#i've even had ideas for making it as a fucking TRILOGY

[ghost-proofbaby]

you've posted (or maybe it wash just in tags) about the knight eddie story youve worked on before and i have not been able to get the idea out of my head

oh, nonnie. oh. (i definitely have. in tags and posts for a few months now haha)

but you know when fics get so big behind the scenes and suddenly you're scared to post it? like, you've got several full chapters written, an entire world and magic system built, and an entirely fleshed out OC, but like... the thought of sharing it with the world is just? scary? yeah. that's where i am.

knight!eddie also doesn't leave my head. i just don't want to post this monster of a fic that honestly reads more like a fantasy novel because i don't know if y'all would like it haha. it's very intense and genuinely doesn't read like just a fic. it reads like a book. it is a book at this point. if y'all really are interested, i could always post snippets and such. it's not a matter of characterization and stuff, but... i just put a lot of work into it and it's my baby lol

[stromuprisahat]

Second Army disorganization

Siege and Storm- Chapter 14

One of the most frustrating and famously nonsensical passages of Grisha trilogy, easily explained through doylist approach- the author's inability to write strategy or politics and demands of the genre, requiring a weak, unfit heroine to defeat immensely powerful opponent way out of her league:

Alina: Oh no, they dare to oppose me again! :(

Isn't that why would you want to establish a council in the first place? So you get constructive criticism and suggestions to do things better?!

My objections to the notion Alina came up with representation of Grisha can't be more obvious:

Army is a structured organization. There are ranks and councils by default. No amount of ignorant teens will persuade me calling it "Second" makes it otherwise.

Any big organization has a structure. Even if Second Army were only about education, there would be councils and posts on different levels. Hell, school system works that way.

Alina: I'm gonna have the useless ones represented, because we're not doing things like the Darkling, but that doesn't mean I'll respect them myself or abandon my prejudices. Fucking nerds. Weidos...

Another YA nonsense- you cannot put people into categories based on their physical predispositions, and expect the mental ones to fit accordingly. You can have a huge, muscled guy, skilled in delicate handiwork. You can have a tiny wisp of a girl beating the living shit out of you (popular trope by itself).

Now why should sensitivity to metals get you a spot in labs, if you're a strategic genius? Or incredibly skilled, witty rhetorician? Isn't it more likely you'd be required to complete basic training to stay healthy and prevent accidentally endangering others, while being assigned to whatever you're most useful at?

And what about those weak or less intelligent ones? Are they bringing coffee and arranging entertainment?!

It also fits this fan interpretation, that Materialki are often neuro-divegent, so they are tend to be kept away from battle for their own sake.

Alina wasn't involved in practical running of Second Army before. Just because she doesn't know about something, it's not a totally fresh idea.

I'd be afraid of a girl, who almost murdered a bunch of people for asking questions, too.

At this point, I'm gonna run with the idea that all the older Grisha are torn between face-palming and silently laughing their assess off (so Alina doesn't overhear and her clique doesn't resort to violence).

“But what do they do in there?” I asked, not entirely sure I wanted to hear the answer. “Only the Corporalki know. But there are rumors that they’ve been working with the Fabrikators on new … experiments.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 8

... and that says nothing about the field, or the little groups in noble houses. People tend to stick together with their own, when in strange enviroment. I'm sure such bonds dissolve immediately after their return "home".

I've also delved a little into the sitting order here.

A few lines earlier, Alina noted Materialki didn't show up to complain. Who is so horrified then?! Not them, for sure.

Ironically, this fits into Fabricator-brain theory linked above AND the most logical explanation- Materialki have basic self-defense training, but only those, who are able to, continue. Alina isn't particularly friendly with any of them, so how would she know no one had EVER bothered to teach them? Alright, there are none in her class, but as far as we know, it consists of a Squaller, an Inferni and a Heartrender. Not the most saying sample.

Having a third of all Grisha helpless doesn't fit into the picture of Aleksander's leadership:

“That’s what Botkin always says. ‘Not showy, just to make pain,’” I said, imitating the mercenary’s heavy accent. “Smart guy.” “The Darkling doesn’t think Grisha should rely on their powers for defense.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 17

You don't have to become another Bruce Lee, you only need a chance, when they drag you out of bed in the middle of the night.

What tradition?

This is rather well-written group of angry, disorganized people. It might start with a reasonable goal, but soon everyone talks about something else than others, and the message gets lost in the noise.

Tradition doesn't equal "the way things are done". Neither of them is the same as "the need for structure and people knowing their places". The third one is a legitimate concern, although one could argue it's exactly what Alina's attempting.

This whole scene very much reads like:

The author is desperate to prove the Heroine isn't quite useless- she has good ideas! Look! *whacks a hundreds of years old stategist and survivor par excellence with stupid stick*

[flanaganfilm]

Hey Mike! First off, it makes me so happy to see you out there fighting with your writer friends to ensure they receive a decent living wage for the amazing work that they do.

As for my question, I would love to hear about some of the inspiration for making Before I Wake. It and Absentia were the last two of your films that I watched, and BIW just absolutely destroyed me. No other movie, including and especially a horror flick, has ever made me bawl like a baby like that. The entire tone of the film is so spot-on, and the climax of the nightmare monster “dissolving” from its evil form after being embraced…. To me that scene just perfectly encapsulates what it’s like to be a parent, and human; sometimes we just need someone to hold us and let us know things will be all right. We spend so much of our time making sure that our children feel loved and cared for, that sometimes we forget about ourselves. And you just fucking nailed it, my dude.

Like I said, I would LOVE to read any backstory or inspiration that you have for this film! It’s so beautiful and underrated.

On the WGA front, don't be too impressed with me - I mean, I'm a professional writer, I've been a member of the WGA since Absentia, so I'm out there fighting for myself as much as everyone else.

But on the Before I Wake front, you know I very rarely get asked to talk about this one, so I'm happy to... fair warning for another long post!

Before I Wake was originally titled Somnia, which is latin for "dreams." It was part of an unofficial trilogy of sorts, comprised of Absentia, Oculus and Somnia. All three of those movies were meant to work together as a thematic triptych.

Ultimately, Before I Wake was brutally sabotaged by its own studio, who drastically undermined it creatively and then destroyed any hope of a meaningful release. It remains a particularly heartbreaking chapter of my career... but a film I have and will always have tremendous affection for.

A lot of people think that Somnia was made after Hush and Ouija: Origin of Evil, just before Gerald's Game, but this is entirely incorrect. It was actually the second "real" movie I ever made, and was actually shot before Oculus was even released.

The basic premise of Somnia focused around a little boy whose dreams manifested physically in the world around him, and was an original concept I carried around for a few years before Oculus got picked up by Intrepid Pictures. In fact, I've talked about my first meeting at Intrepid, where I pitched a few ideas that were rejected... Somnia was the first one I pitched. Trevor Macy opted to pursue Oculus that day, but he ended up producing Somnia right after.

This unofficial "latin trilogy" seemed to fit together well. Absentia was a somber and bleak look at the loss of hope, Oculus was more thrilling dive into the labyrinth of past trauma, and Somnia was meant to take that loss and trauma and end the triptych on a note of hope and healing.

In fact, the script for Somnia was written before Oculus was greenlit. On the page, it was my favorite of the three. I was very taken with the story of little Cody and his personal boogeyman, and of the revelation at the end of the story... that with understanding, even the most monstrous of our fears can lose their destructive power.

Cody's birth mother had died of cancer, and he had seen her just before her death. That final image of her, as well as a misunderstanding about the pronunciation of the word "cancer" had led to the creation of a monster in his mind, who he called the "Canker Man"... a gaunt figure who took away people that he loved. When he finally learns the truth about his monster, and about his mother, he begins to understand it all... and the monster loses its awful powers as empathy and understanding take root.

While Absentia finished its festival rounds and Oculus inched its way toward production, Somnia was my first script taken out to market by my new agency. I had signed with APA just as Intrepid engaged me on Oculus, which was my first studio writing and directing job. Jeff Howard and I finished our first draft of Oculus and turned it in to Intrepid, and immediately turned around and started writing Somnia.

The script got some interesting attention. While some of the more mainstream horror companies balked at the emotional ending and preferred a story that was "more about a boy and his monster" than the emotional wrap-up we insisted on, others understood it right away.

Elijah Wood and his producing partner Daniel Noah sought me out when they read the script. We met for drinks in Venice and I was absolutely starstruck, and we've remained friends ever since.

Jada Pinkett Smith was another big fan of the script, which led to a surreal afternoon at her stunning home where we talked about the story at length and watched an early cut of Oculus in her home theater. Will Smith joined us toward the end of the meeting, and I had a difficult time speaking.

I've written before about the drama surrounding Oculus' premiere and eventual sale to Relativity Media, so I won't rehash that now, but as Oculus raced toward release, Trevor Macy at Intrepid made an offer to produce Somnia for Relativity and I eagerly accepted. My first "real" movie was going to be released wide in theaters, and the same studio was going to double-down on me - Somnia was greenlit by Relativity for a big domestic theatrical release. We'd pre-sell our foreign territories on this promise, and they eagerly snatched the movie up. This was my own Hollywood dream, coming to life.

It wouldn't work out that way. In fact, Somnia would turn out to be the first nightmare of my career.

It started well enough. We had filmed Oculus in Daphne, Alabama, taking advantage of an aggressive tax rebate. We would do the same with Somnia, bringing back a lot of my Oculus crew and shooting in and around Fairhope. We began shooting in the fall of 2013, less than a year after we'd wrapped Oculus.

We hit the ground running. Very little time had passed since we wrapped Oculus, and the movie hadn't come out yet, so at first it felt a lot like we were just picking up where we left off.

Bruce Larsen, who also carved the Oculus mirror, working on a prototype of the Canker Man.

We had casting challenges. I was still a relatively unproven director, my first studio film hadn't been released, and this was an ambitious script. After a lengthy search (driven by foreign pre-sales, a process I knew nothing about and now quite detest), Kate Bosworth signed on to play Jessie, and Thomas Jane - who I admired greatly from his recent work in The Mist - joined the production as Mark. (Funny story - Tom arrived with hair down his shoulders, and vehemently didn't want to cut it. That disagreement put us off on an awkward foot, and I ultimately conceded the point to him... though I do regret that now.)

The major discovery was 7 year-old Jacob Tremblay as Cody. Jake had only made one movie before this, he had a small role in The Smurfs 2. His self-tape audition came out of nowhere and we knew was a a phenomenal talent. Right after we wrapped, I got a call that he was being considered for a movie called Room, and we shared some footage to help him get the part (that movie would establish him as one of the biggest and most sought after child actors in the world... but we had him first.)

We were committed to practical effects wherever possible, and creating a striking suit for our monster. It all felt like it was going to work. But the shoot would prove to be much more challenging than we anticipated.

The shoot itself was challenging for the typical reasons. There was a little creative tension on set with particular actors, we didn't have enough money to pull off our more ambitious visual moments, and we were forced to remove several production days at the last minute, throwing our schedule into a bit of chaos.

