#and the fucking 'allies' who are like 'but this is PROGRESS :((' it's not <3 get your heads out of your tight tight assholes and read about

[grison-in-space]

Has Biden actually done anything at all? There's evidence going around and I think it's compelling, the alternate to voting is instead doing actual social work and participating in protests and organizing political action, which is a good idea i think

1) Yes. Inarguably this has been the most effective progressive domestic administration since I have been alive, and I'm in my thirties. What in the fuck are you talking about? It's not perfect, but it's better than we've seen in fifty years: Obama tried, but Democratic Congressional organization was just not yet used to working with a completely obstructionist GOP Congress in the wake of the tea party.

Even in terms of foreign policy, this is also pretty much as good as US involvement gets. Sorry. Our foreign policy has been shaped by monsters for decades, and that's even without dealing with our huge and active branch of Christian doom cultists. There ain't a candidate in the world that could stop the entire accumulated momentum of geopolitics with a snap of the finger, and I'm not really willing to pretend that Biden is particularly notable for not managing to fix Israel/Palestine relations.

2) In your own words, anon, what precisely does organizing political action entail without participating in the political process? Do you think that abstaining from the part of the gig where you, the citizen, get to say which official gets the job somehow makes your opinions matter more to your elected public officials? Have you ever organized to get so much as a municipal one-time library project budget expanded? Are you perhaps only skilled at political argument with people who already agree with you on the Internet?

What is your leverage, and could it reasonably be described as "extortion" or "blackmail" or "political corruption?" Because those are pretty much the only things on the table that can work more effectively to drive an elected official than a disciplined coalition of political allies (who can be purchased with, you guessed it, votes) or a reliable bloc of voter support. Your vote matters less than the ones you bring with you, sure. Do you think that not voting yourself somehow helps people organize to drive more votes? Have you perhaps replaced your complex reasoning skills with a rapidly dying jellyfish?

3) Holy passive vagueness, Batman! "Evidence is going around." What a masterpiece of a sentence! How it suggests everything while providing nothing! What evidence? Who collected it? Who is talking about the evidence "going around?" Who is listening? How many of them are there? What did they think before? The more I think, the more questions I have, and damn if they ain't predisposing me to be even less charitable.

Like, this is so catastrophically poorly supported that I have to confess that I not only believe this is probably an ask in bad faith (i.e. by someone who is expecting to piss me off or otherwise engage with me adversarially, probably spammed to a whole host of blogs at once with no expectation of response) but I actively hope that it is. The alternative is to have to grapple with the reality that some people are so uncomfortable with the responsibility of moral agency that they're willing to release useful levers of legal and social power just so that they never do anything problematic with that power. Much better, of course, to wash one's hands of anything that might have the stink of responsibility clinging to it. Might fall from the membership of the Elect if you actually get yourself all muddy by doing things, I reckon.

I don't even believe that voting is the only lever we have when it comes to our elected officials or that votes are necessary to secure change, and I am certainly not talking about the presidential ticket alone when I talk voting. What I do believe is two things: one, that voting is a potential lever of power on the emergent chaos of the society in which we live. And two, that anyone telling me to leave a lever of power on the ground without a damn good reason is either incompetent, malicious, or both.

[decolonize-the-everything]

(to preface this, i am white. figured i should make that known off the bat) i wanted to come bounce an idea off of you that i've been rolling around in my head for a bit. i have this pet theory that, for the population ill call here "white progressive queers who know very little about poc and racism", a large underpinning of this group's interaction with poc is a Fear of Fucking Up and more generally, moral purity thought. they (maybe even "we"- im still hopefully learning myself) get so paralyzed by this idea and line of thinking that goes something like this: "1) since i know nothing about poc & racism, then 2) clearly in discussions about these topics, i will fuck up and say something wrong or perhaps even Bigoted, which if i did 3) makes me an Irreparable Ontologically Evil Racist, hence 4) i should just be quiet and never ask questions/speak on these topics" which then results in said White Progressive Queer and those around them never learning. i wanted to know what you think abt this and tell me if im on the mark or not

also thank u for the work u do on this blog, ive found so many helpful resources through you

You're right. In my experience that's exactly how it is.

I want to add tho: yes they're uncomfortable that they might fuck up and be considered racists sure, but a huge part of that stems from the massive inability to place the discomfort where it belongs. Which is with their own guilt.

Instead they blame the conversations for making them uncomfortable.

And let's take some worthy notes here: this is not how white people feel all the time. Because white people are not uncomfortable making these fuck ups in front of other white people.

So it's not that the conversation is uncomfortable. They are made uncomfortable. And they are made uncomfortable because even when discussing anti-racism they step into the role of oppressor (the little fuck ups or accidentally bigoted comments) so naturally and God forbid other (not white) people can See how easy it is.

My advice for white people that are like this (that nobody asked for) is

Your fuckups do not define you but how you react to them does

Listen, respect, learn

That's it. That's the whole list. Say something bad? Apologize, but don't over-explain yourself. Ask how to fix it. Google how you fucked up so you understand why it wasn't okay. Google again to get idea of how your fuck up hurts people. Google some more to make sure you don't do it again. Go to some safe space and ask some clarifying questions. Listen, respect, learn.

Maybe the people you fucked up with don't forgive you and that's okay, they don't have to. But YOU won't ever make anyone feel bad or less than in the same way ever again and that's what matters.

Having one less person making racist comments matters even if it's a struggle for that person to get to that point.

I need y'all to understand that none of you are gonna just wake up being suddenly perfect anti-racist allies. And we will literally never ever have allies like that if y'all refuse to even sit with your own discomfort.

•°•°•

This weird morality issue white people have over looking racist is also just such a non-problem. Like if y'all want a PoC perspective: white people are already being racist ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯ ....we Already see y'all as racists. And also I'm gonna experience racism anyway so I'd rather it be because someone was just being ignorant on the path to anti-racism.

Y'all are so worried about how shit Looks that you can't be bothered how really things are? Like you're so afraid of looking racist you'd allow yourselves to continue being actually ignorant and casually racist. And to avoid what? Being uncomfortable for a minute? Being called-out? A mean comment?

We are trying to stop hate crimes and genocide. Like that's what we are dealing with okay. Accountability for your actions is an acquired taste but I think y'all can handle some discomfort considering.

[echobx]

Yeah we don't know these people at all or anything real about who they are or their lives but I do agree that some of their behavior seems incredibly unprofessional and all the signs point to something bad but we should never send hate to someone. I for one would like to hear your theories where you connected the dots because I would like to be prepared.

I'm just gonna say it, I don't know exactly what goes on, I can only take rumors and the few confirmed moments we had in the past and connect the dots over that.

(post writing note: this got too long so I'm putting a readmore)

1. (and if you call me a hater for this, idgaf, bc it's true) Elaine being a racist and homophobic and also hard to work with

2. Rudy being with Elaine, staying by her side and defending her (which wouldn't be an issue, if she wasn't fucking racist and homophobic!!!)

3. Elaine having issues with not only Madison and her gf, but also with multiple others on set, including JD and Lilah Pate

4. Rudy voicing his desire to leave the show after his contract ends (which would be s4) UNLESS they fix his character arc. now this one is especially sweet bc he said this before s3 started filming and he and others, were not happy with the s3 script bc a lot of things (including Jiara) were not well thought through and it was rushed and super ooc. and then he allegedly asked for it again with the start of filming for s4.

5. bts shots of Rudy where he's always looking rather annoyed, or bored, or just generally completely down. he literally looks nothing like he did when the show started, or even for s2 or s3, and he was already less who he used to be for s3 (which might be connected to no.4)

6. Blind items saying Madison wants to leave and pursue music. The interview Madelyn gave was also super ambiguous to what will happen to the show. (tied to no.4 too)

7. very high possibility that Elaine was fired from obx, my reasoning behind this is that she wasn't in any of the bts promo videos they released and in the last three seasons she was always somewhere or had posted some promo pics already.

sooo let's look at these points again.

bc it's on my mind I'm gonna start with the Elaine drama. I'm not known for liking her, but I'm also not gonna send her hate or tell you how to feel about her bc tbh idgaf what you believe to be true or not when it comes to this, so take all I say with a grain of salt still and don't come into my comments saying "you just hate her bc she's with Rudy" no, no I don't. I can't stand her bc she has weird vibes, is literally homophobic and racist, and on top of that for all we know not the best gf too (he's not a good bf when he's woth her either, but that's another topic)

so, Elaine was at the show as a pa and to take care of the promo pics for the show. she was there from s1 on, was friends with Lilah and generally was not really that in everyone's business at the time for all we know. HOWEVER during s1 Rudy had a girlfriend Teo Marcella, she's in a few pictures with Rudy from back then. Teo was also super good friends with Madison, and I believe they still are friends today but just not as close. Rudy was also super thick with Madison at the time. Teo never seemed to have any issues with that. But as time progressed, Elaine kept getting closer to Rudy, and he's not as loyal as you might think. I don't believe there was an overlap, they broke up and a month later he was with Elaine. that is way too little time if you ask me unless, which is what happened, Elaine literally came on to him while he was in a relationship, which you don't fucking do. you just don't do that. point proven that Elaine isn't a girls girl.

