#also I guess technically hal is also there

[thisiseditsandstuff]

Sniper Wolf - Metal Gear Solid #7-8

[gothamcityneedsme]

Shoutout to me because my best hal playlist is the one i made in 2018 for a story i havent posted

[puppys-rhythm-heaven]

i've listened to so many chill nintendo song compilations the past few days and i know rhythm heaven is niche and all but literally only one of them has had any rhythm heaven music??? it's not even like there's a lack of chill rhythm heaven songs, like. tengoku remix 4, glee club, ds remix 2, lockstep 2, ds or tengoku's cafe music (fever and megamix's to some extent but it's not as chill), bossa nova (literally the only one i've seen in any of these). there's probably others you could argue but i am not in rhythm heaven brainrot mode rn so i can't think of any others. i've seen other fairly niche series in these too so it's esp weird-

[chaoticallyfluffy]

I want more of the JL acting like normal celebrities.

Batman and Chappel Roan working together on a competitive cooking show against teams of Kylie Jenner and Danny Devito, Kanye West and Kesha, Taylor Swift and Superman, etc. They are a surprisingly good team who work together great. They end up winning the whole thing and a bunch of wholesome memes start trending about the two of them adopting you after your awful parents kicked you out. Superman and Taylor Swift are surprisingly a TERRIBLE team. They’re disqualified because they never finished cooking their meals as they were too busy arguing. They are memed to be the parents who kicked you out and desperately need a divorce.

Wonder Woman going on a survivor-like reality show about a bunch of celebrities stuck on an island together and all the contestants are whining about things like “My hair is so frizzy and Chad is SO hot, I don’t want him to see me like this omg” While Diana has already chopped down multiple trees, used the wood to make a cabin for everyone, hunted a wild boar which is currently roasting over a campfire she also made with the leftover sticks and leaves, and cracked the coconuts from the tree. The rest of the show is mostly a normal reality show. The other contestants never have to lift a finger and can peacefully gossip and have drama while being well fed, housed, and hydrated. The only real difference is that every few minute the camera switches to Diana wresting a grizzly bear or catching fish with her bare hands.

The masked singer where there’s a person in a colourful parrot costume singing on stage and everyone has to guess who it is. People have guessed many celebrities like Oliver Queen, Bruce Wayne, or even Lex Luther, but they mostly guessed famous singers because the guy is GOOD and there’s no way he doesn’t sing professionally. He sang songs like “Party in the USA”, “Call Me Maybe” and “Never Gonna Give You Up”. People were going crazy trying to figure out who he is. The time finally comes for the reveal. The man slowly takes off his parrot head and... it’s Batman. The crowd goes wild.

The Flash (Barry) and Green Lantern (Hal) make a podcast and spend the entire time going on long rants about their respective interests. Flash talks about forensic science and chemistry for an hour while GL hums in interest or asks questions every once in a while. After that GL rambles about airplanes and engineering for another hour while Flash enthusiastically nods and adds in related stories every so often. Twitter diagnoses them with autism.

Captain Marvel has a TikTok account where he posts himself trying suggestions from his fans. Some of his most popular videos include him juggling a bunch of chainsaws (perfectly, btw), pranking JL members, bedazzling Mr Minds prison jar with fake crystals and speech bubble stickers that make it look like Mr Mind is saying things like “I’m DUMB”, and his most popular by far, citing The Santa Clause rules to Black Adam and convincing him that since he killed his father technically that makes him his new dad (the horror stopped Black Adam in place mid battle, giving Marvel the perfect opportunity to punch him in the face. The punch has been slo-mo’d and memed to oblivion). His Batman mandated PR team has been begging him to stop for months but in response he posts himself TikTok dancing (terribly) in front of a green screen in the background showing an image of the emails while asking for more suggestions.

If anyone has any ideas like this or fics to recommend plz tell me In the comments, I love the Justice League just casually being celebrities.

[linkandorf]

Paint Roller!

We're finally reaching the end of Kirby's Adventure... after 57 years... but we still got a Boss Rush ahead of us! Paint Roller is the second boss of Kirby's Adventure, after fighting Whispy Woods. They appear as the boss of Ice Cream Island, although they don't particularly fit into that level's theme or anything. Paint Roller's boss fight is very unique, as 4 canvases are placed around the boss arena that Paint Roller will skate between. They then stop at the canvas, and draw one of 8 different things. Said drawing then pops right off the canvas, coming to life! Most of these drawings provide a Copy Ability, but can also simply be used to spit back out at the boss. HAL seems to be very attached to this idea of an artist boss that creates magical drawings that attack you, because they've done it a lot. But I'm not complaining, I think it's cool every single time. Paint Roller in particular is actually one of my favorite character designs in the entire series, I love this guy a lot. Just such a simple but charming design, I'd love for Paint Roller to appear more often. Besides appearing in Adventure and it's remake, they appear as an opponent in Avalanche, and then return as a boss in Canvas Curse, which is fitting. Technically the bosses in Canvas Curse are magical drawings that have come to life themselves, so there's some weird layers to the idea of a living Paint Roller drawing... Also I find it funny that this character is called "Paint" Roller, despite the fact that they're almost always depicted holding a crayon. The wordplay was too good to pass up I guess!

[serialkillerbettycooper]

top 3 Archie traumas. actually...do the whole core four

i love this. what does this mean. my favourite traumas?? the most impactful ones on the characters and their stories?? the ones that just live rent free in my mind?? im just gonna go with. yes. all of the above.

Archie:

Hiram Lodge. I couldn't decide between getting framed for murder, or the attempts on his life in juvie, or Hiram nearly beating him to death in the ring, or the three hundred other things Hiram does to him. So Hiram gets his own bullet.

War. Because I love the football war scene. Also because I love the choice to have Archie fight in what is aesthetically clearly the trenches of WWI except its in Uzbekistan in 2020.