But none of these issues were particularly unusual for a lower budget film, and while it was more challenging and frustrating than Oculus had been, overall the shoot was just fine. I felt that our third act was pretty drastically under budgeted, and what was scripted to be a deep dive into a child's imagination was stripped down to a few vines on the walls and some moths... but other than that, I don't really have much to complain about.

(Fun fact: it was also the first time I would work with Annabeth Gish. We were fast friends, and though she was only with us for a few days, I knew we'd end up working together again.)

We wrapped the movie, I got to editing, and all seemed fine. It was a unique story, much less horror-centric and much more of a fairy-tale. This was, of course, by design. There was a delicate vibe to the whole thing, anchored on Jacob's arresting performance, and a shadowy magic. It felt innocent, wondrous, and ultimately cathartic.

Then, Relativity got their first look at the cut, and the problems started in earnest.

We had been clear (and aligned, I'd thought) about what kind of movie this was. But almost immediately, despite these conversations, the studio began to push the film more and more toward being a traditional horror movie.

We had designed a practical monster in the Canker Man. Our creature was tactile, practical, and - we believed - appropriately simple. After all, it was meant to have come from the mind of a child.

The studio kicked hard, and the directive came down to try to make the monster "much scarier."

There wasn't a lot we could do; we'd shot what we'd shot, after all. The decision was made to take our footage of our practical monster and drastically alter it using visual effects.

The Canker Man would be digitally warped and molded into a skeletal, grinning creature. The visual effects artists would be using footage that wasn't captured with the intention of being altered that way, so a lot of the artifice would be obvious. He'd become a little rough around the edges. We told ourselves that this would be okay... it was a dream, after all.

Early camera tests of our practical Canker Man suit

The final VFX-enhanced monster This began to nudge our monster away from our core concept. While our practical suit would always need some help from VFX, this was now tilting into an area that strayed from the true identity of the creature.

Another major sticking point was the plot itself.

In the movie, Cody's adopted mother Jessie is shocked to find a physical manifestation of her deceased son, Sean, after Cody sees his picture. She then goes about trying to "rebuild" her dead son in the imagination of her new foster child, hoping to see and interact with him more... "I just want to hear his voice."

This morally questionable exploitation of Cody was, to put it mildly, the entire point of the story. Jessie goes too far, and when she finally resorts to drugging Cody to force him to sleep in the hopes of seeing her lost son, he is unable to wake up from a nightmare and her husband is killed.

Jessie spends the rest of the film clawing her way back to redemption, and having to atone for what she's done, all while finally focusing on Cody's past and healing instead of her own.

As a character, Jessie does things we do not agree with, and they have serious, permanent consequences. And the moral murkiness of this was, frankly, the point.

The studio was flinching hard. "It makes her unlikeable," they argued. There was a push to try to back off of this, and to pull the punch... sure, she could exploit him somewhat, but they wanted to pull it back. Kate Bosworth's performance began to be altered in the cutting room, flinching away from some of the more decisive choices in favor of a more watered-down, morally generic heroine.

This middle ground would prove to be ill-advised.

As we were battling over the edit, something else happened. Oculus was released in theaters in April 2014.

If the movie was a huge hit, it would mean I would likely win more of these arguments, and Somnia would be restored to something closer to my vision. If the movie bombed, the studio could (and likely would) run ramshot over Somnia, twisting it into a more generic studio horror story and jettisoning things they didn't quite understand.

Ultimately, the movie performed... moderately. It was kind of right in the middle. It wasn't a failure, but it wasn't a hit either. Both sides dug in. And suddenly, Somnia was being twisted into something between two tones.

Citing the "disappointing" performance of Oculus (which, frankly, did just fine), the studio insisted that we write and shoot some additional "scares". Among them was one of the worst studio notes I'd ever receive (well, at least until I started working for Netflix.)

The entire premise of the film was that, when Cody slept, his dreams would manifest physically. When he woke up, they would vanish. This was, to put it bluntly, our only rule.

The note came in: "We need a scare set piece to occur when he is awake."

Now, I can't understate how nonsensical this is. It defied the entire premise of the movie. Their rationale (such as it was) was that the audience wouldn't ever be frightened when Cody was awake, because they knew the monsters only came when he was asleep.

"Well yeah," I said. "That's why it's important that the movie isn't just about scares."

But they were insistent. If a monster showed up while Cody was awake, that would be "truly thrilling" and "catch the audience off-guard."

It was the equivalent of saying "the shark in Jaws only attacks people if they're in the water. We need an attack to occur on land." I mean, that would really catch the audience off-guard.

I had no idea how to address this note.

It was early in my career, I didn't have a theatrical hit under my belt, and I didn't have the ammunition to fight it. So I had to address it somehow, and it had to satisfy the studio, or else we may not get our theatrical release after all.

So I ended up writing a scene where Cody is wide awake, only to be attacked in his bed by the specter of a deceased bully (a previous victim of one of his dreams).

How the fuck were we going to make this make any sense? Well, we had to write a whole other scene - much earlier in the film - where a therapist explains the concept of "waking dreams." Jay Karnes (who was a lovely person and one hell of a good sport) had to randomly say "you know, some people can dream while they're awake" to Bosworth, desperately trying to set up this moment.

It doesn't quite work, to say the least. Cody looks under his bed, sits up, and is attacked by this eye-less specter. Then, he's dragged screaming under his bed, until the attack just... stops, for some reason.

We filmed it, and I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever shot (it wasn't, though - the stupidest thing I've ever shot remains the on-screen stalking and murder of a cat in the pilot of Midnight Mass, a truly braindead scene that Netflix insisted on adding.)

Along with this scene, which would become the crux of Relativity's trailer, we shot several other random scares that were peppered throughout the movie. Now, this wasn't enough to tip the film entirely into being a horror film... just enough to make it exist awkwardly in between two genres.

It got worse. The addition of all this new "horror" material made the film longer (go figure), so the directive came down to begin removing other elements to make room. Those elements were character development and context.

The cut began to get bumpy. The fairy-tale tone of most of our original footage was at odds with the overt horror tone the studio was insisting upon. Every time we tested one of these cuts, the audience was understandably confused... they really loved the concept, they really loved Jacob, and they all loved the ending revelation - but along the way, what was this movie? Was it a horror film? Was it a drama? A fantasy?

Even with this, our test screenings were actually pretty good. We were testing in the high sixties and seventies - which is, infuriatingly, right in that middle zone: not good enough to kill the studio interference, but not bad enough to let them take over.

So we kept fighting. And we kept cutting. And we kept testing. And with each screening, the studio forced it further and further into this no-man's land.

There were a few victories, though. Danny Elfman came on board to collaborate with the Newton Brothers on our score. Some of our non-horror sequences, like a scene involving Christmas-light butterflies, were being called out by our test audiences in the best ways. But the tug-of-war over the basic identity of the film was tipping decidedly toward the more horror-centric approach.

Finally, the studio came after the title. Somnia was too confusing, they said. Nobody knew what it meant. So, we added a scene where Jay Karnes - once again having to naturally sell force-fed exposition - literally defines the world "somnia" during a therapy scene (these therapy scenes were basically being used to spoon-feed material to the audience.)

That wasn't enough, though. The studio began workshopping other titles, and they landed on perhaps my most hated of all of the options: the ultra-generic Before I Wake, a title already used by a handful of low-budget thrillers over decades. We conceded after it was made clear that it wasn't really up to me in this case, and we limped into what I consider to be the worst title of my career.

With our new uneven tone, a new and "improved" monster, and a groan inducing title, they finally agreed to stop messing with the movie and honor their commitment to releasing it wide.

You tell yourself a lot of things in this business, and I told myself that the heart of the story - the revelation about where the concept of the Canker Man came from - was still intact, so all would be well. Viewers would be able to look past some of the bumps because the payoff was worth it.

But we didn't know what else was happening at Relativity.

They announced the release date for the film, posters started showing up in theaters, and we were anxiously awaiting our big wide theatrical release... when suddenly everything stopped.

We didn't know it yet, but Relativity Media was having huge financial problems. They were on the verge of bankruptcy, as a matter of fact, and though they weren't admitting it yet, internally they were in a state of absolute chaos.

Without warning or explanation, the studio moved us off our date. The movie wouldn't be released after all. We immediately knew something was very wrong, despite Ryan Kavanaugh's insistence that our date was "just a bad date," and that he'd moved the movie in order to make it "an even bigger success." No, this whole thing stunk. It stunk bad.

They set another date, and we watched and waited. But no trailers. No marketing. And then... that date was pushed as well. Again, they insisted everything was fine. But we knew. Something was deeply wrong with the company, and they were lying to us.

Some of this played out publicly. Kavanaugh and I got into a spat on Twitter when I suggested that the studio wasn't able to release the movie theatrically after all (I still don't regret saying this, and man oh man, was I proven right).

Meanwhile, our international distributors were scrambling. We'd sold a lot of international territories off the promise of our big theatrical release in North America, and they weren't going to wait forever. By the third time Relativity pushed our release date, the whole house of cards fell down, and various international territories started releasing the film haphazardly on whatever platforms they could.

There was no coordinated release strategy. Suddenly, the film was just available in Argentina, for example. Or it was On Demand in Russia. I remember being shocked when a German Blu-ray appeared on eBay without warning.

There was no rollout to critics, no coordination at all. Within a few weeks, it was pirated and available on torrent sites everywhere. And without a proper press rollout, the only reviews available were trickling in from these international markets, or random blogs in other countries. A slew of reviews - many of which were from obscure blogs in Russia and Turkey, not even written in English - hit Rotten Tomatoes. With no counterpoint from any credible critics, we debuted with a 30% rotten rating.

It would stay this way for years.

Relativity finally admitted the truth, declared bankruptcy, and went to court. Our movie was dragged down into the vortex with it. Our abysmal tomatometer score suggested that the movie wasn't released because it was bad, not because the studio had gone bankrupt. This assumption stuck to us like glue as the film languished in bankruptcy court.

Heartbroken, we turned our attention elsewhere. I would write and direct both Hush and Ouija: Origin of Evil before the whole distribution saga of Before I Wake was finally resolved.

In the years that followed, very little would be said about Before I Wake, and whatever was said was absolutely not positive... how bad must this movie be, after all, to be so unceremoniously pulled from the release? Some theaters just left the poster up, still saying "Coming Soon." I know of one theater in LA that had it up for over a year.

By the time Relativity finally settled their mess, and the film was unceremoniously given back to us with the most lackluster apology imaginable, and our chances of a domestic theatrical distribution were entirely obliterated. The film was already available online through piracy and a tiny handful of foreign blogs had defined our critical reception. No other studio would touch it.

We were able to arrange one screening of the film once it was unencumbered... we had a single showing at Fantastia in Montreal, a festival I adore. Instead of a huge worldwide theatrical release, the movie would play exactly one time, to one audience.

It was sold out, it played wonderfully, and it remains one of my favorite screenings of my career.

With Mitch Davis, Fantasia's artistic director, Kate Bosworth, and my wife Kate Siegel.

