#but you won't have been my target audience in that case

[bowtiepastabitch]

Here's the deal on the Good Omens limbo situation. My optimistic and analytic two cents, if you will.

If we look at this through a capitalistic lens, the chances of the show being cancelled are pretty slim at the moment. Think for a moment about the top three amazon prime originals that you pay/keep the platform for. Can you think of three? I honestly can't, not off the top of my head. I know I'm not really the target audience for streaming services, since I don't watch a lot of new shows, but still. I can name plenty of netflix shows I like/might watch. That's why Netflix can cancel anything and everything so easy. They don't have just one or two fandom cash cows.

Amazon, though, doesn't have a lot. Here's a list of all their original shows. I only even recognize 8 titles. I've only actually watched 2. Plus, Good Omens is currently one of the biggest fandoms in fandom right now, with Aziracrow being the top ship on ao3 for the Jan-Dec 2023 wrap up and again on the Summer 2024 leaderboard, as well as the top ship on tumblr and Good Omens as the top tv show (plus second overall after Artists on Tumblr) for 2023. We're a big deal, and I'd bet money that they're betting money on us. I also lowkey think we're the reason Amazon is spending money on a british miniseries starring Michael Sheen tbh but that's just speculation. The show has also won a slew of awards, the same of which cannot, to my knowledge, be said of many of their other properties.

So let's talk production changes; I think there's a good chance they're doing this for the same reason. Our fandom had unique access to the creator via tumblr, and a majority of the conversation around the allegations of SA against Gaiman were and are taking place in fandom spaces. There have been petitions to fire him from the show and conversations (both productive and otherwise) about the duties of fandom when engaging with content connected to problematic individuals. Meanwhile, Gaiman has effectively dissappeared from the internet. Additionally, the video and threads sharing that Terry Pratchett wrote most of the original book have been making the rounds here and I think on the bird app(?). All that to say, if they're betting on us they want to make us happy and keep their good PR. I don't ever expect a major corporation to make a "good" decision, but they will always make the profitable one.

There is, of course, also the matter of the Pratchett estate and the other major players in the matter: the actors, directors, and creative team. These are forces at play with the power to block or stall productivity and profit for Amazon through copyright and labor power. I can imagine there's conversations happening backstage that we don't know about as well as what we see in headlines.

Ultimately, I think the biggest risk to season 3 is unfortunately going to be Neil Gaiman himself and how he responds to the situation at hand. If he steps back quietly, we're living in our best case scenario and everything moves forward as much according to plan as can be expected with at least this small justice being served. I see a hissy fit on his end as the greatest potential wrench in proceedings, but that would exacerbate the (currently quiet in the mainstream) bad PR for him so I give it low odds.

All that to say. From a pragmatic viewpoint, Amazon's best interest seems to be entirely tied to ours as a fandom, and I anticipate Season 3 being made and most likely being only minorly delayed. Either way. What happens behind the scenes in corporate office buildings between rich white men is entirely out of my and your control. I know how huge anxiety can get when it relates to a special interest or a community that has a huge role in your life, and whatever happens we're in this together as a fandom. It's going to be alright. Take a deep breath and maybe get some water. Whatever happens, we're in this together as a fandom, and at least it won't be the end of the world;)

[007reid]

coffee caramels. spencer reid

this is my submission for the cm meet cute (or not) challenge by @imagining-in-the-margins ! i did VERY loose research on the stuff spencer sprouts off on because i am not our boy genius so sorry if there are any inaccuracies ':( this is my first time writing for spencer but i literally love it so much and i'd love to write more so plz flood my inbox with requests for him plzzz 😭

pairing: fem!reader x spencer reid

prompt: character sits next to a stranger in the theater, but the two end up bonding when there's a technical glitch.

warnings: slightly grumpy!reader and sunshine!spencer my fav trope <333 confident reader, reader makes the first move, spencer being a bbg and blushing a lot ;)) all the good stuff

word count: 2.7k

you arrived at the theater ten minutes early, bee-lined to the popcorn section and asked for extra butter. you loaded your oily popcorn up with coffee caramels and chocolate-covered coffee beans and bought a large coke. you walked in the theater, confident and fully armed with enough caffeine to hopefully keep you awake during the entire thing. you have tape in your bag to peel your eyes open just in case things go south, but you're confident enough to believe that it won't.

because it can't.

"aelita," your professor had said on friday, "is a russian phenomenon, and it is one of my top favorite films. considering how you are all in a russian literature class, i can make the safe assumption that you are all interested in russian culture."

now, not only were you in a russian literature class as an elective like two-thirds of your class, you were also a russian literature and poetry major. how you ended with that major baffles you and there hasn't been a day where you wanted to choose another major, but there hasn't been a day where you weren't depressed about your poor decision-making either. it's a battle you fight every day.

"aelita was first screened in 1924, and this year, next week, there will be a worldwide re-screening of the film in its originality, no edits, completely authentic, except with added subtitles for those who need it, of course," this was when your professor got very stern. "i want all of you to go and watch it. if you don't want to, fine, but there will be an assessment grade on this movie. this is not optional. i believe that the content of this movie is very true to our..."

at that point you had stopped listening, because you knew what your professor wanted you to do, and you dreaded doing it.

two hours, silent, black and white, russian film with subtitles. and you have to hang onto the movie's every word.

not your ideal saturday night plans, but for your academic career, you were willing to take that leap; looking like a sore loser at the empty theater with black framed glasses on instead of getting fucked up in someone's bathtub. it's fine. the partying was all up to the business majors anyway.

when you walked into the theater, it was, understandably, vacant, save for a couple men and women with graying hair or bald scalps and bad backs. you were clearly not the target audience. none of them had snacks on them either, and you felt awkward being the one responsible for the strong aroma of butter and coffee that stuffed the place the moment you walked in. a gentleman coughed in his hanker-chief and flared his nostrils. you were intimidated already.

you tracked down your seat and decided to not let any of it distract you. you needed a good grade on this assessment. you had already bombed your previous test on the imperial era; you don't need another bad grade stacked on top of it. you're acing this test, no matter what, and you're going to absorb this movie so well that it might as well be your favorite.

as you waited for the film to start, you munched on several of the coffee caramels, the caffeine slow to kick in. you shrugged it off. there's a whole bucket of sugar to fuel you through the film.

in midst of biting into a shelf of a chocolate-covered-coffee-bean, you heard a light thud and a hiss, and the quiet muttering of "i'm good, ow." an old man by the stairs called out;

"you alright, son?"

"yes sir," the man said. despite being alright, he was limping to his seat, and you watched him attentively, for there wasn't much else for you to observe. he limped closer and closer to you by row, ticket in his hand and checking the letters on the rows. he stopped at your row, and then walked crookedly and settled down in the seat right next to you.

you chewed on your popcorn as you directed your attention somewhere else, your determination slightly deflated. the film was late into starting, but you were still going strong.

"oh wow," you heard the man mumbled next to you, and looked over to see what he was talking about, nosy. but he was looking at you.

"what?" you said indignantly, immediately dropping the oily popcorn in your hand and wiping at your mouth, feeling oddly self-conscious. but mostly irritated. you'd say you hid your whiplash pretty well when you saw how pretty the man was when you looked over at him. you were so smooth with it. "chocolate on my face?"

"what? oh, no," the man breathed out a small laugh. he's got a soft, shy voice that got your insides feeling like broken tomato bits.

"then what?" you demanded, but not too authoritatively because you didn't want to chase him away. you kept it cool and in control. totally. it was hard to find eye candy in quantico, and the last place you would expect to find someone so pretty is in the theater for a fucking silent film.

even though it was dark, you could still catch the bright blush that crept up the man's neck, but it might be because he felt hot under all those layers. seriously, he was dressed like your grandpa, sweater vest, tie, collared shirt and all, but it was tied together in some kind of way that made it work, and it was the way the man carried himself that made him look youthful in all those ancient clothing.

