know how I feel about easy wins

Amber: Not gonna happen, I've lived in plenty of places where you get a high tolerance for spicy food, like it or not

Cosmo: I’m not eating 🐛🐜🦗 with you next

Amber: Officially I'm a super strict vegan who has and would never, so you can stay squeamish, because by telling on you I am on myself

Amber: but you should think of the protein 😂

Cosmo: I’ve heard the arguments, I don’t care how allegedly good for you it could be, picking wings and legs out of your teeth is never gonna be a good look 🤢😂

Amber: I don't disagree now but they were the most shocking acts of 👶🏽 rebellion I could think up at the time

Amber: if not 🦂🦗 or 🐍🩸 then what?

Cosmo: Doesn’t make rebellion seem all that appealing, tbh

Amber: you're assuming since being grown I haven't gotten so much better at it

Amber: which is very rude

Cosmo: I know you’re still a 🤓 no matter how old you are

Amber: 🤓 are rule breakers too

Cosmo: If you say so 🤓

Amber: Make fun of me all you want, boy, you won't be able to with 👅🔥 and 🥈

Cosmo: When are we doing this and humbling you?

Amber: let me know when you're ready and I'll meet you at your car

Cosmo: 👍

Cosmo: I just need to sort ma out a little first, then I can come

Amber: Ask her if she's coming to breakfast, I'm gonna make pancakes

Cosmo: That should seal the deal

Amber: they usually go down pretty well with people who get to eat pancakes that look like 🥞 not just hungry 👽

Cosmo: What about dairy when you know where it’s from

Cosmo: you can’t have eggs the chickens you have have laid?

Amber: they're gone as soon as

they're collected, the goats milk too

Amber: and if my parents let me have a share they'd expect me to give it to the mamas to be or the children that live here anyway

Cosmo: Hm

Cosmo: maybe that’s why you’re so short

Cosmo: not enough calcium to grow

Amber: I'm exactly the same height as my mama and veganism wasn't an act of rebellion for her until she was our age, I don't think I can blame ☮💙🕊 for everything

Cosmo: Probably not

Cosmo: just genetics but overall, I guess you did alright out of that

Amber: You too

Cosmo: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amber: Unless you don't want them from me either, for how you look

Cosmo: why wouldn’t I

Amber: Because of what we were talking about before

Amber: maybe you're already sick of it from the girls in your dms

Cosmo: It’s funny, mostly

Cosmo: how twisted they’ve all got it

Cosmo: but I still know plenty about expectations

Amber: It was so sad hearing you talk about being perfect on paper

Cosmo: you taking the piss or?

Amber: no

Cosmo: What do you mean then?

Amber: You feeling like you can’t live up to girls expectations is sad

Cosmo: I could, if I wanted to

Amber: you can’t, because they aren’t real, that's what you said

Amber: and that coupled with everything happening online and friends you can't invite to your house sounds… I don't know, lonely

Cosmo: It’s real, it’s just not me

Cosmo: I’m not lonely

Amber: You can talk to me without waiting until you're drunk first, if you ever are, or if there's anything else going on

Cosmo: What is this, don’t do a welfare check on me

Amber: You don't need to get defensive, we're friends, friends talk

Cosmo: You don’t need to therapize me

Amber: I'm not, I'm making sure you know how important you are to me

Cosmo: I’m good, Amber

Cosmo: It’s not how you’ve heard it

Amber: Okay, I've misunderstood what you said, but if you’re doing good I don’t understand why you mind me asking

Cosmo: It’s the way you ask

Amber: what is it about the way I ask?

Cosmo: it makes me feel like a specimen

Cosmo: like it’s really serious

Amber: sorry

Cosmo: it’s fine, you don’t mean it like that

Amber: it’s not fine when I’m trying to help and doing the opposite

Cosmo: You can stop trying to help

Cosmo: I don’t want help

Amber: I’ll try to stop upsetting you

Cosmo: I’m not upset, it’s just annoying

Amber: and annoying you

Cosmo: Shh

Amber: I just want us both to keep feeling like we did today

Cosmo: then let’s keep it fun

Amber: Sure, I won’t even take any offense at you making it sound like I also have to try hard at that

Cosmo: I didn’t disagree that today was fun, come on

Amber: because you’d be lying and that’s only fun when we’re doing it together for 👶🏽 acts of rebellion

Cosmo: Go on…

Amber: let’s see how you handle 🥡 first

Cosmo: If you can’t handle multitasking

Amber: oh please, you’ve seen me do it all day

Cosmo: Hmm, you helped a bit

Amber: Shh, you’re almost lying when I said don’t a couple of sentences ago

Cosmo: There’s no such thing as an almost lie

Amber: isn’t there?

Cosmo: You’re either lying or you’re not

Amber: it never feels that simple though

Cosmo: how do you mean?