In the years that had passed since we shot Before I Wake, Kate Siegel and I had gotten married. At the premiere, and in the picture above, Kate was pregnant with our son.

We named him Cody, after the little boy in Somnia... the little boy whose dreams came true.

In 2016, Netflix acquired the North American rights to Before I Wake, and quietly dumped it on the service. There was no premiere, no rollout, no screeners sent to critics. One day it just appeared on the service without fanfare, as Netflix does to so many titles.

It didn't even appear on the New Releases tab.

A few critics found the movie on their own, and slowly some new reviews started to trickle out. Bloody Disgusting led the charge, discussing how the film had been wrongfully maligned over the years, and correcting identified it as a "haunted fairy tale" that was being handicapped by the expectations that it was a horror film.

Our tomatometer began to slowly rise. After some time, it tipped out of "rotten" into "fresh"... and today stands comfortably at 66%. Those early, malicious reviews are still there, the movie is still scarred by them... but despite Relativity (and eventually Netflix's) efforts to rebrand the movie as a straight horror film, most critics were able to see it for what it truly was.

Our audience was as well, for the most part. Some viewers yawning their way through the Netflix original horror feature section would find it, and get something maybe just a little more thoughtful than they were expecting. A few people reached out to me to talk about losing their own loved ones to cancer, or about how the sweeter elements of the story impacted them. I've always been grateful for that.

But ultimately, the movie was just brutalized by its studio. I've never again had so much damage inflicted on a project by a creative partner and supposed collaborator. And while Netflix did the bare minimum when it came to releasing the movie, I am still very grateful that that they even did that much... if it wasn't for Netflix picking it up, I think there's every chance Before I Wake would have never been made available at all.

I'm proud of the movie. It's not perfect, by any means - it was an ambitious sophomore effort and I had a lot to learn about a lot of things - but it has some beautiful ideas and some moments that really work. I see its flaws clearly, too, and while I tell myself some were out of my control (like the awkward scares forced on us by Relativity), others were most certainly entirely on me. Not everything works, and that's okay.

But man, Jacob Tremblay is phenomenal in this movie. And I absolutely adore the final ten minutes.

My son Cody is almost 7 now, exactly as old as Jacob was when he was cast to play his namesake. I hope Cody's dreams come true; that's why we named him what we named him.

Sometimes, our dreams don't come true quite how we might expect.

Hollywood is just kinda like that, I guess.

[sallufix]

Yep i was not joking when i said i was gonna draw on the memo feature from now on!!! This is sort of a practice to get used to everything and crap. I randomly got ideas of apprentice and assitant duo's sooo:

1. Luke and Layton of course! The og duo. Don't have much to say but they are everything to me i love them sm

2. Randall and Crow?! This just sprouted out from the many conversations I've had in geo's discord server. Mainly of which is how both of them are bird themed, and that in the RanLay and LuCrow sense, both of their boyfriends are also a duo!

3. Claire and Aurora? Mainly because both of them are,,, ahahah,,,, ahhaa, dead. Fuck. IM SORRY!!! None of these really make sense as actual duos but i just thought it'd be neat to tie in different characters by how similar their experiences or character traits are

4. Emmy and Flora!! This once semi-self- explanatory. Both of them are the assistants of the 2 trilogies (even though Flora hardly ever gets screentime...) So yeah! I thought it'd be neat for Flora to look up to Emmy because she goes on her own adventures and is preeettyy kickass and cool

Drawing on the memo is most definitely not gonna get easier, but possibly soon I'll finally get my tablet checked... Maybe i can make high quality art again... I can see the light in the distance... GOD TAKE ME

[sea-salted-wolverine]

Having seen the sheer confusion of people who have seen posts about the locked tomb series but not actually read the books themselves, I've got a few theories as to why that is.

The fandom refuses to focus on the plot, and instead gloms on to the particularly odd chunks instead. Post-apocalyptic magic lesbians unearth ancient and terrible secrets. Cool, good overview. Has anyone ever described that way? No. We're all stuck on revenant Barbie and DIY labotomies. Those are both spoilers that sound insane. They're actually more insane once you have context.

The text of the actual novels, often has the emotional character driven style of fan fiction. And like the good stuff where the title is a song lyric in all undercase and a single chapter with 15K word count. Which can make it difficult to tell apart excerpts from the actual book and excerpts from fan fiction. (This isn't even counting the part of the book where a character actually invented an alternate universe where she and her crush were in a cute coffee shop Au)

The memes. I saw a post where somebody had drawn like 8 different memes of the book. Except only one of them was a drawover of parks and rec, AND THE REST WERE CANNON SCENES FROM THE BOOK.

The naming conventions. The series is called the locked tomb. The 1st book is called Gideon the 9th. The 2nd book is called Harrow the 9th. The 3rd book is called Nona the 9th. The 4th book of what was intended to be a trilogy is called Alecto the 9th.

Somehow the POV character is always the person who is least qualified to tell the story. The narrator has no idea what's happening. The narrator may be clueless, haunted, possessed, in denial, or straight up lying. Why would any of us know what's happening? If you're trying to put together pieces from the outside with no context, you're just fucking doomed.

[crucifiedfaerie]

Gibson Girl | Pt. 3 ༉₊˚✧

Kylo Ren x Fem!Reader

➴ Summary: After you reach your breaking point, Kylo does something you never expected to see from him.

➴ Part One | Part Two

➴ Word Count: 2.4k

➴ Warnings: 18+ MDNI, fem!reader, dom!kylo, slowburn, soft!kylo, we are so back!!, crylo ren, an insurmountable amount of angst (swearing, yelling, crying, kylo's internal suffering, brief mention of death but nothing happens), lots of fluff, SMUT (unprotected PiV sex, oral f!receiving, overstimulation, devoted!gentle!kylo, watch as i describe cunnilingus in excruciating detail for 5 paragraphs) typos probably

➴ Taglist: ( @enviedear @capitanostella @teapartydreams )

A/N: guys, gibson girl is officially complete. im actually so proud of how the entire fic turned out and i just wanna say thank you for the love you've given it. <3 it genuinely made me wanna keep writing and i hope you stick around for my future works, because i have so many good ideas in store. anyways, enjoy the third and final part of gibson girl. this is by far my favorite chapter of this trilogy, i was giggling, kicking my feet, and possibly crying while writing this... dare i say that this chapter is my magnum opus.

You approached his door, ears ringing from your rapid heart rate and the electric hum of the hallway lights. You wiped the sweat from your palms on your pants and let out a deep breath.

Before you could even think about knocking, the door shot open and you were forcefully pulled inside by two large, leather clad hands.

Kylo gripped your waist hard, and kicked the door shut with his boot. You yelped as he pushed you against it, hitting the back of your head on the durasteel.

He leant down, the cold metal of his mask grazed the fading bruise on your jaw, sending goosebumps crawling across your skin. "Gods, I've waited two weeks to feel you again. Im so glad to be back." Kylo purred, his modulator crackling in your ear. He reached up to begin unbuttoning your shirt. He only made it past the first button before the anger rose inside you.

You brought your hands up to his chest, pushing him off of you. "What the FUCK Kylo!" You yelled at him, feeling the tears prick your eyes. Surprisingly, he didn't stop you, taking a step away from you and tilting his head ever so slightly as if he were confused, which only made you angrier.

You were past your breaking point. "What is wrong with you?! You invite me here, whisper sweet nothings in my ear, then all of a sudden you hate fuck me and kick me out like I'm the problem?!" You sobbed and were practically screaming at him, you didn't care if he got mad, you needed to say this. "And now you invite me back acting like it never happened, wanting to- to what? Hate fuck me again?? You make NO sense, Kylo! It's like you're two different people!" You paused, breathing heavily and collecting yourself a bit before continuing. "And you wanna know the fuck of it all? You haven't even kissed me- gods!- You cant even face me. You hide behind that mask and hurt me like I'm some pet you love to hate." You spoke calmly now, the anger subsiding into a strange mix of sadness and apathy.

The apathy, however, was short lived. You had never snapped at Kylo like this before and he was the most feared man in the galaxy after all. The images of the many ways he could kill you flashed before your eyes. A lightsaber through the abdomen. Force choking the life out of you until your neck snapped. Slamming you into a wall until every bone in your body was shattered. You shut your eyes tightly and braced for impact, but it never came.

Each word you yelled at him had chipped a piece off his emotionless façade, and Kylo thought his heart might shatter along with it. The killing blow was how you stood before him terrified, shaking, waiting for him to lash out and strike you out of rage. He wasn't weak for loving you, he was weak for hurting you and he knew he couldn't do that to you anymore, not now... not ever. He felt something- someone inside of himself he hadn't felt in years, a man he thought he had killed, a man who he had almost forgotten the name of.

You only opened your eyes when you heard the click and hiss of his helmet. When he pulled it off you were met with his concerned, brown eyes. You stared at him in shock and awe, taking in every detail of him. The way his long, dark hair fell around his face, his perfect aquiline nose, the beauty marks that scattered like stars across his already beautiful face, the scar that began just above his brow, trailing down his face and disappearing below the neckline of his dark uniform.

Kylo dropped his helmet to the floor carelessly, the metallic clang loud enough for someone down the hall to hear. He pulled his gloves off quickly before throwing them to the ground and rushing over to you, taking your face into his hands and crashing his lips into yours.

His kiss was electric and full of desperation. As if he were a man lost in the deserts of Tattooine and you were Oasis East, Kylo drank you up feverishly. He was warm and tasted divine, like cinnamon and smoke.

When he pulled away, you both breathed heavily, lungs searching for air. "I don't hate you. Please don't say that." Kylo's voice broke, he was almost pleading with you, his eyes searching your face as if he were trying to get you to understand how he felt about you without him having to admit it out loud.

"Kylo... I-"

Suddenly your feet were off the floor, being carried over his shoulder to his bedroom once again, just like the first night he invited you here. Only this time you didn't feel like a bug caught in a spiders web. You felt safe. Needed.

As Kylo carried you, you kicked your shoes off carelessly, letting them fall to the floor of the hallway and you heard him breathe out a small laugh.

He sat you down on the bed and you noticed how he now handled you ever so gently, as if you were a precious, fragile thing he didn't dare risk breaking.

Kylo knelt in front of you and unbuttoned your shirt, taking extra care with each button before he slid it off of you. He gently looped his fingers into the waistband of your pants and underwear, pulling them both off in one go, leaving you completely naked.

He peppered kisses down your thigh before standing up, taking a step back to admire you, his dark eyes filled with adoration. With him being maskless, you became hyper aware of your nakedness. Your face flushed pink and you looked at the floor.

What he did next though, was something you weren't expecting. You watched in awe as Kylo kicked off his boots before shedding his cloak, his outer robes, his inner robes, his belt, then began methodically working at his shirt.

Oh my gods- why do you wear so many layers?

He shut his eyes and his mouth tightened into a thin line, as if he were stifling a laugh from hearing your thought. Kylo sighed, "Hush, its very cold on Starkiller, you know." He laughed softly as he pulled his shirt off, exposing the scars that littered his perfect frame.

