#oh god i almost forgot to tag spoilers oops

[anizense]

Happy birthday Lady Lunafreya!

09.04~

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 301: All My Todorokis

Previously on BnHA: We learned that when a bunch of superpowered villains are suddenly set loose with nobody around to stop them, things get fucked pretty quickly. Old Man Samurai and a bunch of other useless people decided to make “I pretend I do not see it” their new mantra, and resigned. Endeavor had a moment of despair on account of being crushed by the guilt of having ruined the lives of himself, his family, and basically everyone else in the entire world. For various reasons the heretical notion of “person who has done bad things feels sorry for doing them” sent fandom spiraling into a meltdown, so that was fun. The chapter ended with the entire Todoroki clan descending upon Enji’s hospital room to have a dramatic chat about Touya and All That General Fuckery.

Today on BnHA: Horikoshi is all “here’s the story of how Baby Touya slowly went insane trying to win his father’s love.” It’s a tale full of subverted expectations and heartbreaking inevitability, and also like twenty panels of the cutest fucking kids who ever existed on planet earth, who are so fucking cute that I can’t stop thinking about their cuteness even with all of the horrifying family tragedy unfolding around them. It is absolutely ridiculous how cute they are. Touya is out here pushing his tiny body past its limits because he inherited the same obsession as his dad and neither of them can put it aside even though it’s destroying them, and yet all I can think about is Baby Shouto’s (。･o･｡) face. Anyways what a chapter.

so I have to confess that even though I managed to avoid being caught off-guard by the early leaks, the number of people reblogging my Endeavor posts from earlier this week and using the tag “bnha 301” kind of gave me an inkling that this chapter will include more Tododrama lol. that said, I don’t know anything else about it, so we’re still good spoiler-wise

AHHHHH FLAHSBAKC AHHHH. omg I know I typoed the shit out of that, but I’m just going to leave it lol I think it’s fitting

holy shit holy fuck. so this is Rei and Enji’s first meeting, then??

yepppp, oh shit

so wait, I know this is not even the slightest bit important, but are they meeting at Enji’s home or Rei’s? because I always figured that Enji was the one with the super-Japanese aesthetic, but maybe that was Rei’s side of the family all along

(ETA: from what I found during my very brief google search, omiai meetings are often held at fancy hotels or restaurants, so maybe that’s what this is.)

there’s such a period drama feel to this setting. like it’s so outrageously formal fff how can anyone stand this kind of atmosphere though seriously

OH THANK GOD

I mean they’re still stiff af but at least they’re not rigidly sitting in seiza and staring at each other unblinkingly anymore lol. Enji’s actually got his hands in his pockets now. why is this somehow almost cute

oh damn it’s the flowers

Rei seems so subdued and it’s so hard to get any idea of what she’s actually thinking. I want to see her side of this dammit

but anyway, so at least from Enji’s perspective it seems like even though the marriage was arranged and he picked her because of her quirk, he still loved his wife and wanted to do right by her. the fact that he was watching her and noticed that she liked the flowers, and remembered that detail for all these years -- there’s a reason why Horikoshi’s showing us this. we know what’s going to happen later on; we know how much fear and violence and breaking of trust is coming up ahead, and while it may seem like this scene is serving to soften Enji’s character further -- which to be fair it is -- it also helps drive home the full impact of his abuse. that it’s so terrible not only because of the trauma of the abuse itself, but also because of the way it retroactively destroys all of the good things as well. this could have potentially been such a sweet scene, but it’s inescapably tainted by the knowledge of what’s to come, at least for me. and that’s just brutal

anyways, shit. is the whole chapter going to be like this?? feel free to toss in something I can actually make a joke about sometime, Horikoshi

oop, back to the present

omfg lol

“are you all right” “NO I’M NOT ALL RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK.” “oh, right, because of all the stuff that’s happened with me abusing you and you having a mental breakdown and being hospitalized for ten years and then our son coming back to life and killing thirty people, right, right. I almost forgot.” whoops

omfg you guys I’m loving this new and improved steely-eyed Rei. I’m loving her a lot

and what do you mean “part one” fkjds how long is this going to be. TOO MUCH DRAMA FOR ONE CHAPTER TO HANDLE

oh, hello

yeah I’ll say you did. didn’t seem to bother you much at the time, though

HMMMMMMMMMMMM

Dabi Is A Noumu intensifies even further. anyways though would you fucking look at this boy lounging on this moth-eaten couch doing his best DRAW ME LIKE YOUR FRENCH GIRLS impression wtf

Dabi what if you actually had killed him??? what would you feel?? satisfaction?? regret?? anything at all?? tell me your secrets goddammit

who are you talking to buddy

Fuyumi-chan, Natsu-kun (is it common for brothers to address each other as -kun?? can’t recall seeing that in many other anime, but hey), and “dot dot dot,,,,,, SHOUTO” lol thank you so much for this bountiful heaping of Tododrama Horikoshi we are blessed

AH, WHAT DID I SAY THE OTHER DAY

ULTIMATE MELODRAMATIC THEATER CHILD. “I’M JUST GOING TO LIE ON THIS COUCH SHIRTLESS AND ALONE AND MAKE SPEECHES TO MY FAMILY MEMBERS WHO AREN’T THERE AND SAY THINGS LIKE ‘WATCH ME IN THE PITS OF HELL’ WITH A STRAIGHT FACE BECAUSE NO ONE’S THERE TO JUDGE ME.” WELL JOKE’S ON YOU MISTER CHATTERBOX BECAUSE I AM IN FACT JUDGING THE SHIT OUT OF YOU LOL

(ETA: and on a more serious note, it’s interesting to see that “look at me”/”watch me” theme being used again though, because we see that same sentiment uttered repeatedly by the younger Touya in the flashback. well kid, you definitely got your wish at last. don’t know what else to say.)

OKAY HORIKOSHI HAS DECIDED THAT’S ENOUGH FUN, TIME FOR MORE FLASHBACKS

oh my sweet precious lord

just as cute as we left him. giving us a child this cute when we all know full well what’s going to happen to him is just unspeakably cruel though

HOMG

I’m fucking speechless. you broke me, congratulations. what am I even supposed to do with this

I can’t get over this. moving forward my life will be split into two distinct parts, B.P. (Before the Pout) and A.P. (After the Pout)

and meanwhile there’s ALL THIS BACKGROUND ANGST BUILDING UP, AND I CAN’T EVEN FOCUS ON IT. Touya’s arm and cheek are covered in bandages (I’m guessing this is shortly after that “ouch!” panel we got some chapters back), and Enji is deliberately avoiding training with him because he doesn’t want him to hurt himself further. I can’t fucking get over the irony that all this time everyone thought Touya had died because Enji pushed him too far in his training, and it turns out that it’s the opposite -- the tragedy ultimately happened because he didn’t want to push him. but I’m jumping ahead of myself though I guess

by the way,

remember this?? just wanted to remind you that it exists just in case you forgot

so now someone is talking and basically saying that Touya is the exact opposite of what Enji was hoping for when he decided to start playing with quirk genetics

-- okay hold up

...lol no, never mind. for a second I thought “holy shit he looks kind of familiar WHAT IF IT’S UJIKO OMG” before I remembered that Enji would have recognized him during the hospital capture mission if that was the case. so NEVER MIND, PROCEED

IMAGINE THAT, ENJI DOESN’T QUITE SEEM SATISFIED WITH THIS SUGGESTION OF QUITTING NOW

(ETA: how the fuck did this man go around saving 62 towns in a single day what even is All Might.)

[clicks tongue several times] trouble a’brewin’

MEANWHILE BABY TOUYA HAS UNFORTUNATELY INHERITED HIS DAD’S STUBBORN STREAK

KLDIHWOEIJFL:KSDJ

!!!!!!!!!!!

oh my god. oh my god. what is this chapter. WHAT IS IT

so now Touya is all “YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY MANLY DESIRE TO BURN MYSELF ALIVE” well you got her there champ

THEY’RE TOO CUTE. OH MY GOD. HIS FURIOUS LITTLE TEARS. HER CHUBBY LIL FACE. HIS STUBBY LIL FISTS. SOMEONE HELP ME

also are they just home alone lol or what. “hey Touya, you’re what, like six now?? do us a favor and look after your baby sister for a couple hours for us would you? make sure not to set yourself on fire or anything.” WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG!!

now it’s nighttime and Enji and Rei are arguing, presumably about his decision not to train Touya anymore

whew. okay. so, a couple of things here

1. first of all I think this conclusively shows that Enji really was trying to do the best he could for Touya. he stopped training him as soon as he realized it was hurting him, but Touya was still determined so he tried to make it work anyway, and even visited doctors to try and figure out if there was anything they could do. then, once they were absolutely sure that it wasn’t going to work, he tried multiple times to explain to Touya why they had to stop. he didn’t just abandon him out of the blue, which is really important to note. “no matter how much I tried telling him...”

so yeah, that debunks another common fandom accusation. so by the time he finally makes this decision, which we all know is going to turn out horribly, it’s basically because he’s already tried everything else he could think of. which, by the way, still doesn’t mean he handled this right. but at the very least he was taking Touya’s feelings into account and he was trying, and he didn’t just abruptly toss his son aside (at least not yet)

2. buuuut, then there’s this panel right below all that

which is the other side of it. if he’d just quit like the doctor person advised him to, that would have been the end of it. Touya would still have been upset, but he would have eventually gotten over it and the family would have moved on and possibly even been happy. but what happens next happens because Enji can’t let go. he still has this maddening urge to surpass All Might, and so he and Rei keep having more children, and then Shouto is born, and Enji finally has a kid he can start projecting all of his hysterical ambitions onto once again, and everything starts spiraling out of control soon after

though p.s. none of that is Shouto’s fault though!! he’s one of the few good things to come out of this whole mess and I’m very happy that he exists. the tragedy is that his dad fucking lost his mind over his quirk and fucked everything up. but that’s on him, not Touya or Shouto

anyways, SLKFJLSHGLKJL

I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE THIS YOU GUYS??? LOOK AT THAT LIL BUTTON OF A NOSE??? I’M LOSING IT HERE???

AND TOUYA JUST SEEMS DEVASTATED OMG

because children aren’t stupid, after all. he understands that his dad is still looking to surpass All Might. and so he feels like a failure, and feels like his dad is trying to replace him because he wasn’t good enough. and even now, isn’t that what the adult Touya is trying to prove?? that he was good enough after all?? “I’ll show you what happens when you give up on me, dad”?? “I’ll show you what I can do”?? fuck my life fuck everything

AND YOU CAN SEE THE TOLL THAT IT’S ALL TAKING ON REI GETTING WORSE AND WORSE AS WELL OH GOD

really nice touch here with the panel outlines becoming all shimmery from the heat of Endeavor’s flames (and/or becoming more unstable as the family gets closer and closer to their breaking point). but man, Horikoshi I can’t handle this, please show us more cute kids or something I can’t

GKELKWFJLDKSHFLKL

WITTLE BABE. BEEB. BUBS. SMOL. lkj; oh ouch a piece of my heart just detached and latched onto him huh look at that

TODOROKI “I’M SO SMALL AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S GOING ON AND I DIDN’T ASK TO BE HERE” SHOUTO AHHHHH

crazy how they all just seem to know right off the bat lol. kid doesn’t even have object permanence yet, let alone a quirk. but do they care?? IT’S THE HAIR, RIGHT. WE’RE ALL THINKING IT, I’M JUST GONNA COME OUT AND SAY IT. they knew the minute they looked at him lol

AND MEANWHILE TOUYA IS OFF HAVING UNSUPERVISED TRAINING/CRYING SESSIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS OR WHATEVER, AND, UH OH

are those blue flames yet?? they seem pretty close

(ETA: this is one of the few cases where the manga being in black and white is infuriating lol.)

