#plot would be about a bunch of separate people with powers living their lives as just people

[radiofreeilium]

Crowd sourcing plot points in my new wip

[puppetwoman17]

Okay, so there’s this Billy Batson post-Injustice fic called A Reason to Fight on AO3, and it’s got me wanting more fics like that.

I mean, there’s so many different ways it could go.

One fic could be where he did die, and we can’t bring him back. The JL are brought back together to take on an otherworldly evil(surprise surprise) and they need the help of the gods to do it. With both conventional and unconventional means, they’re able to be granted passage to Olympus for this one catastrophic emergency(begrudgingly, because the gods sorta hate their guts).

Then they see this one glowing building, separated from the rest. It’s got a lightning bolt on it. Sparks flying around it. Gives off a less imposing vibe. There’s suspicions about what it’s for, but no one feels compelled to ask. Until a leaguer(doesn’t have to be specific, maybe Guy Gardener or Flash or whatevs) gains enough courage to ask what that place is.

The god leading them to Zeus stops dead in their tracks. They don’t speak yet. They turn and look at the leaguer who was dumb enough to ask a grieving god a question like that.

And the god replies: “The Hall of Champions is where every champion goes when they die. They are allowed to spend their afterlife in complete relaxation as the fruits of their labor. They meet others like them and forgo the troubles of their mortal lives.”

The god says that last part bitterly.

The JL immediately knows who’s inside. The building just speaks Marvel. That same stupid league member asks if they can go inside. If they can speak to one of them, no one in particular(everyone knows they’re lying, but the guilt is just too much).

The god laughs. Actually just laughs right there, in front of a bunch of mortals and super powered people who dare to think they can come anywhere near the former Champion of Magic.

The god tells them: “We granted him his wish of being part of a team because we thought it would help him through such trying times. We thought he finally had others who would look after him, something we may not always be able to do. We thought he would finally, after all these years, have something akin to family.

“And just like that, those hopes and dreams were taken away, all because our champion finally saw the light again. If you go so much as a foot closer to him, the gods of Olympus will show you the same mercy you showed your so-called teammate.”

Lol, that’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Another fic could be where he actually didn’t die, like in A Reason to Fight. He comes back to life after recharging just like in A Reason to Fight. But this time, there’s a change.

He doesn’t make himself known. He changes his identity and stays under the league radar. He doesn’t transform into Cap, but he secretly helps the people of Fawcett with his powers because BILLY was chosen, not the avatar itself.

Dunno how to go about the next part. That all depends on the plot, what characters are still alive and still dead. The timeline of when exactly he comes back and how long he stays incognito.

But somehow, someway, the League becomes aware that Marvel, that Billy, is alive. They rush to see him after (however) long. They see him alive and well…

And he’s just disgusted. Heartbroken. Scared. Angry. Tells them to f*ck off and find some other kid’s dreams to destroy. Tells them to never contact him unless it’s for business that requires the Champion’s reputation. Because despite everything, he still takes his job as Champion very seriously. Because he thought he could finally trust these adults, and they turned their backs on him.

He especially hates Superman for the looks of guilt he gives him. Just wants to punch him in the face. Same with Diana. Same with Lantern. Same with Flash and Cy. Maybe not Batman, but even association can hurt.

Again, idk where this one might go, or how the plot is or whatever, but I need more post-Injustice fics on Billy Batson damnit!

[momspren]

I just finished Alchemy of Souls, and... My gosh. Y'all were right. What an epic incredible journey. What delicious narrative payoff for everything that everyone went through. I can't believe we got satisfying death scenes for four separate main (good) characters that would have made sense (while still being gut wrenchingly tragic), and then they all LIVED in a way that was narratively interesting but not implausible. They got their happy endings, and we got to see the big bad guy literally immolate and then the good guy went and fought a DRAGON as the final boss battle.

Every character had an arc that made sense and brought them to their end (or their new beginning) poetically and just beautifully. All of the characters were interesting and I appreciated that everyone who had a distinct character arc got the chance to shine in the final episodes. Their journeys mattered.

I was actually blindsided by the fact that Jin Mu had a SECOND secret society he had been cultivating of members of the Unanimous Assembly, but in retrospect they were awfully united about huge changes (stripping power from a whole group, taking the ice stone from UK, etc) that a group like that is designed to NOT be unanimous about, because then they will only make big moves like that when it is really, really necessary.

The storytelling was so beautiful. I truly didn't think that Uk was going to be so unselfish. Before the reveal that Bu-Yeon needed to stay because the future with the fire bird was going to happen no matter what, I fully expected an ending where they decided that Bu-Yeon had just as little claim to the body as Naksu, and she either left on her own or turned out to be another person seeking eternal life at the cost of others and she would need to be expelled. I didnt expect Uk and Naksu to actually decide that they would adhere to the greater good and let Naksu fade away, just spending their last moments together. That hurt.

Shoutout to Master Lee for getting those two married when he got the freaking chance. As soon as he got them alone in the mountains again he was like "I am not putting up with you two dancing around each other for a second longer, you are getting married IMMEDIATELY" and I respect him so much for that

It's a happy ending, but it didn't come cheap. Everyone was willing to give up everything to make it happen, and everyone's sacrifice MATTERED to the plot. One sacrifice paved the way for another sacrifice which paved the way for another sacrifice until the world was saved. They couldn't have done it without ALL of them.

The story was a bunch of people who were petty, or broken, or self righteous, and all of them incredibly lonely, coming together and growing to the point where they believed in a good and kind and beautiful world enough that they undoomed the narrative.

[fieognym]

I made an outline for a Sonic 06 rewrite that I will never actually write

So first off, Solaris is from the Sol Dimension. Fire god of destruction that starts off peaceful before people messed with him? Sounds very similar to Chaos, a water god of destruction who was peaceful before the Echidna messed with him. So they're counterparts now.

We're also fully removing Elise. She's not needed because we already have a fire princess capable of sealing Iblis and regardless of how people feel about her, she's redundant in this rewrite.

The people of the Sol Dimension decided to seal Solaris within Blaze after he killed a bunch of people (he was provoked), but they were worried that sticking a god in someone's brain would lead to possession, so they intentionally split Solaris into Iblis and Mephiles, so it's not an accident like in canon.

Next, Mephiles's motivations don't make a lot of sense in canon. He wants Iblis to be released, but Iblis is already free in Silver's time. No explanation as to why they can't just merge there is ever given. So instead in Silver's time the apocalypse happens because Solaris successfully merged.

But if Mephiles doesn't need to send Silver back in time, then how is Silver getting into the plot? Simple, he chooses to go back on his own terms, and retrieves the Time Stones from Little Planet. This can also give Silver and Amy stuff to talk about, since Amy is meant to be a Silver Story character in 06.

Shadow's story doesn't really have to change much, he still gets to deal with Mephiles, but he didn't seal Mephiles (Literally he was asleep on the ark when it first happens, even if he time travelled to do it in canon, what the hell went down the first time?). Instead Meph just hates him because he can sense that Shadow is powerful enough to interfere with his plans.

Sonic's story is the difficult one because No Elise, so we're in full fanfic territory here. I don't think the 06 writers knew what to do with him.

So what if Eggman summons Mephiles from wherever he was sealed, up to his usual plans of "use this powerful being as a means to an end, what do you mean it's going to backfire on me?"

And what if Mephiles being in Sonic's dimension makes the two worlds less separate, since Iblis is still in the Sol Dimension, allowing for easy travel between the two.

So Shadow is dealing with Mephiles, Silver with Iblis, and Sonic with Eggman

And maybe Eggman tricks Sonic into doing something to free Iblis, not making Blaze cry lol, but maybe getting him to accidentally lead her into a trap that lets Eggman extract Iblis, who immediately merges with Mephiles.