He unbuttoned his trousers and pulled them off before making quick work of his underwear. There Kylo was, standing before you completely naked, looking down at you with soft eyes. Not a creature in a mask, stalking you like prey, but a man carrying nothing but adoration and desire.

He stepped forward before leaning down and kissing you again, pushing you flat onto his bed. His hands explored every inch of your body, bare skin touching yours and for the first time you felt like equals. Two living, breathing human beings who needed one another desperately.

Kylo's hands had found home tangled in your hair and the sound of him moaning into your mouth was heavenly. He pulled away, hovering above you, his hair falling around his face like a dark curtain. "Please. Please let me show you how much you mean to me, little star." He was practically begging, his eyes searching yours. This was a version of Kylo you didn't know existed. It was as if he had been completely stripped of his coldness and apathy, left only with warmth and compassion.

You nodded, and he trailed his kisses down your neck and bare chest, his soft lips grazing your nipple, causing you to let out a soft whine. He smiled and continued down your stomach and hip, to your thighs. Each kiss sent warm tingles down your spine.

Kylo lifted your legs over his shoulders and kissed down your thigh, stopping at your heat. His cool breath made you shiver. Before you could form even a single thought, his face was buried between your legs.

The way he lapped you up like spring water and how his tongue grazed over your clit made you crumble into a whining mess. Your fingers weaved through his dark locks and you pulled instinctually, causing him to moan against your cunt.

He was knelt before you like a sinner at the altar, worshipping his god and silently begging for forgiveness through your pleasure.

"Mhm Fuck- Kylo I- Stop you're gonna make m-me cum." You whined. He knew you couldn't hold on for much longer, and he didn't care, your sweet moans only inspired him to go faster. He hummed something unintelligible, a wordless approval for you to let go.

Your thighs trembled around his face as your body unraveled on his mouth. The pleasure he gave you was divine, euphoric, and your vision clouded as he rode you through your high.

He pulled away from you panting, his mouth and nose damp from your juices. You felt the bed dip as he situated himself above you, his hips between your legs. He kissed you deeply and you could taste yourself on his tongue, tangy and sweet like summer fruit.

He pulled away "Gods- I've waited what feels like forever to do that." He whispered.

You held his face in your hands and kissed him again. "Please Kylo I need you." You wrapped your legs around his waist.

He lined himself up with your entrance and pushed in slowly as he held you. He paused when he bottomed out, allowing you a moment to adjust to the size of his cock. You moaned loudly, still sensitive from the wonders he performed on you with his mouth.

Kylo began to move, slowly increasing the pace of his thrusts but still taking extra care not to be too rough. He looked down at you, his pupils blown with lust and love. He studied your face and how your eyebrows furrowed in pleasure. Kylo wanted to savor every detail of this moment, no dark visors obscuring his vision of you.

"I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now my star." He purred as he hit that sensitive spot deep inside you.

You moaned at the overstimulation. Kylo tilted his head down to kiss at your neck and your brain felt like static as you struggled to find words. "I- I was gonna say- hmm fuck- say the s-same about y-y..." You trailed off, lost in the pleasure.

Kylo chuckled against your neck, amused at your futile attempt to articulate a coherent sentence. "You're getting close again, sweet thing, I can feel it. S-so am I." He moaned, faltering at the end of his sentence.

You could only give a small hum and nod of agreement, words were too much for you, the contents of your mind had been completely emptied and replaced with thoughts of only him. Your desperate whines rang through his bedroom.

"Hm, fuck- cum with me. Cum with me my little star. Shit!" He was desperate now too, his thrusts sloppy as he held you in his arms.

You both reached your climaxes at the same time. Your visions clouded with white-hot stars, as if fireworks were going off in your brains. Kylo desperately muttered a long string of profanities as he came inside of you. He collapsed on top of you, panting heavily before rolling over so you were laid out on top of him.

You felt his cum leak out of you and onto his thigh as you rested your head on his bare chest. He reached for a random article of clothing that had been discarded on the bed and used it to clean you up before throwing it to the floor. He didn't care what it was, he would deal with it in the morning.

He sat up slowly, pulling you both back towards the pillows, and situating you so he could hold you and look you in the eyes.

He noticed you shiver and pulled the duvet over the both of you before speaking. "I'm sorry I made you feel like you didn't mean anything to me- for hurting you. I did it out of not wanting to seem weak, and yet I did the weakest possible thing I could have ever done." His eyes were filled with remorse and concern, his voice laced with shame. "The truth is I do care about you. The day I realized it was the day I hurt you and sent you away... and if could go back and change how I treated you I would." His voice broke.

"Kylo-" You began to speak but he quickly cut you off.

"If you hate me, please don't tell me." He begged. "I understand why you would, but I don't think I could bear hearing you say it out loud." He now spoke in a low whisper, as if he were terrified of his own vulnerability.

"Kylo I dont hate you, I promise. I just didn't understand you, but now I do and I lo-" You cut yourself off this time, thinking maybe you shouldn't say that to him. You couldn't handle rejection from him for a second time.

"I love you."

You heard his voice say it plain as day, you know he said it. You couldn't have imagined it. You didn't see his lips move, yet Kylo's voice rang loud and clear through your head. Your eyes darted to his and you saw him scanning your face nervously for a reaction.

Your eyes widened. "I love you too."

Is that what my thoughts sound like to him?

Kylo smirked, attempting to hide the large grin threatening to creep across his face. "Yes, I told you they're loud."

You laugh, causing him to laugh with you.

It was such a tender moment. Two human souls laughing together under the warmth of the covers, intertwined with each other, and floating in the vast, inky expanse of the galaxy.

[cerridwen007]

The Two of Us.

Pairing: Javier Peña x f!reader.

Word count: 1.3k

Summary: Third part to the Javi x f!reader situationship series. Follows the morning after reader and Javi fuck after being apart for a month. Reader lays out all her feelings on the table hoping Javier will too.

Inspired by the song "The Two of Us" by Omar Apollo.

Warnings/Notes: ANGST, FLUFF, Swearing, no use of y/n, bad Spanish.

A/N: It's finally here, the third part of the trilogy. I am pretty happy with how it turned out and am so thankful for all the feedback and love I've gotten on the series. This is the first series I've managed to complete and has definitely motivated me to finish and write more series. I was thinking of maybe adding some smut in here as well but decided to add a whole bunch of tooth rotting fluff instead. Also, I have an idea for an angsty prologue of the lead up to "She" that I might post in the next week or so once I finish writing and editing it, which I plan on having smut return in that. As always, comments, likes, and reposts are very much appreciated. I hope you enjoy it!

Part 1: She. Part 2: Her.

***********

Sunlight flutters through your curtains as you wake. You smile to yourself as you remember the warm passions of last night. The smile quickly fades when you realize Javier isn't in your bed. A tear threatens to escape the corner of your eye, but you don't let it. You weren't going to cry over a man this morning.

The threat of tears instantly disappears, when you walk into your kitchen and see Javier standing there shirtless making breakfast and coffee for you both. Your heart instantly melts and begins to flutter at the rare sight of domestic Javi before you. Before you even realize what you're doing, you come up behind him and hug his back tightly.

"Mmmh, good morning handsome." You coo while holding him closely.

He leans back into your touch and holds your hands in his.

"Good morning, mi amor....sleep well?"

"Great, thank you...and yourself?"

"The best sleep I've had in a while, actually."

You smile and plant soft kisses on his back, making Javier chuckle.

"Careful Hermosa, I might end up burning our breakfast if you carry on like that."

You giggle. "That wouldn't be the worst thing ever."

You both laugh, and he turns around to hug you and kiss your forehead. He holds you close and turns back around to stir the scrambled eggs. You hold each other close till Javier finishes cooking, and you help him bring your plates and glasses to the table.

You're both all smiles as you eat your breakfast till a sudden realization hits you. Is this just you doing what you had before, fuckbuddies and nothing more?

A tear wells at the corner of your eye as you look at the man before you, as much as you love your physical, sexual relationship you still wanted and needed more for him.

You wanted to be his forever and wanted him to be yours too. His eyebrows squeeze together as he looks at your thinly drawn mouth and watery eyes.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?"

As much as you try to stop the tears from escaping a single tear falls down your cheek. He reaches up to you and wipes it away gently with his hand, cupping your jaw.

"I.....I.. want you, Javier."

"Cariño... you have me. Here, right now."

"I meant I want you....I want this... I want us...forever... more than what we were before."

He looks uncomfortable as he clears his throat.

"And I know that you probably don't want that, but I don't think we can continue whatever this is, if you don't feel the same way.....I can't let myself fall in love with you more and more everyday...knowing that you won't ever love me back."

His mind becomes clouded with all the aspects of being in a relationship with you. Waking up to your beautiful smiling face every morning, kissing down your body, coercing those beautiful sounds out of you every night. Maybe even one day settling down on his dad's ranch with you, little Peñas running around.

But then his slight smile slips off his face when he thought about you two fighting, everyday when he comes home from work, him accidently taking his anger from his job home to you and the narcos finding where you lived and murdering you because of him.

He couldn't seem to form a proper sentence with all the thoughts getting mixed up in his head. You reached out and placed your hand on his across the table, rubbing it comfortingly.

"Javi, look at me."

He looks up at you, with those big, brown, baby cow eyes, making your heart melt.

"Tell me what you're thinking.”

His throat closes preventing all the words from spilling out.

“Tell me…do you..do you love me Javier?” You say, voice breaking.

His heart thunders away in his chest as his mouth goes dry. Another tear falls down your cheek, you bite your lip to stop it from quivering.

“I…I… love you, querida.”

Your heart skips a beat. Confusion and anger fill your veins, unconvinced of his admission.

“Don’t say that you love me if you don't Javi…Don’t fucken play with my feelings so you can keep fucking me!” You spit at him, getting up to leave the table.

He looks at you distraught. He gets up and grabs your wrist firmly.

You angrily stare at him as you try to pull away from his grip but he doesn't let go. He pulls you closer to him and firmly grabs your jaw with his other hand so you will look at him.

“Look at me Hermosa.”

He swallows deeply, while his eyes dart back and forth across your face. His voice trembles a little as he speaks, so unused to admitting his feelings. You bite your tongue to hold back the angry, sad tears that blur your vision.

“I- the reason that I didn't say I loved you back before was because I was afraid.”

Your expression softens his words.

“I have never loved anyone since Lorraine who I left at the altar and looking back I don't even know how much I loved her …..I left though cause I was afraid and I'm still afraid…for different reasons this time.”

He pauses a second to see your saddened expression focused on his lips.

“I'm afraid that you will get sick of me and leave me…I'm afraid that once you see all of me, the flaws and all you will hate me. I'm afraid that I won’t be a good partner, won't give you enough attention or love and that you will grow to hate me. I’m afraid that my job will get in between us, that I'll take my stress and anger out on you, that the narcos will hurt you to get to me….. I’m afraid that I'll lose you.”

He feels his eyes start to water, and to hide his vulnerable state, he lets go of his hold on you and turns away. Your heart begins to physically hurt seeing Javier hurt in front of you.

