#which clearly isn't bang(s)

[charmac]

Stop guessing "Dennis bangs Charlie's mom" and start truthing "Dennis bangs Charlie's couch"

[affectionatecorpse]

I'm once again getting overly philosophical over horror movies, so here's a study of the death angels from A Quiet Place as observed by a very enthusiastic animal loving veterinarian.

Every time people talk about death angels, it is, understandably, about how violent they are. These creatures are brutal and merciless, and will tear apart anything that makes too much noise. Hence the title of the movie.

Death angels are frankly terrifying, and show no empathy towards the creatures of the planet they invaded. No living thing is safe from them.

... so here's why they COULD be--

Look. Death angels are simply not suited for our planet. It's a noisy, chaotic place full of noisy, chaotic animals. From humans, to raccoons, to birds, to cats, nearly everything in our world is a potential trigger for a noise sensitive animal such as these.

But that's exactly what they are. Animals. And no one seems to remember that fact. People talk about them as though they themselves are sentient, anthropomorphic monsters, but the way these creatures act mimic many real life animals. Animals that don't belong here, but are trying to survive here. On a noisy planet covered in water, which they despise and cannot swim in.

Death angels are completely blind by nature, as seen in many other creatures such as cavefish, moles, and my personal favourite, the olm. Due to a lack of sight, they very clearly use echolocation in the film, to scan their surroundings and... well, not get dead. But echolocation is far from their only tool, as their ears are the strongest asset they have.

Their ears are INCREDIBLY sensitive. Just the slight ticking of an egg timer when heard from their perspective in the first film, is like a pounding drum in their ear. This is fine in a naturally quiet planet, but if a very subtle tick is that loud, then imagine the rest of the noise. Screaming. Explosions. Crashing. Little toy planes. Holy CRAP, that's gotta hurt.

Sounds that loud would definitely cause extreme hearing problems from pressure over time, and easily result in lifelong illnesses and disabilities such as deafness, infection, and so forth, if not stopped. It's going to be painful. It's literally bursting their ear drums inside their heads, and you can't explain to an animal why it hurts. You cannot rationalise with wildlife about treatment and self care. An injured and scared animal is always going to turn hostile, no matter how docile they may be normally. You can't explain to a lion with a knife in it's belly that you can stop the pain if it just doesn't attack you. You can't explain to a death angel that it needs to go somewhere more isolated instead of just destroying the source of the noise to shut it up.

Going to backtrack here a sec. Remember how I mentioned echolocation being another asset this creature has? Which means the slightest movement, the tiniest breath, can immediately allow you to be seen by it. With ears that good, too? It can see you from ages away. It knows you're there. Which means they DON'T attack for sport.

'Evil' is a concept rarely seen in nature. Yes, a lot of humans can be evil. And yes, many creatures can be too. Animals hunt for sport as well. Cats, for example! Although even then, I wouldn't describe it as evil. Calling the death angels evil implies they're attacking out of malicious intent, which just isn't true. In moments of panic, they'll destroy. But they are fully aware of humans around them.

Humans need to breathe, and can't stay perfectly still very easily. The death angels would be able to see our main cast at several points, even when they're being quiet. They don't attack whenever they locate a sign of life. For example, the scene in the basement. Being that close, whether the water was running or not, that alien absolutely would've heard Evelyn and the baby's sharp breaths. It didn't care. It was clicking at them almost curiously before it heard the bang of the silo, to which it ditched them to stop the sound.

This scene is a great example of why they don't kill for sport. Injured and young animals are especially easy prey for a creature built so strong and nimble. Evelyn is shown to be terrified of the mere presence of this thing, but it never actually does anything in the scene. It moves about. Ignores her movements in the flooding water. Investigates the baby. Clicks curiously at her while she backs away. It moves slowly and on all fours, when we know while aggressive, they will stand up on their hind legs (unless sprinting) and move very fast.

This implies it was in... well, not a submissive position, but a nonthreatening one. It wasn't baring it's teeth (as best it could), it had it's claws tucked up and unused, and was in no way in a primed-to-attack mentality. Until the silo made a loud bang. And even then, it could've quickly sliced up the two in the basement before running off, but it DIDN'T. It just left, without a moment of hesitation.

Let's also acknowledge the anatomy.

This is a carnivore. With sharp teeth for ripping apart prey, sharp claws for defence, and thick armour for protection from it's natural climate, as well as strong, long legs for running, this is absolutely a meat eater. The fact it's so well equipped makes me wonder if their natural prey is just as dangerous as them, which is why they have such tough skin. Or if they themselves have something above them in the food chain.

They seem to be pack animals, as usually others aren't far behind when one is about. Such as the trio by the Abbott house, the few at the docks, the ones by Emet's hideout, and even that group sliding down the building in the Day One clip I keep seeing as a gif. With their knack for running included, I wonder if they function like lions? Blending into their environment back home, clicking to hear prey, then the whole pack going on the chase when their target is vulnerable, in a way.

I got distracted. My point was, in a year, all the bodies from past victims vanished. All those people in the town who were swiped left and right just vanished from the town. They couldn't have decomposed in such short time, which means something moved them when it was safe. Something like a carnivore needing food after it felt comfortable in the silent aftermath. The argument that they do it for sport is one I see all the time, and it's just not true.

Everything needs to eat. Carnivores need to eat. Animals need to protect themselves from suspected danger. They never eat on screen because whenever they're on screen, they're surrounded by noise and are DISTRESSED. Have you ever had a sick pet? Most of the time, it won't eat when it's ill because it's too stressed, uncomfortable or in too much pain. When having their ear drums assaulted, a death angel isn't going to sit down with a cup of tea and a grilled cheese. Also, I won't add it because there's blood, but in the scene with the old man screaming in the woods, after it attacks, you can actually see it go back on all fours and sniff about the aftermath, like a hungry predator catching prey to eat. This was probably the first and currently only on screen proof of my claim.

By all means, not all animals are meant to be tamed. Jordan Peele's Nope said that best. Yet I can't help but wonder about the individual. Every animal is completely unique. Some will tolerate more than others. Due to their realistic nature and the similarities to actual animals, in specific circumstances, could they be befriended?

Anyway keep an eye out for A Quiet Place 4 where someone has a pet one that wears doggy ear protectors and accepts meat in exchange for pets-- /j

[scurvyboy]

ok its kinda awkward. but your super honest humble thoughts about fiddlebill but with possesing fords body (like theyre doing stuff but ford has no clue about it)?

idk i just keep thinking about these dorks and ok its super unhealthy but kinda funny how they could just kick ford out to wander as a ghost and he wouldn't even mind it at all bc it gives him opportunity to explore things in gravity falls

honestly that makes a lot of sense to me. allow me to refer to my graph:

as you can see, according to the challengers love triangle diagram, fiddleford is placed on the "horny" corner. This means that he is majorly part of the relationship for the physical aspects of it. obviously he still clearly has feelings for ford, but over all ford is more emotionally attached to both him and bill. also fidds isn't emotionally attached to bill at all and vice versa. bill would probably go for fidds because he'd want to use fords body to fuck something and he already knows that he would be game.

because of this, it's fairly safe to assume that fiddleford would bang bill while he's possessing fords body. I think he would be into it but also feel a little bad morally (his morals are shot). ford also seems like he only has sex with humans in two positions and refuses to make eye contact, which fiddleford attended coked out bisexual swinger parties in the 70's mcgucket wouldn't be into all the time. He would not have sex with bill in triangle form because he's not as much of a freak as ford is.

also i love the idea of ford as a ghost just hanging out and doing his own thing while they get nasty. he absolutely would use this as an opportunity to enter government buildings and look at classified documents.

I hope this was humble and in depth enough for you. and in all honesty, i think not even considering a ship just because it's kind of toxic is a bit stupid if everyone in it is a bad person. i think it's great specifically because they're all bad people.

[spaceorphan18]

How an animated series saved Remy LeBeau (again)

It's a bit of a hyperbolic title, but catchy, non?

I was looking over my comic collection as I've decided to reread X-Men's 60 year history over the course of the summer. And it got me thinking about a dead period of 616 canon that I've never actually read. Around the time Rogue hooked up with Magneto and scooted off to the Avengers, I decided I'd be done with comics for a while. And didn't start again until Rogue (and Gambit) came back to the X-books in 2017's Astonishing X-Men. But it made me wonder -- What happened to Gambit in that time??

Well, after his solo ended, he flitted around to X-Factor and hung out with X-23 and then kind of went 'poof' for a good long while.

