#is Like That and is scheming and whatnot

[vic-does-battlecats]

Cloverfoot

[demeterdefence]

kept meaning to make a post and kept FORGETTING to because i'm dumb but i cannot stop thinking of all the loose ends / introduced plots that got dropped without any warning and one that has been sticking out is persephone's "new" abilities after she "lost" her powers

we get a lackluster hint in episode 267, when apollo uses some random magic deus ex machina to "restore" persephone's powers. he starts bleeding from the nose and ears.

also apologies for the terrible quality, i forgot that lo went under daily pass and had to scour my own screenshots lmamdgjsf

it's not explained at the time whatsoever and in fact, the vagueness of the narrative kind of half-heartedly implies that it's an effect of ouranos' magic - it's also completely handwaved away, since no one bothers to ask why apollo is suddenly bleeding from the orifices and able to use persephone's powers.

it's not until persephone and hera decide to visit kronos in tartarus that persephone explains she somehow knew all along what this strange power was! she can apparently make a god rot from the inside!!!

it's not explained at ALL how she figured that out or like ... why she has that specific power. it is mentioned during the solstice where she creates winter that she can only make "decay," but that's a pretty obvious and visual thing - she's quite literally blistered the mortal realm in snow and ice, with all the plants dying on their physical surface.

important context, but other than persephone's attack on minthe, she is never seen using her powers on another person. her abilities are always on herself, or using plants / growth in some way. the fertility goddess nonsense does mean that hades and kronos are able to use her powers to strengthen themselves, but beyond that plot point being ridiculous, it's also something they don't just figure out overnight. kronos being able to escape control the underworld, and hades going godzilla mode during the trial, are clues used to eventually figure out what persephone's fertility goddess powers can do.

in regards to her new winter powers, persephone either figured it out somehow before the scene with apollo, or she figured it out after. with no explanation how.

moving from the how, we then get the last mention to this power, when persephone attempts to stop kronos

spoiler: it does not work. the power is never referenced again.

in terms of lore olympus' many crimes, it's a small thing, but it stands out to me as such a flailing attempt to write some wiggle room into the finale. rachel was struggling to get to the end, that much was obvious, and she was padding out the episodes as desperately as she could so that she could pull on any random thread and find a way to keep the plot moving. in better hands, this might have been a legitimately interesting power to explore for persephone! the goddess of spring, capable of rot, capable of such bone-deep destruction, and how she reconciles that with growth. it could have been a powerful juxtaposition, but it got abandoned as soon as rachel figured out how to give persephone her powers back. presumably, persephone still has this ability, but it is literally never brought up again. we have no idea if there was lasting damage to apollo, if it did anything in particular to kronos, what it can do to a god (the assumption is nothing, since both apollo and kronos seem just fine in their final scenes.)

it's just. amazing to go back and look through all the various strings rachel was knotting together, seeing stuff that might have been genuinely fascinating to explore in some other writer's hands! tiny little things like this, added up together to just be crapshoot after crapshoot. it's no surprise at all that rachel finished the last episode barely an hour before it went live. what a mess.

[doodlebloo]

I missed simple Third Life rules so badddddd man I'm like binging everyone's videos.. I forgot how addicting this series could be

[vasito-de-leche]

Did you played the recent Reverse 1999 (2.5)? If yes, what do you think about it?

I did! Even if I don't update this blog, I'm always up to date and also watch Merui's CN streams for future patches o7

2.5 is such a great patch to me because it reminds me of the format of the old non-main story patches from the 1.X series--a self-contained story that can be enjoyed on its own and sets up fun details for the main story but doesn't REQUIRE to watch it to PROPERLY understand the main story, unlike how you need to watch 2.0 and 2.1--two side events--to understand why the fuck Anjo Nala exists in 2.2--a main story patch.

