#and it’s just…Ivy is so compelling to me.

[crow-in-springtime]

Matt referring to the portrait as it vs Ivy referring to the portrait as her and she

[a-wins-a-win]

ivy robinson is the prettiest boy and I mean that unironically in a gendered way

[thebluestbluewords]

and soon it’ll be spring

testing out some character voices. Set in a vague future timeline, fandom-typical discussions of child abuse.

+

Carlos hasn't seen his mother in years. Hasn't spoken to her since he left the isle. There's phones, and computers, and mail service to the isle, and sometimes the reception even works now, but he hasn't reached out. 

Evie sends letters to her mother sometimes. She addresses them to her old castle, encloses herbs and chocolate and eyeshadow. She doesn't read the responses that come back, but her mother sends them anyway, and Evie keeps sending her packages even though she can't bear to see whatever her mother has to say back to her. 

Carlos can't even do that. 

He's a bad son, probably. An ungrateful brat. Useless. Worthless. His mother could have drowned him as a baby, killed him like an unwanted puppy, and they'd all have been better off without the bother. He's been a bad son since he was born. Weak. A vulnerability. 

He breathes, keeps his voice steady. "Yup. That." 

Diego moves in a flurry of violent motion. He's facing away, towards the river, but Carlos still has to suppress the urge to flinch. Diego wears heavy boots, steel-toes even though he's never been in a real factory in his life, and every Isle kid's seen the damage they can do. 

The rock he kicked goes flying into the river. 

"Fuck." his cousin snaps. "Fuck! I remember that." 

Carlos can't laugh, but there's a sort of bubbling fear that's catching in his throat, and he can let some of it out. "Hah. Yeah. Um, I sort of — I cried a lot, that summer? It was hot and awful and you wouldn't come by the house, and I wasn't allowed to be at yours, so we started looking for a better hideout that year. D'you remember when Ivy found that place by the forest—" 

"—the one with the metal roof, where we got trapped by Kaa and you rigged a crossbow out of guitar strings." Diego finishes. "Fuck. I knew we found a new hideout that year, but I thought it was 'cause we got those drums for Sierra and couldn't keep them quiet down in the warehouse." 

Carlos shrugs. He's always been the little one, the tag-along. Diego's gang didn't tell him anything when he was a kid, and they still don't really talk. He's magicam friends with Sierra and Ivy, but Mia won't even accept his follow request. They didn't want him then, they don't want him now, and it's not even really a sore point anymore. He's got his own pack. No teenagers really want a little kid hanging around them, especially a kid who's already showing that he's a weak point.  "Might'a been. I dunno." 

"Nah, it was 'cause dad didn't want you hanging around the house anymore," Diego says firmly, shaking his head. "We found a new place so you'd have somewhere to go'n hide when your mom went ballistic. You were tiny, y'know."

It's sort of a logical leap, but sort of not.

 "I'm still short." Carlos points out. "You don't feel compelled to protect me now, right?" 

"Hah. Hah. Very funny, nerd." 

"I'm just saying—”He ducks the hand that shoots out to scrub his hair into a rat's nest. Score one for Isle kid instincts. "I'm say-ing," Carlos continues, undeterred. "That you didn't have to protect me back then. I could've taken care of myself." 

"You were a kid." 

"And you were what, twelve? Thirteen?" 

"Older," Diego says firmly. He's still looking out towards the water. "Old enough to protect my baby cousin." 

"Mom didn't kill me. I'm still here." 

Diego's arms are smooth and unmarked by the round cigarette burns that cover Carlos's arms, hands, chest, belly. Anywhere he was soft, she liked to burn. 

"She could've," Diego rasps out. "She almost did. I wasn't big enough to stop her."

"The spell—”

"FUCK THE SPELL." he shouts. Too loud. People are looking at them. People in Auradon love to stare and judge VKs, even when they're dressed just like anyone else in the city, but shouting was a reason to stare even back home. 

Diego notices, and drops his arms down, swinging the cup in his hand back and forth like a melting pendulum of coffee and sugar.  "Fuck it," he repeats, quieter. "If Auradon wanted us alive so bad, they should've put in the work themselves instead of relying on the barrier to keep bouncing us back." 

Carlos lifts one shoulder in agreement. He's pretty sure that the spell does a lot more than just keep them in their bodies, what with the healing factor and the way it won't kick you back in unless you've got a body to go back to, but it's a solid enough argument if you don't go into specifics. Claudine and the religious types at Dragon Hall had a whole rant on tap about how the barrier was being used to bounce their souls out of their path to heaven, so that they'd rejoin their bodies again and keep them alive even longer, but thinking about the concept of souls makes Carlos feel an emotion that Mal calls "stabbing" and Jay calls "a working bullshit sensor." Evie calls it "a rational emotional response to religious guilt-tripping bullshit", which sounds better than stabbing, but like, the point still stands that souls aren't real and listening to Claudine's lecture about them makes Carlos feel mostly doubtful, and also sort of like he's a shitty person. Which is probably the point of religion.

"S'not really bouncing," he says quietly, keeping his voice low and face turned down. People stare less if they're not obviously talking to each other, because Auradon has different standards for communication and watching VKs shout-talk directly at each other makes people stare. "It's not like we ever really die."

Diego levels a flat look at him. 

"Okay, yeah, they should've put more work into keeping us alive," Carlos agrees, because it's true. Auradon locked them up and threw away the key, and didn't even bother to check on their island of villains once they'd settled down from the initial bloodshed and power scrambles. "But the scientific basis for being bounced back into our bodies by the spell just isn't there. If they're using the barrier to trap our souls or whatever in an impenetrable bubble, then how're new souls getting in for the kids born on the Isle? If it's a true closed system it doesn't make sense. And I know--" He sucks in a breath before Diego can get a word in edgewise, because he knows. The souls aren't the point. The magic isn't even the point. "It doesn't matter how they're keeping us there so long as there's still kids starving and being killed on that rock. I know. But I can't push the wheels of government any faster, because I'm not the fucking king, or a representative, or anything. I'm a testimony at best,and it's not like being born on the Isle gives me the power to do anything about it."

