#or if it has been written before

[marvins-linguinie]

corroded coffin got nominated for a grammy. eddie wants steve to be there, but it's in la and steve hasn't ever left hawkins. eddie decides to tell him, and assure him that it's okay, and that eddie doesn't have to be there, but steve protests. steve suggests that the kids come along, that way, when they leave hawkins, he won't have anything to worry about. the first kid they go to is max. eddie explains the situation, and max says no at first, until steve tells her that kate bush will be there too. next, they go to will and el. will says yes without hesitation. two checked off.

el, however has a lot of questions. "what is a grammy?" "how do we get there?" "why?" eventually, she agrees. steve tells lucas, and he agrees, as long as max goes. mike agrees to go, as long as will goes. steve sits dustin down, and has a long, off topic conversation with him, until eddie finally just asks. he agrees. the week before, eddie took each of the kids to his fashion designer to have them fitted for their outfits. the night before, steve triple checked that the tickets for their flight were purchased.

everyone slept over at steve and eddie's house, so it would be simple for them to get to the airport on time. this was not the case. yes, steve walked through the house, yelling for everyone to get up, and keep in mind, this was 4 in the morning. everyone was on edge, arguing, pushing past one another. around 6am, they finally got all of their suitcases packed into the car. everyone got in, and steve started speeding to the airport, claiming that if they missed their flight, he was going to be pissed.

turns out, they arrive with an hour to spare. steve and eddie sit down and drink some coffee, while the rest of the kids bicker. when they're called to board, the all get on, and the flight is mostly silent, except for the crying babies and max and lucas arguing about something. their plane lands, and cc gets escorted to a car, trying to lay low and avoid the paparazzi. steve and the kids are told to get in a different car, and as they drive away, paparazzi chases both cars. steve hasn't noticed how famous cc really is. they live in a small, empty town.

yeah, sometimes when they're walking downtown together, people will want an autograph, but that's practically nothing. the cars park in front of a large house, and they're guided inside. make-up artists, and fashion designers steal the kids, one by one, and then steve. cc is nowhere in sight. steve hasn't worn make-up since 89', and that's because eddie wanted to put eyeliner on steve. they blend some type of powder into his face, and style his hair.

he gets handed a suit and led to a changing room. this place has to be bigger than his parents house. steve quickly changed into his suit and was led back outside into a limousine. the kids were already dressed and waiting for him. cc squeezed into the limo with the rest of them, and they took off. corroded coffin's manager went over all of the rules, and told the kids how to respond to certain questions.

once they arrive to the red carpet, they all sperate. steve stays with eddie, though. they get asked about their marriage, and who the young adults that showed up with them are. soon, the ceremony began. cc was nominated for a few categories: best group performance, best metal performance, and album of the year. ozzy ended up winning best metal performance, and metallica won best group performance. their last chance was album of the year. if they didn't win, they were still honored to be at the grammys, let alone be nominated for three categories.

when they announced that corroded coffin had won, it took eddie a bit to process it. when it finally sunk in, cc ran into stage. steve wrote eddie a speech to say just in case corroded coffin won. eddie pulled the speech out of his pocket, shook his head, and balled it up, shoving it back into his pocket.

"hi." he says, ignoring the feedback from the microphone. "wow. this is um.. this is wild. i mean, we've spent our entire lives working together in corroded coffin, and never in a thousand years, did we think we would be standing on this stage. i want to thank a lot of people, but there's one person in particular. he um.. he wrote what i was supposed to say for this, actually, but he didn't mention someone. the person who made it possible for corroded coffin to be here. himself. when we would have to stay late in the studio, he would bring us all dinner. he would stay up until i got home. and, he made sure to make time for me. this is actually his first time out of our hometown, and he demanded that he come with. steve is the most selfless person i know. he's also my favorite person. if you guys knew him, you would understand where im coming from. so, i want to dedicate this grammy to steve. i love you stevie. thank you all!" the audience shifted to cheers and applause.

eddie ran off stage, cc following behind, and steve met him with a kiss. tears were running down both of the boy's faces. maybe leaving hawkins wasn't so bad after all.

