#looks at all the beautiful fanart other folks have been making....and just makes a shit post. i'm sorry sobs

[yukipri]

Miguel found an upsetting tag on AO3

It's Miles' favorite tag tho

~~

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, TRANSLATE, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART. To share, please reblog! Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!!!

❀ You can see the rest of my art through the Masterpost pinned to the top of my blog!

[spiri-a]

FUCK YEAH GOOD OMENS FANDOM!!!!!!!!!!! TOP FANDOM OF THE YEAR HUH!?!?!?!!! LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS!!!!! READ THOSE NUMBERS AND WEEP FOLKS!!!!!!

Though also can I just say I’m so proud that we have one of the few non-binary ships on both this list and the top ships of all times list????????? Like I mentioned this before but one of my favorite things about the GO fandom is how free and absolutely whatever the fuck and purely utterly tolerant this fandom is about gender???? Like I love these guys???????

(Gushy rant about the GO fandom’s beautiful relationship with gender and expression down below oops I just started and couldn’t stop??)

Like I’m not ashamed (though maybe a little a lot embarrassed) to admit that this fandom was probably most definitely my non-binary awakening because it was just so strange and refreshing and completely new for me to learn this brand new little talked about side of how other people experience gender, and how they channel those experiences into Crowley and Aziraphale in their fanfiction and fanart and headcanons??? It was to a degree that I had NEVER EVER felt before and it shocked me?? Then I found myself weirdly SUPER relating to the descriptions of genderlessness and the pure careless neutral feeling about gender that I saw people talking and writing about???

And then, well, um, I MAY have accidentally discovered my gender identity from Aziraphale headcanons??????? Oops??????????

And Ive heard of plenty of other people who saw their own gender expressions reflected in Crowley or Beelzebub or Muriel!!!! ITS CRAZY!!! I’ve been in fandoms for years and years, but this is the first time characters have felt so freeing and moldable to however the fandom wants to love them and so so easy to love because we see parts of ourselves in them and parts we aspire to be and parts we hate but can’t help see the reasoning behind and it just makes everything feel so…..close???? Like these characters were made to be the furthest from basic stock characters they could, and they were made with a little extra room left over in them for the fandom to take and fill and make their own?????

I don’t even know where I’m going with this but I guess my point is: Dear Good Omens fandom, I FREAKING LOVE YOU??????? The pure and open freedom you allow people to express themselves and mold this story and these characters into a million different wonderful things is the most awe inspiring thing, and I never thought such a massive fandom would feel so welcoming and tolerant and flexible and fluid and expressive and diverse and AGGGHGAHAHGHH EVERYTHING I GUESS

God I really hope no one reads this cause this is probably the gayest shit I’ve ever written. I just wanted to celebrate but then it turned into a rant of the secret private super duper uber gay reason I love this fandom.

Oh well

[kingofterrors]

I was tagged in this ask by @inktog - thank you!

I’m not great at tagging other folk, but if you see this and you fancy doing it, consider yourself tagged! Also, by the way, if anyone seeing this really likes being tagged in these kind of things, let me know! I will tag you in future!

This was hard. At first I was like, “I’m not sure I can even name ten relationships I ship”, and then had far too many as soon as I thought about it for more than ten seconds. So here we are. :)

First, list your top 10 ships without reading the questions below.

1.      Luz Noceda / Amity Blight – The Owl House

2.      Harrowhark Nonagesimus / Gideon Nav – The Locked Tomb Series

3.      Sabran / Eadaz du Zāla uq-Nāra – The Priory of the Orange Tree

4.      Caleb Widogast / Essek Theyless – Critical Role Campaign 2

5.      Beauregard Lionett / Jester Lavorre – Critical Role Campaign 2

6.      Harrowhark Nonagesimus / Ianthe Tridentarius – The Locked Tomb Series

7.      Kara Danvers / Lena Luthor – Supergirl

8.      Amity Blight / Boscha – The Owl House

9.      Korra / Asami – The Legend of Korra

10.  Percy / Vexahlia – Critical Role Campaign 1

Then answer the questions.

Do you remember the episode/scene/chapter that you first started shipping 6?

I’m going to be honest, it was from the very beginning of Harrow the Ninth – the Prologue, where we get that amazing moment of Ianthe kneeling down and taking Harrow by the chin. I’m going to quote, because this scene just marched up to my house, kicked my door down and stole my entire mind.

You were shocked into opening your eyes when you felt the girl opposite cup your chin in her hands – her fingers febrile compared to the chilly shock of her gilded metacarpal – and put her meat thumb at the corner of your jaw. For a moment you assumed that you were hallucinating, but that assumption was startled away by the cool nearness of her, of Ianthe Tridentarius on her knees before you in unmistakable supplication. Her pallid hair fell around her face like a veil, and her stolen eyes looked at you with half-beseeching, half-contemptuous despair: blue eyes with deep splotches of light brown, like agate.

Looking deep into the eyes of the cavalier she murdered, you realised, not for the first time, and not willingly, that Ianthe Tridenatrius was beautiful.

Dude.

Have you ever read a fic about 2?

Yup! More than one! I don’t generally seek out smut for my ships, for whatever reason, but I freely admit that I sought out smut for these two. And found it. Found it with quality in spades. Praise be. Is this a good spot for recs? If so:

Sleepless by pugoata

Like a Lullaby by SweetScentences

Has a picture of 4 ever been your screensaver/profile pic/tumblr?

Nope. I tend not to change my pics very much, and they tend to focus on single characters rather than ships, again for whatever reason.

If 7 were to suddenly break up today, what would your reaction be?

Yeah… Well of course they’re not together in canon. I ship supercorp foolishly, helplessly, knowing all the while that the chances of it becoming reality are vanishingly small. That said, we don’t ship purely for canon, do we? So if Kara and Lena were together and then were to break up I’d be disappointed, but I suspect they’d find their way back to each other. These two have a history of being separated, then rediscovering their love and coming back together. I give it a couple of weeks. :)

Why is 1 so important?

Man, I don’t know! It snuck up on me! I think there’s something here about firstly, the context for Lumity. Amity’s crush on Luz was just presented as normal, as something fine and good and natural, and that meant so much to me. There’s a softness here that I love so much. I also heavily empathise with Amity – the trying to live up to expectations and feeling that you have to hide yourself behind emotional walls – and the thought of her finding love with someone like Luz who is so open and emotionally giving does my heart good. I want Amity to find acceptance and openness with Luz. I want Luz to find herself seen and valued for exactly who she is by Amity. I want to see them finding strength and security in each other. I just love them, you guys.

There’s a bit in this wonderful YouTube video essay, which I recommend to the moon and back – watch it if you haven’t! (“The Owl House is Great and Here’s Why, by Film Freak”) Where the essayist concludes their section on Lumity by saying: “I don’t know if Disney will chicken out in the future with regards to Lumity or any other queer rep, but for now I’m cautiously optimistic. Maybe I just have rose-tinted goggles for how soft this ship is, but whatever, let me stan just once.”

And… yeah. That.

Which one has the strongest bond?

Wow, tough one. Probably Sabran and Ead. They’ve gone through everything together, and are prepared to wait for each other in the end. Their bond is strong enough to take that and more.

Which ship has lasted the longest?

For me or the ship itself? For me of all of these probably Korra / Asami. Shipped ‘em first time I saw LoK, and haven’t stopped.

How many times, if ever, has 6 broken up?

Have they ever gotten together? If they ever did get together they’d break up every couple of days. These two are a mess, and their relationship is a toxic trainwreck. Still ship ‘em though. Can’t help it. Sometimes ships are just fascinating. If this was real life I’d want them to not come within shouting distance of each other. In fiction I’m riveted.

If the world was suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse, which ship would make it out alive: 2 or 8?

Definitely Harrow and Gideon. Those two have fought through apocalyptic situations before, and my money would be on them to do it again. Plus they are the quintessential battle couple. Can you imagine Harrow’s bone magic and Gideon’s martial expertise being unleashed on zombies? Those two would save the whole damn world.

Amity and Boscha would put up a good fight, I think, but I can see them disagreeing on key decisions which might hurt their chances.

Did 7 ever have to hide their relationship for any reason?

Given that Kara is a whole secret identity, we could say they are continually hiding their relationship when Kara is out there as Supergirl? I could also see them hiding their relationship at Lena’s insistence to protect Kara from Lex before she realised Kara was actually Supergirl. She might even want to do that afterwards as well, on reflection. Lena is very protective of Kara, ironically enough. :)

Is 4 still together?

Right now? This is another non-canon ship. That said, this is one I’m genuinely hoping for a canon appearance from. Their relationship might be put under strain from the fact that they’re both mages, and mages tend to get selfish and power hungry (or at least these two claim that’s how it goes). I think they’d work through it though. These two talk big about their own selfishness a lot, and then in practice are very caring and protective of others. I can see that extending to each other. Just kiss already.

Is 10 canon?

Yup! My token het ship are still very much together, growing old and having babies.Good for them. :)

If all 10 ships were put into a couple’s Hunger Games, which couple would win?

This is an invitation to go into huge depth, but my initial feeling is that Harrow and Gideon would again have it hands down. Those two are world-endingly powerful. Although that said, Kara and Lena might give them a run for their money. Pure power ranking? Let’s see…

1.      Harrow / Gideon

2.      Kara / Lena

3.      Korra / Asami

4.      Beau / Jester

5.      Caleb / Essek

6.      Percy / Vex

7.      Harrow / Ianthe

8.      Sabran / Ead

9.      Amity / Luz (no shade, but these guys are literal children. Grown up they’d put up a better showing, I’d bet)

10.  Amity / Boscha

Has anyone ever tried to sabotage 5?

I mean… Fjord? I wonder sometimes what would have happened if Beau had genuinely put in a play for Jester, rather than stepping back to let Fjord make his move. She very obviously decided that Fjord should have a free shot, and I wonder how it would have worked if she actually decided to compete. Would Fjord have stepped back to let Beau make a try for Jester if he was aware of her feelings? I don’t know. A genuine competition would have been heartbreaking but oh so interesting to see.

Do you spend hours a day going through 3’s tumblr tag?

Not hours, but I have put some good time into finding fanart for these two. There is some good work out there!

If an evil witch descended from the sky and told you that you had to pick one of the ten ships to break up forever or else she’d break them all up, which ship would you SINK?

Amity / Boscha. Sorry you two! I wrote myself into shipping Amity and Boscha, when I fell in love with Boscha and decided she could actually be good for Amity in a snarky, take no shit kind of a way. I would still love to see more of them. (Halfway through that one-shot btw.) But if it was them or everyone else? Sorry guys. :(

[bellarkefanfiction]

We Play Our Parts So Well

written by: Josefine / @selflessbellamy

prompt: bellamy and clarke are actors on a tv show. theyre love interests but are also dating irl and they have to shoot their first sex scene together. they get it on either during (unknowingly to others) or after the shoot for anonymous

word count: 2847

There are countless things wrong with having your co-stars head between your thighs. Especially if it’s done off-camera, in the casual setting of his apartment, with the spicy taste of Italian red wine lingering like a promise at the tip of her tongue. Bellamy, of course, ate her out vigorously until she grasped at the sheets like a lifeline, and now his character, Julian Amerada, has to do the same to hers. And Clarke has to pretend, for the sake of self-preservation, that she doesn’t know what it feels like.

In the hit NBC TV-series Embers, Clarke plays the role of Cassandra Tallion, a princess whose life is forever altered when she discovers what it’s like to be a warrior. And since the premiere of the show — the first scene she shared with Bellamy, more precisely — fans on Twitter (and virtually every other social media platform in existence) — have been screaming in all caps for them to just ‘SUCK FACES ALREADY ASDFGBSKCKXS’

Now, they’re finally going to get what they want. It’s been five seasons and the showrunner, Thelonius Jaha, has decided that it’s finally time to make Jassandra a thing — a canon thing.

Jasper Jordan, one of the special effect technicians, puts sugar in his coffee (enough to kill a small animal), quirks up an eyebrow and looks from Bellamy to Clarke before stating the obvious, “The internet is gonna fucking explode when you guys finally get it on.”

For a moment, Clarke’s eyes flicker nervously to Bellamy’s. Oh god, she’s supposed to be an actress, but she can’t even keep her cool in this situation. Meanwhile, her very handsome and very forbidden boyfriend takes a sip of his Earl Grey tea (Miller loves to call him a ‘sophisticated bastard’ for that preference), looking at Jasper nonchalantly.

