#there’s a lot of callbacks and links in there etc

[elapsed-spiral]

I know I’m getting ahead of myself because there’s one chapter of Restructuring to go but I’m also aware that I’m probably going to melt into a weary puddle as soon as I post it so I thought I’d write this oversharing-y post now. Chances are a version of this will appear in the final A/N too.

I don’t know how obvious it is to people reading Restructuring because it still contains my usual volume of Silly Ha Ha Jokes but this fic has been the hardest thing I’ve ever written. If you read it for the laughs, that’s cool and I hope you liked them, I always enjoy writing funny stuff. But this is the first time I’ve ever started writing a fic with the goal of exploring my own past and trauma and while it’s been a very, very helpful exercise, man it’s been hard work as well. Almost makes me miss the days where I just wrote stuff, wondered why it was making me feel kinda sad, shrugged and moved on. This trying to heal business is rough, I want a refund etc.

If you read anything in Restructuring and it struck a chord, I hope things get better. And if you’ve already left a comment to that effect, thank you, it really helps me to feel less alone.

[buckevantommy]

What fic tropes do you most want to see for bucktommy?

big fan of hurt/comfort and some angst, which i think we will get.

i want them to be settled in their relationship and be solid and be each other's home, and then comes the angst, but not in a way that threatens their relationship, more like: one of them gets hurt on the job for physical hurt/comfort - i would love to see tommy get hurt actually, and buck stays at his place to take care of him; proof that this capable brickhouse of a guy is not invincible. and he struggles to let himself be taken care of, and evan helps him realise that he has people who care about him - not just buck; maybe eddie visits! chim! hen! he's been on his own for so long he's quite self sufficient but buck isn't having it; this allows for some first fight potential, where tommy insists he can do it himself (bc he doesn't want to be a burden or seem weak) and buck being frustrated and a little hurt that tommy doesn't want him in his space or want his help, which makes buck feel like he's being too much and caring too much.. but they work it out! but maybe before they do we get chim/hen/eddie paying tommy a visit to check on him but moreover spend time with him and also talk things out a bit; tommy realising it's okay to let people in (chim would be perfect for this callback).

and tommy dealing with his asshole father for some emotional hurt/comfort - i just really want to see a less coolcalmcollected tommy, and i think buck seeing that and being there for him and tommy realising he has someone to lean on will strengthen their relationship.

and early season 8 with gerrard in charge is perfect for some emotional support and understanding: tommy being there for buck as he vents. and tommy confronting gerrard (not just about his treatment of evan and the 118 but about who he is and how he does not deserve to be a captain at all) which doesn't go well and brings up a lot of issues for tommy (his past self, his father and upbringing, etc) and results in him being riled and losing some of that cool calm composure buck is so used to - maybe we get buck finding tommy at the gym, or tommy and eddie doing muay thai because tommy needs the release. and eventually we get buck calming him down or tommy running out of steam and breaking down a little.

(this is all very tommy-centric i know, i just want more of him! more screentime! more emotional variation! more character and relationship growth!)

and as much as i want them to be a solid couple, i want there to be moments of uncertainty: jealous buck when he sees tommy is friendly with one of his exes or sees a guy flirting with tommy. tommy being so sure about a future with evan -has never been more sure of anyone in his life- but holding himself back because he doesn't want to move too fast for both their sakes - but he opens up by the end of the ep and it culminates in him asking evan to move in with him.

open and honest communication is integral to their relationship so i don't really want to see any secret keeping, but i could see one of them keeping a secret about the gerrard/ortiz drama to spare the other one worry or to keep them out of the crosshairs. but it won't be a lingering issue, preferably sorted in an ep or two.

also just: gimme friendship for tommy! gimme tommy and chim and hen and eddie hanging out (separately or together) because we know they're friends. gimme tommy and karen, tommy and maddie brunch dates - with jee! gimme tommy babysitting jee and the others! would also love to see some of tommy's coworkers and friends. basically let tommy have some platonic relationships because it's important to show he has a place in the 118 extended family even when evan isn't in the mix, and that he has a life outside the 118 too.

since tommy is a first responder i think it's a safe bet we'll see him working with the 118 at some point - lafd is linked from the streets to the skies - maybe buck doing a rope rescue out of the chopper or tommy rescuing buck and some civilians from a cliffside or highrise. maybe the 118 responding to a chopper crash. so many scenarios they could give us, and i want tommy working with the rest of the 118, too.

[kradogsrats]

Thinking about this scene, because lbr it just kind of loops in my brain constantly so there's probably a 70% chance I'm thinking about it at any given moment.

It's easy to make the assumption that everything in Viren's dream is connected to him healing Soren, because it's a convenient place to point to and say "obviously that is where everything went wrong." It's definitely a pivotal moment in his life, and deservedly has a lot of screen time in this sequence. In some ways, it is lurking beneath all the other scenes.

But it doesn't seem to be what Kpp'Ar is talking about at any point here, like:

I always knew you'd go far. But I didn't know how far you'd go to get there.

Everything going on in Kpp'Ar's dialog—"eager student," "elegant finery," "overcome the disadvantages of your upbringing," "I always knew you'd go far"—is about ambition. Not morality or necessity, just a pure skewer of you've never done anything for anyone but yourself, and you know it.

Viren, as is the theme(tm), protests, "I had no choice. I did what I had to do," to which Kpp'Ar, again, absolutely drags him:

You made the choice you've always made. The one that gives you power.

Which, like... you could twist this to be about Soren, and start asking questions about exactly what power Viren stood to gain from healing him—my money would be on the Staff of Ziard—but I actually don't think that's at all what this is about.

This scene in Viren's dream also cuts almost directly into the Twin Peaks scene, in which Viren is king, and which itself culminates in the battered and bloody crown, i.e. his death.

So I think there's a couple things going on, here: 1) the Kpp'Ar scene (and the Twin Peaks scene, but I'll talk about that some other time) is actually referring to everything Viren did that culminated in the events of s1-s3, and 2) we as viewers are being primed by that to look at his other choices in the same critical way.

Now, you'd have to be pretty oblivious to have watched all of s1-s3 hearing Viren's constant refrain that he's doing everything he does for the sake of humanity's future, etc. etc., and been like "oh yeah, that seems totally legit." So we're basically being explicitly told here something that we already knew: everything that Viren has done, he did on some level to secure or consolidate power for himself. Some of those choices are a lot more obvious than others, but pretty much all of them circle back to power, control, and/or the "narrative of strength."

Having framed all of Viren's choices that way—particularly after he has denied that they were choices—we are being implicitly asked to consider his choice to do anything to save his son within the same framework. Was it something he had to do? Was it worth it?

For some viewers, this is the first time they are encountering the revelation that Viren saved Soren from a fatal illness during his childhood. It's a choice that is very easy to sympathize with, and one that we the deep fandom have discussed to death—seeing it for the first time, a viewer is likely to be sympathetic, or automatically believe it was justifiable. In starting with the scene with Kpp'Ar and reminding viewers of all Viren's other choices, their motivations, and their consequences, the sequence is asking us to consider this critical choice, sympathetic as it is, in that context. It's similar to the way we are asked to consider Harrow's choice regarding the Magma Titan, though much less explicit.

So, then... what's up with this?

Viren's immediate response to Kpp'Ar's statement that his choices have always been about power is the first callback to his little mantra:

I've always done what protects my family. However dangerous. However vile.

Why does he say this, when literally nothing in this scene has been about family? Well, first of all, it's another priming device for linking Viren's s1-s3 actions with his healing Soren. It's also a fun little callback for those of us whose reaction to it first being dropped in s4 was "HOLY SHIT it's the thing he said to Kpp'Ar!" in that here he is, saying it to Kpp'Ar again. But we also get told exactly why, a couple scenes later:

We have Harrow—specifically Harrow in the context of his death, the inciting event of Viren's s1-s3 spiral—linked to Viren's concept of family, and his willingness to do anything in that context, in what is a kind of hilarious contrast with, y'know, literally everything Viren did after Harrow's death.

So, as with the rest of the sequence, it's all about Viren framing himself as having no choice while he makes the absolute worst choice possible at every turn.

[9w1ft]

i wanna be LSK but… //

I’m so sorry anon, but I personally find it really funny when people hear the songs where taylor is working through her feelings of being betrayed by Scott B and attribute them to karlie instead.

It’s like finding a man holding a gun standing over a dead body and saying, hang on a minute… what if the real murderer is the victim’s gf… because two of her friends liked a gossipy tweet written by a known shit-stirrer!

that is to say, we know for a fact that taylor felt deeply betrayed by scott b, seeing as he’s verifiably the actual person who sold her masters to scooter, after treating taylor like family since she was very young. it’s pretty self-evident he deserves the level of vitriol in the smallest man who ever lived (besides the other descriptive details that link him to tsmwel, mtr etc).

as for taylor and karlie suddenly never being seen together again (seemingly drifting apart a whole year before the heist even happened, remember?), well she hasn’t spoken on that, so naturally we read between the lines in the songs to find out. some people have taken the masters heist songs to be about karlie, and ran with that. but others see karlie and taylor’s retreat into privacy reflected in songs under the ‘love blackout’ theme (especially around here, you’re on a longtime kaylor blog 🙈)

love blackout = the hints taylor has put out again and again that she intentionally distanced her public image from karlie’s because it was too dangerous to carry on as openly as they had at first. 2016 election sadness themes, secret love themes, all consistent over the years. all while writing new love songs that use callbacks to the rep muse, to yail even 🥺. as if taylor’s been using all the confusion and her masterful quill of misdirection to achieve her priority of protecting karlie. not protecting karlie’s public image and clout with swifties, which she doesn’t need to maintain her success because she was always successful in her own right! no, it’s all for Karlie The Person in their secret bubble of reality. all this showmanship, you know. the great war, hello!!!! too many songs to name where the kaylor chandelier is safely out of sight, but you can still see flickers through the boarded up windows ❣️

so forgive me for having a chuckle. to any anons who sincerely🛸want to believe, I’m just throwing it out there that there are plenty of us that never found the karlie-betrayer theory convincing at all. if you take a closer look at everything, the timeline of events and all the songs since, does it really make sense? (especially when there are so many shitty men in the mix who are more obviously to blame lol)