[vitaetmorsfilo]

you know how genshin has character stories, yes? the have chapters, the part about vision, and i suppose something, like, noteworthy or special to them? so i was looking through them, y'know, to freshen up my knowledge of them hehe

so here i am looking thru yoimiya's

owwww, how cute!! she measures happiness by how mush candy is left, my sunshine 🥰🥰🥰

love the usefulness, you go queen, don't listen to people who call it ugly

a gift 🥺🥺🥺 from her teachers 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 to keep her safe 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 my dear

...

what

so by that logic, the most important thing that we can learn, besides his backstory, is that he is very adept at forgery

and you know what is theorised to be forged by him?

that little trinket😃😃

and now we know that gnosis hold the power of dragon sovereigns

and right before that we see that

a) venti blesses dvalin with power of the anemo archon

b) venti can make temporary (but tangible) illusions

and i mean, story doesn't tell you useless information, it's either lore important or foreshadowing 👀👀👀

all that i'm saying is that the theory that venti returned the dragon powers to dvalin is very, very plausible

[mac-n-cheese-art]

they are watching terrible home reno shows and making snarky comments (scene from my fic)

[ask-maddy-and-co]

- ?? -

((Little bit ahead of where the blog was at, but I might as well post it now rather than any more time later, it was drawn during last year's blog anniversary.))

[procrastinationaccount]

Gideon the Ninth, Nona the Ninth and Harrow's portions of HtN are all written in limited third person; Gideon's chapters in HtN are the only example of first person. Despite this, most readers are effectively tricked into reading it as second person because of the way all of her thoughts are directed to Harrow. We look into Gideon's head and, quite fucking literally, "there is no me without you." I love this book so fucking much.

[transmascutena]

while akio’s car is obviously a symbol of sex and sexual violence and the power that he alone wields as the only person who can drive it, i’m not really a fan of the interpretation that “any time someone gets in the car it means they are Literally Actually Having Sex in that moment.” while i do think that it’s probably true some of the time (touga’s first car ride with the “i’m not old enough” line and the car scene with akio and anthy in episode 37 in particular are the ones i read in this way,) i don’t think it’s as straight-forward as that, and generally, trying to decode metaphors to what they Actually Represent in the literal real world is not the most interesting way of approaching analysis to me. i do still think there is significance and meaning to which characters get in the car with who, though, and especially where in the car they sit. specifically i think it says something about the characters’ relationships to one another.

let’s start with the pairs we see sitting in the backseat together. the first are touga and saionji in episode 25, who have a lot outside of their car scene to imply a sexual (or at the very least homoerotic) relationship between them (see the motorcycle scene in episode 36, with similar symbolism to the car.) after that is ruka and shiori in episode 28, who have by far the most overtly sexual car scene, and is probably another one where the sex is literal. last is touga and nanami in episode 32, where touga assaults her (another sexual relationship, although enitrely nonconsensual this time.)

compare that to the characters who sit in the backseat alone: miki and juri. miki is in the car with kozue, but she doesn’t sit next to him, instead she sits in the front seat. this, in my opinion, means that while their relationship does have its weird incestual undertones, it’s never actually been sexual, and it isn’t here either. juri is in the car with ruka, and similarly they do not sit together; their relationship is also not sexual (even though ruka does assault her earlier in the episode, it doesn’t continue in the car.) it’s possible that sitting seperately in the car implies one-sided feelings, but i don’t think that’s likely since there's no implications of that between touga and ruka who do the same thing, and personally i don’t think it’s true for the kaoru’s either. and also, if the positions had anything to do with attraction, touga and nanami would obviously not have been sitting together.

then there’s the front passenger seat, and here the significance is that it’s next to akio. most of the people we see sitting there* (touga, utena, anthy, kozue) are people who are direct victims of akio’s grooming and abuse (the only exception being ruka.) i also think there’s something about how sitting in the front seat feels like it gives you more freedom than the back, even though that’s not true. like you get the special privilege of sitting next to the person driving the car, but you don’t actually get any control yourself.

(*i am deliberately not including wakaba here, because although she does sit in the front seat on her “date” with akio in episode 30, they don’t go to the infinitely looping metaphor-highway at night, and i think that distinction is important. like how utena is in the car several times, but only in that place after akio has turned the relationship explicitly sexual)

[eqt-95]

untitled supercorp excerpt

It was a clever plan. It was so clever Lena was about to pat herself on the back.

