#They'll adapt eventually...

[frolicksome]

"To give your ex a mockingbird for his birthday"

[anaalnathrakhs]

throwback to when my parents would cut out the internet at night. and i told them "hey can we not, this doesn't help me sleep it just makes me watch tv bored out of my mind or straight up bang my head on the walls". and they still did lmao because if the solution doesn't work then the problem should try harder to be solved maybe.

[inthegardensofourminds]

I really like Kubota as Hijikata, I'm sure he'll be great as usual and I'm happy for him getting to lead, but how many Hijikata musicals do we really need?

[sesamenom]

@baddywronglegs I get what you're trying to say but tardigrades definitely can survive warm temperatures!

The exact numbers differ between species (some are better adapted for freezing temps) and active/tun state, but the generally accepted number is 100F/37C for 24 hours, and one study found that certain species can survive 303F/151C for a little under an hour. Based on a quick google search, car wash water is usually around 100-130F, and based on experience, commercial car washes definitely do not take longer than 1 hour; therefore (ignoring potential chemical hazards from whatever's in that weird rainbow car soap) a tardigrade definitely could survive a car wash, though it wouldn't be a particularly pleasant experience!

Another extreme condition tardigrades might actually encounter in the wild is periods of drought or starvation. Tardigrades can survive up to 10 years without food or water in the anhydrobiotic "tun state", in which their metabolism slows and they dehydrate to around 2% water while protecting their organs from further damage. Longer periods of dormancy result in lower rates of recovery, but if properly rehydrated and provided with adequate food sources, tardigrades are usually able to fully reactivate. However, the tardigrades that got dropped on the moon will likely die in a few years from a general lack of conditions necessary for reactivation (unless somebody manages to send a moon lander to deliver oxygen, fresh water, and moss).

They still do get eaten a lot, though, and based on personal experience an active state tardigrade is not particularly resistant to microscope-related mishaps :(

Essentially, a more accurate comparison might be if Teslas actually could survive a car wash, or a desert off-road trip, or being dropped in a lake - but were extremely prone to being run over by city buses.

[fatkish]

Request for the Pro Heroes x child reader

Character(s): Hawks and/or Endeavor (yes I'm giving this man a chance to be a good person)

Prompt: Abandoned nonbinary reader with a Phoenix quirk (wings and fire) and everyone thinks they'll be a Villain because of how hot the reader's fire can burn. Phoenixes in Japan are seen as goddesses. (Reader was originally abandoned for coming out at nonbinary but the deal was sealed when the reader accidentally burned a house down)

-🦦

Thank you so much for your request. I’m so excited since this is my first official request. I already had an idea for a phoenix quirk so I hope you don’t mind that I used it here. I hope you enjoy this story and that it helps you.

Hawks and Endeavor x Phoenix Quirk Child Reader

Reader was 13 when they were found by Hawks and Endeavor

The reader’s mother had an endurance and adaptability quirk that allowed her to change her body to better fit her environment. For example: if the reader’s mother was stuck in the desert, her body would change to allow her to store excess water similar to how a camel does. Or if bullets were fired at her, she could thicken her skin and produce osteoderms (these are the small bone like plates that cover the crocodilian species’s backs)

The reader’s father had a weak heat quirk and could grow sharp feathers from his arms and shoulders.

Their parents were very traditional and strict. Having been a late bloomer was already causing strain on their relationship with their parents.

The reader developed their quirk late at the age of 10. The reader has retractable wings that are covered in specialized feathers. The Primary and Secondary feathers are sharp and resemble blades, these feathers harden after they fully develop. The Primary and Secondary Coverts are hard and sharp at the tips. When the tips of the Coverts rub or strike each other it creates a spark.

Each feather has microscopic holes along the Calamus and a gland beneath the follicle that secretes an Ethanol based, oil-like substance that covers their skin protecting it from the flames but also acting as a fuel. This oil is similar to Bakugou’s nitroglycerin sweat as they both produce more, the hotter they get. (Ethanol burns at an extremely high temperature but is invisible to the naked eye, you won’t know its there until you’re right next to it) The holes allow for the oil to cover the feathers.

Due to their Mother’s endurance quirk, the reader’s body is unaffected by the flames they produce. The reader’s body sweat has a natural cooling effect as well as burn soothing and healing properties. This is how they are not burned by the flames. (The reader has to maintain a healthy hydration and drink lots of water because they are easily susceptible to dehydration)

Due to the reader’s quirk their body is naturally androgynous as they don’t have feminine curves or broad shoulders. The reader is short (5’2, sorry if you’re taller) and has a lighter than average body fat percentage to allow for easier flight. (Reader would most likely have a small penis like appendage to make urinating easier as well as a Cloaca. It’s also possible that reader could change their bodies physiology similar to how frogs can change their genders)

Due to the reader’s late development of a quirk as well as their androgynous appearance, they were seen as a freak and were bullied and shunned by their peers.

At age 12 the other kids around them began puberty and as their peers’s bodies began to change and developed they began to question themselves and eventually came to the conclusion that they were nonbinary.

One night their parents sat the reader down and began to discuss the reader’s appearance and how they needed to change in order to fit into society. Since the reader would have a harder time developing fat and couldn’t change the bone structure of their hips, their parents decided that the reader would be a male.

Their parents told them that they were to start working out and building up muscles to create a more masculine appearance. They began telling them about all the things they would have to change and even suggested drastic measures like surgery or hormone treatments to make them look more masculine.

The reader tried to explain to their parents how they felt and how they didn’t want to do all that stuff but they wouldn’t listen.

Eventually the stress became too much as the reader’s wings sprouted and their feathers naturally created a spark that ignited them. As the situation quickly became more complicated and stressful the reader accidentally bumped into a curtain, lighting it on fire, causing it to quickly grow and spread.

As their parents were shouting at them and their house went up in flames, they couldn’t deal with the stressful situation and flew off into the night sky, leaving their small town and flying far away to were they would discover in the morning to be Kyushu

After being ostracized and shunned for basically their entire life, the reader didn’t have much faith in society. Eventually they saw a news report about their hometown. Their parents claimed that their house was destroyed by a villain and blamed the reader for it, completely ignoring the fact of them being their child. The news showed a blurry picture of the reader that was taken by someone.

Due to the blurriness of the image as well as the reader having not really shown anyone their quirk, they weren’t easily identified. However, the news gave a short description of the reader and advised the public to keep an eye out for them and to alert the authorities should they spot the reader.

Realizing that they had no food, money, shelter or family and fearing being seen as a villain and being put in prison, should they ask for help, the reader decided that they had no other choice but to focus on survival.