~ if you post, thank you for facilitating this rant 9wing, I’ll get off my soapbox now xxx

yup yup

i think a lot of people are predisposed to blaming karlie and so everything becomes a sort of confirmation bias.. which partially, i would argue, was by design.. so in a sense i do not fault gaylors or others for falling into this hole. but i do sometimes feel like faulting them a tiny bit for those who never climb out of it. there’s plenty of information and clues needed to figure it out and climb out of it.

one thing i don’t like about the whole “let’s not talk about muses” discourse is while the spirit of it is supposed to be “let’s study why these songs sound gay instead of commenting taylor lyrics on these people’s instagram pages,” in practice the phrasing almost is like giving yourself permission to pass judgement on the people in taylor’s story and then never reevaluate them. people often say ~lets not talk muses that’s invasive and gross~ and conveniently refuse to adjust their perception of karlie (for example) based on what taylor is putting out there, while making convenient exceptions for any interpretation they find that works to reinforce their already negative perception of her. and then after bitching about her they’ll cover their timeline in lisa frank dolphins because apparently that’s what paradise is. i dunno. it all feels dystopian to me atp 😆

[scribeofwinchesters]

Secrets and Lies: Chapter 11 - Rope

Pairing: Sam x Reader

Word Count: 4,660

Summary: “You look at her like that again and I will make sure you die screaming."

Series Rating: Explicit/18+ TW: Rape/Non-con

Previous chapters: 

One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Sevenandahalf Eight Nine Ten

A/N: Definitely recommend catching up or re-reading before this chapter since we have some callbacks to chapter 1 here. Thank you all for showing me so much support after being gone for so long <3 This might be my personal favorite chapter yet :) Most of it's been written for years but had lots of rewrites and edits as I worked through it and came back to it again and again during my hiatus, so if there's anything that doesn't connect or track, please DM me so I can fix it! I've reread it like eight times, though, so I think we're good... I hope you all like it and if my story makes you feel something, reblogs, comments, asks, etc are very welcome <3 as always, link to AO3 if you prefer.

Tag list: @lauraashley93 @stoneyggirl2 @tiggytaylor @park-simphwa

You yanked hard on the door and sure enough, the door drug across the jamb and you had to give it a second hard pull to get it fully open. As soon as it was free Dean was right there, gun pointed ahead of him as he let his eyes adjust before quickly clearing the area to the left and the right. Just as planned you were directly behind him, gripping your gun but keeping it pointed safely toward the ground. 

The interior was completely dark except for rows and columns of sporadically blinking green and orange lights to the left. As Dean stepped in, you followed, remaining so close to him that you could literally feel your breath warming his neck. Dean should’ve known better than to exaggerate when telling you to do something that you didn’t want to do. He took another careful step inside and reached along the wall for a light switch. 

As he did, there was suddenly a soft tumble of footsteps and Dean deftly reached behind him to grip your arm and pull you along with him as he ducked to the right, pressing you safely between him and the wall. 

The shadowy form of a person was visible somewhere ahead of Dean, outlined by the blinking lights. It was wielding some kind of weapon that you couldn't make out in the darkness until it glinted in the light and you could see the flash of a long, sharp point. The figure darted into the darkness and from somewhere across the room you heard a deep, stifled scream. 

Dean gripped his gun with both hands and aimed it at each corner of the room, hoping to catch sight of some kind of movement. 

You shifted your handgun to one hand and silently pulled your silver blade from its holster and gripped it tightly. You scrapped it along the wall, using it’s extra length to find your mark. After a short moment it caught on the switch and the room was flooded with a dull, fluorescent haze; the bulbs flickered and buzzed faintly before steadying on. 

Momentarily blinded by the sudden light, you narrowed your eyes and squinted as they adjusted.

You peeked around Dean as you sheathed your blade. Your stomach dropped. 

There, in the middle of the room, was Sam. He was tied up in a chair, ropes tight around his wrists and ankles and mouth. He’d been stripped down to nothing but his boxers and socks and there was blood splattered on the ground beneath him. Sam had a black eye and a horrific mixture of blood and sweat dripped from his forehead. He had a handful of cuts and gashes across his chest. He caught sight of you and your eyes locked together. The marble pinged against your insides again as you saw Sam’s bloodshot eyes glisten with tears. Your heart caught in your throat and you could feel yourself forgetting to breathe. 

Sam glanced to his left, drawing your eyes away from him.

You froze. 

Standing in the dark corner, just a few steps away from Sam, was the last thing you expected to see...

It was...

you? 

Not current you... but clean, moisturized, fresh-faced, hair-brushed-and-styled-with-the-perfect-flounce-you-could-never-quite-achieve-despite-many-frustrating-hours-spent-fussing-over-it… you.

It was fully dressed in clothes that looked like something you’d wear if you had time to put thought into your outfits, and to top it off, she was wearing Sam’s wellworn green jacket and a blue flannel and something about that made your stomach churn. It held a long, jagged blade comfortably in it’s outstretched arm as it grinned and you pulled yourself back behind Dean as you tried to catch your breath. 

“ ‘Bout time you guys joined the party,” it said cheerfully and took a careful step toward Sam. It was bizarre hearing your voice come from another person… thing… it. 

“That’s close enough,” Dean warned as he pointed his gun at the shifter. 

“Oh, Dean,” it said as it suddenly dropped and rolled skillfully behind Sam. Dean fired his gun at the movement but missed the target, leaving a small smoking circle in the machinery. You jerked at the sudden sound and took a moment before taking in a deep, stabalizing breath. 

“Come on, after the last few days, Dean, stuck at home with… me,” it smirked as it slowly crouched over Sam and held the jagged blade to Sam’s throat.  “The sad, pathetic thing you rescued from purgatory,” she mocked with an exaggerated pout. “Listening to her whining, holding her as she cried, falling asleep on the couch as you held her… we both know you were dying to put a bullet in both of your heads just to get the pathetic misery to end.” 

You studied the back of Dean’s head, imagining the furious expression flashing across his face.

The shifter pulled the edge of  it’s blade through Sam’s sweat-slicked hair, causing the tip to graze against his check and scalp, just light enough to not break the skin. Sam flinched reflexivly and squeezed his eyes shut. The shifter sneered at Dean for a moment before catching your eyes as you peaked over Dean’s shoulder. 

It smiled and narrowed its eyes at you as it licked it’s tongue across it’s teeth. “Looking a little rough there, sister. My brother got a few good hits in at least. Tell me, how far did he get before you noticed? One finger? Two? Balls deep?” It laughed. 

“Stop it,” Dean seethed. 

“Oh, sweetheart,” the shifter sneered as it pressed the blade ever so slightly against Sam’s throat, drawing beads of blood to the surface. Sam winced and you felt the rage building inside of you. It took every ounce of control you had to stay put. 

You locked eyes with Sam as tears spilled from his wide, horror-filled eyes. The throbbing ache in your cheek was a painful reminder of earlier that night and you watched as his eyes drifted over it. 

The shifter crouched down again and licked Sam’s ear while looking at you. “Am I doing it right?” it asked before brushing your… its fingers through Sam’s hair and jostling his head around simply for the sake of reminding you who was in charge. 

“That’s what you asked the first time you put Sammy’s cock in your mouth, isn’t it?” it drawled right into his ear, its eyes still locked on you. 

Your heart raced, and you squeezed your eyes shut as the throbbing ache in your cheek worsened from your rapid pulse. You rested a palm against Dean’s shoulder to steady yourself as you felt yourself losing balance. All you could think about was rage. But for Sam’s sake you couldn’t let its taunts get the better of you. That was easier said than done. 

“You look at her like that again and I will make sure you die screaming,” Dean bellowed as he stepped fully in front of you, blocking you completely from the shifters view and sadly, from Sam. “Your brother went quick. Couple silver bullets and he was down. When I’m done with you you’ll be begging for a bullet, do you hear me?” 

You heard a brief squelching sound and something heavy and wet spilled to the ground.

“I needed to catch up,” Sam sneered. 

But it wasn’t Sam. It was the shifter, transformed now, into Sam.

“Mmmm, that’s some sweet, sweet pain and guilt, Sammy,” the shifter hummed. “Delicious..."

It pressed the knife further into Sam’s neck. Sam grimaced as the blood dribbled down his neck. All you could hear was Sam grunting in pain. 

“Your gun,” it said.

Dean dropped the gun, letting it swing from his pointer finger as he spread his arms.

“Cut the crap. What do you want?” Dean asked.

“I told him not to go after you Winchester’s,” it spat. “But he insisted.”

“Refresh my memory, would ya? What did we do to you anyway? We haven’t hunted a shifter in years.” 

You could hear Sam breathing rapidly as he tried and failed to catch his breath. 

“Charisse.” 

Dean hesitated. “Who the fuck is Charisse,” he asked under his breath. 

“The witch… from the other day… my last hunt with Sam,” you whispered. 

Dean gave you a small nod without breaking eye contact with the shifter. 

“Since when do shifters and witches work together?” Dean asked. 

“Please, Dean… we both know you don’t care,” the shifter replied. 

Dean shrugged again. “Eh… normally you’d be right, I don’t really care what you monsters get up to when you’re not hurting people. But a witch and shifters working together? Well, that’s not something I’ve ever seen before.” 

“Charisse was like a mother to us,” the shifter said as he stood, still holding the blade to Sam’s throat. “She fed us and took care of us and gave us advice about moving through the world as monsters that people like us never get. And in return we helped her… well, pay the bills…,” 

“So you were thieves,” Dean said. 

You silently crouched and glanced around Dean, desperate for a view. You caught sight of the shifter standing above Sam. The grip on its blade had loosened as it spoke. The top of Sam’s head reached just beneath the neck of the shifter but in Sam’s frame, with his broad shoulders, there was a clear shot; a small shot, but a clear one. 

