#also take this as a horse appreciation post because they're so pretty

[inej-qhafa]

WILLOW | S01E01 “The Gales”

[tempests-bards-and-birds]

venti

I’m sure you don’t talk about him enough ; )

ah anon. you know me so well. anyway *cracks knuckles* here we go

how i feel about this character: i think about this character so much it's probably worrying. he's just so complex and compelling - from the moment you first meet him you realise that he has a really unique relationship with the world in general, and just. every time he makes an allusion to something that he doesn't expand upon either because he feels he shouldn't yet or because he's perhaps trying to protect himself i simultaneously want to throw him in the horse plinko and hug him. how do you even live after the first person who was ever really your friend, whose wish was to see the sky from beyond the barrier that was made by a god, dies after you fought for that with him and barely even got a glimpse of the freedom that he strived so hard for. how do you live after you take his form when you end up becoming the very thing that was the cause of your friends' suffering because you maybe feel that it's the only way to keep his ambition and hope for freedom living on after he died because maybe having a god's ideal be a human's wish for freedom is one of the only ways to negate the inherent respect that godhood commands but also probably because you just can't bear to let him go, at least for a period. how do you- *gets dragged forcibly off-stage*

all the people i ship romantically with this character: i can appreciate a lot of the popular venti ships however the only two that have ever really appealed massively to me are xiaoven and zhongven. you can see my post for this ask game about xiao for some my thoughts on xiaoven (i can elaborate if need be though) but for zhongven i just find their relationship sooo fascinating. they've lived through wars together, so chances are they've seen each other do utterly unspeakable things, and even that by itself can produce a very close kind of relationship. on the surface they're polar opposites but when you actually think about it they are fundamentally quite similar, despite their opposing natures. idk something something about a mountain that can erode and change but won't fall or move and the wind that comes and goes as it pleases but can still change it's course and can still come to rest sometimes. you get it right

my non-romantic otp for this character: *chanting* venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean. venti and jean-

ok but in all seriousness i just think that explorations of jean's religious devotion to barbatos being put under insane amounts of duress after the events of the mond archon quests very interesting. what do you do when you find out that the god that you devoted your entire life to is not just a concept and is, in fact, a person who's probably pretty depressed. idk. "met god and he's just some guy" type shit

my unpopular opinion about this character: uhhh i can't really think of anything right now? maybe how i actually think he's way more moon-coded as a character than sun-coded but i don't see many people on here actually talking about that so idk

one thing i wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon: hehe. haha. forced barbatos reveal to all of mondstadt babyyyyy i feel like backing him into a corner and stopping him from running away from his problems so much would be good for him in the long run

[mentally-a-slut]

Luck Ain't Got Nothin' To Do With It Teaser

ALRIGHT Y'ALL HERE'S A LITTLE TEASER FROM MY POLY CHAURTHUR FIC!!

i just put down a random title, i'm not sure it'll stay the same but it'll do for now! this is from later in the fic, about 20k words in i think, but i thought it was a cute interaction to show!

notes: Josie is the main character and my OC in this fic, her love interests are both Arthur and Charles and she is Sean's older sister. she's irish ofc, and she is pretty stereotyped simply because Sean is too and they're siblings. also part of her character is that she leans into the whole "luck of the irish" thing, so it's not meant to be ignorant in the way she is described. no offense is intended by the characterization of Josie or Sean for that matter, and if anyone has a valid issue with it, lmk.

anyway, enjoy, and let me know if you want me to start posting the full fic!

Josie was up before anyone else the following morning, which would have been impressive except for the fact that pretty much everyone was hungover.

She had refused to drink last night, knowing that she was set to depart the next day. She had traveled with a hangover before and had no intention of doing it again anytime soon. It was a whole hour before someone else stirred. Kieran stumbled groggily through the brush, emerging from his haven on the outskirts.

Josie greeted him with a small smile, tipping her hat as she sipped her coffee. He spoke in a whisper as he approached her, eyes narrowing under the morning light. “Morning, Miss Josie.”

Josie chuckled softly at his formality, taking off her hat and placing it firmly on his head to shield the sun. His cheeks flushed red at her actions, and she sent him a friendly smirk. “Just Josie, Kieran. And you can borrow my hat until your hangover dies down. I know how bad the sun feels the morning after a fun night.”

He fiddled with the hat on his head, stuttering through a reply. “Thank you, Josie. I appreciate it.”

She nodded, and they fell into a mutual silence as they stood idle by the fire.

Hosea was not long after Kieran, looking far more chipper than one should after the celebration of the previous night. He didn’t approach the pair, opting to send a silent wave in their direction and make his way to the lake. Josie caught the tail end of a fishing rod in his wake, and she smiled when she realized he was likely taking advantage of the quiet morning to do some fishing.

Within the next couple hours, the others emerged with dramatic groans and complaints, followed by a poorly received yell from Miss Grimshaw telling everyone to smarten up. Dutch laughed good-naturedly and waved the matriarch off, telling everyone to take the day easy to recover. Susan didn’t look very happy about the sentiment but followed his orders anyway.

Kieran trotted off to tend to the horses as the camp livened up, his discomfort around the others clear. Seraphina took the boy’s spot next to her, plopping her butt down on her boot. Josie couldn’t stay mad at the husky, failing to scold her for trapping her. Josie enjoyed the quiet time with her pup until Jack made his appearance, frantically whipping his head around looking for something. The something turned out to be the very dog next to her, and he let out an excited squeal as Seraphina pranced over to him, freeing Josie’s boot from the confines of her butt.

She vaguely heard John’s voice grumbling towards his son to quiet down, the little boy’s exclamation likely causing discomfort for most everyone in camp. Josie snorted, finally moving from her idle position by the fire for the first time in hours.

Almost everyone was accounted for, grumbling messes stumbling out of their tents by noon, still clad in nightclothes with no intention to change.

After a few scans of camp, Josie furrowed her eyebrows and looked around for Charles. Arthur was no where to be seen, which was unlike the man. He was usually one of the first awake. Charles was already looking her way when she met his gaze, and Josie tried not to blush. She made her way over to him, holding his stare as she spoke. “Where’s Arthur?”

Charles huffed out a laugh, wincing slightly as the noise sent a slight twinge through his head. It seemed he wasn’t immune to the effects of alcohol after all. “No one told you? Arthur’s an awful drunk. He’s probably holed up in his tent, trying to sleep it off. We’ll be lucky if we see him all day.”

Josie frowned at this, which caught the man’s attention. “Why? Everything okay?”

She flashed a smile at him, heart fluttering at the concern he displayed for her. “Yeah, I was just hoping to say goodbye to him before I left.”

His eyes flickered with an emotion close to panic, but he masked it quickly with his usual indifference. “You’re leaving?”

Josie studied his expression for any sign of discontent at her departure, sighing lightly when she found none. “Yeah, was gonna take my leave today. I did what I came for, don’t wanna overstay my welcome.”

He hummed, processing her words. He spoke again, shifting the conversation in a strangely sudden way. “Hey, how about we get Arthur up? That way you can say goodbye.”

Josie knitted her brows. “I don’t want to upset him or anything…”

Charles waved her off, moving to go towards Arthur’s tent without giving her a chance to protest. “He’ll be fine, c’mon.”

She stammered in confusion for a moment before speed walking to catch up with him, pausing at the entrance to the tent. Charles took the lead, knocking on the wooden supports of the canvas. The answering groan was pained, followed by a string of curses that would make Susan smack him upside the head. Charles stifled a grin before going in, motioning Josie to follow.

She hesitated a moment before entering, trying not to blush at the implications of entering a tent with Charles.

“Wake up, Arthur, Josie wants to say goodbye.”

Charles did Arthur the favor of keeping his voice down, but the disheveled man still cursed him out. “Get the hell out of my- what do you mean say goodbye?”

Arthur suddenly sat up, groaning and cradling his head when the movement sent a jolt of pain through his brain. He shook his head and continued to get up, bleary eyes struggling to focus on the awkward redhead before him. “Well, I’m taking my leave later today. I did what I came for and all, so no reason for me to stay.”

