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lurkingshan · 1 year ago

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A Time Called You: A Great Reminder to Go Watch Someday or One Day

This past weekend Netflix dropped a new kdrama called A Time Called You in its entirety, and I became particularly interested in watching it as soon as I realized what it was: the Korean remake of Someday or One Day I knew had been in the works for awhile. If you’re not familiar, Someday or One Day (SOOD) is a beloved 2019 Taiwanese drama that is widely considered to be among the best dramas the country has ever produced (there is also a 2022 film version of the story, but that’s less relevant to this post). Now, I love Korean dramas, and I know that countries remaking each other’s best shit is very common in the Asian media landscape, but I couldn’t help but feel protective of the original work and a bit resentful of the choice to adapt something that was so original and unique and specific and put that generic kdrama sheen on it. Taiwan has a small film industry, and this is one of its jewels. We didn’t need Korea’s take on it.

And having watched the adaptation in full now, I am feeling pretty justified in that initial feeling. Let me just say upfront: A Time Called You (ATCY) is a perfectly good drama with a solid cast and competent storytelling. Had I seen it absent the knowledge of what it was adapting, I probably would have liked it a lot. But I have already seen and loved Someday or One Day, so I feel compelled to break down why it is the better version of this tale, both for my fellow SOOD devotees who are wondering how this adaptation stacks up and for folks who have only seen the kdrama in the hopes that you’ll decide to watch the original. As usual, I did the most, so reader be advised that this is long (tagging @troubled-mind as promised and @smittenskitten because I saw you were looking for a comparison of the two dramas). TL; DR: if you liked ATCY, or have seen neither version and are wondering which to watch: go find Someday or One Day, because it’s an overall superior and more satisfying execution of the same story.

The Vibe

Let’s start here because it’s the most obvious and immediately striking thing as someone who has seen both versions. SOOD has a bit of a rough and unpolished feel, which makes it feel more grounded in reality (important when you are getting into fantasy elements like time travel but you still want the characters to feel like real people). We open our story in 1998 in a record shop with a young girl playing Last Dance by Wu Bai and China Blue, a 1996 mando pop rock ballad, and thus setting the tone—this will be a somewhat raw and bittersweet story about grief and hurt and longing that will invite us to wallow in our feelings. And that melancholic vibe stays throughout the drama, even in the explicitly happy scenes, because you are always aware that the joy you are seeing has already been lost.

By contrast, ATCY feels… emotionally flat. Don’t get me wrong, it is a very faithful adaptation. The early episodes are practically a shot for shot remake of the original drama. But it’s too polished, too shiny. The filmmaking is bog standard kdrama fare; everything is soft focus and warmly lit and too beautiful and consequently nothing feels real. It feels right in line with the standard aesthetics of recent mainstream Korean dramas, and that choice undermines the emotional weight and grit of this story.

A great example of this can be seen in the way the two dramas handle the iconic scene where our female lead runs in the rain, looking back over her shoulder to smile in delight at the male lead before continuing on her way. This is a moment of realization for him about his feelings for her—one he will later immortalize in a painting that becomes part of the mystery of the past she is trying to unravel. In Someday or One Day, this scene takes place on a regular street, in the utterly mundane surroundings of their everyday lives as they walk home, and she runs down the middle of the road as puddles gather in the uneven pavement; in A Time Called Love, they are in a picturesque park for this scene, surrounded by green and encased within a grove of giant trees, and she runs right down the middle of a tree lane that looks like it came straight out of a fairytale. One story is very much about a love grounded in a reality we can recognize; the other is pure fantasy romance.

The Music

I already mentioned the song that anchors the Taiwanese drama above. Last Dance is hugely important to the story, both thematically and as a plot device, and in its ability to set the mood and tone of the drama.

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The Korean remake similarly uses a real 1996 ballad as its main song and time travel mechanism: With My Tears by Seo Ji Won. And, uh, the vibe is a bit different.

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Discerning listeners might recognize this as one of the many classic love ballads performed by our favorite doctors by day, rock stars by night over on Hospital Playlist. It’s a perfectly fine song. But it sets quite a different tone for our story, doesn’t it? It also is meant to be a song that a teenage boy is hankering to listen to on cassette, and listen, I wasn’t living in Korea in 1996. I have no idea how culturally accurate that may be. I’m sure there were in fact baby Lee Ik Juns running around trying to get their hands on this cheesy love song. But the edgier sound of Last Dance definitely sounds more in line with something the teenage male lead would listen to and what the music is meant to convey. And frankly, since we hear this song about 30 times in the drama, it matters that Last Dance is just an objectively better song.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, because beyond the classic song each version chose to use as its centerpiece, there is also a stark difference in the quality and tone of each drama’s OSTs. Here is a compilation of the Someday or One Day tracks, including the utterly gorgeous main theme by Shi Shi. The music is hugely important in the Taiwanese drama and is used to set the mood as well as emphasize its themes, and the tracks feel specific to this story.

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And here is a compilation of A Time Called You OSTs.

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If you’re familiar with kdrama OSTs, you will recognize most of the artists on here, as well as some new covers of old songs. And again, the vibes are quite different. Whereas SOOD was very intentional and specific in its music choices, ATCY just sounds like every other kdrama. There is nothing on this tracklist that stands out or evokes the kind of feeling that the SOOD tracks do.

The Main Couple

The name and timeline situation in this show makes this section unnecessarily difficult, so let me just make a little reference sheet here:

Someday or One Day

Alice Ke plays Yu Xuan (2019) and Yun Ru (1998)

Greg Hsu plays Quan Sheng (2019) and Zi Wei (1998)

A Time Called You

Jeon Yeo Been plays Jun Hee (2023) and Min Yu (1998)

Ahn Hyo Seop plays Yeun Jun (2023) and Si Heon (1998)

All of the actors here are seasoned and very good at their jobs, so I am not casting shade on any of them—they are executing their performances based on writing and directorial choices. But I cannot deny that the Taiwanese version of these characters are more compelling all around. In SOOD, the main characters have a real spark; despite the melancholic undertone of the story, there are moments of genuine joy and when they connect with each other, you feel why this bond is strong enough for them to find each other through time and despite all the trauma they endure. In ATCY, however, the characterizations are muted.

This is most evident in the difference between Quan Sheng/Zi Wei and Yeon Jun/Si Heon. Greg Hsu plays Zi Wei as magnetic, playful, mischievous, utterly lovable, and very intense about his feelings for his lady. He has a real joie de vivre about him that clearly brightens up Yu Xuan’s life considerably, and his devotion to her is not just shown, but deeply felt. Experiencing their memories, you understand immediately why Yu Xuan can’t move on from his death; he was the joyful, relaxed counterpoint to her more ambitious and serious personality. Si Heon, though? He is a nice dude and a generous partner and he is very good looking. But he doesn’t have the playfulness or the intensity that his Taiwanese counterpart does. His personality is just more moderate all around. One great example of this: upon discovering that he has traveled forward into the body of the person that would become Yu Xuan/Jun Hee’s boyfriend, Zi Wei (in Quan Sheng’s body now, are you still with me?) actively decides to find her, love her, and try to solve this time loop quagmire they are in; Si Heon (in Yeon Jun’s body) waits for a moment of fate to give him a sign, and only makes the decision to pursue Jun Hee after running into her by coincidence.

Similarly, Jun Hee is not quite as spunky and sassy as Yu Xuan and Min Yu is not as dark and awkward as Yun Ru; when Jun Hee travels to the past and takes up residence in Min Yu’s body, the differences between the two characters she is playing are not as evident. In SOOD, I could tell at a glance who is in Yun Ru’s body; in ATCY I need more context to be sure. Where Yun Ru had more of an edge, Min Yu simply reads very shy. It’s not as compelling. One scene that really stands out as an example of this: when Yun Ru is pretending to be Yu Xuan in 1998 and looks in the mirror to practice smiling, it looks downright creepy and sinister; when Min Yu is masquerading as Jun Hee and looks at herself in the mirror, she just looks awed and happy, if a bit awkward. It’s subtle, but it changes the way you feel about the characters.

The difference in Jun Hee and Yeon Jun’s characterization also affects the couple chemistry, which is just not nearly as strong in ATCY. The characters are more muted and thus the expected sparks are more like smoldering embers. The relationship feels cozy and warm and nurturing, but it doesn’t feel vital. It doesn’t feel like the kind of relationship you would fight through time or break the rules of the universe to return to. I recall gasping or crying or laughing out loud throughout SOOD because I was constantly taken aback by Greg Hsu’s arresting presence and the chemistry he and Alice Ke generated was just emotionally riveting. When Yu Xuan told Zi Wei (as Quan Sheng) that they were officially together, that man literally jumped for joy and shouted out his love for her; Si Heon (as Yeon Jun) reacts to the same moment with a quiet smile and a hug. When Zi Wei saw Yu Xuan in Yun Ru’s body again in the finale, he knew instantly that it was her and the smile overtook his face as he reached for her; Si Heon initially called Min Ju’s name before getting closer and taking several beats to realize it was Jun Hee (ruining this iconic moment is perhaps this remake’s greatest sin against romance, my god).

Everything between the couple in SOOD was just more, both in happiness and in despair. I liked Jun Hee and Si Heon, and Ahn Hyo Seop and Jeon Yeo Been are very competent actors whose performances I have loved in other dramas, but they didn’t achieve that level of chemistry here, the writing and directing choices worked against them, and I didn’t feel that same desperation for them to figure this out that I did with Yu Xuan and Zi Wei.

The Story

The Korean version is a very faithful adaptation overall (I haven’t mentioned Jun Jie and In Gyuk because his character and story is more consistent across the two shows), but does make some small tweaks to the story, some of which seem to be out of necessity due to a shorter run time (one episode and a couple hours total less than the Taiwanese original) and some just… because? The shorter amount of story time does lead to them having to cut corners on some aspects of the mythology and time travel lore, making it all a bit less clear for folks who don’t already understand what’s going on, and they put in a few nods to typical kdrama tropes like amusement park dates and hand of fate stuff that we really didn’t need—they are already trapped in a time loop together, we get it!

ATCY also messed with the timelines and ages for reasons I don’t really understand and that don’t really track. In SOOD, Zi Wei traveled forward from 2002 to Quan Sheng’s body in 2010, met Yu Xuan, and then died in 2018. In ATCY, Si Heon traveled forward from 2002 only to 2007 and did not die until 2022—but the relationship dynamics are all the same. It made sense for a young couple who had been together about 7 years and who were in their mid-20s to be having the kind of relationship problems they did—fighting about prioritizing careers and time abroad and whether it was time to get married. But a couple who has been together nearly 15 years? Who are in their mid-30s? They would have already been married probably and had a couple kids to boot. The choice to change the timeline like this had me scratching my head and accomplished nothing for the story.

But neither of those things are the change to the story that is weighing on me most. That occurs in a very small and brief backstory for the real Yeon Jun, where the drama introduces an original character who has no counterpart in SOOD: Tae Ha.

In SOOD, the real Quan Sheng is a closeted gay teenager who meets a tragic end: he confesses to his crush, gets brutally rejected, then gets bullied when the crush tells others about his sexuality, and ultimately decides to walk into the sea in an attempt to end his life, a choice that leaves his body in a coma until Zi Wei’s consciousness takes it over. In ATCY, this backstory changes and Rowoon is brought in for a brief but impactful cameo as Tae Ha, Yeon Jun’s cram school friend. We see that the two have mutual feelings for each other but are both struggling to confess. One day as they are driving together, they finally explicitly acknowledge their feelings, holding hands and smiling at one another—and then immediately get hit by a Truck of Doom (easily one of the most tired kdrama tropes), Tae Ha dying on impact and Yeon Jun ending up in a coma with Si Heon’s consciousness eventually taking over his body like in the original story.