2 months had gone by with the reader being homeless and barely scraping by. They had found an abandoned building in the less populated and more industrial area of the city and had created a small living space. They had gathered things that people had thrown away like tattered or stained clothes, old bedding, thrown out area rugs and other soft things that people had thrown away and wouldn’t realize were missing. They created a makeshift nest that made them feel safe

They had resorted to dumpster diving in order to find food and water and refused to pick pocket or steal purses. They didn’t want to do things that would make the accusations of them being a villain, true. This led to them being malnourished and having lost a lot of weight and having an emaciated and boney appearance

Hawks and Endeavor had been working together to capture a group of robbers who had been committing a string of robberies but kept getting away. Earlier in the day, the pair had apprehended and caught the group, but two of the seven had managed to escape and fled.

The robbers fled and hid in an abandoned building and planned to lay low and wait for the chance to escape the city, unaware of the red feather stuck and hidden in one of their hoods.

Hawks and Endeavor gathered the police and their sidekicks and had them surround the area near the building. The plan was to wait for the two villains to feel safe and let their guard down, then Hawks and Endeavor would storm the building, if they tried to flee, they would be caught by their sidekicks.

Using a few feathers to scope out the area and get an idea of the perpetrators positions, Hawks sent feathers into the building and relayed the information to Endeavor

Upon sensing a third body inside the building Hawks was going to tell Enji about it but felt someone grab his feather

Realizing that the element of surprise might no longer be on their side, Hawks alerted Endeavor. Inside the building, the robbers had finally noticed the reader and started to attack them when the reader summoned their wings and began to defend themselves

Since it was nighttime, the reader’s flames were emitting a blue glow similar to Dabi’s flames. Thinking that Dabi was in the building, Hawks and Endeavor rushed into the building only to quickly duck as one the robbers was sent flying over their heads from a strong wind

Using his feathers, Hawks was able to knock out the distracted robber and carry them both outside where the police quickly restrained and arrested them

Inside the building, Endeavor and Hawks had turned their attention to the reader. Upon realizing that the reader was just a kid, Hawks tried to tell them to stand down and stop their quirk. His feathers could sense the reader’s heartbeat, telling him that they were obviously scared.

When the reader tells them that they are unable to control the flames and that their wings secrete Ethanol to fuel them Endeavor is reminded of His first born son’s death

Having been living on the streets, the reader was unable to stay sufficiently hydrated and thus quickly ran out of protective sweat, causing the reader to begin being burnt

Hearing the kid’s screams of pain, Endeavor snapped out of his thoughts and quickly instructed Hawks to grab flame repressing foam from the the fire department and use his feathers to dump it on the reader

After following his instructions, the flames were quickly put out. Endeavor went over to the reader and carefully began to help them clean off the foam as he began to check the reader’s burns. Hawks took the moment to survey their surroundings and found the reader’s nest and realized that the reader was living here

Once the reader is calmed down and retracts their wings, Hawks asks about why the reader, a child, is living in an abandoned building

Fearing their situation but knowing that lying would only worsen their situation, the reader begins to explain their situation, telling the heroes what happened and why they are living here

As the police began to search the area and start to finish up their business there, Endeavor and Hawks both realize that the reader shouldn’t be returned to their parent’s custody but that placing them in the foster system would be bad due to their inability to control their relatively new quirk.

Due to developing their quirk later than others, the reader wasn’t given the same counseling and guidance that people normally get. Endeavor, having seen the reader’s potential as well as hoping to spare them the same fate that took his son, decided to become the reader’s legal guardian. Hawks, having plenty of experience with his wings and feeling a kinship with the reader, decides to become a mentor/older brother/fun uncle figure to the reader

Endeavor takes the reader to his home and has them get settled in.

Endeavor may seem grumpy and unapproachable but the reader quickly grows on him as Enji develops a soft spot for the reader.

Enji tries to teach the reader how to control their flames but is constantly reminded of how he trained his children and worries that the reader will hate him

Eventually Hawks is able to teach the reader to control their flames when he tries to have the reader cook chicken with them. Hawks originally intended it as a joke but Endeavor saw the accidental genius and decided that it was a good idea. Hawks just wanted some chicken

The reader has a tendency to build nests as a result of their father’s side of the family having mostly bird related quirks. One day Enji comes home from patrol to see the reader has built a giant nest in his living room. The reader is sitting in the nest in front of the TV. Hawks walks into the room with popcorn, snacks and drinks. After much convincing, Enji finally agrees to sit with them and watch a movie

Half way through the movie the reader falls asleep and snuggles up to Enji’s side. Wrapping an arm around them, Enji lets them sleep as he realizes how much he’s missed out on with his other kids. It’s at this moment that Enji promises himself and the reader that he’ll be better and that he’ll cherish these small moments

Hawks and Enji don’t care about the reader’s appearance, they understand that their quirk just makes their body different from others and they accept it.

Hawks will often visit the reader and they’ll preen each other’s wings. Hawks likes to make spa days out of this. He’ll take them to a bath house or bring bath salts to them. After relaxing in the bath he’ll either have a masseur give them both massages or they’ll massage each other. After that they’ll both take turns inspecting the other’s wings removing old or damaged feathers, combing the feathers, etc. after that Hawks will do face masks with the reader and basically anything that he can use as an excuse to relax

Overall, the reader is an irreplaceable part of Enji and Hawks’s lives now

I hope you enjoyed this.

[shijiujun]

A Summary: The Spirealm | 致命游戏 (Kaleidoscope of Death 死亡万花筒 Live Action) & Why You Should (Eventually) Watch It

Talk about the most short-lived drama release ever, not even totalling two hours if I recall. Creating this summary as I've seen a handful of confused friends, so here it goes!

It's going to be a long review because I sped through all 78 episodes and only properly watched the first two doors, but I got you. You'll get both the brief book rundown and the drama parts!

If you just wanna see the bromance (LOVE) parts please skip to section 4!!!!

1. Overview

Title: The Spirealm (kinda awful I'm sorry it's a mouthful) or 致命游戏 which means fatal game

Adapted From: Danmei (BL) Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu

Novel Prints: There are GORGEOUS Thai, Vietnamese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese versions printed, AND Singapore publisher Rosmei has signed the license for the ENGLISH version, probably going on sale this year (preview is here). You can still access fan translations by Taida on I think wordpress and someone else on Tumblr sorry bad memory (they did half and half each) if you'd like to read it for context. It is one of my FAVE danmeis EVER and I am a die-hard OG book fan, check out my full danmei review here.

Total Episodes: 78 (20 minutes each with the exception of last episode which 10 minutes, with several BTS not that I think we will get to see all of them yet)

Where to Watch (LOL): Erm considering that iQIYI China AND International took the episodes down, there is no legal way to watch this, BUT thanks to some cnetz with super fast and great wifi, we managed to get ripped HD versions without subs. iQIYI is very hard on copyright though, they've taken down several subbed and unsubbed versions already on YouTube, but you should type the titles of show into Twitter and the top tags will tell you where to access the raws and very little subbed episodes, that may also be taken down at any point. I have the Chinese raws but as it's hosted on a cloud, I had to pay to access it.