Arthur sent as much of a glare towards Charles as he could manage, grunting when he tried to stand up and stumbled. Charles steadied him with a smug smile on his face as Arthur continued cursing him out while leaning on him for support. Arthur stammered through his words, gaze flickering nervously as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Uh, your arm! You, you can’t just leave with an injury like that, you gotta stay until it’s all healed up.”

Josie stifled a chuckle at the tough cowboy’s slurred words, cocking her head at him. “I’m fine. It’s all patched up now, I don’t need to be babysat.”

Arthur attempted another sentence, looking pointedly at Charles when he stumbled on his words too much to get them out. Charles shifted and abruptly jumped in, a slight nervousness in his tone that she hadn’t heard before. “Uh, Arthur’s right! Just, uh, just to be safe, you should stay a little while longer, you know, infection and… stuff…”

Arthur nodded frantically in agreement before immediately wincing at the discomfort the quick movement caused. Josie glanced between the two men, smiling slightly at the sight of Arthur leaning on Charles. She knew they were being odd, and she had the feeling they were keeping something from her. Instead of stressing herself out over it, she decided to agree with them, just to ease their worries.

“Right. I suppose a couple more days won’t hurt. Uh, if that’s all then, I’ll just be… going now…”

Josie slowly backed out of the tent, suspicious gaze staying locked on the pair until she was out of sight.

The second the tent flaps fell shut, Arthur slumped down onto his cot. Charles kept an arm around his waist as he did so, steadying him on the way down and only letting go when he was sure he wouldn’t fall off. His eyes fell tightly shut, almost like he was trying to block out the throbbing pain the hangover was torturously causing. Charles sighed and looked down at him, a hand going up to rub his forehead. “Smooth, Arthur.”

Arthur made a sound of protest, as much of one as he could, anyway, lightly nudging his foot against Charles’s leg. “You weren’t any better.”

[getmylifetogetherwme]

9/6/24 - Hi!

Hi!

I guess I should start this whole thing by introducing myself. My name is C! I'm in my final year of college, and I'm in the process of trying to really figure out what that means.

I spent the past three years of my college experience battling a serious illness. I won't go into too much detail, but just know, it rhymed with schmancer. So yeah. I had that, a really stubborn one too - the type that just refuses to go away even after you blast it with a ton of chemo.

Anyway, so that experience culminated into an extreme effort this year to finally rid me of the darn thing, and voila. It worked. I've been in remission for a few months now. It was really hard at first. Like I said, it was a pretty extreme effort (won't go into detail here, maybe later), but it left me feeling pretty terrible. Like I-couldn't-believe-the-world-was-still-turning-because-everything-was-so-awful kind of terrible. But finally, I guess I started feeling pretty human again.

So what does this all mean? Well, I guess it really means that I experienced shit at 19-22 that most people won't experience till they're much older (if at all). And I guess it also means I didn't really get the traditional college experience most people really strive for. There were few if any "wild nights" and fun.

I did "find myself" though. And then I found myself again. And again. Etc., so at least I had that bit of "normalcy." Everyone does that in college, or so I've heard.

Anyway, so this blog. Why make it, right? Here's the truth of the matter:

I am 22, in my final year of undergrad, and I want to get my life together. I want to study effectively, take care of my body (especially after all it has been through + done for me), and I just want to be the version of myself I know I can be.

Most importantly: I want accountability. That's where this blog comes in.

My hope with this blog is that it'll keep me going. I've tried a few times to kickstart this sort of "be the best version of myself" journey, and I've only been successful once, a few years ago, but then I fell off that horse, and well - I WANNA GET BACK ON!

So this blog will be a sort of an accountability diary/journal of sorts for me. I'll tell you guys all about my week, what I did that week to achieve my goals, etc. etc.. Also share pictures of things I'm studying, my life, etc. etc.. And maybe you guys will feel comfortable enough to let me in on some of your victories too!

I haven't really used tumblr in a while, not since I was like 16-ish, so I'm not really sure if people still use it for more traditional type of blogs, but if you're interested in studying, working out, reading, writing, trying to reach life goals, I would really appreciate it if you followed my blog and gave me a chance!

My next post will probably be getting into my details about my goals and such.

Thanks for reading,

-C

[fandomcrazy6226]

Liveblogging Dracula Daily - May 5

Brought to you on May 7 because tech week is k i l l i n g me

I'm actually skipping my 7th period class cause I was gonna take a nap and I may still do that but I'm gonna get through these two posts first, cause technically I'm already late on the May 5 catchup. Whoopsie. Anyway, there'll be two posts today, more or less back-to-back, so enjoy the double feature!

Ooh, we're finally getting to the castle! More sleeping problems, trust me that's very relatable atm. I'm so exhausted after rehearsal every night and then it's impossible to actually fall asleep when I get home.

OK that 'robber steak' actually sounds really good. Love me some bacon.

"A name meaning 'word-bearer'"... huh? Like they call the door by a name? They call him a name? That structure is a bit confusing.

Oh joy, Satan, hell, witch, and *gasp* vampire! Hmm... something tells me this Count won't be the most transparent about these rumors. (Also as someone who watched the Sam and Colby video where they went to Dracula's Castle I wonder if there's a reason "strigoi" wasn't listed here. I do see "stregoica" though, which does look similar)

I think this is where someone who knew nothing about Dracula would definitely figure out something is wrong. Like, the last chapter with the old woman and the innkeeper suddenly not speaking German were definitely a tip-off but an entire crowd of people doing a gesture to ward off the evil eye? Yeah that's a big ol' flashing red light

Honestly I'd get super emotional too if a huge crowd of people I didn't even know did some kind of big protective gesture for me. Also, I'm sorry, the driver's pants are how big??

Again, the way this scenery is described is just so beautiful. And I definitely appreciate the translations here otherwise I'd spend way too much time on Google Translate

Okay... this driver seems odd. "The dogs are too vicious to walk", sure, thanks for the warning. "You'll probably have enough problems tonight", um. Get off my lawn you creepy thing with huge pants. And now I feel bad for the horses.

Okay they're going real fast now, and the other people are offering Jonathan gifts? Strange... but alright then. Oh and they're also doing the evil-eye-protection thing. Yeah does Jonathan realize he's probably walking into a blanket-fort-sized red flag with this trip yet?

Wait, what? What does he mean "not expected"? Are they really gonna take him all the way back to the inn and make him wait for however long just to bring him back? What the hell?

Ummmmmm red eyes you say? And black horses? And hiding his face? Is this a disguise? And the red lips and sharp teeth, yeah calling it now this guy is actually Dracula.

OK as someone who doesn't drink, why would the brandy help? Like is is just a courage thing? Or maybe for sleep?

Oh, midnight, all the evil things come out at midnight. According to the old lady from before, I think. Good thing he's got that cross, and like a million villagers helping him out.

Hm... methinks this driver has superstrength and can talk to animals. Wouldn't you guess what two more vampire powers are?

Is he... are they following a Will-o-Wisp? Is that was the blue flame is? Cause the popping around magical blue fire floating in the air sounds a lot like a Will-o-Wisp

OK that sounds terrifying, surrounded by wolves. But hey, I'm pretty sure wild wolves don't actually attack humans, since humans aren't prey. Or at least that's what Wild Kratts taught me. OK Google is backing me up here. I think wolves are generally pretty chill with humans, although the horses would definitely have a reason to freak out, considering wolves can take down moose.

Oh, so the driver basically waves his arms and the wolves go away? Not suspicious at all...

Oh jeez, this just keeps on going. Hang on, how much is left of this entry? OK I shouldn't have to split the chapter. I'm just gonna keep going, hopefully I'm done before the bell rings.

Um, no, Jonathan, I don't think this is a common occurrence for most realtors. Aww, Mina mention again! Oh, this poor boy seriously needs to sleep. (Me too, buddy)

That's definitely a perfectly normal way to invite someone in. "Enter freely and of your own will" Hand of a dead man hmmmmmmmm?

Ha! Even he thinks it's the driver.

I assume Mr. Hawkins is his boss? And that's a really sweet thing to say. Mmmmm chimcken. I'm very hungry the lunch at my school is not great on Tuesdays, especially when it's flavorless pasta with flavorless tomato sauce. Like somehow the lack of flavor is it's own flavor.

