#this character is like catnip to me seriously

[fuckyeahisawthat]

I think the key to writing Viktor is remembering that we the audience see far more of him than any character in the show does. Including Jayce. "Emotional and super sensitive but very guarded" is the way Harry Lloyd described it, and I think that sums it up very well. The way you show that in a visual medium is by letting the audience see things that no one else does.

Viktor isn't shy or meek at all, but everything intense about him is so contained. He has an expressive face and big big feelings (like, canonically he comes to the conclusion that his problem is having too many goddamn feelings) but we get to see far more of that than he shows to anyone in his life. Seriously, go back and look at the blocking in his scenes and how often we can see his face when no one else in the scene can. Outwardly he can appear confident, calm, earnest, passionate, wryly funny--at least until he gets too sick to hide his exhaustion and pain. Meanwhile anything that might express a vulnerability, a need, is tucked away where no one can see it.

All those sneaky glances and yearning looks thrown at Jayce? Jayce doesn't see them. Usually there is no one else there either. All his interactions with the Hexcore--the frustration, fear, reckless determination; the apprehension and then triumph of running on the dock? He's alone. Crying over Sky, curled up in a ball on the floor? Alone. Everything in the astral plane--the open curiosity and wonder, the casual physical closeness with Sky's and Vander's astral bodies, the despair after Jayce rejects him? Alone. Astral Sky isn't real; she's a figment made up either by the Hexcore or by his own brain (I think either interpretation works) to make him feel less alone. I 100% believe that no one whose mind he looks into is allowed to look back at him, up until the few moments at the end where he allows Jayce to see him.

When he's angry--and he does get angry--it's a cold, still anger. Contained. He glares and his tone gets sharp but he doesn't so much as raise his voice. He doesn't shout or use big gestures. The one time we see something that might be considered an outburst (when he slams his fist on the desk and scatters his notes in frustration at trying to understand the Hexcore), he is (1) desperate and scared, (2) very clearly angry at himself, and (3) once again, alone.

A bit of a tangent but I think it fits here: this extends to his physicality with his mobility aids too. I realized that the reason "Viktor whacks people with his cane" always bumps me in fics is not just that Viktor isn't casually mean like that--although he's not. It's that when it comes to habitual, everyday movements, he never uses his cane or crutch for anything other than support. He doesn't gesture with it or use it to grab things or stick it out to stop a door from closing. (Which makes the rare instances when he does use it for something other than support really stand out.) It's not like he's hiding it, but he doesn't do anything to draw extra attention to it. He lets it fade into the background as much as possible, for as long as he's able to. Contained. It's a very specific physicality that I think says a lot about how he's trying to be perceived.

And like, to me, lover of wordless longing and isolated/self-isolating characters (which could mean nothing) all this is fucking catnip for fic material, because prose gives you such easy access to a character's interiority, and then you get to watch them hide things from other characters and deny things to themselves. (Love a character being confidently wrong in the privacy of their own head.)

When I'm writing a new pairing I am often trying to figure out, like, what's the tension? The tension on the relationship can be subtle, but if a smut scene is not popping off for me I often find it's because I haven't correctly identified the tension, or I've released it too early. Sometimes the tension is societal or interpersonal, but often (for me) it's internal. The main thing holding the characters back from uncomplicated enjoyment of each other is themselves, their own traumas or fears or insecurities.

I think something clicked for me with Medicinal where I was like, oh, the dynamic I like for them is when their natural state is to stick together like magnets, and they are constantly having to pull themselves back. Viktor doesn't shy away from Jayce's touch or his attention; he craves it and is constantly having to take that firehose of yearning and reel it back in, because he thinks Jayce doesn't feel the same way. Contain it. Yeah man that's the good shit.

P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't include the god tier example of the kind of Viktor POV I'm always striving toward, Uncover Him by spqr.

[twin-wxngs]

Nightmare Critters counterpart discussion.

{So, before I begin, I would like to point something out. I don't normally do speculation like this to a larger scale. However, I would also point this out as well regarding the discussion of these 16 characters:}

{The nightmare critters are not really counterparts. They are just another group like smiling critters. So! With that in mind, this topic is just for fun. So with that out of the way, let's begin under the cut. We'll be going in release order.}

When looking for counterparts for the Nightmare Critters, you have to look at their negative traits and find what clashes with them. Now, I could be wrong about some of these, but this is my take on them.