Main Characters: Lin Qiushi & Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie (in the novel) and Ling Jiushi & Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie (in the drama)

Produced By: iQIYI so for SURE they won't film it fully BL even if the original is, but I've seen enough bromance cuts

Main Actors: Xia Zhiguang (Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie) + Huang Junjie (Ling Jiushi)

2. Summary

Book (drama follows closely if not removing the supernatural premises): Lin Qiushi, a designer, opens the door to his home one day from inside and sees 12 iron doors outside. Confused, he opens one of them and arrives at a snow covered village in the mid of winter, and meets Ruan Baijie, who's a pretty, unusually tall and whiny/timid woman. They realise that they're in a horrifying door game, and they'll have to find a door and a key to get out, while battling a long-haired, human-eating deity. They, along with a few others, have to survive day after day until they get out, and on the first night, two people have died in gory ways. Ruan Baijie and Lin Qiushi partner each other, and despite seemingly timid and crying all the time, she saves Lin Qiushi a few times mysteriously, and Lin Qiushi finds himself trusting in Ruan Baijie.

They get through the door together and when they leave successfully, Lin Qiushi realizes that the people who died in the door will die in real life by some freak accident too - car accidents, forced suicides, a robbery gone wrong, a lift trapped in the air and going ablaze, and more. That night, Lin Qiushi wakes up to see a super handsome and tall Ruan Nanzhu at his bedside and this man feels familiar to him, but he can't put a finger on it. All he can think of when Ruan Nanzhu says his name is Ruan Baijie (ahem he would later find out who it is of course). Ruan Nanzhu takes him to his mansion in the suburbs where he meets a group of other people just like them, who're forced to go through the doors for survival. Ruan Nanzhu then invites him to join Obsidian, his organization.

Through various doors, Lin Qiushi grows and supports a super intelligent and powerful Ruan Nanzhu, falls in love with him, gets through many many scary doors with him and some of their other team members, makes friends, loses them to the cruelty of the doors as they ponder over what the door means, and what being alive/dying means.

And at the end of it, at the end of of it all, when they're all good and living their life, Lin Qiushi also finds out what Ruan Nanzhu's secret is, and the lengths to which Ruan Nanzhu went to, just to be with him.

Drama: Ling Jiushi is a VR game designer who gets pulled into a game, and he meets Ruan Baijie (in his male form) right off the bat (SO NOT CROSSDRESSING I AM SAD). All the parts are actually the same as the novel, albeit with the game setting and Ling Jiushi and Ruan Nanzhu's identity adjustments to suit the game premise. Most of the other doors and their lines are the same, just that the ending is a bit more confusing than it could be. There's a big bad as well and they actually show the opposing organizations when in the novel, these other organizations aside from Obsidian didn't even actually have a face or goal to them.

3. Characters

^ Them in the book (based on manhua that never got to go live LOL) (RNZ/RBJ left, LQS right)

^ Them in the show (LJS left, RNZ right)

Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie: MY HANDSOME CROSSDRESSING INTELLIGENT ALOOF BUT WHINY (WHEN IT COMES TO LIN QIUSHI) SASSY BOSS!!!! He's super mysterious and super thick-skinned too, and all he wants is Lin Qiushi's attention the moment he meets him. He's intrigued by Lin Qiushi's calm and his brains and the way he handles things, and has a lot of trust for him right from the get-go. This is also shown in the drama itself. As the leader of Obsidian, he cares a lot for his team members and his friends even if he doesn't show it most of the time, and the last thing he wants to do is lose Lin Qiushi, and he would do ANYTHING for Lin Qiushi, ANYTHING!!! Just look at him whining:

Ling Jiushi (Lin Qiushi): In the novel he's super calm, has quite a lot of brains, a little bit of a blur in the beginning but he's super smart as well. Worries a lot for Ruan Nanzhu and is also a loyal friend to some of his only friends, and feels a lot when he loses them. Falls gradually in love with Ruan Nanzhu in the novel, like they just belong together. In this drama, Ling Jiushi holds that same trust for Ruan Nanzhu, but in demeanour he seems a bit more like a klutz and and not as cool as he was in the novel, but I guess it's acceptable. Literally like the only thing he loves more than RNZ (maybe) is his cat Chestnut LOL and RNZ is NOT really happy about that but Chestnut LOVES RNZ

Yixie and Qianli: CUTEST TWINS ;-; WHO TREAT RNZ and LQS as their big brothers LOOK AT THEM BOWING AND RNZ/LJS like parents LMAO

A handful of other characters who will keep turning up and get your hearts ;-;

4. ALL FAVE BROMANCE MOMENTS + TROPES

THEY TOUCH EACH OTHER A LOT LIKE HOLDING HANDS AND TOUCHING FACES, PIGGY BACKING?!?! DID I MENTION FACE TOUCHING

WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP WHUMP THEY HELP EACH OTHER WHEN HURT OR GET HURT FOR EACH OTHER

AND WHEN THEY WAKE UP IN BED THE OTHER IS AT THEIR BEDSIDE

AND DID I MENTION HE FEEDS HIM IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE

AND THAT THEY DATED UNDER THE FIREWORKS LIKE THE NOVEL DOES NOT EVEN HAVE THIS SHIT

AND THE KABEDONS

AND FINALLY RUAN NANZHU RIZZ OMG

5. Settings

They REALLY OUTDID THEMSELVES. THIS JUST FROM DOORS 1-6:

THEY LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE NOVEL DESCRIBED!!!!

6. Overall Thoughts

PROS: This was NOT a cheap production, I'm telling you, they followed the cases very well and there're a lot of super recognisable lines, if not ALL of them, even if they changed the cases a little. I think they did it because in the novel originally, the author DOES leave a lot of details hanging like someone dies and you know he had a background and there are some shady things happening but the author NEVER actually goes into detail. So the drama did their best to cover these loopholes, even if it felt a little awkward at times. Money went into settings and attires and every damn thing, this looks EXPENSIVE. And if you've ever imagined each door and the bosses inside in your head, you might have felt chills go down your spine because damn did they really colour the book's settings for me (despite its differences). DID I MENTION that Xia Zhiguang really got the damn memo and he was a passable Ruan Nanzhu/Ruan Baijie who knew how to turn on his BL eyes. PLUS they really did some of the character deaths really well - they're technically some of the biggest parts of this story so ;-; (not two main of course)

CONS (maybe): They did away with the supernatural/horror premise and replaced it with a GAME premise, which means that there's a scientific element to it and the try to explain away stuff with the game, including the ending. I don't 100% get the ending, but the feel/vibe is about the same. Might not be for hardcore reader fans tho! They skipped out on a couple of doors, some of which were my faves, but it's fine, it's long enough LOL. They give away/explain some of the clues and surprises super early which means you don't get that added boom at the back as well. Despite that, I have to say they tried to round up the loopholes from the book as much as they could and give it an explanation while tying elements/conspiracies across doors (probably also to save cast fees LOL). And as always it's not a solid ending, it's an open confusing one, and even more confusing than the book itself because THERE IS NO CERTAIN HAPPILY EVER AFTER WITH HUBBY for it (there is in the book tho, they live together happily every after). Secondl,y, I'd say HJJ's acting is a bit stiff and OOC compared to the novel, but Xia Zhiguang really made up for it.

