#i wanted to get this out bc easter is coming up and i keep getting this feeling of being bereft lol

[rochenn]

Honestly kinda weird what an almost 60 year period of de facto de-christianization in a language and culture otherwise steeped in centuries of Christianity does to a mf.

Like ur always referring to some dude when you swear and curse but you bet your ass most of the ppl around you have never seen a church from the inside unless they took a tour to look at the colorful altars and architecture. It's just history to you. Pretty buildings etc. You don't spare a single thought towards Jesus bc his birthday isn't named after him in your language and his resurrection is linked to pre-Christian traditions that are way more fun than going to church. You forget he exists. You celebrate his days either way, but all of that happens in the shadow of the gods he replaced. God and Jesus are little more than expletives to you.

Still it feels like something was taken from you and you don't know what it is??

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[captainlexapro]

Tkachuky Derby & Hughesapalooza - 2024

*click for better detail- apologies for the lighting and general quality of the pics 😓!!*

acrylic on paper

please don't steal or repost 💚

inspired by this tweet specifically (plus credit to the earliest twitter mentions i could find):

Made these for my fellow brothers bowls enthusiasts!! Especially those who know it’s all about the intricate webs of familial narratives in athletics. and the concepts of destiny and talent. and brothers as both allies and adversaries. and the bonds between siblings. and…

links to inspo, reference images, and other thoughts below the cut!

THEY'RE DONEEEEEE!! 😭🙌 i spent probably 2-3 full days' worth of time from concept sketches to final products. so much paint. so much frustration. they're still not perfect - there's little issues on both (if you notice something, i promise i'm aware of it!!) but 'fixing' stuff in acrylic often leads down a rabbit hole and i just had to call it and be done.

there's intentional little details on both - let me know what you catch! hopefully you can see them okay 😅

*i know they play each other more than once per season but i only wanted to make these for their first '24-'25 meetings)*

Let's get some whimsy up in here now, boys!

Derby:

team colors - Panthers Senators

matthew reference

brady reference

Kentucky Derby posters inspo

I wanted to keep the derby poster more 'clean' graphically. lots of derby posters have sharp lines of color and lots of movement, so i knew i wanted large swaths of the team colors somehow (thanks to the ppl that voted on my poll for what the team color shaping should be! i did follow the winning choice lol) chose poses where they look like they are moving in the direction of the 'flow.' generally wanted to keep focus on the idea of matthew vs brady, so i have them 'looking' across the way. was originally going to put in outlines of skylines for cities relevant to them, but that proved to be way too big of an undertaking so i scrapped that idea and came up with some different references. put some detailing for each of them that i'm reallyyyyy hoping you can see when you like zoom into it, but here’s some closer pics:

their last name is ukrainian for weaver, so i wanted to put a little nod to that somehow. not sure it will translate/be clear to viewers, but i limited myself by making the poster so damn small...*I* know they're there and can see them lol if it's not clear to ppl i will come back here and explicitly say what they are lol

Palooza:

team colors - Devils Canucks

luke reference

jack reference

quinn reference

Music posters inspo

inspired by lolla/music posters. wanted a more 'fun' vibe overall. while the derby poster would be more for say like, putting on a wall or hypothetically used for marketing purposes, palooza was more marketing poster and maybe on a t-shirt, too. definitely wanted a calligraphy type font for the name - just felt it out and came up with that shaping. tried to reference lolla a bit. used the devils and canucks coloring - and combo of those (did you notice?) - for the palette. wanted it to be a bit more pop graphic-ish (and hopefully not too cartoony). used some hockey/venue shapes and references, as well as some little hugheses-specific easter eggs...fun fact: the reference pic i used for jack is the EXACT SAME as his nhl25 cover. they just edited it to have the devils' home jersey colors. (i was like wait a second....i know that pose. bc i've been staring at it trying to paint it for hours!!!)

some pics of the palettes and initial sketches:

If anyone has fun nicknames for other nhl brothers bowls, i’d be open to making more posters! Lmk!

If u read all this just know i love u and hope you have a good day 🫶

[sisterofficerlucychen]

there were so many parallels, callbacks, and moments with the same vibes (big and little) that i had to write them down to keep track lol. lowkey may be missing some and also huge shoutout to everyone who has posted about them ♡ it feels like easter eggs bc some feel easier to spot than others and i think we're still finding some lol.

with angela

watching chenford angst and teasing them about it "maybe i'll go too. grab some popcorn on the way for the show" → interrupting chenford angst and teasing tim about it "don't do anything i wouldn't do"

lucy saying she didn't need tim to come with her but would accept his help → lucy saying she didn't need tim protecting her but was also glad he was at her six

the hammer

tim's face you got this? cool i'm out look when he turns to lucy telling her she's going to have to fight the hammer → tim's you got this? cool i'm out look when the guy whose car got torched asked for her number

tim telling her she was going to have to fight the hammer → tim making her fight ghost face on her second day

lucy telling tim he needed to fight the hammer because she needed to look good in her dress for the wedding (and no one cared what he looked like) → lucy talking about having to starve herself to look good in a dress to a wedding she didn't even want to go to

tim giving lucy his duty belt → tim stealing lucy's duty belt

tim fighting the hammer as lucy stands there and watches (nervous) → tim fighting the guy from the biker gang as lucy stands there and watches (scared)

tim's fake proposal to ashley → tim foreshadowing a proposal to lucy

lucy asking tim if he could see himself married to ashley → lucy seeing herself married to tim as he's down on one knee handing her bailey's ring

lie detector

lucy looking for tim at the station because he asked her to meet him → lucy looking for tim at the station after she broke up with chis

(confused by shenanigans) lucy's "what is happening right now?" as she walks into tim with the lie detector → tim's "what are you doing?" as he walks up to lucy chen's fist of justice

no personal space as they sit in front of each other and their legs are touching → no personal space as they sit next to each other on their second date and their legs are touching in the same way

tim being shook that the lie detector detected him lying → tim being shook outside lucy's apartment after the living room kiss

lucy asking tim if he loves her → tim asking lucy if she loved chris

bailian wedding

tim finding lucy across the way with chastity and randy → lucy finding tim across the way as she talked to grey and nyla

tim going up to lucy to ask her to dance → lucy "paying off the debt" at nyla's wedding of the dance she promised she'd save tim at angela's wedding

lucy telling tim that they'll get through it (bc of uc issue) → lucy telling tamara that they'll make it work (bc tim's under her chain of command)

tim telling lucy while they dance that he wants her dream of being a uc detective to come true → tim telling lucy while they dance that she deserves to be recognized

lucy telling tim "i love you" → lucy telling tamara her relationship with tim is the best relationship she's ever been in

[lotties-ashwagandha]

CHRISTMAS WITH THE YELLOWJACKETS (headcanons)

SHAUNA

will forget to wrap your gifts until the very last minute and then spends hours wrapping , chugs a whole pot of coffee in preparation as if she bleeds espresso

her gifts are very thoughtful tho she gives the best christmas presents. shes perceptive to things you like and want, even if you don’t tell her she’ll notice if you’re eyeing something in a store while you’re out and will get it for you when you’re not looking

she can’t be fucked w christmas cookies though she’ll buy some at the store and plate them up all pretty and tell everyone she made them herself

anyway. she is passionate about the christmas tree (why does that sound dirty?) she needs the ornaments to be all in the right place and the lights to be equally distributed or else everything’s coming off and she’s putting it back on the right way

LOTTIE

NEEDS the entire wellness center to be decorated or else her seasonal depression makes her want to be chasing bitches through the woods with knives (again)

from the 5 exact same fics in the lottie tag i think we’ve all established that she can’t bake cookies even though she tries exceedingly hard

she buys all the seasonal coffee creamers that are all the fucked flavors , you’ll get in the fridge and be faced with “gingerbread candy cane sugar cookie mcgriddle subway sandwich taissa’s fresh farmed dirt” flavored coffee creamer

i can also see her getting hyperfixated on those “christmas baking championship” series , you don’t watch the show but you know everyone who’s eliminated each week by name

TAISSA

prepares a whole pot of dirt for the two of you

“I got this bucket of dirt from outside the boxing gym, it really packs a punch”

i’ll never not make fun of this bitch for eating dirt I’m sorry

anyway she probably hides your christmas presents but forgets where she hides them and then she has a little easter egg hunt for everything she bought you

you’ll be doing spring cleaning a few months later and be like oh my god look at _____ i told you i wanted this for christmas have you been hiding it???? and she’s like oh

she also has the BEST christmas songs playlist , possibly even better than van’s

VAN

if she buys you clothes they’ll be thrifted and she has this whole thing about how she doesn’t support fast fashion and at this point you’ve stopped asking for clothes bc girl keeps giving you dusty ass 60s shit and not the good kind

has old copies of all the good vintage christmas movies tho and you have movie nights with popcorn and blankets

she has a favorite peppermint scented candle that she always lights when you’re doing something christmassy, baking cookies or watching movies or whatever it may be

decorates the shop for christmas ‼️ and you help her and it’s absolutely gorgeous , she plays christmas carols all day during work