Hair on palms isn't actually... possible. The only two places your body doesn't grow hair at all are your palms and the soles of your feet. So that's extra strange.

This chapter definitely makes things a lot more tense, and I'm very excited to see how that build in the next one!

PREVIOUS / NEXT

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

I was reading your Star Reader post and to start off, this is SO CUTE! Gives readers something to be proud of too which is amazing.

I used to have a really difficult time with Tumblr as both a writer and reader (heck, I still have a difficult time). I’ve heard from so many other reader friends about the difficultly they’ve found in engaging when their favorite authors don’t engage back with them.

I just want some readers to know it’s okay - you’re trying to be so kind and thoughtful with your words about a fic and it is appreciated. I know how disheartening it is even as a reader to reblog something and the author replies to all the other reblogs except yours, shares all the asks but yours never pops up.

None of this means you aren’t as “good of a reader”. Your engagement is still appreciated and I’m sorry if you’ve ever felt like it hasn’t been. I hope this event gives some readers a chance to feel more appreciated as well.

Hi there!

I'm glad you like my idea of star readers I'm really looking forward to giving them out and having a fun little thing to do that helps build a community!

Firstly I want to say your point is completely valid I know from my own experience as a reader that it can be a bit disheartening when your comment doesn't get acknowledged especially when us as readers can often idolise our favourite creators.

I have never purposely ignored comments and i'm sure it is the same for other creators too. We want to reward engagement and encourage comments, we not gonna ask for it and then ignore it when we do get it.

If a comment has been missed it almost always has been by accident. Firstly we don't always get notifications, or sometimes asks never appear in our ask boxes, I quite regularly have to turn my notifications back on after tumblr turned them off, we call this place dumblr for a reason!

we also often get quite a lot of notifications! so it's easy for reblogs and comments to get buried amongst the many serial likes! I know I often try and go through and find all the comments but there is always a chance I might miss one or two.

Also we as content creators have a lot of other things we are doing around creating content. A reader only really has to read and reblog/comment which can be easily done in one sitting while writers have to: write, edit, create moodboards, create the post, add links and format the post to make it look pretty and accessible etc and this is all on top of our day to day jobs and hobbies so we don't always have the time to respond to every single comment straight away and so some may slip through the cracks but I PROMISE we are not doing it intentionally!

the only time someone might choose not to respond to a comment is because the comment has been taken in a negative way or is just asking 'when are you going to update xyz.' Some writers do just block people who regularly leave comments like this but i really hate having to block people until the very last straw. so if you are someone who feels like they're regularly ignored maybe just take a look at what kind of comments you are leaving because sometimes that might be an issue. but 9 times out of 10 its just because it slipped through the cracks.

we as writers appreciate all of our readers, you guys are the reason we keep on doing this. we want to spread the love and help nurture this community back to what it was before. we're all human, the lack of engagement is disheartening on BOTH SIDES. It can be really demoralising when you post an update to a series and it's just crickets. And it can be demoralising when you comment on a fic and hear nothing back. But the only way we can get past that is to KEEP ENGAGING, get back on that horse and spread the love. someone who just spreads love regardless of what they get back is infinitely happier and healthier than someone who spreads love on a tit-for-tat basis.

I realise i have REALLY rambled on about this now I just wanted help explain why sometimes this may happen and will probably continue to happen due to bugs and glitches and genuine mistakes, especially if this works really well and engagement increases because we're humans we can't always do it all.

From myself and all the other creators out there to our supporters and followers, we deeply love you all and appreciate you so so much x

Niamh x

[indianasolo221]

CATS U.S. Tour 6 (02/04/23)

My thoughts on the show I saw yesterday! I was supposed to see the show last weekend as well, but I was unable to go, so I can't really talk about that one here.

Before I get into the meat of the post, I just want to talk about...guest ettiquette? These were the best seats I've ever gotten for a show at this theatre, but I missed part of the Gumbie Tap and almost the entirety of Sillabub's "Moment's of Happiness" solo because someone had to crawl past me to get to their seat. It's really a good thing I decided not to break the "no recording" rule, or I would've been caught by the usher's who were shining lights down the aisle for all the late people...

Now on to the interesting stuff! I didn't catch as many background moments this time as last, as I mainly focused on each character as they were having their moment (and of course, I couldn't help but be excited about Sillabub).

I saw Hank Santos as Tugger, and his energy was everything I want from a Tugger performance. He seemed the most comfortable with his fellow castmates, and he had little moments with almost all the Queens. He danced with Demeter during his own number (Tuggmeter lovers will enjoy their little moments!), he danced with Bombalurina during his number and they were paired together for the Jellicle Ball. He talked Cassandra's ear off during someone else's number, and he even danced with Victoria at one point! At the opening of his own number, he poked Munkustrap in the stomach and laughed when he doubled over, which is a total bro move. He also swung at Alonzo after the "terrible bore" line. Oh! And during the last bows, Hank and Tayler did a neat little handshake that I'm pretty sure someone caught on camera. Overall, I really love Hank as Tugger. My aunt told him he was her favorite Tugger, and he gave her a little paw bump. I could say more about his performance and I probably will, but seeing it yourself will be better than anything I can describe here.

Nora was Demeter, and I was very torn on how I felt about their performance. I like to be open-minded and not compare every performer to the last, but that's easier said than done. Their energy and vibe were perfect, but they have a very unique voice that takes just a little getting used to. I loved their moments with Hank as Tugger. Nora and Erica were super close and had the perfect Bomba/Deme thing going, and I absolutely loved them together. Nora was an awesome Demeter.

Erica was Bombalurina, and she might just be a favorite of mine. She also has a very unique voice, but it's very Bomba. She definitely has the right vibe going, and I absolutely adore how closely she stuck to Nora. Her performance very much reminded me of Rosemarie Ford's, and I think that's why I liked it so much.

I can say without a doubt that Sam Bello is the best Sillabub I have seen live. Her voice was angelic, clear, pure, and literally everything I could possibly want from a Sillabub performance. Every time she sang I would almost cry her voice was so beautiful. She's definitely up there with Helen Massey as a favorite Sillabub voice for me. She was such a little kitten, and I very much got the idea that she's the one troublemaker who pesters the older kittens and sometimes gets into little spats with them. Skimbleshanks was very protective over her when Grizabella came onstage, and she was usually found hanging out with (or pestering) Pouncival and Victoria. During Skimbleshank's number, rather than appearing that they're just horsing around, it feels more like Silla and Vicci got into a little tiff and Skimble had to break them up. Oh, and please, for the love of all things Jellicle, if you go to a show and have the chance to see Sam as Silla, please get audio for your friend Indy. I would appreciate it.

I saw Taryn as Rumpleteazer! She is the most adorable 'Teazer, and super nice if you get to meet her. She actually stopped to take a photo with us on a very busy two-show day, and I'll never forget how friendly she was.

I got to see Ibn play Misto. He was probably the cutest Misto I've ever seen, and he and Hank switch off when it comes to wanting to be the center of attention at all times. Their Tugger and Misto are absolutely obsessed with each other (like every Tugger/Misto should be), and Tuggoffelees shippers are really gonna enjoy that. Ibn was also super friendly and took a photo with us, was the most chill guy.

I can say without any reservation that this cast was just as good as the last, and I was so happy to see those who returned. Tayler absolutley slays Memory every single time, and when I met her the first thing out of my mouth was, "You were amazing!" She was so sweet and came straight to me to talk, telling me she liked my cosplay. She asked my name and I told her, but she accidently slipped and said, "Hi Tayler, my name is--" before realizing she got it backwards. She was absolutely lovely. Overall, everyone had a great performance and if you get the chance to see them you should absolutely take it!!!

I also got some signatures on my second playbill. Hank's smudged, and I forgot to ask for Tayler's, but I also got Kade's and he was super sweet (and also an amazing Munkstrap!!!). I also saw Brian (Mungojerrie), who asked me if I was cosplaying as Jemima or Sillabub (he grew up on Cats, too!) and that made my day.

