#I fucking adore middle evolutions

[bedrock-to-buildheight]

You come across a family on your hike

[wee-snek]

Ineffable (pre-2000's) Timeline

Before the Beginning 

We don’t know how long before The Beginning this was, or how long they may have known each other in ‘heaven’ before Eden. We don’t know if one (or both) of them had their memory of the other erased (I think there's quite a lot of speculation about this, so I can't link just one example).  

Angel!Crowley is the most adorable thing in all creation, but he asks some very innocent and appropriate questions and Aziraphale is scared for him (and maybe scared of him?) 

Crowley shelters Aziraphale with their wing. Adorable. Love it. 

4004 BC: Eden 

Aziraphale gives away his flaming sword in his first official act of doing-good-against-God’s-wishes and Crowley immediately fucking eats it up.

"You're an angel, I don't think you can do the wrong thing" is well-intentioned but probably sets up a less-than-helpful anchoring point for Aziraphale's morality (see various points below about Aziraphale's moral evolution trajectory and rationalising Heaven's actions).

Aziraphale shelters Crowley from the rain (and the best part is that Crowley moves in, closer to Aziraphale, BEFORE Aziraphale puts his wing up. Fucking lovebirds. Ridiculous) 

3004 BC: The Flood 

Crowley seeks out Aziraphale at the flood. Essentially just shows up to flirt.

Aziraphale clearly doesn’t like the flood-and-death plan but he also isn’t ready to speak negatively about God. He defends the flood as “not that bad” and goes all “no comment” about killing kids (because he can’t actually defend that bit). Not a huge fan of heaven already by this point, but either too brainwashed or too scared (or both) to actively say anything non-conforming out loud.

Crowley is appalled by the idea of killing children, has always been a rebellious little cinnamon roll.

“You still have one [unicorn]” implies that Crowley either doesn’t know the point of the Ark (unlikely, he didn’t show up here by chance) or he doesn’t know about the birds and the bees. (Is it at all possible that Bildad The Professional Cobbler/Midwife still didn’t know what sex and childbirth were? No solid evidence that he had any plan other than pulling the ribs out. He’s so stupid)

(Theory: Others have considered that this meeting was more involved than what we’ve been shown so far because 1- by the Job incident Aziraphale is real damn convinced that Crowley won’t hurt the kids and 2- “sudden rainstorm forces them together under a canopy” doesn’t actually fit with either of the times our lovebirds sheltered the other under their respective wings, because neither time was sheltering “together”. So maybe this sudden rainstorm is what Crowley is actually referencing and there’s more here we haven’t seen). (Theory 2.0 is this wildly long meta that basically is a dissertation on why the kissed during the Flood and I’m here for it).

2500 BC: The Job Incident 

Ugh, I love this episode. Nothing but endless love for our baby Bildad.  

Appears to be a chance meeting between them.

They BOTH DEFY ORDERS to save the children.  

When the bird-goats make a noise, Crowley turns around before Aziraphale says anything. He was HOPING that Aziraphale would catch on, he was baiting his Angel to see that he was going to save the kids. Which, I mean, we all already know Crowley is a softie and he’s not really tried that hard to hide it from Aziraphale in the history we’ve seen so far, so…tone down the evil demon cosplay, babe. We’re past that.

Crowley saving the kids isn’t surprising. But we actually have a big jump for Aziraphale here. When we originally only had the Flood and the Crucifixion in S1, the evolution of Aziraphale’s “defence” of Heaven seems subtle and slow between those two short scenes. But throwing this epic story in the middle? Genuinely a MASSIVE shift from rationalising Heaven’s plans for the flood to assuming he knows what God is thinking + actively collaborating with a demon and trusting a demon more than his fellow angels + willing to be literally damned to save three random kids. (Could easily argue that this seeming anachronism in Aziraphale’s arc [along with Bildad’s stupid hair] makes it all the more plausible that there is a magic trick happening here).

Aziraphale says that Crowley is “technically” a demon. (I see what you’re getting at there. I see you, Aziraphale) 

Aziraphale tries human food for the first time. Odd sexual tension. I won’t elaborate.

When Aziraphale is sitting by the ocean, he’s waiting to be punished and thinks that’s why Crowley came over. But Crowley doesn’t know this. He was just coming over to spend more time with Aziraphale for totally platonic reasons.

Crowley has the chance to take Aziraphale to hell as a demon, and declines (hmmm, foreshadowing us all getting our hearts ripped out a few short episodes later???) 

Crowley’s appearance: people have speculated on why they look so different here compared to the Flood and the Crucifixion. My theory is that the other to flashbacks (seen in S1) are Crowley going about her life and just popping in to flirt with Aziraphale, whereas with Job, Crowley is showing up to work. The Bildad getup is a work outfit, demon cosplay. Long hair and no sunglasses is Crowley being himself, and silly hair silly glasses is creating a character to play while hiding his eyes because humans are around AND he’s vulnerable when hell is watching.

Bonus happy thought: when they get the kids in the cellar they start bickering like an old married couple/BLATANTLY flirting and the kids are just...so confused. Fucking delightful.  

33 AD: Crucifixion 

Crowley seeks out Aziraphale.  

Crowley has changed their name.  

By this time, when Crowley says “Heaven’s being a bit shitty” Aziraphale doesn’t actually defend Heaven? “I’m not consulted on policy decisions” is much closer to “I know they’re awful but I can’t change anything” as opposed to trying to rationalise that heaven must, by default, be good. (See note above about Aziraphale’s non-linear moral evolution).

Not much else here except Crowley looking their absolute most gorgeous in all of history.  

41 AD: Rome 

Crowley having a bad day. A lot of people have written about how after the Crucifixion and everything else that has happened so far, baby bean is fucking disillusioned as all hell.  

Crowley makes obvious ploy to get Aziraphale to ask him on a date, and it works. Delightful.  

Bonus happy thought: the little pins each of them is wearing on their togas? The fucking angel wings and the snake? Nothing but love for the Good Omens costume department.

537 AD: Wessex knights

No idea if they’ve met between Rome and now, but I’m pretty sure they have? Aziraphale recognizes Crowley’s voice immediately, I feel like they’ve talked sometime (oodles of times?) in the previous 500 years.  

Proposed Arrangement. Aziraphale very dramatically declines for corporate reasons. Not so much “working together is wrong” but that “working together is against the rules”.  

Could possibly argue that this feels like a step backwards for Aziraphale since the Job incident. But I think, no? With Job, the stakes were high and they were literally saving innocent lives. Here, The Arrangement is presented more like cheating on homework. Like, this is just a report for work, I’m not going to risk being reprimanded for something trivial like faking a sick day. Because Aziraphale still wants Heaven’s (God’s) approval quite badly: he’ll risk his life to save human lives, but not to save himself a trek to a castle.

1601: Globe Theatre 

By the now The Arrangement is well established. Aziraphale puts up a very lazy fight against it, but caves almost immediately.  

We can see already that Aziraphale is concerned that Crowley could get in trouble over their relationship, but I don’t think he has really realized how much danger Crowley is in? Like, if he genuinely thought destruction was on the line, he might have protested more. But it’s still important here that Aziraphale is concerned with Crowley’s safety above his own.  

I believe Aziraphale asked Crowley to meet up at the theatre from what Crowley says about “you said we would blend in with the crowds”.  

Bonus happy thought: I’ve seen people speculate about whether the coin toss was rigged. I choose to believe they BOTH rigged it so that Aziraphale would go to Scotland bc Crowley didn’t want to go, and Aziraphale knows that Crowley can’t ride a horse so was totally keen to save him from that ordeal.  

1650: not shown

Something happens and Aziraphale does the “I was wrong” dance 

I wrote elsewhere that this could be a promise of something we will be shown in Season 3 -OR- it could be a Clue that memories are missing (see The Magic Trick You Didn’t See)

Also, despite all the wonderful suggestions people have from actual history about what these two might have gotten mixed up in in 1650, my personal prediction is that if we see this in Season 3, the actual Thing that led to the dance will be extremely trivial, like Aziraphale knocks over Crowley's drink or something.

1793: The Bastille 

Aziraphale gets himself in a damsel-in-distress situation and Crowley “has to” save him. Obvious ploy to go on a date. Flawless.

Crowley is clearly following Aziraphale around, since he showed up at exactly the right time. Zero coincidence detected.

Aziraphale has absolutely no issue with the executioner being beheaded in his place. Bit ruthless to sacrifice a random stranger for the cause of taking your crush out to lunch.

At some point, Aziraphale does the “I was wrong” dance here. Hopefully over crepes.  

1827: Scotland 

Crowley essentially just takes Aziraphale on a date to a graveyard. Such a mood.  

Some obvious moral struggles for Aziraphale starting to realize that good and bad are not black and white and that extenuating circumstances exist.  

Whether or not you believe that this memory was tampered with, when Morag is dying, Aziraphale essentially asks for Crowley’s moral guidance. He could have just healed Morag, but he defers to Crowley for ?permission...I don’t know for sure, but it feels significant that he wants Crowley’s approval here before doing ‘good’. That has to mean something.  

“Last I saw of him for some time” is, at most, 35 years between here and St James Park, which means they are meeting up a lot more frequently now. We’re not regularly going decades/centuries between dates anymore. 

Edit: As others have noted, the wording in this diary entry is actually odd because when Aziraphale is writing this, he MUST have already seen Crowley again for that last bit to make sense. Which means we actually probably have quite a lot of “us time” between the Elsbeth flashback and St James park.

1862: St James Park 

Likely Definitely not the first time they have met up since the Scotland flashback (see edit above).

I THINK this is the first time we see Aziraphale’s personal tartan show up? He’s now officially created his own clan on Earth and is NOT wearing the official tartan of heaven. He later gives this tartan to Crowley which is Significant. 

Since our last meeting, Crowley has been dragged back to Hell and, presumably, punished, for what he did with Elsbeth/Morag. (The time spent in Hell was likely not necessarily a LONG time but still seems like it was a sobering event for Crowley where he seems to catch up with Aziraphale about how much danger they might be in).

Crowley asks for the holy water because he now realizes that he may need to protect himself (and Aziraphale?) from Hell if and when they figure out the scope of his ‘breach of the infernal code’ and retaliate.

1941: London Blitz 

Accepted by fans as likely the first time they have met up since the breakup in St James Park. As with the Bastille scene, it’s very clear that Crowley has been keeping track of Aziraphale (if not actively just following him around).

Obviously, canonically, the moment when Aziraphale realizes he is in love with Crowley.

Immediately after this realization, Aziraphale also realises how much Crowley is at risk from Hell by continuing to associate with him. This does not stop them from having a romantic glass of wine back at the bookshop.

Photograph of Crowley and Aziraphale exists, no clues as to what happens to it/who keeps it after the events of this night. I hope it’s in the photo album that I assume Aziraphale keeps with his diaries and little drawings of Crowley he’s made over the millennia.

At some point, presumably on this same night, Aziraphale does the “I was wrong” dance, but we don’t get to see that. Yet.

(Side note: I feel like by this point in their relationship, it’s really got to sting when Aziraphale assumes Crowley is the cause of whatever horrific thing humans are doing. I mean, what in the past 6,000 years would point to Crowley wanting to actually help nazis? It’s not funny anymore, Aziraphale, stop re-traumatising your boyfriend with baseless accusations.)

1967: Soho Heist 

Crowley plans the heist in the pub that is literally across the road from Aziraphale’s book shop 

Aziraphale finally gives Crowley holy water – whether this is because he’s actually worried about the danger of the heist, or if he has just come to his senses about the fact that Crowley is in mortal danger from Hell and may actually need a way to escape them if things go pear-shaped, or whether he’s just acts-of-love reaching out....could speculate for days on that.

He gives Crowley the holy water in a thermos with his personal tartan on it. 100% on their own side. Adorable.

Aziraphale isn’t wearing his bow tie in this scene. He still has his tartan, but he’s wearing it as a cravat instead, with his shirt unbuttoned at the top. I genuinely don’t know what this is supposed to mean, but the costume department is too good for it to be random. (It supposed to be flirty? Like, ooh, top button undone, basically naked? And that just necessitated losing the bow tie? Is there sartorial symbolism here about a cravat vs bow tie that I’m missing? Tell me what’s going on!?!)

“You go too fast for me” (ugh, gutted every time) 

Additional event: year unknown

In their earlier flashbacks, we see them travelling the world for their jobs.