“Hey.” you softly tell him. “ I can't say that won’t ever lose me, cause we both know that’s not true, but I know that I'll still love you even with all your flaws and that I won't get sick of you.”

He turns around and looks into your eyes as you continue speaking.

“You’re a good man Javier, more than you know or think, I know you always do your best but I also know that you're too hard on yourself, that you beat yourself up too much over things out of your control.”

You close the gap between the two of you and hold his hand gently.

“Being in a relationship is hard - for anyone, and I'm sure that we could make it work by both putting in effort and talking to each other about what we need and want.”

You take a deep breat and close you eyes for a second, feeling the last of your anger dissipate.

“I can’t promise you that you won't lose me in one way or another, but I can promise that I'll love you for as long as I live. And I would rather spend a short life in your arms than a long life without you.”

He gulps hard and looks at you. You slowly pull him into a hug and rest your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He shakily exhales as he wraps his arms around you and lets his head fall onto the top of your head, breathing in your hair.

You hold each other close, swaying softly and relishing in the warmth of each other. Before Javier breaks the silence, speaking softly.

“I really do love you. Mi amor, I love you more than you will ever know.”

You lift your head to look at him and plant a soft kiss to his lips.

“I love you too, Javier. I'm yours forever.”

You both smile softly before kissing each other gently. The comforting taste of each swapped onto your own tongues. Your hands holding each other tightly, almost afraid to let go.

You don't know what was to come from here but you were just happy to be in his arms. It was the start of a new chapter for you and Javi. One where you would get to experience him wholly, just as you needed to.

************

[tealmaskmybeloved]

My Unorganized Thoughts About Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC: Part 3

MOCHI MAYHEM

M̸̤͇̓͂̓͐̓̄̑̆̽͗ơ̸̡̧̧̛͉̻͈̮̹̥̤̠̤̿͌͆̏̅̐̒͋̽̄̉͜͜͝c̸̙̗̱͋́͋͌̾̀́͐̾͋̓̾͜h̶̢̩͈͕̮́̔̎į̸̢͓͎͕͕̱̆̉͗͜͜͝ ̸̼͔̑̈́̎̐̔͒͘m̸͈̜̠͕͙̱̣͕͐́̉͌͑̽́̑̐͊́̀̕o̶̧̢͉̪̦̊̈́̄́͐̉͐̐̚̕̚͠͠c̷̢͍̫͈̥͚̯̱̈́̿̀̏ḫ̷͊̿̊̄̌i̸̲̝̯̗̪̺̻̘̇̍̂̀͂̀͒͛̌̔̈́̕͜

T̸̘̽̈̐̈H̸̗̗̗̀̍Ë̶̥̰̯̥́ ̸͇̮̂̋̀̓S̵̊͘͜T̴͈̹̏̄̊̉Ȍ̴̬̬͖̄R̶̟̬͈̻̍̆͐̆Y̶̟̍̍͒͋

Probably my least favorite out of the trilogy.

Which is weird considering how much I love the possession trope and my boi Pecharunt.

But the way they just did it felt like a giant middle finger to me and everyone else who even remotely liked the Toxic Chain Kieran Theory.

First off, Kieran does not get possessed, in fact, he's the only one to NOT get possessed. Ironic.

Second, what the characters do when they're possessed... well... you've probably seen it by now

They do the fucking chicken dance while screaming "Mochi".

Which.... yeah. It's stupid, it's embarrassing, and I do not like it.

And yeah I can see why some people might enjoy it, but I just don't.

Oh but it gets worse (or better, depending how you feel about this)

So with the whole town under Pecharunt's control (and them doing the stupid dance) the player and Kieran go to stop this mayhem and get people back to normal. Boom, the end.

So, why don't I like it?

It's just... embarrassing. Gamefreak has hyped up Pecharunt and made them out to be a legitimate threat.

It could've been cool with Pecharunt slowly spreading its control to both people and Pokémon and wanted world domination.

We could've have an actual evil Pokémon in a main series game instead of an evil team! Pokémon are sentient, they're intelligent, they know the difference between right and wrong.

But, we didn't get that. In fact, this meme I made perfectly sums up how I feel

Point is, they hyped up Pecharunt out to be this puppet master, this shady manipulator, this evil Pokémon who desires control over people and Pokémon, but also gives them what they want. It stole Ogerpon's masks and killed her trainer for crying out loud!

Oh, which reminds me!

T̷͍͊̉̇͛H̷̩͂̒Ẻ̶̱͇͖ ̸̖̤̠̻͛Ṵ̵̱̊̑̑Ǹ̸͎̺̋̈̕T̶̟͒͌̀͝O̴̞͉͍̰̓͊L̸̦͗́̈́̕D̴̼͍͜͝ ̷̀ͅS̸̰̬͓̙͆̋͝T̸̛̯́̈͝Ỏ̴̲̠͠R̷̘̻̕Y̷̢̐ ̴̛̜̼͋́̓Ŏ̸̭̙͓̍̔̿F̶̢̫̦̄̔ ̸̨͙̘̇̀P̵̩̬̄͂̈̕Ē̴͓̟̘͓̓͘C̶͔̽͐̔H̶͖̜̓̎̉A̸̲̹͓̭͊̓̇̽R̸͖̔̓̈́U̷̘̖̫͐̂̅̏N̶͍̰̋̕T̸̢̿

If Mochi Mayhem was Gamefreak giving us the middle finger for liking the Toxic Chain Kieran Theory, then this is them curb stomping us to the ground.

If you had ANY more hope that Pecharunt was this manipulative evil gremlin, then it's better for you to just give up that hope so you don't end up crushed.

So, in this YouTube video we learn that Pecharunt was raised by an old couple and since Pecharunt wanted more love, it gave the old couple its mochi and it made them greedy. The couple then tasked Pecharunt to steal Ogerpon's masks and bring them back.

See guys? Pecharunt was told to get the masks by the old couple! The old couples greed were responsible for this!

They really couldn't have Pecharunt be evil by itself, they had to pin the blame on the old couple. And yeah, Pecharunt was greedy, it wanted more love. But STILL

And yes, I'm aware that the old couple is a reference to the Japanse story of Momotaro, but this shit SHOULDVE BEEN EXPLAINED IN-GAME

I should not have to go watch a YouTube video to figure out its basic motivation!

I even thought of an idea where if someone could take Pecharunt to the crystal pool they could see the old couple again. It would not only explain Pecharunt's motivations, and give Pecharunt some closure.

Ṱ̷̢͕̘̥̓̕H̶̤̽̈̂̈́̿͘E̶͉͎͇̮̼̭̟͒͒̆͑̅̄̀̚͠ ̷͇͉̭̝̘̹͖̼͇̙̹̲̺̦͌̐̌̏͂̌͛̄͌̾̃̕M̷̨̨̧͎̫̪̜̭̯̺̬̥͔̲͒̓̒̊͆̈́͌͗̐Ǔ̶̡̖̜̖̏̆̏́̎̋̈̓͑̕̚S̵̨̨͔̠̖͐͆̄͜Į̶̧̡̛̜̲̘̘̙̠̠͇̮̳̐͐͗́̀͗̐́̐̏̀̐͝C̸̪̖̜͖̱̜̰̻͚̟͍̮̋̇̏̀̀͋̐̂̒̾ͅͅ

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: The music is a banger. I like how Pecharunt's theme is similar to the Loyal 3, it's about the few connections the game ever makes.

S̷̡̛̤̞̟̥̮̆͒̀̉̔̋̂̀͂͘̕͘U̶̪̰̯̞̲̟͖̭͖͓̺͚͇͋͛̈́̂M̴̨̨̧̛̟̖̖͙̞͙̀̄̄́̅́͗̓̏͘̚͠M̸̦̯̦̱͎͙̲̞̌̆́̍͘A̶̡̛̜̙̘͙͍̪͐̿̎̑͐́͐̾̍ͅR̷̢̩̘͇̳̭̺͍͙̮̬͉̱̰͐͜Ỳ̷̧̨̮̱͓̺͎͛̌

Is it finally over? Can I see the sunlight again?

Jokes aside, I'm ready to get this done with.

So yeah, Mochi Mayhem.... it wasn't the best in my opinion. It just felt too silly, and didn't take the whole possession thing seriously. I didn't really feel anything about canon Pecharunt other than a mild inconvenience.

I know some like Mochi Mayhem and that's fine! It's okay for people to like how things went!

I just feel a bit disappointed. But I suppose that's the danger with fan theories, it gets your expectations too high.

Nothing was really explained. I'm not expecting them to spoonfeed the audience, but I wish there was more things that were explained!

The Untold Story of Pecharunt, The Loyal 3 and Pecharunt's connection, what brought the Loyal 3 back, these are things that should've been explained in the game.

Gamefreak, if you're going to have some red herrings in a story, there needs to be some foreshadowing to help cancel it out. When all of the evidence points to Kieran getting possessed/influenced and Pecharunt being a legitimate and intimidating threat, you can't expect us to NOT be disappointed.

I guess the only positive I can say (besides the music) is the interactions between the Area Zero gang and the Kitakami siblings was fun. I enjoyed that.

But yeah, those are my thoughts.

Plot: 3/10

Characters: 5/10

Music: 100/10

Pokemon Lore: -2/10

Overall: 3/10 (I'm being generous here)

[moodymisty]

I follow you for darksiders, but seeing your wh40k posts, the worms are slowly starting to take over. 😅

I also read one book (sign of faith) that I kind of liked (I like character suffering to end in some merit, but it seems in this universe it's not how I usually imagine/like)...

From your writings I'm starting to take in interest the custodes, Guilliman, Vulkan and Corvus.

Could you recommend some standalone books? I wrote down some from your recent asks to check out, but if you can suggest more I'd be happy!

It's Monday morning where I am, so whishing you a nice week, may your work hours pass quickly!

I apologize in advance for this

I'm going to use amazon links just so you know what I'm referring to for sure, but they're available as ebooks on Black Library as well if you're a charlatan that doesn't like physical books. These are my own personal opinions, please don't burn me alive.

Now, not all of the primarch books are good. But they are good standalone books if you enjoy getting into a particular primarch/legion and how they think. I can vouch for the Konrad Curze one (it's the best one imo), and the Alpharius one. I also see a lot a lot of people that say the Angron one and Lion'el one is good but i haven't personally read them.

There isn't too many Vulkan/Salamander books sadly, I can only think of Tomb of Fire but that's a series. For Corvus, there's the Corvus anthology. You don't have to read HH to follow, it's largely just about Corvus and raven guard specific adventures.

Unfortunately compared to Girlyman, there really isn't much for Vulkan and Corvus. They're largely ignored by BL along with the White Scars.

I know it's not technically a standalone book but Night Lords omnibus is a fucking mandatory read. It's 3 books and you can get the all in one book on amazon for like 20 bucks. Even if you don't like Night Lords/Chaos, the writing alone makes it such a good read.

The Infinite and the Divine is another mandatory read. It's a good break from Space marine content too, since there's so much of it.

