#i feel like these are all very Obvious songs but they're also all like early character-playlist-cornerstone ones from 2014 or so

[cospinol]

character song tag game!

tagged by @nerice <333 to pick some theme songs for my main characters! This is such a fun tag game concept thank you thank you<3 tagging no one b/c i’m shy, if you’re reading this you should play too though etc

Answering for hbtw main girls as always! 

io: the woods // ohbijou

And I go outside  To see familiar lives Race through to finish lines then start again Come on!

it’s so hard to choose just one top song for her (please know that i was excruciatingly close to going with end of time by cocorosie instead) but this is her very first one and still i think the best one for bringing together both her cautious exploration project and her observer’s detachment :’) that’s my girl

anymede: instigator // kevin devine

I keep it down, do it just like you tell me to I draw it straight as I possibly can I come as close to the truth as I ever do I take some liberties, I am what I am

my first instinct was actually a song with an extremely different tone for her (dig up the dead by mansions) but i think at the end of the day this is a less esoteric portrait of her (an extremely good girl) and her big stupid shounen protagonist dream achievable-only-through-extensive-bloodshed, but also that none of it is as complex as that :’) hope this makes sense lol

robin: the courtesan has sung // sunset rubdown Think of the scene where a washed-up actor wipes the makeup off his wife And says, “Morticians must have took you for a whore”

:’) unlucky girl gets kind of a mean song. partially for the sake of atmosphere but also partially for some literal facts of various secret plots and plotlines she’s up to >:)

hierai: saltkin // purity ring

The crawling animals will seek all things warm, all things moist I will relentlessly shame myself In rest, in wake, in front of my truly born beloved

another extremely early status-defining song! i’ve been thinking recently about hi’s early heavy association with salt as a taste specifically because how it’s ended up tying into multiple later plotlines involving significant Teardrops / their place at the root of all things. not really related to the song just a little hihi fact

and this post is very long already but i’m obviously not going to leave it without emen songs so. a pair of classics:

emery: sleeping sickness // city and colour

I’ve become a simple souvenir of someone’s kill And like the sea, I’m constantly changing from calm to ill Madness fills my heart and soul As if the great divide could swallow me whole

:’) it’s the time of year to be thinking abt this song for various reasons but some of the ways it touches down for him (a simple souvenir) are incredibly specific, also he deserves a little wallowing in misery every now and then

ehen: rabbit will run // iron & wine 

Last I saw mother, she acted surprised When they caught me, the captain, he cried like a child ‘Cause a rabbit will run, but good dogs together go wild

:). i will not be commenting on this one actually, even though i have many many thoughts about it, because they are all deeply embarrassing<3 good night

[jibunbosh]

Mesmerizer is a satire of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and the rest of the modern short-form vertical video format

A brief thematic analysis.

I'm sure there are countless people already interpreting the imagery and details in this wonderful song & MV, like here and here, so I won't spend too much time retreading that ground. Miku and Teto are dancing. Miku gets hypnotized. Teto signals for help, but gets hypnotized at the end as well.

That part is obvious enough, but that's still pretty surface-level. What is this seemingly hyperspatial horror scenario supposed to mean to us?

While checking to see if anyone before me's already come to the same conclusions as I did and if I should bother not writing this text post at all (lol), I came across udin's great analysis video. She comes to the conclusion that the song tackles themes of disillusionment with reality and the ways we indulge in escapism to relieve ourselves of the pains of the world.

I agree with that reading! From practically the very beginning, we have Miku call to us - the viewer - to push away our true feelings. Teto comes in to peddle a solution, inviting us to surrender and empty our minds - in her words, "pretending to know nothing."

You, the viewer, are a critical character in this masquerade. For nearly the entire video, Miku and Teto's eyes are unfailingly trained on you. Or, well... perhaps they can't actually see you, but they can see a camera, or whatever other aperture the point of view is supposed to be from. And they know they're being watched. (Who else would Teto be sending distress signals to?)

Let's put a pin on that for later.

udin notes very early on that Miku and Teto are, conspicuously, kept in vertical frames - very similar to the video formats of TikTok (and Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and whatever other clones of the format exist.) You know, just like the animator Caststation's Rabbit Hole fan MV that went viral some months ago.

Hey wouldn't it be crazy if the song's producer, 32ki, released Mesmerizer shorts too haha. Wouldn't that be crazy.

Wow, wild.

These short-term vertical videos are captivating & alluring. If you're reading this, it's more likely than not that you've also found yourself caught up in them at least once, scrolling through the infinite algorithmic slurry and forgetting about the real-life issues you have at hand. Would you say, then, that you felt hypnotized? Mesmerized, even?

And so these two invite us to join their world and focus on the... uh... rectangle.

Their dances are repetitive, following the same loop. Their outfits are distinct, but their choreography isn't. They're copying the same formula, repeating it ad nauseam to the best of their ability.

They're doing a fucking TikTok dance.

Back to the pin I told you about earlier, with Miku and Teto looking at a camera.

Miku sways with the camera, eyes looking directly at it like a swinging pocket watch. She's been looking at it the entire time, after all. We've been seeing her via our screen this entire time, but, again, she doesn't necessarily see us. She's beholden to the camera, which she dances for day after day, caught up in its spell. She's hypnotized by it. Eventually, she breaks.

Teto, on the other hand, resists. For a while, anyway.

Despite her being the one jumping to us with the "solution" at the beginning of the MV, there's very quickly good reason to question how much agency she has in this. She dances for the camera as well, but she doesn't want to. She's signalling for help. She wants out.

Many content creators (as much as I personally loathe the non-specificity and soullessness of the term) have struggled with the adaptation to the short-form video format, and the preference the algorithm has had for these captivating, bite-sized videos. They're catchy, and easily drive up metrics. Practically anyone who's publishing their work via video format online needs to learn to adapt or fall behind, even if that means whittling their content down to fit the frame, the time, and people's shortening attention spans. Sometimes, that means compromising on specificity and completeness... or, in other words, the true representation of a full work.

The song's writer, 32ki, has been releasing songs on YouTube for several years. Their first YouTube Short, however, was posted only a year ago: a short, whittled-down segment of their previous song, CIRCUS PANIC!!!, hoping for it to win the ProsekaNEXT song contest. It was their first song to achieve widespread popularity and hit a million views.

The shorts, however, aren't the "true" versions of the song. The full song just won't fit.

We're being mesmerized as consumers of this endless stream of content, rather than appreciators of music and art. However, that relationship isn't completely symmetrical across the plane that is the 4th wall. Miku and Teto are trapped not by their attention spans, but by a compulsion to project their "truthful acting" and peddle that window into a colorful, problem-free world.

We, as the collective audience, need not dwell on any one thing for too long - we need only swipe, and move on to the next video. However, Miku and Teto are trapped behind the screen for eternity, day after day.

They're the only characters we get to see, of course. There's no evil 3rd voice synth character that's plotting to keep them trapped in there. We can't put a face to whatever force is hypnotizing them and trapping them behind the screen. It's faceless - like the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube recommendations or the TikTok For You page, or the impersonal corporations that develop & maintain those aforementioned apps. Miku and Teto's likenesses, on the other hand, are being exploited and extracted from for their entertainment value, being strung along by that metaphorical hypnotizing force like puppets on a string.

Many people, represented by Miku, enjoy their success on such platforms. It's freeing and liberating to throw oneself wholeheartedly into such an endeavor, of course! Others, represented by Teto, harbor their doubts of the emotional veracity of such a medium, but know they have little choice lest they face destruction... perhaps not literally as a person, but as an idea.

Wouldn't it be easier just to let oneself be swept away by it and give in?

[thesummerestsolstice]

My Headcanon Crafts for the House of Feanor:

Nerdanel: a sculptor; about the best in all of Valinor. Many of her early sculptures were praised, but also seen as a bit strange because they looked so real, but no one could identify any model they'd been based off of. Later, it would be recognized that she'd sculpted several of her own children, long before they were born.

Maedhros: an actor. Back in Valinor, he often played romantic leads in comedies and tragedies alike. He was very dramatic back in the years of trees, but got more subdued in Middle-Earth for... obvious reasons. A few of the posters for plays he was in made their way to Middle-Earth and got passed around Himring like contraband.

Maglor: a bard. While he often composed his own songs, he was also one of those charged with memorizing the old oral history of the Quendi– the elven equivalent of like, being able to memorize and recite the Iliad. Much of this early Elvish history was almost lost by the end of the First Age, and Maglor attempted to preserve it by writing it down. Eventually, those books ended up saved in Rivendell's library.

Celegorm: a hunter in Orome's train. Was famous for his ability to hit quickly moving targets through the thick forests of Valinor, even when mounted. He also enjoyed making various things out of the pelts, teeth, claws, and antlers of his kills. He's made very nice fur coats for several of his siblings and cousins.

Caranthir: a fiber artist; mostly focusing on weaving and embroidery. He's not sure whether to feel flattered or vaguely worried by all the Miriel comparisons. He insisted on making most of his family's formal clothing because all of Feanor's kids can get at least a little craft-related hubris. As a treat.

Curufin: a smith. His father was most famous for his jewelry, but Curufin would come to be known mostly for his weapons. They were so reliable that many of them lasted until the Third Age. There are rumors he poured some of his soul into the weapons he made for his brothers. But those are only rumors.

