#maybe it's just because I do this in her campaign so rarely that I'm less used to hearing what I actually sound like doing her voice but

[blujayonthewing]

obviously your voice sounds different in your own head than it does in a recording but I'm going back through my recording of a session of Aubree's campaign looking for something I didn't write down at the time and it's especially weird hearing Aubree talk because for whatever reason, moreso with her than any of my other OCs, her voice feels like it should be a lot deeper than this

[artharakka]

im very interested in your dnd oc Rhiam, i think its really cool and rarely done to have a trans character actually transition during the course of the game, was it always your intention for her to be trans or did this evolve naturally in the campaign? also i love her design especially the colour pallete with the earthy tones and rich blue accent colours <3

Hi! And thank you because ough I also love Rhiam so much even if (and because) she's my own character 🧡

Rhiam is one of those characters that just starts to live a life of its own, you know? I can plan things for her but some things just feel right or wrong. Because at the beginning I was thinking that "now for a change I'll make a dude character, just a regular humble lad". I think I even said something like that out loud to our DM haha, so it was not planned from the start.

What I did plan quite from the beginning was that Rhiam, coming from the huble countryside, was determined to start a new and less dull life in the city. She wanted to become a proper mage and actually do something with her magic. I think her original plan was to try to become a performer (though she noticed that performing magic tricks to strangers rather than your own siblings is slightly more daunting). So while I didn't know everything about her, I did know that she desired to be something else than a farmer boy. And I knew that she desired to have earrings and jewelry and beautiful outfits. Then at some point we thought with our DM that hmm maybe there's something else besides just not wanting to be a farmer, maybe she desires not to be a boy as well. But yeah, we have also tought that it's funky that it happened gradually and during game like this. I think we got to have conversations and themes we wouldn't have had if I had just made her trans from the start (not that there wouldn't have been anything wrong with that but yeah, this was interesting!) Especially since our group really likes to take time to dwell in little moments and details (for real, our average game session spans over a weekend and lasts mmm around 18-24h in total? with pauses of course) Her final transformation (heh) also happened in a neat transitioning phase as they are currently in a mountain pass between two countries.

Oh and speaking of transformation, I also gave Rhiam alter self spell that she used to try what it would be like to be a girl/woman. And since I have actually made short poems for her every verbal component spell, I used lines that referred to our D&D world's shapeshifting god of the forests Iija Iki-Mettä and asked aid from her. And eventually Iija invited Rhiam to her sacred pond and transed her gender more permanently than what Rhiam alone could do. So I'm now multiclassing her as druid. Another thing I said I wouldn't do since I wanted to try some other class than druid for a change. "This time I will do a man guy boy who is not a druid" I said. "Congrats lil buddy that's the worst anyone's ever done it" I say to myself now (and wouldn't have it any other way <3).

[stanleyl]

In regards to Tom doing sequels to his existing ip, what does he get from those films? Some might say money, but i don't think so. If Tom wanted more fame and money, he could do fashion campaigns and get paid millions and attend shows. He could really milk his persona doing so many ads. Look at what the Rock and Ryan Reynolds do for money, lol. That's what's baffling to me. He makes a conscious choice to avoid hollywood events but does sequels like they're a24 movies. I'm not saying those films are not great, I love his Spiderman, and I love Uncharted in spite of Mark Wahlberg, but what I say in TCR was just a tip of the iceberg for me in regards of his untapped potential.

He possesses an arpeggios of emotional acuity, which is so rare in most actors. His performance reminds me of early Joanne Woodward. Her acting was rooted in naturalism and subtlety. Sorry if this sounds selfish, but he can't waste this talent for a company that doesn't care for the fans or his wellbeing. The hate he got for Uncharted was too much, and why waste time trying to convince ppl you are a character that they refuse to envision due to an attachment to the game when you can create a new character whose new and fresh. I hope those rumours about the winner are true.

Maybe if we got an interview for Romeo and Juliet, I would be less irritated because fans who aren't in London to see the show are being left in the dark lmao.

He sold out his show in under 2 hours with just his name alone, not the characters. So what's with this self sabotage? We always blame his team and outside variables, but I feel it's just him now. Is he a sadist? Does he love going through pain and potential failure?

Dang 😭.

He makes a conscious choice to avoid hollywood events but does sequels like they're a24 movies.

But I need to comment on this part because it bugs my mind a little. The level of exposure is immense. For a guy who doesn't seem to want to capitalize on the success of these movies when he's literally the face of them, it is quite a confusing concept for me, lol. Like, is he only going to put himself out there, get burnt out and overexposed, and then plan on taking another break? Another project with Apple TV? Idek 😔.

Honestly, I think it's less about him hating to be in the spotlight and more about him and his team not yet figuring out how to benefit from it. They need to put him in high-quality projects that are mainstream and 'zeitgeist', helping the general public see him in a variety of roles. He literally has everything needed: popularity, charisma, talent, acting skills, looks, mass appeal, and a fan base. Anyone who says otherwise is in deep denial. He just needs the right direction and the right team to make this happen.

[jattazo]

hello tumblr i'm going to ramble about an OC now

my brain is being Shitty and Mean and A Bit Rude to me today, so i'm gonna make myself feel better by talking about some worldbuilding and lore stuff surrounding one of my favorite d&d OCs: Froyin!

featuring this beautiful art made by the wonderful @majixium

froyin is a kobold i made for a friend's campaign and she's very near and dear to my heart if only because i think she is very sweet and cute and sometimes that's the vibe ya wanna project yourself onto y'know?

in the world froyin hails from, there are a multitude of different kobold clans, each with their own societal norms and such. hers is the Clan of The Endscale: a group of kobolds who took up refuge long ago under the watchful eyes and wings of an ancient black dragon.

as time went on, the dragon became more and more hostile towards them, viewing them as leeches more than worshipers. this led the dragon to begin acting much more antagonistically towards the clan, and eventually outright fighting the clan as a whole.

through a stroke of what was probably pure luck, the clan managed to triumph over the dragon, and now bares its legacy in their name: Endscale. the clan that took down a dragon on its own.

their modern day society is somewhat matriarchal, extremely organized, and very strongly tied to tradition. i made a little flowchart showing the hierarchy of the clan actually, here it is:

so anyways, the way things work is basically like... until you reach maturity, you're not really expected to do anything besides learn from others in the clan about whatever. you aren't locked into a Sib or anything just because that's where your family might be.

once a kobold reaches maturity, their right horn is shaved down in a mix of celebration and as a way to tell where their position is in the clan. once you have your horn shaved, you're expected to start seriously considering where you truly want to be in the clan in regards to Sibs or other roles.

after a while, and after a kobold has trained and learned enough to earn a title and place in the clan, whether that's something as simple as being a Gatherer or as high ranking as being a Scribe, that's when they get their other horn shaved down.

the shaving of the second horn is celebrated even more than that of the first. it gets brought down to match wherever the first had grown back out to, so they can grow out together normally from there, but that's not the important part. the important part is that once that happens, it solidifies that kobold's place in the clan for pretty much the rest of their lifespan.

with this in mind, it's extremely rare to see older kobolds that have asymmetrical horns unless they had some intense battle wound or something. it's less uncommon for younger 'bolds though, since they're still sorta finding their place.

anyways, back to Froyin. Froyin is still a very young kobold overall, having only had her first horn shaved down maybe a couple months prior to the start of the campaign she's from. it's fairly common for kobolds to venture outside the clan's territory while in this phase of their life, but Froyin's story is a little different.

Froyin had been a natural spellcaster from a very young age. wow no way a sorcerer who's a natural spellcaster, who's ever seen that before? she planned on going into the role of a guard since she knew she'd be able to use her magic more openly there, as well as help protect the clan with it.

while she was out shadowing a guard patrol one day however, she stumbled upon something strange. a discarded black dragon's scale, seemingly ripe with a strange magical energy she'd not experienced before. pocketing it and bringing it back with her, she didn't really mention it for the rest of the patrol.

when she was back in the village though, the guards took her through the routine patrol process of reporting findings and such to the higher ups. this was when she mentioned the scale. it was no secret that she was a spellcaster, so when she mentioned that she could tell it had magical energy of some kind, it was submitted for review by a more practiced spellcaster.

eventually, this made its way all the way up to the priestess of the clan, which is where things went south real fast. the priestess called a public meeting of the clan, wherein she publicly announced that Froyin had "knowingly" brought the will of the ancient black dragon back to them.

Froyin, just as confused as everybody else, had no fucking idea what was going on. unlike everybody else though, she wasn't frightened by this announcement since she didn't really see the scale as evil. it wasn't controlling her or anything, this isn't some One Ring situation.

one thing led to another, and she was effectively exiled from the clan entirely and forced to take the scale with her. she was instructed not have her second horn shaved down as a mark of shame for what calamity she'd nearly brought about, and off she went.

her parents protested, given she was so young she must not have understood what was going on, but the decision was final. she was given anything her family could give her on the way out, including her staff, and just like that she was alone.