Diego snorts. "Wow, you can't fix twenty years of systematic disenfranchisement on your own? Call the presses, my genius cousin can't fix something in five years that took twenty to break in the first place." 

The guilt that lives in the place where other people keep their feelings swirls up in Carlos's chest again. "I could've tried." 

"In between what, surviving high school? Petitioning the king to listen to us? 'Cause it seems like we're a lot further than we'd've been without your crew's work." 

"I built a machine to break the barrier," Carlos tells the river. "Back home. Before we left. It nearly worked." 

Diego kicks another rock into the river. "I know." 

Carlos feels his heart stutter-stop. "You—what?" 

"I know," Diego repeats. "You built shit all the time. You'd talk about it in your sleep. I stopped by that treehouse of yours one time, and you had the whole thing torn apart. You were talking to your crew about it. I listened for a while."

"When?"

The cold bottom of his cousin's coffee cup bonks into Carlos's skull. "Before you left, genius. I dunno. You didn't have it working yet."

"I thought I was being sneaky about that."

"You were. I'm just sneakier. If you'd been reverse engineering the whole barrier, you'd've built it better right?" 

"I would've given us the dignity of dying, if that's what you're asking." 

"Yeah." Diego says quietly, and then. "Fuck. That's morbid." 

Carlos shrugs. Maybe thinking about better ways to die makes them morbid, but it's still comforting to think that if he'd been the one to engineer their prison, that he'd've been able to give them the mercy of actually dying. "We're villains. It's our speciality. We're supposed to be all about death, and murder, and stuff." 

Diego laughs. They laugh the same way, the two of them. More of a bark than a real laugh. There's probably some irony there, if they wanted to go digging for it. "Didn't you hear, little cousin? We're supposed to be good now. No more murder. We're reformed villains, no more claws and fangs." 

They're reformed, but Diego still calls at 3am sometimes, just to make sure that he's still breathing. 

"Damn, guess I'll have to return the axe I bought," Carlos drawls, hefting his cup up like it's a weapon. "And the rat poison, and the chains for the dungeon..." 

"Kinky." 

[mossytrashcan]

a trashcan’s guide to coloring

using @thoughtfulshepherdmongerkid beautiful ivy rose, because I’m thinking of her always and also really struggling w the comm sorry (also this is long as hell fair warning)

sketch/line-art. I suggest making it at least kinda neat so you have a solid guideline, but honestly just do whatever you gotta do. I also like to set my sketch layer to multiply so that the line art meshes w the base

2. usually I lay down one base color (in this one it’s pink), then I use a clipping mask to lay down some flat colors. the brush you use for this won’t really matter because it’s gonna get covered by rendering (merge layers when you’re done)

3. get your references!! you’ll need them for when you start painting over your base, trust me. references changed my life and saved my summer harvest

4. now, on a layer created above your sketch and base, go in w/ a mix of lasso tool/freehand brushing and start blocking in your colors. the values on our faces naturally form blocky shapes, so try to focus your energy into getting those down

I like to use the spectra brush to render because it adds a nice texture, but feel free to experiment with what you’ve got. also, I tend to go darkest -> lightest -> middle in terms of coloring order

if you struggle with value, I suggest finding any picture (make it black and white by turning saturation down) where there are 3 clear values (black, grey, and white). then with a colored brush, outline all of the different shapes those values make. kinda like this!

5. quick color theory run down before we wrap up: use a cool toned grey (red based, pink based, purple, etc) for the blue parts of the skin, a desaturated red/pink for purple, and gray yellow for green. this will give you very lively and compelling coloring without being too crazy. obviously, you can do whatever you’d like, but I’ve found that this makes my palettes more cohesive and adds depth to the skin

6. so I can’t really finish this piece because I have to start working on commissions again, but after an hour ish of blocking and blending, you should end up with this

and then if you continue and blend a whole lot more, you’ll end up having something more like this!

also, little lasso tool guide

to lay down the colors you’ve gotta click the brush, personally I like to freehand instead of color drop, but you do you

finally, if you aren’t satisfied, you can either 1) merge all of your layers and add a gradient map, or 2) merge your layers, duplicate your new layer, add a gradient map at 100%, and change your canvas blending mode to soft light + change the layer opacity. this’ll make your piece more vibrant and cohesive

[stem-sister-scuffle]

STEM SISTER SCUFFLE: ROUND 1 MASHUP 8

Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy (DC/Batman) vs Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum (Adventure Time)

Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy is a Botanist!

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum is a Bioenginner, Chemist and Roboticist!

Why you should vote for each contestant:

Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy:

"She wants to destroy humanity to save the planet and she looks good doing it."

"SHENSHDMD8SJS She's so strong and pretty and cool. Whadda woman..."

"stem icon. uses her knowledge to be fucked up and evil with a possible interest in plants. more #MadScience rep"

"Sometimes ya gotta go a little ecoterrorist to get your point across and that scares people. However she did it and continues to do it despite persecution from the DC heroes. as a legal disclaimer the statement about ecoterrorism above is a Joke"

"Takes no shit canonically sapphic ecoterrorist emotionally repressed queen what more could you want."

"Gay"

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum:

"She’s a freak about it! she is committing horrors in there but just lowkey, and she’s having fun doing it which is what matters"

"She cares about her people to an absolute fault and all her evil science is for them (when it’s not simply for sciences sake) and that’s why she’s a girlboss <3"

"She’s unethical. She’s a mother. She’s a monster. She lives in a world of magic but only believes in science. She was even a lesbian. PB for the win!"