All characters are so solid, whether they're NPCs or playables! One thing that always pisses me off about the 2.X series is that in most patches, it feels like only ONE of the new 6 stars gets the spotlight (think of Joe in 2.0, since Mercuria fucking DISAPPEARS from the plot halfway through, compared to Melania and Pickles in 1.1 or Lucy and Kakania in 1.9) or the 5 star gets SO FUCKING IGNORED for the entire patch (think of Barbara in 2.1 being literally irrelevant and having little to no screentime, compared to Blonney in 1.2 or Desert Flannel in 1.5. You can replace Barbara with any NPC that also belongs to UTTU, but you can't switch Blonney nor Desert Flannel for anyone else because of how important they are as themselves). But all three playables shine on their own and have extremely solid dynamics with each other, without being FULLY dependent on one another.

I didn't really care for Poitier and Liang Yue when I first saw 2.5 when it released in CN, but now that I could experience the entire event on my own, I LOVE THEM TO BITSSSSSS. Poitier ended up being so fun and solid mentor figure for Liang Yue, and Liang Yue turned out to be such a compelling character EVEN without the need for her character event. Loggerhead was such a treat too and Noire's entire story is so interesting. It's such a solid patch and I miss when events were like this, instead of half-assed attempts at piecing together the main story while sacrificing the core of the patch orz

I'm so excited for them to follow up on ANYTHING related to Matilda and her mother, or Black Ibis on the Vigiles Bureau. And I HOPE they do follow up on these things AFTER they're done with all the shit happening currently with Igor and Urd and Laplace

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

When two of your OTPs are technically Blue/Yellow and Blue/Orange pairings (depending on the merch/art)

[prettyinpwn]

I wanna give whoever designed Ford's portal outfit an award.

[bunnyinatree]

Can someone who is well-versed in Witcher lore confirm or deny whether Geralt has albinism? He is listed on the wiki page for characters with albinsim, but seeing as every character with albinism that I know of isnt included, I dont trust the list very much…

[optimisticmiraclefest]

✨I am this type of woman✨

Author: Butterfly's Shadow Beneath the Moon / Yue Xia Die Ying

I love how in the end of one chapter Rong Xia is said to be biting an arm of a sugar figurine sent to him by "Ban shizi" and we cut off to Ban Hua pouting and sulking bc she accidentally gave him a figurine of herself instead of the one resembling himself- like she even made it ugly on purpose to tease him lol

[justbread09]

(suuuper late) Weedcat Wednesday!

Meowscarada falls down the [Dimension]

goin straight to hell lol

i know the post is wayyy overdue but i think it turned out really nice in the end, everything looks really nice and i love the colours

yeah i know its a little funky for pixel and its unlike what i do normally either but it was a lot of fun experimenting :>

[xskyll]

I just need to vent. Someone made a podfic of one of my fics a short while back. Yesterday, they told me they were monetizing their channel and asked permission to put ads on their podfic of my story. I'm very glad they asked permission, so I could say no, but all the same, I can't help but feel so angry. I would never go to someone and say, "Hey, do you mind if I make money reading aloud your story that you spent months and months slaving over, while you don't make a single cent? Do you mind if I throw ads on this thing you poured your soul into, turning your love letter to fandom into another cog in the capitalist money machine?" I just imagine someone listening to my description of Shouto fighting Bakugou and listening to him bare his soul about his toxic behaviors—I scene I tried to craft with such care—and just before Izuku kisses Shouto's black eye, an ad for a Kia plays.

Part of me is wondering if I'm overacting—I know some people would say, 'it's just fanfiction, calm down'—but a larger part of me is like, "The absolute gall! YOU making money using MY heart???"

[loathsome-little-creature]

Out here plotting the demise of my enemies. On my scheming shit

[luvuomi]

✎ . . . ❝ [ amethos but, epic au! ]❞ .ೃ࿐

dedicated tracks: ‘we become we’ & ‘the challenge’

as all ancient love stories go, sethos and amélie’s love came about from an arranged marriage. i know, how unoriginal of me, though in this case having an overused/overrated trope is the least of my concerns.

because while the princess of ay-khanoum, nilou, awaited the fateful moment in which one of the many suitors, who traveled from near and far, would win her hand, amélie couldn’t help but find the entire thing rather absurd. in her eyes, every individual that was clamoring for the princess’ attention merely sought after the title she undoubtedly carried and that they would gain in turn. ‘what a bunch of barbarians’ she thought.

unfortunately for her, saying such thoughts aloud would only land her more trouble than what’s worth, especially for only being an invited guest on the princess’ part. so the young lady of the “de petrichor family” remained silent, observing the entire ordeal unfold while occasionally pitching in a word of advice to the princess whenever they encountered a particularly indignant fellow.

