#like it's to give everyone insight into caleb

[chocochipjewel]

Yapping about Belos and his ending excessively while also analysing him to the best of my ability under the cut

So given how much art of him I've reblogged by now, it really shouldn't come as a surprise that Belos is my favourite character from the Owl House.

I could talk about him for HOURSS but I just want to talk about 2 of my favourite moments of him to highlight the parts of him I love the most.

This moment in Hollow Mind, when he gets the key in his hand and you can see the light in his eyes. It's the only time his eyes have the distinct shine in them like every other character has all the time, and it's cause of the key he's holding. The key to the human realm is the only thing that gives him that shine cause it's the only thing he genuinely cares about. Everything he's doing is to go back home and revel in glory, which, while selfish, adds so much to his character. He's not doing this JUST for power, he became an Emperor just to tear his own creations down. I just find something extremely poetic about that.

And the second moment -

THIS MOMENT. THIS MOMENT IN KING'S TIDE AJDHSJSHSJS

I'm still mad these flashbacks were never brought up in any big way cause THEY REALLY SHOULD HAVE BUT AHSKSJS I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF.

Belos reliving his worst memories was always a concept that was going to be interesting because it's an insight into what really gets into the head of our main antagonist. What does the guy who is everyone else's worst fear have to fear. And the answer is himself.

The 3 memories he sees are him approaching Caleb with the knife, the actual murder as pictured above, and the creation of the grimwalkers.

What really gets me is that his eyes are wide when he recalls the first memory, but they look smaller in the second memory (in the screenshot). Maybe it's just the angle but I always interpreted it as his expression shifting to be one of genuine sadness for this particular memory. Because the mere fact that his most personal crime is also his worst memory is such an interesting concept. How does he live with that sort of guilt and worse, keep doing those same crimes but WORSE?

All of Hollow Mind could just be here really and I wouldn't complain. It's THE episode for Belos fans that really allowed us to dig into him, and the mere fact that he's consciously scratched off Caleb from all the happy memories as if to justify his own fratricide is a level of desperate coping that I just find so very interesting ajdjhsjjs

Not to mention that his inner self is a child, which, while a pretence by him, could still say something about how in his head, he still has not grown up and is still playing pretend, still playing witch hunter with every version of Caleb he creates, still playing god to finally achieve a fantasy so very childish and so frankly basic that it makes anyone watching from the outside think "wait, that's it? That's all this is for?" AND THAT'S THE POINT

Cause none of this needed to happen. None of this has a greater value than Philip trying to chase after lost dreams. All the plans he made, all his great power and his great empire amounts to nothing because he himself plans to destroy all of it to chase that childhood dream. Just like Luz, he entered the Boiling Isles to find a home, only his home was Caleb and he was never willing to love new things in the Isles, while Luz loved so much she literally changed the lives of everyone she met by loving them. And unlike Luz, Philip never grew out of that mindset, only burying it in layers and layers of lies and half truths.

In general, his relationship with Caleb is for sure the most interesting part of his character to me. The fact that he both repeatedly murders and repeatedly creates new grimwalkers in an endless cycle and then hallucinates Caleb looking at him with disdain implies so much about his dependancy on Caleb and the deepest parts of himself that know what he's doing is wrong. The parts that have broken free from the layers and layers of cognitive dissonance and have accepted that he was wrong, without any more justifications.

And now, to 'briefly' rant about him in season 3

Thanks to Them was juicy for character exploration, but I wish we actually got to see him react to the human realm properly. It's everything he's wanted, it's the one thing that still brings light into his life but the world he returned to would absolutely hate him. He's done all this for nothing. I wanted so badly to see how he copes with his guilt then, but they were short on time so I get it.

For the Future's hallucination scene makes this even more interesting cause of the depiction of him actually seriously suffering from something like hallucinations. It was dark as hell, and it was really interesting.

And then... WaD. All in all, a great finale. The only real big problem I had with it was Belos' ending.

After so much buildup to his depth and his motivations and his guilt and all his lies slowly collapsing around him, after everything he did to so many people, he deserved a better death. I don't think he didn't deserve death, I just think it happened too quick. Where was the final cathartsis from all his victims shunning him (Luz staring was perfect don't get me wrong, but the whole Hexsquad deserved to be there). Where was the moment he would finally no longer be able to lie to himself and he would be forced to accept that he did EVERYTHING he did, made all those great sacrifices, tortured so many people, just to fail and be at his victims' mercy after accomplishing nothing?

I understand the finale was juggling many MANY characters and plotpoints, but that's not stopping me from wishing for a better ending.

I wish I had had the motivation to draw something for this like I'd hoped, but a brief description about what kind of ending I'd have wanted will have to do.

I wish Luz saw his memories in the place in between with Papa Titan. It would reinforce her arc of feeling like they come from the same place too, if she saw Caleb leaving Philip and Philip's original goal of just wanting to get his brother back. I wish Luz saw all his "sad" memories and really started to question herself.

And then I would have wanted Papa Titan to shoot that down regardless, and then explain that while Belos may have started out a victim of his circumstances as an orphaned child in a cult, the Isles gave him chances to change. Memories of Philip in the Isles seeing Caleb happy, being given chances by witches, being given so many chances to change, and rejecting them accompanying this scene would be ideal. Really hammer in that he aas responsible for his own suffering and that he has absolutely no excuse for what he did to all his victims.

And then, in the final death scene, as he claims that as humans they are better than witches one last time, I wish the ghosts of all his victims showed up to prove him wrong. Every witch and grimwalker who choose to be better than him before they fell. Every member of the Hexsquad who believed in him and his regime at one point. Every single one of them a reminder of how his lies can't even convince himself anymore.

And finally, his own brother, a fellow human, who appears before him. I imagine Caleb looking at him with pity, almost sympathy, before a quiet acceptance comes onto his face and he turns away from him. He walks towards the crowd and chooses their side, next to Evelyn. Neither Caleb nor Luz say a single word. There is nothing left to be said to him anymore. Every single person on the Isles, human or witch, has turned against him now.

If anything could break his will, I think this would be it. I imagine him phasing through his different forms, trying to find a way to justify himself in each one, gradually desolving into desparate screams, before the boiling rain melts him away like in canon (except without the stomping please).

Aaaand that's it, no more notes. Thanks so much to all the Wittebane fans in the community who have kept his fanbase fed when the show didn't meet our standards and who prompted the line of thought that led to this post.

There are so many of you all who inspired and made my fandom experience fun and created so much out of just Philip, Caleb, and Evelyn (and all your OCs of course!!) so I'm just going to shoutout the ones I remember off the top of my head -

@talisman975

@jess-the-vampire

@calebsrottingcorpse

@owlyhouse

@anona1-mous

@captainmera

@moonmeg

@azure-blaze92

@a-magpie-in-the-bi

@a-magpie-in-gravesfield

This is no particular order and I'm surely missing more so this is by no means exhaustive, but this is just a shoutout for those who kept this fandom going. Y'all are the real troopers for sure.

That's all I got, but I'm posting some old Belos art soon! Cheers all, and may the terrible awful no good goo babygirl keep inspiring us for all the great art <3

[shirazens]

my own silly mystreet characters headcanon list!

aphmau:

has the worst "hear me out" takes you'll ever hear. like seriously. she can very much point to a yield sign and say "would" to everyone's dismay.

knows every line in moulin rouge as she is OBSESSED with the film. she and laurance preform the elephant medley as dramaticly as possible whenever they watch it for movie night.

obsessed with pre-endgame marvel movies.

ao3 writer! she writes fics for the nichest of fandoms, so she doesn't get that many reads.

one of the few reliable booktok users you can TRUST will give you a good recommendation to read!

garroth:

obsessed with the movie megamind. like seriously. will talk to you for hours on and WILL defend the "sequel movie" and show because, in fact, they are NOT that bad.

can infodump about a topic he's interested in for hours on end.

actually really smart and kind, but ever since he found out he made zane insecure he tries to tone it down. he used to show off a lot but wants to make sure his brother shines as well.

carries stress balls on him so he doesn't use his strength unnecessarily.

always organizes group movie nights with all his friends.

laurance:

loves to listen to and read AITA (am i the asshole?) reddit posts when bored.

an amazing listener, will listen to someone for hours on end and provide insight when needed (perfect for having a conversation with garroth).

loves gossiping. he has really good hearing so he tends to hear others share secrets nearby. he's like the wine aunt you just KNOW has the most interesting stories to tell.

likes to go on vacations a lot, explaining why he is absent sometimes during big group events.

he sometimes returns home to his family farm to take care of it when his parents are out of town.

he often voluntarily babysits caleb to impress aphmau and garroth with his caretaker skills (he's a showoff).

katelyn:

she loves the show big time rush and watches it in her freetime.

OBSESSED with musical theatre and visits broadway shows often. if the friends she brought along even DARE to suggest skipping the stagedoor? they receive a glare that could kill thousands.

adores singing and often sings in her room when the others aren't home.

continues to play volleyball with her friends after a long day of work (she's a freelance writer).

her music taste can range from alternative music like waterparks to kpop groups like red velvet!

KC:

an ao3 writer as well! she and Aphmau gift eachother fics from time to time! she mostly writes x reader fics for tumblr sexyman.

has taken a liking to cooking outside of baking! she especially likes to grill! she even wears an apron that says "kiss the cook" as well as a hat that says "fish fear me women love me".

watches any and all trending animated shows like tangled the series, adventure time, avatar, etc.

has her own tumblr blog where she writes reviews on shows and posts art! her page is quite popular.

dresses in mainly lolita fashion! she has a flare for the beauty of style and loves to recommend people styles and outfits whenever they go out shopping!

travis:

calls katelyn, zane, and dante hot nonchalantly

has attempted.

dante:

loves to bake and nana teaches him all kinds of recipes to make. he supplies the snacks at movie night.

takes taekwondo lessons. "can never be too careful" he says while living in a pretty standard upper middle class neighborhood. why is he like this.

works at a pet shelter and takes care of the dogs and cats left behind. he adopts any that have been there for years, thus making his house full of many different pets.

the designated driver for whenever they go out to clubs. he doesn't like to drink so he usually takes everyone home by the end of the night.

travis (the actual headcanons):

actually respects others and doesn't harass them like he did early on (that was a weird trope and i HATED it). he's just a flirt and if someone he flirts with flirts back he gets all flustered.

the group gamer. spends hours grinding on all sorts of games just to brag about it on his steam profile. specifically a fan of the spider-man games on playstation.

loves to cosplay! he, aphmau, and nana go to lots of conventions together in group cosplay. their last one was the powerpuff girls! they dragged garroth along and made him mojo jojo.

can recite everything and anything about the ninjago lore. this man is obsessed with any lego product or franchise and has many sets built in his room.

practices talking to himself in the mirror every morning to give him confidence. he has very low self esteem.

aaron:

dream stan.

probably friends with dream.

uhhhh idk probably streams the song "mask" by dream.

minecraft streamer.

dream.

those are all my headcanons! i hope you enjoyed! (slandering mystreet aaron is a passion of mine i'm sorry)

[phoenix-downer]

FFVII Rebirth Demo Impressions

I played the demo several nights ago and loved it! This post is about my thoughts/impressions as I was playing.