Froyin ended up wandering for a long time, using what little scavenging skills she had to keep herself fed, but eventually found a small village to take shelter in. she attempted to offer simple services to earn coin, like being a farmhand or cleaning people's clothes for them, but ran into a pretty big roadblock:

Froyin did not speak Common.

her clan was somewhat isolationist, and spoke in their native tongue above anything else. she was never taught any other language. thankfully, perhaps due to her age and attitude, the people of the village were kind enough to understand she needed help.

slowly but surely, over the course of a month or two, she began learning very basic common while helping around the village with various odd-jobs. by the time the actual campaign starts, she'd have a fairly strong understanding of most common, though she still couldn't speak it perfectly.

something she has yet to understand however is just how right the village was about that dragon's scale. that's something she'll get to learn about much much later in the story.

i'm not really sure what else to say besides i love Froyin so much, she is a precious little creature who deserves nothing but good. :)

WAIT NO I DIDN'T GET TO TALK ABOUT THE MAGIC SHE USES okay okay okay so here's the thing-

Froyin is able to tap into a very special type of magic called Negentropy. if chaos and evil and entropy and all that were put into a single type of magic, this would be its polar opposite. it is the Right to the universes Wrong, the Up to its Down.

negentropy can be used to heal the sick, to mend the broken, to bring life to the withered, to spring plants, shine armor, all sorts of different stuff that would be categorized under "good :)" for lack of a better term

she doesn't have some crazy godlike capability or anything like that, but this magic is incredibly versatile and incredibly important because it's like the one single thing that can combat an ancient evil magic successfully.

that magic is something that thankfully has been mostly eradicated from the world, but with that in mind, so was Negentropy 👀 if one of those is back in somebody's hands, then...

all the lore behind where those magics came from, and the things tied to THAT are for a whole different post that i wouldn't even be the one to write. that'd be up to @uprising-trolls to handle ;3c

[aparticularbandit]

Hope you don’t mind me sliding on in here (love your Glass Onion content btw) and presenting the concept of Lionel and Claire being Zoom buddies to one, deal with overall stress of the pandemic; two, just to hangout alone with each other w/o the other Disruptors being there; and lastly, for Lionel to occasionally help with teaching Claire’s kids during the homeschooling ordeal. (Since he used to be a substitute teacher before his scientist career took off.)

I absolutely love this idea!

Lionel probably brings up the idea of helping teach her kids first, particularly during lockdown when he's been shut out of the Alpha building and is so tired of getting continuous faxes from Miles that he can't do much about but brainstorm and theorize and he's just so tired of trying to make ends meet that spending time teaching Claire's kids is a welcome reprieve.

And of course, the kids already know him, so it's special time with Uncle Lionel! The kids are just so tired of having Claire teach them (she probably picks up history (and keeps trailing off into the political implications of the Declaration of Independence and how different Amendments are interpreted differently, and then Devon just places his hands on her arms: "Babe. You're getting a little worked up." "No, I'm not--" each word being strung out a little bit until she sees the kids with their eyes glazed over, and she half-sheepishly, "Fine, Dev, maybe I did, but it's important to know." "Rowena is five, and Mark is only in second grade. They have time, babe." He pats her shoulders and takes the kids out back for "recess") and maybe English. She's probably good at Geography, too, just because she needs to know (but also likely to end up on political trains of thought). But Dev is probably the main teacher because Claire is so busy with campaigning, and she hates that she's missing that time with her kids because it's a political year) - let's be real, they like when Dev teaches them, but sometimes he looks at how things are taught now and calls Claire over just "Babe, what is this bullshit that you're making them teach in schools?" and Claire walks over, hands on her hips, "It's not bullshit, Dev; it's--" and then scans the page, "Yeah, you're right, that's bullshit, where's Lionel," meanwhile her daughter mimics them both, "Bullshit!" and she turns, "Don't say that, Rowena."

...me, getting distracted, sorry.

THE KIDS LOVE TIME WITH UNCLE LIONEL because he is SO good at teaching them without getting boring or confused and he's funny, which is the best part (and sometimes Devon sits in and listens because "Oh, that's how they're supposed to do that," shaking his pencil in Lionel's general direction).

And just, whenever Lionel's done teaching the kids, Devon takes them out back for "recess" or something else, and then Lionel and Claire sit on Zoom for a little while longer just chatting and catching up. Claire always has her room temperature white wine. Lionel rarely drinks because "Claire, you shouldn't be day drinking" "It's just wine, it's fine" "Campaign that bad, huh?" "It's exhausting, Lionel; I barely get a moment off." Afterwards, Claire is always so much calmer, so much less frazzled, and it isn't like she'd blame the wine for that, she's always very forthcoming that "no, it's spending time with Lionel."

[gillianthecat]

War of Y: War of Managers - final episode (ep 10 overall)

In which I am bored and confused and talking about nonsense (and Gaga's functionality). And then all of a sudden really fucking pissed (but still confused)

~ We see inside the mystery box (which I forgot all about,lol, so I appreciate the flashbacks). It contains... 🥁 Picture of P Atichon!!! I guess Bew had an obsession? And/or a crush? And what is Bew's dream that hasn't come true yet? 🤔

~ I do like the title sequence music. It reminds me of tv shows themes from the late 90s USA (like Buffy) for some reason, maybe the electric guitars?

~ Yes, Kang, your dress is very pretty. But wait, what is he paying them off for? (Or just paying I suppose, but it's more likely to be something underhanded.) 2 million baht is about $52,000 USD. (Why am I doing any research for this show? Who knows.)

~ Oh and hey! This is not the Death Stairs House! (I assume, I gather it has a lot of rooms but this looks like a different style.) Diversity Win! 🎉

~ Bew's hiding behind columns and eavesdropping again. I should have known something was fishy with him earlier based on that habit.

~ I guess if they took the money Gus and Bew would have said nicer things? Oh wait, Pla did take the money. I'm just confused. I may or may not be less confused about this in 55 minutes.

~ I think this was a positive message about being gay? But the translation was weird so I'm not sure what they were actually saying.

~ Yay fitting some marriage equality campaigning into your BL! Good work, Cheewin!

~ Bew and the tv host (Sprite!) are buds? I guess they've both been in the industry a long time.

~ Bew looks so happy about this surprise birthday. If I wasn't suspicious of him I wouldn't be suspicious.

~ I do appreciate the lack of yelling so far. I assume it will resume at some point, but it's been relaxing.

~ I can't decide if I want Bew to be in love with Gus or for it to all be an elaborate revenge plot.

~ Why are Pla and Toon in Gus and Bew's house? Whose house is to anyways? I continue to be very confused about locations on this show.

~ So the not signing a contract was Bew's idea? Toon wanted it? Are they trying to redeem her here or... ? Cause even if he didn't want to, she's the professional, she should know better.

~ The thing with Cheewin's group scenes is that you can so often see the actors hitting their marks. Like, walk -> arrive -> lines. It makes it look very amateurish. I like the dark green velvet though.

~ This dressing room convo feels sweet.

~ Oh. Here comes drama!

~ Yo's smirk as he lounges in the chair! He may be my favorite character. He's mysterious enough to be interesting. (As opposed to Bew, who is also mysterious, but confusing about it.)

~ Bew turning to the ol' panic attack trick. I mean, I believe he's faking, but your logic doesn't make sense, Toon. Seems perfectly reasonable that a person with panic attacks would also search for the symptoms 🤷🏻‍♀️

~ Was Gus suspicious before this? Why is he so quick to believe (known liars) Pla and Toon?

~ That's a very quick jump to confessing, Bew. I guess we do have to wrap this all up (lol, as if there's going to be any sort of meaningful conclusion) in 30 minutes.

~ I was going to write out all the twists and turns of who did what. But then I realized that I don't care that much.

~ Aww 🙁 poor Nott. Only 10% of the vote and his name doesn't even get in the headlines. I would vote for you, Nott 🗳

~ I was going to say Yo gets less interesting the more I learn about him, bu then he said he has a baby?!

~ Oh. Yo was talking to Bew that night. Tricksy editing and camera angles, ya fooled me.

~ If I could manage to embrace this as a soap opera I would probably like it more. Unfortunately I rarely watch soap operas.

~ What?! The back arrow button is working to skip backward?!!!! This is amazing!!! Thank you Gaga!!!! Did you read my complaint on Tumblr yesterday and rush to implement a fix because you love me that much. Aww, you're so sweet to me ☺️

~ Wait. Now it's not working ☹️ I DON'T KNOW WHAT I DID DIFFERENT AHH! I literally just paused and then pressed play again, I didn't even minimize the full screen.

~ Oh yes, I paused because I wanted a screenshot of Kang, who continues to look fabulous at al times.

~ This would probably be slightly better and possible make a smidge more sense if the subtitles had better translations. I think I have the gist of what's going on, but it's possible I missed a turn or too in the plot twists.

~ AHHHH. SKIPPING IS WORKING AGAIN! I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE CURSOR ON THE LITTLE CIRCLE. It only skips like a second or two but that's better than nothing I think.

~ Oh wait. Now it's skipping back WITHOUT the curser in the little circle. And for more seconds at a time. I give up. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Gaga makes almost as little sense as this show.

~ I don't understand what this show wants me to be thinking or feeling here as Pla and Toon confront Bew. Am I supposed to agree with them? Feel sorry for him? Everyone is in the wrong, but I feel like I'm expected to sympathize with somebody, I just really can't tell who.

~ Caught by your own trick, Bew! Lol. (Also if they're clever they'll have also recorded his big supervillain confession speech.)

~ And they were! Even better, Toon was recording a Live, lol.

~ Oh but she wasn't broadcasting? (Also Gaga won't let me skip now 🤷🏻‍♀️)

~ Toon. Darling. Bitch. Sweetheart. You're just as bad as him. He sent Gus to jail, you almost killed him with a shrimp brownie. Are we supposed to believe that you believe you have the moral high ground here?