"she is a pink lesbian!! she has committed war crimes!! she is much more complex than the audience's (and the main character's) initial impression of her!! she created an entire kingdom that she rules and when she gets voted out she loses her sense of identity!! and loves her subjects and also spies on them!! she is trying not to be so mean!! she is passionate about her science work and she loves her girlfriend!!! SHE IS SO GREAT. her gf Marcy is actually my favorite but bonnibel's relationship with family and home is super compelling, everything from her abusive/controlling uncle who tried to force her into a het relationship to her (metaphorically) intellectually disabled younger brother who she loves so much because people get built different! we don't need to know why we just need to respect them! thank you. I love her"

"Organizes conferences for people to present their scientific findings, created life forms when she was lonely, has committed so many war crimes (including intergalatically) using tech she invented, lost an election because she assumed people would care more about facts than charisma (they did not), is gay. Spent a thousand years pining for her rockstar vampire ex-girlfriend. 💕💞💕"

"She has a RAT named SCIENCE. One time in the comics she also did a flip and kicked a door down while saying ""physics I swear to gob if you don't work now I swear physics I SWEAR"" she was literally threatening physics. Anyways physics worked good for her! She has built an entire kingdom from the ground up INCLUDING its life forms. She HATES wizards with a passion. Magic to her is just science with silly presentation. It's implied she's been to wizard prison a lot of times before. HOWEVER she also has a vampire half-demon girlfriend so yeah. Oh yeah she's gay too. "I have a disease that makes me like vampires and titties its called being a fucking genius""

"She is the best woman in STEM because she LITERALLY created and genetically engineered the people of her kingdom, built incredible robot guardians to fight off intruders, and continues to experiment (including an experiment gone wrong where she was trying to resurrect dead citizens) in spite of being a busy princess (and lowkey dictator) ruling her kingdom solo. She created/built her own family (aside from her brother), and eliminated them when they tried to rule over her and stop her from being an independent scientist. She is multitalented, hardworking, and just unethical enough to keep things fun and entertaining! She has no ethics board, so the experiments get wild! She is so Blorbo, you know? Also people don't acknowledge her science stuff enough, I want her to get more recognition as the insane, wonderful mad scientist she is."

"She’s an unethical mad scientist who experiments on her subjects. What’s not to love"

"Invents gadgets/devices and even created her own citizens"

"For the realness of working in the lab endlessly without sleep (Ignore that she set up a police state I guess)"

"Literally built an entire kingdom citizen by citizen"

"She bioengineered an entire country . Kinda fucked up, but that's okay"

[abi-cosmos]

Like Ivy

Explicit, 40k words

Tags: Roommates. Serial killer Dean Winchester. Professor Castiel. Non-con elements. Major character death (Sam Winchester). Smoker Dean Winchester. Minor Dean/Victor Henriksen. Halloween. Knifeplay. Murder. Unreliable narrator. Angst with a happy ending.

Summary: Dean Winchester was raised to be a killer, but after losing his brother Sam, he could do with a chance to lay low and rest up.

Luckily, a 'roommate wanted' advertisement stuck to the window of a coffee shop leads him to Castiel, a professor at a local college who offers him three weeks' accommodation.

At first, Castiel gets under Dean's skin, but a friendship develops within the isolated house they're living in. Dean starts to feel drawn towards him, and despite how haunted he is by his past, or how Castiel seems able to read his mind, he can't help but take things further.

But Dean isn't the only one with secrets, and the line between friendship, love, and obsession gets bloody and blurry.

Preview:

Dean swallows, probably not the time to swap stories of cold tinned soup and Poptarts. “You teach?” he asks. “Or, is it more of an office job?”

“Both.” Castiel replies. “I research, but I also teach. Mythology, mostly lost languages—”

“Lost languages?”

“Enochian, it’s the language of angels.” Castiel says, bringing the fork to his mouth.

“I’m sorry, what?” Dean uses the moment to take a drink of water, his fingertips tapping along the table as Castiel swallows and looks at him like it makes perfect sense. “Angels?”

Castiel nods. “If you’re interested, I have books—”

“Yeah, I bet you do.” Dean loads another forkful. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. I’m not really into fairytales.” 

Dropping his head into his shoulder, Castiel targets into the center of his iris. “Tell me again, Dean, what line of work is it that you’re in?” he asks.

It’s just a question, but Castiel delivers it like a loaded gun pressed into his chest, and Dean is compelled to answer. He twists his hand around his fork, fumbling for the correct reply. Murderer probably isn’t gonna cut it. “...I’m a mechanic,” Dean replies, his voice hard as he gives Castiel what he wants.

Cas leans closer, the room growing darker as his shadow falls over the table. “Perhaps you shouldn’t be so fast to pass judgment on others,” he replies.

“It wasn’t…” Dean starts, pausing to take a breath. “I wasn’t being judgmental.”

“It sounded like you were.” Castiel replies, his voice is icy, but the enjoyment of making him squirm is clear. He’s not smiling, but he’s locked on Dean like he’s a chew toy. 

Darting his eyes onto the plate, Dean’s tongue swipes over his dry lips. The tension in his body hurts, every muscle fired up to flight or flee. “You don’t often hear about angels, that’s all. Not exactly normal conversation,” he says, an attempt to diffuse whatever is happening.

It doesn’t work.

“That still sounds judgmental.” Castiel drops his voice lower, into the deepest crevices it can find.

Dean chooses silence as Castiel watches him. Eating with nothing but the mechanical hum of the refrigerator and a fantasy of gagging the son of a bitch. There's enough deadly nightshade locked in his car to knock Castiel out cold, and Dean would enjoy waking him up with a knife to his throat; watching him shiver and shake.

He's practically asking for it.

They share occasional glances across the table, magnetic in pull but hailstones in depth, and Dean is sure that Castiel can see inside his head. 

Watch out for murder and infatuation, coming this October to @deancashorrorfest

[grendelsmilf]

this piece is obviously an engaging, compelling, fascinating, and quite hilarious read, but the notion that the facile, misogynistic ending of war and peace is somehow “happy” and “satisfying” is crazy to me. unless ann means the epilogue after the epilogue, wherein tolstoy just straight up elucidates the framework through which he interprets history (and it’s great). but there are truly so many other, better examples of narratively satisfying and thematically resonant happy or even bittersweet endings in well-regarded and supposedly challenging “classics” that ann could have chosen from to undermine lauren’s point. i think wap’s (first) epilogue is by far one of the weakest parts of the entire novel, which is otherwise genuinely (infuriatingly) as good as the few people who have actually bothered to read the whole thing claim it to be. unfortunately wap, like astrophysics, is often employed as shorthand to signify the arbitrary construction of what constitutes “intelligence.” oh you’ve read the entirety of a novel that is mostly famous for being long as fuck. oh you can do complex physics on an astronomical scale. you must be some kind of genius!!! and i’m not saying that reading a novel of that length doesn’t require stamina, or that doing astronomy doesn’t require certain knowledge, that it’s simply a walk in the park. but if the whole point of this review is to undermine the idea that taking interest in certain “high brow” pursuits and flaunting your ivy league credentials doesn’t actually make you superior to your fellow contemporary women of the literati, then it feels kind of facile to employ wap as some kind of trump card when it’s not really the serve ann clearly thinks it is. that says, who cares. (see what i did there?) it’s not like i’d heard of either of these women or read their work before reading this article. and first and foremost, i am always here for juicy white woman on white woman violence.