I could go on about other characters/cast and how great they were and how hard they work, but you really should go see the show instead of letting me spoil it for you. I will share some photos here, though:

So yeah, U.S. Tour 6, 2023 was a 11/10 experience. I loved it and I can't wait to get back to the Junkyard!!!

[monty-glasses-roxy]

24 (What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?) for Roxy

Thanks for copying the question here buddy I appreciate that a lot (I can't load the post on my phone or my own blogs at all still)

Uhhhh honestly, Roxy's pretty different to a lot of my usual other blorbos. I could compare her to Labrys from Persona 4 Arena in a sense that they're both robots with horrible trauma that have been forced to do things they wouldn't dream of doing otherwise, but that doesn't feel like a great comparison ngl

I could compare her to a lot of blorbos though. Like Bracken from Ni No Kuni 2, Unit #024 and Labrys from Persona 4 Arena, for being chronically underutilized by the devs. Maybe PURL from Kuni 2 but PURL feels more... Like an opposite to Mimic? The first attempt at sentient AI in that world, determined to answer the question of what colour is the sky for herself... Only knows a few things, a child her closest friend, and accidentally takes over the wholeass factory in her attempts to see the sky again after like a decade of being deactivated. And also because the devs couldn't think of anything interesting for a new Broadleaf area so they wanted to make sure you did the wholeass factory again for some fucking reason.

Ohhh then again, I was watching those clips last night and Toothless and Hiccup made me think of Roxy and Cassie in an AU kind of way. Mostly because of the dogisms I like to give Roxy and because of several AUs that are more in line with How to Train Your D/ragon... (Put a slash in it to make extra sure I don't end up in any searches for that) So maybe Toothless? Maybe not?

Honestly I don't think I've ever liked a character that has shown much interest in their appearance before. Maybe Erza from Fairy T/ail? Looks cool and could kill you but has zero braincells whatsoever? Also very traumatised? Koromaru from P3 cause his persona is Cerberus and Roxy is the Cerberus to Mimic? And I can see her running around with a knife in her teeth? I dunno man that's a tough question

Ohhh there was also Blaze from the Sonic games! Not because of Roxy specifically, but because in coming up with a horse for her, many of the ideas for it was giving my Blaze vibes lmao. She has a horse in the Olympic games and it's pure white with light purple tack and possibly eyes I don't remember so yeah that kept popping to mind in coming up with a horse nsjsdj

And I suppose my OC Zephyr somewhat reminds me of her. That whole universe I made was started when I got so deep into a Pupcakes/Roxica Pirates AU that I decided to make it a whole thing and Zephyr is who Roxy in the story became. I like Zephyr she's very cool and has become very distinct from Roxy, but her roots are still there, ya know? I'll always remember where she started.

Jsisjsi I could associate Roxy with Disney's Bolt too just cause he's a superhero dog and a funny lil guy. And for some reason one of the OST tracks for the DS game will plague my mind for the rest of my days. Even though I'm thinking of every track but that one right now. It's the one for Bolt's part of the... Something Temple level. Bolivia? Belize??? I think it has a B in it... But anyway yeah Superdog! Hooray!

P03 from Inscryption too but mostly because it's tech themed, and I had that old AU where I drew her as the Scrybe of Technology. Inscryption is incredible btw I fucking love it. I suck at it apparently though. I got to Act 2 and played a fucking beefed up Ouroborus in the first stage of P03's fight like "oh I've got this fucker now!!" No I did not. I absolutely did that. Stoatal misplay. Could not have fucked that up more lmao anyone that's played or seen this game will know exactly what ended up happening there nsjdjdi I FORGOT okay?? I forgot!!!

BACK ON TOPIC yeah Roxy's a pretty different character to the norm for me. Genuinely can't think of anyone that might be similar to her enough for them to remind me of her if I saw them again. Maybe if I went back and watched the old My Little Pony from the fucking 70s or whatever, but it would just be the standard stereotype of "all girls care lots about their appearance and gasp in horror if you dirty a pretty dress" probably. You know the one. I do my best not to humour that shit in my own Roxy interpretation but it's hard to forget that's absolutely where her written personality stems from :/

[emeritiii]

Heck do all the asks

I had two more cups of coffee while working on these and my nervous system is undergoing a transformation

1. Art programs you have but don't use

I bought Clip Studio Paint on sale but still haven't dragged myself over the learning curve. I also have FireAlpaca downloaded and only use that for cropping images.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

I find forward the easiest! Left and right are about the same for me, but I also do a lot of canvas-flipping, and about half the time the angle I start drawing is not the angle I end up with.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Project-wise? I still kick around character designs from when I was a kid. In general, I think the brightest constant is that I do pretty much exclusively character art and not scenery, still life, or real-world living subjects because all my ideas are related to fiction.

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

I love monsters and extremely complex character designs, but they're hell on my stamina.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

Right now, I post maybe ten percent of my art? Most of it is just for me or for one other person.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

I guarantee there are still remnants of anime influence in my art, since anime and manga were what really cemented my identity as an "artist" (insofar as I can cal myself one, which is probably up for debate). One bit of evidence that comes to mind is my love of like... knockoff chibis? I don't think I can call them chibis, but funky lil guys.

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

*Watercolor.* My sister works mainly with watercolor and it's something I have never been able to grasp.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

At some point I wanted to make a collection of group pictures with the main characters from all of my comfort stories.

9. What are your file name conventions

You need to see the thumbnail if you're going to have any idea what the file contains. I drew a three-part series of doodles and the filenames are "BEE," "too," and "tree." I'm also fond of variations on "HELP" and "ohno."

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

Tailcoats or long, flowy dresses

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Whatever I'm feeling! Music, a podcast, an audiobook, a YouTube video that doesn't require me to look at it, a stream if I'm on a call with ~Geoffrey~ while she's playing a game. I'm not picky but my autistic ass (affectionate) needs the sensory input to focus

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Lukewarm take, I know, but eyes. Or eyebrows if I'm allowed to be a smartass

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

I don't know anything about this person so it's purely from an artistic standpoint, but I respect how wildly recognizable the JJBA art style is (the actual art, the expressions and poses, the character designs, all the things)

14. Any favorite motifs

e y e s and also bones and time-related symbols

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Almost entirely at home at my desk, but sometimes I doodle during downtime at work

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

*U h* I don't think I'm good at a wide enough variety of things to have an answer to this

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

I need to have a drink nearby at all times or I will Die. Flavored water, soda, and coffee are the big three, but I also like sweet tea and assorted fruit juices. I don't love eating while drawing for sensory/cleanliness reasons, but sometimes I'll have something crunchy

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

Not too many! I do tend to mangle colored pencils because I'm too rough when sharpening them, but I don't use a lot of materials that are easy to break and I'm neurotically careful with my tablet because I can't replace it. The closest I've come to breaking that was keeping the cord in a drawer my kitten learned how to open

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

Anything That Glows

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

Armor, mechanical parts, and bones. I'm not saying I don't find them difficult, mind you, but I love it

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

Slowly grasps Cinder's sleeve. Also Fern's. Also ~Geoffrey's~. If I have to choose someone I don't know personally, crow-caller

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

This is a thing I definitely *should* do :)

23. Do you use different layer modes

YEAH I abuse Multiply and Screen

24. Do your references include stock images

Oh naturally. AdorkaStock is my go-to

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

Nothing that I can think of? I think that's mostly because the art communities I used to participate in heavily discouraged comparison, so I haven't heard any variant of "Your art reminds me of ____" in at least five years.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

I don't have anything specific on hand, but I had a friend in middle school who jumped to sexualizing everything I drew, if that counts. There's not a lot to interpret in my art, though. It's. How do I put "shallow" nicely?

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

This is another thing I should really do!

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

I used to do Art Fight.

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

Most live-action media! I also don't generally feel artistic inspiration from podcasts—the exception would be TTRPG podcasts, but even those don't tend to do it for me unless the characters have canon designs.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I don't have it anymore, but there was a drawing I did a few months ago of two characters of mine. It came out to about twenty hours of work (which is a lot for me) and no one really seemed to like it, but I attribute that in part to the fact that I drew a lot of it in a stream, which kind of desensitizes people.

