#and had them keep interrupting each others dialog

[grimlock]

sobbing and screaming, shocked mayday got stuck on my screen for this Entire Boss Fight

[lookinghalfacorpse]

How many works do you have on Ao3?

12 total.

2. What is your word count?

146,611!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write only dsmp at the moment, but i've also posted naruto and devilman.

4. What are your top 5 fics? (stats)

in the wild all lessons last

the trees deny themselves nothing

pandora's vault prisoner symptoms

veteri-mycosis

awakening

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

i don't respond to comments unless there's a specific question for me (ie "is it okay if i make fanart of this"). i read every comment and they make my day, i just never know what to say and i get too stressed over it!! i also don't like how the author's comments will skew the overall comment count.

6. Angstiest ending for a fic?

that would be veteri-mycosis.

7. First Fic with a Happy Ending?

my very first fic, technicality, has a happy ending. so do most of the sasodei fics besides long roads.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

nope! i might've seen someone vaguepost about itwall but it was so vague it was hard to tell.

9. Do you write smut?

i've tried to write it before, but have never posted! i'm actually not the best at it.

10. Do you write crossovers?

nah

11. Ever had a fic stolen?

i don't think so!

12. Ever had a fic translated?

no, but it seems pretty cool

13. Ever co-written?

i have not! but most of my fics are brainstormed with @3nderm1te. they had the most input on veteri-mycosis.

14. Favorite ship?

c!doomsdaytrio!

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but probably never will?

man. i want to keep adding to prisoner symptoms, and i will if i can ever find the inspiration, but it hasn't hit in a while. after a time, the symptoms pile on each other and it's hard to think of scenes that separate them out.

16. Writing strengths?

i'm very comfortable in my "voice" as a writer and can make it Work For Me.

17. Writing weaknesses?

my emotional scenes fall flat. consistently. and although i'm decent at plotwork for short-to-mid sized pieces, it's difficult for me to make a coherent plotline for longer pieces.

18. Thoughts on dialog in another language in a fic?

i think there are ways to do it where it will still make sense for non-speakers or not fully interrupt the reader's experience, but it's tricky.

19. First fandom you have written for?

naruto! my sasodei phase was long, dude.

20. Favorite fic you have written?

tough question! i think itwall is my Ultimate Baby, and the fic i think back on the most fondly. i also think that awakening is my objective Best fic.

Thanks @morgueofstories for tagging me :) i always forget who actually posts to ao3 and don't want to tag someone who doesn't, so consider yourself tagged if you want to do this.

[anhed-nia]

BLOGTOBER 10/1-2/2023 - BLACK SUNDAY (1960), THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH, NIGHTMARE CASTLE

“Don’t be deceived by her face, look at her body!”

So one of the things that dragged me off my usual Blogtober course this year was a major project on Michele Soavi's DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE (1994), whichis sort of a gift that keeps on giving because there are so many layers to it and so many available interpretations of what it contains. For this work I had to dig a lot deeper into the topic of doppelgängerism than I usually do; this is not a subject I've thought a lot about, maybe because it often breaks down into an Id vs Ego "duality of man" thing full of inevitable conclusions that I don't find that interesting to explore. I like the folkloric notion that if you encounter your own doppelgänger, it's a harbinger of your imminent demise, that's pretty scary. But most of the characters in DELLAMORTE are duplicates of other characters, to more and less obvious degrees--the clearest example of which is Anna Falchi as an unnamed woman who reappears in new incarnations throughout the movie. Because that movie is often identified as the Last Great Italian Horror Film, and is thus understood to survey historic achievements in the genre (while still maintaining its own incredible originality), I thought I should go back and look at the famous doppelgängers played by Barbara Steele in some of her early, influential roles. I mean let's be honest, it would be easy to just accuse Antonio Margheriti's THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (1964) and Mario Caiano's NIGHTMARE CASTLE (1965) of riding the admittedly inviting jock of Mario Bava's indispensable classic BLACK SUNDAY (1960), but if we treat the continuous duplication of Barbara Steele as an archetypal fantasy worthy of address, that makes for a better conversation.

The superior BLACK SUNDAY concerns the 17th century vampire-witch Asa, who returns to life two hundred years later to usurp the life of her identical descendant Princess Katia. In THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH, a 15th century woman is burned as a witch, and her daughter Helen (Steele) is killed for trying to expose the corrupt underpinnings of her mother's execution. Helen's young sister grows up the plaything of the evil regime whose reign of power is only interrupted when the mysterious Mary (also Steele) arrives at the castle to make trouble. I find the convoluted plot of this movie especially hard to repeat, so I hope I'm getting it right! NIGHTMARE CASTLE doesn't involve anything like reincarnation, which makes it slightly easier to discuss: An evil scientist murders his conniving wife Muriel (Steele) so he can take everything she has, only to discover that she left it all to her identical stepsister Jenny. His plot to drive the fragile Jenny insane and take over the estate is foiled by Muriel's ghost, naturally. In DELLAMORTE DELLAMORE, the self-replicating Anna Falchi signifies that the stunted protagonist is hopelessly deluded by his neurotic frustrations with women; he sees females as being "all the same" because he's blind to anything other than his personal projections, and he cyclically pursues the same drama with every woman he meets. One can't expect that level of psychoanalytic critique from these earlier films, of course, and while there is a lot one can say about the self-replicating Barbara Steele (including just how marketable she was), it's interesting to look at these stories in light of the tendency to identify mind with body.

Each of these movies has some great dialog that (at least in the english translation) has some very amusing things to say about the body and I tried to write them all down. The horror here may stem from the fact that while a woman's true value is in her physical appearance, that appearance can be a source of torment for presupposing men. NIGHTMARE CASTLE's Muriel makes the curiously-worded threat, “You can kill my body, but I’ll never leave you in peace!”, and in THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH, Helen's mother uses similar language in her last words at the stake—"Your bodies will be tortured like mine has been tortured today!” At LONG HAIR's climax (spoiler alert I guess, but this won't make the movie less confusing to the new viewer) the mysterious Mary reveals that she is really Helen with this wonderful body-centric speech about the complicated scam she and her little sister Lisbeth have pulled on the corrupt royal family:

"That’s my body. Death can often reinstate life, but it’s not like that with Lisabeth as she is not yet dead. Now do you understand Kurt, this was planned by us to vindicate our mother... You went to the extreme—murder—all for the sake of possessing me. It’s a pity that you did everything for a body that’s dead. Well Kurt, look at that body. Look well at the body that is really me!”

"Look well at the body that is really me" is something I am tempted to say all the time now, but this is all topped by Asa's triumph over the identical Katia toward the end of BLACK SUNDAY:

“You did not know that you were born for this moment. You didn’t know that your life had been consecrated to me by Satan. But you sensed it, didn’t you? That’s why my portrait was a constant temptation to you, why it frightened you! You felt that your life and your body were mine. You felt like me because you were destined to become me! A useless body without life... Now you shall enjoy a beautiful life of evil and hate—in me!”

There's something interesting going on in all these cases about how personal essence, or at least a person's destiny, is tied inextricably to the body. And actually, another of my distracting October projects focused on Michele Soavi's THE SECT (1991), an exceptionally weird movie by anyone's standards that involves a cult that appropriates other people's faces. I discovered that the film is kind of an adaptation of Gustav Meyrink's 1915 novel The Golem, which is a doppelgänger narrative par excellence, telling its disturbing tale from the point of view of a person who is himself a kind of doppelgänger. The narrator has a kind of transient consciousness that transplants itself into other people, but other doppelgängers exist as well: A lascivious young prostitute is said to be the child of a neighborhood predator, but as the story unfolds, it comes out that she is identical to her mother, who was identical to her mother before her, and there is no actual certainty about the paternity of any of these women. They form a collective, self-perpetuating threat whose weapon is a specific reoccurrant appearance. I don't know exactly what kind of conclusion I want to draw about this hydra-like archetype, but you may have guessed by now that my work on Soavi's filmography has caused me to start seeing doppelgängers everywhere I look, so you can bet this won't be the last time I talk about them!

[pandasmagorica]

Third (?) Re-watch in progress - Bad Buddy - first 7 minutes

Okay, I'm torn between blogging this re-watch - and wanting to make sure I get this whole re-watch done before Bad Buddy disappears from YouTube. But these first 7 minutes before the opening credits are such genius that I have to blog something before settling in to watch two or three eps in a row this evening.

My review of Stay By My Side is going to have to wait a few days as well. While I enjoyed it, there is more going on in these 7 minutes than in that entire series. Okay, maybe an exaggeration. Okay, definitely an exaggeration. But that series didn't send me running directly to Tumblr's Create button and these first 7 minutes did.

All of this is from Episode 1 [1/4], before the credits:

1:09 Okay, I didn't know yet (on first watch) that this is one of the two mains (and that Wai isn't), but, damn, Pat (unnamed as yet, unless Korn said it in Thai and it got subbed as an English pronoun as often happens in Thai series) looks like a tough guy. We learn later about him having to sleep with his Nong Nao doll and otherwise being a softie, but he does have this tough side as well.

1:59-2:23 Love the audio in this series. Watch what they do with the sound: dramatic classical music as Pran opens and arranges his drawing kit, until his friend interrupts him and we get the sound of a phonograph arm scraping across vinyl then just the dialog. (Would the main audience for this series even know that sound I know all too well?)

2:33-2:42 But when Pran hears it's Wai in the fight, suddenly we hear a heavily distorted metal guitar riff which continues until Pran takes the first earbud out at which point it suddenly cuts off. Hmm, technically I'd consider that an edit error. I'd expect the volume to drop when he takes the first one out and cut off when he takes the other out. But that's a nitpick. Audio-wise, it's a great choice.

2:41-2:45 We actually saw a glimpse of Pran's OCD starting at 1:59 when he was neatly arranging his drawing kit, but now we really see it as, despite being under time pressure, he takes out his earbuds and carefully stows them. (Earbuds will play an important role in the first few episodes.)

2:50-3:57 This fight is so chaotic and disorganized. This is where my bestie decided she had no interest in this series, although I did eventually convince her to watch episode 5 [1/4], [2/4], and [4/4]. Also thinking about how I didn't know at first watch that Ohm is skilled in martial arts. Don't know about any of the other actors but hope they had a good fight coach to keep them safe.

3:24-3:29 Funny to think the actor playing Wai is a doctor in real life.

4:13-4:17 And suddenly everything comes to a stop when Pat and Pran see each other face to face.