~ Ah, Bew baby. I'm actually feeling sad for you right now. I too want you to get this award, this emblem of all your ambitions, this reason for the scheming.

~ I'm getting a little teary eyed about this speech and everyone's faces. With this sad music 😢

~ Ok. I am really fucking pissed about how this is ending. Somehow all that nonsense and melodrama where everyone behaved terrible, all of that gets tied up as Bew Learns A Lesson About Ambition. What. The. Fuck. (I guess it could slightly redeem at the very end but I don't see how.

~ So he's supposed to be "forgiven" by Toon and they bond again? And why is this airport reconnection with Gus in front of all these fans? What the fuck is going on?

~ Gus literally says "you got your lesson." But what about everyone else???!!!! Where are their lessons??!!! Cheewin you've spent the whole preceding four and a half hours showing us everyone's bad behavior and now it's completely forgotten because... ? I don't even know why. It is the oddest storytelling choice in an ocean of odd choices.

~ WHY ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT THIS IN FRONT OF THE FAN CLUB????!!!!! And the fans are recording this very personal and probably damaging conversation. What. The. Fuck.

~ And then Gus pats his head, the fans all smile, and Bew walks off surrounded by supportive messages from his fans saying they miss him. Ok. I have no idea what Cheewin is trying to say here.

--

Well. I have no idea what this show was trying to do. But as far as I can tell there were no levels that it worked on. I mean, I assume it's going for melodrama and plot twists. But I feel like for that to work, there has to be some sort of still point amidst the chaos. Some sort of anchor for the audience to connect to. Because the melodrama doesn't mean anything to me if I don't care about any of the characters. The don't have to be a good person, but I think I do have to understand them at least a little more. And I'm sure it's possible to write it so that the anchor point sympathy character can also be revealed to be the manipulator but, uh... this show did not manage it.

I think I would have loved a story of an ambitious actor who went too far in his struggle for the top. But somehow that's not what this felt like. Too much focus on Toon and Pla maybe? I feel like we needed to see more of Bew somehow for this to have worked, even if it still kept his scheming a secret. This I guess is the same criticism I had at the beginning, that all the screen time and dramatics were taken up by people the emotional arc wasn't about.

I think Bew and his ambition were the emotional core of the series. Because that's the only time I felt emotion - when Bew was shown wanting things - acting skill, Gus, the award. But so little time was spent on that. It was the first 30 minutes and the last 30 minutes. But it needed to also be in the middle.

I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. I have no idea what to change. The plot twists felt arbitrary and tedious. If Cheewin has a message about the industry of got lost in the mess. And that fucking ending had no connection to all those ridiculous fucking plot twists.

Like it felt like the end was supposed to be Bew Learns A Lesson. But that didn't fit with anything that came before.

Anyway. I'm mad. If you have any insights into this show I'd welcome them. I could spend time trying to analyze what went wrong. But I don't think it's worth it. The show just fucking sucked. Cheewin was not only trying to have his cake and eat it too, but also sell it and auction it off at the same time. It didn't work.

Not gonna keep watching the next sections. I've lost all trust in Cheewin. What little trust I had.

[revvethasmythh]

In honor of the mighty nein 2 shot announcement, how about campaign 2 for the ask game?

OH, I had not seen the announcement before getting this ask and my heart LEAPT in my chest!!

001 | The Might Nein Campaign

Favorite character: This one's pretty easy. From the very first episode my favorite character was Caleb and that remained true until the end of the campaign. He's my baby boy and I love him with all my heart. More interesting, perhaps, are the follow up favorites, because Veth, Beau and (later on ) Fjord were all jockeying for the 2nd and 3rd positions as my favorites and I'm not sure I ever really settled. They kind of all, in my mind, take second place, though maybe Veth pulls ahead a bit because she was second favorite for so long in the early campaign.

Least Favorite character: Molly. That guy (derogatory). I mean I could go more in depth about this but me and this dude do not gel at all. I've rarely ever wanted to punch a fictional character in the face so much

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Caleb x Veth, Fjord x Jester, Fjord x Caleb, Beau x Yasha, and a little dabble of Fjord x Veth

Character I find most attractive: Caleb. Like Veth, I find deep sadness inherently attractive

Character I would marry: Fjord. That guy is hot and A+ husband material

Character I would be best friends with: Veth or Beau, I could see either for different reasons

a random thought: I often forget how much I love Beau until I'm rewatching. Something about the fandom's interaction with Beau near the end of the campaign felt really exhausting to me and I straight up forgot I adored her until I started it all over again and got to appreciate it all by myself without fandom talking all the time

An unpopular opinion: I feel like everything I've already said about Molly is an unpopular opinion. But just to dig myself in a little deeper--I don't see the appeal of Widomauk. Like, I never liked the way Molly interacted with Caleb (or Nott but that's a whole other ball game). The fact that widomauk is still one of the most popular c2 ships is astonishing to me

My Canon OTP: Fjorester <3

My Non-canon OTP: Widobrave <3

Most Badass Character: Beau

Most Epic Villain: I think there's something to be said for the indelible impression Lorenzo left on the group that kind of elevates him as a villain to epicness, but I've still got to go with Obann and the Laughing Hand. Few things were more epic than the Cathedral

Pairing I am not a fan of: oh well I kind of answered this already but I'll take on a little more just to make myself even less popular--widomauk, obvi, but also jester x caleb and beau x jester. Never vibed with any of that

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): n/a

Favourite Friendship: Beau x Veth. An oft slept on friendship pairing, but I love the way they talk to each other and the fact that they can't really seem to keep secrets from each other or actively seek each other out to talk things over (like when they spilled secrets in the Evening Nip about their crushes)

Character I most identify with: Veth or Beau, again for different reasons

Character I wish I could be: oh fuck none of them probably god they live sad lives

[fatedreamsend]

The journal of Anise Greenleaf, Entries #41 and #42

[Note from Anise's player: I started this as a writing experiment waaay back near the start of the campaign as a way to try to explore Anise's character a little and give her some backstory from before the started. I hand wrote it in an actual journal because I thought it would be fun. These are scans of the journal.]

Back to Entries #39 and #40

Transcription below the cut:

7/18/2004

Connor and I are a terrible match for each other, but I must begrudgingly give Buck credit where credit is due. I am actually having a lot of fun with him. None of our interests overlap and aside from us both being phantasmals, we have almost nothing in common. Connor is such a hock - he calls himself that, and he calls me a nerd (like that's an insult) but we still end up at his place making out anyway. I don't understand him at all. He doesn't like to read and while he does listen when I talk about plants or potions or magecraft he admits it all goes in one ear and out the other. He's a simple guy but that's actually kind of appealing? Joe and Zephyr were always stressed about school and telling me all about their assignments and that they were jealous that I just kind of inherited a shop and a career. But Connor just wants to watch football and play cards and drink ale. He is also very easy to talk to and, yeah, okay this is shallow but the things he can do with his tail...

9/20/2004

It may be too early but I'm putting up Halloween decorations. May as well lean into the witch aesthetic. This may or many not be due to the fact that I found some cute spooky garlands and signs for sale while I was out the other day. I think they must be imported from America, it's rare to see those sorts of things here even in October. I may try my hand at making some more to go with them.

Things are going surprisingly well with Connor. I'm certainly broadening my horizons and I'd like to think I'm exposing him to some much-needed culture. He took me to a football match two weeks ago, so last week I took him to watch a production of Much Ado About Nothing. I worried it would all go right over his head but he did laugh at some of the jokes, so there is hope for him yet. Tomorrow we are going to a cinema. I think.

(the following page is another recipe)

Hangover Cure

Base - coffee (no), tea? milk -> ginger tea spinach (grind up) tomato juice eggs - raw? fried? banana (electrolytes) asparagus juice cardamom (seriously) Blend together thoroughly Serve cold!! NOTE: This potency will work on a tierfling, maybe leave out the spinach & cardamom for less hearty races? Blend with ice and coconut water to make a smoothie

Should I get a blender for the shop?

10/21/2004

So I finally learned how to make alcohol. It turns out that it's not actually difficult to make alcohol but it is very difficult to make good alcohol. Poor Connor was so excited too, and so disappointed. Buck was too but whatever.

I've got a long way to go with that. Gotta get the portions right but also make sure that what I'm adding actually tastes good fermented. I have no idea what Grandpap was thinking with a couple of those recipes.

At least I can make good candy. And potions, obviously.

On to Entries #43 and #44

[spiderblog-mcu]

Eddie likes you but he's too much of a pussy to say anything

I'm not sure how frequently I will be doing this kind of content from now on but I had this idea in my head and just had to get it out!! It's inspired by the scene of Eddie looking in the fridge and finding a can of soup.

I'm better at blurbs than actually writing things out...unless it's smut...maybe one day

Eddie had no idea what to expect when you invited him over for dinner yesterday at school but he had trouble saying no. Partly because he loves a good meal, but mostly because he has a gigantic crush on you. Usually he just sticks with getting a whiff of your shampoo at Hellfire, because truthfully he thought you'd find his affection gross. After all, every other girl at school does, why would you be any different? None the less, he showers (extra soap this time), puts on something decent, and finds a nice bouquet of flowers (he totally didn't clip them from someone else's garden...). His feet are kind of numb on the drive over, and when he rings your door bell his pulse thumps in his head. None of that is made better when you greet him with your sweet smile.

"Hey you're here!"