[susandsnell]

For the ship thing I want to hear more of your opinions on modern harlivy

Send me a ship and I'll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it

Hiya Payts!

A lot of my modern Harlivy takes are covered in point 2 on this post; TLDR though is that modern Harlivy, despite being allowed to be more canon and visible, ended up being made very boring and one-note due to being the flagship of DC's LGBT+ representation and hence held to the absolutely miserable, flattening standard that is Good Representation. If they aren't being in-universe titillation for cishet men because Girl on Girl Is Hot And For The Male Gaze, actually, they're basically boiled down to a handful of sapphic Pinterest aesthetics of "chaotic girl liker" and "be gay do crimes" and "cutesy date scenarios", and they both kind of lose their original personalities as a result?

Like a lot of their most compelling content was when they were relegated to a more subtextual relationship because they still felt like them, but now it's just Cheerful Wacky Harley and Sarcastic Grouchy Ivy Rolling Her Eyes at antics and they're not allowed anything deeper than that, for fear of any kind of controversy. And in fairness, criticisms of sapphic ships and the insane standards of purity to which they are held are an absolute minefield due to the one-two punch of Sapphics Are Mean For Not (only) Dating Men stereotypes and misogyny wherein male villains can be as dastardly as they please and are loved for it whereas female villains have to get the anti-hero treatment or they're Problematique. I remember ages of awful takes about how Ivy is As Bad And Abusive To Harley As The Joker because of things like cartoon slapstick fighting with Harley/calling her dumb exactly one time for getting them caught by GCPD. And we both saw the hellscape that was Catradora discourse. People throw tantrums on the daily over children's cartoons like Owl House because a lesbian was a slightly rude middle schooler. People will not only give the pass but adore messy, toxic, complex mlm love stories like Interview With the Vampire and NBC's Hannibal, but anything in mainstream media depicting a sapphic relationship with more nuance or flaws than a Pride month Sears commercial is beyond what anyone can handle.

But the fallout of this is that Harlivy finally has the chance to be canon and it's, as I said, the corporate Pride version of itself. These are two highly intelligent, deeply flawed women in their thirties with complex histories, past relationships, and unresolved traumas, who are both ICONIC VILLAINS IN THE ROGUES' GALLERY, and modern stories don't seem to want to let them be anything beyond sex-crazed hormonal teenagers whose biggest issue is really basic communication (but not as a result of difficulties from their pasts, ever, so much as it is plot contrivances), whose connection to one another is flattened so much as to almost be little more beyond how cutesy they look posing together in lingerie that looks like their villain costumes. And that's because writers, critics, and audiences alike won't let them be anything more than that, and that's a damn shame.

[mermaidsirennikita]

Weekly Book Recs: 3/8/24-3/15/24

The Seduction of Molly O'Flaherty by Sierra Simone

Technically, this is a series made up of one short story and two novellas, beginning with The Seduction of Molly O'Flaherty (FYI: if you listen to the audiobook, which I would recommend, it's combined with the second installment, which honestly makes sense), then The Persuasion of Molly O'Flaherty, and finally The Wedding of Molly O'Flaherty. Spinning off of her Ivy Leavold trilogy, it's basically a Victorian erotic romance with all the bells and whistles. It's on the somewhat darker side (TW for past assault and abuse and ongoing trauma) but there's a surprisingly tender love story at the core, between the independent and take-charge Molly and Silas, her longtime friend and casual lover, as they realize that they're actually in love with each other... at the worst possible time. It's stupid hot and, per Sierra Simone, super angsty with a wry wit to lighten it up. Silas.... Good God that is a hot hero.

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez

Aaaah, I love it when a debut author makes me happy! Can't say too much about this one yet as it isn't out until July 9, but it's such a fun romcom (and when I say romcom, I do not mean a sexless one, it's most definitely not that) in which our heroine and hero meet because she's in love with his brother and won't say anything, and he's in love with his brother's fiancee and is about to say SOMETHING before our heroine steps in and they start FUCKIN'. Also, library positivity! Ugh, so fun. (And yes is the one where she's like "don't pick me up I'm too heavy" and he just tosses her across the couch so he can get down to BUSINESS.)

Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette

I liveblogged about this one a bit, but my GOD was it refreshing (and hot--ridiculously hot). An incredibly compelling neurodivergent heroine; a scarred hero who is just so taken with her from day one, even if he doesn't realize it; cross-dressing for the sake of card games; bondage; a lil "ejaculating untouched prompted by some riding crop action"; and so much emotionality and discussion of everything from sex negativity to double standards. It's super steamy, extremely romantic, and a combination of the old school historical vibe and a refreshingly modern take on character dynamics.

[zahri-melitor]

And...done with New 52 Gotham

There's a handful of additional titles I'm finishing rounding up (at the last minute I decided to go back and read Batwing, and I'm going to read the Poison Ivy mini) but I have now completed my main read.

The good: I've got a list of comic recommendations coming for what I would actually suggest reading in here if you want an entertaining story, or runs that I think are crucial in that they establish character traits that will continue to be heavily used from Rebirth onwards.