As you stood, hidden behind Dean, and his open jacket which added several inches to his frame, you took advantage of the cover to check that the safety on your gun was released. 

“Don’t move,” you whispered so that only Dean could hear you. 

“So mommy dearest bites the big one and your brother decides to get revenge,,” Dean vamped to keep the shifter distracted. “You both came to this town and got up to no good in order to draw out Sam. But brother got dead and now it all rests on your shoulders. Did I miss anything?” Dean asked, taunting the shifter. 

As he spoke you slowly, carefully and silently turned so that your back was to Dean’s and aimed your gun forward, ignoring the throbbing in your cheek. You were going to have to move quickly or the shifter would get the drop and… and… well, that didn’t matter because it wasn’t going to happen. Your took a deep, steadying breath. 

As the shifter began to reply you swiftly and carefully spun around on one foot, ready to aim your gun at the shifter’s head.

It looked and sounded every bit like Sam and if it weren’t for the fact that he was sitting right there that may have given you pause. You aimed and without a whisper of hesitation, fired off a single silver round into its head. It dropped the blade, sending it cascading across Sam’s front before clattering to the ground. The shifter stumbled backwards and Dean made a break for it, crossing the room in several long strides as you dropped your gun and sprinted to Sam.

Dean pinned the shifter down with his knee digging into its back as he pulled its arms behind its back and bound them tightly at the wrists. It was unnecessary, though, it was as dead as the one you’d left at the bunker.

“Nice shot,” Dean said as he examined the thing. For the second time in just a few hours Dean had to deal with the lifeless and bloodied body of his brother.

You stood over Sam and leaned over him, your fingers trembled with adrenaline as you fumbled with the knot on the rope between Sam’s lips.

“Y/n,” Sam whispered between his panicked breaths the second his mouth was free. You crouched down in front of him as you deftly cut the ropes off his wrists and ankles, hardly pulling your eyes away from his for more than half a second.

You looked him over as he stood carefully. In addition to the blackeye he was bruised on his thighs and abdomen and there were deep, red rashes around his wrists and ankles. Sam’s eyes hung on you but he wasn’t looking into your eyes. He was examining you, studying whatever it was that Dean saw in the car earlier that made him wince. 

Without even thinking, you found yourself pulling your silver blade from your boot. “I’m… I’m sorry,” you said. “But I have to.” 

He nodded and pulled his hand into a fist as he held his arm out. Sam watched your eyes as you swiped the blade across his arm, drawing out a thin trail of blood. He winced and inhaled sharply, all the while never peeling his eyes away from you. 

You let out the breath you hadn’t realized you’d been holding. It was Sam. It was really Sam. You dropped your blade to the ground with a clatter.

While you wanted nothing more than to leap into his arms and wrap yourself around him, to cling to him, you were still unsure of everything. You stopped short of a hug and instead stood there like an idiot, frozen, as you stared up at him. You had to remind yourself to breathe, again. He stared down at you, holding your gaze now, before briefly glancing to the side of your face and back. 

Dean picked up your gun and blade before giving the room a quick once-over. The electronic components, flashing green and orange, were kept to one side, opposite of the desk.

Sam caught your eyes lingering on the pile of rope and the blood spatters around the chair and pulled you to him. You wrapped your arms around his waist and inhaled deeply as he rested his chin on the top of your head. “I’m okay,” he whispered. 

You felt your insides return as he held you. Your heart and lungs and thoughts all fell back into place, stopping the pinging marble in its tracks as the walls crumbled. The marble, with one last ping, lodged into your heart. You were whole again… mostly.

“God, Sam,” you said, fighting back your sobs. “I… I-” 

He brushed his hands over your hair and tenderly shushed you. “I’m here,” he said softly.

“Is it dead?” Sam asked Dean, his tone hard as he continued stroking his palms carefully over you. You caught Dean giving Sam a small, silent nod as you pulled away, ready to not spend another second in this place. Dean handed you your gun and knife which you quickly put away.

Dean stood to the side of the door, ushering you and Sam out before flipping the light switch and pushing the door shut behind him. 

 Dean lead you all back to the Impala, his eyes scanned the area like clockwork as you all made a beeline for the car. You climbed into the front seat, the safety of the Impala enveloping you as you finally relaxed and your shoulders dropped. Dean quickly looked around as Sam climbed in the back. Dean started up the engine, it’s gentle rumble surely waking at least one person in the nearby houses. 

In less than fifteen minutes Dean had you all back at the motel. 

“We’re not going back to the bunker?” Sam asked. 

Dean shook his head and glanced at Sam in the rearview mirror. “We need Cass to check the warding. It’s not safe.” 

Sam looked at you and then back at Dean. “The… the bunker?” 

Sam shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He wanted to know more but the hesitation from you and Dean to say more made him scared to ask. He slowly opened his eyes and his gaze fell upon you and you could see in the rearview mirror the tears glistening in his eyes again. You had never seen him look so vulnerable: half-naked, no weapon, fighting back tears. You wanted to kill the shifter all over again. You bit at the inside of your lip, worried that it might start to dawn on him what had happened. It’s not that you didn’t want him to know. You just weren’t ready to deal with it. And as long as Sam didn’t know, you could almost pretend that it hadn’t happened. Almost.

Dean nodded curtly as he cut the engine and climbed out of the car. Sam’s eyes narrowed as he stared distantly ahead. 

“Stay here,” he said to Sam as you climbed out of the car, too. You raised an eyebrow to Dean. “I’ll be right back,” he added to Sam.

Dean, ever the over-protector, was now made even worse. He followed you to the door and once again, checked the entire place over. 

“Dean,” you sighed. 

“Not up for debate,” he said, repeating himself from earlier, his eyes still studying every inch of the room as he avoided your gaze.

“I’m not saying you can’t be protective but you’re not my security guard. There isn’t a monster in every closet,” you said. 

 His nostrils flared as he stood in the doorway, silent for a moment, before turning back to you. “What happened… tonight,” he inhaled deeply, “...will never happen again. I won’t let it,” he finished as he swallowed hard. “Not even for a single second will I let you go through something even remotely close to that ever again.” 

You stood there in the middle of the room, too shattered and exhausted to argue with him. This was exactly what you had been trying to avoid that night all that time ago when Cass manipulated Sam’s memory. 

“What are you gonna tell him?” you asked as you choked back your emotions. 

“Enough to catch him up,” Dean said as he turned away and headed back to the Impala.

He left the motel door open and climbed back into the Impala. Sam watched you from the backseat. You locked eyes for a brief second as Dean twisted to face Sam and rested his arm on the backseat. 

You stepped away from his line of sight, not prepared to handle what Sam’s reaction might be. As they talked, you kicked off your boots and jeans and slipped out of your flannel before climbing into the already unmade bed, leaving the fresh bed for Dean. You left half the bed for Sam, though you weren’t sure if he’d take it. Sure, he’d been emotional and comforted you, that still didn’t mean he’d forgiven you. 

You cozied up under the blankets and shut your eyes, desperate to fall asleep, though you weren’t sure what you’d find when you got there. More importantly, however, if you were asleep then you didn’t have to talk with Sam. You inhaled deeply as you nestled your face into the pillow. It smelled faintly like Sam and the longing for him slowly began building back up inside of you. You felt a single tear slip down, leaving a wet circle on the fabric. 

Dean’s booted stomps sounded as he crossed the threshold, followed by Sam’s silent, shoeless scuffles. You half wondered if he’d brought any other shoes with him but that was a problem for tomorrow. One of them flipped the lights off. Sam paused at the edge of the bed for a moment and you could hear him quietly breathing as he watched you. A beat passed before he continued to the bathroom and shut the door. Dean pulled the string on his bedside lamp, providing him with enough light so that he could walk about the room but not disturb you. Seconds later you heard the pipes squeak and water rushing as Sam turned on the shower. 

You carefully opened one eye just a sliver and watched as Dean grabbed the ice bucket from the dinette table and left, this time pulling the door quietly shut behind him. He returned moments later. You listened as the locks clicked and Dean slid the chain lock into place. He sat in the dinette chair and peeled open one of the empty plastic bucket liners. He scooped ice into it and tied a knot at the top, sealing it closed. The chair quietly scraped across the floor as he stood up and pushed it back. You could feel his presence looming over you, blocking out the light of his lamp on the other side of the room.

“I know you’re not asleep,” he whispered. 

You huffed and gently bit at your lip before opening your eyes. “What gave me away?” 

“Scooch,” he said. You turned carefully and painfully onto your back and pushed yourself back just enough for him to sit beside you on the bed.

As the adrenaline began to wear off, the pain of the near suffocation you'd endured back at the bunker was beginning to set in. Your chest ached deep down to the bottom of your lungs and you kept your breath short to avoid the sharp, stabbing pain that came when you inhaled too deeply.

Dean lifted the ice bag and slowly pressed the bag against the right side of your face, eliciting a hiss from you as it stung your tender skin. You reached up and placed your hand over Dean’s who pulled his away, letting you take over. You held it there as he watched you. 

“I’m gonna get the first aid kit,” he said as he stood back up.

“What for?” you asked. 

“Um, your face,” Dean said as he wrinkled his brows.

“Is it that bad?” you asked as he squatted down to pull it from one of the side pockets of his bag. 

“You haven’t looked?” he asked as he made his way back over to you and sat down. You shook your head slightly, the ice clinking along to each movement. He studied your expression before nodding. He kicked his boots off and leaned over. You let your hand fall as he pulled the ice bag back. 

“Can’t see,” he muttered as he reached over and pulled the string of your bedside lamp, illuminating your side of the room. He straightened up and zipped open the first aid kit to pull several items out. 

You glanced down and watched as Dean fussed over his tools. A little bottle of clear liquid caught your eye and inexplicably made your stomach drop.

“Not rubbing alcohol, Dean… please,” you said quietly, shocked at yourself as tears stung the corner of your eyes. You just couldn’t… hurt, anymore. Not tonight. You’d had enough.