-------

HOPE THIS HELPS YOU GUYS!!! But I guess if you need subs it's going to be a long LONGGGG ride, considering that iQIYI doesn't seem to be going to be able to put it up anytime soon CRIES.

[sonoftydeusthemusical]

Welcome to the Son of Tydeus: The Musical blog!

Our progress, ideas, polls and more will be posted here on this blog to keep you up-to-date!

Join our Discord Server: here!

We're also very open to any asks, comments, questions and suggestions!

It really warms our hearts and delights us to see how many poeple have already shown interest in this project, and we're excited to continue this journey with you :)

Overview and FAQ to the musical and us below

Who are we? 

In the most literal sense we are Ley and Bea. (Our personal blogs are @leynaeithnea & @friedmagazinebouquet )

We are two storytellers who are completely normal about mythology, and Diomedes in particular! Obviously!

We started working on this musical in early October, after an off-hand comment in a discord server that someone should make a musical about Diomedes.

Somehow we decided to keep daydreaming about it, asking "what-if" after "what-if", and eventually figured that sometimes you have to take things into your own hands.

What will this musical be about?

The life of Diomedes of Argos, from his father's death when he was 4 years old, all the way up until his own. As of now we plan to be covering his childhood, the Trojan War, his homecoming, exile, life in Italy and the end of his mortal life.

What will be the format of the musical?

It will be fully sung-through, allowing for it to be easily accessible to everyone once it is complete.

We want to emphasize auditory storytelling so that no visual elements will be necessary to get the full expierence.

Though visuals (be it animation, stage play or other) might still allow for even more immersion, it's an element that we won't put our focus on for now

What stage of production are we at?

We are currently in the earliest planning stages, where we are gathering information, researching and working on defining a set timeline, figuring out what aspects we'll want to focus on and what story we are trying to tell, before we move on to drafting a storyline and eventually tackling the songs itself.

Why are we doing this?

Primarily because Diomedes rarely ever gets mentioned in any modern media unlike so many other ancient greek heroes. Despite his incredibly interesting life and major role in the Iliad he gets cut from nearly all adaptations and is barely known at all, and we decided we want to change that.

On top of that we also see it as a great chance to not only expand our knowledge about Diomedes himself, but gain a more in depth understanding of the myths and tales themselves.

Will OdyDio be canon?

...nope. There is plently shipping content for them already! (And also another musical in production where they'll be canon, check out @arwenmusic "All Fall Together" for a retelling of the Trojan war from the trojan perspective!)

For us, we want to tell the story of Diomedes. Not Diomedes in the shadow of Odysseus, who has his own epic, musical and much content already)

Odysseus inevitably will play a role in SoT but any romantic infatuation between him and Diomedes will not be canon.

We want to strive for source-accuracy as much as we can - especially concerning the events around Troy, as we have the most sources for those and hence have decided against including the ship.

[defire]

Child soldiers, minor living weapons

[modern warfare, action movie vibes]

Content: minor whump, child soldiers, forced maturity, child abuse, whipping, humiliation, dehumanization

Expected to be just as mature as an adult, this kid knowing guns and being able to fight, but also carving their name into the wall where they're hiding from enemy fire, y'know just for fun

Constantly out-adapting the adults (kid brains are designed for learning FAST). Whumper is training them to fight their enemies, and whumpee is secretly training whumper to teach them how to eventually escape...

Whumpee putting whumper's favorite picture right in front of their whip. Maybe when they go to punish whumpee next time they'll calm down and go a little softer.

Whumpee using every metric they can to convince whumper they're loyal so they can be given the freedom to run away.

Whenever whumper figures out whumpee outsmarted them they lock them up, take away every tool they have for learning and make them do exhausting reps, "I'll just have to train that will out of you then!"

Whumpee slapped or beaten for glaring at whumper, but anyone else, it's encouraged.

"Careful, he bites." (Whumpee is expected to snarl here.)

If whumpee failed to intimidate whumper's enemies, there's hell to pay.

Whumpee being totally gullible about common sense stuff but you will not fool them about army politics, human body science, or weaponry. They can tell you whether you want a 9mm or a .380 but have no idea why you would brush up your appearance to meet the opposite sex.

Awkward teenager whumpees who just really want to score in social interactions but they're only allowed around adults, so they're always bullied out by shared cultural stuff they don't know about.

Big-eyed kids that just eat their meat with their hands in the corner, cough, and go out to punch the punching bag while the soldiers eat and talk

Whumpee being lonely. Until one of the soldier groups decides to take them "under their wing" (then you have like a carewhumper situation?)

Little whumpees that rely on ranged weapons or long spears because once it gets close range, they're getting literally thrown into walls and stuff

Them getting thrown into a bookshelf and kind of bouncing off onto the floor. Stomped back down into the carpet. Yelps of pain, and then a hard breath as they just take it. They're used to pain by now.

Picked up by the throat kicking and squirming, but they have fighting training so they kick their opponent in the face.

A cute younger teen appearing in a battlefield and then just, unstrapping a massive machine gun without even blinking

Also, a kid half their opponent's size glaring at them, threatening to kill them. And their opponent knowing they should be scared, but also they look so tiny and harmle--

[thesummerestsolstice]

More on the idea that Elrond gets more eldritch as time goes on:

See the thing about Elrond is that the human parts of him are just, fundamentally, not designed to live forever. Some may be injured beyond repair, others will succumb to illness, others to age. That's hardly unique, it's a reality all half-elves have to face. The elvish parts of a mortal half-elf will keep them looking young, even when they're close to death, but the human parts of an immortal half-elf can pose far more problems. After all, choosing to be immortal can only do so much to alter a half-elf's biology.

But life is adaptable, and often far sturdier than it seems. The human parts of an immortal half-elf are destined to die, but they do not do so all at once. And because of that, the elvish half is able to slowly replace the failing parts, allowing half-elves to attain immortality at the price of slowly stripping away their humanity. It's long been noted that half-elves often start to show more elvish features as they age, often significantly changing how they look. Erestor Caranthirion starts with his mother Haleth's dark brown hair, but as he ages, it slowly bleaches to Miriel's silver.

See, the thing is, elves aren't immortal in the truest sense either. Under stress, elves will fade, and even without it, they'll eventually succumb to sea-longing. Normally, all this means is that half-elves will have a truly elvish fate.

It's different for Elrond.

Just as elvish blood resists the aging and injuries of humans, Maiarin blood is able to overcome the fading of elves. And just as Elrond's elvish blood begins to strip away his mortal blood as he ages, so to does his ainuric blood begin to shine through more and more, as stress and time wear away the elvish parts of him.

He ends up looking so much like Luthien and Melian because those are the parts of him that are best suited to survive Middle-Earth– the only parts of him that could allow him to live through everything that happened to him.

[dommnics]

It’s official…the cast for Carrie has been released…any thoughts?