Amras & Amrod: painters. They specialized in incredibly detailed landscape paintings. I say "they" because all their works were done together; Amrod would make the sketch and darker linework and Amras would add the colors and shading. Their work was often very nostalgic and peaceful, with bright watercolors and gentle shadows.

Bonus! Feanor saved a lot of his kids' work from when they were really young and just starting their crafts. It's all what you'd expect from a small child's art, but Feanor still acts like they're masterpieces. His kids all think it's super embarrassing but he's really proud of them.

Headcanons for Finwe and his Children, the House of Fingolfin, the House of Finarfin, and the rest of the House of Finwe. Thanks for asking about Finwe's grandkids @hyperlexia-1 :)

[aurorawest]

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi - 5/5 stars

This book managed to rip my heart out at least 3 times. I loved it. Medieval enemies-to-lovers slow burn; very romantic. Kinda read like fanfiction at times but in a good way. 10/10 would read a follow-up love story about Arundel and Captain Wekena. If you like Captive Prince, give this one a try.

Reforged by Seth Haddon - 4/5 stars

Pretty good bodyguard romantasy. Ironically CS Pacat blurbed this one (another am-I-in-the-matrix moment). The world was interesting and I enjoyed the politics, though they're definitely not as complicated as other SFF politics I've gone feral over (see: Captive Prince, Winter's Orbit, A Memory Called Empire). I ordered the sequel after I finished this.

The Doctor's Date by Heidi Cullinan - 4/5 stars

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske - 5/5 stars

Where do I start? I love, love, LOVE A Marvellous Light. It's one of my favorite books ever. None of the rest of the books in the trilogy could live up to it, really, because it's so good. You'll notice I rated this one 5 stars though, because quite honestly I fell prey to a bit of The Academy Paying The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Its Due syndrome. I did love this book and thought it was better than A Restless Truth (which I still loved!) but part of that is, quite frankly, just due to the fact that I prefer m/m romance to f/f romance.

Anyway. This was such a good finale to the trilogy. I loved that the romance was a giant middle finger to purity cultists. I loved that one of the mains was Italian. I loved finally getting the story of what happened to the Alston twins. One thing I thought was really cool was how, viewed from the outside, you totally get why Edwin is such a loner. I really admire from a writing perspective how Marske pulled that off.

I feel like there's a lot to be said about what Marske was trying to SAY with this book, but I definitely need to reread it first before I can articulate any of it. The purity culture stuff is obvious, but the magic system too. I feel like Jack when he's almost able to connect everything in his mind into a bigger idea, but he can't quite get there.

I've got a special edition from Illumicrate coming, so I'll be rereading it when I have that.

Oh also, this book was the embodiment of all that one tumblr post -

The Guncle by Steven Rowley - 5/5 stars

I saw this in bookstores for years before I finally gave in and bought it. The blurb makes it sound insufferable and twee. Ignore the blurb. This was such a good book about grief and learning how to live again after terrible loss.

I Like Me Better by Robby Weber - 4/5 stars

At last I can stop getting the Lauv song stuck in my head whenever I set eyes on this book (it's stuck in my head as I type this). Pretty standard-issue YA, but it was cute and had a good message.

The Stagsblood King by Gideon E Wood - 4/5 stars

Another book about moving on from grief! This is the second book in a trilogy. When I was trying to determine if I wanted to read on beyond book 1, I scoured the internet for information about what happens in books 2 and 3. Eventually I decided, hell, I enjoyed book 1 well enough, even if what I want to happen in the rest of the trilogy doesn't happen, they're worth reading. SO, to that end, I will tell anyone looking for info that Tel gets romantically involved with a new man in this one, which, eh. I still want him to somehow end up with Vared. It was still quite good though.

In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune - DNF at pg 82

So funnily, we were at the bookstore the day I was about to start reading this, and my wife pointed out Ravensong (also by Klune) to me and said, "Do you have this one?" I made a face and said, "That's an older one of his books and I'm wary of his early work after that horrible Verania series. I don't think I've ever read an author as hit or miss as TJ Klune."

I wrote the above when I was 60 pages in and now I have officially DNFed this. Listen. You know how in Thor: Love and Thunder, Taika Waititi was clearly given free rein to do whatever he wanted, so all of his worst impulses made it to the final cut unchecked? Yeah. That's what this book is like.

Here's my Storygraph review: I see Klune is officially Too Big To Edit now. This book has exactly the same problem that his awful Verania series had—a joke that's funny at first but quickly grows tiresome when it's repeated five times per page. The emphasis on Victor's asexuality was also weird and read like Klune was just super proud of himself for writing an ace character.

Lion's Legacy by LC Rosen - 4.25/5 stars

Queer, YA Indiana Jones, but less #problematic. This book had some eerie similarities to my own archaeology adventure novel(s), which made me wonder half-seriously if I somehow know Lev Rosen? Anyway, I feared this would be very heavy-handed and not nuanced on archaeology's ethical dilemmas, since it's YA and also the current culture is to view said dilemmas as completely black and white with no nuance, but I was pleasantly surprised. It manages to examine that, queerness, and daddy issues, plus has time to be a genuinely fun and exciting adventure story. Highly recommend.

Too White to be Coloured, Too Coloured to be Black by Ismail Lagardien - 4/5 stars

I picked up this memoir in a bookstore at OR Tambo airport in Johannesburg as research for Six Places to Fall in Love, since Percy is coloured. A pretty brutal read, but good, and definitely good research. The author was a photographer and journalist through the most violent years of apartheid.

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson - 5/5 stars

Two nonfiction books in a row?? This is the second book by Erik Larson I've read, the first being the excellent The Devil in the White City. I'm not, in general, all that interested in WWII when it comes to military history, but this book is about the day to day lives of Churchill and the people surrounding him (with brief stops to visit FDR and high-ranking Nazis sprinkled throughout). This is a very, very good book, and I recommend reading it if only as a reminder of the resilience and bravery of ordinary people under terrifying circumstances.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - 5/5 stars

Holy shit. Holy shit is this book good. Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in.

I need everyone to read this book. Now. Yesterday. Get to it.

[bagely]

Q!MISSA VS STEVEN UNIVERSE: love when you don't love you

(essay on a beloved wet cat)

WARNING: These are my opinions, none of this is strictly canon, and it took a lot from Missa's pov and nothing more. ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE. As you can see in the title I'm all related to Steven Universe songs lol

AO3 LINKKK

Welcome to the firts song, Love Like You;

Minecraft Extreme is the key to understand the actions and decisions of Missa cube. In extremo he was alone in that cold and hostile world until the team vacío legal took him in. They taught him what it was like to have a family, they protected him and teached him to defend himself, but since good things don't last missa left first. But across dimensions, time and space, the connections he had, the warmth and the feeling of family never went away. It changed the perspective of family forever. In missa's own words about them: 

Missa Cubito has never felt enough for the people he loves.

If I could begin to be

Half of what you think of me

I could do about anything

I could even learn how to love..

Missa: I was in a team of very talented and wonderful people, they taught me how to play.... I didn't learn much but that team was called the " Vacío legal" Team, they were the best, they formed what I am now.... A disaster.

Missa learned, he grew up and there was a development in his abilities but he does not feel like that, he does not stop feeling like the person he was before them. He doesn't stop seeing himself as the weak one, the one who is protected, the one who didn't know how to survive until the end. 

Another reason why extremo is important to understand q!missa is because some people from extremo went along with missa to quesadilla island, and one such relationship was maintained.

Spreen and Missa are brothers. There is much to say about the two of them, and it is impossible for me to summarize, but for Spreen, Missa was everything, and for Missa, Spreen was MORE than everything. 

Before the eggs in the early days when they met again they did not change this relationship, and roier was also there, became his friend and helped him with his taqueria. Then the betrayal of the tacos happened.

Missa came back one day, and the world was upside down. Spreen killed his cat? no, it's not impossible, Roier is lying. His brother would never do that, he wouldn't be able to do that just for power and money, wouldn't he? He had to have a reason, he would never do that to missa, they're not like that. he's not like that. Missa even mentioned that maybe he wasn't Spreen that maybe he was like Quackity and "ElQuackity" because Spreen is his brother who protected him from everything, a person like that wouldn't hurt him, right?

When I see the way you act

Wondering when I'm coming back

I could do about anything

..I could even learn how to love like you

Even when Missa accepted that it happened, he blamed Roier. He knew it was a bad idea, he didn't have to trust Roier, all of this is because of his ambition. It is obvious that he would not beat Spreen, nobody beats Spreen. Roier is a fool and it's all his fault, not spreen's. And Roier made Spreen angry at him too, there is not other explanation, is Roier's fault.

Missa : [...] Throw everything away. Get rid of absolutely all the tacos you have and burn it. Get rid of- 

Roier : You don't understand, Missa .

Missa : [...] I'm leavin   

Roier : Are you leaving Missa? Are you going to leave me alone

Missa: You are not alone, you are with your pinches tacos, family ruiner.

Missa always idolizes his brother. Spreen is; brave, strong, and cool. this bunch of things that Missa felt he isn't. Spreen is and was Missa's hero.

But he betrayed him. Missa erased that from his memory in denial, and when he saw him again he pretended nothing had happened. He didn't expect an apology, it didn't matter anyway… it was just a cat, his brother is more important. Missa has never been against spreen, he can't be after all they have been through as siblings... Still, why did he kill his cat, why didn't he apologize? Why would he- ... After the egg event, he never saw his brother again. 