“Did I hear someone say ‘getting it on’?” Raven chimes in, walking towards their table to throw her arms around Clarke’s shoulders. “That’s my domain.”

At that, Clarke only chuckles. So does Bellamy. “Raven, the last time I checked, you were happily married to an ex-pilot by the name of Shaw.”

Flippantly, Reyes takes her best friend’s coffee mug to steal a sip, then winces at the taste when she realizes that it isn’t black. “Yeah, and we get it on all the time. But of course, you wouldn’t know about that now, would you, Griffin?” It’s a fair burn, but little does Raven know that it no longer rings true. Since Clarke started seeing Bellamy off set four months ago, she’s had more orgasms than she had during all of last year.

“Have you read the script?” Harper McIntyre joins them. She plays Amelia, Cassandra’s stepsister, who is trying to overthrow her own father’s regime. “It’s cunnilingus, right?”

Jordan chuckles, “Oh please, Harper. You read all of it just like the rest of us,” and when Clarke looks at him, her brow furrowed in confusion, he continues, “Every single one of us is on team Jassandra. It’s no secret.”

As Clarke looks around the table, everyone — including Miller — nods, and Murphy even confesses to buying merch from Ebay, which leaves the rest of them shook. Still, his only explanation is, “What can I say? Some of this fanart is pretty fucking cool.”

Well, you can’t argue with that. Every time Clarke logs on to Twitter, her mentions are full of beautiful art pieces and gifs that people have made of the show (someone even wrote a song for Jassandra once). It warms her heart and makes her smile each day knowing that there are so many talented, passionate fans out there.

Episode 5x07 of Embers is called ‘The Land We March For’, and they’re shooting some of it tomorrow morning, including the already notorious love scene in Cassandra’s bedchamber in Marble Castle. Feeling a bit nervous about the whole ordeal, Clarke decides to abandon the table and take a look at the set, which has been prepared for the shoot tomorrow.

There are candles everywhere, ready to be lit and the bed has been covered in furs. It looks beautiful, but Clarke still has to swallow the lump in her throat.

“You alright?”

Smiling, Bellamy puts a hand to her shoulder. He must’ve followed her here, and she instantly appreciates it. For some reason, she always feels more at ease when she’s around him, and even though having to do her first love scene on screen is still incredibly daunting, she’s so glad that he will be there with her.

“Yeah… Just a bit nervous,” she confesses after a minute.

In comfort, he places his hand on her shoulder, caressing it with his thumb. “Trust me, I get that.”

Unlike her, Bellamy has done a love scene on Embers before, although it was a short flashback one between Julian and his deceased lover, Karolina. “Whatever,” she says, exhaling. “We’ll just have to kill this scene, you know? The viewers deserve something great. Our characters deserve it. We just need to do it justice.”

In fact, it was partly with the viewers and their characters in mind that Bellamy and Clarke asked for some of the script for the scene to be altered. Originally, Cassandra was supposed to beg Julian to ‘ravish her’, but that seemed non-consensual and out of character, so they made sure that the line was changed to ‘make love to me’.

“I can’t wait to see the fan reaction.”

“Jasper’s right. People are gonna lose their shit.”

(Certainly, they are not wrong…)

***

Just before they start filming the scene the next morning, Clarke tweets a row of cryptic emojis along with the hashtags #EmbersTV and #BigDay. Smirking, she joins Bellamy on the set of Cassandra’s bedchamber, and even though they both look very much in character, they have one last ritual as Bellamy and Clarke before they start shooting.

They hug. For a long time…

It’s nice, not only because of the obvious reasons, but it also seems to strengthen their connection, so that the chemistry continues to be — as according to @TheTheloniusJaha on Twitter — on fire. When this ritual started two years ago, the showrunner found it so special that he posted a picture of it to the Internet, and to say the fandom went nuts would be an understatement. Most notable retweets go to:

@Jassandraisrealbitches: NOW WE HAVE SOME CONTENT FOR MODERN AU’S FOLKS ASDFJGGJFSO

@JulianAmeradaah: Oh would you look at these cuties??!!!?? No wonder why their connection is da bomb.com

@QueenCassandra: This might not be the canon story, but my Jassandra heart has been fed a whole ass meal thank u @ jesus

“Are you okay?” Bellamy murmurs once they pull away from each other, his eyes as soft as the rain-soaked Earth, and she just barely resists the desire to kiss him. Instead, she nods, determined. Then they go to their assigned marks just before Thelonius Jaha roars, “ACTION!”

Cassandra’s hair is still wet from a bath, so she’s wringing it out when Julian emerges from the shadows, his ripped shirt exposing the blossoming bruises on his chest. She gasps, stepping forward to reach for him, but he takes a step back. His midnight sky eyes have lost their stars as they flash with an emotion she can’t identify. “I’m a monster, Princess,” he proclaims.

She ignores it. “I told you not to call me that.”

Without looking at her, he bursts into laughter, almost hysterical. The horror of battle has started to feast on his soul, on his heart and it threatens to tear her apart, seeing him like this. “Julian, please…” She can tell that he wants to look at her, because he clenches his jaw.

“I thought I was angry when I heard about Bhoran asking for your hand in marriage, Your Highness, but how can I be? I will never be good enough for you. I could never give you the life you want.”

Once he’s said that, the blood boils in her veins and fire sparks within her ocean eyes. This time when she strides forward, she doesn’t let him back away. Instead, she crashes her mouth onto his, her lips violent and desperate…

Unbeknownst to their co-stars, Bellamy and Clarke have already kissed countless times, so even though their makeout sessions are a lot more relaxed than this, kissing is easy. But staying in character, however, that’s difficult. She can tell that Bellamy wants to soften the kiss, which he isn’t supposed to. He also buries his hand in her hair, going off script, but it likely won’t be a big deal.

Definitely not to the fans anyway… They will gush about this for months.

Julian breaks away to discover that her rage hasn’t evaporated completely. “Since when do you know what I want?” She hisses, even if her lower lip quivers with emotion. In front of her is the man who taught her to fight, to defy her father, to value her own ambition instead of being obedient. “I want you. All of you,” she states, tearing at his ruined shirt until the material falls off.

“Cassandra…” Finally, he says her real name, causing her eyes to shut briefly as desire strikes her harder. Still, his voice is barely audible, hidden by a veil of uncertainty, but she holds his gaze with the utmost determination as she maps his chest with her hands, the bruises too.

(Clarke takes the liberty of licking her lips a little, so that means Cassandra does as well)

“Make love to me.”

He stares for half a minute. “I can’t… You’re a—“

“Don’t say it!” When she turns her back to him, Julian can’t resist the temptation of undoing the buttons on her dress. In fact, he wants nothing more than to free her of that horrible corset. Leaning into his touch, she sighs. “Until morning, I am Cassandra, no more, no less… And I love you.”

One thing that the TV Scoop journalist Riley Peterson remarked in his first of many reviews on Embers was that the love scenes were graphic, just like in Game of Thrones, which had a bunch of horny white men flocking to the show only to be disappointed when they discovered that Embers is unapologetically feminist. Jaha even had this in mind when he chose the type of sex that Julian and Cassandra (his two leads) would be having.

(“Yeah, Cassandra’s father may be all about preserving medieval values, but Julian isn’t.”

When Jaha said that, Bellamy had winked at her discreetly, whispering, “Julian knows how to please a woman. We have so much in common.” For that comment, Clarke kicked teasingly at his shin under the table)

There’s a cut between Cassandra’s dress falling to the floor and the next scene where they’re in her bed, having sex, so they take a quick break to have some water. “We got this, right?”

Looking around to make sure nobody’s watching them, Bellamy presses a reassuring kiss to her temple, and she smiles in gratitude. Still, she’s unsure about something, so she decides to ask Bellamy for his two cents because he’s probably the person — right next to Jaha and herself — that knows the most about Cassandra as a character.

“How loud do you’d think she’d be?”  When he raises his eyebrows, grinning, she swats at his arm. “It’s a genuine question, Bellamy.”

“I know. Sorry… I’m gonna say that she’s a woman, a virgin, who’s having oral sex with the man that she loves the most in the world, so… she’s probably loud. At the very least shook.”

Well, that part won’t be hard to play at all. The first time Bellamy went down on her, she was left speechless, feeling as if she were flying high above land with the stars surrounding her. Yes, it’d been that great, and luckily he’d felt the same way.

They’re smiling at each other when Jaha appears. “Sorry if I’m ruining a moment, but we gotta roll again.”

Showtime…  

To get it right, Clarke tries to remember the stars that formed behind her eyelids when Bellamy licked into her for the first time, and it works. She cries out, clutching at his hair with one hand and at the sheets with the other. As her lips part, Bellamy presses an unscripted kiss to her inner thigh, which has her gasping. It’s a natural reaction, for her as well as Cassandra, so it really doesn’t matter, but she still feels self-conscious.

“You good?” Bellamy adlibs, and she nods frantically, managing a fake moan when he pretends to pick up the pace.  

To be fair, the script doesn’t mention anything about Cassandra having an orgasm, but in the matter of two seconds, Clarke decides that yes, her character would definitely have one, so she does her job as an actress and fakes it. This is something that she’s never done with Bellamy before, which means that the production team will have to decide whether it’s convincing enough to keep in the final take.

“Beautiful,” once again, Bellamy adlibs, but he’s good at that, mostly because he has such a strong sense of Julian. Then he moves up her body to kiss her deeply, and when Jaha yells ‘CUT!’ it clearly takes all of his willpower to stop. Pulling back, he mimics ‘Later’ like a promise; his dark eyes alight with sparks.

***

Later in her dressing room, Clarke is alone and has just pulled out a Hershey’s cookies and cream bar as a reward for her sweet tooth when Bellamy walks in, hands buried in his pockets. A smile is blooming on her lips when she turns around to face him.

He starts, “You should improvise more. I know that’s usually my thing, but you’re really good at it.”

Feeling heat rush to her face at the compliment, Clarke admits, “Well, I’m not actually used to faking orgasms… I’ve only ever done it once.”

His brow furrows, and it’s most likely because of their five-year-long friendship that she understands why without having to ask. Therefore, she clears her throat, blushing harder. She feels like a teenager. “Not with you. I have an ex-boyfriend that I only slept with once before we broke up, and he really failed at getting me off.”

“Do you want me to get you off?”

“You just did,” she replies, her sassiness colliding with his bluntness in a way that makes him laugh. It’s her favorite sound, even better than jazz on a Sunday morning or a rainstorm pounding against her window…

“No. Julian got Cassandra off. We should celebrate. Jassandra’s canon, after all. ”

There are countless things wrong with having your co-stars head between your legs; especially it’s in an unlocked dressing room… Whatever. It’s too late to be sensible now, and if being sensible means that she can no longer date or have sex with Bellamy, she is choosing to be foolish.

“Oh, the things we do for fun,” she thinks out loud, the words emerging at the edge of a moan. Bellamy’s tongue is always able to give her earthquake-like orgasms that cause tremors to run through her body, the best of aftershocks. Laughing, she pulls him up to kiss the bronze stars on his forehead.

“Do you think we should tell the others about us?”

Her heart swells. This is getting really serious for him, too. “Yeah. When the time is right.”

***

As it turns out, the time is right on the night where the episode airs on national television, and Clarke has decided to invite the entire gang over to celebrate and watch live. Just when the love scene is about to start, Jasper mumbles around his slice of pizza, “This is my favorite part,” and everyone chuckles, but he is too fixated on the screen to notice.

Smiling a little shyly, Clarke walks to Bellamy while their friends are watching the scene unfold and sits down on his lap. Only when the scene is over, everyone turns to them (mostly because their phones are blowing up with Twitter notifications). Apparently the least shocked, Raven is the first person to make a comment, “Fucking finally. I knew all of that chemistry wasn’t there for nothing.”

“Reyes, you sound like a Twitter fangirl,” Miller notes, which earns him a pillow in the face.  

But yeah, in Miller’s defense, she actually does:

@Jassandraisreal: ASDFHDISNVJ BITCH I AM ON THE F L O O R. WHAT THE FUQ? #Jassandra #EmbersTV #507

@AmeradasJulian: SHE CAME… SHE CAME!!!111!!! WHEN WILL YOUR OTP EVER? I HAVE ASCENDED #Jassandra #EmbersTV #i am deceased

@Embersfan125: How is it possible to be so alive and so fucking dead at the same time?? I blame @EmbersTV @TheTheloniusJaha @ClarkeyG & @BellamyBlake #EmbersTV

However, this is nothing compared to the amount of keysmashes and exclamation points in the tweets following Bellamy’s announcement 18 months later:

BELLAMY BLAKE: ‘YES, IT’S TRUE. CLARKE AND I ARE ENGAGED.’