NATALIE

will probably buy you some rlly expensive alcohol tbh and you guys party like hell for christmas

will also get you something sentimental tho and act like it’s nothing when it’s everything

she’d be less into christmas than you but would be down to use it as an occasion to get lit, give you gifts, and tell you she loves you

and sex . just saying

MISTY

now LISTEN this girl goes all out

caligula has a miniature christmas tree in his cage and she reads the christmas carol to him every year

she really enjoys those little 5-7 minute vintage disney christmas shorts and will make you watch them with her because she thinks they’re so cute and funny

chip and dale reminds her of her and nat

she’s obviously chip in her mind and nat is dale

anyway

she’ll also hand make your presents, not all of them but I can definitely see her crocheting you something or smthn like that

in any case I’m going to bed my loves im exhausted and writing this before christmas bc i probably wont be active on christmas but MERRY CHRISTMAS i hope you all enjoy the holidays, thank you for reading and supporting <3

[missdawnandherdusk]

The Auror

The Case The Defendant The Witness

Summary: How did your end of course trial get to tangled up with the people you knew through school? And why the hell was Harry Potter the one it depended on?

A/n: Okay, so you guys have a choice bc I have the next chapter ready... do you want it now or in a couple days? It's more Draco and a little more angst... Love you guys and let me know that you think!

I walked into the Auror’s office of the Ministry and talked briefly with the secretary at the front desk before being told two office numbers. One of Nymphadora Tonks, one of Harry Potter. 

I knocked on her door and heard a fumbling before I met a smiling face and wild pink hair. 

“Y/n? What are you doing here kid?” Tonks asked. “It’s good to see you!” 

“It’s good to see you too!” I smiled brightly. “I’m here on a case. I need the ballistics for Draco Malfoy’s wand. And the wand if you still have it just to confirm anything.” 

“Oh, you’re the one that got the Malfoy case,” Tonks said. 

“If I had a galleon for every time I heard that,” I joked. 

“Oh I’m sure. The case has been a total mystery. Glad they finally found someone to take it. Come on in kid, I’ve got the file around here somewhere.”

“Thanks,” I shut the door behind me.

Her office was both neat and a mess. Tonks had trinkets everywhere and scattered maps and memories lying about but her desk was completely orderly. She was rifling through an old filing cabinet, her arm reaching down into a space that physically wasn’t there, but with magic, existed. 

“So Malfoy huh?” She asked. “He’s a looker isn’t he?” She grinned. 

“Tonks,” I laughed. “Absolutely not. This is a job that’s all.” 

“It can be both.” She mused. 

“I’m not going to fancy a potential murder,” I clarified. 

“So you think he did it?” Her face became serious. 

“I don’t know. It’s why I need the balliectis. Something just isn’t adding up and it’s driving me crazy.” 

“Yeah, I never did hear why the case was never closed. I thought the wand results spoke for themselves.” She finally pulled out a folder and a long slim box. “Here we are.” She opened the folder, setting the box on her desk. “Here we have it. This wand did not cast any Unforgivable Curses. Not now, not ever.” Tonks handed me the file. 

“You’re sure?” I glanced between her and the paper, trying to make sense of all the numbers and words of jargon that I didn’t quite understand. 

“Clear as day darlin’,” She nodded. “This wand did not kill Dumbledore.” 

I stared at the hawthorn wand, held captive but areas of grey, missing it’s wielder. It begged me for freedom. 

“Actually, I think it says it there somewhere, but Draco was disarmed by Potter some years ago and hasn’t had the wand ever since.” Tonks stole the papers from my hands. “Yeah here. 1998 at the Manor… looks like Easter of that year,” 

“Easter? At the Manor?” I frowned. 

“Yeah, is that important?” She asked. 

“It keeps coming up,” I mused. “So Draco hasn’t had this wand since?” 

“As far as I know, he hasn’t had any wand since,” Tonks said handing the file back. “You keep this. Does more good for you than it does me, sitting here collecting dust.” 

“What about the wand?” I asked. 

“I can’t sign that off until the case is closed.” She said. “Sorry kid,” 

“No, this is… this is more than enough,” Hope fluttered in my chest. “Thank you Tonks,” 

“Any time kid,” She grinned. “And hey, don’t be a stranger,” 

“I won’t,” I promised. “But I do have another meeting to get to,” I said.

“Yeah, yeah, get outta here,” Tonks laughed. “And say hi to your folks for me,” She called as I went down the hall. 

“I will!” I waved, rounding the corner. 

I followed the halls for a bit, searching for the office number that had the person this entire case was hinging on. 

“Auror Potter.” I held my hand out and Harry shook it. “Thank you for meeting with me.”

“Of course. I heard that you’re on the Malfoy case.” He led me into his office and we sat surrounded by strewn papers and growing piles of books and various magical items that’s looked semi dangerous. 

“I am.” I said, moving a few files off the spare seat in the room. I set them precariously on another stack of papers that threatened to tumble. 

“So, he’s guilty then, yeah?” Harry said, hopeful. 

“Um.” I said. “Never mind that. Tell me, what do you have invested in this case. I didn’t see a witness statement or any official documentation. But Dr. Dresden said you were the reason this case wasn’t closed.”

“I am.” Harry said confidently. “Because Malfoy killed Dumbledore.” He said it so confidently, like a lion strutting about. 

“Okay,” I pulled out my notebook and quill. “Did you see him kill Dumbledore?”

“No.” Harry didn’t seem less confident despite the fact. “But I was there.”

“How could you have been there and not seen Draco kill Dumbledore?” I asked. 

“I was just below. We were in the astronomy tower you see, and Malfoy was there. I heard him and Dumbledore talking. Malfoy said ‘I’m going to kill you.’ Then Bellatrix and a few other death eaters rushed in and they insisted that it was only Draco who could kill Dumbledore and those were the orders from the Dark Lord himself. Then Snape was there and Dumbledore was dead.” 

“Okay so there was intent.” I mused. “But that doesn’t mean Draco actually did it.”

“How could it not have been him?” Harry said getting heated pushing back from his desk standing. “Do you think I’m lying?”

“No,” I said calmly. “Please, sit.” Harry simmered down, his eyes narrowed in skepticism. “Did you hear Draco cast the killing curse?”

“Malfoy killed Dumbledore.”

“That’s not what I asked.” I said firmly. “Did you hear Draco cast the killing curse?"

“Are you daft!? Malfoy killed Dumbledore! I was there!” Harry stood abruptly, causing a cascade of clutter. I stood as well, seething. 

“Auror Potter if you cannot conduct yourself in a proper manner we are done here and all of your words will be stricken from the record and you will not be relevant to this case.” I said coldly. “Now would you like to answer my questions or are we done here?” 

Harry fumed with rage, locking his jaw. He looked downright dangerous but I wasn’t afraid. I had a job to do. 

“No.” Harry bit out. 

“No what?” I asked. 

“No. I didn’t heard Malfoy cast the killing curse.” He spat the words like acid at my feet. 

“Thank you.” Was all I could say. 

“If you acquit Malfoy—“ He began to threaten. 

“I’ll be freeing an innocent man.” I vowed. “Otherwise he is guilty.” My eyes narrowed. “And I intend to find out which.” There was nothing else I wanted from him. “Thank you for your time.” As I went to leave I heard his voice. 

“He’s a killer Y/n. Don’t let him fool you.” 

I turned back, pensive. There was something in his eyes. A heavy fury. A cold weight. 

The man in front of me was a killer. He had destroyed Voldemort. 

“I can see quite clearly.” I said, storming from his office. By the time I had calmed myself down, time snuck up on me. It was a quarter past noon. 

I had told Draco I’d be there at noon. 

“Shit.” I took breath and drew my wand, aperating to the Manor. I flew up the front steps and knocked on the door. Draco was there waiting for me. 

.

The Confession

.

masterlist

.