It's strange when people leave, because you can't ask them for explanations anymore, you can't tell them how bad their actions made you feel, you can't complain. Spreen left, and Missa couldn't do anything to stop it.

Now, Missa is alone and meets someone, and becomes a father. Things move fast, on the island. He is with two people who think he is amazing, who praise his attributes, who show him constant admiration, love... Something he hasn't felt since the team vacío legal, family.

I always thought I might be bad

Now I'm sure that it's true

'Cause I think you're so good

And I'm nothing like you..

Missa had never really been in the position of protector until chayanne came along, after the betrayal of the tacos, missa had been alone and out of nowhere he was given this little egg to protect and he couldn't get happier. Missa becomes someone's hero, someone's protector.

Missa loves Chayanne, that is something without a doubt. He is their little warrior. Missa doesn't want Chay to end up like him, he wants to make him strong because he is afraid that Chay will feel what he feels all the time. Missa supports Chayanne in everything, and even he doesn't limit Chay from just being strong and treats him like the child he is.

Missa: I wanted to see you, I missed you a lot. [...] I was afraid to return, because I was a bad father and I said: My son will not love me anymore, never again [...]

Missa thinks he's a bad father, he says it so much that it comes out easily. Although his son and husband deny it. When he sees his son's joy at seeing him, he thinks of his sadness when he goes away. He started to see himself as a shadow for the death family. 

Look at you go, I just adore you

I wish that I knew

What makes you think I'm so special..

He tries to emphasize his presence, to make gifts like drawings that will cheer them up when he's not there. He feels weaker and weaker as the world gets harder and harder, and he doesn't see himself going up steps but trapped on an electric ladder going down.

Missa: Omg, I'm making you work just for me, thank you so much for.... Sorry, sorry...

Philza: Don't worry, I got you.

Missa: I don't deserve you philza, I'm going to talk like this weird so the translator won't work, so it won't understand that I'm telling you that I love you.

Missa begins to believe that he is a burden to these wonderful people, especially Philza. They were named as a partner, and now they are in this together... but Missa every time he comes back he feels he contributes less and less. And Philza gives him so much, Missa thinks Philza should give it to someone else and that he doesn't deserve it.

Missa can't see someone else as the father of their child, and for some reason that Missa doesn't understand Philza can't see someone else in Missa's place either, and it's all wonderful... but is it? Isn't he putting too much pressure on Philza with Chayanne?

If I could begin to do

Something that does right by you

I would do about anything

I would even learn how to love..

And Philza is so good, someone was going to notice, see it, and take it away from him. Missa doesn't blame them, but it bothers him, and he wants to fight but not because of Philza, but because Phil's rights to decide need to be respected, even though he doesn't believe he will be chosen. 

Missa feels that he can't support him anymore, that the level of support he can give is not enough. That he is not enough. Philza tries to calm him down, to tell him that he's fine taking care of Chay alone, but out of nowhere it's two kids... When? How much has he missed? 

When I see the way you look

Shaken by how long it took

I could do about anything

I could even learn how to love like you

Love like you

Love me like you.

THANKS FOR READING THE FIRST PART!!

MORE COMING NEXT WEEKS

[wrongcaitlyn]

With Apollo bound to come out with a new album at some point, would he ever return to the touring/concert aspect of singing? Or would he just stick to helping Nico out with those aspects, or even have someone else perform his songs for him/record a live music version so people could still sort of have that experience? And we already know that the listening party would be amazing 🥳

OKAY SO first yea i think it's pretty obvious by now that apollo will eventually come out with new music!!! (which i am SO extremely excited for, like his album has actually been on repeat over the past few months. it may be my favorite album from the entire tyt universe, sorry nico </33)

but as for tour, i honestly can't see himself ever going on tour again. it's two very conflicting opinions, because on one hand, he's a very flashy person and likes being under the spotlight! that's the entire reason he's going back into music after all, it's something he's always been very clear about. but on the other hand, he has some very bad experiences with being on tour, and even though he managed nico's tour and would be in charge of the tour himself, he'd still probably feel uncomfortable doing that sort of thing himself, and exposing *himself* in front of an audience again. he hasn't had all good positive fan interactions, hasn't had good experiences being on tour itself, and hasn't always enjoyed being on stage.

so that being said, i don't think i could see him ever returning to the stage as a sort of "eras tour" thing, and going back to singing his old music - one thing that i always thought of is that taylor has a connection to her old music, it's her life, it's the whole reason she decided to rerecord them in the first place. but in apollo's perspective, he's almost ashamed of the past music? not really, but it's not HIM. it's a facade, someone who he had been forced to act like, and he holds no personal connection to that music - he'd probably rather they be scrapped completely, but he can't do that.

so i don't think he'd ever sing any of his old songs live again, but i do think that smaller performances, possibly a festival, and maybe like an award show performance or something, would be done with his new music. things like the tiny desk concert, a small listening party, and some acoustic shows like nico's og haunted ones are some of the smaller things he'd do, but i also could see him headlining coachella or lollapalooza or smth!! it def seems like his vibe, and it'd also be less pressure of being an "entirely him" thing. i don't think he'd feel as expected to sing all of his old hits either.

i ALSO do think that he would release things like the voice memos that taylor does,,, except they're from all the way back in the early 2000s. when he eventually releases his new music, it's gonna be a blend of things he's written recently and stuff he wrote a long time ago. i think he'd feel some kind of pride in releasing those old voice memos/first drafts of songs and show that they really did come from him all those years ago!

so those are the things i could see apollo doing live, but i doubt that he'd want to schedule a full tour or anything - partly bc of bad experiences but also partly bc he's a full time dad! and even if all his kids r at college or having jobs, i think that will's heart attack also impacted him a lot. he doesn't want to be far away or traveling all the time anymore,,, and who knows,,, maybe he has a partner,,, bf,,, husband(??) that he'd like to spend more time with rather than touring <33

oh and he's running a record label and is still a full-time producer as well LMAO

thank u for this ask!!!

[feedthefandomfest]

Hiya!

I love this blog and just wanted to ask- do you know any advice on formatting and tagging for AO3?

Or just general etiquette!!

I'm not new to AO3 (reading or writing) but I haven't interacted with the actual community much and would love to know more :)

oof, I still feel like a newbie posting stuff on ao3, and tagging is something i've always struggled with. and actually formatting is also on ongoing issue 😅 so with that in mind, here's what i try to consider:

TAGGING

relationships -> tagging the main is obvious, but i'm sometimes torn about tagging side relationships that feature in the fic, especially since it's annoying to be searching for that pairing and get a bunch of results where they're not the main focus; unless the other pairing is a prominent feature, i leave it out of the relationship tags and at most add it to the additional tags

characters -> i remember updating the character tags on my early fics every time another character popped up in the story, but now i'm of the same mind as the side pairing issue; unless the character is prominently featured, i leave them out of the tags

content warning/advertising -> if i know the fic features an element that some people might wish to avoid, i always tag it and also always fret that i've forgotten to tag something in that regard. when it's more about advertising what's in the fic, especially sexual content, i sometimes feel silly listing every flavor of physical encounter unless the fic is pwp/smut (in which case i gleefully list all the depravity); i sometimes worry that over-emphasizing the sexual content in the tags is misleading? like of this 100k fic, if 15k is spent fucking, how do i get the tags to reflect that while also tag cw appropriately? is there an established tag for that?

sometimes i see fics with TONS of tags, like an exhausting amount, and sometimes i see fics with very minimal tags... sometimes frustratingly few. i also know some writers add chapter-specific warnings in the author's notes. in the end, so long as you're making it possible for people to find or avoid your fic as needed, then you're good. Here are some good posts that dive into it more!

(i remember when people on tumblr would scold writers for monologuing in the tags on ao3 like we do on here, claiming it was a strain on the system, but i believe that's been debunked?)

FORMATTING

i've noticed some MEGA annoying quirks with copy & pasting over from Google Docs and Word, and I know there are some tricks to get around them, but i tend to just slog through the Rich Text window fixing everything manually 🙃 OKAY I FOUND SOLUTIONS LINKED BELOW.

spacing problem #1 -> pet peeve of mine, but i dislike it when the paragraphs have massive spaces between them (ditto for indented paragraphs). idk why, but it's tiring for my eyes to constantly leap the chasm between paragraphs. so whenever i copy and paste from Word, which for some reason ALWAYS appears with double spacing between line breaks, i go in and manually fix it. SOLUTION

spacing problem #2 -> when copying over from Google Doc, whenever there's a punctuation mark following an italicized word, a random space appears between them. and yep, i have to go in and fix every one because typos make me twitch. (this might not be an issue for everyone; i overuse italics and dashes like it's my job) SOLUTION

spacing problem #3 -> again probably a me issue, but i tend to include song lyrics a lot, and it's always a headache to format because when pasting from the doc, ao3 embeds these spaces between the lines that i can't remove by backspacing. only fix i've found is to copy and paste lyrics directly from a website, and then it formats fine. random and annoying and weird. (no solution 😔)

since this section has just been me whining about finding SOLUTIONS for formatting issues, i'll offer one tip that's more about general editing: i try to proofread best i can in Word/GDocs, but it's always easier to spot errors when i'm reading the draft on my phone. the typos always jump out at me from a phone screen. it's now my favorite way to edit!

every writer has their own preferences on formatting, and every reader has their own level of tolerance for formatting quirks. in the end, so long as the formatting doesn't interfere with the reading experience, you're all good.