"nothing," he ducked his head away, "i was just talking out loud."

you didn't have to be sherlock holmes to know that he was lying. "you liar," you accused, wiping your hand even more aggressively over your face. "i do have something on my face, don't i? just tell me if i do!"

"you don't have anything on your face!" he said, an indecisive and uncracked smile playing on his lips. you grumbled and turned back to look at the screen, still waiting for the film to start, popping candy in your mouth. in was silent for a merciful while, until the man said, "did you know that dmitri shostakovich conducted the music for this film and during its first showings in leningrad since the film was silent he came personally and played the piano whenever the soundtrack would be playing?"

you hummed. no you did not.

"i was surprised when i saw you, you don't look over sixty at all," the man continued. you didn't know how to take this piece of information as a compliment or an insult. "whenever i come to these things, it's only me who doesn't have grey hair. well, some people dye it, which looks pretty obvious because you can't really hide age, y'know?"

usually you'd be annoyed. very annoyed, in fact, you'd switch seats to be away from the guy. but this one's got a nice voice, and the moment he sat down you caught a scent to him immediately, that old cashmere and cotton scent that comes from old, thrifted clothes that you'll find dug deep somewhere in your grandmother's basement or in vintage stores, and sugar cookies and mint and coffee. it's a good smell, is all. you weren't being creepy about it.

"i'm not over sixty," you assured him. "just scraping twenty-two."

"oh! i'm twenty-two too!" the man said excitedly. he had child's glee to him, which you found more endearing than annoying. you didn't know why. you didn't know why you were still sitting with the man instead of scurrying three rows away like you would have normally the moment any stranger tried to attempt small talk with you.

maybe you were a changed woman.

"how crazy," you mused. you didn't sound half as interested or excited as the man did, but he had most definitely got your undivided attention. you nature tells you to not show it.

"how did you hear about this movie? i tried to get some of my friends to watch it with me, but none of them were too interested...except emily, she's usually more interested because she can speak russian but she got plans this weekend," his face fell into a thoughtful frown at the end, and the clockwork in your brain started to turn at the mention of 'emily.' was that his girlfriend? special lady? you shouldn't be googling, then.

"my professor created an assessment for this movie," at the man's inquiring look, you explained further, "it's for my russian lit class."

his eyes shone like a fucking diamond at that, as if russian lit was the most exciting thing he had ever heard of in his life. you could tell that you were looking at the kind of guy who would decline a party full of seniors to go read a dictionary at home. "is that like an elective you take? 'cause it's a subject that fascinates me a lot, but the demand for it is so slim that--"

he was cut off by the movie finally starting and flickering to life. you turned away immediately, eyes focused and attention zeroed onto the introduction screen. screw the pretty boy for now, you thought, you might as well pack your things and go back to your hometown if you fuck up this movie's assessment. it needed your attention.

black and white and grimy, a pretty font wrote 'aelita, adapted by alexei tolstoy.' but as soon as the film started, the picture quickly collapsed, blurring and then fading into black. with the audience being so small, there wasn't much commotion but whispers of confusion began to arise as the lights began to bleed more yellow, lighting up the theater more. it was as if the movie was over.

"sorry folks," a voice came from the grainy megaphone above all of them. "some trouble with the tape. we are trying our best, but not sure of our luck. all tickets will be refunded if bought online or you bring your ticket to us for a mark so you can present your current ticket right now at the next showing. thanks for your patience."

you looked exaggeratedly around, and the man in the sweater vest next to you looked equally as disappointed.

"my professor is not going to believe me," you muttered under your breath, but the man caught it anyway and chuckled quietly. you looked down at your still full bucket of popcorn and your large coke. you glanced over to the man next to you, not too smart things lottering around in your head. you travel through the subway, and the ride to your street is not until two hours. you weren't going to spend it morosely eating popcorn in the waiting lobby.

"is emily your girlfriend?" you asked suddenly. there was no point in being shy. the man's mouth unhinged from his jaw immediately, and you stared at him. his cheeks quickly stained an innocent pink.

"what?" he squeaked, his voice a higher pitch, caught off-guard. "no! no, she-she's my coworker!" he sounded almost offended.

this took you by surprise. you didn't know people who were close to their coworkers existed. "so you don't have a girlfriend?"

the blush on the man's face kept getting brighter and brighter. you bit your lip to keep from smiling like a fool. with how endeared you were by him, it's strange to think that you don't even know his name yet. it was rare for you to really be so mindful and think such soft things about somebody, especially to a stranger.

you were a changed woman. but maybe it's because of the coffee caramels messing with your head. sugar and caffeine tend to do that.

"no," the man said, then cleared his throat. he was fiddling with his fingers, an obvious stim. "no, i don't have a girlfriend."

"sweet," you grinned, "then no one would mind if i take you on a date, would they?"

he choked and got engulfed in a coughing fit, bending over in his seat. the red of his sweater vest nearly blinded you but you patted his back supportively. when his coughing ceased and he sat back up again, his eyes avoided yours for a while as he fought to keep the redness in his face down before he looked at you again.

"so?" you raised your eyebrow. "the night doesn't wait, pretty boy."

the nickname just slipped out of your mouth, and you cringed at the weight of it. how out of pocket. you were going to go home and contemplate this conversation later. but right now, you were trying to take out probably the sweetest looking boy you've ever seen, and that was a more important matter as of.

"okay," he said, and that was that.

"okay," you repeated. "let's start with finishing this, yeah?" you looked down at your bothersomely big bucket of popcorn. "we can walk to the park and eat it and feed it to the ducks."

"actually, it's not safe for ducks to consume popcorn because it causes digestive issues especially if consumed in large quantities and disrupts their natural diet," the man recited matter-of-factly, blinking at you obliviously as if he just didn't acted like a fucking android. you huffed out a laugh. handsome and smart. pretty much a package deal.

"the popcorn will be just for us then," you promised, standing up. he followed suit, as a lone line of people started to exit the theater. "i hope you aren't a serial killer in disguise," you said jokingly, but not really, because that was a genuine threat. he laughed. it was a sweet, syrupy sound that you could soak up and not get sick of for a long time.

"that's ironic," he mumbled, and it flew past your head, you being too busy maneuvering out of the rows.

"what was that?"

"nothing," he smiled, bright and easy. the initial nervousness was already beginning to melt away. when you were side by side, his hand accidentally brushed yours and when you looked up at him, he was already looking another way, pretending to be distracted by the movie posters but the red in his ears and neck gave it away. you smiled to yourself and grabbed his hand, holding your bucket of popcorn in the other.

"i forgot," you said, suddenly. his head whipped around to face you, but not before lingering his gaze at your intertwined hands. "i didn't get your name."

it was a foolish thing to say, you were holding a man's hand and you were pressed up side-by-side against him and you don't even know his name. he smiled softly, though, like he didn't mind. "i'm spencer reid."

"i'm y/n y/l/n."

"hi y/n," spencer said. you exited the theater and he started slightly swinging your joined hands. you laughed, the popcorn and candy in the bucket rattling and threatening to spill but you didn't care. "i'm a little disappointed," he said, pouting a little bit, bottom lip jutting out. "i was excited for the movie."

you breathed out an incredulous laugh. what a guy.

"i wasn't," you said, honestly. yours and spencer's arms were still swinging, and you resisted the uncharacteristic giggle bubbling at your throat. "rather be doing this instead." unexpected date at the park with a pretty boy in a red sweater vest or a boring silent film? the answer sounded pretty obvious to you.

"hm," spencer hummed, amused. "i guess i can catch the movie some other time."

"you can catch it with me," you blurted, and it sounded too early to say. you haven't had a proper conversation with the guy yet, you didn't know what he does and how he is, you didn't know whether or not he has a cat or a dog or a parrot or a ferret or if his room is kept tidy or messy, and you didn't know how much you were going to like him once the night is over. asking for a second date when the first one hadn't even started felt like too much, but it also felt like the right thing to say.

and if it's right, it's good enough for you.

spencer smiled shyly. when you turned right on the street, he pulled you back by your hand and redirected you left. "let's go the scenic route," he said, casually, and you could tell by the magenta tinge in his cheeks and the way he was firmly looking forward, avoiding your eyes that he wasn't feeling as casual as he sounded.