At some point they both end up permanently stationed in London.

My assumption is - that originally it was just the two of them on earth, possibly for thousands of years. Then their territory was limited to the British Isles, and eventually, when there were too many “oodles” of humans, they both ended up just looking after London.

So, who was assigned to London first? Because it’s not a blind coincidence they’re both specifically in London - one got assigned to the London first and the other one deliberately FOLLOWED.

I am still updating this as I re-watch and read other folks’ posts.

These are mostly my observations with a few additional things thrown in that I’ve seen people discuss already here on Tumblr. I will try to link to them best I can, but my Good Omens saved posts are massive and I’m not sure I can find all the original posts who's theories I’ve mentioned here

[thebroccolination]

Behind the Scenes The Evolution of the Near-Punch in Between Us

Intro

One of my favorite things about any production is when I find out that there's been a collaborative effort in the storytelling and character-building. Between Us, directed by New Siwaj Sawatmaneekul, has a fantastic example of this: the evolution of the post-drowning scene in episode six.

So! Overall, there have been three iterations of the scene: the original in the novel, the pilot teaser released in February of 2022, and episode six of the main series.

Let's see how we got from A to Bee to Sea. (I'm not sorry.)

The Novel Scene

“Entering the pool without permission from an authorized person is breaking the rules. You can be kicked out of the club.” His fierce eyes were looking at the junior who was now very pale. “And if I had not noticed the light from the pool, which made me come to check, what would have happened?!” Win felt a chill in his heart. He had just walked past the club and had seen the lights. He thought he had forgotten to turn them off, so he came to check. But instead, he saw someone drowning in the middle of the pool. If he hadn’t come in time... “Answer me, Team! Why are you doing this?!” Win grabbed the boy's shoulder and forced him to make eye contact. “I wanted to practice.” “What?!” “I just wanted to practice so that I could get a good time tomorrow!!” “What fucking practice!!" Win shouted, his eyes redder than the person who almost drowned. "You almost drowned, you bastard!! you almost died in front of me, do you understand!” “I…” smack The senior punched him hard in the face with a force that caused him to sway. Team cried out and felt the taste of blood in his mouth. He wanted to make excuses, but when he saw the pain in the senior's eyes, he couldn't speak. “Hia, I...” “If I came one minute later. No, even if only thirty seconds later, you might have already drowned at the bottom of the pool, do you understand?” “I…” The boy hugged himself tightly. It was true. A few more moments and he would have... Team was shocked when his body was suddenly pulled and hugged, his face buried in Win’s chest. Win's whole body was trembling like a frightened animal. Team’s guilt was so overwhelming that he couldn't say anything, but he raised his hands and hugged him back. He gently stroked Win's wet back to comfort him. “Don't do this again...” “Mmm…” “My heart will break…” “Mmm…” Team hugged the senior more tightly as warm tears fell from his eyes. It was not only him who was hurt. Hia was, too. - Hemp Rope (Eng Translation)

To summarize, Team is nervous about the upcoming qualifying meet. He only got two hours of fitful, nightmare-ravaged sleep on his own the night before, so he decides swimming will help him sleep. He sneaks into the pool, doesn't stretch, and swims until his leg cramps up. He nearly drowns, Win saves him, berates him, punches him, hugs him, takes him home, etc.

In many ways, it's very similar to the scene we got in the main series. But it's different enough that I wanted to talk about it.

I've talked about my personal perspective on the novel scene before. Basically, I've drawn a line in my head between Novel WinTeam and Main Series WinTeam. Novel WinTeam are LazySheep's creation, so what they do and say and think and feel are primarily decided by LazySheep and her editor. Main Series WinTeam, however, were created through the close collaboration of Sheep acting as a scriptwriter adapting her work for the screen, New, and WinTeam's actors Boun and Prem. (And opinions and reactions from fans and professionals affiliated with the series have also likely shaped their development along the way.)

[Sheep drew and posted this adorable comic of WinTeam and BounPrem together the day Between Us was first announced on July 5th, 2020.]

Boun's Win has always had a casual, insouciant kind of charisma that feels inherently nonthreatening, whereas Novel Win sometimes feels more like a Dude. A Good Dude, but a Dude nonetheless. Then we have Prem's Team who is, simply put, sassy and adorable, whereas Novel Team is also, y'know, kind of a Dude.

Take the hookup scene as an example. In the novel, there's no conversation about consent, no careful check that Team's sober and aware of what's going on. It's just what you'd expect from two horny guys down to bone: some light banter and then Win gives Team a handjob while they're still outside. And that's fine! It's realistic! It's probably happening somewhere right now. <3

“What do you want me to help you with?” Win crossed his arms across his chest and looked at the junior who was clearly uncomfortable and looked like he was ready to slap his face. “If you leave it like this, it's torture, don’t you know? It'll be very uncomfortable. Just helping each other as friends, right?” He raised his eyebrows, challenging the junior. Team turned around and peered at the darkness around him. Only the sound of the waves from the beach hitting the shore and the laughing sounds of the other young men who were still at the barbecue could be heard. “What are you looking at?” Team gulped and asked tentatively. Win shrugged his shoulders, pulled the upper arm of the junior, and walked towards the dark corner of the bungalow and into the dense, quiet bushes. “Shit! Huh, really? Seriously?” Team, who had never let a friend help him jerk off, was feeling light-headed. The more he saw, the more he knew that hia was serious. Team was startled when he was suddenly turned to face the bungalow wall. “Shush, don’t make any noise. People in the next room will hear,” Win said while pushing his leg in between Team’s own legs to push them apart. Team squinted and stared at the senior with shock. So skillful! “Mmmm…” The boy could barely hold his breath when he felt the warmth on his back. His elastic pants were pulled down along with his underwear. He almost didn’t want to believe what he was doing right now. - Hemp Rope (Eng Translation)

This is just standard hookup culture. Team's hot, Win's DTF, Team makes the startling realization that he, too, is DTF, so they go off and F. After the handjob, Win goes to his room, then Team hesitates and follows him. No coercion, just like the series. We don't get the sex scene in detail, but we know from Team's narration that they did in fact have some good ole fashioned penetrative sex that night (with protection!). And then they don't have sex again. We're up to chapter seventeen of Hemp Rope, and so far, chapter one is the only time they've Done the Deed. [EDIT 12-16-2022: Chapter eighteen was released yesterday and -spoiler- there’s a note from the author saying WinTeam have sex there but she’s releasing the scene later on as bonus material.]

I bring this up to emphasize that these are different characters from the ones BounPrem are portraying. So when I read the chapter with the punch, I thought it fit. Because it's who they are in the novel. We don't really see Win's insecurities explored in Hemp Rope, so for me, punching Team came across as evidence of how frantic and primal his fear of losing Team was, and perhaps a bit of his role of club senior crossing wires in his brain with his role as Team's Surrogate Sentient Bolster Pillow.

It's also worth noting that Team sneaking into the club in the novel is framed as a bad thing that he knows he could get in trouble for.

He risked getting caught sneaking in. The tall, slim body of the intruder was standing on the edge of the pool, staring blankly at his reflection in the water. Initially, Team was determined to go back to his room, but after he thought it over, he was so nervous that he couldn't sleep. He decided to sneak into the club to practice for a couple of hours. It might help him feel more comfortable and sleep better. - Hemp Rope (Eng Translation)

He's sneaky about it. He doesn't casually tell Manaow or anyone that he's going. There's no plan to stay with Pharm, no DeanPharm date that stops him. He's just an ornery, sleep-deprived cat in a bad headspace, so he sneaks into the pool knowing it's going to get him in trouble if he's caught. In essence, he isn't framed as Team the Terribly Tragic: he's exhausted, sure, but he's also being irresponsible.

So to me, the punch in the novel felt like a, "You nearly died in front of me because you broke the rules to practice for a qualifying meet you wouldn't even have remembered in five years, you spectacular idiot." And because Win and Team being more Dudes' Dudes in the novel, that gave them an added feeling of Dudes Being Guys Who Punch. (See Also: PeteKao) It's not right or good of Win to do, but for me, the situation made sense for the characters as they are in the novel.

That brings us to:

The Pilot Teaser

The pilot teaser was our first visual of the scene, released in February of 2022.

According to behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, BounPrem practiced the punch with New on the set multiple times before they started rolling. So it was fully in the cards as something they were going to do.

But then, in the middle of the scene itself, Boun made a different choice.

Thing is, Win does hug Team in the novel. Boun just skipped the punch. When he was asked about it, Boun said he didn't feel like Win would ever hit Team.

And this is where I have a ton of respect for New and Sheep and their production: they listened to him. And then they actually incorporated his choice into the canon.

In the same pilot teaser where Boun literally pulled his punches, Prem cried after singing, even though the script didn't mention anything about Team crying. When Sheep asked him why, Prem said, "I just think Team would cry."

And again, they listened to him. They kept it.

Yesterday, Sheep did a Twitter Space talk with fans where she said Prem has been devotedly asking her if he's portraying Team correctly. She told him warmly that he knows how to play Team, and the version he portrays in the series is Team, but a Team who is fully his.

The thing with great adaptations is that they have to be allowed to become their own creation. Boun and Prem have lived with these characters in their hearts for so long that they have their own readings now of how they feel and breathe. Boun loves Win so much he said he felt empty when they unofficially wrapped up filming last month; Prem loves Team so much he's asked Sheep over and over to confirm and reconfirm that WinTeam get a happy ending (they do). They're not just doing this for a paycheck; this is a passion project. WinTeam gave them their spotlight, and they viscerally treasure these roles.

And to me, the fact that their feelings and thoughts were discussed and put into practice on the fly is really, immensely beautiful to me.

The Main Series

Now for the version we all saw yesterday.

I was so excited to see this scene. It's my second favorite in the novel (the first being the homophobia scene that we'll see next week in episode 7), and I was wildly curious about what else they'd added or adapted around Boun's punch-less choice.

First of all, the energy from both Boun and Prem is a lot higher than it was in the pilot teaser, and you can see the calm leave Win's eyes when Team gives his excuse.

The pilot teaser scene was great, and I think it fit the novel well, but the main series has been building up to Win's breakdown, so this scene really had to sell it. The script has been hinting at insecurities that are all yanked out for display in this scene.

I think Boun might have ad-libbed the "damn it" part, too, which made it my favorite line delivery of the scene. Win's voice not only breaks because he's so angry, it's also higher in tone than Win usually speaks, underscoring how out of his mind and beyond rationality he is.

Then we get to the raised fist.

And what I love about these three shots in succession is that we go from: fist, face, combination of both. The action, the emotion, the realization.

Then we see moment he realizes what he was about to do, and what he can't do.

And finally, what he chooses instead.

They took Boun's character choice and built on it beautifully. His raised fist in the pilot teaser is quick and angry and impulsive, but the main series shows him shaking and angry and terrified. He has the impulse, but he's a rational person at his core, and the sight of Team accepting whatever Win is going to do to him, because he believes he deserves it, is what snaps Win out of it.

Win's been portrayed by Boun in three different iterations now: 1) Until We Meet Again, in which he didn't have a lot of material to work with, so he let Win borrow some of his own personality traits. 2) The Between Us special episodes released in autumn of 2021. These aren't canon and were based on Sheep's social media skits that she just posted for fun. The episodes were produced as a symbol of gratitude to fans for waiting so long for the main series. As a result, the characterization in the special episodes is all over the place, and they were extremely aware of it. SWS staff and actors made a lot of jokes on social media about which scenes were BounPrem and which were WinTeam, so they're very much Grain of Salt content. 3) The main series currently airing.

Ever since Boun was cast as Win in spring of 2019, he's spent a little over three and a half years with this character, so it makes sense that the character's depth would become more and more multifaceted through his choices. Sheep started posting chapters of Hemp Rope back in or before 2017 even before the rights to The Red Thread had been sold to New and Wabi Sabi. There was no Boun, no Prem, no UWMA. Just a fun little hookup-to-lovers story with some trauma thrown in.

When Boun was cast, some fans of the novel complained that he was too thin and he looked nothing like the character. Putting aside my own very normal feral yet parasocial feelings of protectiveness for Boun and how much unnecessary pressure fans put on actors to look a certain way, there are indeed some superficial differences between the novel character and the actor. Physically, Win is drawn and described by Sheep as broad and muscular, even more so than Dean.

