#shrieks. FUNNY?

[asterdeer]

i beg your unbelievable pardon

[image description: an etsy listing for a cross stitch pattern of astarion’s back scars, listed as “funny cross stitch pattern.” end description]

[kensatou]

you think YOU had a bad day at work?

bonus: sid shrieking "no!!!! NO!!!!!" loud enough to be heard in the stands and on camera

[bet-on-me-13]

Clark grows up on Amity

So! When Clark's shup landed on the Kent Farm, it unfortunately started a bit of a Fire. It was pretty bad, and by the time it was put out most of their Crops had been burned up.

Using their Savings, the money from the remaining Crops, and some goodwill from their neighbors, the Kent's managed to get enough money together to move to a new Town to start over. It also helped that in a new town nobody would question them suddenly having a Baby despite Martha not being Pregnant.

They Move to a small farm on the Edge of Amity Park.

Clark Kent grows up in Amity Park, goes to Casper High, and befriends Danny, Sam, and Tucker as his childhood friends.

When his powers come in, they are the first ones to know. When Danny has his Accident, Clark is there to help him control his new abilities. When Clark has to move away for his new Job in Metropolis, they are all there to wish him good luck and throw him a Going Away Party.

As Superman, Clark is more open to joining a Team since he used to be on Team Phantom.

When Justice League Dark is formed, Superman is a Suprise Member, since he actually had a lot of experience with the Supernatural.

When Kon is born, he turns to his best friends for help and advice on his to deal with the situation. Danny had Ellie in very similar circumstances, so he is more open to the idea of adopting Kon since he has personal experience with Clones made by Madmen.

Thoughts?

[backpackingspace]

Penelope: odysseus darling....I'm not judging but why are you strapping knives, money, and an emergency pack to your chest? Is something happening? Should I grab one too??

Odysseus, not explaining anything: I'm not taking any fucking chances I've learned my lesson the last time she caught me off gaurd I was 17 it's not fucking happening now when we're married. I know better

Penelope who speaks odysseus: ....lady Athena attacks you in middle of the night?

Odysseus: YES it's so rude of her

Penelope, internally: don't laugh don't laugh don't laugh: should have just been a weaver instead, then lady Athena would just show up demanding woven battle scenes and new capes.

Odysseus: incoherent screaming

Later that night

Athena: Hey hey penelope I'll give you the power to see colors you can't even imagine and the threads to go with it if you get rid of that survival bag.

Penelope, not even hesitating: deal

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2025: OVERGROWTH by Mira Grant.

Plant-astically delighted to report that I received an ARC via Tor (Nightfire) and Goodreads! I love Seanan McGuire's writing, and my first foray into her work as Mira Grant was INTO THE DROWNING DEEP, which was phenomenal (think all the best parts of Michael Crichton--the Science, the Speculation, the Consequences--but women and queer people are Entire Characters)(we love a good sci-fi horror paced like a thriller in this house).

The premise of OVERGROWTH is basically "the pod people are coming, they've been warning you about it for decades, and no one has been listening." Stasia, our main character and (first person, past tense) narrator, has spent her whole life telling people that she's "the vanguard of an invading species of intelligent alien plants," which is confirmed via a broadcast from space.

And the chapters are time-stamped "X days pre-invasion."

Yeah.

This book was an absolute delight and all around a lot of fun--the tone was the perfect balance of funny and heartfelt and relatable and dread-inducing, and it very much read like a love letter to the genre with lots of cross-pollinated references (Seymour? Little Shop of Horrors? War of the Worlds? Jurassic Park? Hello????).

It was also very much a book about the distinction between being human and being a person, and about alienation and belief and trust and friendship, and about queerness and neurodivergence and belonging. And, y'know, mimetic plant aliens, in myriad shades of green.

I was initially surprised by the choice to tell this story in past tense and first person (because DROWNING DEEP was patently not that, and most of what I've read of McGuire hasn't been either), but it turns out that was The Only Correct Way To Do It: For most of the book, Stasia didn't have the full picture of what was going on, but her partial understanding + our readerly perspective from inside her head carried both the relatability and the horror. It was a really interesting and cool way to do an alien invasion book (from the perspective of the invader's plant)(ahaha, botanical pun). Also, the narrative frame made me pterodactyl Hunter shriek my way through the last two pages, which. OOF. WHAT A RIDE!!! I'll be rotisserie-ing over the late-game twist (page 396/465 in my copy) and the ending for a long time.

I loved that the aliens felt alien and all too much like people; I loved Toni and Hunter; I loved the biology and worldbuilding; I loved the botanical quips ("salad bar" is, in fact, the best possible term of address to an alien invader, no notes); I loved the shady government agencies and unethical experimentation; I loved the "we are the monsters you have made". I stayed up way past my bedtime several times for this, and it was worth every second. Do recommend, check this out in May!!