Until the cursed wheelie chair whirred across the grated floor and brought the last thing she wanted to see on this or any other depraved planet back into view.

“What are you doing?” Kara asked.

“Going out,” she replied stiffly, adjusting her bag and checking that her scarf was tucked securely into her neckline. She’d only finally extracted the last grains from her last sand-ezvous, and she was not keen to revisit that experience.

“Uh, no you aren’t,” Kara said flatly. It put Lena’s teeth on edge.

“Funny,” Lena began, rounding on the blonde now towering over her by four annoying inches, “I don’t take orders from Supergirl.” “They weren’t orders,” Kara huffed, her arms crossed and stepping between Lena and freedom. Well, sort-of-freedom.

“Then get out of my way.”

“I wouldn’t expect someone so good at holding grudges to be so forgetful,” Kara replied far too smugly.

“I'm fully functioning in that department, thanks.”

“Oh, so then you didn’t forget the Goobs lurking around every corner.”

“Hardly. Now please-”

“We should wait until the next cycle. Until I can go out-”

“That’s eight days away, and in case you bothered to notice, we’ve got just enough amorphous gray goop to last two.”

“Then I’ll go" Kara said, all cheeto-puffed out chest and heroic vibrato. "Solo.”

Lena scowled. “You are incompetent and powerless.”

“Not if you radio the instructions to me.”

“How do you expect me to instruct you to do something I haven’t even seen?”

“I’ll… I can describe it to you.”

“You may have won a Pulitzer, but don’t be so misguided to think it had anything to do with your vivid imagery, Supergirl.”

Kara flinched, her chest deflated, and Lena felt emboldened.

“I’ll take my chances,” Lena said, pushing past Kara. “I’m not risking another setback.”

“Lena-”

“What?” Lena snarled, fingers gripping her sunglasses with a threatening creak.

“Let me.”

“Why?” Lena asked, swinging to face Kara.

“B-because,” Kara stammered.

“Because? That’s why?” Lena scoffed haughtily. “Because, because, because,” she continued, a mocking tone, “Ambiguity is no different than deceit, Supergirl. What is it this time, hm? Can’t trust a Luthor? Can’t risk me sabotaging your heroic return? Can’t-

A chair flying, glass shattering, and a symphony of clanging metal-on-metal interrupted her.

“What the fuck Ka-”

“Because I can’t fix you!” Kara shouted.

Lena blinked, her corporate demeanor stunned by the shards of glass glittering the floor and the seething anger coming from the powerless Kryptonian in front of her. The wheelie chair spun uselessly as a final stack of scrolls tumbled to the ground and spilled across the floor.

“Excuse me?”

“I can’t… You’re not,” Kara began, looking perplexed, disoriented - scared? It did nothing but feed the inferno of loathing Lena felt. “You’re not a gadget or some gizmo or… you’re not me. You can’t be fixed with a sun or a-a lamp. If you get hurt - you could get hurt.”

"You'd get your wish then," Lena replied icily before pushing open the door and stepping into swirling winds of dust and red haze.

[writer-room]

You ever just see people talk about the Percy Jackson books and know somewhere, deep in your heart, that none of these people have understood that this is a series made for middle schoolers. And that fandom will very frequently lie to them like, all the time. No, that character probably isn’t ooc, you’re just thinking of what the fandom turned them into. No, this book isn’t a horrible stain next to the others before it, literally all of them were like this. It’s Percy Jackson. It’s cheesy and occasionally makes a very questionable writing decision.

You gotta be in this for the long haul or jump ship my guys. Be cringe and free or be gone

[aegagrusscholarship]

familiarity, the lack thereof, and the only way it could have ended.

the thing is, ultrakill is a very diegetic game. near everything, from the style meter to the bottomless arsenal to the shitass graphics themselves, are explained in some way by some in-universe fact.

so, what with violence and the implication that V1 was designed to counter earthmovers

what with 7-4 and the fact that it is a culmination of this implication

i wonder. when V1 looked up at that earthmover, did it know, with whatever passes for instinct in a machine, exactly what to do? and if it did, then, how is this conveyed to the player?