This means Sonic is still the Iblis Trigger and Silver still has motivation to kick his ass, except instead of being lied to by Mephiles maybe it's a known historical fact that despite all the good Sonic did for the world, he eventually becomes responsible for ending it. So Silver, missing a lot of context, thinks Sonic is destined to turn evil and decides to stop him for the sake of the world.

Also Blaze lives so we get Super Sonic Shadow and Silver, but also Burning Blaze.

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

Ok so I've mentioned this a bunch of times on my blog by now but I've been trying to speedrun all of the Choices books and I'm so glad I am because there are some underrated gems out there! I'm almost done with TC&TF Book 1 and that book had a ton of love interests so I was inspired to make a top ten list to organize my thoughts. This post will be under development as I play more books or change my mind lol

Top Ten Books/Series

Bloodbound Series - This book is literally one of the best series PB has ever put out. To be fair, it should be under Blades and TC&TF, I would argue that these three books deserve top place. But it would be harder to combine my Bloodbound explanation with the other two fantasy books so here you go. Contrary to most, I did like the first book, wasn't my favorite, but it was a good intro to the series. I like that the world slowly grew as we learned more about vampires and it felt complete and like it had something to say. Thank @gaiuskamilah for my further obsession with the series lol

Blades of Light and Shadow Book 1/The Crown and the Flame Book 1 - I couldn't choose but they're both AMAZING BOOKS ugh I can't say enough good things about them. The choices actually matter and the plot was so good. Every chapter had a purpose and the conclusion felt so satisfying. The scoring system and skills for both books was super cool, we need more books like them <33

Crimes of Passion Series - Definitely a Top Tier MC!!! I liked the mystery (Book 2's reveal wasn't great but the chaotic Thorne siblings make up for it) and Trystan is the best single LI we've had in a while, their dynamic with Rose was *chef's kiss*

Perfect Match Series - I LOVED this series and our friend group/love interests so much. They all felt like unique people with their own experiences and the plot was so amazingly intense. The finale of Book 1 was UNMATCHED we won't ever live to experience something that iconic ever again smh. It took a while for the plot to kick in, which is why it's lower on the list

The Elementalists - I'm a sucker for elemental magic systems/magic schools, and I love our friend group/family so much. Atlas is the coolest twin, and the whole sun/moon dynamic was fun! Being a powerful Sun-Att boosted my ego astronomically. I wish we got another book to see our mom more though

It Lives in the Woods - I like that the premise was relatively simple, along with the game mechanics. Your actions had real consequences and it was more immersive. The flash-forward in the last chapter was super sweet too and I like that the anthology was interconnected. This series also gave us an amazing friend group and set of LIs so I'm thankful <3

Open Heart Book 1 - Simply iconic, grounded in reality, and actually put together imao. It was one of the peaks of our fandom. This book is super nostalgic for me because I'm interested in the medical field, and it's the whole reason I'm posting Choices content here in the first place

Ride or Die - I adore this book. It felt complete on its own EVEN IF IT DESERVED A SEQUEL *side-eyeing PB* and it's a great coming-of-age story with a realistic teen MC. The ending was bittersweet and you felt changed by the experience playing the book

Nightbound - I liked the vibes and the idea more than the execution if that makes sense? I love the idea of Lamrian and how the MC is half-fae and super powerful, but the book didn't have enough time to showcase the supernatural world compared to Bloodbound, which focused on vampire lore. I can probably make a whole separate post on this but yea

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir - I think, again, I like the vibes of the series more than the flawed execution, but because it went on for so long I kinda of got attached to the characters (mind you I didn't play or finish any of the books) but it's super fluffy and sweet and iconic for Choices history so here <3 a lot of the books like ROE, TRM, and TC&TF are interconnected so it's part of the foundation for the PB Choices Multiverse :) to be fair, it looks like they did a somewhat decent job writing the conflicts for each book?

I have a feeling when I finish Endless Summer, this list is gonna change...

EDIT: I totally forgot about The Heist: Monaco, but it was amazing! TRR/TH should be bumped down to honorable mention, I'll change it at some point-

Honorable Mentions

A Courtesan of Rome - The book took awhile for me to get through but my MC is legendary and carried the book so it's up here lol. I also liked that it felt like a historically accurate book?

Platinum - Cool commentary on the darker sides of fame and the music >>>

Veil of Secrets - The plot was interesting, one of my fave mystery books they've written! Also the characters >>>

Mother of the Year - Wholesome and felt finished, def one of the best single books. Also the antagonists were properly despicable so...good writing

Wake the Dead - It wasn't perfect, but I love zombie apocalypse stories and the idea of rebuilding our camp was so cool so idc how flawed it is <3

Foreign Affairs - The ending was rushed and the premise should have been rewritten but more on that on a later date. It was still fun for me to play

Desire and Decorum - I finished book 1 and I really liked it! it's basically the Choices version of Bridgerton, not historically accurate but super entertaining. The vibes and the LIs were amazing

Kindred - Pacing issues but still entertaining, I love the witch lore that they had in the book and the focus on building both platonic and romantic relationships so I'm not complaining

Top Ten Love Interests In No Particular Order

Trystan Thorne

Bryce Lahela

Kamilah Sayeed

Damien Nazario

Kaine Bell

Raleigh Carrera

Aerin Valleros

Jax Matsuo

Colt Kaneko

F!Hayden Young

Honorable Mentions (Again, No Particular Order)

Drake Walker (listen LISTEN I don't like that he sidelined other LIs, and I absolutely HATE how his character was a total contradiction, it was executed poorly, but I like the idea of his route if that makes sense. Some of the banter was cute and I love the whole grumpy x sunshine trope. I'm pretty sure he took a bullet for me lol)

Raydan Lykel (Solely because I haven't finished the series yet)

Mal Volari (He would have been in Top Ten but I had to bump him down because his Book 2 Route isn't working)

Tyril Starfury

Nia Ellarious

Prince Hamid

Tatum Mendoza

All of the Nightbound Love Interests are amazing I just couldn't fit them on the list

Gaius Augustine

Alana Kusuma

Rainier (Kindred)

Thomas Mendez

Flynn O'Malley

Olivia Nevrakis (she had so much potential omg)

Robin Flores and Sofia Russo (in my world, they're LIs just shush)

[nigh-temptation]

Alledia, in this version, is split up into 7 countries:

Windsor

Coco

Lufen

Nautilus

Frontera

Kanalis

Gulfeńn (which is split into more regions, or provinces)

(I will draw a better quality map someday 😔)

I made the map a little less of one big supercontinent, and I thought that making this world feel a little bigger would help make this story feel more vast without needing to leave the planet (I am never forgiving Kazu for that goofy ending in book 7, it literally came out of nowhere)

I will update this map later (I’m going to move the mountain range in Gulfeńn to the coast, so that geographically it makes a little sense as to why that whole area is an arid desert, and extend the mountain range up up north a bit)

During the war all the western countries are known as the Common Alliance (or at least, it will be if I don’t think of a less cheesy name). The best way to think about these countries is this:

(The flags are a bit ugly, but I tried my best 😭)

Windsor:

NOT occupied by Gulfeńn yet

the superpower of the CA

It’s really cold up there

Like… wet and cold

This place is just 1940’s England

Their national animal is the whale

I imagine Windsorian cities looking like Dunwall from Dishonored

Coco:

I haven’t come up with much other than it’s a small nation with not that much to offer in the way of trade, and was actually going through negotiations to become a part of Lufen before the war

Not occupied by Gulfeńn

Nautilus:

They are only partially occupied by Gulfeńn

The “front line” country

A lot of citizens have been displaced from here

This country (in my head at least) reminds me a little of Ireland

Frontera:

Completely occupied by Gulfeńn

A lot of elves actually live here

Human-Elf relations here is a lot more chill than in… say Windsor

Kanalis:

Also completely occupied by Gulfeńn

Basically if Chicago was a country

I always read Enzo and Rico’s lines in a Chicagoan accent, because they have Italian names 🤷‍♂️

Lufen:

‘MERICA RAAAHHHH 🦅🦅🦅

Idk, I have it in my head that this is cowboy country

This place is a lot looser than The boarder countries or Windsor

It’s a bunch of farmland broken up by forest, plains, and towns (kinda like where I live)

These guys are technically neutral, but have been sending supplies to Windsor

I will have a separate post for Gulfeńn (and why I am spelling it like that), but for now I want to focus on the human countries.