I haven't personally read this one so i can't vouch for it, but if you like human/astartes interaction Legacy of Dorn is supposed to be decent.

If you like Guilliman, I highly recommend the Dark Imperium trilogy. Again not a single book, but it's a good series that really shows just how different Guilliman is from his legion now, and how he's having to jump right into fighting a war he had hoped would be long ended by now.

Helsreach is very good. Death korps of Krieg is also supposed to be good, but I can't vouch for it personally.

I'm sure there's so many other books I'm missing. I can't vouch for them all because I've only read a few dozen or so, but these are some of my personal favorites.

Now an added note here: The Horus Heresy books are a nightmare. BUT, you can read them as standalone if you want, because they're less of an coherent storyline and more of a webbed mess of content like Star Wars. If you have a rough idea of the main 'idea' of the Heresy, you can read them solo. In fact many people do just pick and choose the HH books they want to read based on what legion they're interested in. I recommend Betrayer (angron content <3), The first Heretic (Lorgar and his piss kink lol), Fulgrim, Deliverance lost, and Unremembered Empire.

[pridepages]

Give and Take: A Power Unbound

I finished A Power Unbound by Freya Marske. I have thoughts...

Here there be spoilers

What do we know about love?

No, seriously, I'm asking. The more stories I hear--both real and fictional--the less sure I am that we have any idea what it is we're talking about.

Because love may be patient and kind...

But it also might be dirty degrading sex and someone to argue you into submission.

Meet Jack Alston and Alan Ross: the last couple in the found family of disaster gays trying to save the magical world in Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy. The third volume, A Power Unbound, centers the love story of Jack and Alan amidst the final confrontation that will decide the fate of the magical world.

(I actually find the magic and politics the least interesting thing about these books, so let's stick to kinky sex and power dynamics.)

At a surface level reading, Jack and Alan are an opposites-attract trope. Jack was born to power and privilege in every sense, titled and magical, while Alan scrambles to survive in a world where he literally repels power (both figurative and literal). Rather than fall into the temptation of a beauty-and-the-beast narrative or a cinderella story, Marske has the two of them lean into their inequality.

They get off on power struggle.

These two have the kinkiest role-play I've seen in traditional publishing. Full credit to Marske for writing a romance that says: "You can have all the deviant sex you want between safe, sane, consenting adults." (A radical notion when we're reluctant to increase the perception of gay sex as 'deviant,' but seriously, fuck respectability politics!)

But the mastery of character development here is how the push-pull of their chemistry translates outside of the bedroom.

When we first meet Jack Alston in book one, he's cast in a more villainous light. He's nasty and hurtful to his ex, Edwin Courcey. It would be easy to write Jack off as simply cruel, but from his perspective, the whole dynamic translates differently.

Jack is a "mean friend." His love language is to tease, to bait, to skirmish. He grew up jabbing his way through life, all knees and elbows. But every time he tried to draw Edwin out...he only ended up pushing him away.

It couldn't be more different with fiesty Alan. "They fit in ways they shouldn’t ever have fit. Even when they fought, they fit–there was no mockery falling on soft, malleable ground…Only the knowledge that any volley would be met and thrown back, brighter and better."

Jack and Edwin were fundamentally wrong for each other, their chemistry toxic. By contrast, Alan understands the love language of insults and banter. He's strong enough to take it.

But strength and weakness are their own sort of power, and both Jack and Alan are keenly aware of it. During one of their intimate scenes, Jack cuts the moment short because he realizes they are not in a moment of mutual pleasure. "When I fuck, it's because it's what I want. Not because I'm punishing someone, or too angry to be safe." Nor will he let Alan turn their intimacy into self-harm, refusing to be "used...as a rod to make stripes on your own back."

It's a critical piece of self-awareness. Jack knows he has a responsibility to use his power with the utmost control to create mutual pleasure and do no harm.

If Jack's journey is one of learning how to share power, then Alan's arc is about learning how to accept it. "Size and strength, station and wealth. All the advantages possible," Alan marvels as he looks at Jack. "Do you know how hard it is to believe someone won’t use it against you? To put your heart into someone’s hands knowing that?"

Alan may like to play at being overpowered, but that play is a consensual illusion: he knows that at any time he can voice the safeword and end the game. When it comes to sex, he can maintain control. But you can't safeword out of falling in love with someone. "Alan had never needed to lean on anyone. It was intolerable that he now kept turning out the pockets of his soul and finding caught in their seams the desire to let someone take his weight. The desire to be held, even kissed."

It's safer to lock yourself up: to stay in control by keeping the rest of the world out. But you can't have love without putting your innermost self on the line, making yourself as vulnerable as possible.

To take of someone else, you have to give everything of yourself.

I don't think it's a binary switch. The ways and means of how we create a give-and-take change depending on the people involved. Some people need soft and gentle love. Some need bright and sunny love. And some people need to be "kissed like an argument. Alan slid his hand to the nape of Jack’s neck and argued fiercely back."

All of them are good. Because all of them have the power to give and take what we need...and what we want.

Jack can be "masterful in the bedroom" and "take your heart between my ribs and guard it like my own." Alan can be a fighter and submissive, can hold his own and still want Jack to "kiss me until you know me, and unmake me, and love me anyway."

I don't know anything about love. But I think these guys just might.

When it comes to love, you'd better give as good as you get.

[licncourt]

begin again COOKED as a post-qotd fix-it (fave fic! <3) but i need to know your thoughts on prince lestat/how you would re-do it in the correct way. to this day i still think LESTAT becoming prince monarch of all the vampires is one of the craziest decisions made during the novels. to me lestat is a prince in the same way that jack skellington was king of halloween (that includes the running away to cause delusional hijinks that ultimately jeapordize everyone)

Aaahhh thank you!! That fic is my child that I birthed so I appreciate it more than you know! It's actually BA's one year finished-iversary next week, my baby's all grown up.

I've talked about that before actually in this post about how I would rewrite the whole series, but I can expand a little here!

Firstly, this could've been two books instead of three. There was nothing going on in there that required three entire novels

Things that have to go entirely: aliens, test tube clone baby Viktor, Atlantis. Sorry, not salvageable

I think rather than the Amel thing, it would have been cool if the sacred core had started corrupting Lestat and altering his behavior as host, maybe changing him gradually into a animalistic, violent folklore-like vampire, making him slowly lose his mind like Mekare, or erasing his sense of self to become a blank host. Then it's a race against the clock and vampire magical biology to save him. This could be the first PL book

Ideally, I think this book should be narrated by Louis and focus a lot on his growth as a character as he finishes his personal. It would bring some happy ending closure to the IWTV version of him without being a jarring change. I also think having his POV for the best of his and Lestat's relationship would be a nice full circle moment from seeing him describe their worst. The idea of Lestat losing himself to the core and them potentially coming together too late would add good drama as well. Maybe this is Louis' follow-up memoir describing how they fixed things

The Rhoshamandes conflict can stay for the second PL and final VC book, but I think it could've been less boring if the drama between him and Lestat had been better fleshed out. They have a lot of similarities that weren't used to their full advantage. It would really highlight Lestat's growth to have him defeat what he could've become

When Lestat reunites with Louis, they would actually have some long, hard conversations about their past, ones that continue throughout the PL trilogy

Hopefully an explanation for why Lestat has made this 180 is included, even if it's just the crushing realization of his own loneliness and longing reaching critical mass after twenty years of who the fuck knows what

The cast is pared down to the strongest written and most interesting characters so the story isn't spread so thin, probably Lestat, Louis, Armand, Gabrielle, Marius, Pandora, and maybe a small handful of new characters with significance in the story. I think Seth, Fareed, Sevraine had the most potential to be good additions to the primary roster if she wanted to add on

Cool characters from the original like trilogy like Maharet and Khayman are expanded on rather than killed offscreen to make room for more Anne Rice NPCs. If we're going to kill someone from the trilogy, please God let it be David Talbot

This goes without saying I think, especially from me, but Louis would be restored to his former glory as a true main character alongside Lestat instead of relegated to lobotomized housewife. There was so much potential for him in an active consort role. We also don't get to see how he got to such a peaceful place at the end of PL, so I would like to see him work through some stuff on the page

I would either cut the Rhoshamandes/Benedict storyline because of how redundant it is with how it mirrors the Marius/Armand dynamic or do something to differentiate it as its own relationship. At the very least, maybe the similarity could be highlighted to become a character beat for Armand

As far as Armand in general, I would make him a much more prominent player. I think he's a great fit for a court setting and could create a lot of intrigue as well as adding coolness factor. I'm always torn about whether I like the reveal of his romantic feelings for Lestat, but in the interest of keeping SOME things intact, I would just play it differently. Primarily, I think he becomes way too agreeable (similar to Louis) in how he submits to and idolizes Lestat, so I would love to see him come into more conflict with Lestat in spite of those feelings. Maybe we can see him make some peace with their history and let go of that intense emotion for something healthier

If we're going to keep the sex injections (IVs, whatever), I think we should do more with it than have Lestat prematurely ejaculate into a random woman. I think there's potential for a very interesting new dynamic with Louis and Lestat. It would be cathartic and maybe an interesting part of their healing process and of becoming a real couple for the first time

That's what I can think of for now, but I might update later!

[yikes-strikes-again]

highlights from my adventures in Area X, totally blind the whole time until i finished Acceptance. Spoilers for all of it.

me being neurotic about spoilers (this is a common theme)

obsessed with how this is my first instance of theorizing. the last two sentences are eerily accurate and i can't believe i said "alien planet" that's hilarious

this is good analysis too bad i was missing a key piece of information that makes my inadequate conclusion actually make sense

middle of Annihilation, first attempt at analyzing Where lies...this is actually pretty close to what I think about the tower text Now except missing the parts that would have never occurred to me without reading further (that the Crawler is Saul and that Area X is not on earth).

aw this is so cute. They don't even know about the first expedition footage with the sky leviathan POV (i have a pet theory that SR used that clip specifically to brainwash the husband. this is supported by his anecdote of falsely attributing memory to lived experience when its origin was television, as a young child)

i was so right

this is so funny. you are like a little baby

this is still Based

The Antics

this theory is so fucking funny considering how much grace hates lowry

this was like the least brutal of my Control roasts. they ramped up considerably in Acceptance

then i stopped reading the trilogy for eight months and had to start over Authority. but i still thought about it. this is me thinking about it.

This was me like a third of the way into Authority. What the fuck. It's not that creepy when you consider the information dispensed by that point but it's still kind of creepy how accurate my actual predictions were when my ideas were still wrong

then i went to sleep and

so true, me. So righteously true. magic IS real and it's coming to fuck up your town

Future me here: Yea it was a red herring

More Control roasts:

CALL ME IMPORTANT THAT'S MY NAME

Fragment of my "Area X clones are agents of germination" theory. I felt so smart at the end of Authority. So in Control if you will. And then

it was fucking life changing. the homosexuals that they were

first drama in the gc...