1. Baba Chops

Baba doesn't exactly like being outside. And while her friends tend to convince her after loads of trying, she seems to dip back into the same recluse we seem to see her as. Because of the fact she prefers her alone time compared to spending time with her friends leads to me believe that her counterpart is none other than the leader of the Smiling Critters: Dogday.

Dogday essentially embodies everything that Baba doesn't like doing. Spending time with his friends, being outside and having fun with others. That's what he loves the most, being there for his friends. On top of that, Baba would be that kind of person who wouldn't like having a leader role and would push it on to someone else if it meant she'd have her space.

One other thing to note, is that Baba's scent is Anise. If you don't know, Anise is a plant that is actually very unhealthy for dogs when consumed too much. However, it is also seen as a dog's catnip, making them more happy and energetic to an alarming degree.

2. Icky Licky

Icky from the looks of his description, is a very gifted individual with actual good merits. However, the problem is his attitude when making competition with others. He seems to be the type to make multiple excuses, pin them on any excuse, and maybe even pin it on other people just to say he didn't lose. As competitive as he is, he's a spoilsport with a knack for making multiple pleading cases because he doesn't want to lose. The person I can see him clashing with on this scale is Hoppy.

You see, Hoppy is energetic and sporty as well. Although the difference between her and Icky is the fact that she wouldn't really take losses that seriously. She loves sports, but she loves sharing those sports with her friends. While they're both competitive, Hoppy would actually take the loss like a champ and swear she'd win next time. And trust me, she means that.

Minor note, but both of them are animals that do a lot of hopping and jumping, if it helps you see what I'm saying.

3. Rabie Baby

Now, Rabie's counterpart doesn't really seem all that obvious. But let's take a look at what she says. She loves secrets, and she loves to blab about them to their friends. Unfortunately it seems that Rabie's big mouth of hers might seem to get her into trouble. She doesn't know boundaries, and seems to constantly push into blabbing about others because she loves to do so. I can think of one person for this, and it's Bobby.

Bobby is like the tight knit, responsible older sister of the group. She knows her friends boundaries and makes sure they're okay mentally when they're feeling down. Everyone goes to and trusts her to keep things quiet, essentially the therapist of the group. Meaning, she does know her fair share of secrets about her friends, but she keeps that kind of thing to herself, because she doesn't want to start anything. And come on, that's rude.

4. Allister Gator

Allister is definitely what you would call a lazybones by heart. He doesn't risk wanting to try anything if it means it won't bring him anything good about it. Essentially, if it doesn't benefit him, he won't do it, because he's waiting for the right thing to come by and be good for him. He's essentially a slouch that doesn't really want to put any effort, because he thinks he's good as he is. Which is a stark contrast to Kickin.

Kickin, believe it or not, is a coward who is afraid to try new things. However, this also makes him a little bit lazy too as a result. Because of this persona he has when wanting to be seen as the cool one, he's going to push through it and do anything to be seen as cool among his peers. He may not be the most courageous, but he puts in an effort to try to be, because good things will happen if you put in enough effort. And he makes an effort to try and stand out, unlike Allister here.

5. Simon Smokes

Simon is definitely one of those people that wants to be seen, but the thing is, there's something deeper going on here. You see, the way he carries himself and the fact he seems to want attention, to pay close eyes to his accomplishments makes him a bit.. desperate. Keep in mind, dragons aside from breathing fire, are known for hoarding treasure. Because of this, you could say his pendant embodies his greed for attention and gratification, which is quite opposite of Crafty.

You're all gonna kill me for this, but I'm saying it anyway. And no, it has nothing to do with them being the two mythical creatures of the group. It's moreso how they carry themselves about their talents. Compared to Simon, Crafty is more closed off about the things she likes to do. Although she wants friends, she doesn't know how to make them either, but doesn't want to bother people either, making her a bit of recluse. But the thing is, she's good at what she does, but doesn't outright gloat about it either. She'd only talk about it if you asked, being more humble and modest, probably saying it's not that good. Unlike Simon, who thinks he's on top of it all.

6. Poe

Poe definitely isn't having a phase. Jokes aside, they seem to be quite unlikable towards daylight, and seem to prefer being at night. In a sense, you could see Poe as a bit of a night owl, with the irony that they're not an owl. By the sounds of it, Poe would be the one out of the Nightmare Critters with a nocturnal schedule, wanting to be awake at night, and asleep during the day, but let's be real. If Baba's persistent friends are anything to be taken out of context, they don't let Poe do this. Which is funny, because I don't think Catnap would either. .