4:18-5:54 For all the Tumblr discussion in which the first 4 episodes are seen as being primarily from Pran's point of view, then episode 5 being Pat's, it's an interesting choice to start their introduction as being the main characters with Pat's view of Pran. Interleaving the shots of their life now with shots of their life in grade school and high school establishes immediately that they have a long history, as well as their history of competition and their parents' clashes.

5:54 Bringing the focus back to the two of them as main characters.

5:55-7:00 And continuing the introduction.

6:11-6:14 Lol at the Buddhist monks eye-rolling at the mothers' competition.

7:00-7:11 And now the fight is Pat and Pran one-on-one. And we go to the opening credits.

Whew! Can I just say the editors are brilliant? Not one wasted second.

I don't get reaction videos and have no interest in watching them. But I guess there is something to be said about being able to share my reaction to each moment.

Okay, I'm going to have to lock my keyboard while I watch this. Going back to moment zero so I can watch this uninterrupted.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

Reminds me of your fic where Volo and his togekiss have just been chillin' for the past couple thousand(?) years, only instead of calming way the hell down Bloodmoon Ursaluna got even grumpier and also looks half-dead lol. Volo once took a vacation to paldea and they stumbled across each other, leading to a Spiderman meme moment. They mutually agreed to pretend it had never happened and Volo continued on with his vacation plans without further interruptions.

No but for real, the dialog for how the ursaluna got there just implied to me, personally, that the species itself wasn't long extinct and he had made his way over before they were officially declared so, not that he was one left over from the same time pla took place. Whatever made him look kinda like a zombie likely did extend his life a bit, making him the last of his kind, but not that long. If it had been a zoroark or basculegion, or just an ursaluna that had lost its normal typing to a ghost one when it died, though, I could see it. I figure ghost Pokémon probably have the ability to live (or "live") longer than most others can on average.

tbh i'm just waiting for the next pokemon gen to announce like, "oh wow, it turns out ancient hisuian pokemon aren't extinct after all, look at this rediscovered population!" and/or just make them catchable in a modern timeline game without even commenting on it a la fairy types in remakes. purely so they can have some way to keep hisuian forms accessible as we get further from pla.

and honestly? given that a lot of them are actually reigon-locked evos of pokemon that are canonically still extant, they really wouldn't even need to justify it. like, petilil and rufflet are extirpated from modern sinnoh which is why there are no hisuian lilligant/braviary seen in games, you theoretically could obtain a hisuian form of most of these types simply by bringing them back to that habitat. ursaluna are vanishingly rare bc of an absence of peat due to climate changes and/or are simply very rare and always have been due to their exacting evo requirements (necessitating both a special item and a very specific period of the moon cycle) (they're not even catchable in the wild in pla which supports this idea). i think i've talked already abt my hc that you don't see kleavor anymore purely bc of the wider availability of metal coats, which is by far the preferred evo material for scyther. and then there's sneasel which—and i think i've talked about this before?—i hc as having simply evolved, in the more traditional sense of the word, into their modern form over time, as their habitat migrated northward into more snowy areas (pokemon evolution happening via slightly differing mechanics and on a faster scale than real-world evolution, due to the ability of pokemon biology to dynamically respond to its habitat, i'm stopping now.) the only one that i think is sincerely extinct is basculegion, given that white-striped basculin appear to have been hunted to extinction in modern times. but even that is like—white-striped could still just be much rarer, if the pokemon company decides to bring them back.

that was a lot idk why i rambled that much, anyway you get the picture. volo running into bloodmoon ursaluna and them just avoiding each others gaze and continuing on is v funny tho

[asavt]

🗣️♣️(any hollowhead) 👀

*giggles* so fast hehe~

🗣Whats a thing you can talk for hours without interruption?

The like, closeness of (what they call) the color gang is like, adorable??? And so nice to see??? The little details about each one of them and the way they act through the episodes??? The tiny things. First one that comes to mind like, during episode 14 Cave Spider Roller Coaster, when they are all first running off from the spiders and Yellow notices the minecart (that now that I think about it it could be taken as a call bakc to episode 3, it probably is) and then you see Green just zooming past them... the way he runs and the fact that he was the one distracting the spiders so Blue could take care of the others makes me think that he might have gained a new fear oh no LDJWKWJJQ I want to do a redraw of some scenes of that episode with my gijinkas hehehe~. Blue and Green being like, in sync in many episodes, also I'm noticing like, the way they do things like running and stuff is similar, has struck in me the thought "twins?????" it wont go away (I do not get angry at the shippers tho). Red fainting like three times during the fight against the King and still standing up (I hope he got a good rest after episode 30), and him being the one to always (or almost always) step forward first into stuff (oh boy). Him and Yellow being something of a chaos duo. Yellow's way of acting makes me think of like... Tsukishima from Haikyuu? Its funny I cannot let the image go lol. Orange's little thing with Crafting and that being linked to his creations skills in a way. RYGB not letting poor Orange sleep oh god please let the poor guy take a nap. The HUGS the GROUP HUGS TH-

♣️Angst Headcanons?

I'm going for The Chosen One and The Dark Lord here they are the ones I put under a microscope OHOHOHOHO

I'm thinking like, Chosen being called "The Chosen One" but still failing in defeating TDL, the way TDL and TCO looked like during the Showdown, I know most peopld like, picture Dark being a bit (a lot) insane, I mean, he is, but nothing about the way the silly stick figure moved around during AvA - V told me he was acting like, for example, how he was showed during Chosen's flashbacks. It felt a lot like both of them were genuinely angry at eachother and from there my mind like, kept making stuff? Like damn Chosen had to fight his first and only friend and the way he was trying to stop Dark first from launching the Virus gave me the vibe of him not wanting to fight him at first, like, at all. And Dark's first attacks didn't feel like he wanted to fight Chosen at all either, their attacks only got really intense after Chosen fucking threw Dark into the Cliff during the first fight sequence in The Showdown . It hurts man (genderneutral). That in mind, I keep wondering what would happen if Dark was biten by one of the virabots...

Adding to the first ask... maybe the thing I could REALLY talk about for hours is how most of the character's thoughts are not told through dialogs, its all body language and actions and little details.

[masontalo]

«Sleep»

Another weekly meeting. Vayt stood in their spot with his back against the wall. He was looking at the ground with a serious expression and seemed to be deep in thought. They had to reschedule this meeting for a little later in the day, so Farz wasn't there yet.

The scratch on Vayt's cheek wasn't visible, just a small streak. There wouldn't even be a scar. The previous couple days had been an absolute nightmare, as being in HIS house he felt tense all the time. Sleep became more restless and falling in dreams became faster, Vayt started waking up almost literally in a cold sweat. The change in his sleep had happened not a couple days ago, but he only noticed it too drastically now. It worried him immensely, but he decided to deal with it later.

A familiar voice interrupted the train of thought:

- Hey, Vayt.

Farz is here. Black looked at him with a blank stare that hadn't yet had time to dissipate, but it didn't take long for it to do so. He blinked and rubbed his eyes.

- Are you okay?

- Yeah, I'm fine, just thinking. - Vayt answered as he removed his hands and looked at Farz. - Let's go to the roof? I got us some beers.

Farz frowned a little, something wasn't right. He didn't even have to suggest it himself, did Vayt like the roof that much? Maybe, but there was still something off about it.

- Yeah, okay, let's go. - he replied, and shrugged.

Vayt silently pushed himself off the wall and walked toward the building they'd hung out on last time. Farz followed him. He sensed that his companion wasn't in a good mood, but he didn't dare ask what was wrong.

After a time of silence, the atmosphere dissipated a little, Vayt calmed down and decided to be the first to start a dialog to break the silence:

- Anything happened these couple of days?

- Nothing in specific, just the usual routine. I was delivering some orders the other day and a customer was rude to me. - Farz replied, going to meet Black's attempt at conversation.

He glanced over his shoulder at him. Apparently, that was enough to make him forget what he was thinking.

- What was it about this time? - Vayt asked, slowing down to keep pace with Farz.

For the rest of the trip, the tension ebbed away. The "dark cloud hanging over Black," was completely gone. They were talking normally now, but the residue remained. Something still continued to bother him.

They came to the roof. Vayt only had four cans with him, which had to be shared between the two of them, though that wasn't a problem.

Standing near the railing, they were silent. Two cans of beer stood on it, and one more each in the hands of both guys, which were already open.

Vayt was thinking again, looking down at the road and the cars passing by. He was silent, and the atmosphere began to thicken again. Well, it didn't take long for Farz to be happy to have a calm conversation. He couldn't stand the rapidly rising tension and asked:

- Did something happen to you?

Vayt, as if not hearing the question like a dog turned in his direction.

- Are you all right? - Murphy asked, hoping for an answer this time.

- Yeah, I'm fine. - Black answered, placing his can aside and returning his gaze to the road.

Farz grumbled unhappily and placed his beer aside as well. They needed to talk.

- Vayt, what's happened? You're not yourself. I noticed something was off about you when we met. - his voice was sharper. What else can he do if his friend's being stubborn?

He couldn't take it anymore. He took a deep breath and started gibbering:

- Nothing's happened, it's just nightmares, that's all, it's all right, you have nothing to worry about. - Now Vayt was harsh too. He put his hand on his forehead and propped his head up. After, he just whispered. - Sorry, I'm whining.

Farz sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

- I'm just... kind of worrying about something. We stopped crossing paths on the way to work. And Anthony's worried about it too, said you haven't visited once lately. It's bothersome, you know...

Vayt's hand slipped from his forehead to his eyes.

- These nightmares are making me sleep worse. I'm falling asleep like normal, and I'm waking up earlier. I don't try to sleep a second time, I just go to work, that's all. You have nothing to worry about, I'm fine. If Anthony asks, you can tell him that.

He hesitated to look at Farz again. He felt that he had said too much, perhaps even too much.

Murphy didn't answer anything. He looked away silently and picked up the can again, taking a few sips.

The sun was already setting over the horizon, and they remained silent. Even their first walk hadn't been this silent and awkward, despite the active conversation at the beginning. Eventually Farz did speak after all:

- How long have you been having these nightmares?

- A week and a half or so. - Vayt answered in a whisper, lowering his hand.

- I've been having them for about two weeks.

Black looked in his direction.

- How did you get over it?

Murphy shrugged and after a couple seconds of pause, which he paused for another sip, answered:

- It went away on its own. - He leaned back against the railing and realized it wouldn't help Vayt that way. - Try going to the roof more often, it helps to get clear.

Farz shifted his gaze to him, and now they were both looking at each other. It was uncomfortable, and they turned straight in synchrony, looking at the lighted buildings in the distance. They were just now noticing how dark it had gotten.

Vayt finally picked up his can, which had been waiting to be remembered, and took a sip. The awkwardness began to dissipate.