@coffee-addicti @msmcsmutt @ravn-87 @artemismohr18@whygz@crazywritingbug @bitemebro522 @zombiesnips-blog@savingdraco  @akari180 @slytherin-emerald @queenfeatherwings @fanficflaneuse @go-whovian-universe @spicyshenanigans @darling-im-not-okay-i-promise @katsukink @takemetothekingdom @strangerr-things @tmnt-queen@hxneybgb @belcvayelena @moviesbooksandfandoms   @cocochanelthepupper @ninacotte @braelynn-johnston  @jiggllyy @darcypotter-blog  @thiccheerioss@lottie289 @beautiful-pegasus@tceedlmao @anonymous034 @bi-andready-tocry @dragonsandbread @the-queen-of-hell-things @alienmotel  @oh-itsnothing @sunflowerxsadnessw @fattycooter @fanficsigottaread @gweaslvy @strawberriesonsummer @gaysludge @ray-of-sunrise @artist-bby @shadowsingeraxolotl @quillsareforwriting @wollymalfoy @lilpieceoftoast @paper-cats @floweryjh @hufflautia @livize75 @annie-mcl @riathearora @dudeimnotgonnakms @auriuswolve @carolineesnell

[poppitron360]

what frank headcanons do you have?

LOTS and they’re very Leo-heavy (Like everything I post). I make it no secret that I will defend Platonic Valzhang with my life- their friendship is everything to me.

1. Frank is more socially competent than he seems, he’s very aware of how others are feeling, and knows exactly what to say and do to comfort them. Specifically, he knows a lot about PTSD from seeing his mom and her military friends coming back from war, and so he knows what to do when one of his friends have flashbacks/nightmares. For such a big guy, he’s surprisingly gentle.

2. He does not let his lactose intolerance stop him. He will take that as a fucking CHALLENGE. At easter, he will wolf down chocolate like there’s no tomorrow (and then tomorrow comes, and he regrets everything).

3. Only swears in times of absolute crisis, so when he does it’s a BIG DEAL. One of the Legion hears Praetor Zhang say “fuck” and suddenly SHIT JUST GOT REAL.

4. THE BEST HUGGER EVER.

5. Refers to Leo as a “smol bean” on multiple occasions.

6. Other nicknames include “Jason’s twink” “twiglet” “that annoying little gnat” and “tiny stick boy” (all lovingly)

7. GIVES PIGGYBACKS (Sometimes as an actual pig)

8. One time, Leo convinced him to infiltrate a kid’s birthday party as the magician’s rabbit, steal all the cake, and leave.

9. Brilliant cook- excellent baker. Makes a lot of cakes and cookies (Percy helps).

10. After much encouragement from Leo, he turns into a dragon and finally gets the courage to breathe fire (he was too scared before).

11. Loves to read- MASSIVE BOOKWORM- Reads Hazel bedtime stories. Soon Leo finds out, and insists on snuggling in next to them and Frank reads them to sleep.

12. Similar to the piggybacks- lets people ride on his shoulders. Mostly Leo, so he can reach high places (short people problems, amiright?)

13. Okay if you ask me my headcannons, you know that no. 13 is always “THEY’RE A SWIFTIE”- Frank’s not a big a fan as Leo (who knows her favourite colour star sign and shoe size) but has a couple of her albums. He gets properly into her after Leo forces it onto Hazel bc she said she wanted to listen to more modern music. The three of them make friendship bracelets together. Hazel is a debut girlie.

14. Leo paints Frank’s nails for fun.

15. Frank is the go-to guy for the dyslexics. Percy, Annabeth, and Leo all come to him with things asking “what does that say?”. He doesn’t mind except when Leo wakes him up at 3am (has that kid has ever heard of a sleep schedule?)- especially to ask him to read something Leo himself wrote.

16. Similarly, he helps Leo copy up all his notes into a format that’s actually legible- after Calypso’s island Leo makes sure the crew is able to carry on without him if he ever went missing again (he also wants to keep a record of his work just like the Archimedes scrolls he found).

17. Lets Leo rant about machines. Sometimes he just smiles and nods (because he doesn’t understand a single word) but Leo appreciates Frank not telling him to shut up about it.

18. Pretty much an old man when it comes to tech. What Is A Meme.

19. Just pretty much an old man full stop, and I am here for it.

The thing is, I always have a million hcs and as soon as someone asks for them I forget them all. I’ll probably remember a lot more as soon as I post this, but here is what I got for now. I’ve also posted a shit-tonne of Valzhang hcs in (one of) my massive Valzhang rant post(s), so you can find that here. Some of my favs here are recycled from that.

[silverskye13]

just binged all of redstone and skulk in one go. HOLY SHIT!!! i left some comments on ao3 but that wasn't enough. i needed to come to your tumblr too bc this fic has Changed Me A Little. it makes sense- i've been subscribed to you on ao3 for a while (remember hound's tooth? i think that was when i started following your writing. and monsters splitting hairs, although i'm not quite caught up on that one), and that was for a good reason- but tanguish and helsknight are something else! part of why i like fanfiction is because i get to see more of characters i already like- it takes a special fic to get me so invested in characters i've basically just met! and you do it so well! like. the subtle character things! the way i can pick out the hermits' (and martyn's, but i'm calling him a hermit for the sake of convenience) traits in the helsmits, but warped and twisted around like a funhouse mirror? fantastic. i love it. im eating that shit up. the ilttle differences and similarities between tango and tanguish, helsknight and wels (bc he isn't acting very knightly right now), impulse and the demon- it's so cool to see! i also saw the other ask you got where you talked about your process, and how you give your characters a list of traits as a guide to writing them- i'm definitely going to have to borrow that trick. it works! so well! it shows in your writing in the consistency of how the characters behave!

some other thoughts i had while reading:

helsknight being religious probably has a lot more to do with him being a knight than wels being a lutheran irl (which is where his name comes from and i find that hilarious), but still. if it's unintentional it's hilarious and if it's on purpose then it's a fun easter egg!

i relate to and understand tanguish, because i too would want to befriend helsknight, and also because if a bunch of big scary people basically adopted me and tried to teach me how to use a knife i would be so pathetic about it.

i relate to and understand helsknight and tango, because tanguish is the weirdest little cat ever and i too am captivated by his pathetic little freak charms, and i want to be his friend.

i neither relate to nor understand wels, because 1) if i saw my friend's presumably-evil counterpart skulking around the shopping district i would likely call them first (just seems like the polite thing to do, and also bc if helsknight showed up and the ppl who found him didn't call wels about it i feel like he'd probably be more than a little pissed), and 2) look at tanguish. he's just a little guy. he's a little guy and it's his birthday. how could you be mean to him.

tl;dr: redstone and skulk has compelled me to the point that leaving comments on ao3 wasn't enough, i needed to ramble straight into your inbox because it's just so good.

Oh my gosh! Firstly: thank you for all the kind words! I'm glad you're liking my writing so far, and thank you both for the comments and the scurry into the inbox. I love hearing people's thoughts, even if I don't have the spoons to respond to everyone all the time :'D

For your bullet points:

-- I didn't know Wels was Lutheran! I knew he was ex-military, and at least in my family's trends, military and religiosity go hand in hand, so it makes sense. But still! Learning new fun facts! I know nothing about the Lutheran Church [I was raised Baptist.] Probably gonna do some reading later.

-- I feel like Tanguish is going through that phase of "all the biker/military uncles have decided I'm one of them for some reason" and as someone who has gone through that before, for the same baffling non-reasons [used power tools in their presence once, a la Tanguish barely participating in a fight once] I sympathize. Very interesting somewhat scary people. Why did you invite me to sit at your table. Why do you keep slipping me tequila and buying me knives like I'm in on the joke.

-- Tanguish is such a specimen we all just want to look at him under a microscope. He is so scared yet so brave. He thinks knives are scary but he leaps off buildings. He's scared of getting hurt and seeing blood but he has no regard for his personal safety. How do you fit so many oxymorons in such a tiny body---

-- Wels please, he's a little guy and it's his birthday! Stop bullying him!!

Addendum: I agree Jackrabbit is very Tanguish coded. It is now on the playlist.

Want to live like an animal?

By the skin of your teeth?

Put your good face on, you're foolin' no one

You're a jackrabbit underneath

One step forward, step right back

Run for the hills, honey, run for the hills, honey

Run for the hills, don't look back

[fusillisarah]

MISTBORN REVIEW!! **spoilers!**

Okay, I finished mistborn! I freaking loved the magic in this series. the way that Brandon left little easter eggs that revealed more and more exactly when I was asking a question is crazy. I said this about Stormlight before. He's a MASTER at holding your hand, walking you up to a question, and then when you are what 'okay wait a minute how does that work I've never thought of that' he's like BAM hint/answer. It's really impressive. After reading a good bit (12ish) of Sarah J Maas books I can see a serious difference in quality of author. Its unspoken but rewarding things like that that really make me respect Brandon.