"want some of my popcorn?" you offered, feeling the large bucket was burdening you.

"oh, no thanks," spencer said. "i'm sure the pigeons will appreciate it more than me."

"does popcorn ruin their digestive system and disrupt their natural diet, too?"

spencer popped a large grin. it sat beautiful on his pretty face. "you listened," he said happily, and it felt like a large airbag had just inflated in your lungs. "no, i think pigeons are too used to picking our food, especially those in the city," a long pause, and "in fact, pigeons have a stronger digestive system than most birds due to adaptation, but the strongest out of all of them are vultures, whose stomach acid are so strong it doesn't get sick e eating rotten and bacteria-infested meats."

you hummed. you wished you had paid closer attention to what he said, but instead you paid attention to the smooth sound of his voice and how nice it sounded. well. you'll get there one day.

[lackadaisycats]

hello! I love your work, and my sister watched the pilot a couple days after the premiere and I wanted to ask if the upcoming season stuck to the same warnings as the first. She is 9 and loves the pilot, my parents are ok with the themes in the video and I wanted to ask if there is any planned gore parts(Rocky’s head split, for example) or heavy themes upcoming so my parents and I can screen the episodes before my sister watches, otherwise we’ll both watch the day of! I donated for the two physical copies and we’ll have a blast reading them when they come in! Have an amazing day :D

**mild spoilers for anyone wanting to watch the series without having read the comics** Even if she's younger than our target audience, I'm really touched to hear your sister enjoyed the pilot!

The series will have the same warnings about violence and adult themes (specifically in reference to the shooting, drinking and criminal activity). A lot of the series will have the same combination of levity and drama, music and poetry too, though.

There are some episodes that will contain some pretty intense violence, particularly later in the season, but it probably wouldn't constitute 'gore'. Shots generally won't linger on the gruesome particulars. You could say Rocky's head injury had been an exception to that rule in the comic, but that doesn't appear in what we have planned for Season 1, at least.

Overall, you might imagine the rating is PG-13, so for someone of your sister's age, it is probably best if she watches in the company of an adult. I think pre-screening the episodes as you've suggested would probably be your safest bet too, in case there's something you should skip over for her sake.

[five-hxrgreeves]

im dYIIIINGGGG with the adam warlock x quill sister! when he calls her 'little quill'??? with that accent of his??? so soft and husky??? im screaming at my phone dude aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i need part iii right freaking now!!!

PAIRING: adam warlock & fem! quill’s sister!reader

POWERS: adapted from D.C.'s Stargirl, although in this instance, the powers are a part of you and the staff just helps you use them.

WC: 1.9k (woo a shorter one this time!) 

SUMMARY: your first meeting with Adam wasn't one that indicated that you'd become friends anytime soon. Your second meeting. . . wasn't great either. But, somewhere along the line, you would develop a soft spot for the curious man-child.

WARNINGS: slight gotg three spoilers, badly written original fight scene, possibly ooc canon!guardians.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: OMG!!! This is my first-ever inbox message- thank you, anon! You made my day with this <3 I love Adam's/Will's accent; I definitely hope that we get to see (and hear) more of him in other Marvel movies. As requested, here's part three (even if it's technically part zero, lol.) I do take requests if anyone wants to send me stuff! (I just won't write smut, sorry!)

I hope you guys enjoy this part, although I'm not very confident about it since I'm terrible at writing fight scenes. It's hard enough for me to imagine original content (like the other two parts) but scenes where people move around a lot without the movie itself to rely on are very difficult for me because my mind doesn't think in pictures, but in words and I don't know how to describe fighting. I'm sorry if this isn't as good as the other parts. 😭

And on a side note, the 'no shit, Captain Sherlock' is another reference to space people messing up Terran lingo :)

Part 1 , Part 2

You were admittedly not in the best mood when you first (officially) met Adam. Peter and Mantis had left only days ago, leaving you to sort out your feelings alone. You were currently in the training room, fueling your sadness into anger at their abandonment. You often used your powers to aid you while you were fighting, but they weren’t much use during everyday life— unless you wanted to fly. Now, however, they were very useful.

Brilliant blasts of golden light shot out from the staff that your hands gripped tightly. While your powers could be used without aid, the staff helped you control them; Ego had made it for you when you’d become old enough to serve as his protector. Although you were disgusted with the weapon’s origins, you couldn’t help but agree that it made your fighting much more effective.

Each of your blasts hit the targets squarely in the middle as you turned deftly to conquer the row. A scowl was prominent on your face as you pictured each of your targets as Peter’s or Mantis’ face. (While you would never really want to hurt them, of course, the sting of their desertion fueled your thoughts.) You were listening to a playlist by the Rage Against the Machine— which you had chosen solely because of the band’s name as it mirrored your feelings. The music that was blasting in your ears was so loud that, if someone had been standing next to you, they could have heard the lyrics as if they were wearing your headphones themselves.

As you moved up and down the line of targets, you were unaware of the audience of three that had entered the room. Groot, Rocket and Adam stopped by the entrance to watch you unleash your fury against whatever enemy you were envisioning. The new leader of the Guardians gestured to you. “There. See? I told you she’s nice.”

Adam hesitated, clearly uncertain. “She looks mad.”

“I am Groot,” Groot agreed.

“Shut up,” Rocket retorted, glaring slightly at the tree who was supposed to be helping his case. “She won’t hurt goldie. You’ve already seen her bad side, haven’t you? This is nuthin’.”

The golden boy had to admit that Rocket was right; he remembered only too well his first encounter with you as you’d jumped in to help your friends fight off his unexpected attack.

--

He’d just defeated the stupid tree-like thing and as it scuttled away like a demented spider, the faint sound of a whistle pierced through the air. An arrow shot out of nowhere, harmlessly bouncing off his skin and only annoying him more than anything else. He looked around sharply, but there didn’t seem to be anyone brave enough to fight him in the vicinity. “Hey! Who threw that?”

He scoffed when there was no answer, stalking towards where he’d last seen his target. But before he could get very far, a force came out of nowhere— this time much stronger than an errant arrow. It knocked him off his feet like a bullet and together they were sent flying through the town, which elicited more cries of fear from the citizens.

He landed harshly against a building that got in the way and debris fell on top of him from the force of the collision. Adam grunted irritably; this was the second time during this fight that his enemy thought that throwing him into a building would be enough to deter his attack— didn’t they ever learn? He stood and shook the dust off his clothes before he strode back out to the street to face this new opponent. Except— it wasn’t the same blue person from before.

The golden boy stared at the other person with disbelief, the only thing that he could come up with was: “you’re a girl!”

She scoffed. “Yeah, no shit, Captain Sherlock.” She twirled the staff in her hands expertly between her fingers before she set the butt down on the ground. It glowed softly as it lit up with her power, her face set. “Let’s do this thing.”

Adam had no qualms about fighting a girl, so they charged at each other without hesitation. He thought she’d be as easy to take down as her teammates but when they collided, she merely used her staff as a shield against his attack. They paced across the open space as they exchanged blows, the girl using her staff offensively and defensively interchangeably. As she flipped neatly out of the way of one of his advances, he began to see how evenly matched they were.

“You are stalling,” he realized. “If you just hand over your friend, we would not have to fight.”

The girl paused, flicking some of her hair out of her eyes. “Oh. Well, in that case—”

She charged at him again, her staff catching on his uniform. She followed him into the air and her swift kick to his stomach sent him tumbling away from her. It was then that he realized that she could fly— just like him— and that was what had powered her initial attack. In the time it took for him to recover from the spin, a blast of golden light was sent his way. Because of his more durable skin, though, the light only felt like volts of electricity rather than something that could do actual damage. The most effective part of her power was the blast itself, which he had to fight through to get closer to her.