[acourtofthought]

Me again and on the same day, so... I hope I'm not being annoying...

But what do you think about ccity3? (if you have already read it)

I may end up releasing some spoilers, so if you don't want to risk it, don't continue reading!!

I mean, more specifically what do you think about the shadows of Az, Ruhn and Comarc?

Today I saw an E/riel girl saying that the shadows disappear when they (Ruhn and Comarc) are comfortable, so they insisted again that Az's shadows disappearing with Elain is a good sign... I don't believe it's the same thing, definitely.

(But I don't have much context from Ccity, I haven't read them yet. Well, just the third one to see my girl Ness and Az)

And if you've already read it, what did you think of the Bryce&Az&Ness extra, the ending in particular; from shadows dancing to Az humming; of the exact words "could have sworn" being used in both of Az's extras twice;

And the song "Stone Mother"; Do you think it has a "meaning" for the future? I've seen people saying this is about Elain, I particularly agree with something I read about it having some connection to his mother (who was briefly mentioned during the extra)

They distorted a part claiming that the shadows danced with Bryce's cell phone, but that doesn't happen. I've never met an Elriel who played fair, they're always trying to change what was said. (Some said they were very confident after Ccity3, and I honestly didn't understand why)

Well, maybe I'm just super paranoid, looking for a little Gwynriel in every line... lol

I actually feel special to have gotten two asks in a day from you so thank you!!

I think if we were to compile a list of everything Az's shadows have ever done from start to finish in series, we'd find conflicting information.

I imagine there was a time where SJM did not truly know what she was doing with Az's shadows or what she wanted them to do for a particular love interest because she wasn't even sure that Az was getting a book early on.

And I think it's also a bit difficult for us to compare them to Cormac because the way Az's shadows came to him is unique. We're told that they came to Az while he was born in the dungeon, an airless, light-less prison where he learned the language of the shadows and it's difficult to say if the relationship he developed with them is equal to that of those with similar powers. Ruhn and Rhys share similar powers however it's evident that Rhys is by far and away much more powerful.

Az's shadows aren't exactly "him". They seem to be a bit sentient when you consider that he tells us they keep him company, that they whisper to him. He is not fully in control of his shadows at all times, they told him to sleep and he thought on how he wished he could.

I'm not saying we'd want Az's shadows to be swarming and ready to strike like snakes at all times, that's clearly not a good thing for either Az or the shadows. But having them tend to vanish around someone when he tells us they've been his companion would be like a friend who you grow up with start disappearing anytime your girlfriend came around. Wouldn't it be better if his shadows remained but were at rest or calm?

That's not the narrative SJM put out there for his shadows around Elain in SF though. They skittered away from her, he says they tend to vanish when she's around. It's clear that in SF Az is not in a great place so for E/riels to say they disappear around her because he's calm and that's a good thing is a complete contradiction to him thinking on how he's been ignoring her because he's bothered by her bond. She clearly does not bring him peace.

In the same book we're told that his shadows are afraid of the Sun and in HOFAS, we get more evidence that they don't hold up to light very well.

When you consider how SJM often connects Elain to light and sunshine it seems pretty obvious that she's telling us Elain's penchant for those things is not going to compliment what we know of Az's shadows.

She also could not have made it more clear that the shadows responded to Gwyn in a way they never did with Elain. They danced and twirled with her breath, they were content to sit on Az's shoulders and watch when before the shadows were trying to get him to bed, they sang in response to her song (just as they sang in response to Az's humming). Saying they vanish around one female while having them curious and a bit playful with another, even if it's only in relation to her powers (as E/riels like to claim) is still better for the shadows......which are a part of Az but not fully him. They don't need to love Gwyn because the shadows are not possibly mated to Gwyn. But if Az is mated to Gwyn and his shadows have a bit of a thing for her song then is that not an extremely symbiotic relationship for all parties involved?

I'm not even sure Azriel understood the lyrics of the song because Nesta says she couldn't understand them so maybe it was truly just the melody that captivated Az. And the way the melody was described is a lot like the music of the priestesses service.

As likes music.

Gwyn is a singer.

Az himself began humming once the phone stopped playing.

They share a common interest and that's a valid thing to comment on in regards to a ship.

If Az was aware of the lyrics and the lyrics had to do with the Stone Mother legend than I'd hope no one would be trying to turn the words into anything ship related as the legend is Native American and Elain and Gwyn are white. But to your point, it could have something to do with his mother as she is Illyrian.

[grapenehifics]

Not to tell you about *every* time I hear Solsbury Hill on the radio but…

Can you tell us why you picked it as the title for your fic? I feel there’s more to your reasoning than “grab your things I’ve come to take you home” and I’d love to hear your thoughts [it’s also maybe pretty obvious(?) but I’m really, really shit at 1) song lyrics 2) song meanings and 3) applying them to other contexts 🙈]

My friend, there is almost nothing I would rather talk about than the intersection between Peter Gabriel*, Genesis, Solsbury Hill the place, Solsbury Hill the song, and Solsbury Hill the fic.

(*Peter Gabriel, and all the members of Genesis, are real people, and would probably tell this story very differently. But they're not here to correct me [oh god, at least, I hope not], and this is how I heard the story, and I am going to tell it the way I know it. Apologies to all those living or dead.)

Sometime in the late 1960s a group of British schoolboys formed the prog rock band Genesis, and by the early 1970s they were...maybe not world-famous, but huge by prog rock standards, anyway, with a couple of albums and a tour. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway came out and it was a big enough deal that they got offered an American tour, too.

They were all still pretty young (they'd started basically in high school) and Peter Gabriel, their lead singer and main songwriter, had recently got married and he and his wife had a baby (this will become relevant in a second). So they go on the American tour and maybe about halfway through Peter turns to his bandmates and is like, "so...I'll finish the tour with you, because I promised I would, but when we get back home I'm quitting the band."

The other guys were stunned, obviously, because this was the moment they'd worked for. They'd already gotten through all the shitty garage band years, which is where most people give up, and now they were at the good part! They were on an international tour! The money was good! Their albums were selling! They had more fans than they'd ever thought they'd have! What on earth would possess someone to want to give all that up?

(The part of this story that is less-charitable to Peter Gabriel is that one of the answers he gave was 'more creative freedom' and his band was like...but you already write all our songs? What possible *more* creative freedom do you think you need?)

It wasn't just the band, though. His managers and the record company and everyone all told him that was a terrible, terrible idea, and there were a sizable contingent of Genesis fans who just refused to follow him to his solo career because they were mad at him for walking out on Genesis, wrecking the band, how dare he be so ungrateful...

(Genesis did fine without him, actually. Phil Collins took over on vocals and they had another couple of albums and some hit songs before going kind of weirdly soft-rock in the 80s.)

Also - and this is an important detail - when he left the band, there was no solo career. He didn't have any songs. I don't think he even had an agent. He was kind of on the outs with the industry for pulling that stunt. He spent the first year after he quit - while Genesis was recording a new album without him - just hanging out at home with his wife and baby daughter.

Eventually he did get back in the studio, and one of the songs on his first solo album was Solsbury Hill, largely regarded to be the most autobiographical of his songs (Solsbury Hill is an actual, physical hill in Somerset, near where he grew up). It's pretty blatantly about quitting Genesis, including being unhappy in the band:

So I went from day to day Though my life was in a rut

I was feeling part of the scenery

And liberty, she pirouette When I think that I am free

and trying to get up the courage to leave even knowing it would almost universally be regarded as a really dumb move and would very possibly end his entire music career even though he was still in his twenties:

My friends would think I was a nut Open doors would soon be shut

But eventually doing it anyway:

To keep in silence I resigned

I walked right out of the machinery

I will show another me

Then he writes about how, even though it was scary and he didn't know what the consequences were going to be, he was glad he did it:

Though my life was in a rut 'Til I thought of what I'd say Which connection I should cut

Today I don't need a replacement I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant

And he personifies all this as a person, or more accurately hearing a voice (while climbing Solsbury Hill, hence the title), and the progression of what the voice tells him mirrors the rest of the lyrics. First it's:

"Son, " he said "Grab your things, I've come to take you home."

and

"Hey, " he said "Grab your things, I've come to take you home."

But the final lines are the singer answering back:

"Hey, " I said "You can keep my things, they've come to take me home."

And not to belabor the metaphor, but that's what I see as the equivalent of the first quarter or so of Solsbury Hill the fic, at least the beginning to the Bakersfield hospital chapters. Peter Gabriel and Anakin both got the exact thing they thought they wanted - a record deal, a tour, money, fame, wealth - and then turned out once they had it, they actually didn't really want it all that much anymore, and the reality of it wasn't worth keeping it.

But also mixed in there is some shame, right, because to everyone else it looks like you have it all. Every kid around the world with a guitar and a garage bands wants what you have. Every kid on their school swim team watching the Olympics on TV wants that. And now you've got it, and you're just...going to hand it back? Say it's not good enough? This thing that feeds your family and lets you see the world? How dare you spit on that!

But all they really want - in both stories - is more time with the people they love. And yes, in both cases, there are ways to fix that - Peter Gabriel could have taken his wife and baby with him on tour, Anakin could have not fired Obi-Wan and taken up with Palpatine - but in the middle of that situation and looking down the barrel of year after year of touring and competition and the toll it takes on your body and your mental health - suddenly the smart play starts looking like turning you back on it, tearing the whole thing down, and starting over. Even if it means living without the money and the fame and the recognition and universal goodwill. Who cares. Keep it all. Keep my things; I don't need them; I just need you.