Why? I can only guess the same reason this is a running motif with Gambit. There's something about him that drives the X-Office crazy. I'm not here to speculate what or how or who of it all. I don't know enough about the back end of Marvel to give concrete answers. But I think what has surprised me (recently) is that he's definitely a fan favorite character.

[Yes, I know he can be a divisive character. Yes, I know elements of his character from the 90s have not aged well. Yes, I know there are those of you who can't stand him. Don't really care - you can get off my lawn, thank you.]

Which got me thinking -- Gambit's original popularity, I believe, stemmed from the original X-Men Animated Series. He had just started showing up in the comics at the time, and had barely any kind of page time. And the X-Men TAS swung and was a hit. And so was Gambit.

I don't really know that Gambit would be around today if TAS hadn't done its thing. Would the X-Office have kept him around? I really have no idea.

But they did try to get rid of him. That was the point of leaving him in Antarctica. And things were just never the same after that. Claremont tried his best in the early 2000s. And then Deathbit happened. Carey's run wasn't bad. But Carey clearly had an agenda for other things... And then, Gambit just kind of faded into the background. (I hear his run as a side character for Laura (X-23) was good - but I haven't read that.)

Bless Kelly Thompson (always) for sparking life back into him with (and his relationship with Rogue). And bless the fact that she actually married him to Rogue. Yes, I understand comics -- my god look what they did to Peter and MJ, no one really gets to be happily married except Sue and Reed. He and Rogue are now really tied together in a way that I don't think is going to be undone any time soon.

Even if the X-Office still isn't thrilled with the guy. Krakoa era has been less than ideal. (I can't comment on it fully - I haven't read much of it, as I'm behind on my comic reading.) But I've heard rumors that one reason Thompson was let go was that she didn't want Gambit killed off. And she didn't like the direction they wanted to take the character.

Which leads me to X-Men 97. Killing him off sucked. Really. As a fan, it really sucked. But - my god, the reaction to it. Gambit was amazing. And all I've heard lately is good things about the character. There's been a Gambit resurgence in the best way. He may have went out -- but he went out with a bang. X-Men 97 made an emotional impact with people. And that changes things.

Gambit is cool again.

And I love it.

What's even more exciting is the fact that the X-Office has changed hands again and Gail Simone on Uncanny who (if her Twitter/X feed is to be believed) is really enjoying writing the character. Which means (hopefully) at least another year or two in the comics of some (hopefully) great Gambit stuff.

And maybe there will be some changing of hearts and minds in the X-Office.

It's actually very exciting.

And, guys, I really (really, really) doubt he'll be completely gone from X-Men 97, too.

Because Remy LeBeau never stays down for long.

But as a fan, it's nice to see him be on top again. And I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon.

[zenkindoflove]

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 21

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? 488,773

3. What fandoms do you write for? ACOTAR (active), Crescent City (active), A Song of Ice and Fire (former), The Big Bang Theory (former), Twilight (former - not on AO3), That 70's Show (former - not on AO3).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?  

The Pon Farr Hypothesis (Shenny, The Big Bang Theory)

The Sweet Vibrations Discovery (Shenny, The Big Bang Theory)

Burn Forever With Me (Elucien, ACOTAR)

Summer Heat (Elucien & Erixius, ACOTAR)

Our Hearts Still Beat the Same (Elucien, ACOTAR)

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes! I try my best to respond to all comments these days. I like having conversations with my readers!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings. I'm very demure. Very mindful.

LOL, but no really, I almost always do some kind of hopeful/HEA kind of ending. But I have written some angsty drabbles. There is a Satharion drabble you can find in my drabble series called Mr. and Mrs. Ketos that is pretty sad for the prompt "to distract".

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of them. I'm a fluff girl. I think the happiest of happy is likely Burn Forever With Me because it's basically Elucien accepting the mating bond and going into a frenzy. Which how much happier can you get?

8. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes. Loads. At this point, the real question is when do I not write smut? And the answer is, not often.

My smut is very descriptive. I give people the manual. I like to make it immersive. I also have been told my smut is "smut with feelings" or "tender fucking". Which isn't to say it doesn't get raw and dirty. But I always am looking for what is the emotional core of this smut scene. How are they expressing love in this moment, even if it's one character snowballing cum into another's mouth? I also am always looking to make you kick your feet, even in the midst of a sex scene, so whenever I can, I try to show those little moments of tender touches that happen during sex.

9. Do you write crossovers? Yes! Actually I wrote a few crossovers when I was in That 70s Show fandom - notoriously cross overs with slasher films because loads of them had teenagers in the 70s haha. I haven't done one for ACOTAR yet, but I do have an ACOTAR/Crescent City Modern AU I've been thinking of for a while.

10. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I know.

11. Have you ever co-written a fic before? YES! Quite a lot. I've co-written with three authors. Two when I was in That 70's show fandom. And I've written two fics with my ACOTAR bff @crazy-ache and we have more plans in the future to keep writing together. I love co-writing. It's a great way to grow as a writer. And the creativity that comes from two brains is BIG.

12. What is your all-time favorite ship? I can't answer that. My OTPs are my children. All my ships I feel longing for, in different ways. I will say, I have been the most prolific with Elucien in terms of frequency of writing in a short amount of time. So clearly they have really touched a big part of me.

13. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I mean all the fics I abandoned when I was younger? Definitely those lol. But I actually don't have a desire to return to them.

14. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue. As seen above, I have written for a lot of sitcom fandoms, and when you write for those fandoms, you get practice with writing with sitcom cadence which really helps with writing pithy dialogue in other genres. I also think I am a very good introspective writer. I think I am best being inside characters' heads. I also do think I am good at smut. I wouldn't write it so much if I didn't think so.

15. What are your writing weaknesses?  SHUTTING THE FUCK UP. No seriously, I do tend to be on the wordy side. It's one of the reasons I get into drabble moods because I do need to learn to be more concise and try to execute a scene without making it 5000 words. I also write very wordy sentences that need to be slashed and slashed.

16. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Oh, I doubt I'll be able to do that. I only know English.