Now that he knew where her power came from, he made to attack her staff in order to knock it out of her hands. She seemed to sense his plan— Adam figured most people she fought went this route— and she countered this by trying to fly above him to push him towards the ground. He responded by grabbing the staff in her hands directly while she was mid-swing. The girl was tiring slightly, her breath becoming shorter as the fight went on and she was now on the defensive.

She tried to yank her staff loose from his hold but as evenly matched as they were, he was still stronger. The girl then attempted to shake him off by lighting the staff up with her power. If he hadn’t been such a strong opponent, the golden light would have burned through his hands. As it was, the little volts were barely something that he registered. While he could have easily swung the staff to send her flying off the end and into the ground, he held back the true show of his strength as she didn’t seem to be as resilient as the two blue people or the tree.

Instead, he tried once more for the diplomatic route: “you have fought valiantly for your little friend. If you surrender him to me now I will leave your village in peace.”

The girl’s eyes narrowed with fury as she continued to fight to free her weapon. “Go to hell!”

Adam sighed, having partially expected that response. “Very well. Have it your way, then.”

He smoothly jerked the staff from her grasp and carelessly tossed it to send the weapon spiraling towards the ground. He turned back towards the girl to finish her off as he had her teammates, but he paused. She seemed to hang, suspended, in the air as time appeared to freeze around her. Her eyes widened and, for the first time since he’d encountered her, a look of fear appeared on her face.

Then, she dropped like a stone.

They were very high off the ground by this point and the fall would likely kill a normal being. He wasn’t sure if she would survive, so his reflexes kicked in before he could really think about what he was doing.

By now, the shock had worn off and she fell through the air, she reached up to him as he was the only person who could help her. Adam put on a spurt of speed to try and catch her but she was falling faster than he had anticipated. The girl slammed into the ground and lay still just as he landed next to her. He told himself that saving her wasn’t his mission, and her incapacitation only made obtaining his goal easier. His mother’s orders echoed in his mind, so against his instinct he turned away from her in pursuit of the squirrel.

--

You felt a tap on your shoulder, startling you. You whirled around with your staff in a defensive position only to be met with the sight of your teammates. With a sigh, you pulled out one earbud but didn’t pause your music.

“What?” you asked shortly.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, Little Quill. I’m ya superior now,” Rocket replied, unaffected by your attitude. “I wanted you to meet golden boy here.”

You gave Adam a once-over, ignoring how the sight of his. . . attractive features made your stomach curl pleasantly. “Yeah. We’ve met.”

The boy in question shifted uncomfortably, feeling once again ashamed of his previous actions. Before he could say anything, Rocket spoke again, adjusting the straps of his jumpsuit as he did so: “well, I ain’t great with humie ages, but I figured ya’d be about the same. I thought it might boost team morale to see ya two hangin’ out together or whatever humies your age do.”

While your first response was to dismiss the whole endeavor— you didn’t want to get close to someone else just to have them leave you, too— but a small, traitorous part of your mind whispered: he saved your brother. Another part chimed in: he’s not bad to look at.

“Fine,” you grumbled. “He can stay, but he better not get in my way. I’m not stopping my training because of him.”

“That’s the spirit, Little Quill,” your captain said, choosing to not acknowledge your reluctance. “I’ll leave ‘im in your hands. Let’s go, Groot.”

As you shoved the earbud back in your ear, you could faintly hear Adam’s protest: “wait! You’re not leaving me here, are you?”

While Rocket’s reply was drowned out by your music, the boy’s words hit you unexpectedly; it sounded just like your response to Peter’s and Mantis’ disinclination to stay with the Guardians. Some of your anger faded as you glanced at the boy who stood awkwardly in your periphery. Despite all of his strength and power, Adam looked a bit like a lost puppy and his expression made your features soften against your will. Fine. Whatever. It wouldn’t kill you to be nice.

You took out an earbud again. “Well, don’t just stand there. I know you can fight, so let’s see you use those skills.”

At the reminder of your first encounter, he sent you a guilty look. As he stepped up next to you, he said quietly, “I’m sorry about that, by the way. For almost killing you.”

You patted him on the arm companionably. “Hey, no hard feelings. You’re not the first and you certainly won’t be the last, so just add your name to the list.”

All of the Guardians had forgiven him with surprising readiness and it seemed like you were no different— only, you were. His gaze stayed on the spot where your hand had touched him. There was a lingering warmth as if your hand was still there, the sensation sending tingles (not unlike the ones that he felt during your blasts of power) through him.

Taglist:

@repostingmyfavs , @trashpenguin

[myfandomrealitea]

Was your Safe Spaces post discord-(or any closed forum I guess) specific, or do you think the same should go for fandom-themed blogs on tumblr? Like, if I follow someone for Doctor Who content, I'd rather they didn't put real world issues on my dash, but otoh, it's their blog and they get to decide what they post on it (preferably tagged so I can curate). I've observed that people that run themed blogs that become popular often seem to feel an obligation to use their platform for activism (or, in the case of crypto-radfems, deliberately built their platform to recruit), and it stresses tf out of me for the reasons you mentioned, but it's not like the maintags are much safer because there will be spam relating to real-world issues, or antis trying to relate fiction to real world issues.

Realistically; the same outlook can and could be applied to any social setting. Be it online, private, public, face to face, ect.

Your point about obligation in terms of platform scale is something I've also noticed and have been dabbling about raising. Mostly because you see it a lot with celebrities or public content creators who receive a large following. Its often less that they feel obligated and more than they're usually bullied into it.

For example; I follow a trans (FTM) vlogger on Instagram. His entire online presence is based around being trans and helping to educate people and support people in regards to learning about being transgender, transgender health, his personal transitional journey, ect.

He's got a modest following, nothing ridiculous but I think right now he's sitting at around 75,000 followers.

And as of late, there are random people who don't follow him and aren't at all interested in what he has to say flooding his comment section with things like:

Why didn't you mention anything about Gaza?

All these followers and no shout outs for smaller creators?

What are you doing to raise awareness for X?

All these views could've been used to raise awareness for X.

And its fucking ridiculous. People are pressuring a middle class trans man with 75,000 followers to accept responsibility for counter-responding to a literal war when there are actual celebrities and billionaires with both the actual reach and money to make a difference who simply refuse to because they won't personally benefit from it.

I used to run a really popular fandom blog here on Tumblr. For an actual fandom, not just what I do here and now. It started off small, but I eventually grew it to the point where my follow count was creeping toward 10,000. Which for Tumblr and for a fandom-specific blog was not at all insignificant.

And the moment my notes count started going up, the demands started flooding in. People expecting me to reblog their donation links, demanding I share their friend's aid post, asking why I wasn't reblogging awareness posts or donation drives, ect.

Its largely because its easier to harass accessible people over it than it is to harass someone like Kim Kardashian, but its also because again: we have such a skewed understanding of what is actually effective in terms of activism and circulation of information.

Most of it comes down to shaming people and trying to assert that they're a bad person for having the privilege and benefits of a large following but not doing anything for other people or to 'deserve' that following. They're 'a bad person' for having 75,000 people's attention and not using it to force them to be aware of X.

A good example of proper audience targeting and activism is the page We Rate Dogs.

We Rate Dogs will share awareness posts and donation drives.

About dogs.

Because their followers are there for the dogs. Their followers like dogs. They want to enjoy dog content and help dogs.

If they started sharing posts about war and death and rape, the people who are following them to see cute dog videos will simply unfollow them.

They're using their targeted platform properly.

[writingquestionsanswered]

okay so you’ve talked about mentioning modern day items, products or media in books before, but i wanted to ask about those same things but outside the US or the such as products from (insert third world country here) that ppl in the UK or The US would probably never hear of, because they aren’t locals who grew up in the area like someone like myself has.