(Quick note: My shipping preferences are Cloud/Tifa and Zack/Aerith, so that is going to influence my perspective and what I write about. There will also be spoilers for the OG game and Crisis Core throughout).

One of the first things I noticed as I was playing through was the graphics. The graphics look fantastic. I can tell the game being on the PS5 is making a big difference. The jump in quality from Remake to Rebirth is really noticeable.

It's so weird seeing Cloud act like Zack. Like I KNOW it's Zack and it's creeping me out a;lksdjfdfj because it's just...so not Cloud. They knocked the "this is wrong" vibes out of the park by using Zack's mannerisms and gestures with Cloud's model slapped on top, and it's giving this uncanny valley feeling to everything "Cloud" does. Cody Christian even sounds more like Zack's VA (Caleb Pierce). The attention to detail with all that is excellent. The updated graphics give them a lot to work with in terms of showing the wonkiness with Cloud's memories.

There was also a clever shot in the truck of "Cloud" asking the real Cloud if he's okay, and you see a hint of Cloud's blond hair peeking through the helmet.

I liked the dramatic/heroic version of Sephiroth's theme that played. And when Zack gets hurt by one of the monsters, I think it was Cloud who made sure he's okay, which was a sweet touch. Also, the screen is tinted with green, which is a cool way to show the effects of the Mako poisoning on Cloud.

Another thing I noticed: Cloud's eyes look SUPER green, more so than in Remake. Don't know if it's the upgrade to the PS5 or if they wanted to show the Mako poisoning progressing, but I thought it was a cool detail.

Okay it's like Cloud swapped he and Zack in his memories directly at one point soon after they arrive in Nibelheim. I swear this is 100% what Zack would've said to Cloud about Aerith, but instead it's one of the "security officers" saying it to "Cloud": "So, any friends here you wanna see? Maybe a girlfriend? Speaking of which, I bet you're dying to hear about mine. Am I right?"

Lmao Sephiroth still has groupies, this is giving Crisis Core fanclub vibes and I'm all here for it. I'm glad the game still has those silly moments and that continuity with past games. It makes the tragedy I know will unfold later on that much more poignant.

Speaking of which, it's depressing seeing all the townspeople in Nibelheim knowing they're going to die. Just walking around talking to them, Nibelheim really feels like a lived-in place that Cloud has so many personal connections to.

An NPC asked Cloud if he's seen his mother yet, another one recognized me, and another couple of people noticed me and asked if I'm looking for Tifa. They Know™️

Also, it's really interesting seeing Cloud craft the welcome home he WISHES he had gotten. He wanted to come back to Nibelheim as a hero everyone praised, but the reality was much different. So seeing that contrast is a really good insight into Cloud's psyche and what he wants (praise, recognition, approval, etc.)

Oh found some cats, I'm glad there's another area dedicated to just cats ;aldjf; (complete with photographic evidence):

Awwwwww there was a sweet reference to Tifa leading the exercise classes for Nibelheim from Traces of Two Pasts, and she asks Cloud in the modern day if he was able to keep up with the class (she wasn't teaching this particular one, but I love that bit of continuity).

Tifa you can tell is nostalgic for Nibelheim hearing Cloud's recounting of what happened too, the voice acting and dialogue for this part is all really well-done.

The option to see Cloud's mom was really well-done. Cloud never went back to see her in reality, of course, which means his memory glitches out like crazy during this part: he "hears" his mother talking to him about a conversation that happened at an earlier time, like his brain is desperately trying to create something that never happened and is latching onto the nearest fragments it can find. I like how they translated this scene from the OG game, it gave off eerie vibes.

HE DID THE LIL SHRUG AND NOD LIKE HE DOES IN THE OG GAME if you try to enter his mom's house again after the "memory" is over. Also, it's like his mind is trying to protect itself from delving too deeply into a false memory so glitchy (and maybe he feels a deep level of guilt at not actually going to see her as well), and so you can't go back into his house, just like in the OG game.

You can have Cloud go up the water tower too, and he looks towards Tifa's window THE ANGST OF IT ALL a;lskdfj. I love those little moments of Pining™️

Tifa's like wait you went to my place?? Oh Cloud...you were such an awkward weirdo...

"Our reasons, huh? I bet most of them had to do with you." Barret shading Cloud for why he and Tifa didn't hang out more ;alkdjf again I love the humor in these moments.

Awwww Fluffy got mentioned! Nice to hear her brought up again.

"You went into my room?" I'm dead. Tifa sounds so indignant and rightfully so. It's weirdo behavior Cloud ;laskdfj

"You went through my stuff?!" Not off to a great start buddy, but I had him pick that option because I figured he ought to be honest. Tifa and Aerith both call him an asshole if you admit to doing it too, which made me laugh. And naturally my mind is wondering how this will impact the iconic date later on. Did I just piss both Aerith and Tifa off and lose affection points with both girls? Probably lol (and honestly, Cloud deserved it for that stunt).

Tifa's lil moogle plushie on her bed is adorable. I love the touches like that that make the environment feel more lived in.

Awwww I found Tifa's theme to play on the piano hehe. I love that that's the first piano piece you can find in the game. Just one of my favorite FFVII songs because it fits Tifa so perfectly and has this bittersweet sense of longing as well as this beautiful tenderness to it.

Also, I got a kick out of the piano minigame. The first time I wasn't great at it and got a C. I struggled to do both "hands" at the same time. I did it two more times after that, and it starts to sound really nice when you have a streak of a bunch of correct notes in a row. Like Cloud's going to town on the piano with extra flourishes. If you miss notes again though the metronome comes back on lol like "you still need to practice and get the rhythm down."

The second two times I got an A (I'll have to keep practicing to get a star and see what happens), and the gang praised Cloud, which I thought was cool.

Found more Sephiroth groupies and ran into Zangan in the inn. It was really sweet hearing Zangan praise Tifa so highly. Also, "Cloud" saying, "yeah right" when Zangan says "Tifa will go far" is another good clue Cloud isn't himself. Tifa was offended and Aerith was offended on her behalf. I love how Aerith keeps backing Tifa up on stuff, it's really nice to see more of their friendship.

The photographer dude is back and I love him. And he even says the same thing he said to Zack in Crisis Core about how he can't waste his film on Zack because he doesn't know who he is ;alskdfj. What's a guy got to do to get a little respect?

"You look so different" lol yes I do random villager because I'm not me, and then there are some nice creepy foreshadowing moments from her kids. The girl says, "Gonna beat those monsters?" and the boy says, "Gonna be 'em?"

The irony of the mayor saying he'd brag about Sephiroth visiting Nibelheim till the day he dies:

I still really love Brian Lockhart's design. He's like if the 70s met cowboy fashion, and it just works somehow. And this carries over from the OG game, but his concerns about Tifa's safety are well-founded given what happened when she and Cloud were kids and sets up future reveals in the remake trilogy nicely.

Also, Tifa is so small next to Sephiroth. I love her sass in this part of the story, and this time around there's some country twang banjo version of her theme and I love it. Also Sephiroth shaded the camera guy al;sdkfj;dskf but "Cloud" talked him into it and thus the iconic photo came into being. Again those moments of humor will never not be funny. And I loved how Tifa was being such a good guide and giving info about the area as they started to ascend the mountain.

Also, when you finally get to the title screen, it cracked me up how Nomura is listed first, before Hamaguchi. Probably a seniority/respect thing, but Nomura is the creative director and Hamaguchi is the director.

Also, the version of the main theme that plays as you go up Mt. Nibel is awesome, and once again I had to get a screenshot because this area is just so beautiful:

Tifa wanting to travel is a sweet touch, though Sephiroth is practical and points out that he travels on business trips and not for fun. Of course "Cloud" points out that you do learn stuff on these trips. It's a nice contrast between Tifa's naive optimism, Sephiroth's jaded world-weary outlook, and Zack's positivity tempered by experience.

Also, Sephiroth's hair is very swishy. I thought that needed a note as I was playing this. Props to the artists, animators, etc. who rendered it.

I chuckled at Tifa racing up the mountain and teasing "Cloud" and Sephiroth about whether or not they can keep up. Just shows a fun, playful side to her personality and also shows how eager she is to prove herself. And then she dropkicked a monster to protect "Cloud" and then teased him about it alks;jfdsf. She's so much snarkier with Zack than she is with Cloud, and it's an interesting contrast.

The real Cloud of course is in the background, protecting Tifa from danger. Even in his rewritten version of history, the real him is lurking in his subconscious protecting her because she's that important to him. She thanked him so sweetly when he did too.

I made a note about seeing the bridge that collapsed with Cloud and Tifa on it when they were kids, man all the little details like this and the foreshadowing is just A+.

Tifa has Trauma™️ from falling off a bridge before, hmmm, wonder what that's from, and she's still like hey I'm the guide I'll lead us a;ldkfj when "Cloud" offers to go first lol.

Still holds true years later but wooooow Nibelheim sucks at constructing good bridges lol. It was a wholesome moment where "Cloud"/Zack grabbed Cloud and kept him from drowning though, and Sephiroth was able to grab Tifa (which is ironic considering how he tries to kill her not much later, and it's sad because it really shows he was a good guy). Of course the other security officer probably drowned rip, poor guy.

YAY SEPHIROTH'S IN MY PARTY FINALLY

"For your performance review" lol I like Sephiroth's sass and how he teases "Cloud" like this.

I just obliterate everything playing as Sephiroth ;alsdkfj and truly love playing as him. And him slamming his own dad will never not be funny, I mean Hojo just really sucks.

At this point I started focusing more on playing the game since there were more monsters to fight etc., but I still got some nice screenshots and had a few more thoughts.

The Mako spring just looks incredible, so I had to include a photo:

The scenery by the ocean was gorgeous too, I can't wait to go to Costa del Sol:

The real Cloud helping Tifa get to safety from the monster and "Cloud"/Zack and Sephiroth being bros is top-tier content. Also Sephiroth looks like a model in pretty much every shot he's in:

Oh the dramatic irony of Tifa not knowing it's Cloud and him refusing to talk and her being sassy and telling him, "You better keep me safe" and then of course he does. The music is creepy now that we're about to enter the reactor lol, of course it is.