[cicadidae-tm9899]

Okay, so somewhat recently I've been reblogging a few things using my clarke and virgil tag, so i'm just gonna go through and expand a little more about why i reblogged them because I tend to get self-conscious putting everything in the tags lmao.

Okay so first we have the most recent one, that being the pet names post. I just think it's funny having this dynamic of big tough stoic guy getting called darlin' and sunshine all the time, and then turning around and being like, "What do you want Virgil." I also like to think that Virgil calls Clarke by his intimidating cowboy nickname, Gravedigger, usually in a mocking way. And then they'll be in the middle of some trouble and someone will call him Gravedigger mockingly and it pisses him off. Like he doesn't go ballistic because he's not that kind of guy, but he gets that like quiet seething kind of anger that permeates the air around him and makes the enemies think twice about what they're trying to do.

Alright next is the series of text conversations where they're all like threatening to kill eachother lmao. This one is mostly about this one single screenshot in the post:

i can just visualize this interaction so clearly where, pretty soon after clarke escapes from cowboy jail (i'm working on it. go away), virgil just won't stfu, and clarke loses his patience and tells him that he's an unlikable nuisance and he wishes he hadn't agreed to let him tag along, and Virgil stops for a second and leans forward in his seat and is just all, "mhmm? go on ;)" and Clarke just rolls his eyes and goes back to whatever he was doing.

Next up we have the characters having cool titles post, and this one is just about Clarke being called Gravedigger and having lore lmao.

Next is the enemies-to-lovers post with the line "throw darts at it all you want, but you still printed out a picture of them to hang on your wall." This one (surprise surprise) is about Clarke's opinion of Virgil. Like when they first meet, Virgil's [insert vague parental figure here]'s gang beats the shit out of Clarke and throws him in their cowboy jail where Virgil visits every day and just taunts him because he's an asshole while Clarke just sits in there and plans his escape for like a week. Then when Clarke finally puts his genius plan into action, Virgil helps by getting his gun back and making sure his horse is easily accessible, and just follows him once he leaves and continues to be an asshole until Clarke falls in love with him.

Next is the bear and the deer post, and i'm gonna be honest with you I can't really remember why i tagged this as them specifically, but i can see the vague idea behind it. I think Virgil was supposed to be the bear? I actually really like the idea that there's this big strong intimidating guy getting followed around by a scrawny rich asshole who decided he was interesting enough to betray his vague parental figure for, and they're dynamic is the complete opposite of what you'd expect.

Okay now i'm gonna skip a few posts to get to the dog post. This post is what solidified most of my ideas about their relationship, and really explains the bear/deer post. I like to think that, a couple months after Clarke escapes, he starts to appreciate Virgil's company and lets things slide more often, but then one day they get into an argument about something and Virgil's being sarcastic and stupid still and says something like "you want to fuck me so bad it makes you look stupid" and then Clarke just does. After that though their dynamic shifts from an enemies-to-partners type thing to bear/deer or guard dog and master. Like before this fight they would bond over some things, and have a few close encounters with death, but they'd get through it in the end and continue on their journey, and they'd start noticing different sides of each other. Like Clarke isn't just an emotionless killing machine out for revenge because deep down he has a soft spot for mothers and kids, and he takes Super good care of his horse, Beast, and he always makes sure to dig graves for any of the unfortunate men he kills in his travels (hence the name). And Virgil isn't just a rich asshole whose made a living out of following Clarke and trying to see how thin he can get his patience, but instead he's a deeply traumatized dude with a knack for sharpshooting and music, and who actually thinks very highly of Clarke despite all his mocking.

Okay that is all i can write for now. I will definitely update this soon because i am always thinking about Clarke and Virgil, but i need to sleep.

[licncourt]

Ur response to that other one u just posted has me thinking, headcannons for L+L ~in bed~? ; )

jdslkghaf why not!

NSFW business under the cut!

FIRST OF ALL I am equal opportunity when it comes to the top/bottom debate. They switch and I don't take heteronormative criticism.

Lestat is...Lestat so he's DTF always and for any reason. He definitely wears sexy underwear as often as possible in case he gets lucky, which happens more often than some people want to give Louis credit for

Louis is a little more reserved in initiating, but after he works through the repression, he really enjoys sex. He has lost time to make up for and a lot of pent of sexual frustration dammit

They had a frenemies-who-are-in-love with benefits situation in the Interview era that mostly involved one or the other of them getting railed with no eye contact or kissing (Louis' rule) and no cuddling or pillow talk after (Lestat's rule). Soul-crushing for them both, but crazy orgasms.

Lestat, bless his needy lil heart, has the biggest praise kink known to vampire kind. He loves when Louis uses pet names (you know he likes being called a good boy when he's sucking cock), compliments him, or even is just really vocal and openly appreciative/enjoying himself. It took Louis a while to be able to be that demonstrative without a Catholic crisis, but he learns to let loose, especially when he realizes how much it means to Lestat

Louis hides his colonial accent pretty well when speaking French in day-to-day life, but it comes out full force when he's lost in the sauce. (Lestat can always tell when he's especially close because he gets quiet, lots of little breathy noises instead of talking or moaning)

Lestat gets very babbly and loud before he comes. He likes to talk dirty and chatter most of the way through, but the more it disintegrates the closer he is.

Louis likes to top in missionary, Lestat likes to ride him like a horse with insane gusto and dedication and a large amount of peacocking because he knows he's pretty

Lestat prefers to top with Louis in his lap, but secretly Louis really likes it when Lestat holds him up against the wall because Hot Strong Husband

Louis usually lets Lestat take the lead (if they're going that direction), but he can definitely be more dominant when he's in the right mood. Lestat loves it when Louis pins his wrists down and ravishes him after a date night.

Lestat has cried during sex and also afterward during snuggles

They don't have nearly as much angry sex as they did at the beginning of their relationship. It feels too much like the old days when they were both so miserable. Now that they can finally kiss and hold hands and enjoy each other freely, why would they want to go back?

Let's be honest, they've been together so long that they can have the BEST married sex. Who could possibly get you off better than a bed partner of 200+ years

[sukkatherapy]

💙{SUKKA PLAYLIST}💚

So in my fandom career, one of the first stages of commitment to a ship is dedicating a music playlist to them. As you may have guessed, Sukka is no exception.

Out of all the playlists I've made, Sukka's was definitely the most fun to make, as they are just so aesthetically pleasing. 🤧

I have 11 songs total and I recommend copying the songs and insert them into a playlist on whatever music service you use.

Good Times ~All Time Low

(you can see my post for this song here)

{"I never wanna leave this sunset town, but one day the time may come. And I'll take it at your word, and carry on. I'll hate the goodbye, but I wont forget the good times."}

Reread those lyrics. I dare you to tell me that isn't the fire nation attack scene in "The Warriors of Kyoshi".

Desert Moon ~ Mena Massoud & Naomi Scott

{"'Cause it waits for you there, and if you see it too, I can find my way to you."}

So the graphics I vision for this song are sorta based around Book 3 Sukka. I headcanon that Sokka would look up to Yue for reassurance when feeling lost, such as when Suki was imprisoned and he had no idea where she was. Also, post-Book 3 when they are in their long distance relationship, I know they would miss each other like crazy. Something I see comforting them is the fact that they see the same moon.

White Horse ~ Taylor Swift

{"I was a dreamer before you went and let me down, now its too late for you and your white horse to come around."}

{"And there you are on your knees. Begging for forgiveness, begging for me."}

Now we all know Suki is our resident independent- badass- queen who doesn't need anyone to look out for her, especially a man. I thought that this song was a good parallel to when she was fed up with Sokka's sexist bs in "The Warriors of Kyoshi". Like I can imagine her having to hear this from so many people around her growing up, and to hear it from someone she showed interest in must be disappointing. Not a super happy rec, but a necessary one nonetheless.

Even When/ The Best Part ~ Olivia Rodrigo & Joshua Basset

{"The best part is knowing there's something in my dreams that always makes me smile, its you. The best part is knowing there's someone in my life that makes it all worth while, its you."}

{"Even when you and I are worlds apart, I hold you in my heart. Even when I'm a thousand miles away, I wish that I could stay with you."}

So oddly enough, I actually find enjoyment in 'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series'. But in the scene, the main couple sang this to each other when they couldn't be together for Valentine's day, and when I first heard it, my head immediately went to Sokka and Suki. Seeing that they had a long distance relationship for a decent amount of time and have many individual responsibilities, they are bound to miss some holidays and events. But even through that, they know they are the most important parts of each others lives.