You might be wondering… how exactly did humans end up on Alledia anyways? Well my friend, I have a surprisingly simple answer for you!

I don’t fully know :/

I’d like to think they stumbled across the “Gate” (or portal thingy that Emily stumbled into) at some point hundreds of years ago, and adapted accordingly… but that leaves a couple of plot holes (how did that many people fit through the Gate? How did people of that many different cultures come all at once?) so let’s just not think about that for now 😅

The time period in which this will be set is more so in the 1930’s-1940’s. Because this is fantasy, we don’t have to be exact, and we can be a bit more flexible with “historical accuracy” or whatever.

I feel like a war oriented story such as this would benefit more from a Dieselpunk aesthetic. That way we have a bit of the modern age to work with, in terms of technology, and a thematic framework for the story right off the bat.

Here is an example of Dieselpunk! This piece is called Gray Monster by Jakub Rozalski:

I think mechs, blimps, and wartime would work perfectly with this genre of punk

final quick note, in my version of this story there are a couple different powers at play: The Common Alliance (bad-ish guys), The Resistance (okay guys), Gulfeńn (bad-ish guys), Ceilis (meh guys), and the Luna Moth Crew (good guys!)

Remember, this is an ongoing WAR. It is NOT a good time to live in Alledia, and the world should feel as such. With that being said, this is not going to be a “gritty” depressing story. I still want to capture the magic that the early books had. We can still have some fun with it!

Let me know what you think and if I should change anything :D

[occasionally-victor]

i feel like i need to start atleast sometimes talking about my au's, they can't keep cooking in my brain for years without output because for some reason i always need to visualise (draw) what im gonna talk about lmao. and when i day years - i mean it, my mer au was first conceptualised back in march 2021 (even though the most recent version of it was developed in 2023)

Anyways, mer au, huh? It isn't restricted to one specific smp (like all my au, ig), i just put anyone i want there.

I wanna talk some general things about it because i never really did (also, every time i say people - it means just everyone living in this dimension on this planet, who possesses the level of intelligence of a human irl. Sometimes i just need to specify which species of people we are talking about, like here about mers. and yes there are other dimensions im not talking about them tho.)

The world itself is pretty much just more or less normal fantasy world. I don't really go into world building more than necessary considering i mostly focusing on mers, but there are a lot of non-mer characters as well so. I basically kinda bullshit through there, but oh well. One thing i know for sure is that the planet they all are on is implied to be really fucking big. It's very common to often not be aware of existence of another species just because there never been one living close enough. Mers are very much one of the biggest "victims" of that (it's not bad nor good - it's just is). They are not hiding tho - it's just the ones who have contact with them are mostly people living by big bodies of water like sea or giant lake.

Talking about people living by big bodies of water, overall relationship between the ones on land and mers is pretty good - like, they trade between eachother; mers often seen around bays and beaches just hanging out with their land friends; it's very normal for food places that are right by the water to have an area for mers to access (and some are even ran by mers).

Mers usually live in underwater cities - each city is protected by Heart of the City (HotC) - a system of runes scattered in secret places (its one main rune and a bunch of smaller ones). Those runes also can be "found" in some other protected places outside of city. Making one rune is not hard (for mers, everyone else is fucked tho), but time consuming. How does it protect? By basically powering up mers in all ways. To not mess up with perception of their own might, mers tend to not "use" this power up until needed. Also, a lot of entrances in important places are made with much more heavy materials so without the rune active they would be hard to open. However, there's another thing about those runes - they also make non-waterbreathing creatures be able to breath under water when around. No one really understands why. But it does make tourism to underwater cities more accessible (tho, its pretty limited if going with a tourist group. however, if you have a mer friend - they totally can just get you there np)

Both qsmp and hermitcraft parts (they kinda separate, but also not really, it's just me splitting up lmao.) of au happen around the same sea. The two underwater cities would be pretty far away to really interact tho. (i also already kinda have the thing showing who's mer who isnt, but it isn't fully finished). Also, like i said, the au doesn't really have a plot lmao i just think mers are neat.

[acourtofthought]

ELUCIEN ISLAND FOR ONE 😂

I'm just out here alone on my little ACOTAR 5 Elucien island.

It's a lonely place to be at times but I do typically enjoy solitude 😂

Have you ever seen those marble run toys? That's what SJMs writing in ACOTAR feels like to me.

It's a giant, tall structure with twists and turns and you can place one marble on the track, then another marble, then another until you have a whole bunch of marbles on the course at the same time but the marble you put on there first is still going to be the one who reaches the bottom first.

To me, Elucien's journey / marble started in ACOMAF (Lucien's journey even before that) when SJM decided they'd be mates but immediately separated them and she continued their future story in a big way in ACOWAR (while simultaneously building Nessian's). Elain was dealing with depression and the loss of her humanity, Graysens rejection, she had visions about Vassa and Koschei, underdeveloped powers, refused the Illyrian leathers, she wasn't ready to deal with her bond though the series ended on positive note towards her mate, we were left with questions as to how Elain made it to Nessian in time, and she saw her father lying dead on the ground yet we've never had the chance to see how she's coping with her loss.

SJM wrote a bunch of things that Lucien needs to recover from too, his SA, losing his home in Spring, realizing his mate wasn't ready to interact with him, the realization that Jesminda wasn't his mate after all and characters not trusting him or underestimating him. She also gave him a surprise "Helion is your Daddy" reveal meaning he is unknowingly set up to be the sole heir of Day and she set him on the path to discovering what may be his found family.

I'm not saying SJM didn't give us some information on Az but there was no clear direction she was taking him in at that time, I don't think I could really tell you what the plot of an Azriel novel looked like back then aside from the fact that he hated the Illyrians and had anger issues towards a lot of people.

During this time SJM also said she knew who the first two spin-offs would be about, that she had done research for Elain's book but was leaving the third open. She even said the third might be a novel set prior to the events of ACOTAR.

In ACOFAS, I'd say we got hints of the first real "Az could get his own POV" crumbs / marble where Rhys mentions the Illyrians might need someone permanently stationed there (but not yet, only once things elsewhere in Prythian are settled down), where Az's demeanor sometimes scared the shit out of Rhys, the mentions of Az's mother and how Az seems to suddenly notice another female outside of Mor for the first time in centuries.

But the Elucien crumbs / marbles were still rolling. We got confirmation that Lucien is now living in the human lands with people he considers his friends, we have him remind Feyre that they're going to need Tamlin as an ally before all is said and done and that Rhys shouldn't have kicked him down when he was out, we're reminded that Lucien isn't able to return to Spring because of Feyre's schemes and that Tamlin assaulted him, Feyre thinking to herself that she still hasn't mentioned who Lucien's father is to anyone besides Rhys and that Rhys and Helion were unable to break Vassa's curse. We're told that Elain still mourns her human life, gave back TT and did not look back, didn't want a male or a mate and a few mentions of how quietly she seems to be moving all of a sudden, mentions of her being up early and having trouble sleeping as well as her questioning Amren about being able to change forms.