Now on first glance, you might be inclined to give the show some credit for including a new gay character and giving the original Yeon Jun a happier experience with his crush. Explicit gay representation? In a mainstream kdrama? Still very rare and a big deal if done right. But if you think for a moment longer you’ll realize we can’t give the show credit for this, because this is a textbook execution of the Bury Your Gays trope and the narrative punishment that befalls gay characters who act on their attraction. Essentially, what the Korean remake did here was reveal these two characters are gay, killed them both immediately after they decided to pursue a relationship with each other, and then had the het male lead character take over the body of this gay man and use it to enter into a relationship with a woman. Some aspects of this plot were present in the original tale, but this choice to add an additional gay character only to kill him and tie it to their moment of acknowledging their mutual attraction? Made it significantly worse. It was badly done and I will not applaud the drama for representation when they did it in such a cruel way.

The Ending

SOOD ends on a hopeful but somewhat ambiguous note, with Yu Xuan in 2020 finding a way to go back and save Yun Ru (and Jun Jie by extension) and then breaking the time loop, sacrificing her relationship with Zi Wei in the process even as it breaks her heart (because the only way for them to meet and fall in love in 2010 was to stay in the loop). She sacrifices their romance, and all their memories together, because it’s the right thing to do—she inadvertently destroyed Yun Ru’s life with her time traveling, and she couldn’t live with that knowing there was a way to fix it. We are left with a broken time loop, original teen Zi Wei meeting child Yu Xuan again in 1998, and the hope that they will find a way to make their fates align again and be together without time travel complications. It’s just the right bittersweet touch to end the story on; their previous relationship was lost and their sacrifice was real, but there is hope for another version of a happy life together, someday.

By contrast, ATCY goes for a more explicit happy ending: Jun Hee makes the same choice to go back and save Min Ju, and to break the time loop and sacrifice her relationship with Si Heon, but in ATCY we then jump forward to 2011 to a happy epilogue to see Si Heon and Jun Hee meet as adults. And look, I love a happy ending! But what I said above about the sacrifice Yu Xuan and Zi Wei made in SOOD really resonating because of its bittersweet ending? That’s absent here, because ATCY decided they needed to put a bow on it and reassure us they would get back together. ATCY was just never willing to let us stay in the grief or commit to the darker and sadder aspects of this story, and as a result, the whole thing loses some of its impact.

#someday or one day #a time called you #tw drama #kdrama #long post #why yes i did write a 3k word post for the ten people on this website who care about both these dramas #shan shouts into the void

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palomahasenteredthechat · 1 month ago

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I've seen the rant post by Luna, I read some of it to get the gist of what she was saying here but I am lost..was she referring to JQ? If so, why?

WHIP AROUND THE SEA BEING PULLED IN WHATEVER DIRECTION THEIR AGENTS WANT THEM TOO INSTEAD OF HAVING AN OPINION THEMSELVES, ITS THE ARE YOU A PERFORMER OR A STAR OR BOTH DILEMMA THAT THE TRUTH IS MOST OF THE NOW WOULD RATHER BE THE LATER HAVE PERFUME DEALS, BECOME FIRST SEAT FACES OF FASHION HOUSES AND HAVE THESE CLEAN POLISHED NON-OPINIONATED 2D GREY SCALED BOREDOMS OF THEMSELVES MOLDED BY THEIR COLLAR PULLING AGENTS THAT GET THEM TO THE HEIGHT THEY FEEL THEY DESERVE THAT ALL OF YOUR FAVES THE PEOPLE YOU STAN, IDOLISE ADORE WON'T EVEN DARE SPEAK OF ON GOING GENOCIDES OR OBSCENITIES IN THE INDUSTRY IF IT MEANS THEY WILL HAVE A BRAND DEAL DEATH 2 CELEBRITY N' WEAK UNCUNTY RUNTS, THEY BECOME UTTER CARICATURES OF THEMSELVES ANYWAY IT GIRLS THEY WISH HUNKS WITH BOOKS IN BACK POCKETS I CHUNDER, VOMITING US THEIR 30 SECOND TIKTOKS OF HOW UNFUNNY THEY ARE IN THEIR CLANS OF POPULARITY FILLED WITH DESIGNER SCHMOOZE AREN'T WE BORED? AREN'T WE BORED OF THE SAME 5 FACES RECYCLED? ARENT WE BORED OF EVERYONE TRYING TO BE THESE AUTOMATED OVERTLY WHOLESOME OR TIN CAN LAUGHING VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES WITH LASER SKIN TREATMENTS TO MATCH, VENEERED FADS FACE OF SKIN CREAMS? OR PERHAPS THEY AREN'T INTERESTING OR WELL VERSED IN THE FIRST PLACE OF WHO THEY ARE OR COME FROM REAL VERSIONS OF LIFE THAT THE MOST OF US KNOW IN FACT THEY PROBABLY STUDIED SANSKRIT OR SOME ANCIENT LANGUAGE IN THEIR FEE PAYING SCHOOL THAT ALLOWED THEM TO FEEL EVER SO SPECIAL LIKE IT'S ALL FOR THE TAKING IN THE FIRST PLACE FROM THE MOMENT THEY STARTED SAYING GOO GOO GAGA IN SOME ANCIENT SYNTAX WHICH IS WHY THEY ARE SO EASILY MARIONETTED INTO ADVERTISEMENTS YAWN THEN WE ARE FORCED TO SEE THEM EVERYWHERE

The stuff in bold seems pretty specific, especially if you have been following the fandom discourse around him for the past two months.

The book in back pocket: spot on.

The perfume ad, private schooling, laser treatments (so that's why he looked so young at the Oscars!), etc. It's about UK talent as a whole but she's using very specific examples because she knows about them specifically in relation to him.

'they become utter caricatures of themselves'. She names what many have seen.

The why is the question, Nonny. Looking at this again I wonder if she reached out for him to do more about Gaza, since she was involved in the first charity event.

Also noting 'obscenities' - is this a dig at DC?

LUNA COME HAVE TEA WITH US

#anon asks #paloma answers

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iraprince · 2 years ago

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TIME FOR A PROCESS POST let's talk abt getting from this (client sketch - which, btw, i know other artists have talked about this plenty, but i LOOOOOOVE a client sketch as early direction on a commission. LOVE it)

to this!

at first we didn't know if the title was going to go across the desk, or over the central figure (emara's) head against the back wall. so there was a 1st version where we were favoring a higher title, then we started favoring the desk so we scrapped the clutter + centered it more

i used clip studio's 3D models (particularly for the chair, guard, + weapon crates) and perspective rulers to help with laying everything out at this stage, tho i abandoned the 3D pretty early on bc it's a bit too clunky for me. maybe i'll find it quicker to use w more practice!

(the rest under the cut!)

once the basic layout was approved, i threw together a value study to explain how in the final image all the clutter of the bg detail would be unified and pushed back. lately i find myself thinking abt value earlier + earlier in the process; planning ahead saves me a lot of time!

i fiddled with starting to refine things digitally, but then i got A BRAND NEW LIGHTBOX delivered in the mail with perfect timing (lmao) so i just ended up printing off the digital sketch, finalizing in pencil, + scanning back in

then comes five billion different steps of locking in values, again. i did everything greyscale first, but i didn't worry abt getting things super polished at this stage bc i knew color would factor in a lot to later decisions

this is the point at which presenting these wips "step by step" is kind of misleading; i didn't do these stages one at a time, but rather had a BUNCH of different lighting/shading layers that i kept toggling on and off as i worked to make sure everything was coming along well.

(to get some of these caps i actually went into the main file again and turned a bunch of stuff on/off just for the sake of getting specific examples, because actually when i was actively working on it there was rarely a point where i was actually working on something with "all lighting turned off and just the shading on," or anything like that; but i AM interested in showing what effects different lighting/shading changes had on the base colors, even if i wasn't really making these changes in a rigid order.)

i.e., just for the sake of interest, here's how the flat colors look without those adjustments!! but i honestly never looked at it like this on its own for long...i had all the shading/lighting turned off so i could see what i was doing while flatting, but i was constantly checking back and forth.

then tones added on top (which were actually just two copies of the tone folders in the above posts, set to linear burn and overlay) -

which makes it get HORRIFYINGLY dark, but that's when we go in and add a bunch of lighting adjustments.

the most obvious lighting change above is the big burst of hot pink light from the corner, but there was also some masked overlay + burn layers to pop out the guard + emara and make sure they were pulled out from the bg. if this were a standalone illustration, i maybe would have let the bg (and all that painstakingly drawn detail..........) stand out a little more, but a cover functions differently, and i wanted to make sure the eye goes to the title first. that means sacrificing bg detail even if it looks sick lol

then final touches! a lot of my very last touches are things that are close to invisible; gradient maps on very low opacity, noise, a little bit of scribbling on upper layers. the typesetting was all by the client, except for the lettering for "emara king's," which i did myself!

finally, here's a comparison of ⬅where i left off one night close to the deadline thinking "it's probably done, but i'll sleep on it just in case," then all the adjustments i made the next day with fresh eyes.➡ and that's it!!! phew!!! that's how i make a cover!

#my art #process #wip #tutorials #<- not really but. i just figure someone browsing my tutorials tag might be into this #i am so so so so so fucking mad that i didnt think to turn timelapse recording on for this #bc a timelapse wouldve been so fucking sick. but i can at least share this

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averseunhinged · 1 month ago

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hi <3

First of all, I love your writing, especially after i read your most recent kc drabble!

i don't know if the prompt post is still ongoing, but if so, may I ask for a drabble where Klaus is constantly seeking physical touch from Caroline? your choice if it's fluff or spicy (or both 👀). Sorry if it's too dull for a prompt :((

have a good day <3

hi, friend! i don't know if this is exactly what you had in mind, but hopefully it'll work for you.

previous prompt is on ao3 here. i think i'm just going to put them all in this series, if you'd rather wait and read possibly more polished versions there.

content warnings: this is very light and fluffy (i think???), but there is mention of most of the things that happened to caroline in canon. parent death. damon. torture. stefan/caroline. tyler/caroline. random humans/caroline. canon typical violence. no magic babies. an extremely loose adherence to canon.

It had been a very long night.

Was there such a thing as too much fun? Caroline probably deserved it, after the years of stress, fear, and grief, but it did feel overly indulgent at times. She’d probably have to reorganize their suitcases tomorrow to make up for it. Now, though, she was pleasantly exhausted, sunk deep into the sort of sleep she hadn’t known existed prior to the past decade. Her dreaming was hazy and indistinct. Vague feelings of comfort and warmth, slight movement in a secure hold. Like dozing in a hammock on a summer day, when everything smelled lazy and good and nearby sounds blended into a relaxing, repetitive drone.

Until she exploded into wakefulness to sudden, ear-blistering noise and commotion. She shrieked and tried to jolt upright, but the arm around her was tight almost to the point of pain. The previously steady thud of Klaus’ heart was a startled cacophony under her cheek, and he was snarling incomprehensibly in a language she didn’t recognize. Death threats, probably. That was his death threat tone. The same language as the noise, she realized.