I'm going home.

[fanfic-inator795]

Why I love the Jeoffs in "The Ghost and Molly McGee"

(Warning, VERY long essay ahead)

There’s a lot to love about “The Ghost and Molly McGee” - from its lovable characters and fantastic animation, to its hilarious jokes and incredibly catchy songs, to its morals on kindness and spreading positivity. But while I admire all of these elements, one of my personal favorite things from TGAMM is the relationship between Geoff and Jeff.

To me, Geoff and Jeff seem to stand above a lot of the rest in terms of mlm rep. They aren’t just used for comedy relief, nor do they rely on cliches, and they aren’t just the dads of a side character that we hardly see - though they're still a middle-aged queer couple, which is pretty rare and just nice to see. They’re recurring characters who help out with plots and who actually FEEL like actual characters. To fully explain this, let’s take a deeper dive into these two and what makes them so great both as individuals and as a pair.

Meet Geoff

While he only appears in a handful of episodes throughout the series, I can appreciate that - much like characters such as Libby and Andrea - Geoff was introduced and established early on in the show. Voiced by Eric Edelstein, who some may recognize as Grizz from We Bare Bears, Geoff is the happy-go-lucky and somewhat ditzy ghost-best friend of Scratch. While Scratch may not always appreciate him (ESPECIALLY in the early half of the 1st Season), Geoff is always there to lend a hand or a hug, often letting whatever insults or cold-shoulders that Scratch throws at him just slide off his back.

It would have been INCREDIBLY easy to just make Geoff the brainless comedy relief character ala Patrick Star, but much like with Grizz, there’s a lot of genuine heart put into this character, even if he isn’t always the sharpest crayon in the box. Given that his first appearance shows him altering his calendar so he can hang out with Scratch and then playing dumb about it when Scratch tries to call him out, we’re able to get the feeling pretty early on that there’s more to this ghost than it seems. 

Something similar happens in the Sart Duan Sib episode when Geoff takes advantage of Scratch’s poor grammar to invite a bunch of other ghosts to the dinner. We then see him help save Scratch’s butt by talking up Scratch’s ‘unique scaring technique’ in the episode “Scare Tactics” - so we know that even if he doesn’t know stuff like basic history facts about Lincoln, Geoff is still just a bit more clever than he looks.

It should also be noted that Geoff knew Scratch before the McGees moved into his house - in other words, he likely noticed that for as grumpy and anti-social as Scratch was, he was also probably very lonely. So, much like Molly, Geoff was willing to do what he could to help pull Scratch out of his shell, seeing the good in him and - as such - being able to ignore the fact that Scratch was a pretty crappy friend in the early stages of their relationship. The show makes it clear that Geoff isn’t oblivious to Scratch’s obvious flaws, even acknowledging them in some instances (see him nodding along to Scratch’s points about how he can be lazy and selfish at the end of “Jinx VS the Human World”), he just chooses to easily forgive them in favor of seeing and believing in the best in his buddy.

So yeah, while there are small instances of Scratch manipulating him, it never outright feels like Geoff is a full-on doormat for Scratch - and, once Scratch is able to let down some of his walls, they’re even able to have fun together! Geoff also gets to show off his loyalty in episodes like “The Turnip Twist” and the season 1 finale, with these instances also showing how much of a power-house he’s able to be when he’s determined or when one of his loved ones is in danger through him destroying the festival or fighting off the SobGoblins.

By the end of season 1, we pretty much have a full grasp on Geoff’s character. He’s a bit dopey and is often seen spacing out, but he can also be observant and clever when he wants to be. He’s friendly, genuine, loyal and incredibly supportive towards others - and in that sense, he's less Patrick Star and more Olaf the Snowman in terms of goofy side characters. All in all, he’s a simple but still fully realized character - and, while he may not get as much overall screen time as his after-life partner, the same could be said for Jeff.

Meet Jeff

Funnily enough, while Jeff doesn’t get a proper introduction until s2, the show actually hints at him pretty early on. In “Not So Honest Abe” when Scratch and Geoff are at their favorite coffee house, the barista calls out an order, and Geoff immediately knows that it’s his partner’s order, not his. 

On the surface, it just seems like Geoff just supernaturally knows whenever someone is saying J-E-F-F instead of G-E-O-F-F - which, knowing him, he probably does have that ability… somehow. But, interestingly, the order that the barista calls out is a Misery Mocha with extra whip. While it’s not the cookie frightaccino that we see Jeff drinking in s2, he does take both drinks with extra whipped cream (or rather, whipped screams, because ghosts). So yeah, that’s a nice little easter egg there.

Then, in the Sart Duan Sib episode, we get to fully see Jeff for the first time. The two Jeoffs sit together at the table, and there’s actually a quick shot of the two of them in the background where Geoff is feeding something to Jeff, all while just giving him this absolutely adoring look (love it).

Finally, during the s2 premiere, we see Jeff standing next to Geoff during Scratch’s big Chairman ceremony. So yeah, while it’s unclear WHEN exactly the creators decided on this relationship, it was at the very least established by mid-s1.

Voiced by Vincent Rodriguez III, who previously voiced Ansel Beauregard in Netflix’s “Arlo the Alligator Boy” - though others may know him for his work in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend - Jeff finally gets his proper introduction in “The (After)Life of the Party”, and actually gets to appear in several episodes afterwards. Again, it’s just nice to see this character - and his relationship with Geoff - actually get to stick around instead of being shunted to the background/void. What’s more, while Jeff obviously loves Geoff a ton and would most likely kill for his man, him being happily in love is not his only character trait.

Both Jeoffs are sociable extroverts and are incredibly friendly guys, but while Geoff tends to be friendly almost to a fault at some points, Jeff is willing to be just a bit mean when he needs to be. This, of course, is shown when he point-blank tells Scratch that if he ever does something to seriously hurt his partner, he’s gonna have to answer to him. Thankfully, Jeff doesn’t hold TOO much of a grudge once he lays down the law. Still, that connects to another similarity between the Jeoffs, as they can both be supportive and incredibly protective of the ones they love.

As for differences, Jeff is shown to subtly be just a bit of a humble bragger - like when he talks about how the guest list at his and Geoff’s anniversary party is going to include “the best of the best” or when he points out how he’s “classically trained” when he shows off his tap dancing skills during the “This House is Haunted” song. 

Speaking of that episode, I really love the bit during the scare-off between Geoff and Howlin' Harriet where Jeff just blatantly chooses Geoff as the winner, all while claiming that he’s a 'non-bias judge'. Honestly, it’s both hilarious and adorable, if also just a bit petty.

Moving on, we see that while both Jeoffs are pretty openly honest guys, Geoff will often try to sugarcoat things while Jeff can be incredibly blunt and more than a little snarky, as seen when he got annoyed with Jinx during their fake Wheel of Fortune game in the episode “Jinx!” or with his “soft rock personality” comment towards Scratch in “Davenport’s in Demise”. Although, with the latter, I have to wonder if that was just Jeff being petty again, given that Scratch very clearly interrupted their coffee date just to get some shallow validation - and, yeah, I’d be just a bit annoyed too.

We should also acknowledge his “terrible chairman” comments in “Jinx VS the Human World” - as, while these comments definitely aren’t quite accurate, given that Scratch did quite a few good things as chairman, namely getting rid of the Flow of Failed Phantoms permanently - they do speak to Jeff having just a bit of a temper leading to him occasionally being harsher than necessary, showing that BOTH Jeoffs can be pretty emotional, just on different sides of the spectrum.

It really is an amazing feat just how much character the TGAMM crew was able to put into Jeff despite him only really being prominently featured in the last third or so of the series. Again, they could have taken the lazy route and made him JUST Geoff’s love interest, likely making Jeff a near-carbon copy of his partner instead of the two of them having a good amount of similarities and differences. But because BOTH characters are decently fleshed out, we’re able to get a really good grasp on their incredibly sweet and enjoyable relationship.

Time to gush about Jeoff

There really is just sooooooo much to praise about this pairing - right down to their character designs having a sort of yin-yang aspect to them, with Geoff’s bottom-heavy design and Jeff’s top-heavy design allowing them to fit together perfectly! Their colors also go together incredibly well. 

Honestly, you could mute their dialogue and still be able to tell how much they love each other, just because they’re constantly giving each other loving looks and being physically affectionate with each other - hugging, holding hands, holding each other, Geoff hanging off Jeff’s arm, giving each other looks that just SCREAM “I love you” all that great stuff. We only get one actual kiss on the lips between them - and a quick one at that - but it’s one of those cases where I don’t mind too much, given that they really aren’t subtle or lacking when it comes to other examples of physical affection so it never feels like the TGAMM crew is trying to hide their romance like other shows might. Heck, just the fact that they’ve canonically been together for a full 100 years speaks to the strength of their relationship.

Episodes like “(After)Life of the Party”, “Frightmares on Main Street” and “Dance Dad Revolution” show how much they enjoy dancing with each other - which, seeing this, now I kinda want to see a 2-V-2 dance off between the Jeoffs, Pete and Sonia AKA the Ice Princess. I feel like that’d be both super fun and incredibly entertaining.