This is when the amount of Divine Knowledge brought to me by Accemptance started to get to my consciousness. Once i start saying phrases like "the virgin control and the chad ghost bird" and "the Caroline to his GlaDOS" and "everyone is a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone" that's when you know i've lost the thread

more disjointed quotes because i ran out of images:

"the BASED control vs. the CRINGE everyone else is no longer the dynamic because he's not narrating. i feel like i just broke up with him" "so does ghost bird probably"

"The time dilation really came out of left field. Kind of like a "well shit. thats a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery and didnt even really need solving. but damn if it didnt just get solved so nice work"" <- me forgetting how hard i tried to solve the mystery of the cellar journals compost

"When they see that reflection of themselves, they despise it, they need to destroy it This series is about environmentalism as much as it could be The need to make Area X an enemy with a pathological desire to destroy says more about the humans than it does Area X. When they see themselves, they hate so much what they see. But I don't think Area X necessarily hates humans at all. Only the biologist/Ghost Bird can even seem to contemplate that. Maybe Whitby could, briefly, in his endless circular ramblings, but that did not quell his fear and hatred for himself" <- rumination on automatic senseless clone violence

at one point i got whiplash from the Grumpy emotion i got from biologist's borderline ecofascism to the Intense Bittersweet of Saul's fatherly attachment to Gloria in light of everything and then the Pain of trying so hard not to laugh at the thought of someone saying "Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot, I'm aware this looks strange" in response to being caught washing a mouse

"phone creature even BETTER than mouse washing" I characterized the phone creature as "little Lowry - his son that he doesn't want" because that amuses me forever

i love how i'm like "i could pass on more of lowry, i'm so sick of that guy" and then proceed to write four Thousand words of meta about him. i like the Theory of lowry. he's a horrible broken man who throws drinks at milves

and i love imagining that everyone who comes back from Area X is a clone no matter what not because that makes any sense but because i get to imagine two versions of every character. i'm like "i love the idea of Lowry being a clone all this time and somehow being protected from the fact by a quirk of his creation. And that he's imperfect compared to Original Lowry in odd ways but SR just chalked up his change to the intense trauma of the event, and if it ever seriously occurred to them they decided it didn't really matter. And if he knew. I don't know what he'd do And real Lowry is a megalodon in the ocean terrorizing plankton instead of lower-tier bureaucrats"

another thought: "I still love the thing that stitches across the sky. I think it's an avian cosmic leviathan, as the biologist is an amphibious cosmic leviathan. You could call it a dragon."

i ended up with a pretty secure Grand Unifying Theory that isn't interesting because you probably all have the same one. It's about the process

my final words of wisdom:

that's the books.

[ignitesthestxrs]

it is funny that I think i would have fully agreed with you if i had only read the grisha trilogy but the first book i ever read of the entire grishaverse was demon in the wood lmao. then i read the trilogy and then kos too. but i still agree with the 'he was incapable of making the world a better place' argument but disagree with the 'he never wanted to' because i think he did but not in the heroic 'i will give up anything to make the world better' but in the 'i will make the world better by ruling it and sometimes when i make choices so selfish that they don't align with the make world better thing at all i will explain them away as necessary and go by my day'. i also think his psychology kinda has a right to be fucked up (as his initial motivation has been set up to make a safe sanctuary for grisha and then he saw persecution for so long and all of those things with kings and what not would make most people fucked up) but that doesn't mean anyone else has to carry that burden. alina had full right to defend herself and the people and did right by not making aleksander more powerful because the result would have been even more destruction. i think he did some things with double motives: the second army was for the benefit of grisha as well as his own. he also wanted people's love because he thought he deserved it for all of his sacrifices for them.

it does seem that you have misinterpreted what i've said.

obviously i don't have an eidetic memory of every post i've ever made about the darkling over the years, but in the post i reblogged today and the ask i answered, i didn't say that he never wanted to?

the interesting point of tension in the character is the difference between what he says he wants, and what his actions show he wants. the man is lying to everyone, including himself. do i believe that when he was a teenager being persecuted for his power, he wanted to make the world a better place for grisha? sure, but 800 years have passed since then and he is literally the most powerful grisha in the world. he can cut people in half with his willpower. he has actively made the world worse - he has certainly made ravka worse.

he is not interested in saving grisha, he is interested in bending the world to his will in the name of saving grisha. this is the excuse he uses for himself, and it's the thing he tells alina, and also the world, in order to try to convince people that his atrocities are justified. but he will discard and kill any grisha who stands against him, he will cause a civil war between grisha within ravka because he can't stand the idea of grisha have safety, power, or agency without him.

he doesn't want to save the grisha, he wants to own them. i do think you can say that he wants to create a place where grisha can't be persecuted by non-grisha, but also he had 800 years as the darkling to implement a strategy, and the idea he came up with was 'weaponise the fold so the world is so terrified of my superweapon that they'll do anything i say'.

a really important part of reading comprehension is parsing the difference between what a character says and what they do. another important aspect is understanding that a well-written character will like, change. the events that motivate the darkling in Demon in the Woods are different then what is motivating him in the original trilogy, because in that time he has gone from being a persecuted teenage boy, to being the power behind the throne who has devastated his kingdom and is in control of an entire army. yes, his childhood trauma informs and animates a lot of his decision making, and obviously forms a core part of his character, but the character has had other experiences since then that have formed additional aspects of his character. Demon in the Woods doesn't rewrite what he did in the trilogy, it adds additional context to show us how he got to be the particular type of dude he is when we see him in the books.

i would also push back against the idea that he wants 'love'. he could have had love! alina loves him, such as she is able to when he's trying to destroy everything she knows lol. he doesn't want love, he wants devotion. he wants unwavering loyalty. that's why he put a collar on her, and why he ultimately loses his mind over her opposing him instead of just holding out for another human lifespan.

like sure you can make the argument that his understanding of what love is is flawed, which, sure. i think he can want love ambiently, in the 'it would be nice to be loved' sense. but his own actions show that, when asked to choose between love and power, he'll choose power every time. so like, does he want love? maybe, i guess, but not more than he wants power. not more than he wants to be able to control alina, and his mother, and ravka, and the world.

again, that tension is the interesting thing about the character. he says one thing, but does something that disproves the thing he says. that's the manipulation, not only of alina, but of the reader. he wants so badly for everyone to believe that he's righteous and good and the only person who knows what the world really needs, he's even convinced himself of that to a degree. but the second things escape his control even a little bit, he proves himself a liar, because his goals immediately pivot to getting that control back.

a villain doesn't have to believe he's a villain to behave like one. the darkling is a pretty classic manipulative, abusive kind of character who will make every bad thing he did a reasonable action that someone - typically alina - pushed him into. she made him burn down that orphanage. he never would have attacked the prince's birthday party if she had just come with him quietly. if she hadn't run away from him, he never would have collared her. if she didn't love mal, he wouldn't have tried to kill him. if she would just behave then he wouldn't have to hurt her like this. he's doing this for the sake of the world, don't you see? you don't? fine. make him your villain. he'll make that sacrifice if it means getting his way saving ravka. he's the only person in the world willing to do what it takes.

eventually you'll see.

[cannibalgh0st]

I've known for a long time now that one day your art and enthusiasm and great taste in tropes would pull me into some fandom I never thought I'd join, but I'll be honest, I always guessed it was going to be one of those live action Gotham shows. Sports feels so wholly, entirely out of left field that I don't even know how to react. I've been going through the backlog of Jungle Boy's lore and taking furious notes! Like, he lost his father, then his father figure mentor turned on him and became his nemesis with a thousand personal remarks? And then his bestie joined his ex-mentor? And then he had to fight his ex mentor and beat him and then kissed him goodbye on the forehead before (symbolically?) killing him and then burying him like he did his father? And by doing so, his ex-mentor committed one final act of cruelty against him by forcing him to make that choice, to make Jungle Boy an agent of his own loss and deterioration, take part in it. And from that point on, Jungle Boy became more focused on going after what he wants and taking it no matter who is in his way? Did I understand all of that right?

And then he becomes best friends and partners with a guy who is like the perfect foil to him: an unstoppable 2nd gen fighter - young, even younger than himself. They have so much in common, and they like each other so much. But. Hook keeps winning. He hasn't lost his father. He hasn't lost his mentors or his friends. He hasn't sacrificed anything. And he. Still. Keeps. Winning. And it's always right there in Jungle Boy's face. And when JB turns on him, out of the blue, the first thing he does is drop to his knees as if...mourning himself? And then the next time he shows up, he's dressing, talking, and acting just like his (dead? is he dead in-universe or...? idk how that works) ex-mentor--

--ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! WRESTLING HAS JUST HAD THIS THE WHOLE TIME? I am going to show up every damn week from now on, and I'm going to have no idea what the moves being yelled out by the commentators are, and I am going to wait on the edge of my seat for the dialogue much like impatiently skipping paragraphs of description. And I'm going to make chips for it! WTF what the actual fuck there's enough for 2/3 books of a novelization trilogy here wtf wtf sports??? I am losing my mind

@emma-d-klutz how I enjoy out convos! ✨️

Yes, AEW actually has really good storylines- especially recently with Jungle Boy! That burial match was one of my favorites when he fought Christian Cage - it was so personal, but I appreciated the end results. Effing great, so choice. I'm wondering when they'll have another reunion soon? Now that Jack went heel *bad guy* and said a few nights again when he was in a team, he was a champion... maybe he'll team up with Cage and Luchasaurus again? Or he'll just be his own bad guy???

SO, the drama with him and Hook kinda felt off to me. A lot of people felt Hook was going to betray Jungle Boy, but I never saw that? Hook has always teamed up with people who've been good to him, and surprisingly, Hook is super chill with them, lol. But now the betrayal of Jack kinda makes me think if Hook will ever have another team up :( unless it was Danhausen or the Hardy Boys etc.

JungleHook was a very young and cool team up! I kinda wish they would've gone for tag titles... but alas...

The side drama is ongoing this upcoming Wednesday! I love AEW and how they have a variety of drama going on in between the fights. LOL - even better when the drama is in the ring...!!!

[weatheredlaw]

what i liked about rvb: restoration (spoilers ahead)

okay i've spent a lot of time complaining to some friends today about what i didn't like about restoration, so i'm going to tell all of YOU what i did like, because i don't like to inundate myself with negativity!

Caboose

as a caboose fan, as a caboose girlie, as someone who has written a bunch of caboose fic - i fucking stayed winning last night. burnie keeping caboose knowing how to speak spanish was excellent. caboose was treated so well, he really wasn't the butt of a joke (the bit about epsilon programming in the "shut up caboose" lines was very funny to me, it's peak church and caboose and the fact that they came out and weird times was so so funny)

follow-up caboose point: i LOVE that he's too unpredictable for epsilon, it's truly caboose in a nutshell. and he was treated as capable and able to do things. he was also so GOOD. i'm absolutely not over this and i probably never will be:

caboose deciding to bring back tex because he wanted them to win? flawless. no notes. excellent.