OH MY GOD AND STILL

so it’s not like he was so disinterested that he didn’t notice what was happening, and he was still trying to stop it and get through to him. trying to reassure him that it wasn’t the end of the world and there were other things he could do with his life, but this one particular thing just wasn’t going to happen

fucking hell. it’s agonizing seeing how close they actually were to fixing it. if he’d only said the right words, or if he’d realized at this point how destructive his obsession could be to his kids, and backed off from putting that same pressure on Shouto. we came so close to possibly having a happy ending

AND ALSO THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING BUT PLEASE LOOK AT HOW TOUYA IS LIKE THREE AND A HALF FEET TALL AND HIS DAD IS LIKE NINE AND A HALF FEET. Touya barely comes past his knees flkjlkg. the Todoroki household must have been so filled with like plastic stepstools to reach the bathroom sink and all the little baby toothbrushes, and baby gates to keep the kiddos out of the important grown-up rooms and stuff. and also days-old half-empty cups of water and stale crackers and hot wheels and my little ponies strewn everywhere

“BUT EVERYONE AT SCHOOL SAYS THEY’RE GONNA BE HEROES” a wild Deku parallel appears?? how bout that

I know this is like a pivotal moment in the Todo Tragedy and all, but fucking look at this lil dumpling

“sup bro, it’s me, the manifestation of your fears of inadequacy and lack of fatherly affections. a GAAA. ba-baAA-baa [gurgling baby sounds]”

OHHHHH IT’S THE SOUND OF MY HEART BREAKING OH NO

HE WANTS TO BE LIKE YOU ENJI. good lord somebody please just get this family some therapy

“DAD YOU IGNITED IT IN ME” flkjslkj nope, nope. not ready for this pain here

baby Shouto, would you like to weigh in on this affair? “DA!! ba-ga-daaa, [pacifier chewing noises]” oh my, you don’t say. so insightful for one so young

OH MY GODDDDDD

IT’S SO DRAMATIC BUT ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT ARE THE SHOUNEN WOOSH LINES SURROUNDING FOUR-MONTH-OLD SHOUTO LOL HE WAS LIKE THIS FROM BIRTH OH MY GOD I AM DYING HELP

SHOUTO YOU’RE RUINING THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER!?!?!

“yo, the fuck kind of family was I fucking born into” oh, son. if you only knew. IF YOU ONLY KNEW!!

(ETA: lmao I got so distracted by the ridiculous cuteness that I glossed over the fact that Baby Touya seems to possibly be aiming at him?? it’s hard to tell because he’s also super out of it from heatstroke and may just be losing control in his attempt to show off his upgrade.)

ANYWAY THAT’S THE END EXCEPT WHAT’S THIS LAST LINE OMG

ffffff. and we’re in for ANOTHER chapter of this next week?? MORE drama?? MORE BABIES?? MORE OF EIGHT-YEAR-OLD TOUYA’S SLOW DESCENT INTO MADNESS. MY HEART CAN’T TAKE IT, BUT ALSO YES PLEASE SIGN ME UP

[on-stardust-wings]

It says to send ramble prompts, but I have a question? A favor? You're an active Good Omens blog that tags posts. Can you post a list of common tags to help find things on this hellsite?

Oh, hello!

I'm afraid I cannot tell you how to find things on this hellsite; not even the Old Hellsite Gods know that. I can however do my best to explain the tags I use for this small, specific circle of hell(site). (And no worries, as shall be immediately demonstrated, I can and will ramble even about tags.)

I never intended for the tags here to be anything but a help to find things myself, so I'm not sure how useful you'll find them? A very common but useless for anyone but me tag for example is "my posts and additions". It used to be two tags, one for posts where I was the op and one for things I added to someone else's post, but as most of the posts I make are meta discussion stuff, the whole point is that people add to them and you can bounce thoughts back and forth, so it became that catch both versions thing. But it really only exists so I can find my own posts for personal reference and stuff; why would anyone else want to specifically find my ramblings? Another useless tag is "good omens"... This is my Good Omens sideblog, so almost everything here is Good Omens.

Okay. So. Common and/or actually useful tags. (How to tag search note: you can find tagged posts by entering the tag into the URL bar of your browser behind a blog's address. Replace all spaces with a dash. So searching for "good omens" on my blog will become "https://on-stardust-wings.tumblr.com/tagged/good-omens". I'm putting links for the bigger things, but I'll still be here by Christmas if I link every individual thing. As you will see, it's quite a list.)

There are things I consider Category Tags, which are pretty self-explanatory:

"good omens season 2" or "good omens 2" (Block that to avoid spoilers. I try to be consistent, but I'm fairly sure I've spelled it out as "two" a few times, or forgot the "season", so to be safe, block all conceivable versions of those if you need.)

"good omens meta"

"good omens headcanon"

"good omens fanart"

"good omens fic" (other fic tags are "good omens fic rec", "ficlet" for the short read-on-tumblr things, and "my fics" and "my writing" which is currently just a bit of ramblings about writing progress and anecdotes, but will be more about the actual fics once I start posting something)

"behind the scenes"

Character Tags are usually a character's full name (so "Newton Pulsifer" instead of "Newt"). For filtering, these are useful if you're looking for stuff including one of the less common characters, but as so many posts are tagged "Aziraphale" and "Crowley", usefulness for filtering of those two character tags is debatable. But I do use them consistently, so knock yourself out finding an endless list of Crowley posts.

Topic Tags filter for something specific, like scenes, events, settings or themes.

These include the Through the Ages Tags: "Eden", "the Fall", "1941", "1967", "1862", "the Bastille", "the Flood", "the Crucifixion", "41 AD" (might be sometimes tagged as "41 A.D." or simply as "Rome"), "Wessex", "the Globe" and "2007".

Events I know I have tagged would be "the Body Swap", "the Bandstand" and "the Bookshop Fire". Other common topic tags are "Aziraphale's Bookshop", "Crowley's Flat", "Crowley's Plants", "the Bentley", "Heaven", "Hell", "Holy Water", "Hellfire", "the Eagle Lectern", "the Wrestling Angels", "the Convent", "the M25", "love", "friendship", "imagination", "miracles" and I'm sure I've forgotten something.

Try "lol" or "OMG I'm wheezing" for funny things, and "oops it's sad" for posts that happened to catch the angst and depression train.

As they tend to be hard to find, posts with Book!Omens content of any kind are tagged "book omens".

I also have a tag for "wings", because wings are epic. Searching by that will give you lots of cool artwork with beautiful and fluffy angel and demon wings, plus a handful of meta discussion and fic.

Some non-Good Omens tags that sometimes come up are "fanfiction", "writing" (and variances and combinations thereof), "queer" and "ace stuff". But very few things here aren't Good Omens.

I suppose that's it. Happy fighting with the hellsite search and filtering function.

[soap-stains]

/rp- this is all just their characters! No ill will to any creators themselves.

This is just my reaction to Tommy's stream "I can't any longer."

FUCK FUCKING FUCK WHAT A GOD DAMN DICK c!DREAM IS

SPOILERS UNDER CUT

DID HE JUST SAY "THAT WASN'T IN THE SCRIPT" lol

WHAT A B I T C H HE BLEW UP TOMMY'S THINGS

I'M SO ANGRY ABOUT THIS

NOOOOOOOOO DREAM NOOOOOO

"No one can come and visit you, until you learn to listen."

GHOSTBUR BUILT THIS ALL, NOT TOMMY, YOU DICK

"Tommy, you would never, actually... You know. You're here for a very long time, Tommy."

I wanna hurt character Dream so much

Drista gave Tommy those tags and they're gone ;w;

At least he still has the photos/compass

The animatics after this are going to be so fuckin scary/scary good

.......and now he's gone. tommy's left with the rubble.

THE WAY HE WALKED THROUGH THE BROKEN PORTAL NO TOMMY

"I said I was sorry... I meant it..."

THE LAUGHTER AT THAT PHOTO OF TUBBO LMAOOOOO

"Happy memories..."

"Jump in the- no, no..."

TUBBO FELL LOL

Tommy, Tommy what are you

TOMMY

TOMMY STOP

NO NO NO NO NO HE'S GONNA JUMP

WHY IS TUBBO DYING?

GUYS STOP IT STOP STOP STOP STOP

"My only friend, Dream- Is gone."

TOMMY STOP PLEASE STOP

please tell me someone is gonna join please please please

Please someone help him, don't let Tommy die

I know i thought the idea of GhostInnit was interesting but i don't want this

TOMMY PLEASE STOP

PLEASE

GOD, THE PICTURES--

"He'd come to watch me."

Looking over Logsted

please please stop no he uncrouched come on tommy

TUBBO STOP DYING

i just saw people spamming flipinnit in chat

Tommy's realizing Dream isn't his friend

HE JUMPED- INTO WATER

Tommy!!! To your senses Tommy!!!!!!!

"He wasn't here because he was my friend"...

The chat's going god damn crazy

"I almost said 'It's only a disc.'"

HE'S BREAKING THE TREE? GIFT UNDER TREE?

OH SHIT HE DIED OOPS NOW HE'S AT SPAWN LOL HAS TO CALL DREAM

"My bed seems to have been destroyed..."

"This blooper reel is getting longer and longer."

let's pretend this didn't happen <3

I'm not going to forget Dream's death though that was hilarious, he's never gonna live that down

Who named this disc Mellohi lol

What the fuck are Ant/Ponk talking about

If I could sub I would </3

"No one [...] no one came here. And everyone left me."

"I'm the only one Dream's scared of. And he almost had me, for a little second there."

"We don't have to stay in this shit hole."

Heyyy found a chest with cool stuff!

Ooooooh he joined a VC, is someone going to pop in later? IS HE GOING TO GO FIND TECHNO???? TECHNO RETCONNED TOMMY FINDING HIS BASE BECAUSE IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN YET IS IT GONNA HAPPEN

"Die, pig. I fuckin' hate pigs." okay, well.

"No one's gonna know!" "Dream's not gonna fuckin' know, is he?"

"As soon as I get back my disc, everything ends."

"He won't be able to find me." I mean yeah, technically not ig

I just realized how much I've calmed down haha

He's heading into the snow 👀

"I'm not like Dream."

YEEEEE THE LOG AND BELLLLLLL

"No one on this entire server knows where I am, now." THEY WILL IF YOU LEAVE HALF TREES DIMWIT

"Even Ghostbur left me." Oh yeah, where'd he go lol

Is he. Is he going to try and rob The Blade.

"Surely I remember..." Tommy you're not supposed to remember, idiot-

LMAO SOMEONE IN CHAT SAID "Tommy, did your balls just drop man"

Holy shit I forgot those weird ice skeleton mobs were still in the game I haven't seen one in years

"When have I ever done the work myself?" tommy hhhhhhh whyyyyyyyy

"we are smol and confused" - awesamdude

"I'm at Techno's house right now" "He commissioned a bee Farm" - Phil 👀

YOOOO ARE WE GONNA SEE PHIL HERE? no? ok

Techno what the fuck is in your basement

tommy you idiot lmao you're fuckin' dead

"Exile is awesome"

Chat is saying run????? IS HE GONNA LIVE UNDER TECHNO'S BASE?????

raccooninnit & dumbassinnit haha

Heyyy Eret joined! And Dream's gone! :D

"It would be nicer just to be home. No, no, no-"

Fundy is live ayyyy

THE BOY IS BACK AYYYYYY I haven't typed in a while trying to put MC on my brother's pc

WE'RE ENDING STREAM BOYS TIME FOR ME TO STOP TYPING AND DO THINGS

"I think shit's gonna get crazy from here."

[littlespaceporgs]

The Clone Wars Reacts - Part 5

Or Leah loses her shit at Jar Jar, thirsts for Aayla Secura for an episode and a half, and then swoons for Riyo Chuchi.

Welcome once more to the Reacts series! I’m a busy woman for now but I am setting up a schedule for this series which will be

Today we’re covering episodes 12, 13, 14 and BONUS! 15. This is because I got super bored during episode 14 and basically didnt write anything so, here you go! As per usual, major spoiler alert for season 1 of the clone wars! If you haven’t read the previous parts to this series, I suggest you do so that you can follow along! 

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

Tags (if you want to join, my taglist can be found on my page!): @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky @girlvader @simping-for-fives @littlevodika @hounding-around @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life @onabouteverything @acciokenobi @catsnkooks @captainrexstan @roseofalderaan @fractiouskat

We’re well past the half-way point, so there is 2 parts left of season 1, and then onto season 2! So lets get into it!