Team looked at him with a sharp expression. Then he moved his eyes to Win’s abs. Because he was a very attractive person, he did not like to wear shirts. He liked to show off his tattoos regardless of his roommate. Looking at those abdominal and chest muscles, Team grabbed his own muscles. Mm, pretty good. - Hemp Rope (Eng Translation)

Sheep was a little hesitant about Boun at first because of this, but New stuck by his casting choice. Once people saw Boun with his hair dyed, it's been said by older fans that the majority of the complaints ended. With this in mind, the Win we have now was always going to be a different version from his novel self purely because New and Sheep chose an actor by his skill and his chemistry with his screen partner rather than by a physical likeness to the character.

After Boun was cast as Win, and after Sheep got to know him and Prem, and after Between Us was green-lit, she continued writing new chapters of Hemp Rope with a slightly newer take on the characters. She's said on Twitter that she's struggled to separate BounPrem from the characters (mostly jokingly), and she was also adapting the script for the series at the same time, so a lot of character building was going on at this time.

In 2021, Sheep wrote a long, long thread on Twitter telling fans how anxious and afraid she was of getting Between Us wrong. Not for herself, but for BounPrem. For New. For the queer community. She's an author who truly understands, to a debilitating degree, the amount of influence her work has. She knew this is BounPrem's first major series as leading actors, and she clearly felt the stress of that responsibility as the scriptwriter.

This whole scene does so much to showcase their strengths and growth as actors. Just like the scene itself, they've evolved over the years and shaped the characters and their story.

Hemp Rope doesn't deeply explore Win's insecurities and flaws, but Between Us needed to because it shines a spotlight on both of them. To make this a full and complete series, they needed to add to the story LazySheep created, and I believe that Boun and Prem's contributions, delivered from a place of love for their characters, will be what elevates Between Us into a truly iconic series.

[adobe-outdesign]

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on an abra line review, if you feel like discussing it!

(You ask that like I'm not ready to launch into a 600 page essay on this line at any given second)

Abra is one of the cutest Pokemon out there to me, though granted I might be slightly biased. I think part of it is that it's not overly human-like; it's very much just a very sleepy baby animal, and that's adorable.

Design-wise, normally I'd say it's a bit too close to Kadabra for its own good. The hands, markings, head, etc. are all different, but it's still pretty similar, especially when you see it stand up:

However, what saves it is how it works conceptually. Instead of just acting like a mini Kadabra, it instead is a perpetual sleepyhead that subconsciously teleports if it senses trouble. That, in and of itself, is an excellent concept for a psychic-type, and gives it a very distinct feeling from the rest of the line along with a unique catching mechanic.

Also, I really like the reason why it sleeps all the time:

The whole line, in general, has this thing going on where they're like psychic horses and die if you look at them wrong, both stat-wise and lore wise (Abra's abilities put a strain on its mind, Kadabra gets headaches, Alakazam needs to hold its head up with its kinesis then all of its muscles atrophy when it mega evolves...), so this works really well with that theme and provides a logical reason for why its asleep most of the time.

Kadabra is my all time favorite Pokemon. 10000/10 everyone else go home we're done here

Okay no but seriously, there really is nothing about Kadabra that I don't love. It's some kind of kaiju with an insect-like body, a fox head, and a giant fat gecko tail for good measure. It uncontrollably fucks up its environment just by existing. One of its dex entries is a Kafka reference. Incredible.

Design-wise, one interesting tidbit about Kadabra is that it was actually designed first and the rest of the line came way later, judging by production data (and ranked #25 in the initial early popularity polls they did, good for it). You can kind of tell looking at it, as Abra and especially Alakazam are just kind of extensions of Kadabra with less elements on them. Considering how good the overall line is it makes me wonder if they should start more lines by creating the middle evo first.

I also really like the markings. They're based off of Zener cards, which are supposed to be used to detect ESP in people.

Not only do they look really cool (and serve a practical purpose; according to the 'dex, they're used to store energy for evolution), but it's a nice way to hint at the magician theme the line has while not being as literal as the spoons.

Speaking of the spoons, I know some don't like them (and I get why), but I actually think they work pretty well. They help communicate the magician theme, they serve a practical purpose (they enhance and focus their psychic powers), and it's explained how they get them (they make them using their abilities). There's actually a surprising amount of thought put into them, and Kadabra is often posed or animated to be focusing on the spoons.

In all fairness though, I might as well nitpick the design a little. The crotch squiggles are... well, I just used the term "crotch squiggles". You need them there to make the Zener card motif clear, but they might've been better off on the back or something. Also, not sure what the purpose of the plate is there either; a more pointed waist piece like Alakazam has probably would've made more sense. That's it, though, and those are just things that could objectively be improved, not things that bother me personally.

As you can probably guess from Kadabra being my all-time fav, I don't like Alakazam's design as much. But that's not to say it's bad--I would actually change very little about it, aside from maybe keeping the markings--and it does an excellent job of looking like a more powerful, more mature Kadabra.

The main thing with Alakazam is that it becomes noticeably more humanoid, not only losing the giant tail (a crime, really), but also just in terms of proportions. I totally get why most people would prefer this, but I love how Kadabra is like a weird blend of 17 different animals, and you don't get that as much as Alakazam.

Actually, if there was something else I'd change aside from just adding markings, it would be to make it look a bit more like the old art:

Alakazam's original artwork gave off a completely different Vibe(TM). The head was considerably bigger in proportion to the body, reflecting the 'dex mentioning it needing kinesis to hold its own head up, and it was always hunched over, arms almost dragging on the ground. It really look like something that could blow up your brain with a thought.

Also, some parts of the design just don't look as good as they do on Kadabra. The longer mustache/whiskers don't feel nearly as natural as Kadabra's, the feet are a weird chunky shape instead of the bird feet Abra and Kadabra have, and even the way it's constantly clutching two spoons feels a bit weird. It doesn't really use them as a focus like Kadabra does, they're just kind of there all the time, and it just feels a bit awkward to me. Also, what happened to the claws on its hands?

However, I love the 'dex entries about its high intelligence (once again, giving each stage of the line something unique), the purple expanding to give it a pair of bracers and knee pads, etc. So it's still pretty great in my book; just not as great as its pre-evo.

I do like mega Alakazam's design quite a bit, and I want to disclaim that because I need to rant about the forehead gem for a second: WHY DOES IT HAVE A FOREHEAD GEM. So many psychic-types have forehead gems, the Abra line was one of the few that didn't, so why turn around and give them one?? But it's especially weird because many megas incorporate elements from the pre-evos, and Kadabra already has a forehead marking. Just use the plus sign or square from the Zener card markings, that would've been perfect and fit with the line more thematically!!

Though on the plus side, the 'dex describes that not as a gem but as an "organ", and the thought of that being soft and filled with blood is certainly weird enough to get it a few points back in my book:

Anyway, foreheads aside, I do like the design quite a bit, maybe even more than regular Alakazam. A lot of megas just feel like the base Pokemon but More(TM), so M. Alakazam does a really good job at advancing things in a way that feel purposeful. The way the head now forms a star, the way Alakazam's bracers extend to form robe-like "sleeves", the mustache becoming a full beard, ect. Even the way it transitions from magician to guru kind of makes sense, given that the 'dex talks about how spiritual the line is (though I do prefer the magician angle, just because it's a really unique angle; we already have a few other meditative guru-like Pokemon after all). Not to mention how the muscle atrophy fits with the line's frailness, with a torso so small you could wrap your hands around it.

I also really like how the spoons are handled here. Not only increasing the amount from two to five to show how much stronger it is than its base form, but also levitating them above itself, which feels much more natural than Alakazam constantly clutching them in both its fists. Also, minor thing, but I like how the feet perfectly lock together as well.

I think my sole complaint, outside of the gem, is that I would've liked to see the beard be more yellow and gradient into a white, just because having it all be white feels a hair overpowering (pun not intended but I'll take it). Other than that, it's solid.

So overall, an excellent line. I have few issues outside of a couple nitpicky complaints. Kadabra's still the best though (in my heart).

[j-ellyfish]

Do you hate some pokemon evolution?

Of course, who doesn't xD Sooo, I'm taking it as, Pokémon I quite enjoy in their base stage, but whose evolution/s disappoint me to the point I'd never use that Pokémon in my life (unless I give it an Everstone maybe).

First, we have my biggest disappointment ever. This was the first time GameFreak disappointed me and gave me trust issues. Look at this baby!!

A cute, purple, round bunny thingy!! Very fearful and sensitive, will cry loudly at the smallest sound that makes it uncomfortable. I want to protecc. But THEN. It evolves and becomes THIS T_T

But huh, okay you know what, let's give it a chance, some Pokémon have weird middle evos but the final one is cool. So, let's evolve this atrocity again

WHAT. THE. FUCK. Why did they have to ruin my baby like that??! Whoever came up with this evolutionary line is a fucking asshole and I hate them. I still hope for Whismur to get an alternate evolution that stays cute and lovely, or a regional/convergent form. Honestly with the concept behind Whismur it could surely be developed in a cute monster too. Whismur is a quiet and highly sensitive Pokémon that evolves to be very loud and rugged and ugly. An alternate evolution could make Whismur become even more sensitive and develop the Psychic or Fairy Type. Please!! Q-Q

Another Pokémon that, in my opinion, ruined its evolutionary line is Obstagoon. Which is a shame because Galarian Linoone isn't bad at all.

Also, they made two cat starters and two times they disappointed me :/ Litten is cool up until Torracat but then?? Aaargh.

And idk, I don't mind Floragato too much but there's a reason I decided to make my Sprigatito hold an Everstone till level 100 and keep it an adorable quadrupedal kitten forever.

Why tf did they turn Litten into a man and Sprigatito into a woman, I hate it in here. Listen, I'd just love for my cat starter to stay on four damned legs for all of its evolutionary line. Is that too much to ask for?? q-q Omw to be disappointed with the potential water kitty too.

There are probably more that I'm forgetting right now (eh, with over 1000+ species, you gotta have at least several designs you hate, right? xD), but these are the ones that came to my mind right now, so yeah. No offense to people who like them, ofc.

[tyrantisterror]

Wizard School Mysteries Trivia

My fourth novel, Wizard School Mysteries Book 1: The Meddlesome Youths, released a few months ago, and I didn’t do a trivia thread for it like the two ATOM books because... I forgot, honestly.  I mean, I did do a couple posts about its inspirations and how it plays with the mystery solving teens genre tropes, but I didn’t do an ATOM-style “here’s a bunch of my silly little allusions and in-jokes.”

But since there’s a TV Tropes page for it now, I think it might be fun to go ahead and do that.  I mean, it definitely will for me, but maybe also for you!

Warning: There will be a great deal of discussion of Harry Potter, because in some ways Wizard School Mysteries is to Harry Potter what Lord of the Flies is to The Coral Island.  Also there’s a lot of spoilers ahead, so, you know, read the book first if you’re worried about that sort of thing.

Read on after the cut!  Or don’t.  I’m not your boss.

- One of the reasons I decided to make this the first Midgaheim novel I published was that the school setting naturally lent itself to showcasing a great deal of Midgaheim’s various quirks as a setting.  But we could probably do with some elaboration anyway, right?

- Midgaheim is divided into countries in the medieval sense rather than the modern.  Each country is further divided into kingdoms, which are divided into various duchies, earldoms, baronies, etc., which are further separated by the vast amounts of wilderness separating individual towns and cities from each other.  It results in a somewhat different relationship to nationality than most of my readers are probably familiar with.

- The countries in Midgaheim are primarily based on different European mythologies: Germanor = Norse Mythology, Ruslovak = Slavic Mythology, Mediterra = Greco-Roman Mythology, Celpict = Celtic Mythology.  The sort-of exceptions are Francobreton and Castalan, which are based more on variations of folklore than specific mythologies.  Like, there were a LOT of different mythologies in Spain during the middle ages, because Spain was this big travel hub, so you get stuff like Basque mythology intermingling with Arthuriana and Celtic mythology and the result is really too fascinating to easily summarize, so rather than try to separate those ingredients I decided to keep its Midgaheim counterpart this wonderful melting pot of different cultures.