If you haven't forgotten, Catnap's whole deal is sleeping at appropriate times. He makes sure everyone is well rested before they have a good day of playing and having fun, which is the balance he shares with Dogday. He wouldn't like it if they were suddenly awake at night like this, especially if they have no reason to. Catnap's love for sleeping at night is both a duty and a passion, even if he's still a cat. Which you know, he takes naps during the day. Poe would probably hate this guy due to his insistence on sleeping at appropriate times.

7. Touille

Touille, despite appearing to be a glutton, is honestly more of an oddball with disgusting tastes. It's been said that seems to talk everyone's ears off when it comes to talking about his favorite thing: trash. He likes eating it, but I imagine he also likes to collect it as much as he loves talking about it. Although he's not smart in a traditional book smart sense, he seems to make up for that fact in street smarts. The difference in that scope of knowledge would contrast beautifully with Bubba.

Now you see, Bubba is what you'd call a textbook smart individual. Research? History? Document, he's your elephants and seems to know quite a lot on that side. The problem is, like Touille, he seems to talk a bit too much whether you like it or not. But unlike Touille, he doesn't really know how to apply that knowledge in a street setting. He'd prefer being in a library compared to the dump. But unlike Bubba, Touille would probably eat a book instead of read it, if it looked unsalvageable enough.

Another minor note, but Elephants don't really like rodents. If you remember they're too small for them to see, which kinda helped me make a connection.

8. Maggie Mako

Maggie usually has one thing on her mind: food. And not the good kind of food, if we're talking from a health perspective. She seems to be insanely selective about what she eats, and prefers a LOT of junk food, and is unapologetically rude about it. It's safe to say that I don't think she plans on shaping up anytime soon. Although, this would definitely irk the likes of Picky.

Picky is the other side of the caring duo that makes her and Bobby. She's been known to make sure her friends aren't selective of their food, and is actually quite healthy herself. She and Bobby care about that immensely, with Bobby caring about your mental health, and Picky caring about your physical health from a food standpoint. And who could blame her? Watching the things you eat determines how fit you'll be. I don't think she'd appreciate Maggie tossing away the veggies, or other healthy foods she gives her.

{And I believe that is it. What do you think? Do you agree with me or not? It's fine if you don't, but I don't think I want to debate this. I've been doing this on discord for too long waiting for them all to come out. So, feel free to discuss your own thoughts with peers. Personally, Kickin and Hoppy's positions could go either way, but the others I'm sure of. Still! Have fun speculating!}

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Okay, I've Read Worm: A Retrospective Part 5: What Was I Fucking Surprised By?

So, as you may remember, I got into Worm thoroughly spoiled by the wiki and Wormblr and r/parahumans and r/Wormfanfic and actual Worm fanfic. I knew pretty much all the basic details of all the plot twists. And yet, of course, there are things I didn't expect, things the fandom or the wiki mislead me about, etc. Things I was surprised by.

So let's talk about a few:

Taylor Hebert: As I've said, I kind of worried, before reading Worm, that I'd find Taylor insufferable. The sort of character that tries to be a hero and then convinces themselves to do all sorts of bad stuff while telling themselves they're still a hero/good person/etc is hard to write well without being really unpleasant to read/watc/etc. Self-righteousness in general is hard to enjoy for me. Taylor, honestly, stops thinking of herself as a good person partway through the post-Levi period, in most ways, and she never gets self-righteous about it. So Taylor was much more sufferable than I thought. Which is good, because I would have dropped Worm like a hot potato if she'd been insufferable as the main POV.

Eidolon & The Endbringers: (Sounds like a band name). The whole 'you needed Worthy opponents' thing, and the way people talked about Eidolon (seriously, this fandom as a whole is hugely unfair to the guy, istg) really gave me the impression of like, this vainglorious piece of shit guy who wants adulation and doesn't care how he gets it. And like... I don't get that impression from his Interlude at all? He doesn't seem to give two shits about fame, just about knowing what he did mattered. And he knew that well before the Endbringers. Obviously, he subconsciously created them, and then [High Priest] got all goddamn malicious in his compliance but he's not the vainglorious asshole who charges off to face Scion in single combat or w/e the way the fanfiction gave me that impression. Also, like, maybe it's just me, but I define 'Worthy Opponent' as 'something the person could have a reasonable chance of defeating in a solo fight'. So for me, a worthy opponent would be a rowdy 12 year old with maybe a white belt in karate. the Endbringers are not solo-able opponents for Eidolon. So absolutely not doing what he actually wanted. I really think the fandom is unfairly hard on Eidolon.