Episode 12: The Gungan General

> heheheheheheheh jar jar I am KEEN

> I get hondo and jar jar in one episode

>> this’ll be funny

>>> actually no scratch that, this is gonna be hilarious

> oh and they woke up in a cell this will be fun

> HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA AND THEYRE BOUND TO DOOKU

> DISASTER I TELL YOU

> “if I keep my mouth shut you’ll devise a plan so get off the god forsaken planet?” “YES”

> this dude seems traitorous as fuck (im referring to one of the pirates, not dooku shockingly)

> I wish Ahsoka and Yoda were in this too, I want more disaster lineage

> ah he is indeed a traitor

> “HEIDY HO CHANCELLOR”

> JAR JAR WHOO

> “stop messing around, we’re landing. Secure yourself” “MESA TRYING ITS STUCK”

> promptly followed by jar jar falling everywhere

> oh and now he’s in the cockpit

> oh shit that senator guy is definitely dead right?

> “do control tour protégées insolence” “anakin, control your insolence, the count is concentrating”

> “do we know where we’re going?” “Ssh anakin” “DO we know where we’re going?”

> is it safe? Of course it i- riiiiiight

>> I forgot this was the clone wars for a second, this is gold

> FRIENDS DONT DRUG FRIENDS HONDO

> y’know, dooku’s quite amusing when he’s not trying to kill my favourite characters

> “are you now in command” “uh no, binks is the highest ranking” ooooohhhh boy

> ooooooohhhh and some mind tricks too, nice

> I hate to say this, but jar jar is actually smart

> holy shit

> beasties are nearby too, we’ll be fine. they run, we run

>> Dayum jar jar actually making good decisions?

> I present a real and accurate image of my reaction to this statement

> Mesa be having an idea oooohhh booooyyy

> obi wan that is no way to speak to your grandmaster

> be patient master the count is elderly and doesn’t move like he used to

> I would kill you both now if I didn’t have to drag your bodies

>> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH this is the only reaction I’ll accept

> then falling all over each other is the only thing I’ve ever needed to see

> “ this is not going well” no shit

> my question is why did obi wan not drop Dooku?? Does he actually still care about this man?

> you’re right, I don’t think youre going to be friends 🤦‍♀️😂

> sneaky lying snake

> bruh they don’t even know you’ve got the Jedi captive??????????

>> so how does that work you dumbass

> no shit, you will look like fools obi wan

> “there be some bombad clankers” 😂😂

>> “huh YOURE right, bombad clankers” I love the shock

> YOURE RIGHT HE IS SMARTER THAN HE LOOKS, GIVE JARJAR SOME CREDIT

> oh boy anakin, just keep your mouth shut genius

> man electrocution doesn’t look like fun

> HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH

> The next few lines of confused joy are me reacting to jar jar somehow single handedly taking out 3 tanks

> what the fuck

> JarJar I I’m what-

> JUST DID A GOOD THING, I DONT REGERT THIS THING AT ALLLLLLLL

> fuckin JarJar was great

> “KILL HIM HES NOT A REPRESENTATIVE, HES A PLAGUE” I’m ded 💀😢💀

> serves you right you snake, now dooku gonna choke your ass

> oooohhhhh that’s how these two twits (hondo and obi-wan) became friends

> “and... he knows where you live” Oof the subtle threat is real

> hem I love obi wan very much and his sarcasm

 Episode 13: Jedi crash

> I JUST SAW AAYLA I AM EXCITED I AM ALSO ATTRACTED TO HER VERY MUCH

> SHES HOT

> I LOVE HER

> AND HER VOICE JUST MAKES ME ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

> I wish I was bly, not gonna lie

> I have a quick question - the 501st colour is blue right? Then why do they have a gold squad, doesn’t the extra colours just confuse things?

> I love seeing anakin and Ahsoka in action coolest thing to watch

> And anakin

>> I am also quite attracted to him

>>> imagine dragging your hands through that hair as he- wait no I have minors in my followers not gonna finish that

> Uh oh

>> Oh anakin you twit

>>> HE LOCKED HOMSELF IN WITH AN EXPLOSION JDGKJDJFKFKFKFKFF

> HES INSANE

> Are all Jedi so reckless? Just the good ones - love this by the way

> Oooohh shit for a STAR

> I mean like? I know anakin doesn’t die, but this shit is concerning

> Perfected the art of destroying ships and getting master almost killed? Sounds familiar

> I hate it when they just call them “padawan “ it just feels very impersonal like bleh

> Like I love aayla but god the Jedi preach some bullshit

>> God forbid someone raises a child and gets attached to it

>>> Like for fucks sake

>>>> Can you tell this is something I’m passionate about?

> Anyway, moving on

> Oh hi anakin! You’re alive!

> That bird lookin thing is tryna eat my boy 😤

> Oop - well that dudes dead

> Aawwwwwww aayla looks so sad, this makes me sad too

> Can we just appreciate this?

> Well these little critters are cute

> Ooooohhh I think I agree with this little dude

> You can skip the paragraph if you like, its just me going off about ‘peacekeeping’

> Alright gonna get mildly into it for a second, the clone wars really gets into it with episodes like this, displaying how the entire galaxy was starting to lose faith in the Jedi and their peacekeeping ways, in the movies we just got that people just started hating the Jedi because they became part of the war, but this really fleshes it out and shows just how slowly and gradually the loss of faith is. Because he’s right, the Jedi aren’t peacekeepers anymore, they bring as much destruction with them that the separatists do and have become symbols of war. They’re fighting for a good reason yes, but they can no longer claim that they are peacekeepers or that they played no role in this war.

> ANYWAY BACK TO REACTS

> AH MY TWO FAVOURITE WOMEN AND A PRETTY BACKGROUND AGAIN!! They really do be doing me a great service

Part 14: Defenders of Peace

> I’m really not into this episode, just saying it now

> Anakins just as bad as obi wan, like honestly just chill bro, fucking REST

>> MY BOYS DESERVE SOME GODDAMN REST AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL OK-

> Okay but is it taking a life if it’s a droid?

> Ugh this dudes ugly as fuck

> What did you think was gonna happen?? Of course your village was going to be ransacked

> I could go on forever about the pointlessness of this war like it just makes me mad palpatine you slimy git-

> My reacts this episode are really boring huh, I’m not into it 😭

*fully I didn’t write anything for about 10 minutes here because it’s just a little boring*

> HOLY SHIT NOW THATS A FUCKING WEAPON

> Yep sorry that’s it for this ep, I’m so bored 😂

>> Anyway, bonus episode because that one was short!

Part 15: Trespass

> YES OBIWAN WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO

> AND IS THAT RIYO CHUCHI I SPY?????

> Hahahahahahahhahahaha it’s not tatooine, you got that right

> Oh god this dude already sounds like a dick (its the chancellor dude but not palpatine)

> Why’s he so defensive over it?

> Oh yikes, that does not look good

> Seppies don’t do that though - this is... odd

> Ah and the same thing has been done to the droids

> Off topic, but I think I’m going to make a clone wars drinking game that I can do while I do my reacts, so I’m going to make that this week, send me your ideas in the comments or dm me!

> Back to ep - pfffffffttt obi wans little taps and then anakin really goes WHACK

> Anyway I’m going to do this in the next couple days and then every Friday night I’ll watch a few eps and drink away

> Alright back to the episode once more

> Abominable snowman????

>> Definitely

> This is gonna go well isn’t it?

> “Well? Say something”

>> “Just shut up” *visible eye roll*

> What the fuck is their mouth

> Okay really obi wan, I think it’s pretty clear they don’t speak basic

> YEEEEEEAAAHHH THATS MY BOI ANAKIN

> Awwwwwwww that shits cute, fucking bear huugggg I want to be hugged like that

> I’m not fussed if it’s anakin, obi wan or kit fisto but please someone love me

>> Preferably kit fisto

> Anyway this dudes a dick (again, its the chancellor dude)

> They obviously have intelligence, and this dude has issues

>> I’m thinking he’s trying to compensate for something 👀

> Oof you really gonna tell a Jedi what to do?

> HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA the other people’s were there already

> Ugh he reminds me of my very racist grandparents oh boy

> You’ve been told like 4 times that it is not your jurisdiction anymore and you still can’t take it?

>> BRUH

> She’s so tiny and adorable and her voice is just 🥰🥰🥰🥰

>> Oh no

>>> I’m simping for another character

> Surely this guy dies

> HAHAHAHAHAH HE JUST GOT SPEARED SERVES YOU RIGHT MOTHERFUCKER

> What a dick, he shall not be missed

> She’s just, so pretty??? And smart????

>> FUCK MY BISEXUAL ASS CANT HANDLE THIS

> he’s seriously not dead yet?

> AAAHH RIYO YOU SMART GIRL YEEEEESSSS NEGOTIATE THAT PEEEEAAACCEEEE

> THATS MY GIRL SENATOR CHUCHI YEEEESSS

Welp that’s it for today folks, it was lovely, see y’all at some point this week where I say the drinking game rules and then next drunken Friday (even though these are gonna be released on saturdays but I write them on fridays?)

[just-my-fandom]

Cinnamon (Steve Harrington x Byers! Reader)

Warning, spoilers for season 3. You have been warned.

I forgot to add a title to this on the Coming Up list lmao oops. Im also getting a new iphone soon so I might not be active for a couple of days

Summary; Reader and Steve have a morning to themselves after the events of the Mindflayer

Tagged; @thehakunamatara @irreplaceable-ecstasy @avocadoesatlaw @rexorangecouny @fraeppuccino @teenwolflover28 @duvetsandpillows @buckysjuicyplums @lcgaf @ahoy-ladies-67 @canny1902 @itsfangirlmendes @tellmyselfies @xkotkuu @scarletmeii @bubblegumcat229 @krazykatkay456

___________________________________________

Four hours

Four God damn hours since the attack at the mall, but it feels like it was just minutes ago

The sun is now rising, and in the four hours since the paramedics finally let you go home, you're unable to sleep, staring up at the ceiling and fiddling with Steves hand rested at your hip,

"Can't sleep either?" Steve's hushed voice has you slowly looking over, to the boy now in comfortable clothes instead of that stupid Scoops Ahoy outfit you once loved,

The black around his left eye had slowly faded, but it was still there. It made your heart clench when you remember Steve telling you about what the Russians had done to him,

"No," You sigh, softly, fingers brushing his freshly washed hair from his face, "I keep seeing Billy and the Mindflayer,"

"Yeah," Steve sighs, hand running under your shirt to brush the skin at your stomach, "Me too,"

You twist onto your side, hand tucked under your head and eyes facing the teenager next to you, "So what happens now? We just pretend all of that never did happen?"

"Not necessarily," Steve answers, "But we cant let it haunt us, or whatever you want to call it,"

"I was chased by a creature that haunted my brother last year," You remind, "You were beaten up by Russian assholes,"

"Well when you put it that way," Steve scoffs, lips tugging upwards as you roll your eyes and scoot against him,

Steve slips his arms fully around your smaller form, cheek on your head as he allows the silence of his room to consume him,

"Steve?" You murmur, his hum vibrating against his chest, "Ive just had a craving for cinnamon rolls,"

Its quiet, and you pause, before Steve chuckles, "You too huh?"

"You have any?" You lean back, grinning up at the boy

"I'm sure my mom had some tucked in the fridge somewhere," Steve allows you to slide away, standing up to stretch and turn back to his figure laying down,

"Well come on then," You order, exiting his room with his eyes following,

Steve smiles, throwing the covers off of his legs and jogging after you, finding you squatted down in front of the fridge, holding a tube of cinnamon rolls over your shoulder

Steve swiftly turns the oven on, plucking the tube from your hand and spreading the rolls onto a pan,

You lift yourself up onto the counter, watching Steve place the pan in the oven and brush the dough from his hands,

"I always have the best ideas," You smirk, swinging your legs to a random rhythm,

"Is that so?" Steve plants his hands on the counter next to your sides, leaning forward to peck your lips carefully, "I love you,"

"I love you too," You slip your hands to his hair, pulling him closer to you so his lips met yours again, legs locking at his waist so he is forced to stay in place,

Steve slowly pulls away from your mouth, kissing your cheek softly and smiling, "You know, even if we did almost die last night, Im glad you didnt freak out and leave Hawkins or some shit,"

"Yeah, well," You sigh, head on his shoulder, "My Mom is debating on it,"

"Speaking of which," Steve leans back to look at your face, "Does your mom know you're here?"