Okay on to the actual book review. I liked The Final Empire (book 1) the most sort of by a long shot. Less "political" in that it was definitely an act now think later type of book. Obviously we deal with those consequences later lmfao but tbh I liked the (relative !) lightheartedness of this one. Honestly 8/10.

Elend & Vin - Okay now that I've read more Brandon I can soooo see the parallels haha. I really loved Elend's character and I'm sad that Vin had to like go through all this relationship turmoil. I understand that she needed character dev. bc she didn't know who she was but (exactly like Shallan/Adolin) there's like this weird doubt and then they have all this sexual tensh w/ someone? it almost makes me feel like a settle. EVEN THO ADOLIN AND ELEND ARE SO AMAZING. It's just weird and yeah yeah I'm a dumb romantic but I like it when people know that their person is their person.

random note: a lot of characters seemed to get trampled underfoot. Dockson and Devreau principally. There was sooo much there for both of them, and Devreau even got more screen time but I think that a lot more of them wouldn't have been a bad thing. I.e. Dox had like one second and screen time and then died okay. I didn't even feel that bad about it Clubs hit way harder bc I felt like I saw a lot of his and Breeze's relationship. Devreau was kinda a nut but I feel like there could have been something there with a crazy twist on him just being such a religious fanatic, like some hemalurgic point but nope.

Book three just went SO fast! Idk am I crazy for wishing that Brandon had written some more? it just seemed like I was blowing through really important stuff.

Sleeper agent into my favorite character category was TenSoon. He actually was an unreal character to make up and right and his arc was just flawless.

the ending honestly was satisfying even though I didn't WANT it to be satisfying if you know what I mean. I was DEVASTATED actually screamed in my empty apartment at the end but I completely understand why that had to happen I was just still so upset.

I've had some time to think about this one but if I come up with anything else I'll add to this post.

I'm aware that Wind and Truth will be out this winter - I never read Rhythm of War either since I sorta figured I would want to reread 1-3 and finish it all out once its published. Easier to keep it all in my head that way.

Thanks for checking in if you made it this far! Let me know your thoughts on the subject!

[kroosluvr]

"an inside look into shujin academy's famed 'royal trio'" fic notes

link to the fic / link to tumblr post / link to tumblr ART!! post

this is going to be LONGGGG just all of my rambles/easter eggs(??) AND ETC. Not mandatory reading i kinda just want to write this for me to refer back to in like a few years or whatever hehehe

it is def confusing that i called shujin tennis academy that instead of giving it a diff name but i wanted to be a little tongue-in-cheek

mishima is a wannabe sports reporter, but maya amano (+ yukino mayuzumi) r already established sports reporters @ coolest magazine! :3 small cameo(sorta) at the end

goro does not want mishima out of a job he just hates interviews. he knows he HAS to do them though, and generally he's only featured alongside akira or sumire or both bc otherwise he doesnt wanna do em. for reasons i will elaborate on in futchure fics or art

i wanted to keep the mishima-using-akira-(SORTA)-for-popularity that canon has bc i always thought that was funny!!! since akira is so popular everyone's gotta read mishima's articles for info abt him....

'Ran donuts around ‘em' -> donuts is slang for straight sets (winning 6-0 6-0). incidentally, i've heard 'donut' used mostly in the PNW area while 'bagel' is used more in PNE. could be wrong. source: californian and i played college tennis in boston

generally, akira is always first seed while goro is second seed. sometimes the ranking is a littleeee inexplicable but it usually turns out this way when theyre in the same tournament

in general i wanted to emphasize the weird codependency needy attached-at-the-hip but we also hate eachother sort of "teammates"/friends(???) relationship that you develop in competitive sports... so all the "romantic" gestures throughout the fic can kinda just be boiled down to that. like, in a Normal context, maybe it'd be considered romantic, but in a "im fucking fiending for my life on a tennis court" context then it's just tuesday

sumire IS a walking ITF (international tennis federation) handbook. for reasons i will elaborate on in futchure fic/art! but she takes tennis very VERY seriously. (goro also takes it VERY seriously and akira takes it seriously.)

goro lets sumire call him by his first name abt 3 months into training w her at the academy (with him and akira its like within the first match bc theyre already at eachothers throats LMAO) after her landslide victory! thats when he kinda acknowledges her as a teammate i guess? beforehand they were just hitting partners

anyway the idea of "teammate" in competitive, individual, professional tennis is very fun and interesting to me as u can tell. LMAO. and like "what makes a Friend" versus A Teammate in terms of pro athletics

goro gets embarrassed when akira lets sumire sleep in their room not because of the actual fact of her sleeping there but because he doesn't WANT her to see him with his guard down. she always sees him on the court, ready to conquer his opponents, top-notch quality tennis, etc so he's mortified that she saw him Like that (just woken up LOL) though ofc she doesnt think anythign of it bc shes just like yayyyy tennis yayyy

Yup whenever u see a ping pong table u gotta round up all ur tennis oomfs and duel it out (i suck at ping pong....)

sumire being hard on akira and goro's tennis is kinda peak to me LOL she takes this sport so serious

AKIRA MISHIMA FRIENDSHIP MEANS THE WORLD TO ME. aside i read a few akira x mishima fics lately so theyve been buzzing in my head... important ...

dats a real club that i played at... one of my fav tournaments even though i played at like 8:30am or smth and it sucked. but it was reallyyy pretty and quite a drive

sumire + kasumi one-sided rivalry drives me insane ESP in tennis au, they're literally in two different fucken universes when it comes to athletics yet sumire is still deathly intimidated by her

goro picking fights w akira and sumire YAYYYYYYYYYY <3 and sumire boiling "friendship" down to "we play tennis well together" is so peak. yeahhh angst

"why do you play tennis" / "do you love tennis" / "what do you like about tennis" r such difficult questions. i read up on some pro interviews and they hurt me physically broooo like... it seems like a rarely asked question and you get a lot of common answers but u also get stuff that just breaks ur heart

aside, this convo btwn goro and sumire is very accomplice violetcrow to me. they're complicit in their hatred and their violence and their self-destruction except its very very very self contained to a couple of lines on a hard court (and sometimes grass if we're feeling special.) they truly hunger for number 1!!!!

i really like this section LMAO its probably my favorite.

woahhh shido mention. wonder what thats abt. TO BE CONTINUED

usual jokercrow scare tactics. mating dance type situation (sumire is used to this and doesnt think anything of it) like i said its like stuff that'd be DEFINITELY romantic and flirty in a normal context but in sports when things are highly charged and emotional and you're neck to neck it's less so. (obviously it still kinda is but this is what i mean in that u could totally read this whole fic platonically all the way around if u wanted to)

"Sumire hadn’t responded to that. She had practice to get to, after all." yupppp why would sumire spend time on anything thats not tennis? shes not number 1 yet, so how can she afford to waste time? 8)

akira/mishima playing basketball at the end IMPORTANCE!! also had to include akira stealing shit obviously. BUT YEAH i think its so important that akira finally gathers the idea that like... woah.. my life extends beyond the tennis court.. i can have HOBBIES.. and FRIENDS.... and hes the first of the 3 to realize that. sumire takes ages and goro also does (but quicker than sumire.) and also callback to when mishima said he missed him!!

Q6. Do you love tennis? Haha. haha. haha. yeah mishima ur not asking that one. that's hell ur walking into

[cervicrazed]

Can I get the whole hog for Wilton Rader pls

Oh man...the og...

I have been so evil to this poor guy and i will do it again

OC lore for the poster boy of suffering below:

^ This is Wilton Rader (late 20s & mid 50s respectively)

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Wil here was the first victim of my 'W' name obsession

I didn't wanna give him a "boring" name like William, so I looked up variants that 'Wil' could be a nickname for + Wilton won

last name (Rader) was picked bc together his name means 'Wheelmaker Who Lives by the Stream' & it felt like a nice little easter egg foreshadowing his retirement

🌼 - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

As of the Dead Wood storyline, he's in his mid-late 60s

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

Walt!! They met after being recruited for a demonic civil war neither really wanted to take part in. They became nearly inseparable over the course of The War, but Wilton still had a hard time coming to terms with how he really felt. He was only able to admit his love for Walt many many years later, when he thought the world was about to end. your typical mlm confession

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Being the only member of his family that can't feed off of intangible emotions, he's forced himself to learn how to cook and is pretty good at it!

He's got terrible food anxiety regarding red meats, so he uses fish and eggs instead - he loves making quiches!