Like I'm Gonna Lose You ~ Meghan Trainor & John Legend

{"So I'll kiss you longer babe, every chance that I get. I'll make the most of the minutes and love with no regret. Let's take our time to say what we want, use what we got before its all gone. 'Cause no, we're not promised tomorrow."}

I really love this song for them because after losing Yue, Sokka came to appreciate time, and didn't want to waste a moment with Suki. He realized that death can be sudden and real, which was why he was so protective of Suki during 'The Serpent's Pass'.

If I Can't Be With You ~ R5

{"I'd rather stay with you, if I had to choose. Baby you're the greatest, and I got everything to lose. And I just wanna be with you. And I can never get enough. Baby, give it all up I'd give it all up, if I cant be with you."}

I thought this song fit really well, and this lyric in particular reminds me of the failed escape attempt in 'The Boiling Rock Pt. 1'. Suki was willing to give up the concept of freedom if it meant staying to wait for Hakoda with Sokka.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Ed Sheeran

{"'Cause, honey, your soul could never grow old, it's evergreen. And, baby, your smile's forever in my mind and memory. I'm thinking 'bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways. And maybe it's all part of a plan. Well, I'll just keep on making the same mistakes, hoping that you'll understand.

That, baby, now take me into your loving arms. Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars. Place your head on my beating heart. I'm thinking out loud, and maybe we found love right where we are."}

Another headcanon service. I can just picture them leisurely dancing to this in the living room when they're married.

Stuck With You ~ Ariana Grande & Justin Bieber

{"So, go ahead and drive me insane. Baby, run your mouth, I still wouldn't change being stuck with you, stuck with you, stuck with you."}

I thought this would be a good choice because as we see in the show, Suki will humor Sokka's jokes every once in a while versus just brushing them off. I can also see her being like "Hmm, you're an idiot, but I love it. I'm keeping you."

Gotta Find You ~ Joe Jonas

{"I need to try to get to where you are. Could it be you're not that far? You're the voice I hear inside my head, the reason that I'm singing. I need to find you, I gotta find you."}

Enough said.👏

Lift Me Up ~ The Afters

{"You know my heart is heavy, and the hurt is deep. But when I feel like giving up, you're reminding me. That we all fall down sometimes, When I hit the ground,

You lift me up when I am weak, your arms wrap around me. Your love catches me, so I'm letting go. You lift me up when I can't see, your heart's all that I need. Your love carries me, so I'm letting go."}

So I really love this song and feel that it could be used for literally any atla ship or even atla as a whole, due to the theme and aesthetic (might mess around and make an edit😏). One of my favorite things about Sukka is how supportive they are of each other, and how easily they make each other happy. They've seen each other at low points, they've been on death row, but through that they were still there cheering each other on.

Lucky ~ Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

{"They don't know how long it takes, waiting for a love like this. Every time we say goodbye, I wish we had one more kiss. I'll wait for you, I promise you, I will."}

I think this pretty much sums up their time together during 'The Serpent's Pass'. They were apart for so long-and with the war, had no reason to really believe they'd see each other again. But then by chance they were brought together again, revealed their feelings, only to have to split up again. But through that, they didn't let the distance bother them, as they stayed committed to each other.

{"Lucky we're in love in every way. Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed. Lucky to be coming home someday."}

Well, we all know they're hopelessly in love, but I feel like this highlights one of the most important aspects of them; no matter how long or far apart they are, they always come running home to each other.

Well that was defiantly a doozy😅. Thanks to those who stuck around this far!

[coinofstone]

5x03 The Death Song of Uther Pendragon

Arthur went out to collect firewood while Merlin watched over the dying lady 🥺

They saved a woman from being burned at the stake for sorcery and she repays them with a super powerful magic artifact

"He's always like this at the anniversary of his coronation."

"I thought it was a cause for celebration?"

"It is, but it's also the anniversary of Uther's death."

I would like to refer everyone back to my 4x03 post where I point out that Uther was stabbed on Arthur's birthday, which is also the anniversary of his mother's death. Uther would've died a day or two later. So within the span of let's say, half a week, Arthur's got his birthday, his mother's death anniversary, his father's death anniversary, and his coronation. He needs a hug. It's gotta be the hardest week of the year for him, every year. Speaking from personal experience, I know I wouldn't be anywhere near as upright as Arthur is, for all his thousand yard staring.

It's a very nice sarcophagus but what is going on with Uther's left leg?

No srsly wut is this

Is it reeeeally swollen? Did he break his ankle in the fight or perhaps when he fell?

Ok I'll stop being mean

The ONE time Merlin knocks

You think this was a sex thing? I think it might've been a sex thing.

Spirit!Uther, while traumatizing in his own right, still isn't as frightening as actual King Uther could be.

Oooof I have Things To Say™️ about this. The reason Arthur chooses to use the horn, to use magic, is because, "there isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of the thing I wish I'd said to him." But when he gets to speak to Uther, he doesn't actually get to say very much at all, because Uther immediately begins criticizing everything he's done as king. Arthur doesn't get what he sought at all, instead of an opportunity to tell his father any of the things he wished to say, he gets spoken to, harshly criticized. It's a major blow. And he says as much, when the single man tear spills over and he says "this can't be the last time I ever see you" - yes the line is foreshadowing Uther's haunting of Camelot but it's also signaling that Arthur's been traumatized; he went from having had his father mortally wounded in saving Arthur's own life, to having seen his father 3+ years into Arthur's rule as King of Camelot, and point blank being told Uther is disappointed in him. Not proud of him - actively un-proud. We don't really know what exactly Arthur wanted, if he'd hoped his father would've seen all the good his way of ruling had done and praised him, but I think it's pretty safe to assume that was on the wish list.

Be careful what you wish for indeed.

I AMUSE MYSELF. (I spent two hours figuring out how to create this please appreciate me)

Merlin's angry face when Arthur tells goin what Uther said is literally all of us.

I feel terrible for this but when Percival is leaving Gaius' chambers and he stops to look at the wall-torch, I immediately flash backed to Alice Troughton on commentary in S4 saying "Percival's a bit of a wuss isn't he?"

This is also awful but this episode kind of makes me miss the castle-centric contained episodes of S1

Never any guards around when you're being attacked by the ghost of your husband's dead dad, typical.

I understand Merlin bringing Guinevere to Gaius but putting her in Merlin's bed??????

The way Bradley and Colin both convincingly jumped when they turned around and found Gaius had snuck up right behind them kills me every time.

"Poetry". What he means to say there is, 'why didn't you just tell him we were fucking, since that would actually sound less gay'

So. Merlin took the ghost visibility potion but he can't see Utter knocking over barrels and shelves and things to trap in that store room.

Also why is there a pigeon in a windowless store room? Now I'm wondering why there aren't more birds randomly flying into the citadel, cuz they do have quite a lot of open windows... you'd think that might happen now and again.

Mmmmmmmm

Hmmmmmmm

Ooooof I love a bamf husband coming through to deal with a shit-for-brains abusive father... ghost.

^^actual canon scene

Was Tony shot entirely on green for this? That unearthly blue glow even in close ups where he doesn't look like he's on a green scene makes me wonder.

The 'horseplay' scene at the end was so full of sexual tension and d/s undertones that I literally do not want to say anything lest tumblr flag this post for content.

Commentary is Angel and Rupert. The two regulars who were in the least number of scenes in this ep. Since this post is already crazy long I'll keep this brief.

Aaaaand it's the first time either of them have seen this episode 😂 wow.

They've made 'horn' jokes and Rupert's gone full on tongue in cheek dad jokes.