Mentioning Less Familiar Products or Media

I'm not sure about the context you're referring to, because I've talked about it in a few different contexts in the past:

Timelessness - Specific products, businesses, services, and media have a tendency to "date" your story, meaning that they act as a timestamp that lets the reader know when your story takes place. For some stories that's not an issue, because you want the story to be rooted in a particular time period. For example, maybe you wrote a coming of age story set in the 1980s, so you mention products, media, businesses, etc. that were popular in the 80s. But let's say you want readers to feel like the story is current, whether they read it in a year or ten years from now. In that case, you wouldn't want to mention products and media popular today, because ten years from now those things will no longer be popular. This is true regardless of your story's setting, where you're from, or where your target audience is from.

Legalities - You generally want to avoid portraying real businesses, services, products, and people in a negative light, because although the likelihood is probably slim, there's always a chance they could sue you for harming their image and negatively impacting their income. This is true regardless of your story's setting, where you're from, or where your target audience is from.

Relevance - The products, businesses, services, and media should generally reflect the setting of your story, regardless of where you--the writer--are from, regardless of where the target reader is from. If you're Nigerian and writing for a Nigerian audience, and you set a story in New York City, the products, businesses, services, and media mentioned in your story should reflect the NYC setting. If your story is set in Nigeria and is written for a western audience, the products, businesses, services, and media should reflect your Nigerian setting. Even if most westerners won't be familiar with those goods and services.

I hope that answers your question!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[life-of-eris]

HOOOO BOY Phantomarine has me by the throat rn. I have... hm. Hm.

So like. This is the We Love Girl Crimes website, the Sad Little Meow-Meow Defence Brigade website. Of course we love Cheth and Cheline, these two are laser targeted for an audience who loves morally grey badasses. Both are AMAZING, in terms of both design and characterization.

But I think I like Cheline more?

Which really wasn't the case until This Page. Firstly because, well, we've seen more of Cheth! He's our call to action, he got a KILLER mini comic about his state of mind, the author has shown us what's under his sharp and snarky exterior, and it's a very sad god who feels alone but still desperately loves his charges and wants to help, even if they hate him. Mwah, wonderful.

But Cheline FUCKING HATES humans. At first I thought it was a programming issue, for lack of a better word? Like, some kids just come out fucked up, yanno. Or maybe she really was The Devil. But like, fuck dude, I wouldn't want to be the caretaker of the things that killed my siblings either! Of course she fucking hates people! Of course she has utter contempt for the species that destroyed her family. It's a little weird that Cheth leaves it at fucking with the dead, frankly, he could be So Much Worse than just kinda... Being spooky to people on boats?

Because here's the thing. That kind of bone-deep (heh) hatred comes from a place of love. Cheline loved her siblings. Even Cheth, I think! Six dead, and Cheth was getting too friendly! In a twisted sort of way I can totally see how shattering him seemed like the better option at the time. He won't be around, they can never be as close as they were again, but he's not DEAD. And so what if she has to kill a few meat bags and tell some lies to keep it that way, her brother is orders of magnitude more important than the Odious Fucks she has to keep churning out. They'll make more. It's fine.

It's been heavily implied that Pavel has a spooky resemblance to one of the dead gods, right down to the name. And Cheline is looking for excuses not to hurt him, even though it's in her best interest to Get Rid of That Fucking Thing as soon as possible. She's bantering with his mom, showboating a little, having a smoke break while all of her plans may be falling apart at that very moment to spend time with a mortal she claims to hate. Until a couple of pages ago, she even seemed to be enjoying watching Vanna puzzle things out. Until the half-breed was mentioned.

And even though it WAS a reasonable guess to make, given the info Vanna had, Cheline just UNLOADS all of this fucking, ancient elder lore, things that have been forgotten for five thousand years, things we the audience and presumably the people of that world have no POSSIBLE way to know, because fuck THAT ONE in particular! Fuck her corpse and fuck her memory! And it's such a violent reaction- Cheline, I think, is even more emotional than Cheth, and in a way I think that kind of implies that when she loves, she loves with all she's got, to the point of destruction.

Anyway this has been a very long and rambling way to say that Cheline tickles the same part of my brain that Lucretia Taz did, and I cannot WAIT to find out of her expression in that last panel is "ah shit I may have gotten away from myself" or "that's right worm you fucked up!" Both are FUCKING AWESOME, I LOVE CHELINE SO MUCH

[miaoqing]

@parlerenfleurs posed the question of how one could adapt genderbent PIDW into a female power fantasy, and uhh I passed out and when I came to I had written this.

My credentials are: literature major who literally JUST finished a course on erotica in particular. 💀

So, may I present:

Proud Immortal Demon Way as a Female Power Fantasy

warning this got very long lol

I'll preface by clarifying that by "sexuality" I mean expression of/sexual desire, not sexual orientation.

Also, I use "male/men" and "female/women" regarding target audiences somewhat loosely here - obviously there are readers who don't fit within either of those labels and I don't mean to exclude anybody - I use these terms only for simplicity's sake.

PIDW is heterosexual porn/erotica (whether there's a difference between those terms or not is debatable) so if we try to keep a 1:1 version of it with a female protagonist, it would obviously also involve sex. Now the issue here is trying to define what a "female power fantasy" would be. The protagonist would be a beautiful, smart, kind Mary Sue, of course, but what about the erotic aspect?

Generally, erotica targeted towards women differs in many ways from erotica directed towards men, so this requires some elaboration. I will mainly focus on feminist erotica here, because I think that's more or less inherent to a female power fantasy - there is, of course, erotica directed towards women which isn't feminist, but I would argue that there isn't much difference between that and male erotica, so I won't get into that.

In a lot of feminist erotica - erotica where women are put in positions of either equal or more power than men - it is not the sexual acts themselves that are eroticised but more the idea of having one's sexuality be accepted as it is, and if it's heterosexual, the fantasy of a man (who in this case becomes the "object" of the encounter, as opposed to most erotica in which the man is the "subject" and the woman is the passive "reciever") going against preconcieved patriarchal ideas about female sexuality - which usually also involves some sort of acceptance of a female "subject's" sexuality differing from how it "should" be. Both of those ideas have been explored by for example Anaïs Nin, and if you've happened to read Mrs Dalloway you might find that this desire to be accepted despite differing from a preconvieved notion of what a woman should be sounds kind of familiar - it's very common in a lot of (early) feminist literature.

So if we were to try to make PIDW into a female fantasy, it is very difficult to decide how to eroticise it in a way that would be appealing to women. Obviously the original male fantasy PIDW isn't realistic, so there's no need to make a female version of it be so, however, we need to find some sort of equivalent to the fantasies it appeals to. I would argue that PIDW appeals to three major male fantasies at a time - 1. to be desired by and irresistible to every object of one's desire, including those who pretend otherwise 2. have a huge dick 3. one (or more) of the episodic "weird" ones, like sex pollen, tentacles, succubi, etcetc. How does this translate to female fantasy?

Point 3: Women also have fantasies like this, so the presence of them is more a question of audience demands. Many of the same ones would likely appear, though maybe in different ratios and with some adjustments re:dynamics etc.

Point 2: Surprisingly, a lot of erotica meant for female audiences doesn't focus too much on appearance, at least not during the sexual acts themselves - body parts are mentioned, but more in the context of how they are treated (breasts may be squeezed, vaginas penetrated, etc) but without much focus on size or shape. (This isn't necessarily out of a well-meaning want to be inclusive - more often it's written that way in order to be marketable to a larger audience and thus more profitable.) Meanwhile, male-oriented erotica notoriously features almost comically large penises (and other anatomical anomalies, such as penetration of the cervix/uterus etc, but that's a different can of worms).