Bear. It is so important to me that Archie goes to Canada and gets mauled by a bear. This could technically fall under the Hiram bullet but it's so special to me that it gets its own.

Veronica:

Can I just say Hiram Lodge again? Yeah I think I'm just gonna say Hiram Lodge again.

Marrying a guy exactly like Hiram Lodge. And then killing him.

Also Killing Hiram Lodge. And then her blood turning to poison about it and killing some guy she was trying to hook up with. Haven't we all been there. I realize this is basically just Hiram Lodge three times but please consider: Hiram is Hiram forever. Especially if you're his daughter.

Jughead:

Being abandoned and neglected by his parents and experiencing homelessness as a teen.

Rat King. Getting lost in the NYC sewers and becoming the rat king and getting rabies. Happened to my guy Jughead.

S4 attempted murder because I'm forever a s4 defender and without it we don't have the iconic "I GUESS DEATH JUST CHANGES A PERSON" line leading into exquisite corpse

Betty:

The attempted lobotomy. Betty's only remaining non-serial killer family trying to indoctrinate her into an organ-stealing cult and then her best friend dragging her by her ankles to get a lobotomy. Season three is so special to me.

TBK holding her captive and making her carve up a body with him. I don't care that the trash bag killer is the world's silliest serial killer name I love everything that comes out of this plot. I love you silence of the lambs references, I love you betty cooper doing violence, I love you autoshop interrogation scene.

Hal Cooper. If I'm giving Hiram is own slot in two of these Hal has to get one, too. Also he could have easily gone under Archie too for y'know, shooting his dad in front of him. Why is Hal number three instead of number one despite his massive impact on Betty and her development? He has number three vibes. Way easier to get rid of. Can't do anything right, even be a serial killer.

[pluckyredhead]

i really wanna know your ideal dc publishing cause seriously they could be doing so much and instead choose the absolute worst trashy choices

Lol thank you for indulging me, anon. I have thought about this EXTENSIVELY so sorry not sorry for the tusnami of opinions you have unleashed.

Before I get into the list, a few points to explain my approach:

ONGOINGS. I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing series. There's nothing wrong with a miniseries but you can't get any forward momentum or character development with them because things keep getting reset to their baseline. Get really strong teams on your ongoings and let them develop their stories for years at a time. That's where all the legendary runs come from.

To that end, I am proposing a list of 30 books, which is a little more than 7 per week, which is roughly what DC publishes now (not including things like Sandman, Looney Tunes, etc.). They can add on as many minis as they want but will need fewer since so many more characters are accounted for with ongoings.

I am a strong believer in backup features - more value for your dollar and double the amount of characters included - so you'll see a lot of those.

I tried to balance what I personally think would be the most holistic representation of the DCU with what I believe will sell, so you're still going to see a lot of Bats. It should be understood that books without Bats are not going to be treated like throwaways like they sometimes are now. They are going to get top tier creators with long, sustained runs, just like Bruce always gets.

It will not be a publishing slate of all straight white guys from the 30s-60s.

Books with an asterisk* mean they will be kid-friendly. Not exclusively for kids, but appealing and accessible to young readers, the way Young Justice and its members' books were in the 90s. They can still include ongoing plots and queer characters and serious topics! They just shouldn't be relentlessly grim.

OKAY THE BOOKS!

Super Books:

Superman*: The lead Superman title, with a backup featuring starring Jon.

Action Comics*: Focuses more on the Superfamily as a whole, though the plot can dovetail and cross over with the main Superman book. (This is basically what's happening now.) Backup feature rotates between Kon, John Henry, Natasha, Kenan, Lois, and Jimmy.

Supergirl*: Why did I give Kara her own book and not Kon or Jon? Because a) DC needs more female-led books and b) I want to. The primary audience for this book is women who watched the CW show, or girls who have outgrown TTGo! and DC Super Hero Girls, NOT ADULT MEN. (Optional: Kon or Natasha backup feature.)

Bat Books:

Batman: Like the Super books, this would be the central title and focus on Bruce. Backup feature can rotate between the nine billion Gotham characters who need a home.

Detective Comics: Focuses more on mysteries/the family. Another rotating backup feature. NOTE: These backup features CANNOT star a character with their own book (Bruce, Dick, Damian, Selina, or Harley).

Nightwing: Dick sells. ;)

Robin*: Starring Damian, Tim gets a team book further down.

Batwoman: Perhaps we could try letting a queer woman write this for once? Revolutionary, I know.

Catwoman: Because she fucking rules.

Harley Quinn: Because she fucking sells.

Birds of Prey: I prefer a classic Babs/Dinah/Helena lineup but I'm flexible.

Batgirls*: If it’s too messy to have Babs in BoP and this, take her out and add Harper.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Imagine if this book was good! In my universe, it will be.

Solo Books:

Wonder Woman

Flash: This will star Wally. Optional backup rotates between Jay, Bart, Ace, and Avery. Barry can show up sometimes I guess.

Green Lantern: Starring Hal, John, or Kyle. Whoever is the lead CANNOT also be on the Justice League.

Green Lantern Corps: Okay yes technically this is a team book. Shhh. Guy should always be on this book since he does better in an ensemble. The plot should dovetail loosely with the main GL book with an annual crossover but you don't have to read both if you don't want to. I am flexible about how to fit all the Earth GLs in (including Simon and Jessica), whether that's backup features or just including them in the GLC ensemble, but all six should always have a publishing home. Jo should get as many prestige graphic novels as N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell care to bless us with.

Aquaman: Jackson backup. Please let him go back to being Aqualad and stop making everyone grow up so fast.

Green Arrow: This book is currently perfect, no notes.

Blue Beetle*: Starring Jaime, though Ted may show up to be annoying if he would like. A Booster backup is permissible.

Vixen: If they have a Webtoon they should have a comic for $ too.