Very, very exciting stuff! I am so unfamiliar with the majority of these actors, aside from Samantha Sloyan, Amber Midthunder, and Matthew Lillard. But that's a great thing! I'm looking forward to being introduced to them as these characters in this world.

I can't stress how excited I am to see how much more these characters will be fleshed out, and what different directions Mike Flanagan will take for them. The story is stacked with an array of female characters who come from wildly different perspectives and backgrounds, and I'm so interested to see how much more nuanced and complex they can be in an eight episode format vs a two hour film.

Summer H. Howell as Carrie White:

Like many, I'm bummed but not entirely surprised that yet again, we have a thin, conventionally attractive actress representing Carrie for a fourth screen adaptation. Really missed opportunity to set her apart from the past Carrie portrayals visually, and also to connect back to how truly vicious the pig's blood prank is with that context. With that said, it's a new Carrie, and I am very excited for Summer to put her own fingerprints on this character, and from what Mike Flanagan has said about her in a recent interview...

... it makes me all the more excited to see what she'll do with this role. I'm curious how y'all interpret the last bit of this quote? Could she be an angrier Carrie? In the novel, I felt she was expressing (internally mostly) a lot more rage through the story, which was softened in Sissy's portrayal, but I could feel it with Angela and Chloe. I think this is a great opportunity to explore that even further with Summer. I'm also super interested to see how her physical acting will be, especially with the telekinesis. So far, the most unique version in this area has been Chloe's portrayal - using her hands, and even her movement was sort of animalistic and predatory, so I hope they get really creative with how Summer will physically represent her use of the TK.

Samantha Sloyan as Margaret White:

I'm kind of curious who the other runner ups for this role would've been, but definitely no concern here, because we've already had a glimpse of what her Margaret could be through Bev Keane. But because she's already played a similar character, it would interest me to see how Samantha will make Margaret a much different character from what she's already done before.

Siena Agudong as Sue Snell:

While I'm not familiar with her, I'm really happy with this casting due to the fact that Siena is partly Filipina! Being Filipino myself, that's a little win in my book! I really appreciate this character, and the morally grey aspects to her. I've previously spoken about it on here before how the 2002 version had my favourite version of Sue (so spunky and kind, but with bite in a way that felt really natural and authentic), and I am very excited over the potential of how this character can be expanded and explored further. With all the characters, this new take has the opportunity to create a defining version of the character out of all the adaptations. Sue has plenty of areas that the movies did not have the space or time to fully realize, and I hope that what Siena does in this role can place her as being the definitive Sue Snell. What also interests me is how involved she'll be in the final acts of the story. I struggle with picking a stance of whether I like her sneaking into the prom and eventually witnessing the destruction, or being at home, and slowly realizing there's something going down in the town. But I have hope that they'll stick closer to the way the novel's final moments play out, with Sue being an active presence in Carrie's final moments.

Alison Thornton as Chris Hargensen:

Dark haired Chris! That was my first thought when seeing this casting hahaha! I remember being so excited when Portia Doubleday showed up in the Carrie 2013 trailer with dark hair. It's honestly an inconsequential detail, but I just like the visual connection to her book self. Apart from that, I'm unfamiliar with his actress, and I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll do with Chris. I'm not familiar with how Chris is handled or fleshed out in the musical, but so far my favourite interpretation has been Portia's. Despite not having a bunch of screentime in the 2013 movie, I really felt that she managed to give Chris a lot more nuance and even fragility that I didn't get from the previous versions.

Thalia Dudek as Emaline:

This just makes me super curious who Emaline will be in this story. Will she be a version of one of the existing characters from the novel, or someone entirely different? Maybe Carrie won't be a total loner in this, and Emaline could be the one friend she has in the school? Curious what y'all are speculating for this character!

Amber Midthunder as Miss Desjardin:

I loved Amber Midthunder in Prey, and it was cute to see her show up in the live action Avatar series. Apart from those, I haven't seen her in anything else that I've watched, so I'm interested to see what she'll be like in this role. The way that the 1976 movie expanded and re-interpreted this character from her novel self was really well done, so much so that the 2002 and 2013 versions followed suit in varying degrees. I like the push and pull aspect of her character, where she pities Carrie, either from a place of annoyance, and also genuinely wanting to help her. I think that makes her character more interesting than just straight up being a sweet teacher (and she has teeth and means business in all three versions, which I love!), and feels like it nods to her own background a bit - maybe she was a mean girl herself back in her school years, and that could be a really compelling angle to write this character, from school bully to being a teacher (it happens so often!)

Matthew Lillard as Principle Grayle:

I'm actually surprised more at the role that Matthew Lillard is playing, because I was actually expecting it to be announced that he would be Ralph White, when his role was initially hush hush. I'm happy to see in the Carrie universe, and it just makes me curious to see if this character will play a larger role in the story or not. It's also always tickled me to see how each version has done the post showeroom talk in the principal's office, and how Carrie's powers are introduced during this scene. We've gotten Carrie flipping an ashtray, pushing a steel desk, and shattering a glass water dispenser. Makes me curious what she'll do here! Crack a window maybe? Explode a laptop for that modern flair?

Josie Totah as Tina Blake:

Tina coming back makes me happy! I'd have to double check, but I think this character in the novel does not have the prominence she has in the movies, basically being Chris's right hand. Chris being the main antagonist, but with Norma/Tina being the nasty little follow up is something I've really enjoyed throughout the three versions, and they've all had really interesting and unique demises at the prom. I hope that Josie's Tina will have a similar role in this new version. It also makes me curious now how the dynamic of the female bullies will be in a 2025 world.

Arthur Conti as Billy Nolan:

I have not seen Beetlejuice Beetlejuice yet, but clearly I have to now, just to see what Arthur Conti is like. Billy's such a gross, threatening, little creep in the novel, and apart from John Travolta's take on Billy, I thought the 2002 and 2013 did a decent job of getting this across. I'm looking forward to his dynamic with Chris in this version, and I hope that Arthur Conti can bring a frightening presence in this that I felt the 2002 and 2013 were able to do with their Billy.

Joel Oulette as Tommy Ross:

I wonder how audiences will respond to Tommy's character this time around. I've noticed that first time viewers of Carrie usually have a hard time following whether or not Tommy and Sue are in on the prank, and what kind of agenda they're acting on, so I hope this version paints a clearer picture of these two characters and where they're coming from. I do appreciate the inclusion of people of color in the main cast so far, so while I'm not familiar with Joel Oulette, I'm happy he's our new Tommy.

I'd love to know what y'all are thinking, and I wanna hear some theories and speculation from everybody too!!

[feefivefoe]

Yesss absolutely! I mean, escaping is practically impossible, so ya gotta do what ya can without leaving the manor and depriving them of yourself. The second best thing you can do is deprive them of your attention ;D Though, it makes me wonder how far they would go to ensure you pay attention to them. I mean, they already did enough harm by neglecting you, would they also punish you for not paying them any attention? Or do they just act pathetic and hope you feel bad eventually lol

If nothing else, they're adaptable. And very, very observant.