Interlude 15.x: Look, at the risk of starting discourse - I'm sorry. I've read 15.x Backwards and forwards and there is just Nothing pointing towards rape in the text, even looking for it as I was. I really expected I'd see some line, some implication, some fucking hint and there's just... absolutely nothing. The text of Worm as written, whatever Wildbow claims he meant and whatever he did mean, does not support a rape interpretation of events. And that sure as fuck surprised me.

Extinction 8.6: The way people - and even some fics - talked about the scene where Amy messes with Taylor post-Leviathan made it sound like Amy straight up ripped off Taylor's mask or something extreme like that, and then Taylor sees unmasked Sophia while trying to run and hide after being unmasked. What we got was Amy being a bit of a bitch, deliberately refusing to answer a question Taylor asked because she knew not answering would upset the girl (not cool), Amy's bedside manner being shit, and Taylor's own paranoia (and the godawful choice of the heroes to handcuff her to the bed) filling in the blanks. And this absolutely tepid-ass shit is pointed to by people as proof that 'Amy was a bitch the whole time'.

The Leviathan Fight: It was a lot shorter than I expected. I enjoyed reading it in ways I was worried I wouldn't.

Cauldron: Now, here's the thing. Characters that do bad things, knowing they're bad, but in pursuit of a greater good? That shit is my goddamn jam. I fucking love characters like that. They're my catnip! And I went into Worm sympathetic as FUCK to Cauldron. and I come out of Worm going 'Jesus Christ what a bunch of fucking idjits!' Their shoestring illuminati was run by a bunch of teenagers who never grew up and a college student who's a worse control freak than Taylor. Their incompetence appears to be the whole point (until Wildbow's WoGs turned everything into Cauldron social engineering and he went out of his way to make a big thing about how Cauldron was totes necessary for making things better. Man just cannot shut up). They try for decades to put some final fight against Scion together, and they fail epicly. No groundwork, no real success, and they turned to ACCORD for their post-apocalyptic plans. And apparently had no plan for a mass Case-53 breakout/attack. Which is... sure a choice. Dumping the Case-53s the way they did. The choice of which Case 53s to dump (Sveta sure was a choice of who to just... let out into the world. Like, not an issue with her personally, but you don't release that kind of uncontrollable murder tentacle out into the world, maybe? Just maybe?). I went into Worm thinking I'd be on Cauldron's side, at least a little, and I came out just... god no, you people are stupid.

Amy's Birdcage Arc: I really thought we'd see more of Amy's time in the birdcage, but 16.z really was all we got.

Alexandria's Death: I don't quite know what I did expect, but I didn't expect Alexandria's death to be so goddamn Darwin-award worthy. The woman died like the biggest of CHUMPs and that was much funnier than I expected.

The Drugs are Fantastic line: I knew it was being taken out of context, but it wasn't quite in the place I expected, I'll be honest. Not sure what I did expect.

Taylor's Weaver Arc/The Timeskip: I expected... I dunno. Less of an abrupt transition, I guess? I thought the timeskip would be like, a series of small scenes skipping ahead over two years between them? Instead, right in the middle of Arc 25, it just jumps ahead two years without ceremony. Did not expect that. At all.

Slaughterhouse Nine: I was not prepared for just how goddamn boring the Nine were. I don't think I read any spoilers about how Jack Slash being boring af was the point until I'd already started the S9 arc, but I especially didn't expect how pathetically bland as characters Manny the Kinless and Burnscar and Crawler and Sibby the Friendly Neighborhood Cannibal would be. Cherish managed to be interesting by being such a failure, and Bonebitch, to my eterntal frustration, managed to be funny, but the rest? Also, I thought Manton would die in the Bay, rather than be killed unceremoniously offscreen while in Boston.