Then in SF, the Az crumbs really started rolling a bit more. SJM built a bit of mystery on how Az is different in a lot of ways, how he likes his space though he built a bit of a friendship with Nesta, we're given insight into how he tortures, that he's kind of spiraling in his tantrums towards Rhys and Feyre, how he's curious about Rhys's model of the universe, how he's fixated on wanting a mate and jealous of his brothers while being ready to burn bridges with someone who is an ally because of that jealousy and the introduction of a possible mate.

But the Elucien information is there as well, that marble has still been rolling down the track. Lucien is now living with Jurian and Vassa, we get a pretty major scene of him commanding Cassian with a single word (something only High Lords can do), we're reminded that while Lucien continues to visit Tamlin, he's not getting any better and Spring has falling into a state that leaves the rest of Prythian at risk, we're told Lucien's father has been working with Briallyn and would probably be willing to turn to Koschei, we have Lucien setting his sights across the sea as if setting his target, we're reminded that Vassa's freedom is almost up, we have Lucien being permanently stationed in Spring and the first hints that he's losing a bit of patience in regards to the the situation with Elain though he still looks at her with longing, and the mentions that there's something going on in Day that's causing stress to Helion.

SJM confirmed Elain crumbs were sprinkled throughout in a Live Talks with Eva Chen. She's again noted as moving with stealth and being up early, her Seer powers are dormant, she surprised both Feyre and Nesta with how she's started to stand up for herself, NC Black sucks the life out of her, Feyre mentions helping one sister before the other, Rhys confirms that though Elain makes beautiful things, gardening still involves getting ones hands dirty along the way, Amren says not to underestimate Elain, Feyre notes how if Elain had been wearing Lucien's gloves nothing would have pierced her, Nesta first places Elain's rose carving next to a figure of a goddess but doesn't let herself think of why, she then places the rose on her fathers headstone as a marker of the beauty and good he tried to bring into the world, the rejection from Az on Solstice which probably made her decide she's done with men 😂. Nesta notes her sisters delicate scent is like a promise of Spring and thinks how Spring had been made for someone like Elain, she wonders if Elain would be willing to the continent and not just the one at the Western edge but the one further south. But even with all of that there are a lot of mentions of "Where's Elain?".

The thing about those marble runs is they have a fancy little piece that flips back and forth. When the first marble passes through, the piece blocks off the original path so that the second marble is forced to go down a new path.

To me, Elucien is now set on one course while Gwynriel, after making it to that fork, is on another and I think the crossover is a way for SJM to further build on Az's story because his marble has been a bit behind Elucien's. He has needed more background to build on where she's going with his book whereas she's already pointed us in the direction of Elucien. I know people think Elucien are underdeveloped but she honestly doesn't need to give us anything more. We know there's the unknown father storyline, the freeing of Vassa and the other girls trapped at the lake storyline, the acceptance of their mating bond, the restoring of Spring and figuring out whether Lucien and Tamlin will make ammends, whether Lucien and Eris will make ammends, whether Lucien will reconnect with the LoA, Elain healing from the loss of her father and being made, further exploring her powers and proving to everyone she can handle the dangerous stuff, Elain finding her found family. I think there's even a chance she'll help figure out why the Pegasus's food source is gone. Seriously, what more do we need for an Elucien book? 😂 I don't think we had even half of that for Nessians.

Elain's absence in the crossover (thus far) doesn't mean all that much to me in terms of what story is being told next. I don't think Elain and Lucien will be tied into the crossover plot because I don't think that's the path they're on. Just like certain characters who once did everything together in the TOG series (i.e. Dorian / Chaol), had their stories take them away from one another until the end. Dorian had nothing to do with Yrene and Chaols journey and Chaol never had anything to do with Maeve as Dorian did.

People keep saying Elain isn't connected to the current plot but she is because Koschei, Vassa, Spring ARE current plots. They haven't gone anywhere, they're happening and needing resolution simultaneously to what's going on with Bryce in the NC. There are things happening all over in Prythian, just as there were things happening all over in the TOG series, not just what Aelin was dealing with at the moment.

Maybe all the characters will come back together if the Asteri are a major threat to Prythian at any point but right now, Elain and Lucien don't need to be involved in anything Bryce related. Just like Gwynriel isn't really connected to the Vassa / Koschei / Spring storylines, Elucien don't need to be majorly connected to Gwynriel's storylines especially because it doesn't sound like Elain is truly a part of the IC. And I do think regardless of how big a threat Koschei is, anything related to enemies entering their world would be an even bigger threat and that kind of storyline makes sense coming from the pov of an Illyrian warrior and a Valkyrie.

Not to mention a final battle can still involve all the main characters including Lucien if he were High King. Feyre's pov still had Rhys running the show during the war.

Even though SJM has Az's marble rolling full force with SF and the crossover, I still don't think that means Elucien is on the backburner. I just think it means she's already laid out all their necessary crumbs, set them on their path and now they're just racing towards the finish.

However, I will still celebrate with my Gwynriel friends on the Gwynriel island if I turn out to be completely wrong 😂

[void-writing]

Mummies Alive!: Reanimated

Since I refuse to be normal about this show, here's a general outline of what MY iteration of Mummies Alive, which I have creatively given the subtitle of "Reanimated" because I am hilarious.

Some General Plot Notes:

I'm keeping the designs because they slap and the general tone because I love that good 90s cheese, but I'm rewriting for a more cohesive story and more accurate myth references. Basically, I'm letting my Egyptology fixation run wild.

I give a justification for Scarab's name being...uh...Scarab! Erasing a person's name is like a big deal in ancient Egypt! We see this most famously with Hatsheput and her successor/nephew (I think) who tried to literally chisel her name off of every structure in Egypt to erase the memory of her. This is what Amenhotep does to Scarab except MORE (because he's the Pharaoh and has that kind of power both spiritually and politically). As in Scarab's original name gets power-washed out of reality itself and even people who knew Scarab before (like the Mummies) don't remember what his name used to be and just call him "Scarab." Personally, I find this fitting given that Scarab is a man who has misplaced aspirations of grandeur and having his name and memory super turbo erased from even memory itself would be an excellent fuck you from Amenhotep.

And on the note of Scarab, I justify his scarab beetle theme with the idea that Scarab stole power from Khepri in ancient times, the sign of that manifesting as the scarab-shaped mark/tattoo we see on his back in the show. This is what gives him the power to create life-sized shabti in the volumes he does and is a vital component to his plan for using the Pharaoh's spirit to grant himself immortality. In ancient times, Scarab used the power he stole from Khepri to rob Rapses of his Ka (aka, his life force, killing the poor boy) and then using that stolen ka as like...an appetizer, which consequently gave him enough power to survive most of his three thousand five hundred year living entombment. From there, Khepri's power served as emergency life support for Scarab until Harris Stone cracked the seal of his tomb (given that Khepri is notably the god of resurrection, so it stands to reason that Khepri's power could do that). Scarab then ate Stone's Ren (and possibly the rest of his soul) because he had lost his godsdamned mind in that tomb, which allowed Scarab to not only regain his sanity, but subsume Stone's identity and buy himself some more time.

Similarly, the Mummies are also powered by Khepri! You see, Khepri noticed Scarab stealing some of his power but was unable to directly interfere to take it back because he's part of Ra and Ra is busy 24/7 unfortunately. So when Rapses is reborn and Scarab tries to hunt the boy down again, Khepri sends a little of his power the Mummies' way to call them back from the Field of Reeds to redeem their lifetime's greatest failure. Hence their battle cry/incantation "With the Strength of Ra," because in this case, they literally were given power by Ra himself.