"Would it kill this guy to say something" he would die from embarrassment and shame, yes:

"The company really needs to be more transparent" that's the understatement of the year "Cloud" ;lakfj;asdf

Cool use of JENOVA'S theme. I always enjoy hearing that theme and how otherworldy but also very 90s it sounds.

Zangan's comment here is gold, I love the bee in his bonnet bit:

The Shinra basement stuff was genuinely creepy l;kasjdf like I know what happens and I was still freaked out! The atmosphere was just really well done.

"I should go. Mother is waiting." There it is, the iconic meme line a;ldal;skdjf;lsdjf it just kills me, Sephiroth is such a psycho.

Loved seeing Zangan helping people get out of the town and telling "Cloud" to get in there and help, but of course the situation is still incredibly dire by the time "Cloud" gets there.

This shot in front of the water tower was gorgeous and really haunting, especially when the water tower collapsed. Just the symbolism with that, the loss of Cloud and Tifa's special place and how not long after this, he feels like he failed her and failed to keep his promise:

Main Scenario: Check on Mom. Oh Cloud...

And then you see the real Cloud collapsed in front of his house and calling for his mom, this is so depressing:

This is where the more realistic graphics really serve the story well, because it makes this moment that much more of a gut punch, especially when he hears his mother begging him to live. The last few moments before her soul returns to the planet perhaps, trying to save her son from danger one last time.

And now that "Cloud" is hurt, he looks busted up even in the menu. I thought that was a cool detail to include.

It's like Cloud's memories are trying to right themselves because he winds up on the ground like where he was supposed to be. When Sephiroth murdered the man who tried to help him and then went on his creepy murder spree of several other villagers culminating with the mayor, that was all really well done too. Horrifying because there's nothing Cloud can do to stop the senseless murder of people he's known all his life, and it really shows how cold and ruthless Sephiroth has become.

This moment was good too with the memories seeming glitchy again:

And then of course I must end this on The Iconic Scene™️ a;lsdkfja;kdslf complete with psycho smirk:

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed this demo and am looking forward to the Juno one! And the full game, February 29 can't come fast enough.

[captainmera]

I'm reading your Caleb fic and actually losing my mind over how good and fitting his characterization feels, how well you put the seeds of becoming a bad person in Philip without making him Evil Child and instead make it feel like a natural progression, how everyone's so NUANCED, the historical accuracy, EVELYNS CHARACTERIZATION!!! God!!! I love all of this!!!! (Also the closeted bi Caleb.)

Thank you! :D

Yes, I'm having fun crafting Caleb specifically with Philip turning into the guy Luz meets in canon, and eventually Belos, in mind.

I asked myself: Who the hell raised this dude!? :l And out came my version of Caleb, lol.

And yes, I don't think Philip was a bad kid. I think he became a bad person. Like most people who grow up, things happen and.. You know.

When you look at an adult who is angry, cruel and hateful, you seldom see their whole story. You see them for who they are right now and their unjustifiable actions and behaviours.

Caleb isn't a great parent. He's a good brother, not a half-bad provider, but parent? Not really. He was a kid when he raised his brother, and nobody taught him how to do it right. His outlet for frustrations and feeling helpless allowed him to cognitively dissonance himself from his cruel actions as a witch hunter.

We have no control. There is both freedom and imprisonment in knowing we are powerless to the chaos of hindsight. The endless human toiling of reminiscing in the "what ifs" of life will curse us all to an early doom.

The acceptance of no control, strangely, gives you more control and peace of mind. Sometimes, you can do everything right and it still goes wrong. Sometimes you do everything wrong and things turn out fine!

Doesn't mean people are blameless. Knowing the cause of something doesn't excuse the action or the choices you made.

But recognising that you made choices at the time based on what you knew and believed to be right - does give insight to things. What to do with that insight is up to each and every person.

Evelyn I'm enjoying quite a lot. Because she's not mentally ill like Caleb, who's depressed and suicidal. A character doesn't have to be unwell to be interesting. People have emotions and struggles anyhow. She's a nice person, she means well; she's a perfect example of someone who is just benefit-of-doubt enough to walk into dangerous spaces in good faith. Which puts her in situations Caleb must interfere with, lest she gets found out as a witch.

They save each other, in a way. :)

Caleb closeted bisexuality is a source of great delight to write a sub-plot for. Caleb, v.s. his ideas of what makes a man, is a fun field to dance on. He has been fed a lot of self-destructive ideas that he tries to live up to.

And Evelyn's nonchalant self-expression is also a great delight to write. She's carefree to the point people mistake her for an airhead and kind of stupid. Which isn't true, she just trust in that there is good in people until proven otherwise, and she tries her best to not let those experiences discourage her from new relationships. I like exploring that strange box that often occurs with her personality type - as though being kind and gentle is somehow dumb or naive.

BUT YEAH, Theyre very fun to write! :)

[aeor-is-for-reccing]

Hidden Gems: A Shadowgast Rec List

This week, we have our recurring hidden gem list! Look under the cut for twelve great fics that have 150 kudos or less, and don't forget to kudos or comment if you like them!

Falling by CookiePirate51 (1805, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

In an alternate universe where the trip to Aeor between Caleb and Essek never happens, and they find their way to one another, anyway.

Reccer says: It's extremely sweet and atmospheric

The Legend of Widogast Manor by royalgreen (6620, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Essek is seeking magic and finds a mysterious manor, with an even more mysterious inhabitant

Reccer says: Two people in a secluded gothic manor, everyone's got secrets, and it's very sexy

Mirror Mirror by grassandcitrus (72276, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

After destroying the T-dock in the ruins of Aeor, Caleb and Essek are transported into an alternate timeline where Bren never broke and the Mighty Nein never met. Now they have to reassemble their friends inorder to get back home while also avoiding their alternate evil selves and navigate their complicated feelings for each other.

Reccer says: It gives a great insight as to what could have been if the M9 never came together. I love it and thinks it's very underated.

Lichtenberg Figures by Twistmalchik (1599, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Male Pregnancy, No one is actively pregnant in the fic, but past pregnancy is alluded to.

Caleb helps Essek find a way to relieve the ache in his chest after their daughter begins weaning.

Reccer says: I liked it!

mother/tongue by anxietiefling (1624, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Caleb and Essek play with their daughters and speak to them in their first languages

Reccer says: It's beautiful, and has so many feelings about language, comprehension, loss, and migration.

the lovliest lies of all by royalgreen (1026, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

How do you rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued? Essek doesn't know, but he's going to try.

Reccer says: It's very spooky and atmospheric and poetic and haunting

the hole in the stone by MinnesotaBruja (13243, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: Death of a Pet

Essek takes a position as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island after Cognouza. During that time, he writes letters to Caleb.

Reccer says: The yearning is top tier and the ending is so sweet. It's an incredible story.

Dancing Cheek to Cheek by soot_and_salt (3871, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Ballroom dancing AU. Enough said

Reccer says: Sweet and full of yearning. A whirlwind little romance with Essek's arrogance and weariness colouring every interaction with Caleb. It's just so swoon worthy and the ending had me melting. Also nails that liminal hotel feeling.

foreign diplomacy by stygius (1087, Mature) Reccer's Content Notes: Graphic Depictions of Violence

The Shadowhand helps Bren Aldric Ermendrud dispose of his master.

Reccer says: Scourger AU! Killing Ikithon has never been this sexy... very fun to see the dance of mistrust and attraction between Bren and Essek here! there's a sequel too

castle-temp red wine by 06151126 (12759, Teen) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Part of a flawless and fascinating F1 racing AU, Essek invites Caleb to a fancy den dinner where everything falls apart

Reccer says: I don't know anything about F1 but this fic is so insanely compelling! The characterizations are perfect, the tension is thick, and I'm dying to see what happens next. If you like intricate, realistic AUs, definitely give this one a try!

when the cat’s away by Anonymous (3192, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn, Under negotiated scene, Getting caught

Caleb catches Essek in a bit of comprimising position when he comes home early.

Reccer says: It's a complicated situation for Essek and Caleb that is written in such a intriguing and engaging way! The dynamics are so well done. (Also it's very hot.)

in the heart of every galaxy by boynamedhela (1809, General) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Caleb gets a series of gifts that feel more like threats.

Reccer says: It is very sweet take on cultural differences.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast.

Check out the previous Hidden Gem Recs Lists here [1] [2] [3]

Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we'll have a list of humorous fics!

[centrally-unplanned]

The lack of fleshed-out Buffy Army Plotline in Season 7 is a big issue for one of the Season's key plot moments - when the Slayers rebel against her command and choose Faith as leader over her.

For one, its structured poorly on the episode-level. Buffy orders the Potentials on their first real operation to attack Caleb's base, their first time encountering him, based on a baiting threat Caleb makes, and they got wrecked - several potentials die & Xander loses an eye. Then Buffy, based on a ~vibes~ insight from second encounter with Caleb where she gets wrecked again, decides they need to attack the base full repeat, due to the idea that the base must matter to Caleb and hold something of power.

She has no new info for this conclusion, no intelligence gathering or research that gave her new insights on this. Hilariously, Spike is on a mission finding new intelligence, but Buffy did not know about it, protested it, and does not wait for its completion. She has no strategy or approach for beating Caleb now compared to before. She comes off as proposing a suicide mission for no reason - there is no pressing clock that they know about. Its a bit deranged, and out of character for her. Everyone is completely right to rebel against her, but the narrative will punish them all anyway next episode due to authorial fiat. Its lazy writing, and easily solvable - give Buffy new intel & a new approach, and have the potentials rebel anyway due to fear and resentment.

The second issue is seasonal. Buffy has been training the potentials, but the reality is that they have never done anything of use, not really. The First spends most of the middle half the season "in remission" after the defeat of one of its minions, until Caleb shows up, and those episodes resolve around character arcs for Spike, Willow, Buffy (and also Andrew!) and Scooby Gang missions. The potentials sit at home and train. Until Buffy decides to full-army attack a base where they get completely wiped, with no real intel and no real plan. The potentials, to remind here, are *potential* slayers - they have no super strength or any real powers (seems like they are 10% stronger than they should be, but that is reading between the lines). This mission itself was in fact extremely foolish of Buffy, and the build-up to it is...a few scenes at most. Its amateur-hour leadership without the narrative recognizing it. The potentials should have spent months fighting vampires on patrol or something, and had many excited to finally "level up" and fight First minions (or something).

And meanwhile, since it is the potential's first mission, it makes them come off like whiny children. There is no build up to a "rebel against Buffy" arc, not really, they haven't been doing enough for that. They are very often despondent about their hopes, but that isn't Buffy's fault, their enemy is really powerful. Buffy protects them, trains them, tells them that this is a war and some of them will die, then one bad mission goes off and they all rebel immediately, including Buffy's long-time friends. They could do that in real life, sure, but this is TV -you need to seed stakes to make things satisfying!