"Yup, um," come on Eddie charm her up! "These are for the lovely chef." he presents a handful of tuplips tied together with what looks to be a shoe lace.

"They're beautiful, come on in, dinner is almost ready." Your house is so nice on the inside. Family pictures hang on the walls alongside a mantel of awards you have won. There's even an embroidered picture that says home sweet home. It's corny but Eddie kind of envies it. He never got the white picket fence family experience. "I have the perfect vase for those." It's turquoise and sitting just out of reach on a china cabinet. You stretch up as far as your tip toes will take you but your fingers can barely brush the vase. He can't help but smile, you are just too cute to him. "Hey Eddie can you-"

"Of course young hobbit." You give him a playful swat on the arm before he pulls the vase down. "Anything else you can't reach?"

"ha ha very funny," you say flatly, "I'm good. Take a seat at the table and I'll get the food." The setting is nothing fancy but it is more than most people have ever done for him. There's a white table cloth embellished with lace at the ends (please god don't let him spill something), a small dish of butter, as well as the cutlery and water glasses.

"Gosh y/n you didn't have to go through this much trouble!" he calls out.

"No trouble at all." You enter the dining room with two bowls wafting of a smell Eddie could only describe as heavenly. He thinks it's some sort of soup but it doesn't have alphabet shaped pasta or neon orange liquid. "There's one more dish to come out." More?! Has she been in the kitchen all day? Out you come with a pan of bread rolls that smell fresh.

"Holy shit you made bread too?!" You nod picking up your fork.

"I figured if I was making bourguignon I'd add some fresh rolls to soak up the sauce."

"Bour what now?"

"It's a french stew made with beef." He's amazed. Truly amazed. Why go through so much trouble for him?

"Ok, well. Bone apple teeth." The meal was amazing, honestly he didn't know food could taste so good! His idea of a nice meal is the pizza still being hot when it gets to his door. And he may have polished off half of the rolls...and the butter. What? It melts into the bun! "Well doll this is a meal fit for a king. No, a god!" A soft blush blooms on your cheeks.

"I'm glad you like it. I don't cook for many people."

"So this is a rare occasion? I'm honored."

"Well you let me join the Hellfire club late in the campaign and I felt like showing my appreciation."

"Consider it shown. Actually I feel like I owe you now." Eddie chuckles.

-----

As much as Eddie loved the meal, the after-dinner was his favourite part of the night. The two of you washed the dishes together and you had put a little smear of bubbles on his cheek. That ended with a slippery floor and more soap on your clothes than on the dishes. But you didn't mind, spending this evening with Eddie has been so heart warming for you. Surrendering to the mess, you swiped a bottle of wine from the family liquor cabinet and sat next to Eddie on the floor against the cubbords. Eddie wanted to say something, god he really did! But the fear of ruining the moment was too great for him.

"You sure your parents won't miss the booze?"

"Nah, they have more than enough."

-----

A bottle and a half later, Eddie thinks it's time to say goodnight. He was excited (and truthfully hopeful) when you passed him a bowl with the rest of the bread rolls.

"you sure?"

"Positive. I can always make more."

"Thanks dollface." Theres a split second of comfortable silence between you. Kiss her. NO! Pussy. Wait why is she leaning in? It was a gentle and quick kiss to his cheek but his body felt like it was on fire. Good thing his ears are hidden inside his hair, too bad he can't hide his sheepish smile.

"Goodnight Eddie."

"Goodnight y/n."

Yeah...he is hopelessly in love with you.

[crobones]

Saw your posts in the anti-fj tag and needed someone to vent to lmao hope that's okay✌ i just--- they haven't even talked after the kiss??! Except that weird mess when Jester tried to talk to him about the creepy forest and Cad, and he just.. agreed with her and it went nowhere🤷‍♀️ Travis can be a great rp'er, but it just feels like he is afraid that talking on a deeper level with Jes will expose how incompatible they are(i could also just be projecting lol) I'm just so disappointed,do they really not see it?

YOU UNDERSTAND, THEN? like, i get that pursuing romance can be awkward, but i’m having a hard time recalling them even having a platonic conversation - and i mean one on one. it’s like, if i were to walk up to one of my casual friends, kiss them on the mouth, and we both just went “i guess this is what love feels like.” you’ve heard of slow-burn? NOW GET READY FOR... no burn.

and i see what other people are saying - i don’t necessarily disagree. they typically lean anti-fjord in that they find he treats jester like a child and rarely takes her seriously. straight up? in the beginning, i could have sworn jester was like seventeen pursuing a romance with a thirty-three year old man, so i was also thinking of jester as a child/teenager. i’m not saying it’s predatory or anything like other people do, because in the beginning, he actively pushed her away.

people like to compare it to pike and scanlan with the “one person wore the other person down”, but how i see it? pike showed signs of reciprocating in the beginning. scanlan proposed to pike before they even kissed, and literally felt regret for putting so much pressure on her. scanlan literally went AWOL and went through a big character change. honest and serious discussions were had aplenty when he got back. they began to pursue an actual romance in the EPILOGUE of the campaign. yes, i shipped pikelan then and still do now, but that doesn’t mean i agree with how everything went.

now, imagine if, the tables were turned and pike had abruptly proposed to scanlan, and he said yes. THAT is what this feels like. fjord suddenly confesses what is essentially the intent to be the love of her life or whatever because they’re succumbing to the pressure of thinking “this is the final chapter and we may die.” no character growth for jester; fjord acting super out of character; everything is rushed.

but, imho, it isn’t just fjord and jester that stopped their character development to pursue romance. beau and yasha’s thing came out of fucking nowhere to. sure, they flirted, but honestly, can someone name one thing that beau knows about yasha that isn’t “flowers, food & drink, fighting, lesbian with a dead wife.” she hasn’t even tried to understand yasha’s relationship with Kord (the stormlord). Both Beau and Yasha talk to Caleb and Caduceus about their personal lives more than each other.

and what does fjord know about jester that isn’t basically public knowledge to the entire party (and anyone who happens to talk to her for more than ten minutes)? in fact, i would even hazard a guess that he knows LESS, because he’s showing me (and the audience) that he’s trying to romance who she used to be instead of who she is now. he still doesn’t even think the traveler is legit! and surprise, the traveler is just a fucking archfey! she was questioning her beliefs and then... nope! no more questions. nothing even meta like “am i still a cleric or am i technically a warlock now?” or in-character like “should i worship the moonweaver now?”

someone could argue that they’re too busy for character growth right now but like, who tf is rushing them? veth has a cursed dagger she pulled from the corpse of a BBEG, caduceus potentially got rid of the rot that was taking over his home but is too afraid to check, caleb and beau both have separate plots to possibly kill trent ikathon, THEY’RE NOT ADDRESSING THAT A MAJOR POLITICIAN IN THEIR HOME COUNTRY WAS MURDERED AND THEY CAN LIKELY BE ACCUSED OF HER MURDER, yasha and caleb - who have both been subjected to mind-control several times - are about to face a fucking cult of hive-brain subconscious entities, jester just gave five years of her life for answers that beau and the group already kinda figured out on her own, AVANTIKA AND UK’OTOA ARE STILL A FUCKING THREAT. and now? molly is hinted to still be somewhere in lucien.

but no. let’s not talk about anything except pursuing empty fucking romance with people who barely know each other or maybe wouldn’t even like each other outside of life or death situations.

romance in anything that involves action is pretty boring to me. sandra bullock’s character Annie in Speed (which has keanu reeves, you should check it out) has a quote that’s stuck with me for over a decade. “[...] you know, relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.” does the movie end with a romance between Annie and the person she says this to? yes! but guess what, there’s a sequel and then ended up breaking up between Speed 1 and 2 lol (mostly because keanu refused to do a sequel, but still)

EITHER-HOOT thanks for hitting up my inbox. good to know there’s like-minded individuals out there, and i needed a good rant.

[smallblueandloud]

HEY HI WHAT'S UP so i'm almost at the point where i can FINALLY read the tww sense8 au, i'm so excited, you have no idea. so anyway- whenever you're in the mood to write for this verse- how did early cj/andy/toby work? how did they meet, and figure out they were in the same cluster (yes including will i'm so in love with him as a part of this)? what were/are the individual relationships like within it? literally talk about anything- any relationship- within this au, i love the concept so much. ❤

(the sense8 au in question)

hmm, okay, so as i mentioned to you i actually had written a bit about their relationship in some snippets that will probably never be posted. but i don’t LIKE what i wrote, so i’m gonna change it, and we’re all just gonna pretend it was like this the whole time lmao.

andy and toby met first, as always, in boston because i am predictable. in this au you don’t know you’re in the same cluster until you make eye contact without being on blockers (which are telepathy-supressing pills, essentially), so they had no idea it was coming, but toby is running a campaign that one of andy’s college friends is working on and andy’s there because her friend was supposed to go to lunch with her an HOUR ago and toby glances up from the papers he’s holding, and-

well. that’s that. toby isn’t so militant about refusing to get close to andy, although he does still feel a bit odd about their age gap and still doesn’t agree to date her for a while. richard schiff is 6 years older than kathleen york, so i’m gonna say that andy was 24 and toby was 29. but, as andy points out: she’s just as smart as he is, and besides, something in their souls said they were equals, and there’s nothing he can do to avoid it. so they date.

they come up with some ground rules for their relationship. no blockers while they’re together in person. no blockers without a good reason, because they both like being connected. if one of them finds one of the other members of their cluster - because the cluster isn’t complete, they know, they don’t know how big it’s going to be but they know it’s not JUST the two of them - they have to call the other IMMEDIATELY. both of them are idealists like that. they know they’re going to share their lives with their other cluster mates, even if it’s not quite romantic.

and then about a year later, when toby is 30 and andy is 25, toby gets introduced to the new press representative of his latest campaign, a 26-year-old cj. and i think they actually even manage to get into an argument before they make eye contact - but it happens, and toby takes a step to the right into the office where andy has a meeting today.