between s1 and s2 Chase and Madelyn go on a ski trip with Rudy and Elaine, it's ally happy and cute and- gotta stop here cause I don't wanna throw up. anyway, s2 starts filming, everyone is still happy and things are good. well.... are they tho? bc Rudy is still bffs with Madison, but Elaine doesn't really like that, so Rudy stops hanging out with Madison as much, bc he wants to make his gf happy like you do, yk? the rest of the cast doesn't seem to annoyed by it all, it's literally mostly Madison who's affected by this. now, after s2 and before s3, I believe that was the time when the boys went to that basketball game? @redhead1180 told me about something happening there where Elaine shoved JD or something (we are still trying to retrieve the video that was posted to twitter at the time) and Rudy wasn't happy with her whole behavior that day (allegedly).

now, we get s3, or more so they get the script for it and I wholeheartedly believe that Rudy and Madison begged them to change it bc neither of them wanted jiara to happen. from day 1 on Madison asked for a queer plotline for Kiara and Rudy always went hard on the jjpope ship. but that didn't do anything, Jiara went canon and no one in the cast liked it (fight me on this. they all shipped jjpope before s3 promo tour started, no one fucking talked about jiara EVER and then on s3 promo tour they rather talked about rafebarry than mention jiara possibility and it felt as they had been briefed to not talk about jjpope at all) so, you can believe it or not, but imo Elaine got mad af when jiara went canon bc that meant Rudy would have to kiss his former bff who Elaine had already deemed a threat to herself. so things started cooking. Rudy and Madison barely talked on set or interacted much unless necessary. then Rudy booked two movies that year to avoid doing as much promotions as possible.

the s4 drama is a lot. some shit happened before the strike, like The Dinner™ followed by the Great Unfollowing of 2023. I wish to be a fly on the wall at that dinner, but one thing is clear, that night was the start of the end and the reason why Madelyn said there's "multiple cliques" on set. whatever was said, we know that Rudy sided with Elaine, bc if he hadn't he prolly wouldn't still be with her. so, Madison unfollowed Elaine and Elaine did the same for her. now, that's already messy af, especially with what Madi posted in her stories and reposted on tiktok. like, some serious shit went down there and I need her to spill the tea.

after the strike we get Morocco. where we have some videos of Elaine being rude to fans again (reoccurring issue), I know that some of them had been following Rudy around and I'm not saying that's appropriate either. but she has a repeating behavior of dragging him away and pulling on him when he's with fans. and ppl will say "it's scheduling issues, they don't always know exactly when they have to leave" which fine ig, but how can you be sure that's the case all the time?? bc I don't think it was the case for a lot of these. now I wanna say something that I have seen being repeated on here and on twitter, no Mariah isn't just as bad as Elaine and just as clingy. Mariah is supportive of Madison just as much as Madison is supportive of Mariah. Mariah still does her job, mostly in LA, while Madison is off filming somewhere. that's completely different from Elaine who literally follows Rudy around like a lapdog. those two things are not the same. pls tell me you've ever seen Elaine in a place where Rudy wasn't also at? hasn't really happened, has it? and I think that might be part of the overall issue and reasoning why I think they also fired her. bc the Pates are trying to keep their show alive through all this drama. like, she has reported beef with Madison and JD and Lilah. if two of my main cast, if not more, and my family tell me to get rid of her and hire someone else in the hopes for things to get peaceful again, hell yeah I'll fire her. and that would also explain a little why Rudy doesn't hang with the cast as much as he used to on set and why he's always looking miserable, bc they rightfully got his gf fired.

also, she's not a good gf, she's clingy and apparently insecure about her relationship with Rudy, which is visible in her feeling threatened by Madi although Madi has never shown any interest in that way in Rudy. but ig that's just what happens when you come onto a guy who's in e relationship and he goes for it, you'll just always wonder if he will do the same to you. (I'm not even gonna touch Rudy's cheating rumors and the recent break-up rumors although they make a lot of sense and it would be so much healthier if they actually broke up instead of staying toxic for each other with the false pretense of love)

on Rudy leaving. I don't think he would want to leave if they fix JJs character arc and work with him, bc he made that character who he is, before that JJ was just a hollow character on paper, with not much to go off at the start. But I do think he will if they didn't do that. He has other projects to look forward to, he's talented enough to keep his career afloat without Netflix. and I also think that if Elaine is actually fired, he's not happy with that and how it happened and he probably doesn't want to work with those ppl as much anymore, but who knows. All I know is that the happiness and lightheartedness he had in the first season and even in the second season, is completely gone. but when you look at him doing other projects, like the bts of Crusades or 5lbs of Pressure, he looks genuinely happy and not like he does on obx. so something has to be going on there, even if all I said above turns out to be bs, there's something going on that makes this job feel like 9- to 5 to him from the looks of it. and tbh if that's the case, I don't even know if I want him to continue OBX bc the show is about fun and friendship and summer, not about being miserable and feeling like shit just being there. so the Pates might take the L and kill off JJ and hope that the show continues, but tbh, Netflix isn't known to make shows that are longer than 4 seasons. so if s4 happens and JJ dies and they greenlight a fifth season, I'm gonna predict s5 will be the end of the show, simply bc watch numbers will go down when Rudy isn't there anymore.

I think this was already way more than you thought I'd say even though it was pretty compact and only really two theories ig lol. but yeah, that's what I think.

also, Rudy doing the play, which is great he always wanted to do theater, but again having it during the s4 promotional period is just so clear to me that he doesn't want to hang with the cast anymore. he's not posting anything anymore like he used to, he's not commenting on their posts or even liking them like he used to, he's not hanging out with them like he used to. and it's not a coincidence to me that this happened and keeps happening and that it gets worse. but a lot of ppl don't want to see it bc it will destroy their perfect bubble they have built around him.

[musclesandhammering]

Spn Opinions That’ll Have Me Burned at the Stake Pt. 2: Electric Boogaloo

I’m back and bitchier than ever. For reference, here’s part 1.

• Season 5 wasn’t that great.

• D*stiel isn’t real, it’s a sucky ship, and that confession scene was just the writers pandering to the rabid deancas fans cause they knew they were the only ones still watching the show lol. And they left it ambiguous enough that they could still say it was meant platonically if they needed to.

• I hate how they watered down both angels and demons post-season 5ish.

• I liked Ruby 1.0 better than Ruby 2.0.

• I hate Honey!Cas. They just did that cause they didn’t know where to take his story from there, needed him out of the way, and thought it would be funny. It was insulting.

• Jack should’ve been played by an actual child so everyone’s abuse of him would resonate with the audience for what it was (casual fans are brain dead and need to be spoon fed).

• Victor Henrikson deserved more time on the show.

• I said it in the last post, but Alex is way more interesting than Claire and should’ve been given the lead role in the wayward sisters storyline instead.

• Dean is canonically straight and for Christ sake if you guys wanted bi rep, there’s about a thousand other characters that are strongly coded or implied to be bisexual (including Sam!) but y’all didn’t focus on them because it wasn’t actually about representation, it was about making it more plausible for your dumb fetishised gay ship to actually happen (spoiler: it didn’t).

• Season 3 and Season 6 were some of the best ones, you guys just don’t have any taste.

• Claire is not Castiel’s daughter and saying she is erases Jimmy and insults her, and even Cas himself acknowledged that on the show.

• Castiel is canonically NOT gay and Misha constantly saying he is is annoying and airheaded. He’s been attracted to women IN THE SHOW and he’s not even really male, so calling him a Gay Man is reductive and just plain wrong. Also, it’s veeery sus that- given how bi/pan folks are even more underrepresented than gay people- that one of the rare times where the bi/pan label actually fits a character BETTER in CANON……. the allies and monosexuals adamantly reject it. Hm.

• “Curing” vampires or werewolves or demons shouldn’t have been a thing.

• The Winchesters cause most of the bad shit that happens and then they just force supernatural beings to fix it for them- tell me again how they’re Super Special Heroes.

• It shouldn’t be possible to make angels human by removing their grace, because (unlike demons, werewolves, etc) they were never human to start with. If you drained me of all my blood, I wouldn’t magically transform into another species, I’d fucking die.

• Making Billie go crazy was dumb.

• Rowena was one of the most interesting and charismatic characters on the whole show- they just didn’t know what to do with her character.

• The archangels, Lilith, and Azazel should’ve been the biggest threats on the show. No other knights of hell, no god and his sister, no Cain, nothing like that. Having every villain just get progressively more overpowered made the show unbelievable and repetitive and annoying.

• The kernel sanders king of hell guy was hot.

• Dean is misogynistic as HELL, homophobic, likes racist porn, is a narcissist, pervs on teen girls, & thinks all non-human people should be exterminated… and that is all CANON.

• Most of John Winchester’s abuse is fanon.

• Fans portraying Cas as a smol bby who colours in colouring books and has a bee plushie is so fucking annoying.

• Instead of having so many gigantic cosmic storylines with god and his sister and alternate dimensions and even the angel and demon tablets, they should’ve just scrapped those and made the stein family and the bmol and the alpha vampire storylines way bigger than they were. Less cosmic stuff, more earth-based stuff.

• They ruined Lucifer’s character post-season 5. Before that, he was more sympathetic and reasonable than Michael. After, he was a spoiled child hurting people for fun.