Half-assed spoilery content warnings under the cut (I'm not good at these because I have a weird concept of what necessitates a warning, so please do NOT consider these complete in any way shape or form):

on-page toddler death (graphic, in prologue, signposted with "look away"); transphobia (toward beloved trans character); spider (alien); bug-adjacent (alien); vampirism/blood drinking; other usual horror/alien invasion type tropes etc. (body horror? do people tag body horror?? i was an animorphs kid i'm sorry i don't know what a normal amount of body horror is but i love it all)

[suntails]

⚔️🐉

[starstruckodysseys]

so. about that direct

[elodieunderglass]

Regarding Colm's pony - every shitty parent looking to get rid of a pony I've been aware of has just sold the pony without warning the kid. If mom is financially-minded, horse body disposal costs money, and even shipping to a downmarket auction will at least pay for the petrol. HOWEVER, what I keep rotating for drama: there is a "murdered for insurance money" option, depending on the value of the pony (a little light fraud may have been involved) - this was definitely a thing around the 70s-80s in the states, but it tended to come out years later, after the statue of limitations on animal cruelty ran out and the people doing the horse wetwork came clean. In this case, maybe the vet who signed off on an accidental death for the horse insurance company admitted misgivings to one of the boys as adults, one random day they happened to see each other, but no one other than mom really knows?

(In reference to the probable fate of the childhood pony of Killie the Jockey OC and his siblings)

Oh my GOD you can’t just SAY THINGS like —

Oh that pony is DEAD-dead. Maximise the drama. Rotate that sod like a rotisserie chicken. You’re good at this.

[monochrome-sunsets]

brother and i were talking about tim drake being canonically bi and my mother went "who??? oh, robin like batman and robin?? .....yeah that makes sense. that's not a surprise at all."

[mollysunder]

I know this won't happen, but there should be a subplot in s2 where at least a quarter of Piltover's pissed that Jayce and Caitlyn are destroying all the shimmer supplies. You just know a lot of Piltovans use Shimmer, not even in a hypocritical way. Historically, Victorians had a wildly different perspective on recreational drugs. Maybe old councilmen like Hoskel find new products like shimmer distasteful, but he also puts augmentations on the same level shimmer, so does his opinion really matter?

To Caitlyn and Jayce, shimmer's a dangerous drug that can turn people into monsters, but for the average academy student, it's the gas they need to get through their dissertation.

[witherby]

I am loving the Tim discussions. We should do this more often here lol

I also think we should do this more often

[yugsly]

what's ms. mitternacht's cup size asking for a friend

Alright anon time to log off and get yourself a little candy bar or something

[pupkinpumpkin]

Just imagine...

Dorian is sleeping soundly in a tent in the Hinterlands when he hears something. It's a small sound, but he's a light sleeper, so it's just enough to wake him. He slowly opens his eyes to find a figure leering at him in the darkness, as still as a statue and hunching over him like a gargoyle. Light breathing comes from the creature, and if it wasn't for the fact that Dorian recognizes this mysterious figure, he would've started attacking it the moment he sensed its presence.

Instead, he slowly lifts his hands up from the covers, lighting fire from them in order to illuminate the area, not touching the creature, but putting the flame just close enough to where he can see it clearly

The creature's eyes flash like a cat's and it hisses like one too, displeased by the sudden light

Finally, after an unbearably long silence between Dorian and the creature, Dorian lets out a long sigh and speaks

"What is it now, Lavellan?"

"..."

"When did you and Iron Bull get together?"

[howboutitryanyway]

a dumb sketch of a screencap for an excuse to ramble about daemon!AU Invincible.

Debbie's is a least weasel named Bertilak. Mongoose didn't fit and somehow I ended up on the wiki page for weasels, and the fact there are several mythical beasts only they can kill made me go yes. Plus as a hilarious knife twist, the females raise their young alone lol Bertilak is the name of the Green Knight from mythology, who tests folks worthiness : ) She calls him Bert a lot, which he tolerates, and calls him Bertie when drunk, which he does not.

Nolan's is a dung beetle, or sacred scarab, named Undine. When I think uber strong types, I think of insects for the shear scaleage of strength. Plus like, 'big person has big daemon' is just yawn fest to me. These beetles are also associated with transformation, which is that fuck's whole thing. And some dung beetle's navigate by the light of the milky way. SPACE. They also rob each other, which is peak viltrumtie bs tbh Undine is a kind of water spirit that can die if the person they fall in love with is unfaithful : )

Mark's is a black dog named Alba. Who has more golden retriever energy than Mark? Besides, in the His Dark Material's universe, all servants have dog daemons, and I love the themes of great heroes needing to be servants to the people/society they want to protect and not benevolent overlords. Black dogs are also guardians of the dead/omens of death. Alba means dawn, I believe? I like her symbolizing newness, which Mark is to the universe.

[dciphe-r]

[akaneenaka33]

Zeno is old and wise and has seen it all and doesn't fear death because he can't die, or physical pain and even torture really but he does fear for the lives of those he cares about and all that yeah okay sure but like

What is he afraid of? Legit question. More in a "Kija is terrified of all insects kind of thing" than a "Hak hates thunder bc of PTSD" But either works?? Just- Imagine the one guy who's been through wars and disasters of all shapes and forms, who's literally torn himself to shreds, endured all elements including fire, broken every bone in his body, been captured, kidnapped, stabbed through and emotionally destroyed and has single handedly suffered and mentally survived two thousand years of this crap, and it turns out he's terrified of like. Ducks or something.

Idk lmao just a thought