Fans all over the world have lost it. As @Jassandraendgaame on Twitter so eloquently puts it: “WE NEVER FUCKING LOSE BITCHES!”

[wetookanoath]

Yesterday, I was wondering how this time they didn’t do a like Q&A for this season, but they disappoint me and did this out of fucking nowhere today. Thank you for my life, boys.

Look at them, I love them! They are so handsome!

Ghoul HQ, “you look like my parents trying to go live” true. Also love them accepting their dadness in this.

Today in Shane thinks weird ways to die are cool: Eaten By Birds.

The only camera man for them in my heart is TJ, so... “He’s a very... stoic man” “I’ve seen him smiling” “It looks like a struggle” LMAO.

I love Shane’s hair. And I love how fucking big Ryan’s arms are, I’m fucking dying, holy shit. Crush me in those biceps, sr.

“Ryan you have something on your teeth” OH YOU LIARS, also jdnsndskdmkdsdmkf. Shane realizing he is staying alone in the room, lmao. “LET’S HEAR YOUR BEST HOTDAGA QUESTIONS”, I love him.

HotDaga coming back this week, baby! Also, Shane saying “we’re back, baby” does a lot of things to me.

GUYS, stop asking them the same question. They have talked a lot about what their favorite location has been. Enough. But yaass, New Orleans has good jazz, check out their jazz.

These guys sure have a lot of Bad Food experiences during their trips, oh my god.

Well, I think it’s p obvious the story part of the show is writen down and the rest of it it’s... just what happen while they walk into location, Shane’s reactions are all real. Remember he knows shit about the case until he listens to Ryan’s script.

I kinda agree with Shane in this, “I woke up” stuff is kinda-- I don’t know. Also, I know some folks have been worried that others think Shane presents as disrespectful to people who believes, and this is a good time to say that he doesn’t and he is not. As said by him and supported by Ryan in this moment, he is not.

“And one of my fave characters is dead” oh my god, I’m sure they are talking about Infinity War, but these two-- oh my God, their faces just CHANGED. They are such dads, don’t do that to them, pals, they seriously care.

Ryan smiling at Shane live is the reason I wake up this morning it seems. Oh, look at Shane looking at Ryan, that’s the other reason I woke up today.

Every time I see Shane talking about videogames and Ryan going ?, all I can think about is @void-bee‘s fanart for the crack AU with Gamer Shane and Beauty Guru Ryan.

Heart Monitors and Shane goes immediately THAT’S A GOOD DIEA, he’s so excited-- freakin’ demon, you want us to see you seriously are just standing there humoring Ryan or what.

Guys, save me from this hell of getting Emotions out of the way Shane smirks while Ryan is saying he has gotten a little braver, and the way Ryan laughs about it while looking at Shane smirking, like... save me.

I love their laugh. I love seeing them laughing together.

A WHAT STOLE A BABY? Okay, I need to get from under my rock my often. Also, Shane going immediatelly to “that’s devastating” is such a mood.

The fact that they don’t know if TJ and the rest of their crew are boogaras or shaniacs is amazing, lmao. 

Ryan looking at Shane to confirm he agrees with him every single time is everything.

I love Shane’s jacket.

Hey guys, remember when we thought Shane was possessed but it turned out he had some bad food? Shane making fun of himself with the bad hotdogs story is such a mood, and the fact that Ryan will never let go of it it’s jdnsufdi. I love a friendship.

That’s a good quesiton, facebook person-- if Ryan would still be a skeptic if the toothpaste hadn’t fallen. But yeah-- I guess it was the whole trip that convinced him, that little thingy falling was just the cherry on top. Also-- the way turned on by itself? My english sucks today, it seems. I didn’t understand.

Shane talks about that day in the Queen Mary like if he was there and that’s... such Foolish Mortal mood. Also, I’m sure he knows Ryan’s pals by now, and that’s pretty cool, too.

Oh, God-- stop. The discourse is coming again, I can feel it. But also, the fact that these two seriously appreciate their co-worker should be enough for your people to shut up a little, holy shit.

Look at them roasting poor Steven and agreeing Andrew would be like :l all the time in location. How about you invited both to it? Please?

Bragging the boys with popcorn seems to be the answer to everything. Also, that story of Ryan looking at pictures of popcorn while with his friends, oh my God. How obssessed can you be? HOLY SHIT.

Space Invaders is a great movie, by the way. Is a lot of fun. It’s ridiculous, but fun.

Yeah, please bring in Jeff Goldblum. Can you imagine weird yet hot as fuck Goldblum with weird yet hot as fuck Shane? I want that.

I love the fact that Ryan doesn’t get scared with scary attractions and scary movies because all our fanfics are inacurate, so we need to start writing something else. But also-- it fuels that one headcanon, you all know which one I’m talking about 👀

Going again with looking at Shane to see if he agrees with what he’s saying. Mood.

“Yeah, I was. I feel comfortable to be out in the forest” he is, in fact, Bigfoot.

“Would you consider coming back to Mexico?” LOOOOOOK AT THE BEAUTIFULLLLL SIIIIGHT OF VALIDAAAATIOOOOOON. “Yeah, like go there-- I can touch, like, a bunch of my own culture.” LA VALIDACIÓOOOOON, ES TAN BUEEENAAAA. On your fucking ugly ass racist face, anons!

I love how much they hate the Island of the Dolls because I love that place so much, I feel so comfortable in that place and its story is resonates so much with me and the story of my cochina af city, it’s amazing. I’m gonna send me pictures of Alicia just to fuck with them.

Ryan confirming they do search for places where they can do more than the investigation, jdsnmknjdskmnj.

Can’t wait for this Post Mortem, seems like we are going to have a lot of things coming, dnsknfir. Included the Hotdaga, lmao.

PACKAGE!!!!!! What did you guys sent them now? I love you all.

They answered where they weren’t going to ever in the last live Q&A actually. Also, my boys respecting cultures and people’s struggles. I love them.

Glad you guys know how funny you look with all the gear you carry around. Also, WE NEED BEHIND THE SCENES OF THESE THINGS, COME ON. They need to do this at least ONCE, they must look Aesthetically Nice gearing up.

@ BuzzFeed give my mans money so they can keep travelling outside the USA.

Ah, the spirit box tweet. You guys say Ryan’s face is smug and therefore it must be real, but honestly? No, that’s not smug. He looks done. I’m even more sure than before that is bullshit. That “okay...”, yeah no-- it’s bullshit. Poor Ryan, save him from this demon.

We have hear the holy water story three times, guys... the same questions... ask other things, please.... Also, lmao, Father Thomas Mention(tm). Drink every time the boys mention Father Thomas in the Q&As.

“I hope we can get back in touch with him” “Yeah, I’m sure he is very disappointed in us” totally. I wonder if Father Thomas knows he is a meme in our fandom and recurrent character in fanfics?

Honestly, I’ll watch you two talk about shit for four hours straight if I could.

“It was good times, it was good times” it sure looked like it in the instastories.

They are such dads. I love them.

[jobethdalloway]

CLEXACON RECAP omfg

bc this needs to go somewhere & @mnhooch was kind enough to ask. tried to bold some highlights bc this is basically a long-ass diary entry ramble haha

-the first thing I went to was a panel called “Gaysian: Queer Asian Representation in the Media” with 4 incredibly rad/funny/super smart folks. Really enlightening convo on finding bits and pieces of characters who don’t look like/sound like you to relate to. A highlight: the first question was asking them if there are any queer Asian characters in the media they related to growing up and the last one said “Well, of course, Mulan” and there was like this loud “MMMMMM yeahhhh” that like rippled through the audience. Pressed to clarify which Mulan: “THE CARTOON one, come on”

-the moderator for the LGBTQ Actress panel was hilarious and the women on it were all wonderful so it was great to get to hear from them/learn about them but for me it was ALL ABOUT STEPHANIE BEATRIZ OMMMMMMGGG. Seeing how bubbly she is irl is a good reminder of how solid her performance is as Rosa like dang. Highlight: Stephanie tearing up talking about how much it meant to her to read the dialogue “I’m bisexual,” laid clearly and deliberately, in the script where Rosa come out 

-SO MANY STUNNING BUTCHES EVERYWHERE??? omg. also it was just really cool to be in a space with so many women and nb folks. Pretty much every other gay-anything I’ve tried to go to has been 98% cis gay guys so this was like huge in a way I wasn’t anticipating

-OLDER WOMEN WHO’VE BEEN WAITING DECADES FOR GOOD REPRESENTATION, and they were there, and they love the shows we love and it warmed my heart. Also people came from around the globe for this and that was so cool

-AMAZING COSPLAYERS!!! Faves: 2 people dressed as Valkyries, Xena & Gabrielle, and too many gorgeous Alex Danvers(...es) to count

-saw a group of short documentaries, some of which were like ok but there were 2 great ones - butch coyolxauhqui (x) (about a butch learning to love her body with the help of her mother & an Aztec goddess) and a place in the middle (x) (about a Hawaiian child reclaiming traditional notions about gender from an awesome teacher)

-an awesome panel on butch representation in the media! Wish more people could’ve made it to that one. Such an important reminder that there is soooo far to go. Good introspection about internalized lesbophobia (”cured” tomboys in kid movies; butches being the lesbian equivalent of effeminate men where the stereotype is what our internalized phobia wants to get away from instead of embracing as we should)/the fact that it’s a stereotype but still like never seen?? and if it is seen, is usually negative. sigh.

-a panel on sapphic fanfic! Which was actually really inspiring and makes me want to get back into writing. Because I love it. I love writing, you guys.

DAY 2? ALREADY OMG

-started off the day in the way, way back of the auditorium for the Wayhaught panel which was so much fun! Kat & Dom are too adorable for words. Highlight: Kat’s response when asked about her thoughts on things like fanart/fanfic. idk, it was really heartwearming/inspiring. Something along the lines of, “this character may look like me but it’s the spirit of Nicole that matters, and the spirit belongs to all of us, not just me” ergo she sees fanart and sees Nicole, not herself. No single person/entity owns the character. idk that was just a really awesome thing to hear an actor say 

-short comedies!! Sadly I had to duck out of this one early, but I loved 2 of the ones I saw here - a USC thesis (trailer) and a hilarious/touching one by a Philippine filmmaker called “salamagan” that unfortunately I can’t find online anywhere

-CHYLER LEIGH. CHYLER LEIGH, HOLY SHIT. This was like. The most moving Q&A I think I’ve ever been able to experience. As I was sitting there, it really registered with me how shitty it felt to have to put up with actresses (not just a certain 2) for years who were ashamed - vocally and specifically - of fans like us. Not for being over-zealous, but being queer and having queer feelings and seeking validation. How shitty it felt to have those actresses make fun of us on talk shows; make us feel gross/stupid/deluded/embarrassing for feeling the way we did & thus perpetuating internalized fears and shame in abundance. I know there are plenty of actresses who are truly great allies and who care about their LGBTQ fans, but Chyler like ... is so engaged?? She was so emotional and you can see that she gets it, she does not take her responsibility lightly and she is wonderful. I was also reminded of the distinction between seeing ourselves/hearing ourselves in media. bc i’m white, I do get to see queer characters who look like me more and more on TV/the movies (certainly more than I was a kid), but Alex is the first(/only?) one who I’ve really heard myself in and that feels significant Highlight: I got to ask her a question! And I was the last one they had time for so phew. Here’s a link to the whole panel, set to start at my question *^^ (but I definitely recommend watching the whole thing the next time you have an hour to spare) (I MADE HER LAUGH. Kinda hard to make out what I said at the beginning, which is, “oh wow, lesbians are short” bc I’m almost 6′ tall and the mic stand was very very low) (I WAS TREMBLING THE WHOLE TIME Y’ALL) 

-highlight: a DELIGHTFUL/wonderful feature called “Signature Move” (trailer). You want a good lesbian movie? HERE’S A GOOD LESBIAN MOVIE!!! Nobody dies, no lesbians have to date men, one of the leads is a butch Pakistani-American and the other is Mexican-American and we see their complicated/beautiful relationships with their mothers and it’s FUNNY AS HELL and the leads are HANDSOME AND BEAUTIFUL AS HELL and it needs all the viewers

-highlight: I got to meet @thefootlightclub and @missmaclay after years of being tumblr buddies!! They are both delightful/amazing people and it was so fun to like, fangirl irl with people. And since I went to this con alone, it was really cool to get to talk to other people about it, haha. They introduced me to some awesome peeps including the lovely @amyroot! Thanks y’all for being so friendly and welcoming me in. Also @thefootlightclub and I talked about how June Allyson should totally have a massive lesbian following bc Jo March and that voice, amirite #imright

DAY 3 OH NO THE WEEKEND IS ENDING

-really sad short films today!! Most of them not great, but there was one that wove in Mrs Dalloway and that was pretty cool/I was stunned to see that the cinematographer was a childhood friend of mine! Who is Mormon! And apparently worked on a film about lesbians! He’s a cool guy and that was a fun surprise. One of the films was pretty powerful and gave me AYLT feels (if my epilogue had been depressing AF) (trailer)

-there was a panel called “empowerment through fandom,” which was nice but pretty much wound up being for Earpers. Validating to know one of the panelists was a reporter and it’s like aha okay this stuff is for people in all walks of life/professions/ages. Validating all around. 