• Everything from season 7 on is garbage. All of it. There’s bits of goodness here and there but overall seasons 7-15 are trash.

• How the fuck are there actual people who are deangirls and hate Sam?? The space where your brain should be is empty, I swear to god.

• If there was gonna be any lgbt rep in the Wayward Sisters group, it should’ve been Jody and Donna instead of Claire and Kaia. Those two were boring as hell and had zero chemistry or build-up, but Jody/Donna had plenty of chemistry and was very believable.

• Meg has the best and most realistic redemption arc of anyone on the show.

• Chuck was not likeable or charismatic enough to carry off as big of a villain arc as they gave him. Also that whole thing was stupid and WAY too Out There.

• All the angels should’ve been aroace. All the demons should’ve been pan.

• I stanned Cole so hard up until he changed his mind about hating Dean. That was disappointing.

• Sam went through the same shitty childhood Dean did (plus Bonus Abuse on top of it) and he didn’t turn out Like That.

• I cannot think of a single person that was asking for a spin-off about the Winchester family, like that has to be the most boring thing.

[suzukiblu]

WIP Wednesday Game

Taken from @kedreeva.

It’s WIP Wednesday, time for a little accountability, sharing your work, and getting a kick in the pants.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

file names:

Kon is too trans for this pregnancy shit

the one where Clark is trans and Kon is not

transfemme Kon and her Amazon soulmoms

Cassie has a sexuality crisis, Kon has a gender one, and Circe makes everything worse

the one where Kryptonians have omegaverse genders, but nobody told Match

( why yes this week is WIP Wednesday: Sex And Gender Is Weird And Complicated Edition™ )

snippet from "Kon is too trans for this pregnancy shit":

Kon slams his bedroom door just shy of hard enough to crack the doorframe, melts the pregnancy test in his hand into slag with his heat vision, and then throws its remnants into his trash can and hides in his bed. Because he’s pregnant. Because he’s an idiot. An idiot who is pregnant. Pregnantly. 

Fucking Christ alive, how could he be this fucking stupid?! 

Just–Kon has fucked up a whole lot of times in his life. This time is probably the worst time that didn't get somebody else hurt, though. Well, like. Not hurt-hurt. 

Somebody is definitely getting hurt here. 

Kon kind of just . . . doesn't tell people that he's . . . that he isn't technically . . . 

He flirts? A lot? Like, a lot more than he really should. But he flirts with girls a lot. And he is very, very careful about how close he lets those girls get. And he . . . and he . . . 

Just–when he actually wants laid, when he really gets the itch, he doesn't go out as Superboy.

There's a reason he never got anywhere with Cassie, after all. Or with Tana or Knockout. Or with . . . anyone he ever actually, like . . . gave an actual fuck about the opinion of or was gonna see again. 

He’s not a real guy, after all, so . . . so how could he have? He’s not . . . 

When Cadmus was still a thing, he didn't have to worry so much. It wasn't hard to get treatment and whatever, and his files were all very firmly locked down. And when Cadmus went underground, Serling deleted all those files and hooked him up with a little machine that replicates hybrid-appropriate T before she cleared out, because Serling is the fucking best like that and literally the one true ally, as far as Kon's concerned, so . . . yeah. And the replicator has mercifully kept working for him, at least so far, so all he's ever had to do was hide the thing in the back of his closet and make sure the Kents never catch him pulling any of the blue K needles out of their little lead-lined case or injecting himself with said needles. Fuck knows what they'd think if they ever did. 

Probably that he was a drug addict or something. That seems like the most logical conclusion for them to jump to. They sure as shit know he's not diabetic or anything like that, so . . . yeah. 

They'd definitely think he was a drug addict. 

He's sure Clark would, if nothing else. 

Although that'd probably be less of a disaster than this, really. At least if he was an addict, he could go to rehab or something. For this . . . 

What is he supposed to do about this?

[snackugaki]

more AU visdev shenanigans because I have both a problem and am trying to trick myself into doing visdev for my actual  projects

my tmnt au (where everyone made it past their 20s, splinter’s alive just old, venus is here, and they deserve some goddamn respite and shenanigans)

tmnt au part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5

tmnt au omake 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

lny visit 1 | 2

AU musings under the cut cuz truly, i have a goddamn problem and most of it is from my brain always go brr

uhhh... hm... Mirage spoilers pmuch right out the gate... probably IDW, and prrrrobably Next Mutation spoilers for the kids who haven’t started/caught up because surprise that’s where I pull from (aside from the 87 cartoon and 90s movies because who doesn’t pull mainly from their childhood turtles)

April being into punk, goth, alt, what have you just makes sense to me

...because she gravitated to the outsider nature of those subcultures since she, herself, didn’t feel like she quite belonged anywhere

which is natural when you’re a drawing made real

(it’s fine, she’s flesh and blood now)

shout out to poly styrene, april loved her

keeping them short kings just like my childhood turtles

Jennika absolutely comments to Donnie if he’s found any good cheese in any walls lately

god i hate plowing through the first couple of passes of a design

alas, the process

Venus ended up being dressed in hanfu since other clothes didn’t fit her quite right; a specific group of old women were ecstatic at breaking out hanfu patterns to use.

Chung I doted on Venus so much, the only thing that kept her from becoming spoiled was when she started taking up cultivation alongside Chung I and his sect

nothing more humbling that carrying 3 buckets of water up a steep mountain side while your sifu hurls mystic blasts at your feet

Venus progressed pretty quickly though; enough to be trusted with plans to circumvent Vam Mi’s return and reconnoiter with the sect’s allies in NYC

(it didn’t work but it’s okay they defeated Vam Mi anyway)

shit now I have to come up with a name for the sect hhhhh

Chung I’s sect is one of ?? who, like the ninja, have a responsibility (among others) to regulate the mortal plane with the less mundane ones

Venus IS training to serve in his role (give or take one of her brothers or sisters being bestowed the responsibility)

hmm... Venus likes keemun tea best if she has the choice, and for soup... oxtail soup and black sesame soup

and because it was fkkn metal in Next Mutation, Venus is primarily a pugilist who occasionally uses her cultivation techniques ; she trains a little with a fan when she gets to weapons training but she prefers the spear (link has blood and some real violent fighting but fuck Fog Hill is fucking siiiiick)

...a nickname Venus gains is ‘the spear fairy’ ‘cuz i’m indulgent :)

the supernatural side of NY was already getting antsy and unruly when Venus arrived so of course she and the boys ended up fighting upon first encounter

The fight happens after hours at a local walk-around market; Raph barges in and Venus fishes around for something that isn’t the requisite staff she was saddled with before setting out (because she knows how to deal some damage with it and she wasn’t about to do that to complete strangers she didn’t know the alignment of)

she ends up using a mannequin; one arm came off so Venus attacked with that and defended with the upper part of the mannequin; Raph was getting outmatched while Mikey and Donnie were laughing in increasing volume

at a certain point Leo tried to intervene but Venus assumed it was a double team, ripped the other arm off the mannequin and defended with both against Raph and Leo; eventually her hood was flipped and they saw she was a turtle so cue Venus using the opportunity to get them both on the ground and about to smash the now armless mannequin torso onto Leo and Raph before Donnie called for a truce

at which point, as is established, Mikey quipped up at the scene, “I call this... ‘Venus de Milo, triumph over dorkus maximuses’”

Leo DID try to address her by her actual name but his not-quite-right tone made her pity him and insisted he just use Mikey’s new nickname

Venus absolutely asked why the boys were running around half naked when she came across them; they didn’t have an answer they just shrugged and let Mikey change the subject with asking if she’s tried NY pizza yet

Venus is ambivalent in the end, she knew humans wore clothes since their bits are just ...like, out there dangling around; the yaoguai around her also dressed and thought they were just adhering to the custom out of simple consideration

Venus eventually gears up like the boys to help hide her mission from the sect trying to resurrect Vam Mi

Leo gives Venus a spare mask of his; it came from a bin of incorrectly dyed masks when he was attempting shibori dye experiments

Mikey was so enthusiastic about it, having only known April at the time he asked if he could try out braiding her mask tails since Leo didn’t bother tailoring it after he botched the dye job

Splinter helps Venus make contact with her sect’s allies ala Rescuers Down Under

NM!Venus canonically knows how to pick locks why not in this AU too

The boys take Venus to the library one night, Donnie pleads for Venus to break into the reference shelves, stoops to fibbing a little that information she might find handy could be in those shelves (they weren’t)

A hilarious exchange happens between April and Venus when Venus cycles through like 3 dialects and 2 languages before finding out April speaks Canto; Venus starts calling April Ah ze, in kind April calls Venus Ah mui

hmm hmmm... still torn between April meeting the boys once as little kids then running into them again when she’s an adult or having her meet them as little kids but connecting a little earlier, 1-2 years from graduating HS

mostly just cuz I wanna have this AU April taking them to GWAR concerts so they can enjoy being out without getting clocked 

Casey and Raph absolutely dressed as the Bash Brothers for a couple of halloweens

I like the idea of Casey thinking of himself as the fifth turtle brother because it’s sweet, thassit AU canon it is done

I feel like Jennika probably ran into April and Casey at separate music venues; befriended Casey first tho

Jennika spent two years in China with Venus, getting her handle on her new turtle body; when she came back she nearly cleaned out 3 thrift stores and basically commandeered a portion of Donnie’s lab for almost a year to tailor clothes for herself