"Of course she does. I cant leave the house without her being all mama bear and knowing every detail," You smirk, "Im a good kid aside from my brothers. She trusts me,"

"Of course you are," Steve grins, the beep fron the oven next to him making him let go of your sides to pull the pan out,

"Smells like heaven," You sigh peacefully, Steve smiling over at you as he iced the rolls,

You pick one from the pan, blowing on it to ease the steam arising, biting into the treat and humming gleefully,

"You got a little something," Steve gestures to his lip, then to you,

"Oh do I?" You grin, leaning forward towards his face and puckering your lips, "Do I really?"

Steve laughs, smearing a paper towel into your face, your hand catching the piece of paper to rub your mouth, "Party pooper,"

Steve bites into his own treat, quickly pecking your lips so you had to rewipe your face,

"Gross," You mock, Steve narrowing his eye's at you,

The phone ringing across the living room has you looking away from Steve, said boy setting down his cinnamon roll to pick the phone from the wall and hold it to his ear,

"Yeah shes here," Steve waves you over, watching you huff and wipe your hands, jumping off the counter next to him,

"Hi mom," You force a smiley tone, leaning into the wall,

"Hi sweetheart," Joyce breathes, "Im just checking up on you, you okay?"

"Yes mom, Im fine," You sigh, closing your eye's, "Steve and I are having breakfast,"

"I need you to come home some time before lunch, Y/N," Joyces voice drops, your eyes opening to look at Steve,

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Joyce chuckles weakly, "We just need to start packing,"

"Packing?" You squeak, Steve furrowing his eyebrows and uncrossing his arms, "For what?"

"Y/N, we're um, we're moving," Joyce answers breathlessly, "I dont feel safe with you kids here,"

"Oh," You swallow, inhaling, "Okay. I-I'll see you at lunch,"

Pressing the phone to the wall, your hands rub at your arms and your tearing eyes stare at Steve,

"Whats wrong?" He asks hesitantly, your eyes closing as you shake your head, hand pressing to your eye, "Hey, hey," Steve moves forward, pulling you into his front and holding a hand to your head, "Its okay,"

"I knew it was going to happen," You inhale shakily, arms slipping to his torso, "Shes been looking at places in different states because she doesn't feel safe here,"

"Shes just trying to protect you," Steve murmurs, "But hey, I'll be able to visit you, and we have phones,"

You look up at Steve, his hand cupping your face and wiping away a tear that slid down your cheek, "We'll be okay," He promises,

You sniff, Steve leaning down to clasp his lips over yours, holding you in a tight embrace,

Your hands reach up to his own face, pulling him closer to you as a hiccup racks through your throat,

"Come on," He pulls back, nose brushing yours, "Lets get changed. You can have some of my shirts if that makes you happy,"

You break out a laugh, Steve tugging on your hand, leading you back to his bedroom and leaving the cinnamon rolls alone on the counter

. . .

"Promise you'll call as soon as you reach a telephone,"

"I promise," You repeat for the fifth time, smiling up at Steve, "I swear, youre taking this worse than I am,"

"Probably," Steve sighs, forehead knocking against yours, "Please be careful,"

"You too," You exhale, "Call me if anything weird happens,"

"This is Hawkins," Steve reminds, "Everythings weird here,"

You snort, Joyce squeezing your arm as she walks by to tell you times up,

"Guess that's my cue to go," You release, fingers clutching at his plain black tee, "I love you,"

"I love you, too," Steve meets your lips, slowly, tugging you into his chest to deepen the kiss one last time, "This isnt goodbye,"

"Thats what everyone says," You murmur into his mouth, "Dont jinx it,"

"Y/N!" Jonathan calls from the car, and you blink away tears, peeling yourself from Steves arm,

"I gotta go," You step back, opening the car door in the front seat of Jonathans car, "I love you,"

"Love you too," Steve chokes out, lifting a hand as you climb into the car, closing the door and looking at your twin brother,

"Ready?" Jonathan asks, your eyes leaving Steves to look at him,

"Yeah," You breathe, glancing at Will in the back seat, "Lets go before I start crying again,"

Your twin brother squeezes your hand, pulling his car into drive and pulling out behind the Uhaul

Hawkins, 1985

[meganmazing]

Fics I Read While On Vacation 2.0!

Last month I went on a trip to Italy, and you know what that means... I downloaded a ton of long fics to keep me sane on the long plane/train journeys, and now I’m sharing a few of my faves with you guys! Pro tip for travelers: DO THIS! When you do’t have reliable wifi, and don’t want to pay for the in-flight wifi, downloading a PDF (or ten) from AO3 is the way to go. Their easy system is one of my favorite features of the site, and has multiple downloading formats other than PDF, too. Plus, they include links back to the work in the PDF so you can go back and comment when you do have wifi! Which you should always do, because authors are a gift, and giving kudos and love in the form of comments in return is a wonderful thing.

This time it’s mainly stevetony, with a few phlint, a cherik series, and one reaper76 (r76) for good measure. And guys. The stony and phlint especially...oh my god. Even when Phil and Clint aren’t the mains, I’m screaming about them. For whatever reason, the Marvel stuff I read his time blew me away, to the point where I’m still thinking about some of the stories, despite it being nearly a month since I got back to the states. One fic genuinely changed me, and I never thought I’d say that without a hint of sarcasm, but here we are. 

Like always, click the bolded titles for the link, and please read the tags on each fic. Even though I tend to steer clear of the truly brutal stuff when I’m on vacation, what squicks you out may not register for me, etc. Remember to throw some love to the works you enjoy, and come scream about them with me anytime <3

Stevetony

Steve Rogers Is A Child by LagLemon  Words: 290k+  Rating: M

Tony gets into fights with Steve all the time and it's driving him insane. Sure, he's not the nicest guy in the world, but all he did was steal a little of the guy's sesame seed bagel - he didn't deserve to get yelled at for something stupid like that.

After drowning his sorrows in hot chocolate and complaining to Pepper about what happened, Tony gets a phone call from Natasha telling him to hurry back home. Something's happened - Steve has been attacked and he's not quite the same man he once was - he's been turned into a child.

With Steve out of commission, the team struggles with what to do and Tony finds himself filling roles he had never expected: babysitter and friend.

THIS is the fic I mentioned in a textpost pretty much immediately after I finished reading. I couldn’t wait for this rec list. My dear friends, this fic gave me a crisis of faith. That’s a tad dramatic, you say? This fic had me rooting for Bucky Barnes and Tony Stark. Winteriron. Yeah. Bucky has an unrequited crush on Tony, and he killed me with it.

Don’t get me wrong, the stevetony here is endgame, and it’s beautiful, but wow. Like. I’m not one to multipship people often - especially not with my top otps - and stony is an og pair of mine. Something about this Tony and this Bucky just...fit? I mean...I think I get it, now. I can see it. You guys win.

I’m still recing this as stevetony, but I had to mention it becasue I’m still in shock weeks after finishing this, and it’s stuck with me. Tony is a character near and dear to my heart, and the story is told from his POV in a way that felt a bit different from the norm to me, and I dig it. Don’t be put off by the child!Steve thing, it’s not forever and it is handled really well in the story. No child sexual/romantic/abuse situations occur. Personally, I would not rec that kind of story.

Falling Into You by sabrecmc     Words: 53k+   Rating: M

Tony and Steve end up as fuck buddies after the events of The Winter Soldier until Steve calls it off. When Loki's spell wipes all of Steve's memories since the last time Loki was in town, Tony decides it will be so much easier to just not tell Steve they had something of a relationship. Spoiler: It isn't.

Or, how Steve fell in love with Tony and forgot about it, and how Tony fell in love with Steve and realized it.

Sometimes, you read a fic that is infuriating, heartbreaking, and sweet all at once, in almost every paragraph (at least for the first three quarters of the story). Tony is at his oblivious, slightly self-destructive best here, and you just want to shake the man, sometimes. Not to worry, I also wanted to shake Steve. It’s equal opportunity obliviousness in this one. The story is told with flashbacks to Tony’s memories of their “fuck buddy” relationship as he remembers them while the present mind-wiped-Steve situation is happening. It was done in a way that felt familiar without feeling redundant, the way this trope sometimes does for me. The ending is so worth it, and melted my heart. 

A Higher Form of War by sabrecmc     Words: 292k+  Rating: M

Tony is a King with a surprising number of people out to kill him. Steve and the rest of the Avengers are fighting for Pierce's rebellion and end up with Tony as their prisoner. Oops.

Basically one of those bodice-ripping romance novels I don't read (ahem) but with far more gay.

Speaking of melting my heart, this fic obliterated it. When I say Slow Burn, I mean it. Oh my sweet lord, do I ever. But you NEED this one if Stevetony is your thing, trust me. It’s AU in the best ways, and uses so much from the first Iron Man movie, as well as the Captain America movies and general MCU. Steve and Tony are painfully true to their characters at times, which brings both the good pain and the bad pain, the way you know you love. Fluff and plenty of angst, along with gorgeous tension and resolutions, and can I just have more of this world? Please? Forever? What is the team up to now? How is everyone? We got two novels worth of story, and I still want more of this universe!

The phlint really is blink-and-you-miss-it, but I am a sucker for the little nods and they made me happy. Also, there are the beginnings of Bucky and Tony being good friends, and I am so here for that friendship right now. 

Deep in the Heart of Me by Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)  Words: 257k+       Rating: E  

There were days when the realization that he was someone’s father made Steve's head hurt, but mostly he was grateful that he could trust his instincts, because apparently Peter was what had been missing from his life. Yes, he still had lingering, unresolved issues from his time in the Army, and sure, he had what Bucky annoyingly referred to as a criminally untapped ass, and no life outside of work and Peter, but Steve was okay with how his life had turned out because of trusting his instincts.

Unfortunately, those same instincts had straight up betrayed him by going absolutely haywire upon being exposed to Tony Stark.

Veteran single dad Steve runs a tattoo shop. For his 40th birthday, Pepper arranges for Tony to get that tattoo he always wanted, and he winds up with the mother of all crushes instead. Jumping out of airplanes is one thing, but falling in love is something else entirely. Steve struggles with the idea of actually letting someone into his life. Tony is left trying to keep his heart from being broken while Steve figures things out.

I have been holding off on this story for a long time. Something about Steve being the adoptive dad to Peter had me skeptical, and the heavy mental health aspects were not something I was eager to deal with when I first saw it.  

That being said, I am so glad I read this. Getting real for a sec, I signed up for a mental health counselling consultation after finishing this. I connected so thoroughly with Steve and his experiences, and of course with Tony, too. But Steve’s journey through this story is honestly on a completely different level of fiction for me. Its heartbreakingly real, and downright visceral at times in the descriptions of how Steve feels, as well as how Tony feels, being in love with a person struggling with mental illness. 

I cannot recommend it enough. 

Aside from that, the love story between Steve and Tony blew me away, and I fell so in love with their love, it killed me. The ending is beautiful, and Peter is such a wonderful part of it. The family dynamics surprised me with how much I loved them too, with all of Steve and Bucky’s dads, and Clint and Nat being a part of their squad in the military, it fit perfectly in the story. Also: Let Tony Be A Good Father Figure 2k18 is my new crusade.

(I even grew to like Clint/Bucky in this. Phil is kind of in the world? Not a part of the main crew, but he cameos, and that was nice. Maybe that’s how I rationalized it in the beginning: Clint doesn’t know Phil, it’s fine! I like Clint and Bucky individually so much that it worked for me.)