So long as you acknowledge them, they're content for a bit. While they don't enjoy it, the majority of them are willing to accept that this is...a new adjustment for you.

But they aren't satisfied with it. Soon they start wanting, and in some cases, expecting more.

Now physical pain, they would almost never inflict on you. The most they would do (save for extreme circumstances) would be restraining you.

It starts by taking away privileges and privacy. Sure, they'll never blatantly remove your door or anything, but there are so many cameras and mics in your room that you could search for a year and not find them all. You don't have access to the internet, or even games or a phone if you keep it up.

If you're willing to hold out to the very end, they'll completely isolate you. Make you unable to leave the room or interact with anybody except for when they strategically go to visit you.

Meals are delivered through a slot in the door with no words. Whether you like it or not, your brain will eventually crave something, someone. Anything. There's nothing to do. You're so understimulated. Humans are social creatures, and the boredom isn't helping. Not even a window.

Eventually you'll be desperate for the occasional walk outside, just to see things. Feel sunlight, or a breeze. Anything beyond the stilfing silence where the only thing you can hear is your own thoughts.

You can hold out for a long time, sure. But the human mind is not meant to last in these conditions.

[thistlerock]

Hmmm okay I sat on it for half a day and have decided that the things I DONT like abt fantasy high webtoon so far aren't just me being a bitter fan of the og highly critical of an adaptation. It's still a little bit that though, so take this with a grain of salt.

- I have no problem with Riz being the main focus so far (I do think it makes a continuous plot easier to follow) but I really do hope we get more on the others. And I REALLY hope that the girls get actual attention on their backgrounds and characters? Idk, Gorgug and Fabian didn't get as much as Riz either but they got way more than the girls, especially Fig, and I will always be a little annoyed when male characters get more attention in action and/or fantasy stories. This is my biggest issue and the only one that I genuinely think could turn into an "okay no this is where the adaption is bad". Like, I'm gonna assume they either get flashbacks or new moments in the next few chapters (again I only read the free ones so far) but still. Arghfj.

- Kristen coins their party name by telling Daybreak she wants to hang with the Bad Kids. Since they'll all end up in detention eventually I'm sure we'll still get there and I'm not completely opposed to change but that is a pretty iconic line to leave out. I think if they get the name by someone else referring to them as such or if Kristen says it later that still works but y'know.

- I understand that a comic has to spoon feed the reader lore because Brennan can't just do it, lmao, but it does feel slightly out of character for the Riz we know to need explanations on how Agueford operates. Like, he would have done extensive research on it. This is very much an alternate universe/parallel timeline with minor differences situation and in this version Penny's only been missing for a week so he had less time to do research, yeah, but still. I don't think this is an inherent flaw and I do expect these Bad Kids to be slightly different than their counterparts, but yeah that bothered me a little bit.

- Riz's whole deal visually. I both love it because he's so cute and it's working on me exactly as intended and I'm also kinda mad that it's working. And I'm kind of mad at the fact it's a thing. He's a creature, he's a gross little guy. Yes the fanon portrayals of him are way more creature-ish than canon ones, but he is NOT cute even in canon. Look at his freshman year art and then look at this guy, insane difference. I get why they did that. And it works. It works SO well. Penelope's reaction to him suddenly makes perfect sense to me. This makes me so conflicted lmao. I understand that this an alternate version of him and not SUPPOSED to be the exact same but I don't think I'm gonna get over it, which is fine. Doesn't mean I'm not collecting screenshots of cute Riz. He really is squishable.

- Unless I misunderstood Fabian wasn't present when Ragh threw Riz! How will he The Ball him now? It's pretty easy to establish it either way (other people could call him that, especially on the Bloodrush team which Fabian will presumably try out for) but if it ends up not being Fabian that fully establishes Riz as The Ball (because let's be real, regardless of how persistent Ragh is, if Fabian didn't repeatedly call him that it would not have become his thing.) then I genuinely think that takes away from why their dynamic is fun! I am waiting with baited breath

- this is a minor thing but I wish Kristen wore shorts,,,like short overalls,,,,,,I FULLY understand why they didn't put her in tie dye I wouldn't wish repeatedly drawing that upon my worst enemy, and the corn coding IS pretty fun, and they DID keep her awful sandals. But shorts,,,,,my girl needs shorts for her summer camp fit,,,,

I do still find the webtoon enjoyable so far. I think liking adaptations of media you love is actually really hard because it'll almost never do it "right", but you kinda have to distance them from each other and go "okay this is the thing I like but from a different angle and that's okay, and I might be bothered by a lot of changes but that doesn't inherently make it bad". (Extreme example of this for me is death note. As an adaptation of the anime/manga the live action movie sucked ass, if you forget all about that it's a pretty good movie?? Obviously in the case of fantasy high the two are a LOT closer and this isn't a good comparison, but death note has taught me to at least try to view adaptations positively even if my first instinct is to be upset.) Idk, if they're the exact same then what's the point of adapting it.

So far I think it's a competent work, if flawed in some ways; the art is cute and some of the jokes (even the new ones) made me chuckle. The first 3 chapters were nice, I think this can be a fun thing to relive freshman year through and if it brings in even one fan that doesn't wanna watch two hour recordings of people sitting at a table rolling dice (fair) then that's really great! I'm curious to see the rest, but if they continue like this and give the girls their spotlight then I think it'll be pretty cool even if I'll always prefer the original

[thesillymask]

Hello there! Thank you for writing my first request! Can you write Abel comforting the reader after she gets fatally wounded during a extermination, she eventually pass and he swears his revenge? I feeling angsty...

hello hello! Sorry for my disappearance, I was very discouraged and tired. But now I'm getting my spirits back

You're welcome! By the way! I tried my best to write this... So I hope you like it!

Abel x Fem!Exorcist!Reader Genre: angst

warnings:CONTENT ANGUISHES

It seems like yesterday where Abel was just living his life in Heaven normally, then suddenly he gets the news that his father dies and that he was the leader of the exorcists now. The poor guy couldn't even react properly, life had turned him upside down. He knew he needed to do this, Heaven was counting on him and he couldn't let everyone down, he didn't want to continue being a weakling like his father says....

The last few weeks have been so hectic for him, he had to train really hard to get some combat experience, Besides him having to learn how to use powers that he didn't even think he would need to use one day, like, why would he need to know how to summon an electric guitar that can turn into a double axe?

Not to mention that all the chores were a huge change to his routine, Now instead of spending time with Emily and Sant Peter, talking to his siblings or simply having fun in heaven, now he has to focus 100% on work. Needless to say, he didn't adapt well to it.

Despite everything, he ended up meeting (Name), one of the exorcist angels. Her firm posture and deadpan expression captured his interest, He tried to talk to her and get to know her better, but she just pushed him away or avoided him. And this only encouraged him to insist until he was able to access her.