“i found her,” he says. “the third one.”

andy, forgoing any other kind of conversation - that would only waste time - turns to the politician she’s meeting with. “i’m so sorry, something’s just come up,” she says. “we found another member of our cluster.”

“oh, of course,” says the politician. he smiles at her. “we’ll reschedule, naturally. and- good luck.”

andy thanks him and hightails it out of there. back at the campaign, cj and toby are still staring at each other. toby says, “you’re-” and cj says, “come here,” and grabs his arm to pull him into a broom closet, because you KNOW that was cj’s first reaction.

toby’s still kind of staring at her, because let’s be honest, young allison janney. cj says, “are there any more?”

toby says, “what?”

“in the cluster. have you found any others?”

toby blinks. “yeah, i’ve- yeah. she’s on her way. my girlf- my partner, andy. wait, wait, does that- have YOU found any others?”

cj shakes her head. “not yet. i’m cj, by the way.”

“toby ziegler.”

andy breaks SEVERAL traffic laws but gets to the campaign in a record ten minutes, which by the way are possibly the most awkward ten minutes of both cj and toby’s lives. she makes a beeline for the broom closet and makes instant eye contact with cj, because she is NOT going to lose this connection.

later, cj will think that that’s about when she fell in love.

it’s 1985, and bartlet is elected in 1998, so they still have a ways to go. they eventually fall into a collective relationship, as andy and toby realize that their relationship is never going to be able to return to a pre-cj dynamic. they met her a year after each other, but she’s just as important to the relationship as the two of them are.

cj moves to california eventually, fed up and cynical about the public sector. she takes a job with a media consultation firm, as she does in every world, they’re better at communication in this au. hard to be bad at it when you share a soul, bodies, talents. andy and toby move back to andy’s home state of maryland and andy starts to get closer to her goal of running for congress, while toby just keeps losing campaigns for honest politicians. i’ll say that cj moves to california in 1992, and toby and andy get married in 1993.

it’s a lot easier for you to stay in contact when you’re in a cluster. cj watches tv with toby and andy every night. it’s less of a breakup, in this au, and more of cj saying “i want to go work in california, and we have to be more careful”. she’ll only do romantic things in the psycellium, which is where, say, andy would perceive her if cj was visiting telepathically. no one else can see her, is the point. but she sits on their couch and watches tv with them and heckles toby when he makes dinner and goes to lunches with andy, where she sits on one side of the table and eats while andy makes herself at home in the other chair.

and it’s not great but it WORKS, and it works until jed bartlet calls them all in and cj closes herself off even MORE for the sake of andy’s career and andy and toby’s marriage falls apart. and then we get to their approximate relationships in canon.

toby and andy are divorced and spend a couple of years not speaking, but they’re still CLUSTERMATES and that MEANS something. they still hold to their rule of no blockers when in the same room and, once they start talking again (i think around mid s1), they start talking to each other for comfort and catharsis. oftentimes they’ll argue to get out their frustration with everyone else in their lives. it works.

toby and cj are as non-flirty as cj can manage, which is to say that they’re at canon levels of flirting. i would say it’s PRETTY FLIRTY. they’re keeping their cluster under wraps, and they’re even pretty good at it. senior staff knows because one time they got REALLY drunk during the campaign and had a conversation at normal volume about the boston globe. from opposite ends of a bar. but most of the press doesn’t know, except MAYBE danny, and they do their best to keep it that way. exceptions are at rosslyn and other situations like that.

neither of them generally take blockers, so toby’s attempts at briefing are SLIGHTLY less catastrophic than in canon, since cj can stand next to him and quietly advise. she doesn’t take over his body to do it, though, and they try to limit her advice, since it can get really obvious really quickly. toby takes blockers whenever they hide something from cj.

and cj and andy... are the most romantic of the three, just because cj and toby can get away with flirting and cj KNOWS that toby knows she loves him, but andy has always been better about physical affection - and they generally see each other in the psycellium, anyway. (look, i just want them to KISS.) if marriage equality existed at the time, they’d have probably gotten married and toby would’ve had a Crisis about it, but it didn’t and they don’t. they only very rarely see each other in public, generally at balls and the like, during which they both have to pretend they’re not about to burst out laughing. someone ALWAYS tries to introduce them, assuming they’ve never met before, and it’s worth it for the simultaneous “oh, no, we’ve met.” it’s explained by “cj was toby’s best friend while he was dating andy”, but you and i know the Truth.

okay, and then sam goes to california and meets a spirited young speechwriter and sends him back to the west wing, and he walks into toby’s office first.

toby looks up, meets will’s eyes, and something clicks into place. the last piece of the puzzle. the last member of their cluster. and toby goes, “oh no.”

will says, “uh- can we just. uh.”

“come in,” says toby, sighing and waving a hand. “we’ll handle that later. you have an appointment, right?”

they have their canon conversation, in which toby critiques will’s writing and refuses his help on the inauguration speech, and blah blah blah we get to the end of the episode where they’ve both revealed that they respect each other.

it’s the middle of the night, two days after they met, they’re sitting in the mess hall writing, when will goes, “and the cluster thing?”

“what?” says toby, glancing up. “oh, yeah. there’s two more of us. i’ve gotta introduce you.”

“i went home and looked it up,” says will. “there’s nothing on your cluster anywhere.”

“yeah, well, that’s on purpose,” says toby. “and it’s yours too, now. do you know cj cregg?”

he introduces will to cj the next morning, then gets andy to come into the west wing so she can pass will in the hallway and meet eyes with him. they’re very serious about keeping their cluster under wraps, and it would look REALLY suspicious if toby ziegler’s ex-wife came to the white house to meet the california speechwriter that sam seaborn recommended after two months of casual acquaintance. donna is the only one who notices it, but that’s another story.

the dynamics: toby and will are basically the same as in canon, complete with the s6-7 Rift™. toby isn’t as comfortable with will, hasn’t known him for as long, but they understand each other. they’re both writers. it’s something that andy and cj don’t know, even if they love toby more than will ever will.

as for cj and andy, they basically adopt will as their brother and move on. will and cj can’t be seen getting too cozy, but they talk through problems with each other a lot. andy and will can’t be seen in public together at ALL, but they make it a point to sit with each other in the evenings while they’re doing paperwork or reading or writing. it goes more easily with company, and they want to get to know each other.

and everything’s well and good and happy until toby commits treason. but that’s another story altogether.

[elusive---ivory]

Circus Act - 11

Y'ALL THIS TOOK SOOO LONG I APOLOGIZE!! Like I said this thing is crazy, I hope y'all enjoy.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11

Sandy drove Arthur up to his apartment. Arthur got out of her vehicle.

"Arthur, wait." Sandy called, stepping out of her car.

Arthur paused, turning his head.

"Could I stay with you? Just for tonight. I don't mean to be an inconvenience, but I just don't want to be alone." Sandy said. She looked stressed.

"Of course." Arthur said.

Arthur wanted Sandy around more. He had notice her unusual behavior, especially after she had told him about her medication.

Sandy had trouble sleeping in Arthur's apartment. Arthur had invited her to sleep in the bedroom with him, but she was too nervous of what he'd think of her night terrors.

Arthur couldn't sleep, mainly because his mind was yelling at him for things that were out of his control.

He embarrassed himself with that clip. He felt stupid. Sandy couldn't possibly still like him now. Insecurity filled his mind. It was unbearable.

Arthur walked out of the bedroom, hearing soft sobs from the living room.

Sandy was crying in her sleep. Soon, her cries turned into wailing. Arthur ran to her side, gently waking her up.

"Sandy." He whispered.

She woke up, distressed, holding onto Arthur.

Arthur kissed her forehead softly, leading her into his bedroom. He held her close throughout the night. Keeping Sandy close to him ms

Sandy felt safe as she laid with Arthur. She was able to slept with him snoring beside her.

She'd never felt this safe before. She couldn't possibly sleep with Dennis in the bed. Dennis would try to make advances on her, or pretend to be cuddly just to whisper mean and horrendous things to her.

Sandy woke up in Arthur's arms, staring at his angelic face. He looked so peaceful. His eyes fluttered open. Arthur smiled at Sandy kissing her lips gently.

Arthur still couldn't believe Sandy was in his arms. Even after the humiliation from last night didn't turn her away.

"Ugh, I just remembered something." Sandy groaned, breaking the kiss. Arthur pouted.

Sandy giggled. "I have to go to Thomas Wayne's Campaign gala tonight."

This peaked Arthur's interest. "I thought you hated Thomas Wayne?"

Sandy took one of Arthur's cigarettes from the bedside table, and lit it. "I do. I have to go for my cousin, Destiny."

Sandy took a long drag from the cigarette. It had been a while since she had one. She didn't have the mental capacity to really go to the store to buy cigarettes.

"Do you have to go?" Arthur asked, looking up at her with his green puppy dog eyes.

Sandy giggled. "Yes, I do. Or else, Des will guilt trip me for not going." Sandy handed her cigarette to Arthur.