Holding Out For A Hero by Wordsplat  Words: 100k+  Rating: T (yeah, I know, cue the comical surprise that one of these is rated Teen and Up) 

When Tony was a prince and Steve was his manservant, they were young and reckless and hopelessly in love. But an attack on Tony's life convinces Steve that he can't protect Tony, so he leaves in the dead of night to train until he can. Ten years later, Steve returns to the kingdom a strong and able knight, but his king is both furious and broken-hearted. 

One of my favorite things is when I get to be unreservedly on Tony’s side when he fights with Steve. Steve’s reasoning is understandable for his character, sure, but BOY. Plus, Tony has the Avengers backing him up too, and I live for the team supporting Tony. In the MCU right now, the team is basically all for Cap, but the lack of multiple, meaningful, interpersonal connections from the team to Tony in those movies is a rant for another day. 

Again, this is another story where the supporting cast has my heart. I also adored the knights being made up of the Avengers, and Bruce’s role, which kicked ass and made me happy. But, this story focuses primarily on Steve/Tony, and their relationship just kills me with how sweet/painful it is in turns. The fluff to angst ratio is spot on.

AND: Tony is a good dad! (LTBAGFF 2k18) 

I love their love.

Go Ugly Early by just_another_tinker  Words: 161k+ (still updating)  Rating: E

He’s The Captain?

This was not good. This was so not good.

There were theories of course, of what The Captain would look like. Most followed the typical Hollywoodesque belief that he was some version of the Godfather, sitting in a dark room with a cigar, commanding his forces with a flick of his wrist. There were even some that even thought that The Captain was not one person, but a whole network of people with eyes and ears everywhere.

The blonde Adonis in front of him was definitely not what Tony was expecting.

Of course, in the end it didn’t matter.

There was a reason no one knew what The Captain looked like.

Because anyone who saw his face never lived to tell the tale.

This is not a finished story, and I am perpetually on the edge of my seat waiting for the next update. I’ve rec’ed cherik Mob/Mafia AUs before, but I’ve never read one with steve/tony and the avengers. I’ll admit, Steve as a mob boss? I was skeptical about how well I’d vibe with it. 

Now? Holy shit, friends, I’m living for it. The aspects of Steve’s character that the author explores are everything I didn’t know I needed. Likewise with Tony, but I’m emphasizing Steve becasue it’s so unlike the usual representation Steve gets in fandom.

Apparently the running theme of this rec list is stories where the team is amazing and important to the story, becasue it’s true here, too. They’re Steve’s crew, becasue naturally. I adore the dynamics between everyone, especially when Tony starts to interact with them on the regular. 

But guys. The phlint in this hit me in the feels so hard, I didn’t see it coming until I was ready to tear up. The writing is so good, I forgot a key aspect of Phil’s arc in the MCU for a split second and I was distraught. Clint has POV chapters (Phil also had one very recently, but I think Clint has more content overall), and so you get into their relationship and all the emotions Clint’s going through, and  and I won’t say more becasue you need to read this one, even if you’re just in it for the phlint.

I know I’m a massive sucker for Clint, and love him wherever he shows up, but this time I’m genuinely impressed. The tags have it as minor/background, but it punched me in the chest like it was the main pair.

Of course, the steve/tony is amazing and addictive, but I had to scream about Clint and Phil for a sec.

Phlint

 First Impressions by raiining   Words: 76k+  Rating: M

Mr. Clint Barton does not like Mr. Phil Coulson. The feeling is not as mutual as he had thought.

A Pride & Prejudice AU.

So, I will be the first to admit that I have a serious affinity for Austen retellings in fanfic. The only downside with is that I tend to be overly picky about them, to the point where I check out fast if something bugs me, even if literately no one else would be bothered, much less notice it in the first place. 

This AU fed my Austen-loving soul and gave me every Phlint thing I’ve ever wanted in an AU like this. Clint’s perspective here is spot-on, and his relationships with Nat and Tony were awesome to read. Not to mention that the author filled character roles perfectly? People were chosen that I wouldn’t have expected but as I was reading I was so on board at every turn, like, yes, of course, this is exactly it! They also twisted the classic P&P story and made it their own, making it fit and make sense for the characters above all, which I absolutely loved. Bookmarked for life. Probably will end up rec’ing this forever.

Phil just breaks my heart, and so does Clint, and I have way too much love for this fic, go read it right now!

And Eternity in an Hour by Selenay   Words: 60k+   Rating: E

He comes from a secret place, far below the city streets, hiding his face from strangers, safe from hate and harm. He brought me there to save my life...and now, wherever I go, he is with me, in spirit. For we have a bond stronger than friendship or love. And although we cannot be together, we will never, ever be apart.

When Phil Coulson is attacked and left for dead, he is rescued and cared for by an unusual man who looks like a beast. As Phil heals, he learns that Clint is part of a community hidden below the city, where people who don't fit into the world above can live in safety. In time, Phil has to return home, but he vows to change his life and find a happier, better future.

Phil and Clint believe their time together is over, but they are destined to meet again when their worlds begin to collide.

A Beauty and the Beast (TV, 1987) fusion fic.

I’ll be honest, this show was before my time, and while my mom loved it and I know the basics of the story through her, I’ve never actually seen it. That being said...hell yes. I was hesitant, because Clint is right next to Tony for Marvel characters that I hold really close to the chest, and making him a “monster” had me cautious in the beginning. Fuzz, claws, really? Yes. If you’re thinking like me, go for it anyway! This story won me over so quickly, I don’t think I even knew it was happening - suddenly I was hooked.   

It’s alternating POV, with a bit more of Phil, I think, since he’s the character we relate to more, being the outsider character to Down Below. Phil isn’t a secret agent in this, but he’s still a competent badass in that way Phil always is, and he was my favorite from the get-go! Their love story is so sweet, you’ll melt by the end. Also, there are explicit sexy times, and they are great. Plus, body image is dealt with wonderfully without feeling like a PSA.

It’s also not told in first person! I thought it was from that part of the summary, but it isn’t, and I was v happy about that.

The Clockwork Murders by Selenay  Words: 76k+  Rating: M

Phil Coulson has two lives: by day he's a quiet, respectable Edwardian gentleman and his biggest risk is on a hand of cards at his club; at night he's a masked vigilante, fighting to make London safer. Keeping those lives separate is difficult enough when his closest friend is the head of a special task force within the Metropolitan police. It becomes even more difficult when his latest case gets dangerously close to home, bodies start washing up on the banks of the Thames, and Detective Inspector Fury's team is tasked with capturing the vigilante.

Clint Barton, Coulson's new valet, is down on his luck and inexperienced at valeting but his skills from his former life may be exactly what Coulson needs. They just need to negotiate their way through Coulson's secret life and their growing attraction to each other. And save London from a terrifying new threat along the way.

Alright, this fic might just be my absolute favorite out of the whole bunch. Not to say the others are lesser in any way, but I LOVE this one! Edwardian Steampunk has never been my thing, but I guess I can’t say that anymore?!  

One of the best Phil POV’s I can remember, along with a romance that just consumed me. Phil is kinda like an Edwardian Batman with less gadgets and slightly lower social standing? I was so on board. Let Phil Be Batman. I’m starting that campaign right now. Clint is also a bit like Robin, if Robin was also Hawkeye. The slow build of their relationship is delicious, and so, so rewarding when it finally comes to a head (lol). When they finally got together, I actually fist pumped (just a very small, non-distracting one, because I was on a train at the time and didn’t want to look like a complete loon, but that’s how much I loved this story). Phil and Clint are vigilante detectives and Clint gets to be smart! What a novel concept! 

I’m also a massive sucker for AU’s where the Avengers find each other and form a team all on their own. The scenario here is AMAZING and everything I never knew I wanted in an AU team-up. When Nat first showed up, I almost squealed out loud. No shame. Steve and Bucky are off being cops with Fury, off-page, so they’re the only ones missing from the story, but Darcy is here!! Plus, she and Nat have a side thing towards the end, and I am HERE FOR IT. This fic just has me so excited, weeks after I finished it. I’m invested and it hurts. 

You know when I care about the plot of a phlint story, that the plot is genuinely compelling, because usually the phlint is all I care about. And the relationship is the foundation from the start, and always the underlying focus, so no worries for the people in it for the tension/sexytimes.

Cherik

An Ideal Grace by afrocurl and nekosmuse    Words: 86k+   Rating: M

Cherik is one of the few pairings where the No Powers AU’s are some of my favorites. This is one of those times! Both boys have some mental health issues, especially where Erik as concerned, but it handled fairly well. Erik’s mental health specifically is a major arching plot piece, and his therapy sessions are important to his daily life and aren’t just mentioned off-page.

It’s important to say that there is no underage or professor/student relationship between Charles and Erik. There is past professor/student trauma in Erik’s life, but that is always a clearly negative and traumatic aspect of his life, and something he is working towards healing from in the story.  

The only thing that had me a little iffy was the co-dependency between him and Raven, who is his adoptive sister in this, but it is called out, and they are moving forward in this story as well as the sequel. Having those two be siblings instead of her and Charles is a bit different, but I think it worked for the story, even if I still love Raven and Charles as siblings.

The sequel: Love’s Own Crown, I actually think I enjoyed more, since it was less about the identity mix-up and more about their relationship/therapy

Reaper76

The Other One Where Jack is the Gay Roommate by pfaerie  Words: 16k+ Rating: E

Straight guy worries he's being homophobic to gay roommate, realizes he's fallen in love with him. Turns out Gabriel Reyes is fine with Jack Morrison kissing guys if it's him Jack is kissing.

This is kind of a remix of the author’s previous fic of the same name (minus “Other” in the title), but with sexytimes and additional editing. This is the roommate trope at it’s finest. It’s Gabe’s perspective, and in a non-powered/modern day AU, which works 100% to the story’s advantage. Gabe cracks me up, and I liked Widow in this too. All the kudos for the humor and smut! I really love this author’s writing style, especially with the way they write r76′s dynamic.

It’s one of those fics I’d give to a friend who wanted to read r76, but hadn’t before. The angst is mostly “I’m not gay, bro! ...oh wait” kind, plus Gabe just being a pill, not any of the massively heavy and dark content you tend to see with this pair.

[aftgonice]

11 questions tag

I was tagged by a lot of people, I kept this in the drafts for weeks and just kept adding questions since they’re always different, so thank you for tagging me and sorry if this post is long (I’ll just put it under keep reading).

Also it might be that I forgot or missed someone who tagged me so if that’s the case I’m sorry I’m not ignoring you I promise!

Rules: 1. Always post the rules 2. Answer the questions given by the person who tagged you 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people

Questions by @severeminx

You are hosting a dinner party and can invite 5 historical figures. Who would they be? Mozart, Da Ponte, Aristotle, Lucretius, Marie Skłodowska

What was your favorite cartoon as a kid? probably Pokémon!

What’s your signature drink when going out? Japanese ice tea

Do you have any tattoos? If not, would you like to? i don’t have any and i also don’t think i’ll ever find something that i want on my skin permanently, but we’ll see if we get there i guess

Who was your favourite classmate when you were 16? oh god...thank god this didn’t ask when i was 17 lmao...anyway my fav classmate was my then-BFF. there were also a couple of girls i really found interesting but i guess it wasn’t reciprocated so they always only hung out with a bigger group and being the shy person i am i couldn’t let myself try to be friends with them

How did you meet your best friend? we were in kindergarten together lol, but we didn’t talk (play??) much. then we were in different classes during elementary school but we got in the same class again in middle school and that’s where we became friends

Do you like going to museums? What is the art style you want to check out the most? okay i’m going to admit this here. i like museums, okay? but i’d rather see something like a natural history museum or something like that, honestly i’m a big science nerd and i don’t get as excited about art i guess. but i do go to art museums when visiting cities and i actually find them really interesting, but if i’m just in my town and there’s some temporary art exhibition i just don’t really care about going unless it’s something suuuuper famous :/// i feel like a lot of people will hate me for this buT LISTEN SCIENCE IS IMPORTANT GUYS

What feature or quality do you get complimented on the most? are we talking physically?? people like my hair and my nails I guess. If we’re talking personality-wise then idk, they tell me I’m good at listening (which I admit) and my bff told me he thinks I’m brave and I guess I understand why he said it but honestly I still don’t believe it

What is the most romantic place you have ever visited? I’m not sure because since watching YOI the only romantic place on earth for me is Barcelona and I haven’t been there yet lmao. The places I’ve been to aren’t exactly romantic so I don’t know

What would you define as ‘magical’? That thing that your mind does after 1 or 2am when it becomes more loose without needing drugs but it just gets high on lack of sleep and you’re suddenly really talkative and funny and you can have really deep conversations with people and your jokes are honestly on fucking point and you wish you were like that during the day

What is the most expensive item of clothing you have ever bought and was it worth it? I honestly don’t know oh my god. Probably the suit (pants + blazer) I bought a few years ago and that’s still good and whenever I have to be dressed in a “serious and elegant” way that’s what I go for. So yeah it was worth it.