A big dropped ball of Season 7 is that the potentials - except for Kennedy, who gets a (annoying) personality virtue of sleeping with Willow - are just a big mass of scared teens. Because they never do anything they can't evolve an identity. As large org, they should gain opinions, and from there factions. This is done very slightly at times (Kennedy is very fight-fight) but never with consequences. If you want a rebellion to work dramatically, what you need are differing groups that support the "Buffy leadership" and groups that dissent more, and then you hit a tipping point where the Buffy faction switches sides - for concrete reasons. And then their switching can be *their* story, not just them as a mass going "woah Buffy you are crazy" and its entirely Buffy's story. Its a deep structural problem - Buffy isn't the one making the decision here.

To get around this the writers have the mass potential squad choose Faith as their leader, to make it "her" story. This has a few problems - one is that Faith didn't want it at all, and is explicitly not the leader type. They only motive for choosing her is that she is the Slayer - but come on, this is a rebellion against Slayer-ocracy, superstrength doesn't make you a leader. She is a dumb choice - Giles is the obvious counter choice here, but also "democracy" exists too.

More importantly, Buffy's core friends go along with this, and the last time they saw Faith she tried to kill Buffy! She has tried to kill all of them multiple times. She tried to rape Xander! No one mentions that!! Yes she got better, but off-screen, they never saw that. She has been in town for a weekend, tops. They know, intimately, that she is awful leadership material. This doesn't fly at all. The whole thing doesn't fly on this part, *Giles* has been doubting Buffy's leadership for a while but Willow, Dawn, & Xander haven't, them flipping on a dime makes no sense. But this part double plus doesn't fly.

Also there is a fundamental scene-itself issue where Buffy proposes this plan to literally everyone in the living room, all at once, with no actual operational plan herself. Again, amateur hour - sit down with your leadership team and lay out your goal & motives, then devise a strategy with that team, then present that to the team as a cohesive operation with united leadership.

And it is sad because actually this concept has a ton of legs to it; mass army leadership is a brand new challenge for Buffy, this is a very good way to test it. This could be the peak of the season, but alas its dramatic stakes are at war with its logic. Should have hired me to write it, clearly!

[the-paper-shredder]

Overanalyzing The Juniper Tree concerning Wick

HELLO EVERYONE! This is my second Wick theory posted here and I'm glad that I decided to do The Juniper Tree because Oh My God. There's SO much packed into this fairytale.

Long post ahead.

Anyway, for some context: what is The Juniper Tree? Well, it's an old, dark German fairytale that is featured in Journal Page 29 (aka the one related to Caleb)

Well, technically the actual fairytale isn't word-for-word written like how it is in Wick, but still. It's literally a variant of The Juniper Tree. Most people assume this is a poem made by Hellbent Games themselves just to be like “Yeah Mary killed Caleb lol” but it's a full fairytale published by the Brothers Grimm.

So, what are the themes, before we get into all the passages? Well...

Child abuse, murder, CANNIBALISM, and biblical symbolism. Very much in line with Wick, especially Caleb. Be warned, however, the cannibalism thing is an absolute jumpscare if you're reading it for the first time.

Anyway let's get started.

Alright, first things first is that the mom dies during childbirth and another woman (the stepmom) takes her place. Do I think this has any heavy relevance to Wick? Not really. It could be symbolic with Mary, as in once she had Caleb the past her “died”.

The next part about the stepmom loving her daughter but hating her stepson to the point of abuse suggests something not many consider... Caleb, like Tim and Tom, was abused by Mary as well. You'd think for seeming to be the golden child of the family, Mary wouldn't do that to Caleb, but expectations aren't always reality. I mean, none of the items relating to Caleb mentions anything about Mary caring for him, and Old Man Edwards even talks about how Mary seemingly neglected all of her kids. Of course, it'd extend to Caleb.

Another thing is that “the Evil One” is referenced throughout the story. This is a title of, obviously, the devil. Considering that throughout Wick, there are implications of another supernatural entity, likely a demon, haunting the Weaver family before their deaths... yeah, this is just more evidence.

And now we come to the son's... very fucked up death. This reminds me of how it's sometimes theorized that before being buried alive, Caleb had been struck in the head by the shovel. Like, the “DIG THIS!” achievement's picture shows Caleb being hit with, you guessed it, a shovel. If you look closely at Caleb's model's face, he looks to have some scarring on his face.

Another thing about this scene is the son saying “Mother, how angry you look. Yes, give me an apple.” almost feels... defiant in a way? Even if he's always afraid, he still fights back in his own way. This could be how Caleb was as well.

We now have a name for the daughter: Marlene. Or well, in the original English translation, it's Marlinchen, but I'll still use Marlene for simplicity.

This part of the story possibly gives insight into the aftermath of Caleb's disappearance/death. Caleb was likely not fully buried but still died, which left Lillian (who is obviously in the place of Marlene, she is the only daughter after all) to find the body. Being younger, and also the closest to Caleb via the version of the fairytale in the Journal, was devastated.

And then comes the... really fucked up part.

I don't have much to discuss for this, since this part was seemingly removed in the Journal's version. But seriously, this is actually messed up. The dad, largely absent until now, unknowingly EATS HIS OWN SON. The absence of the dad certainly fits with John being absent during the war.

First off is Marlene gathering her brother's bones and tying them up in her (best) scarf before lying them beneath the juniper tree. Like the stepmom killing the son, this matches up with the Journal's version of the fairytale. Lillian likely reburied Caleb, but while Mary was malevolent in burying him alive, Lillian put thought and care into burying Caleb's body as seen in the rags he's wearing in-game. (Another thing is the “crying tears of blood” which makes me think of Lillian's design in No Way Out.)

Second off is the firey entrance of a bird (specified to be a crow in the Journal's version). Fire obviously reminds us of Mary's death, which we will get to later. The bird, if it isn't obvious enough, is the son reborn, and sings atop a goldsmith's house his sad tale. This brings us back to the start of our journey, the Journal's version of this line of dialogue.

I'll skip some of this, but in short, the bird goes to three locations. A goldsmith, a shoemaker, and a mill. Each time, he sings his tale to the people there, who want him to sing it just once again. He's defiant, telling them he'll only do it if they give him something in return.

The goldsmith gives him a golden chain, the shoemaker gives him a pair of red shoes, and the mill workers give him a millstone. The first two are easy, but what in the world is a millstone? Well, it's a stone used for grinding grain and apparently corn. We'll see what it's used for in a short bit.

The bird returns to his father's house! As shown, the dad is happy while the stepmom and Marlene are upset (for different reasons). After this, the bird sets himself on the juniper tree and sings his tale again.

Of course, the stepmom is practically losing it due to the presence of the bird and his singing, but the dad thinks otherwise. He decides to go out and see the bird despite his wife's anxiety.

Quite an interesting line, considering Mary's fate.

Once the bird finishes, he drops the golden chain as a gift to his dad. In response, the dad goes back inside and despite his pleasant encounter, the stepmom is terrified to the point of falling onto the floor. Holy shit. Anyway, the bird sings once more.

Marlene decides that she'll go out and see if the bird will give her something as well. And as the bird finishes, he drops the pair of red shoes down to her as a gift. Marlene became content and happy, putting on the new shoes and going back into the house.

In response, the stepmom...

The stepmom goes out to see if she'll be given something as well. Technically, it did happen. The bird dropped the millstone onto her, instantly killing her. We're back to Mary's death. And even after this, everything related to fire rises, and from that appears the son, no longer a bird, stew, or a corpse.

I don't think this is a “Caleb set the fire” type of thing. There's more evidence for the twins and the pastor anyway. What I do think this could lead us to is that Caleb at least saw it as a ghost.

Besides that, the line of the dad, son, and Marlene happily going inside and eating is the ending to The Juniper Tree. Which marks my ending to this post!

Thank you for reading my (probably over) analysis of the fairytale concerning Wick's lore. What do you guys think? Do you have any other thoughts about how the story could connect with Wick's lore?

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e73

Day 1 of Travel

(a very important update: Marisha's preferred coffee is a flat white with vanilla.)

FCG and Fearne try to scry on Caleb and Beau, and both of them seem to have amulets of proof against detection and location attuned. This means that they are definitely alive, because their scry did not fizzle as it would have if they were dead but was started and then pushed away.

FCG scries on D instead. He's still on the Menagerie Coast, in a large city — presumably either Nicodranas, Port Damali, or Port Zoon.

Meanwhile, Ashton heads below deck to find the skeleton tattoo artist. They convince him to give them a full back piece over the course of the voyage; and Orym asks them all to get a group tattoo. "I mean, no one's said it out loud yet, but... but we're all family now, right?"

Laudna is finally talking about everything that's happened with the entire group! Especially with Delilah, but the gnarlrock, her and Imogen's fight, Bor'dor, and the hunger of the shadow ability, too. FCG suggests she embrace Delilah, continue using the ability, allowing her to grow stronger — but one of the skeletons comes up to her and compares Laudna's situation to an alcohol addiction (which doesn't have as much of an impact because Laudna didn't choose to have or keep Delilah in her head, but is still applicable in some ways).

They ask the skeleton about the captain's trustworthiness, but with a 32 insight check, Fearne determines that although he does mean it when he says the captain is trustworthy and has always followed through on his promises, this particular skeleton is lonely and a little afraid. Syrilia, the navigator, watches him like a hawk.

Laudna: "I don't know if I'm just collecting these souls, like a phylactery, or—" Travis, immediately: *looks up the stat block for a lich while staring daggers at Marisha and Matt because he fuckin knows*

Ashton knows that they're all fighting for each other, and that they won't ever leave anyone behind. They will all have to sacrifice so much, they already have — but sacrifices do not mean casualties.

They go below decks and get their tattoos! Ashton gets an upper back/shoulder, punkish, in-style pair of wings, embossed with a transcription in Primordial: "of the earth, by the earth, for the earth." Everyone else gets a bell with flames around it in varying places.

FCG attempts to scry on Delilah. The ritual fails because she's not on the same plane of existence as FCG. Instead, they try to find her in Laudna's dreams: as Laudna focuses, it's like she has a hard time remembering what Delilah looks like, she's just an outline, a shadow, perpetually back-lit. FCG, meanwhile, sees Laudna stepping through a field of purple orchids and funerary flowers. The distant shadow of Whitestone, unfocused. As Laudna walks, Delilah walks in front of her, as if leading.

Fearne's flirting with the captain!

The combination of her fey irreverence, complete nonchalance, abysmal sleight of hand, and incredible (+13) insight is so fucking good already, but then you add her damn good charisma bonuses on top of all that?