The Butcher: For a character who appears in all of two chapters, the Butcher has a much larger presence in the fandom. But that is Worm for you, because groups like the Elite and the Fallen also show up more in the fics than their presence in the main story merits (Though the Fallen have more of a presence in Ward, even if I gather Ward kinda sorta retcons like half the details or at least presents irreconcilable visions of the organization)

Empire 88: They were way out of focus, compared to how much they appear in fics. But it is fun in fics to see Nazis get beat up all the time, so this is valid. But also, like, even their post-Levi remnants were weaksauce af. Someone in a server the other day said that taking out Marquis took out an entire faction, and that Levi proved that taking out Kaiser (or Allfather before him) doesn't stop the Empire, gesturing to the Aryan's Chosen and the Pure as proof but like... lbr. Both groups were pretty damn pathetic in the post-Leviathan bay. Regardless, I expected to see more of the Nazis getting beat in Worm itself, and we really didn't. But this is one time where I don't care, because as I said, seeing Nazis get beaten up over and over again in the fanfic is fun.

Ward: I was worried reading and finishing Worm might make me want to read Ward. Thankfully, it did not. *whew*

Now, there are probably others, but nothing else as major. But there are also some things I just plain wasn't surprised by.

Amy Dallon: I went into Worm expecting her to be my blorbo, and that didn't change. She's definitely my character type. I feel the same about her storyline in Worm as I did going into it.

Tattlebitch: I expcted to hate her, and I stayed hating her. Lisa sucks. Like, she has her redeeming moments and features, but overall, I still hate Lisa.

Carol Dallon: My Sympathy for Carol remains about as theoretical as it always was.

The PRT/Protectorate: I suspected the PRT/Protectorate was not as useless and incompetent and ACAB as a lot of fics painted it and... I was right.

My Ultimate Opinion: I went into Worm thinking it wasn't really for me, but that I'd probably find it well written and that many characters would be engaging. I figured it would have massive gaping plot holes and that I would never find it to be the 'amazeballs perfect wonderful' that some people seem to find it. And yeah, I was right about that too.

[literary-illuminati]

2025 Book Review #16 – Southern Bastards Book 1 by Jason Aaron and Jason Latour

My goal of reading a non-mainstream-superhero comic book hardcover a month is very rapidly exceeding the number of non-mainstream superhero comic books I’ve ever actually heard of. So this was a recommendation from a friend on tumblr, opened with absolutely no expectations of what I would find inside. And going in with zero expectations, this was a good read! The end of the first arc genuinely took me by surprise in a way not much fiction does these days, and the general atmosphere and character work is all great.

The story opens with the middle-aged and disillusioned-about-everything Earl Tubb returning to his father’s ramshackle home in the rural and impoverished Craw Country, Alabama, to pack up his belongings and clear the place out after his uncle had a stroke. His father was the town’s former sheriff, who took the job far too seriously and got himself killed over it. Having run away to join the army, Earl is returning decades later only under duress – but despite his best efforts, finds himself sticking his nose into the rot and crime that now defines life in the county. The end of the first arc is his feud with Boss, the coach of the universally beloved high school football team, and the crime lord and uncrowned king of Craw County. The second arc then jumps back a few decades to show just where Boss came from and how he clawed his way up to where he is now. Throughout, there’s a constant drumbeat of brutal violence, bigotry both petty and grand, and football. So, so much football.

The heart and soul of the story is Craw County itself, and the whole sort of rural southern region it represented (one where Birmingham Alabama is ‘the big city’). It is a portrayal that is so cynical and on the nose my initial read was that it was more mean-spirited satire than attempt at real representation – but, while it’s certainly a bit exaggerated, the letters section of the end of each issue is always bursting with lifelong southerners talking about how familiar and compelling a setting it is and how close to home it feels. Which just adds a whole extra layer to the reading experience, really. In any case, the extremely unsentimental betrayal of just how casually bigoted (racist, homophobic, etc) everyday life is makes me curious how Earl’s biracial daughter (who looks set to be a major character in the next arc) will be handled going forward.

This is a crime story, to an extent, but really it’s character drama that happens to be in a place where crime and corruption and violence are just the rules of the game. Though maybe it’s better to call it a collection of tragedies – the two arcs so far have been a man utterly destroyed by his virtue and pigheaded stubbornness in an act of totally futile valor, and one consumed and bled of everything admirable in him by his ambition and his spite. In neither case does any sort of karmic justice or outside authority setting things aright seem likely. Which I adore, to be clear – this sort of establishing someone’s basic character and then watching it ruin them over the course of four issues is catnip to me.