- Hey, Farz. - he raised his voice.

- What's wrong? - Murphy looked back at him.

- You can drink my second can if you want.

- What's this honor for? - Farz asked warily.

- Consider it a thanks for the conversation, I'm feeling better. - Vayt replied in a calm voice. He looked at Murphy. - What's that look? Are you afraid I'm going to poison you?

He said the last phrase with a faint chuckle, as if he were teasing the second one. Perhaps it was meant to scare him a little, but Farz only smirked and replied:

- Well, I don't know what you want to do to me. Maybe you want to get me drunk and throw me off the roof and make it look like an accident.

- Who do you think I am?! - Vayt shouted with joking indignation and a playful smile.

Farz couldn't hold back and laughed. Black along with him. Were they already drunk, or had they reached the stage of friendship where they laughed at each other's dumb jokes?

But it still didn't last long and still they calmed down, Vayt wiped away a phantom tear of laughter and when they were both quiet said:

- Thank you very much.

Farz looked at him in confusion. For what?

- You helped so much.

Black fell silent after that and Murphy's gaze softened. They both looked toward the city. Maybe, it's not so bad.

[gottagobackintime]

I was sitting here thinking about the kiss, as you do. And how perfect it was for them. How the little details made it perfect.

To start it off, Ed interrupts Stede’s sentence. Probably because he feels that if he doesn’t take this chance, he never will. He almost kissed Stede once before but he stopped himself then. Now he didn’t want to do that.

Then he just keeps his lips pressed to Stede’s because it takes a moment for Stede to respond, because he’s surprised. But as soon as Stede angles his body more towards Ed, repositions his lips, responds, Ed moves closer and puts his other hand gently on the side of Stede’s neck. He’s waiting for Stede to accept the kiss, he doesn’t force a hungry kiss on him. He makes sure that they take it slow. Because this is their first kiss, Ed opened himself up and took the chance but he didn’t want to force Stede into something he didn’t want. Stede doesn’t even realise that he’s in love with Ed until the next episode. 

And I saw an article today where David Jenkins said that they’re basically teenagers when it comes to love, because neither of them has had these kinds of feelings before. And that Ed is probably more experienced with the physical side of relationships but that they both are teenagers in the sense of these big feelings that they have for each other. And that’s why the kiss makes sense. A first kiss doesn’t have to be this big thing with a grand orchestra playing in the background, leading to foreplay, leading to sex. Like many kisses in movies are, which is fine. But these two men deserve to take it slow. One of them is used to being ruthless and aggressive, and the other have never been in love. And they get to share a soft first kiss. (Also, how many times do you think that Stede and Mary actually kissed? They probably did a few times but considering that they don’t have any interest in each other in that way it probably stopped pretty fast, and the times they did kiss probably weren’t very passionate or good. And even if they had sex more times than two, depending on how many tries it took for her to get pregnant, that doesn’t mean that they kissed regularly. So it makes sense that Stede is, first of all surprised, but also that he probably isn’t that skilled when it comes to kissing.)

And when they break apart Ed keeps his hand on Stede’s neck, his thumb on his cheek and Stede smiles. It’s intimate and it’s a relief for Ed and a surprise for Stede, but it still made him happy (even if he’s still dealing with his guilt).

Was it this big “Hollywood kiss”, no. But that’s the point. This felt more real than most kisses in movies where it’s like “Oh yeah, the kiss is hot. But it looks as if these two have kissed a million times before AND taken a course in how to make your kiss look hot.” 

I also find it kind of insulting on behalf of Taika and Rhys that people are saying that it’s because they’re straight and/or friends. Like?? Do you not think they are good enough actors to be able to kiss each other? Do you not think they are good enough actors to be able to kiss another man despite being straight. It’s also weird how people seem to think that you have to be attracted to the sex that your co-star is, like... that’s not how acting works... also, kissing isn’t all about having your tongue shoved down someone elses throat. I acted opposite a guy I liked a few years back, we played Benedick and Beatrice, we’d put our own monologue together from the original text and then we put a dialog together and it ended up with us kissing. It was a spur of the moment kiss for the characters and our lips met in a similar way to Stede and Ed. Our lips met, we were in that position for a moment before we parted and looked at each other. Everyone loved it, we were the favourite part for a lot of people. I was attracted to him for real, he wasn’t attracted to me but it didn’t matter, people liked it. And we didn’t have our tongues battle. But we did have chemistry, something that Taika and Rhys also have and that is a large part in why their relationship works on screen.   

So I don’t get this mockery of the kiss. And as I said, I find it insulting on behalf of both of the actors that people think that they’re not professional enough to pull of a kiss just because their co-star is of the same sex.

[serialee]

◈ Bow & Arrows ◈ Hyunjin

◦◦ instead of enemies to lovers, have a taste of its evil twin; lovers to enemies. one misunderstanding - perhaps abandonment - and a pair of exes.

◸ Ficscafe Dialog Prompt Event ◿

◤ "Did you miss me?" "Huh? Didn't even know you were gone" - 8

◤ "I know you're ignoring me, you're reading the paper upside down" - 22 |

genre: sfw - angst, sport au [2K]

pairing: athlete.hyunjin x fem.character || trope: ex-lovers

warning: fainting - infirmary || swearing

○ 'DREAMLAND MASTERLIST' || 'NAVIGATION' |

"Ok I'm just going to say it ... he's back!" your friend's voice interrupted you, "and i think we'd have to hire -"

As head of the student body, the month of August meant that the head student worked closely with the sports club to organize the grand sports week. The dean personally visited during the council meeting to cheer you on, encouraging you to do the best and make sure things went smooth and using the pride you had in you, you were determined to not let them down.

So there you were in the campus auditorium with several of the members of the sports club discussing the details of the event like what were the official colours this year, which sports team would play on which day and when, where would each team be stationed on campus, how would the star player be called if needed, who would be assigned to stay with in contact between each team and the head student in case the players were needed and such.

"-yes?" your friend walked in and smiled sheepishly at the strangers in the room with you, a little embarrassed with themselves. She continued to smile at them while getting closer to you and tugged at the side of your sleeves,

"could you spare a minute?" she whispered. You sighed and excused yourself to be dragged to the side by your friend.

"This better be super important" you stern over her. She clapped her hands together and took a deep breath,

"Hyunjin. Hwang Hyunjin .... he's back" she revealed the name. You stood there stoned, believing that you heard your friend wrong but your friend knew you better,

"yes the Hwang Hyunjin ... your Hwang Hyunjin girl".

"...lies"

"no, I'm serious! Look! I event captured him" and sure enough your spy like best friend pulled up her phone where Hyunjin was displayed on the screen, bright and clear as if you saw him with your own 2 eyes in the flesh.

'Curse this forsaken phone and it's high quality pictures' you thought, failing to keep a 'tsk' to yourself. You wanted to run out of that auditorium. If you had to scout the entire grounds of the campus to pin the tall boy down, so be it.

"Is everything ok over there?" one of the boys called out to your corner and helped you out of your trance like state, though more so state of silent fury.

"Yea..yup. All is fine and danddy...I'll be right there!" you hollered back. You turn to face your friend again and held your finger against your lips,

"don't say anything, don't do anything alright? Go home and forget you ever saw him" you instructed her and she listened. You regained your composure and rejoined the group to finish off the meeting.

You sighed loudly for the first time of the day, looking over to your wrist watch '9:23pm' it read. You've been in the auditorium since afternoon and it surprised you that you lasted the meeting till this late into the night but at least you and the team got many things sorted out. If it was one thing you stuck by, it was that you preferred to get things done as soon as possible - this way flexibility and adapting would be in your control. It wasn't easy to organize and figure many things in a short amount of time, but you did it. There were several other things needed to be done but you were happy with today. Thankfully tomorrow was Saturday and that meant you could rest in.

Even though you were interrupted in the middle of your meeting, you managed to calm yourself and carried on, simply forgetting the news that your best friend broke to you.

You didn't mind walking alone at night, it wasn't like the lights weren't on because they were bright and you could clearly see all the cctvs installed all around. Your mind finally caved in and began to wander about the fact that Hyunjin came back. What he came back for? Beats you. You were getting closer to your car and the closer you got and squinted your eyes, you saw a male figure standing near it. It didn't take a genius to know who it was.

The famous Hwang Hyunjin, in the flesh, leaning against your car with grape juice in his hands. He saw you coming from a mile away and never took his eyes off of you, staring you down, just like you were to him.

"Did you miss me?" there it was. That silky voice you last heard 2 years ago. It never changed but it became more mature sounding - complimentary to his looks.

You should've been shaking out of anger. You should've ran into him and push him away from your car the moment your brain registered who it was. Yet there you were, several feet before him looking right at him, deadpanned in the eye.

"who are you?"

"Hyunjin. Did you miss me?" he asked again. 'Is he playing with me?' you asked yourself, unsure why he repeated himself.

"Huh? The hell are you talking about? Hyunjin? Didn't even know you were gone" you answered, mirroring the same monotone as his.

Your patience was being tested. His eyes shifted down to your hands, lingering on them for what seemed to be like a solid minute and you couldn't figure out what was running on his mind. You scoffed to the side and snapped your fingers, bringing Hyunjin back to reality, "this wasn't a pleasant meet. Move, I need to go home"

Your tone was harsh and that was how you intended it to be. You were no longer looking at him but to the night sky above you so you missed the way his eyes softened at your words, rather sadden at your words.

"I just want to tell you that I've returned"

"did I ask?"

"ouch ... ok..". You didn't buy it, you couldn't buy it. You didn't know if he was being serious or not.

"Can you move? I need to head home. I don't really care that you're back. Ok, so what about it? Move!" your voice boomed, rattling the few birds that settled in first seats in the trees.

Hyunjin frowned in disappointment but he knew you better than anyone else. He knew you were over this sudden reunion so he complied and stepped aside. Finally, you were allowed to unlock your car and opened the driver's door. When he stopped you in your tracks, hands inches away from the steering wheel,

"I'm participating in the archers team". That was the last thing you wanted to hear from anyone, especially him.

2 years ago, you and Hyunjin were the star athletes, ace archers of your sports team. Whenever you wanted to celebrate, you would always drag each other to a friendly match and whoever won would end up paying for dinner. You moved from friends to lovers when you accepted that you both enjoyed each others' company.

Your body filled with pride whenever you saw Hyunjin with his bow and arrows, whenever he managed to score bull-eye, whenever he would turn around to the team and send you his crescent eye smile - famous for making girls swoon over him. Spending time with Hyunjin during archery was what brought you the upmost happiness.