(just look at how happy they are. It's so cute, I can't- My heart-! *also I still find it hilarious that these two just foiled Scratch's whole scheme in Dance Dad completely on accident, haha*)

We also learn that they make each other homemade gifts - like Jeff apparently making Geoff a sweater for his Death Day, and Geoff talking about how all his holiday gifts for Jeff are always homemade so that they always come from the heart.

But beyond the cute visuals, what really sells these two for me is their dynamic. When you think about Geoff and all we saw of him during s1, he is very much the type of guy who not only supports those he loves, but is willing to sacrifice them as well. After all, Geoff literally got himself thrown into the Flow of Failed Phantoms for the sake of trying to protect Molly and Scratch in the s1 finale. Again, much like Molly, he just naturally cares a ton and he’ll fight for those he cares about, even when it’s at detriment to himself - and what’s more, people like Scratch sometimes take advantage of that.

In that sense, it’s incredibly sweet that for as supportive and loyal as Geoff is towards others, Jeff is able to be that sort of person for him. While Geoff can sometimes disregard his own needs or concerns in favor of helping others, Jeff is the only one consistently looking out for Geoff and protecting him, such as when he outright refuses to leave Geoff behind in the Halloween episode - even after Geoff worries about slowing him down - or when he makes it clear to Scratch that he isn’t going to stand by and let him be a bad friend to his partner. Heck, even more joke-y moments like Jeff giving Geoff the win in the scare-off shows that he always has his partner’s back.

And of course, Geoff is just as supportive and affectionate in return, referring to Jeff as “amazing” and “awesome” and declaring how he’s happy to spend the rest of his after-life with him at their anniversary party. When he thinks he’s about to die from poisoned candy in the Halloween ep, his so-called last words are “tell Jeff I love him!” When Jeff is playing the host of their fake Wheel of Fortune show, Geoff is right there supporting him as his ‘lovely assistant’, even using his explanation of one of the show’s prizes (the foam finger) as an excuse to flirt with him.

(One of my fave moments between them ngl)

Additionally - and this is getting a bit into headcanon territory but - when you look at Jeff, he has a very traditionally strong and masculine look to him, which likely caused other people to likely have certain expectations of him back when he was alive. As such, I sort of get the vibe that, when it came to Geoff and Jeff falling in love with him, the main thing that Jeff appreciated about him was Geoff’s unconditional love - and, from that, the ability to just feel comfortable and ‘soft’ around him. To dance and be snarky and sappy and lovey-dovey without ever being judged for it.

You truly feel like these two are ride-or-die for each other, even when they might not always be on the same page… which brings us to the Dana Synder-voiced blue blob in the room.

While these two aren’t really shown bickering or arguing at all, any time there IS any sort of tension, it usually involves Scratch - which makes sense, given that he and Jeff didn’t exactly start off on the right foot. Sometimes they’re able to work together fine and be friendly enough with each other, and other times Jeff is understandably annoyed or frustrated by Scratch’s antics.

As for Geoff, it’s made very clear that he’s the type of guy who holds friendly and platonic relationships with just as much importance as romantic ones - which, as an ace/aro person, I can definitely appreciate. This does cause him to be more than a little forgiving towards Scratch’s follies - but while he won’t go so far as to let Jeff call Scratch the “worst chairman ever”, he also won’t force Jeff to hide his feelings/not call Scratch out or take back his other less-than-nice comments regarding Scratch and seems to understand and accept that his partner doesn’t necessarily hold Scratch in as high regard as he does.

In that sense, it almost feels like a typical sitcom dynamic where one character is constantly getting into little squabbles with their spouse’s friend or family member - but in this case, Geoff thankfully never tries to force the two of them to constantly get along, being fine with their dynamic as is while, naturally, still being thrilled when Jeff and Scratch DO improve their relationship.

Really, the only time where Geoff maaaaaybe went a bit too far regarding Scratch was when, after he and Jeff were captured by the Chens in the halloween episode, he told Molly that they were fine and to go save “his precious Scratch” instead, with this leading to Jeff saying how they needed to have a talk about Geoff’s obsession with him.

In Geoff’s defense, Scratch was all alone and the Jeoffs at least had each other, plus the Chens were distracted at the time, meaning that they weren’t in immediate danger while Scratch potentially was. I should also mention that while the line itself is more of a quick joke than anything else, I do appreciate it sort of hinting at the Jeoffs being good communicators who are willing to actually talk things out whenever they have a disagreement or concern with one another.

It’s a small thing, but given how many fictional long-term couples we’ve seen bottle things up, miscommunicate constantly and argue nearly half the time they’re on screen to the point of their relationship consistently being on the rocks, it’s nice to see a more healthy and realistic dynamic between an older couple - because hey, you don’t make it to your 100th year anniversary without knowing how to properly communicate with your partner.

I’m also glad that while Jeff and Scratch had their own sort of tensions between them, Jeff was never shown being jealous, possessive or insecure about Geoff being friends with or being affectionate with Scratch. Sure, he called his partner out for putting Scratch’s safety above his/their own - which I’d say is fairly reasonable, even if I can also understand Geoff’s side - and I’m sure he didn’t fully get WHY exactly Geoff cared about Scratch so much given how much of a jerk and nuisance Scratch could be, but he never went so far as to tell Geoff he couldn’t be friends with Scratch, leading to Jeff himself eventually warm up to the little guy by the end of “Jinx VS the Human World” after Scratch made up for his big mistake, which was admittedly really nice to see.

All in all, the relationship between the Jeoffs is cute, wholesome, healthy and just really enjoyable to watch whenever it comes up. Both characters are not only great as a pair but also great on their own. Even if we don’t know every little detail about their relationship and history together, it’s made clear over and over again following Jeff’s introduction that these two are still incredibly in love with each other and there are plenty of reasons why this is both clearly-shown and implied.

In terms of LGBTQ+ rep and especially mlm rep, I’d say they’re a really great example! The Jeoffs aren’t just tokens nor do they rely on cliches. They’re fully fleshed out characters that work just as well together as they do apart, assuring that they aren’t defined by just their relationship, and they’re actually shown helping out or participating in the plot in certain episodes instead of just being stuck in the background. They have their jokes, sure, but the relationship is never only used for comedy relief, and while it’s a shame that we never got more than one kiss between them, it’s still great seeing just how physically, emotionally and verbally affectionate they are with each other, proudly making their love for one another clear as day. They’re literally shown being each other’s joy during the “Give Them Joy” song - you can’t get much more blatant than that!

In a show full of just amazing relationships - whether they be based on friendship, familial ties, found family, or romance - I’m just so satisfied that one of the main pairs regarding the latter category got to be Geoff and Jeff. So kudos to the TGAMM crew for doing just an absolutely fantastic job with these two.

[musicismymoirail]

Since I've back on my Infamous kick, I decided to sit down and try to actually figure out Fel's look. I really wanted him to have full silver hair, but it wasn't working for me so black sides for a nice contrast? I like it a lot more, and it still fits his 'very much in love and inspired by moon thanks' vibes, lol.

I also feel a touch bad for him because boy is majorly dysphoric when people can see his freckles and natural hair color, but that's gonna be hard to hide while on a tour bus and in front of cameras constantly. I don't think anyone outside of the band has seen either, not even Orion.

And since I did this for X.O., have some silly headcanons.

• Band is Goodbye Blue Monday. It fit him better than X.O. and I'm glad~ They're more.... indie with folky and minor punky vibes? I always imagine it's a bit like The Decemberists or meWithoutYou's It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright album?? Like, this song is super Fel! c:

• Fel claims he was a remarkably stupid child, and his main story to back this up is when he was super young, he was terrified of darkness. He thought the moon was too, since it disappeared a lot so he'd sing to it to try to make it feel less scared. Fel's origin story for his singing and song-writing is just his weird compassion and love of the moon.

• Kid went to college but dropped out pretty early into his sophomore due to his crumbling mental health and realizing how much of it was simply trying to please his folks. I imagine this Didn't Go Over Well with them (especially Mom) and it's partly Fel has no love left for them. He may be a bit of a Stepford Smiler, but even he has his limits, thanks! 💖😤💖

• He went to Harvard too, so Mom might've been doubly upset he dropped out. He had planned on eventually going to Law School, but the Band and Seven won out (and he is happier for that, despite ...everything.) That being said, I always feel like his undergrad was in comparative religious studies or something. It just feels very Fel??

• The band's big hit is based for the old fable, the Moon and Her Mother. It became a bit of anthem of shitty relationships (parents) and gaslighting. There's a healthy debate among fans if it's about Seven (and if so, if Seven's the moon or the mother), Fel himself, Fel's own parents, or if there's any true-to-life to it at all since it is based off a fable. Mainly, Fel just hated the fable and wanted to write something for the Moon …and more parental feelings slipped in then Fel realized at the time, lol. Moon's Momma is harsh and Fel didn't realize how harsh at the time. :')

• While he's good at putting on a face and playing up his flirtious and carefree personality, Fel himself is a painfully sweet and anxious soul. Growing up was a lonely experience. His family moved a lot, though always in the Boston and South Shore area, and Fel found himself more often than not bullied by his peers. Weird, stupid, freckles, shy, take your pick. Kids found a lot of flaws to constantly pick and make fun of.

• Fel does have an (obvious) crush on Orion. Orion is a very attractive and smart and dedicated and witty. And more importantly, Orion is safe. Orion tolerates him kindly, but it's nothing more than that. It helps his heart after Seven. I think when he realizes that attraction isn't as one-sided as he thinks, Fel will have an absolute freak out. "Why would you even like me?! Don't you have better taste?"