But for now, some general comments on what I've just finished up:

Batman - Snyder is very, very interested in making a statement. And with set pieces interrogating the 'mentality of Batman'. Which gets tiring reading in such a big chunk - he needed more time letting the story breathe and the tension come off. Where's my fill with Bruce chasing Mad Hatter? Not everything needs to be a deep interrogation of the psyche of Batman, and how his presence transforms Gotham city. Jim Gordon as Batman was certainly a thing that happened, and probably didn't need to happen.

Detective Comics - Manapul & Buccellato's run remains the highlight for me. Tomasi, who had the final run (45-52) was incredibly uneven. The first story, about Jim!Batman and the Justice League, was relatively boring. The second story, The Bronze Age, was a compelling mystery and probably the best Jim Gordon as Batman story of the lot. The third story, Our Gordon At War, was a deadly dull piece of military propaganda.

Batman & Robin Eternal - what worked here I think was the extensive supporting cast. It reminded me of the glory days of the early 2000s when Dick and Babs used to run Bat events together with no Bruce. On the downside was that Mother was simply uninteresting to me as she twisted everyone's character to make everything about her. No, I don't actually believe that the Order of St Dumas would let a rando be controlling their potential Azrael. Also way to eliminate basically all of David Cain's autonomy and decisions. It was nice to get Cass back. Shame about how it was achieved. (The incredibly frustrating part about this run is on paper it looks amazing, and there's a handful of decent scenes people like to reference)

Batgirl - ugh. Was ever 'right ideas wrong characters' more embodied than during Burnside? If it was a different character, or a prequel, or I had hit my head back in 1987 after reading the Last Batgirl Story and then picked up Burnside...I could almost cope. But it's just aggravating to read about a character I love so much. I actually don't mind the work to add additional diverse side characters, however I'm sorry, I will remain irritated by Frankie until the end of time. The number of times I have had to sit through reinventions of the Oracle role during n52 because oh no we can't use the REAL ORACLE... because running around as a street hero is clearly more important than Oracle's actual role.

Robin: Son of Batman - I think I'm going to make a lot of people mad when I say, while this is a very interesting Damian Wayne comic, it's a moderately dreadful Robin comic. I can see why people heavily recommend it for Damian, because it's probably the most generous and thought through portrayal of his childhood and relationship with Talia. The word 'Son' there in the title really should be the focus. This is about Damian as a Son of the Al Ghuls, Damian making choices over what he's learnt as Bruce's son before his death, and applying what he learnt from both to find who he is. It's something Damian needed. But it's got nothing to do with being Robin at all.

We are Robin - I loved the brutal groundedness of this comic. It smacks you in the face to pay attention several times. It's about teens, yes. It's about Alfred facilitating children to try and help them survive trying to become vigilantes. It's about what the concept of Robin means to the children of Gotham.

Grayson - I don't think it was using Helena-in-name-only, or the constant objectification of Dick or even the way my brain couldn't slot exactly how all the different secret agencies in DC were revolving around each other into place for this story that irritated me the most. It was how obvious, blatant and unadapted a rip off of James Bond (among other spy properties) it tended to be. I could see the file marks, and a lot of it didn't even feel like a loving homage, it was just "oh my favourite scene was" sort of stuff. Oooh St Hadrian's is a cheap St Trinian's knock off. Whoever would have guessed. Trinian's girls would have run circles around the Hadrian's ones.

Gotham Academy - Look, this is lighthearted fluff that enjoys picking up threads from all over Gotham to reference. I'm not particularly a fan of Brendan Fletcher's general approach to DC storytelling - it's a bit too tween and lighthearted for me - but this is a title where that style was an asset rather than a burden. It didn't require high levels of canonicity because people flitted in and out and the main cast were all original creations for the story. I can see why it's well-loved.

[thespoonisvictory]

Spoon, I NEED to know your opinion on the Ratgrinders!

luc I'm calling it now that they will break my heart one way or another. meeting a friend group where one of the members had previously died is one of my favorite tropes/set ups of all time. girl who died near a lake found through scrying magic + the music that played over her backstory is just so specifically compelling to me.

I think kipperlily is so fun and we'll see more depth from her. buddy is damn compelling, and oisin is another classic brennan hot wizard npc, same thing with ivy and her vibe.

the rat grinders are a common trope but god they're so interesting to meeeee, perfectly pulled off without being overindulgentl

[feverinfeveroutfic]

kinktober all year, 2024

i’m so sorry, but-

it had to be done.

after the fiasco of kinktober 2023, and i had to regroup with blood and wine, i am continuing to lick my wounds from the humiliation. i mean, a genuinely kinky person was all around ignored during a kink-fest, like nothing about that makes any sense whatsoever. worse, i don’t even know why i was ignored; i mean, i have my theories but they’re all hard to confirm. i really don't understand why i was given such a cold shoulder this year when i dropped the first one shot.

it’s supposed to be a community and yet, i saw right away that it isn’t. “don’t ‘yuck’ someone’s ‘yum’” feels like a naïve joke at this point because all i could think leading up to the 18th when i pulled the plug was “gee, sorry i’m not good and sexy enough for you guys. i’m terribly sorry that this is torturous for you, there's literally nothing i can do about it so i'll see myself out before this is done so you don't have to be exposed to my bullshit for a while.”

god, my sexuality is just… it’s too much. it’s way too much and i feel trapped inside of it. i'm helpless to rid of it even as i genuinely hate it so much. i genuinely wish i didn't have a sexuality because it's useless. no one likes it or wants to know about it. i’m way too much. i'm too kinky and yet i'm not sexual enough. all dressed up with nowhere to go.

and yet, i can’t let them win. these totally unsexy, borderline gross, borderline sexist, pregnancy-loving scoundrels who inexplicably dominated this year couldn’t write a compelling story if it saved the world; they cannot continue to act like they're the only ones who can do it. there has to be a place for me; there just has to be. i may hate my sexuality more than anything and find it ugly and disgusting and i'm pretty sure it's the last thing you'll ever see before you die, but it’s like the inevitability of death: you can’t escape it. plus, after the last couple of months, i don’t really need some hundreds of people to kiss my ass to feel like the queen of kinktober: i don’t need fandom, and i don’t think i ever have needed it, either.

so, i give you kinktober all year.

now, just to make it easier on myself—mainly because i honestly have no clue how 2024 will play out (it could be the worst year of my life for all i know, especially if this year was anything to go by), but also because i have wips to write—these will be sent out on a weekly basis starting new year's day, giving us a grand total of 52 one shots. aside from the first one, i’ll keep the prompts a surprise just to keep my very personal preferences to myself, but i will give away titles, though. i'll also keep the participants under wraps until i post them for the same reason (you know alex will be in like... one or two, though).

yes, this is going on ao3 because i’ve been getting really, really tired of tumblr and really all social media lately. no, i don’t care if you join me or not because it’s a holistic thing that’s really just meant for myself; you can if you want, though. “i’m not like them, but i can pretend.”