The Amulets are going to be Important Plot Points in my Season 2 as not only are they juiced by Khepri's power, but they're originally finely crafted magic items that each bear the blessing of an Egyptian deity. Ja-Kal's is Horus (obviously), Rath's is Wadjet, Armon's is Khnum, and Nefer-Tina's is Sekhmet (because really that makes more sense given Nefer-Tina's occupation as a warrior in service to the Pharaoh as Bastet seems to be more home-oriented) that gave them special abilities reflecting their patron deities. These powers are separate from the armor and weapons they wield in the modern day, which were gifts from Ra of the Dawn (aka, Khepri) as part of their revival. After season 1, the Mummies will be set on a quest to renew/re-earn the blessings of their patron gods so that their Amulets keep functioning properly. There's also going to be a bunch of others floating around that pop up for Plot Reasons.

Season 1 will be largely made up of the original episodes (though some of the original episodes will be in Season 2) and will be used to establish the world, the characters, mechanics and whatnot. Season 1 will also be largely defined by Presley's "refusal of the call" stage in his hero's journey, culminating in a two part finale where Presley can deny the truth of his situation no longer. Remember the eclipse in episode 4? That's a big part of my season 1 finale, as is that incredibly underutilized time Scarab impersonated Amenhotep.

Season 2 will have a few of the original episodes sprinkled in but will largely be my own original concepts. This season will be defined by Presley stepping into his role as Pharaoh and going around to get the favor and support of various gods in the pantheon. This will also be where the bulk of the Amulet Plot Line will be. The season finale's final battle will be set up as a mirror of the Season 1 finale but meant to showcase how far Presley has come from the defenseless kid he was in the first season.

Season 3 will be Scarab's third act breakdown and descent into madness as he stoops to consorting to Apep, the Chaos Serpent (also known more commonly as Apophis). Still noodling on what this will look like story-wise, but it's looking like it will feature a lot of the more primordial-leaning gods (Nuhn, Geb, Nut, etc) that were just casually dropped in the original series.

Walter, Elaine, and Amanda will also have larger roles! Walter will be experiencing most of the Mummy Nonsense from jump, serving the narrative role of being Presley's "non-chosen sidekick/best friend". Elaine, meanwhile, does not conveniently lose her memories and elbows her way into the plot (after learning an important lesson about the sanctity of secrets in situations where exposing the truth would put innocent people in danger). Hiding the Mummy Nonsense from Amanda will be a more deliberate effort for the first season as she will be investigating the events of the first episode to discover what really happened to her exhibit (and not conveniently oblivious to the Nonsense going on around her son), finding out the truth in the second season and helping from there to actively fight Scarab.

I'm also keeping Kimas because this is MY STORY and I WILL KEEP MY LITTLE GREMLIN SON IF I WANT!

The Original Episodes: What Will Stay, What Will Change, What Will Go

The Keep Category (i.e. These episodes will largely be unchanged except for some pacing and story details)

"Ra, Ra, Ra, Ra"; "The Bird Mummy of Alcatraz"; "Body Slam"; "The Egyp-Tsu Kid"; "Missing Ja-Kal"

The Change Category (i.e. episodes that will remain the same on core concept and story but the execution will be changed)

"Sleepwalking Like an Egyptian"; "Pack to the Future"; "Good Bye Mr. Cheops"; "Dead Man Walking"; "Miscast"; "Ghouls' Gold"; "Pepped With Good Intention"; "Object of His Affections"; "My Dad the Hero"; "Family Feud Parts 1 - 3"

The Scrap Category (i.e. episodes that are either "completely scrapped" or "scrapped for parts," the latter will be bolded)

"Kid Scarab"; "Dr. Jekyl & Mr. Huxley"; "The Gift of Geb"; "High Nuhn"; "Water, Water, Everywhere"; "Honey I Shrunk the Mummies"; "Who's Who?"; "We've Got One"; "Show Me the Mummy"; "Sleight of Hand"; "Tempting Offer"

The Overhaul Category (i.e. the "Change" category but on steroids)

"Paws"; "The Curse of Sekhmet"; "Loss of Face"; "The Prince & The Presley"; "Dog Bites Mummy"; "Reunion"; "The Face in the Mirror"; "A Dark & Shrieky Night"; "Monster Truck Mania"; "Tree O'Clock Rock"; "True Believer"; "Desert Chic"

The Undecided Category (i.e. episodes that I haven't decided what to do with yet)

"Married to the Geb"; "Eye of the Beholder"

Character Profiles: The Mummies

Ja-Kal:

Amenhotep's second cousin, a hunter he holds in high regard for his loyalty and general level-headedness, as well as his skill with a bow. He lived a humble but comfortable life with his wife, Tia, when Ja-Kal was asked by Amenhotep to lead the Prince's personal guard. When asked, Amenhotep said he wanted his son to be surrounded by people Amenhotep knew he could trust with the boy's safety.

Was given the Falcon Amulet of Horus as a sign of the Pharaoh's trust and favor. The Amulet expanded upon his already impressive skills as a hunter by endowing Ja-Kal with intuitive knowledge of his environment and the terrain as well as the power to see in total darkness.

He's duty-driven and loyal, but also longs to be a good father and husband, though he struggles to find a balance between his duty to the Pharaoh and his duty to his wife. In fact, when his son was born about a year before Scarab carried out his scheme, Ja-Kal nearly resigned from his post as the leader of the Prince's guard so that he could devote his full attention and energy to his family, because Ja-Kal knew that between his family and the Prince, the Prince was bound to take precedence and he didn't want to do that to his wife and son. Tia convinced him otherwise.

Ja-Kal still somehow equates all of his life advice to hunting metaphors.

Ja-Kal has a younger brother, Arakh, with whom he has a tense relationship. Between the two, Ja-Kal always had an easier time finding success and Arakh grew to resent Ja-Kal for it.

Rath:

A scientist, swordsman, and mage all in one, and immensely proud of that fact. Initially, he was brought on to be Prince Rapses' tutor when the boy was about five. Even after he became an official guardian, Rath's primary role in Prince Rapses' life was that of a tutor, though after the incident that led to Rath becoming a guardian, he was permitted by Amenhotep to school Rapses in the art of magic.

Rath proved himself an effective guardian when a mystic threat posed a danger to Rapses and Rath disposed of it by his own skill. As a symbol of his position, he was given the Cobra Amulet of Wadjet, which gives him a venomous bite and the ability to temporarily transform his head into that of a cobra (you know, that thing he does like...once, in episode one).

Rath is kind of arrogant but smart enough that he almost earns the right to be that smug. He lords it over his fellow guardians and adults but still demonstrates a great deal of patience with those under his tutelage. While Rath is a genius and he knows it, he also understands that there is much more for him to learn. The biggest difference between the canon!Rath and the one I will write is that Rath will not be as dismissive of new advances in sciences.

Before Rath was the Prince's tutor and guard, he was a research partner with Chantra, a sorceress whose skill with magic easily matched his own. Together they devised a powerful new method of spell casting that could draw power from gods and living souls directly and without incantation or permission. Rath was more interested in this concept in the theoretical, whereas Chantra always pushed to apply it despite its dangerous and heretical nature when used straight.

Armon:

The first to be part of Rapses' personal guard, Armon was a renowned warrior who served Amenhotep in one of his many campaigns to Nubia, even losing his right arm defending him. Up until Rapses' birth, Armon was part of Amenhotep's personal guard and they were even on friendly terms. There are some stories that say that Armon was one of the first people the Pharaoh let hold his newborn son, which only lend credence to the rumors of Armon and Amenhotep's close friendship.

Unique to the other guardians, Armon was given the Ram Amulet of Khnum following his discharge from the Pharaoh's army and acceptance into the Pharaoh's personal guard (and later into the Prince's). This was done as a way for Armon's valorous actions in defense of his Pharaoh to be honored. The Ram Amulet allows Armon to walk freely over all terrain, including water.

As a warrior, Armon is an exceptional fighter with or without his right arm. He's skilled in wielding all sorts of weapons but Armon truly excels in hand-to-hand combat due to his raw strength and his skill in wielding that same strength, even against opponents stronger or larger than he is.