Point 1: As I mentioned, a lot of female erotica centers around the idea of a woman being accepted and desired despite her sexuality differing from how it's "supposed" to be. I would argue that the difference between the male and female desire to be desired is that the male one (usually) lacks self-consciousness. Men who feel undesired often blame it on others - the women they desire are stupid sluts who don't like nice guys, etc - while women who feel undesired usually see it as their own fault, some sort of fatal flaw within themselves. However, both men and women desire essentially the same thing - having sex with someone who desires them. I would say that what does or doesn't make a female fantasy is the dynamic between the subject and object. As I mentioned, in male fantasies the (female) object is usually the one who submits to the (male) subject. Even in femdom scenarios, the purpose of the encounter is primarily male pleasure, as proven by the fact that the male orgasm is a crucial element of an erotic story while the female orgasm is optional. However, a female fantasy doesn't just mean that the roles are inverted and now the man is passive while the woman is active - often it is actually just the mindset, noticeable more in the dialogue/narration than actions, that changes. The man doesn't just do what he wants - the progression of the sexual encounter is no longer just foreplay (optional) -> penetration -> man orgasms. Instead, he listens to what the woman says, lets her take the metaphorical lead - it's not as simple as suddenly switching from missionary to cowgirl, so to speak. The eroticised/appealing thing here is, again, not the sexual acts themselves, but rather being accepted, desired, listened to, and seen as an individual rather than just A Woman. (Or, to put it more bluntly - A Hole). Yeah, the bar is in hell.

So, should the protagonist just be an eternally insecure woman who gets reassured that her feelings and sexuality are valid and has empowering sex in every chapter? That would probably get old pretty fast - there's only that many ways you can incorporate the frigid woman's insecurity and sexual epiphany into tentacle porn (...I think?)

However, there is also a second side of the coin of "wrong" female sexuality; the opposite of the (arguably much more common) frigid woman - the one who wants "too much". A protagonist who is horny all the time seems perfect for an erotic saga, right? Sure, but I would argue that without the feminist element this is again just more reminiscent of male fantasy than female fantasy. An inherent element of pornographic logic is that everybody always wants to have sex with each other, so a protagonist constantly wanting to have sex is pretty much implied and there is nothing to be gained from problematising it/presenting it as the protagonist having to overcome some sort of insecurity regarding her sexuality. Without the feminist element this would pretty much just be different iterations of femdom, and presumably the only difference from male fantasy would be a stronger focus on female pleasure.

Thus, considering what we know about Airplane's writing abilities, fem!PIDW would pretty much just be xianxia My Immortal with more porn.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

[turtlesandfrogs]

A basic starter project if you want to start growing your own food but have no money & no experience, assuming you like green onions.

Supplies needed: Dead potted plant from free pile/dumpster/friend or family member, used food container, green onion ends.

Steps:

1. Remove lid from container, it's now your plant pot's saucer

2. Either poke holes very carefully and slowly (not ideal) or slice the corners off with scissors (better)

3. Remove soil from the dead plant's pot, put in container. This one was super heavy in perlite (the white stuff, helps with drainage), so I mixed in another pot that had more organic matter (brown stuff, mostly helps retain moisture, sometimes provides nutrients). Water until water comes out the bottom, then let drain in sink until until it's done. Put pot on lid:

4. Stick the green onions in, deep enough that they can stand up on their own, or until the white part is covered:

5. Stick in window, water when dry, and wait:

Why not just stick them in water?

Because they make the water really smelly.

Just change the water often, then it won't stink.

I will forget, and then it will stink. Plus, I prefer growing in soil.

Why do you prefer soil?

Thanks for asking! I started because growing them in water didn't work well for me. But on top of that, if you regrow in water, eventually their growth will peter out. This is because in addition to water and carbon dioxide, plants need other nutrients. These are stored in the bulbs of green onions, but they will be depleted by growth if the plant can't replace them. Potting soil often has leftover nutrients, and if you've got compost you can also mix that in.

Why not just put fertilizer in the water?

Two reasons. First off, that's a great way to grow algea, unless you make sure the water isn't getting light. Secondly, most cheap, widely available fertilizers are meant to be used for plants that are in soil, so they're not complete (they're missing iron and maybe some other things? It's been a while since i looked it up). So eventually, if you use water and normal ferts, the plant will stop growing. If you have access to hydroponic ferts, those would work, but you also have enough money that you're not the target audience for this post.

I don't trust the potting soil from random plants.

Completely understandable, and probably smart too. In that case, you have a couple other options if you want soil for free. First off, you could look for dead vegetable or other edible plants in pots, and know that those will not have been treated with something that makes them inedible to humans. You can also look for free bags of partially used potting soil in your local buy-nothing/free stuff groups/craigslist/nextdoor/mutual aid groups.

What if I have some money for soil?

Then you can look for potting soil, or make your own (plenty of recipes online for this)

Help! There are tiny flies that look like fruit flies!

Those are probably fungus gnats, and there's plenty of ways to get rid of them. My two favorites are watering a bit less and adding half an inch of sand to the top, making your plants an unsuitable habitat, or getting a mosquito dunk and keeping it in your watering can. Mosquito dunks have Bt, a type of bacteria that kills mosquitos, fungus gnats, and other related insects. There are other types of Bt that go after other types of insect, such as cabbage moths. It's considered an organic treatment.

What about other pests?

I've literally never seen them get other pests indoors.

How much light do they need?

As much as you can give them, probably. If you have a window that gets midday sun, use that. Or a grow light. If they don't get enough light, they'll be floppy and pale, still edible, but not as flavorful.

When can I harvest?

When it wouldn't look silly to harvest them. I generally wait until they're at least a foot tall (30cm). I'll post an update when I do.

Why didn't you just use the dead plant's pot, dumbass?

A) it didn't have a saucer to protect the surface underneath, B) this is a concept post, and often plant pots are too wide to fit in window sills, and C) I didn't like the pot.

Won't it just grow into a bulb?

Nope, green onions are actually usually a different type than bulbing onions. Usually. And they're perennial! I've never had one try forming a bulb, but you can just eat them if yours do.

Can I ask you another question?

Yep! I'll add it to the update.

[misanthropologymajor]

Red October

With the UK Phillies game incoming, I've been thinking about how the 141 would react to a Phillies Girl (tm) as a part of the crew

in case someone else who is really into the Phillies is also into COD x reader fanfiction. I think I may be the only member of my target audience wc: 430

"Baseball season in a different time zone than your team is cruel and unusual punishment"

It wasn't entirely fair to say they hadn't noticed your fondness towards the Phillies

It was that none of them could have ever understood how deep Phillies fans cared about the Fightins'

God help them when your "Chase fucking Utley" brought your team across the pond

"Wait, hen, what are all of those numbers?"

Leaning on Johnny while explaining just how statistics-heavy baseball is- "That one's their batting average. It's how many times they make a base hit divided by how many times they go up to the plate." He doesn't get how you keep track of them all

"Simon, if you're awake anyway, would you help me set up my VPN so I can get the game?" "It's midnight, birdie." "So?" "You're gonna watch a two an' a half hour game now?" "Simon, it's the Phils!"

"What the actual fuck is that green thing?" "Garrick, I can't believe your tone with the Phanatic. He's the most perfect mascot on the planet." John walked in with that, laughing at the passion of your words and the zoomed-in picture of the awkward green mascot. "Dovie, didn' you say that about tha' orange one?" "Gritty and the Phanatic share that title. Fuck that Sixers dog, though." (Franklin the dog scares the shit out of me)

Getting tickets to the London Series, where they're even more confused by Mr and Miss Met. (fuck the mets all my homies hate the mets)

"But why are they baseballs? The whole thing is that they hit baseballs." "Gaz, I don't know. I try my best to avoid thinking about the Mets if at all possible." "Gaz, what do you have against American mascots?" "Cap, at least our mascots are discernable." "Gaz you're literally a Manchester fan, what the actual hell are Moonchester and Moonbeam supposed to be."

Loading them up in Phillies merch- totally for them and definitely not because you want more Phillies gear

"We're spending four hours of our leave today sitting in the sun watching an American sport in London." "Lt, this isn't for us." "Be grateful your gaiter and cap aren't bright red, Simon. I took mercy on you."

"Why is that grey-haired guy so special, Dovie?" "John! That's Chase Utley- he's literally the jersey you're wearing!" "Why's the Cap got the only old guy?" "I'm literally wearing a Kruk jersey. He's 63. Silverfox is only 45." "Dovie, you called him Silverfox!"