- Francobreton/Francane and Bretonce is simultaneously two countries and one country because the folklore traditions it’s inspired by were so intricately tied up in the weird on-again off-again relationship France and Britain had with each other in the middle ages.  Like, Arthuriana is probably the most authentically British folklore around (even if it was originally ripped off from Welsh legends), and yet a huge part of Arthurian canon comes from France, because during all the times France and Britain were united by way of royal marriages, the nobility of France REALLY liked these stories of knights and round tables.  And, again, the real life stuff going on behind the evolution of the folklore seems too interesting to me to cast aside, so we get Francane and Bretonce, aka Francobreton, the will they/won’t they country/countries.  I even decided to be cheeky and reference it in how the countries are named - Bretonce is basically Britain with the “ce” of France, and Francane is France with the “ain” of Britain.  People in Francane speak Frankish (France + the ish of British), and people of Bretonce speak Bretonch (Britain + the “ch” of French).  Of course, Frankish is already an archaic way of referring to people/things from France, but eh, it still works well enough for me.

- The Mediterran Empire's many wars of conquest are inspired by the Roman Empire, which repeatedly tried to conquer all of Europe, and which historians have romanticized for centuries for some fucking reason (and subsequent empires have tried to imitate it with less-romanticized results).  Unfortunately for them, Magic adores underdogs, so the Mediterrans have never reached the same level of success in world-conquering as their real world inspiration.  But they keep trying, the little imperialist shitheads!

-  The prologue of book 1 is called “He’s Leaving Home as an homage to the Beatle’s Song “She’s Leaving Home,” which also gets directly referenced by some of the action in the chapter.  It’s one of my favorite songs because it has so many different feelings in it, and which is most prominent kind of depends on your mood.  It’s also, you know, the story of a young person running away from home so they can finally be the person they want to be and live the life they want to lead, which is more or less James Chaucer’s situation at the start of the book.

- Ok, first of the “This is a Harry Potter rebuttal” bits: I wanted to handle the nature of abuse differently in this story than Rowling did.  Both James Chaucer and Harry Potter come from abusive households, but while the Harry Potter series revels in showing this over-the-top, Roald Dahl-style exaggerated caricature of abuse, I decided to just... not show it, at least not explicitly.  Like a lot of effective horror, I decided to keep the gruesome details in your imagination rather than in the text.  We get glimpses from disquieting things James says when he slips and lets his trauma seep out in normal conversations, which hopefully is enough.  I feel like that’s honestly a bit more of a common experience for people than seeing an abusive family at its worst - I’ve had a number of friends from bad home situations, and honestly the moments when they accidentally described some traumatic shit they encountered in a blasé tone as if it’s something everything experienced was horrifying enough for me to grasp, and hopefully it works that way for the reader as well.  I don’t think fiction needs to recreate trauma in agonizing detail to show the effect it has on people.

- James Chaucer, our protagonist, is obviously a riff on Harry Potter, with his glasses and messy black hair and abusive domestic life.  His first name is the same as Harry Potter’s dad’s, but that’s not the only reason I chose it - it’s also a reference to King James, who was terrified of witches and wrote one of the most important texts about magic in Britain as a result of it, Demonology.  James Chaucer’s last name is a reference to Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the Cantebury Tales, which is hugely important piece of Medieval British literature.  James Chaucer’s deadname follows this pattern: Elizabeth was the name of the monarch of England that preceded King James, and Marlowe is the name of a British playwright who probably would have been the most famous of his time if he hadn’t died young and been outshined by a young upstart named William Shakespeare.

- Helseng, the ambiguously (in?)human character wearing blue who offers helpful if cryptic advice to the main character is, in fact, a reference to the Persona series.  She was almost named Inga, because all the blue-clad ambiguously human advice givers in Persona are named after characters from Frankenstein, with their leader being called Igor while the rest are named after characters from the books.  Since the Persona series has gone on long enough to be running pretty low on characters from the book to take names from, I’ve wondered if later installments will have to take from Frankenstein movies instead, and thus almost decided to name my blue-clad advice giver after a character from Young Frankenstein.  But that seemed a bit too close to the inspiration, so I decided to switch gears and draw a name from a different Gothic Horror novel that has just as much influence on culture, i.e. Dracula.  ‘Cause I fucking love Dracula.  I then warped the spelling a bit, and so Helseng got her name.

- James meeting Gretchen (a nerdy girl with bushy hair) and Ivan (a goofy guy who’s kind but also very insecure and a little clingy) on the way to the wizard school is a pretty obvious riff on Harry Potter.  The aim was to feel familiar, but off - Gretchen is significantly more acerbic than Hermione, yet also integrates into being a friend to the other two way quicker, and while Ivan shares Ron’s insecurity, he’s, you know, not a jealous dick about it, and James takes a leadership role out of the three not because he’s a famous chosen one, but because he’s charismatic and driven in a way the others recognize.

- Yes, Gretchen is trans too.  It’s not as explicit in this book as James’s trans status because she’s not the protagonist of the series, but it’s something I plan to explore more in later entries.  Both James (the equivalent of Harry Potter’s titular main character) and Gretchen (the equivalent of Hermione, aka J.K. Rowling’s self insert character) being trans was a choice made both for thematic reasons and for sheer, petty spite towards J.K. Rowling.  I transed your wizards, bitch!

- So, in Slavic folklore, the name “Ivan” has roughly the same connotations as the name “Jack” does in British folklore, i.e. it’s a common name for everyman protagonists who, while unassuming on the outside, prove wily and quick-on-their wits when confronted with a supernatural obstacle.  That’s the sort of character I wanted Ivan to be: a simple small-town boy who’s capable of a lot more than anyone (himself included) thinks he is.  His last name, Muromets, comes from a more specific hero in Slavic mythology, Ilya Muromets.

- I was trying to think of names that sounded both nerdy and either German or Scandinavian for Gretchen, and arrived on her first name without fully understanding why it felt nerdy to me.  It was only when I was about halfway through draft 1 of the book that I realized Gretchen was the name of the nerd girl in Disney’s Recess, a show I put on as background noise in the morning during middle school.  Her last name, Pappenheimer, comes from a real life family that was found guilty of witchcraft and executed in Germany.

- Gernderf Dermberder is a satirical deconstruction* of the “wise wizard mentor” archetype, as subtly hinted by the fact that his name sounds like two of the most famous examples of that archetype if you tried to say their names after stuffing your cheeks full of marshmallows like some sort of human squirrel.

*I say “deconstruction,” but one of the oldest arguably the most famous examples of this trope, Merlin, isn’t too far from Gernderf in terms of overall incompetence, as most versions of Arthuriana show Merlin to be a well-intentioned but ultimately flawed teacher whose own inability to truly understand goodness is instrumental in Camelot’s downfall.

- Harry Potter Rebuttal 2: Albus Dumbledore is one of the worst school administrators in all of fiction.  He’s SUPER good at grooming a child into becoming a loyal assassin to use against wizard Hitler, sure, but when it comes to running a school he’s just absolute dogshit.  He hired Gilderoy Lockhart!  He allowed Snape to routinely abuse students without any repercussions!  He threw Hagrid, a first-time teacher, to the fuckin’ wolves after giving him no real training in education AND no safety net!  As the main administrator of the school, all of these and other bits of fuckery fall on Dumbledore’s shoulders, and the narrative more or less glosses over it.  I bring this up because in many ways this is the crux of Gernderf Dermberder’s character: what would the wizard school narrative be like if we acknowledged how shitty it would be to have an admin who cares more about his vendetta against a cartoonishly evil supervillain than actually running a good school?

- Speaking of Dumbledore, the sleazy, used car salesman-esque take on him from A Very Potter Musical definitely had more than a little influence on how I wrote Gernderf Dermberder.  It’s a fun take!

- I wrote Gernderf’s lines with Matt Berry’s strange vocal inflections in mind, so there’s a little gift for you when you read the series from now on.

- So, remember in the second Harry Potter book where the ghost of Voldemort’s teenage diary reveals that he picked his supervillain name by creating an anagram from his real name - “Tom Marvollo Riddle” becomes “I am Lord Voldemort” - and how that’s, like, hilariously stupid and asinine for a character who is later more or less Hitler if he was a wizard?  I peppered Wizard School Mysteries with characters whose names are anagrams as a fun little riff on that.  For example, take Lord Dhenregirr’s name, remove the word “lord,” and rearrange the letters!  You might find something illuminating about his role in the narrative!

- You can also find a fun anagram in the first name of Lornwig Kayjay, the student in Fair Folk Studies class who seems to actively antagonize the professor with her steadfast commitment to the idea that people and creatures belong in strict categories that can be written off as pure good or pure evil depending on her whims.  Heck, the last name might also be illuminating, albeit not as an anagram.

- Harry Potter Rebuttal 3: the whole idea of being sorted into houses that are defined by easily digested character traits was a huge part of Harry Potter’s toyetic appeal, and while as a young Harry Potter fan I did buy into the conceit, I also always thought it was weird that people only were friends with kids in their same house (until the later books, anyway).  I mean, it makes sense in a plot structure way, as it gives all your hero kids a quick reason to always be together and whatnot, but it just feels counterintuitive to the nature of people, especially kids.  When an authority figure tells you “you have to be friends with these random strangers we’ve assigned to you,” the natural impulse is to say “fuck that” and go find people you actually like on your own.  With this in mind, I had my sorting ceremony specifically break up the core trio - James, Ivan, and Gretchen all end up in different dormitories and are forced to room with people they haven’t pre-established a relationship.  It’s intended to continue playing with the expectations Harry Potter set up for wizard school stories - rather than belonging to the Hero House, our three heroes end up in separate places, and have to build their friendship in spite of lacking that commonality connection.

- A more shallow riff on Harry Potter also occurs in the sorting ceremony, with the sorting hat being replaced with four fairy corpses whose restless ghosts call out to students when they’ve decided which dormitory they belong to.  I think magic should have an inherent creepiness/danger to it, and I thought this was a quick way to establish that Midgaheim is a setting where messing with the arcane if fucking dangerous.

- Polybeus Antony is obviously a riff on Draco Malfoy, being a pompous blonde boy who looks down on our hero’s first male friend while also demanding the hero form a friendship with himself instead.  As some readers have noted, James bucks tradition by refusing to take Polybeus’s enforced rivalry seriously.  I wanted the pair of them to have a similar dynamic as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, with Polybeus trying too damn hard to make trivial drama happen and James undercutting it with trickster shenanigans.  Really, Polybeus is more akin to the Very Potter Musical version of Draco Malfoy than the actual canon version.

- Polybeus’s first name comes from the urban legend video game cabinet, Polybius, with just a slight change in spelling to make it feel more Greek Mythology-y.  His last name comes from Mark Antony from, uh, real life world history, for no particular reason other than I wanted each Meddlesome youth to have at least one name that felt kind of modern and normal, even if it’s spelled a bit weird.

- James Chaucer’s roommate, Rodrigo Cervantes, takes his last name from Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, which is one of the first and most famous works of literature that is an explicit parody of a specific fantasy genre.  His first name has no significance, I just think “Rodrigo” is a cool name.

- Harry Potter Rebuttal 4 (I told you there’d be a lot of these): there’s no shortage of bad teachers in Harry Potter, both because J.K. Rowling made a lot of them terrible on purpose and because she clearly doesn’t know a lot about education and made many of her “good” teachers pretty terrible on accident as a result, but the narrative generally seems to think this is just an inevitability that no one needs to do anything about.  Snape’s out here traumatizing kids so bad that magical creatures who become a person’s deepest fears turn into him around certain students, and he’s never faced any disciplinary action for it?  What the fuck, dude?  I mean, yes, this is definitely something that occurs in the real world, but the fact that all the “good” characters feel there’s nothing to be done about it is pretty screwed up, and as a person who’s worked in education, it feels like a huge missed opportunity for a story about kids in a school where some of the teachers are abusive to just... do nothing with that plot point.  So that’s where the Sorcery Studies plotline of this book came in - if we’re going to bring in abusive teachers, then let’s actually treat that abuse as a serious problem.