Until he decided that the team simply wasn't enough. He had greed for more. He wanted better. So he picked up and left. You managed to see him one last time at the airport, grabbing his wrist as tight as you could. You begged him to not leave you alone. He said he was sorry but he still left. The ace couple of the archery team was no longer. He left and so did your happiness in competing.

You breathed in and entered the safe confinement of your car. You sped up home, leaving Hyunjin to fend for himself at 10pm.

Monday greeted you with a slap of thunder, thankfully no rain. You woke up and prayed it was just the sky feeling a tad bit grumpy and that it'll soon stay sunny for the rest of the day. You got up and got ready, sporting a short sleeves top and pleated short skirt that mimicked the look of tennis outfit. You grabbed your things, keys, tied your shoes securely and headed out.

Standing on the podium of the arena, you officiated the start of the Grand Sports Week of the year. Nearly each of the sports team had seen and greeted you as you checked in with everybody and made sure the staffs remembered their tasks - the last thing you needed was a group of fanbase crowding over their crushes and disrupting the mood of your athletes. You made sure the athletes always had snacks on their table and plenty of water - a well hydrated sportsmen is what you needed.

You were so caught up in your role as head student that you forgot you too needed to hydrate. Under the hot sun, beads of sweat were running down your skin although you weren't paying attention to yourself. Your checkboard read 'trackers team' and that was your next stop.

What you didn't realize was that someone was watching you ever since your body came into view, even if you were meters away. He saw you walking across the field and followed your every step with his eyes. His surroundings drowned out as his sole focus was on you.

It didn't sit well with him. He didn't like the way you were walking with your head facing the grass. You never walked like that, not even if you were angry or upset. You always masked your face and walked like everything was alright. So the difference in walking style had him on alert with his hands gripping the arm rest of his chair. He was ready to discard his seat.

And he was right. Your pace slowed significantly and eventually you stopped walking. Your body only slightly swayed as it tried to get you to get a grip of yourself. In seconds your body met the ground as your surroundings black out and you lay there under the sun unconscious.

He would win the gold medal against the trackers if he were up against them. The speed when he came rushing to you, to hold you up against him and made you sure you were ok, was as fast as lightning. He picked you up in his arms and carried you to the school's infirmary, mumbling strings of curses. He was sad that you upheld your defense against him but it upset him more that you forgot to look after yourself.

When regained your consciousness and took in your surroundings, you were confused. No one was there, so how did you end up in the infirmary? You asked yourself what happened as you tried to recall your memory and all you remembered was walking across the field, checking teams to teams. Then it came to you that you must've fainted from the heat.

Heavy footsteps could be heard from the hallways and it was getting louder by the second, meaning you were able to see who it was.

'Him?!' No way.

You were not about to face him. You had no reason to. So you picked up your checkboard and pretended to be immersed in it.

"I know you're ignoring me, you're holding that upside down" he stated, as a matter of fact.

"Please look after yourself better, y/n" he spoke softly and it irritated you.

"What's it to you? I know how to care for myself, you may leave ...the same way you left 2 years ago".

Silence. He didn't really know what to say. He didn't regret joining a different team but he regretted leaving things, you, behind so suddenly without much explanation.

"Go away, Hyunjin" you shooed him, waving your hands in front.

"I'm not leaving you until you're ok" he stated in his seat. Your patience ran thin.

"Not leaving? No problem. You can stay, I'm leaving" you ripped off the IV drip and stormed out. In the same style you experienced 2 years ago. Anger, frustration, hurt, sadness and confusion, all of you, unknowingly you left bare to him.

He left you first so returning the act is only polite, no?

◦ No outline, this was shit writing. It's cliche and cringy, i know. I'm sorry.

author's note: I know I said I would write a pt2 to this, but I truly can't think of a good enough continuation plot. If by any chance inspiration strikes me, I'll make a pt2.

Tags: @yunkiwii | @yungisstar1117 | @mychicagodaddyjohnny | @cometoceantrenches | @multidreams-and-desires | @seongsangsgf | @subways-stuff | @babybinnyboy |

↬ Let me know if you'd like to be added into // taken off tags.

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[tippenfunkaport]

Did you ship Glimbow from the beginning?

Short answer:

Ehhh... not exactly, but there are reasons for that

Long answer:

The first thing you need to understand about my first viewing of She-Ra is that I watched it with my kiddo from the start, right away as each season aired. This was very fun and I LOVED that I had it to share with her but it also meant that between answering questions and her randomly talking and interrupting I maybe got to hear only about 30% of the dialog and could only half pay attention. So while I got the general gist of what I was watching and enjoyed it, I missed A LOT on that first viewing.

The second thing you need to understand is that I was not involved in fandom at all. So I suspected Catradora would be a thing even before I watched (because I was a big fan of the works of Noelle Stevenson going in and no one is ever straight in those) and the only mystery there was whether it would be explicitly canon or just implied. But, beyond that, I was just vibin’ as the youths say.

Except… Many of my IRL friends were into the show and so I would occasionally see fanart or posts that they were interacting with. Shortly after Season One aired I saw art of Bowfuma and clicked on it surprised that people shipped Bow with Perfuma and not Glimmer, which seemed more obvious to me (mostly bc I loved both Bow and Glimmer as characters so much). What I found was people dogpiling on the Bowfuma artist, telling them that Bow was canonically gay, that the fight he had with Glimmer at the Princess Prom was him coming out to her and it was offensive to ship him with a woman, they needed to respect his canon sexuality.

Now you and I know now this was a load of absolute nonsense but, keeping in mind the two things above, at the time I read this in good faith and assumed I had just missed this coming out scene (not surprising as I was missing a lot bc of my small viewing companion). It made sense to me that Bow would gay given Noelle’s past works. So I mentally took Bow/Glimmer off my list of possible pairings and whenever Glimbow had moments that seemed shippy to me from then on I just assumed I was reading it wrong.

So fast forward to Season 5 when Glimbow confessed their love to each other as I was literally in the middle of answering a kid question and I looked up at the screen and said, “Wait. What the heck just happened???” And afterwards everyone was cheering Glimbow bi canon wooo and I was deeply deeply confused. So then I went back and rewatched first the last season and then the entire run of the show by myself this time so I could actually pay attention and realized, wow, OK so those people I had seen talking back during Season 1 were completely full of baloney and led me totally wrong here.

Which is why, when people say they didn’t see Glimbow coming, I understand that. If you’re not giving the show your full attention, it is easy to miss because a lot of it is subtle. Or if you went in, like I did, with your impressions colored by completely wrong information from fandom, that would be a factor too.

Where people lose me, however, is when they say it came out of nowhere. You didn’t notice it? That’s understandable. But that doesn't mean it's not there. Go rewatch it and pay attention this time because it’s baked into the entire show from the first moments, and it’s obvious.

Anyway, obviously, once I rewatched the series and finally understood WTF was going on, I decided to embrace the Glimbow lifestyle forever, the end.

[mxgilray]

I... have some thoughts on the Loki finale. It was not what I was expecting, but I'm still hopeful for season 2.

This felt like a meh finale, like how a lot of season finales felt in Spring 2020 when they unexpectedly quit filming and had to cut things short by a couple episodes thanks to the pandemic. Only this was the planned out finale, they should've given a bit more oomph. I'm quite a fan of exposition and character development usually, but all the dialog was centered on He Who Remains, so it felt like our main characters were just side pieces.

Plus, the final "cliffhanger" of Mobius not knowing Loki and the statue of HWR replacing the Time Keeper statues felt quite lackluster. Not sure how they could've made it hit harder, but it didn't deliver the "oh shit" vibes they intended, but maybe that's cuz Mobius not remembering Loki has been an expected plot line on tumblr for half the season so it wasn't a blindside.

I get the point of the Sylki kiss. From what I've seen on tumblr so far I feel like the nuance of Sylvies actions was lost to most people (both Sylki fans and antis just Didn't Get It). It wasn't a big declaration of love like the fans are grasping onto it as, and it wasn't shoving selfcest into the canon to keep the heternormativity like antis are accusing it of being; it was Sylvie using Loki's attachment to her to trick him. She needed Loki out of her way, and she knew the only way to get past him and get He Who Remains' tempad was through emotional distraction. She used his love against him and betrayed him, a kiss was simply the most efficient way to do it. I did a whole post last week about Sylvie's feelings towards Loki, but to sum up I firmly believe that while Loki harbors some romantic feelings for Sylvie, she feels strictly platonic towards him, but is very aware of his attraction. She took advantage of his care for her to get the upper hand during their fight. Heck she even foreshadowed it herself in ep 5. "There are more important things than friends" "like taking down the TVA" she told Loki that taking down whoever is behind the TVA comes before everything; it's priority #1 in her book, above friendship or love or trust. Loki proved that his priority now is the greater good of the universe not her revenge, so Sylvie has no use for him anymore (partners only when it's convenient, because she is a Loki and that's how emotionally stunted Lokis behave).

I would like to point out the irony of her being worried about Loki betraying her, only to turn around and betray him. It's in the realm of "people who cheat assuming their partner is cheating" / "not using a turn signal when changing planes to avoid being cut off because when you see someone else use their signal you tend to cut them off", it's assuming other people will behave like you do. Sylvie feared in ep 5 that Loki would betray her in the end because she knew if it came down to it she'd betray him. But the thing is, he's actually grown past that. Loki is finally thinking about how his actions can damage others, not just his own wants and needs. Sylvie saw this moral change in Loki, realized there was no chance of getting him back on the blind revenge boat, and decided to exploit his newfound selflessness and emotional attachment to get him out of her path.

This whole season Loki has been maturing emotionally and growing into the best, most heroic version of himself. Sylvie, on the other hand, still has that deceptive, selfish, can't trust anyone persona that every Loki develops to combat insecurity. She hasn't had the emotional growth needed to see the bigger picture, she's still trapped in her own self centered mindset. As such, she disregards the impact her betrayal will have on Loki, the impact killing HWR will have on the universe. She doesn't even take a beat to consider whether revenge is still the right path cuz she doesn't practice self reflection yet; revenge has always been the goal and she refuses to give herself a chance of changing her mind. I hope in season 2 she'll get some character growth, now that her 1 goal has been accomplished.

Now on to Mobius. I enjoyed his scenes, I wish we'd been shown more of what he did to reveal the truth to the rest of the TVA. Again, I feel like too much time was given to HWR's monologing and not enough was spent on the other characters so Mobius and B-15 got very little screen time to display their plan. I am happy Mobius got the opportunity to throw Ranslayers betrayal back in her face, and his attemp at attacking her...my boy you work a desk job you ain't no fighter, she used to work in the field collecting variants, you had no chance. Also, where the F did she go??? I kept expecting her to show up at the end of time but she didn't. Where did Miss Minutes send her??