“Don’t be a baby,” he said before catching your pained expression. “Sorry,” he whispered quickly. “It’s not alcohol,” he said, shaking the little bottle. “It’s like antiseptic or something.” He shrugged. 

You took a deep breath and looked away. Dean took that as his sign to continue. “Can you sit up a little?” he asked. 

You pushed yourself up and jutted your head forward. He held the washcloth beneath the cut. 

“Look up,” he said. You did as he asked. He squeezed the bottle’s liquid across your cheek, into your cut, cleansing it. The washcloth caught most of the runoff, but some did escape and run down your neck, slicking it. He pulled the washcloth away and refolded it to get to a dry edge and dabbed it gently along your check. You stared at a random spot on the wall as he worked. He returned the bottle to the pouch and pulled out an ointment tube which he squeezed onto a cotton swab and swiped it across your cut as gently as he could manage. 

“This is deep, y/n. I’m gonna have to stitch it in the morning,” he said as he pulled the wound tightly shut with two butterfly bandages. You grimaced at the thought.  

“Done,” he said with a gentle smile as he returned everything to the kit and zipped it up. 

The roar of the shower cut off and there was the familiar scrape of the shower hooks across the curtain rod as Sam exited the shower.

“Thanks,” you wheezed as you looked down and fiddled with your fingers. 

Dean cleared his throat. “Can I… do you need anything?” 

You shrugged as you locked eyes with him. “Water, I guess? And every breath hurts from when... And sleep, but… I’m also, I mean, I’m a little afraid… to sleep. Don’t know what I’ll…,” you trailed off. 

Dean glanced away and seemed to think for a moment. He left your side only to quickly return with the stainless steel water jug and a plastic cup from the motel. He filled it with water and handed it to you. As you sipped the water he returned to the first aid kit and pulled out a small plastic bag with two large white pills in it. Dean handed them to you and you let them roll over in your palm as you tried to guess what they were. 

“They’ll conk you out,” he explained. “And Sam and I will be right here the entire time. You don’t have to worry,” he assured you. 

“I never worry about that,” you said, giving him a lopsided smile. 

He frowned and took a deep breath. You wanted to tell him not to do that, that he had done everything he could and what happened wasn’t his fault, but you just didn’t have the energy. You swallowed the pills and finished the water. Dean refilled the cup and set it on the bedside table. You shifted onto your side, your injured cheek faced up, and got comfortable under the covers as Dean turned the lamp back off. He picked up the bag of ice and placed it gently back over your cheek. 

You were just beginning to drift off when you heard the bathroom door open followed by the quiet footsteps of Sam making his way to his bag to rummage for clean clothes. He returned moments later and climbed into bed beside you. It was quiet for a moment but you could feel his presence as he leaned over you, examining your face in the pale light.

“Did I miss anything?” he whispered to Dean.

“Just bandaged her up a little,” Dean whispered from his bed. “And gave her the good stuff to help her sleep.” 

“Maybe I should go to a pharmacy and get some real ice packs,” Sam thought aloud. 

“It’s four in the morning. There’s nothing open for over a hundred miles,” Dean reminded him. 

“I’m sure I could break into a doctor's office or something in this Podunk town,” Sam said. The bed creaked as he leaned back against his pillow. 

“Okay, simmer down, John Dillinger,” Dean teased. “It wouldn’t make enough of a difference to be worth it. Gonna have to stitch it up in the morning regardless. What about you? You good?"

"Yeah," Sam whispered. "Nothing deeper than surface level."

You wanted to move, to curve to Sam, or ask him to hold you, but the drugs Dean gave you were strong and were quickly taking over every muscle in your body, including your tongue and lips, and thankfully your aching lungs.

“Get some sleep, Sammy,” Dean whispered. Dean’s bed creaked and you slipped your eyes open a crack to see him turning onto his side, squeezing his pillow against his face. He hadn’t even bothered to change out of his jeans and flannel. You couldn’t see it but knowing Dean the hand under his pillow was resting over his Colt. He reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. 

Sam leaned over in the darkness and pressed his lips gently to your temple. You sighed as you fought tooth and nail against the drugs for more seconds with Sam, scared that in the morning, or when you were better, Sam would be gone again. Your body was so heavy you felt like you were going to sink into the mattress.

He pushed toward you, pressing his body carefully against yours and found your hand. He grasped it in his and with everything you had left, before giving into the heaviness and slipping under, you squeezed it, desperate to let him know you were there and aware and so grateful for every moment with him. He laced his fingers with yours and pulled your hand along with his to your heart, wrapping you in him like you were a gift and he was the bow. 

The message had been received. 

EDIT: Chapter 12

[ladye-zelda]

Y'know, despite the flaws that TotK has (*cough cough* story *cough*) what I appreciated most about this game is all the little details that the developers put in (mainly through the use of side quests).

i think the major difference between TotK and BotW and what TotK arguably did better than BotW is that TotK's side quests are so much better. Unlike BotW's side quests, which you can get done relatively quickly depending how many shrines/items you have in your inventory, TotK makes you work for your sidequests.

Take, for instance, the new side adventures. Penn's quests, the whole thing with the monster control group, etc etc. Basically, go to [this] area in Hyrule and do [this]. May sound simple enough, but they can be super challenging, especially if you unlock these quests early in-game (which is entirely possible). The monster control group adventure you can unlock basically as soon as you get off the Great Sky Island, while Penn's adventure you can unlock as soon as you try to get to Rito Village. In fact, it's sort of hinted at to complete Penn's adventure first before even doing all of the rest of the main quest so that you would have an easier access to Rito Village (which, admittedly, I did not do because I was that impatient lol).

Even some of the smaller adventures were a leg up from BotW. The one that sticks out to me the most were the ones in Gerudo Desert, which I want to geek about for a moment because this game absolutely made me love the desert. In BotW, it was sort of an empty place (which was totally fine; it wasn't a large focus other than the Divine Beast), but TotK just made it 100x cooler. The archeologist wannabe in me fell heads over heels with the desert in this game, with the inclusion of the quicksand and the ruins underneath the game (which I am like: YES JUICY JUICY LORE).

Anyways, back to my point on the quests: there is a quest in Gerudo Town where you have to find out the mystery of the eighth heroine, and I don't want to spoil anything here but if you haven't finished this quest already DO SO because OH MY GOODNESS ADFSJAKFJLDFJLDAKFJD. And when you're done with that, go to the statue itself and find out the area there. This entire quest (and that little side mystery along with it) made me feel like I was in an Indiana Jones movie and I was LIVING for it. If I could replay TotK again without my memory I would want to replay that part again.

Oh, that's another thing: I mentioned that the statue of the eighth heroine was not actually a quest. There are also a lot more hidden secrets to find in this game than in the predecessor, mainly with the inclusion of caves and dungeons (different from the temples). I call these little areas "dungeons" but they're more like the mini dungeons that you go through in Ocarina of Time (like the frozen area in Zora's Domain or the bottom of the well in Kakariko), because that was what they felt like, and I never felt happier.

Also, quick little details I want to add because I realize this is more of an unhinged ramble than a coherent well-put thing, but some other minor details I liked is the deep-dive into the Gerudo language. Learning languages has always made me happy, and now that we got a few more words in Gerudic (pretty sure that that's what the language of the gerudo is called?) we can probably piece together what the full language sounds like; probably relying a lot on s's and v's along with the "a" "e" and "o" vowels with r's rolled in between.

Also also while exploring the one area there is a callback to A Link to the Past dungeons where there is a secret room where you would find three fairies tucked away. I think I found this room in a couple of cave systems so keep a lookout for that :)

[thesherrinfordfacility]

Wait, what is the "batshit Jim is Jesus" theory, please? Because I have thoughts and I thought I was the only one thinking them

hi hello!!!💕 oh god okay where do i begin

tbh this is largely pure speculation, but something that i can genuinely see happening to the extent of attempting to write a fic about it but to be specific, i think some kind of fuck-up happened in heaven, and an amnesiac jesus has managed to wind his way inside jim, in the place of gabriel.

im gonna try to keep this as tight as possible but bear with me:

it kinda started with the thought that the second coming will have gone wrong in s3. and the subsequent thought that a reason why everyone is left floundering is because they lose jesus. and they might have lost jesus because he's already come to earth. getting biblical with it, both matthew 24:36 and 24:43-44 kinda solidified this for for me - if we accept that GO will continue to play around with scripture.

perhaps a bit of confirmation bias, but the rest of matthew 24 was also interesting, particularly when you consider the signs of the second coming as matthew warns:

24:27: For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.

24:40: At that time there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.