- Alys Evelina is... well, not a deconstruction per se, but a... riff, I guess, on Severus Snape.  Like Snape, she’s highly knowledgeable on the subject she teaches, has a clear prejudice against certain people that she’s very vocal about, has a personal grudge against one student in particular that she gets increasingly obsessive over, and is well-liked by the chief administrator of the school and as such gets a free pass to do whatever she likes, more or less.  Most of the ways she’s different actually make her a bit less awful - Alys is actually pretty good at teaching when not bullying a student, forgoing the lectures that Snape (and most of the Hogwarts teachers) utilize in favor of a more student focused teaching style that allows for greater participation on the class’s part.  She’s genial to most of her students, breaks down her subject in an easy to digest way, and can be very good at positive reinforcement.  She just also happens to be a bigot who bullies people that don’t fit her narrow view of what a “good” student should be.  Like a lot of real-world bullies, Alys thinks she is in the right because the victim of her abuse has broken an unspoken social contract by existing in a way she doesn’t find proper, and feels both morally justified and entitled to bully her victim as a result.  While it’s not necessarily more realistic than Snape’s general purpose assholery, I do think it’s more chilling in some ways to see Alys act genuinely kind and nurturing to most of her students while simultaneously being unthinkingly cruel to the one who doesn’t fit her standards.  And while Snape’s flagrant abuse of his students is just, well, a character quirk I guess, Aly’s abuse is a prominent subplot and force of conflict that has to be resolved.

- Actually Lord Dhenregirr could also be considered a riff on Severus Snape, since he’s the obviously-evil character introduced early on to draw your suspicion only to prove more or less harmless (I mean, Snape isn’t harmless, but the narrative treats the harm he does as trivial for some fucking reason).

- Margot d’Francane’s first name comes from Margot de la Barre, a French woman who was accused of witchcraft, while her last name is a reference to Marie de France, a poet who wrote several excellent ballads, including Lanval, a satirical romance about the shittiest knight in King Arthur’s court.  Shortening the “de” to d’ is an homage to Joan of Arc/Joan d’Arc, another woman who was accused of witchcraft, and also just a huge historical badass who accomplished amazing things in spite of others’ bigotry.  The early name for Margot was even Joan d’Francane, making the Joan of Arc homage more explicit, but then I realized that Joan is very close to Joanne, i.e. the “J” in “J.K. Rowling,” and I just couldn’t have that, so a different witch’s name was subbed in.  Margot’s a more fun name, anyway, showcasing the French Language’s weird obsession with not pronouncing consonants.

- Margot’s uncontrollable magic is intended to be read as a disability, albeit a fantastical one without a direct analogue in real life.  Magic is capable of removing so many problems in a narrative, so I feel it’s kind of necessary to show that it also causes some problems as well to balance things out, and part of the fun of imagining a world with supernatural bullshit is speculating on how different aspects of our world would crop up within that supernatural framework.  So Margot has a literal magic disability - part physical, part psychological, requiring both a material prosthetic AND a great deal of mental fortitude to overcome.  It’s not a straight allegory/metaphor, but a more messy sort of symbolism.  I wanted this to be tied to the “bully teacher” storyline because students with disabilities/special needs are the most likely to be abused, purposely or not, by teachers, often for the very same reasons that Alys Evelina uses in the story to justify her treatment of Margot.  It’s much more common than a teacher picking on a kid because he wanted to fuck that kid’s mom, at any rate.

- Oomlowt Schwaa is based on a D&D character I played.  His name’s sort of vestigial at this point, as the original Oomlowt Schwaa was a kobold who became an adventurer after being exiled for trying to learn about the languages of non-kobold cultures, and as such his name is two different linguistic terms: an umlaut and a schwa.  WSM Oomlowt isn’t a kobold linguist, but he is an academic who’s also a diminutive dragon, so the spirit of the original character is still there.

- As a competent yet outspoken teacher, Oomlowt probably owes a bit to Remus Lupin, one of the few teachers in Harry Potter who doesn’t completely suck ass at his job.  He definitely owes a lot to many of the real life teachers I’ve had who were fantastic, though there’s not any one in particular who I could cite as his chief inspiration.

- James getting obsessed about a project to the point of suffering extreme sleep deprivation is based on real life experience.  Multiple real life experiences, actually.  College all-nighters are fuckin’ brutal, man.

- Charlotte Bolshe the ettercap continues my goal of making spiders more likable to general audiences.  Her first name is obviously a nod to Charlotte’s Web, while her last name is an anagram of Shelob, perhaps the most famous spider in fantasy fiction.  It’s also similar to the word bolshy, which means “rebellious” or “radical,” which Charlotte certainly is.

- Fafgander the dragon has a name that’s a portmanteau of two of the most famous Norse dragons: Fafnir and Jormungandr.  I originally used this name for my first dragon in the web-game Flight Rising, which I sadly stopped playing once I reached the point that doing anything required me to send the game-makers, like, fifty bucks a day or whatever.  Though it’s far from the most original name, I have affection for it, and thought it was a good fit for the AAAM’s cantankerous dragon groundskeeper.

- All of the Meddlesome Youths are designed to fit different wizard aesthetics.  James Chaucer is kind of the standard D&D adventuring wizard, Ivan is the bumbling sorcerer’s apprentice, Gretchen a “wicked” witch, Margot an armored dark lord with dangerous magic powers, Rodrigo the magic chancellor with a hidden agenda, Charlotte a pleasant little “good” witch, and Polybeus a warrior wizard.   Serena Takeuchi, then, is a fairly obvious homage to the magical girls of Japanese pop culture.  I wanted one of the main characters to pay homage to the tradition of Japan’s own unique takes on Medieval European Fantasy, since those made a huge impact on how Midgaheim came to be.

- Serena’s name is specifically a Sailor Moon homage, with Serena being Usagi’s name in the English dub, and Takeuchi being the last name of Sailor Moon’s creator.  In terms of costume design and personality, though, she takes more after Lina Inverse from Slayers.

- Mr. Mackers the nuckelavee takes his name from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which, because of its supposed curse, is sometimes referred to by the nickname “Mackers” to avoid incurring the wrath of evil spirits or whatever.  A horrifying Scottish play provides the name for a horrifying Scottish fairy.

- A lot of modern media is leaning very heavily on the idea of “Seelies = good fairies, Unseelies = evil fairies,” which I dislike both for its oversimplification of fairy folklore and for, you know, just being a trope where one side can be written off as Always Chaotic Evil.  That’s why I decided to have one of the most benign fairies in our story be a nuckelavee, one of the most evil-coded Unseelie fairies in folklore, and to have the main villain be a classic pretty boy elf from the Seelie court.

- A lot of modern fiction also likes to portray the Fair Folk as unanimously evil and terrifying, in the same way that people like to believe like Biblical Angels were intended to be morally ambiguous eldritch abominations.  I didn’t want to fall into that trope either.  The Fair Folk in Midgaheim are strange, with different customs and values than those we’re used to as a result of living in a world where the laws of reality are easily bent and broken, but they’re ultimately people at the end of the day, with all the moral complexities that brings.  Some are nice, some are cruel, some are in between.  The fairy threat in WSM is a result of one bastard in charge deciding to do something horrible, and a bunch of the people forced to work for him carrying out the order, regardless of whether they agree with it (which some do, and some don’t).

- The line about royals producing “jelly-boned blob babies” is inspired by an actual real life medieval text about a deformed prince (literally called “the blob baby”) that I heard discussed at a Medieval Studies Congress in college.  The obsession with producing pure-blooded royal heirs led to a lot of incest, which in turn led to some horrible genetic defects among royalty that it took an astoundingly long time for royals to realize might mean they should stop doing so much incest.  It’s one of those horrible details about the reality of the middle ages that never shows up in fantasy fiction that claims to be realistic because of how un-sexy it is.

- Fairyland takes a great deal of inspiration from both Wonderland and the works of Dr. Seuss.  If you read the descriptions closely, you might spot the lawyer-friendly cameos of the Trufula trees from The Lorax.  I wanted it to feel dangerously whimsical, the kind of place where the stakes are simultaneously really high and really ridiculous.

- The Queen of Night takes her name from the antagonist of The Magic Flute, though she’s otherwise her own character, more or less.  The rest of the Francobreton Fairy Court’s names spun off from there, with a dash of the card and chess courts from Alice in Wonderland put in for good measure.  It worked well for the villain of the book, as most stories depict summer as an idyllic time, when in reality its an overly hot, humid, and nasty little season that’s had too much good press for far too long! ...in my humble opinion, anyway.

- Someone on this hellsite made a story prompt post ages ago about a trans person selling their dead name to the Fair folk and my brain latched onto it as a great story beat, and that ultimately became the climax of this book.  While I may have initially made James Chaucer trans out of spite, I tried to make his status as a trans boy as structurally important as possible, to the point that you couldn't’ remove it without irreparably damaging both the plot and themes of this novel.  The entire climax hinges on it.

- One of my favorite tropes hails from one of my least favorite genres of fiction, police procedurals.  It’s the trope of the authority figure who’s butted heads with the heroes for most of the narrative finally seeing their value at the end when the heroes have saved the day - the “You’re a loose canon, but you get results!” moment.  It’s just a good moment!  Hell, the original teaser trailer for Mulan (the cartoon) used that moment as its audience hook.  So I used it at the end of this book without shame.  But for my sake, please know the Meddlesome Youths are not cops.  They’re private detectives.

- One of the details I still like from the Harry Potter books were the times when Harry chose to stay at Hogwarts during winter break rather than return to his shitty home, and especially the times when Ron and/or Hermione chose to stay behind with him.  It’s just a very sweet detail that makes you feel for the protagonist and the setting, that for all its peril, the wizard school has succeeded in becoming a loving home.  So I will cop to the fact that I kinda stole that outright, without any satirical bent or counterargument attached.  But, to be fair, it’s also a very common part of the college experience.  I know I felt a huge attachment to my life at school and my friends there, and I actually liked my original home.  College became my second home, and even to this day I pine for it sometimes.

That’s all I can think of at the moment, but I’m sure there’s stuff I forgot - most likely a bunch of joking little references to things in dialogue, because I pepper a lot of little homages and allusions in there for my own amusement, and WSM has a lot of dialogue in it.

[into-september]

who needs hope when you can have confusing non-existent parallels instead (”Determination”)

I’ve seen the trailers but I firmly believe that after Mr. Pigeon 72, Kagami should’ve got to handle this on her own. As a treat.

Just when I thought this episode would be good they had to put kitty fucking section into it. Well lads, we made it to two minutes before I had to start complaining. what is wrong with me

nvm they brought up Bob Roth that’s a very forgiving factor. Also Luka emotes in French, wow

at least we didn’t have to hear their music, small mercies

I’m sorry but the TRAGICOMEDY of her babbling about how in love she’s always been with Adrien to the boy she for real dated in the middle of it

WELL HEY IS THAT THE SHOW EXPLICITLY IN THOSE VERY WORDS POINTING OUT THAT MARINETTE’S BEEN MORE INTO HER DREAM ADRIEN THAN THE REAL ADRIEN ALL ALONG

oh the sweet, sweet vindication

I love how cool she suddenly is about adrigami

and how this is legitimately more lukanette than the lukanette episode ever was

Adrien’s back to the S1 status of hanging out with friends whenever apparently. Of course that should’ve been Alya instead of Luka but we can’t just be writing love stories for kids without needless jealousy plots I guess

I can’t believe they robbed us of Adrien Agreste going to the wax museum with three girls

so how IS it going with France and those freedom of expression rankings yet

is it so wrong of me to want more Marinette-Mayor interaction

it occurs to me that this is the second time Marinette is begging friends not to leave her alone with Adrien in this museum. how does that boy have HOPE oh my god

“Marinette, you can tell me everything” OH BOY IF YOU KNEW

why is Miss Hound even there

I get that the love square is the important part of this episode and all but tbh I feel cheated out of an epic battle here

I also feel cheated about SOMETHING in this moment of who-is-the-real-Cat-Noir, this has happened too many times on this show to be used incidentally

Look, I’m happy for any little crumb of Chloé but could we please not with the repeated insistence that it was Marinette’s fault that Felix lied to her and everyone. Friendly reminder that the writers themselves said so in that “Evolution” commentary so this nonsense will presumably be a real story point now

Marinette finally acknowledging the benefits of ladynoir, Adrien following this show’s unfortunate tradition of characters having had plot-changing epiphanies between scenes. Yes, we sure needed the extended director’s cut of Marinette’s awkward rather than slipping in ten seconds to explain why Adrien went from “I’m confused about my feelings for her” to “courtship ended with Ladybug, now MARINETTE was always the love of my life”. I mean, he has been nothing but 100% certified adorable this episodes, but come ON

Ditto with Marinette but at least her changing feelings for Cat Noir were founded in actual events happening before this, even though the final drop in this episode was rather underwhelming. Episode 5 has better deliver

[josephine-kerr]

Thoughts on the Duskull line?