Grimmons

i knew as soon as it was announced that burnie was writing this season that we were not going to get the grimmons ending of our dreams (yes i saw that google drive, yes it haunts me forever) but this isn't about what we didn't get

it's been 21 years since "why are we here" and i loved the shots of the two of them standing together. it always feels right when they're a pair, no matter what's happening.

i'm going to take what i got and write the fix it fic later. simmons gave grif what he always wanted - a way out. he gave him those papers, he said "here, you can leave, no strings attached" and the almost first words out of grif's mouth were: "come with me." it's romance, to me. i'll take it.

willing to go out in a blaze of glory together. say no more.

Sarge

i really wasn't sure if this was going to be a joke or not when it started happening. meta!tucker pulled out his sword and sarge was too close to the door and i said outloud GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR and damn

i know it was SUPER cheesy, but i was a fan of the sarge-grif interaction there at the end. sarge's animosity for grif has always been played up for laughs, but the last few seasons (retconned simulations or not) really strengthened red team. and the chorus trilogy did, too.

man i loved these lines:

(this shot makes me miss donut so bad but this is about what i liked, not what bothered me so please take this shot of sarge and the boys)

also sarge going back for caboose was so so so so good to me. "one of us" - yeah man, caboose is one of your boys. you gotta go BACK for your BOY. and he fucking did. i really wasn't sure if this death was going to stick, it got me pretty hard. (he didn't HERK-BLEH so idk if it counts but)

Tucker/Sigma

META!TUCKER RULES

conceptually, i fucking love this. i think it would have been nicer to get a bit more pre!meta tucker and see what was going on. his absence is handwaved a bit but if i'm able to remove seasons 15-18 from my brain, i'm able to focus more and say yes, ok.

i do have questions, like what was he acting like? did he do anything strange? did he disappear RIGHT away or did he linger and then go? it seems like wash doesn't know, and i think if wash knew tucker was the meta, he'd have been a lot more concerned (the bit at the end with wash and doc and tucker being taken care of was nice)

but i'm OBSESSED with this idea that tucker's stuck in there and he doesn't want to be there. really genuinely i love sigma and how nasty that little shit is. it's interesting that epsilon has the memories, but sigma still knows EXACTLY what the director did to the alpha and, even while it hates him for that, it's completely willing to use that on another person:

and THIS PART:

ugh MY BOY. it was nice to have tucker back, i was sad we had to see him like this and i wish we had more time with this concept, it's very delicious and it's one thing i do LIKE about the later seasons being retconned.

Wash and Doc

okay so i had to go back and watch some of the last episode of season 13 to understand this better, because i hadn't watched season 13 in a REALLY long time. once my memory was jogged i understood what was happening better. to recap, if you're like me and forgot:

wash and carolina were on the evac ship headed towards the reds and blues. after they win their fight post-epsilon death, it seems that the evac goes wrong and wash is injured. in that scuffle, doc dies getting wash to safety. this seems to be a breaking point for wash and doc manifests as a hallucination that Dr. Grey seems to be aware of. she never address that it IS doc, but she (and ADMIRAL FUCKING DONUT OK) are aware wash isn't doing well.

this was something i saw on reddit - doc being dead was foreshadowed pretty well! here's the image from the reddit page:

one shadow! i'm sure a lot of y'all saw this but i was busy thinking wash didn't sound like shannon mccormick (it was him! he just isn't talking about the show online really it seems - i haven't checked his tumblr for a while, but he's p much silent on twitter, i assume he came back after some negotiation because he and RT no longer work together, even before RT was dissolved)

EDIT: upon rewatching this it appears to move WITH doc but i do LIKE the one shadow thing so i'm gonna stick with this

also doc disappears from frame whenever other people are talking. no one ever addresses him, and i assume because he says doc's name while talking about the meta, Dr. Grey is like ah yep he's hallucinating again.

upon first viewing i thought this was a little rushed, and i still believe it was kinda shoved in there at the end, but after sitting with it and doing a little season 13 refresher, i actually really like this and i think it's very bittersweet. wash doing his best to cope with his guilt and thinking about the person who saved him and having them live on like this is incredibly hard, but it also feels incredibly REAL for his specific history and trauma

Other things

carolina coming when wash calls for her

wash BREAKING HIS LEG to call his best friend like dude wtf

simmons still wanting to save tucker, knowing he isn't the one who killed sarge

the work from home security guards. it's funny. it's really funny.

"i hate the future"

sitting around the fire and remembering! i cried! THIS SHOW AND I GREW UP TOGETHER

the trocadero song. it fucking got me.

tex and carolina fighting the meta. just. bad ass.

the framed photo of wash's cat

the AI's bickering in tucker's head. theta saying "he's tired and scared." delta comforting theta.

geoff really delivered grif's lines. they were SO unhinged i loved them.

speaking of VA's - michael malconian! honestly i was so worried when joel was fired that we were going to lose caboose forever. it made me SO sad to think about, but when they started making some PSA's and kind of made some jokes about the voice change (and in restoration!) i was much more hopeful. i really think he did a SUPER good job capturing caboose. my favorite scene in red vs blue is caboose saying goodbye to church in season 15 - and i think my second is now michael's delivery of caboose telling tucker he's already forgiven him if he decides to kill him. he just totally knocked it out of the park.

and just speaking of...him.

there's a lot i wasn't happy with, and i guess i could make a list about that, too. i feel like it's a lot of things y'all probably weren't happy with either, but this is what i DID love. and i think there's some more i'm just not remembering and i think i will come to really love this. someone already said it best imo: it was good enough and that's ok. i grew up with this show, seeing it end was incredibly emotional for me, but it feels right to say goodbye.

bow chicka bye now.

[celestialseph]

september fic recs!

hi hi hi! this is my first fic rec list, and i am so excited to share it with you all! here's my little collection of my favorite fics/imagines/things that won't leave my head at the moment, enjoy!

*my blog is 18+, and so are most of these stories, minors, shoo*

eddie munson

worlds apart by @munsons-maiden - a heartbreaking, yet still fluffy au where you're a victim of the mind flayer, and it's sole survivor during starcourt. eddie's path crosses with yours, and you fall head over heels, but vecna has other plans. you have to put your fears aside to save eddie from jason and his crew, all while trying to fight vecna's grip on you. (i cannot recommend this series enough. it had me crying, laughing, and kicking my feet like a kid in love. a must-read eddie fic!)

days of the week by @munson-trashcan - a series where you and eddie are enemies.... who like to take to take your hate out on each other.... by fucking each other. (this series is phenomenal! the twists may have broken me, but i would pay anything to be able to read it all again for the first time.)

pile of polaroids by @creme-bruhlee - series summary: eddie gets a great idea to take pictures while he fucks you, and you can't say no to an offer like that. (i've read this upwards of ten times and i am not ashamed, it's that good.)

encore, ring, and star by @mypoisonedvine - a trilogy where you're a rockstar, eddie's a groupie, and (sexual) chaos ensues. (this is one of my favorites aus of all time, and i ate this shit up like i hadn't eaten in ten years. highly, highly recommend.)

love letters by @creme-bruhlee - series summary: after you receive a series of anonymous love letters, eddie has a confession to make that might make or break your whole friendship. (SO cute. i want to squeeze eddie's cheeks in this and kiss him until he can't breathe.)

you made me hate this city by @marvelsswansong - series summary: It was just a stupid bet. A way to prove Jason and his asshole friends wrong, to finally get under the blonde’s skin. It was never supposed to end with Eddie falling in love, nor with him laying on your doorstep with bruised knees, begging for your forgiveness. (adorable, heartbreaking, funny, everything you could want. it'll break your heart, but put it right back together in the end.)

the price of a kiss by @spiderrrling - summary: You start trading Eddie little nick knacks for kisses. (the definition of tooth-rotting fluff if i've ever seen it. seriously the cutest thing ever.)

dealer's choice and double down by @ohcaptains - your dealer’s always been a bit sweet on you – giving you deals and letting you try out new shit. he even lets you make house calls! and pick the music, and sit on his lap…and… 

angel face by @sunflowergirl522 - summary: Eddie takes Dustin to pick up his sister from the airport and is surprised with seeing his long ago best friend.Eddie takes Dustin to pick up his sister from the airport and is surprised with seeing his long ago best friend. (i cried over how fucking precious this story is. i also now call my cat "angel face" because of it.)

what are friends for by @munson-trashcan - summary: Eddie has always come to you, his best friend, with all of his problems, but his latest one might just wreck your friendship

can i borrow your bed? 1 and 2 by @hard-candy-writing - you just got your first vibrator and are eager to try it out, but your house has thin walls and no privacy. luckily, your best friend eddie has graciously offered his room to you.

made for lovin' you by @xechowritesx - summary: after years of silently pining for your best friend, you finally accept a date at your favorite dive bar. but things never go as planned, do they? alternatively, jealous eddie, too many whiskey shots, and a friendship shattering, almost confession that leads to some delicious smut.

masterlist from @peterthepark - this one's a masterlist link because i don't want to make this post a decade long by listing all of the eddie fics from them! so damn into you and little witch are my top two, but i cannot express enough how good everything is.

masterlist by @indouloureux - same as the last! everything is brilliant and you should read it all.

catholic!reader x eddie munson by @prettyboyeddiemunson - another masterlist link because i can't get enough of these ideas.

steve harrington

sweet peach by @s-brant - summary: An inside joke started by Eddie turns into torment for Steve when his girlfriend, Y/N, joins in on it. On a night out with their friends, his long-buried frustration comes to a head.

curiosity is killing me by @thefreak-thebanished - summary: When sleepovers with your best friend become a ruse for her sneaking her own boyfriends in, it's not your fault that the only other distraction is her brother...

steddie

meddle about by @peterthepark - summary: back home from school, you recount about your time away in college with steve and eddie, leading to a sexual proposition that you never would’ve expected.

no i in threesome 1, 2, 3, and 4 by @corrodedhawkins - a game of truth or dare leads to a secret about you wanting steve too to come out.

wild parts 1, 2, and 3 by @xdirtyx - summary: You and Steve dated before Eddie asked you out and Eddie couldn't help but feel like there was potential for some fun on the horizon. Shenanigans ensue.

perfect penmanship by @carol-munson - prompt: 'What if reader accidentally found eddies book and saw all of the things he wants to do to her and planned for her when steve was gone for that weekend. She would be on edge every time he was near her and she would get a funny feeling in her tummy anytime he so much looked at her. Eddie probably takes notice and does little things to get her reaction.'

imagines/blurbs

steve and eddie fucking you at steve's summer house on spring break 1 and 2 by @sunflowersteves

eddie x chrissy x reader by @poppy-metal

nancy having a pretty pussy by @poppy-metal

love will tear us apart by @unfortunate-brat

scream au by @poppy-metal

chrissy x reader experimenting, perv eddie by @indouloureux

chrissy being a curious best friend by @lovewheeler

perv eddie 1 and 2 by @mypoisonedvine

steve having a massive cock by @eddiebaghetti

eddie x inexperienced reader by @indouloureux

eddie and anal by @mysticmunson

steve being rough for the first time by @indouloureux

dom nancy by @indouloureux

squirting with eddie by @corrodedhawkins