17. First fandom you wrote for? That 70's Show!

18. Favorite fic you’ve written? Ack! Okay, that is so so hard. I don't even know what I'd say. I guess, if I had to absolutely choose, I would say Summer Heat because I think it is emblematic of all my skills as a writer in one fic. And it's the fic I introduced Alexius - the first OC I ever fully fleshed out and developed, and that will ALWAYS hold a special place in my heart because Alexius has given me so much confidence I never knew I had being a writer. He's really let me know that I can write original content with original characters on my own and shown me how to do it.

~~~~~~

No one tagged me 😭. But I ended up doing this anyways because I've been really wanting to and I decided I'd rather risk being a loser. But, to make sure no one else feels like a loser who wants to do it, I'm tagging everyone I can think of that I don't think I've seen do this. Sorry if you're tagged again and you did this! And if I didn't tag you I'm sorry. Please just be like me and go for it. At least we did it together!

@crazy-ache , @the-darkestminds , @olenvasynyt , @bonecarversbestie , @starsreminisce , @lucienarcheron , @teddyhoneybear , @jules-writes-stories , @avabrynne , @theshadowsingersraven , @tilseptemberends , @ataraxiasflame , @highlordofkrypton , @summerbummin , @sadiegirl2021 , @lovely-vanserra-sunshine , @sad-scarred-sassy , @yaralulu , @fieldofdaisiies , @dawneternal , @secret-third-thing

[cosmicjoke]

Just adding this on, but this isn't an attempt on my part or an encouragement to harass these people, though I'm sure everyone reading this already knows that. Just a means of letting others know who's behind at least some of the harassment lately.

Alright, well, here comes the call-out post that I promised anon. Have fun with it, I guess. It's about to get long, folks. A group of @tsuki-no-ura followers, who's been obviously vague posting about me for months at this point, specifically targeting every topic I discuss on my blog by making counterarguments to it on their blog, even though I never directed any of my analysis posts or anything else at them, nor has anything I've ever written been in direct response to anything they've written, is certainly behind at least some of the harassment. And other than the times I've tried having conversations with tsuki in the past, when I used to follow them, and wanted to discuss their posts with them, which almost always went ignored, I haven't at all addressed them or made reference to them, either implied or specifically, in any of my analysis posts. I only made reference to them a few weeks back when I found out that they'd essentially said my defense of Levi's violence was tantamount to Nazism, which I wasn't going to let stand. That's the only time I've ever directly referenced them. And yet, every time I make an analysis post, a counterargument to it magically appears on their blog the same day or a few days later, something that was brought to my attention by a mutual of mine. I had no idea until a couple weeks ago that this was happening, because I stopped following them more than a year ago, and only just recently blocked them. But they're obviously stalking me. And, inevitably, every time they do this, a slew of anon hate messages get sent, both to me and various other blogs that I follow, or that follow me. This isn't a coincidence:

@clearavenuelover, @66honeybadgers, and I'm sure various other of their groupies, are the ones almost assuredly largely behind the anonymous attacks on Levi blogs over the last, several months. They start out with their passive-aggressive bullshit, and eventually, of course, it turns to outright hostility, because that's just who these people are. @clearavenuelover purposefully tagged me in one of tsuki's posts, and so obviously they're aware of their followers harassing other Levi fan blogs. This is the link to the post they tagged me and other Levi fan blogs in: https://www.tumblr.com/tsuki-no-ura/739123803956854784/okay-so-here-i-come-with-my-discourse-causing

And yet more evidence that these people all congregate in the same circles and circle-jerk each other over how they think they're "winning" some non-existent contest against me and other Levi fan blogs.

And look who liked this answer as soon as it was put up:

And here @66honeybadgers is again, name-dropping tsuki-no-ura while they continue to harass me:

And this is clearly the same douche-bag that asked me a few weeks back if I considered myself a "Levi expert", and has now, over the last two days, continued to harass me for daring to express my opinion about Levi on my own blog, dropping the "friendly" act and showing their outright hostility:

This is clear harassment from a very specific corner of the fandom, mainly, surprise, surprise, eruri shippers, or even just Erwin stans who want to make everything about him, and get angry at anyone who dares to express any different view from the ones they hold, to the point of actively seeking out and stalking our blogs, hate reading our posts, going into our inboxs and sending us anonymous hate messages, trying to cram their opinions down our throats and then getting upset when we don't listen or accept their views. And then they want to go around acting like they're all the victims. What a joke these people are. Anyway, I just thought I should make this post so that actual Levi fan blogs can know to avoid and block these assholes. I can't say if they're behind ALL of the harassment, but they're certainly behind some of it, and it's good to expose them because they're cowards, and once they've been exposed, they won't have the fucking balls to continue.

[j-vin]

Unpopular opinion: You are not an actual feminist if you support the 🌽 industry

Feminism is devided in multiple categories, which have different beliefs, yet the same idea. Some feminists fight for equality between men and women, while other fight for the liberation of women from men. Regardless of what they believe, they're both combating the same issue: misogyny.

P*rnography has done ireversable damage to people's brains, especially to men, since they make the majority of its consumers. Unfortunately, since the existence of the internet, p*rn has become dangerously uncomplicated to access, making it very easy for kids to watch. No child should be exposed to such disturbing, yet unrealistic material. This type of content is probably the worst way for a child to find out about the existence of s*x, plus they are way more predisposed to become p*rn addicts or content creators later in life.

Both boys and girls are affected by the p*rn industry, but why are girls and women more negatively impacted? Well, since most of its watchers are straight men, the content is centered around the women, or, to be more specific, the female body. The fact that companies are profiting of n*ked women and using their bodies as a form of entertainment clearly proves how objectified women are.

It's true that in most cases, the p*rnstars know and consent to do the things they do, but what many people don't realise is that the representation of s*xual n*dity to the public doesn't only affect the people participaiting in the creation, but also the perseption of humans in general. You have to be really naive to believe that most of the p*rnstars' bodies are natural. A lot of the times they have to go through insane and dangerous surgeries to fit in the ridiculous standards the industry has. Sometimes they also edit the bodies digitally to make them look "perfect". So, since men are the ones buying into it the most, they are becoming more detached from reality, having high standards and sometimes adopting unacceptable behaviours. Also, since women are the main focus in p*rnographic content, they are also the ones mostly suffering from it. Feeling insecure about their physical appearence and having to accept disturbing acts by men are only some of the things women have to go through because of this wildely accepted industry.

As I said in the last paragraph, sometimes the viewer takes harmful behaviours and ideas from the content they consume. I believe that a lot of the content that is posted on those type platforms is straight-up sexist. Let's be serious, you can not convince me that stuff like BDSM or "Gang-bang" isn't made to satisfy r*pists. Or that the famously searched "18 year old" or "teen" aren't made to satisfy p*dos. It's honestly so disturbing, I actually can't believe how it is allowed.

Now I want to talk a little bit about the p*rnstars. I've seen a lot of people blame them for the existence of p*rnography, which is understandable, but I don't think they're the first to blame. Being exposed to such content, especially from a young age, surely influences the person's decisions. All at more because a lot of these models and actresses are paid even millions for a fairly easy job. But, not to forget, that this is at the cost of their dignity and safety. Do they know that? Most of them probably do. Unfortunately, that doesn't overtake the desperate need of money, which can, in some situations, be cause by misogyny, either in workplace or education. In some rare cases, it can result from traumatic experiences, which make the person feel the need to s*xualise themselves a lot more than the average person. Either way, being a p*rnstars is not something ideal, and I feel bad for every person who has to be put in the situation of selling their own bodies to strangers to gain their existence.

Another important reason why some women work in the industry is because of how, not only normalised, but also encouraged p*rnography is by a specific category of feminists. They believe that a woman has the right to decide what to do with her body and that everyone that is against the industry is automatically sexist because they're against women making their own choices and "gaining their own money". Personally, I understand the perspective, but I still strongly disagree. I refuse to believe that someone that considers women objectifing their bodies and "selling it" to mentally unstable men is somehow "empowering" has any idea what feminism actually is.

In conclusion, feminist or not, everyone can agree that the p*rn industry is bad. It affect the people's perception of the human body and s*x itself. It has impacted women negatively since its existence, therefore it's a very misogynistic way of entertainment. A person with real feminist values should be against it and support the p*rnstars that have fallen victim of it.

[nychthemeron-rants]

Fuck it. Daddy Angel AU is a go.

AU background Summary:

(TW: Talks of domestic violence, cheating, murder, and lobotomy)

Niffty is Angel's daughter. She was conceived from a one night stand that only happened because some people in Angel's gang pressured him into hooking up with a woman while out drinking. Angel has no clue he fathered a child. Niffty grew up only knowing her dad was an Italian Gangster from Brooklyn. Because Niffty grew up only hearing vague tales of her dad as a badass gangster she began to idolize the ideas of bad boys and romantasizing violence. While that didn't cause her instability, it certainly didn't help.