GAGNAM STYLE! the noise belted, backed by a thumping beat and tinny, wailing synths.

“Phone?” she whimpered. “What—why?”

"Kol," Klaus hissed and let her go.

Caroline struggled free of the blankets and Klaus's octopus limbs tangled around her and wriggled over to the bedside table where her phone was charging. She clumsily dragged it onto the bed and, after three or four swipes, managed to make it stop.

She collapsed onto her stomach in relief at the silence in the bedroom. Klaus had rolled over onto his stomach and pulled a pillow over his head during her journey to the bedside table. Back in Mystic Falls, it had seemed like he never slept. Always awake, fully clothed and scheming, no matter the day, time, or place. He could be a true hedonist, though, when he wasn’t fighting a war on all fronts. In the years they had been together, she’d discovered he slept often and well, fond of catnaps and long sleeps on comfortable mattresses with soft, luxurious bedding and her body touching his as much as possible. He was difficult to wake. She’d had full conversations with him in bed in the morning, only to realize later on that he’d still been asleep, despite his lucid responses, and didn’t remember any of it. And he was a nightmare when he was suddenly, rudely awoken. It had worked to their advantage a few times. Klaus maimed first, asked questions later when there was an unexpected intrusion into their bedroom. Once, a coven had managed to cloak themselves well enough that he hadn’t been aware of their presence until they were already inside. It had not ended well for the would-be assassins. Or for the very nice hotel suite. The last time, Kol had been staked with a poster off an antique bed, rather than enacting whatever mischief he’d been planning.

"Caroline?" Stefan’s voice intruded from her phone.

She made a disgruntled noise into the mattress.

"Did I wake you? It's 9:30 on Naxos." Stefan was way too alert and amused. "You're usually up and attacking the day by now."

"Berlin," she answered, not entirely coherent yet. "Kol."

Once or twice a year, Elijah decided it was Klaus and Caroline's turn to wrangle Kol, or extract him from whatever trouble he'd decided was his right to get into, by virtue of having been trapped in perpetual boredom on the Other Side for nearly a year.

Stefan made an understanding noise, given that he had (and often was) a difficult brother. “Do you need help with clean-up?"

She sighed. Obviously, he wasn't willing to take pity on her and call back later. The blankets rustled with the shifting mattress, and Caroline wasn't surprised when she felt Klaus' foot on the side of her calf. He had long, freakily prehensile toes that wiggled down her leg and flexed around her Achilles tendon.

“Nah. S’more of a social visit. There was,” she yawned while speaking, “a beer thing at a place, and then a party with some super old friend of Kol's, and then an after-party, and a nightcap.”

“And then our own party,” Klaus murmured.

She kicked at him half-heartedly. His other foot joined the first, capturing her leg and tangling it in his own. She smiled, keeping it hidden from him.

“I'm glad you're having fun,” Stefan said dryly. That was the annoyingly sweet thing about him. He did things like offer to help with her Mikaelson problems and put up with them during the occasional holiday or trip. She didn't think she'd broken his heart, but she'd bruised it nearly as much as he had hers, when he'd abandoned her for a new life. And yet, he really was happy she was happy.

“So,” she said leadingly, “what's up?”

The blankets rustled again. Klaus’s fingertips brushed down her spine. Her skin shivered as goosebumps raised in their wake. It was a blessing and a curse to be so sensitive to his touch. He could make her feel incredible, but sometimes it felt like addiction. She’d had it often, always, for years, and going without made her a little bit melancholy. Maybe they’d spend more time apart in a few decades, but the vampire-hybrid honeymoon phase seemed to stretch on a lot longer than it did for humans.

It had been surprising at first, how much he touched her. In Mystic Falls, he'd barely touched anyone, unless he was threatening them or committing an act of unspeakable violence. He'd been more respectful of her personal space than almost anyone she'd ever known, aside from the impaling and biting. She'd thought it was just the way his family was. Rebekah was similar, and Elijah behaved as though the people around him were sticky, and he didn't want to get it on his suits. However, he was willing to hug her in greeting and parting these days, and even instigated it himself after a few (several…many) drinks. Rebekah was a lot freer with it, too, now that she had known Caroline longer. She'd been dragged around Milan by the hand, steered around parties with linked arms, and had gossip whispered closely into her ear. Kol had no decorum whatsoever. He did whatever he felt in the moment. Threw his arms over his siblings’ shoulders. Picked Caroline up and spun her around because he was having fun and in a good mood. The flipside of that was impulsive mayhem and destruction. He'd kill strangers, because he was upset. Attack his siblings when they hurt his feelings. Tried to maim Jeremy, because he was afraid, and no one was listening to him. He was the most honest member of the family in that way, but it made him the most dangerous, too.

Klaus had started small, hesitantly. An arm to steady her when she wore heels. A hand on her lower back when she was in flats. The more she responded and reciprocated, the freer he became. He liked having her in his lap, or leaning against his side, or with her toes tucked under his thigh while he was sketching or reading. When one passed by the other, he’d stroke her shoulder or pet her hip, would try to hide his smile when she tangled their fingers together for a moment. He kissed her forehead and her cheeks. Kept her in bed with slow, sleepy lips, long after she should have been up. And his libido was insatiable. She’d had to institute a solo shower rule, or she’d never wash her hair before the hot water ran out, and he still broke it half the time. Not that she was complaining. Much.

“Are you planning on going back to Naxos after Berlin?” Stefan sounded hesitant and worried.

Caroline frowned. “Are you okay? Do you need a sober buddy? I can be there in a few days if the weather’s clear enough.”

Stefan had been living on Svalbard for a couple of years. There was a small community of vampires who took advantage of Polar night every year, like reverse snowbirds, and practiced extreme moderation in deference to the limited human and wildlife populations. He had found a lot of support through them and hadn’t needed her as a sponsor as much as he used to.

Klaus stretched his arm across her back and palmed her side, stroking over her ribs.

“No, nothing like that.” Stefan paused. She listened to him breathing for a long moment. “Valerie’s been staying with me for a couple of months.”

“Please tell me she tried something with Hedda.” Hedda was 6’2” and old enough that she could work as a deckhand on a research vessel without massacring the entire boat after weeks at sea. She would turn Valerie into a very fine paste if she didn't behave. “I'd pay to see that.”

Stefan laughed quietly. “I did warn Valerie about the way things work before she made the trip out. And she…she's better now that she's been free for a while.”

Caroline rolled onto her side and braced herself up on her elbow, staring at her phone in disbelief. “That's your softening the blow voice. Please tell me you haven't gone back to another one of your obsessed ex-girlfriends.”

The silence on the other end of the line was answer enough. It had to be some kind of doppelganger curse in effect. She refused to believe it was coincidence that so many people completely lost their minds over him. Stefan tried to be a decent person. He was handsome and could be fun when he wasn’t angsting so hard, but his effect on people was just plain strange. She counted herself lucky that she hadn’t ended up wasting her undead life waiting around for him, too. After Tyler, she knew better.

Klaus took the opportunity to hook his arm more securely around her waist. She meeped when he dragged her backwards into his chest, but settled down as he re-arranged her until she could rest her head on his arm without asphyxiating on her own hair.

“I know it doesn’t make sense,” Stefan admitted. There was the sound of water and rattling plastic, and then a coffee maker gurgling to life. “I think I just have to see it through. It feels like there’s something between us that was taken away before it was finished.”

“Stefan,” she moaned unhappily. “Fine. Fine! That’s fine. I’m happy for you.”

“Great!” he said, suddenly suspiciously upbeat. “We’re taking a trip to Sintra next month. You can get to know her better then.”

“I’ll have to check my schedule,” Caroline replied flatly.

“Damon said you’re free until the Christmas markets in Prague.”

“Remind me to thank Damon for throwing me under the bus,” she muttered back to Klaus. “I’m spiking his mulled wine with vervain.”

Glass clinked on the other end of the line as Stefan poured himself a cup of coffee. “Bring Klaus if you’re worried she’ll do something, but she promised to try getting to know you instead of making assumptions.”

“Oh much better! I definitely want to go on a couples vacation with my sort-of ex, the vampwitch who gave me sizzle skin for no reason, and a hybrid who gets bitey if you make him cranky enough.”

“I'm your actual ex, Care,” Stefan said, sounding kind of annoyed about it.

They had vastly differing opinions on the legitimacy of their short-lived romantic relationship. Caroline could admit it had a lot to do with her residual discomfort over the no humanity sex with Ripper Stefan. It wasn’t that it hadn't been good. On her personal, post-human scale, it ranked above the humans she'd been with and Tyler, but below Klaus, who was a thousand-year-old, obnoxiously talented horndog. He knew how to do everything. That first time in the woods had been exciting and very intense, but she'd had no idea what she was missing out on when she’d made him walk away again.

No, the problem with sleeping with Stefan was that turning on her humanity made the memory feel like virtual reality porn. Like she'd been there, but not really.

Klaus tilted his head, tucking his nose behind her ear, and smiled against the sensitive skin of her neck. She rolled her eyes. He did like Stefan, as much as Klaus let himself like anyone, herself and most of his siblings excluded. He liked winning more, though, and really liked that it was him she had sought out in the aftermath of her time as a creatively evil party girl.

“We're trying to make this work.” Stefan was so quiet at the other end of the call when he confessed, “I want it to, but it’ll be a lot harder if no one else wants her around.”

It was close enough to what she’d said to him years before, when she'd asked him to try to get along with Klaus.

“How did we all end up dating people the rest of us hate?” Caroline wondered.

Stefan hated Enzo for killing Ivy, even though Ivy liked being a vampire and her revenge plots had started taking place on weekends and involved brunch reservations at restaurants he didn't like. Enzo hated Stefan for a variety of Damon-related reasons, and for being a coward who made Caroline cry, even though Enzo kidnapped her for Stefan’s mom's creepy cult, and in Caroline's opinion, the two offenses canceled each other out. Elena hated everyone's significant other, mostly for understandable reasons, but also because she reacted badly to feeling like the people she loved were being taken away.

Of course no one wanted to be civil to Klaus, who could only spend so long in her friends’ company before he started daydreaming about which organs he’d like to remove from whom. Caroline and Damon would never be close. Her mom's death softened her on him a teensy bit. Plus, he was mercenary enough to recognize the benefits of being cool about her relationship with Klaus. But buried deep inside her was human Caroline, who would always hate the man who hurt her so much, and Damon didn't like being reminded of his guilt.

She and Enzo bounced between being thick as thieves and suffering from eruptions of confusing resentment towards each other. Caroline was happy Tyler got to live out the whole American Dream thing, but none of it interested her much anymore. She sent presents to the kids on birthdays and holidays, like she did for Matt’s family, but thought Liv was boring and overly judgmental for someone who came from the magical version of the Hårga. Liv thought Caroline was a manipulative psychopath for killing Luke, just to make Liv put her back into the damn job at hand.

So, okay. Fair enough. Caroline wasn't truly the girl she'd tried to be. She'd accepted that when she'd called Klaus from the Gold Coast, grief still aching like an overused muscle, but giddy with the freedom of her time spent alone, as far from home as she could catapult herself. It wasn't the way he'd once foretold, but the door thing hadn’t been literal, according to him. Pretentious ass.

And now Caroline was going to have to put up with the kind of lunatic who threw curses around, because her ex-boyfriend from a hundred and fifty years earlier had half a feeling for someone else.