Questions by @yakoucchu

 The piece of makeup that you always wear. i don’t always wear it but if i wanna put on a bit of something then it’s definitely gonna be mascara + lipstick (or colored lip balm) because I think they both make a ton of difference. Actually now in summer I almost always have colored lip balm from Lush because it’s too humid to be wearing mascara and I don’t feel like wearing a waterproof one lol

If you’re gonna be the author of your favorite series, what are you gonna change in it? well that would be a spoiler lmao but i guess i’d make someone who died in it live

There’s a fact that is happened to you and it makes you heart warming a lil bit when you think about it? you mean besides YOI and captive prince? cuz that’s all i can think about lol (there’s more but i’m being lazy with my answer sorry)

 Someone have ever done something that we can define crazy for you? yeah when my bf first came to visit me and we met for the first time (because we met online)

Do you like your current occupation? i’m unemployed but i’m “working” on being able to find a job soon but tbh i have food and a roof on my head and i’m needing this time of doing nothing but trying to take care of myself so i wouldn’t say i like this but it’s all i can do now

Smoothies, or Milkshakes? smoothies

What’s the thing that you love the most about yourself? hsrghsghshgshgsh most difficult question ever tbh. i like that i’m...rational? yeah rational 

The most strange thing that you ever tried to eat grossed you out? ummmmmmmmmm watch me get a lot of hate for this but....................................................sushi grosses me out and i almost puked when i tried it

Are you ever tried to write something, and after a while giving it up? Why? i did, a lot of things actually. i had an idea for a fic that i realized was going to do me more harm than good so i had to ditch the idea. there are things i know i could write but they’re too personal and still too raw so idk if i ever will write them. other WIPs are just there in my folder for no other reason that I either lost inspiration or that they’re honestly fucking hard to write and I still don’t have all the plot 

How do you feel right not? If I said to you “you’re doing great” it can change something? i’m struggling to keep my shit together. and yes, it changes something so thank you a lot for telling me that :) <3

What’s your favorite movie? idkkkkkk i rarely watch movies but of the latest ones i guess interstellar

Questions by @crescendotayuri 

1. what’s one thing you could never live without? my phone lmaoooooo so cliche

2. what’s your favorite part of your daily routine? probably right after managing to get out of bed, the moment i finally sit down for breakfast with a croissant and a cappuccino (typical italian breakfastTM)

3. what are you most passionate about? ...yuri on ice and captive prince and lgbt+ rights and the environment

4. what’s the best dream you’ve ever had? I don’t really know but sometimes I dream that I become internet-famous and it’s really sad that this is literally one of the best dreams I have lmao

5. happiest memory? I have a few but one of them is seeing Florence and the Machine live (i have others but they’re a bit too personal so idk)

6. are there any videos/jokes/etc that never fail to make you laugh? oh god yes........i’m so lame but like any meme will have me laugh tbh. kermit meme? i laugh. dude blinking meme? i laugh. spongebob meme? i laugh. i could go on lmao but i’ll stop embarrassing myself. there’s also a few comics that I have saved on my phone and they never fail to make me laugh but it’d be hard to explain them here

7. one talent you with you had/could perfect? it’s never been my wish to be able to draw but now that i’m into fandom i guess i would like to be able to do it at least a little. and i wish i could perfect my writing (or at least perfect my English at a native speaker level so it’d be easier)

8. a song you relate to the most? Help I’m alive - Metric

9. how do you take your coffee/tea? i only have cappuccino or latte macchiato and only rarely espresso. get american coffee out of my sight. tea is earl grey usually without milk bc i mostly use tea (without sugar) to stop me from wanting dessert lmao but if i’m feeling like it i’ll take it with milk bc it’s too good

10. what do you do to make yourself feel better when you’re sad or upset? i rewatch yoi or go on twitter and hope there’s some good memes but i trust my squad so yeah usually there’s something

11. what makes you proud of yourself? being a decent person despite everything

Questions by @pllsetskyonice:

1. What’s a song you can’t get enough of at the moment? AAAA it’s too hard to choose one! Just one yesterday by Fall Out Boy and literally every song from Lorde’s Melodrama

2. If someone asked you for a book recommendation, what’s the one book you would recommend? The question is trickyyyy because obviously not all books are for everyone especially if we’re talking about stuff with major trigger warnings etc etc but if I have to say I’ll just go with my fav trilogy Captive Prince (granted I’m talking to an adult) but I’ll leave it to them to decide if they’re up to reading it or not

3. Do you play any musical instruments? Nope :( used to play the piano and then stopped like the idiot I am, but I sing

4. Book or movie? Book

5. Do you ever wish you could turn back time? Eh. I guess.

6. Favourite subject in school? Science in whatever form it came (it was different things every school year but it doesn’t matter if it’s geology chemistry or w/e I’m just a huge science kid)

7. You’ve been given tickets to a concert for an artist you’ve always wanted to see live but never had the chance to. Who are you seeing? Maybe Marina and the Diamonds but there’s so many oh my god I also wouldn’t mind seeing Florence again but I’ve already seen her.......oh wait LORDE YES LORDE probably if I had to choose right at this very moment

8. Is there an accessory you don’t feel dressed without? Not really

9. Have you ever been to a festival? I’m not sure what kinda festival you mean but I think not

10. Have you read all of the original seven Harry Potter books? Yeah but still not in English oops

11. What’s the last film/TV show you watched? Last film was Beauty and the Beast when it came out lmao I’m not a huge movie person, last TV show mmmh let’s say that YOI counts for this yes? because it’s always YOI and I don’t feel like watching anything else rip

My questions:

If you were a character in the last book you’ve read, what would be your role? Protagonist, side kick, villain...?

What’s your biggest pet peeve when reading a book or watching a show/anime/movie? (if you can’t only name one feel free to name a few)

Do you consider yourself to be a creative person?

Describe one person in your life you admire without mentioning the type of relationship you have with them

What’s one personality trait you’d give up immediately if you could?

Think of the farthest place you’ve traveled to and describe one culture shock you had while there (even something small)

What’s the one thing that always manages to motivate you?

What would you tell your 10 year old self?

What’s your favorite trope?

If your BFF tells you (lovingly) “why are you like this?” what are they referring to?

Are you scared of something right now? If you are, what’s one sentence you wish someone would tell you about the thing that scares you?

I tag: @betelxeuse @ilgattopatata @ehsocietypretendstoomuch @otayurl @argentoheart @nerily @janiedean @robb-greyjoy @laurent-rose @dotingdamen @venenix but obviously feel free not to do it (but if you do tag me bc I love reading your answers) fdklahrgag I hope I don’t get annoying with all these tags

[robotslenderman]

Non-spoilery pre-release thoughts.

OK so I haven’t finished my 10 hours of Andromeda yet, but I’ve gotten as far as the trial allows me for the main story and I’ve got like one hour left of pre-release play anyway.

For those on the tag/those who missed my earlier post, I ended up getting Origin access just for the trial because the “OMG ANDROMEDA IS GOING TO BE AWFUL AND BIOWARE IS RUINED FOREVER” talk was really starting to get to me after I saw the bad face animations. Didn’t want to wait a week because I’ve been excited for Andromeda ever since before ME3′s DLC came out. While I was super hyped and had high hopes, at the same time, I thought I had fairly realistic expectations (”Yeah Bioware’s not perfect this isn’t a bad thing” instead of the “OH GOD I’M NOT GONNA BUY THIS GAME BECAUSE BIOWARE KICKS PUPPIES” bullshit I was seeing around) but… yeah.

It was really getting to me.

So here’s some dot points, no spoilers, under the cut. This covers character creator, face animations, world exploration, and narrative, without any spoilers. Any possible spoilers are referred to so vaguely you’ll have no chance of putting anything together, so don’t worry.

I also have a bit at the bottom covering things I really like about this game.

TL;DR – Guys. It’s fine, it’s okay, it really is. Chill. These issues exist, but they’re tiny ass things you’ll barely notice, like in every other game ever. You’ll love Andromeda, you really will. Yeah, it is DA:I in Space, but it’s also not – it’s DA:I in space, but better.

Honestly, these issues are fucking terrifying when you’re hyped up and can’t see the game for yourself yet and everyone’s nitpicking about these dumbass tiny things like they’re Huge Fucking Issues, but when you do play you won’t run into them nearly as often as people made you think, and when you do see them you’ll shrug and move on and forget about them ten seconds later, like you do about 99% of glitches you run into in other games. 

You’re not gonna hate the game just because Jallo’s legs clip into his seat or Addison stared at you way more blankly than any other character or something, for fuck’s sake.

Character Creator – I had a heart attack with the character creator at first because I thought that all I could do was select premade Sheps Ryders and had heard as such, but it turns out the option to customise those premade Ryders was up the top and not easily spottable. Whew! People are right that it’d be great if we could choose separate eyebrows/etc like in DA:I instead of having to choose a custom Ryder and then fiddle with proportions and so on – you can’t just choose “eye shape 1, eye shape 2″, etc. 

But really? It’s actually no big deal. I was super afraid of this as well, but when actually faced with it in-game I was like “oh, okay, that sucks” and then forgot about it thirty seconds later. It’s okay, guys, really!

Bad face animations – Honestly, I totally forgot the animations were supposed to be bad. Yeah, they’re not great, but nine times out of ten I didn’t notice them until I went, “oh, hang on, aren’t the face animations supposed to be bad?” and actually paid better attention. 

Then it was like, “Oh, yeah, they do seem to have a bit of a vacant stare.”

Then I forgot about them three seconds later and kept playing. No big deal.

The other one time out of ten the bad face animation really shows and… it’s not a big deal either. Like, yeah, it’d be great if they didn’t exist and Bioware please fix them, but when I did run into them, I didn’t become a huge angry beast foaming at the mouth because the whole game was ruined. Actually, I thought they were fucking hilarious. 

And then after the conversation I forgot about it again. No big deal. Seriously. Chill.

There’s a clip I saw of default Sara having a HUGELY blank face but when I ran into that bit in-game Sara didn’t have that expression at all?? It may be because I made a custom Sara, or maybe Bioware sneakily fixed it before I played, I don’t know, but Sara didn’t have that :^) expression I had seen in that exact scene on youtube.

World exploration – “ME:A is DA:I in space!” shrieks the masses, their faces melting from the neurochemical implosion happening inside their skulls. “THIS IS A BAD THING.”

Uh

No it’s not

ME1 had exploration. ME:A’s is way more interesting.

(But I also thought exploration in ME1 was interesting except for the sidequest bits, because I’m the kind of person who loved to drive around on the mako doing nothing but finding spooky shit and then got growly when I wound up in yet another premade husk-infested mine. But I loved just being on Luna and stopping the Mako as I fiddled with something on my desk, and then suddenly hearing those whale-like sounds in space, googling it, finding out those calls were rachni, and running into them again by accident on other planets… I love that. I’m addicted to that. Running into tiny little things like that.)

Yeah the worlds are huge but uh you’re in a Nomad which goes up to 120KMH, it better be fucking huge. You won’t give a shit how big the world is because you’re zooming past it thinking about how cool the Nomad is and laughing your ass off when Ryder goes “~oops~” every time you run over a space desert bug.

(The Nomad is really, really cool.)