They are also cracking jokes on Colin being all jacked up for S5 compared to previously when he was so skinny hehe... personally I ain't mad at him 😂

Fifteen minutes into the episode and Leon makes his first appearance

The little bottles and decor things in Gaius' chambers are part of a static set so they pretty much just sit there... Angel says that some of the contents have started to go moldy and they found maggots in one of them 🤢

They're talking about Gwen's new hair and while Angel is being really diplomatic, I get the impression she's as annoyed as I am by it. It literally doesn't match her own hair at all. But she also said some people saw her without the piece on and just said 'omg you cut your hair' so I guess 🤷‍♀️

The scene where Gwen is knocked out by a vase smashing her head - Angel says she was hit with the heavier bottom piece of it, which hurt more than she was expecting, and she wound up with a bump on her head from it.

Not a word about Colin picking up Angel 😢

They're talking about childhood pets and a beverage called lilt? Anyway Angel is really clever and Rupert's corny af but he's funny and I love them both.

Oh this is interesting: Rupert says he and the director talked about having Leon walking through the corridor hand in hand with the cook when he stumbles upon Merlin and Arthur's 'poetry lesson', but they weren't allowed to do that bc it would've been just a little bit too much, or a little too tongue in cheek. Which I'm taking to mean, would've accentuated the subtext of 'poetry' too much.

Angel and Rupert didn't know how they got Uther all glowy either, though Angel said it was probably lighting

Rupert says the line where Utter got caught off, what he was gonna say was "Merlin has ... been to the gym!" 😂😂😂😂😂

They really are great together doing these things

Rupert's story was the horse he had been riding all season had a foal, and nobody even knew she'd been pregnant. They just came out one morning and saw she'd given birth, and he got a call to inform him. That's kind of sweet. I wonder if he sent them some apples or something.

[fimawari]

Thoughts on the comic and Skully's Identity. [Slight Spoiler Warning? Not really any plot spoilers just details and characters.]

So a lot of people accept that Jay is probably Skully, either surviving or something else. However there's also speculation that it could be Alex, Jessica, or even Seth Wilson, a few thinking about Tim. (Though I would rule him out as the artist drew what he looked like in the Comic on another post) So I raked out every detail I can. Of course it can all just be a stylistic choice but whatever - make of it what you will.

It could just be some new random asshole, but It's a given they know Jessica, so it is very likely to be Jay. He presumed she was gone, unless he watched the last Entry. That would also explain "It's you" sort of "oh shit" moment. Jay was also set on looking for Jessica, so if he did survive, you could assume that would still be one of his motives. Tim wouldn't likely have that "it's you" moment because he knows Jessica is alive. Alex might have that reaction though. I believe he presumed that she was gone.

It also takes two things from Brian and Tim. The hoodie and the plastic mask. So this person has likely seen both of them and came to imitate their appearance.

Coat Buttons

The Jacket appears to have snap on metal buttons. It's typical for this style of jacket (similar to a utility jacket, which would be useful and warm to run all over the goddamn woods at night) to have the buttons placed on top of the left side for a men's jacket. (Of course it could just be any person in a men's styled jacket, but still.)

I picked this out because it's paid attention to very carefully as a detail. Of course that's good for continuity, but I know for filming Marble Hornets they were very careful with detail and hinting at things.

2. Height

They're only seen crouching up to a door with Jessica on the other side, but if they both stood straight, they'd come to be about the same height, which was true for Jay and Jessica in the series.

3. You are broken but you CAN be fixed

This is what the masked figure says to Jessica. Similar to ToTheArks video saying Alex was broken, but couldn't be fixed. That might line up with Jay's motives because he continued to think he could solve the situation. It could be argued he also believed Alex could be saved from the Operator. It it were Alex, it could be his own changed perspective in whatever "form" this is now. That would be quite interesting to see why he would go from wanting to destroy the tapes to actively giving someone the tapes.

4. Not a point but something I noticed.

On the Rosswood bulletin, there is a blurry poster that looks like it could be a "Missing" sign. Who for - I don't know, but it does kind of appear they have glasses, so it could be Alex? This could also just be meaningless background illustration.

In the same frame, Adam also talks about people getting lost in the woods and says, "The Majority of them were recovered safely but," and he stops. That's a pretty cliffhanger "but" there Adam.

Closer inspection of the Rosswood Map shows Rosswood Rd, mentioned in the series, and was supposed to be the road off the usual parking lot they stopped in when meeting up, and an X location to hard to read atm, but it is off the beaten path.

5. In a silly doodle drawing in the comic files, I did notice this poster with a skull on it. It may just be nothing but could also be implying that whoever is in the skull mask died and came back.

Also I appreciate that the soda is Conk.

6. It's Fall about 10 years later after the first incidents in Rosswood began, in the timeline 2019 ish, but that is apparent from the trees outside and the time the comic was created at.

7. Jessica has a "Sarah" in her phone. Could he literally the millions of Sarah's but I'll point it out anyway. But more interesting barely covered is Tim's contact.

8. I was thinking about why their seems to be Blue Lenses in Skully's mask, they're even visible from a distance. Now this is really digging at the bottom of barrel but when Jessica grabs the pipe to defend herself, it's highlighted by red for emphasis. Red and Blue have often been a scheme for duelity and such.

This repeats again in the second title page:

A lot could be discerned from it. Maybe she is Skully, like a second half of her, as one of her nightmares is fighting against herself. May also not mean that and be another symbol of duelity, red vs blue.

I don't think the blue is styling choice because you can quite clearly see eyes in Masky's drawing. I believe there is definitely something covering their eyes - like lenses. Their "fashion choices" are also leaning towards the expensive side I noticed. Unless they just stole it went to a goodwill and got lucky. A utility jacket like that would cost somewhere beyond a $100 unless you're lucky. I'd pay to see a cryptid running around in Gucci in butt-fuck-nowhere Alabama in the middle of the night. Or who knows maybe Alex got some prescription lenses put in that shit.

9. Do I even have to explain the symbolism of a Jay.

10. I can say with good certainty this probably symbolises Jessica's memory of Alex.

11. Some damning evidence, whoever is in the mask has access to the original entry files, not just downloaded YouTube stuff. Jay, Tim, Totheark would likely have access to that. Alex was pretty dead-set on having all the traces deleted, I'd doubt he'd have them all uploaded to a computer.

12. No idea what this might represent besides some metaphor for life being a merry go round, but in the postcard Skully is chilling on a horse lmao. "Stuck in a loop of unhappiness." Ring a bell?

13. Can't attach another photo but the abandoned house Jessica goes to has "Bones" written on it, much like the Hospital did. In the original series they said that graffiti was just there, so maybe they decided to work with it? Who knows maybe it's some kind of new group? Maybe ToTheArk vs "Bones?" You CAN'T be fixed vs You CAN be fixed.

14. I also can't speculate what it exactly means, but it's obvious Skully can talk, not seen previously with the others. Whether out of an inability or just not wanting to. Could be argued it's a person behind the mask by choice, not volition. We also don't really know if Brian chose his path or became that. But he became a masked cryptid after supposedly "dying". We also never see people "die" just assume they have died or are dead and they disappear. Tim implies that it's just feeding off them, physically or mentally. They always die off camera or get fucked off somewhere by the egg head. They appear dead afterwords, with Jay and Brian, but still missing. All of their bodies were taken by the monster and are god knows where in some seperate dimension. This is borderline r/im14andthisisdeep but what is "death" in this series. Does it mean gone permanently or just "gone" ... For an unknown amount of time. People die, but do they stay that way? Or do they die ... In one sense, but not the other, Losing something of themselves from before, and becoming something new. That would awfully explain Brian's behavior after Alex "killed" him. It's also implied there are others apart of ToTheArk that were never shown in the series, suspected to be other members of the original cast who maybe had "died" and come back as someone else. Something broken.

Tim seems to be an outlier. It's presumed he has avoided death, and essentially kept his mentality. But still slips into another form out of his control, usually in response to the monster or the hooded man being near and stealing his pills and shit. Is he between death? Is that why doucheslender follows him? "The one that got away." Istg I don't take drugs.

That was Michael from Vsauce thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[wondereads]

Personal Review (05/22/22)

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

Why am I reviewing this book?

This was the most recent book club book I read, so I figured I'd share my opinion. Also, this had been on my TBR for a while.