“the wandering jew” (this one, i've already shared; it's my water kink)

“django tango”

“heroin”

“five minutes”

“corduroy”

“poison ivy”

“chillblains”

“he’s gotta have it”

“bats in the attic”

“midnight rambler”

“pebble beach”

“chiaroscuro”

“this kiss”

“disco volante”

“seashells”

“deer in the headlights”

“scarlet”

“walk with me”

“have a cigar”

“poison whiskey”

“i think i lost my headache”

“touch too much”

“pearly dew drops”

“still crazy after all these years”

“enjoy every sandwich”

“let’s talk about cars”

“twin flames”

“as serious as a heart attack”

“trial by fire”

“he didn’t”

“flannel”

“side street”

“be with me”

“heart and lungs”

“dodge the bambula”/“jackin’ it in san diego"

“the razor’s edge”

“she likes surprises”

“black coral”

“black nightshade”

“seduce and destroy”

“pick a number”

“all that glitters”

“…like clockwork”

“sabra cadabra”

“world of brass”

“every night i burn”

“one of these nights”

“aquamarine”

“the beast”

“dream with me”

“dionysus”

“time has come today”

[thelovelydoggycatmadi]

me and lions objectively correct mystreet character ranking (not clickbait fr fr)

So let me explain the ranks here a bit and why characters are in certain places:

S Tier: Characters that have a solid foundation or general character arcs that both me and Lion liked they’re story and character was enjoyable from beginning to end.

Lucinda is the only S tier character because she managed to remained both consistent character throughout the show. And while she doesn’t have a general arc that really doesn’t make her character any less likable. She’s just a silly little guy that activates the neurons.

A Tier: characters that we found really strong and compelling but have one really big glaring issue from putting them in S.

Rowan is here simply because he was really enjoyable, a genuine healthy father figure, and was just super cool to watch. His problem: lack of screen time.

Zianna has the same problem as Rowan her importance to the plot overall is also a factor.

Zane and Kc have the problems of both certain parts of there stories leaving us feeling icky. Like Zane becoming an over protective incel that sees aph as an object, or KC’s shipping shrine and canonically being a stalker.

B Tier are characters that we liked but just simply couldn’t peek are interest character wise due to one reason or another.

I’m gonna try and speed run the rest of these so:

Garroth: same problem with Zane but worse his obsession with aph even with or without the inclusion of mcd feels unearned and generally problematic. He’s goofy though and has a solid character arc with his brother

Eric and Terry: goofy and likable but nothing much outside of that also besides Rowan they are the only good parental figures in the show. (Eric is higher because he has more screen time)

Daniel: he’s voiced by ross has an interesting character concept, he’s the only werewolf character that didn’t frustrate me personally at some point. He’s just not all that important.

vlyad teony and GF captain: all interesting characters that weren’t in the show enough.

blaze: making in here on charm and charisma alone. (Also because our friend June fell in love with him, you can imagine his reaction to season 6.)

Brandon: mainly here because Lion said so.

C tier is mostly for the meh characters that we didn’t feel super strongly about for the most part.

Travis: didn’t have a decent enough character or story to really make us care in anyway. While pm seymour gave it their all it wasn’t really enough to keep us engaged.

Laurence: he has like one or two really good moments. And some laughs. Didn’t keep me or him engaged, especially after he just vanished.

from Ivy to kai: all these characters have really likable personalities and stories but they all generally had the one thing in common where they just weren’t in the show enough or there character took a direction we agreed wasn’t all that good or interesting.

Ivan: he serves his purpose as a one off villain. That’s all.

White haired girl: she just exist for a bump in the road in Aarmau.

Aphmau: none of her arcs are interesting, her personality isn’t consistent and when Jess does stick to a personality for her it’s generally not that likable.

D Tier: where hitting characters that both of us generally felt were lacking or straight up didn’t like.

Sylvanna: this may shock some of you but I’m going to be brutally honest, half of the reason y’all like her is because you HC her as being overprotective because Aaron is a groomer. Now let me be clear that’s not a problem, however that doesn’t change the fact in the actual show, it’s written more like an emotional incest situation. If Aaron being a groomer was “played straight” as it were she’d be much higher. But the canon reason of her overprotective (at least the reason were given initially) is that Aaron does a better job at taking care of Aph. It’s not because she actually fears Aph is in danger as we come to learn. It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Nicole: didn’t like that Dante was the one punished for their break up. They even mention later that she was being unreasonable. But Dante was at fault don’t get me wrong. But she also wasn’t in the show a hole lot and from what we see of her, just didn’t stick out to us.

Michi: plot device in character form, she could’ve been so much better if her character wasn’t watered down to “Aarmau Speed Bump”

From Kacey to Nekoette: all characters that felt shoved in for plot purposes and didn’t have enough personality to make up for it. They all range of for being added for stupid reasons like another conflict or fan-service. Some of these are even combinations of those reasons plus they just have some really unlikable moments that rubbed us the wrong way or even worse did not help the plot at all by being there.

Katelyn: I’ve made it extremely clear I don’t like this character and she’s at the very bottom because I believe her offenses are worse than most characters before but don’t deserve hell tier. She technically “works through” her fantasy racism and other problems just not in a compelling or even satisfying way. Even her reasons just didn’t justify her actions for us.

HELL: characters that did morally deplorable things therefore we did not like them on principal. ONTOP of being poorly written because in this series they go hand in hand.