Donnie basically made himself a mini-clothing manufacturing  factory by salvaging and rebuilding embroidery, pattern cutting, and industrial sewing machines

Jennika and Mondo have jam sessions

The brockhampton parody in this AU is northbrockton, Jennika and Mondo are rotational members

Mondo can speak hawaiian pidgin, he speak liddat when he go an talk story with Mikey ova some grinds, Mikey also starts picking it up

 Mondo sometimes refers to Mikey as Braddah Honu

One of the stolen waste/mutagen barrels from That Night rolled and got shunted conveniently to a desolate lot where it leaked for years

Mondo came across it looking for a place for his band to jam without getting interrupted, pop goes the lizard mutation

tl;dr a video of urban explorers stumbling on it got onto Mona’s feed (and I’m smudging her original start as a physicist to a biophysicist) and since she’s a can do sort of girl she goes to check it out herself before reporting it to the proper organizations-- bam, mutant lizard Mona Lisa rip

that same video came across on one of Donnie’s feeds, Raph’n Mikey go to investigate and come upon a distraught lizard Mona Lisa; Mikey uses her assumption they were also originally human to bring her back to the lair and get her calmed down

god it’s so messy, thankfully Splinter, Leo and April are far better at helping Mona come to grips with her mutation, Donnie helps out in setting her up to survive the first couple months of transitioning between her old human life to navigating her mutant one

For me, she’s now Mona Lisa Saperfeld purely for this exact reference link

Raph and Casey also get the occasional treats from the local bodegas, but for running off extortionists and other assorted dipshits with too much time an not enough supervision

Jennika, Mondo, and Mikey are constantly replacing each others’ high scores in Guitar Hero and DDR in Donnie’s arcade

When Donnie, Casey, and Raph are left in the garage for too long... they end up making the weirdest shit (link to a Handy Geng playlist, a dude who makes funky inventions)

[11queensupreme11]

I need to update my “who would be Percy’s first” with all these new love interest

1. daddyseidon - I am bias, this is me being bias. I still stand with what I said last time. If he’s her first it’ll be easy for to fuck her uncle and cousin. Nothing can lower the incest than doing it first with her daddy. #teamposy especially now that her tutor is gone and she might be home more often without anyone interrupting them. 😆 (but also lnow this dumbass decided to take it slow for her sake…. like I also wouldn’t be surprised by the time he’s ready to fuck her he’s either the third to last yandere to fuck her 😔 BUT im delusional and hoping he’s first)

2. Beelie (love the nickname she gave him) I think once the yanderes start acting up preferably from her dad and uncle I think she’ll found some sort safe heaven with him. Then with chapter 6 on how she made him feel even tho it was a small faction of feelings that he pushed aside I wouldn’t be too surprise if he’s her first time and more on the non-con side too especially when he becomes obsessed w her (cause she did find him redeemable after yknow trying to kill her so if he’ll cling to her cause she’s the first to do so) I kept this part cause I stand with what I said ^^ here especially with chapter 31 there has been lots of progress between these too. Like man was her escape from her dad and being trapped inside her home… now that he’s ‘gone’ I feel like she’ll def try to find a way to seek him out so they can go back to ‘normal’ and he’ll get even more obsessed with her, he’s like ‘omg she missed me so much that she seek me out knowing she may get in trouble with her dad 🥹”

3. Hades - he somewhat already got a taste of that perussy, nothing is holding this man back.

4. Apollo - since he’s a fast burn I think she’ll be a bit more creeped out with his obsession for her that it’ll take some time. Especially if he comes in singing her songs, making her poems, and sculptures about her. the first two were cute now she’s worried when they become a little too sexual 😥 Just gonna add here tho seeing how he literally allows her to do anything to him (stomping on his face) and listens to her (chapter 31 with Pan) I can somewhat see her thinking he’s a good ally of some sort in getting what she wants cause in his eyes he may get some brownie points if does so, of course there are limits.

5. Loki I am stuck between Loki and Apollo being number four. Loki is somewhat like Beeli when it comes to knowing who Percy really is. She can be herself around Loki the same way she is with Beeli. Loki also knowing what he’s feelings are for Percy and reading the doll 😨 he has… like girl I’m not gonna be surprised if you write an scene of him fucking the Percy doll and him getting tired and wanting the real thing. 🚶‍♀️I do see him as 5ish cause he’s also hated by all so everyone is gonna cockblock him and Percy at best. No where to hide now that he’s cape is gone too.

6. Anubis … I haven’t kept up with the manga so I don’t know much about him except that he’s hot. Lowkey wanted to put him first for the shits and giggles cause can you imagine her first being him and when he knots her… like would they be stuck like normals animals are when doing it? Can you imagine Anubis sensing a God’s presence (her dadddys in this case) and being balls deep and not being able to escape?!?!?! He’s fucked.

i really wanted to properly address everything you wrote here but i fucking DIED at anubis' part 😭

"Can you imagine Anubis sensing a God’s presence (her dadddys in this case) and being balls deep and not being able to escape?!?!?! He’s fucked." ASHDGAHFS 💀

with how anubis acts, if that were to happen, he'd just turn to look poseidon dead in the eye and be like "hi father-in-law!!!! 👋😊"

he's a silly lil guy with ZERO shame 😭

[aftgficrec]

oooof i neeed long and angsty preferably newer ones like i need to entertain myself for a bit <3 it's okay either incomplete or complete works!

Well, friend, what kind of angst are you looking for?  Heavy angst, mild angst, emotional/physical angst, angst with a happy ending?  This fandom delights in angst!  I think we’ve probably got a bit of everything here for you, even if it isn’t all brand new, including some excellent fics for other pairings than Andreil.  Take your pick! - S

A small selection from previous posts: 

Long angsty Andreil here

Long dark Andreil here

‘Oakland’ and ‘Lifeline’ here (since updated)

‘Birds of a Feather’ (recently updated), ‘Innominate’ (since updated) and ‘Die Free or Die a Failure’ (now complete) here

‘Scared to Live (But I'm Scared to Die)’ here

‘Stranger To Stay’ (since updated) here

‘Inked Truths’ series here

‘Joseph’ series here

‘not your homeland anymore’ here

‘North Star’ (now complete) here

‘L’Amour parle en fleurs’ here

‘Black As Is The Raven, He’ll Get A Partner’ here

‘I Will Always Choose You’ (now complete) and ‘Comeback’  here

‘Not Damsels, Not Knights’ here

‘Make A Believer Out Of Me’ here

‘Pause and Restart My Heart’ series here

‘The Bones of You’ here

‘Back to the Start’ here

‘Sixteen hours’ (jerejean) here

‘Aurora’  (jerejean)  here  (part 1 of Rhapsody: Exile series - part 2 is also complete, part 3 in progress)

‘The Heart and the Knife’ (Matt/Aaron) here

Purely in order of (currently) longest to shortest:

Deals With Devils by ToadlilyAUs [Rated M, 142394 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

Neil is on the run with his mother for three years before his father catches up to them. And after finally being handed off to The Ravens his life is never the same. After three more years of brutal training and abuse at the hands of Riko and Tetsuji, his life is changed yet again on the day Kevin Day runs away to the foxes, leaving him and Jean Moreau behind to suffer the consequences. Six more heinous months after that, in the summer before his long promised debut, he's finally allowed to leave the nest...but he's still anything but free. As the list of friends and allies grows, so too does his list of problems. How much of himself is he willing to give away to keep the people who matter to him safe? And how many lies and secrets can he stack on top of one another before his house of cards comes crumbling down?

tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: violence, tw: blood/gore

don't break the glass by cracklingamber [Rated E, 103707 words, complete, 2023]

Part 1 of the glass series

“Who even are you?” Neil blinked at him with those perfect, blue eyes. Andrew became very aware of Neil’s weight at that moment and dropped him. Neil bounced back on the bed and yelped. “I’m the guy who is going to go take a shower and you’re the guy who is going to wait patiently for Kevin to come tend to your needs,” Andrew said. He gestured down to Neil’s blanket covered body. “Whatever this is, is above my pay grade.” [AFTG Crime AU that takes place in Baltimore where the Foxes and Raven's are opposing gangs. Neil escapes the Nest and falls for Andrew, but Riko will do anything to get him back. Kevin and Aaron tumble headlong into a secret relationship and Jeremy Knox fixes a very broken Jean Moreau.]

tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: implied/referenced drug use, tw: explicit sexual content

NB: fanart by by @/masslowart on instagram

Not Yours To Bleed by Coffeexandxangst [Rated E, 90858 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

The Pros were never in the cards. Not for an ex-medicated alleged psychotic with a dysfunctional family and an Exy career he’d rather not have. But even if it wasn't his first choice, no matter what happens, it can’t possibly be worse than that one fucked up sophomore year when he stood toe to toe with the Yakuza-and won. At least, that’s what Andrew thinks until a familiar face shows up. Another Raven!Neil AU. Or, the one where the boys don’t meet until the Pros.

tw: rape/noncon, tw: violence, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: panic attacks, tw: dissociation, tw: eating disorders, tw: torture, tw: nightmares

I can feel you under my skin by ConventionalExy (Conventionals) [Rated E, 82619 words, incomplete, last updated April 2023]