💼 - What do they do for a living?

Wilton is a woodworker! He goes into town every so often to sell his wares; anything from bed frames and cabinets to mini wooden sculptures

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

Wilton likes to spend his free time reading, or at least practicing.

He never got the chance to go to school, so never learned to do it in his youth; a fact that he's embarrassed of but will never admit.

🎯 -What do they do best?

He insists his only talent is whittling & carving and will fervently refute anyone who says otherwise.

Unfortunately for him, it's hard for many to forget his fearsome and bloody past.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

Aside from woodworking, Wilton loves to take long walks along the river, especially when it rains. It's a deeply calming experience for him.

He hates having to recall or talk about his younger years. Apart from meeting Walt, he doesn't believe there's anything good worth remembering, let alone telling his daughter.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Holding a baby Bambi in his arms for the first time. Well, "arms". She was so small that she fit into the palms of his hands and her teeth hadn't yet grown in; he stayed up all night just holding and rocking her.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

A tactical error during The War led to him and his troop being ambushed and his wings were ripped out for trophies. As punishment, he spent his entire recovery in a nightmare coma induced by the demon that lives in his brain.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

yes and no..

OG design is him as a youngin w/ a blue hoodie he never takes off (bc of the little antlers)

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

an RPG i was apart of run by @/fvriva on Scratch, my first social media

He was originally a mlp horse(?) turned human if you can fuckn believe it....

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

Fantasy Body Horror

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

Cis(?) + Aspec

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

Just Warren, but they don't talk much without interference from Bambi. After mauling him, Wilton doesn't feel like he deserves to have a relationship with his brother. He respectfully keeps his distance.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

TERRIBLE.

His father (Gindikouk) is a demonic spirit of decay who trapped and tortured him in his own mind for decades. Wilton wants nothing more than to forget about His existence entirely.

His mother (Fable Monroe) was a witch who only gave birth to him so Gindikouk could have a host body. She died before he could meet her, but that was probably for the best.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

The angst for sure, but also exploring how he heals from it.

It's pretty easy to traumatize a character but it's been more interesting to see how they put themselves back together.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

I used to write about and draw this guy all the time.

I've since let him "retire" so I can focus more on Bambi + co!

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

I had a lot of drafts where I killed him off and none of em felt like a satisfying end for him.

He's technically dead in Dead Wood, but that's after getting a happy ending so it's fiinnee

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

That Gindikouk will somehow worm His way back into Wil's life

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Gindikouk. hands down.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Since 2013 i think!

🍥 - What age were you when you created the OC?

12!

[belphiesreverie]

Build a Yandere results!

It’s finally done!! I apologise for the delay with posting this, but hopefully it was worth the wait! Thank you again to everyone who contributed to the event and I hope you enjoy the final result! 💕

As I mentioned in the original post, you can send in hc/scenario requests, ask the yandere direct questions, ask for drawings etc now that they are done! I really hope you enjoy interacting with them!

Yandere and info under the cut!

Introducing Nero!

General info!

Nero is 21 years old and his birthday is the 12th July

He stands at about 6’0 but often wears platforms which make him closer to 6’3

His dad is an executive in a mafia family and owns a large business to act as a coverup. Nero will be taking over for him eventually so he’s majoring in business

However, he’s also minoring in English Literature as he adores reading and writing poems and he wanted to become a writer himself at some point

Despite his intimidating demeanour, Nero is actually a massive hopeless romantic and you can’t really tell how… passionate he is if you ever get the chance to read one of his poems

Nero is often seen carrying around cigarettes, although he doesn’t actually smoke. There was a misunderstanding once where someone assumed he wanted a cigarette when he came over to them, and since then people have assumed that’s what he wants whenever he approaches someone

He has a younger sister whom he absolutely adores and would do anything to keep her happy. She loves painting his nails and playing with his hair so he keeps them both long for her

He’s also in charge of looking after her a lot so he’s getting close to househusband material. He’s amazing at cleaning and getting it done super fast, but cannot cook for the life of him. He’s trying his hardest to get better at it though

Nero has partial heterochromia in his left eye!

He has tattoo’s from his father’s mafia family on his back and right arm. He covers the one on his arm with bandages so he doesn’t look as unapproachable or scary, but the bandages make it looks like he gets in lots of fights so it’s slightly counter intuitive

He’s an ambivert. There are times where he has to be social and interact with lots of people, and he doesn’t mind too much. But he also loves to spend a lot of time cooped up in his house doing nothing

Not a hc, but a fun fact abt his design! The lip piercing he has is called an angel bite and he has pointy jewellery to mimic vampire teeth! This is bc the human votes won, but it was a super close call between him being an angel or a vampire if he was non human. Just a cute lil easter egg 💕

Yandere type!

Nero is obsessive first and foremost. When he falls for someone, he falls hard and all his thoughts and actions revolve around them

His poems go from being about the feeling of wanting to experience love and a relationship, to cryptic but heavily detailed confessions to the object of his desires

He’s also quite protective of them as well. He knows that because of his father’s line of work, he has a target on his back as well and that it is probably extended towards his darling, so he goes above and beyond in ‘protecting’ them. Even if they’re not aware that he’s made it his job to watch over them 24/7

His persistence comes about from the perceived lack of sincerity that his darling assumes he holds

No matter how many times he asks them out to a nice fancy restaurant, or a cute little picnic, or on a world famous cruise, or even just to go see a movie. He’s not very outwardly expressive so every invitation seems to hold a tinge of insincerity, no matter how genuine he’s trying to be

The constant rejections won’t stop him or deter him though. They usually go right over his head as he continues to follow his darling around for the rest of the day

Even if they don’t enjoy his presence, he’s still gonna be right there next to him as often as he can be. He likes being close to them and it helps keep the others away as well

If his darling willingly lets him hang around them though? Well he’s got this excited air around him the entire day, the positivity practically radiating off of him. Which is actually helpful, since just looking at his expression would make you think he’s regretting even asking

His darling’s friends are absolutely not invited to hang out though. Just having his darling acknowledge someone else is enough to set him over the edge, let alone if he hears them planning outings together or anything like that

He knows he doesn’t have the right to monopolise his darling’s time, but he just can’t help but want to keep them all to himself without any pests bothering them. What’s more romantic than being the only person in each other’s lives?

He views his darling way above him. Nero knows he’s by no stretch of the imagination a good person. Especially considering the ties to the mafia through his father. Compared to him, his darling is practically a saint that can do no wrong

———

Tags: @msshonaomi @chenyasfluffytail @theguyinthemathproblems @canniblewoerms @chaos-in-person @teu-anjo @thorndreamland @hotaru-no-yume @tink2kagome @dotster001 @raveartts @art-loving-demon @akira-time @loiszephyr @overlord-mil @kazeperiwinkle @24-7sleepy @bluecroissxnt @dinosolecito @echos-chamber @justsayhelloo666 @roxineedstosleep @aesonsgirl @myangelsred @dirtyspongesoften @moonblissss @sweetbasementkittens @hauntedpaperdoll @peach_bearies @ghostmybeloved @emptyheadedstalker @sadcl0wnhappym1me @shiningdoradiamond @miss-negativity @ickyimp @jmercedesd @derrendoesedits @yestrday @anaki-kuroshi @crying-pupper @hurricaneclaw @anima-yandere @starcrossed8 @peach-leech @delispantry @heavenlayt @lulu_theone @hayatxlife @kazusbby @nobaronni @katsumi0o @chiakiiyi @kupied @xycrow @3sryn_

[chirpsythismorning]

Hi! If Terry isn't El's mom, why did she show her Kali, who can literally make people see what she wants? Was it a way to trick El, a trap like Mike says in the void?

I don't know if El can trust Kali. I wonder what her role is. If she used or they made her use her powers to hide the truth or create fake memories...

Great question! And yes, you pretty much nailed it, but I'll try to explain it further because it's a little more complicated than that...

As you know, I already talked about this here, but basically for those who don't know or just want a simple refresher, I was speculating about the fact that Terry is probably not El's mom.

HEAR ME OUT!

This is not something I've always believed, nor even easily believed when evidence was presented to me. And so I completely understand not wanting to associate with this sort of claim. Instead, the instinct is to be like, What? No way!! I know, because I had that same reaction, and it took @shippingfangirl013 hammering the obvious it in my head for me to come around. It took me actually rewatching those scenes and thinking about them logically, beyond what was being presented on the surface, and now I'm fairly confident that Terry is not El's mom.

This is for the simple fact that the way they frame Terry and El's scenes and how their relationship develops over time, doesn't make sense if she is in fact her mom.