Rachel gaslit her son and told Melissa to get Aaron home by any means necessary and that was implied to be the blackmail Melissa got from Michi. She generally invaded his privacy and almost ruined her son and an innocent girls relationship because of toxic traditional family values. (I believe she would’ve done this with or without the ultima curse, remember, that all what I just wrote was something written before that was even conceived.) and then does a 180 when season 5 hits. We all laughed and played crab rave when she was publicly executed.

Elizabeth abandoned her kids don’t care if that part wasn’t her fault because she was sealed away because again that was written before season 4-5 (we also see Zack abandoning his kid so like it’s implied she did it before she was sealed away anyway.) Also allowed a literal demon to do experiment a on her daughter. She doesn’t get any satisfying conclusion to her villain arc and she’s part of the post credit cliffhanger.

Zack cheated on his wife and abandoned his child after experimenting on her and was Michaels right hand only to grow a conscious after the literal child abuser tells him to produce a spine. Was not in the show enough to be a “I love to hate” kinda character.

Garte and Derek are both on the list for basically the same reason neither of there characters end in a satisfying way. Dereks just worse because he directly abused Aaron verbally.

Emmalyn is here because me and Lion took her as a stand in for ghost sense they are the same character. And she SA’s Zane. Ghost also confuses the plot heavily. And made the story so hard to follow in season 6. She actively makes both the story worse both inside and out.

Ein stalked and mind controlled multiple characters and was both indirectly and directly responsible for multiple innocent peoples deaths. There’s more you could say about him but he’s just not a compelling villain. His plans are not his own, the plans he does come up with only work by chance. He’s basically if you took Michi and cranked her up to 11.

Micheal is a really bad uncompelling villain outside of MCD besides killing people and world domination or whatever. He does nothing interesting with the time he’s given.

Balto and Aaron are both different flavors of pedos. Balto tries ask aph to prom, like even if bruh was just doing it for power; what the fuck. Even if was compelling he wouldn’t be any higher.

Gene is also a pedophile and gets Ein to take pictures of her when he graduates college, which is a shame because he actually does have a compelling story but because of how problematic his flaw is we couldn’t rank him any higher.

Aaron has been talked to death about so I won’t repeat what’s been said a hundred times over. But pedophillia, mass genocide, and a general inconsistent characterization is everyone’s main problem.

Ace: Our friend Ace was in call with us, we gave her one chance to save a character from a lower tier.

Melissa: originally in hell tier for enabling her parents and taking black mail from Michi, and just not having a spine when it came to the abuse of Aaron and that part of her character being sweated under the rug as she hardly had any consequences for gaslighting him. Even going so far to say they’ve changed and have gotten better when they clearly had not. Emotionally manipulating him at almost any chance she had. The reason why she rescued her and not her other choice Aphmau is because Ace is a lesbian.

[youareinlove]

Fun random ask time! If you could make a movie out of any Taylor album which would it be? What kind of movie would it be (musical, drama, sci fi?) And who would be your dream cast? Big question I know, feel free to just answer parts!! 🍿🎥🎬

definitely evermore! probably a film kind of like "love actually" that follows multiple stories - dorothea & tis the damn season guy's thing, champagne problems, este's murder, and ivy, that are all connected somehow

my dream casting for the movie would be (yes i know that este and danielle are haim sisters but i'm thinking of their characters not the actual people):

dorothea - jennifer lawrence (she has the vibes of someone who could be from a small town but also be big in hollywood)

tis the damn season guy - jordan fisher (he's just got good vibes)

-

champagne problems narrator - maitreyi ramakrishnan (she could do a complex plotline i know she could)

champagne problems guy (the one who gets dumped) - timothee chalamet (because it would be so funny)

and in no particular order, their group of friends: millie bobby brown, tom holland, awkwafina, jenna ortega

-

este - sophie turner (i can't really justify this one she just is)

este's friend - kristen stewart (@deathbyathousandcuts this was for you)

danielle (este's sister) - emma watson (you'd think i did this because sophie turner is british but no they both fake american accents in the film. she just seems like she would lie to the cops for a good revenge plot)

este's husband - liam hemsworth (i mean)

este's husband's mistress - blake lively (she's got that hot-but-evil but also not energy that could be good for a compelling side plot)

-

ivy narrator - aubrey plaza (i know she'd slay the cottagecore vibe)

ivy narrator's lover - keke palmer (you can't tell me she wouldn't kill this role)

ivy narrator's husband - tom felton (you can't tell me it wouldn't be funny)

it's worth noting that i didn't do too much research into any of these people, i just went down actor lists until i found someone i wanted, so some age gaps might be a little screwy

[misscammiedawn]

50 Days of HypnoKink - Day 15: Mantras/Call & Response

Alignment: 95% Top. I am sure I enjoy doing this when I am soft, but I just don't get a charge from it like I do when I'm in control.

This one seems pretty cut and dry on the surface, but my interest in it has drive me to explore the sandbox as much as I am able. Obviously there is such a distinct thrill in hearing a delightfully soft partner slur out "must obey..." in their litany of blissed out, monotone or bespelled tones of voices. As I had mentioned yesterday, I have an affinity for voices; one thing I forgot to mention in that post was the impact of transformation.

A giant part of my interest in this kink is caught up in the changes in states, emotions and energies. Hypnosis is a dynamic and a hypnotic relationship is itself dynamic with so many moving parts. I live for all of the little intricacies of exploration and change.

And so, to be able to take a fully alert and active partner and with a few words make them go hollow and repeat a phrase I put in their head?

That, my loves, is hot as fuck; especially if there is a bounce back. When they realize what had happened and become animated in shock, embarrassment or even affection. My goal is always to add to the interaction. Never to shoot it down.

My preferred one on both sides of the watch when I was young was "You're MINE." With the programmed reply "I'm yours..."

I recall the way the words washed over and crescendoed into a swooning sigh as eyes close, hand clutches heart and a loving release of all tension as that affectionate reply comes out. I loved it so much. Especially if I was the one saying it right before a neck bite. (Vampire kink is coming this week, I swear it.)