Duskull is fucking adorable. Precious little ghostie. Horrible sense of direction, though. About the only place the little guys can find is the spirit realm. We always assign a guide pokemon to the Duskulls we get so they find their way back to the house for feeding time. (Before you ask, yes we have tried containing them to the rescue. They can pass through any wall, though, so it's a pretty futile effort).

Dusclops is a pain to take care of. A lot of middle evolutions are, but Dusclops is especially bad. They almost never stop eating! They have to be kept in a different area than the other ghost types because they keep trying to eat the Litwicks. Other than that, they're okay. The one I knew was really sweet and would use her hypnosis to help me sleep.

I, uh, I really respect Dusknoir. My dad has asked that a Dusknoir be present when he passes to guide him to the spirit world. Naturally, I don't like thinking about that much. And it's kinda all I can think about looking at them. Other than that, they're fine pokemon. I don't hold my sadness against them.

[crystalelemental]

And now, the region that we’ve all been waiting for.  @alphakuriboh suggested this based on anticipated differences between our rankings, and my wife, @avividtale, has Gen 8 as her favorite generation, so I am outnumbered but willing to have this fight.  Tier list here for anyone ready to back me up.

Also, a quick note: I didn’t bother with Gigantamax.  Most of them felt no different from their base forms, and I have exactly no attachment to it as a mechanic, because you never fucking see it unless you bought the DLC to give your own Pokemon that ability.  Like, name one person who has legitimately seen Gigantamax Kingler.  It’s not worth ranking something that I’ve literally never seen outside of this image.

S: Look, there are S-tiers.  I’m not that biased.  Nickit is my precious baby, I love the Hatterene line, Alcremie is adorable, and while @patchun specifically will fight me over this, I love Indeedee.  Look at it!  Little goat butler and maid!  I love them.  Also, Gossifleur is this generation’s Morelull.  It is a crime what they did to it.

A: Eternatus is an Ultra Beast, you cannot convince me otherwise.

B: Rillaboom is the highest ranked final evolution of a starter this gen, and it is not close.  In fact, it probably shouldn’t be this high, but the bar was so low with the other two that I think it just became good by contrast.  I also want to say that, while nowhere near as good as Vivillon, I do love the idea of UFO-themed Psychic/Bug Beetle.  It’s so cool.

C: Man, Rapidash is such a disappointing evolution to Ponyta.  Ponyta is adorable and precious and Rapidash just does not look as good.  Ever.  Also we gotta talk the fossils.  While I don’t love their designs because they look stupid, conceptually they’re hilarious and I kinda love them anyway.

D: The dogs look stupid!  I don’t care, they’re not good, they’re bad box legend designs!  It’s dumb!

E: All of the middle stage starters are bad.  All of them.  Look at you all.  Why are you like this?

F: Okay, this is where Kuri and I come to blows.  I cannot stand Cinderace.  It looks terrible.  It isn’t even a creature, that is a human being in a rabbit fursuit and gym shorts.  This is like the one and only time I pull the “That’s not a Pokemon” card.  And I’m hoping that rankings of the other regions, and this one being a proper bell curve, is at least proof enough it’s not just me dunking on modern designs.  Cinderace actually just looks like shit.  It’s my least favorite design in the entire series, and they absolutely massacred my baby bunny starter.  Though man, Intellion is trying its best to be worse.  That one also just feels like a guy.  A guy with freak-ass hands.  But I don’t know, it’s just incredibly offputting, and not in the cool way.  Toxel is a baby Pokemon and therefore doomed to being disliked, but more importantly why is it in a diaper?  Why did they make this sin against nature?  I hate it.  I hate these three so much.

[transmissionsfromthebattlefield]

Rend It It’s Yours

Campus is a-changin’. Jesus Christ on a stick, I just got here. Deep breaths.

Every time I see something about some change happening here, I generally roll my eyes really hard because it’s 2023 and we’re still in the middle of the “2018-2020″ phase of this whole “master plan” they’ve got for campus. Thanks, COVID. Thanks, recession. And thanks, university administration, for your persisting zeal, which is fascinating to observe. The shiny new map of campus they plastered up on the first floor of the library has their projected business building on it, even though I have seen “it” from a distance multiple times and “it” is nowhere close to even being considered an unfinished building. I’ll be able to watch the construction up close next semester since it’ll be right next to Verder Hall, where I’ll be cooping up without a roommate or AC. I literally thought that building was supposed to be demolished this year.

The final result of Big Business Hall (actually Crawford) is supposed to look something like this, with creepy prison-drawbridge bunker White Hall apparently totally unchanged to its left:

Tree City, amirite? I love how quaint campus is.

Anger inducing sterile boring grassy fields aside, a headline from our own Kent Wired about campus evolution caught my eye in that it was very distinct from any superficial flex of size, power, or fleeting modernity. It was actually based on changing the curriculum itself. It was about the First Year Experience course that help the adorable freshmen-I should know-acclimate them to campus. Next semester, they’ll be rebranding it as Flashes 101, which I’ll admit is a pretty adorable name.

The thing that sticks me out about this new version of the class is that, this time around, students will be able to choose between sections that are specific to their area of study, like the section I had to take, or general sections that include peers with a mix of interests. In my experience, being grouped with students within my major’s college ended up only benefiting me on a personal level, not a social one. My FYE professor was actually the dean of the college my major was located within, and it was really beneficial having such direct access to her and her enthusiasm as I considered different options of what it even was I wanted to do with my education.

I did not have the same lasting effect with any of my peers who were taking the class with me, however. That’s no one’s fault, but it does confirm my belief that defining people by and grouping them together based on one loose and pretty much non-defining factor doesn’t mean they’re all going to be best friends forever. Facts of life, you know. I also ended up changing my major twice last semester, though I was located within the same college every time. Had I been even more questioning and veered off into another college or area of discipline entirely, I might have felt like I didn’t belong alongside everyone else.

Part of what excited me most about college was meeting people different from myself. And by being fascinated by what made people different from the rest, I was able to find the people I’ve clicked with most so far. I hate interacting with humans, but when you find someone you’re actually excited to allot time out of your schedule for, it’s the best feeling in the world. And then maybe on another day you overhear someone in your Media, Power and Culture class say that he doesn’t pay any attention to the news or politics and that he only pays attention to football, and you can’t believe how anyone could live life like that. And it makes you feel a little more confident in a part of yourself you might’ve questioned in a world gone mad.

College is inherently fucked up, and it can be oddly isolating when schedules don’t match up or disintegrate entirely. But that’s why it works. It gives you the superficial comforts of “You Belong Here” posters and tag along friends from high school (unless you’re me), and then it throws you into the arena of self reliance, self confidence, and self advocating. You will find community and solidarity, and you will also find spontaneity and the people who you strive to be the exact opposite of in every way possible. And the beautiful thing is that here at Kent State, we all have our own ways of being “the worst kind of people we harbor in America”, as per one Governor James Rhodes. The good and the bad are definitely both teasing away at my comfort zone at any given moment. The mindless bus rides, the hard walks through rain and snow, the late night study sessions, the frat parties, the emphasis on legacy, the gentrification. The supposed fact that downtown apparently needs two goddamn smoothie bowl places for some reason. Humanity in all of its facets is at both its dimmest and  its brightest in College Town USA, and that will never cease to wow me.

College is all I wanted it to be and everything I didn’t think to dread all at once, and I just might love that.

[karma-ltk]

half asleep ramble, games like iron lung and stray are fucking amazing and very under-appreciated. both of them take place in future "what if" scenarios and its terrifying but incredible to think about.

iron lung specific ramble: it takes a very edgy, cliche horror game prompt and fucking masters it. it takes a blood ocean in the middle of space, and perfectly simulates how fucking horrifying the entire setting is. youre a convict being sent into a *blood ocean* to take pictures of shit you cant even see. its all purely sound and settings horror, and its done beautifully. its able to cram in so much lore without making it a fucking novel to read, and making the information interesting to find. for example, the sm8, you literally have to journey off the main path to find this wrecked submarine just to learn about the burner subs. even if it isnt high quality, its a masterpiece of a game, very underrated.

stray related rambling: YOURE LITERALLY A CAT. its a high quality game, where youre playing as a cute little fuzzball. it doesnt even have a name but you can just, adore the little guy. the interactions between living and non-living organisms is fucking fascinating. one moment, youre chilling with a robot, listening to it play a guitar, the next, youre being chased by hundreds of bacteria called zurks. i love the concept of evolution going right and wrong within stray. it went down a good path with the evolution of the robots, as they went from servants to humans to machines with VERY advanced ai, to where they had personalities, likes, dislikes, even families. its also cool how at the same time, the zurks started as trash eating bacteria to help with landfill issues, but they evolved to eat more than just trash. its accurate to real life bacterial evolution, how theyre constantly evolving with the march of time. same with the light killing the zurks, bacteria survive better in darker spaces rather than sunlit spaces. another thing about the accuracy to reality, shit like this could possibly happen within the future. we could die off of a plague, our technology could still be functional, the bacteria could evolve to eat everything we left behind, its all amazing. also, i cried when b12 got nerfed.

TLDR; future + lore = ❤

[2oul2ilver]

Wow I had a MASSIVE brain fart in PLA today

So way back in the beginning, one of my early shinies was a Floatzel from a mass outbreak, her name is Peony and while she didn't stay on the team full time I adore her

So earlier this afternoon I was playing, checked for outbreaks - a floatzel one, exactly where hers had been. I left the conversation with Ress, made a mental note, and closed the game. The mental note was 'oh cool, I should go to that outbreak later, I have Peony but this is a good chance to complete the set.'

I take a break from the game for several hours - do chores, read, etc - and pop the game back on, recollect what I was doing, and go 'oh yeah I wanna see if I can get a shiny floatzel' and go to it.

Now, at no point in this outing have I forgotten about Peony. I am in fact reminiscing the entire time about the location, how last time I was so inexperienced and low level enough the outbreak was giving me troubles, seeing Her in the throng and trying desperately to get her despite the issues I was having

It isn't until I'm in the middle of the outbreak, and a SECOND shiny Floatzel pops up in front of me, that the entire reality of what I was doing crashes in front of me, and suddenly I'm staring at the backside of this yellow otter asking myself... "what the fuck am I doing."

In case it was too subtle in the comment on 'completing the set' (which is, Clearly, too subtle for me so this is not judgemental at all) - buizel. I needed shiny Buizel. Not floatzel. In order to 'complete the set' aka have both evolutions as shinies.

I did catch end up catching the second shiny anyways and am now naming him after my shiny floatzel from dppt named Chalk. Not sure if I'm gonna keep him or give him away yet since I really don't need two of these guys but we'll see.

[kassandras-one-braincell]

Kassandra x Fem!Reader - The Most Peculiar Wingman

Can be found on AO3 here.

Summary: You recently moved into a new flat and you’re hearing some rather unusual sounds from your next-door neighbour’s abode. You’re worried the mysterious woman next door is involved in something dangerous. Kassandra is worried that you’re the landlord about to bust her for her lease violation.

(Sorry if you don’t like coffee and/or you speak fluent Greek.)

Word count: 2568

.

Damn, you’ve lucked out with your new flat. The area is pleasant, the décor is tasteful – the windowsills could use a bit more greenery, but you’ll get to that – and the letting agent wasn’t a dick. Zero hassle with bills, minimal scuffs on the walls…it’s bizarre how simple your moving process has been.

But nothing can be perfect, can it?

Over the few days you’ve lived in your new home, you noticed some rather disconcerting sounds coming from the apartment next door. Nothing that disrupts your sleep, thankfully, although your post-unpacking nap was interrupted by a very loud thud against the thin wall connecting the two flats. Thumps, crashes and very disgruntled cursing in a language you can’t quite place tend to crop up in quick succession once or twice a day. Today, though, the odd sounds seem to be omnipresent.

The strange symphony is starting to get alarming; you’re beginning to ponder if the seemingly perpetually angry woman next door is involved in violence…or, forbid, organised crime? That would certainly explain the forceful thuds and grumbling. God, what if she manages to rope you into her shenanigans? What if she is armed?

After a loud bang and an exasperated “oh, fuck you” reverberates into your apartment, you decide to investigate.

Anxiously, you pop on some slippers and step into the hall, locking the door behind you (‘I’m not about to get robbed less than a week after moving,’ you think to yourself, ‘Oh, shit, I need to get insurance…’). Stomach churning with speculation, you make the arduous four-metre trek to your neighbour’s door. Biting your lip, you rap your knuckles against the wood.