Arthur was still concerned, but it seemed reasonable to go. He took a long drag from the cigarette, tasting Sandy's lips on the butt.

Sandy walked into the kitchen, seeing newspaper clippings tapped around the kitchen. She turned on the coffee pot, feeling a slight jump from Arthur, who was hugging her from behind.

"Thank you for letting me stay." Sandy said, hugging him back.

Arthur hummed, still holding her close.

Arthur clinged onto this moment for a while. It was so foreign to him that he even had Sandy in his arms. Arthur thought a lot about what he did during the subway murder. Half of him did feel guilty about it, but he couldn't feel guilty for Dennis.

It disgusted him, knowing that Dennis almost had a baby with Sandy.

Arthur couldn't feel sorry for the bastard, yet he pretended to feel pity for him. Pitiful that his girlfriend was so much happier with Arthur, then she ever was with him.

Sandy was his now. No one else. He was obsessed with that fact. After Sandy had left Arthur's apartment, she accidentally left her coat. It was smaller than Arthur, but he held onto it for a while.

It was like she was still there, holding him.

"Oh, Sandy." Arthur whispered. He needed to give her coat back, but she was at the gala.

'Thomas Wayne.' He thought. This was his chance.

The town hall was massive. Sandy couldn't believe her eyes.

"Sandy!" Des said, sipping on champagne. Her dress was long and flashy, along with that her perfume just smelled of money.

Des gave Sandy a light hug before eyeing her outfit.

"Your prom dress, huh? I wouldn't expect you to wear anything different." Des sneered.

Sandy rolled her eyes. She didn't come here to be insulted right off the back. "Where's Dee? You told me she'd be here."

"She's over there at the buffet table." Des scoffed, disappearing into the crowd.

Sandy struggled getting through the crowd. Her heart started racing as she pushed through all the rich people in the room.

Finally, Sandy met up Dee at the table.

"Talk about flashy, huh." Dee commented.

Sandy nodded. She hated crowds, especially crowds of hundreds of rich people who couldn't give two fucks about anyone, but themselves.

Des began to start the event by getting up on stage, and tapping on the microphone.

"I'd like to thank my cousin, Sandy, for coming. It's been so rough for her since her boyfriend, Dennis, died, but the good news is he doesn't have to look at her anymore." Des laughed, meanly.

Everyone laughed as well, except Dee.

Sandy should've expected this, but she went anyway. Her nerves were bouncing all over the place. How could a large hall feel so goddamn small?

"I think that we all agree that we're all going through a difficult time, but we're all here for Mr. Thomas Wayne, and we're here to support him as he starts his campaign for mayor. So everyone give it up for Thomas Wayne." Des got off the stage after she introduced Thomas Wayne.

Sandy could care less what Wayne was saying. It all was the same.

Throughout his speech, he'd mention the subway killings, giving Sandy the final straw.

She felt captive, suddenly. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Sandy pushed through the crowd, trying to escape the hall.

Sandy found herself in the nearest bathroom, hyperventilating as she was having an anxiety attack. Her makeup was ruined from the tears that feel down her face.

After a while of panicking and crying, Sandy finally composed herself. She had to retouch her makeup, so that Des didn't make fun of her more.

Sandy walked out of the bathroom, still feeling miserable. In corner of her eye, she saw a bell hopper that looked that Arthur, walk into the theater by himself.

Arthur snuck into the gala, wearing a clever bellhop disguise. He saw Sandy walking out of the bathroom. God, did she look like an angel. He needed to focus. He had to confront Thomas Wayne.

He walked into the theater. Playing on the screen was an old Charlie Chaplin movie that everyone really seemed to be enjoying.

Arthur laughed, not the painful laughter, but a genuine laugh. He laughed at Charlie's antics on screen.

This was a rare moment for Arthur. He was happy, and joyous.

He had noticed Thomas Wayne from across the aisle of the theater.

Arthur followed him to the bathroom. While he was in the bathroom, he undid his disguise.

It was just Arthur and Thomas in the bathroom.

"Can I help you, pal?" Thomas asked, while standing at a urinal.

Arthur paused for a second, nervousness overcome him.

"I don't know what to say." Arthur said, in disbelief.

Thomas flushed the urinal, and walked over to the line of sinks across from the urinals.

"Do you want an autograph or something?" Thomas seemed annoyed, and kind of dismissive of Arthur.

Arthur took a gulp, and gently said "no."

He walked up to Thomas, as nervous as he was. Arthur needed to know the truth.

"My name is Arthur," he said, "Penny Fleck is my mother."

Thomas stopped washing his hands. His expression changed from annoyed to a more concerned look.

"Jesus." Thomas said. "You're the guy that came to my house yesterday."

Then, his look turned annoyed again.

"I'm sorry I just showed up, but my mother told me everything. I had to talk to you." Arthur's voice cracked.

"Look, pal, I'm not your father." Thomas interrupted.

Then, Arthur stood there confused.

Thomas chuckled. "What's wrong with you?"

Arthur was still confused, and a little hurt that Thomas was denying the fact that he was his father.

"Look at us." Arthur whispered. "I think you are."

"Well, that's impossible because you're adopted, and I never slept with your mother." Thomas blatantly said.

Arthur was taken aback. He stuttered, nervously. "No, I wasn't adopted."

"Your mother adopted you while she was working for us." Wayne explained, but Arthur already heard enough.

"Why are you saying this?" This was news to Arthur.

Thomas was saying all these things that didn't even make sense to him. It was madness.

"I don't need you to tell me lies. I know it seems strange. I don't mean to make you uncomfortable I don't know why everyone is so rude. I don't know why you are. I don't want anything from you, maybe a little bit of warmth. Maybe just a hug, Dad." Arthur yelled, almost about to cry.

"She's crazy." Thomas said.

Arthur started laughing. His painful laugh.

"You think this is funny?" Thomas proceeded to punch Arthur in his face.

"Touch my son again. I'll fucking kill you." Those were Thomas Wayne's last words before he walked out of the bathroom.

Arthur's laugh turned into hiccups as he looked at himself in the mirror. He had a bloody nose

Sandy walked back into the hall. Des was already drunk out of her mind.

"Hey, I'm sorry about the introduction. It was dumb and I'm sorry." Des yelled, even though she didn't have to yell.

"Yeah, it's fine." Sandy muttered.

"But, yeah it's true though." Des slurred. "That's why he always came to me."

"What?" Sandy was confused.

"Yeah, Dennis started fucking me after you went to hospital because he didn't want your crazy." Des confessed. "I'm telling you now that he's dead, because I didn't want to hurt your feelings."

Sandy couldn't believe her ears. "Are you fucking serious? He fucked you while I was locked up on suicide watch."

"Yeah, but you understand right?" Des said.

"Oh, I understand." Sandy grabbed a wine bottle, breaking it on her head.

Sandy walked out of the hall, while Des was screaming with blood streaming down her head.

"What did you do, Sandy?" Dee demanded as she confronted her.

"I did what I had to do, Dee." Sandy mumbled, with a cigarette in her mouth.

"You didn't have to do that. Look, I understand that Des is a dick. She stirs up old drama all the time. Why is this any different?" Dee asked.

"It's different, because she slept with Dennis. I already knew Dennis never fucking loved me. He destroyed me, Dee. He destroyed me without a purpose." Sandy screamed at the top of her lungs.

"So what, Sandy? You need to fucking grow up. I have to take Des to the hospital." Dee ran into an ambulance, not before Des flipped Sandy off.

Sandy sighed as she lit the cigarette.

She looked over and saw Arthur sitting on the curb.

"Hey." Sandy said, walking up to him. "Let's get you home."

Taglist: @princessgeekface, @gloomyladyy, @joker-flecked-me, @jokerflecker, @memory-mortis, @mr--clown

[feynites]

'Ask the kids nobody talks to' I know this is probably how Dirthamen met Inan in this 'verse, but I'm picturing him also inviting tiny awkward Uthvir. ...I actually kind of like the idea of them being friends, now that I think about it. Plus, they might have an easier time of things with Falon'Din gone off to boarding school and Andruil mentally classifying them as 'boring nerd brother's friend, probably not interesting enough to mess with'.

At his father’s encouragement, Dirthamen manages to produce eight invitations to his birthday party. He is not certain if they are ‘fun-looking’ or not - that seems difficult to quantify - but his father seems to think that they are sufficient, and Sylaise only deems them ‘embarrassing’, which Dirthamen has learned is a level of approval below ‘acceptable’, but still above ‘disastrous’. 

He spends much of the morning considering who he will attempt to give the invitations out to. His father’s advice seems… sound. Or at least, more informed than anything Dirthamen can come up with on his own. And children with few social obligations are at least less likely to be gathered into a cluster of activity, which means that Dirthamen does not have to muster himself up for the possibility of group harassment every time he endeavours to approach them.

While the chauffeur is driving them to school, Dirthamen makes a list.

From the information he has available, there are twelve children who qualify as ‘rarely spoken to’, and may also be considered ‘awkward’ and/or ‘unpopular’. Two of them are old enough that Dirthamen suspects they fall outside of the realms of acceptable school-based social interactions, particularly where someone like himself is concerned, and so he crosses them out first. Which leaves him with ten candidates.

He supposes he will simply approach the remaining potentials as convenient throughout the day.