Just because El grew up in the lab and presumably wasn't raised by Terry, doesn't mean she can't be in her life at all now? Just because Terry is in a vegetative state, doesn't mean she can't be in her life at all now either? Simply being around her mother would be something that the audience would want to see so that there's closure in Terry getting to have her daughter back in her life any way she can, and vise versa for El as well.

This isn't to say El doesn't believe that Terry is her mom, or that she doesn't want a relationship with her, hence why she never visits her again, bc El's obviously a child and has been running from the government ever since. And so she can't really live the life she truly wants. I believe if given the opportunity, El would try to see her mom occasionally, even just to spend time around her and in each others company. Hell, even just to see her aunt bc that's her family, right? Terry's baby was taken away from her and I think it would make sense to keep that relationship in a way that would feel satisfying instead of sort of treated like an easter egg session speed-round, even to this day?

And yet, this is a fabricated story, which means that all the choices they make within the narrative are for a reason.

El only meets Terry once, and what she is met with is someone who is trying to send her a message.

It's not about her finding out Terry is her mom and that's that, there's something else to it.

And we know there's something else to it, because these cryptic ass visions keep coming back, with slight differences each time. El continues being bombarded with flashbacks of what Terry showed her, all the way up to 4x09 (I made a post about this recently here!), two seasons later and with her not even having seen her mother since.

Again, I understand the doubt bc the trauma and torture Terry presumably went through, and I'm not saying I understand all the ins and outs of that, but I'll get to that part later.

Please PLEASE trust me when I say, that I know this is hard to believe. I know there's probably an instinct to look away bc a big part of us even more so don't want to believe this, but TRUST ME! It makes so much sense once you look closer, so please keep reading if you want to understand!

Why I think this theory makes more sense than what the audience assumes, is because upon seeing Terry in the void, El literally says, "Mama? It's me. Jane. I'm home." And in response, Terry says, "No", followed by grabbing El's arm and showing her a series of images.

If Terry is El's mom, what would warrant that sort of response? Bc correct me if i'm wrong, but what is literally happening here is El calling Terry her mother and therefore Terry her home (her family), only for Terry to counter that with the epitome of a negative response, rejecting it essentially? And again, directly followed by her trying to send El a message?

The real kicker about this moment is that it KEEPS coming back.

They literally open 2x07 The Lost Sister with this exact moment from El meeting Terry, accompanied by a pitch black screen...

Why? Why do that? Why are we just blatantly accepting this is El's mom when Terry is arguably trying to send a message that isn't the case? And even if the truth was that Terry is El's mom, why frame it this way, as if there are missing pieces and arguably false truths and then bring it back again and again and again, while there are these other characters being hinted at subtly in the subtext as El's true family? I don't think they would keep bringing up these visions from Terry, starting with her rejecting El's claim that she is her home, if it was because she was just her mother like it was presented to us already in s2.? Why keep rehashing it at all then, and cryptically at that?

Which then brings us to the rest of 2x07, and the original subject for your ask (sorry for sidetracking, but it's important to understand for what follows).

This episode is hated by a LOT of fans, which is crazy bc it could very well be a lot more complex than everyone gives it credit for.

As you said, Kali (008) powers involve her ability to make people invisible and she can also make people see things happening that aren't actually happening in the physical world.

We even see near the end of the episode, Kali showing El a vision of Brenner, who is obviously not there with them, but bc of her powers, she could make her see that... and therefore, arguably, she could make El see anything, right (maybe even Kali herself)?

I also find this shot and Kali's blocking in the frame to be interesting, considering the opening of 2x07 and Terry's identical cryptic one line in response to El in regards to Terry being her home:

Also you mentioned an important detail, which is this episode ending with El seeing Mike in the void, saying "It's a trap! It's a trap!" Which yes, within the context of everything else weird going on here, almost makes you wonder if Mike's line had double meaning (it almost always does in ST case)?

And so what does this mean? I think there are a couple possibilities.

I think Henry/Vecna could have motivated/pushed Kali to make El see/not see certain things, and so that's why we see this repetition of Kali in flashbacks, in s2-3 with her juxtaposed with flashbacks of Terry and the rainbow room, and in s4 with her juxtaposed symbolically with the 8 ball in all the massacre flashbacks.

This essentially means memories and certain things that have happened based on flashbacks/visions, might not have happened the way we think they did because they've been tampered with.

It's also possible that Kali doesn't even exist? Or maybe she did, but just like all the other lab kids, Henry killed her and gained her powers and was able to kind of have this paradox of rewriting the events to work in his favor (especially if he got his hands on time powers...)?

The flashback El has in s3 at the cabin is actually insane because, within the context of Kali being able to make someone invisible or to make people see things that aren't actually happening in the physical world, makes me wonder what she could have perhaps made us see/not see in the rainbow room on that day...?

Hmm... I wonder...

Anything catch your eye?

Here let me help, these are the shots repeated more than once during this flashback. I don't know what all of it means, BUT there's at least two shots in particular that catch my eye...

Two shots of infant El being born + two shots of young El in rainbow room AKA WILLEL TWINS YOUR HONOR

And then you have Kali there, sporadically thrown in throughout... who can make people invisible/make someone see things that aren't actually happening in reality...

TBH, I'm still not certain about Kali at the moment. We'll have to wait to see what they do in s5 in terms of her in general. Because The Lost Sister is so over-hated, that I fear that whatever they had originally planned might have shifted? Who knows if that's for better or for worse. And so for now at least, I do feel like it's hard to guess for certain bc of other factors contributing to this outside of the show itself.

When it comes to Terry and her scenes on the show, I think there's actually evidence that she is more connected to Brenner than we realize. That picture of her walking side by side with Brenner outside of Hawkins Lab looked arguably colleague-ish? The fact that she has books on Bonsai trees beside her, like the most focused on prop near her in the scenes we get featuring her, and Brenner is notably opening s4 cutting a bonsai tree? The fact that they give her the name 'Mama', essentially the equal name to 'Papa'? Is it possible that Terry was somewhat in kahoots with Brenner, but went rogue, basically warranting the government (Brenner) to force her into a vegetative state as punishment? I mean, that seems like the kind of thing a government agency would do to punish one of their own screwing them over?

But then you add time trickery into the mix and that's when it get's really interesting. Because that's where I start to get lost and wonder if there's then a possibility Terry could actually be aware that maybe there is a time loop and so she's having to go through this same silly charade of Joyce and Hopper visiting her, asking about Jane her daughter, hence why she rolls her eyes practically at each of these moments where they woefully misunderstand the truth for the ?/? time. And this could also be why, upon meeting El (for the ?/? time), Terry tries to send her a message, only to use that precious moment to outright reject El's claim that they are family, continuing to try to tell her more beyond that comment, as if there is something else still missing (as if El still has it all wrong)...?

Lastly, I want to mention this ironic scene that closes off 2x07, which as you probably remember, the episode literally started with Terry rejecting El's claim that she is her mom/home, only to then end with this, followed by what happens in 2x09 when El returns to Hawkins...

They're obviously doing the best that they can so that this revelation stays a surprise, while also hinting all along subtly that there is still something missing in regards to El's memories tied to her mom and the lab, while also prioritizing the bond between these characters especially...

And hey, maybe that's for a reason? Who knows...

[kimdokjas]

i just finished the first season of link click and what the fuck?? this series is amazing. almost every episode made me cry, and the show just kept getting better and better. sorry to come to your inbox and ramble, but your posts made me want to check out this show and i just wanna say that i appreaciate it <3 i have sooo many feelings haha

what the fuck indeed, i couldn't have said it better myself 😭😭 AHHH jenna i'm so so thrilled to hear you enjoyed it!!! i know exactly what you mean though, i was also a crying mess at the end and i don't think i've fully recovered to this day

love how you described it bc you're so right, it does keep getting better!!! the first season is truly so so dear to my heart because all the emotions are so raw, you know? it's honestly such a masterpiece in show writing with the way it tricks you into thinking it's a fun episodic show and then it's just one punch after another and everything is revealed to be interconnected at the end like it's insane??

i can't wait for you to experience s2!! it has a very different vibe to s1 since it's more linear and action-packed but in a way that doesn't stray far from the show's core, if that makes sense? the animation really stepped up and the storyboarding in some eps felt very experimental and unique which was fun to see! also the music literally never misses as always. just a heads-up bc it can prob feel like a big shift but it's worth it by the end i prommy

also i'd rec watching the shorts before you watch s2 so you get the full experience! they're not really connected plot-wise, but there are several easter eggs from the shorts that you'll miss otherwise and they add so much flavor. don't be deceived by the cute chibi art style and 5 min duration btw bc some of those eps can and will inflict emotional damage like you would not believe

and omg jenna i'm grabbing u by the shoulders. pls don't ever apologize i LOVE hearing your thoughts!!! i'm always 0.2 seconds away from crying about link click at any given time so pls come scream with me about it whenever okay? also i truly can't describe how happy it makes me feel that you watched it bc of my posts, i'm so honored to be able to share this amazing show with you fr 😭💞💞

[nnightskiess]

You deserve my support and much more! Lacklustre updating schedule or not, everytime you leave is a very.. compelling and deeply emotional piece of art. I say deeply emotional because when I read it, I feel every emotion that’s written in a very raw and deep way, as if I was actually living it, and so, to be able to even read it and have access to more chapters, is a really big privilege for me.