Like seriously though, one thing I didn’t like about ME2 and ME3 was that sidequests got narrowed down more and more until you were basically a rat following a preset path in a maze. ME:A breaks away from this. You get to choose what to do next, you don’t go into a special area for one quest and get stuck there until you’ve played it out.

Granted, if you genuinely didn’t exploration in DA:I then I don’t have good news, it is a lot like DA:I so far. It’s too early in-game to be able to tell if it had the same issues DA:I exploration had 

(”everyone put all the sidequests in the Hinterlands!!“ 

“uh. bossman. bosslady. bossperson.”

“yes?”

“other zones exist?”

“they do?? FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.”) 

but I’m gonna trust Bioware and while I might end up being wrong, until I see otherwise, I’m just gonna have faith that they evened out sidequests a bit between worlds. I mean, people were Yelling about it non-stop and Bioware’s actually really good at listening to people. stop giving them shit for this, they do listen.

(But honestly reason #1 and #2 I loved DA:I exploration stuff, is #1, exploration always came with lore even when there weren’t sidequests attached such as at landmarks [sadly, ME:A doesn’t seem to have that with it so far, but I’m hoping that changes later in the game], and #2 I loved stimming by just running around looking at pretty shit and also knocking down collection quests. That’s just me, though, I never got bored doing that and found it soothing just being in the world.)

Narrative – OK, so every review site I’ve seen so far says there’s not enough story and I’m genuinely ???? over this because there is way more narrative/squadmate banter in this than any ME or DA game so far, wtf?? Yes, way more than DA:I! 

Like right up to the first planet exploration, it was almost non-stop story, and the bits in between cutscenes were filled to the brim with Liam chatting in my ear and reacting to the world, reacting to Ryder’s actions, making suggestions or adding his thoughts. Radio silence didn’t dominate like in the previous ME games.

IDK why one of the review sites was complaining about people making big deal out of the floating rocks in one world, that was actually hilarious in context and only got funnier??? I guess that writer didn’t have a sense of humour.

On Eos, the first planet that opens up after the prologue/first chapter of story finishes, cutscenes and so on definitely wind down as the game opens up player freedom more. But that’s a good thing so why are people complaining??? every game has a cutscene-intensive beginning, then that winds down as players stop being funnelled through a preset path and get to do what the hell they want. There’s drama, then there’s a breather, and then the drama ramps up again, it’s a cycle that’s common to every good story and game.  And like I said before, you hear way more from squadmates if you decide to wander around after sidequests instead of the main story.

One thing that’s brilliant about this is in most Bioware games, squadmates and companions almost completely ignore sidequests. There’d be token comments and Solas (Silently) Disapproves or Garrus picking a fight because Do It His Way Dammit Shepard, but that’d be it, it’d almost be like the companions weren’t aware that sidequests exists. ME:A so far seems to have fixed this in that squadmates are obviously engaged and invested in the sidequests. I was following a sidequest that involved scanning things lost underneath sand to solve a mystery, and it felt like the companions had something to say at each step of the way – including verbally cringing when a crucial piece of evidence went and chucked a huge fucking wrench into this small storyline. It was great, it really felt like I was travelling with people, for the first time, and not just walking guns.

Also, Bioware is as good as ever at punching you in the Feels. I am not joking. There’s a crucial scene in the first chapter that literally made me cry, it punched me in the Feels that much, and just remembering it is tearing me up fuck fuck fuuuuuck Bioware whY??? FUCK ME OH MY GOD

Interface – Honestly the interface is the biggest bugbear but, again, not a big deal. It’s annoying that I can’t just open and close the map, I have to close the map then close the “esc” options. I hope they fix it, but if they don’t, don’t care. 

There’s also the loadout screen that tripped me up – in ME1-3, you get the loadout screen, then the squad screen. But much like CC, you might miss the squad selection screen because the “select squad” button is in the loadout screen, at the top of the screen, and not easily spotted the first time around. 

You also might get tripped up because you don’t ever have to change squadmates; you load squadmates, and then you have the option of never seeing the “select squadmates” screen again if you don’t want to. I guess this is Bioware’s solution to “everyone always takes the same two companions everywhere” thing that made choosing squadmates kinda redundant. 

But I got tripped up here ‘cause I recruited Vetra, went onto Eos, and… wait, where’s the squadmate selection screen?? why is Cora and Liam there??? I want Vetra??? Went back onto the ship, came back out, nope??? wasn’t until the third try that I saw the little people icon above my guns in the loadout screen, clicked it, “Oooh, there it is!”

Honestly, all Bioware’d have to do to fix that is make the button ping or glow subtly or something to just grab your attention. Once the game “trains” you to check the top of the screen for extra categories, you won’t even notice this any more.

Even though I’m talking about things from a “what’s the big deal” perspective I somehow still make this game look bad, so I’m gonna make it look as good as I actually see it as here:

Overall, things I am loving about this game so far:

The Companions/Characters – 

In summary, every character so far has either hinted or outright shown that they’re multifaceted and that they’re… people. Like human beings IRL, there’s who they are in company, and there’s who they are in private, who they are when shit hits the fan. Every character so far has shown shades of this – except for Drack and Peebee, and that’s only because you’ve only just met them before the trial stops letting you proceed through the story, and I have full confidence they’ll both show to be more than they seem to be, too.

I was fully prepared to be bored by the human companions. I’m not. I love Liam. I love Cora. Liam’s super witty and playful, and as far from boring as you can get. He is no Kaidan 2.0, let me tell you. I had no intentions at all of romancing him but… well, I haven’t decided who I’m going to romance for certain yet, but he’s definitely found a place on the list now. He’s awesome! Even if I don’t romance him, he’ll definitely be my Ryder’s canon best friend.

Cora’s also great. She makes me think of a Mom Friend even though she’s not really Mom-like. She doesn’t fuss or anything. But she is encouraging of Ryder, and is also interesting in that she appears to think a certain way but then the face she puts on cracks a bit and you can see that there’s more to her than there appears to be, and that maybe she isn’t as well put together as she seems to be. She makes me think of Dorian, actually, in that respect – except while Dorian screams “HA HA HA I’M ONLY PRETENDING TO KNOW WHAT I’M DOING I DON’T, ACTUALLY”, Cora’s so subtle that you won’t notice the difference between who she is and who she tries to be until the facade cracks. (I also wanna romance her too, oops, I wanna romance everyone who do I romance shit shit shiiiiit)

Vetra is fucking incredible, holy shit. You know how Garrus liked to pretend to be a smooth motherfucker but it was totally see-through and he was a total dork? Well, Vetra is who Garrus wished he was. I have never seen a character portrayed as this smooth and subversive without being a slimeball, but Vetra’s wonderful, charismatic and so damn smooth that she kind of pulls something and you won’t even notice until she’s like “uh, yeah, so it looks like I totally Did The Thing…” and you’re like, “Oh, yeah, she did do The Thing, didn’t she?” because she pulled it off right in front of you so casually you didn’t think about it twice.

Peebee and Drack have both been met but the trial doesn’t go far enough in the story to let you recruit them. For those who follow me, Peebee is as Space!Liriel-y as I thought she was, minus Liriel’s Fight Me. Peebee does what the fuck she wants and is totally casual, but not at all crude or mean. She’s so cute. Drack, in comparison – only met him in one scene, so far he seems typically krogan, so I don’t know what he’s like beneath that mask.

Jaal I have not even seen a sign of yet. No signs of any angara yet.

Alec Ryder is lovely. He’s a total badass. I was expecting him to be this super tough anal frowny Military Father Who Disapproves but… he’s not. He’s great fun, he’s badass, and yeah, he could’ve been a better father, but it’s not a “RYDER HAD A FUCKED UP CHILDHOOD” kind of way, it’s in a “yeah I should tell my kids I love them” kind of way that… every good parent ever has, really. He’s also shown huge signs of having hidden depths, too, and it looks like exploring these will be a major part of a subplot – if it doesn’t wind up tied into the main plot itself.

SAM has some spoilery things that ping me as there being more to this AI than meets the eye, and I really look forward to getting to know them.

Jallo (Kallo? Fuck), Suvi, Lexi, Gil, etc – They seem awesome so far, looking forward to getting to know them better, too!

Nakmor Kesh – Special shoutout to this lady krogan who’s a fucking engineer! Holy shit.

The Other Stuff – 

I am still upset and emotionally scarred by That One Scene. You’ll know it when you see it. oh god. oh gooooooddd.

The characters being better than in previous games only makes the story more engaging. They have way more to say, way more reactions.

Bioware commented once that ME:A’s cast was way more inexperienced than the trilogy’s cast. Without spoiling, at first, Ryder seems to be the only one self conscious about their inexperience, thinking everyone else knows what they're doing. Then it becomes evident that, no, everyone is making it up as they go along, they’re either better at covering it up or they’re giving up on bothering with that. It’s fantastic, it really reinforces the overall theme and atmosphere of the main story – which is “we tried to settle in Andromeda but oops shit went wrong, what the fuck do we do??”

FAST TRAVEL!!

THE NOMAD.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAM.

The overall atmosphere. The characters, the story, the design stuff – all of it supports that atmosphere of “oh shit what next” when Things Go Wrong. It really reinforces Ryder’s own arc of growing into a leadership role. Because when shit goes wrong, it’s Ryder who steps forward. Even though you have the option (much like every NPC ever) of going “FUCK WHAT NEXT” out of sheer panic. Or you can play it cool and pretend you know what you’re doing, like everyone else before Things Went Wrong.

Overall, I can’t wait to get to know the characters better. I adore Alec especially. I am gonna wind up being a huge Alec fangirl, I just know it.

I’m loving this game. I can’t wait until the full game is released. Zero regrets about preordering, all my fears have been laid to rest.

It’s gonna be awesome.

[ballerinadancerindisguise]

My 2nd adventure at #ONCEVAN

So on March 24th to March 26th, 2017 I was a volunteer staff member for Creation Entertainment’s #OUATVAN convention in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. When you volunteer for a Creation Entertainment convention you get a couple perks, one is free admission to the show (well, that’s a no brainer.) The second is free autographs of all of the actors/ celebrities appearing that weekend (total score!!) and the third.. one free photo op per day you work. So, I was given three free ops from the start, I chose Gil McKInney (what a cutie!! And great at Karaoke!!); Beverly Elliot (how much I love Granny, it’s ridiculous) and Karen David (I love Princess Isabella (Galavant) and I originally chose Elliot Knight but his work prevented him from being there.. colour me sad.. but Karen’s an excellent substitution.) I also because I worked panels, got to watch the panels (but if you want spoilers, find a panel on youtube, I’m not sharing that much.. wink wink..) But mid day one after Mr Adam Croasdell (totally hottie, Hook’s dad…) finished his photo ops, I realized I could have another photo op for free. I found my supervisor after my fellow volunteers in my area had a conversation.. Michael or Lee, Sorry Michael (you are absolutely absolutely lovely… but..) I picked Lee. ‘ello Poppet! Wins the day. So that was my free ops: Beverly, Gil, Karen and Lee. I paid for two ops … Jennifer Morrison (my favourite actress of course) and Captain Swan themselves.. Colin O’Donoghue and Jennifer Morrison.). The price tag was hefty ($344 CAN for the two ops, but I didn’t cry that much when my credit card bill came in because.. it’s fricking Captain Swan.. you’d do it too..)