Amber: I’m probably only thinking like that to spin all the lies I tell myself into something less bad

Cosmo: it doesn’t mean lie = bad, necessarily

Cosmo: necessary, sometimes

Amber: right, when it’s more often than you want to, it doesn’t feel good, necessarily, that’s all

Amber: I can’t act like that means I should keep finding ways to justify it though, I know that’s not either

Cosmo: If you want to start being more honest, you should find a way

Amber: which doesn’t sound fun so we’re getting off topic again

Cosmo: Probably

Cosmo: well shut up and stop distracting me and I can be there

Amber: 😶

Cosmo: [do y’all need to do this, absolutely not but here we are]

Amber: [at least you can get a win gal cos he’s always beating you at the sporty stuff I’m soz]

Cosmo: [have that gal]

Amber: [and have some more fun lads, it’s not like you’ve spent all day together or anything]

Cosmo: [mhmm, we see you]

[natroztypography]

Project 2 Discovery

The book I’ve chosen is Coraline. I’ve stolen the summary of it and included it below:

Our story starts out when a young lady named Coraline Jones moves into an apartment in an old house with her parents. Her neighbors include two elderly retired actresses and a strange man who lives upstairs and trains mice for a circus act. Despite this weirdness, Coraline is very bored. Her parents work a lot and they tend to just ignore her.

One day, Coraline discovers a door with a brick wall behind it. Seems kind of strange, right? But get this: when she opens the door later, there's a hallway back there. Now that's strange. When Coraline goes through the door, she ends up in an entirely different world: it's kind of like her own, but something's a little off. In the other world, Coraline has an other mother (the beldam), an other father, and other neighbors. And bonus, cats can talk.

Coraline decides this other world is weird (we agree) and so she heads back home. But when she arrives, her parents are missing: the beldam has kidnapped them, and Coraline will have to go back into the creepy other world to rescue them. Fast forward a bit: and, spoiler alert, she succeeds! She gets her parents back and, in the meantime, also rescues the trapped souls of three kidnapped children who have been stuck in the other world for a long time. Coraline beats the evil beldam, saves the day, and returns home.

But wait: it's not quite over. It turns out the other mother's hand has followed Coraline home (it's like Thing on the Addams Family!). Coraline plays one last trick to trap the other mother's hand in a deep well. Phew, finally the scariness is over. After all this excitement, Coraline is ready to start the school year; and boy, is school going to seem really tame by comparison.

Coraline is probably my favourite children’s book, though it’s a tad dark for a children’s book. Here are the photos of my copies of the book; one very well loved, and a brand new one I purchased to make a dust jacket for: 

As for these covers, the first one is just scenes from the actual movie. I’m not fond of it and it’s a bit literal. The second one is more fitting, and find that it has that creepy, “stuck it pitch black and thinking monsters are watching you” feel. But it’s also a literal depiction of Coraline herself.

Some other covers found online:

I appreciate the simplicity of this and the fact that it’s just text. It reminds me of string used for sewing, the way it flows around the cover. It also comes across as very old, like something pre-Victorian, which suits the Other mother, as she is incredibly old and witchy.

This cover makes me uneasy in a way that the other ones do not.

This cover is probably my favourite, as it’s simple but the textures and ink really add to an uneasy feeling. The contrast plays nicely too. It’s a very symbolic cover.

Probably my least favourite cover. It doesn’t capture that feeling of the novel whatsoever and is a decently false representation of what’s going on in the book.

I think what a lot of the covers I’m seeing missing is subtlety. There’s a lot of literal depictions and almost shallow covers. A big part of Coraline is that she’s a character you can insert yourself as, like many children’s books do. I find depicting her literally takes away that insertion and almost makes the morals of the novel less relevant. The rats play a large part in the story as well, and no one has utilized them as a cover. The feral cat that lives around the house and helps Coraline has a fued with the Other Mother’s rats, and is an important mirror to the Other Mother trapping Coraline, like the cat does to the rats. Utilizing these symbols would make for a better cover. Another thing that seems to be missing is a more adult cover. Coraline has been described as an adventure for children, but a nightmare for adults. Neil Gaiman says it’s the oddest book he’s ever written in that sense. There’s a huge cult following for Coraline, and I’m sure I’m not the only one that would appreciate a decorative, more adult cover for the book.

Some keywords:

stone, mirror, rats, cats, spider’s web, trap, snowglobe, parents, alternate reality, tunnel, door, skeleton key, buttons, sewing, claw, pink house, moon, mother, children, souls

The Other Mother has a very cold way about her and her fake kindness. She is a lot like a spider, trying to coax prey in and trap them in a web.

Coraline is a defiant and explorative child.

The cat is very similar to the Cheshire cat.

Moments in time:

Before the climax: Coraline is walking through intense wind the Other Mother has thrown at her to deter her from re-entering the house with the souls from the lost children.

During the climax: Coraline throws the cat at the Other Mother and it scratches one of her button eyes off as Coraline dashes for the snowglobe holding her parents.

After the climax: Coraline realized the Other Mother’s hand has followed her through the door, so she devises a trap in the well and the hand falls down, lost forever.

Takes place in early 2000′s England, so nothing particularly exciting here for design.

Inspiration pieces:

This cover is clever, simple, and intertwines the text with the illustration.

This is unsettling, hand drawn, and has a very adult-fairytale aspect to it.

The visual is very strong, but I like the misty typography that gives this a very distinct atmosphere, you can almost feel the chill of the mist.

I appreciate the minimalist black and white palette, and also the use of linework to depict an image. It doesn’t overpower the text, it frames the title very nicely.

My thumbs:

As far as ideas go, I’m definitely leaning toward the buttons and sewing thread. They are a very prominent symbol in the book. I really like the idea of having the thread spell out Coraline, and having the button as the “o”. The shadow of the cat with the cut out rat is also pleasant and further reinforces the idea of “cat and mouse” that is prominent in the book as well.