24:41: Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.

and there's then the other apocalyptic elements of war, and famine, trials and tribulations, that are meant to herald the second coming - which is what i think potentially could end up being the backdrop for s3 (ie. the second coming has happened, and it just so happens to coincide with the world going to hell in a hand basket. literally). after all, jim's ep3 monologue was certainly posed as a prophesy of sorts, not a recollection.

then take into account the deleted scene where there was meant to be a prophetic dream(?) sequence of the bookshop being the only thing left standing in an apocalyptic wasteland. idk if it was ever confirmed...(?), but im reasonably certain that that dream would have belonged to jim.

there are also a lot of background elements that indicate that people have started to go missing. whether that's linked or not, idk, but seems interesting... like they've been raptured.

so then my thoughts turned to - well, does that mean, for whatever reason (heavenly user error, escape, god messing around etc), that jesus is now roaming around on earth? or has something gone wrong there too? possibly, bc then i remembered the opening jim scene, and the rest of his appearances in the show.

a lot of jesus imagery. especially imagery of the crucifixion.

the first shot of 2023 coming down from the clouds, and jim descending from heaven in the lift, tomatoes symbolising spilled blood, crowd gathered to watch the spectacle, seeks out sanctuary in the bookshop (eden).

quotes his mother in a tongue-in-cheek manner ("who told you i was naked?"), "but you know Me, you recognise Me" / "i know Someone who looks like You" (re: john 14:9-11), dresses his blanket in a very 'biblical' way, like a robe.

is very eager to help and is very kind, has an affinity for books and stories (themselves possibly representing the tree of life/the concept of immortality), offering out of food for free (ref to feeding the five thousand or the last supper, take your pick!!!), sacrifices himself for the shopkeepers meeting, arms outstretched etc.

im sure there's loads ive missed out, but these are the ones off the top of my head!

there's also the lovely callback to gabriel being the messenger to mary etc. aziraphale, if we accept him to parallel israfil, may be the angel to herald the second coming, but the fact that gabriel inadvertently is kinda the one to deliver it? brilliant

and lastly, because this promo image still has me floored: jim walking on water. and i cant really think of any discernible reason why the water would be included otherwise, other than to allude to jesus:

now that im fairly convinced about the What - as far as i can be with a tinfoil-hat, crackpot theory anyway - but now it's more about trying to figure out the How. these will be piecemeal bits that will join up together, so hang on there:

what seems to be clear is that jesus (if we accept jesus = jim) does not have his memory. he has no idea who he is, and this stays pretty consistent and believable throughout the season. there's a moment ive referenced plenty of times before, but it's so important imo:

(contd) which tells me a couple of things - main thing for me being that not only is memory erasure a canonically confirmed concept, but the suggestion of using the heavenly pda to access gabriel's memory suggests it's somewhat digitised... almost like it's a file that could be deleted or moved. but it potentially seems like that can only happen when someone is in heaven. and is it different for angels vs humans? or - if we accept the idea that jesus = god - a deity?

as for jesus not remembering something - maybe it was an error in the system that made him move into the gabriel real estate? and lose his memory in the process, by some kind of file corruption?

another thing is the issue with power in hell, namely that things seem to be going a bit sideways. the lesser demons are on half rations, and the whole outfit is severely understaffed. ive explored it more here, but it seems that whichever way you look at it, humans may not actually be in heaven. so, if human souls aren't being looked after by angels, where are they? my thought is similar to the above gabriel file thing: that human souls are being stored in the system* somewhere, awaiting 'upload' once heaven has finally defeated hell, and the kingdom hath in fact come.

*this then led me to the thought that maybe the system itself is the book of life, but that's a slight aside/only tangentially relevant.

so perhaps the corrupted jesus' 'file' somehow got uploaded to gabriel when he transferred himself into the fly? and maybe the box has something to do with it? idk.

it would also make sense for the 25-lazarii miracle. there was a lot of emphasis that aziraphale and crowley held hands with jim, and the effort it took to 'hide gabriel' was like a mini-nuke detonating. but a) its an interesting choice to refer to the miracle unit of measurement as a lazarus (and smaller denominations), and b) gabriel was in the fly - but they were holding hands with someone. so, for me, it's sensical that perhaps the issue in s3 is that not only has jesus come early, but they've inadvertently hidden him... an apt mirror to adam in s1. and if jesus is still somehow knocking about in gabriel in s3, it's a good narrative excuse to bring him and beelzebub back.

im going to stop rambling there but i may well come back and add bits - alternatively, if ive missed stuff, feel free to add!!! but! that's where im kinda at with the theory that the second coming has already come, and it's come somehow in the form of gabriel 🥰

[gust-jar-simulator]

So I've been analyzing the Triforce Poly to figure out Baldur's Gate builds for fun, and honestly their fighting styles say a lot about them and really interest me.

Zelda: archery. She's thematically associated with defense, sealing, and shielding, but the most common thing we see her actually use is a bow. Shoutout to Twilight Princess Zelda, who uses a sword, but while it's probably hers it's notably when she's possessed by Ganon. I have feelings about the fact that she's an archer and the other notable tool of the goddess is a harp. Something about strings on a frame. Something about angels and smiting. Hylia DOES have a sword, but she gave it to her knight.

Link: sword and board. Skyward Sword link definitely fits the paladin archetype, you literally get back to Skyloft via prayer. Honestly though I think his devotion to Zelda would've been blasphemous if she wasn't. Y'know. The goddess incarnate. I have feelings about that. Anyway, Link does multiclass into bard notably in Ocarina of Time, but the thing about Link is that he's a hero. "Love not the sword for its sharpness, but that which it defends," etc etc. He might be a chaos gremlin who specializes in property damage, but he helps the little guy and carries groceries for grandmas in need. He wields the sword of the goddess and the shield of Hyrule. He is a divine weapon, but also the protector of Hyrule, and both of these are equally important.

Sometimes it takes awhile for him to find one or the other- you could say a lot about Skyward Sword, for example, because he Starts Off with the weapon of the goddess and develops and understanding of what that means as he goes, but he only gets the Hylian Shield after engaging with people and exploring and immersing himself in the land. In Wind Waker, he starts off with the shield of an old hero in his family, and has to basically rip the sword from the jaws of the gods with undeniable moxie. He's not a weapon of the gods, he just demands to be, because he's foremost a protector and the shield is inherently tied to his family.

Ganondorf: dual scimitars, trident. His notable scimitars have the names of his mothers carved into them, and the Spear of Power is a callback to Ganon's very first appearance and Zhu Bajie's war rake. Notably, these are melee weapons, and he uses both hands for offense. He tends to compliment his fighting style with some casting, like fireballs or lightning, and of course there's the massive fuckoff demon king transformation in several games. As far as I know he doesn't use a shield. Demise came later on, development wise, but he also uses a greatsword and lightning.

Ganondorf is a king who plays politics and can lie like a devil, but if it's to the point that he's actually personally fighting you there's no need for illusions or sugarcoating. He's a warlord and his style is hit you until you die, and he will fill both hands with pointy objects to overwhelm the opposition and make sure you stay down. Also from personal experience, fighting a dual wielder or a polearm is Fucking Terrifying. Archers are sniper fear, either they hit you or they don't, and they need time. Sword and board is somewhat predictable, if hard to actually hit. Dual wield or polearm is like picking a fight with a tornado.

Thematically speaking, the scimitars are carved with his mother's names. He wields the blades in their name, aligned with their goals, and it's a connection to his roots as the king of the Gerudo people. The spear is more connected to his nature as the heir of Power, the weapon of the Demon King. In FSA, pulling the spear from a stone is actually what transforms him from a Gerudo into the Demon King, in a sort of magical girl King Arthur situation.

Also to round it out because I think I'm funny, Vaati can use a sword but he fights you as a caster because he doesn't want to fucking touch you. He's above that. Then after his demon transformation he's just trying to swat you like a fly because he's mad.

[a-sky-of-diamonds]

Martyn’s Evo and Limited Life Poem Connections

I was watching Martyn’s finale, and I knew the poem at the end sounded familiar. And it struck me: just compare the poem at the end of Limited Life :

There are some who watch,

We are those who listen.

Not yet free, still you flee,

From weighted decision.

To a poem found in a book written by the Listeners in Evo’s final episode:

...This has some meaning to it, guys.

(Theories/analysis and original meaningful tags (I had to repost this because the original wasn’t showing up, and I’d made a LOT of tags I’m not writing them out again) under the cut):

So firstly, this doesn’t need explaining, but it’s literally the same thing! The first two lines are identical, and the third? The rhyming! is the same! It even uses ‘free’ and ‘flee’ again (swapped around, which is very interesting). And recission/decision? The SAME SOUNDS. Right there.

The meanings are very interesting as well. In Evo, it’s all about instructing the players to leave (through a portal, presumably out of the server). They’re not free but there’s the possibility to be, etc. But the interesting thing is the last phrase, ‘complete your recission’. One of the definitions of recission is the undoing of a contract – I haven’t watched the whole of Evo so correct me if I’m wrong, but could there have been some sort of unknown contract, even if metaphorical, between the players and the Watchers? And by leaving they’d finally break it (which they would have been doing by listening more and more to the Listeners at the end)?

In the Life series, we know Martyn’s not free yet, as with all the other Life and Evo members – something went wrong with their escape and they were recaptured. That means that whatever those rules or agreements were, he hasn’t managed to escape from it. The Listeners are seemingly trying to help at the end of Limited Life, restoring what I assume to be Martyn’s soul from its cracked state – could those possibly be due to that connection with the Watchers? And how they managed to contact him? Are the Listeners helping to break that?

...But in the poem at the end of Limited Life, they say Martyn’s “still not free”, and still fleeing from some sort of decision. He’s still under the eyes of the Watchers, they’re still in contact – that has to be part of what it means, but I’m curious about the line “still you flee/from weighted decision”? What decision is he fleeing from, I wonder? Does there need to be some action on his part to break contact with the Watchers, to complete the original Evo poem? Is it a statement on his character – throughout the series, Martyn has been quite passive in terms of playing the game itself the way it’s ‘meant’ to be played, and also when following the whims of the Watchers, not exactly making decisions entirely for himself? Is it both? Also, it seems like him fleeing may be tied to him not being free – what does this mean?

I don’t have answers to all of that yet, but it’s really interesting, and the poem is such a cool callback to Evo – and the fact that they’re linked probably means something in and of itself.

Tags:

[thatswhatsushesaid]

So I'm ngl I followed you because my partner really likes jiggy and I am trying desperately to like. Care more about him and enjoy him because of this. I didn't read through the whole post about life debts and nmj (who for the record I think is an asshole, but an interesting one, given his complete inability to see in shades of grey morality), but I did read the reblog you added comparing some of jiggy's actions to wwx's, which I actually found really interesting. Since wwx is my poor little meow meow, I'm wondering if approaching jiggy through the lens of their similarities etc might help nudge my brain more into liking him, so I was curious if you had any recommendations for like, good meta posts or gifsets or fics that get into this more?