diegetic as the game is, how does it engineer a situation in which the player, themselves, knows exactly what they have to do?

the biggest factor, i think, is the fact that the earthmover's health bar appears the moment you lay eyes (or camera, or whatever) on it, and it does not leave until you have finally killed this colossus.

but this factor is much more subtle than it appears at first glance. yes, big honkin' boss healthbar on screen for the entire level, what more to it. there's a good deal more, it turns out.

first off- this is the shortest leadup by far to any bossfight in the game. you slide through a single vent, and you are greeted with benjamin right out in the open. even P-1, devoid of any other hazards as it is, gives you a long trek down the spinal staircase before you reach the flesh prison. 7-4 has none of it. you enter the level, you enter the stage, and there you have it. you know exactly what you are up against right from the outset, and it's not quite a feeling of familiarity but it tells you exactly what you have to do. which is the point of this all, isn't it?

7-4 is also... not a bossfight! it is a full level! it is a full level framed as a bossfight. the health bar frames this full complete level as a bossfight.

and on one hand, this is not new news. on the other hand, i think this is the crux of it. the thing is, most bossfights are near-to-entirely new. you do not know how the boss acts. you do not know their attack patterns. you do not know their capabilities. you are learning something new. levels, though, you have done a thousand times over and so the player knows how they need to play through this bossfight in a way that is not quite present with any other boss in the game.

the content of the level is new, of course, because that's how it goes. but you know the motions. you have done this for two acts prior, you know the motions. you know exactly what to do.

also! this level does not exist in a vacuum. what i am saying is this: the rest of violence layer shifts its storytelling and its tone and even its graphics. it is something completely new in contrast to the rest of the game. 7-4, though, returns to environments and graphics more akin to what you have experienced before, bringing you back to familiarity and again knowing what to do here in a way the rest of violence hasn't let the player experience.

one more thing about this level: it plays directly into expectations. which is something that the rest of the game actually does not tend to do.

the game, at base, is just not a typical FPS. it gives you movement like a roguelite or a platformer, it takes guns you expect to know the mechanics of and goes utterly wild with how far the archetype can be changed.

in a smaller scope, here is a comparison of the earthmover and the corpse of king minos as two separate colossal bosses foreshadowed in similar ways. and i mean, minos's bossfight isn't unprecedented in other works. but i think the thing that matters here is that you are not, in fact, the underdog as is the case with so many other bosses of its ilk. riven of many voices, destiny 2, similar bossfight similar scale. you are hiding from her you are a fireteam of many you are triumphing over a dragon larger than life. project gestalt, madness project nexus, you are pulling out every stop you can to take down something so far over your head (both literally and metaphorically). corpse of king minos- V1 looks up, stands its ground, and parries his god damn fist.

and the thing is, the earthmover plays into a different expectation, but it's playing into an expectation nonetheless. you look at this thing and you climb it and you dismantle it from within, like you have done in many games prior. you know what your goal is from the moment you see that healthbar and you hook onto the conspicuously placed hookpoints that tell you- you will climb this machine; you will fight your way up to whatever its core is and you will kill it. you play through the entire level with this expectation and you get exactly this expectation. you destroy its core and it begins a countdown, and so very many games have countdowns before the collapse of whatever level you have just beaten, and you know exactly what you have to do.

i don't know. i love diegetic storytelling. i love this level.

it's just familiarity, i think. this level runs off familiarity. it gives you, the player, things and tropes and designs you are familiar with. it signals to you that you should know what to do, and it lets you do exactly what you expect to do.

if i were any more cheesy i could absolutely end this by restating something about the only way it could've ended, but uh. i am not that cheesy. this time.

aw crud now i don't know how to end this oh well goodbye then

[captainofthetidesbreath]

As the World Wizard Entertainment tournament finalists attempt to fireball their way to victory, I think it is not too early to announce the winner of a special award. The title of Archmage of Congeniality is given to the wizard who has most made this competition enjoyable.

Given that these wizards are fictional characters who are not literally participating in a tournament and interacting with one another, this title actually recognizes a contingent of fans who have dedicated themselves to enthusiastic fannish participation, passionate fandom fun, and positive engagement in the course of campaigning for their chosen wizard.