Syrilia goes up to Fearne. "Don't sleep with the captain." "Why, because it's not good?" FEARNE—

The captain's quarters are lit with blue-white fire lanterns, sparsely decorated, with a canopy bed and a fainting couch. She takes the bed, and converses. The captain made a deal with Bane (or a servant of it): he gets his life, his crew, and his ship, in exchange for getting vengeance and all of his belongings, and then the deal is complete and he's free.

She lies down. After a minute — "You're very warm." "You can lie next to me for warmth, if you want." "Are you offering your warmth?" "That sounds ominous." "I'm sorry, everything I say sounds ominous — it sort of comes with the territory." He sits. In that little moment, he doesn't seem scary — he seems sheepish, careful. She convinces him to let her say goodbye to the blade they traded away — "you! Lass of the fey realm! Together, we can do a great many things!" — and she asks the captain, "did it say something to you?" "No." "Fine. Get in the bed. Just — get. in the bed." He looks nervous for a skeleton — "it's been a long time since I, uh..." "SPOONED?"

She can almost see breath as he sighs, content, warm. She looks around the room. Notably, she sees a ring on a wood-carved hand; a porcelain statue of a baby elephant; a chest in the corner with a heavy lock and a mildewed blanket over it; an eclectic collection of things.

All the while, for an hour or two, Fearne grows cold. On a successful saving throw, she reduces the stakes from a certainty to a choice: "do you relinquish the promised warmth?" "Yes." She feels a sliver of warmth leave her, and for just a moment, the captain's bones aren't blanched gray — they glow as if hit by morning sunlight. Fearne's hit points are permanently reduced by 5, and she gains a secret thing (probably a benefit, based on track record) that Matt will tell her at the break.

We skip back to when Fearne entered the chamber. Orym notices Syrilia become frantic at the captain's absence; she clambers down the crow's nest and onto the side of the boat. Taking advantage of the absence, Orym climbs up there, finds her spyglass, takes it, and leaves.

As soon as Fearne exits the captain's chambers, Syrilia is right there, the heat from her smoldering bones almost burning away the hair on Fearne's face. "Don't. ever. touch. the captain... I. will. end. you. If you touch him again. I have to protect him." Oh, she's fucking pissed. Fearne tells them they cuddled, and her bones heat up even more — in an instant, the freezing cold of the lower decks becomes a sauna, steam rises from the upper deck.

Imogen casts calm emotions, it doesn't work, and Fearne convinces her that the captain only talked about her — "you just need to go knock on the door at night. You just need a bit more confidence." and it almost works, but she does step back with a glare and a knocked crossbow.

In the morning, on the last day, the captain asks for more of Fearne's warmth. "I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of this!" "Well, you were kind, to offer a bit of your warmth. Perhaps we could make another deal." "I don't know if I'm being kind anymore!" "I'm, uh... not used to this. I'll be in my quarters, if you decide."

Imogen speaks into Syrilia's head. "I mean... you are warm... offer him your warmth." She walks, confidently, down the hall, up to the door, and raps on the door — her hand goes to the front of the captain's coat, where flames erupt, and the captain goes, "oh." "Word is, you're looking for warmth?"

Laudna sends Pate to spy on them, and it's like a sauna. The room is full of steam. A skeletal hand scrapes across a window, Kate Winslet-style.

Every lantern light on the ship turns from an icy blue to a warm orange-red. "The captain's gettin' peg-legged right now." "Yo ho ho!"

They arrive at their destination. "It's been terrible having you on board! Glad to be rid of you!" The captain's flaming eye winks.

Oh, the Bells Hells are planning something -- "we have a surprise for you!" "I don't like surprises." "Well, put that blade away, 'cause I'm not gonna tell you what it is." "...everyone below decks!"

They decorate the top deck with banners and all manner of things to celebrate the pirate crew.

Orym sets up a limbo vine. Chetney has a caricature portrait station. Laudna does face-painting. Imogen does fortune telling. Fearne runs games for prizes. Fearne plays the pan-flute with FCG as her pedalboard. Ashton finds their most noxious, strong-smelling whiskey and sets it out so they can remember the good times.

The skeleton pirates dance, they limbo, they don't eat -- they make fun of Kyle, but the Hells make a gift for him: a nametag ("my name's Kyle, you fucks!"), a drawing, and a defense against his bullies.

FCG and Fearne both quietly, unacknowledged, remark that they truly made a difference because of this. (Quick, someone write an analysis about how the Bells Hells constantly treat any difference made to the minority as a victory for the majority, and about how their constant defense of the minority is Not A Good Thing Actually when the majority consists of the majority of the fucking planet--)

Imogen takes Laudna's hands and starts the dance. The skeletons start to dance, their bones make the percussion section, Sanjay plays his violin. (The only thing I can imagine here is the elecroswing remix of Spooky Scary Skeletons)

When the captain announces landfall, the music immediately stops, and the entire crew encircles the Bells Hells. "If any of you tells a single soul that you've danced with the crew of the Crimson Abyss, your bloodlines will be on my list, as well. There was no dancin', there was no laughter, there was no limbo."

The captain gives them a list of some of his belongings, just to keep an eye and ear out for on their travels. Then, the jump into the water and begin to swim to shore, without the inhabitants of the island ever having seen the skeleton crew.

Their first look at the island of Kalutha is of a lagoon leading into a steep basalt cliff-face. The entire thing seems to be composed of columnar basalt, which breaks naturally into hexagonal pillars. The bright teal ocean contrasts with yellow and greenish flora.

There are ruins, remnants of what might've been a campsite -- Orym identifies them as being a few years old, but not ancient. He also spots two caverns, one at beach level and another 40 feet up the cliff.

Ashton sits, digs their hand into the black pebble beach, and just breathes. They sense their essence -- "both of their essences, really, as they are a being of conflict at all times..." a buzzing in their head of the Luxon, the drumming in their chest of their elemental nature. This place is unfamiliar, they know they've never seen it, but they still feel familiarly compelled by it, and they don't know why. They know they're in the right place, but nothing more.

They walk unto the ground-level cave and puts their hand against the wall. In Primordial -- "I'm here. I'm looking for you." But it's just the end of a cave.

Eventually, everyone makes it to the spherical chamber where the upper cave forks. Chetney runs alone to the right, where Pate hasn't scouted, following this citrine putrescence -- and here, he hears the sound of a thousand scales sliding against rock. He goes invisible, but snakes sense by smell -- out of the corner of his eye, something slithers past him, five feet in diameter. At the front, it looks like a thick-hided worm, and it's encircling him, this two-headed creature that's trying to pinpoint Chet's location but is unsure -- he takes out the horn of silent alarm, targeting Imogen.

and we enter initiative!

They're talking about the creatonotos gangis moth! It's that weird moth with extrusions that look like an eldritch horror that was circulating on Tumblr for a while.

No new combat updates :(

Farther down the cave, Chetney finds a lightless, underground chasm where seawater rushes through beneath the island. (Hey. Hey, y'all remember how the land around Cathmoira was shattered when the titans were expelled from it?)

In the creature's nest, they find some sundered weapons and armor. With a history check, Orym has heard of the material these are made of: woe-steel, a material that can only be found within the Shattered Teeth and that was created when Asmodeus shattered Domunas. The steel is sacred to the Ostended Host, and though it is magical (a natural +1 to material made with it), it can be destroyed by thunder damage.

They also find a unique charm on a broken chain: a woe-steel cage, palm-sized, encasing a smooth reddish-brown stone that has an unfamiliar language carved across it. FCG identifies it and finds that it is a raito charm, and has a deep cultural importance to the Aishio people (who inhabit the island of Kolutha and are part of the Ostended Host). It radiates abjuration magic, but the spell doesn't give FCG exactly what it is, and it is attunable only by a specific person, implying that the information of its existence is not accessible to FCG in the same way that information about other magical items has been.

Chetney uses grim psychometry on it. In the red vision, he sees an older man in his 50s, long salt and pepper hair in a bun, trekking through the jungle, leading a hunting party; he wears the charm around his neck, and in seconds was taken by the creature they just killed. Chetney has no sense of how long ago this happened, but because it's a magical item, it wouldn't have aged.

Traversing the other cavern path, they emerge into the creeping, vine-filled jungle that takes this valley. It's almost autumnal in color, and these pieces of columnar basalt are scattered about, some arcing for hundreds of feet in what look almost like broken bridges. But they can see the shadow of three massive mountain peaks that mark the center of this island, and somewhere near the base of those mountains lies the Great Tree of Atrophy.

[hello-eeveev]

Character ask game with Essek + 2, 12, 22! :D

~character ask game~

(previous here!)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Telekinetic feat. I refuse to believe he used a whole Telekinesis to take that cupcake from Jester in that one episode. I am giving him an invisible mage hand.

22. If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

I love a good autistic!Essek in a fic. If you haven’t read you know that time is all we’re made of, go do that now. you’re welcome. enjoy.

Related: when writers use Essek to explore or discuss their own chronic pain, illnesses, and disabilities! It’s not something I experience, but I know many people who do. It’s a very interesting topic to me and I love to get various insights on it!

I don’t write a ton of angst myself, but Essek has a lot of angst potential, so thank you to everyone who writes the good Essek angst, whump, and hurt/comfort. Y’all keep things exciting and I thank you for your service.

For dislikes: not a fan of instant love. In general, but especially for Essek. If you think that man didn’t have to work through a bajillion layers of what it means to like a person, to care about a person, to connect with another person honestly and genuinely, to feel any significant kind of attraction for someone (much less what attraction even looks like to him), before he’s able to arrive at in love, I don’t know what to tell you. I think we’ve got different Esseks in our heads.

Which kind of relates to another thing I’m not big on, which is when Essek is too… emotionally intelligent? Not as emotionally stunted as he should be? One of my favorite traits about Exandrian wizards is that none of them are particularly good at processing and dealing with their emotions in a healthy way (except for—afaik—allura ily my queen). Essek and Caleb are learning, but that was not by choice. They accidentally got friends who they care about and who care about them, and it turns out if you want to have lasting, fulfilling connections, you gotta work on yourself. gross lol

[msookyspooky]

Ayo,, I don’t know if you’ve done this yet but the Hooker Clan with a chonky s/o???

Idk it just makes me smile and twirl my hair and shit.

God Sidney this is late as hell but I need more Sev and the gang in my life 🖤

I'm doing everyone but Homer I know that's not fair to him in reality but he's physically 12. So, there's only platonic with him and he would not care at all considering he hates his child form and would be grateful for a companion no matter what.

Hooker's w a Chubby S/O

Jesse Hooker

- This man is old as dust. He comes from an era where beauty standards were drastically different than they are in more modern society. In fact, he probably doesn't CARE about them. Who gives a fuck what some magazine says? He's seen decades of drastic beauty changes and his gaze is no longer human. He wears what he wants no matter how outdated and he loves what he wants no matter what a magazine from the 80's-20's might say.