Zatanna: See above.

...I'm torn between Shazam!* or Stargirl* here. I feel like they both kind of fizzled? I guess it depends on which book gets the better pitch.

Team Books:

Justice League: I mostly don't care who is on this but if it's a bunch of white guys plus Wonder Woman and either John Stewart or Cyborg as tokens, AGAIN, DC gets shut down permanently. I don't make the rules.

Justice Society: This is also not allowed to be only old white guys. I know that's harder with the JSA. I don't care.

Titans: I'm going to be honest, I'm not convinced the OG/New Teen Titans can star in a decent book anymore, since they haven't done so in two decades. But I will give them one more try. They can call themselves the Outsiders instead if that helps.

Young Justice*: They also maybe need a new name because they are all legal adults, but this is Tim's book. I'm highly skeptical of success here as well but I think the right creative team could make something really soapy and New Adult and queer work. Please keep in mind that there are nine trillion characters in the DCU who are roughly Tim's age to draw from; the "Core Four" (ugh I hate that term so much) can all be members but they are not the only members. (Cassie cannot be the only girl and it cannot be all white.)

Teen Titans*: Damian's team! I vote for characters like Emiko, Ace, and Jackson here, but I'm flexible. THE AUDIENCE FOR THIS BOOK IS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, NOT PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON WOLFMAN/PEREZ. Jesus, DC.

Suicide Squad: I truly do not care about this book but we need to do something to appease the edgelords.

The New Gods: I'm thinking EPIC, I'm thinking KIRBY, I'm thinking SIMONSON. Everyone talks in a serif font and it should be impossible to explain out loud with human words. It's what Kirby would want.

So there it is, there's my pitch. Again, this doesn't cover minis (Elongated Man miniseries WHEN), event books, etc., but I think it gets most of the key players on the board!

(And yes, I know I left the Legion out. I'm sorry. But not very sorry. They can cameo in Kara's book.)

[davekat-sucks]

I was thinking about the whole "Bro was abusive" thing again and i still don't think HE was abusive, let me explain why i emphasized that "HE". BUT let me get one thing out of the way first: i doubt Hussie had planned for Lil Cal too be a combination of 4 different guys at first, i do think Cal was supposed to be an evil puppet controlling Bro too an extent, but since canon its now that Cal is 4 dudes i thought I'd make a lil analysis. I think Bro was being fully possessed by lil Cal, I do not think his actions were technically his own, I'll get into why i say "technically". Like i stated earlier Cal is a combination of 4 guys (i guess 3 and half if you want too be THAT technical) being, Caliborn, Lil Hal, Equius, and half of Gamzee. Lil Cal's design also takes influence from aspects of those characters, he has Caliborns face, his shirt is the same color as Equius's blood, he wears a hat referencing the strider aspect, I'll be honest i cant exactly say where Gamzees influence comes in, I'd probably pin it on the laughing Cal does but whatever. Even stuff Bro "does himself" reflect this, the snuff filming, the rapping, the fighting, the crude comic making, etc, all of those things are something THOSE GUYS do. The point is Cal IS a combo of these guys, he is literally THEM. I think the best way too explain how Bro was possessed by Cal is like Pixars Inside out, instead of Riley it's Bro and instead of the Emotions it's Caliborn, Hal, Equius, and Gamzee, all forcing Bro too do those actions, ALL of them had an imput in raising Dave. But let's get into that "technically" now, Lil Hal is Dirk, Dirk is Bro, while everyone else was doing their bullshit while being Cal i think Hal was the nurturing part of Bro, we've seen how Hal/Dirk can care for people so i think it's safe too say he was the one responsible for protecting Dave and caring for Dave. I didn't put quotations around "part" last sentence was because Hal IS Bro technically, probably the only true and real part of the ACTUAL Bro. So technically Bro wasn't the abusive one, he was the caring part through Hal which IS him, it was Caliborn, Equius, and Gamzee were the abusive "parts" of Bro.

That is an interesting way to look at it. I can certainly see how parts of each one taking control to have Bro raise and care for Dave in different ways. Things like sparring would come from the sides of ARquius (Lil Hal and Equius), since both have been known to train and fight [Lil Hal on training Jake and Equius fighting with his robots]. Gamzee, Equius, and Dirk have an interest in rap/slam poetry. Equius and Caliborn have an interests in arts (Equius love for hoofbeast while Dirk & Caliborn do drawing). Setting up the porn bots to talk to each other (to having like an AI), would come from Dirk/Lil Hal/Auto Responder. Makes me feel sorry for Bro that his mind would be fucked because of this.

[dcinthe90s]

One of MD Bright's more well known works from DC is Emerald Dawn I and II... which, now that I type that, I guess it's technically two works. But anyway, he did excellent pencils for them both! Shown here is issue one of the second miniseries, from 1991, in which Hal Jordan meets Guy Gardner (while in prison), and also is trained by Sinestro! Rest in peace, Mr. Bright.

[otherswap]

what was your favorite part of the design process for the spritework/character art? did you have any outside media like songs or things that influenced any specific characters :3?

I think my favourite part of designing characters in general is figuring out their palettes (even if I'm not the best at picking awesome colours). It's definitely the easiest part of the whole process for me at least.

I think I mentioned inspiration things on character posts... Some of them off the top of my head:

Maddaton: Spinel (SU), probably Marine (PKMN) subconsciously

King RUDOLPH: Vintage Father Christmas pictures in general, Eggnog Cookie (for the cloak...), John Krasinski with a beard (seriously.)

Undyne: JRPG protagonists with impractical bits of armor on only one side, Sunny's Papyrus design (I wanted it to look like she was emulating him!); not specific to just her OS design but I draw her hair like a fish fin because of this cool fanart.