I'm sad Mobius doesn't know Loki anymore, but I can't say I'm surprised. I've got a few different thoughts on what the heck is going on with him and the TVA:

Sylvie accidentally sent Loki way back to a time early on in the TVA before HWR created the Time Keepers for anonymity. As such, this is a past Mobius who has yet to meet Loki or even learn of Loki's existence. If this is the case, then I think Loki and Past!Mobius's interaction at the end of ep 6 will be the catalyst for him becoming a Loki expert. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing before Loki interrupts are from some currently unknown disaster that'll be a plot line in s2. (This is my least favorite theory, but nevertheless a possibility)

HWR was correct when he said that if Sylvie kills him and destroys the TVA then another variant of him will just start it all up again. This variant didn't care to remain anonymous, hence the big statue of him, but kept all the memory wiped variants working there. Because time is a chaotic bitch, the changeover from one HWR variant to another may have been near seamless at the TVA and just involved a quick memory wipe of anything relating to the Time Keepers, Loki and Sylvie, or knowledge that the TVA are all variants. The 63 branches may be thanks to something Renslayer is doing like killing all the HWR variants in existence in order to negate the need for the TVA. The branching could also be from Sylvie's revenge still, we have no idea how much time has passed between her killing HWR and a new HWR taking over so the branching she caused could still be an issue.

There have actually been multiple TVAs running simultaneously, each in their own multiverse. Each one employs memory wiped variants, each one is in charge of a certain subset of timelines, and all work under the one HWR. Sylvie used HWR's tempad to eject Loki back to the TVA, but she accidentally sent him to the TVA of a different multiverse not realizing that's a Thing. The 63 branching timelines Mobius and B-15 are discussing are indeed from Sylvie killing HWR, but there's only 63 as opposed to the countless we saw diverging from Sylvie's perspective because this TVA only sees branches on timelines within their own multiverse. Mobius doesn't know Loki because he isn't our Mobius and in the multiverse he works in maybe Loki's aren't as much of an issue because none of them ever escaped the TVA like Sylvie did (or none of them have Tom's face so he doesn't recognize him as a Loki). If this is the case, then Loki is gonna have to find his way back to his own multiverse in order to be reunited with his Mobius, and that could end up happening thanks to Renslayer. Miss Minutes gave her a file that I suspect only HWR should have access to. Maybe it was tempad coordinates for other multiverses? It took til the 31st century for the multiverses to be connected despite Tony figuring out time travel in the 21st century because travel between universes is much harder, maybe HWR is still the only one who knows how to do that. (If this theory is correct then all the time travel done during Endgame was through timelines within one multiverse) Also just thought of this but what if the reason there are so many extreme variations of loki that grew to adulthood is because the criteria of "sacred timeline" is different in each multiverse. Classic Loki and maybe President Loki and Kid Loki are from the same universe as MCU Loki, but red haired Loki, Croki, Boastful Loki, etc are all from other universes. Think about it, Classic Loki, 2012 Loki, and MCU Loki all have an exact identical path up until their nexus event (or death in MCU Loki's case). I think other than identifying as female, Sylvie's childhood was identical as well and that her nexus event was coming to terms with her adoption as a child, which erased the catalyst of 2011 Thor's plot and would've changed everything for her future path. Had her adoption remained a secret and she grew up on asgard, I believe her story would mirror MCU Loki's. It mildly hit me weird that there would be such wild variation amongst Lokis, even with him being a shapeshifter, because there's a rigid sacred timeline (that supposedly the MCU movies have all adhered to) and they all felt like too big of a divergence to have been left unchecked so long. If boastful Loki was telling the truth about getting all 6 infinity stones then he should've triggered a nexus event as soon as he got more than the 3 he is "supposed to" interact with, unless in his multiverse the sacred timeline criteria is different. Another theory: the agents employed in each TVA are from multiverses other than the one they're working in. It would make sense, keep them from running into their own past by fully detaching each agent from their home timeline/universe. So the Principal!Renslayer that B-15 found will never in any future become the TVA judge we know. The one we know maybe came from the universe Loki got sent to, and that's how the two of them will end up crossing paths again.

[giantroboticplatypusbutt218]

Diversity win! The cannibalistic man-eating alien parasite is bi! 

Venom 2 thoughts under the cut (there are many):

I liked the second movie. Similar to the first, the pacing is weird, some of the scenes and dialog were weird... a lot of things were weird, basically. But, it adds to the charm, I guess. Again, keep in mind that I liked the movie, because I’m about to start complaining a lot. 

The movie was not as gay as I was hoping for. Like, all the stuff I saw teased beforehand was there, but in a different way. Yeah, Venom and Eddie act like a strange couple... the few times that they’re actually together in the movie. Yeah, Venom says something about coming out... “of the Eddie closet”, referring to not being restricted by his rules. Yeah, Venom tells Eddie he loves him... passively, and Eddie has a brief moment of ‘wut?’ before it’s basically glossed over. Throughout the movie they’re clearly supposed to be like a married couple... but only “like”. I can’t say I didn’t expect the movie to not be as gay as people were hyping it up to be, though. People here have a tendency to take crumbs and rave about the delicious cake they had.

I feel like there really should have been more done to sell Eddie and Venom being a perfect match by the end, especially with them defeating Carnage through the Power of Love. Dan’s like, “Look, Kasady and Carnage aren’t going well together, but you guys are perfect for each other” and then Venom and Eddie are like, “Hell yeah we are” and go to fight them, despite Eddie barely managing to give Venom an apology for being a dick like an hour prior, and Venom straight up not giving Eddie an apology for beating the shit out of him before their break up. 

Speaking of their fight, that was brutal. Uh, I don’t know if it was framed to be humorous and I just didn’t catch it, but the people in the theater were laughing. Like yeah, some of their arguing was humorous because it’s funny that Venom doesn’t care about eating people but is too emotionally attached to a couple of chickens to eat them, but Venom breaking Eddie’s nose and other shit didn’t feel very funny to me. I will say, I’m glad Eddie fought back. Yeah, them fighting in general is bad(that was the whole point, that’s why they broke up) but Eddie actually managing to get Venom back made their relationship less abusive and more toxic. I think them being on more equal footing is important to the whole “they’d be a good couple if they worked out their issues” thing the movie was trying to do. 

Still, the movie didn’t resolve anything when it came to Venom and Eddie, really. Venom got to eat a couple people, but he’s going to get hungry again and Eddie is still not cool with Venom eating heads. Eddie managed to apologize to Venom for not admitting how much he helps, but it took so much effort and was under the pressure of needing to fight Carnage so it doesn’t feel genuine enough. Venom still needs to feed and Eddie still needs to appreciate Venom’s help. They’re still at the place they were during the fight but they just sorta made up long enough to kill Carnage. Eddie’s apology felt like the first step in working things out, not a grand leap that sorts out their shit enough to defeat Carnage with the Power of Love. 

I also have to mention how conflicted I feel. Like, yeah, Venom is a cannibalistic man-eating alien parasite, AKA, not the best LGBT rep to ever exists... but imagine if he didn’t love Eddie? I just can’t see Venom as being 100% straight, even if I know him being bi is very othering. It could possibly help if Eddie, the human protagonist, was clearly Bi as well... but he’s really not. Not opposing Venom’s love isn’t the same as reciprocating it and even if he does love Venom back... it’s still not a good look for your Bi character’s only same sex love interest to be a tentacle monster.

Okay... thoughts on things that aren’t Eddie and Venom...

I’m really happy Dan didn’t die and that Anne and him are getting married. By extension I’m glad Eddie didn’t get back together with Anne, which the end of the last movie seemed to be pushing would happen. I was genuinely concerned that Dan would die so Eddie could end up with Anne, but instead they took the good route and actually had Eddie and Venom have to accept that Anne moved on and her relationship with Eddie wasn’t healthy. 

I’m also really happy that Dan Did A Thing during the climax. He did Two Things, actually. He may hate dealing with alien nonsense but he was there to help in the end, just like how Anne was in the first movie. Sadly, unlike the first movie, Anne didn’t Do A Thing during the climax. No... she was a damsel in distress. But, you know, a woman kidnapped her so it actually wasn’t sexist, right? (That’s sarcasm, btw.) 

Speaking of sexism... uh... I’ve never seen so many women fridged in such a short time before. Kasady killed both is mom and grandma which sent him to the mental institution, and Eddie’s mom died during childbirth which was used to spur Venom into attacking Kasady. While it wouldn’t be fridging because it didn’t motivate characters through trauma, the first movie also killed two female characters, Maria and Skirth. Of the eight notable female characters we’ve seen/heard of, only two are still alive by the end of the second movie. Three even died before the first movie. Compare to notable male characters, which there are way more of, and only four died, all of whom were villains. I’m just saying. 

On a lighter note, I liked a lot of the stuff with Kasady and Shriek. They were fun and their love was genuinely sweet, even while they were brutally slaughtering innocent people. 

That was short, but back to complaining... I really feel bad for Shriek. It was probably the point but she really didn’t deserve the crap she got as a kid. Neither did Kasady but he needed some serious intervention and not just... straight up abuse. Meanwhile, correct me if I’m forgetting something, but I don’t think Shriek was actively antagonistic to anybody. Like until she was being dragged away from Kasady she wasn’t the one to actually strike(shriek?) first. It really feels like her villain origin story wouldn’t be an origin story if fictional mental healthcare wasn’t so absolutely dogshit and abusive. By the way, add Venom 2 onto the pile of movies that give me a fear of being sent to a mental hospital because writers decided that “crazy” people are pique horror and so too would be the place they’re sent to. 

It’s taken me a million years to actually talk about Carnage because he really did not get any time to be an actual character. Hardly anything stood out about him. At least with Riot there was a hint of deceitfulness going on with him making Drake think they were a team when really he was just using him to get into space, but Carnage had nothing interesting going on besides letting Shriek live the first time she accidentally hurt him. Besides being pretty strong and Venom’s “child”, he’s got practically nothing going for him. 

Look I know I had barely anything nice to say but I swear I did enjoy this movie. I’d say I liked it so much that the bad stuff stood out more because it interrupted my enjoyment... maybe. I don’t know. 

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 13 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: AMC/GENE PAGE

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: The reader, Aaron, Jesus, and Daryl set out to find Eugene, but what they find may be even worse...takes place in 9x08 “Evolution”

Word Count: 3890

Warning: Angst, Swearing, Blood, Massive Angst (I’m sorry)

Song I Wrote To: “Game of Survival” by Ruelle

Note: So I realized that the riders from hilltop don’t make it until well Gabe speaks to Negan in ep 8, but just go with me, okay? I hope you like this one! (All official dialog used is property of AMC)

----------

It didn’t take long for you and the others to pick up the trail Rosita had left. 