-I wandered around the vendor booths and picked up a couple of pins/postcards. So many talented people! Probably just as well that I didn’t look too hard at this stuff until the last day bc stuff was sold out and I probably would’ve spent $$ I didn’t have on some of these rad shirts/posters haha

-went to a panel on Queer Films, which I kind of thought would be more of like a presentation/discussion on the history of films but it was more about how to get them made/how hard it is to do that. The panelists and moderator were great, though, and had some great insights. Specifically, the producer of “Elena Undone” (which I admit I could not finish but deeply wanted to like) talked about how you have to do the best with what you have bc sometimes you just can’t raise the money you want/need to get the film you’d really like bc people don’t like to finance lesbian films and that was kind of humbling to keep in mind

-rounded it all out by watching DEBS, obviously one of the greatest films of all time. Highlight: there were a lot of older women at the con, which was really wonderful to see, and 2 of them were sitting behind me. One said to the other, “I wasn’t sure I was going to come to this but these kids downstairs said ‘oh you totally have to go.’ Well, one said, ‘you “totes” have to,’ which I took to mean ‘totally.’” It was great to hear them laughing behind me the whole time! WHAT AN ICONIC MOVIE. 

-I got to eat at Cafe Rio which is always ALWAYS A PLUS

Anyway, wow, what a fantastic weekend. I feel so, so lucky that I was able to go and meet so many amazing people and hear so many amazing people and be surrounded by the love. I never ever thought I’d go to a con - not for any condescending reason, just bc I never thought there was enough I’d ever be interested in to make it worth attending. But this? Wow. Tailor-made for me - for so many of us. If I had a wish then it would be that we could all go to Clexacon next year!

/is it next year yet 

[nickireadstfc]

The King’s Men, Chapter 7 – In Case Of Zombie Apocalypse, Grab Your Racquets And Run

In which the saga of Gays On Rooftops continues, everyone is too sassy to handle, I cry at some beautiful Andrew/Renee normalcy, and Andreil are Andreil.

Sounds good? Then it’s time for Nicki to read The King’s Men.

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, I had always heard of The Rooftop Scene™ from fandom, but oh, had I been a fool to assume there was just one of them.

Lads, we’re back to being in high places we shouldn’t be, and we’re in for a fun time.

             “Give me one good reason to not push you off the side.”

             Neil shook a cigarette stick out and lit it. “I’d drag you down with me. It’s a long way down.”

Two sentences into this conversation, and Neil is already being a sassy little shit.

Now this is the content I signed up for.

             “I hate you. (…) Ninety percent of the time the very sight of you makes me want to commit murder. I think about carving the skin from your body and hanging it out as a warning to every other fool who thinks he can stand in my way.”

             “What about the other ten?” Neil asked.

Perceptive little dude, look at you! Actually noticing stuff Andrew says, I’m so proud.

Also, I’m hoping this was a rhetorical question, because if not I may take my “perceptive” back.

             “I warned you not to put a leash on me.”

             “I didn’t,” Neil said. “You put that leash on yourself when you told me to stay no matter what. Don’t be mad at me just because I was smart enough to pick up the other end of it.”

I want it to please be known that I am resisting about 20 kinky leash jokes right now.

Thankfully, Andrew waltzes on with the conversation before I can utter any.

Good boy.

             “I don’t think it was the money (…) why they chased you so long. I imagine at some point they realized it was far more important to hurt you than to recoup anything they’d lost.”

             “So you stay, but you still won’t hit me.”

Neil has become being such a sassy shit to Andrew, I can’t even tell you how much I’m loving this.

Homeboy takes no shit from no one anymore.

             Despite Andrew’s unfriendly words, his expression and tone were calm. He said these things like they meant nothing to him. Neil didn’t know if it was a mask or the truth. Was Andrew hiding that rage from Neil or from himself? Maybe the monster was buried until Neil crossed another unforgiveable line.

And of course, Neil being Neil, he instantly searches for that line exactly.

Neil and Andrew, pretty much.

             “Good,” Neil said at length. (…) “I want to see you lose control.”

Damn right you do, honey.

             Neil feigned confusion as he got to his feet. “Am I bothering you?”

             “Beyond the telling.”

             “Interesting,” Neil said. “Last week you said nothing gets under your skin.”

OOOHHHHHHHHHH.

Neil, my boy my dude my homie, you are on FIRE today.

Neil mic-drops out of the conversation and gets off the roof – only to be immediately thrown to the ground by the angrier, more vocal version of Andrew.

After several people are needed to wrestle Aaron and Neil free from each other, we find out what exactly has our second favourite twin’s orange boxers in a twist:

             “Katelyn’s refusing to see me or talk to me until Andrew and I get counselling.”

DAMN, GIRL.

I knew Katelyn was badass, but this has just propelled her to the very top of the Takes No Shit Charts.

KATELYN YOU WONDERFUL TOUGH HEADSTRONG ORANGE SUNSHINE, LET ME LOVE YOU.

             Nicky’s jaw dropped, but it sounded more admiring than anything. “Damn, Neil.”

Same, Nicks.

             Aaron shot him a livid look. “Don’t you dare take his side.”

             “Why not?” Nicky asked. “It’s not like you ever let me take yours.”

Shots have been fired, tea has been spilled, Aaron has been thoroughly shut up.

What is up with this team and sassy remarks today, you guys. Wonderful.

Neil reunited with Dan’s crowd, who immediately begin questioning the previous violent (and also German) exchange, as any sane person would do.

             “What the hell is going on?”

             “I’m doing what you asked me to do,” Neil said. “I’m fixing them. (…) If a bone isn’t healing straight, you have no choice but to break it. They’ll be fine.”

Neil has been taking metaphor style notes from Andrew, apparently.

             Matt leaned against the doorframe and arched a brow at Neil. “That’s not exactly reassuring. From you ‘fine’ could mean anything from ‘I’m going to hitchhike across the state’ to ‘I’m beaten to a bloody pulp but I can still hold a racquet’.”

Damn, Matt.

This squad is not messing around today.

Matt, Dan and Allison play a fun goodnight game of Getting Drunk Off Their Asses, and while Neil and Renee clean up the mess afterwards, they have a lil talk about y’know, boys.

             “Thank you,” she said, “for reaching him when I couldn’t.”

This just in: I still love Renee, thank you for asking.

Renee confirms what we kind of knew already: When Andrew started watching Kevin and the monsters’ backs, Renee was tasked with watching those of the rest. She even offered to take Neil when he arrived, bless her heart. But of course, we know how quickly Andrew snatched Neil’s dramatic ass up into his crew.

             “That being said, I tried taking you off his hands at one point.” When Neil looked at her in surprise, Renee affected an innocent look that for once was not entirely convincing. “Andrew refused on the grounds he wouldn’t wish you on anyone except a mortician.”

             “Drama queen,” Neil muttered.

First off – lmao @ Andrew for being the drama queen we treasure him for, and lmao @ Neil for finally commenting on it.

But second – how am I to interpret that not-convincing innocent look? Did she just wanna protect Neil from Andrew and now feels about it, for not trusting her friend enough? Or does she know about Andrew’s, ahem, possible ulterior motives?

I’m betting on the latter. As if Andrew doesn’t talk to her about his crushes during their BFF sleepovers. As if.

In order to avoid his teammates’ bad spirit about, well, everything at the moment, when it comes to warm-up on the court the next day, Neil – surprise! – joins Renee and Andrew on their jog.

A lil wholesome conversation will go a long way, folks, even if that long way just goes around the Court walls.

And what does my favourite Brotp in this universe do on their mighty distinguished Break Walks?

They discusss hypothetical WWIII scenarios.

LOVELY.

Seriously, I love this. This is exactly the kind of wholesome normal best-friends-havin-a-chat content I signed up for, and I can’t believe my poor heart is finally getting what it deserves.

Neil is equally delighted by the Goalie BFFs’ choice of debate subject, and his thirsty ass is immediately back the next day.

And it gets better – today, it’s zombie apocalypses.

ZOMBIE APOCALYPSES.

             Surviving on the run was Neil’s forte, and it was interesting to see how his priorities compared with theirs. Renee stressed the importance of collecting survivors, which Andrew shot down immediately.

Because of course she did, because of course he did.

I LOVE THIS.

Every single thing about this is gold and I want a billion fanarts.

             Neil wondered what he would do if an invasion really happened. (…) Chances were it’d be instinctive to abandon all of them if the undead put in a ravenous appearance. It wasn’t exactly an uplifting realization, but Neil could accept the ugly truths about himself.

This, this is so important to me. Neil isn’t magically over his entire upbringing now that he’s got friends, he’ll maybe always have these instincts his mother put in him, but he’s coming to accept this about himself. He’s being open and honest with himself, even if it means addressing bad emotions and bad truths and really man have I mentioned I love Neil Josten recently.

In other news: Renee is apparently texting buddies with Jean now!

And I’m p sure they allowed outside contact with the Foxy Orange Scum beneath their Holy Feathery Feet, so Jean is probably breaking a billion laws (and maybe risking a few fingers) sending memes to Renee, so props to you, my man. You have my approval to be engaging in contact with my fave sweetheart.

Neil is equally on board with this.

             “I’m hoping she can weaking his blind loyalty.” Neil thought about it a moment longer, then said, “Maybe that’s why Matt stopped betting on the two of you?”

This is either Neil being the oblivious fuck that we know and treasure, or Neil poking the bear.

Either way, good shit right there if I do say so myself.

To close this chapter off – we’re in for another Prime Andreil Deep Talk. This time featuring: Money!

             “It isn’t charity,” Neil said. “It’s revenge. It wasn’t my money in the first place, remember? I told you my father skimmed it from the Moriyamas. If you take some for your car, you’re making Riko fix what his fans destroyed.”

Can your stolen money also fix Riko’s attitude, asking for a friend.

             “Revenge is a motivator only for the weak-willed,” Andrew said.

             “If you believed that you wouldn’t be planning on how to kill Proust.”

OHHHH burn. Did I mention I’m here for Neil Take No Shit Josten lately?

Also yikes. Almost forgot about that guy.

I’m intrigued to see whether he actually appears in this book.

Andrew retaliates this comment by blowing a fuckton of smoke in Neil’s face, which Neil retaliates by breaking Andrew’s cigarette.

Actual fucking children, I tell you.

             “You bought the last car with someone’s death. You can buy this one with someone’s life – my life. That money was going to buy my next name when I ran away from here. Thanks to you I don’t need it anymore.”

Yeah, hi, if anyone needs me I’ll be subtly crying in a corner.

             “Make a new deal with me. (…) What would you give me?” Neil asked.

             “Don’t ask questions you already know the answer to.”

             Neil frowned at him, lost, but Andrew didn’t waste his breath explaining.

Ah yes, and here we are back again with Neil being an oblivious idiot. Jeez, boi.

Ily, but use ya brain.

Mirculously, Neil does, but quite differently than I expected him to – he convinces Andrew to give up cracker dust.

Nice, I guess. One addiction less. Kind of anticlimactic, though.

Next!

             Andrew thought it over a minute, then flicked his cigarette at Neil. It singed the material where it bounced off his shirt. (…)

             “I’m going to take your temper tantrum as a yes,” Neil said.

The sass does not stop, you guys.

Wonderful.

If you like what I do here and you want me to continue writing fun things for you, why not buy me a coffee? Every lil bit helps, getting me through uni and all that jazz. Thanks so much!