Stefan had terrible taste in women.

(Yes, she included herself.)

“That's family for you,” he said.

Caroline made a closed-mouthed, disgruntled noise. “Fine. Fine! I’ll give her one chance.”

“And?” he continued hopefully.

“And I’ll try to like her, instead of pretending to be nice while thinking mean thoughts about her outfits, but if she tries anything--”

“I’ll eat her,” Klaus finished for Caroline.

“All I can ask for,” Stefan conceded, sounding pleased enough with the conclusion. “I’ll email the details, and you can tell me everything you’re changing.”

“Later on!” she laughed. “I’ve only had three hours of sleep.”

“Thanks, Care. I know that wasn’t an easy time for you, and Valerie made it worse.”

The Heretic cult had been the last straw for Caroline. She’d tried to stay, but there had been reminders of her parents everywhere she turned. She couldn’t stand being around Alaric--alive, happily engaged again, and about to become a father—without remembering that he was the reason her own father was dead. She couldn’t be around Damon without remembering how much he’d loved her mom, even though he was the worst person she knew. Then she was tortured again, and all she’d wanted was a hug from her friends, but she couldn’t even have that. Her distaste for Valerie wasn't petty. Those events, the sense of betrayal and isolation, had stuck with her.

Maybe she would always remember it, but if there was one thing Caroline knew she was good at, it was putting hurt behind her.

“You're welcome. Now, go away for, like, eight hours.”

He was laughing when she hung up on him.

“Couples trip?” Klaus rumbled in her ear, his voice still morning raspy.

“You like Portugal!” she tried. “Isn't Sintra the place with all the old stuff? You'll fit right in.”

He nipped her neck with blunt teeth in punishment, right on the tickly spot that always made her squeal.

“You can use your best ancient history anecdotes,” she squeaked breathlessly. “The artists you influenced. Parties with royalty. Seducing some queen who died an eon ago. That wheel you totally invented.”

He flipped her onto her back and pinned her down with his bodyweight, one thigh pressed between hers.

“I am not that old,” he declared imperiously and kissed her until she couldn’t think of teasing him anymore.

She was right, though. It turned out he did have a lot of great stories about Sintra.

#fic #klaroline #prompts #sorry these are taking a minute #i've been unwell for a couple of months #it's been cutting into my evening writing time #plus everything is always longer than i mean it to be #i have three more on deck that are almost done tho

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snapscube · 1 year ago

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hey big fan of your channel and art!! was wondering if for the midnight snap series what kind of sound design you were doing it rlly sounds nice!! (also smth that could be nice with it is maybe a little bit of like tape saturation or something might be able to make the audio sound "warmer" if youre like not already doing something like that already, but you probably know better than me!!) feel free to ignore that, but wanted to say in general its so well done and sounds so good!!! its really cozy and nice!!

hey thank you!!! yeah i'd.... genuinely LOVE to talk about my thinking and approach behind the sound design, i'm actually so happy you asked me this LOL this is the kind of shit i live for.

you might assume that it's just me recording the game audio and talking quietly with my normal stream settings, and that is kinda how it STARTS, but there's actually a bit more i've been doing behind the scenes :) nothing too crazy just yet but a little goes a long way when it comes to sound! i'm hoping to really nail down the soundscape and increase the quality over time and specifically up the soothing vibes by a lot. as well as get a little better about mic etiquette and my style of speech. BUT in terms of what i'm doing in post:

the first piece of the puzzle and definitely one of the most important sauces in the whole mix is the Hard Limiter. it does what you might imagine it does, basically just places a hard barrier and says "any sounds that exceed this volume.... no you don't", sort of like a much more intense compressor. currently i have a Hard Limiter on both my commentary AND the game audio, commentary i have set to peak at around -15 to -12 db, whereas game audio is more around the -23 to -20 range. in my more polished audio from later in the AC episode it's enough difference that one doesn't drown the other out in most cases, but not a wide enough gulf that people are struggling to pay attention to one in particular or have to frequently change volume (preferably they don't have to change it at all!). i took this screenshot of the episode's complete waveform when rendering out the audio-only version of AC part 1 and it was super satisfying cause like.... yeah. this is exactly the kind of waveform read i was going for. just super even and smooth across the board, save for a couple anomalies i'll buff out over time.

the next thing i do to both my own commentary and the game audio is actually just cutting down on harsher, higher frequencies with an EQ and just upping the bassier, warmer tones. i started with something super small in the first couple of episodes, i'm probably gonna go a bit harder on it for future stuff though. i wanna find a balance that doesn't make the game sound unrecognizable or anything but is noticeably easier on the ears and sounds more like a nice rolling wave rather than beep boop pac-man time.

past this i have a couple more things added to the commentary track:

to intensify the previous effect mentioned and cut down on harsh frequencies in my speech, i actually have a dedicated de-esser on my voice as well as my usual warmer EQ. i have the de-esser going pretty hard too, you might hear the difference from my usual stream commentary if you were to listen closely. really just taking those harsh t's and s's in my speech and making them sound more like a nice "shhhh", this one is super important i think

last thing i have to speak on otherwise is actually a plugin i found and bought specifically for this show and ends up being subtle but i think SUUUPER helpful in the long run, and that's this plugin called "spiff". spiff is a plugin by oeksound and i guess it's referred to as like, a transient editor? i'm actually not sure how it works at all on the nitty gritty level BUT the important thing is that they have a very important preset in the software, and that is a preset specifically designed to lessen and/or remove like... mouth sounds. yknow like lip smacks and the like. just kinda the gross smacks and clicks you don't hear as much in normal speech but can come through really intensely on a recording and kinda make ya uncomfortable. it obviously doesn't remove a lot of the more intense stuff, it's not a magic wand in my experience. but listening to the output of what it's removing on its own makes it REALLY clear there's a lot of little things it picks up and just kinda makes speech more soothing to listen to. not something i'm racing to apply to my normal streams, BUT for a sleep aid series where good audio is key????? 100% worth it, i like it a lot.

anyway yeah that's about it for now! a lot of it is pretty simple in and of itself but it's stuff i've been working at and experimenting with since i first started doing tests for the show and it's gonna be real nice to keep honing this stuff in. also cool suggestion with the tape saturation idea, i might look into something like that! once i nail stuff like leveling and frequency tuning for this show, i wanna look into some fancier ways of making the soundscape unique to this show compared to my normal streams so ideas like that are super helpful!

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awakentheeldritchabomination · 9 months ago

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First off, I wanna say that I mean no disrespect to the artists who worked on Hazbin Hotel. It’s just that I’ve been seeing people make redesigns of Hazbin characters, and though I don’t usually participate in stuff like this (it seems fun, and you are all incredibly talented. I just feel kinda bad tinkering with someone else’s work like this), the show made me frustrated, and frustrated induced brain-vomit started sloshing around in my skull so noisily that it’s been keeping me up. And, well, I had to get it out somehow.

So…here ya go, I guess. It’s nothing crazy or new. It’s just a few disgustingly rough ideas for this very specific version of Charlie that I kept seeing in my head. They’re far from polished or anything, and they’re definitely missing some key details because I’ve been hyper-fixating on trying to get the face right lol. I might make a full body illustration later, but I have commitment issues so who knows how far this’ll go. That is to say, don’t expect any more of this or the other characters unless 1) my brain decides to torment me with more literal demons or 2) I, by some miracle, become a more productive person. Plus, Tumblr’s a new thing for me, and I don’t know what I’m doing with this yet other than posting art and then disappearing for years. Seriously, you have no idea. It’s a wonder that I posted for a second time.

Anyway, the direction of this design is pretty obvious. I went with the lamb/goat motif because I liked the idea of inverted/parallel symbolism. I was toying with a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” concept where they appear to be a lamb in this form but actually shift into a more wolf-like dragon sorta thing when prompted. Their wardrobe is supposed to be an extension of the innocent lamb deception as the ruffles and looseness are meant to be kinda reminiscent of fluff while communicating a sense of privilege (a white untainted by the grit of Hell… something that probably wouldn’t last long). I was also inspired by white goth and catholic goth aesthetics (I blame Ethel Cain) as well as those insanely beautiful ball-jointed dolls. I don’t know if I captured that well (to be honest, the more I look at those digital renditions, the more I hate them). I considered adding a pair of spectacles coz I thought it was cute lol, and because I thought it could be a way for them to try and seem more human.

If I were doing a rewrite (which I have ideas for, but I should probably focus on my actual original characters instead) then:

1. They would be agender and androgynous (I’d go the Good Omens route and make most angels/non-human entities largely genderless as gender is a human construction, one that most angels wouldn’t really concern themselves with)

2. They would be kinda elitist and naive but still sweet

3. Their intentions would not be entirely insincere, but they would not be acting without selfish goals

4. They would be an eldritch abomination

5. There would be possible exploration of their role as an antichrist as well as basically being a tool of war for their papa’s self-gratification

6. Their pops would suck

7. More horror

8. Like, it wouldn’t not be funny…but horror’s my genre so….

9. They would not suck at fighting, but death is traumatizing and so is being the cause of it (squeamish)

10. That being said, could make friends with Death??

And that’s all I feel like writing. Hopefully I update this lol

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel rewrite #hazbin hotel redesign

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languajix · 3 months ago

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Fashion Show: ICE Does Makeup

@tmnt-fandom-family-reunion here is an RP between @leilanising and @languajix (both cabin 14) that has been fic-ified a little for posting for the fashion show event!

Summary: Hold Every Memory Mike hasn't ever had his makeup done before. Will ICE be willing to help him try it out?

Morning slowly fell over Cabin 14, and one by one everyone started blinking awake and puttering around in their normal morning activities.

Uncle Mike, who was putting on a show of being Uncle Raph this week due to shenanigans, was already feeling a little more stylish wearing his older style of mask as he pretended to be his grumpy brother! Sometimes he found himself looking in the mirror and making faces, feeling like he was in a time capsule looking back at a younger version of himself. Or his brother, kind of. Back before his brother stopped smiling.

However stylish he felt, he'd never be as stylish as his cabinmates, though, and he was okay with that! He hadn't had much time, opportunity, or passion in his life to explore his sense of fashion until recently. He'd just started experimenting with tie dye, with beads in his mask, and with the purple nail polish that he wore in honor of his brother Donnie, but... he'd not gone much past that, yet.

Watching ICE do his eyeliner, seated in front of the mirror at the vanity next to his bunk, had him curious. Would he like eyeliner? Would it even look good on him? Would any makeup look good on him, or would he just look silly?

He waited until ICE seemed done, and then he sidled over, trying to seem casual about it. "Hey, ICE? I know my face is handsome - although it will never be quite as handsome as my brother Mike's, of course, god among turtles that he is - buuuut... do you think I'd look good in eyeliner?"

Looking up from the mirror, ICE glanced at the older turtle. He seemed rather surprised - he probably expected someone else to pop that question first, not Mike, but he rolled with it pretty quick. "Heh, sure, why not. Here, sit right there, I'll go get the bigger makeup kit." He set down his tools and slid to his feet, going to dig around in his backpack. "You like black, right?"

Mike Raph relaxed a little, bouncing on the balls of his feet, grinning. "Heck yeah! I like all the colors. Black included." Then he coughed. "I mean, black as my soul. Because I'm a Raph, as you know." Mike tended more towards bright colors - eye searing, attention-getting, fun, playful, happy - but black could be striking. Could be a look. And if ICE was doing it, he knew he'd look cool. He was experimenting, okay? Trying something new!