I think by showing us the present first and then going back to how it all began and showing how y/n and Yen developed their deep bond is pretty amazing, it makes it hurt yes 😂 but also makes it feel real and more intimate bc now we know how truly intricate and deep their feelings are for each other and how much weight their past together has on the events that are occurring in the present and will happen in the future.

I can also tell you love writing for it, idk how to explain it really, but you can see it’s written with passion and love and that every little detail matters. So actually, thank you for creating such an amazing story and I will always look forward to any chapters you put out! 🖤💛 I’m glad my little ask made you feel happy also 😊

(I agree abt Henry… the Witcher is just not the same without him. I have considered replaying the games just so I can maybeeee forget that Henry is not in the show anymore and hopefully ease into Liam a bit better 😂)

oh wow, love, i'm incredibly touched that you feel that way about it!! and that you consider it a piece of art. it's hard to try and see it from your perspective sometimes when i'm so deeply involved with it from a writer's point of view and can't read the chapters with a fresh mind, so hearing you say that actually filled me with joy and motivation.

and thank you so much for saying that! it means i accomplished what i intended to do. i always prefer to write with a heavy layer of emotion clouding my characters. emotions drive us, fuel our fears and define our actions. whether they're morally grey or relatable, it will help reach a level of understanding and hopefully help connect with the story. having to watch the characters battle both inwardly and outwardly before getting whatever their heart desires is just so much more satisfying.

going back to the past felt like a bit of a gamble at first. i was afraid i would confuse or lose some readers who probably desperately wanted to read what would happen at sodden instead, but now that i'm in the middle of writing those early days with yennefer, i realise it was the best decision i could have made. it will explain why they held off on their feelings and so much more. there are many subtle ways i can show their bond slowly forming, or how and why certain beliefs and insecurities will keep resurfacing simply because they were so intricately woven within them. by writing their story from the beginning, i feel like i've started to understand it even better. i don't think i could've properly taken the story forward the same way if i hadn't made that decision.

oh, i absolutely adore writing it. it slithered into my mind years ago during christmas break and it hasn't left me since. i never write anything just for the clicks or interactions, but especially not this one. i just had to write it all down, whether i would later on post it or not. i have notes upon notes everywhere and whenever an idea pops up while i read the books or play the game, i scribble it down. i still don't know how i can find clarity in the chaos (no pun intended). you can always come and talk to me about the story in my dms or asks, please don't hold back. i'd love to hear your thoughts and see if you've caught certain easter eggs, double meanings, symbolisms or foreshadowings (the flower on tissaia's desk is a nod to the bond she'll have with yen and y/n, for example). and as a writer, it's always interesting to see how certain things have landed with readers!

i feel like to a lot of people, me included, henry felt like the essence of the series, the glue holding it together. i get why people are frustrated he's no longer in it, and that the adaption has been absolute shit as well, but i honestly love the world of the witcher too much to not cling to every new bit of media they give us (and i really want to support the other actors). my story is a mix of the series and the book and will at one point stop following canon, since yen doesn't have her arc with geralt or ciri in this. i write yennefer with all of the different versions we've seen of her in mind, so i hope she doesn't feel too ooc for people who've only watched the series, played the game or read the book. but since this story doesn't exist in canon, we also don't have anything to compare her possible actions and reactions to with the things that will happen in everytime you leave, so i think i'll be fine 😊

take care, love! your support means the world to me and i count myself very lucky that you're one of my few readers 🖤

[safyresky]

So I've only watched this last week's (this has been in my drafts for WAY too long) episode once (I usually do it twice but have yet to do a second watch and feel a rewatch will be in order at some point) but I have been rotating it around in my head since tscs mutuals first started posting their thoughts and I have SO MANY thoughts because this episode ONCE AGAIN packed soo many things in one go. Why don't they understand how PACING works? My GOD.

Anyway~

My initial thoughts before even watching the episode were "this is whack". Here's why.

This is episode 3.

Of 6.

We are halfway through. And our antagonist (Mad Santa) and Protagonist (Santa Scott) have yet to cross paths. And post watching S2E3, Mad Santa only JUST got his hands on some North Pole magic.

THREE EPISODES IN. HALFWAY THROUGH.

Do you know how much stuff is going to be packed into the next THREE EPISODES? Let me make a list (bc I LOVE lists)

Mad Santa getting back to the Pole

The obligatory "I've failed ):" from Santa Scott when Mad Santa gets to the Pole

Mad Santa GETTING to the Pole

The Council giving Scott 3 months to get Cal shipshape, and episode 3 starting with Olga saying IT'S BEEN THREE MONTHS.

(ALREADY????)

So we still have THAT to look forward to, assuming they even LISTEN to their own boundary, since we know this show's track record with continuity is. Bad.

PLUS we still have a Sandman cameo coming! And a big old snowball to be thrown in Scott's face! (I have my clown shoes on)

Carol is STILL trying to find the missing nutcracker. She has gotten no closer; her trail is so cold she's looking at JACK as a suspect (yes I saw the cameo too, absolutely delightful for us Jack stans on main)

(pun absolutely intended)

Cal and Sandy are only JUST talking to one another about how their magic training is going, and are only JUST like. Diving into the drawbacks of being raised up North AND NEVER GOING ANYWHERE as well as the trauma that must be there from experiencing life in the real world, ENJOYING IT, and being yanked back to the Pole for the "family business"

Befana and Sandy. So THAT is a thing that was lovely then fell apart for no good reason--it was ONE MISTAKE and could've been handled better Befana, come ON girlie!

Easter Bunny being turned back into his EB form (tho tbh we should keep him as a bunny. Sorry not sorry, I have always been an EB hater on main)

Cal dealing with A) first heartbreak over Riley (which was stupid, more on that later) B) not wanting to be/do the Santa thing BECAUSE of a MULTITUDE of reasons he has NOT shared with Scott and C) the fallout when he realizes the vest is gone. He is NOT going to tell his parents at ALL. His whole existence practically rides on "I gotta make Dad proud!" and this deffs won't do it, but HEY! Maybe the writers will surprise me and he'll be OPEN and HONEST with his Dad!

Bc let's be real, ALL OF THEIR PROBLEMS COULD BE SOLVED WITH OPEN COMMUNICATION

I am off topic. Deep breaths. Whew. SO. We have all THAT to focus on.

PLUS Sandy's powers! She's apparently more powerful than Befana thought? Sandy now has to deal with that SANS her mentor and I DOUBT Carol will be helpful with that. She WOULD'VE BEEN in the MOVIES. But SERIES CAROL? APPARENTLY NOT FUCKING LIKELY SINCE ALL OF HER CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HAS GONE OUT THE DOOR FOR TOKEN FEMINISM THAT IS IMMEDIATELY CHECKED OFF A LIST AND MADE IRRELEVANT WITH THE PLOT OF "One woman is jealous of another woman"

Oh my god off topic again. SORRY. RIGHT. So, we have Sandra's magic to deal with still. Her mentor/mentee relationship with Befana. Cal's own magical struggles and his relationship with his Dad in terms of Mentor/Mentee. These kids need THERAPY, SOMEONE CALL NEIL

SO ALL OF THAT. IS GOING TO BE JAM PACKED INTO THESE LAST THREE EPISODES. AND I JUST KNOW (based on last season) THE RESOLUTIONS WILL NOT PAY OFF.

So yeah, thems the opening thoughts (with some watch thoughts leaking in, admittedly).

AS FOR THE EPISODE ITSELF.

OH BOY.

It's still very mid. It gives a lot of good bits but either A) contradicts them or B) gives them not enough time to flourish (see: Carol and Befana for A, and Cal and Sandra for B). It is also STILL ignoring its own continuity, and not just from the movies, but from literally the first two episodes of the season!