• Kid's self-image is pooooooooooor.

• Fel enjoys cooking too! There's only so many tv dinners and take-out you can eat, but Fel grew tired of them both about he was 13. He's an exceptionally good cook and baker, and loving cooking for his friends. He makes them all special meals or treats for their birthdays every year and I can't wait for him to cook for Orion for the first time. c:<!!

• Also, Fel definitely has a Thick Boston accent when he talks. He's not embarrassed by it though sometimes he hangs his head when he hits the Boston especially hard.

• Kid also digs Clefairy despite his gothy punk aesthetic, much like X.O. digs Gengar despite her opulent pink aesthetic, lol. ^^;;;

[themoonandtheprincess]

More Chase/Kaz headcanons

•Kaz is very much into alternative music, albeit more popular bands like Fall Out Boy and Rise Against. Spike is into it too but leaning more metalcore and screamo.

°It freaks Adam the fuck out when he goes down to the lab and finds Spike jamming out to some Ice Nine Kills while training.

°Although Adam and Kaz do find it funny because in "Communion of the Cursed" one of their lyrics is literally "Get on your knees and prove your worth."

°Speaking of Spike, Chase learns to control him a lot better when they're older so he doesn't come out as much anymore, but that leaves the times Spike does come out into full blown tantrums.

°Chase would never admit it out loud but that part of him does need attention too and really only comes out when Spike doesn't feel like he's getting enough.

°Kaz has learned that the only way to get through to Spike is to talk calmly to him and as he would to Chase. Which he just sees Spike as a part of his boyfriend, no different.

•Adam is big into country music but he's not elitist about it. In fact, he would love the "This ain't Texas" Beyoncé song.

•There isn't an Elite Force for long. Mighty Med eventually gets rebuilt and Kaz realizes he can't save the heroes if he's being one.

°It might stem from insecurity about not being sure he can 100 percent control his powers or that he's just more comfortable doing the background work.

°Either way, it's all a group decision to split the Elite Force, although Skylar with join Bree on missions sometimes.

°Kaz would be lying if he didn't admit he missed being a part of a team, but being part of Mighty Med soon became a team to him and even a family.

•Somehow, I'm not sure how, they are connected to the Henry Danger universe.

•Kaz "proposed" to Chase with a RingPop like all cringe babygays.

•Their actual wedding had A-list superheroes and company owners, much to Chase chagrin who wanted a small wedding.

•But Kaz made it up to him by flying him across the city and to the Bionic Island.

°Which, it was the thought that counts because Chase is terrified of heights.

•So I don't know if this is obvious, buy the Davenport kids aren't robots. They're humans just with bionic abilities. So I'm guessing in the way I'm seeing things their chips are sorta like a prosthetic if that make sense. I don't know. Feel free to correct me.

°If we're going by that sense of logic, then having bionic chips for super speed or what have you would become more common in the future, albeit for rich people.

°It definitely would make Chase insecure that there are more bionic people but also feel more welcomed into the world then standing on the outside. As for Adam and Bree too.

°But these newer bionics have upgraded systems and overall better functioning for them. They don't glitch as often, rarely with this new tech rolling out, and it embrasses all three of them when they glitch in public because of how old their chips are getting.

°Speaking of glitching, although Kaz isn't an engineer, anytime any one of the glitches he will take them back to the mansion to help Davenport and combine engineering with his medical knowledge. And as they get older it only gets worse.

°Once on a mission, all three of them simultaneously glitched and Kaz could hear it on his radio to them. He immediately called an ambulance to Mighty Med. Although Skylar yelled at him for not just flying over there.

•Kaz is CONVINCED Tony Stark once came in for his reactor messing up.

•When they're in their early 20's, Kaz shoots up taller than Chase to around Adam's height but he likes to joke he's secretly Elastic-Man and be any height he wants.

•Kaz refuses to take a side on the DC/Marvel debate although he will talk for HOURS about how the MCU is deteriorating.

•Skylar and Bree have some pretty sick cosplays of Vision and Wanda though while Kaz goes as Captain America and Chase goes as Bucky Barnes.

°Leo goes as Loki and tries to convince Adam to go as Thor but he goes as Groot instead. And of course, Donald goes a millionaire Playboy Tony Stark.

•Kaz is, of course, everyone's personal heater but he can not stand any of the eighty blankets Chase keeps around him to sleep.

°So they made a deal, only, like, two blankets but to keep them on Chase's side, that way Kaz can still be his personal heater.

•Kaz hates summer but he loves the pool... just not what it does to his powers. (Not to mention it takes an hour or two to come back.)

•Once, to piss Kaz off on his birthday, Chase individually wrapped each page of a comic book.

°But it was better than the time he used actual comic book pages as wrapping paper.

•Chase and Adam have autism while Kaz has ADHD.

•All three of the Davenkids can NOT sleep in darkness. Probably because they grew up sleeping in capsule, but neither can Kaz or Skylar. Kaz because obviously his powers are fire ability and it would scare him shitless if he woke up randomly in the middle of the night and couldn't summon a flame. And Skylar because it's just how she grew up on her planet.

°Chase figured out a way he wouldn't need to sleep in his capsule anymore but still sometimes does one for familiarity, two for when he's mad at Kaz.

•Also, all Davenkids have done animal therapy at least once (including Leo) and actually got it integrated into Mighty Med. That's how most of the superheroes ended up with their animal sidekicks.

•As he gets older Kaz accepts he's not going to be on the frontlines as a superhero but begins to get comfortable with that as he becomes more concerned with being a doctor.

•Kaz sometimes gets full on Will Solace from Percy Jackson mode. "Doctor's orders" and literally having to drag Chase away from his projects to go to sleep.

Let me know if you guys want more of these!

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 12a

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

Alphsîr and Alphlîn say farewell for the moment in the morning; they mean to go fly with the Geese for the day.

(Celeborn is not hung over, or at least not hung over enough to show it.)

As they set off, Glorfindel waves for Elladan and Elrohir to join him. "I want to come up with a list of all the Ainur-power-related things I did or Elrond did that might be teachable."

They also need to figure out how they're going to adjust group combat strategy to account for big magic swans in the middle of everything — and make sure they don't reflexively attack the orcs.

They also also need to demonstrate the Wizard's Clay again.

Gimli was hoping to demonstrate placing it in rock anyway.

And they still need to come up with those hand signals.

******

Maglor falls in beside Sharlinnu's wagon.

"Oh, good," she says.

"Let's talk about noise."

Sharlinnu has a lot to say about the noise — how pervasive it is, how wrong, how noxious, how exhausting. The ebb and flow of it according to the Dark Lord's moods and fortunes. She tries to mimic it so Maglor can get a better idea of it — he gets how she feels about it, but that's about it.

She talks about seeing the effects of the noise in others, how it manifests in their hearts rather than their heads and twists them up.

She talks about the loneliness of being cut off from the Song, of not being able to hear the trees and the earth and the sky and the Sea, what should be familiar and comfortable made alien and strange.

Then she screws up her face and says, "I have spent more orc childhoods aware than any of the others. But you'll have to bear with me while I… extract the memories from where I put them."

(An incomplete list of aspects of orc childhood Sharlinnu usually works very hard not to remember:

The hunger, overwhelming all reason and feeling and impulse control until you will eat. Anything.

(Dead Men, dead elves, dead dwarves, dead orcs, live prisoners, smaller orclings if the minders get careless, wounded orcs, wounded wargs, orcs who got careless around a large group of orclings, half-rotted carrion, leather clothing, dirt that had blood soaked into it.)

(After relating all those, she struggles for a few minutes before haltingly relating a time when the orc den was overrun and the few escaped orclings scattered each alone in a desolate land, and… she died. Of blood loss. After one of the bites she took out of her own arms hit an artery.)

The horror of maturation inevitably accompanied by pain and deformation.

The complete lack of, of…

Usazila of the Hirnedhrim spent her childhood alone in a pit and came out biting everyone and not knowing how to be a person. Orclings were not left in pits — together in pits they would have killed each other and there really was not the space for a pit each — but that's the comparison that feels right, as far as being raised. Orclings aren't raised. They're fed and guarded and kept from dying until they can figure out how to be a person from whatever shreds of their past lives they can find.

There are a few exceptions, probably. But not many.

"Treating Mist like that would have killed him, probably. But I'm pretty sure it never crossed anyone's mind. Mist was— Even before we realized Mist was an elf — which I thought was obvious from fairly early on, but not everyone did — even before we knew he was an elf, we all thought of him as a child. Children are to be cared for and treasured." She shrugs. "Orclings aren't— No one sees orclings as children. Not orcs, not orclings, not anyone."

"…Are they, though?" Maglor asks.

"No, because they have entire lives of experience available to them and they grow up immediately," Sharlinnu says. "…And yes, because not all of them know that, and…" She holds a hand a foot or so from the wagon seat. "When you're about so tall and can't stand or focus your eyes properly, I think — I think you should probably get to call yourself a child even if you can remember a dozen lifetimes perfectly."

It's probably still easier than talking to Celegorm will be.)