??????: One person said Dirk but it's actually closer to Lil Hal. Also Doc Scratch, but those are both technically Dirk so I guess they're still correct? Also old school computer terminals (the black and green text ones). The most blatant Homestuck reference guy out of everyone. You don't even know half of it yet.

Toby: Does Toby Fox himself count? He's wearing the same GameBro shirt as the one from that picture with Shigesato Itoi. You can probably guess about the Toblerone (Broblerone???) he has in the key art

Sans: Sans, but like the one in the Xbox port's casino with the visor. I drew it more like the Sun Visor gear from Splatoon.

Alphys: Wota (idol otakus) that wear happi coats, square John Egbert glasses (in my defense this is an intentional reference in DELTARUNE according to Toby)

Gerson: Captain Cuttlefish, Scrooge McDuck, Jimmy Buffet

Straycat (Burgerpants): When Sunny posted her designs on Twitter, she said he was inspired by Frank Fly from EarthBound

Glam Glitter-kun: "listening to lady gagas 'donatella' on loop" - Emerson

There's probably more I'm forgetting at the moment. I'm not so sure about songs for anyone except ??????. I like English and MEDIUM (Ft. CRISTATA). Leon says Sorry Bro is a Maddaton song too.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

Dan Mora's Dawn of the DCU cover art on the top and Dan Mora's leaked Dawn of the DCU: Legacy Edition cover art on the bottom:

So from left to right you have Bruce with Damian and Tim Fox as his legacies, Clark with Jon, Wally with Avery, Hal with Jo, Diana with Yara, Arthur with Jackson, Dick, Star and Vic with Flatline, Red Canary and Stitch, then Billy with Malik.

So from the get go let me say that Jackson, Jon, Damian/Tim Fox, Yara and Jo actually make sense here. Regardless of what you think of the characters or how you feel about DC pushing these characters over other characters. Because Jon, Jackson, Jo and Tim Fox all have series right now about taking over the mantle. Yara and Damian also have had series very recently about taking over the mantle, or at least setting them up as being the one who will do it. (Now some of these were better than others. Jo's book is one of the best books ever imo, Jon's is good, and the rest... exist I guess.)

Wally and Avery get a separate paragraph because I'm biased lmao. Wally is a legacy and the choice to put him in the first one speaks to DC's commitment to keeping Wally the 'main' Flash, IE the one headlining the Flash run. Avery is extremely interesting though. She is technically the next Flash and I'm honestly not mad at it. I love that she's being featured in things and that DC is actually recognizing her.

The Titans and the Shazam one confuses me. Flatline and Red Canary aren't Teen Titans. Stitch is (one of the best characters from Titans Academy and possibly the only reason to read that series) but they haven't been on active duty yet. Seems really weird to put them in as the Titans' legacy.

And tbh I haven't been keeping up to date on the Shazamily but I thought Mary was the new Shazam???

Anyway, it's interesting that DC has so many female characters featured here considering that their new book announcements for 2023 didn't feature a single female led series.

[harmonyckrs]

Act 5, Scene 2 of Twisted Veronaville: Someone Worth Fighting For

THE LAST PAGE

Lazlo: ...Now that Zoya isn't here right now, there was something I've been wanting to talk to you about.

Vidcund: You can just speak.

Lazlo: Well, fine. Are you really okay with letting someone get imprisoned? Especially since we've also been imprisoned just earlier today?

Vidcund: Yeah, it's...not ideal. But I'm sure Zoya knows what she's doing.

Lazlo: Does she, though? Remember when you two used to be at each other's throats all the time? What the hell happened, man?

Vidcund: Well, I'd like to believe we put our differences aside already.

Vidcund: Tell you what. We'll leave a hole for the kid to walk out of once he wakes up. Zoya is one person, and as tough as she is, I think we could take her down if we work together...and if Pascal's there too.

Lazlo: How do you know Pascal won't take her side?

Vidcund: Pascal's not stupid enough to participate in one of Zoya and Aktu's petty feuds again.

Lazlo: Funny you call them petty considering the last one was about you.

Vidcund: Don't remind me. But anyway, I think we should call it a night. Tomorrow, we should drop by Pascal's place, wherever he is. We have a lot to catch up on...

Meanwhile, in the Southernmost part of Veronaville, Hermia had decided to call Miranda as a last resort.

Miranda: Hello?

Hermia: You still have that telescope that your dad's boyfriend gave you, right?

Miranda: It's technically Hal's, but yeah. Why do you ask?...and why are you calling so late at night?

Hermia: Don't worry about it. Anyway, I need you to use that telescope and see if you can spot Mercutio anywhere. I have a bad feeling that something's going to happen to him if we don't find him soon.

Miranda: (Puck's rubbing off on her.) Sure. I'll see what I can do.

Hermia: Great, thanks! I'll see you tomorrow at school.

Miranda: (And as usual, Hal's hogging the telescope.) Find anything interesting, Hal?

Hal: AH!

Miranda: Hey, I'm not going to force you to go to sleep. I just wanted to check on how you were doing with the astronomy stuff.

Hal: It's good! I've seen three of the planets so far, and a UFO!

Miranda: A UFO? For real? Let me see!

Miranda: (Wait, this is actually fire! Did not realize the stars looked like that...oh, right! Mercutio!)

Hal: Cool, isn't it?

Miranda: Yeah! There's a little red thing among all of the stars...I don't know what it is, but it's interesting.

Hal: That's Mars! It's the planet right after ours in the solar system!

Miranda: Cool! Now, let me just adjust the telescope real quick...

Miranda: (Mercutio and Romeo. I guess I can let Hermia know that Mercutio is fine...too bad I can't hear what they're saying. Doesn't seem like a pleasant conversation, though.)

Hal: Why are you pointing the telescope towards the Monty side of Veronaville? You need to move it up higher!

Miranda: Yeah yeah, I'm trying...

Miranda: (Wait, is that-)

Miranda: Tybalt! He's alive!