If they think the regular season is bad, they won't survive Red October (or Eagles Season... or Eagles Postseason)

[my-mt-heart]

It's so weird. The more promo, bts, or whatever that we get for TBOC, the more I feel I'm withdrawing and distancing myself from it. I had excpected I would be excited when stuff started coming out but it's completely the opposite and I find it so weird. At this rate, by the time it actually airs, I won't even care haha. I imagine it's some kind of self protection or something like that. Just being so afraid to be disappointed. Or afraid to get excited. I don't know...

It's probably because the promotion/lack thereof isn't targeting all Carylers. Those who were always going to watch no matter what are happy to see Carol/Caryl in the spotlight. But those who have been wary of the writing and/or positioning aren't getting the reassurance that they need to get excited. Like you said, I think it's having the opposite effect. Me personally, I find myself getting sadder and sadder. I don't know if AMC wants to weed out the fans with big dealbreakers, which might explain why they're trying to draw in the antis now, but it's short-sighted and unethical of them if that's the case. They can't grow their audience by catering to two conflicting markets using manipulation tactics (i.e. making people think they're getting exactly what they want when they're actually getting nothing).

Anyways, my dealbreakers haven't changed...

explicit canon

even storytelling that emphasizes the tagline: "to find home is to find each other"

new showrunner who actually cares about Caryl, Carol, Melissa, and their fans for S3

an inclusive title (not subtitle) for S3

[heartfullofleeches]

Idk if u got my first request because my phone has been glitching but can u write some C.C. nsfw headcanons?

(mdni: cw/tags under cut)

[Crossdressing, small mention of breath play]

Dude's a freak, but oddly wholesome at the same time. With him being an incubus and a member of the party crowd, sexual encounters were usually a sort of business transaction or something out of the heat of the moment, but when love is involved - that's when things get really good.

It's a whole new experience. More electrifying than any encounter he's had before. He does things he's never done with another partner. Focuses on the small things like how your breath catches in your throat or all the different reactions you have to his touches. Covers you in kisses and hickies no matter what it is your doing. Your body is a temple and he's going to worship it

C.C likes when your verbal. He is over confident in most fields, but sometimes worries he won't be able to satisfy you if the same you quench every every desire of his, and so it's amazing when you tell him how good you make him feel.

Sucker for praise and humiliation. Lives for the former He's a cocky little shit and loves to get on your nerves, also just wants to see the range of your emotions. In the same breath, call him and good boy or say you're proud of him and he'll be a puddle at your feet.

Very into choking. Preferably on the receiving end but he doesn't mind. He does like to nick you with his fangs or nails from time to time but never breaks the skin.

He crossdresses during his daily life so it's not surprise that he enjoys it in the bedroom as well. A little role-playing is fun but nothing beats just laying in bed topless with only a skirt covering himself. He also had a thing for leashes which is fitting as some of the chokers he wears have a ring to hook one on.

C.C doesn't use it often, but is willing to use his demon form if you ask. He can also change his appearance in general to a certain degree; even sex. Like his older brother, C.C has two sex pistols; and his saliva acts as an aphrodisiac. It's an in case of an emergency thing for his kind when the natural charm doesn't work, but just an add on to the fun for you two if you consent.

Aftercall includes you both lounging in his bed or on the couch. He likes to fall asleep after sex, but not before running his mouth and praising you a little more. If he has more energy, you veggie to some takeout and binging watching early 2000's movies targeted for you female audience - or whatever you'd prefer

[nietp]

Ahem!!!!

New flat, new shops in the neighbourhood, new energy drinks to try! Let's go!

Bang Bangster Berry: BANG! was a brand we've been looking for for a while and we were particularly excited as berry isn't a common energy drink flavour. Unlike most energy drinks, their target audience here is not the classic Monster energy nitro motocross toxic beverage lover: here, the clientele is clearly WOMEN! as the purple packaging lets us know, and women like BERRIES (due to primal gatherer instincts) and hate SUGAR! The flavour profile they're going for isn't clear though, as there are a lot of different berries in this world (I would know, I'm a woman) and they all taste wildly different. I couldn't remember what berry it tasted like, so I asked my gf who said "oh, it didn't taste like berry at all" but still said it was good. So there you go, a nonexistent berry flavour, but an overall positive experience, which is more than I can say for the next one. 3.5/5 stars, will buy again to boost my femininity.

SMAG!: So this is a new one. This was my first time encountering an energy drink with a cola flavour, probably because no one wanted that or ever asked for it. Still it exists! The base is still a classic energy drink, but with a very distinct flavour added on top of it: the artificial cola flavour you get in cola slushies or freeze pops. Cola with a lot of added water and no bubbles. Miam! I can imagine the target audience was people looking for the physical effects of an energy drink without its disgusting battery acid taste. Well guess what: you don't deserve energy drinks then! Who do you think you are??? This drink is for fools and buffoons. 0/5 stars, it shouldn't exist, won't ever buy again.

Irn Bru Energy: Now this is interesting. Irn Bru is an iconic Scottish soda, and this is their foray into energy drink territory. I can only applaud the risk-taking, but can I applaud the drink itself? At the first sip, I knew something surprising was happening. It tastes like a classic energy drink, RedBull style, but it is SO carbonated I could barely drink it a sip at a time. It is STUPIDLY bubbly. Why is it so extremely carbonated??? Is it a Scottish thing? Do they love it over there??? Let me know if you have answers. In any case, 4/5 stars, will buy again for the experience.

[golbrocklovely]

I’m gonna say that it scares me how bullying other people has been normalized on the Internet to the point that people with morals and brains who do not really even like the person that is being harrased are made fun of for simply trying to stop the hate.

I am not even here talking about the whole sam and katelyn situation. I am talking in general. I’ve noticed that in many fandoms harrasing people online that we do not like, making fun of them in every possible way has been so normalized that a person who praises them will appear as a “silly” for a bigger audience of fans. Like what? Like f.e this has been a thing rn in yr fandom (idk if you watched the show). People have been targeting E and hating on him for having a gf (literally… same thing as snc lol) and making fun of people who are being just supportive and lovely.

I, like everyone else also have people i dislike. But what the heck is the point of bringing it to the Internet and basically sending those people hate? And that applies to everyfuckinhone. Sam, Colby, Edwin, idk Katelyn, Malia, Katrina etc etc. If you do not like someone… just shut up and rant to your bestie about it on private. Why bring it into public space when everyone can see it ? INCLUDING the person you are making fun of /hating on. There has been sooo many cases of people trying to commit s*icide or committing it only due to online hate they received and i wonder how many more of it will take for people to finally reflect that what you put on the Internet and how you treat others can have very big influence on how they are feeling and things can turn really really bad turn. Or are we are just gonna stay as immature wannabe “cool and savage” mfs, who are just mean and sad and one by one gonna all k*ll eo either is literally or metaphorically (like kill eo happiness and personalities)

i agree with you so much, anon.

it's so odd to me how easy it is for certain ppl to hate someone they truly don't know.

and look, i won't pretend to be a saint. plenty of ppl know who i don't like bc i've talked about it. however, i have never in all my years of being on the internet (both in this fandom and not) have went to someone's page and hated on them directly or dmed them. i don't wish harm on those i don't like or disagree with. but so many ppl do and it's truly upsetting.

do i complain on here about ppl that aren't on here? yes. but i'm not gonna go to a site they are on and @ them and say "hey here's why i don't like you" bc that type of behavior to me is hella weird.

truly i think more ppl would benefit from just buying a journal and writing shit out there. bc too many ppl feel embolden to be as rude as possible, as if there isn't someone else on the other side of the screen.

bullying online never makes sense to me bc… what exactly do you want the end result to be? for them to hurt themselves? deactivate? never come back online? i just don't understand what thought process you have to think that harassing someone is gonna make them bend to your will, whatever that might be.

and no, i don't watch the show you're referring to, but i can believe that 100%. that happens so often to any male figures in literally every form of media. it's so odd. hell, i know i used to act that way when i was younger and in the jonas brothers fandom. but even back then i didn't @ miley cyrus and say she didn't deserve nick jonas lol

this is the first time in a long time i've ever actually considered leaving the fandom. not only has this harassment of katelyn really been eye opening to me, but also just the way sam went about all of this too. it all has left a sour taste in my mouth. but i'm trying to just remember that surrounding myself with nice ppl in the fandom (or those that are reasonable enough to not harass another person) is the better option than just up and leaving. bc i do love snc, even if rn i'm disappointed by them.

i just wish ppl would be nicer. maybe it's bc of my depression or past issues with bullying, but it's so disheartening to see all of this play out the way it has. and while i know i haven't always been kind, i at least try to be. but i feel like so many don't even do that. and that's a real shame.