[avatarrewatch]

Hello and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Ba Sing Se so far. I am your host Joo Dee. Remember, everyone is safe. There is no war in Ba Sing Se. Today we watched the following episodes in “Book 2: Earth.” We will also be watching the same episodes tomorrow (Sunday, March 18, 2018) at the same time.

2.13 

The Drill 

With the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, Azula, Mai and Ty Lee (whom I will dub “the Trio” moving forward) arrive in Ba Sing Se with the Fire Nation military and The Drill the episode is named for. This drill was created to penetrate Ba Sing Se’s impenetrable wall. Ba Sing Se’s General Sung seems to be so comforted by the presence of the wall, that it takes him no time at all to tell Aang that the Avatar is not needed, but the Gaang is not dissuaded. Aang, Katara and Sokka successfully sneak into the the drill to damage it from the inside. While Toph, refusing to be without her bending, commits to slowing down the drill from the outside. The Gaang encounters the Trio and a fight ensues with Aang showing off the earthbending he’s most recently learned. It was pretty impressive! Oh, and Momo got to save the day! I knew I always liked Momo for a reason. It’s not just because he’s cute. The Gaang escapes the Trio and the drill is successfully stopped.

Lee and Mushi (or otherwise known as Zuko and Iroh, respectively) arrive in Ba Sing Se as well. You’d think they were following the Avatar or something! But no, actually, Iroh’s White Lotus contacts decided since the pair are practically refugees, that Ba Sing Se would be ideal for them. Iroh flirts with a ticket seller to get into Ba Sing Se, while Jet (and his wheatgrass!) jeatgrass.tumblr.com flirts with Zuko to try and get him to join the new reformed Freedom Fighters. That’s right folks! Since the last time we saw Jet, he has decided to change his ways and only do what’s right. Let’s see if he’ll live up that goal.

2.14  

City of Walls and Secrets  

We see the Gaang on an earthbending operated train travelling to the inner wall. They meet me! Joo Dee. I introduce them as their guide and waive off any attempts the Gaang make to meet the Earth King. Because of course, “one doesn't just pop in on the Earth King.” How laughable! We meet the Dai Li (cultural authority of Ba Sing Se) and its leader Long Feng when Toph and Katara dress up like high society girls to sneak into a party in order to meet the Earth King. In the meantime, Aang and Sokka manage to sneak into the party as busboys. We see Bosco for the first time as he voraciously attacks the food in front of him. Long Feng takes the Gaang aside and tells them that the Earth King doesn’t have time to get involved in “political squabbles and the day to day minutiae of military activities. What’s most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se.” It is the Dai Li that oversees the military and other resources. The Gaang are warned that they will be watched very closely to make sure they don’t mention the war to anyone lest they be expelled from the city and be unable find Appa.

Jet, knowing Zuko and Iroh are Fire Nation after spotting evidence of Iroh firebending, starts obsessively spying on the two. Zuko and Iroh start working in a tea shop. After repeated attempts to catch Zuko and Iroh firebending fail, Jet decides to attack them at the tea shop in an attempt to force at least one of them to use their firebending. Iroh cleverly insists that Jet is just confused, everyone else comes to the conclusion that Jet is violently crazy and Jet gets taken in by the Dai Li. He is brainwashed to believe: "There is no war within the walls. Here we are safe. Here we are free."

2.15

The Tales of Ba Sing Se 

Katara decides to take Toph on a girls day out. After putting on some makeup and taking a stroll, they walk onto a bridge where some girls make fun of their makeup. Toph, ever unwilling to put up with such behaviour, earthbends them into the water. Katara then comforts her friend. I’m glad these two are actually getting along.

Aang, while looking for Appa, sees the state of the animals living in a poorly funded zoo and decides to free them. He causes a massive havoc and ruins the cabbage man’s cabbages again. At least that rabbaroo got to eat though! Aang forces the guards to open the gates and quickly makes a nice habitat for the zoo animals which the zoo keeper thanks him for.

Someone tries to mug Iroh. Iroh, being Iroh, corrects his stance and gives him some life advice. The mugger graciously thanks him and commits to seeking his goal of being a masseur. Just Iroh things! Iroh honours his son’s death as the entire membership of the Avatar Rewatch cries with him.

Zuko gets asked out on a date by a girl named Jin. I rather like her. Unfortunately for Zuko, he makes quite a few awkward and rather gauche moves. The two still end up kissing, but Zuko very quickly decides after that it simply cannot work between them. So sad. But I guess Mai is happy with this decision.

Momo gets chased around by some felines and does some impromptu street dancing before getting locked in a cage beside the same felines. He very easily escapes, and decides to graciously free his former pursuers.

2.16

 Appa’s Lost Days 

We see Appa being captured by sandsailers and sold to a circus. The animal trainer mistreats Appa, but he bonds with a little boy that feeds him. Appa manages to escape during a show after performing a few tricks. He searches for his air nomad with no luck as he retraces his steps. We are shown a flashback of Appa and Aang meeting for the first time as youngsters. And we see that Appa and Aang are thinking of each other throughout the night. Appa goes through so many hard times with humans and other animals, he grows defensive of anyone that may harm him. Suki and the other Kyoshi warriors find a hungry, dirty and injured Appa. After the Kyoshi Warriors take care of him for a little while, and gain Appa’s trust, the Trio attacks. Appa manages to escape with the Kyoshi warriors help.

Fanart

Joo Dee:

http://superootoro.tumblr.com/post/90039544929/joo-dee-was-scary-as-shit-old-one-from-2010

http://sailortenchi.tumblr.com/post/161387243649/joo-dee-brought-to-you-by-a-collaboration-with-my

http://airbenderbabe.tumblr.com/post/109199937761/hello-my-name-is-joo-dee-i-have-been-given-the

Fancy Earth Kingdom Toph: http://korraquality.tumblr.com/post/79851806814/made-a-fancy-earth-kingdom-toph-to-go-with-the

Appa: http://raphodraws.tumblr.com/post/162362518137/so-my-sister-asked-me-to-make-her-an-avatar-themed

http://biram-ba-gallery.tumblr.com/post/148396635372/book-one-water-ive-been-watching-avatar-

http://angi-pants.tumblr.com/post/168337532892/cute-appa-concept-3-yes-no

Jet: http://istehlurvz.tumblr.com/post/158382341744/i-cant-believe-i-always-come-full-circle-on-old

http://thesearchingastronaut.tumblr.com/post/171707418292/today-i-missed-atla-so-i-drew-jet-because-he-was

The Gaang: http://raphodraws.tumblr.com/post/162442066567/ok-so-after-design-no1-got-rejected-have-design

Bosco and The Earth King: http://zeddfro.tumblr.com/post/166491061201/inktober-day-16-fat-bosco-the-normal-bear

Suki: http://angi-pants.tumblr.com/post/171903584627/sneak-peak-suki-is-finally-ready-for-approval

Suki & Sokka: http://rebel-spore.tumblr.com/post/170879604308/sokka-would-so-be-all-about-valentines-day

Suki, Yue & Mai: http://puffycaveman.tumblr.com/post/120074866296/been-super-busy-lately-but-i-finally-had-some

Iroh’s tea time: https://huckdoodles.tumblr.com/post/171984618446/huckdoodles-sharing-tea-with-a-fascinating

Analysis

Caelum Blue's ATLA Episode Timeline (this is dedication!)  https://caelum-in-the-avatarverse.tumblr.com/post/171979806694/caelum-blues-atla-episode-timeline

Discord server: https://discord.gg/dtajJx3

Avatar Rewatch Calendar: http://goo.gl/NUV1Kp

(These beautiful episode title cards were created by the ever talented @ahhhsami)

[jujyfru1t]

hello my name is *yells about Furuba*

I dunno what I’m doing but I have Feelings so let me rant about them, by me.

Some of y'all may not know that Fruits Basket is my favorite series on the planet– well you do now. That comes with a caveat of favorite manga, not favorite anime (that honor goes to either Noragami or Chihayafuru, with Madoka Magica as an honorable mention). I do also love the anime dearly! But comparing them is like apples and oranges, horses of different colors, etc etc, not least because the anime was made before the manga was barely halfway through. futile hope springs eternal for a full remake. So most of my feels rant will be manga-centric although the general feels apply to the anime, and uh there may be spoilers idk it’s been out for a long time???

The first volume came out in the US five days after my *deep breath* 15th birthday. I got it for the next year’s bday present from my big sis, aaaand that was when the gates of otaku/manga hell swallowed me up (I was somehow unaware that Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh were also Japanese pop culture, go figure.) I have no memory of how I found the anime– my anime-bittorrent-whateverthefuck knowledge was nonexistent but I don’t think it was airing live. I got the box set for some Christmas but that would’ve been after I was a massive fan so *shrug*

Anyway I watched the dub first and holy hell if I wasn’t planning to marry Yuki Sohma before then I definitely was after that, thanks Eric Vale. (I still have huge love for the dub cast fight me). Yun-chan was my first 2D crush and tbqh I’m still in love with him. Also I stg he’s the whole reason why pretty boys are a Big Thing of mine. And wait omg Shigure’s first appearance?! Like, that’s probably why dudes with glasses are also My Thing wow I just blew my own mind but moving on

Fun fact I couldn’t choose between Kyoru or Yukiru bc they were both cute (present me@young me: u will realize eventually grasshopper) but I was 100% cool with Kyoru happening because of course then I could be with Yuki. Cue me dabbling in a few paragraphs of self-insert fic.

uh lemme cut this it’s becoming a novel

Random things (this whole thing is random wtf):

I was blessed enough to get my hands on the entire Tokyopop run, plus the fanbooks!!! before they shut down. I’ve been warring with myself for ages over whether to start collecting the Yen Press specials but. my resolve is weakening. I also have all of Takaya-sensei’s other stuff yeet (Phantom Dreams, Those with Wings, Songs to Make You Smile) except for Twinkle Stars which I’m def gonna get and OBVIOUSLY THE INSTANT FURUBA ANOTHER COMES OUT IM GRAB meanwhile if I remember to check out the scans

been a while since I reread it(it’ll be my third one~) but off the top of my head some favorite arcs etc are: obviously the major one at the end of vol 6. The Red Cap. Hatori and Kana (RIP ME) The Summerhouse (Jason the bear jfc). Akito’s reveal. Kyoko and Katsuya’s entire thing obviously (EXTRA RIP ME I’m crying just thinking about it). “The plum on your back” scenes. Kyo and Kyoko. THAT FIRST NEW YEAR’S WHEN YUKI AND KYO RACE BACK TO THE MAIN HOUSE BECAUSEtheir girlfriend MY DAUGHTER IS SAD AND LONELY AND THEY MAKE WISHES ON THE ROOF heck me upppp– also literally all roof scenes (karate kid Tohrutm) BUT THAT ONE HHGBNCCSV!!! Also my fav episode along with the AU-ish final 2.

Furuba fandom is my biggest fleet of ships by far which is hilarious bc I have a lot of fandoms and a lot of ships and you can see them bc i’m a derp but since nobody looks at that and nobody will read this (?) I’ma talk about them here. I DO WANT I WANT YO

but seriously I support

literally all the canon ships except HanaxShishou, pardon me Takaya-sensei but why. Wtaf.

a metric fuckton of non-canon ships bc of COURSE I DO

my low-key ships include

MomijixKagura. pairing the spares if you will XD

KaguraxTohru

RinxTohru. yes I have bi Tohru headcanons mmkay

Future!Kisa/Tohru (blame this fic)

KyoxUo.

YukixHana. all symmetrical-like (but wow i forgot i highkey shipped it for a while until…)

GurexAaya. like, come on. Also poly Mabudachi Trio

MomijixTohru. they’re super hecking cute ok, edging into high-key

my high-key ships include

HanaxUo. ok this??? is a big OTP, and 99% why I’m hella salty over HanaxShishou (at least KurenoxUo had an actual subplot!!). They are Tohru’s adoptive moms and I will forever protec (and yet. HanaxTohru and girls OT3 are also Good Ships but tbh super low-key) also I MADE SOMEONE SHIP IT

YukixTohru. see the start of this post way up there somewhere

KyoxYuki. my first rivalshiptm

HaruxYuki. “He was my first love” one cannot simply– have a character say this and not expect fans to ship. Also bi Haru is canon. lotta bi folks up in here imo

KakeruxYuki. CUTE GODDAMN DORKS WOW

But my flagship, my OTP to end all OTPs and my polyship to end all polyships in any fandom is the SS Yukyoru. KyoxTohruxYuki.