Angel dies in 1947 at age 35 when Niffty was 15, never knowing he had a daughter.

Fast forward to the early 50's. Niffty's mother encourages Niffty to go to college, mostly to get her MRS degree, but also to give her clearly mentally ill daughter a better chance at life by letting her further her education. She majors in education at her mother's suggestion but hates it. Which is why when she gets proposed to by her boyfriend at age 19, she happily agrees to drop out to be his housewife despite only dating him for 2 months. And him being a total douchebag because, again, Niffty likes bad boys.

Their marriage goes south quickly. Her husband was verbally abusive from the start of their marriage (though he wasn't before they got married). Niffty threw herself into her housework to cope, obsessing over proving she was a good wife by keeping a clean house and finding stress relief in killing any pests that dare to enter her perfect home. However, her husband's beratement of her only escalated over 2 miserable years.

Then Niffty caught him bragging to some buddies about how he's been ditching his "crazy" wife to bang some hot waitress. All while saying deplorable things about Niffty. When she confronted him about it, he made the mistake of laying hands on her. Thinking of her mythical gangster father and sick and fucking tired of being bullied and mocked for being ""crazy"", she decides to finally handle shit the way she always wanted to and grabs a knife. After a brief but intense struggle, her husband was dead, but Niffty was badly injured, leading her to call 911 before she could even come up with a cover story. Leading to her arrest.

She was sentenced to be lobotomized, and died shortly after due to infection at only 22 years old in 1954.

She and Angel both end up in hell, Niffty knowing her dad must be down there with her somewhere, but has no real info on him so she doesn't bother looking, and Angel assumes he died childless. Neither think anything of the other when they meet. It isn't until they begin discussing their mortal lives that Angel begins to make connections between what Niffty knows about her dad and how she describes her mom, and himself and a woman he used to know before she moved away suddenly... shortly after they hooked up.

[randomfoggytiger]

Mulder Didn't Use Scully's Apartment Key Until He “Belonged”

We all know Scully had Mulder's apartment key, confirmed in S2's "Little Green Men" when she snooped around his living room for clues-- but Mulder having a key to Scully's place isn't confirmed so clearly; though, of course, it would make sense that he did. (Of course, canon did make a point to show he had a key to Diana's place-- but thankfully David Duchovny portrayed Mulder as cluelessly stumbling around her room, showing he'd never been there, post here for a "blink and you'll miss it" screenshot of Mulder taking a key from his key ring-- but that's neither here nor there and better left undwelt on for blood pressure reasons.)

Onto proof hunting!

Squeeze

The first time Mulder enters Scully's apartment is in Squeeze where he breaks down the door (something he will repeat a few times):

Nothing to be learned here.

Another door breakdown occurs in--

Small Potatoes

But what preceded that incident is crucial: when NotMulder drops in, Scully is shocked he showed up, afraid something bad had happened or she was needed for a work emergency.

Mulder, it seems, makes precious few visits in general; and that would explain her surprise that he was here at all, before Eddie even introduced the idea of a little taste-testing get-together.

Gethsemane

A notch in Mulder's favor; but can easily be explained away:

Scully enters her dark apartment, not noticing anything amiss with her lock. When she finds Mulder in her room, she doesn't argue how he got in, frustrated instead that he'd almost watched her undress.

We can glean two facts from this moment:

#1. Scully didn't know the lock was damaged because Mulder used a key; or Scully didn't notice a pick-pocketed lock because she was too exhausted anyway (which might work, because she didn't notice that Pfaster broke into her apartment in S7.)

#2. Regardless of the key business, Mulder is not a usual visitor at Scully's apartment period, since she reacts more with shock that he's here rather than annoyance that he'd dropped in again.

FTF

It appears Scully is more used to Mulder dropping in for work now; but she still seems on-edge and surprised that he is at the door.

SKIPPING AHEAD--

Orison

This episode provides no answer either way; but it includes another Mulder break-in, so it counts slightly.

Mulder would have had to kick the door down to open the door and break the chain lock before Pfaster could intercept him or set a trap; and we see the door bang open and Mulder's slightly hunched posture dodge in as he swivels his gun from his side to his front

As the door swings back into frame, his boot print is visible next to the lower doorknob:

Again, this incident is inconclusive.

En Ami

This episode is either the clincher against Mulder having a key to Scully's apartment or a fluke the writers accidentally wrote in.

Mulder famously recruits Scully's landlord to unlock her apartment

(before ditching that idea and running off to investigate other leads); and this is puzzling and raises some questions:

#1. Mulder doesn't have a key of his own-- recently, or at all. OR this is part of the distance game he plays: he won't allow himself to enter her apartment at all (that theory will be expounded on later.)

#2. CSM orchestrated for the locks to be changed after Scully left. ...Why? I'm sure for very nefarious and unexplained reasons; but all showing to his certainty that Scully wouldn't return from her trip (in all probability hoping he'd sweep her off her feet.)

Per Manum

This episode proves Mulder has a key-- at least during the IVF arc (which I place early s6 while others place sometime S7.)

The bolt is unlocked;

and Scully walks in, too worn (but trying to be strong) to be surprised that he has crashed on her couch.

Mulder apologizes for doing so,

demonstrating that, regardless if he owns a key or not, this is abnormal behavior for him. Which proves that, if anything, he and Scully socialized all those years at his apartment (confirmed in Milagro) rather than hers, an added bonus to her confusion when NotMulder dropped by in Small Potatoes and her consternation when he sneaked in later in Redux.

That means there is proof that Mulder stayed out of Scully's hair all those years-- perhaps not wanting to wear out his welcome-- and that his visits to her place were only under extreme circumstances (Elegy, Redux, FTF, En Ami, Per Manum, Existence, etc.) As much as my headcanon-loving heart would prefer it otherwise, Mulder seems to have one boundary he doesn't cross: willy-nilly, familiar apartment visiting. Is this because of Scully's need for distance? Or is this a Mulder thing (spoiler: it's a Mulder thing)?

What I don't like (or do?) is that Mulder was never confirmed to have had a key until the series had no choice but to admit he and Scully were together romantically (because of the pregnancy plotline.) I like it a little more or a little less depending on the day.

Essence/Existence

Mulder has already moved in by this point, so of course he has a key (there's a longer post but I couldn't find it-- thank you @baronessblixen for finding this one!)

Mulder is finally shown to unlock Scully's door and pocket the key-- a first in the entire series.

Conclusion

There seems to be a pattern that emerges:

Mulder, whether he had a key or not, was never at Scully's apartment for longer than a late night door-kicking sesh or a rare work emergency. He had the key all these years (confirmed in Per Manum); but he never felt like he truly belonged, waiting for Scully or her landlord to open the door hospitably for him.

Mulder is shown to open the door for the first time in Existence, having used it naturally only once during the IVF attempt and never presuming again after its failure. Now, he enters a bit hesitantly; but warms up as he meanders over to his family. He's home.

SO! Mulder had a key, like he had Scully by his side all those years; but, while she used his apartment key religiously, he never returned the favor until he felt that he could build a home with her. And that's very Mulder, in his own way.

[9800sblog]

https://www.tumblr.com/9800sblog/752413680504897536/hey-i-love-your-readings-please-can-you-do-ateez?source=share

Can you do the same with Straykids?

stray kids tarot reading

current vibes

all

justice, page of pentacles, the empress, 7 of swords

like I said in yesterday's pick a card, pirates steal back what's theirs by right. they're having a sweet time being troublemakers, the shuffle song says everything, "if your beliefs are strict, I'm a villain", "it'll be remembered as a new era, unforgiven", also "my voice is kinda loud, I don't care, just shout it out". + "now all I think about is how my world turned upside down" from their latest release featuring charlie puth!

bang chan

3 of pentacles, ace of wands reversed, the hermit

"events eminent, 'where did we come from?'" isn't that the most stray kids thing another kpop group could do/say? he's very focused on work, different types of work he does, specially those he has consistent desire towards, ones that burn an eternal flame. he's in a bit of a meditative state, contemplating and planning, this clearly isn't something new, as the ace is reversed, "it's not a comeback, cause we never left" type of vibe.

lee know

queen of cups, death, ace of cups reversed

similar vibes, nothing new, more the rebirth of something everlasting. he seems very fulfilled, his life has faced tremendous change which he's dealing in a very positive way, an opportunist way. he seems less focused on work, more focused on hobbies and metaphorical spring cleaning.

changbin

the emperor reversed, king of cups, the hanged man reversed

very much "they see us as a bunch of troublemakers, it won't be an easy one to change their views", he may be finding delight in revenge lately. don't forget that hybe has been under investigation which includes the entire industry, since it's part of the korean government. he may be a little crazy, I wouldn't wanna be on his bad side, if that's the spread.

hyunjin

ace of wands, the hermit reversed, the fool reversed

this shuffled song is interesting since his spread has a similar message to mingi's part on the ateez reading of yesterday. a bit of an explosive type of vibe, impulsive, mostly, and I do mean if you irritate him he may punch you, the ace of wands literally has that image + something similar to police baton.

han