Hal: Huh? That's not possible, let me see!...oh, it actually is him!

Miranda: Call Hermia and tell her! I'm going to go make sure nothing bad happens.

Hal: Huh? Why?

Miranda: (As much as I love Romeo, him and Tybalt together somewhere always results in something bad.)

Tybalt: ...And after I found that hole, I made my way here. I figured out of all of the places that I could find you, this would be the best one.

Mercutio: Well congrats, man! You guessed correct. So what do we do now?

Romeo: Mercutio, fucking LISTEN TO ME! You're making a huge mistake!

Tybalt: I guess we could run away together. Move to Pleasantview, become farmers or something...I dunno. I didn't really think too much about it.

Mercutio: Well, we'll figure it out eventu-

Romeo: Both of you are complete idiots! Mercutio, do you really want to throw away everything for THAT?

Mercutio: Don't act like you weren't planning on doing the same thing with Juliette? I saw the notes!

Romeo: That's different! You're the fucking HEIR, Mercutio! The family can't function without you!

Mercutio: We both know Nonna and Nonno would've made you the heir if they had the choice! I'm doing all of you a favor!

Romeo: No! I'm not losing another sibling!

*BAM*

Mercutio: Viola...what would she say...

Tybalt: Ah, that felt good. You wanna get out of here now, Mercutio?

Mercutio: ...Why isn't he moving?

Tybalt: He's probably just being dramatic.

Mercutio: No, I think...he's completely knocked out, Tybalt! We need to get him to a hospital!

THE NEXT PAGE

[kaiya-sims]

Things i want to do in Veronaville:

- Bring back Claudio and Olivia and make her pregnancy come to term (undecided on the name for the baby but I would assume it would be a boy)

- Contessa Capp is alive, she was meant to be playable originally which we can see from her bio

- I may bring Cordelia and Caliban back too just because IMO VV has too many unnecessarily dead sims. Sure I guess there is the fued but it makes VV seem very empty with all these random dead sims

- Hero Monty deserved better and honestly I might bring her back pregnant just because

- Bring Viola Monty back as a teenager

- Give Viola an identical male twin (Sebastian)

- Potentially keep Viola and Sebastian living in the shadows of Romeo and Mercutio to create some sibling rivalry? Maybe they’re forced to live in the family house with Claudio & Olivia while Romeo & Mercutio live with the grandparents as potential heirs?

- Somehow rename Benedick and Beatrice Monty without taking away from Viola who is already established as a VV character (I hate that they give these names to twins but I don’t like renaming B&B to Viola and Sebastian since the discovery of Viola Monty’s existence)… I was thinking of naming them after Shakespeare’s real life twin children Hamnet and Judith but I’m not sure. The other option is Robson & Crane from Comedy of Errors but I don’t think either of those names sound particularly feminine for Beatrice…

- Create Benvolio and Rosaline from R&J but give them their own separate families so that we don’t just have three families in VV (maybe one of them could be the child of Puck’s bio parents for a twist which would technically make them Puck’s bio sibling?)

- The usual Romeo & Juliet storyline will play out but with more characters alive for the feud i think it would add deeper dynamics (i.e. Cordelia was neutral from Contessa’s bio)

- Tybalt and Mercutio will eventually be a couple… their enemies to lovers storyline is just *chefs kiss*

- I would also like to recreate Puck’s biological parents and potentially Bottom’s too since we’ve had confirmation from the storytelling images and game files that these sims were most definitely deleted

- Hal Capp’s face must be fixed!!! I would also like Miranda to have more involvement - maybe she falls for Benvolio or Rosaline instead of typically getting involved with Mercutio?

- Kent Capp is 100% gay there is no doubt in my mind I’m sorry to those who ship him with Bianca they are just besties

I mayyyy look at the alt VV by dreadpirate and also the more historically accurate VV i’ve seen on MTS and take some inspiration from both of these too but these are the general ideas that I have for an almost ultimate good end VV??

[justhugsplz]

Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

@iiiflow thank you for tagging me :) <3

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

18

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

105,626

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Tatort Münster (technically Doctor Strange too, but it's a Münster/Doctor Strange crossover and I'm not in the fandom apart from that)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Entangled: Mit seiner freien Hand riss er sich seinen Schal vom Hals, knüllte ihn zusammen und presste ihn auf die Wunde. Der helle Kaschmir saugte sich mit beängstigender Geschwindigkeit voll. Faser um Faser sickerte das dunkelrote Blut durch den Stoff, erreichte warm Boernes Finger und breitete sich darunter unaufhaltsam weiter aus. Boerne war das gewohnt. Sollte das gewohnt sein. Doch dieses Mal war es Thiel, der unter seinen Händen wegblutete.

Hat mich gefreut: Thiel ist in Gefahr, Boerne geht dazwischen.

Väter und Sohn: Thiel ist alleinerziehend. Und damit völlig überfordert. Bis Boerne ihm zur Seite springt, und sie zusammen überfordert sind.

Leer: Thiel kommt an dem Abend erst später in die Gerichtsmedizin, was Boerne zu viel Zeit zum Nachdenken gibt.

Perché non lo chiede a me?: Thiel verschluckte sich fast an seinem Wasser. Was hatte Boerne da gerade gesagt?