With maverick strategy that highlighted her prodigious bust size, called on the legacy of Exandria's greatest mage slayer, leveraged the relationship with her opponent and arcane mentor, and created many delightful new fanworks, the supporters of this wizard exemplified the spirit of campaigning for one's fave to win meaningless polls in a way that was constructive and uplifting and that brightened our dashboards with whimsy and passion.

In recognition of the spell of joy and delight that this wizard's supporters cast on this small corner of the fanspace during this silly series of polls, I bestow on Veth Brenatto the title of Archmage of Congeniality of the World Wizard Entertainment tournament.

Congratulations to Archmage Brenatto and especially (with all the loving sincerity in the world) to her fans and supporters who made this competition surreal, unexpected, and more enjoyable than it had any right to be.

One level in wizard goes a very, very long way. Live, Love, Veth.

To break character, though I have done quite a bit already in this post, and at the risk of repeating a lot of a post I made earlier today: I am full of genuine love for all of you who contributed to #VethSweep posting and made this tournament incredibly entertaining. I am also so excited for the Veth fans amidst this outpouring of support and shenanigans in her name—I hope some of this energy sticks around and adds to your ranks. All that I've said in this grandiose speech is all so very sincere, and my heart is full of joy and delight this evening.

Veth is not the grand final winner of the tournament, but she is absolutely and thoroughly the winner of our hearts.

[jubileepizza]

Waking up in a cold sweat remembering that the torchwood writers gave us Toshiko and Owen’s backstories, which introduce completely new and significant context to their characters and open so many avenues to explore, one episode before Exit Wounds

[shinuko]

tw/cw: cursing (the one that rhymes with duck, x1), kissing (it's like the entire point actually, sorry), reader intended to be shorter, suggestive(!!!) + read tags for more info! (expect nonsense and mistakes lol it's like 12am okay i'm delirious ;-;)

you're peppering kisses all over his face, and he chuckles, his cheeks still squished in between the palms of your hands.

"missed me that much, huh?"

"isn't it obvious?" you roll your eyes but you smile, pressing a longer kiss on the tip of his nose. "now be quiet, i'm busy."

but he's not listening anymore. he falls back onto the bed, taking you with him. and you yelp, both of your hands outstretched on the mattress as support, caging him under you. you look down at him, glaring. to which he laughs but his gaze soon drops to your lips and his chin lifts slightly, and he appears unable to restrain himself any longer. his eyes return to yours, "give me one more?"

you huff but oblige, closing the distance between the two of you, your lips meeting his softly—slowly—at first, his lips moving in tandem with yours, but you were beginning to get swept away in the ocean called geto suguru. he's kissing you greedily, with a hunger like that of a starved man seeing bread again. he slides a hand down to your lower back, steadying you as he hoists himself up again. you respond immediately, wrapping your legs around his waist and arms around his neck. his other hand is placed naturally at the nape of your neck as he gently sets you against the wall.

he groans into the kiss, moving a hand to angle your chin. breaking away, he trails kisses down your jaw and to your neck, stopping at your collarbone. you let out a shaky breath, eager with anticipation, your hands find their spots in his hair, brushing through and twirling the ends.

you whine and he lets you drop down, both of your feet standing at the tips of your toes as you lean in further into the kiss. his hands slide down again, feeling you and this time squeezing in places that made your knees weak. you bite down softly at his bottom lip, tugging at it, and you giggle at his confused expression.

"should i stop?" you whisper teasingly as you pull away just enough to break contact as you flick your gaze up to his.

"fuck no," his voice is hoarse and he pulls you closer to him, finding your mouth again with his, "come here."

koi's notes: i dropped 2 of my 2k+ (wc) wips for this because i was CRAVING physical intimacy and oh my god... please don't perceive me >.< (also sorry for the poorly placed cut and name drop, it was the most natural place to introduce the name to me and yeah ;-;)

[leverage-ot3]

silly episode idea but hear me out

okay well the first part isn’t silly! so the episode is based around a con they are doing where a polyam triad wants to get married and have been writing to senators and stuff for years but nothing has happened. maybe there is a time element that leeway has to happen soon (not sure what that would be yet, maybe someone is sick???)