Much akin to the other entries, I could just leave it at explaining why I find it hot and leaving it at that, but I did say I like to explore the sandbox... so let me share some distinct flavors. Maybe you all have your own flavors. Feel free to suggest any if I miss them, because I want to know more.

- Obedience mantras "I must obey" and its ilk. A simple and firm statement that states obedience. I tend to do these with "You" statements parroted back with an "I" such as "You can't resist" "I can't resist".

- Autofractionation mantras which are those lovely moments of training where the call and response both come from inside the house. All I need to do is start the chain reaction, "I am going deeper" on repeat is a very basic one for this. They'll keep repeating and reinforcing until you stop them. But I have a programmer's brain, so I like things which create recursive loops, "I can go deeper - so I must go deeper" on repeat for instance. As long as my partner *can* go deeper they *must* go deeper. Oh how I love letting a partner just sizzle on that eternal loop as I sneak in and whisper in their ears "that's right... very good... just like that... keep going... deeper and deeper... obeying so perfectly... knowing I am so proud of you." For example.

- Check-in triggers. This one is one I picked up from Goddess as she has made it so that "Green" is always an acceptable answer when working in any spaces. I tend to only use this one within Oikos as it is part of our consent dynamic. I worry that mirroring "Green?" "Green." Is less asking and more telling someone what they feel. Which is fine within Oikos, but I do not consider myself controlling enough or negotiated enough with my partners to add that to the mix. Still. "Green?" "Green." Is a really good way of gently tugging a partner's mind and seeing where they are.

- Physical call and response triggers. People often forget this, but we are conditioned to perform a number of these in every day life. Hand waves for instance. I have not experimented enough with this, but I would love to blow a kiss to a partner and have their compelled reply to be to catch the kiss and place it to their cheek and feel a wave of infatuation overwhelm them. My love of Poison Ivy inevitably corrupts every part of this kink for me. I do have a hand signal which causes a partner to kneel and that is only *slightly* different from my Puppetiing Gestures special move. I highly recommend folks think about this one.

- Pre-programmed statements. There are two I'd like to call out here. "What are you?" With the reply a partner is conditioned to give, and pulling on a certain Dolly's drawstring so she will tell me that she is a good dolly and that good dollies obey. I do so enjoy knowing I get to hear a statement I put in their mind whenever I want. It is such a power rush.

(Edit: Since writing this I have added written mantras in to my rotation)

Lastly, I just want to add this one in for free.

Once I pinned a partner down, stared in their eyes and did a call and response trigger where the reply is the same as the statement. Then just kept repeating it, over and over, synchronizing my words to match theirs, speaking in unison. One dominant voice and one submissive voice, matching in harmony. Every time we said it we inspired the other to just keep going.

THAT was a magical moment. I highly recommend you try and emulate it.

---

Day 14: Voice Kink

FULL SCHEDULE MASTER POST

Day 16: Betrayal

[damienthepious]

Can you reccomend your fave smutty rad bouquet fics? Either your own or other peoples. Looking for new reading material.

OKAY forgive me please for taking literally weeks to actually get to this. the entirety of my March was spent slowly and then very quickly moving to a new house, and it has been CHAOS over here.

MORE IMPORTANTLY! Happy Lizard Kissin' Tuesday, let me recommend some SMUT.

(tho honestly you'd do just as well checking my bookmarks on ao3 because... for some bizarre reason the smutty stuff is the ONLY thing i ever think to bookmark? I don't get it.)

HERE we go. These aren't really in an order but i'm starting with my three all-time faves and then moving to some sturdy solid mainstays:

Sir Arum and the Green Knight [ao3] (27k words) - I mean it's a green knight au AND a monster-human swap au AND it's full of fucking feelings and ALSO it's joyously smutty and ALSO- look!!! i keep this fic open in a tab on my phone at all times. I truly love the way this one is written. it was the first fic i EVER bookmarked. i would call it plot with porn rather than the alternative but the sexy chapter is VERY sexy.

Here's Eglantine, Here's Ivy [ao3] (5k) - PWP Of All Time for me. ALL TIME. Pure and beautiful kink, Arum playing dom and slowly and perfectly ruining his humans with magic vines. i am ruined also by this fic. good lord.

The Honey of Our Lit Up Veins [ao3] (5k) - also magic sex vines! don't perceive my vibes from this. I love Damien in this one honestly, he's so very sweet and his inner emotional path throughout the fic is so deeply enjoyable and relatable.

.💖.

A Shift in Leverage [ao3] (9k) - Rilla in armor. Rilla in armor getting fucked by an extremely enthusiastic Arum. Rilla in armor getting to fuck an extremely enthusiastic Arum. It's all incredibly enormously sexy and lovely and warm and i fucking adore it.

in my world (constantly, constantly) [ao3] (6k) - Very soft and sweet and gentle, i love to see damien get taken care of in ALL capacities 🥺🥰

easy like [ao3] (4k) - I associate this one with like... slow lazy summer warmth. honey gold. it's a soft happy place for me. and also it's fucking sexy.

Snapdragon [ao3] (8k) - includes the tag "T4T4L (trans 4 trans 4 lizard)" so like. yesssssss. Rilla breaking the other two is extremely my jam. Hell yeah.

should've worshipped her sooner [ao3] (4.5k) - I mean you start with a hozier inspired title and then the fic is about damien getting pegged, so. All good all around. fucking LOVE it.

selfish prayers [ao3] (4k) - ... another magic tentacle one. there was a THING going on for a while, it's honestly not my fault. This one is shockingly funny? Arum in particular is so fucking charming, but it's also VERY sexy.

I smelled no salt, I touched no sand [ao3] (3k) - okay this one is probably the most nonstandard pull on here because it's sir damien/saint damien and maybe that's not what you'd expect but . it's written by the same person who wrote the green knight au and it's honestly VERY compelling! i love it very much ngl.

Also this isn't a fic BUT honorable mention to:

lilf rights! [ao3] (art!) - Genuinely and truly the best and most joyous smutty bouquet art in the world. One of the pieces overtly inspired a chapter of hb3! go. enjoy. ENJOY.

...

and okay sure my own smut is here