I suspect that part of my problem is the novel is just my least favorite adaptation even though I dislike a lot of the plot changes that cql and the donghua did, because it's hard for me to read through, but I can overcome that. Probably.

hi hello!! I know we have chatted a bit already via messages, but I am so, so, so happy any time someone expresses any interest in developing a more comprehensive understanding of jgy's character.

user meta

in terms of linking you to specific bits of meta about parallels between jgy and wwx, it might be easier for me to just direct you to specific users who have written extensively on narrative parallels in mdzs in general: @xiyao-feels has written meta based on several close readings of the text and often highlights the importance of where jgy-specific events are situated, and this often includes callbacks to things that wwx has done, too. if you're keen on deep dives into what makes jgy tick and text-based explanations for why he does the things he does (and why his options are extremely limited), you should also check out @fincalinde's meta. fincalinde and xiyao-feels both ground their analysis of jgy (and xiyao lol but you don't have to read the xiyao meta if you aren't keen on it) in what we're presented in the text, so if you're worried about reading analysis that relies too much upon 'fanon,' that won't be a concern here. @confusion-and-more is another user who writes similar text-based meta along similar lines.

fan media

I tend not to look for good parallels in gifsets, but this one by @henshengs probably draws the most powerful, bittersweet parallels between wangxian, xiyao, and the relationship between lan wangji and lan xichen's parents. it's from the donghua rather than the drama, idk if you have a preference on that front.

the fic series it's worth it every time by @fincalinde (roquen on AO3) is by far the best series imo for digging into jgy's core motivations for doing the things that he does, and it also has the benefit of hewing extremely close to events as they unfold in canon. again, it's xiyao, which may not be your thing, but imo understanding the xiyao dynamic is pretty crucial to understanding jgy, too.

...okay!! I think this is a good place to get started? I will see what else I can dig up for you, and like I said, I have a few other bits of meta in my drafts atm that are focused specifically on wwx-jgy parallels and comparisons, so once I finish and publish those, I'll ping you about it. 👍

edit: ooh, editing my post to add a link to these two pieces of wangxian and xiyao fanart by @hawberries which are intended to be viewed side by side for maximum heartbreak.

[watchmorecinema]

Normally I just post about movies but I'm a software engineer by trade so I've got opinions on programming too.

Apparently it's a month of code or something because my dash is filled with people trying to learn Python. And that's great, because Python is a good language with a lot of support and job opportunities. I've just got some scattered thoughts that I thought I'd write down.

Python abstracts a number of useful concepts. It makes it easier to use, but it also means that if you don't understand the concepts then things might go wrong in ways you didn't expect. Memory management and pointer logic is so damn annoying, but you need to understand them. I learned these concepts by learning C++, hopefully there's an easier way these days.

Data structures and algorithms are the bread and butter of any real work (and they're pretty much all that come up in interviews) and they're language agnostic. If you don't know how to traverse a linked list, how to use recursion, what a hash map is for, etc. then you don't really know how to program. You'll pretty much never need to implement any of them from scratch, but you should know when to use them; think of them like building blocks in a Lego set.

Learning a new language is a hell of a lot easier after your first one. Going from Python to Java is mostly just syntax differences. Even "harder" languages like C++ mostly just mean more boilerplate while doing the same things. Learning a new spoken language in is hard, but learning a new programming language is generally closer to learning some new slang or a new accent. Lists in Python are called Vectors in C++, just like how french fries are called chips in London. If you know all the underlying concepts that are common to most programming languages then it's not a huge jump to a new one, at least if you're only doing all the most common stuff. (You will get tripped up by some of the minor differences though. Popping an item off of a stack in Python returns the element, but in Java it returns nothing. You have to read it with Top first. Definitely had a program fail due to that issue).

The above is not true for new paradigms. Python, C++ and Java are all iterative languages. You move to something functional like Haskell and you need a completely different way of thinking. Javascript (not in any way related to Java) has callbacks and I still don't quite have a good handle on them. Hardware languages like VHDL are all synchronous; every line of code in a program runs at the same time! That's a new way of thinking.

Python is stereotyped as a scripting language good only for glue programming or prototypes. It's excellent at those, but I've worked at a number of (successful) startups that all were Python on the backend. Python is robust enough and fast enough to be used for basically anything at this point, except maybe for embedded programming. If you do need the fastest speed possible then you can still drop in some raw C++ for the places you need it (one place I worked at had one very important piece of code in C++ because even milliseconds mattered there, but everything else was Python). The speed differences between Python and C++ are so much smaller these days that you only need them at the scale of the really big companies. It makes sense for Google to use C++ (and they use their own version of it to boot), but any company with less than 100 engineers is probably better off with Python in almost all cases. Honestly thought the best programming language is the one you like, and the one that you're good at.

Design patterns mostly don't matter. They really were only created to make up for language failures of C++; in the original design patterns book 17 of the 23 patterns were just core features of other contemporary languages like LISP. C++ was just really popular while also being kinda bad, so they were necessary. I don't think I've ever once thought about consciously using a design pattern since even before I graduated. Object oriented design is mostly in the same place. You'll use classes because it's a useful way to structure things but multiple inheritance and polymorphism and all the other terms you've learned really don't come into play too often and when they do you use the simplest possible form of them. Code should be simple and easy to understand so make it as simple as possible. As far as inheritance the most I'm willing to do is to have a class with abstract functions (i.e. classes where some functions are empty but are expected to be filled out by the child class) but even then there are usually good alternatives to this.

Related to the above: simple is best. Simple is elegant. If you solve a problem with 4000 lines of code using a bunch of esoteric data structures and language quirks, but someone else did it in 10 then I'll pick the 10. On the other hand a one liner function that requires a lot of unpacking, like a Python function with a bunch of nested lambdas, might be easier to read if you split it up a bit more. Time to read and understand the code is the most important metric, more important than runtime or memory use. You can optimize for the other two later if you have to, but simple has to prevail for the first pass otherwise it's going to be hard for other people to understand. In fact, it'll be hard for you to understand too when you come back to it 3 months later without any context.

Note that I've cut a few things for simplicity. For example: VHDL doesn't quite require every line to run at the same time, but it's still a major paradigm of the language that isn't present in most other languages.

Ok that was a lot to read. I guess I have more to say about programming than I thought. But the core ideas are: Python is pretty good, other languages don't need to be scary, learn your data structures and algorithms and above all keep your code simple and clean.

[astralibrary]

another year another silan portrait babey.... a few days late this time but we still ballin'

i've been very into manga cover design lately (studying them, making my own, etc) so it only felt right to incorporate that into this year's portrait, right? and go way overboard designing the entire front, back and spine including a blurb and barcodes and retail/publishing info, right?? and then go all in on making a matching japanese version with its own alternative blurb and barcode area bc u can't have one without the other, right?? obviously!!!!

like i said i've been really into manga design-

thoughts & details belooow

funnily enough this ended up being an actual portrait again after i did away with them in favor of illustrations in recent years, but ig it's fitting since this is the 10th one, right? (more on that later i wrote this out of order-) a callback to the first one all those years ago... the other reason it's a portrait is bc art has been fighting back lately and a full illustration probably would have been a lot; most importantly tho i just thought this composition would make for a cool dramatic manga cover heh heh

anyway bro the impossible happened i fully rendered flowers AND completed the portrait this year hello??? this has never happened since the v first year wait i just checked it happened in 2019 too this has not happened since 2019 wowie!!!! i put my whole ass into those flowers pls observe them (except the tall purple ones don't look too closely at those. look at the pansies they're my fave ♥️)

this year we have morning glories taking center stage, surrounded by pansies, forget-me-nots, some kind of nondescript purple perennial or perhaps lavender, and some kind of pink blossom (idk that one was just a space filler). don't ask abt the random petals on his mouth & collarbone uhh theres some kind of flowering tree growing just offscreen it's possible

anyway the morning glories are significant bc they represent sythra, silan's twin sister; in my mind her colors are blue & yellow and it seemed like such a good fit, so i'm officially adding it to the Flower Lore (there is no flower lore)

there is, however, Twin Lore; silan's eyes are brown and sythra's are blue, but when they're telepathically linked their left eyes exchange color (so silan's becomes blue & vice versa). the flowers here are meant to represent that, like sythra isn't here but at the same time silan carries her with him wherever he goes... smth like that

the plot described in the blurb is like, sort of what happens but i simplified things for the sake of a neat little fake manga blurb. nobody asked me to do this yet here we are. if i were being realistic abt it this would probs be like vol 2 BUT i made it the 10th volume bc this is?? the 10th silan portrait??? i did the first one in 2014?? hello??? time is fake (my hc is that it's a slice of life club manga about flower pressing for the first 9 volumes but it pivots hard in vol 10 bc the author got so sick of drawing flowers no i am not projecting-)

now regarding the japanese version: i tried my best*

*(if u or a loved one know japanese ur not allowed to make fun of me ok orz i used 姉妹 bc theres no way for silan & sythra to know who's the older twin & idk what u would do in that situation like do u just pick one & go w it or is there another hierarchy-neutral word for sister, 姉妹 is the best i can do w my limited knowledge and even then it probably just sounds like silan is having twin girls which like good for him but even so if i sound like a dork keep it to urself ok but actually do tell me if u know bc i would like to Learn ik this is probably the least of my worries when it comes to that entire paragraph but rn we are just going to focus on the issues i know about and pretend that everything else is fine as is ok thank u for ur time & have a lovely day ur a star ⭐️)

misc fun facts aka u learn how unhinged i was abt this:

the title is May 16th bc that's just what silan's story has always been called. luckily i have that up my sleeve or i'd have had to come up w smth out of my ass like The Silan Portrait or some shit

the author and publishing company are both called astralibrary yes that's me (it has a nice ring to it as a manga publisher name don't u think). i made up the logo on the spot it's my best work. especially the one in the bottom right of the japanese bar code area where i just typed the name and put a star next to it bc that makes it look professional somehow

i stole borrowed the barcodes from existing manga i have good pics of (bc i have an entire folder in my gallery dedicated to manga covers & jpn typography, unrelated); the english one is hanako-kun vol 4, and the japanese one is after the rain vol 10. i changed all the numerical codes tho (variations on the date 5/16 repeating)

i made up the english prices but i picked ¥640 specifically bc that's the price of the natsuyuu volumes i have in my manga covers folder, my only possible point of reference,

rated teen even tho in my mind it'd be targeted more towards young adults; it doesn't have anything in it that would warrant a mature rating but it does feel strange to categorize it in this way even knowing these ratings don't necessarily dictate the target audience

i thought about messing around w the design of the japanese version more to reflect some of the design sensibilities i've observed in japanese manga, like different placement of the text on the cover or a different spine entirely (since they tend to differ a lot between jpn and eng versions)- i even thought about trying to design an obi (long strip of paper that wraps all the way around the bottom portion of the book, usually has announcements & promotional stuff on it), but that is a whole ass project for another day i think this'll do just fine for now skdjlfkdg

and there u have it, thank u for reading my yearly essay abt drawing i did! sometimes u need to go aaaaaa about smth u drew and that's ok 👌

---

edit: oh yea i forgor i should write transcriptions of the blurbs here we go

ENGLISH

Alone with his thoughts? Not necessarily...