The first he encounters is a boy with a locker near to his own. A tall boy, often dressed in hand-me-down clothing, by the name of Victory. Earlier in the year he had been considered somewhat intimidating, but still interesting enough to be approached by other children. Though Falon’Din had decided he was too ‘brutish’, and had only been pleased when rumours began to spread about some kind of criminal background.

Dirthamen had not paid much attention to the specifics. School rumours are notoriously unreliable, and often purely fabricated. But he knows that Victory is not often spoken to, these days - though still occasionally spoken of, behind his back.

He blinks at the invitation, when Dirthamen extends it to him.

“I am having a birthday party,” he explains.

Victory reaches over, and very gingerly accepts the card. His eyebrows go up.

“And you’re inviting me?” he observes. “Is this a joke?”

Dirthamen shakes his head.

“No. I am in earnest,” he promises. “Although there is no obligation. My brother will not be there, so it may not be a very interesting party.”

Victory snorts, and glances at him. And then folds the invitation into his pocket.

“If your brother isn’t there, then maybe I’ll come,” he says.

Dirthamen finds his response odd, but, he is not certain if that is because he has misunderstood. He nods, anyway, and then he must retrieve several items from his locker before the first bell rings, and that absorbs much of his attention.

The second invitation he gives out in his first class of the day. Dirthamen stares at the back of Selene’s head, from where she sits in front of him, answering many of the teacher’s questions about their algebra homework. He considers, very briefly, giving her an invitation. But she does not meet his father’s criteria - her best friend is Des, Dirthamen knows, who is extremely gregarious, and they often also spend time with Aelynthi and Thenvunin, and other people who he does not recollect the names of.

She would probably say no.

He lets himself wish he would give her an invitation, and that she would say ‘yes’, though, for a significant portion of class, until he must attempt to focus on the lesson instead. Once the class is done, he crosses the room, instead, and hands an invitation to the slightly ill-kempt student who tends to sit at the back, reading books that are not on the curriculum and sometimes endures the random vandalization of her belongings.

“What’s this?” she asks, when he gives her the invitation.

“I am having a birthday party,” he explains.

“So you’re… giving out little cards about it?” Inanallas wonders, further, flipping the piece of cardstock over to observe the back. “Did you draw the bear in the colourful hat?”

“I did,” Dirthamen confirms. “The party is at the zoo. This is an invitation. You are welcome to attend, if you would like.”

Inanallas pauses, and seems slightly flustered for a moment.

“…Oh,” she eventually concludes. Then she reaches over, and bops a fist against his shoulder. Too gently to be considered a legitimate attempt at assault. Based on the available evidence, Dirthamen thinks she is endeavouring to be ‘friendly’.

He reaches over and awkwardly pats at her arm.

She makes finger guns at him.

“Neat. Thanks,” she says.

Dirthamen is uncertain if that is confirmation on her intention of attending, but the invitation has an RSVP request, so he supposes Inanallas can make that decision at her own leisure.

He nods, and then leaves the classroom. His timing is apt, as he steps out into the hall and nearly bumps into another one of the people on his list - a short Dalish girl, with braided red hair and yet more hand-me-down clothing, who he knows primarily for her reputation as the target of a particularly baffling bullying campaign on the part of the men’s lacrosse team. Elanna. He thinks she might have a boyfriend, in fact, but as those are unsubstantiated rumours, his bigger concern for her qualifications is that sometimes he has seen her talking to Selene.

They may possibly be friends.

Dirthamen hesitates, and thinks that, perhaps, she should not qualify. But he also stops in front of her, and she blinks up at him, and he runs out of time for questioning his motives in deciding to invite her anyway.

Instead, he extends one of his stock of cards towards her.

She takes it from him, and tilts her head.

“A birthday party?” she asks.

Dirthamen nods in confirmation.

“You may bring a ‘plus one’, if desired,” he tells her.

Elanna looks mildly confused.

“But… we barely talk…” she observes.

Dirthamen nods, again, and does not name the twinge of disappointment he feels. That does not seem like a very positive response.

“You do not have to attend,” he assures her.

She shakes her head a little, and looks at the invitation again. And then shrugs.

“It could be fun,” she decides, and offers him a smile. Which is much more promising.

Dirthamen nods, and then parts ways with her, as he has another class he must get to. The morning has only just begun, and he has already delivered three invitations. Their reception so far is oddly encouraging. He is not accustomed to his father’s advice working out in his favour, and so there is also some novelty to it as well.

He does not think he might be looking forward to a birthday without Falon’Din. That would be too cruel a thought for him to entertain. But even though he does not think it, some small part of him still knows it, and by lunch, the encouraging feelings have become mingled with a strange sort of guilt.

Lunch time is the best time to find people to give the remaining invitations to, however, and so Dirthamen endeavours to do that, and put his conflicted feelings from his mind. He gives an invitation to a student whose name he does not know, but who is on his list as ‘detention youth’, and is - as usual - found just outside of the principal’s office. And he gives his next invitation to the small Dalish girl who likes to sit on the school roof - mostly by way of using a spell to launch it up to her. Aili, he thinks her name is.

Five invitations down, he passes by Glory and their flock of admirers, and pauses for a moment at the sight of Glory’s younger sibling, trailing behind the group in a manner not unlike the one which Dirthamen had employed, before Falon’Din was sent away.

He reaches over, and hands Uthvir an invitation.

They raise an eyebrow at him.

“You want me to give it to Glory?” they guess.

Dirthamen shakes his head. Falon’Din had only just begun to take notice of Glory, before he was sent away. He probably would have invited them to his party. He would have wanted their flock of friends to become his, he had not liked that someone outside of his influence was so popular. But Falon’Din is not here, and Glory does not meet his father’s guidelines by any stretch of the imagination.

“That is for you,” he says, instead.

Uthvir lets out a breath, and looks at the card stock. They tap a finger against the text that says ‘plus ones permitted, please RSVP (’RSVP’ stands for ‘répondez s'il vous plaît’, meaning “Reply if you please”, and is meant to indicate that prior notice of attendance is requested)’, and then they look at him again.

“I won’t bring Glory, if that’s what you’re thinking,” they say. “It’s a good plan, to think that I would be flattered and go and then bring them, but if you don’t want me coming all by my lonesome self, you had better just firm up and give it straight to them. They won’t make fun of you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

They move to hand the invitation back.

Dirthamen shakes his head.

“No, that was not my plan,” he explains. “Glory does not meet the criteria for an invitation. They are much too popular. I am only inviting awkward students who are not socially active.”

Uthvir’s other eyebrow goes up.

Dirthamen nods at the invitation.

“Attendance is not required,” he assures them, before making his way down the hall again.

Unfortunately, though, the remaining persons on his list prove too elusive for him to track down before the lunch hour is finished. He makes some further efforts at finding them between classes, but in the end, he can only shove the remaining invitations into their lockers at the end of the day, and hope that they discover them and receive them well in the morning.

His father is waiting to pick himself and his sisters up, after school.

“Well?” he asks, as Dirthamen buckles himself into the backseat, next to Sylaise. Andruil stole the front again. “How did it go?”

Dirthamen supposes he is referring to the invitations. He considers the matter, for a moment.

“I handed them out,” he admits. “Most of them in person. I think… perhaps someone will come?”

His father smiles approvingly, and then clears his throat.

“I am certain they all will!” he declares, and then sets about asking Andruil and Sylaise about their own days. Dirthamen watches the road go by through his window, and wonders if that will prove true. He would not think so, but… his father seems to know about birthday parties. And today his advice had been nearly as good as his mother’s.

The pang of grief at that thought keeps him quiet for the rest of the ride home.

[themostrandomfandom]

hey jj! i'm incredibly late to the party but i recently rewatched seasons 2-3 (i've watched till the end once before) and i was wondering if you have any thoughts about where brittana stood both off screen in between those two seasons and in the first few episodes of season 3, till "pot o gold" when they become official. i feel like by season 3 a lot is different in comparison to the end of s2 and i'm really fascinated by their relationship in those first three episodes.

Hey, @deleteee!

So here is the thing: 

The hiatus between S2 and S3 is kind of a lost period in Brittana history. As S2 ended, fans had high hopes that we would see a lot of Brittana development play out in S3, but that’s not really what ended up happening. To be sure, things, as you say, were most definitely different for Brittana once S3 started. It’s just that we didn’t get a lot of answers as to how that difference came about. So much was left open to interpretation and introduced through insinuation.

The bad news is that because the show kind of glossed over this transition in canon, we can’t really say, “The Brittana relationship specifically underwent X, Y, and Z changes between S2 and S3.”

The good news is that we have a lot of room for imagination due to the lack of canon evidence—which means that this time period is open for a lot of headcanon.

If you’ll allow me a good jabber, I’ll do some recounting and offer my take after the cut, okay?

______

When episode 2x22 “NewYork” originally aired, spoilers per Brad Falchuk suggested that Brittana would end S2 “with abang.” 

Many fans hoped that this “bang” would take the form of a first onscreenBrittana kiss and/or Santana coming out of the closet and/or the girls finally decidingthat they were officially dating.

Instead, the “bang”played out as the Heart Locker, a scene which gave us a reaffirmation ofBrittana’s best friendship, a really sweet hug and a pinky-link, and Brittany tellingSantana that, for them, “anything is possible” because they love each othermore than anything else in the world.

Initially, therelative quietness of this “bang” left many fans feeling underwhelmed. For allthe ups and downs that last six episodes of S2 had provided, Brittana had neverthelessmade very little in the way of measurable progress towards dating. No one wasexactly sure where they stood or even if TPTB at Glee were going to continue topursue a romantic storyline for them come S3.