the devil reversed, 10 of cups, page of swords

"a can that's shiny on the outside, empty on the outside, kick it", stray kids' songs and music videos are great representation of their current vibes, this spread makes me think of s-class. having a great time with family and friends, probably, may be enjoying teaching children, cousins, nephews, etc. he's very hopeful of a good future with a smarter, easier generation.

felix

3 of wands reversed, 9 of pentacles, queen of pentacles, 4 of swords

have you seen this man in your dreams? frustratingly perfect would be a good way of putting it, cards took a while to fall as they were shuffling so systematically, unusual. he seems to have interest for the occult recently, literally what is hidden and scary, getting in your way may be his specialty. trouble kids being members of stray kids just make perfect sense, right?

seungmin

king of swords reversed, 3 of swords, the star, the fool reversed

like i said, this spread reminds me of maniac, "we're a group of maniacs", delighted for some broken opportunities? people that relish in mess and fear, he has everything he needs to end someone/something, including himself, and he's very haooy about it, that's all this spread is about.

I.N

10 of swords, page of wands, 6 of cups reversed, death reversed

what a messy vibe!! talk about keeping remorse. this spread + song makes me think of science and extraterrestrial experiments [cue stray kids - megaverse], it's giving 60's mad scientist vibes, "in your game, I'm a problem, such a freak, such a headache". nothing more standing out, he's clearly excited about experiencing some breakthroughs.

[fromtenthousandfeet]

I don’t disagree with most of what you said in your last post, and for the most part blame Bang PD and Hybe for everything leading up to where we are now. The only thing I don’t really understand is that it’s been proven that MHJ was trying to make it so that they were more independent from Hybe and thus Hybe would not actually gain from New Jeans success. Ador/MHJ/NJ’s clearly were not on board for bringing in more for Hybe to ease BTS’s burden, so why give them that credit? From what I can tell, if they had it their way BTS would not benefit from them doing well at all. Criticize Hybe as much as you want, and I’ll be there nodding my head, but I can’t get on board with this narrative that excludes Hybe from being a big reason why new jeans is as successful as they are, or that mhj is more than just another self-obsessed millionaire. The disrespect towards BTS that’s been shown through this whole situation by both Hybe and MHJ really shouldn’t be ignored by anyone who has spent any amount of time or brain space supporting them, and I really hope if nothing else the PJMs that have been cheering this on because they rightly hate Hybe remember that Jimin is part of the group that has been disrespected. You don’t need to cape for any of these people, none of them deserve it.

Anon,

Thanks for your message and thanks for being respectful with your criticism of MHJ. As a woman, I've really struggled with the lazy ad-hominem attacks BTS fans have used against MHJ rather than focusing on actual potential wrong doing on her part. Enough with pedo this and shaman that.

Fundamentally, HYBE owns an 80% stake in Ador. Since Ador is not a publicly traded company, there is no mechanism for outside investors to buy stock/invest in the company. There is absolutely no way whatsoever for MHJ to remove Ador from underneath HYBE. And because HYBE owns 80% equity, they receive 80% of Ador's revenue. The only way MHJ/Ador could hurt HYBE would be to intentionally lose money, which they haven't done. What they have done is build a solid product and brand that continues to be noticed and lauded by the media (Forbes, Billboard, etc.), music critics, creatives, and of course, fans. Also, the ROI on NewJeans is really impressive (see my next post).

In terms of wanting to be independent from HYBE, I suspect Bang PD promised Min Hee Jin autonomy at her label. She probably assumed that she could use her creative vision to create her own group and likely didn't expect she would be plagiarized by other labels under the HYBE Labels umbrella. Complaining about your boss sabotaging your success seems pretty legit and normal to me. BTS fans are quick to say she's made these allegations up, but folks, we've already seen this exact playbook after Jimin's success. BigHit "borrowed" Jimin's visual concepts for Jungkook's Seven almost verbatim. But copying his clothes and photography style is nothing compared to the lengths they went to not only reproduce Jimin's #1 on the BB Hot 100, but also to surpass and devalue all of his accomplishments with that crappy song that wasn't even written in house. BigHit/HYBE damaged Jimin's artistry and his brand value. Sorry, but that's unforgiveable in my humble opinion.

I personally don't see how the conflict between MJH and BSH has hurt BTS. If anything, it's galvanized an increasingly fractured fandom around a common enemy. The conflict has benefited RM the most as the fandom sprung into action in order to "protect" BTS from the witch. Simply look at the lackluster response to Hobi's Neuron and Teahyung's Fri(end)s compared to the response to RM's new album and singles. The fandom has obviously been losing momentum the longer the boys are away and now they have a new reason to be reinvigorated.

In the end, I'm happy to agree to disagree. This blog isn't serious. My opinions are my own and of course I could be completely wrong. Also, I'm not ARMY, I'm just a casual fan who is fascinated by both BTS' international success and the devotion of their die-hard fandom. That said, I think Jimin has the potential to be hugely successful as a solo artist and I hope it happens. It's been a strange and sad journey to watch his own company sabotage him in order to protect Bang PD's ego and artificially inflate Scooter Braun's value to the company.

[the-offside-rule]

Esteban Ocon (Alpine) - Bad Reputation

Requested: on wattpad

Prompt: Bad Reputation by Shawn Mendes

Warnings: mentions of s€x

"Wait. You know her?" Esteban asked in confusion. He was with his friends at his house. The boys asked to see the girl that he was always banging on about so he gave in and showed them her picture but he wasn't expecting anyone to know who she was. "Who doesn't know her? She used to be Brandon's fuck buddy mate." Esteban's world came tumbling down. He had spent so long looking for the perfect girl and this just...now what? "You're wrong." Esteban mumbles. "What? Mate, are you okay in the head? She's basically a whore." That was the final straw. "Get out of my house. All of you." He grabbed their coats and chucked them to his friends. "What do you mean? Why are you getting so mad over a whore?" Esteban wasn't having any of it. He shoved them out of the door and locked it behind him. He had to see Y/n. He had to know the truth. He ran to his phone and looked desperately for her contact. The phone began ringing and just as quickly as he dialled the number, she picked up. "Hey. What's up?" Her cheery voice said through the phone. "The guys are gone home. Do you want to come over?" He tried his best to not sound phased but deep down he was. It frightened him. "Yeah sure. I'll be there soon. See ya!" She hung up and he was left in silence.

His doorbell soon rang and it didn't take long for him to answer. He swung the door open and felt a relief seeing her beaming smile and bouncy eyes. "Are you doing okay? You look awfully pale." She said concerned. He nodded and brought her into his living room. She sat down and watched as he paced. "You're clearly not okay. What's going on?" Esteban ran his fingers through his short hair. "I don't know how to ask this, how to put it into words without-" He let out a loud groan. "You're really starting to worry me Esteban. What's up? Just tell me. You know you can say anything-" She didn't finish her sentence because she was cut off by Esteban. "Did you sleep with Brandon?" The colour drained from her face. She remembered that name, that person. She remembered everything he did to her and how Esteban could have easily gotten ear of the wrong side of the story. "I didn't sleep with him but if you'll let me, can I please tell my side of the story?" Esteban nodded. He wasn't mad, he just wanted to know why she didn't tell him. He wasn't going to let her ex affect the relationship he wanted with her.

"I was seventeen when I met him. We began dating not so long after and because I'd never had a boyfriend before, I kinda didn't care. I was like every girl around me, normal apparently. At my eighteenth birthday, he asked for a handjob and I said no because I wasn't ready. He then asked for a nude instead so he could at least do it himself so my inexperienced self agreed because I didn't want to lose him. I thought he cared about me. So I did it and sent it but then-" She paused to stop herself from crying but couldn't help it. The tears streamed down her face. Esteban felt horrible. He didn't want her feeling this way and he felt somehow responsible. "He sent it around to his friends and said we had sex which isn't true at all! I wanted to wait because I wasn't ready, I wanted it to mean something and now he just runs around telling people that I'm a whore and I can't seem to get anyone to stay all because of him. He's just- I hate him so much and it takes a lot for me to hate someone. "

"Hey, it doesn't matter. You've got me at least. I didnt believe a word of what I was told about you. I knew they just git the wrong side of the story." Y/n smiled. This was the first time she felt comfortable around someone in a long time. She got trust issues with everyone she met but now Esteban came an d knocked them all down, he actually listened to her talking. "I don't know if this is a misopportune time or if it's inappropriate at this moment but I love you. I have loved you for a while now, I just didn't know how to go about it really so I'm saying it now. I love you." And now he's saying she loves her? Her day can't possibly get any better. "You really love me? You don't care about-" He cuts her off with a kiss. She melts into it, just taking in every moment of this wishing it would last forever. "I don't care about who you were, I care about who you are and who you are going to be. I love you, end of story." He wipes the tears from her cheeks, leaving traces of mascara mixed with tears on his thumbs. "I really, really love you too Esteban. I- this is going to sound silly but do you mind maybe kissing me again?" That was all the confirmation he needed. He had secured the girl he loved not for her looks but for who she was inside and for him, it was the inside that mattered; her Bad Reputation didn't do anything for him, he loved her for her normal, caring self, for her.

[rappaccini]

gonna overthink some of the (gwen-specific) leaked insomniac concept art for the cancelled multiplayer game. (sourced from here)