[ briefly going back to being an invited guest part, because i view amélie as being demiaro, she tends to think more logically about romance rather than using emotions she’s just like me fr and has therefore allowed her to basically see right through people’s intentions aka their bs. because of this then, along with simply being good friends with nilou, she was asked to basically assist nilou throughout the whole process. heavily inspired by the epic cut song ‘pick me’ btw ]

needless to say, romance or even the prospect of marriage itself draws little appeal to amélie who would much rather be back in her homeland reading in her father’s library while indulging in a pastry or two.

then comes along sethos, the newly crowned king of tulaytullah whose attention falls not to the princess, but rather the individual he always sees accompanying her side. because while the others fawn over the royal’s ineffable beauty, sethos finds intrigue in the reclusive nature that comes from amélie. nilou was like the sun, vibrant and capturing the eyes and hearts of many with each room she entered whilst amélie seemed to exist as her counterpart — the moon. carrying herself with a soft, yet charming elegance and a wit like no other.

even more, when word starts to go around amongst the suitors about how difficult it is to win the princess’ hand, much less find a moment alone with her, and sethos discovers that the one behind all the trouble happens to be amélie herself, he decides right then and there that this woman was meant to be his queen. although… that’s much easier said than done.

[tims-missing-spleen]

(I like to think that) Lex Luthor gets clowned on by literally everyone, and Bruce is the absolute worst.

Like he'll attend an event and a literal millisecond later, Bruce will roll up and steal all the attention. And when they're inside, him or one of his crazy "children" will "accidentally" spill very red wine all over his expensive ass suit.

And what can Lex even do?

Last time he retaliated and mildly shoved Bruce, the man very dramatically flung himself across the room and fell straight into a table. He hadn't even gotten hurt- not a single bruise or cut- but that drama queen didn't appear in public for an entire month after the incident. The backlash Lex had gotten was so not worth it.

And it doesn't stop there. His kids join in on the "fun" and bully him too.

Tim permanently bans him from all the platforms owned by Wayne enterprisese, which is like borderline illegal, so Lex sues and somehow always loses.

Jason Duke and Steph team up and make it a game to throw things on his head without him realising. And when Luthor catches one of them, he can't even shout at them or whatnot cause hes actually scared shitless. Jason, the absolute tank of a man, just grins at him while placing his hands on the very noticeable gun at his hip. Duke and Steph stand on either side of him, gripping literal knives in their hands.

Damian just outright walks up to him and begins insulting him in a couple of different languages. He always gives Lex a final disgusted look before turning and walking off.

Dick might seem the sweetest, approaching him while smiling in that nice way of his. He's the worst, though, cause he always makes sure to bring a few reporters with him before he innocently starts outing Lex's latest evil scheme in front of the audience. He makes sure to bring solid evidence of the nefarious plans, but right at the end, he goes, "idk I could be wrong," before shrugging and walling off.

Cassandra doesn't do much, but she's definitely the scariest. Whenever Lex has had enough and is about to call a hit on Bruce, she appears out of nowhere, stares straight at him, and just shakes her head while saying, "No. Regret"

Basically, Lex Luthor, public enemy #1, gets (justifiably) bullied by the entirety of the human population (honestly, only the Waynes).

[copperbadge]

So, recently I got an email telling me that I'm seeing a play in Chicago next week. Which was news to me.

I do occasionally forget when I've bought tickets to an event, but the play, per the email, is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and I would have had to be in a fuckin' fugue state to buy those to start with.

It had a link where I could claim the tickets, so I kind of assumed it was either a phishing scheme or someone put my email address into the slot instead of theirs, like our email addresses were one letter off or something. There was a very slim chance someone bought it for me as a birthday gift but I didn't think I knew anyone who knew me well enough to blow that kind of money on me but didn't know me well enough to know my thoughts on JK Rowling.

In any case I forwarded it to customer service like "Hey, I didn't buy these tickets, is this a legit email from you guys? If so it went to the wrong address. Unless the name Sam [surname] is on the tickets, it's not for me."