A chorus of panicked shuffling echoes through the door, causing your throat to tighten. Footsteps sprint from one side of the room to the other, the sound of shattering ceramic shrill against the heavy thudding. “Shit, shit, shit, shit,” the woman hisses, muffled by the walls, followed by some shushing and the rattling of something metal. Who is this woman, what the fuck is she hiding, why am I doing this—

Suddenly, the door swings open, revealing…oh, wow.

Your neighbour is an amazon.

Flawless bronze skin, chocolate hair strewn into an unruly braid, tall and shredded with lean muscle. Her eyes are a gorgeous tawny brown, the split second of alarm disappearing from her gaze, replaced by a sparkle that makes your heart hammer against your chest. Very kissable lips upturn into a charming smile, bringing your attention to a small scar above her upper lip quirking adorably. A deeper scar sits on her nose, and the pang of anxiety returns, but your eyes need only flicker back to hers and it melts away.

“You’re not the landlord,” she says with a rich accent and curious lilt. Your cheeks feel warm.

“Uhm, hi.” You fiddle with your thumbs, mouth suddenly dry. “Sorry, I moved in a few days ago next door. I just heard some loud noises and was wondering if everything was alright?”

Lips curving furthermore, she braces her arms on the doorframe above and, fuck, are they nice arms. Sun-kissed, bulging against her white t-shirt, three gnarly rings cutting into her right bicep that just scream to be touched. Is this her distraction tactic?

“Oh, sorry about that. I hope I wasn’t too much of a disturbance?”

When you finally pry your eyes from her arms, a tiny smirk registers on her handsome face. Bashful, you stammer, “No, it’s fine. But, uh, what caused it, if I may ask?”

The woman cranes her neck to scan the hall. “Can you keep a secret?”

Mob boss? Arms dealer? Axe murderer?

Clearly, your nervous speculations are apparent, because her eyes widen slightly. “Don’t worry, lovely, it’s nothing dangerous. I just have a pet bird.”

Breathing a shaky sigh of relief, you run a hand through your hair. Just a bird. Just a bird. Her face relaxes back into a casual smile. A fresh wave of warmth caresses your cheeks at the name she gave you.

Chuckling, you joke, “Must be one big bird.”

“He’s…an eagle.”

You blink back your shock. “How on earth did you manage to get a pet eagle?”

She laughs, the melody warm and addictive. “Poor fucker followed me all the way from Kefalonia. I didn’t have it in me to say goodbye, even if it violates the lease.” Her tone is affectionate, despite her less-than-endearing name for the bird. Pushing back from the door frame – hands flexing wonderfully while she does so – she gestures for you to step in. “Come and meet him, if you’d like.”

Everything about this woman is so inviting, you can’t help but gravitate into her apartment.

“I don’t think I caught your name?” you ask shyly.

“Kassandra,” she replies, flipping the ‘r’ in her buttery accent. “And what can I call you?”

Anything you fucking want. “(Y/N) is fine,” you manage, debating whether her flat is hot or your face is akin to a beetroot.

“That’s a lovely name. Suits you perfectly,” she winks. She saunters over to a shelf with a blanket hastily thrown over it. You can’t help but observe her firm-looking behind through her jeans. Kassandra tugs away the blanket, revealing a large eagle sitting grumpily in a cage. It remains put when she unlocks the cage, standing almost defiantly.

“Don’t be like that, Ikaros,” she chastises. The eagle – Ikaros – begrudgingly flies out of his confines, perching atop the sofa in the middle of the open-plan room. “He’s gentle, I promise.” You’re doubtful, but he isn’t making any sudden moves.

“He just likes winding you up?”

“Loves it,” she grins. “He’s a little bitter I put him on a diet since he was getting a bit fat. That’s why he’s been throwing some tantrums lately.”

You smile as she scratches the top of his head before heading to the kitchen. “Can I get you anything to drink?” Kassandra asks, giving you another heart-melting beam. “I have coffee, orange juice, I might have some tea somewhere—”

“Coffee would be nice, thank you.” She asks your preference and you state it, taking in the layout of her apartment. The place gave off a very homely, Mediterranean vibe, with warm colours and white furnishings. A few hand-painted ceramic vases were dotted about – maybe she did pottery – alongside some family photographs. Atop the dining table was a woven basket brimming with ripe fruits, as well as a laptop with a pile of messy papers next to it.

“Have a seat, get comfy,” she calls over the whirring of an expensive looking coffee machine. Shyly you take the chair by the unoccupied end of the dining table. Feeling nosy, you scan the documents by her laptop, but the handwriting was all in Greek.

A minute later, Kassandra joins you with a steaming mug in her hand. “Your coffee, madame,” she announces with a pantomimic bow, evoking a laugh.

“Merci,” you thank her. “How would I say that in Greek?”

“Efharistó,” she replies. You test the word hesitantly, wincing on the second syllable, making her laugh. “Not bad,” she chuckles.

“I butchered it.”

“Try it a little softer,” she smiles, lowering her voice, giving it a sensual cadence that made your head spin. Oh, she knows she’s attractive.

“Efharistó,” you border on whisper, gay little brain surging with the overwhelming instinct to do whatever she tells you.

“There we go!” The proud quirk of her lips is all you need to see.

Feeling your cheeks flush, you bring the coffee mug to your lips, hoping the steam from the beverage will help mask your fluster. You blow on the liquid and take a sip, immediately regretting the decision as you scorch your tastebuds, repressing the urge to hiss in favour of looking cool for the hot Grecian.

“Do you, um,” you start, ignoring the numbness of your tongue, “work from home?” You wave your hand at the paperwork by her seat.

“As often as my job lets me.”

“What do you do?”

“I’m a museum curator,” Kassandra beams, evidently proud of her job. “A glorified history nerd who couldn’t be fucked with the extra academia, basically.” You snort against the mug, nearly spluttering coffee over her. Smooth.

“What time in history?” Her eyes sparkle at the question, passion shining through her irises.

“Mostly the classics, ancient Greece and Rome and all that. But I did my thesis on the evolution of weaponry.” You prop your chin up on your hand as she talks, eyes lazily focused on her lips. If not for the conviction in her tone, you would have zoned out and chased some daydream about kissing those lips. Kassandra reclines back in her chair. “Enough about me, though. Tell me about yourself.”

“You sounded really passionate, though. I don’t mind if you keep talking about your job.” God, you sound like a dizzy schoolgirl who’s hot for teacher. You scald yourself with another sip of coffee in reprimanding.

Kassandra’s eyes twinkle. “I don’t usually invite beautiful women into my home to ramble about cool swords.” You blush and set down your coffee.

The two of you talk for quite some time, getting to know each other, peppering in the occasional flirtatious remark. In her company, you somehow simultaneously feel comfortable and skittish. She’s so relaxed and easy-going, but her physique and seductive demeanour fills your stomach with butterflies.

An irritated squawk cut your conversation short.

Kassandra shoots Ikaros a look before turning back to you. “Sorry about him.”

You shake your head. “It’s fine, really. Damn… What was I saying again?” you ask sheepishly.

Squawk.

“Nevermind, I was probably babbling anyway,” you dismiss, sipping on your now cold beverage.

Kassandra chuckles softly. “Don’t be silly, you have the voice of an angel. You could read me the dictionary and I’d still be interested.” She probably said this to every woman she took a liking to, but you can’t bring yourself to care, far too flustered and feeling, for once, special.

Squawk.

Her eye practically twitches in anger as Ikaros flies over to the windowsill, makes unwavering eye-contact with his owner, and shits on the wood.

Kassandra looks like she wants to be euthanised.

“My god,” she mutters as you burst out laughing. She awkwardly rubs the back of her neck and grimaces, mouth parted as if trying to form some kind of apology for her eagle’s behaviour.

“I’m guessing you’re used to being the only one doing the flustering?” you tease, trying to lighten the mood.

Her disgraced expression shifted back to a playful one. “If I say yes, do I sound like a whore?”

Grinning, you shake your head. “A little cocky, perhaps.”

“I’ll take cocky.” She winks and gets up. “Your coffee is probably cold, can I get you a fresh one?”

“Oh, no, thank you. I’m fine.”

“The finest,” she smirks.

“Real smooth,” you roll your eyes, smiling regardless.

Ikaros caws from the windowsill, as if mocking Kassandra’s advances. Once again, her effortless charm dissolves into a look of frustration. She grabs kitchen towels and a bottle of disinfectant from by the sink and walks over to the window, nudging the eagle so he’d move out of the way. “Maláka,” she groans, cleaning up the mess from the surface. “Μη μου το χαλάς αυτό,” she mutters to Ikaros, earning a confused look. Kassandra sighs. “Usually I wait until after the first date before introducing a beautiful lady to this little shit. That way people don’t immediately think I’m just a weird bird lesbian.”

Testing the waters, you remark, “I happen to quite fancy women with an affinity for animals.” You bite your lip and add, “And, well, you’re…very attractive.”

Smugly, Kassandra finishes disinfecting the windowsill and walks to the kitchen with a little more vigour, your compliment proving to be an ego boost.

Once again deprived of attention, Ikaros decides to flap over and join you at the table. Instinctively, you flinch as the large bird flies in your direction, but all he does is stare at you, trying to analyse the stranger in his home.

“Does – does he bite?” you ask, hesitantly standing up.

Kassandra discards the kitchen towel in the bin, washing her hands. “No, he’s very kind to everyone who isn’t me.” She flashes you a wicked grin. “I only bite when asked.”

Stammering, you choke on air, struggling to find a response. Ikaros gives her a disappointed look.

“Shit, too forward?”

You shake your head. “Not at all,” you blush. “I’ve just…never met anyone quite like you before.” Ikaros seemingly gives you a judgemental leer, and you swiftly find yourself adding, “I-in a good way, that is!”

“Oh?” Her brow is upturned, her interest piqued.

“It’s…exciting.” The eagle shuffles towards you and nuzzles your hand, apparently deciding you’re worthy of his affections. The dark feathers atop his head are surprisingly soft to touch. Smiling, you give his head a few pats, inhibitions to the wind when cute little coos vibrate from his throat. “I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“I think it’s adorable,” Kassandra says softly.

You look up. “Really?”

“Really.” She joins the two of you and plucks a damson from the fruit bowl, feeding it to Ikaros while you pet him. “You’re the loveliest person to have ever set foot in this building, that’s for sure.”

Ikaros cocks his head in agreement. His beady eyes meet yours, damson juice dribbling from his beak. Do it, he’s silently telling you.

Screw it, let’s shoot our shot.

You clear your throat, mustering up some courage. “Are you free next weekend?”

Kassandra beams amorously. “I was about to ask you the same thing,” she grins. “How does dinner sound?”

Fuck yes. “Really good,” you blurt out excitedly.

“There’s this great Persian restaurant a couple streets over. I’ll book us a table?”

You gasp, having seen the building on the drive when you were moving in. “The place with the garden and the pretty lights, right?”

“That’s the one.”

“Sounds amazing.” Red in the face and heart pounding, your eyes dart about the apartment, fearing that you’ll combust if you look at Kassandra any longer. They settle on Ikaros, who gently butts his head against your hand, almost like a fist-bump. “Well, uh, I have a home insurance company to ring up, so I should probably get going,” you stutter.

“I won’t keep you, then,” Kassandra says, a tinge of disappointment in her tone. Ikaros squawks sadly.

“Thank you for the coffee.”

“It was my pleasure. Thank you for staying,” she winks. The eagle coos in agreement. You give him one last pat before walking to the front door.

“Oh, before you leave, there is something you should know…” Kassandra calls, moving over to you. She delicately takes your hand, frying your brain, and leans down to your ear. You feel faint. Lowly, she whispers, “…Our Hermes guy likes to drop-kick our parcels.”

Snorting, you look up at her in disbelief. I mean, what was I expecting? A kiss? Get a grip, woman. Kassandra laughs at your expression. “Use the amazon locker down the road instead.”

“You’re amazing,” you murmur, grinning. “I’ll probably see you before next weekend, but bye, I guess?”

“Chaire,” she bids softly, opening the door for you.

When the door closes behind you, you let out a ragged breath, excitement coursing through your veins.

You are so glad you moved here.

.