- He wouldn't bring up your body type whether thin or fat or muscular or chubby unless you do. Not because he's avoiding it. He truly does not care. Like, to him, you having a bit of love handles or a belly is just a part of you like a freckle or a strand of hair or your freaking arms.

- If you ever are down about your body image for any reason; THAT is when he's telling you 'C'mere darlin'." And pulling you into his lap. He doesn't sugar coat anything because he feels that's insulting your intelligence and that you'll value honesty like he does. He'd be the type to openly tell you 'Yes, you have fat and yer a bit more plump in places but that ain't news. It's a part of you but there's worse things in this world than a bit of extra somethin to grab onto. I'll take all of you I can get." In that calm gravely voice while holding you close and trailing tender kisses on your shoulder and neck.

- He's a very relaxed partner while still being dominant in a caring way...And that's because in private he can let his guard down and be very soft with you. He loves using your soft belly as a pillow when you both sleep during the day. Enjoys running his hands over your sides absent-mindedly. Just loves being in your embrace.

Caleb

- He may be flustered and hesitant by you because you're attractive to him but he's never been with a chubbier person before on account of how his hick friends would've acted. He's not repulsed at all! More along the lines of you're something entirely new to him.

- Anyone says anything about your body and he's punching them. Severen would probably help for the helluva it.

- His Daddy taught him to never bring up a persons weight, especially a woman's if you are one and by God he sticks to that. Even if you tell him it's fine he refuses, terrified he'll offend you even if he's complimenting your body so expect vague polite borderline shy compliments at first.

- Once you're a couple he can't get enough. Loves to hold onto you or lift you up and wrap your thick thighs around him.

- He definitely tickles you all the time as an excuse to feel how soft you are under his hands

- Wear something tight and he's smitten. Has a goofy grin on his face and looks like he falls in love with you over and over again.

- If you're ever feeling insecure in an outfit he automatically wants you to wear it! Just so he can admire you in it.

Mae

- Mae grew up with the same standards as Caleb but she's always been a more insightful girl that branched off from what society thought. She's a hopeless romantic that would love every inch of your body.

- She doesn't hide her feelings for you and like Jesse she just views your body as a part of you. She doesn't hyper focus on it but will compliment you more than Jesse might. She romanticized your body type instantly, comparing you to Greek sculptures she saw in art class and smiling fondly at you while she describes you.

- Thinks your cute and your chubbiness has her undead heart warming a bit when she sees you wear something dainty.

- Expect her to hug you randomly or to snuggle up to you when you both sleep. She says you're the best teddy bear she's ever had.

- Gets upset with you if you ever feel insecure because she loves your body! She'd just cuddle you in bed and kiss every part of you you don't like. She thinks your stretch marks are like lightning and your cellulite is so soft to touch and that she loves you and will tell you till you love yourself even a smidgen as much as she does.

Diamondback

- She loves your body! She uses terms like 'voluptuous' or 'husky' or 'curvy' to describe you depending on your gender as well as where you gain it but you could gain it all in your belly and she'd still love all of you

- She's busty herself and would encourage you to wear revealing outfits and to show some skin. She's a bit jealous but it's a double edged sword because she loves seeing your body and you comfortable in it but gets possessive if someone oggles you...It's just an excuse to love all over you when you both settle in for the night and show you you are hers only.

- Loves kneading your hips or caressing your thick thighs. She's the type to pull you close and tell you how breathtaking you are just because she can.

- If you ever get self concious she'll remind you how much she adores you and that if she can love every inch of you in abundance than what else matters? You have a woman in love with every inch of you standing right here waiting for a kiss and your embrace, dear.

Severen

- Like Jesse he's old as fuck and came from an era where even though women wore bustles and corsets; they were also rather full figured under it in a lot of cases and even in cases of more petite women back then the beauty standards were just different. He grew up loving all bodies as long as they were pretty/handsome to him.

- He LOVES your body. He saw you and instantly wanted to follow you and flirt with you like a lost puppy or a boy with a crush; bless this newer generation that didn't hide all that under layers and layers and corsets! If you're not female presenting then he is still in love because he's a sturdy guy that can get a bit of softness in his belly as well. Nothing but love from him.

- Now fair warning, he's brash and rude. He called Jesse an old saddlebag, Homer lil boner or lil buddy knowing how Homer feels about his childlike state and had endless insults for Caleb in the movie. So it's not saying he may not poke fun at you by calling you his 'chubby bunny' or patting your belly or something and if you're not comfortable with it you better be upfront because he doesn't mean it maliciously; he just likes to bully a bit out of love but if he EVER saw he hurt your feelings he'd be the first one begging forgiveness and apologizing.

- He is so damn handsy with you. Don't like him gripping your love handles? Too bad, they fit his fingers perfectly. Feel insecure of him grabbing onto your belly or arm fat or thighs while cuddling? Welp, he's gonna do it till its second nature to you. Trying to hide your double chin? Nope. He won't let you. Good luck telling this in your space, touchy, impulsive, passionate, crude man you only want him to touch 'none chubby' areas ever. Like hell!

- Lifts you up constantly and purposely makes you feel small no matter how tall or wide you are. It's just his dominant presence and how he treats you.

- He loves to cuddle into your thighs or belly when you're laying down. Kissing and nibbling every chance he gets. Your thighs make great pillows.

- If you wear something revealing or tight this man is practically like those cartoon wolves that are whistling with their eyes bulging out. Expect to have your hips grabbed or ass smacked the entire night.

- If you're ever insecure about your body he's dumbfounded and even annoyed. Whaddya mean?! He's pulling you in his lap or in front of a mirror and telling you every body part he loves while caressing and kissing you and telling you in a dominant tone how silly you're being. You're the love of his life, you're not walking around here feeling ashamed of your body. No sir, not around him!

- Like Caleb he loves your thighs around him and if he's kissing your soft sides or belly and finds out you're ticklish? Game over; he will do it constantly now.

[utilitycaster]

I like your posts because you're honest and usually have takes that differ from the mainstream and I was wondering if the Lucien Novel changed or maybe re-enforced ideas you've had before.

Hi anon,

First off, thank you for what is, for me, the highest compliment! I really appreciate it.

As for the book, for the most part it reinforced my ideas, but it also made me care more about some characters, and provided a lot of insight into Lucien that I appreciated. I did write up why I liked Brevyn, who was introduced in this book, over here.

(by the way this is not below a cut but is full of spoilers and is tagged as such)

The general thesis of the book felt, to me, that Lucien was a manipulative, selfish asshole who had a legitimately rough life, but who basically deliberately decided to be a selfish asshole at every opportunity. The one truly noble thing he did, in my opinion, is sending Aldreda off to the Empire; but also he did that because he killed their parents in cold blood before the age of 12, and then he proceeded to utterly fuck up that relationship by not writing. He could have lived a boring stable life in the Empire once she was established if he'd maintained that relationship, but he didn't even bother to write half the time. I actually hadn't totally loved how Lucien seemed to be receptive to the Nein appealing to Molly, given how far he was down the rabbit hole of Charismatic Abusive Cult Leader at that point, but the reveal that there was some shard of something - Molly, Kingsley, or some Moonweaver-approved shred of a decent person and of memory - fighting inside of him helped make that make sense. Anyway, since I openly thought Lucien absolutely sucked in every possible way I was pleasantly surprised to find that a book about him managed to make him both more understandable but also just as if not more monstrous.

I also liked that it made the other tombtakers more sympathetic and gave them somewhat more personality. Jurrell was incredibly fun; I've already said that I love Brevyn (and her death made the attitude towards Vess much more resonant)I love that Tyffial continues to embody "go girl give us nothing"; I love that Otis is kind of a huge loser actually (Lucien: Otis was tough. The book: Otis has never passed a constitution save in his life), and Zoran became something more than dumb muscle whom Otis thinks smells weird (I trust Zoran more than Otis). It also explained a lot about Cree - her relationship with Lucien dating back to childhood and her belief in "the glint" explain why she is the one who keeps the faith the longest, even two years after Lucien dies, even after Molly is clearly not the same person, even after everyone else in the tombtakers has died. It's the sort of relationship that could only come from a very long-term, almost familial friendship that the rest lacked, and it explains why she follows him to her doom. (And it makes Lucien even worse of a person).

The other two highlights are:

Vess DeRogna, because I do love evil elven women who wear a lot of green. I love that she's a bird person [note for anyone reading this who did not read the book: in the sense that her Magnificent Mansion is called the Aviary and is full of birds, not that she's secretly an eisfuura] and I love that she, a known neutral evil person who is just terrible and uncaring all around, still stops short of following the Somnovem and says 'wait a minute', underscoring that Lucien is someone who could have chosen to redeem himself and at every opportunity is like "what if I were worse though."

The choice to make this third-person limited, so that we're really experiencing this from Lucien's perspective, means we get Lucien's take on the Mighty Nein and he makes LITERALLY EVERY MISTAKE POSSIBLE. He underestimates Fjord, he really underestimates Jester and Veth, he has a dumb ego trip about outsmarting wizards and the Cobalt Soul in the past that really fucks him up about Caleb and Beau, he mostly ignores Caduceus and Essek (something something a villain cannot see the value of support casters) and the shard of Molly keeps being like "hey, Yasha is important to you, dickhead". It's GREAT.

Finally, while this was mostly about confirming my feelings from C2, two other fun notes:

love the Bolo reference. very fun.

This might be unpopular but as someone who has vocally been like "Caleb/Molly has literally zero chemistry", overlaying Lucien kissing Brevyn's forehead as she died with Molly kissing Caleb's forehead when Caleb was having an episode is the very first time in what is now almost five years since the start of Campaign 2 when I could muster up even a tiny shred of appreciation for Caleb/Molly. Like, I do not ship it, but Madeleine Roux has made me vaguely see why someone might, in a way that 141 episodes of the actual show and however much fan content could not. And that is fucking impressive of her.

[renatogpadilla]

OH GODS I SAID A THING™ AND NOW I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD:

Probably because of the Announcement of the Animated M9 Series, but...

"Wildemount. The final Continent. This is the story of a rag-tag band of mercenaries and sellswords. Their five year Campaign? Prevent a reality altering relic from falling into the wrong hands, discover new conspiracies between warring nations, and boldly go where no one has gone (for good reason) before."

I call this abomination of an idea: DEEP SPACE NEIN!

And yes, it's every bit as cursed as you can imagine a CR / Star Trek crossover to be!

Everyone needs their space on the UNSC-1909 "Mighty Nein":

Fjord "The Unwitting Face of the group" Stone: Captain. That one's obvious.