Bout half an hour later they hit me back with an actual receipt. "Oh no, they're under [my legal name], see? These are a gift from an organization that buys tickets for military veterans and their families! Enjoy the show!"

....now, I'm not a veteran, and nobody in my family is either (well, my grandfathers, but they're long dead). Still, the tickets are undeniably in my name. So I had to hit them back like "So....I'm not a veteran..."

They're now very confused but handling it internally, so I don't have to stay involved now that I've convinced them I'm not Staff Sergeant Sam Starbuck or whatnot.

But I do find it very amusing that I am, for all intents and purposes, at the moment the possessor of STOLEN VALOR THEATRE TICKETS.

[thevibraniumveterans]

I have THOUGHTS about… ahem… the “Thunderbolts*”…

SPOILER ALERT!!!

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT…

LAST WARNING!

I’ve just watched the film this evening and I have so many thoughts off the top of my head and in no particular order

Valentina, you SCHEMING little shit, I KNEW something was up! That was insane.

Movie was big on mental health, for sure.

I previously thought we’d see Bucky going up against himself, but I was wrong; why would he ever need to do that? The MCU was his process and we’ve been watching him absolutely go through it.

And speaking of going through it, Bob and his room reminded me of Moon Knight, what with the abusive parents and whatnot, him being in the safest room he can be in, surrounded by toys.

And speaking of rooms. Yelena’s scenes around the Red Room situations, oof, that must’ve been really hard on her, that she could not change anything, that it would keep happening.

The whole you-don’t-have-to-do-this-alone aspect of the film was so well made, and that one scene near the end, the group hug, heartwarming. Very emotional scene. Loved it.

Very nearly upstaged by the previous scenes where Bucky, Walker, Ava, Yelena, and Alexei stopped that stone slab from hitting the ground, saving civilians

Alexei was hilarious throughout the whole movie, awesome at that

HOLY SHIT THE NEW AVENGERS??? I’ll get back to that in a bit but OMG.

The thing about Bob punching his own dark reflection and almost becoming what he feared the most was just… so so well done, that even when he was being mocked, he found the strength to get up and fight back, inspiring the others to get up and fight back too, and fight back together

Taskmaster? Yeah, we knew she was toast within the first 20 minutes but not how, now we know that Val had sent Taskmaster to kill Walker to kill Yelena to kill Ghost

That was one hell of an introduction though

And speaking of introductions, I gotta say something about the post-credits scene. First off, those new outfits are really cool; Walker getting a beret?? BUCKY GETTING A NEW OUTFIT AND A STAR OVER HIS RIGHT ARM?? I love that it’s navy blue now. AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR SHIP?? We know F4 is right around the corner this summer; I’m guessing that in the mid- and/or post-credits scene(s) of that movie we’ll have the F4 interact with the New Avengers before DOOMSDAY

And speaking of the New Avengers! That was Val’s whole setup! She had to get all shady and morally grey and villainy-like, trying to get her potential Avengers members to kill each other in some kind of wretched test to see how’d they fare against each other.

And oh right, BUCKY SAID SAM ISN’T HAPPY about the New Avengers; remember in CABNW Sam said that Ross told him to form a new team? What kind of beef is Val having with whoever is the president now? I mean it’s not like Bucky put together a team, it was just convenient that four of them were in the same car. But think about it, in the Doomsday lineup video, Anthony Mackie was third and Sebastian fourth, so the fact that they’re really high up on the roster and right next to each other tells me that Sam may be mad an Avengers team has been formed and there was nothing he could do about it

And like, it’s 2027 in the MCU now, right? The movie ends like 14 months later so now it’s freakin’ 2028 in the MCU now.

Bob is a cool person, I think, Sentry was the midpoint between Bob and the Void, and Bob doesn’t want to become the Sentry due to how he’d also become the Void - this avoidance is kinda like how Banner didn’t want to become Hulk but then reconciled. I like Bob’s dynamic with Yelena.

The whole metaphor of walking into the void is like choosing to confront your shame, your darkness, the things you think you don’t deserve sympathy for, but then again the whole point of Yelena, Bucky, Walker, and Ava coming together to group hug Bob was just so good.