[angelsandemons]

I've been seeing a lot of "why do people hate Valentino so much when plenty of other characters in the series are just as bad or worse?" on my dash today, so I wanted to share my thoughts.

I firmly believe it comes down to two factors:

What we do (and do not) see on screen

How relatable the situation is to the viewer

What We See

Valentino is in a unique position because we actually have the negative effects of his abuse shoved in our faces within the narrative, while that's not the case for many others. Take Pentious getting dragged into the sex room in "Welcome to Heaven," for example. I won't deny that this was narratively framed as a humorous moment (if slightly dark humor) because it came right after he told the whole bar he was going to have sex with everyone. But it's not actually any less non-consensual than a lot of of Angel and Val's interactions. The difference lies in the fact that we do not see Pentious have any meaningful ill effects from the assault; he just comes out a little flustered, and it's never addressed again.

Another example of this could be when Moxxie was assaulted by Verosika and her crew in Helluva Boss. This again was not really focused on as a serious conflict, it was more part of an (again, admittedly somewhat dark) humorous aspect of the scene. But the worse we saw in terms of repercussions was Moxxie needing to go lie down, and immediately following that, the scene switched to Blitzø storming in and yelling at Verosika, so the narrative just moved forward. It never came up again.

I'm actually pretty confident that people would not hate Val nearly as much if "The Masquerade" never aired (and possibly the "Addict" music video too, since that got uncomfortably real as well). This wouldn't have significantly changed what we know mind you; the story still implied the abuse all the same outside of these two parts, but it was never really put in the spotlight in a way we can't ignore outside of this episode (and the music video).

Relatability

There is one more aspect I think that comes into play here, and that's how much a situation parallels one that is accessible to the audience. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Harry Potter fan who hates Voldemort more than Umbridge, and that's because a lot of people have had a teacher on a power trip that made their lives miserable. Very few people have had to deal with being targeted by a homicidal cult leader, even if this arguably objectively a worse situation, so it doesn't really resonate the same way.

So let's look at someone else in the series who we do get to see some degree of the results of the abuse of: Alastor. Alastor and Husker's relationship is actually fairly similar to Valentino and Angel's relationship, and we do actually get a pretty in your face look at how that affects Husker in "Dad Beat Dad." And that scene is not played for laughs at all.

So why is the fandom's overall reception of Valentino and Alastor so drastically different? I think it's because while the two are both inherently abusive relationships held together by fear and a literal soul contract, only Valentino's and Angels is heavily coded as a sexually abusive relationship...the kind that (unfortunately) a decent number of viewers have probably had experience with, either directly or through a loved one who confided in them. I think there are very few out there who have been stuck in a toxic relationship with a serial killer.

There is also the issue of the fact that we get to see a lot of redeeming qualities from Alastor outside of this relationship, and that simply isn't the case for Val. But that'd be a whole other post.

[cbrownjc]

Hi dear! Can i ask a question? I don’t mind spoilers at all!!! If you suspect lestat is in the penthouse. Why is Louis sad/depressed?. And are they not in good terms? I mean i always thought louis was the love of lestats life. But if he is gonna wake up and then run off with akasha it rubbs me the wrong way. And What do You think Will wake him up? Will it be ha happy reunion?

Hello Anon,

So, slight spoilers for the books Memnoch the Devil and Merrick below, and how they might be brought into S2.

So when I say I think Lestat is asleep in the Dubai penthouse, it's not that I'm saying he's taking a nap or something. I mean that he's in a coma. And not just a regular vampire sleeping-to-heal coma. I'm talking specifically about the coma state he went into after the events of book 5, Memnoch the Devil. The state of that coma was so different that everyone pretty much thought that Lestat was, for all intents and purposes, the vampire-equivalent of brain dead. That he was never going to wake up from it.

During this period, Louis spent a lot of time with Lestat's body, reading to him and such.

Anyway, the events of Merrick happen, which are spearheaded by the retrieval of Claudia's diary btw. I won't go into all the details - which also include the bringing back of what might or might not have been Claudia's spirit/ghost - but between learning just how Claudia hated and manipulated him, as well as thinking Lestat will never wake up again, Louis decided to end his life via sunlight exposure.

So Louis tries to end his life, however, because he was not only turned by Lestat but has lived as long as he has (over 200 years by that point) the sunlight can't reduce him to a pile of ashes anymore. He just ends up extremely, and I mean extremely, burned.

However, Louis trying to kill himself in this way is what ends up finally waking up Lestat. Lestat feeds Louis his blood, which not only restores Louis but gives him a power upgrade as well.

So if my hunch is correct, I think S2 will end in a similar way to this event in Merrick. Armand has already said that Louis is attempting suicide with this new interview. And while I think Louis' original plan was to not only use the book to warn humanity of this "great conversion" thing as well as put a target on himself for other vampires to try and kill him, I also think the book was a suicide note Louis was leaving for Lestat. I think, just like in Merrick, Lestat is asleep in such a way and has been for many years, that there is a real belief that he will never wake up again. But, just in case Lestat ever did - either in the near or far future - Louis was leaving the book as a last thing for him. (In Merrick too, Louis left a short suicide note for Lestat as well.)

However, on the show, I think Daniel upended everything when he broke through the narrative Louis set out to tell. And I think whatever original plan Louis had set out for all of this is basically going to continue to fall apart until he's not going to wait for Daniel to write and publish the book before he attempts to end his life. I think whenever Louis is done telling Daniel whatever else he feels he needs to about what happened, he'll make the attempt to end his life almost immediately afterward.

There is a reason we saw Louis stick his hand into the sunlight and burn in the first episode, aside from establishing the vampire lore of the universe. As well as seeing Louis badly burned in the second episode.

However, we've also seen Louis drinking from Armand who is resistant to sunlight. That also wasn't random.

Louis has no idea that he can't fully be killed by sunlight. Neither does the audience. AMC-Louis is also about 100 years younger than book-Louis was when he attempted to end his life. So it isn't age that'll stop Louis from being turned into a pile of ashes on the show. It'll be the fact that he's been drinking Armand's blood for who knows how many years at this point.

However, like in Merrick, he'll still be badly burned to almost the point of death I predict. And, just like in Merrick, I think Louis attempting this will be what finally ends up waking up Lestat, and Lestat restoring Louis with his blood.

What will happen between Louis and Lestat after that, I don't know. Since all of this I'm speculating about would happen at the end of S2 IMO. We'll likely have to wait until S3 to get a full picture of the dynamic between them. Though, you know, saving Louis and healing him I expect will make Lestat rather emotional, at the very least.

But no, Lestat ain't running off with Akasha at this point. We already know that S3 would/will be an adaptation of The Vampire Lestat. General audiences who never read the books or seen the Queen of the Damned movie have zero idea who Akasha even is. She's a character you have to introduce first for her to have any impact wrt such a thing. And where was Akasha first introduced? In The Vampire Lestat, during Lestat's backstory.

Lestat still has to tell that backstory and, as I said in reply to another ask recently, the most dynamic way to do that visually is continuing to do it in the interview format. Plus we know the title of the show isn't changing when they do adapt TVL in S3. So I don't think it's a stretch to think Lestat will tell his backstory via an interview with Daniel, just as Louis has been doing in S1 and will continue to in S2.