So anyways, my volunteer experience… On Thursday I came into town and met my friend Meagan at the airport. We were both volunteering. Thursday night we worked Merchandise table with a girl named Dawn who was selling her tee shirts, bags, and mugs. I bought my Hooked shirt from her. Great lady, nice stuff. I got to meet some wonderful fans during pre-registration. The fans are the best thing after the cast being there, I adore meeting other fans.. they are just so wonderful. Friday came around and we met our supervisor Jackie who was great. We got our volunteer shirts and free coffee and doughnuts (score!!) On Friday, I worked Registration. Volunteers Martin and Michelle showed me the ropes.. I volunteered last year but did Panel doors.. so Martin showed me tricks to get registration done super quick. Working registration was a lot of fun but had some icing on that cake.. Us at registration got a little behind the scenes that no one else gets.. For one, Michael Coleman, our Happy, visited us many times that day and I got to talk to him about his shirts.. He wore a shirt that said Heigh Ho on the back (kept it on for Karaoke that night), and he changed shirts like three times. He was very bubbly, funny and you know, happy. His daughters and wife came into the show as well. We put wristbands on his daughters. His oldest changed into a Snow White Costume and he walked around holding her hand. I swear it was the best thing that day.. until Karaoke… that is. I heard that he brought her onto stage with him as he was the MC. But I didn’t see it happen. His baby girl wore the cutest little hair bow, I go bonkers over cute baby accessories, they are too cute. His wife was super nice, and the whole family is ridiculously blonde, blue eyed and adorable. The second behind the scenes we got was when Chris Gauthier came up (super nice guy btw) and I smiled and said Hi, how are you and he goes Great, and how are you? I go great, thank you!  And he asked for his table as he popped in to the show for the day. Chris is actually a local actor (raised in BC) and was doing an autograph table. He was very warm and bubbly every time he walked by me and chatted with me. He also did photos with fans, but I didn’t think to ask.. Oops. On Friday I had my photo op with Gil McKinney, (he plays Prince Eric.) He was very warm. When I went up, I said Hi, I’m Sarah and he had his arms posed to take me into a hug, so all I had to do was step into them and hug him back. Hug, smile for camera, snap and done and of course the thank you. Easy smeasy. Friday after dinner, Meagan and I hit Karaoke. We got front row centre but since my cousin showed up as well, I moved into the second row with him and Meagan was in front of me. Sadly my camera took lousy photos but I did get a couple videos. The Karaoke started off with Chris, Raphael, Michael and Adam singing (OMG!) Backstreet Boys “I want it that way..” Way to ruin me guys, I love that song.. the only way it would have been better is if Gil sang too.. Wow! Then Beverly and Karen came out and sang Girls Just wanna have fun. It was an absolute treat. That’s when they opened it up to the fans who signed up. I swear Michael danced or sang along with almost every fan that came up. He has some moves and he was seriously cracking me up the entire time. Beverly sang some solos (she’s fantastic,) as did Gil. The best parts besides Michael’s dancing, and those two fantastic songs, was when they brought a little girl onto the stage with them and sang the time of your life. And Adam moves to the end and we are of course right where Karen came to run to jump into Adam’s arms for the life. But you see his face go oh no and she runs back and then he goes okay, and puts his hands out. They literally did the Time of Your Life lift totally improvised and it was perfect. I got a photo of it on my IG but its not the best (as I said, crappy camera!) Another great moment was when a fan starred singing Part of your world and I think its the part where she sings But who cares, no big deal, I want more.. You see Gil slip onto stage, And he starts mimicking the song in pantomime and strutting a bit. I was laughing the entire time while video taping it. (Video also on my IG). And my video camera breaks off and he starts singing along with her. But, the best best best (yes I needed three bests for this) part was when Sarah McCulloch *you must know her as Sarah the leaf lady*, came onto the stage, and of course the crowd goes wild. She’s head banging, air guitaring, God the woman is hilarious. She even ran down to front row and we smacked her hand and she did fist pumps “yeah!!”. Best thing ever. I got back to the hotel that night with cheeks that hurt. But at the end, they called us volunteers to the stage (traumatizing I know) and had us sing Be our Guest. I literally forgot the middle part and couldn’t see the screen as it was at an angle.. so I’m right across the angle from Karen and was using her for the words. OOPS, I know the first two verses and the last one but the rest just gravitated from my memory the second I get to stage.. But then Karen started doing a rockettes, sadly the girl next to me wouldn’t join in and kind of kicked me while we were doing it but hey, i sang on stage with Beverly and Karen.. boo yah! Anways.. Saturday I was a floater and I did gold panel doors (Jen and Colin’s panel), Merchandise table and panel crowd control. (The job I kept for the rest of the weekend..) I got to watch Jen and Colin’s second panel. He was very bashful. I could sense his social anxiety was getting the best of him (poor guy). He kept displaying his nervous ticks throughout the panel (Scratching his ear, shifting in his seat, etc) and Jen probably picked up on this as their panel was together and she answered most of the questions. They have a really good relationship, you could see their bond showing through on stage. I loved that. I did see parts of Karen and Keegan’s panel but I was moving around a lot. Saturday I got my photo ops with Lee,Jen and Colin, Jen alone and Karen, One of the perks of volunteering is that you get to be in the line right after the VIP people.. For Lee, it was easy, I went up and said Hello and introduced myself, gave him a hug and took the photo. Easy as pie. Then I had Jen and Colin duo. I would have preferred to meet Jen alone first but oh well. When I was in line for the duo op, there was a lot of tension in the room and for some reason the volunteers were not very nice (very rude…) As you may or may not know, Colin broke his foot very recently. For his solo photo ops, he was sitting on a stool for them. So Jen and Colin’s photo op, he’s on the stool. Jen came up and put her arm on his shoulder with her hand on her cheek.. super cute moment, I wish I could have taken a photo of that.. Jen then took her puppy Ava in her arms as the dog came into the room with her. Then the photographer said something to her and she gave Ava to the dog handler. The VIP girls (absolutely fabulous ladies) all went up and then they brought in a girl in a wheelchair. When she came to the front of the line, Colin removed the stool hobbling over to the photographer to give it to him and then limped back to the x. *OH MY GOD, the face he made and how he hobbled broke my heart..* And from that point on he did his photos standing up. When I got to the front 6 people later, they already configured a pose where Colin barely had to move. I was pushed into place ( I said they were rude, didn’t i?) And then I said Hi to Jen and Colin. Jen said a very bubbly hi back and pulled me into the pose for the camera. They both wrapped their arms around me and we did the photo. Then as the camera snapped, I looked at both of them, Colin, then Jen and said thank you so much. And Jen smiled and said You are so welcome. (Colin was very tired and didn’t say anything or I just didn’t hear him say anything).  And then I stepped out of the x and moved to the side. I saw Ava though. And moved to the corner of the room and said Ava? And her handler said yes. And I came a little closer and called “Ava” and she jumped up and almost ran towards me but a rude volunteer came over and told me in a more nice way than saying the words but GET OUT. I said to her, I’m just saying hello to the dog and she said I don’t care, you have to go. So I rolled my eyes at her and then grabbed my bag and left. But by the time I got out I was so peeved. First one volunteer keeps yelling at us standing in line. Then she pushes me at Jen. And then her co-volunteer tells me to get out. I paid so much money for that photo.. ugh. I steamed for about 15 minutes.. Thank god the photo itself was fantastic. Props to Christopher the photographer who was very professional and fantastic. I got my Jen and Karen ops after. First Jen, where it was a bit calmer in the photo op room. I walked up to her and said, Hi, I’m Sarah and she smiled, I give her a hug because I adore her. And then I said I’m a big fan, thank you, and she said thank you so much. And then I step aside and leave. I love my photo with Jen too. She was very warm, bubbly and kind. She gives good hugs. :) The last photo of the day was Karen. I love Karen. So me, and a fan waiting in line Mikayla, are both big Galavant fans. So we started singing It’s a Good Day to Die right in the Photo Op room. I have no idea if Karen noticed. Oh well. But as I get up to the front. I said Hi, I’m Sarah. She smiled at me. So I said “I know you are Jasmine on Once” (she goes okay, so serious) and I continue “But I love Isabella” (Cue big grin). She gives me a hug and of course I hug her back. Cue Photo. Then I tell her” It’s a good die to die, but I forgot my spatula.” She then has her fake serious face on and points her finger at me and goes “next time” in a deep voice. And I go “I will,” very seriously. And she does it again with her eye brows furrowed.. “Next time.” And then we both laugh and I said but of course.  And then I move out of the spot and she meets the next person. Absolutely lovely. I kind of squashed her in the photo, but she liked my tweet of our photo, so I think we’re good. Saturday night, I didn’t have to do autograph lines, so I waited while Meagan, lucky Meagan did Gil’s autograph line. He showed up 20 minutes late, only had ten people in line, but when he started to leave, a group of girls came up and hugged him. So I went up and said that I thought he was wonderful on stage. He takes my hand and squeezes it (after a hug and high five at karaoke, this is still a big deal people!!!), and says thank you with a smile. Aww, he’ll win me over so easy, that man. Sunday came in much too early. We got to the hotel at 8:15 am. I was put on Panel Crowd control all day Sunday. I got to watch Lana and Bex’s gold panel and regular panel. During Bex’s panels, she spent the time making seriously cheeky comments that made us laugh so hard. Her expressions are both adorable and comical and she is just so wonderful on stage. During Lana’s gold panel, she came out with her cell phone and took a photo of the crowd. I might be in the photo, but I haven’t found it online yet. She was very passionate and absolutely loves her fans. She came to the edge of the stage when a little girl wanted to ask a question, and crouched down low to talk to her. She just has such a big heart. And at the end of her gold panel, she snuck back stage and stole a bowl of chocolate kisses for the cast and threw them to the fans. She said I can’t give you all kisses, so I can give you chocolate kisses. So she kept throwing the kisses out until she ran out. But there was two children in the audience, that came up, and she had them come to the front, and she gave them each a kiss and some goldfish crackers. She did talk about how playing multiple personalities at once is very challenging. She was a delight. Beverly’s panel was lovely. She refused to sit down. She would walk up and down the stage talking to the fans. If the question was asked on the left side, she was standing on the left side, talking straight to the asker, and the same for the right side. And when Leslie (a lovely lady I met during autograph session later), said it was her birthday, she asked everyone to sing happy birthday to Leslie and then hugged her. Aww. Emilie’s panel was sweet. Lee introduced her as the sweetest girl in the world. She is so tiny that Lee had to help her onto the stool. (Aww!!). And she was just very sweet on stage. Adam Horowitz snuck in during her panel so I got a little distracted. He came by the back and I said hi, he returned the hi and continued to walk around the back. Then I had to pee, so I grabbed my bag, got a stand in for me, and went to go outside. I passed him on the way out and said Hi, I love Once and I loved Lost. He smiled and said thank you. I then went out to pee, but the line was like 15 people long. So then I went to chat with Meagan and then realized Adam came out so I went to see about a photo with him. I found him by the bathrooms and asked him very politely, which he said yes. He smiled for the camera and I got the photo of us. Then I used the bathroom. My cousin got a photo with him when I came out and I was showing him my photo when we realized there was a long line forming in front of Adam. Yikes. After that I had lunch where they treated us to fried chicken and slaw from Church’s.. hands down, better than KFC. Then was Lana and Bex’s panels in which I had to pay more attention to the fans as they were bending the rules.. OOPs. Or as Bex would say “Sorry..” Later I had Beverly’s photo op. When I got to the front after watching fellow volunteers sing songs in line (hilarious Gentry!!) I walked up and said Hi, I’m Sarah! She said Hello. I said nice to meet you. And she hugged me and of course, its granny so I had to give her a big hug back. But when we were standing there after the photo, I said I’m a big fan, I love Granny. And she took my hand in hers and squeezed it. And then she said “Sarah, Granny loves you too,” (I am still fan girling about this writing this on Friday. wow). I did autograph line for Beverly Sunday night. Sadly, we had fans standing in between us, so she never came to me afterwards. I did the names on posties for the photos and did line control. I did like chatting with the fans, and i was 6 feet away from Beverly most of that time. So, I can’t complain.

The best moments were Karaoke, meeting the cast, meeting the fans, getting to bump into Amber, Erin from #OnceSpoof and Barbara again and finally meeting Giennie and Killihan in person! (Sorry you guys had to do a search party for me…) and getting to spend the weekend with Meagan after being friends online since season 3. I made a lot of new friends. Got to finally meet Ace from #OnceSpoof (god, I love this guy!) and Aimee as well. The friends I made last year, getting to see them again this time was the sprinkles of the awesome cake. Would I do it again? Depends.. would Josh and Colin both be there? Would the rude people not? Hmm, we’ll see.. But I’m thankful for this weekend. I got fantastic autographs and lovely photos. And that karaoke night was one of the best nights I have had in a long time. This cast is fantastic, the fans are fantastic.. #blessed.