Part 5 of the Our body series, part 1 here; part 3 here

Neil's second year brings changes. Things slow down and continue softer than they have ever been in his life, Andrew's at his side and they are working on being able to not be together 24/7, he can play Exy to his heart's content, he has a home, a family, a soulmate. He also has Jack and Sheena getting on his nerves, papers to write, Aaron's trial coming closer with each passing day, paranoid habits to break, ghosts to fight when he closes his eyes at night and real-people things to consider like bank accounts and taxes and so. much. more. He also has Andrew, their roof, their bond, their kisses, their touches and the promise of a future that is theirs, to grow and play and live. But things are never that easy for Neil Josten, are they?

tw: violence, tw: depression, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: suicide attempt,  tw: kidnapping, tw: torture, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced abuse, tw: nightmares

turn out the lights by cielalune [Rated M, 70349 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

Part 1 of the dark side of the moon series

"What do you think it means to be alive, Andrew?” “What?” "To be alive. Is it just to eat and breathe? Just survive? Because that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, Andrew, and it doesn’t feel like enough. But I don’t know how to do more. We’re supposed to find meaning or something, right?” See: stupid fucking questions. Like Andrew hadn’t been wondering the same thing his whole life. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.” A The Last of Us AU of AFTG. Set five years after the breakout of Cordyceps, Andrew is tasked with bringing an enigma of a man across the country, who also may just happen to be the cure for humankind.

tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: minor character death, tw: panic attacks, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: body horror

The Sun Still Rises by mordax [Rated E, 66087 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

Somewhere on the road, Mary Hatford gets pregnant with her second child. When she passes, she leaves behind not only Neil, but his toddler brother. Survival is difficult without also raising a kid. Worn out and desperate, Neil still somehow ends up at Palmetto, only this time, he brings his four-year-old brother with him.

tw: violence, tw: anxiety, tw: panic attacks,  tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced self harm, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, 

NB: find fanart for this fic by @elidanus on Twitter here

I No Longer Feel Things (I Know I Should) by Major_816 [Not Rated, 59095 words, incomplete, last updated Feb 2023]

Part 2 of the Paralyzed series, part 1 here 

Neil's back in Palmetto with the Foxes' triumph over the Raven's, time to see how much damage has been done. ~ “Yes.” He didn’t remember the car ride back. Were they back? He was in a car. Yes. He remembered bits. Things scattered, Remembered- Eighty percent. A bullet. Blood splatter and Riko’s expression. Watched until eyes fogged over with death. Did he watch that long? Must have. His mother used to say- He blinked. ~ The long-awaited Scared to Live sequel

tw: abuse, tw: violence, tw: rape/noncon, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: torture, tw: panic attacks, tw: dissociation, tw:  self harm, tw: ptsd, tw: anxiety attacks, tw: eating disorders

Longing Distance by F_C_B [Not Rated, 57545 words, complete, 2023]

Post-canon short thought experiment. Andrew moves away to join his new team, Neil stays in Palmetto. How will being suddenly separated affect their relationship? Andrew's POV. Not Nora-note/canon accurate and might break your heart if you let it.

tw: depression, tw: major character injury

Broken Symmetries by puddlejumper99 [Rated M, 53648 words, incomplete, last updated Feb 2023]

Reasons Neil had Died He cried too much as a baby, and his father made him stop He cried too much as a baby, and his mother tried to muffle the sound, and in her terror she silenced him for good His father wanted to hurt someone, and Neil was nearby The runners came for his mother, and they found him instead His mother hid him in a shack and left him alone as the heat soared They tried to run, and his father caught them They tried to run, and the runners caught them They ran, and they ran, and they ran, and they were still running and it didn’t matter, because his father would not stop, and he picked them off in one world after another until there was nowhere left to hide Reasons Neil had Lived He didn’t know, but there were eight

tw: violence, tw: torture, tw: temporary character death, tw: injuries

No More Fucks To Give by Wrotethis [Rated T, 53269 words, incomplete, last updated March 2023]

Part 1 of No More Fucks Land 

Neil rolled over and stared up at the ceiling. He’d get to play exy, eat regularly, and sleep somewhere with heating- presumably. Not a bad way to spend his last months. And hey, maybe his mother would come back from the dead and kill him herself if he went to Palmetto. Little victories. What if Neil gave up completely on making it through the year when he went to palmetto? What if Neil just did not give a single fuck? Maybe things would turn out better.

tw: violence, tw: suicidal thoughts, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: nonconsensual drug use, tw: implied/referenced eating disorders

If Only I Were Enough by Lostintheuniverseslies [Rated M, 33189 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

After Andrew moves to Colorado to start his professional Exy career, he intends on everything being okay between him and Neil. But when his self-destructive tendencies tell him that he doesn't need Neil Josten in his life, everything goes to shit. Things between them seem unrepairable and he's not so sure he wants to even try. But when Neil gets into a dangerous car wreck, Andrew finds himself back at the junkie's side with a deadline to fix things or walk away forever.

tw: depression, tw: violence

Already Gone by Nina_reads1804 [Rated M, 31856 words, incomplete, last updated June 2023]

Neil was the pervasive lie Andrew had foolishly allowed himself to indulge and been unable to shake. A person who would stay? Fairytale. It wouldn’t last. Forevers didn’t exist for him. With graduation on the horizon, Andrew makes the hard decision to leave Neil before Neil can leave him. But after a year, Andrew starts to wonder if maybe he was wrong. Maybe he can have it all.

tw: depression, tw: implied/referenced child abuse, tw: implied/referenced rape/noncon, tw: implied/referenced torture, tw: implied/referenced self harm

Sometimes I Think the Way We Met Happened Too Fast by andrewiel [Rated E, 25094 words, incomplete, last updated April 2023]

Neil and Andrew break up, but can never stay far apart.

tw: explicit sexual content

[ughgoaway]

As a trans person you shouldn't be associating yourself with people who feed into a transphobic and sexist narrative and are proud of it

she might not understand what she's doing, and that's on her, but I hope you realise how fucked up what she's doing is and tell her that instead of blindly supporting her because you like her porn.

i'm sad to see what 75 tumblr's come to, and i wish we could all get a sense of awareness back. not all kink is good and dandy, especially not what lena and other people are doing. As a trans person, you should be standing up against this type of behaviour, not condoning or endorsing it

okay, I'm gonna break this bullshit down piece by piece.

(paragraph 1)

"As a trans person you shouldn't be associating yourself with people who feed into a transphobic and sexist narrative and are proud of it"

I am proudly a trans person and proudly a supporter of lena. you branding her as transphobic with no actual understanding of the term or how it feels to be called a "fucking tranny" to your face do NOT get to tell me, a trans person, who to associate with. and if you are a trans person saying this? I am so disappointed in you. you projecting your complex relationship with femininity onto another person and calling them transphobic when trans people are being murdered and killing themselves because of actual transphobia is despicable.

lena's writing is in no way transphobic, and I will happily explain why. (next paragraph, sorry to make you read so much, I know it's exhausting for your 3 brain cells, but try and stay with me, babe)

(paragraph 2)

"she might not understand what she's doing, and that's on her, but I hope you realise how fucked up what she's doing is and tell her that instead of blindly supporting her because you like her porn."

right, what she's doing is not fucked up. if anything, it's progressive. lena is writing A MAN act/dress in a way that society deems "feminine" but the key thing is, he's still a man. having sex with a man and wearing a skirt does not make someone a trans woman. gender expression vs gender identity are two drastically different things. how you express your gender does not tell us what your gender is. if you see someone who identifies as a woman wearing trousers, is she a trans man? or what about me, a non binary person. what should I wear? if clothing dictates gender, I'm fucked because I don't have one. do you want me roaming around naked??? trans people want freedom of expression for EVERYONE. cis men embracing societally female things is not shameful, it's something to strive for.

Furthermore, if anyone is sexist, it's YOU. you have continually spoken as if being feminine is inherently wrong and disgusting. women are not wrong, and being a woman is not a bad thing. you're acting as if being feminine is a crime, when really it's something that should be respected and praised.

(paragraph 3)

"i'm sad to see what 75 tumblr's come to, and i wish we could all get a sense of awareness back. not all kink is good and dandy, especially not what lena and other people are doing. As a trans person, you should be standing up against this type of behaviour, not condoning or endorsing it"

I'm sad what 75blr has come to also because of awful people like you. you are a truly misinformed and miserable person. I hope you can eventually break down your issues with womenhood and femininity in your life because it's clear your relationship is extremely complicated.

kink is a fantasy, an expression of someone's inate desires. if they are performing kink in safe, consensual, and caring spaces- it's fine. kink isn't meant for society, it's private and therefore none of your fucking business.

I will quite happily stand with lena on the side of trans liberation, not with you as you break down and attack true allies. if you genuinely care about transphobia like you claim to, do something real about it. go to protests, fight to change laws, fight to keep trans people safe. no matter where you are in the world, trans people are being prosecuted, and you playing social justice warrior on tumblr isn't doing shit.

grow up and fuck off.

[shuttershocky]

How does Samurai Remnant compare to the Extella games? I just did the prologue (where you fight Rider, her minions, then Jalter), and so far its pretty fun!