Beauregard "Beau" Lionett: Number One. Because she gets physical and FUCKS. You can blame Ryker for this one...

Yasha "Worf WISHES he hit this hard" Nydoorin: Security. Nuff said.

Caleb "my phaser doesn't have a Stun setting" Widogast: Navigation. Keen Mind once again comes in clutch!

Nott/Veth "The Brave" Brenatto: Engineering. Yeza helps as well! She's still CONSTANTLY smashed and that's how she does her best work!

Genevieve "Jester" Lavorre: Comms. This one is primarily because of the Message spell... During their travels, she finds a sterile Tribble she names "Sprinkle". Hilarity ensues.

Caduceus "Earl" Clay: Ship Doctor. Always a bit of tea on hand to talk about somebody else's problems. The crew knows better than to ask why he gets a new batch of tea whenever Spurt gets killed, though...

Mollymauk "Nine Eyes" Tealeaf: The hot bartender who illegally smuggled himself into the ship to escape a past he himself doesn't remember... Sees EVERYTHING. Knows everyone's secrets.

Essek "The Hover" Thelyss: That ONE guy in the Transponder room that energizes the teleporters. He seems unimportant until he gets promoted to Series Regular halfway through Season 2 due to his unexpected Political connections and insight.

He accidentally invented hover boots while messing around Engineering and now NEVER takes them off...

Bonus:

+ Pumat S.0.L: Ship's AI voice. Occasional holograms of him show up to manage the built-in shops, respectfully.

+ Kiri: Baby on board. The Wesley Crusher of the show. She and Luc get along quite well!

+ Shakaste: Chief Science Officer. Don't even give him LaForge shades. Have a little robotic Hummingbird called the Grand Duchess scan the area with sonar and directly transmit the info to his brain!

+ Calliana: Pilot. She flies the ship. Whether it's smooth sailing or crazy, death-defying acrobatics depends on her mood that day.

+ Spurt: The Red Shirt. It's always him. The same one. He always dies and comes back next episode like nothing ever happened. Nobody acknowledges this. "It's been 11 days since Spurt last went Splat".

+ Keg: A down-on-her-luck space smuggler the crew encounters on occasion. She's almost never followed by good news, but she's good for her word, and (with some "persuasion" from Beau) will usually help the crew out of a pinch.

+ Nila: She and her family were diplomats/emissaries for a pacifist race, but when her husband and child get kidnapped by Keg's old partners in crime, the Iron Shepherds, Nila proves to be a formidable spy on top of a ferocious fighter...

+ Reani: Still a vigilante, plain and simple. She goes from planet to planet "rescuing" people with her own lethal brand of justice. Her abilities as a shapeshifter and her interest in biology make her a valuable ally though, not to mention that she knows just about every shady person on any given sector...

+ Twiggy: The ship's resident Archeologist, albeit the most eccentric member of the crew. She specializes in identifying where magical artifacts come from, and dragging the crew on "archeological escapades" for "Science". Her pet squirrel Trixie and Caleb's cat Frumpkin seem to be good friends, but neither of them feel comfortable around Sprinkle for some reason...

+ Yussa: The Negotiator. Not because he can smooth-talk anyone, that's Fjord's thing. No, Yussa's the negotiator because of how EASILY he can figure out what everybody wants. Although he keeps a calm exterior, he has a habit of taking EVERYTHING regarding anything that resembles a puzzle or a mystery as a challenge, and his hubris WILL get the crew into trouble more than once...

Occasional antagonists include:

# The Iron Shepherds: Led by the dreadful Lorenzo, these low life slavers make their credits pulling the most despicable jobs... Regardless of who pays for them, so long as the job is paid for.

# Captain Avantika: Obligatory femme fatale with a thing for Fjord. Whether it's a relationship born of convenience, manipulation or simply blind worship towards the same thing, nobody can really tell. The pirate captain of the "Squalleater" is OBSESSED with releasing an entity which she believes to be an ancient god, hidden in the farthest reaches of space... And only the crew can stop her from achieving her malicious goal.

# Obann and the Unkillable Family: Much like Avantika, the God-releasing MO stands, but rather than getting their followers by power of charisma or duty, the crew of the ravager ship "Angel of Irons" directly controls the minds of the people they believe might help them accomplish their goal... Including the Nein's own Chief of Security for a time.

# Special Guest Star Matthew Mercer as "The Traveler": He's Q. That's it. He's JUST Q. There is no joke, there is no agenda other than wanting to become a God himself, but taking such a liking to Jester that he can never endanger the crew to continue his schemes, so he finds ways to trick them into helping him out... Mostly by pretending to be a sterile Tribble and arousing chaos wherever he goes.

And that's what I've got! Let me know what you think! I'm not very good at AUs, but I couldn't get this idea out of my head!

[jmrothwell]

Fanfic asks! 🖊 🧠 ⏰

Hey Ash! OMG! I was about to post this answer when tumblr glitched on me and deleted it all!! OTL.

Answers rearranged because this got long(again)

Fanfic Ask Game (the movie, the sequel)

⏰ Do you spend more time reading fic, writing fic, or do you do both equally?

Honestly, I think reading. (Especially if we count rereading your own work XD) But seriously, there are just SO MANY GOOD FICS!! And sometimes my brain goes "MUST READ ALL OF THEM" and I get stuck reading and rereading.

🧠 What’s an idea you have that you can’t quite call a WIP yet?

OMG! So many!!!!!! Like a ridiculous number. Some are just snippets of scenes with no other context (Reggie punching Caleb in the jaw, or Reggie somehow winnning strip poker) some of them are simply vibes (Interstellar by LeBrock is begging to be a fic but I don't know what kind) but most of my ideas I save as prompts/or potential future prompt fill ideas. Some of those include:

rulie or peterpatterlina: post nightmare hurt/comfort : bonus points if ghost magic is involved

???/Reggie :??? will never forget the day they met, it was one of the worst days of their life. Reggie will always remember the day they met, it was one of the best days of his life.

Soulmate AU: The world turns into a literal game of hot or cold. The more recently your soulmate touches something the warmer it is. One day the refrigerated soda Julie handed over to Reggie feels like it just came out of an oven.

🖊 Post a snippet from a current WIP.

I'm pretty sure I've shared part of this one with you before, but here's a bit from the Eventual Part 3 of Let the Rain Pour (The Regal Butterfly, Everyones Alive AU of mine)

"Right. Which one of you have it?" Reggie demanded as soon as he spotted Flynn and Julie sitting at the kitchen island. 

They turned their beautifully beguiling doe eyes to him, the homework spread out in front of them readily forgotten. "Have what?" Julie asked, barely managing to prevent her voice from doing that high pitched climb it always did when she lied.

"No, don't do that." He pointed between the two of them and their too innocent smiles. "That's not going to work this time."

He squinted when Flynn tried to disguise a giggle as a cough. The gears were already shifting in their heads and he could see that telepathic link of theirs firing up. Too bad for them he was bound and determined to not lose his resolve today. It'd been two days now and he'd be damned if he let this go past a third. "Where is my jacket?"

“Ok, I’ll give it back, I just have to find it first.” Julie said 

“You have to find it?” Reggie squinted at her, trying to figure out her logic. Julie simply nodded with what she must have assumed would be a disarming smile, not offering any assistance or insight into what was happening in her mind. “Where–? Why–? It’s a leather jacket, you can’t exactly lose it in the wash. How could you have lost it?”

“I haven’t lost it.”

[findablog]

was there a particular scene or episode that made you want to write your favorite muse?

Dang this requires me to pick a favorite muse. So for this I will go over my most active ones and say what made me want to write them. Muses only on my hub though not my other two blogs that aren't connected here LOL. I also wont do my OCs because that's not fair. For them it was me filling a gap that their canon worlds left.

Will Byers - I think for him it was learning his story then watching the show and just that scene in season 1 right at the beginning then being like I need to know everything, and the show isn't giving it to me so I will write it myself.

Dodge Mason - The second he yelled about Panic in the diner and Heather was like "stop" and he was like "im not gonna"

Caleb Widogast - For him it was the moment he shared his backstory.

Scanlan Shorthalt - Bard's lament.

Vax - This is gonna possibly sound rude, but I wanted him to have more agency in his story. He is always giving giving giving and not really receiving back what he gives especially for certain stories. Like both he and Vex are raised by their father but that story is largely associated with Vex (even in their book). It felt like no one ever trusted him so I said I will trust you. You are mine now.

Orym - Honestly Liam describing him and I was like he's mine.

Sebastian Smythe - When he did what he could to gain forgiveness from Blaine, and made sure that was the apology he cared about because that was who he really hurt. And then the guilt he carries about Dave.

Rory Flanagan - Realizing after the first episode of his that they were gonna do him dirty I was like not on my watch bitch.

Nick Duval - When he finally got that solo. And actually a fan fic where he and Sebastian are roommates that is honestly my favorite glee fan fic ever.

Curt Mega - The second I saw him handling being interrogated really well only to be talked down to immediately after by his lover, and everyone else in his agency. I wanted to not only explain that but also make it known that Curt was very very good at his job, and at least from Cynthia's perspective she was trying to keep him humble because Curt would get a big head.

Luke Castellan - The entirety of Battle of the Labyrinth where you get the most insight into what is going on in Luke's head than any other book including his own damn diary.

Edmund Pevensie - His whole time with the White Witch followed by the slow forgiveness for himself that weighs on him in the years of his reign.

Billy Elliot - That last scene where he not only accepts himself, but also returns the affections of Michael. Also the entirety of the musical adaptation.

Link (BOTW and TOTK) - This one is hard, but I think it was the lack of story that was purely link's. Like he gets memories but they are all story beats for Zelda not for him. We learn very little about Link and I wanted to fill that. And its something that continues into the new game. Its my way of giving Link justice because the game is about Zelda link is just the narrator, whom I tend to care a bit more about.