Did Cupid not say. One to two episodes ago. "Hey Santa, we, the Council, aren't really sure about this Cal thing? So uh. You've got three months. and if it's not working out. We're calling it."

And did Olga not say. At the start of this episode. "It's been THREE MONTHS since we escaped and we are NO CLOSER" yadda yadda yadda.

So THREE MONTHS have passed between THIS EPISODE, AND THE LAST ONE?

SO WHERE THE HELL IS THE COUNCIL? HELLO???

I actually thought that that would be like, the big crunch time thing for the series, you know? THE plot motivator. Or at least, one of many. Like I was expecting a montage and for each episode to have a month packed in and for the final episode to involve resetting everything to Scott's ideal status quo and defeating Mad Santa and Olga. Needless to say, I was SHOOK when they opened with THAT.

Olga and Magnus are fucking hilarious, full stop. I kinda want Olga to do a stab ngl!! Their whole dynamic has been interesting lol.

The Judy cameo was a fun Easter egg, but it's a shame they didn't give it a bit more hype, you know? That would've been fun. The Jack cameo (if we can even call it that) was ALSO a fun Easter Egg, tho I am much too mad at Carol's writers rn to be like WOO JACK. But you bet your ASS I saw that lil easter egg, lol. It's kinda frustrating? They keep throwing these lil cameos/easter eggs at us like it's an attempt to placate us or smth. Idk, I am tired and JADED and Don't Trust Like That.

Right so what else. Going in for round two. Wish me luck:

Agree with ALL OF YOU about the poor elves being used as reindeer stand ins 🙄🙄 AWFUL. SOMEONE KNOCK THIS GUY OFF A ROOF FOR GOOD! DAMN! (Santa not Cal)

Sandra and Carol. GOD. So much cringe! SO MUCH! BECAUSE OF BAD PARENTING. HOW DO THEY SUCK SO MUCH AT BEING PARENTS? WE ALREADY HAD 3 MOVIES OF THIS AND CAROL WAS NEVER A W F U L

(RIP spider on Carol's shoulder)

Carol and Scott talking about the kids was just. They are SO OUT OF TOUCH. AND SCOTT HAS A SISTER??? I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS PERIODT. He has only child energy, and wow did he EVER suck at reassuring Carol. Anyone else sick of Old White Men? Anyone?

Sandra reading the transformation spell and then accidentally doing it is deffs foreshadowing. She's gonna transform the SHIT out of Magnus, calling it NOW

EB HAS APPEARED! KIDNAPPED BY OLGA! ICONIC! And they were PALS??? Magnus I am so intrigued. Who Are You

And obligatory "BLERG BLAH CONTINUITY" re: EB being there all the way back then

NTS: There is an Easter Gopher too. I am taking notes.

Scott being an undignified, pathetic name: GET HIS ASS (count: 9)

EB is so wrong about Peeps. He is falling lower and lower on my list of Legendary Figures. Him laying the egg. Cool EB magic, disgusting execution. I am 99% sure bunnies don't even LAY EGGS

Where tf do they get the eggs from???

OKAY CAL AND SANDRA

Love that they're having sibling bonding. "doing it for everyone but yourself" GET HIS ASS, SANDY. (GHA Count for Cal: 1). Hate how short the scene was and how it boiled down to a sort of silly joke (being a crossguard instead of Santa). Like. They could;ve axed the dinner with Noel scene, cut tight to Santa training Buddy (Cal), and after that debacle moved on to sibling scene and having them bond. Like. There is substance and it is there but it is not being well executed. LET THE KIDS HAVE ROOM FOR GROWTH! (but dani! we have 3 more episodes to go! SEE MY FIRST LIST! THEY DON'T HAVE THE TIME!)

Santa asking for a jetpack and Carol being like "don't force your son up there to get over the heights thing" and then telling him to just say "I love you and I'm proud", GET HIS ASS (GHA Count Scott Edition: 10. And we're not even halfway through the episode). GOD. I wish Carol would take her own advice re: Santa and Cal and apply it to Sandra and Herself, come the fuck ON guys. DO BETTER.

DINNER WITH BEFANA (Scott: can't make it Carol: Gonna kill him. GET HIS ASS)

Cool idea, HORRIBLE execution. I am not a fan of how Carol was like "woo! ladies being ladies!" and them immediately we get a plotline of her being jealous of another woman. It's very. Token/preformative feminism. It's like they are checking items off of a list. I dislike how SHALLOW most of these subjects are in the series. Like, if you don't know how to handle something like that, THEN DON'T WRITE IT. GOD.

Like. When Sandy lifts the salt with magic, SUPPORT IT. Don't be like I NEED TO ONE UP IT. Also, interesting that Mrs. Claus. Despite being Legendary by marriage. Doesn't have magic?? I think she should. GIVE CAROL MAGIC 2k23. Carol overreacted and then so did Sandy and I just think that this whole La Befana/Mrs. Claus plotline could've been done better!

Especially Befana inviting Carol over and then Carol promptly asking if she should bring a broom, something something, witch stereotypes being a thinly veiled allusion to magical racism something something

I BET IF BUDDY HAD GONE WITH CHARLIE TO THE "CLUB" HE WOULD'VE GOT IN JUST FINE

"Are you talking to the float or me" I am SO angry for Cal/Buddy. The poor kid thinks his Dad is super not proud of him, his whole existence seems to hinge on his dad's approval and I am so upset about all the implications of this I'm gonna explode things with my MIND

"Hare to the throne" Cal you are so stupid. And my GOD the Hare vs Heir argument being the reason Sandy explodes things like I just. That could've been done better.

This whole SCENE could've been done better! Befana didn't need to be so mean! It was an ACCIDENT. She explains it loud and clear and what do you MEAN something else entirely I'm SCREAMING. Befana being like we're stepping back? Like. UGH. And then the jealousy thing? Oh wow! More pitting ladies against ladies! GOD. I'm so upset about this whole thing it's unreal ):<

OKAY. SO THE SLEIGH STEALING SCENE AND WHERE THAT GOES.

WE LOVE TO SEE BUDDY AND SANDRA BONDING! STEALING THE SLEIGH! (not to get all OCs on main but JACQUELINE APPROVES). I love to see them working together to be delinquents, but my GOD the Riley thing

UGH

Like. I know we're supposed to feel bad for Buddy but like, the whole romance between him and Riley has been so ick and the way their breakup went. It was like. You KNOW. It was written to be poignant with lines like "you're always busy with your dad" and "I want you to dust me so that you never met me" which would have worked if. You know. They weren't FIVE. (16-18). It just didn't work :\. I haven't had time to like, enjoy them and they made Riley very, very. Unlikable tbh.

ALSO. Cal from CALGARY? As a Canadian, THERE ARE A BUNCH OF OTHER PLACES YOU COULD'VE PICKED! VANCOUVER? TORONTO? YOU WENT WITH CAL FROM CALGARY? I can't with y'all. ALSO. THEY DID SCHOOL TOGETHER FOR A YEAR. I FEEL AS THOUGH THE KIDS SHOULD KNOW WHO HE IS. OH YEAH THAT WEIRD EXCHANGE STUDENT WE HAD FOR A YEAR. Y'ALL ARE DOING LONG DISTANCE? SUPER! LIKE. HELLO???

Kudos to Sandra for being the funniest bitch alive with the creeping in the corner like "That was rough af bud." It's giving

ehehehe.

And FINALLY Mad Santa has his magic back. Here's how I'm guessing the next episode is going to work:

Mad Santa practises using his magic to make Santaopolis all fancy smancy

Manages to make it up north by the end of the episode

Cal has a fallout with his Dad over the Santa vest thing

It becomes a bigger deal than expected

Sandy cameo probably bc EB is missing and he was last seen THERE (Man Santa, you're really getting on the Council's radar in all the bad ways, huh? Putting Jack to shame! 273 counts of attempted upstaging of Santa vs how many billion counts of magical exposure? And an EB kidnapping? Bc I bet that'll be a thing posited next episode)

As if La Befana can't undo a spell (I AM ROLLING MY EYES)

They will make ZERO progress on figuring out who Mad Santa is and they will be very confused when he makes it to the North Pole next episode

I also tho wouldn't be surprised if they stretch Mad Santa getting to the Pole to episode 6. That seems on brand for how they treat pacing (as if it does not exist).

tl;dr: too much preformative stuff. very mid. Cal and Sandy are fun but I wish they were given more time to shine! Pour one out for our boy Noel who is having a rough go of it tbh and Kris too who's gonna get back from Costco very, very confused