I didn't play Extella Link and I like Samurai Remnant's gameplay much better, but really FSR and Extella are very different games.

While Extella was way more faithful to the standard musou format in that you didn't play as one character the majority of the time and it featured sprawling battle maps that you ran through and completed various objectives on rather than FSR's mini arenas for combat sections, it also had far less depth where no enemy posed a threat to you beyond the final boss of a route. Even enemy servants were simply tankier punching bags than the usual digital mook army, and an optional superboss that you were supposed to defang rather than face head-on like Sunlit Gawain was just way beefier but could be mauled the same as anything else.

Here's how Extella worked: You picked a character from the main menu to then play their route. The main story routes were Nero, Tamamo, Altera, then Nero again, but every character from Karna to Medusa also had mini routes you could play through. The game split the entire cast into 3 factions and 1 rogue: Nero's faction, Tamamo's, Altera's, and the secret character: Artoria, then these factions would determine your forces on a level.

A level would be a fairly expansive map (something like the size of a town on Samurai Remnant) littered with both enemy forces and your own. Your allied Servants would be all across the battlefield attempting to push into territory controlled by the enemy, or defend your parts of the map from invasion. While you usually just wanted to control the entire map, certain levels often gave you other objectives, such as defeating Gawain (the adviser/ battle leader of Nero's forces) who would be able to easily overpower all of your allies on his own.

This kind of faction-based combat was both the highlight of Extella and easily its biggest difference from FSR. When fighting Gawain for example as Tamamo's faction, Karna (the battle leader of Tamamo's forces) would task Lu Bu with delaying the solar-powered gawain for as long as possible while Tamamo would try to cut off all access to sunlight. You could come across them battling when travelling the map and Karna would push you to keep going and not let Lu Bu's sacrifice be in vain. When Lu Bu would inevitably fall, Medusa would travel to his location and take his place to buy you more time, until you were ready to face the depowered Gawain yourself.

This faction system allowed for some great and exciting variety to clearing levels. Fighting Tamamo's faction as Altera for example, would sometimes cause Karna himself to appear. Gilgamesh (the leader of Altera's forces) then yells in Altera's ear to get the fuck out, as even he would struggle against an enemy of that level, and the objective turns to escaping instead.

Additionally, playing as Nero and Tamamo, you could also access a transformation power through their wedding rings with Hakuno, in case you weren't plowing through enough enemies already. Noble Phantasms could also be used by collecting Noble Phantasm chips hidden throughout a level, where collecting 3 of them let you activate an NP.

Unfortunately Extella's puddle-depth combat really dragged down the setup. You can face sunlit Gawain yourself without depowering him, as he's just very tanky but not really dangerous as long as you keep mashing attack buttons. Same thing with Karna. You could go the whole game without ever activating a noble phantasm because these didn't do that much damage compared to simply facerolling the enemy with attacks they didn't defend themselves very well against. While it was really cool to have a map open all the time showing how the battle was progressing throughout the stage, the locations of all your servant allies, and seeing multiple servant battles occur at once, you were always a wrecking ball that had no issues fighting anything so stakes never felt as intense as they could be.

If there's anything Extella's combat actually did well though, it was making the original Saber feel like a badass again. Unlockable only via a secret method and the only character without a faction, Artoria's route was that she was summoned to end the three-way war all on her own, so you would spawn into stages with the entire map against you, but you were an unstoppable force of nature expected to take on multiple servants at once without any backup. There was even a funny level where Saber would take revenge for Fate/Zero, ambushing both Gilgamesh and Iskandar to take out two of Altera's generals at once.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is a much different game with only the same musou foundation built on it. Unlike Extella, you mostly play as a human Iori with multiple fighting styles and an expanded moveset, with servants being the (much more powerful) tag-in allies. Saber is your constant companion that follows you everywhere, and much of the game's combat revolves around Iori as a weak human fighting enemies much stronger than himself, only evening the odds by Saber's aid from combined attacks, commanding Saber to do certain techniques, or swapping to controlling Saber when their gauge is full. The game lets you play as other servants, but these are in short missions or side quests that act as pacebreakers from playing as Iori, and combat is focused on mini-arenas throughout an environment where you only need to take down everything onscreen, rather than accomplishing a set of objectives.

BECAUSE FSR is dedicated to the power differential between Iori and his enemies, FSR ends up with much more complex and interactive combat than Extella. While you shouldn't go expecting DMC or Soulslike combat (Nasu I know I'm not Shibusawa Kou but I think a Sekiro style game with Ryougi Shiki will be a cool idea trust me on this), you are expected to actually read enemy movements and dodge their attacks, and you don't have the power to suppress enemies forever under endless blows because of your limited physical strength. While Iori does grow in strength over the course of the game, a lot of Iori's upgrades involve actually increasing his options, allowing him to learn parries, crowd control, joint attacks with Saber, more efficient dodges, extra effects on his attacks etc that let him more fluidly take on dangerous enemies rather than let him overpower them with brute force.

[spoiler-alert-andabunchofnumbers]

Look, I love the Castlevania series and the Netflix adaptation made 3 great seasons ("Um there are 4 seasons" LIKE I SAID, 3 GREAT SEASONS), but we have got to talk about how disappointing it is that the main trio never met or even knew the existence of Hector and Isaac - or honestly, that entire half of the plot. I will forever find it weird that the show set up two related but never intersecting plot threads (and arguably a third, go figure during the worst season).

It's sweet and empowering that both of them found their own ways to live before and after Dracula's death, with Isaac being a total badass and even progressing to a better person despite seeing how unfair, cruel, and rude the world is - to the point that he defeats Carmilla not JUST because she was partly responsible for Dracula's death but because he actually wanted to make the world a better place. But even though Isaac could arguably be founding an entire empire and generation of peace, he and Hector don't even seem to know about Alucard's existence or contributions, let alone Trevor and Sypha.

We can debate Hector and Lenore's fucked up relationship all day, but in the end the two of them DID end up bonding through all the lies and deceit. They were able to actually talk to one another and have the other listen; in the end, both of them were just born in different worlds on different sides. Lenore genuinely seemed to want to settle things peacefully, but she got left behind in a world that valued only overwhelming strength; she decides she can't live as a prisoner even though Hector was no doubt stronger than her for enduring his own imprisonment and subjugation, but I think Lenore was already on her way to losing herself. Despite what she did to Hector, she wanted to at least believe she understood him; even though she was a sympathetic vampire, she still believed knowing enough to control someone was the only way they could be friends - so when it turns out Hector was plotting the downfall of Carmilla and her buddies, unfortunate Lenore had to be betrayed as well. Even if Hector wanted her to live, she was a living contradiction. A vampire who is physically very strong and intimidating, but a woman who other male vampires have looked down upon, and even male humans. A creature who feeds on humans, but one who wants to settle things peacefully. She absolutely had a role in Carmilla's gang of women just surviving, but in Carmilla's mad conquest, she was useless at best and a hindrance at worst.

In the end, Lenore was one of the few vampires that might have been sympathetic to the human side of the argument, but she physically couldn't live like that. I believed Lenore genuinely wasn't capable of turning her whole worldview upside down and aiding humanity in any way - being beneath them. Dracula opened himself up to one human and it destroyed him; he saved Hector and Isaac, but he also sacrificed himself and forced Isaac away, that was the extent of his personal affairs with them. I think it's fundamentally difficult for vampires to adopt human ideologies and empathy, making Alucard the only vampire ally we really have in the series - because he's only half. Unlike Alucard, she is a full vampire. She has a divide that she can't just bridge like he can.

Imagine if Alucard got to meet the only other humans beside his mother who genuinely looked up to and cared about his father. What would Isaac and Hector have to say to the son of the man they had admired and then lost as well? Imagine Alucard meeting another human who may have even fallen in love with a vampire, but who understands how far their worlds pulled each other apart. Or maybe Sypha can relate to having her eyes opened to a world outside her Speaker family. Imagine a discussion with Lenore about what it means to be caught between wanting to make peace with humans and knowing how much harm they cause - her actually getting a sympathetic vampire perspective from someone like Alucard who wouldn't look down on her.

Imagine the tension that could come from Trevor meeting a Forgemaster, Isaac trying to explain his control over Night Creatures and his ability to even make them fight for a sympathetic cause. Both Isaac and Trevor have experience being the outcasts, understanding how awful humans can be, but they both found their way to still fighting for the right thing. Trevor understands why killing Dracula's wife would make him want to purge the world in retribution, but he still knows humans are worth fighting for. Isaac fully abandoned his faith in humanity and believed in Dracula completely, and even THEN he managed to find the good amongst the rabble. Is it right to make Night Creatures from the dead, even if they were bad people? Even if it's to champion a good cause? Even if Hector and Isaac have full control over them without a potential for any sort of rebellion?

What I'm saying is, I love the idea of a new Castlevania series, but nothing will beat the OG season 1 and 2, and season 3 should have been answering questions and tying up loose ends - not going off on at least 3, 4 tangents that were just meant to come out of nowhere and make things shitty again after our happy ending and I guess they're kinda related but not really, so now we can fix the new shitty stuff and have ANOTHER happy ending and avoid showing anything resembling resolutions, just teaser after teaser for the fanfics to finish up.