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I would second @iiiflow: I try very much to. If I don't respond I just haven’t found the energy yet. The thing is … I love to know that someone felt something, laughed, cried or was excited while reading the fic. And I think it’s amazing when people take their time to tell me about it. Sometimes the feeling is quite overwhelming because I'd like to give them an adequate response and then I'm suddenly missing the words to do so. Especially if there are several comments waiting for a response. I guess I'm overthinking this a bit too much and should just write what comes to my mind first :D

I love reading people's comments, but I get very nervous about writing back. I haven't responded yet to those on my most recent story and two older ones, I'm gonna try to write back soon.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

That would be Nachbeben, a story about Boerne struggling with cocaine consumption. It's a very open ending, one I liked a lot. My beta reader thought it was too cruel, but the comments I got were really reassuring that it was the right ending.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Hat mich gefreut (my first story, what does that say about me? 🙈). Several of my stories have a happy end, but this one is probably the angstiest before the end, so it's all the sweeter :)

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thank goodness no, everybody is so kind <3

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I dabbled once for Mein Herz in deiner Hand, but I don't think I could do it again. I still can't tell whether it was good or not, and I feel like a colorblind person trying to paint. I'd rather explore aro/ace/queerplatonic themes :) (not that they're mutually exclusive)

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've written one, and I would it's pretty crazy: Tatort Münster/Doctor Strange. It's basically the 2016 Doctor Strange movie with the Münster characters: Boerne goes on Doctor Strange's journey, injuring his hands, going to Kamar-Taj and learning magic. With the difference that he does end up with Thiel ;)

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don't think so, no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Also no.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet either.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Oof, that tough. Either Thiel/Boerne or Crowley/Aziraphale.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

The Secrets We Keep. It's a Tatort Münster Vampire AU. I love it and I have like 30k of plot in my head, but I have so many WIPs I don't know if I'll ever get to it. I would love to though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

My beta reader says my strength is creating detail and immersing the reader through that.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

It takes me really long to write. My first drafts are not legible, they're not really first drafts at all, more like sentence fragments with multiple alternatives for nouns, verbs, chunks etc. I just keep narrowing it down and editing and it somehow slowly morphs into the final version. Not sure if that's the best approach, it's definitely a time-consuming approach. I could never write a story in 90 minutes or even 120, or at least not one I'd feel happy with.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I included some dialogue in Italian in 'Perché non lo chiede a me?', and I tried to imply what was being said through internal monologue, for readers who don't know Italian. I think as long as you ensure that readers can follow (unless the point is that they can't), dialogue in another language is fine.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Does it count if I never finished or published it and wasn't really in the fandom? In that case it would be Lucifer, I am just in love with that character (pre season 3) and I have so many ideas, but I've never written anything more than tidbits and brief outlines. Other than that, Tatort Münster. That's the first fandom I was really in and wrote full stories for.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

Oof, also a tough one. There are several fics with concepts that I really like, but I think I'll have to say Leer. I got the idea in the evening, wrote through the night and published it the next morning at like 4am. It's the only fic I've written like that, normally I need weeks for one-shots or even single chapters. It was kind of cathartic to write, and I've re-read it a lot.

Tagging @khalaris @cavallettas-world and @keinbutterdieb if you'd like to share!

I know I have more tags and asks waiting, thank you for those too, I'll try to respond to those too soon!

[reallygrossstuff]

day one, dirk strider sluttification?

It ended up being brain ghost dirk instead of dirk prime, but hopefully this suffices!

“...you’re gonna have to tell me what I’m looking at here, Jake.”

“What do you mean? It’s all perfectly straightforward, I think.”

Dirk hadn’t been around to Jake’s house for a while, but he wasn’t surprised things hadn’t changed much. It would make it easy to find the heat gun he’d left behind, but it also made the one prominent difference much easier to spot, not that it was subtle in the first place.

In Jake’s preferred armchair, sat sideways across Jake’s lap, was a second Dirk. His face was identical down to the freckles, he wore his hair exactly the same, he even had identical shades perched on his nose - though his pair lacked the small red light indicating Hal’s potential presence in them.

“Jake, there’s two of me,” Dirk deadpanned, fighting the skin-crawling sensation of seeing an unaccounted splinter.

“Well, technically it’s something more than two! How many of you do you have running around out there right now? But no, I suppose you haven’t met this one yet, hm. Say hello, Dirk, it’s only polite.” Jake gave a slight nudge against the new Dirk’s ribs, as if giving him permission.

“Sup.” The uncanniness broke down slightly as the new Dirk moved, his motions a touch too choreographed, as if designed to be appealing to watch. “I’m Brain Ghost Dirk, Jake made me.”

“I did do that!” Jake shot one of his goofy grins, patting Brain Ghost Dirk appreciatively on the hip as he drew him closer in. “Once you said we needed space, Clementine, I thought, there’s no reason to keep a spare in my back pocket when there was an open space here. So I hoped a little harder, spent some time at the drawing board, and here he is!”

“Yeah, I can see that.” With the uncanny valley traversed, Dirk felt a little more steady on his feet - more willing to bring up the other question he had. “Why’s he dressed like that, though?”

Aside from his movements, Brain Ghost Dirk had another even more obvious difference to Dirk. Where Dirk’s clothes were almost identical to what he’d worn at sixteen, the clone was dressed as if to club - tight orange gogo shorts clung to his hips, and a snug top covered only a third of his chest, leaving a large swathe of lightly-tanned skin exposed. A cropped jacket was wrapped around his shoulders, the fabric a very particular shade of green matched by the lace choker accentuating his throat. Dirk couldn’t see a single hair anywhere below the ghost’s chin, his body smooth from his chest, down the length of his bare legs, all the way to his gleaming white high-tops.

“Ah, that! It’s only fair I get something nice to look at, isn’t it? And Dirk enjoys it, of course.”

“Does he.” Dirk levelled his unimpressed look at the ghost, trying to bore through his nonchalance.

“Oh, obviously. Go on, moppet, you love putting in some extra effort, don’t you?”

If the target wasn’t an estranged splinter, Dirk didn’t think he would have noticed the change these words had on him. Jake’s eyes flared with glittering gold as he asked, and even through the shades Dirk could see that same glow reflected in his doppelganger’s eyes. His whole posture shifted incrementally, leaning more into Jake’s space, the hand on Jake’s chest slipping slightly lower. “Can’t think of much I like more,” the brain ghost murmured, pitched low in a way Dirk never would have tried even when he was the one dating Jake.