After just a few weeks Abel had managed to become her friend, he even asked her to train him for battles(He just wanted to spend time with her). He had to beg Sera to make (Name) his new Lieutenant, with puppy dog eyes and a pout, and when Sera gave in and allowed it he let out a little squeal like a schoolgirl and ran over to (Name) to tell the news

When the day of the extermination finally arrived Abel became extremely nervous and anxious, he could feel his heart beating fast and sweat building up on his forehead... Luckily (Name) was there to comfort and help him. She led the exorcist army into hell, the angels passing through the portal and flying through the ring of pride. Abel watched the whole scene, seeing several and several sinners being massacred in the bloodiest ways, he felt his stomach turn... he thought he was going to vomit...

Abel is taken out of his thoughts when he hears the sound of a familiar scream, he quickly recognizes that voice and feels distress take over his body. It was (Name)... She quickly flew towards where the scream was heard, his eyes widening when he sees (Name) kneeling on the ground, her arms covering her stomach as golden blood dripped down on the floor. The sight terrified him greatly.

— "(Name)!"

Abel screamed and flew towards her, landing next to her with a look of pure concern and despair.

— "What happened to you!?"

He watches as she apologizes and tells what happened, a sinner ends up attacking her from behind... Abel quickly helped her up, his wings wrapping around her protectively.

— "shhh... It's okay... It's not your fault... It's not like you're going to wait for an attack from behind..."

Abel looked down, seeing the huge hole in her belly, he felt a pang in his heart when he saw that.

— "oh my God! You are bleeding a lot!... Okay... Uh... Let's not panic... I'll call other exorcists! They'll help you! Just... Just be strong, okay? You'll be fine..."

The last sentence was more of a statement to himself, he was so nervous and scared... The idea of losing (Name) was terrifying... He calls for three more exorcist angels, they pick up (Name) and carry her away from the battlefield. Abel watches them carry (Name) with an insecure and very anxious look.

Abel tried to continue the extermination, but his thoughts always returned to (Name). He couldn't take it anymore and ordered all the exorcist angels to return to heaven. All the angels gather their weapons and fly to the portal back to heaven. Abel ran desperately, looking for the exorcist angels who were with (Name), his heart beating a thousand miles an hour as he felt despair running through his veins.

As soon as he sees one of the exorcists he lands in front of her, his breathing heavy with adrenaline.

— "Where is (Name)!? Is she okay!?"

The angel just gives a slightly sad look and asks Abel to follow. She takes him to where the other exorcists were with (Name), Abel's eyes widened when he saw her lying on the exorcist's lap.

— "(Name)! Oh My God!"

Abel knelt in front of her, looking at her face, seeing how weak she looked. (Name) looks at Abel and gives a slight smile

— "Si- Abel... It was... An honor... To have met you..."

(Name) says, before her eyes close. Abel quickly panics and begins shaking (Name) wildly.

— "No No No No NO! (Name)! Stay with me! Please! Stay with me! I'm begging you! Don't abandon me!... I need you! (Name) PLEASE!"

Abel screamed at the top of his lungs, tears welling up in his eyes and streaming down his cheeks. He felt his heart breaking into a thousand pieces, (Name) was dead... She had died in front of him... And he did nothing to stop it... He let out a series of wails and sobs, the other exorcists watched the scene in complete silence.

Once Abel calmed down, he fell into a deep silence before standing up. He turned to the other exorcists with a blank, cold expression.

— "You two... Look for Lute... I want to talk to her..."

He commanded, the two exorcists raised a hand over their heads and then flew away. Abel looked back at (Name)'s dead body, he picked her up in his arms and held her close to his chest.

— "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you, (Name)... I'm so sorry... I promise I will look for whoever did this to you... And when I find them... I will make them know the true hell..."

[eulaliasims]

Round 6: Seax 4 / 7

Senovara: Mum, did your parents teach you how t' fight?

Norweni: No, they didn't. My mum, your grandmother, died when I was little, and Da was a strong man but absolutely averse to fighting. But he saw that I was interested in it and sent me to train with the few warriors the village had then.

Senovara: Hmmm.

Norweni: I don't expect you to do that, child. I just want all of you to know a few ways to defend yourselves.

Senovara: Alright. I kinda like it anyway!

Norweni: Good. Now go wash up, I have to meet with someone soon. Sun said she'll take you and your brother out with her again today.

Norweni: Lawspeaker Cunobelin, welcome.

Cunobelin: I take it you're Diseta? And Norweni, Cador's apprentice, right?

Cunobelin: How's old Cador doing anyway?

Norweni: He's been dead for twenty summers.

Cunobelin: Has it been that long? Shame, shame.

Norweni: Stop hugging me.

Cunobelin: Hmm, so! You've broken up and you can't decide who your children should live with? Correct?

Norweni: That's the gist of it.

Diseta: I still think they should come with me. I spend more time caring for them.

Norweni: And I don't think that's true.

Cunobelin: Well! There's an easy solution; the children can live with whoever they like best.

Diseta: Um. I don't think I want to force them to pick—

Norweni: Agreed. That's a bad idea.

Cunobelin: Nonsense! You there, child!

Sun: Me?

Cunobelin: Yes. Which parent do you like better?

Sun: Whoever is going to buy me a pony—

Norweni and Diseta: No one is buying you a pony.

Norweni: Sun, aren't you supposed to be taking the twins to the pond instead of eavesdropping?

Sun: Ugh, fine.

Cunobelin: Well, if you don't like that idea, then I suppose the next best solution is to have the children live with one of you half the week and the other the second half. It's not as if you can copy them and each keep a set!

Norweni: That seems... disruptive.

Cunobelin: Nonsense, children are very adaptable, or so I've been told. Never had any of the buggers myself. Anyway, you're living in the same village, they'll probably be wandering in and out of both homes as they please.

Diseta: I... suppose that would be fine.

Norweni: *sigh* Fine.

Cunobelin: Great!

Jia has strong Fun Big Sister energy.

Although I'm not sure Senovara enjoys it.

Jia: Whoops! You okay now?

Senovara: So dizzy...

Aren't you forgetting something?

Sun: Cinaéd will catch up eventually!

[utilitycaster]

What do you think of the overall structural and character changes for these first three episodes of TLOVM S3? I've been pretty happy/they make sense to me, but I've seen some grumbling, particularly about the changes to J'mon's entrance. (Some believe they could have kept the fight and trial, thinking it wouldn't have taken up much time, which I am...dubious about)

Much as I enjoyed the fight and trial in the campaign I think J'mon's intro was fine and of the changes it frankly did not even register. Like...there's a lot of deviation, and if someone's fixated on that it's like. that? really?