After leaving the horses, you all went on foot with you and Daryl leading. Next to Dixon, you were a decent tracker, but he had taught you everything you knew and it felt nice to be by his side once again.

Jesus was on your other flank, careful not to make any sound, which of course, he never did. You never found out what the man did before the world ended, but a part of you thought it had to have been some kind of military job. There was just no way he was this stealthy without any proper training. 

His sword glinted in the setting sun, his grip always adjusting on the handle. Aaron, who had joined up with the party just as you were leaving Hilltop, walked at the rear. He was keeping his eyes on Jesus, but also the surroundings. You knew that they were together or at least had grown closer. You weren’t sure why they were hiding it, but you didn’t press the issue. 

When Jesus and Aaron ventured ahead, you and Daryl split, taking each side along the main hill, checking for tracks. When you met back with the other two, they were crouched behind an old tree. As you approached, you could see what they were looking at so closely. Just over the hill was a herd of Walkers and they were behaving oddly. Daryl’s furry companion, Dog, jogged up to your side to get a closer look as well.

“You ever see them do this before?” Jesus asked Aaron. 

“No,” Aaron said and you were in agreement. The way the Walkers were walking in the field looked almost as if they were in a corral. Something about it made your stomach turn. 

“Rosita's trail goes right through 'em,” Daryl said, stopping at your shoulder. “We should get the horses, circle around, then we'll pick it up on foot.”

“What about the Walkers?” you asked him.

“What about them?” 

“They’re just milling around,” Jesus said with a nervous look at you. “That’s not normal, Daryl.”

“No,” Daryl said with his own look of worry. “No, it ain’t.” A sudden shift in the wind had you turning to Daryl and nodding your head to the sky. He nodded in agreement, he could feel it too. “We need to move, there’s a storm coming.”

A storm was definitely coming, but you weren’t sure if you all would be able to get out of its way this time. 

------------

Back within the walls of Alexandria, Negan listened to Gabriel’s attempt at getting him to open up. “You do realize that this is a bunch of bullshit, right?” Negan asked as he threw the ball at the wall again. 

“What is?” Gabriel asked with a sigh. 

“You trying to get me to clear my head and open up and be a better man,” Negan joked. “It’s not working.”

“Is that so?” the Father asked. 

“Yep,” Negan said with a grin. 

“And is that because I’m not (Y/N)?” Gabe asked smugly as the ball stilled in Negan’s hand. 

“They are definitely much cuter than you,” Negan said, not risking to look in the Father’s eyes. 

“You’ve grown quite fond of them,” Gabriel noted, placing down the items in his hands. 

“Maybe I have, maybe I haven’t,” Negan said. “What is it to you? Are you jealous? I didn’t interrupt some freaky threesome with you, (Y/N), and Rosita, did I?”

“No,” Gabriel said, patiently. “However, I have noticed that (Y/N) seems...lighter these days.” That made Negan pause again. 

“What do you mean?” he asked. 

“They went through a dark time,” Gabriel explained. “Not that long after you were going through yours. I didn’t think I would see them smile again let alone interact with any of us for more than a few moments. You changed that. I don’t know what you did, but you brought them back to how they used to be.” Negan looked over at Gabriel, absorbing the information. He only had a few memories of (Y/N) before he was locked in the cell and even then, he wasn’t ready to share them with anyone, especially not Gabriel.

However, this new information had him a bit worried. What if they slipped back into the darkness? How was he supposed to help them? 

“I wouldn’t worry,” Gabriel offered, clearly seeing the turmoil in Negan’s eyes. “I have known them for a while and trust me when I say this, (Y/N) is one of the strongest people I know. Although, they are also one of the most loyal.” 

“Why are you telling me this?” Negan asked. 

“Because I can see that they trust you. Don’t ruin that.”

“I don’t plan to,” Negan said and for the first time in all the times Gabriel had been talking to the fallen king, he felt as if he was finally being sincere. Gabriel left then, leaving Negan to his thoughts, but he couldn’t focus on anything besides you and where you were. He trusted your friends enough to watch your back, but Negan was also worried that when it came down to it, you would be the reckless one and that would be your ultimate downfall. 

--------------

You were walking alongside Jesus while Aaron and Daryl were ahead, keeping Rosita’s trail in their line of sight. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Jesus asked, pulling you out of your thoughts. You blinked, turning your attention back to him. 

“What do you mean?” you asked. 

“I haven’t seen you this distracted in a while. What’s goin’ on?” 

“There’s just a lot of drama at home,” you admitted. 

“Is this about Michonne?” Jesus asked, kicking at a few loose rocks on the ground, skipping them a few feet ahead. 

“No,” you said, shaking your head. “It’s…” you paused, trying to get your nerve. You wondered if Aaron had mentioned your newfound bond with Negan, but seeing as Daryl hadn’t jumped down your throat yet, you figured the answer was no. “It’s Negan,” you admitted, lowering your voice. 

“What’s he done now?” Jesus asked, but his voice wasn’t full of malice, just with curiosity. Jesus was always the person to look at things from every side and that was why you cared for him so much. 

“Nothing,” you said with a shrug. “It’s just, I’ve been keeping my eye on him at the request of the council, and well, some people don’t like it.”

“Define, ‘keeping an eye on’?” he asked. 

“We’re sort of...friends?” you offered, not wanting to expose more of the relationship. Jesus was quiet for a moment and you wondered if he was thinking about Maggie. 

“Is that a bad thing?” 

“To everyone but me, it seems to be,” you grumbled. 

“What does Negan think about this newfound friendship?” Jesus wondered. 

“He thinks that I should be careful about how much time I spend with him. He is always worried that my people are going to turn on me.” 

“Do you think they will?” he asked. 

“I don’t know,” you said honestly. “I’d rather not find out.” Jesus reached over and laid his hand on your shoulder and then glanced over at Daryl and Aaron before lowering his volume as well. 

“It’s more than a friendship,  isn’t it?” You almost froze at his words, but he took your silence as an answer. With a sigh, he dropped his hand but kept close to you. “I can’t say that I fully approve, but I always did think there was more to him than just the leather and the barbed wire.” You laughed at that. 

“There is,” you said. “There is so much more.”

“Then why worry?”

“Because it’s Negan and everyone hates him,” you reminded him. 

“You don’t,” he pointed out. “I think that counts for something.” 

“Yeah, maybe it does,” you said with a small smile. “Thanks, Paul.” He winked at you and then went to catch up with Aaron. You watched after him and felt a weight disappear off your shoulders. Maybe people finding out about your connection to Negan wouldn’t be so horrible. It wasn’t as if the world could end twice. 

Catching up to your friends, you stopped as growling reached your ears. “You hear that?” you asked Daryl. 

“That herd is followin’ us,” Aaron said. 

“Nah, has to be the wind,” you argued. “Walkers can’t follow scents like that. Can they?”

“Let’s not find out,” Daryl said, gesturing the group ahead. “We need to put some distance between us and them.” 

Nobody argued with that and so the four of you set out again, keeping to the shadows of the tree line when you could. You acted as sentry in the back, your knives in your hands as you scouted along the trees, keeping your senses alert. It had been a while since you had been out in the world like this. 

Michonne had asked you to go on runs here and there, but it had been too long since you had walked the same earth Walkers stumbled across daily. The stench of rot and new growth was in the air and it almost felt alien to be hiking through the weeds again. 

You were reminded of the time before you got to Alexandria. All those days on the road when you didn’t know what was around every corner had given you the much-needed adrenaline rushes. Then with the war, they had returned. You would never admit it out loud, but you sort of missed that feeling that rushed through your body when you were fighting.  You missed the danger. Though, you definitely didn’t miss the loss.

---------

When Daryl, Aaron, and Jesus stopped sometime later, you came up behind them confused. 

“What’s wrong?” you asked. 

“Is that the same herd?” Aaron asked, looking through the trees. Peering at the Walkers, you had a feeling it was. “If it is, it just got a whole lot bigger.”

“Herds merge, Aaron,” you reminded him. 

“I still don’t like the feel of this one,” he admitted. 

“Don't matter how big it is as long as it's going the other way,” Daryl said. “Come on.” As Jesus and Aaron followed Daryl, you hesitated as a feeling entered your gut. It was something you had sometimes felt when acting as a sniper. Whenever someone had spotted you, you got the sense that you were being watched. 

That feeling had now returned. 

Turning away from the herd, you gripped your blades tighter and followed after the others, but the fear followed you and you didn’t know how to shake it. 

----------

It was well after the sun came down, that Daryl finally picked up the end of the trail. With Dog in the lead, Daryl picked his way toward an old barn, the rest of you on his tail. “Something ain’t right,” you said to Daryl as you walked. 

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked, hearing your concern. 

“I don’t like this, any of it. I don’t feel...safe,” you admitted. 

“I know, I feel it, too,” Daryl said, meeting your eyes. “We just gotta find Eugene and get gone. Go on, boy, go find him,” Daryl urged as the canine trotted into the barn, sniffing the straw as he went. 

You walked parallel to Daryl, something you learned to do when you would hunt together. It was so easy to fall in step with him again. He seemed to notice it too considering he was reacting to every step you were taking as well. Suddenly, Dog began to whine as he scratched at a portion of straw on the ground. 

“Good boy,” Daryl said. 

“Eugene? Are you in there?” Aaron asked above the hay mound and then through the silence, you finally heard a voice. 

“Affirmative,” Eugene said. All four of you began to dig him out, careful not to injure him further. Once you got him situated back onto the barn floor, you got a better look at him. He was shaking, sweating, and something about the way he was looking at you told you one thing, Eugene was petrified. 

“Are you alright?” you asked, getting down to his level. 

“I took a bad step and dislocated my knee. There was a herd on our six, and Rosita was forced to stash me here,” Eugene said, his hands still shaking. 

“Well, if it's dislocated, we can just pop it back in,” Daryl said, but Eugene was shaking his head. He then grabbed your arm tight. 

“We have to get out of here,” He said, his eyes boring into yours. 

“Eugene…” you tried, but he wasn’t having it. 

“The herd that followed us here is on its way back,” he said and you looked up at Jesus with cautious eyes. His own were flicking back to the entrance of the barn. “Those Walkers ain’t normal, (Y/N).”

“What do you mean?” you asked. 

“When they passed us by, we could hear them. They were... whispering to each other,” Eugene said, looking back and forth between all of you. 

“Whispering?” you echoed, a chill running up your spine.