It’s hilarious that Val didn’t just go “I’m putting together a team”, she went “Imma send these misfits to kill each other, send my latest project to kill them, ALL IN THE GUISE OF HOPING THEY ALL TEAM THE EFF UP but I can’t tell anyone that until the events I put into motion cause them to save the city and become the heroes I always knew they were” and honestly? What the hell, Valentina?! 🤣 You played them, you played us, well effing done, loved it, 15/10 no notes.

Bucky with the good hair! 🤩

Oh and the mid-credits artwork referencing famous historical promo, the Yelena “We can do it” poster referencing the WWII Rosie the Riveter propaganda, the team shot referencing the “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” photo

And part of the artwork also being in-universe headlines of people not exactly loving the New Avengers

And the classic Avengers theme song as the undercurrent for the main theme of this movie!

I may have other points but I’ll save them for later, I think??

[umikawa]

a/n: something small while I work on requests and whatnot ٩( 'ω' )و

stanley snyder x gn!reader | 608 wc | no major warnings; couple of sex jokes but not too bad. mutual feelings but unspoken ☝️

“This is too intimate for me.”

Stanley rolls his eyes at you through the mirror, clipping the towel around his neck in place. “I’m asking you to shave my head, not touch my dick.”

“Same thing!” Stanley groans into his palm, dragging his hand across his face while he stares at you with a dead expression.

He wonders why you’re even freaking out about it. He asked Xeno first but retracted the minute the man started cackling and verbally plotting his scheme to shave him bald.

Even if he were joking, Stanley would not take that risk.

So he’s here, with you, the person he trusts most – after Xeno. But as he watches your hands shake slightly while clipping on the guard, he wonders if he should just go to the barber instead.

“Hey.” Your eyes flit to his in the mirror, movements freezing as his eyes soften. “It’ll be alright.”

Your lips part at his reassurance, the tips of your ears warming at the unexpected gentleness of his tone and the soft smile he gives you.

You don’t say a word; just nod and hold the clippers to his head.

Three seconds pass, and Stanley takes the time to look over himself in the mirror. He nods, and the clippers buzz to life.

Stanley watches the chunk of hair fall onto his shoulder before it hits the floor. His hair hadn’t been this short since birth, and even then, he still had a decent amount of it.

He watches you through the mirror; your movements and expressions are enough to distract him from the bit of himself that he’s losing right now. Your hands don’t shake anymore. Instead, you’ve garnered some sense of confidence as you fold his ear away slightly, giving you more access to his sides.

Your hands rest on each side of his head, tilting it slightly from side to side. “Even with a buzz, you still look handsome.” He laughs at your solemn face, as if it was a problem he still looked good.

“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.”

You shrug, “You know, back in the day, before soldiers left for war, they had a certain way of being sent off.”

Stanley scrunched his nose, looking at you with mock disgust. “What are you implying?”

“Nothing, freak.” You quip, laughing when he rolls his eyes. “Just giving you a history lesson.”

“Right,” he says, unclipping the towel around his neck. “Cause soldiers getting their dick wet before deployment is history.” Another shrug comes from you; Stanley just shakes his head in disbelief.

Silence fills the room as you sweep up the remains of his hair, eyes flicking from the floor to him checking his appearance in the mirror repeatedly.

He catches your eyes several times, but neither of you says a word– he knows, and so do you. His hands ran over his head a few more times, his brow twitching slightly in annoyance– he really did not like this.

“You look fine, Stan.” You assure, grabbing his hand gently to tear it away from his head. “Dare I say you’re even more charming than before? It’s irritating, actually.”

He laughs, dropping his hand and yours to his side. “It’s just awkward.” You only offer a hum. Stanley figured you didn’t know what to say. “Will you miss me?”

You raise a brow at the sudden question, though judging by the smile on his face, he meant it as a lighthearted joke. “Hardly. All you did was bring me trouble.”

“You love me.”

“Sure,” you shrug, giving him a smile– that definitely doesn’t catch him off guard. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

a/n: try not to mention xeno in a stanley fic challenge FAILED. also can you tell i like calling stan a freak (affectionate)