Silan has finally discovered the source of the mysterious voice in his head- the long lost twin sister he never knew he had...?! She calls herself Sythra and she has a serious grudge against him- but they need each other in order to uncover the hidden truths about their past.

Why didn't they know about each other? How were they separated? Why can they hear each other's thoughts?

And... What else don't they know?

-

JAPANESE

双子の姉妹がいる⁉︎

サイランは頭の中の声の衝撃的な正体を知るーーどうやら双子の姉妹がいるらしい⁉︎しかも、なぜか嫌われているようで…頑張れ、サイラン！

どういうわけか、この二人は謎に満ちた過去の答えを一緒に見つけるでしょう。

なぜお互いのことを知らなかったのか？どのようにして離れ離れになったのか？なぜお互いの考えを聞くことができるのか？そして…他に知らないことは…？

待望の第10巻がついに登場！

INTENDED TRANSLATION:

I have a twin sister?!

Silan learns the shocking identity of the voice inside his head- apparently he has a twin sister?! And what's more, for some reason she seems to hate him... Hang in there, Silan!

Somehow, these two will find the answers to their mysterious past together.

Why didn't they know about each other? How did they get separated? Why can they hear each other's thoughts?And...what else do they not know...?

The long-awaited 10th volume is finally here!

[thelonesomequeen]

Still team PR but won't bother to explain because it'd be A LOT to explain  so I'll give the below.

Specially when she’s barely taken advantage of the position she’s in 🤷‍♀️🦎///

👆🏼 That's an American or better phrased Hollywood POV. She's booked 2 Hollywood roles that we know of, MHGTP & Borderline since signing with UTA in 2020. Roles out here won't fall to her feet, she needs to audition & it's not unknown to think you're audtioning when it's all fake, fake audtions set up by your agency, to make it seem to producers that you're getting callbacks when you're not. You have to do whatever you can to get PR, fake auditions, acting classes, networking, rs's, news articles, pap walks, parties, sm engagement etc. anything to get attention for yourself. The public talking about you, in a negative or positive way, is good for you. They comment on articles, videos, your SM & they share those articles or repost those pics & vids of you. They may mention your name on SM or gossip forums. They may search your name or work on a search engine. Whatever the case it's publicity for the celeb = increased visibility. 

I can see why both their agencies took advantage of this PR rs, take a step back & look from the outside in, you'll see how it's working in their favors. I'll only talk about her, Alba's stuck in sexualised & age 16-26 roles. Her Portugal & European agencies only send her roles in that age bracket. She has to break out of that age group & break out of the sexualised mold she's been put in. What better way that linking herself to Captain America. More exposure for her & his fans can do most of the work of getting her name out there. She can look more mature to producers & break out into the European & Holywood film industry. MHGtP was supposed to be her big break but Lucas Bravo took all the shine. He's having a huge breakout career, a hit Netflix show & working on films with some of the biggest A listers. The articles well before linking Alba & Chris in 2021 & all through 2022, look at when & where the articles were emerging. Before new years through the beginning of 2022 then ramped up more towards the fall after she missed out MHGTP. 

You may think she hasn't taken advantage of the increased ecposure but she has. She's filmed 3 roles last year, 2 that fans didn't know, what else did she film last year & what has she been filming this year. She may not be getting callbacks out here but it's working for her in Europe.🤷‍♀️ She's not going going to get the best jobs overnight but this rs is giving her the exposure she needs.

——————————

We’ll have to agree to disagree (and that’s ok) because I don’t see her doing any of the things that you’ve mentioned. I do think that what you’ve listed makes sense, but she hasn’t really been doing those things so it essentially cancels out for me personally. I’d also argue that the public really isn’t talking about this girl, it’s only a small fraction of the fandom. 🦎

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Hawaiian Symbolism, Morgan, TWD Food Videos, and Emily Being in Savannah

More symbolism and SM convos:

@galadrieljones:

Norman did post something the other day, two young actors who are clearly involved in the spin-off, as they were dressed in like ragged apocalypse clothes. One of them was playing and singing Wonderwall by Oasis on a ukulele and looked a little like that actor.

@wdway:

Ummm, Daryl saw a ukulele in the subway tunnel in Acheron Part 2.

@galadrieljones:

Okay just so much TWD stuff on insta today. They’ve been making these cute little promotional videos by AMC that have humorous themes. Todays was “famous food from the walking dead.” Lots of funny things like Dwight’s club sandwich, Carol’s cookies, Jerry’s cobbler, Negan’s spaghetti, etc. Also featured are Daryl’s snake jerky, with Beth yet again featured saying the line (“Enjoy you snake jerky…”) and also featured was White Trash Brunch from Alone. So much Beth love.

She is the only character to be shown in two different famous food scenes !

True!! The Hawaii reference. Dales RV is like full of Hawaii references, too. Hmm.

Also the Hawaiian dancer on the dash of Isobel’s helicopter? Am I remembering that right?

Or no, the van, the MRAP, has a Hawaiian dancer on the dash.

@wdway:

The hula dancer and also with a ukulele there was a sign saying aloha.

@galadrieljones:

Something important here for sure. Definitely a link to the CRM.

@wdway:

Tarah, what things in Dale's RV that were Hawaiian references?

@galadrieljones:

Trying to find my screenshots!

What Lies Ahead

@wdway

Am I correct in what you said about the food that there were two favorite food clips from Daryl both included Beth?

@galadrieljones:

Yes you are! Snake jerky and white trash brunch.

Here’s a link to the reel! Idk if you can watch without an acct but you can try https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoIom-RPdbp/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

@wdway:

I never noticed. I love that they're all Beth colors.

Thanks for the link I was able to watch. That's so cool. It's as if they want us to associate Daryl with Beth.

@galadrieljones:

Right I was trying to think of other Daryl foods. The peanut butter in Dwight’s room at the sanctuary came to mind. Ofc that’s a callback to white trash brunch.

@wdway:

Definitely or a reminder again of Beth since she's the one in Alone that took the peanut butter.

@galadrieljones:

It’s so devastating. Hearts Still Beating is such a major moment of descent for Daryl. How they corrupt the peanut butter, a Beth symbol, to show how he doesn’t enjoy it. He’s just like shoving it in his mouth for survival. He then kills that guy in cold blood. Peanut butter is also a Morgan thing. Why is he so connected to Beth??

@wdway:

Morgan is definitely connected to Beth. I've always thought he found her when she was left in the car after Grady. But that's a very long ramble that's been rambled many times, haha.

@galadrieljones:

That would definitely be cool. I also feel it means he could see her first, recognize her. Morgan is often seen around arrows and traffic signs. I know I’m a broken record but I see him as a navigator. Like someone to follow closely. He knows the way. I read some of the old theories about how he had gurneys at his hideout.

That maybe he knew about Grady or had heard something about it. Like maybe he and Dwayne were trying to get there. Maybe he was near Atlanta when he found her. Afterward he ended up at Terminus, followed the carvings to the church. I can’t remember if there’s any indication as to where Eastman lives. The woods between Macon and Atlanta seem endless.

It’s always been interesting to me that he encounters Daryl first when he gets to Virginia.

Oh and per Morgan’s arrows, twice they are specifically yellow. There are arrows with yellow fletching in Clear and a big yellow arrow in Eastman’s house. He’s also seen in front of yellow traffic arrows in Good Out Here, the episode of Fear where Nick Clark dies. It’s maybe a yellow brick road reference. But I think it also is meant to conjure out memories of Beth, who wore yellow. Daryl is also seen with the arrows with yellow fletching. They’re at his house in Alexandria near his work bench.

Sorry I said twice above but it’s really three times lol.

@wdway:

It's funny that you see Morgan as a Navigator. I have always thought of him as a prophet which is very similar if you think about it. I just have always felt that there's too many hints around Morgan that relate to Beth that there has to be some type of connection.

I was just thinking the other night with the announcement that this is the last season of Fear and how this is also the first season that they filmed in Savannah, Georgia and how we saw that posting of Beth excuse me Emily taken in Savannah. She said she was in Savannah at a wedding. In the picture she was wearing the same top that she wore on TTD the first time of the two times that she was a guest for s11. We know how she loves to tell us exactly where she is. Unless she doesn't want us to know where she is. I guess all these little things laid up to I really am looking forward to Fear and what it might reveal.

@twdmusicboxmystery:

Same! It would be SOO cool if she showed up in Fear. EVERYone would then tune into the Daryl spin-off bc we would know she was alive but also would know that Daryl doesn’t. That would be awesome!

@galadrieljones:

I also love Morgan as a prophet. With all his breaking the fourth wall instances, he’s like a prophet to tptb. Through a Biblical lens I see him as the prophet Jonah, the original Christ archetype who tried to avoid his responsibilities and ended up being caught in a storm and swallowed by a whale.

Also I agree with you both about Fear. I almost feel it would be too good to be true if she showed up there.

But like I can’t forget how she was in Savannah. And she was wearing that sweater. I remember too it was weird because she posted herself in Savannah, then like a week later she posted herself in a cute dress for her hallmark movie promo tour.