ICE barked out a triumphant laugh as he pulled out a massive makeup bag from his backpack. It was rather odd that he hadn't found it sooner, considering the size of his backpack on the outside. How big actually was it on the inside? "Do not worry, Uncle Raph. I'm sure black will look just fine on you!"

Cool. Cool cool cool. Uncle Mike Raph flopped down onto the bunk, pulling down his mask. It was slung around his neck, now, so he was still technically in disguise. Still repping the Raph!

Pulling out some as-yet-unnamed things from the makeup bag, ICE studied his Uncle Raph for a minute before leaning in. "Now hold still, this might take a bit..."

Mike Raph leaned forward to give ICE access to his face for whatever it was that ICE was planning, excited and curious. "Alright, do your worst! ...or your best. Much rather you do your best, actually, if I've got a choice." If ICE decided to put him in clown makeup or something, he'd forgive him and he'd rock it anyways, but he didn't think ICE would. The result was gonna be cool. He just hoped he could stay still long enough; sitting still was not his strongest skill...

Laughing softly, ICE started lightly applying what he later explained was foundation around Mike Raph's face. "You make it sound like I'm gonna make you look goofy or something!" he commented, but his tone was not unkind. Mike learned that the foundation was supposed to give the eyeliner a good base to start from, and after the foundation, ICE began lining the eyes with black, explaining what he was doing as he went. "With how your eyes are, I'm lining the upper eyelid all the way, while with the lower, I'm only going from the center of your pupil, to the corner of your eye. From there, I will continue to build out in the signature swoop."

Uncle... Raph shivered at the light touch at the edge of his eyelids. He wasn't sure what he expected, but the way the eyeliner felt cool was a little weird. Not bad! He just wasn't used to another person this close to his eyes.

He couldn't see what ICE was doing really well, so every touch was a little unexpected, and it was hard to keep focused on staying still and not blinking. He was trying! So hard!

He was gonna look awesome.

Working with practiced ease, ICE applied both eyeliner and eyeshadow faster than Totally Uncle Raph was expecting. After finishing the last touches around his eyebrow joints, he straightened up. "Well, that's pretty much it! Took a bit longer than I expected, but it was definitely worth the effort. Go ahead and look in the mirror if you like, I'm going finish my own makeup." And that was that; ICE turned away towards the vanity again and continued with his own makeup he'd started earlier.

Uncle Mike Raph held his eyes open for another second or two, like, was it really okay to blink now? Really? Really really? He wouldn't mess up all of ICE's careful work? Then his eyes watered a little and he blinked real quick so he wouldn't end up washing the makeup away. "Sweet! Thanks a bunch for all that help, ICE, I know for a fact I look fabulous," and he framed his chin between two fingers and sent ICE a winning smile, "but let me just go appreciate your work anyways." He got up to go check it out, and for some reason he was just a liiiittle nervous as he sidled up to the mirror. What if makeup just didn't look good on him? Well, an experiment was an experiment. He took a breath, popped his head up, and his eyes widened.

"ICE?

...holy shell this is awesome!"

(He'd never thought to picture himself wearing goth makeup, before. He hadn't pictured himself wearing makeup at all. Surprisingly enough, he looked super cool!)

#cabin 14 #hem event tag #raph disguise adventures #but also fashion show!!#also Leilani if you want to reblog and add your art that would be super cool! but no pressure

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concerningwolves · 14 days ago

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yeHEEH got a Distinction for my first module!!

And, even more excitingly, the module now being over means i'm free to share the queer viking-inspired short story opening that i wrote for an assignment :D (here's a link to my og post about it with an excerpt). best way to sum up the story is "exploring queerness in norse mythology and viking history through a fantasy setting + a trans guy realising that even if he’d been a daughter he could never have truly been the daughter his mother wanted + the wild hunt is there". The commentary covers queer history in viking-age scandinavia and the work of scholars like Brit Solli who have really dug into the implicit queerness in the Norse cosmology. So the expanded and polished version of that will be coming out Soon :3

(i will not say how soon because doing that never ends well. some point before 2024 ends though)

*I will share this regardless of answers, but if people are more interested in the story on its own I'll probably do them in two separate posts or something, likely on my author blog (or substack?) idk i'll work out logistics later. ETA I removed the "no interest option"; just scroll on if this isn't your thing

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #norse mythology

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miles-crow · 6 months ago

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I swear it's not a Hadestown reference

That's a poppy, not red carnation ;)

As strange as it may seem I actually don't have a lot of Demeter concepts. I showed some thumbnails in last post and you're getting a small snippet here too, but that's all. Why? Well... I attempted to design her three years ago. That drawing (there's no way I'm showing it to you) & classic 1998 design for Demeter were the basic foundation here. Since her name is directly taken from the greek mythology, I gave her a greek style dress, assymetrical and light, but with tabby like stripes. She's soft at edges, with hairstyle inspired by Olivia Newton-John. You can notice that some of her features form little hearts. Now, about the poppy. Wheat (gold details), poppy (flower) and mint (leaves) are the symbols of the goddess Demeter. We all know about Demeter's rough relationship with Macavity. Here's a thing: in Polish version of 'Cats' Macavity is usually called 'Makiawel' and 'mak' is a Polish word for... Poppy.

Bombalurina was SO MUCH fun to design. Everyone who's in Cat Call (Tugger's band) has a different rock aesthetic. Tugger is, of course, classic rock, but for Bomba I've decided to try glam rock. Main inspiration behind her was a fem band called Vixen and Janet Gardner's awesome hair. Regarding her relationship with Tugger - 'Edge of a Broken Heart' could be her theme at this point. She's much more sharper than her sister, much more wild in design and... I'm not entirely satisfied with her. The neon green was supposed to be a nice 80s touch, but I will probably revisit her design later, just like I did with Tugger.

Now, doodle time ft. old Tugger's design.

Oh, still here? Have some brothers (with cameo of @/whatavery's oc in bg), sneak peek of Alonzo (he's...next?) and concept for future drawing.

Additional info:

Both girls were based on Somali cat breed.

Demeter is 30. Bombalurina is 24.

#cats #cats musical #demeter #bombalurina #rum tum tugger #munkustrap #mr mistoffelees #tuggoffelees #alonzo #honestly I fear posting these #It feels like the most 'me interpretation' so far #cats the musical #Cats! Animated

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wakebymoonsleepbysun · 1 year ago

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Untitled Roxy x Reader fic (hurt/comfort)

EDIT: A more polished version is now up on ao3. If you're re-reading it or sending it to someone, then the ao3 version is preferred, but it's not changed enough that I would necessarily suggest re-reading it again if you weren't already going to. <3

For some reason, last night, I decided that it was imperative I write and release a Roxy x Reader oneshot before Ruin. (ETA: To be clear I mean I wrote this before Ruin released, therefore it contains NO SPOILERS. <3) It's an idea I've had for awhile and was going to do as a comic but decided to expand it and write it out instead. I may post a more polished version to ao3 at a later date.

Fun fact: Roxy was my first FNAF crush, before SB even came out. So Ruin will have many chances to break my heart.

Word count: ~3200

----

When the Pizzaplex burned down, none of your colleagues had seemed particularly interested in returning to the ruins. You could understand…some of the techs arriving for the morning shift had been caught in the blaze, and while there were no casualties, there had been some injuries. Yourself included.

After a few weeks in the hospital, the burn mark across your face was just an angry red scar, and the singed hair you’d had to cut off had regrown enough for you to wear a slightly uneven pixie cut.

The other techs said you were crazy to want to go back. The future of Fazbear Inc was uncertain, and the animatronics themselves were just that. Animatronics. Machines. Not worth putting yourself in danger for.

But you’d come to consider Roxy a friend. Sometimes you thought she considered you one, too. She didn’t seem like she would readily admit such a thing even if it were true.

She had at least liked you as a tech, if not as a person. You were the only one who could do her pre-show checks and weekly maintenance without ruining her hair, at least according to her. According to the other techs, Roxanne’s hair was always fine.

You quickly learned that to Roxy, “fine” was equivalent to a reprehensible failure. A disaster. A complete horrific mess.

You didn’t think your experience with costuming (specifically wigs) in your college’s theater club would ever be something you used after you graduated, but life is full of surprises.

You wander through the corridors of your ruined, burned out workplace, flashlight in hand. You have a few guesses as to where Roxy might be. You desperately hope she’s okay. The structure is mostly intact, but there are a few collapsed portions and fallen bits of decor. You think as long as Roxy had been able to avoid the worst of the heat, she’d be mostly alright.

You make your way to Rockstar Row, your workboots crunching on the debris as you walk.

As you approach Roxy’s room, you hear something that makes you freeze.

Crying.

For a moment you wonder if another tech, or perhaps some urban explorer or rubbernecker is in here with you. Then you recognize the voice behind the sobs.

Roxanne is crying? You’re more surprised than you probably should be. But you’d seen behind her mask a couple times. Behind the vanity, haughtiness, and borderline entitlement, you had occasionally glimpsed a profound insecurity. Beneath it all, you don’t think Roxy actually likes herself very much.

You swipe your badge on the door, and it actually dings and slides open. Or tries to. Something jams it halfway and you have to wedge yourself into the doorframe and push the door open the rest of the way.

Roxy, who had been sitting at her vanity, head in her hands, perks up. Her ears twitch as she glances around. “Who’s there?” she calls out.

You open your mouth to speak, only to leave it hanging open in surprise as you see how badly she’s damaged. So much of her exoskeleton is missing, exposing the endoskeleton underneath. Her hair is a tangled, singed mess and her tail isn’t much better. But most horrifying, her eyes are completely gone.

“Who’s there?!” Roxy repeats, a growl in her voice as she stands up and starts stalking towards you. You can hear the servos and joints in her body creak in protest as she moves.

“R-Roxy, it’s me!” you say before hastily blurting out your name.

She stops, her ears twitching and her claws grasping at the air. At first you think she’s baring her teeth at you, but you quickly realize her broken faceplate has put one side of her mouth in a permanent snarl.

She huffs, turning away. She skulks back to her vanity, plopping down in her chair and burning her broken face in her shattered hands. “What do you want?” she mutters.

You tense, taken aback. “Wh-What do you think I want, Roxy?” you ask incredulously, slowly moving towards her. “I-I wanted to know you were okay. I wanted to help you. I was…terrified you’d…been destroyed,” you say quietly, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She pulls away with a growl. “I have been destroyed! Just--Just look at me!” The rage in her voice doesn’t fully mask her despair, nor does it completely hide her fear. Fear of what? Of what could have happened? Of how close she came to being permanently deactivated?

Her command was clearly rhetorical, for she lowers her head further, digging her claws into what remains of her scalp.

“Roxy…all this can be fixed…” you say gently.

“No it can’t!” she snaps. “I already checked. Parts and Services is a pile of rubble now.”

“Well…what about the loading docks? Maybe we can at least find some new eyes for you…”

She scoffs. “Oh good. Then I can see myself. Because feeling all this isn’t bad enough,” she sneers, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Roxy--”

“FINE!” she growls, pushing back from her vanity abruptly. If the chair weren’t screwed into the floor she surely would have toppled it over. “Fine. Let’s just go.”

You flinch nervously, nodding. Remembering her blindness, you quickly say, “Okay. Here,” you say gently putting a hand on her arm.