Anyway so I'm going to the fanfics and if I don't come back, tell the Final Fantasy rants I love them-

[crackedmosaic]

I really didn't like Zahra's reaction to Vex'ahlia's death and how she was presented in episode 4. It just seemed so cold to me, especially since Zahra took an active part in the resurrection ritual in the original stream and it felt so out of character in general.

The series had set them up as old acquaintances and Zahra was clearly angry about the twins' betrayal, but her dynamic with Vex was more of 'bitter ex who got their feelings hurt but there's still a spark there' than outright hatred. This was obviously different to Critical Role, but felt like a good move to make due to time constraints and a different way to approach Vex and Zahra's catty rivalry evolution to flirtatious affection. This felt reinforced by the pair actively protecting each other in episode 3. Yes, they were trading barbs and trying to one up each other, but if Zahra really felt nothing for Vex then she could have easily done nothing and would have had no blame thrown towards her.

Which is why I was shocked by Zahra's reaction to Vex's death was surprise and then.... Nothing. Just annoyance that Vox Machina got to the vestige first. Arguing that Vex was dead and that was it. What??? I expected her role to be reduced, but I still thought there would be some emotional response, some outcry for her fallen friend. Then Zahra doubles down after all that and sets a monster on them, acting more like a villain than an ally, which just gives massive whiplash at the end of the episode when she gives Vex the necklace because obviously this version of Zahra doesn't give a fuck about her.

Vex and Zahra's friendship was so important in the original show, their similar backgrounds made them really connect in a way that was different to Vex's other friendships, because they really saw themselves in each other. They're both survivors who were traumatised by their fathers, knowing that they have to take what they can get because nothing is ever just given to them, but they care deeply for others and are willing to put themselves at risk to protect anyone in danger.

We get no semblance of this in TLoVM and it's reasonable to not get that depth since they have way too much content as it is, but I still expect to see the same characters we all know and love. To make Zahra capable of such callousness while smoothing out Kash's character (who is supposed to be a cynical grumpy asshole) is just frustrating to watch and first time viewers would have no idea why these characters are so loved by the fandom. It really makes no sense to me why Mary or any of the others went in this direction.

Now, I'm not saying that Zahra and Kash's actions shouldn't have been antagonistic. Going after the vestige makes sense and I honestly loved it until episode 4. A better idea would have been to set up the monster fight as an ambush when Zahra and Kash first left the group with the intention to get the vestige from VM rather than try to find it themselves, return to find Vex dead and both try to help bring her back, then realise that the monster was a mistake when they went to leave in an "Ah, we fucked up" moment. This wouldn't have changed much in terms of the events, but it would have made so much more sense to the characters.

All of this is to say that I'm deeply disappointed in how Zahra's characterisation progressed, especially since I was so looking forward to seeing her in the show and before episode 4 I was so happy with what we had.

[susannaius]

On the new Netflix YYH live action series...

Okay, so cramming two seasons worth of anime (52 episodes) into just 5 hours of live action (5 x 60 minutes) is just WILD. It was obviously possible, but it was wild. They made some bold editing choices on the way to make it happen, but they made an overall good job of it (well, as good as anything can get when you cram 52 episodes into 5 hours...). Anyway. Spoilers ahead.

My overall impression is that I had fun. They made this series a lot more edgy and dark than the anime, but they kept a lot of its goofiness, and managed to find a good balance. The visuals were also fantastic. I honestly did not expect the drawings to translate well into film, but the animation / FX crew did a great job. I have some minor qualms against how everyone looks like (like Kurama's hair or Hiei's turtleneck, who came up with those???), but they did not matter to me that much overall.

What I really missed was something I'm not sure how they could have reproduced in just 5 hours, and this is the sense of accomplishment and stakes. How long does the first two seasons take in the anime? Half a year, maybe? (Yusuke spends the summer break training with Genkai, then there are another 2 months (?) before the Dark Tournament.) So there is a lot more time both for bonding and level-upping.

There are a lot more steps, and those are a lot smaller, progress is a lot more gradual, and each step leads to the next a lot more organically. Here, this is somewhat compensated by the editing choices, like Kuwabara following Yusuke around (I especially liked the "slice the boulder" trope), or by Hiei wanting the dagger in the first place so he can find Yukina. But this way we end up on our very first joint mission fighting Karasu and Bui as well as the Toguros, in Kurama's yokai form and with the Black Dragon. Which is again, WILD, if we consider that as far as we know Kurama has not really used his yokai powers over the last 17 years, and Hiei has just made the Jagan eye for himself (which he did not even end up using that much).

Which is all... not necessarily relevant if someone has not seen the anime and accepts that okay, these boys have a lot more in them than what we were shown at first glance. They are yokai, after all, and we are shown very little of their stories. But I still miss how in the anime we were able to follow how Kurama hones his plant magic to artistic levels and how he learns to combine the strengths of Shuchi and Kurama, or how Hiei very slowly becomes domesticated, or how Kuwabara chills down and becomes a reliable ally.

And then there is Yusuke. They really managed to capture the essence of the character, and I loved them for it. At the wake, his picture was a really nice touch, I loved that face saying "Why do I have to smile for the camera? Please leave me alone?" Or how gentle he can be when he is not ordered around. They got his priorities right, and the steps that make him who he is were all there.

But again, time was VERY short. I mean, he was training for about 3 weeks with Genkai, and for the first two weeks he was mostly slacking. How am I supposed to believe that this is enough to defeat fucking Toguro, who was one of the strongest men to start with, then sold his soul for power, and spent the last 50 years becoming stronger and stronger, to the point when not even the scariest monsters currently available in the human world could satisfy him? Yes, Yusuke got the "orb", but consider that in the anime at that point he had been fighting and training almost constantly for half a year, receiving the orb still almost killed him, and then he had to sleep it off for several days. I am just... not convinced, sorry.

If anything, I think the live action series is a good gateway to the anime. Like, if someone is new or even not yet into the "fight and level-up" anime genre, this can be a great motivation for them to check it out. YYH is almost 30 years old, after all, so there might (might!) be people who have not yet come across it, even though they would probably enjoy it.

TLDR: I think the Netflix YYH Live Action series is fun, it is gorgeous, it has some solid editing choices that help it cram fifty-fucking-two episodes of anime in just five hours of film, and if it helps some newcomers find and enjoy the anime (or even the manga, which I don't know), I'm only happier for it.

[sevicia]

In 2035 there will be a way to connect apps to your heart rate monitor chip (they became mandatory in 2028) and you can hook it up to Tumblr and they introduce a function that like shows a person's heart rate on their blog (you can disable it but you have to do it again after 3 days) and obviously it bugs out a lot cause this is in fact Tumblr so when people get into discourse and they start watching other people's heart rate monitor blog widgets like HAWKS they'll see it flatline and start cheering all around ("🎉🌟 HOUSEKEEPER DOWN 🌟🎉") (there is discourse about "housekeepers" which is what landlords are called now because owning land became extremely common after the housing market collapsed in 2030) (actual housekeepers are mad as fuck and part of the discourse) and then the monitor just starts up again and everyone's mad as fuuuck not even impressed anymore because the first few times it happened people thought the bloggers who "died" just got revived via necromancy or something and all the "came back wrong" posts started going STRONG again and the x reader/imagine blogs were posting shit like "Imagine Jungkook being in love with you, but too shy to say anything because you are so radiant.... So he watches over you through your Tumblr blog and when he sees your heart monitor flatline he feels his own heart break he's crying so hard, and he DMs you confessing his love to you at last.... except it was just a bug and you get to read it right as your heart rate monitor connects properly again. He sees it start up again and is now crying tears of relief, even though the monitor shows a very high heartrate for some reason.... You decide to reply.... LIKE & RB FOR PART 2!!! 🫶" and then some guy figures out how to hack into people's heart rate monitor chips through reverse engineering the stupid fucking Tumblr blog widgets and starts killing people whose online personas he doesn't like via electrocution and this SUCKSSSS because his reading comprehension skills are like below those of the average Tumblr user (and the average Tumblr user's reading comprehension skills have gone downhill very quickly) so he just keeps fucking killing people and no one knows who he is because every other day there are like 10 to 12 edgelords claiming to be him until he lets his ego grow too big and blows his own cover when he answers an anon calling him a dumb fuck for being pro-widget killing (there's an entire community) by describing how the killing process works (the reply starts with "No. You know what? Fuck this. Fuck you.") and then he gets doxxed and put on the news and Tumblr faces a big fat lawsuit because staff just forgot 🥺 to nuke the post where he described how to kill people via their stupid fucking blog widgets that you have to disable every 3 days and everyone just started killing eachother and so it turns out that the real-life modern Light Yagami was always destined to be a Tumblrina instead of a Redditor/4channer and #monitorTHIS trends on Twxttxr (which is what Twitter/X was renamed to after a #girlboss #ally influencer won an arm wrestling match against Elon Musk back in 2028) (she replaced the vowels with x's to make it "gender neutral") (Musk was shot in the back of the head after he lost the match) (there are conspiracy theories claiming that she's actually on Elon's team and the whole thing was staged so Twitter could rebrand a 2nd time and be more "progressive" and make money off gays paying a monthly subscription that makes it so their tweets can only be read by people with the same labels as them on their Twxttxr bios) (the most used piece of "evidence" to prove this theory is the fact that Elon likes the letter X) for the next 3 weeks until a travel vlogger spots Elon alive and well on a cave near the edge of a cliff in Perú and then #PUSHHIMOFF trends instead