first of all i'm just shooting the shit, don't take this as ~official~ or anything.

the great web game was, as far as we know, a multiplayer game with the basic premise of having various spider-heroes from different dimensions teaming up in various maps. these heroes would likely have been customizable, or at least gotten a few extra skins to choose from. additionally, players would have gotten to create original spidersonas. the game isn't spider-man 3, it was a separate experience. the same way miles morales wasn't sm2.

the game was being teased in ism2, with the collect-the-spider-bots sidequest and the delilah cameo. and it heavily features spider-gwen/ghost-spider/spider-woman/who knows what her codename would've been in the concept trailer and concept art, so she was going to be one of the major playable characters, if not maybe the de facto lead.

i'm only going off the concept art that was leaked. i'm fully aware that there was much more, so the emphasis on gwen in the art may not reflect the overall game, and may just be what the leaker had access to/wanted to show people, or what was complete at the time. regardless, i do think gwen's role would've been prominent.

costume / appearance designs

so this look didn't make it past the concept art stage, as far as we know. my best guess is that the game would've featured a customization option, so variations would've been a given.

still, there's clearly a cohesive aesthetic, silhouette and color palette for gwen in mind every time she's adapted: hood, with white-heavy arms and upper torso, black torso/legs, and a pop of blue on the feet, with hints of fuschia throughout. that's remained the universal baseline for any spider-gwen design because long as those elements are there, the design is recognizably spider-gwen, with room to play everywhere else.

it looks like they're drawing heavily from the athleisure corner of the gwen costume aesthetic triangle. there's so much of marvel rising gwen's aesthetic in the design, from the busier design of the legs and torso to the kinda redundant extra spider logo to the fuschia palms. the sneakers feel like a nod to marvel's spider-man gwen's design, which was the first full athleisure gwen. the teal's greener than usual, so that's a neat little deviation. this was also definitely coincidental but i like that look 1's gradient feet remind me of 617.

the mask variations are a neat idea. trying out dark lenses and adding webbing to the mask are new ideas, and the extra paint around the eye making it look like makeup, as well as the multicolored eye are fun little touches. i wonder if those were intended to be customizable too.

her hair is clearly taking after spiderverse gwen, with the side-part and length clearly referencing that look. the headband's right from the comics, and the teal streaks are a neat variation on marvel rising gwen's pink dye. interesting that there are no bangs.

so this is the model that keeps recurring in the rest of the concept art. it almost certainly wouldn't have made it to the finished game; its a recolored miles skin, being used as a stand-in for test footage and concept art, which would have been replaced with original designs in the finished product.

this miles skin was probably chosen because it has a hood, and they were so set on that silhouette that they needed to test it in action. and you can see them working within the skin's preexisting texture to experiment with the torso silhouette, and adding extra pink, marvel rising style, to gwen's body. again, the hood and basic color scheme are constants for a spider-gwen design. they're how you recognize her in a crowd.

the lack of blue shoes is a first, and you can really see how important they are at making gwen's design have a little extra pop. this is also the lightest her pink has been, which is a neat variation... but seeing it in concept art/the game trailer kind of proves why the darker fuschia/magenta works better: light pink washes out easily depending on the lighting.

the most interesting addition is the battle jacket. another recycled asset: that's hobie's jacket from the spider-punk skin, recolored. to get my ghostpunk bias out of the way, i'd love it to be a sign that gwen and hobie have a relationship of some kind, but this is not a ship nod; it's more placeholder design, because they wanted to reference gwen being a rock musician, which is clearly the characterization they're going with. so this design leans towards the rocker/punk corner of the spider-gwen design triangle.

later on, the itsv designs used in concept art will show that the ballerina corner of the design triangle's being tried too. so insomniac was exploring all the aesthetics spider-gwen's utilized through the years. it's possible the player could have chosen which they preferred for themselves via options for different skins. this is awesome.

also, it looks like the were playing with different art styles for the faces. check out the gwen concept art earlier; there are subtle differences in each face's style too. maybe they were going for something less photorealistic, or these were just very rough concepts.

i'm not sure if this is literally meant to be gwen's face, or one of the customizable options for your spidersona (like the face on the right likely is). regardless, she's got the Gwen Bangs. worth pointing out.

likewise with these designs: are they both variations on ideas for miles's face? are they both examples of what your spidersona could look like? ... or, given that these are two different faces with different features, and hobie's design both already exists and is shown in concept art for the game... is one of them hobie?

environments

... here's what's interesting. the only unique environments in the leakdump are all images of gwen's bedroom. and its not just any gwen: it's spider-gwen. this isn't the gwen stacy of the insomniacverse, this is the spider-gwen from her own dimension.

i don't know if these images are meant to show a progression throughout the game, maybe of gwen's growth during its events, or, more likely-- if the devs were still figuring out how far into gwen's development as a hero she'd be when she joins the story, and using the room concepts to figure out how old to make her. regardless, you can get so much of what her character could have been from these.

(much like with her visual design, insomniac's trying all angles of gwen's personality, from drummer to dancer to scientist. and it actually looks like they've found a balance, at least in the environment design. like, hats off. this is the first spider-gwen i've seen who actually seems like an even mix of the three, and you can even intuit a natural progression over the years. and it's great!)

first, this looks like a bedroom in a shared apartment. maybe with her dad, maybe with roommates. it's mostly full of mundane items, but the pepe silvia corkboard above her desk, the police scanner and equipment on it, the mask on the filing cabinet, and the spidersuit tucked into her clothing rack tell you that gwen's already a vigilante.

this gwen clearly is or was a competitive dancer: bottom left corner has dance slippers, and medals and a trophy for dance set aside. the spiderverse movie influence rears its head.

she's also a vinyl geek and a plant mom, who has a small collection of books. it's the little touches, like gwen having three different kinds of shoes on her clothing rack (girls don't have Just One Pair! they have different ones for different occasions!), that really flesh her out.

and she's currently a drummer, given that giant set in the corner. the mary janes band exists (further proof that this isn't insomniacverse, unless gwen's band is named after mj even though mj isn't in it). and she's specifically into punk, given the punk rock festival posters on her wall and the leather jacket on her coatrack. she's probably also filming herself during practice.

also, the backdrop behind her drumset is the design on the back of the original spider-gwen suit. cheeky.

clearly the same room, with a few minor tweaks to the position of the radiator.

but with a lot of alterations to the desk area: blackout curtains. a projector displaying a map of nyc. an even crazier pepe silvia board. extra monitors, a lot more tech and clutter on her desk. ring lights, because she might be filming herself at her desk. an ergonomic chair, because she's spending a lot more time there. a special storage case for her suit. a robotic arm testing synthetic webbing. this is a gwen who's further into her superhero career than the first image.

... and. look on the table next to her desk. it's one of the spider-bots.

also, check out how gwen's banner isn't sagging anymore. a tiny little detail showing that she's mounted it properly, because she's investing more in her drumming setup, and that her spider-persona's starting to encroach more on her space.

in contrast, gwen hasn't accumulated any more dance paraphernalia. she's done competing by now, probably because she's spending more time as a vigilante.

clearly a big change from the first two. this room is clearly part of a much more expensive apartment-- complete with a balcony.

her desk is massive, and she has sleek monitors full of information; it looks like she traded out a physical pepe silvia board for a digital one. she has a special chamber for her suit, chemistry equipment, is currently in the middle of examining what looks like scorpion's tail, and several spider-bots, several of which seem to be freely wandering her lab.

(... so it doesn't seem like she was examining one that fell into her dimension in the previous image; maybe gwen was the one making them in the first place, and sending them to peter, miles and cindy's dimension to explore it.)

her lab is enormous, and takes up half the living space, with no effort to hide the gear, which suggests gwen's invested even more into her heroics and is either sure enough that she won't have anyone over that she isn't hiding the equipment... or maybe being a superhero isn't a secret anymore (note the spider-gwen painted on her floor, the nickname comics gwen gets after her identity's exposed).

regardless, gwen's clearly very proud of being a superhero. even in her living space, her alter ego's everywhere: her wall's got the original suit design painted on it, and mounted alongside her mary janes paraphernalia are trophies from past spider-person conflicts: one of doc ock's mechanical arms, the rhino's horn, the green goblin's helmet, a framed request from the daily bugle for 'photos of a spider-[person?]'... and what looks like the key to the city. even the balcony can double as a fast way in/out.

again, i have to wonder: is "spider-gwen" a public celebrity at this point? is she letting being a hero dominate her life, or is the lack of separation because she's integrated both sides of herself so cleanly that there's no secret identity anymore? is that how she's managed to get such a nice setup?