Compared to Rath, Armon is not especially book smart, but he's by no means stupid. More academic subjects go over his head sometimes, but out of all the guardians, Armon understands and reads people the best, spotting things others might miss or asking questions that may have been overlooked. (Armon was the first to grow suspicious of Scarab, sensing his ill-intent and underlying resentment towards the Pharaoh)

Armon's love of food stems from being the son of a royal chef and he has a long mental list of recipes he learned from his mother (who is said royal chef).

Nefertina:

(I'm not opposed to changing her name because the "tina" bit really feels like Western writers trying to signal to the Western audience that she's a woman. I haven't figured an alternative out yet, so I'll continue calling her "Nefertina")

Now, in my telling, Nefertina never hid her gender because as it turns out, ancient Egypt wasn't quite as sexist as modern interpretations might portray (this isn't to say that it was free of sexism entirely, as women were barred from certain professions, like being a soldier and posts of great and overt political power, but it wasn't as restrictive as we might imagine). Still, Nefertina was a bit of a stand out because women weren't warriors in any capacity, but she was more interested in chariot driving than combat anyway, so that didn't bother her much. Given my research, it's pretty doubtful that women were barred point blank from driving chariots (though the Pharaoh's chariot specifically may have been a stretch for anyone other than the Queen, but sources are unclear). Still, regardless of whether or not she was allowed to do the things she wanted, Nefertina was no push over and had plenty of fighting spirit.

Initially Nefertina was a lady-in-waiting to the Queen, but gained favor from the Pharaoh after she successfully defended the Queen and a three-year-old Prince Rapses from an attempted assassination with little more than a footstool and a hair pin, giving the Queen time to escape with her son and raise the alarm. As a reward for her courage, Nefertina was given the chance to take up a position in the Prince's personal guard, gaining the Lion Amulet of Sekhmet as a sign of favor, and unilateral permission to drive whatever chariots she wanted whenever she wanted.

Nefertina is a talented tactician who uses her environment and cunning to her advantage while also using pure strength and blunt tactics. However, her youth and inexperience compared to the other guardians often leads Nefertina to take a "brawler approach" over a strategic one even though she does have the talent for it. She's something of a wild card, as likely to use a clever trick with her environment as she is to pick up the nearest blunt (or sharp) object and go to town.

Nefertina is hot-headed and passionate. She often feels she needs to earn her place/prove herself amongst her older male comrades and this can lead her to get a bit defensive in the face of judgement. Which is a little silly when put against the fact that Nefertina regularly serves as Ja-Kal's second in command (and also as his lancer from a meta-narrative perspective), filling in for the leader in blue when he's unavailable.

So, essentially, the order in which the Mummies joined the Prince's personal guard goes as follows: Armon, Ja-Kal, Nefertina, Rath.

---

Next post will be an episode-by-episode guide for what my seasons will look like. I'll probably only do Seasons 1 and 2 for now because Season 3 is still largely blank, but I will welcome any questions on this :)

[raydianbluesandhues]

Do you have any hcs about Blob? That do you think his “mysterious past” is all about?

[guardian music]

Hi yes i do >:] it’s about time i share my headcanons about him

Buckle up folks it’s time for blob headcanons part 2: explaining his backstory this time

——

I think I’ve stated in his previous headcanon post that he isn’t Raydian. It’s very obvious that he isn’t; comparing him to one is like comparing a cat to a dog. There’s some similarities but there are a few differences that set them apart.

For starters Raydians don’t have tails! Blob does and it often trails behind him loosely. He has partial control over it but it does what it wants most of the time. It’s sort of his “compass” in a sense? It usually ends up pointing somewhere he needs to go, or he usually uses it to point to an exact place since the end of it is an arrow (and it makes it easier for him to track things). He gets asked about it sometimes and he just says/signs

“Oh, this thing? It’s my tail” and he goes back to whatever he was doing

As for what he is/could be, have a small bit of trivia:

before the development of De Blob, there was De Blob: Utrecht! Based off of the Utrecht School of Arts, this was essentially the prototype to the De Blob games.

this game basically followed the same plot: INKT taking over a colored city, Blob comes in to save the day

Though- instead of using color, you had to absorb people

( if you don’t believe me it’s on the wiki )

I remember reading this and I’m like “Oh cool. So what if I took this and just. made them like a subspecies of Raydians” which is why we’re here today

Utrecht (The Planet) and Utrechian/Utrechter (The People that Live There)

I headcanon them as carnivores based off the game’s mechanic of literally absorbing people. They can eat fruits but it’s not something they’re going to make a main part of their diet

They’re probably a lil grumpy and rude as result but they’re pretty similar to Raydians outside of that, colorful and genderless folks

I’ll make a separate post about these guys but! That’s what I believe he could be.

As for his backstory, I do believe he was born there, but was most likely discarded for his appearance. He was probably taken in by someone who possibly had a bit of pity for him, and could’ve eventually migrated over to Raydia. He wasn’t raised in Chroma (and if I remember correctly he was raised in Pantone Village) and most likely started realizing he wasn’t exactly normal compared to everyone else

Outside of the literal difference in species his powers are incredibly out of the ordinary. I think I briefly explained them but to sum it up: he can manipulate color energy. Reviving trees, changing the appearance of a bird, breaking Graydians out of suits by overloading them with color energy. He’s able to both manipulate color energy to do what he wants and is able to raise the color energy levels by simply painting.

These powers were something he was either given or born with, and while I’ve always said he was born with them it doesn’t make a bunch of sense. Who would he have gotten them from?

It would make more sense that he had gotten them from somewhere, possibly from some sort of accident or a strange overload of color energy. Perhaps that messed him up and now he has the ability to paint and do all that he can currently do

And what he got into contact with is an absolute mystery to me. Maybe an over abundance of color atoms? Color energy is very unstable and I wouldn’t be surprised if that were to be the reason, but it’s something that I’ll have to think about more

I don’t think he has an appetite for meat purely because of his upbringing; it probably makes him sick and irritates his stomach. It also probably tastes gross to him and he absolutely prefers fruits

And i think constantly being around Raydians has also influenced this. I think if he stuck to his natural diet he would have no friends whatsoever

He probably goes quiet when someone asks him where he’s from, or what his story is. It’s probably not a fond memory for him/he doesn’t remember everything. and asking about his power is probably going to get you the same response

[liesmyth]

to me the thing about john hypothetically raising gideon is that john is obsessed with revenge (and anyone/anything likely to get in the way of his revenge plots) but he doesn't seem particularly interested in being cruel to people who haven't crossed him. and that's better than what the ninth did to/for gideon (though of course that's not saying much). the fact that gideon isn't a necromancer makes it less likely that john would see her as a Tool of his Quest for Revenge like he does with the lyctors. they would be necessarily more separate, in a way that's probably healthier than the rest of what goes on in the mithraeum (again Really not saying much!) -- so it actually seems plausible to me that gideon would have a non-terrible childhood/early adolescence in this scenario, though in the end she might be pushed into some terrible role as john's "heir" regardless overall i think gideon would be treated way better than harrow was in htn, specifically because she is neither a potential weapon nor a significant threat. i'd also acknowledge that among the lyctors, that in itself might mark her as a failure and a disappointment. there would also still be the isolation of having to live with a bunch of ruthless adults (and no one her age) all the time. and yet! I think they'd still have some genuinely good times together, and the positive/mixed-emotions memories would make john's ultimate betrayal(s), whatever they may be, even messier for all involved

I'd go as far as to say that she might have an above-average childhood, by the standards of everyone else in the Houses (and whose fault is that, Jod? but I digress). I agree so much that she'd be neither a weapon nor a threat and be happy for those reasons, but depending on the circumstances around her birth / upbringing... it could get messy in several different ways (having to Do Shit as The Heir is one; John being controlling and possessive is another; her blood being the key to the Tomb of Doom is a third, etc).