“I know how it sounds, but Rosita heard it as well. Trust me, those weren’t no normal growls and grumbles.”

“We need to get him back,” you said. “Right now.” Daryl was agreeing when suddenly Dog began barking. Eugene froze and when you looked out the window and saw the Walkers converging on the barn, you nearly tripped over your own feet. That was impossible. You said as much. 

“They’ve got us cut off,” Daryl said. “We gotta go around them, get back to the horses and the bike,” Daryl said as Jesus and Aaron pulled Eugene to his feet. “(Y/N), you’re on our six,” he said and you nodded, already feeling the blood rush through you.

As the four of your hobbled towards where you had tied up the mounts, the herd never slowed and they never turned. The adrenaline that was pumping was slowly turning into pure fear. None of this was making any sense. Sneaking through the woods, you watched as the Walkers stumbled down the main road as you dragged Eugene along. 

Reaching a crossroads, Jesus got Eugene to rest against an abandoned car as you spread out, trying to see where the Walkers were coming from. “It doesn't make any sense. They shouldn't have doubled back like that. And they definitely shouldn't have followed us all the way to the barn,” Jesus said and you shook your head, trying to understand as well. 

“I do have a theory to posit,” added Eugene, “the Walkers are evolving.”

“Bullshit,” you said. “Walkers are dead, they are already evolved. That’s how they can even fucking walk around in the first place.”

“They're not dead in any sense that makes sense,” Eugene challenged. “It takes an impact to the cranium to stop them, which means the brain is alive, degraded as it may be. And if it's alive, it can change. Maybe even start to remember things, too, like how to talk.”

“And what? Hunt?”

“Possibly,” Eugene said and you never wanted to scream so much in your life. This was not the trip you had envisioned and it was quickly turning into a full-blown horror movie. 

“They’re right on our asses!” Aaron said as he came running from the trees. 

“We need our damn horses,” you said to Daryl. 

“You have to leave me behind,” Eugene said, clutching at his leg. “I'm slowing you down and tiring you out. Every time we stop, the Dead get closer.”

“Eugene, shut up!” you snapped. “No one is gettin’ left behind. We came out here to find you and bring you home. Not to sacrifice your ass to some mutant herd of Walkers.” 

“The numbers actually work for us,” Jesus interjected. “We can split up. You two get him back to the horses. I'll wait for the herd to get here, then I'll draw them off in the other direction. Then I'll ditch them and meet you back at the Hilltop.”

“Splitting up is never a good idea, dammit!” you said. “We work better together and you know it. When has splitting up ever worked?”

“They’re right,” Aaron said, agreeing with you.

“If anyone stays, it's gonna be me,” Daryl said and when you went to argue, he shot you down. “Ya need to keep Eugene safe. I’m better on my own. Go! I’ll turn the herd, you keep him safe!” Aaron and Jesus began to drag Eugene away and you reluctantly followed as Daryl ran off with Dog by his side. 

--------

You weren’t sure what Daryl was using to pull the herd, but it didn’t seem like it was working. The herd kept on your tail as the three of you hauled Eugene across the barren landscape. The fog was setting in and visibility was low as you picked your way across fallen trees and branches. 

Eugene was screaming in pain with every jostle between Jesus and Aaron as you walked ahead with the useless flashlight. “Come on, come on,” Jesus urged, as you came to a fence. 

“They’re still on us,” Aaron swore as you shone the light around. You couldn’t even see the outlines of their bodies as they stumbled through the dark. Thunder rumbled overhead and lightning lit up the sky, throwing shadows everywhere. 

“Paul…” you said, your voice slightly shaky. 

“Come on,” he said. “We gotta go.” Jesus grabbed Eugene again and began dragging him along the fence. You ran ahead, keeping your weapon raised when you finally found a parting in the wall. 

“Here!” you yelled as they came up behind you. Jesus knew what you were thinking immediately. 

“Yes, yes! We can use the break as a chokepoint. Slow them down,” he said with a grunt. You and Jesus jumped through and then helped Eugene over the crumbling stone, trying to keep the weight off his bad leg as much as possible. When you realized it was a cemetery you had dropped into, you almost ran back out.

However, with the growls only growing louder, you pressed on. “Follow the wall,” you said. “The last thing we need is to get lost in this.”

“Find a gate, (Y/N),” Aaron said as Walkers began crashing through the chokepoint. You were then reminded of the night the tree crashed through the wall. The first night you fought next to Negan instead of against him. His face and the promise you had made him was the only thing that pushed you through that graveyard.

You tried to clear a path as you made it to the other side when you finally found the gate. “There!” you shouted as you ran to it, but when you tried to open it, it wouldn’t move. “Shit!” you swore, kicking at the dirt that had buried your escape route. 

“(Y/N)!” Aaron called. 

“It’s stuck!” you cried. All four of you backed up to the wall as the Walkers approached.

Jesus got Eugene to lead against the wall as he drew his sword. You and Aaron also took up defensive positions, ready to fight through it. With a crash of thunder, loud enough to deafen giants, the Dead fell upon you. 

It was a flurry of swords and legs as you kicked out and slashed down on the Walkers. Heads toppled, bodies crumbled, and dark blood stuck to your face and boots. You could see both Aaron and Jesus fighting alongside you, taking out their fair share of Dead, but they were still coming and you were barely making a dent. 

Eugene took care of his own as he balanced on one leg and you went low. Using your blades, you cut them off at the knees, spinning the blades to enter their skulls after. Ducking under one, you slid your knife into another, and so on. Aaron and Jesus worked as a perfect team, much like you and Daryl. Aaron grabbed a Walker, throwing it towards Paul who spun it around to land against a headstone. With a downward kick, Jesus crushed its brains into nothing. 

Suddenly, a sound echoed across the graveyard, a sound that chilled you to your soul. It was whispering and it sounded as if it were coming from everywhere. You and Jesus looked at each other in fear as Eugene began to shake again. Raising your knives, you were prepared to go down swinging at the invisible threat. 

However, it seemed as if the universe had other plans. “Eugene!” yelled a voice that you instantly recognized as Michonne’s. You could see her arrive at the gate, her hands braced against it as she fought to open it. 

“The gate is buried!” you said as you ran over, trying to give her a hand. “We can’t get out!”

“I need you to push back,” Michonne said as you and Eugene braced yourself against the gate, forcing it back. Just then, out of the shadows came Magna and Yumiko. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Earning our keep!” Magna shot back as they began digging. Finally, the gate was freed and you pushed it open, stumbling out first. 

“Get him out of here!” Jesus was yelling at Aaron who was running to help Eugene. Getting back on study legs, you ran back toward the gate, trying to push past Yumiko. Through the bars, you could see Jesus slashing away with his sword, fighting like the warrior he was. It was mesmerizing. 

“Paul!” you shouted. “Come on!” He met your eyes and then began heading back to the fence

And that is when everything went wrong. 

Just as a Walker dragged itself across Jesus’ path, Paul swung, but the Walker ducked. In a single movement, the man who you weren’t so sure was actually Dead, twisted around and then plunged a blade right into Jesus’ back. He went still and then you watched in horror as his body fell to the ground. 

“No!” Aaron screamed as he and the others ran back through the gate, their weapons raised. Michonne pulled her katana and you followed her, tears springing in your eyes. You yelled in fury as more armed Dead came running at you, blades in their hands. All you saw was red as you slashed at them. 

A bolt came from behind a headstone as Daryl joined the fight, taking more of them down. Michonne slashed with her sword while Yumiko fired arrows. The bloody battle was over in a manner of seconds, but the pain was very real. You and Aaron collapsed to Jesus’ side and you let out a scream so loud, you thought it might have been louder than the thunder itself.

Your best friend was dead.

Daryl then leaned over and picked up something off one of the corpses. When he lifted it up for all of you to see there were only more questions than answers. It was a mask, made of the skin of the Dead and someone had been wearing it.

“What are they?” Michonne asked. You looked at Daryl and he at you and for the first time since knowing him, you had no idea what he was thinking, but you did know one thing. 

He was scared. You all were scared.

-------

Miles away, in the darkness of a cell, an iron door of a cage was left open...

TAGS:  : amaroho  @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @scootankle @ritajammer21​ @writteriguess @tea-atfive @jennydehavilland​ @halszka-potter​ @yespleasejayhalstead​ @fmunegan @hoemadegrace  @pulplorrd​ @writingdead0829​ @lucillethings​

[bag-of-broadway-snacks]

My Cats Non-Replica Pt. 2

Alright at the high request I finally bring you part 2 of my ideal Cats Non-rep. However, if you haven’t seen part one this will make zero sense so here's the link. (Also @a-cat-is-not-a-dog @the-metaphorical-jellicle-cat​ I believed Ya’ll wanted to see part 2)

Moments of Happiness

Alright! Coming back for the second act all the cats/toys are gathered around Old Deut’s feet. Its here where we see Gus enter for the first time. He’s a rag doll like the rest but is incredibly worn from years of excitable use, he also has a very plain looking piece of fabric for a blanket. Jellylorum assists him in while Asparagus Jr. (My production would include him as a separate character) pushes over the toy bed that has been tucked away in the corner. Gus sits down on the bed and slumps slightly from loss of stuffing. The rest of Moments of Happiness progresses as normal. Gus the Theatre Cat So once everyone has settled down, Jellylorum starts to sing her portion of the song. The younger kitten characters are gathered up around the toy bed curiously, giving us the impression they don’t get to hear much about Gus anymore. The first two times Jellylorum and Gus mention the famed Fireforefiddle, the kittens are seemingly unimpressed and look at each other awkwardly. But the third time, Asparagus Jr. quickly puts on a quick costume and stands behind Gus, showing the kittens just how impressive the role actually was. Fireforefiddle should be a vague, but terrifying figure. Short of the little girl’s version of the boogie man. The kittens are all very impressed and the song comes to a sweet conclusion. Growltiger’s Last Stand So the first thing I’d like to address about this song is I will not be keeping the parts about the siamese. I did a rewrite of the lyrics here so just assume going forward I will be using those instead. So as per usual Gus remembers the days were he once played Growltiger, but instead of actually becoming Growltiger, he has Jellylorum bring him a large story book for him to read out of. In this sense, he acts as a sort of narrator for the story, often interjecting with different lines of dialog. He throws off his quilt and turns it to show the other side, which is decorated with tiger print. Asparagus Jr. puts on an eyepatch and the tiger print blanket and plays Growltiger instead.  The Growltiger set is pretty much halved in size, only taking up a small portion of the stage, Jellylorum plays Griddlebone as perusal and dresses up very fluffy doll clothing. The navy (who will be taking place of the siamese) are dawning lego pieces as helmets with plastic swords. Growltiger proceeds as normal, although all interaction between Griddlebone and Growltiger is much more toned down and your stereotypical romance scenes. As the last few lyrics fade out, Gus slowly closes the book and everyone renters the stage. Gus’ bed is moved back next to the toy chest and he remains there for the rest of the production. Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat

Now finally onto Skimblehshanks! This number progresses as normal, Skimble being dressed in a very fancy doll best. He’s sort of the little girl’s ‘fairy tale prince’ style toy thus is kept very neat and tidy. This is also a good time to mention all of the wigs are fashioned from yarn to really sell the ragdoll aspect.  When it comes time for the train to be formed, a large replica of a toy trained in wheeled out, with ‘Made in Scotland’ printed on the side. Skimble climbs on top of the train for a short while. Where the train would usually fall apart, instead of the cats accidentally flips the train’s switch, causing it to start up and ‘drive’ off into the other side of the backstage. (Actors on the hidden side will move it) Skimbleshanks progresses as normal, ending with him climbing up the side of the bookshelf.