it might also be her musicianship: her drums have their own prominent space, with a second bass and led display behind her (that she's still filming). she's clearly still in the band, and they're doing well enough that gwen was able to upgrade her gear.

her slippers are also out, meaning they were recently worn. and gwen's trophy is still on her shelf, with a medal peeking out of a box. she's still dancing but it isn't nearly as important to her as drumming or being a superhero. maybe it's recreational.

also, she's still a plant parent, and she kept a few furniture pieces from earlier in her life, like her armoire, records and leather jacket. it's probably just recycled assets, but it adds such a sense of authentic history to her character.

the aesthetics in general are so much more intentional and cohesive. more black and white, with splashes of bolder pink and teal. nice interior decor. throw pillows and a neon sign over a king-sized bed with two bedside tables/lamps-- it's big enough for multiple people, and no longer shoved up against the wall; when beds are placed like that, it's out of consideration for a second person to get in and out, with a space for them to put their stuff. so in-universe, the bed was likely arranged with the expectation that more than one person would be sleeping there, at least some of the time.

this is clearly a gwen who's not only a seasoned professional and possible career hero, but an adult woman in her thirties at the youngest, not a teen or college student. a grown ass woman with her shit together lives here. gwen has money to burn, a history with both her band and vigilantism, and she's clearly become successful at the latter, if not both.

which makes me wonder, were insomniac considering debuting a spider-gwen that's even older than peter?

concept art

i'm gonna skip over the obvious shots of gwen being included in group swinging.

it's a multiplayer spider-man game. fighting villains as a team is finding the fork in the kitchen.

gwen's the only character (apart from a dark-haired woman on a motorbike; cindy? jess?) to get concept art revolving exclusively around her. this is clearly an exploration of gwen, in her home dimension, in the midst of her daily routine (as a courier?) getting a spider-sense tingle and having to leap into action.

clearly one of the big features of the game wasn't just combat-- it was hanging out with your friends. this art is either an interpretation of what one of those experiences would feel like, or an imagination of a potential scene between the insomniac trio and gwen.

these four keep popping up in the art. which follows, given that peter, miles and cindy are the main heroes of the insomniac games. i'm marking gwen apart from them here because i'm getting the sense that the game 'canonically' takes place after cindy gets powers and develops her persona. i don't think this is silk from another dimension, i think this is insomniacverse silk.

(note that gwen's the one sitting on the travel around the world billboard, or jumping in through a portal in the art further above. she's the visitor from the alternate dimension.)

see? peter, cindy and miles are clearly in the same place. gwen and noir's new yorks have different palettes-- and gwen's has the pink-stained lighting popularized by the spiderverse movies, that stems from her original run's covers. that's her dimension. maybe it would have been one of the maps, or we'd have gotten a few glimpses of it.

insomniac's clearly imagining their gwen as from a world separate from miles, peter and cindy's. (note that the portal right above gwens' head has that pinkish lighting... and another spiderbot. that's probably her world.)

... putting it all together.

okay. to tinfoil about what gwen's role in the game was... my best guess is the vague outline of a plot they'd have to come up with to justify an in-universe explanation for "tons of spider people jump into our dimension to fight bad guys together" is that gwen, the character most prominent in the leaked concept art, who has environments and scenarios exclusively dedicated to her and her world, is the technical protagonist of the game.

and by this i mean, she's the first character who enters their dimension. maybe even as the first playable character, with a prologue set in her dimension. maybe the spiderbots' presence in ism2 was going to culminate in a reveal that gwen was the one sending them into the insomniacverse in the first place, to scope it out, and now she's coming herself. or maybe they were appearing in her dimension too.

either way, i'm guessing there'd have been either a cinematic or a scripted mission where the gang and gwen work together to fight a villain, possibly one she follows from her own dimension (and this would probably serve as a stealth tutorial for how these multiplayer interactions would feel), and then we get the brief on the in-universe explanation for spiderverse teamups through her. this is the 'true canon' of the game, before we throw open the doors to the player to create their own spider-oc or pick a preexisting spider-person to play as, and jump into the sandbox.

like... look at the placement. it's peter, gwen, miles and cindy at the front (with miles and cindy already friendly), but gwen is the one in the lead.

anyway it's just a thought!

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 10/04/2024

The World Ends With PSY

Season 1 Featured on: GilvaSunner's Highest Quality Video Game Rips: Volume 7: Part mm2wood

Ripped by Metalik

Hey, it's the 10th of April - 10/4, like the 104 building! I couldn't resist!

Here's a fun fact for you: Long before I was running this blog, I was making a certain other SiIvaGunner project, and through working on it decided to reach out to the SiIvaGunner channel head, MtH of Bigger at Night (Chung Yard) fame, for the first time ever. So what was one of the first-ever things I directly told someone from the SiIvaGunner team? "Make more The World Ends With You rips". Yes, I was young(er) and stupid(er), awkward and strange, and I of course now know that good rips come to those who make them, but the sentiment holds true even today. The World Ends With You's soundtrack still means EVERYTHING to me. And, well, though we don't have many rips to go around for the game, I will continue to cherish the ones we do have: because as far back as Season 1, there have been absolute bangers within out small selection.

Now, if you've followed SiIvaGunner for any amount of time, you know about the joke of The World Ends With PSY already. It's PSY, the K-Pop legend, the man behind Gangnam Style, Gentleman and so many more hits, and perhaps more importantly, a YTPMV celebrity. He's had annual days of celebration on SiIvaGunner, one of which I covered back with One Winged PSYcho - V​.​S. Sepsyrop, and rippers have continued to find all kinds of creative ways to utilize the man's distinct sound, including the sentence-mixing marvel of Korean Idiot. Those two rips are still the only PSY-specific I've covered on here, but they lay a pretty concise groundwork, particularly the former: Most PSY rips made for SiIva utilize PSY's "eyys" and "ops" for truly next-level YTPMV-tier postings, the kind that you'll also hear in big meme medley rips like ULTRA S+G. Yet, that kind of makes The World Ends With PSY a neat novelty, in a way: in the days of Season 1 before PSY's presence on the channel was so clearly decided, one Metalik made a PSY rip that goes against the pattern all three prior mentioned rips follow.

Rather than usurping Calling's instrumentation with leads made up purely of PSY's immaculate soundscape, The World Ends With PSY is a no-nonsense mashup, between PSY's Daddy and the aforementioned game track. Calling as a song is defined by the contrast between its noisy electronic backing and its beautiful vocals, like a light trying to shine through the darkness - The World Ends With PSY, then, is as if more noise is added to that blend, with pieces of Daddy's instrumental persisting throughout the track as PSY's own vocals alternate in and out with the original vocalist. It's a really interesting mashup - PSY's always prominent within it, yet the original beauty of Calling's vocals never feel as if they're drowned out, just framed within such a different kind of noisiness. To cut a long yap short - it bangs!! It isn't the kind of vocal/instrumental mashup that wholly changes the track's tone a la My Dr. Eggman Can't Be This Evil!, but it undoubtedly IS different, yet different in a way that highlights the strengths of both tracks used.

And yes, this is a Season 1 rip nonetheless, I can certainly hear some slight cracks in the facade at points - but The World Ends With PSY remains my favorite rip the game has gotten in all of these years. Compared to some other efforts made earlier in the season, such as Three Minutes Clapping literally just being what the track name says, or Deja Vu just switching to the titular Eurobeat song at the chorus' end - funny gags for sure, but none quite feeling like a loveletter to The World Ends With You in the way I've long wanted. We've gotten a sprinkling of rips of the game since, but it was The World Ends With PSY that I first connected with all those years ago - the rip that reassured me that the game's soundtrack is still remembered and cherished by others aboard the team.

[daggos]

Hazbin hotel :D

These are just some hc of a moth reader's 'interactions' with Val. Das all.

I got this finished earlier today but wanted to post the other first so this might have made a little sense in some strange way. Anyway. @ourmurdermassiah

The True Virgin Tiger Moth (intro)

Reader is in hell for poisoning their (abusive) s/o(and many others)

Reader looks nearly identical to Val, only difference is the eye color and even then, it's a hue off

Surprisingly Christian. Christian conservative. Will read Bible verses to a demon if they start pissing Reader off

Runs a bakery

Routinely steals Val's clothes, just cause

Impersonates Val to steal more of his clothes

Ruins his reputation, again, just cause

Has never actually met face to face with Val

Reader is going to help at the "happy" hotel

Will likely give Angel a panic attack. Or make him angry

Someone will cause tears from the reader. There is no stopping it

Reader is religiously abstinence. Aka, Reader is a virgin.

Reader very much does not like touch

Reader gets along with Rosie and Alastor after they realize that "This isn't Val, this is someone better :D"

Charlie feels bad for Reader for yelling

The first thing you see is red.. everything.. Red sky, red building, red.. people? Your attention is quickly directed to some of the first off-color in this place.

A neon green sign that reads, "Welcome to Hell!" with some letters flickering like the light bulbs haven't been changed in years. The sign seemed to be the only clear thing you could see. Your vision felt as if you were looking through frosted glass.