I’ve had polyship predilections for 6-7 years now, though it’s more recent I’ve started polyshipping every love triangle i encounter bc I‘m so done with them… there wasn’t really any lightning-bolt moment when I realized I shipped them much more together rather than apart. but like, I ship all three permutations so at some point my brain went HERE’S AN IDEA which tbh is how a lot of my polyships happen, i mainly have OT3s (if I ship 2 outta 3 there’s a good chance ima poly it)

but anyway! there’s absolutely no way to convey how much I adore this ship and IT’S A HUGE EMPTY YACHT I NEED CREW MEMBERS PLZ

I am building it up one fic at a time and if you’ve made it this far and have any interest at all plz read my shit and general Furuba screaming is appreciated as well of course!!! (also look at the most beautiful piece of fanart ever)

More fic! have my mixed bag of bookmarks (Sure For The Axis is my absolute fav, 2nd is Little Prayer) u can also find my Yukyoru stuff on AO3 ehehe~ and oh look HanaxUo!

and holy whoa i’m done. TLDR FURUBA IS THE BEST MANGA EVER AND YUKYORU IS THE PUREST RARESHIP EVER

THANK YOU AND GOOD NIGHT

[kyashin]

Voltron: The Fandom of You

Soooooo, hi. I want to talk about Voltron fandom, because I have some positive things to say about it. But first, I want to talk about due South.

due South is one of my favorite shows, and the fandom produced some of my favorite fan content. All around, it was a fantastic contribution to the universe. Well done, humanity.

For the uninitiated, the show is: Canadian Mountie Benton Fraser, the most upstanding and honest (and sarcastic) person imaginable, first came to Chicago on the trail of the killers of his father; and, for reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, he remained, attached as liaison officer with the Canadian Consulate. It was a buddy cop show, and for seasons one and two, his cop buddy was an Italian-American dude named Ray Vecchio. Some people shipped it.

The show was canceled, and then, after enthusiastic fan campaigning, lovingly revived for two more seasons with Paul Gross––the actor who played Fraser––at the helm as executive producer. Unfortunately, David Marciano was unable to reprise his role as Ray Vecchio, so yikes! Now what? The entire premise of this thing was “sincere Canadian Mountie and cynical American cop shenanigans”. The solution was to replace Ray Vecchio. Literally. Like...in the show.

The first episode of season three has Fraser arriving in Chicago after a vacation in Canada to find this hot blond dude with a way different accent claiming to be Ray Vecchio, who is dark-haired and different-accented and just...you know...an entire different human being. Aaand let’s skip to the end of the episode where it turns out that Actual Ray Vecchio is undercover with the mob, so this new dude is gonna pretend to be him ‘til Vecchio gets back. New dude’s name is Ray Kowalski. People also shipped that.

But the fans who’d like, worked feverishly to get their show back on the air weren’t counting on having half the duo they wanted back erased from the show. !!!!!!!!!!!

Enter the Ray Wars. (Seriously, there’s a whole thing about them on fanlore.)

And a disclaimer: I wasn’t in the fandom for the height of the rage and fury, but I did saunter in as things were winding down, and even then some of the wreckage was still smoldering. That whole kerfuffle was Fandom Infamous for a super long time––and people who’ve been in Fandom long enough definitely know the Ray Wars by name AND reputation. For years, I’d see the Ray Wars held up by others as one of the ultimate examples of “intense fans” and just how Not Good a Look fandom can make for itself.

Here’s the thing though: the Ray Wars took place in the late 90s. No social media, no widespread understanding of fandom throughout the population. Fans were, like, on mailing lists and shit. The people who created AO3 were posting fic on web hosts like Geocities and Angelfire. Some people still called the internet “the web”, AOL was the gatekeeper to the internet things for a lot of people, and fans were figuring out that we could do ~*~*~*this*~*~*~ to make our user names look super unique and cool (not that I did that, just to be real, real clear). In that time, fandoms were very, super insular worlds with very tall, very robust fourth walls separating fans from creators and actors.

And for decades, these niche-occupying fans were accustomed to consuming very heterosexual content––shows and movies and comics and video games––and then writing whole-ass essays about how you could interpret this same-sex ship as legitimate within canon if you tilted your head 23 degrees, closed one eye, ignored the heterosexual ending, and stared long enough at these four screenshots from that one scene in episode 13.

You’d see flinches of contact between Fandom and The Established Source Material Creators sometimes. but it was rare. Anne Rice, for example, haaaaaaaaates fanfiction, and she’d go to great lawyery lengths to erase all she could find of it from the internet. Generally speaking, though, creators lived over there, and fans lived here, and we didn’t have much of an opportunity to interact with each other outside of, like, letters and conventions. There were still disrespectful fans, but you had to, like, make an effort to be a direct nuisance to the cast or crew.

Also, admitting to liking “slash” fanfiction as a woman back then got you “you just like slash because you’re too jealous to imagine your favorite male characters with women” at best and “that’s disgusting” at worst. ...Eh, there was probably worse, let’s be real.

So you can imagine the reaction many of us had when Paul Gross was interviewed about due South’s upcoming third season in 1997 and said of Callum Keith Rennie, the actor who’d play Ray Kowalski, “I tell you, slash fiction is going to go crazy when they see the new guy. He is really good-looking and sexy, the dangerous side of Fraser. It will be totally homoerotic.” THESE WERE THINGS AN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SAID. IN 1997. KNOW WHAT ELSE HAPPENED IN 1997? ELLEN DEGENERES CAME OUT. AND THEN LOST HER CAREER BECAUSE OF IT FOR A LONG-ASS TIME. WILL AND GRACE WASN��T EVEN A THING YET (1998). NEITHER WAS THE ORIGINAL UK VERSION OF QUEER AS FOLK (1999).

Like, holy shit???

And the thing is? He wasn’t baiting. The show intentionally included a LOT of subtext between Fraser and Ray Kowalski, to the point where the last episode of the show showed Ray having a literal identity crisis because he could tell Fraser wanted to go back to Canada permanently and like, “who am I without him” and then the series ends with the two of them sledding into the actual sunset no I’m not exaggerating that happened WHAT EVEN WAS THIS BLESSING IN 1999.

Were they canon? Eeeeeh. Kinda? It was 1997, I’d call whatever they were groundbreaking, at least for me. And the reason I say it wasn’t baiting is because all Paul said was, “Slash fans will like this,” and many of us did. So, y’know. Truth in advertising. Well done, Paul.

AND NOW IT IS THE YEAR OF OUR QUEERS, 20gayteen, and SO MANY THINGS have changed for the better for LGBTQ folks in the last two decades. Like, Voltron fandom is WILD to me sometimes (in a fantastic way) because some of the fans are actually young enough to have been born after the AIDS crisis, after Matthew Shepard was brutally murdered, after Don’t Ask Don’t Tell––after all these horrible, devastating wounds were inflicted on our beautiful queer family. There are actually fans in Voltron who believe, without a sliver of doubt, that a same-sex pairing can and will become canon.

That’s bananas to me. That there is hope like that! Belief like that! Because I was born at the very end of the AIDS crisis and I didn’t hear the word bisexual until I was, like, twelve, let alone have enough of a support system around me to embrace that label for myself. B A N A N A S.

So of course––of course––there’s a part of me that hopes a same-sex pairing will happen in Voltron. Just thinking about how Dreamworks almost made Miguel and Tulio a canon couple in The Road to El Dorado in 2000 makes my heart twinge with disappointment. (Yes, Chel is great, but.)

See, I’m super attached to Voltron even when the writing is clearly stifled and bridled in by the people whose job it is to sell lots and lots of Voltron toys. I read klance fic and reblog VLD fanart and I have one (1) friend who also watches the show. We talk about it sometimes, and I throw fanart of Shiro at her because he’s her favorite. She doesn’t ship anything, and I am a cheerful little klance-shipping demon. I am in a fandom of two, and it’s pretty great in here.

But.

Voltron’s a lighthearted kid’s show about humans and aliens piloting mecha lions in space to save the universe from space colonialism, and while I will be dizzy with glee if a same-sex couple becomes canon in this show, I want it more for the intended audience of Voltron: kids.

I met a kid last year at Osaka Pride whose mother said, “He came home from school and told me, ‘I don’t feel like a girl or a boy,’” so this young mother brought her child to Pride to learn more about the community that her baby might belong in. And that lovely little human stayed on the fringes at first, apparently shy, until their mother told them, “Go on,” and then they spent the next ten minutes literally jogging around all the booths and beaming at everyone: the trans women in neon dresses cooing at how cute this little sunbeam was, the booth folks selling rainbow-themed merch, the couples hand-in-hand without shame or fear. And when they came back to their mom, they were completely carefree. And I thought, I wish that had been me.

And maybe it could’ve been, if every single cartoon I consumed as a child wasn’t coding gay men as villains, overtly implying that LGBT people had a direct link to actual pedophilia, and aggressively promoting heterosexual romance as The Only Acceptable Way of Love. If I’d grown up in a world where Ruby and Sapphire were on TV being happily in love every week, I might’ve realized what was in my own heart sooner than college.

So there is part of me who understands why people are so emotionally connected to the possibility of a ship like klance becoming canon. I’ve felt that urgent hope, that wild hunger, again and again and again and again in my life, and the only time I’ve ever had that hope realized in canon was in 2016 watching Viktor and Yuuri skate together in Yuri!!! on Ice. I cried. A lot.

I understand the emotion fueling the very, very bad decisions being made. In the simplest possible terms, the people who repeatedly harass the Voltron cast and crew are people who want a thing and are prioritizing getting that thing over the mental health of real people. I think it’s a symptom of internet detachment. When one is flinging words into a void, one doesn’t have to see how they’re received. Their actions––if I haven’t made it clear––are objectively harmful, and I don’t condone them.

But what I want to say––what I wrote this whole thing to say––is that Voltron isn’t a terrible fandom, and it isn’t the first fandom to have loud, overzealous fans who cross the line and make people inside and outside the fandom alike think, Yeesh they’re/we’re all lunatics. Voltron fandom is not The Worst, because I guarantee you if The Ray Wars were happening today, there’d totally be people on Twitter attacking Callum Keith Rennie directly for daring to replace David Marciano. It could have been so, so much uglier than it was, and it was already Bad.

In 1997, the fourth wall still more or less existed, and LGBT content––let alone respectful content––was scarce to say the least, so Fandom Discourse at the time remained generally contained to fan-on-fan unpleasantness. Today, that fourth wall is utterly gone, and I think all fandoms have to adapt to that and learn a whole new code of etiquette. LGBT rep is important, but there are respectful and effective ways to get it that don’t involve harassing the cast and crew. The voice actors and creators and crew of Voltron deserve basic human decency, and to be seen as people first and content creators second. It’s entirely possible for the majority of fandom to interact respectfully with the creators––it’ll just take time and patience, like most things that last.

So listen, everything’ll be fine. Try to have patience with each other. To quote a manga I’ve been translating: “There will be times in your life when you won’t be able to avoid being angry. Don’t make little things bigger than they have to be. Laugh and forgive.” Or, in this case, laugh and ignore. If you like a thing, awesome! Tell people! Or don’t! And if you don’t like something, carefully consider the consequences of what you do after you realize, I don’t like this. I don’t ship sheith at all, but for the last two years I’ve managed to leave alone the fans who do ship it and not send Shiro’s voice actor and his family angry, threatening messages. It wasn’t even difficult, guys. I just, like, read some klance fic instead.

I felt compelled to make this because I keep seeing posts from Voltron fans calling Voltron fandom a raging garbage fire and sure, there’re people playing near dry kindling with flamethrowers more than is advisable, but Voltron fans have created and will continue to create some beautiful content and friendships just for love of a show, and that’s lovely as fuck. If you’re feeling ashamed of your fandom and you haven’t done anything wrong, remember that you’re fandom, too. Keep being respectful, kind, and good. The terrible people won’t go away, but they won’t define the fandom for you unless you let them.

Be kind to each other, and things will improve.

And if anyone tells you your ship is bad, don’t talk to that person anymore, because that person probably has some dry kindling and a flamethrower.

And hey, if you’re at the end of this post and you’re like: Wow, this was way too short, and I would like to read more things this person has written, there’s always my Team Voltron-in-Japan AU. It has klance and Nyma/Allura and I enjoy writing it.