******

Dyn and Gimli, with intermittent assistance from Turgon, Whiterot, Risyind, Zena, and Legolas (they can't all gather at once because there are eight wagons to drive here), come up with hand signals for the following concepts:

"We're ready"

"We need more time"

"Can we get some technical assistance over here"

"Please hurry up"

"Watch out, we're being attacked"

"We need backup for being attacked"

"DRAGON"

"STOP ABORT ABORT WHAT ARE YOU DOING"

"IT'S GOING TO BLOW GO RUN NOW NOW NOW"

"Curse the Dark Lord(s)"

That last one is not expected to be very relevant to the Wizard's Clay-laying; Risyind invents it just to see if it gets around whatever stops the orcs from cursing the Dark Lord(s) generally. It does! At least for the moment.

(Cover your eyes with your hands briefly, then point down with both thumbs, then both pointer fingers, then both middle fingers, etc. — when you've gone through all the fingers, mime retching. Curse the Dark Lord(s)!)

[boneless-mika]

I think one of the biggest problems with Hazbin Hotel aside from its creator is that it tries to be an animated Broadway musical but as far as I can tell they didn't get any writers or composers with experience writing musicals so it basically uses the aesthetics of a Broadway musical without any of the skill so it ends up bad.

Do any of the songs progress the plot or give us insight into the characters singing them? No. Everything the songs tell us is already obvious from the spoken dialogue and the visuals.

In Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical Merrily We Roll Along one of my favorite songs is Franklin Shepard, Inc.. This song occurs very early in the musical so no spoilers. In this song Charley and Franklin are going on a TV show to talk about the show they're trying to write. The interviewer accidentally mentions that Franklin has already signed a three picture deal. This leads Charley to rant about all his frustrations with Frank in song during the interview and begging him to go back to composing because it's what he does best and lamenting that he wishes they were still close. This leads Frank to end their friendship.

This song not only shows us how Charley's anger at Frank increased to a point he couldn't hold it in anymore but also that the underlying cause for his anger isn't that Frank likes money too much as we might have assumed, it's because Frank has essentially given up on the dream they had together. It also furthers the plot in that the song directly causes Frank to leave and end his friendship with Charley for good.

But take my favorite Hazbin song: Respectless. What do we find out in this song? That Velvette doesn't show respect to the other overlords because she doesn't think they deserve it. This is, frankly, obvious. If this song was written like a song in a good musical, we would find out things like Velvette is actually jealous of Carmilla or is genuinely worried what will happen if these people continue to be in power but we don't get anything like that. There also isn't really any buildup of feelings to really make the song feel necessary from an emotional standpoint. It also doesn't further the plot because I remember Velvette bringing up the angel head before starting the song so the song was pointless which is my least favorite kind of song in a musical.

Hazbin Hotel songs also lack the kind of lyrical wittiness I expect from musicals. The rhymes are bad or nonexistent and the beat of the lines often makes no sense which makes it less pleasant to listen to. A musical song should be like a poem or a part of a Shakespeare play, it doesn't work to simply write a pop song and put it into a show to make that show a musical unless it's a jukebox musical but I still kind of think those are largely bad.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[simonnebethel]

WIP Questionnare (tag game)

Tagged by @buffythevampirelover ^^ using A Chant for Blood to answer these! Answering them all out of boredom, but you can answer as many as you like ^^

What was the first part of your wip that you created? ...the first chapter 😅 but tbf the very first scene has changed drastically since then! it was a bit of a 'main character wakes up' cliche so I decided like right after writing chapter 3 it would be changed after the first draft was done.

If your story was a TV show, what would the theme song/intro be? oo! Possibly Nothing Else Matters by Apocalyptica. Prob my fave one out of the story's playlist.

Who are your favorite characters you've made? Why? Probably the makoth characters, like Gunilde and Oddvar. and idk 🤷 ive had a soft spot for orcish characters lately, makoth included. Can't forget Karliah, too! She's been with me since middle school.

What other pieces of media do you think would share a fanbase for your story? oooh. i dont know. possibly game of thrones? or any gothic fantasy novel. I actually don't read that much victorian fantasy, so I don't know many. However, Snow White and the Huntsman did influence me a lot, so if that movie has a fanbase I suppose it counts.

What has been your biggest struggle while writing? Creating the magic systems. It's like chemistry for me; my brain just can't work it out. the main magic system, which i have just called Spellwork, feels so underdeveloped, but the other magic system for the Makoth, Skvæla, is a little bit more fleshed out. At some point I have to sit down one day and work the whole Spellwork thing out before I lose my mind 🥲

Are there any animals in your story? Talk about them! There is! Maugr are native to Reyoarfell, and only used by the Makoth. Wolf-like beasts the size of polar bears, with thick fur and short legs to combat the cold climate of Reyoarfell. The makoth only use them for travel or to carry/pull heavy things, they are not suited for combat or racing. These animals are important to them, and are not allowed to be owned by anybody outside of the country.

How do your characters get around?(ex: trains, horses, cars, dragons, etc.) Mostly by horseback or carriage, as trains haven't been invented yet. But also, the first book is contained in one city so they don't need anything else to travel long distance. However! Portals to travel between countries do exist, but they're rare and expensive to use.

What part of your wip are you working on? I'm currently editing the early chapters, getting it ready to look for beta readers. Adding more scenery and sensory descriptions, changing a few things about the characters, trying to find a way to make the plot twists less obvious before they're revealed 😅

What aspects (tropes, maybe?) of your wip do you think will draw people in? Hmm. victorian fantasy, knight lady, eldritch being, vampiric lizard man, body horror, corruption arc, and monster hunting are the ones I can thing of off the top of my head 😅

What are your hopes for your wip? That there's people out there that would at least enjoy reading my novel, and love the characters as much as I do :)

Open tag to whoever wants to join! No pressure ^^

[a-libra-writes]

i’m so happy your requests are open again omg!! i think i’ve read pretty much everything you’ve ever written on this blog sdjfgifakskfk

i’m asking for any type of romantic headcanons involving brandon stark. like, a marriage between him and a lady from the stormlands, family/kids hcs, jealousy hcs or literally anything you want. i’ll literally read anything you write <3 if you don’t have the muse for this, that’s completely okay too !!

Oh, my cup runneth over with choices! Hmmm .... for now ill do a little bit of everything? Mostly relationship and domestic HC's 🤔

To start with! When it comes to an arranged marriage, he's initially huffy about it ... until he realizes she's pretty and interesting and whoops he's like a boy trying to impress her before the wedding. Lyanna especially teases the hell out of him for this change of heart. Ironically a lady whose more closed-off, shy or nervous will get a much gentler side to him, whereas one whose more outgoing or friendly will get his full gregarious self. He isn't really aware of it, but a lot of this trying so hard is because he'd like her to be comfortable and happy in Winterfell. Brandon's parents were happily married, and if he really sat with himself about it, he'd want his relationship to be the same - but he knows that's a pipe dream in Westeros, so trying to start off on the right foot with his new bride is important to him.

Now, if this was someone he was familiar with for a while, like a lady whose also a Northerner, Brandon is much less anxious. If anything, he's probably more boisterous and himself because he feels more comfortable. He "gets" Northern girls, and he gets you. You're more familiar and therefore he's less nervous about "messing up".

And the thing is, Brandon can become very attached with the right lady. Even if she doesn't fully feel the same yet, he's finding himself wanting to do things for her. He wants to be lordly and gallant and all those things he used to make fun of in the songs. He wants to get flowers delivered to her (isn't that what ladies like?) and help her up on her horse (he's pretty sure she rides ...?) and carry her over the snow and mud (though, the Winterfell yard is well kept, so ...). Alright, maybe that doesn't pan out, but he can still impress her with his hunting and swordsmanship and show her all over Winterfell. The Stark siblings are having a field day with all this and his father is just happy he's too busy to sleep around.

There's also the matter of jealousy, and it's something that shows up early. It's a childish sort of jealousy at first, especially if his lady is lovely and not from the North, therefore many lords want to see her and speak with her during feasts. He wants to interrupt them and take her away, and if he's drinking he's only more obvious about it. It's gotten some of the court to whisper, look how taken the wolf lordling is with his bride. He just frowns and sulks if you, his father or Lyanna scold him about how boyish it is.

(Now, if there was a serious breach of etiquette, like a lord taking too many liberties during a feast or Brandon was feeling some fierce insecurity ... Yeah, the dueling swords are coming out, if he doesn't just wring the man's neck with his bare hands. In the North, you fuck around and find out).

He's the sort of person who really needs to be in love with their spouse, or at least fond of them, even if he knows that's childish to expect. He'd start to become lonely and listless otherwise, his eye prone to wandering to other women, wondering why his house isn't like the warm and happy family he was raised in. He'll always love any children, though he's not always the most attentive father. Twins? Oh, he won't tell them apart until they're ten. His daughter wants a sword? Sure, sure, let her have steel, that's what he practiced on. A child wants to ride? Well, why not come up on the warhorse with him, no need to start with a pony - you get the picture.

Now if he is in love with his spouse, it's utterly obvious, just like his early infatuation and jealousy was. He'll trust her completely and be grateful to her for many things, not just raising children and helping him with the more infuriating parts of running the house, like numbers and logistics for guests. He doesn't like leaving his wife for a long period of time, even if his brothers are there to protect her. He'll give her a tight, long embrace before leaving and takes her in his arms once he's back. He always wants to kiss and touch, even in inappropriate places (old servants warn the new people about which rooms and halls to avoid). It's not hard at all for the new Lady Stark to get Brandon wrapped around her finger.