During the summerhiatus between S2 and S3, rumors and fears abounded. Some fans worried that thewriters might introduce a new love interest for one or both of the girls comeS3. Others worried that once S3 started, Brittana would once again be relegatedto background status and all forward development for them would cease.

As the summercontinued, hopeful spoilers started to leak out, and the fandom allowed itselfto imagine some more favorable scenarios: Maybe Brittana would kiss or startdating in the season premiere. Maybe Santana would begin S3 out. Maybe she andBrittany would already be dating by the time S3 started. Maybe we would seeflashbacks to what they did with their summer vacation or at least hear aboutit in a JBI retrospective.

But, again, thingsdidn’t unfold exactly as the fandom expected.

Episode 3x01 “ThePurple Piano Project” was not the Brittana watershed we were hoping for.

The S3 premiere sawBrittana back on the Cheerios for the first time since episode 2x11 “The SueSylvester Shuffle,” with Santana being awarded dual captaincy with Becky.

In Brittana’s firstscene together, Santana got a lunch tray for her and Brittany to share andwalked with her arm-in-arm to their seats. They did talk to JBI but not abouttheir love lives, only about Santana’s plan to rock her senior year andBrittany’s efforts to assemble a functional time machine.

There was no explicitconfirmation that Brittana were dating each other—but, then again, there wasalso nothing to say that they were dating anyone else, either.

They tried to re-recruitQuinn to the New Directions and Cheerios together, but it was unclear what, ifanything, Quinn knew about their relationship.

The girls were onceagain a two-shot, appearing in almost every scene together. They danced on thetables with each other during “We Got the Beat” and sat side-by-side followingthe food fight (“Those are your nipples”).

Later on, Sue seemedto intimate that she knew the truth about Santana’s sexuality and used thatknowledge to blackmail Santana into sabotaging Will’s piano project. Santanadid not appear to be out, but she and Brittany were being awfully chummy inpublic. When Santana got kicked out the glee club, Brittany appeared noticeablydistressed, to the point that even Finn seemed to notice.

Everything was,frankly, ambiguous.

There was nothing tosay that Brittana had made progress between S2 and S3. There was also nothingto say they had regressed.

After working throughsome initial feelings of disappointment, the fandom held its collective breath,waiting to learn more. 

Some fans, myself included, wondered if Brittana werealready secretly dating and suspected that maybe a big reveal would come about at somepoint later in the season. Other fans fretted that maybe we would never see anymore mainline development for romantic Brittana at all—that this “Are they oraren’t they?” ambiguity was all we were ever going to get.

True to form, Gleestrung us along. The next two episodes of S3 tiptoed around Brittana’srelationship, with each new episode offering tantalizing clues but never delivering anything definitive.

In episode 3x02 “I AmUnicorn,” Brittany seemed bound and determined to make WMHS a safe space forLGBTQ kids, and she attempted to use Kurt’s campaign for the senior classpresidency to achieve that end. When Kurt rejected Brittany’s designs,Santana made a point to compliment her genius and encourage her to believe inherself. Everything was very sweet and seemed significant, but, again, nothingwas explicitly explained.

In episode 3x03 “AsianF,” Brittany showed up the Booty Camp, seemingly in support of Santana. Later,she performed “Run the World (Girls)” with Santana singing backup. Theperformance was definitely sexy and suggested Santana’s devotion not only toBrittany’s cause but to Brittany herself. However, it was perhaps lessintriguing, from a Brittana perspective, than Mercedes’s dream sequence performanceof “It’s All Over,” in which Mercedes clearly identified Brittana as a powercouple and talked about Santana “knocking off that piece who thinks she’sbetter than everybody running for president”—i.e., Brittany. Once again, fanswere left wondering what, if anything, was the deal with Brittana. Were theydating or what? If so, did the whole school know about it? Or was Mercedes aspecial case?

Finally, episode 3x04 “PotO’ Gold” provided some answers—though, again, not the answers fans perhapsexpected.

It turned out thatBrittany and Santana had been going on dates—eating out at BreadStix, takingromantic baths together, etc.—only Santana wasn’t sure if that meant they were actuallydating. Brittany reassured her that they were, in fact, dating if she wantedthem to be dating (“I ordered shrimp”). And Santana did want them to be dating, just with the stipulation that their relationship remain private (“under thenapkin”), at least for the time being.

This developmentfilled in some blanks for the fandom:

Santana was not yetout.

Brittana had spent the summer and early school year going on dates but notdefining their relationship.

Brittany was fine with taking things at Santana’s pace.

Santana was ready to date Brittany and be in a committed relationship with herbut not yet ready to make their relationship public.

What it didn’t tell uswas how, exactly, Brittana had spent their summer vacation or to what degreethey had discussed Santana’s coming out process to date. Did they have a planfor how they were going to proceed or were they more playing things by ear?

To this point in showhistory, we, as the audience, still had yet to meet Santana’s family on screen, soquestions remained as to how accepting or unaccepting they might beconcerning her sexuality. 

There had been some hints to suggest that Santanafeared their potential reaction to her coming out but nothing had beenexplicitly stated. 

Fans wondered to what degree the Lopez family would figure into Brittana’sstoryline going forward. 

They also wondered how much or how little Brittana’sromantic development would feature in the show throughout the rest of theseason.

When spoilers startedto leak for Santana’s “coming out” arc, set to feature in episodes 3x06 “MashOff” and 3x07 “I Kissed a Girl,” the fandom hoped that maybe we would learnmore about the nature and history of Brittana’s relationship from the end of S2until present.

But that’s the thingabout Glee: The writers very rarely examined developments in retrospect. Thingshappened off screen, through insinuation, and in passing and were never againrevisited. No new details or developments were made, and the story clipped alongat its same heady pace, full steam ahead.

So was the case withBrittana’s relationship.

We got developmentsgoing forward in S3, but the narrative never looked back or provided any newinsight into what had happened to get Brittana from the Heart Locker in 2x22 to “Iwish you’d hold my hand” in 3x04.

That being the case,there just aren’t that many concrete answers to be had about the summer S2-S3 hiatus period in Brittana history. All we can dois make inferences and write fanfiction.

My personal inferencesabout that “lost summer” are these:

I believe that,following the Heart Locker conversation, Brittany and Santana’s relationshipachieved a state of new equilibrium.

Things weren’t thesame as they had been pre-Hurt Locker, where they were friends who slepttogether but never talked about feelings (even though feelings were obviouslythere). Things also weren’t the same as they had been throughout the Back Six ofS2, with so many stutter steps and hesitations and backslides andcomplications, each new week trading heartbreaks and triumphs.Neither one of the girls was dating anyone else, and they weren’t desperately tryingto maintain the image of heterosexuality, as they had in the past.

Instead, Brittana achieved a new normal.

They spent timetogether—probably lots of it in each other’s homes, as we can infer from thefact that they occasionally bathed together—and they gradually resumed theirphysical intimacy, only this time it was different, because the feelingsunderlying it weren’t being suppressed and secreted anymore.

Though fans hadoriginally inferred that Brittany wouldn’t be ready to date Santana untilSantana came out, the truth was that Brittany was ready to date Santana as longas they were exclusive with each other and there was no more obfuscationbetween them about the nature of their feelings.

They didn’tnecessarily have explicit conversations about the nature of their relationship,hence why Santana remained uncertain, even going into the new school year, asto whether or not Brittany was actually her girlfriend. Brittany, on the otherhand, knew that she and Santana were steady dating, but she wasn’t about toforce Santana into labeling their dynamic before she was ready, so she just playedthings cool, waiting for Santana to come to her.

In the meantime, thegirls decided—together—that they would rejoin Cheerios and attain leadershippositions in Sue’s organization.

They also decided thatthey would try to reform the Unholy Trinity and get Quinn to rejoincheerleading and glee club with them.

When the school yearbegan, they essentially hid their new and improved dynamic in plain sight.Santana didn’t come out to the school, and she and Brittany didn’t tell anyonethey’d been going on dates. However, the girls also made no efforts to hide theircloseness or to beard with boys, as per their m.o. in years past. If people sawthem together and made inferences, then so be it. They just weren’t going tomake any public announcements themselves—and especially not before they haddefined their relationship between the two of them.

There was perhaps somesense between them that they were gradually working towards “going public”—thatSantana was trying to become more comfortable with herself and that they werebuilding up the kind of social capital that would afford them the freedom to dowhat they wanted within the walls of WMHS—but I don’t think they had a stricttimeline on coming out or even a real plan as to how that process might unfold.

Things were still newbetween them, and they were still figuring out how to bridge the gap betweenwhat they had been in the past and what they were now—hence all the ambiguityduring the first few episodes of S3.

Honestly, this periodin Brittana history is one of my favorites to imagine, specifically because itis so open to interpretation, so I’ve written a lot of fic about it. If you are interested, you can find my main “summer between S2-S3″ stories here: 

AndEverything is August You

Can’tHelp but Fall Just to Land

Of course, these stories are just my take on this particular period in Brittana history, and other authors have imagined things in delightfully different ways.

As stated above, we don’t have many hard answers about how Brittana made the transition between S2 and S3. We just have the sense that things were keenly different between Brittana, starting their senior year.

In any case, I have jabbered a lot now.

Thanks for the question! If you continue with your rewatch, I hope you enjoy it.