(obviously polycules aren’t only and are often more than just a closed three-person system, but I’m saying triad right now bc I feel like that would be an easier and more ‘socially acceptable’ gateway into more accepting legislation for diverse relationship dynamics)

the leverage crew, of course, can’t outright change the public perception of poly marriage, but they can use the ‘enemy’s’ tactics against them and slip stuff into legislation without people noticing like they do. it’s slimy and it’s not a permanent fix, but it’s a start, and it gives people the opportunity to see poly marriage in action and that it isn’t as terrifying or pearl-clutching-inducing as they think it would be. there’s a long way to go, but the seeds of change have been sown and they will make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible

this is one of the cases that they will monitor on the back burner over time. some cons can finish within a few hours (the bottle job), and some things they will follow over time and make adjustments when needed- amplify voices and expose corrupt politicians etc

and then it’s just after 3/4 of the way through but the con has been finished? what is going on? this is where the silliness comes in

the camera turns to the ot3 and…

hardison, pulling out three individualized rings: I know it’s not legal yet, and we have the necklaces, but I think rings would be a nice touch

eliot, pulling out an intricately carved box that also has three self-handcrafted rings: dammit hardison (with feeling and tenderness, and damp eyes)

parker, pulling out three very stolen rings from her pocket: does this mean we’re getting triple married if we all have three rings???

harry pops into the conversation (practically vibrating) excitedly just casually mentioning that he’s a notary and would be honored to marry them to each other if they wanted to

(they do)

wait, did I say silly? I meant unwaveringly tender and heartwarming

[michaeljoncarter]

this makes negative sense, but to me, "oc" takes on a completely different meaning in the context of comics than what it means out in the wild. like there's new characters and then there's writer's ocs. being a writer's original character in the literal sense doesn't automatically make them that writer's oc, and actually, they don't even have to have been created by that writer to be their oc. it's all very diachronic

[ancientfrozenglaciershark]

“I found the perfect place, Yaz!” Graham walks into to console room, waving what the Doctor recognizes as a travel book from one of her libraries.

“You said you wanted to visit an alien library, well, this here’s the largest one in the universe! An entire library planet!”

The Doctor sprints over to him and rips the book from his hands. “Find somewhere else. And no libraries.”

The bite in her voice startles them.

———

An hour later the Doctor shuffles into the kitchen where Yaz, Graham and Ryan are having tea, she avoids eye contact. “I’ve changed my mind. I think.. we should go to that library.”

———

They arrive at the Library, the Doctors mood has not improved, she’s hardly said a word since.

“I’m going to drop you off at this section. I… need to be alone here.”

They all shift awkwardly and look at one another, exchanging worried glances.

“Are you alright?” Yaz asks her.

“Stay off my comm channel unless it’s an emergency.” She closes the TARDIS door and a moment later it vanishes.

———

They meet back up a few hours later.

They find the Doctor sitting in a large, wide staircase. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are damp.

“We’re here for you, you know, if you ever need to talk.” Graham says softly as they all take a seat around her.

She eventually looks over at her friends. She thinks once more of River and of Amy and of Rory. She wants a family again.

“I lost my wife here.” She suddenly wants to tell them everything.

She hears them all inhale sharply.

“… This is also the place where I first met her.”

Ryan’s hand touches her shoulder. “Wow, that’s really shit, mate.”

“Ryan!” Yaz and Graham say simultaneously.

“Was that not the right thing to say?” Ryan mumbles to Yaz.

The Doctor laughs.

She smiles at them all, and she lets the tears fall again.

Yaz leans in and wraps her arms around the Doctor, Ryan and Graham follow suit. They stay a little while longer, and talk, and cry, and they hold her more. Her family.

[camgoloud]

i’m pretty sure this was done on the tlt subreddit once before but i haven’t seen it here and i’m curious to know tumblr’s opinions on the topic! personally i like the second two much more than the first—gtn didn’t really grab me that much and i wouldn’t have even called myself part of the fandom until i decided i might as well give htn a go and immediately got sucked in—but i’m guessing that most people’s experience is different, since the first book seems like the most popular based on the impressions i’ve gotten. also feel free to put in tags where you’d rank the short stories (as yet unsent and doctor sex) relative to the books! i would have stuck those in the poll too but there are. 120 different ways to order 5 unique objects