Plot 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

Gen is a thief, one who stole from the king, boasted about it, then was promptly thrown in jail. He receives a chance at freedom when the country's magus recruits him for his skill. The magus is after a mythical treasure, one that might not even exist, and retrieving it will force Gen to steal from the gods themselves.

When I say this plot was slow, I mean slow. This book is around 280 pages, and you can rest assured that nothing happens in the first 250. It is literally just Gen, the magus, his two apprentices, and a guard traveling for chapters on end and occasionally telling a fun worldbuilding story. I will say, the buildup to the plot twist is pretty good, and the plot twist itself is amazing. However, it does not make up for the absolute boredom I had to sit through. If you don't mind the plot moving at a snail's pace and around 200 pages of eating, talking, horse-riding, and bathing, this is the book for you!

Characters 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

I will say the characters are done pretty well. Because pretty much nothing happens for a good portion of the book, it leaves a lot of room for character work. Gen is somewhat of an unreliable narrator, and I think it's done pretty well without losing any of his actual personality. His snark is fun, and I liked that he was a Kaz-type character who is genuinely ahead of everyone, not just someone who thinks they are.

The magus was someone I loved to hate—while I liked him more by the end of the book, his motivations irked me, so I was all too pleased that Gen kept messing with him. The other three major characters, the magus' two apprentices and the guard, were likable, but a bit forgettable.

Something notable about this book, especially being YA, is the lack of romance. Looking at the characters' ages and the situation they're in, especially how things turn out by the end, it makes a lot of sense to have an absence of romance. I know there can be a lot of pressure to add a romantic subplot, so I appreciated the decision to keep that out.

Writing Style 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

As I mentioned before, Gen is an unreliable narrator. It's played out well enough that the reader can catch on (his ego shows) rather than it feeling like it comes out of nowhere. The choice to make him, our main character, unreliable, adds a little bit of extra charm to this story, and it desperately needs it.

The pacing in this book was woefully off. Like I've mentioned many times, the traveling bit drags on and on for hundreds of pages until the action finally picks up only to be crammed into the last fifty or so pages. If I hadn't been reading this book for my book club, I would've put it down halfway through. I'm a big fan of worldbuilding, but not so much that I'll entertain a book where it takes up a good two-thirds.

Overall 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10

While I liked the characters and definitely appreciated that plot twist, this book was boring. The plot dragged on for infinity, and I had to force myself to continue, even though it was on the shorter side! There were good parts, but it was so hard to get to them. I think my enjoyment was brought up a bit by the fact that I read this alongside friends, so that helped a little, but I would not have finished this book if it were not for my book club. Great writing, bad plot.

The Author

Megan Whalen Turner: 56, American, also wrote Instead of Three Wishes

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every two weeks, sometimes once a week, usually over vacations. I take recommendations! Check out my about me post for more!

[haphazardlyparked]

if Masara was the one with Hikaj at her mercy how would things play out differently? Would she just kill him? (I hope not they're cute together :( I just want to know how things would go if their roles were reversed since Hikaj always seems to be the one capturing Masara)

omg v good question, thank you!!!!. I think i wrote a short AU snippet once where Masara ambushes Hikaj, but only to ask him for her help, i might've posted that somewhere but idk.

Kingdoms-wise, Kas is so much bigger than Amir, I don't see Amir invading the way Kas does.

If Hikaj were to lose his maneuvering against one of his uncle-regents, he might run to Amir... But no Amirran ruler would think they could actually help Hikaj back into power. Masara would advocate for harboring Hikaj as a foreign resident, and then casually turn a blind eye to whatever he got up to in his own time, as long as it didn't endanger Amir. Right up until Hikaj decides to spend some of his own time jokingly -- and then increasingly seriously, as his plans for retaking Kas advance -- courting her.

In a total reverse of situations, whatever happens to make it happen, an Empress Masara who swept into tiny Kas to occupy its capital would knock Hikaj off his feet...

When the Amirran empress rode through the Kassan city gates for the first time, she made her entrance a grand parade through the largest market streets. King Hokiraj waited for her at the inner palace gates, stewing in the toxic brew of fury and impotence that had sunk its claws into him as soon as he'd heard the news: his uncle had let in the Amirran army, led by their feared Sascrin Knights.

Hikaj watched the Amirran empress approach from afar, the head of a long train climbing the hills to the palace, a small, dark-haired figure in pale grey, with silver gleaming in her dark brown hair. When she drew closer, Hikaj began to make out the details; the sword at her hip, the moon in each of its stages, from a sliver to full and waning again embroidered on the dark grey of the horse's riding blanket. The regal lift of her chin, the silver quarter moon of the crown that marked her brow, and deep brown eyes that found Hikaj, studied the group of nobles and servants surrounding him, and then returned to him. The king whose capital she'd conquered with barely a battle fought, whose palace gates she road through to a royal--submissive--welcome.

Hikaj squared his shoulders, and his chin rose. And then, before he knew what he was doing, he'd crossed the invisible gap of space that was already forming between his nobles and the arriving Amirrans, proud and defiant, his stewards and advisors all left behind.

"Kas welcomes Your Imperial Majesty," Hikaj said, which was what they'd all agreed he should say, though maybe not from a few scant strides away from the empress's horse. He bowed before the empress with his head raised, suddenly unable to look away from her.

Before any of the Amirran attendants could do anything, Hikaj offered his arm to the empress to help her down from her horse.

"We thank you, King Hokiraj," Empress Masara said, regal and gracious, but then she laughed when Hikaj made to help her down. It was a quiet, delighted sound that knocked the wind out of Hikaj and drove away all thoughts of his anger and his uncle. He was silently gasping for his breath again when the empress reached down to steady herself on his arm, then gracefully slipped out of her saddle and to her feet. "I am not accustomed to such intimate formalities," she added when she released Hikaj.

The king took a step back, because a foot more might translate into more breathing space, which he needed, as all the air in front of him was suddenly, shockingly alive with an humming current. He was faintly aware of an approaching Amirran come to take the empress's horse, but he still had eyes only for Masara.

"Oh, well, my advisors have many plans for the formal kind of formalities," Hikaj confessed, his too-honest tongue turning traitor on him. He struggled to turn it into something diplomatic. "But, Your Imperial Majesty, I find formality often complicates, ah, delicate negotiations. It's better to come to a table with friendly feelings, is it not?"

The empress laughed again, surprised, and Hikaj felt such an urgent beating in his chest, he knew his heart was about to make its escape. Its destination was unmistakeable.

"I think I like your philosophy, Cousin Hokiraj," the empress said. "Please call me Masara."

"Welcome to Kas, then. Cousin Masara," Hikaj replied, and Masara smiled at him, the corners her eyes turning up like the curve of her lips, and Hikaj was drowning.

and then empress masara proceeds to be extremely charmed and goes ahead and builds a military alliance with Kas, and probably puts Hikaj's uncle to death, bc Empress Masara is not as keen on absorbing new kingdoms and lands as emperor Hikaj is. Hikaj eventually becomes her consort but it probably takes a lot longer, maybe the length of a war campaign defending Kassan borders against Lapur, where Masara comes to appreciate Hikaj not just as an honest, honorable, and funny noble but also a pretty good general her court couldn't argue with her for making consort. they may or may not develop a relationship before the formal consortship, but that might just the fruit of all the rumors from everybody expecting it to be announced any day, which is mostly everybody.

(meanwhile, war AU emperor hokiraj closets himself with the captain of his guard for a very serious conversation:

"Knight Masara," he says, "she can join the guard, but not be a formal part of it, right?"

Kinlo looks suspicious. "Most knights who join the guard, join the guard," he says pointedly. "And if I may point out, sire, because there are already nobleborn knights in the guard, no one will object to you courting one."

"Yes, that's exactly the problem," Hikaj agrees despairingly. "If she's a knight of the guard, like the others, everyone will try for her hand."

This is absolutely not Kinlo's job, but he is Hikaj's friend as well as his guard captain, so he loyally says, "She'll fall for you though, sire. It's your hand she'll want."

"But she thinks mine have too many rings on them."

He looks down mournfully at the glittering gemstones and gold settings adorning his fingers. After a moment, he pries the ruby with the braided gold off one of his index fingers, and then stoically ignores Kinlo's burst of laughter.)