I also don't know about the Lyctors! Assuming nobody dies when all the various revelations around Gideon's birth come to light (treason on one side, Alecto's eyes in Gideon's face on the other) who knows where the Complex Power Dynamics might end up. I tend to think any divine highness AU Gideon (or adjacent) would have grown up with the Cohort and not on the Mithraeum (especially because it'd be tricky for her to get there) but there are MANY possibilities.

[kresnikcest]

uhhh aight sleep deprived mtl skimming

purple-eyed elle is victor’s first elle

they travelled together to get the asteria equivalents of the waymarkers (negative catalysts, similar to divergence catalysts but you can destroy them without destroying the world, and they actively corrupt their hosts)

asteria’s world is losing mana due to plot reasons, the kresnik clan hoped to save the world with the trial but they were fractured

purple-eyed elle’s father (another victor/ludger) intended to resolve the situation by using elle’s key of kresnik powers, which could draw mana from other fractured dimensions and the prime dimension (i think?)

this solution involved taking elle’s soul out of her body and imprisoning her somewhere for eternity

victor (green eyed elle’s father) couldn’t stand that and killed purple-eyed elle’s father for it

he tried finding other ways to resolve the situation (and had green-eyed elle with lara for some reason... but green-eyed elle never met purple-eyed elle before... don’t think about it...) but ultimately could only find a temporary solution

he asked purple-eyed elle to send the negative factor waymarkers back out to other fractured dimensions and siphoned mana through them into his own body (which has a negative factor he took on willingly)

it doesn’t resolve the mana issue of their world, but he considers it worthwhile as long as elle (both green and purple?) can live in peace

of course. that means he’s responsible for fractured sorey, keele, and luke’s changed behaviour in the previous three chapters, and all the conflicts that came with that

his mask is able to control the reaction of his own negative factor but it still causes him pain and can take him over (this may be a reference to how in the OWG Q&A, it’s claimed that victor’s mask suppresses the reaction of his divergence catalyst to ludger’s presence)

victor also references the OWG short story, in that when he’s being pressured to give up green-eyed elle, he was told that he could always have another child, which victor says is impossible bc lara couldn’t conceive any more children

so victor killed jude and rita and a bunch of other people. including julius again. (no idea where bisley is in asteria...)

SERIOUSLY WHERE IS PURPLE EYED ELLE IN ALL THIS

ahem. so purple-eyed elle’s deal is that she’s actually been acting separately of victor. she and victor attacked julius because they were protecting their world from destruction, but they become mostly peaceful when ludger informs them that their world has a negative factor, and thus can’t be destroyed the way a divergence catalyst would be.

purple-eyed elle wants to prevent ludger and victor from fighting because she knows it’ll result in victor’s deaths, and so she steals julius and ludger’s watches. but victor. they’re actually quite cute when i don’t have to think about the timeline. victor’s like “don’t do reckless things, but you have nothing to apologise for” and he’s flattered that she wants to protect him ;-;

anyway victor’s negative catalyst goes haywire and he starts demanding elle back from ludger and julius and purple-eyed elle (who were away retrieving the stolen watches) intervene. purple-eyed elle tries to talk victor down and ludger promises not to kill victor

they still end up fighting and both elles use their power to. do. something. i assume it’s their key powers but i really need to sleep and can’t keep reading

anyway everything is resolved, the negative factor becomes a waymarker and ludger and julius and green-eyed elle return to the prime dimension

oh elle also finds out who purple-eyed elle is and i think she’s jealous over her being victor’s partner... i need to review this later when it’s not literally 6am

anyway overall a fun story. imo this makes up for the lack of focus for elle in the rays anniversary event, but conversely we aren’t getting much ludger and julius interaction besides the pleasant irony of their conversation over whether or not they’d kill others to protect their loved one.

unless i missed something tho they still haven’t explained what purple-eyed elle’s deal is. she would have been 10 when green-eyed elle was born. who the fuck was taking care of her while green-eyed elle was growing up. why did victor name her elle when purple-eyed elle was still alive. *shakes asteria canon* i understand what you were doing BUT THERE’S A PROBLEM HERE. ANSWER IT.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Texas Chainsaw 3D (2013)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

I keep returning to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise hoping someone will find something to do with it but all I get are zero-star movies. Texas Chainsaw 3D is the latest in a series of bad decisions. It’s a laughable slasher whose plot is so poorly conceived I wonder if you’ll believe me when I tell you about it or think I’m trolling.

Following the events of the original film, the people of Newt, Texas, burn down the Sawyer clan farmhouse, killing the entire murderous family. All except for baby Edith Rose Sawyer, who is adopted and raised without knowledge of her true family. Years later, the re-named Heather (Alexandra Daddario) receives a letter from her real grandmother, who has just passed away. Travelling to the mansion she’s inherited with her boyfriend Ryan (Trey Songz), best friend Nikki (Tania Raymonde), Nikki’s boyfriend Kenny (Keram Malicki-Sánchez) and a hitchhiker they pick up on the way (Shaun Sipos), they are unaware a surviving Leatherface (Dan Yeager) lives in the basement.

Where to begin? Firstly, this picture makes the catastrophic mistake of trying to make Leatherface into an anti-hero, asking us to ignore that whole cutting people in half with a chainsaw, chopping up innocents into stew and skinning travellers so he can wear their faces thing. It’s bewildering beyond words. Director John Luessenhop tries to make the killer sympathetic by introducing a bunch of new villains: a murderous troupe of rednecks who murdered the Sawyer family years ago. How many years ago? Even the film can’t get it straight. The original Massacre took place in 1974. That would make Heather roughly… 39 at the time this film was made, unless - of course - it was set in in the '90s, or earlier. Except it isn’t. We know because we see a police officer - the dumbest police officer in any slasher movie - brandish a smart phone so he can livestream his investigation to his peers at the police station. This means the “teens” in this slasher movie DO NOT have cellphones… but the adults do. We’re just getting started on how awful Texas Chainsaw 3D gets.

Entirely devoid of scares, this sequel ignores all other sequels (no big loss to anyone who managed to sit through Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation) and attempts to capture the raw terror of the original but fails miserably. Its cast of bad actors run around like fools and you can’t wait for them to get sliced. Anything to get this bore over with. Everything about the plot is so contrived it drains the life out of you. It makes you angry thinking someone wrote “but Heather decides NOT to read the letter detailing how the basement houses a hulking cannibalistic maniac with a fetish for gas-powered wood-cutting tools, setting up the grizzly events which followed” and thought “yes, this is good”.

You can take as many dives into the cesspool of waste that is Texas Chainsaw 3D as you want. You'll always find new things to complain about. We’re supposed to believe the first film took place by a small town? I always assumed it was in the middle of nowhere! Even if you separate it entirely from the original - which believe it or not is a good film, unlike all of these follow-ups - this 2013 slasher is a chore to get through, an ugly attempt to cash-in on a brand name that can't end soon enough. Texas Chainsaw 3D isn’t merely bad, it’s inexcusably bad. (2D version on DVD, March 30, 2019)

[juanabaloo]

Director's commentary on "I Don't Care About the Presents"!!

Thank you so much for the ask! I've been in a bit of writing / posting slump lately so this ask is a great way to remind myself of how good it can be!

This is my top fic if you measure by kudos. I'm happy that people like it! Maybe it's hitting the right "porn with plot" balance. Here's a short description and link for anyone not familiar but curious.