Wow, I’m hungry. Bye! :D/

[nezumionice]

undefined

HI I JUST GOT BACK FROM A STAR WARS EVENT AND IM ALREADY EXTRA EMOTIONAL BUT I WENT ON INSTAGRAM AND I SAW THIS

MY BRAIN CANT EVEN FUNCTION PROPERLY OKAY THIS IS SO MUCH MORE THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE SO HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS THAT CAREERED THROUGH MY MIND AS I WAS SCREAMING LIKE A MANIAC: (BEWARE OF LONG, INSANELY MESSY RANT POST UNDER THE CUT. AGAIN. FORGIVE ME. I AM VERY VERY TIRED. it’s been a long day.)

- i took quite a while trying to find tina because i couldn’t spot her iconic hairstyle and then i finally found her and i was like oh my GOD she looks like hope van dyne from ant man with those bangs but SHE LOOKS SO ADORABLE ANYWAYS OHMY TGWFHDGASJDHOW

- whY IS IT SO DARK LIkE EVERYONE IS IN DARk CLOTHES EVEN QUEENIE AND THIS SCARES THE SHIT OUT OF ME

- newt looks exactly the same as when we last saw him and i love it

- okay guys seriously can we appreciate tina and queenie wearing BLACK

- queenie’s hair is the bomb.com

- LOOKS LIKE WE’RE GETTING LETA X THESEUS AFTER ALL FOLKS

- IT TOOK ME A FULL MINUTE TO FIND CREDENCE IN THE CROWD BECAUSE DAMN BOI HE LOOKIN GUD

- again, holy shit THE THEME COLOURS OF THIS MOVIE IS KILLING ME I LOVE IT SO DAMN MUCH ASDFGHJKL

- who the fuck is beside credence and half hugging him because i feel like im going to end up shipping them really hard by the end of the movie

- I LOVE HOW EVERYONE IS ARRANGED HERE IT’S PRESUMABLE ACCORDING TO LOVE INTERESTS BECAUSE JAKWEENIE, (HOLY FUCKING SHIT IM SO EXCITED FOR) NEWTINA, AND THE WAY LETA AND THESEUS ARE POSITIONED LOOKS LIKE THEY’RE PRETTY CLOSE

- AND GELLERT AND ALBUS ARE LIKE OPPOSITE EACH OTHER SO IM ASSUMING THAT SYMBOLISES THEYRE BROKEN, DISTANT RELATIONSHIP HOLY FUCK

- thank god leta is pretty far away from newt

- actually it’s so interesting that newt, tina and leta’s positions form a triangle and it symbolises a love triangle between the three of them, at least until theseus steps in

- ALSO THE TRIANGLE FORMED BETWEEN NEWT, TINA AND THESEUS IS ANOTHER LOVE TRIANGLE EYYYY THIS IS INTERESTING

- oh my god yall now i am ike 200% sure we’re getting a newtina kiss in this movie which is fucking brilliant because the sooner that happens, the sooner they get married and the more newtina content will be in store for us

- ok but i have to admit leta looks fucking amazing here like her hair and her dress are like WOWOOWOW

- credence looks so much better than we last saw him he’s dressed all fancy and shit

- gellert looks so goth and swag i cannot he might as well put on a pair of shades (he reminds me of punk eleven from stranger things s2 lol)

- albus looks so fucking done with everyone’s shit

- the way leta and theseus look at each other tho dammit i think i might end up shipping them too

- my god their actions also hint at their relationship status in the movie like for example, tina looks at newt and newt doesnt see this, but when she looks away, newt looks at her and SHE misses it; that probably means that they both love each other but they think the other doesnt feel the same fUCKING HELL THAT’S SO ADORABLE

- i think we’re going to get a lot of these kind of frustrating, “oh my god just say i love you already” moments between newtina in the movie and i dont think im physically or emotionally ready for that

- OKAY I REWATCHED THE CLIP AGAIN AND HOLY FUCKING SHIT I JUST NOTICED THAT TINA HAS DRAPED HERSELF PROTECTIVELY AROUND NEWT’S SUITCASE AND THAT IS OFFICIALLY THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING IVE EVER SEEN (I AM SURE NEWT WOULD AGREE)

- the physical contact between jacob and queenie could mean an already established romantic relationship between them and i am damn sure that it’s what we’ll be seeing in the movie

- so. many. romantic. relationships. i. cannot.

- i swear the way theyre dressed looks like they’re at a funeral and i still can’t get over the fact that queenie is in BLACK wtf

- OKAY BUT THE TRANSITION AND THE SMOKEY DEATHLY HALLOWS THO

- THE TITLE REVEAL HAD ME HOLLERING MY THROAT INSIDE OUT

- words cannot express how insanely excited i am for this movie

- i guess we just upgraded from “FBAWTFT” to “FBTCOG” (well, that’s not the brightest name, but i doubt it’s a very bright movie anyway)

- “fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald”... my first thought about this is that we’re definitely going to see a shitload more badass tina on a literal witchhunt for grindelwald and his followers

- if grindelwald escapes prison, i wonder how he does it and maybe that ‘s how our heroes are brought together again??

- okay istg if tina gets hurt newt is gonna flip shit

- OKAY ISTG IF NEWT GETS HURT TINA IS GONNA CUT SOME BITCHES UP

- i had this idea some time ago that since grindelwald was trying to get credence on his side, what if he was hunting for obscurials to make an army of them so that he’d be feared through the wizarding world, since everyone is so terrified of obscurials

- WHAT IF HE ALREADY HAS A SECRET STASH OF THEM SOMEWHERE AND THAT’S HOW HE BREAKS OUT OF PRISON

- oh my god what if gellert was detained in azkaban? that would make sirius the first person to escape from there since grindelwald’s time

- YALL IF GRINDELWALD GETS TO CREDENCE AND LIKE TORTURES HIM OR USES THE IMPERIUS CURSE ON HIM TO MAKE HIM JOIN HIS ARMY BITCH ISTG I WILL STAB SOMEONE

- OMFG WHAT IF macusa knows that grindelwald has been gathering an army of obscurials, so tina and her fellow aurors were tasked to go on a mission to locate these obscurials first and protect them from his influence, AND ONE ONE MISSION TINA FINDS OUT THAT CREDENCE HAS BEEN LIKE POSSESSED OR SOMETHING AND TRIED TO KILL HER (THIS COULD ACTUALLY BE A PRETTY GOOD START TO THE MOVIE)

- imagine her being so distressed about it that she completely overworks herself on the case

- my god so since newt knew that credence was alive, tina would be like “WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME” and she’s be mad at him and CONFLICT ENSUES MMMM YESSS

- so much sweet angsty conflict gimme all of it

- or if tina just completely breaks down because she couldnt save credence or something NEWT WOULD COMFORT HER AND THERE WE HAVE A POTENTIAL SETUP FOR A KISS

- omg wait isnt there gonna be wizarding circus in this next movie? and that asian girl beside credence was one of the circus performers right??? SO WHAT IF CREDENCE WAS HIDING OUT IN THIS CIRCUS ALL ALONG?? AND HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HER OR SOMETHING??? SHIT I THINK I ALREADY SHIP IT

- what do you think is credence’s role at the circus? is he a performer? what kind? what does he do??

- just LOOKING at newt and tina makes me think of how the first kiss will go. is it a spurr of the moment kiss? a good luck kiss before tina leaves for battle? a grateful, “thank merlin you’re alive” kiss after the battle? a sweet, gentle kiss by a fireplace? a hesitant one where newt makes the first move and pulls back before tina jams her mouth to his?

- i swear we need at least one “i’m so glad you’re safe” reunion embrace between newt and tina okay holy shit

- why do i feel like we are in for a lot of pain, angst and a sprinkle of death in this movie

- but i am also 90% sure gellert will be a way more interesting villain than voldemort will ever be

- okay callum turner looks GOOD as theseus but i will never stop wishing that benedict cumberbatch should have been cast instead

- omg guys the cast is pretty representative this time like we have quite a few POCs

- this movie is going to be SUCh an emotional rollercoaster okay my heart is going to BLEED WITH IT

- it’s going to be deeper, darker, so much more dangerous and i swear i think someone is going to die i am sure of it

- i will emerge from the movie theatre with 9468363649364936400324920347207 new ships and my eyes still pooling with emotion

- wait where’s seraphina

- shit guys if she dies im going to scream

- ok but i really want tina to become like president of macusa or like seraphina’s right hand woman or something,, at least i want her to be the same rank as theseus

- then newt would have bragging rights; “my wife is the president of macusa”

- lmao i brotp ship tina and theseus i can imagine them as drinking buddies

- yall if grindelwald lays a single finger on newt’s case i am going to release all of hell on that man if tina doesn’t do it first

- lmfao i love that everyone is dressed so fancy and then there’s newt who’s just there like “hey guys i’m here in my dusty coat which you’ve seen before because this is the only thing i ever wear” and if that ain’t the most newt thing he’d do

- imagine if recycling clothes is just a bad habit newt has always had, and even after newt and tina get married, the habit is carried alonge, until eventually tina forces him to wear something different every few days because she thinks it’s gross

- imagine adorable husband and wife banters ahh

- also how will newt react to tina’s new hairstyle?

- well dumbledore doesnt look as eccentric as he does in the HP movies hmmm

- and they said he’ll be openly gay in this movie so i’m excited to see how that goes ;))

- we’re in for an interesting reunion of gellert and albus ooooo

well that’s all i have for now it’s like 12am here lmao im exhausted and i havent had dinner. i’m so excited for all the fanfics and fanart im sure some of you are cooking up based on this clip. looking forward to seeing/reading them!!!

FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ME OR SOMETHING IF YOU HAVE MORE THOUGHTS YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE, ALL COMMENTS AND OPINIONS ARE APPRECIATED :DD 

[taijimana]

Klance Fic Recs

Voltron pulled me into reading fics again so here are a few ongoing fics that I have really been enjoying. 

(Not In any particular order)

The Quiet  by MilkTeaMiku

@milkteamiku

Does he not realise he's dead?

Keith can see ghosts. As a part of his Garrison training, he's sent to a hospital to do one year of medical clerkship - it's there that he meets a charmingly irritating ghost who definitely needs to learn what boundaries are.

-Maybe I have a thing for ghost fics. There isn’t that many but the ones I have read are 100% and this is one of them.  I love that the reader is just so much more aware of what is going on than the characters in this fic but it is in no way boring. I am so excited to see how this story plays out. The idea is really interesting and I adore Lances characterization as a ghost that doesn’t quite get it.  

Hot Singles in your Area by rire

@lotorlance

“So she gave you a fake number?” “Yeah.” “And it turned out to be the number of a sex line?” “Yep.” “And then you decided jerking off was the best solution for your heartbreak?” “I guess you could put it that way.” “... And now you’re in love with a phone sex operator.”

- I started reading this for a laugh because, yeah, Smut. I thought it was going to be funny bad but damn! Smut with plot! The idea is so well written the story dragged me in(and of course the smut too). This is probably the only fic where I have read the chapters more than once.

Ignorance Is Bliss by  YouAreInAComaWakeUp (Nikanaiko)

As it turns out, learning that your house is haunted makes the ghosts a lot more aggressive. Who knew?

Ah, well. At least one of them is hot. And he's the less-evil one, too, so that's always a plus.

-Another ghost fic which is weird because I usually avoid anything involving character death. It sounded interesting so I started reading this late one very spooky quiet night and, man, did it give me chills! I have been in love with it since. The idea expanded way further than I thought it would and I pretty excited to see where this story is going.

Watercast by Fishwrites

@fishwrites

Shiro has been a Galra prisoner for over a year; with his flight feathers clipped and unable to fly. Desperate to escape, he jumps overboard while being transported to the capitol on a Galran ship. Lance is a merman who saves him from drowning. Keith thinks Shiro is about to become mermaid dinner. Hunk just wants Lance to stop going to the surface all the time, dammit!

(AU where Avians (winged folk), Galra, humans and merfolk cohabit earth. Shiro and Keith are avian soldiers, Lance is the youngest son of a Queen, Hunk is also a merman and Pidge is still looking for her family.)

-I was dragged into this by all the beautiful fanart for it. I don’t usually go for this kind of AU but it peeked my interest i didn’t disappoint at all! Unfortunately it hasn’t been updated since I started reading and I don’t know what’s happening with it. I do hope it will continue soon.