Macavity the Mystery Cat Alright! Finally we see the man himself. Macavity appears and looks far more plastic then the other toys, he has marker on his face and a toy helmet. Unlike the rest of the tribe, he’s the elder brother’s toy and aims to terrorize them in anyway he can. He appears and has a small troupe of toy soldiers cart Old Deuteronomy away, leaving the cats/toys to all scatter quickly, going to hide or search for the leader.  This leaves Demeter and Bombalurina behind. They sing Macavity pretty much normally. Occasionally having the lights in the room flicker throughout the song. Macavity Fight For a moment it seems like the day is saved. We see the back of Old Deut slowly move back onstage, but Demeter sees through that. Leaping onto his back she pulls down the spare fabric and reveals Macavity is back! He attacks the crowd of toys and tries to kidnap Demeter, however he’s stopped by Munkustrap. The fight should be reminiscent of two toys behind slammed together in a fight simulated by a child. Munkustrap ultimately being triumphant and warding Macavity off. But not before the power to the room is cut and the curtains drawn, leaving the room in darkness. The cats huddle together in fear before a flashlight is turned on and shined on the top of the toy chest, revealing the familiar form of Rum Tum Tugger. Mr. Mistoffelees  Tugger appears and assures the tribe that a certain magically Mr. Mistoffelees can help them. Whilst he sings the first few lines, a giant Jack in the Box will be pushed onto stage. Just before the second chorus, the music will stop. Where Misto would usually enter in from the ceiling, Tugger will instead wind the side of the music box. When the jingle ends Misto pops out of the box, wearing a long sparkling tail coat with stripped arms. He climbs down out of the box (with the assistance of Tugger) and waves his hands, turning on bright star lights on the wall behind them before the song continues. Around mid song, rather then the usual cup trick, Misto instead uses a turned over Bustopher Jones hat to summon seven kittens. (played by child actors) Each one looks like a mini version of Misto himself, except the last looking like a mini, less fluffy Tugger. Once the kittens are all pulled from the hat, they assist Misto in his final trick, to bring back Old Deuteronomy.  (I sadly had drawings for this but they just will not load) Memory Finally the ball can get back on track! Except Grizabella arrives for a third time to interrupt. This time the rest of the tribe waits around and listens, refusing to look at her. As she sings they all slowly turn towards her. Munkustrap and Old Deut even reach out towards her as the climax of the song is reached. With her final plea complete Grizabella turns and begins to leave, assuming no one was listening to her. That is until she’s touched by Victoria and welcomed back. Journey to the Heaviside Layer As I mentioned before, the Heaviside Layer is a metaphor in this world for being taken outside the room on some sort of trip. So while the tribe greets Grizabella again, they all assist her in looking a little better. Jennyanydots helps sew her up, Skimbleshanks and Munkustrap brush her off, others help fluff out her fabric. All leading up to the final moments of the song, where all the cats circle around Grizabella, obscuring her form view before quickly running back. Revealing a small Grizabella toy left in place. Most of the toys leave the stage quickly while Munkustrap sits back on the chair, watching. The little girl quietly renters the stage, this time with a coat on. She sees the Grizabella  doll and picks her up slowly, looking her over before hugging her to her chest and running off. Munkustrap smiles and slowly gets off his chair as the cat toys emerge from their hiding places once again. Ad-dressing of the Cats Deuteronomy once again gets onto the chair, this time standing and delivering the song. The cats follow his lead as normal, finishing off the song before bows. And thats it! Thats my ideal production. I really hope you all enjoyed as much as I did!

[jenseits-der-sterne]

OHHH which fic to pick, HMMM....I'll go with an oldie that I really like - asymmetry! let's do 2,4, 14, aaaaaand 11

@spacebeyonce!!! OKAY, ASYMMETRY, LET'S DO THIS! <3

2. What scene did you first put down?

Hmm. So. There is a distinction to my head because I know there is a scene I wrote first in my head and that's different from the scene that I wrote down in words.

The scene I wrote in my head first was the one where Zelda and Link are in Kakariko and the Yiga attack. Paya is READY, she's gonna fight for Zelda and then someone pops into the room and Paya's like "AH!" But that someone is Link, and so actually Paya has no reason to worry. Link is super relieved to find out that Zelda's fine. He drops his shield on the floor is like "Thank the goddesses." Link steps towards Zelda, but then he hesitates and steps back.

That was the first scene I wrote in my head.

The first scene that I wrote wrote with words was the beginning of the fic, where they're sitting at the campfire and they're being flirty. Link teases her by saying he cooked frog into the stew (because that plus the other memories is all he really remembers about her). They sit all up close together while eating dinner and he tells her about stupid things he did, like fighting a lynel in his underwear. Honestly, this is the part of the fic I like the most: I didn't really plan it, I kind of just wrote and it happened and it ended up with a really cute vibe and momentum.

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

So, the general idea I had in my head for the fic was around the notion that right after the Calamity's defeat, what if Link was super flirty with Zelda? What if he is is just enamored with her and he doesn't feel the pressures of her position as royalty? AND THEN, what happens when he is suddenly pulled back into realizing "his place"?

So, with that set up, my favorite bit of dialog is this:

Suddenly he turned to her, a desperate, sad look on his face, “Please forgive me, princess. I… I acted like a foolish teenager instead of the knight I’m supposed to be. I was high on the defeat of Ganon and… and…” he looked up for a moment and whispered, “Goddess forgive me,” before looking back at her and continuing, “And, well, you’re very pretty.”

I do think in hindsight there's some things about this that are a little too... on the nose? Like, there's not a whole lot about what he says here that's subtle LOL But, also at the same time, maybe cutting straight to the chase in this case this works? I still can't really decide...

But what I can say for sure is that this bit of dialog is basically the kernel of the idea for the story of 'Asymmetry.'

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

Huh! This is interesting because I've never thought about this directly.

Yes...

When I take some time to think about this, I guess the main thing I want folks to learn from reading this is that communication is #1. This is a theme I have in 'Before and After,' as well, but in 'Asymmetry' I think it's more front and center in that Link and Zelda just really need to talk it out.

In 'Asymmetry,' Link pulls away from Zelda, which is bad. He makes a lot of assumptions in his head about "his place" and how he should relate to her. He gets really stuck in his head about this and withdraws from her. He should not do this.

And poor Zelda who has to go through this rollercoaster! Like, it's confusing for her! Poor Zelda... :(

I think the lesson is to try to not conform to what society might expect of you, to keep lines of communication open, to trust your gut against the face of societal pressures... In this case, Link's gut was that he had a mega crush on Zelda and he should not have backed off from that. And yet, he did because of the pressures he felt/remembered around the Sheikah and then we get conflict.

And, this is going to sound silly, but literally each time I look at the word 'asymmetry' I'm like "...am I actually spelling that word correctly?" Like, I kid you not, each time I look at the title of my fic on AO3 I panic I and end up googling that stupid word to make sure that I didn't spell it wrong in the title of my own fic, like... LMAO, idek. I'm very bad at spelling and this word haunts me. So maybe on a weird meta-level I'm also helping myself and others learn how to spell this dumb word 'asymmetry.'

I suppose that those are the lessons! 😂

11: What do you like best about this fic?

Hmmmmm. HMMMMM.

So. This might point to how basic I am but... I really like how they make out? LMAO

Like, I just... I dunno. I guess I'm a sucker for the idea of there being a misunderstanding and then there being a passionate resolution to that misunderstanding. And I know, I know that in IRL that may not quite be how things play out? But, I like to hope that there can be a passionate reaction in response to a time of misunderstanding.

I really like how they make out. I like how bold Zelda is when she lays down on the bed and pulls Link down with to her. I like how he is surprised, yet also eager. I like how his eyes are all dark and Zelda's like "are you okay?" because she's never made out with someone before and she doesn't know how things progress! I like how Impa interrupts them because I was trying to really drive the point home that they're teenagers and that while in Kakariko they'll have people 'chaperoning' them.

Those are the things I like best about this fic, lol

Thank you for sending along the ask, @spacebeyonce, I really appreciate it! 💖

[agentmarymargaretskitz]

I didn't get invested in McDanno right away. It took me a few seasons to start really shipping them, because I liked Catherine (Steve's ex-girlfriend and almost fiancée) up until she left him and lied to him. Then I realized what had been staring me in the face the whole time, and I ended up very invested very quickly.

So, just for fun, have a few Steve/Danny queerbait highlights:

They constantly say "I love you" to each other.

They frequently refer to their partnership as a marriage.

The younger team members jokingly call them Mom and Dad.

Danny and Gracie interrupted Steve's movie night date with his girlfriend, and they sat in between the couple, and Steve put his arm around Danny.

Danny asked his girlfriend to leave him alone with Steve for a few minutes just so he could tell Steve that he loves him.

They went on a double date with their girlfriends where they ended up sitting together with their arms around each other.

When both of them were hallucinating/imagining the future at different times, they were always together in the end.

On an undercover mission someone assumed they were a married couple, and Danny was upset with Steve when he clarified that they weren't actually a couple.

They literally crossed the world to save each other and bring each other home multiple times.

Their relationship was paralleled in the actual dialog of the show to Junior/Tani, which was set up as a slow burn right away with actual payoff after a few seasons.

That entire couples retreat episode.

And honestly I could keep going.

And yet, in the end Steve just left Danny and the rest of his found family. Like, he got on a plane and left,, making up with Catherine in the process.

And I'm still pissed about it.

-Quarantine Anon

..........are you kidding me?! Are you f*cking kidding me???? I’d be losing my mind every week!

All that and for nothing at the end?! 

(I now have a lot of ideas for Buddie though so thank youuuu)