I don’t care about the presents: E-rated long multi-chapter about Christmas in Sunnydale where Buffy brings her girlfriend Faith home to meet her Mom. There’s a lot of feelings and processing and also lots of E-rated fun. (A little in ch. 5 and then a ton in ch. 8 and 10)

I am completely unable to write stories in timeline order. This is part of my all human no slayers no powers AU series "the power of fuffy compels me" where Buffy and Faith meet in grad school and end up together. Each story is fairly stand-alone though. presents is kinda early in their official relationship, they are together but long distance.

This fic is different than most of my others because I incorporated songs into the various E-rated scenes in Ch. 8. More than in other fics, where sometimes there is just a line or two. I tried to write it in such a way that if you don't know the songs (90s R&B) or you don't like song lyrics inserted in your fics - you could still easily read and enjoy the rest of it.

Oh! I also had fun with the section titles in Ch. 8. (It's a very long chapter y'all.) Formatting/posting them was not fun, but I liked the end result. Lower case sections are less explicit, and the numbers indicate drabbles. AND for the capitalized sections, the first sentence indicates who GETS THERE first, or the order of that. Silly but fun for me. There's a note at the top of the chapter that explains it.

And despite the E-rated fun, presents was very much inspired by two non smutty things: (1) that porch scene in canon 3x10 Amends. It's so soft and loving and it gives me all the feels. and (2) another fic I wrote (but haven't posted yet ) Normandale Garden.

The porch scene gets re-worked in presents ch. 2. I kept as much of the canon dialogue the same as I could, but shifting it into my AU - and having it still make sense - was a lot of fun.

As for the other fic Normandale Garden... mild spoiler under the cut!

CW - Joyce death!

I wrote Normandale Garden before presents. BUT they are flipped in the timeline. Normandale is a heavy but hopeful fic about grief, set after presents. It's about how Faith helps Buffy live with her grief about her Mom, for the one year anniversary of her death. (Yes, Joyce still dies. I'm sorry Joyce.)

It's super long right now (too long) and I need to edit it down but - as part of their honoring Joyce for the one year anniversary Faith prepares a little outing. And Faith prints out a bunch of photos of Joyce. Including some of Faith and Joyce from Amends Christmas Eve night. (Like the shot with the snow coming down and Faith holding her hands out.) And from there I realized Faith would want to tell Buffy about an awkward conversation she had with Joyce the night of the photo, while Buffy was gone, and then I realized mildly drunk Joyce would give Faith some insight into Buffy... and then I was like "oh this is a whole separate story!"

So the scene with the photos is taken in Ch. 2 of presents and then the Joyce sharing helpful info while she is mildly drunk is in Ch. 3.

Of course then it got a lot longer and was focused on the Fuffy of it all. And once I realized they would fight (verbally) but then have to make up (AHEM) after I was like oh this will be a ton of fun to write. And it was!

Since I talk a lot and this is the Director's Commentary - I will share that Normandale Garden does not have any dialogue or scenes from canon 5x26 The Body. That episode is so beautiful. (Side rant: OMG where is the Emmy for SMG? and the crew? the sound? the atmosphere? that long steady shot??) I don't want to remix / translate / shift The Body at all.

But if you like grief processing and Faith saying all the loving wonderful things to Buffy, then Normandale Garden is a good fic for you! We will see when I actually get it posted.

Thank you again for the ask! I do plan to start posting again, but no promises on when that will be.

[thatonesongyouretryingtoremember]

The Collector from TOH is a genuinely scary villain. Every antagonist thus far has been a *person* with motives. They would do anything to achieve their goals, they manipulate people close to them and ruin lives. The Collector, on the other hand, just doesn't care, period. They decide what to want on pure childlike whims and would discard entire civilizations without a second thought. They have unimaginable, unfettered power and nothing to stop them from using it. They spent all their time on screen not making connections or introducing evil plans because they need to, godly power speaks for itself. They seems to lack any compassion at all. Combined with the fact that they can change literal nature with but a glance, a simple tantrum would leave the Demon Realm nonexistent.

I have some thoughts about the next mini-season. Luz can't use glyphs in her realm because they draw on the Titan's power, but this wouldn't stop any of the others who got sent in with her, except maybe Hunter. We can see from Hunter and Flapjack that staffs also generate their own power, so Luz could still use some magic, but she'd be learning from scratch. I don't really want to theorize on her palisman because I want to be surprised.

I want to believe that The Collector becomes one of the group and learns how to be a person, but for that theyd need to be rendered powerless at some point first or someone (probably King) would need some type of leverage, which seems unlikely because they seem to generate their own power similar to a witch or biped demon rather than relying on a realm that they could be separated from. Given the short length of the up coming S3, it's more likely to be a boss battle type situation between King and a bunch of witches versus The Collector. Then Eda or someone would maybe get a new portal, but they would only be able to get one trip from it. I'm excited to see more of Vee next season, and I think she'd stay with the Nocedas, but hopefully the witches would remember to leave her some magic items (maybe a plant that would keep growing) to eat. Of course, if The Collector does turn good, they could easily make a permanent portal. I imagine one episode will be mostly dedicated to the Demon Realm, King's power, The Collector's next move, and Eda's missing arm, so I guess we'll find out then.

Lore and big-important plot aside, I'm excited to see the group interact with the human realm and Camila, and to see Vee, Hunter, and Luz&Camila get some closure for their character arcs.

[museswithinx]

5 HCs meme: Eric and Ronnie body/universe swap with Steve and Nancy (which season/plot they end up in is up to you!)

send me an au and i’ll give you 5+ headcanons about it

In two separate universes, there are two highly powerful forces in play. In Mystic Falls, Hades is making a return from the dead, threatening war and destruction if he doesn’t have his way. In Hawkins, Vecna is on the rise to merge the Upside Down with the real world and mold the world into one of his own making. The combined power and energies being used by each to achieve their goals starts to erode on the fabric that keeps these realities separated, making it easier for some bleed to occur between them.

A spell gone wrong or maybe an elaborate plan by Hades to dig at Adrian causes Ronnie and Eric to “go away”. One moment they’re cuddled together on Seph’s couch and the next they’re in a basement they don’t recognize surrounded by a bunch of kids they don’t know. That’s only the beginning of the strangeness though as they soon figure out that they’re living in the 80s and they’re not actually in their own bodies but that of two entirely different people that happen to look exactly like them. Alternatively back in McKinley, Steve and Nancy awake to find themselves in the arms of their ex and quickly piece together they’re also out of place.

Ronnie and Eric figure out they’re human as Eric no longer possesses his wolf strength, speed, or super healing. They manage to convince the Hawkins group that they’re not Steve and Nancy and they learn that this group is in a war of their own against a “dark wizard” referred to as Vecna. Dustin, Robin, and their friends vow to help them but Vecna isn’t going to wait, and so they agree to help in return. Suddenly being among the oldest instead of the youngest, the two of them have to take on a much bigger responsibility than they’re used to having.

Nancy and Steve are also working with Seph and the whole Mystic Falls/McKinley group to figure out their own situation. After some long conversations and interrogations, they learn about the rules and workings of this world. Most notably that they’re both occupying the body of a werewolf and that it’s a bigger deal for Steve because Eric is a wolf with an active gene. Alternatively, Nancy has to be careful in Ronnie’s body and can’t just go charging into battle with a gun like she would back home.

Being incredibly intelligent and an aspiring investigative journalist, Nancy works with the packs to formulate plans and dig for any weaknesses they could use against Hades and his army of dead while Steve learns some fight techniques should it be needed. All the while, Nancy is finding herself re-developing feelings for her ex and it’s made even more complicated (and annoying) that Seph picks up on it.

Taking on a more of a leadership role among the Hawkins gang, Eric utilizes his creativity and knowledge to tinker with and enhance a better weapons arsenal for when they go up against Vecna while Ronnie takes on a more “motherly” role with the group. Particularly with Max, who is a target she wants to protect from Vecna.

Both Ronnie and Eric AND Steve and Nancy struggle to adapt to the times they’re now in.