She mentioned specifically she got the dress in Savannah where she had been for a wedding. It just felt weird like that maybe someone had said something, like be careful ppl will pick up on the fact you were in Savannah. And so she felt the need to say why she was there. She never said why she was in Montreal for example. She posts herself in a lot of locations with no explanation. So why Savannah?

@wdway:

I have had the exact same thoughts about Emily mentioning Savannah. It just seem so purposeful of a explanation of why she was where she was when normally she might state where she is without an explanation as you mentioned about her being in Montreal. It almost felt like it was over thought about. How people might realize that she was in Savannah at the same time as Fear was filming and think it was a bit of a coincidence.

It's like someone loudly saying "don't look, don't look" which only makes you look more closely. The other coincidence was in the picture she is wearing the TTD sweater. I don't remember anyone mentioning that she had worn it in many pictures from other locations. Just a lot of litte odd things that makes a person wonder.

Speaking of wondering has there been any more mention of Montreal and what she was working on?

@galadrieljones:

Agreed!! Also per Montreal, there’s been no mention specifically. However she has a new hallmark movie coming out, and I am wondering if that was it.

[susan-enthusiast]

I have a lot of things bottled up about Monsters Vs Aliens, so here they are!

They must've spent MONTHS or idk, it might of been easy for them, to animate Susan's hair, they really went into detail. I absolutely love how they did that

How this movie was about finding yourself and overcoming challenges in your lifetime.

Loved how Susan realized she didn't need Derek. She really inspired me as a young kid that I didn't need a man to succeed in life

HOW PRETTY SUSAN IS! I love the way she was animated <3

(I'll never get over her, she was my first childhood crush)

I loved all the monsters backstories

How Insectosaurus is a callback to Godzilla/Mothra

Link is obviously The Creature from The Black Lagoon

Susan is the Attack of the 50 foot woman

I FORGOT WHAT DR COCKROACH WAS

Loved the attention to detail of The Golden Gate Bridge

(This summer, possibly, I could be visiting California! Definitely seeing the Golden Gate, Modesto, Fresno, etc)

Anyway, that's it!

[androshchuk-run]

What are CPA networks?

Advertising has proven to be effective. That's why today there are a lot of advertising platforms for advertisers to attract even more customers. CPA networks are a place where you can order advertising from third-party contractors. Therefore, in this article, I decided to understand in more detail what a CPA network is.

Affiliate programmes or CPA networks are a service that acts as an intermediary between an advertiser (seller) and a webmaster (partner) and places ads on its own platforms. CPA (cost per action) stands for cost per action.

CPA networks are platforms where an advertiser pays money if a user performs a necessary action on the website when they go through the traffic channel provided by the affiliate. This can be a purchase, ordering, registration, requesting a callback, downloading an app, etc.

Advertisers are primarily interested in cooperation with pay per lead. Here it is important to choose a CPA network that guarantees high-quality traffic in order not to waste money and drain the advertising budget.

CPA networks bring advertisers and webmasters together on one platform for cooperation. The customer pays the CPA network provider a fixed fee or percentage (specified in the contract) for each targeted action performed by the user.

How to cooperate with CPA networks?

Large companies and brands cooperate with various resources through CPA networks. These can be blogs, news and information websites. CPA networks organise communication between the advertiser and the contractor. Given the number of offers, it is inconvenient to do it manually. That is why "offer aggregators" or CPA networks for webmasters have appeared.

A CPA network enters into an agreement with any online resource for the placement of ad units. The advertiser places an offer or TOR (terms of reference) for the webmaster. After checking it, the CPA network grants access to webmasters. CPA network agents accept the task if it corresponds to the topic of the website or works in a given niche. When a client comes from a certain ad unit and performs a targeted action (conversion), the webmaster receives payment.

CPA networks perform the following functions:

searching for and attracting advertisers;

search for responsible webmasters, excluding unscrupulous employees;

traffic arbitrage, calculation of targeted processes, analytics of advertising efficiency;

analysis of webmasters' performance;

creation of advertising materials, if necessary;

calculation of the average payment for a targeted action;

determining the terms and conditions.

The scheme of CPA networks is simple and looks like this: the owner of CPA networks buys traffic, receives leads and resells them to the seller of goods and services. The popularity of the CPA network where the advertisement is placed determines the advertising rate.

Ways to earn money on CPA networks?

To earn money, you can register in any CPA network. The list of CPA networks is wide, so you need to choose which one suits you. There are several ways to make money on CPA networks.

OWN WEBSITE, LANDING PAGE

It can be a simple one-page website with a narrow offer. You can also create an informational or useful blog, a forum, where users will come from. It is worth noting that this method is long-term - you need to promote your website with SEO to increase not only the volume of traffic but also its quality.

Webmasters place links to CPA networks on their own websites and attract traffic directly from search engines. There are practically no risks here, and you can also connect other monetisation methods provided by CPA networks. The disadvantages include the time spent and the complexity of implementation, as you need to develop your project from scratch.

SOCIAL NETWORKS

Posts in groups and personal pages attract interested users to CPA networks. Social networks can be considered a good source of targeted traffic for CPA networks. You can also run targeted advertising here. In order to make money on CPA networks on social networks, you should pay attention to the development of the page, choose thematic affiliate programmes for CPA networks that are close to the niche.

TRAFFIC ARBITRAGE

This is a quick way to make money in CPA networks by selling traffic. The main meaning of this method is: cheap to buy - expensive to sell. To make money on CPA networks, you need to get leads cheaper than the CPA network that will buy them from you.

There are many risks here, as it is possible to waste your advertising budget on traffic acquisition without making a single purchase. On the other hand, you can get a bigger profit from one offer at once.

CPA networks sometimes set restrictions and allow webmasters to use traffic arbitrage. For example, CPA networks do not allow contextual advertising, since the customer already launches advertising campaigns and spends additional funds.

It is normal for beginners to fail to earn a lot of money in CPA networks right away. In this work, you need to improve your skills in working with advertising of this format. To earn income with CPA, you need to spend less on traffic purchase than the webmaster will receive from the advertiser.

Who is a CPA network for?

CPA networks are a part of online marketing. Most often, the CPA network system will be of interest to businesses that are engaged in mass production with a wide geographical distribution and a competitive price. These include online stores, online gaming platforms, bookmakers, travel agencies, booking services, and online learning sites.

Who is not suitable for CPA networks? Companies that offer narrow-profile products or work in the B2B sector. If you decide to use CPA networks for cooperation, it is important to track the completion of the target action. You should also check CPA networks for fraud and install protection.

Payment models in CPA networks

The most popular payment models in CPA networks include:

Cost per Lead (CPL) - a payment model that pays only for a lead. This format implies not only conversion but also customers who have confirmed and left contact details for communication.

Cost per Click (CPC) - the advertiser pays for a click on the advert that the user clicks on. The cost per click is calculated according to the auction system.

CPM (Cost per mille) - the price per 1 thousand ad impressions.

CPS (Cost per Sale) - the cost of one paid order, already made sale.

CPI (Cost per Install) - the price of installing an application. Calculate the price for the target action

To calculate the price for a targeted action in the CPA network, you should use the formula:

CPA = advertising costs / number of target audience * 100% (if you want to calculate the percentage)

What does targeted action mean?

The advertiser pays only for the client who performs the action specified by the advertiser. A targeted action in a CPA network leads to a complete conversion.

It can be:

conversion of a user who visited the website into a lead;

sale of goods with payment;

request for a call;

subscription to the newsletter;

installation of an application;

filling out and submitting a form on the website;

going to a certain section/page.

Other targeted actions according to the CPA model include watching a video, filling out a questionnaire, adding an item to the basket, downloading a file, or an infographic.

Tools of CPA networks

CPA networks use various tools to attract customers:

remarketing

product recommendation service

promotional codes and discounts

generation of banners and ads based on feeds

abandoned shopping cart tracking tool for retargeting and emailing returning visitors

chat agents

Each of the CPA networks uses different sets of tools, but more often than not, affiliate programmes do not differ in a wide variety and duplicate functions.

How to choose the right CPA network?

This is a key question if you do not know what CPA networks are and how to work with them. This applies not only to beginners but also to experienced arbitrageurs. Here are some tips that will help you choose and work with CPA networks.

It is important to pay attention to:

Feedback from other arbitrageurs will help you to understand the weaknesses and strengths of the CPA network and decide whether it is worth working with the affiliate programme.

The presence of own offers indicates the level of the CPA network. If the indicator is high, the affiliate offers favourable rates compared to competitors.

Percentage of approval in the CPA network. A low rate indicates unfavourable conditions and wasted time.

The frequency of new offers and conditions confirms that the CPA network is active.

Minimal restrictions on payments in CPA networks.

The presence of a CPA network commission. You should consider how profitable it is to withdraw your own funds.

The holding period is the time for lead confirmation in CPA networks. Some platforms may delay the approval and pay out money not on time.

High-quality support service of CPA networks. Managers should promptly respond to requests in their personal accounts or messengers.

Bonuses. Some CPA networks hold prize draws.

The best CPA networks are a list of platforms that combine favourable conditions for offers and high-quality service. The management of CPA networks should support arbitrageurs, webmasters, and advertisers at the same time.

What is an offer in CPA networks and why it is necessary

An offer in CPA networks is a commercial offer for a webmaster. It includes all the important information about traffic sources, as well as a description of the affiliate programme, a portrait of the target audience, and commission data for the target action (conversion).

The structure of an offer in CPA networks consists of:

name and description;

traffic restrictions set by the client;

banner and active link;

conditions by traffic sources.

All offers in CPA networks are divided into groups based on the subject matter, for example, financial, gaming, product, etc. The price for an offer in CPA networks varies depending on the topic.

The offer of CPA networks implies a detailed condition under which partners should be involved in order to implement actions.

When choosing an offer, you should pay attention to conversion, approval (upvote), and profit from each transition. The source of traffic should be indicated in the application for connection to the offer.