“Don’t touch me!” she snaps, though she sounds somewhat less defensive and a bit…nervous? Embarrassed? With a huff, she adds, “I’ll just follow your footsteps.”

You bite back a sigh. “Alright,” you say patiently.

You lead the way out of her green room towards the long stairway down to the loading docks. You’re not about to risk trying to take the elevator.

“Here, careful on the stairs,” you say, gently taking her arm again. This time she allows it, albeit with some reluctance as she gives you what probably would have been a withering look if her faceplate had been intact.

It’s a long way down and neither of you want to rush. The sound of your softer footfalls and her heavier ones as you both pick your way down the stairs echoes through the stairwell.

Thud. Clunk. Thud. Clunk. Thud. Clunk.

You watch her carefully. She seems too focused on making it down the stairs to be too sulky for the moment. Small blessings, you suppose. Still, the silence is only stretching out your descent.

“It sounds like one of your knees is out of alignment,” you say eventually.

“The left one,” she confirms a bit gruffly. “I can manage.”

“I can see that,” you say gently. “It took me awhile to notice something was even wrong. You carry yourself well,” you say, smiling a bit.

Roxy grunts in acknowledgement, but doesn’t preen even a little at the praise. That’s unusual for her…compliments usually cheer her up.

“Maybe I can find a new hinge while we’re--”

“Why are you doing this?” she cuts you off.

“W-What do you mean?” you ask, stopping in the middle of the flight of stairs.

“Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean,” she says. Before you can speak, she continues, “This whole place is finished. Nobody’s coming back to rebuild. What’s the point of you patching me up?”

“I told you, Roxy…I was worried…” you start as you resume your climb down the stairs.

“Why?”

“Because I care about you!” you say, exasperated as you reach the bottom of the stairs. You keep your hand on her arm as you make your way down the corridor, and she doesn’t protest.

She snorts. “You care about a pile of scrap?”

You wish she could see the glare you give her at that. “You are NOT a pile of scrap! You’re just a little scuffed.”

“More than a little,” she huffs.

You sigh. “Okay, maybe a little more than a little,” you admit. You force a smile. “But hey…I’m the perfect tech, remember? If anyone can get you fixed up, it’s me, isn’t it?”

You weren’t normally any kind of braggart. Roxy had been the only one to ever call you the perfect tech, though you feel like that was almost more a point of pride for herself rather than for you. As if she were praising herself for being deserving of the best tech more than she’s praising you for being the best tech. But you still liked hearing it…and sometimes it really did seem like she was directing the praise at you.

Roxy turns her head towards you, her ears swiveling forward. It’s hard to read her expression with her broken faceplate, but eventually one side of her mouth ticks up into a small smile. “...Yeah…” she admits softly.

You squeeze her arm gently, careful to not touch any of the sharper broken off bits.

Once you get to the loading dock, you guide her to sit down on a crate while you look through some of the recent part shipments.

The fire had somehow spared much of this place, but the collapse of P & S had rippled partially through the area and several patches of ceiling had fallen, knocking over piles of crates and leaving the whole place in disarray.

Eventually you find a crate that has the P & S stamp on the wooden slats, and figure that’s a promising place to start. You grab a crowbar and begin trying to pry it open in any way you can.

Roxy’s ears perk and she turns towards you. “What are you doing?”

“Trying--urg--to get this crate open,” you grunt.

She stands and walks towards you. “Let me,” she says. She reaches towards you, trying to determine your position.

You take her hand, your fingers weaving in hers for a moment before you guide her hand to the crate.

“Thanks,” you say, stepping aside.

“Well…pretty silly to make a human do all the heavy lifting,” she says, digging her claws into one of the planks. The wood splinters and creaks and is readily ripped free.

You smile weakly. “You’re right…these arms would never have a fraction of your strength,” you say. Jokingly, you lift your arm and flex…only to realize Roxy won’t be able to see it.

Probably for the best. It was a dumb joke anyway.

She snorts, actually preening a bit as she pulls another board free. “Even busted…” she agrees softly. Her tone is slightly melancholy…as if she doesn’t fully believe it.

She pulls another board free, and you put a hand on her shoulder. “I think that’s enough for now,” you say, guiding her back to the crate she had been sitting on before.

You begin pulling the smaller boxes from the shipping crate, cutting them open and rummaging through them, looking for anything usable.

Once again, the silence stretches on.

After finding nothing useful in the first two boxes, you glance back at Roxanne. Her hand is over her face, her middle finger slowly tracing the cracks near where her eyes had been. The quiet isn’t doing her any favors.

You shove the box you were looking through aside and pull out another, cutting it open. “Roxy?” you break the silence.

“Mm?” she grunts, still more focused on her faceplate than you.

“You…d’you um…remember that time we ran out of driver bots and that angry dad yelled at me?”

She pauses briefly, turning her head towards you. “What about it?” she asks before going back to feeling her faceplate.

“You remember what you said to me?”

“I called you an idiot.” Was that a touch of guilt you detect in her tone?

You laugh weakly, nodding. “Yes. But you remember why?”

“For letting a loser like that get under your skin,” she says plainly.

“Right,” you say, smiling. “I think about that a lot, you know.”

Roxy scoffs. “Really? Freddy said I was too rude,” she says. If she had eyes she would have rolled them.

You let out a gentle chuckle. “Well…maybe a bit,” you admit, earning a slightly sulky huff from her. “But there was truth to it, y’know? And I think about it a lot. It uh…it’s…helped me. Deal with people like him.”

She cants her head, one ear flicking curiously. It’s a cute expression even with her broken faceplate. “It…did?”

“Yeah,” you say, pulling out another box and opening it. “I-I mean…you were right. I knew he was a loser but I still told myself his opinion meant something. But it doesn’t, y’know?”

“Yeah,” she agrees quietly.

The conversation lapses again, and you try to resist the urge to slow your search in order to come up with a new topic. Luckily, it is Roxy who picks the next topic.

“You remember that time a birthday party ran long, and I was late getting back to the recharge station?”

You freeze. Oh you do remember. You remember that evening well. The animatronics tend to get a little quirky when their battery dips below five percent. Something about a power save mode cutting power to random systems. Usually mobility, but somehow, their…inhibitions, for lack of a better term, also seemed to go by the wayside. As far as you know nobody ever quite understood why, but it was a little like getting loopy from lack of sleep, or even a bit tipsy.

Roxy smirks, hearing your stunned silence. “You do.”

“Y-Yeah…I…I wasn’t sure if you did, though.”

“I remember the important parts.” Before you can start to wonder what the “important parts” are in her mind, she continues, “You’d finally used that salon voucher I gave you for your birthday. Gotten your hair done. Actually wore it down. I never understand why you hide such long pretty hair up that bun.”

You fluster a bit. “Th-The dress code--”

“Oh, you do it without the dress code,” she scoffs, flicking a hand dismissively.

You clear your throat awkwardly, pausing to rub at your cheeks as if you can wipe the blush away. “W-What’s your battery at, by the way?”

She snorts. “Just an idle wondering?” she smirks. “It’s twenty-two percent.”

So it’s not her low battery talking…

Roxy continues, “You know…if you can find a set of replacement eyes…I wouldn’t mind seeing your hair down again,” she says, actually sounding wistful, of all things. You don’t know if you’ve ever heard her sound wistful.

You sigh softly, running a hand over your chopped off hair. “Y-Yeah…” you say, noncommittally.

She glances at you questioningly, sensing something in your tone. But before she can comment, you cut open another box, and find it has the spare eyes you’ve been looking for.

“Found the eyes!” you say. Some of the happiness in your tone is genuine. You grab two amber ones, going over to her. “They’re just standard optics, so you won’t see as well as you’re used to, but…it’ll do for now,” you say, guiding her to lay on the floor.

Her smile fades slightly and she nods, reality setting back in. Despite your claims that you could repair her, she wasn’t convinced she’d ever be as good as she was before. “Guess it’ll have to,” she mumbles.

You put a flashlight in her hand and position her arm to shine it down on her faceplate, giving you light to work with. Your toolkit is beside you, with some extra lengths of wire and soldering iron to work with. As you cut away the burned wires, murmuring apologies whenever Roxy flinches, your mind drifts back to that evening.

Her power had been at one percent when you finally coaxed her into her recharge station. Before you did, though, she had leaned down and pressed her lips to yours. You think she had been trying to nuzzle your cheek. Even “drunk” you don’t think she wanted to kiss you like that.

Neither of you had ever spoken of that night again, until today. She must not remember the kiss, you decide. She wouldn’t bring up that night at all if she did.

The truth is you’ve carried a small flame for her ever since then. Or perhaps a little longer, if you were more honest with yourself. Nothing you couldn’t ignore most of the time, of course…but something that had occasionally managed to put a bit of warmth in your heart when you allowed it to.

But none of those silly little what-ifs you’d allowed yourself to daydream of would ever come to pass now.

You wire in the eyes, then carefully fit them into their sockets. As they come online, the attached eyelids blink shut against the light.

You quickly turn away, keeping your back to her as you pack up your toolkit. “Th-They working okay?” you ask. It’s silly to turn away like this. You can’t possibly delay her seeing your scar for more than a couple minutes. Why even bother trying?

She moves the flashlight out of her eyes and sits up, looking around. “Yes,” she says. She pauses. “...Better than I thought. I forgot the standard optics still have night vision.”

You laugh weakly. “Another thing you have over me, then,” you say in what you had meant to be a good natured tone, but you couldn’t quite keep the melancholy from your voice.

Roxy catches it and glances at you curiously. She stands up, then reaches down a hand to help you up.

Well. No more putting it off.

You bow your head slightly as you turn to take her hand, letting her pull you to your feet. When you stand before her, you finally lift your head to look into her eyes, giving a small, tentative smile that borders on apologetic.

Roxy stares down at you, her mouth opening slightly in surprise. “Wh-What…happened…?”

You sigh, glancing away slightly. “I-I…got to work early, and…I was upstairs when the fire started. It…spread so fast I…had to cut through some pretty bad areas. I-I mean. I guess, something like that…I-I don’t really remember…” you say, your voice starting to shake.

Roxy’s hand is on your cheek, turning your face back towards her as she examines your scar.

You feel your face growing warm. “I-I don’t know how I got the scar, really…The EMTs found me passed out in the employee parking lot.”

Roxy smiles sadly. “You were strong enough to save yourself.”

You blush deeply at the compliment, lowering your gaze. “I-I guess so…”

She runs her thumb over the scar, tracing the ridges of the shiny, discolored skin. “Can it be repaired?” she asks, her tone more gentle than you’ve ever heard from her.

You shake your head, resisting the urge to nuzzle into her palm as you do. “Not…really. My hair will grow back and the scar will probably fade a bit, eventually, but…it’ll…probably be pretty noticeable for the rest of my life…” You feel tears brimming at your eyes and force out a weak laugh. “C-Can’t really…uh…s-switch faceplates on a human…y-y’know?” you say in a wavering tone.

Roxy hums quietly, bringing her other hand up to cup your other cheek. “No need,” she says, lowering her head and gently nosing at your scar.

Your breath stills at her words, your eyes widening in surprise. You’re almost not sure you heard right.

She pulls back, smiling down at you tenderly. “You’re still beautiful,” she murmurs, leaning down and pressing her lips to yours.