Beautiful Lies by  orphan_account

“Let's be real here Kogane; I don't like you and you don't like me and all I really want in life is to see you fail and from what I can see the feeling is obviously mutual so, how about a little bet?” Keith’s eyes narrowed as he glared at a smirking Rolo and Nyma “ What is the bet exactly?” he asked taking in the way the snickering crowd got quiet. "Keith Kogane if you take Lance McClain to prom I will step down as Captain of the Wrestling team however if you fail you have to quit The Track team." Keith thought it over in his head and then he looked at the crowd of students who were anxiously awaiting his answer. looking back at Rolo and Nyma he held out his hand.

“Deal”

-In which Keith is a little shit! But I just can’t tear myself away from that 10 things I hate about you vibe. This fic is a roller coaster ride once it hits a high and everything is great it comes crashing back down again.  I have such mixed feelings for Keith in this fic. Sometimes I just want to slap him and others I want to cry for just how horribly things go for him. Then ch13 (the only titled chapter) OMG *dies* Only a few more days left till prom this fic should be nearing it’s end and, damn, I am so looking forward to it.

[itseemsunreal]

IGNORANCE IS AS ALIVE AND WELL AS RACISM

Real talk. I am a Mexican/American female from South East Los Angeles. I grew up there and have lived in California’s Central Valley for over ten years. I have been around several races. You note the subtle truths in derogatory stereotypes, but they aren’t exactly negative. You hear the prejudices that go in every direction from every race. I live in a town near a military base, so you see and hear it all with the mix of races and cultures.

I can understand the many frustrations that begin to bubble and boil when you experience and witness racism. What’s weird is I’ve even witnessed prejudice from Mexican Americans toward native Mexicans. You get tired of hearing and experiencing this sort of thing, but that’s not even what this is about.

On Tumblr, I mostly come to find awesome comic fanart or original art in regards to comic characters because I enjoy comic roleplay. I also take a gander at other things.

I’d say it is primarily professional phtography showcasing the physical beauty that is women of color. I love candid photos. Photos of women in their native settings just being natural and beautiful. I think it is something that deserves to be celebrated and I don’t just mean Black and Latin women. I mean Polynesian. Asian and more.

Sadly, as I looked through the posts, I also came across filth. I find reposts of people on other social media mostly degrading black people. It’s enraging that this still happens. It’s infuriating that police shootings and killings are as common as they are… and against black people. It’s 2017!

Are we really looking at the Black man as the boogie man in this day and age? If he ain’t Kanye, he a criminal? He raps, so he must be a thug? He got cornrows, so that must be a weapon in his hand. POP! POP! POP!

Oh, but this racism goes both ways, you see. I saw a blog on here literally called WhiteLivesDontMatter. The tagline? Whiteness is a Plague.

What kind of ignorant shit…

So, you mean to tell me that two wrong make a right all of a sudden? That somehow the state of racial affairs is far worse than they were in the sixties and you feel entitled to let such filth out?

Let me remind y'all. Mexicans were literally thrown out of their homes in Los Angeles to build a stadium. They were framed for several murders in the Zoot Suit era. African Americans, Blacks, whatever is the more acceptable term, were hosed down and attacked by dogs. Lynched. Burned. Raped.

This generation takes that and uses it as entitlement to spread their own hate. Why? The people that actually experienced this faced it with more integrity than these young folks have.

Like I said, racism is out there, but what good outcome can you tell me came about by fighting hate with hate? What are you really doing other than making yourself a hypocrite and taking away from the seriousness of this issue? What are you actually doing for the betterment of this issue? You don’t put out a fire with more fire. Fuck is wrong with y'all?

I am absolutely involved with a Black man and I fear the day when we finally get the, “A Black woman isn’t good enough for you?” I’ve heard that so many times before and fortunately it hasn’t been directed at me. I hope that should the Lord bless us with babies, they are embraced by those they meet and aren’t harassed because their parents married outside their race.

I’m so tired of people being judged by the color of their skin or grouped in with other people because of the color of their skin. If we all hold ourselves to the standard our elders held for themselves as individuals, we might all get along better and race wouldn’t be as much of a focus. If we embraced our differences instead of perpetuating prejudice, who knows what an even better world to Iive in this might be.

[nickireadstfc]

The Raven King, Chapter 16 - I Got Scars, They're Multiplying

In which Neil needs protection, hugs, soft kisses and everything good in the world, and Riko needs to die in a fire pit.

Sounds good? Then it's time for Nicki to read (and finish) The Raven King.

Here we are. Last chapter of The Raven King - and what a wild ride that one was. We saw more plot than ever before, more sass than we could handle, and more gut-wrenching shock than we liked.

Let's finish this off, shall we?

          [Neil] rubbed his eyes with gloved hands and regretted it immediately. The gloves hid his bandages but did nothing for the pain.

So apparently, Neil wakes up in the airport - with no memory of how he got there, but instead with a body that feels like it had a nice time fighting with a lawn mower.

Only that the lawn mower had twice the usual amount of blades, was extra mean, and could also, like, spit fire or something.

Also, Neil lost.

          For a moment, Neil was baffled that [the airport gate announcement] wasn't in French. He'd spent so much time with Jean he'd forgotten any other language existed.

Neil is also weirdly confused at the absence of Jean. Having spent two - three? - weeks metaphorically chained to each other does that to you, probably.

I still don't like Jean, just so clarify that from last chapter. Maybe he grows on you some more next book and then I'll see the light, but so far, I don't know. I see him as a clear victim of the Ravens total fuckery, I have pity for him, and I find him an interesting character because of his dynamic with Kevin, but he is still kind of a douchebag to me.

I'm sorry. I wanna like him. He just hasn't given me much reason to yet.

Neil, (occasionally) smart boy that he is, charges his phone and calls Wymack to get him - but not before having to wade through tons and tons of texts from the Foxes, which already made me a lil emotional.

Everyone, apart from Andrew of course, everyone texted him over the holidays. This is the kind of quality fox family shit I signed up for.

          "I didn't know who else to call," Neil said. He barely recognized his own voice. The last time he'd spoken he'd been screaming; apparently his vocal chords still hadn't recovered.

There's shit like that dropped through this entire scene, shit that hints at just how much actual fucking torture Neil is coming back from right now, and I am decidedly not fucking liking it.

          "Are you all right?"

          Neil smiled. It felt like it tore his face open. "No. No, I'm not. I know it's kind of sudden, but can you come get me?"

Is that........ the first time......... Neil has admitted to not being fine........ ONE FOR THE BOOKS, FOLKS.

I mean, with so much painful shit done to you, you'd have to be a serious shade of fucked up, angsty and alone not to ask for help.

Which is to say, Book 1 Neil would have totally not asked for help.

Another exhaustion blackout later, Neil finds himself on one of his most frequented post-awful time places: Wymack's couch.

And Wymack, although keeping caring watch like a tattooed momma hen, is not here for Neil's bullshit:

          "He sounds like Neil," Wymack said, "but he doesn't look like him. I'll take your explanation from the top and without a side order of bullshit, thanks."

What, did the injuries they gave him at the Batcave of Extra rip him an entirely new face?

          The face waiting for him in the mirror was horrible enough to take his legs out from under him. (...) This was his natural hair colour, and those were his real eyes, and this was his father's face.

APPARENTLY, YES.

An entirely new face that looks exactly like his father. Oh shit. OH SHIT BOI.

At this point it should be pointed out how amazingly well-written this chapter is. Neil's pain-induced confusion and blackout, his anxiety, and most importantly his screaming, hurting body is tangible through the pages and that just gripped me.

I mean, it also gripped me because Neil is my beautiful sassy angsty adoptive son I need to protect at absolutely all costs, now more than ever.

But also because the writing is just damn on point.

Hey - remember how last time there was this tiny annoying voice that kept reminding me of something I'd seen time and time again in fanart and cosplay?

          Wymack went so still Neil thought he'd turned to stone. "Neil, the fuck is on your face?"

Oh no.

          Neil wasn't ready to see his reflection again. He was less ready to see the "4" tattooed on his left cheekbone.

OH NO.

I SAW THAT COMING AND STILL OH SHIT NO.

HELL NO.

          By the time Wymack caught up with him he'd already pulled a knife from the wooden block on Wymack's counter. Wymack seized his wrist before Neil could take the knife to his own face.

Wow.

Wow, shit.

No kidding - to me, this little bit here is probably the most shocking and wtf-moment in this entire chapter.

Like. Not only does Neil want to get rid of that tattoo - which us understandable, we all would in his situation -, but he is instantly rady to take a giant ass kitchen knife and cut it out of his own skin without a second of hesitation?

What the fuck. What the FUCK.

This speaks volumes, volumes of what they did to him at Batcave of Extra, and I do not like one single thing about it.

          Every time Neil blinked he remembered a little more of his Christmas vacation. Every time he moved he felt Riko's hands and blades and fire on his skin. he'd let Riko take him apart time and time again because it was the only way to survive, because bending should have kept him from breaking, but Neil didn't know if he could pull himself together one more time.

MY SON, MY BEAUTIFUL SHORT-TEMPERED ANGSTY SASS MACHINE SON, FUCK NO.

I MUST PROTECT YOU.

And then, immediately after - are y'all ready for the most heartbreaking paragraph in this chapter, because I am ABSOLUTELY THE FUCK NOT:

          Neil, Wymack called him, even when he looked like this, even with his father's face and his father's eyes and the Moriyama's number on his face. Neil, Wymack called him, and more than anything Neil wanted it to be true. He stopped fighting to get free; the hands that had been trying to wrench Wymack's arms off him now held on for dear life.

HE'S HUGGING HIM.

NEIL IS HUGGING WYMACK, KNOWING WYMACK WILL LOVE AND ACEEPT HIM NO MATTER WHAT, NO MATTER WHAT UGLY PART OF NEIL HE GETS TO SEE, AND NEIL IS HUGGING HIM, CLINGING, PROBABLY CRYING.

GUESS WHO'S NOT JUST PROBABLY CRYING.

IT'S ME.

          "Help me," he said through gritted teeth.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Neil!! Is!! Not only accepting help!! But ASKING FOR IT!!!

[high-pitched incoherent emotional screaming in the distance]

Wymack, of course, is the Best Person Alive and patches Neil up without asking questions - which is an incredibly feat considering that Neil's body right now has reached new Deapool-looking heights.

On the contrary, it is now Neil who offers answers - after the finals, after the Ravens are beaten and have had their abusive sadistic asses handed to them, Neil will tell Wymack the truth. As in, the actual truth.

HELL FECKIN YES.

Wymack deserves to know All The Things.

          "I didn't sign it," Neil said, looking up from his hands. (...) "He gave me a contract but I wouldn't sign it. He couldn't make me. This doesn't mean anything. I'm still a Fox."

Oh my god. This small "He couldn't make me" in there, brb literally burying myself in a pile of my own emotions.

They tortured him. They legit medieval-style full-on tortured him, and he still refused to be one of them. Even in pain so cruel it caused blackout memory, Neil still refused to give up his Fox family.

"He couldn't make me."

Neil, I have seldom loved you more than in this very, very moment.

And oh - it's almost New Year's.

          He tapped out a simple "Happy New Year" to the Foxes. (...) The response was almost immediate. By the time the midnight countdown started on the screen (...), he'd already heard back from his entire team, most of them in capslock and with extraneous exclamation marks.

FOX BABIES

FOX FAMILY

          He was their family. They were his. They were worth every cut and bruise and scream.

WOULD SOMEONE THINK OF MY FOX TEARS

          Facing the Foxes on the court this spring would be the last mistake Riko ever made.

And if it isn't, I will personally worm myself into this fictional universe and smack him so hard his shitty sadistic motherfucker of a brain comes flying out his ass where it had been hidden, and he will die slowly and painfully of tragic brainlessness while I bound off to find Neil and give him the 24h cuddle session he needs and deserves.

Fucking hell.

Nicki out.

Hold on - before I leave, a quick note on how updates will continue:

Some time next week (don't know when exactly) I'll put up another review of the entire book, like I did for The Foxhole court. We're also looking at what predictions I made last time and whether they turned out to be golden bullshit or not, so stay tuned for that.

After that, in August this blog will take a hiatus as I'm travelling around a lot taking well-deserved holidays. (Canadian peeps: I'm invading your country! If anyone here lives in the Regina, Edmonton or Toronto area, hit me up.)

In September, we're back to our normal update schedule of twice a week (as long as life allows me to, as always), this time probably having All The Feels over The King's Men.

I can't wait.

And, on a last note: As always, if you like what I do here and you want to help me continue making this project, please consider buying me a coffee. Every little bit does help. Thank you so much! <33