“See?” Jake’s attention turned away from Brain Ghost Dirk the next instant, like he lost interest the moment he knew the man was still his to guide. “Nothing much else to say on the matter, is there?”

“I, uh, I guess not.” Dirk resisted the urge to take a step back, even if the reminder of Jake’s power was... distressing, to say the least. “So I’ll just... go grab that heat gun, huh?”

“Go right ahead!” Jake waved in the general direction of Dirk’s old workroom. “I haven’t touched that old cave, haven’t needed the space, so even odds it’ll be wherever you left it.” Nodding, Dirk started to leave, but Jake called out his name a moment later to halt him. “Also, ah, maybe consider leaving through the back door when you go? Only Dirk and I are about to have a moment, and I’d rather not be interrupted.”

“You are, huh?”

Jake grinned, just as wide but somehow not as bright as his more common beguiling looks. That same gold glint caught in his eye, and without instruction Brain Ghost Dirk tucked in closer against Jake’s chest. His lips played idly under Jake’s jaw, the hand on his chest now drawing slow, inquisitive circles against Jake’s treasure trail. “Yes, I rather think we are.”

Dirk nodded stiffly, turning to go where he’d been directed. He heard the murmur of voices behind him, and wondered for a moment to turn around and see exactly what use Jake got out of his replacement boyfriend... but he knew some things couldn’t be unseen, so he left the room before any more noises could reach his ears.

[liugeaux]

I’m Sure Ben is Broken By Now

Living in MS has a lot of disadvantages. Residents will tell you the trade off is reasonable property value, but it makes sense that its cheap to live where no one wants to be. I don’t know if that’s true for me, but that’s not what this is about. This is about one of my favorite Butt Rock bands and my nearly accidental attendance of over half a dozen Breaking Benjamin (henceforth referred to as BB) shows.

BB has a propensity to play concerts incredibly close to where I’m living. Of the 7 times I’ve see them, only twice have I driven more than 15 minutes, and I’ve never driven more than 3 hours. I don’t know what it is, but of the big 00s butt rock bands, BB found a second home in the Jackson area.  I’d say Seether is probably a close 2nd since I recall them playing here at least 5 times.  

Let’s talk about each of my concert experiences, or at least what I can remember of them. I’ve never done a post like this, so I hope this is as much fun as I think its going to be.

(Photo taken from Google images, It’s supposed to be the band circa 2003)

Hal & Mal’s w/Saliva - 1/14/2003

In 2003 BB were nobodies. I had never heard of them, and their attempt at a radio hit, “Polyamorous”, was limp, at best. That’s not a condemnation of the Saturate album (I adore that release), they just hadn’t hit it big yet. They were opening for Saliva at Hal & Mal’s an institution of a venue in downtown Jackson. I’d hesitate to name it the premiere Bar/Venue in town (because its neighbor Martin’s would put together a great argument), but by 2003 H&Ms had become an the go-to concert venue for rock bands in the area. I don’t remember most of the fine details of the show, but I do remember being absolutely impressed with the entire performance. So much so, that I immediately went and bought Saturate the following week. I also remember the band’s equipment acting up. “We’ll come back when our shit isn’t fucked up.” exclaimed Ben Burnley about halfway through their troublesome set. Burnley and the band seemed shy the entire show, almost unsure of what to do with the attention they were getting. Showmen, they were not. They were raw and green, but even with Burnley’s obviously timid demeanor, they played those early songs like each one was a smash hit. As for their stage presence, there’s more to come on that.  

CPR Fest - 5/4/2003 

The farthest I’ve ever driven to see BB is Biloxi, MS. Well, I guess I technically didn’t drive down to just see BB. It was CPRfest and I was mainly there to see a  Godsmack, Theory of a Deadman, Saliva, Trapt and Smile Empty Soul. Yes, a murders-row of cheesy early-aughts post-grunge Mainstream Rock. BB had the prime spot of playing directly before the closer, Godsmack. So, instead of the slumming it outside in the “preshow heat” BB played in the MS Coast Coliseum-proper. Just like the Jackson show 4 months earlier, the band was solid, if not a little stiff. They sounded great, but Brunley in-particular seemed very nervous. It was a much bigger show than the H&M’s show and it felt like he just wanted to get to the end. This was the first BB show I saw as a “fan” and since seeing them earlier in the year, they felt significant in the rock scene. 

105 Capitol - 10/1/2004

I 2004 BB were touring in support of their hit album We Are Not Alone. They were headlining and played a show in downtown Jackson. The venue, 105 Capital, didn’t last very long, but this show was great. Thornley (The band Ian Thornley built following the break-up of Big Wreck) opened for them and put on  quite a memorable show. I remember being on the second or third row for the entire concert. Burnley had clearly learned a lot about performing live and overall, he felt more like a showman. It was a visceral show, that I’d say, is the best BB concert I’ve ever seen. I got a couple picks a the setlist from the show (pictured below) and I vividly remember the band being very taken aback by how familiar the audience was with their material. They had a real “this rock-star stuff might actually be working” vibe to them. I was 21 at the time, so it sits squarely into my psyche as one the most formative concerts I ever attended.

Hal & Mal’s - 8/22/2006

As promised in 2003, BB returned to Hal & Mal’s when “their shit wasn’t fucked up.” This time, they were the headliner and demanded a much larger crowd/presence. Sadly, I don’t remember much from this show. Since I’m a blogging weirdo I have an old Myspace post I can point to for an overview of that night. If you can get past the terrible writing and clearly un-checked grammar, it’ll give you an idea of what went down. 

In retrospect, the biggest takeaway from the show was Dropping Daylight. I love Dropping Daylight’s debut album and I would have never checked them out if not for that BB show. The similarity of me discovering Dropping Daylight the same way I discovered BB is not lost on me. Sadly, Dropping Daylight didn’t have the career that BB has had, but the parallel, seemed significant for years.  