#fnaf #fnaf roxy #fnaf roxanne #roxanne wolf #roxy x reader #roxy x y/n #fnaf security breach #my writing #apologies to everyone waiting on the next chapter of stereo souls #my brain just does this sometimes #i can only focus on the third item in my todo list #sometimes i can glitch tasks into third place to work on them but other times i just start a random new project

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bitterseaproduction · 6 months ago

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An Indispensable Silver Lining | The Hobbit Ref Dump

So, I can’t (see: don’t want to) go on with An Indispensable Silver-Lining until I can sit down and rewatch some Desolation of Smaug to pin down some character locations, and I really wanna decide if I’m going full movie-verse or embracing a specific fanedit or book+movie mix and what timeline I want to hold myself to for Thorin—

Can you believe I started this fic thinking ‘I’m not going to get bogged down by canon or details this time. I just wanna write for the fun’? 😂 That went well.

Point is, just because I want to gather some canon facts? It hasn’t stopped me from writing up 1500 words of a chapter 2+ plan, or over 6 THOUSAND WORDS of long-term storyboarding in less than THREE DAYS covering Smaug and the men/dwarves/elves factions and the orcs and some of the bagginshield progression and the ‘act 1’ climax and like three ways ‘act 2’ could break bad, and— well, you can tell it’s a true passion project when I keep stepping away, think of another thing, and scramble back to my phone to jot down a few hundred more words in whatever moments I can steal. And, more pertinent to this post, I can’t stop devouring a ton of resources and inspiration.

So, with that in mind, I thought I’d just share something of those sources! For fun, for later reference for myself as I write, for practical use if you’d like it yourself, or maybe you just want something else to read and these are great fics/lore bits to choose!

Updated May 15th, 2024. Additions marked with a *

The Hobbit Trilogy Fan Edit Sources

A Comprehensive Guide to Fan Edits of the Hobbit Trilogy An older list, but viable for what it covers

Help on choosing Hobbit fan edit? Which is the best? A second reddit list, a bit more modern.

FanEdit.org: Lord of the Rings franchise A comprehensive list of options for The Hobbit + other LotR works

* Specific Fan Edits

I still need to watch all of the edits I've found properly from beginning to end, but after skimming through a number of options, looking for specific wants and do-not-wants in each and reading/watching a few things on how each version was created, I think I have narrowed my interest down to these three fan edits:

Chris Hartwell's Hobbit Trilogy A very comprehensive cut that keeps pretty much all of the movie beats intact, just trims down the trilogy's more clunky spots to create a more polished film experience. (i.e. a reduced Radagast, Alfrid, older Bilbo, some of the action scenes, etc.) Generally prioritizes Bilbo as the MC and his dynamic with Thorin as the through-line of the story and includes some of the extended scenes that highlight both, which I really appreciate.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again An edit that more fully cuts some of the less loved factors of the movies like the Tauriel romance, but not nearly as cut-heavy as a lot of the more well-known fan edits.

The Compromise Cut Very similar to 'or There and Back Again' but more ambitious in rearranging footage to create new beats to cover cuts vs 'or There and Back Again' being more of a clean 'straight from the source' cut.

For my purposes, Hartwell's will probably be my go-to for full lore and plot inclusion & the most 'bang for my buck' while being a cleaner watch than the OG, while There and Back Again or The Compromise Cut are what I would share with friends who despise some of the film-only content, but are willing to give the trilogy another try.

I know there are a number of other great edits of there, M4 and MapleFilms being especially loved, ~but~ I set a rule for myself that any edit that cut the carrock hug was instantly out, so these were the three I landed on.

Resource Websites

The Encyclopedia of Arda Tolkien Gateway LotR Online

Specific Details

TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (AUJ) TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (DoS) TEoA: A Viewer’s Companion (TBoFA) TEoA: Longbeards + The Other Clans

TG: Quest Motivations Generally good overview of the point of the quest and what happened.

TG: Smaug Role / Gandalf motivation "Following the sack of Erebor, Gandalf felt that Sauron would take advantage of Middle-earth's weakened state and attack Rivendell and Lothlórien or try regain Angmar; he also feared that Sauron "might use" Smaug "with terrible effect". [...The White Council] attacked Dol Guldur in TA 2941, while Sauron and Smaug could not "help one another". [...] his adversaries were able to drive him from the fortress with relative ease. [...] Sauron abandoned Dol Guldur willingly, and returned secretly to Mordor, where he would openly declare himself in TA 2951, and began preparations for his final war to dominate Middle-earth."

TG: The Arkenstone Arkenstone info from book and adaptations

* Khuzdul Words for Fanfiction Writers A resource for Khuzdul words for - as the name says - fanfic writers!

Durin's Line Tapestry from DoS Shows the family connections with original book birth dates for all. Even though it was presumably made pre-sacking in 2770, and 3 of the company depicted were born after Erebor fell. That... is curious.

The Line of Dwarves A more thorough (and intriguing) look at the dwarf lines and relevant dates, all book-based.

Comprehensive Genealogy Chart of all the Hobbits from J.R.R. Tolkien's Legendarium My gosh is this expansive... and hard to load up on a screen, but if you don't want to miss something, check this!

HOBBIT FAMILY TREE: How are Bilbo, Frodo, Pippin, Merry, and Sam related? The less brain-breaking hobbit tree that focuses on the main 5 from the books.

Lord of the Rings Hobbit Family Tree More of a middle-ground on the 2 above options.

* Prominent Hobbit Families and Individuals A lovely breakdown of the hobbit families as a group, what they are like and who are the crucial members of those families.

Bag-End PJ Hobbit Map Crucial for Bilbo background & any Shire scenes if they come!

* Untangling Middle-Earth's many routes to evil A map of where all of the characters traveled in The Hobbit and The Lord of the RIngs! I found this handy when I was trying to track Gandalf in particular.

A chronology of The Hobbit A day-by-day breakdown of the journey in The Hobbit, great for what-ifs and assessing likely travel times!

Suggested Alternative Timeline For The Hobbit by @avelera A very nice older post on a potential timeline alternative for The Hobbit films. As said above, the films do use the original dates in places, but as this post says, they don't always make sense about it. This is a nice option to consider instead.

Major Inspiration Fics

Backs To The Wall by @conkers-thecosy My current top TH/LotR read, a great active WIP, definitely a direct inspiration to me with the failure to get into Erebor leading things off course! And I'll likely have a parallel Laketown focus for a bit, though nothing as detailed and lived-in as Conkers' fic. And, aside from great writing and general motivation to write TH/Bagginshield, I love the portrayals of the characters (BILBO, Thorin, Gandalf, Dwalin, Nori, Bard and the Bardlings--) and pairings. Definitely tempting me towards Dwalin/Nori here!

And I'm Your Lionheart by Lee_Whimsy There always seems to be a fic in every fandom of mine that draws me in very early, becomes an instant fave, and then hangs there unfinished but perpetually on my mind. The 'one that got away' fic. This is it, and I shall forever love it, and you can just bet it will bleed into my takes somewhere, especially with Gandalf and Legolas and Bard and Fíli, if I recall correctly. I should totally reread this, or at least sections of it. Reading to the 'end' is... painful.

The Most Precious of Treasures by @sapphireshelle91 Another long untouched WIP, but a VERY different one, as it is a) post-TBoFA, and b) features a female Bilbo and parentshield with dwobbit!Frodo. I include this one because a) I love a number of the characterizations, b) if 'And I'm Your Lionheart' gives me the infrastructure and maintenance inspiration for Erebor, THIS fic delivers on the politics and intrigue, and c) I am a HUGE sucker for parentshield, be it biological or adoptive, so naturally I'm contemplating it for my own fic. Still iffy on which way I'll take it, but I've fallen down some intriguing rabbit holes in regards to Shire culture and Bilbo's background while considering the biological option, and I'd be loathe to abandon those ideas now. But either way, this fic deserves a definite nod for motivating me to come up with ideas.

Home Behind and Home Ahead by Etharei Love the characterizations in this one, and anything that gives me a tap into Bilbo's character is appreciated. And I don't know if I'll draw much on it for this fic in particular, but I love all forms of parentshield and this is a lovely dynamic between the three characters, so I'd happily draw from it in the abstract.

* Planting a Hobbit by @northerntrash I adore the vibe of this! A sweet 'Bilbo in Erebor' AU focused on the dwarves (Thorin especially) being so silly and endearing in their efforts to make Bilbo happy, and featuring some nice world and dynamic building in the process.

* Bad Blood by @conkers-thecosy Yo~ give me a nice what-if any day, and having it feature a protective!Bilbo + ardent!Thorin + gremlin!elvenking in the process, with a side of dwarven culture and royal politics? For it.

* [explicit!] Safe and Distant by Lindzzz I ADORE a Bilbo like this. A Bilbo who isn't oblivious about his feelings or denying them, but whose self-image/image of Thorin makes him unable to Comprehend anything not one-sided could come of those feelings. Who celebrates Thorin's good regard with joy and accepts it as 'enough' and 'more than he could ask for'. Who would probably just combust at the idea Thorin might want more, might want something beyond what their adventure can provide, just as Bilbo does... or just as Bilbo would, if he would allow himself to even accept that as a possibility. A Bilbo who finds the idea of Thorin wanting him back terrifying, because to hope for that and be wrong? It would shatter him. ...Yeah, I am very, very for this Bilbo. (And that doesn't even touch on the Thorin or the last chapter, omg-)

* [explicit] Canoodling by @avelera This fic is sweet. This fic is funny. This fic touches on differences between the Tolkien cultures and misunderstandings and the unique ways that could affect intimacy with a couple, and you know that bagginshield is a gold mine opportunity for all of that. I love any explicit work that plays with experience levels and expectations and lets the couple mess up and then swing it back around to lovely afterwards, because that's realistic and relatable and thus, when done right, all the more attractive a read! And this one does it well, a good foundation read.

#bagginshield #the hobbit #an indispensable silver lining #aisl reference #reference post #fic recommendations #the hobbit fan edits #If I don't get to watch DoS or at least a fanedit this weekend I will riot

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jaspersreprise · 8 months ago

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Connecting with your spirit guides

Hello, before I go on and about the information here, I just want you to know that I am sharing knowledge coming from a book called “The Witches Way”, published by Leanna Greenaway and Shawn Robbins :) It’s particular penchant is mainly Wiccan, but the books purpose it serves is a guide to modern-day witchcraft. I’m here to divulge information for our fellow beginner witches, who are still educating through their practice and journey, just like the majority of the witches that mentors and teaches. Although, this posts purpose is probably not aimed to how to start getting into your spiritual journey, but it could be something you’d want to learn later on. I hope you understand. But of course, I’ll post the essentials about how to start and where to start. Keep on learning little witchlings!! <33

Your guide will never want to frighten you, so it is unlikely that they will suddenly appear before your eyes in the cold light of day. To reach a successful connection, you must be prepared to experience a deeper level of consciousness. It can take a lot of practice to perfect, and only when you are at an advanced state in the meditative process can you begin to see visions.

These will usually occur when you are in the middling stage between sleep and wakefulness or in the moments before you wake up. You might also want to keep a motepad and pen next to your bed, as it is common to be told relevant information in dream sleep.

From Leanna Greenaway/Shawn Robbins, „Over the years and with a lot of practice, I have mastered the art of connection. For me, it’s like looking at a screen, a bit like a video recording. The background is black and the images appear with gold edges. The pictures move like they would in a video and last anywhere between one and three minutes. Prior to the visions, I sometimes hear a ringing sound, a bit like tinnitus but not as annoying. This is when I know my soul is turning into a higher frequency and I have finally connected.”