[hindahoney]

Tbh even at my synagogue there's so much anti orthodox sentiment and it makes me really sad. We're liberal/progressive which of course means we generally don't always agree with typical orthodox values, we would go to an Orthodox synagogue instead of this one if we did, but I hear a lot of talk among our community that I find really disrespectful of Orthodox Jews! Things like blanket accusations of homophobia and sexism which just...isn't true if you even glance in the direction of all the queer Orthodox Jews that exist. I swear people just like to say "Orthodox is bad to gay people!!!!" and all the gay Orthodox Jews are like "uh no it's not, we're actually a huge influential part of the Orthodox community, you can't just ignore that we're here, and youre choosing to ignore all the work that queer Orthodox Jews have put in to make our spaces safe and accessible" and then others still go "it's so sad how no queers can thrive in Orthodox spaces :(( sometimes it's like I can still hear their voices"

It's very much not the same thing but for the sake of analogy, it reminds me of American queers who say shit like "The southern states are so homophobic there's nothing there for us this is so sad <\3" while completely ignoring that the south is actually full of queer people, some will live their whole lives in those places and aren't any less queer or influential there than elsewhere, and it's super homophobic to make statements like that. Like sure just go ahead and assume gay people in the south are all completely trapped and powerless and tragic and nonexistent instead of acknowledging that there are thousands of fully realised queer human beings there whose experiences shouldn't be swept under the rug to accommodate the popular narrative that South Bad.

Im not saying Orthodox communities never have issues with things like racism, homophobia, sexism etc, but like?? So do Reform and Liberal communities??? Stop pretending we're absolutely perfect while being so grossly antisemitic *to other Jews*. I've had encounters with transphobic Jews at my synagogue and while I was able to sort it out and get them to a place of understanding my upset and showing remorse and changed behaviour, it feels like people just want to ignore that this shit can still happen in progressive spaces, because it doesn't fit their narrative of Reform Good Orthodox Bad.

I considered going down a conversion route to become Orthodox a few years ago and didn't go through with it, but I did get to engage with my.local Orthodox rabbi and hoooooly shit it's been so saddening and eye opening the way every Orthodox Jew I've spoken to has, very early on, gone "don't worry I'm not sexist I promise!!" because they KNOW people are going to make horrible assumptions about them just based on their culture. Like fuck it tells a sad story about the way people including other Jews must treat them. Straight up antisemitic

I promise not all Liberal, Reform, progressive etc Jews feel negatively about Orthodoxy, it's just irritatingly common and I really heavily sympathise with all the shit you must have to go through. You aren't without allies but I don't blame you for feeling alone when this is how you're often treated.

(ik this isn't my blog but @ goyim: comment on this and i will bite your head off, this is a threat.)

Thank you for sharing your story. I by no means am saying I don't have my own qualms with orthodoxy, and things that I disagree with my community about. But that's okay, it's encouraged to disagree.It depends on who you ask whether they would call me orthodox or not, certainly more liberal Jews would view me this way. But out of respect for the orthodox community, I don't feel comfortable taking on that identity yet, but ultimately that's the goal. For right now I feel comfortable calling myself "frum."

It's incredibly painful when I see Jews throwing other Jews under the bus, because I take the term "tribe" seriously. When Cain asks HaShem "Am I my brother's keeper?" the Torah, and as consequence, the Jews, answered unequivocally yes. A Jew across the world that I've never met is, in my eyes and my entire soul, my family. So when I see my family fighting with each other over complete misunderstandings that could be solved if we just listened more, it hurts.

I feel like when people see me they assume I'm socially backward, as if there's no way I can square my religious beliefs with acceptance of LGBT+ people (as if I myself don't/can't identify as queer), or with women having a more involved role in services. They just assume we are a monolith, as if we're a group of worker ants that all operate and think the same exact way.

There are queer orthodox Jews who have made their space in orthodoxy. There are women who feel like they thrive in orthodoxy, who are NOT "ruled over" by their husbands, and are not forced to dress modestly, but choose it for themselves because they feel more comfortable that way.

[xenon-demon]

hiya!!! just wanted to say i LOVED your kas!steve post so much it makes me squeal with delight no joke

any chance you can drop some details about steve's new appearance/abilities 👀 because i would love to hear more!!! (⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧

Hi thank you SO much!!! <3 I have so many THOUGHTS about Kas!Steve constantly and am always keen to talk about it! (if I defeat my crippling executive dysfunction issues long enough to post more I can tag you in it if you'd like 👀👀)

Kas!Steve's whole deal is that Vecna revived him to act as his "ultimate weapon", particularly against the bunch of meddling kids who already interfered with his plans once. He's not worried about the government or any of the scientists ruining his plans, he's worried about Eleven and her allies. He knows damn well the Party & co are going to have a much harder time defeating one of their own, or at least something that looks like one of their own, than an assortment of inhuman beasts. Plus, having a second in command who is intelligent is an asset to Vecna (and Steve, while not academically gifted, is really good at tactics/strategical thinking).

This got wayyyyy longer than I thought it would so I'm chucking this under a readmore, I have "can't shut the fuck up" disease and it's terminal.

BASICALLY I wanted Kas!Steve to be at least a little different from the classic fandom depictions of Kas!Eddie, just for flavour - so to start with Steve absolutely Does Not have wings. Regarding his appearance, the main stuff is:

prehensile, multiple tails like the demobats do - Steve has 5 tails, with one (the central one) being slightly longer and thicker than the rest while the rest sort of loosely weave together around it at rest. They can be controlled independently, but it's quite difficult to do so and Steve is absolutely not at that point yet. It's like - if he went "I want to grab that object with my tails" they would all wrap around it to grab it securely like a human hand would, but it would take a looooooot of practice and experience with this new form to go "I want to hold a different object in each tail at the same time" (and even then it'd be tricky as fuck/take a lot of concentration).

FANGS. So all of Steve's teeth are now sharper and pointed, like the democreatures tend to have, but in addition to that boy's got MAD fangs. His top canines actually jut out from under his top lip and visibly dig into his bottom one, Steve has to relearn how to hold his face when his mouth is shut to hide them. His bottom canines are also larger and pointier than the rest of his teeth, but less egregiously than his top ones. Plus he has claws too, where his finger/toenails have essentially expanded and hardened so instead of just being a "cap" on top of the digit, his fingers and toes blend from skin to keratin and end in a hardened, sharp point. It is actually possibly to file/trim them without hurting him though, with appropriate tools (since they're harder than human nails).

Steve's eyes have vertical pupils now (like cats), since he's got what essentially amounts to DnD darkvision. They also glow gold when Steve's craving blood. Or craving... other things. (I'm talking about being horny his eyes glow gold when he's horny. In Steve's defense, bloodlust and regular lust are kinda intertwined when you're a vampire.)

His skin is also just that bit tougher than it used to be, Steve no longer gets scrapes or cuts as easily.

He does still eat food in addition to blood, he's just carnivorous now - lots of meat (can be cooked but tbh raw is better) and animals products like eggs and dairy. He doesn't digest plant products properly anymore and will throw up if he eats too much of it. As for human blood... he doesn't NEED it to survive, but he craves it, and it gives him a boost to his abilities when he's drank some recently (in that what I've described is him at Full Power™, and if it's been a while since he's had blood it's progressively harder and harder to do those same things). He also just Looks Sick if it's been a whie since he's drank blood. Also when he's out of the Upside Down (especially if, say, he was no longer connected to the hivemind) if he doesn't drink human blood on a regular basis he WILL go feral and revert to a much more animalistic state of mind.

Now the fun stuff, aka his powers:

Superhuman strength, pretty much no one would be able to beat him in a one-on-one, hand-to-hand fight. Bring a weapon, ideally a gun. He also has better stamina than a regular human would and tires much less easily.

Heightened senses - he can see in the dark better than humans ever could and his sense of smell is heightened (particularly smelling blood, human blood in particular). His hearing is actually not that much better than a normal human's, but very high pitched or "artificial" sounding noises grate on him in a way they never used to (e.g. Curse The Fucking Fluorescent Lightbulb Buzz).

He's connected to the hivemind like all UD creatures are, but unfortunately that means he's connected to Vecna. Vecna has a very strong connection to him, given that it was through Vecna's powers that he was revived, and he can plunge Steve into a hallucination whenever he pleases just like with the curse victims. This is how he communicates Steve over long distances.

Steve also has vampiric thrall/mind control abilities, but he can only really pull it off when he's freshly loaded up on blood. It also works best for simple instructions - he could exert simple, one-word-command type control over almost anyone, but complicated multi-step instructions or more abstract things (e.g. being encouraged to forget about something or instructed to not answer certain questions going forwards, indefinitely) would only really work on someone Steve has an extended, close relationship with. It works through eye contact - the gold eye glow also happens when Steve's using these abilities. But shhhhhh I'm sure Eddie's going to be totally fine, everything is chill he'll be fiiiiine ;)

God this is WAY LONGER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE I'M SO SORRY. I hope you enjoy the lore drop!! <3 Let me know if there's anything else you want to know about because I could talk about this AU all day, I'm obsessed with it