( The Greek clause is meant to say "Don't blow this for me" but I used 5 different translators and all 5 came back with slightly different things and I sort of ip-dip-doo'd it and chose one at random...sorry. )

[jetaime-jespere]

Right Where You Left Me, Part One

Time can move in two directions. Until it collides in the present.

Rated M for smut/darker themes

Four hundred twenty eight days.

That’s how long it’s been since the day everything changed. Fourteen months, sixty weeks, or some ten thousand hours, but Aaron stopped counting a long time ago. Quantifying time in arbitrary measures - hours, weeks, days - is pointless now. It doesn’t make a difference, nothing ever will. The only thing that matters is she’s gone, and nothing has been the same since.

There isn’t much from that day in Newark he doesn’t remember in perfect, horrific detail. He remembers every moment, every second that brought them to the point of no return. It haunts him during the day, keeps him awake late into the nights that bleed into early mornings. He’s spent the last year with the events replaying in his mind, over and over again, trying to pinpoint where the hell it all went wrong.

The answer to that is the beginning, on a beautiful day in April just over a year ago.

…

April | Fourteen Months Ago

They never saw it coming.

It was their day off, a beautiful day in the middle of spring. The chilly morning was a quiet promise of a warm, brilliant afternoon, one they planned on spending together, without any obligations or commitments. They hadn’t made specific plans, but something Aaron has been meaning to do is take her to the Manassas Battlefields, one of the only things he appreciates about his mother’s hometown, along with the hole-in-the-wall Taqueria in Old Town. It’s just a short trip down 66, but Manassas is a different world from Arlington entirely. Yet it’s something he wants to share with her, a tangible piece of something that no longer exists.

Aaron smiles as he sits up in bed, shielding his eyes from the sun creeping through the windows. “I know you’re awake,” he murmurs to Emily. She stirs beside him with a soft groan at the offending light as he drops kisses on her bare shoulder and across her back. “Open your eyes.”

She does, shifting across the mattress to face him, smiling before she’s even fully alert, blinking a few times as her eyes adjust to the light. “What time is it?” Emily throws an arm over her face, stretching languidly as her head lolls around the pillows - the expensive microfiber ones he’d purchased when she started staying over more frequently.

“Does it matter?” Aaron pulls the sheets away further, thumbing the side of her breast, playing his fingers over the delicate bones of her ribs. “It’s our day off.” There’s a soft sigh of contentment from her upon hearing his words, visibly relaxing as her eyes flutter closed.

The moment that passes, one second to the next, is slow and unhurried, as if they have all the time in the world to do this. Emily winds an arm around his neck, letting him pull her into him just enough so he can nudge a hand between her back and the mattress, pressing his mouth to hers. He kisses her, licking the seam of her lips until she relents a little more, arching her back into him. His free hand cups her jaw, taking in the subtle traces of perfume that linger on her neck. He has to remind himself to breathe, because God, he can never get quite enough of her.

“Last night wasn’t enough for you?” Emily laughs against his lips between kisses, but she’s already started to lift her hips against him teasingly. “You certainly were … persistent.”

“Never.” Aaron uses his leverage to roll her to her stomach, then kisses his way down her spine. He lifts her hips up flush against his, anchors an arm around her waist, slipping a hand between her legs as he draws her close, bringing her to her knees to settle in his lap. Her head falls back on his shoulder; his lips brush her cheek as she sinks down on him completely, emitting a quiet moan when she’s fully seated. He starts to rock his hips, moving just enough to feel her need to respond with a sway of her own hips. She can’t stay still anymore, not like this.

Aaron smiles against her neck and reaches for her hand, bringing it up to press against her heart. With her back against his chest, Emily whimpers when his fingers find her clit, the pressure of his thumb making her hips stutter as her hands forming bruises into his thighs. Her body bows for him, overwhelmed by the sense of fullness, as he kisses the back of her neck, the blades of her shoulders. Her hips drive back against his, a coordination of push and pull that builds in intensity, blurs her vision. Emily can feel every inch of him like this; she whimpers at the way he times the pace of his thumb with the force of his hips, pushing her higher and closer.

“F-fuck,” Emily stammers, her legs shaking enough by now that he has to hold her upright. His name sounds like one long syllable when she says it, hardly coherent, slightly breathless. She’s close already, beginning to tremble in his arms. Her head falls against his shoulder as she tightens around him like a vice, so close she moans in anticipation.

“You should see yourself like this,” Aaron coaxes in her ear, rolling his hips up into her, full and slow and deliberately. “You’re beautiful.”

The low hum of his voice in her ear is all it takes to draw it out of her. Emily writhes in his lap, her spine curving almost painfully as he pins her hips down against him, only increasing the volume of her incoherent screams. Her release triggers his; Aaron follows her with a few hurried thrusts of his own, uncoordinated and frenzied. He gets both arms around her, holds her to his chest when he spills inside of her, biting a bruise into her shoulder as he does.

They stay like that for moments on end; Emily can feel the pound of his heart against her back. It matches her own as she gets her breath back, even if her legs are still shaking. Aaron smoothes her hair back from her face, gently turns her chin to the side to kiss her jaw. “Good morning.”

She laughs lightly, her eyes alit, an amused grin on her face. “Hi.” She practically crumples back into the pillows, dragging him down with her. A few more moments of quiet could lull her back to sleep, coupled with the warmth of his body beside hers, and she dozes at his side like she often does on mornings that start this way.

“Coffee is on,” he murmurs to her some time later, pulling her against him. “I’m going to start breakfast. You said you wanted French toast, didn’t you?” What he doesn’t tell her is not only did he get the necessary ingredients for that, but for Eggs Benedict too (he heard her mention it’s her favorite, once when JJ was pregnant), in case she changes her mind at the last minute. He’s learned in the last six months she’s somewhat indecisive when it comes to breakfast food.

Emily laughs, her fingers pushing into his hair, lightly scratching his scalp. “You’re spoiling me, you know.”

“Well, if it weren’t for me, you’d probably starve,” he chuckles. “I’ve seen your cabinets more than once. That’s all I need to know.”

Emily lobs a pillow at him, snorting with laughter. “You’re not wrong.” But there’s adoration in her eyes, a look that’s increased in frequency and duration over the last few months. Gaining her trust hadn’t been easy, it’s an ongoing work in progress, an evolution of small steps, one after the other. But there are moments, ones like that, reminding him that maybe he’s doing something correctly.

(Read the rest on ao3 here)

[redjennies]

do you have any waylon song recs? ive only ever really listened to johnny cash and willie nelson out of the highwaymen

sorry to this specific anon that this is like three days later and also to everyone else that I'm still harping on about this, but on the off chance that you've never heard the Waylon & Willie album, I think you should check that out first. I'm a big fan of their cover of Kristofferson's Don't Cuss the Fiddle off that album. it's not my favorite album for either of them but it's worth a skim for something familiar.

(plus Willie Nelson is a fucking legend and deserves every bit of fame he has.)

for like Waylon specifically, there's a pretty good The Essential Waylon Jennings album on Spotify. I realize that's such a copout but it's also two hours of a pretty good start for the singles. if I recall correctly, it's also in chronological order of release if you want a feel for the evolution. as for absolute musts if you don't wanna listen to all of it (even though you should):

stop the world (and let me off)

only daddy who will walk the line

this time

I'm a ramblin' man

rainy day woman

waymore's blues

good hearted woman

I've always been crazy

don't you think this outlaw bit has done got out of hand

I ain't living long like this

(there's a lot more like I keep going "oh and this oh and this" but I would call this more the essentials of the essentials)

also I would seriously recommend listening to Waylon Jennings cover of I Walk The Line of the album "I've Always Been Crazy" if you want to hear for yourself why I think Waylon Jennings is "Johnny Cash if Johnny Cash was better" because hoo, boy once you get to the part (and you will hear the part), you are never gonna want to listen to the Cash version again. hilariously on the next song on the album, he covers Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down and jokes "eat your heart out, Haggard" in the middle of it, which is adorable, but like I am not even remotely kidding around when I say Jennings' I Walk the Line is "eat your heart out, Cash."

actually go listen to the album I've Always Been Crazy by Waylon Jennings, beginning to end. I love it. there are probably better albums but that's the one I listened to while writing this and it's fantastic.

[meso-mijali]

At @carriagelamp ‘s request, here are my top 12 books for 2019! I was very excited at the amount of queer lit available and that absolutely colored my reading for the year ^^; I’m going to put my little blurbs below a read more, because I’m positive it’ll be longer than anyone really wanted on their dash ^^;;;

The Priory of the Orange Tree: I’ve already written a post about this book here but it bears repeating- this book was fantastic! I adored it a lot, but fair warning- it’s Massive and it starts off Slow. I didn’t think I’d end up liking it until around page 200, but once I was hooked, I was hooked. If you like high fantasy, dragons, queer POC leads, magic, secret societies and an incredibly well written world, please check this out.

The Starless Sea: This book just came out in November, and I’m hoping it becomes popular, because I love Zach and Dorian an awful lot and would love to see some fanart of them! The book is a story about stories- it’s a bunch of metaphors and it isn’t afraid to tell you that. Nothing is exactly as it seems, but also, it’s exactly as it seems. I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but if you read it, you’ll see what I mean. It was emotional, I stayed up until 12:30 reading it and harassing my girlfriend about it because! My Boys!! It had a good ending, and it left it open for you to imagine the future ^^ Queer POC male lead.

Six of Crows: This fucking book was so good. It was SO GOOD and book 2 has queer characters, but it’s not fleshed out in book 1, so I didn’t give this one a rainbow flag but the series is queer, so. It’s basically a heist novel, and it’s a fantastic one at that! Fantasy with a touch of steampunk and dark victorian. Really, fantastically written! Give it a shot!

First Test: My girlfriend got me into Tamora Pierce, and she was absolutely right that I’d love Kel. She’s fantastic, a really great character and the entire four book series handles her growth so, so well. It was a really fun read! True fantasy, in a medieval setting with magic and supernatural creatures abound!

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy: This is actually book two in the “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” series, and while I really liked book one I LOVED book two. This one follows Monty’s sister, Felicity. Set in the 1700′s, this book has all different varieties of queer identities and has a queer POC prominent character.

Gideon the Ninth: Holy shit did I love this book. It was a WILD ride. Queer necromancers in space! and an AMAZING use of enemies to lovers. The writing was hilarious, though sometimes I felt a little lost with the terminology that was used for the necromantic things. This book might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was Fantastic. Just, do yourself a favor and try and wait until book two, because the ending ripped my heart out and I may never fully recover :,)

The Last True Poets of the Sea: I didn’t think I would like this one as much as I did, tbh. It’s not fantasy, but rather just a normal, modern fiction. The main character is a teenager who was sent to live with her uncle after her brother attempted suicide. The family dynamics are really well written, and it handles the dysfunction well and ends hopefully and in an uplifting way. You feel like the characters are going to do better, even if they’d been in low spots before. Mental health is a major topic, so avoid it if that’s a heavy topic for you. Queer main character.

Daughter of the Sun: This is actually book two in a series, the first being The Queen of Ieflaria, which I actually didn’t love despite being so incredibly queer that I went in with high hopes. I was bored and decided to give book two a go and Holy Shit did I like this one! It follows different characters, and I really don’t think you need to read the first one to enjoy this. Queer main characters, chaos god learns to become human and enemies to lovers. What can I say, I’m only human!

Hazel’s Theory of Evolution: This was a middle school level book, but it said it was about asexuality so I gave it a go and I really enjoyed it! It handles some issues that middle school-ers may be going through, and is told through the lens of Hazel, a neurodivergent (possibly autistic? At least it read that way to me) aro/ace girl who deals with issues like moving to a new school and losing her best friend, gaining new ones and handling the difficulties of one of her moms trying to get pregnant. It ends well, and on a good note.

Girls of Paper and Fire: This book is Violent, Sexual and Cruel, but that’s kind of the point of it. Paper caste (full humans) are the lowest caste of people in this world, and as a show of ‘good will’ the demon king takes some of them as concubines. Shit goes down, and I can’t wait for book two to become available on libby! Queer, POC MC and love interest.

The Prince and the Dressmaker: Cute, queer graphic novel about a prince who loves to dress as a woman and the dressmaker that makes it possible! Sweet story of acceptance! Give it a shot!

Redwall: MICE HAVE SWORDS! What more could you need??? Wait, just to make sure I’m being fully understood: THE MICE HAVE SWORDS! It’s a classic, read it!