Anyway just a quick rundown:

Changing Scanlan to have Kaylie present in Ank'Harel and for him to fuck up again with her is a good idea setting up the Bard's Lament, as is sort of removing the whole "do you spice" arc and leaving in a little nod to it, because like, that was funny in-game but it doesn't translate well

I am cautiously in favor of Vax being the one to pull away from Keyleth. I know Keyleth is tough to convey well in this adaptation - I think for all that her arc stands out more in the campaign, Vex's is easier to turn into an animated series - but the "Keyleth isn't sure and Vax is like I understand and I'll wait but like. could we make out" vibes in-campaign never really were my thing even though it was consensual, so this does sit a little better with me. I do hope Keyleth is given some opportunities to voice her own feelings though, complicated as they are, as well as like...this makes more sense in my critiques of Campaign 3 but in Campaign 1, early Keyleth was terminally indecisive. Conclave-era Keyleth was "I know what I DON'T want (the Clasp, Raishan)" which was a huge step forward, but shooting things down, while important, isn't the same as leading. She eventually reached actual leadership - knowing what she did want. I think if Keyleth can argue for the things she wants, even if they're a little different than they were in Campaign 1, we'll be fine. So we're in a holding pattern to see what she does. I think giving her a juicy spire of conflux retrieval in which she takes the lead would address any concerns.

Vex and Percy changes are great, the vibe is correct, that's all I care about and other people have discussed this at length far more eloquently than I will, as I'm going to bed in like 15 minutes.

Intrigued by Draconia changes, not sure what they'll be exactly but I assume they'll still destroy it. I think destroying it in front of Percy and Vex might give it the emotional weight it had in the campaign without, well, you know.

Moving the armor to the hells sounds great, I thought they'd just skip Plate of the Dawnmartyr tbh because it was kind of clunky and weird to retrieve but now I'm invested for Zerxus reasons.

I think I'm a lot more open to adaptational changes than much of the fandom? Like...look. I think if you hear "we're doing different things" for C2 and think "Molly lives", as discussed before, you do not get how this works. But the changes we have here all feel pretty true to the characters; not having every specific battle (ESPECIALLY because D&D battles don't always translate well to TV) is literally not even on my radar.

[monstermoviedean]

let's talk about the bridge.

[spnwiki links known filming locations when available. in all three episodes, this is listed as the spur 4 bridge, lower seymour conservation reserve. it may appear in more episodes, but i'm not sure.]

the bridge appears in 05x02 (good god, y'all!), 13x18 (bring 'em back alive), and 15x20 (carry on). now. do i think this specific bridge was specially chosen each time to communicate a certain message? with respect to the crew, nah, probably not. do i think you can read a pattern here? ooh, yes. tl;dr: you cannot cross the bridge. merely standing on it means the rules have just changed in a reality-bending, fucked-up-beyond-all-repair sort of way. attempting to complete the crossing is an acceptance of the new rules.

in 05x02, the bridge appears as dean and sam are driving into river pass, colorado, the town controlled by war. the bridge is broken. they drive halfway across the bridge and stop. this is the first sign to sam and dean that something is seriously wrong here. this is no normal demon hunt. this is a problem on a scale larger than they can grasp. there's a literal gap between them and the town! they have to leave the car (/home) parked on the bridge and hike in. they are entering uncharted territory.

when they do, they find people killing each other and seeing demons where there are none. war is altering reality and playing people off each other. jo attacks ellen! rufus attacks sam! the townspeople turn on ellen and dean! you can't trust anyone! but actually...you can. none of them are demons. the danger is real, but it's not what it appears. and no one has ever come across anything like this before.

so what do sam and dean learn? the apocalypse is here. there's no going back. the rules have changed. the tactics they've always used don't work, because they are in a new reality now. and they accept that. while they can't physically walk/drive across the bridge, they do complete the crossing of their own volition. they accept that their world is different now and they will adapt to it.

in 13x18, dean and ketch are in apocalypse world walking near the bridge. they see a group of angels leading a group of shackled, hooded prisoners across the bridge.

two of the prisoners are executed by the angels right there. they do not cross the bridge. they die playing by the same rules they always have. it's the apocalypse, and they'll fight, but the angels are the angels and it's tough to win as a human. when i started writing this post i thought charlie had crossed the bridge, symbolizing her entrance into a new reality. but she doesn't! the angels fly away with her, without any of them ever crossing the bridge (below are back-to-back screencaps. sorry for the lack of visual but trust me on this)

charlie doesn't fully cross the bridge. she gets halfway across and then the angels fly her somewhere else. dean is hoping she finishes crossing. if she does, it's like she's crossing into his world. maybe this charlie will be just like the charlie he knew and lost. maybe he can save her. maybe he can undo it. but she doesn't cross and he so he can't get to her!

when he and ketch eventually catch up with her at the silo and escape, charlie hears about dean's universe and chooses to stay in hers. because it's hers. charlie's reality has been fucked with, certainly, but she chooses to accept the reality she knows and stay in it (for now at least). she's not outright rejecting the new reality of parallel universes, but she's also not letting the new reality dictate her actions. it's her home, it's her fight, and she's staying. she doesn't complete the crossing.

so that brings us to. deep sigh. 15x20. dean drives onto the bridge, ostensibly in heaven. he drives about halfway across. and stops. he does not cross the bridge. he gets out of the car and hesitantly walks around the front of it. i won't show you all the screencaps but he touches the car and stays pretty close to it as he walks.

the last one is about the furthest point he walks across the bridge, give or take. he doesn't go far from the car (which is a good strong symbol of dean's reality and home). you can see there's two vertical posts in the space between him and the car. when the final shot zooms out from him and sam, they are magically further across the bridge, about halfway across, about five vertical posts away.

dean standing on the bridge means the rules have changed. his world is different now. he cannot go back. this especially works with the next scene, which is the one of the cast and crew in our world saying goodbye. now, can you say that dean dying and going to heaven is the change? sure. but he doesn't cross the bridge. he doesn't accept it. could you say that simply means he's in denial about his death and apparent ascension? i guess. "but what about sam?!" shhhh, not right now.

i think it works much better as dean recognizing there is a new and unknown reality on the other side of that bridge, and instinctively knowing that there is something wrong. that he doesn't want to accept that reality. that if he finishes the crossing, he will be accepting it and will be unable to go back. and sam just appearing out of nowhere, seemingly materializing onto the middle of the bridge without actually taking steps to cross it? somehow moving dean with him so they're both further across the bridge? well maybe that's not real. maybe that's a trick to try to get dean to cross. maybe his acceptance of the new reality will sever his connection to his actual reality - war destroying the bridge in 05x02 certainly did that for the townspeople.

i know others have talked about dean crossing the bridge as an acceptance or an ascension, i'm nowhere near the first person to come up with that. but i do want to call attention to the previous iterations of the bridge. a broken bridge sam and dean cross, only to find war beyond it, an enemy the likes of which they have never seen. a bridge charlie is nearly forced to cross, but which she's taken away from before she can complete it (which would be more likely to lead her to jump realities). and a bridge dean starts to cross, but doesn't. a bridge that appears first in dean's reality, then in apocalypse world, then in dean's heaven, and then in our world, with jensen dressed as dean saying goodbye. and nobody ever crosses that bridge. it's a false promise. you can't do it. all you can do is stand on it and hope you'll be okay, even though you can't go back.