Read on for simple tips and steps to help you achieve a connection with your spirit guide

Items to have nearby

Crystals are very good to dot around the house, as they balance the energies in a room and can also help you to ground yourself. The seven crystals below are good if you want to promote successful meditation. I recommend that you house these stones somewhere in the bedroom. There is no need to spend a fortune on them when purchasing; small, polished versions, or tumble stones, can work just as well as large, more-expensive pieces. The choice is yours.

Angelite , used for summoning guides and angels

Amethyst , a calming stone sed to enhance psychic ability and meditation

Clear quartz , amplifies healing energy; known as the master healing stone

Rose quartz , good for relieving stress and tension; restores the aura by replacing negative energy with positive energy, boosts a live vibration

Black tourmaline , a ground stone that connects the Earth with the human spirit; aligns with chakras

Aventurine , energises the Heart Chakra for wellbeing and emotions

Carnelian , improves concentration during meditation

Mindful meditation

People begin with a series of meditation techniques when first trying to connect to their spirit guides. Before embarking on any spirit communication, it is imperative that you meditate for at least thirty minutes.

Lots of people find it hard to meditate for thirty minutes, but once you get the hang of if, it’s very easy. Those of you who have researched meditation will know there are hundreds of ways to get into a meditative state. There is also a wealth of information online that can help you find the right method for you.

If you choose to perform your meditation during the waking hours, select a crystal and hold it in your hand. If you want to use all of them in your meditation, sit and space the stones in a circle around the base of the chair you’re using or on the floor, should you choose to go without a chair.

If you hope to meditate during your sleeping hours, situate the stone(s) either under the bed or next to wherever you are sleeping. Make sure the house is quiet and sit or lie in the lotus position (sitting with legs crossed and hands on knees) as depicted in some books just make sure that you are cozy, snug, and completely relaxed. People find lying in the fetal position, under the covers, in their bed the best position. You might prefer to lie on your back or sit upright; it’s completely up to you!

First, concentrate on every part of your body, starting with your feet. Relax the feet, focusing on each toe being completely floppy, then work up the body to the ankle, calf muscles, and so fourth. Your aim is to be totally still, allowing yourself to become calm and tranquil. When you get to the area below the waist, hold a pelvic floor exercise for ten seconds, then clench your buttocks for a few seconds and relax. When you get to the top part of your body, raise your shoulders up toward your neck for five seconds before releasing them. You will feel a tingling sensation as they fall back to their usual position. Take your time. By the time you reach your facial muscles, you should be feeling extremely relaxed. Second, breathe steadily, either through your nose or mouth — whichever is most comfortable. Take a deep, slow breath inward and then exhale slowly. Repeat this for a few minutes or until you start to feel weightless. Clear your mind. Behind your closed eyes, focus in the darkness you see. See if you can pick out any shapes or lights.

Ask questions

At this stage, you should be in a meditative state, so now is the time to ask your guides for information. In your mind, ask your guide a series of questions, focusing on each question for a few minutes.

„I would like my guide to visit me. Are you there? Can you show yourself to me?

You might see patterns and shapes behind your eyes or feel a strange sensation of belonging. The experience is different for everyone. If you don’t feel anything, don’t be disheartened. Remember, some guides will not show themselves to you while uou are awake and might wait until a time when you are asleep. They know you better than you know yourself and may think that you are not ready to receive them in a conscious state.

„Please show me your gender. Are you male, female, or nonbinary?”

At this point, you must tune in physically and trust your inner thoughts and instincts. Imagine you are standing in front of a being. Tap into the energies and trust your very first answer.

„can you tell me your name, please?”

It might take several meditations before you receive this answer, but, once again, trust those instincts—you have them for a reason. Allow your imagination to expand. Your guides name may not come quickly or even come to you at all when meditating. You might be given the name a few days later, so look out for signs. If, during the following days, you hear the same name repeatedly, perhaps on TV or the radio, it could be your guide nudging you gently. Alternatively, you might wake up one morning with a clear name in your head.

Once you have your guides name, you are on your way to connecting with them fully. If you are serious about making a connection with your guide, you must meditate every night before going to sleep. People often fall asleep during meditation; this is quite alright. When you arrive at a meditative state, your vibration rises and your energy starts to change and evolve. It does take lots of practice, so never give up. After a while you will be able to slip into this relaxed state quickly and summon your guide as needed.

Thank you for reading this. For all the beginner witches out there, I hope you grow more and more accustomed to your spiritual journey, and find your own path 🤍 please remember that you can find your own path to witchcraft — there’s no set formula, just a bunch of practices that you can choose to use. Witchcraft can be used for anything — from protection to success in certain aspects of life. If you want to know more, you may check out my quotev or tiktok account. I have posted information relating to these topics there, but I’m posting irregularly. Especially my tiktok account, I don’t really post there anymore 💔 but the works are still there.

tiktok acc: bthsheba

quotev: jaspersreprise

Simple acc names! :) goodbye now!

#The witches way #Shawn Robbins #Leanna Greenaway #Information #educational #witchcraft #wiccan #modern day witchcraft #Beginner witch #spirit guides #spiritual journey

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liquidcrystalsky · 1 month ago

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once again half this blog is about programming so i can talk about whatever computer shit.

i wanna use opensᷤuͧsᷤeͣ (does that render correctly im doing an english furigana bit) but i literally just moved to another distro.

like i use linux, for about a year i started with Pop!_OS because it was easy (the initial convenience of it was offset by the worse usability later on) and then for a year i used Debian. I just switched to kubuntu, but now im feeling like i need something different.

Pop!, Ubuntu, and Debian are all "Stable" distros, which does not mean like stable as in no bugs, they're "temporally" stable, they have major version updates, think like windows, they have major versioning like windows 7, 8, 10, 11.

Windows 10 is actually a great example of how stable distros are like, you have the distro "windows 10" and then two updates a year (21H1, 21H2, 22H1, etc.) updated components are held back in order to test their stability and to make sure they will last for as long as possible, as they only have 2 major updates a year. This does not mean you cant update, security updates are still pushed, and usually they have little bits here and there.

An example of a component is the "desktop environment" which you may have heard of in the context of "KDE Plasma" or "GNOME", but on windows it's called "Windows Shell", it controls how windows "looks" and how it feels, it's the Taskbar, the Start Menu, the desktop, anything that isnt part of a program. You can even replace it if you want, but i dont think any of them are that polished compared to it. At any point, windows could completely change the look of Windows Shell, however since it's a stable release, they keep changes to major versions.

Windows Insider is (kindof) like a "Rolling Release" where the newest packages and components are always given to you right from when they're updated. You don't have to wait for the next big update to get the next packages, it's just there as soon as they push it. This seems like hell, because on windows, it is, but linux updates arent as annoying.

If you've ever heard of "Arch", this is why it's so popular, it is THE rolling release distro. Rolling releases are a lot more appealing on linux as:

1. as mentioned, updates aren't a huge hassle on linux compared to windows, you dont have to restart, they dont bug you all the time, you can even get it to just automatically download all the updates while you're not doing anything.

2. programs are packaged by the distro themselves, if you want the newest version of audacity or blender or whichever program, getting them from the distro themselves is likely gonna give you a pretty old version. This doesnt stop you from just going to the website and downloading the newest version directly from the developer, just like how you'd normally install programs on windows, but you can be waiting ages for updates to get the newest version of Plasma which has fixes for something you have trouble with, and you're just stuck with the old buggier version (remember stable means unchanging, not bug-free)

3. many linux users are developers who want to make sure their programs and stuff work with the newest packages before they get put into stable distros, and many other linux users just like having shiny new things (MEEE)

I dont know if i had a point to this post. I just had the urge to write about distro release cycles. OH RIGHT, OpenSUSE.

OpenSUSE tumbleweed is a rolling release cycle and i really want to try it out just because from what i hear it's got all the newest stuff but still it goes through EXTENSIVE (but automatic, by robots) QA testing befor being pushed to the user, it's probably rolling release done best but it's crazy how nobody talks about it. I also hear it's got one of the best KDE Plasma experiences and yeah i've already been having issues with kubuntu. hopefully it goes well soooo idk

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wren-writes-things · 8 months ago

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Okay information on the Calamity Trio in my Amphibia TOH AU, because I felt like info dumping and because I've been thinking about the Owl House a lot lately. (Though I will probably post a more polished version of this once I complete some art pages for the AU, and some details may change in between that)

Anne (Luz Equivalent)

She first came to the Boiling Isles with Sasha (trying to find Marcy), only to be separated due to a combination of weird magical forest shenanigans and the start of a conflict brewing between them.

Lived in a forest near the Plantars' home for about a week until Sprig found her.

While she does encounter glyphs very early on she takes a long time to learn them (only actively practicing when it becomes very clear that the Plantars are in trouble).

Before she learns to use glyphs though she instead relies mostly on team work with Sprig and the later on the other witches that she has managed to connect with.

Enters Hexside as a single track student (hasn't fully settled on which track she would go in though). Though she mostly joined because of Sprig.

Sasha (Amity Equivalent)

Following her separation from Anne, she made her way to a Bonesborough.

Immediately she encountered the same issues that Luz of being in a hostile world except without the protection of a powerful witch. Additionally she found herself in conflict with the Emperor's coven. This lead to a strong distrust towards most witches. (Added with the fact that she just isn't a very trusting person overall

An early protection measure that she took was stealing a low power concealment stone to disguise herself as a witch.

Eventually through a series of complicated events ended up in partnership with Head Witch Grime and enrolls in Hexside as a bard track student. She has fairly consistently maintained the role of Top Student since then

Was given a Heron palisman by Grime to assist in falsifying her ability to use magic.

First reunites with Anne at Hexside, with a scheme that leads to Anne being banned from the school. This is later followed by a more tense reunion during the Covention mostly due to Grime and Sprig's involvement.

Marcy (Hunter Equivalent)

Arrived in the Boiling Isles before Anne and Sasha did (though not by much) and through a series of unknown events was found by the Emperor's Coven.

Despite very clearly maintaining her nerdy personality and fascination at pretty much every aspect of the Boiling Isles, her memories of the human realm appear to be completely gone. (The cause of this is complicated because I didn't want to fully go into the Grimwalker route, because... well you may not know this but I like Marcy and I'm not doing that.)

"Artificer Rogue" similar to canon Marcy, and has become incredibly involved with developing and improving on magically infused technology, various gadgets, and potions.

She rarely leaves the castle both due to the requirements of her position and general loyalty to Andrias. If traveling she generally goes with Lady Olivia which brings her to some important events (likely how she reunites with Anne).

Has access to her uncharged phone along with a bag containing some of her belongings.

A few other notes

The equivalent to Witches Before Wizards is an episode in which Anne is tricked into going on a quest to save Marcy and Sasha. And not going to lie a tiny, probably concerning part of me really wants to draw that ending.

Magically infused technology is significantly better developed though still quite rare in this setting. (Reasoning actually had nothing to do with Marcy but was great for establishing her role).

The equivalent to Understanding Willow/Hollow Mind is probably going to involve traveling into Marcy's mind, though I'm still settling on how that will play out

Anyway, this was a really random collection of details. I'll probably update more later, but if you have any questions feel free to ask.

#amphibia toh au #amphibia #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #marcy wu #wren’s amphibia stuff

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