[erenthegreywolf]

Major JatP Spoilers (and really long)

I just fucking watched Julie and the Phantoms for the first time finally after just seeing memes/fanfics/posts and the entire soundtrack for it and I'm

I can't believe that show exists like it is so unbelievable how good it is I WILL go into detail rn -

So ofc I can't remember everything that happened, I was busy holding back tears, shouting fuck you at the tv, singing, and quoting fucking everything

and I mean I did happily yell gay when Willex appeared I love them (and when Reggie and Luke did anything I mean cmon) but I DID start up the show again to go through as I write this

the dahlias were a beautiful addition to the sets and I- THE RANDOM LADY gives Julie one when she's crying for her mom in the Orpheum alley??? PLEASE THAT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL

getting ahead of myself and very out of order ok ok BUT having all the context for the show really gives me a new perspective like

everyone is hurting so much and I could only fully grasp it now after seeing it and I mean 9 episodes did A LOT

everyone has noticed it before but Luke's missing person poster literally behind him as they eat the hot dogs is like?? the set designers were ON TOP OF IT and I love this little detail so much makes me freak every time because the attention to even the SMALLEST detail and it gave us some insight into Luke if we noticed

and do NOT get me started on the fucking ACTING everyone is so good at all of it, like how Madison portrayed Julie being just broken over her mom and Charlie going from loud to insanely soft and quiet as he says "I am… so sorry" and Jeremy being good ol' happy Reggie until the FUCKING "You guys are the only family I have" LINE and the Willex interactions are amazing Owen and Booboo were great together I could go on huyvyibh

THEN THE CALEB FORESHADOW??? AND IT GETS BRIGHTER AS JULIE SINGS WAKE UP????? and it is so fun that some of the episodes just pick up right where the last one left off

And the show outright saying yes, Alex is gay was so mindblowing to me like I don't think I have EVER seen a show do that (but I could be living under a rock) and when the boys tell Julie to give Luke a chance and they watch him as he watches his PARENTS on his BIRTHDAY it was so fucking painful and then THEN Unsaid Emily.

But first, when Julie asks "Who's Emily?" thinking she's someone Luke liked and Luke is so panicked to change the subject he can't even talk about her, how he cut Alex off when he went to explain I gycuvyv

And how they all react to seeing Bobby again and learning he stole all their songs like they are so angry and hurt by this and I understand fully why they want revenge when music is literally EVERYTHING to Luke

but like what it could be like for Bobby? he goes to a therapist still so he might not be over losing his boys still and just him completely taken aback that they're back? he can SEE them and they're playing music with what is basically his niece? how he's shaking after the Orpheum because he has actually seen his boys again after YEARS of them gone? now I understand why they're mad at him but it could have been Bobby's way of coping with losing all of his band and quite possibly the closest friends/family he has ever had

it hurt when they would jump to the boys at the club and then back to Julie alone at the dance, and when they did show up and found her just devastated that they left her hanging hurts SO MUCH worse, like she completely thought they'd show and they didn't and she said it was a MISTAKE god I cant

and now I'm circling back, having the context for Unsaid Emily is both amazingly beautiful and devastatingly soul crushing, all Luke EVER wanted was to connect with people through his music and show his parents that he COULD and CAN make it and PLEASE the music for this show was fucking amazing

and I am foaming at the mouth over Julie giving the Pattersons Unsaid Emily and Luke having to step out but INSTRUMENTAL UNSAID EMILY IN THE BACKGROUND I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS NOT IN TEARS BAWLING AND SCREAMING

Ok and how the love triangle wasn't forced like Nick knows and STATES that he missed his chance, there was no who does Julie want? nO it was always gonna be Luke (but I respectfully turn my eyes away tho i can appreciate more Juke now)

and the ENTIRE scene when Flynn finds the Sunset Curve shirt and talks about Rose sending the boys to Julie was so good

WILLEX HUG WAS SO PAINFUL AND WONDERFUL like Alex hesitates but then just does and Willie is surprised but then just hugs him tighter in return AND THEN ALEX SAYING HE'S OK???

but I loved Luke saying "Alex, no dancing" and Alex fucking dancing and AND JATP OPENING FOR P!ATD IBIYVBb and the entire scene of them waiting for and getting the call from the Orpheum was gold, just mwah mwah mwAH

AND STAND TALL WITH CONTEXT TOO??? i am so heartbroken and destroyed but utterly ALIVE over Stand Tall and really any of the fuckin songs from the soundtrack but Stand Tall, she thought the boys were gone but then they come back to her and i-

and the GARAGE SCENE PLEASE the boys crying and she literally TELLS THEM TO KEEP EXISTING and THEN "No music is worth making, Julie, if we're not making it with you" I CAN NOT WITH THIS HEARTBREAK NO REGRETS

but oh my GOD THE HUG and REGGIE'S SINGLE TEAR AND THEN LUKE LIKE "I think the band's back" fuck shit god DAMMIT I LIKE THIS TOO REGGIE

And sure, I will say that some characters annoyed me, like Tia Victoria and Carrie i mean i didn't like them but I understand them I guess?

Tia just kinda made me mad since they had to remove the plate from the extra chair for Rose from her and I-

And Carrie was just so mean to Julie it annoyed me mostly but Savannah played her really well like how she reacted when Julie went on the play Finally Free and how she STOOD UP IN AWE at Stand Tall jfebvibf

and yes yes I freaked tf out over the chemistry moment and when Alex danced with Dirty Candy or any of the Ray&Reggie moments or just Ray on screen in general (them distracting him by asking him about his CAMERA?? jhvyughbhu)

-

But in all, Julie and the Phantoms was such an amazing show. Kenny Ortega and Paul Becker and literally EVERYONE on staff did a wonderful job with this show. It has helped millions of people through different problems and gave joy back to those who might have needed it. JatP was literally gold and I don't think anything will be able to even come CLOSE to matching it for a long time, if not ever. That may be a bold statement, but the show was canceled and we're all still here, hoping and waiting for this beautiful masterpiece to come back.

I hate that JatP was canceled and I'm so utterly destroyed that these boys, Ray, Julie, Carlos, and everyone else might never come back. But what I can say is that I got to watch this little piece of Heaven and I am so glad I did. I ranted and I raved about all the little things I liked in this, and I definitely didn't point out everything I liked, but this post summed it up pretty well I think.

I don't think I will ever feel this strongly for something ever again. After seeing so much content for JatP and finally seeing it after months of wanting to, the hype and how I thought I would see this show lived up to the real thing.

Really, I don't know how to end this and I've gone from fuckin rambling nonsense to writing an essay?? have fun reading this? just get me out bye

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Saturday, December 3rd

JONATHAN: Careful, he's still pretty dangerous. SPIKE: Yeah, back off Betty. BUFFY: It's Buffy, you big bleached... stupid guy.

~~Superstar~~

[Drabbles & Short Fiction]

What I Like About Spike by RavenLove12 (Buffy/Spike, M)

Holiday themed comics-based fics (requiring no comics knowledge to speak of) by Slaymesoftly (Buffy/Spike, R)

[Chaptered Fiction]

Initiation, Chapter 22 by Jaspergirl (old_fashioned_gal) (Ensemble, Giles/Ethan, T)

Different Lives, Chapter 44 by BuffyBot3000 (Faith & Tara, E)

Revolving Doors, Chapter 8 by OhAlisa (Buffy/Angel, M)

Drive, Chapter 4 by HollyDB (Buffy/Spike, E)

Dawn of the Caribbean 3: Dawn of the Pack, Chapter 34 by BrennaLynn (Dawn, Women of the Otherworld crossover, T)

Charmed: Another Halliwell, Chapter 26 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Dawn, Charmed crossover, T)

Slayer Begins, Chapter 23 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Bruce Wayne, Batman crossover, T)

Under The Rubble, Chapter 31 by Geliot99 (Buffy/Spike, M)

Wonderland 1: Down the Rabbit Hole, Chapter 12 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Angel, Star Wars crossover, T)

Wonderland 2: Stepping Into Wonderland, Chapter 10 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Angel, Charmed & Star Wars crossover, T)

Charmed: The Faith Chronicles, Chapter 6 by BrennaLynn (Buffy/Faith, Charmed crossover, T)

100 Words Stories, Chapter 2: Orphan Black by RavenclawSlayer (Buffy/Delphine Cormier, multiple crossovers, G)

Not So New, Chapter 1 by tinfoil_paint (Ensemble, T)

Sleeping Loony, Chapter 1 by Meltha (Spike/Drusilla, T)

You give me something I can hold on to, Chapter 1 by mst_52 (Giles/Jenny, T)

Everything Has to Go, Chapter 7 by rkm (Buffy/Spike, R)

Drive, Chapter 4 by Holly (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

Vacation with a vampire (Sequel to The Sphere) - Part 2, Chapter 13 by Coraline (Buffy/Spike, NC-17)

[Images, Audio & Video]

Artwork: whirlwind doodles by artsying-ifer (Angel, Spike, Drusilla, worksafe)

Gifset: We're family by l0veisntbrains (Buffy/Spike, Scoobies, worksafe)

Artwork process video: Buffy start to finish! by Drea Sale

Fanvid: Buffy e Angel + Spike I´m not the only one by Isah Rosa

Fanvid: Btvs Drusilla || Angels by Blade_ofthe_crow

Fanvid: Btvs Willow || under your spell by Blade_ofthe_crow

Fanvid: Btvs Spike || In the end by Blade_ofthe_crow

Fanvid: Btvs Faith || pain by Blade_ofthe_crow

[Reviews & Recaps]

Video: Did Joss Whedon Rip Off Star Trek? (1/3) by GoingRampant

[In Search Of]

Does anyone remember reading an academic article that argued spike showed buffy’s unconscious desires? by stellernorth

Looking for a Spike/Xander, Angel/Doyle fic series called Stranger Things by alas-poor-cesario

[Community Announcements]

IWRY 2022 Master list by I Will Remember You Marathon

[Fandom Discussions]

I don’t think I understand the argument that Buffy should have been paid for being a Slayer by coraniaid

I feel like Alasdair probably didn’t become a part of the somewhat new Angel Investigations team by oveliagirlhaditright

The three outfits Buffy thought about wearing to the Bronze in the Pilot by oveliagirlhaditright

I finished rewatching all of Buffy The Vampire Slayer [...] So then I looked at fanfics instead and ... by silvanoir

I want so so so bad to see the Fanged Four reunite to raise baby Connor by somekindofadeviant

Almost every single day I think about this deleted bit from You’re Welcome by someonefantastic

Cordelia by anonymous and we-pay-for-everything

Top 10 TV show fandoms on AO3 based on number of fanworks (2009-2022) by bakanokiwami

rupert giles had no idea what he was getting into becoming buffy’s watcher by clockwards

This entitlement buffy’s friends have about insight into her sex life by silvermars

Jenny Calendar headcanons truelittleblackstar

Character Battle: The Beast vs Caleb by Stoney

Why does Buffy have a grave and headstone if everyone is trying to hide that she died? by tc4eva

I feel Sorry For Dawn by sjsharksfan12

Afterlife Episode; buttoning up shirt by No-Cut3292

Do you view Xander dating Anya the same as Buffy dating Angel or Spike? by Opening_Knowledge868

I hate Dawn and here’s why by Pinkee808

Why was Buffy okay with killing Faith to save Angel, but not okay with killing Ben to save the world? by Soft-Future

Angel getting his soul back by thrownaway1974

Does anyone else find BtVS’s “lack of diversity” not *that* bad by Excellent-Durian-509

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