You attempt to prop yourself up with seemingly extra weight on your sides. When you gaze down, there lies an extra set of arms. You quickly rush over to find some sort of reflective surface, which you find rather difficult with the new, retched sight.

You manage to feel around for a window, finding a rather tall, stylish looking moth staring back. Purple skin, large, pointed teeth, a single gold tooth on the right side of your face.

You collect yourself quickly. You knew you were going to hell after all. You had murdered many. Mainly your horrid s/o, may God rest his soul.

You look down to "see" your bottom set of hands move to a rather obvious praying position, hands clasped in front of you. You couldn't seem to move them apart even if you wanted to. They were out of the way now, so you didn't mind.

As you make your way down the sidewalk, curious about what is here (smiling all the while), you watch people quickly rushing around (running away from you), hearing every now and again a loud bang with a chorus of screams.

"Everyone is so lively here!" you hum to yourself.

You "look" around for a bit longer before carefully making your way to what seemed to be a clothing store if you were to guess.

Before you get the chance to go inside, a flyer flew against your leg. When you manage to catch it, you see that it looks to be advertising some sort of building? You have to look incredibly close to the poster, clutching the edges of it and squinting your eyes in an attempt to clear your vision (unknowing of the worry everyone around you has for the poor soul that made the poster).

It seems to be requesting... something... for the- "Mappy Motel"? "Hally Halol"? You smack yourself, laughing lightly, when you realize how close you were the first time.

While the name was still rather strange to you for Hell, "Happy Hotel" makes more sense than the others.

You pocket the poster for later when you have a better understanding of what is around you. And with that, you stroll into the store next to you.

You make your way up to a counter swiftly despite your sight disadvantage, and before you can even raise your hand to request some services, a group of three rush over to you.

"Everything is ready for you, sir," one mumbled. "Sir"? You had only just arrived, and you were getting honorifics? Granted, the wrong ones, but they were clearly helping YOU, so, what were you to do?

Accept whatever help they give, obviously.

They were quick to hand you a pair of glasses that honestly didn't seem like they'd do much, but to humor them, you took a look through them. And goodness, were you glad you did.

It was as if someone had finally turned on the defrost for the frosted windshield. You could see!

You couldn't celebrate first too long as quickly after, a coat was moved onto your shoulders. Or, at least, they tried to. It was now that you realized just how tall you are now.

To try to help, you bend down a little, but that seemed to startle them for some reason. You don't get the chance to apologize before a rather large hat is placed on your head, and they back away with a quick bow.

You smile again and swiftly turn to leave. You aren't sure what all just happened and want to leave before anything else occurs to make it feel like you shouldn't be there. You give a quick thanks and exit out the door.

It's after the door is shut, and you have already walked a ways down the street before you remember the flyer you found. With your new sight, you retrieve it and get to reading.

You skim through it, finding many strange colors that look like they wouldn't work well together, but the thought was nice. The flyer explains that there is a hotel on the edge of the "pride ring" that is accepting all who wish to be redeemed.

You look at it for a long moment, a mental debate before you make your decision.

You have no interest in being redeemed, but you have no issue in helping others who may want it. And so, you head over to one of the few who are left around you. They seemed to be a humanoid lizard, somehow seeming weak in your eyes.

"Excuse me? Do you have a moment?" You wave at him, catching his attention easily. He looks around before pointing to himself in a confused manner. "Yes! You!" He gains a fearful look. What for?

You make it over to him and show him the flyer. "Do you know where I can find this hotel?"

He points a shaky finger over to a tall building in the distance. It looks run down but definitely has potential. You give the man a nod of thanks and begin walking.

First day in Hell, and somehow, you can't wait for the next. You get the feeling this is gonna be fun.

And.. why do you feel like someone is cursing you out?

[anco-writes]

Fattytober Day 1: Something New

https://www.furaffinity.net/view/58305134/

the premise of the prompt list I saw said to focus on ONE character. Over the course of the month. Steadily growing fatter. I've never done that before. I've always liked weight gain sequences, I love the idea of a character getting fatter over time, but it's not something I've ever really tried to produce myself. But well, here we are. The first episode's definitely a bit meta, and I talk about this very subject within. The main character, and the one who'll be getting fatter over the course of the month, is Ace! Beloved Ace, our system's resident femboy. there's definitely gonna be gender stuff down the line, but for now, I've rambled enough. This one isn't even a full 1k words, and I'm aiming for around 2 pages each, which should end up with, logically, 31k and 62 pages, which uh, is a lot! but not when you do it one day at a time i guess? we'll see. Maybe I'll write a novel in November while I'm at it :U Day 1: Something New

“So you’ve never done that sort of long form content before?” A blue avian sat in a comfortable office, opposite a slender fox. Their words clearly stirred up some level of agitation in their conversational partner. 

“Don’t call it content! But no, we’ve never really experimented with it. You know, rapid gains, quick feedback, Swelling out of your clothes, that sort of thing is where the money’s at. Having a character gain slowly over an extended course of time is something that’s better left to a time skip if you ask me. Besides, what would we even write about? There would need to be a narrative, I can’t imagine the mind numbing minutia of slowly fattening a character and just describing them a few pounds fatter each time. I mean really, more pronounced changes-” “I’m gonna cut you off there.” The bird sighed, shaking their head and tapping their taloned fingers against the clipboard they were working with. “I can understand your misgivings. Like you’ve said, we’ve never done long form Narrative Arcs-” They made air quotes and rolled their eyes as they said it. “But the whole point is to try something new, get out of your comfort zone. You know. It’s no different from saying “I could make a pollock” when you’ve never even touched a canvas before. You hate that sentiment, so why shy away from the challenge.

The silver furred fox glowered at the comparison, huffing as they shifted in their seat. “That’s not a fair comparison. I never said I could write that sort of stuff.”

“But you won’t know until you try.” Red was smirking as they trotted the phrase out.

“You know I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse about the ‘do it scared’ mantra-” As Ace tried to derail the subject, Red interrupted by withdrawing a small pistol and shooting the silver fox right in his chest. 

Silence hung in the room as Ace’s eyes trembled, startled by the loud BANG that rang out. First they looked down at their chest, no pain, but maybe that was just shock? They raised their paw and touched the spot that had been hit, but found no blood or anything. “What the, FUCK! Not funny, what the hell Red?” As Ace shot up from their seat, the blue bird just laughed it off.

“I know what you’d been thinking. ‘Long form weight gain stories where the character simply eats a lot of lives a sedentary life style is antithetical to my political views about how weight gain and excersize are political entities, blah blah blah. Nobody’s coming here for that! But I know your silly shield of ethics would prevent you from working this angle, so I came up with a fun solution that I know you’ll love.”

Ace immediately began to feel around under their hoodie, knowing a dart or something was surely sticking into them right now. ��S-So what, you just shoot me with a weight gain gun and I get fat? That’s hardly a long form arc!” An electric sensation began to spread through Ace’s body, ears twitching and tail swishing in anticipation for the waves of euphoria that were likely to follow. 

“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you? Familiar territory and all. Well, no such luck, foxy boy. You are right, I did shoot you with a weight gain dart. A long form, slowly acting, weight gain dart. It’ll run its course in a month. Exactly 31 days actually.”

The anticipation Ace had built up… well at first it felt like it vanished, but instead it lingered, in a most horrifying way. The adrenaline rush of oncoming expansion died down, but instead they focused on their body and found no immediate stimuli to react to. Ace wasn’t above admitting they liked to be fattened up, but it had always been a rather bombastic affair… And being caught was always the fun part, the moment you slip up and your predator has their way with you, despite your best efforts. 

Being shot point blank in the middle of a conversation did feel a bit like a cop out to the thrill seeking fox, but at the same time, they saw the framework of a mental battlefield laid out before them. “I bet you think you’re so clever for that one.”

“Hey, you could have come up with something else. Like a fresh splash of paint on a prospective imitation of a pollock, I quite literally fired the first shot to motivate you. You’re free to retaliate, use whatever of Cecil’s magic or your mask or any other silly trick up your sleeve, you could even try and beat me at my own game and fatten yourself up by an arbitrarily large amount, but that dart would still be in your system delivering slow burn narrative tension.

The point is, we’re trying something new here. I look forward to seeing 31 days of progress from you~ Session’s over, you’re free to do whatever, fight your fate, embrace it, concoct a multi stage epic trying to reverse the effects, maybe that one would be the best bet, you’ll probably end up pretty massive~ But that’s time, good luck~!” Red waved their feathery hands, beady red eyes flicking towards the door. “Don’t let it hit you on that big ‘ol ass on the way out!”

Ace, still standing from the little outburst earlier, slumped forward and began to leave. “Well… I do like some attention… SOME!” As they made their way out, they rubbed a wary paw over the seat of their pants… was it getting bigger already, or was he just imagining it?