Jubilee Jam XX - 6/16/2007

A year later, a block away from Hal & Mal’s, Ben and the (original) boys played Jubilee Jam XX, a now defunct Jackson music festival. Like the previous show, I wrote up a Myspace post reviewing the whole thing. Technically, BB opened for Three Days Grace, but in practice, it was more of a co-headlining show.  

I mentioned this in the link above, but footage of one of the coolest parts of that concert is actually available on Youtube. Adam from Three Days Grace helped perform “Dance With the Devil” and somebody with a pre-smartphone camera, captured it. This was the last time I saw the original BB line-up and consequently, the last time I saw them pre-hiatus. 

City Hall Live - 10/12/2017

A cool 10 years later, after the 4 year hiatus and the complete overhaul of Ben’s bandmates, BB returned to the Jackson area. This time, they played in my backyard, at City Hall Live, a venue that’s quite literally walking distance (if you consider 38 mins, walking distance) from my house. I wrote about this show in my 2017:The Year of the Concert post. It was quite weird. Billed as an acoustic show (years before they released their acoustic album), it had no opener, and was in an ultra small market. The fact that it even happened is still a shock.  

Most of what I want to say about the show is said in the original post, but what I didn’t mention is that my lovely wife, as usual, got the setlist. This isn’t big news. What IS big news, is that she actually got 2 setlists (1 for me and 1 for her sister) and this was at a show where they were selling setlists at the merch table. She is clearly wielding a witchcraft most wouldn’t understand.   

Brandon Amphitheater - 5/18/2022

The most recent BB adventure also happened in my backyard. Ben and the boys played the Brandon Amphitheater. Ever since the Amphitheater opened, I wondered what type of artists they would be able to book. Brandon, better yet, central MS, isn’t a haven of popular music. Jackson has some dynamite local artist, but none of them are big enough to headline in Brandon, and to be honest, our radio stations are Olympic-level trash. So, when BB booked the big-boy venue, I was shook. At this point, I’m pretty familiar with what a BB show consists of and the Amphitheater show was EXACTLY what I was expecting. Not that its a bad thing, its just very ... on-brand. Ironically, they were sort-of supporting their acoustic album Aurora and even though they played an acoustic show around-the-corner 5 years earlier, this show was fully electric. The openers were solid; Lacey Sturm and Seether. The coolest moment of the entire night  had nothing to do with BB. It was Sturm singing the Flyleaf-classic “I’m So Sick” with Seether during their set. BB put on a predictable and reliable show. Unfortunately nothing too special can really be said about it. 

Ever since I saw them as a clumsy opener for a second rate nu-metal act, BB have grown and changed into a modern-rock hit factory, with a tried and true method to sell tickets and entertain audiences. So, many formative memories are tied to BB and my love of their music. I’ll likely be a fan for the rest of my days, however, I think I’m done seeing them live. Or, let me re-phrase that, they would have to make it incredibly convenient for me to see them again. Sure, the last two times have fit that bill, but going forward, I’m not going out of my way to attend a BB concert. Hell, they played Biloxi (a short 3 hour drive) this past week and I didn’t even flinch. Take from this what you will, but it’s definitely not me shitting on the the the band or their live show, its more of a “I’d rather see something new” situation. Who knows? Maybe their next album will be great, and my hunger to see them live will be re-ignited. Until then, Breaking Benjamin ... we good.  

EDIT: The above phrase “They would have to make it incredibly convenient for me to see them again.” actually happened. See Below. 

City Hall Live - 1/26/2024 

They did it again, BB played in my backyard. 6 and a half years after playing City Hall in my hometown, they again played another “stripped down” acoustic show in the same venue. This show was the first time I left a BB show thinking, I might have wasted my time and money. The whole vibe was weird as hell. Burnley hit the stage very talkative and sounding extremely high. Like, two-edibles-deep high. However, since the music sounded great, I’m not going to hold that against him. With a lot of chatting between each songs, the show had 3 less songs than the last time they played City Hall Live and there was no encore. What made the show super weird was Burnley brought his 9 year old son on the stage, as kind of a mini-me, and let him sing and play guitar for THE DURATION OF THE SHOW. He mimicked everything his dad did and even became a key part of Burnley’s banter with the crowd. All of this was done under the guise of “we like to keep it cool and laid back for our unplugged shows, we’re just havin’ fun.” It gave the show a real bootleg feel to it, and the rest of the band didn’t seem thrilled that lil-Ben was getting to tag along. Keep in mind, this was a Friday night show during the school year, and it sounded like mini-Ben had joined them for all their shows. Is Ben Burnley homeschooling his 9 year old so he can bring him on tour? I’m not necessarily shaming his parenting decisions, the whole thing is just exceedingly weird. To add another layer to this, his bandmates may not even feel comfortable speaking out against being Mini-Ben’s backup band, as Burnley has a history of firing bandmates for overstepping. 

Quirks aside, as I said, they still sounded great, but twice during the show Burnley asked the audience permission to play deep cuts, with the results being “Away” and “Firefly”, both from their second album We Are Not Alone, and cuts that aren’t that deep. The bigger crime is again not properly capitalizing on the Unplugged format. As I noted in the linked post above, BB have yet to understand what “stripped down” actually means. There shouldn’t be screaming, 3 acoustic guitars is too much, and the drums should be subtle. Everything should be low-key, not just a normal performance with acoustic instruments. Shows like this are a golden opportunity to highlight some of the softer deeper cuts in the BB library. A few that quickly come to mind are “Dear Agony”, “Here We Are”, “Rain” and “Next to Nothing” the last of which notably features an acoustic guitar. With all these factors in mind, I really don’t know if I’ll attend another BB show. At this point, it might just be to further document Ben Burnley’s ever-increasing journey into weirdness.