This is I believe the least ‘genre’ comic book I have ever read – no ghosts, gods, superheroes or aliens to be seen! A setting that is ostensibly our own world (and a very run-down and washed out portrayal of it, at that)! - which is a bit ironic, really. It’s not like ‘crime melodrama’ isn’t one of the archetypal lowbrow sorts of fiction ‘genre fiction’ was initially used to denigrate. Might as well be reading a cowboy story. And you can very much see the debt and lines of connection this owes to the superhero stories that both author and artist seem to have made their career on – the first arc centring on Earl, especially, is just a mask and a happy ending from being an origin story. There’s an iconic, history-freighted and serendipitously acquired weapon he starts wielding as he takes up his father’s metaphorical mantle! Hell, the crime lord’s anonymous muscle all wear anonymizing costumes, even! (Football uniforms with the helmet on, in this case). The story is overwhelmingly concerned with the heroic drive to set yourself against what seems like the whole world, and the violence that unfailingly ensues when you do. I’m deeply curious if the second book will build up to a more positive vision of it, or keep the tragic sensibility.

This is not, visually, a particularly beautiful book – but I don’t really think it’s trying to be. The art does an excellent job making Craw County seem dingy and run-down as it’s introduced, and honestly I can’t really say if most of the cast is ugly or if this is just the first comic book I’ve ever read with a realistic variety of body shapes and senses of fashion, and characters with less-than-perfect skin. In any event, the effect is very worn-down and lived in, except for the very stylized moments of high contention and violence (and/or football), where the composition gets much more interesting, the art much more symbolic, and the blood extremely plentiful.

Anyway, all in all an odd little number. Recommended if you like comic books and crime dramas, or are just sick and tired of costumes and capes. Or even if you’re only apathetic to comics but really love character drama and brutal violence (and high school football) in the rural south.

[ameraincandy]

--𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨!

Synopsis: The genshin boys & their catgirl behind closedoors~

!tw!: nsfw, mentions of smoking, mentions of the forbidden leaf, mentions of high and venti being a crackhead and consuming catnip.

Characters-! Kazuha, Venti

Author's note: finally back from being sick! Can't wait to post again<3

Seriously, what was he thinking about bringing a random girl from the streets onto his home?

Alright maybe he does have to admit that you were easy on the eye...yet imagine his surprise when he saw you sprout cat ears and a tail while rummaging through his refrigerator for that tuna sandwich he was going to have for dinner! So either way; he doesn't have the heart to throw you out, so he opted to keep you instead. It wasn't going to be easy that's for sure...but at least he would have his own “fun” punishing you.

| 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡! 𝐊𝐚𝐳𝐮𝐡𝐚 🎀

Not only did you have a reliable master- a pretty one too at that!

Although it does add the burden of fending off unwanted admirers who stink up his scent! Can't he see that those hussies are just a waste of his time? He has to realize that they're not the ones who wait an absurd amount of time for him to come home after he disappears to the strange hell that's college! Seriously, Kazuha doesn't know how selfish he's being by leaving his kitty unattended all alone with only the various gifts he spoiled her. Why, only his catgirl can definitely take on the weird punishments that her master seems to enjoy implementing...

Yet- speaking of punishments, surely Kazuha wouldn't get upset over seeing his ruined thesis paper ripped on the floor...it was just the heat of the moment after seeing one of those floozies right at his door to seemingly deliver the papers he left.

Yeah right, like hell you could believe that! Those girls are just there to throw themselves onto your master! Annd... before you could notice, said thesis is ripped in pieces. Maybe he wouldn't get mad, after all he makes a ton of those papers, surely one being destroyed wouldn't hurt right?

NSFW under this!

The jingling of keys could be heard along with a click on the door to reveal a somewhat disheveled Kazuha inviting himself in your shared apartment; placing a hand on his hair to push it back lazily before calling out to you in a daze.

“Kitty? Are you-yawn...still awake perhaps?“ Upon hearing your master softly call your name, your cat ears perked up as the bell on your choker toiled to make your presence known to him, greeting him with a warm hug all the while stirring him awake, yet making him melt in the hug with a soft sigh.

“I'm here!~ Welcome home Kazuha, It must've been a tiresome day for you hmm..?“

While in the embrace of an innocent hug, you mischievously smothered him in your breasts with the intention to not only wipe off the stench of other girls on his clothes, but to also distract him from seeing the ruined thesis paper on the floor! Aside from your internal panic, Kazuha could clearly see past the excuses of affection that you were showing him in...But he couldn't deny the growing arousal of his from the touch of your soft body, chuckling on the side of your nape.

“Dearest, what are you hiding from me...?“

Kazuha just loved teasing you to the tip of his cock heart, seeing your flustered reactions really was the highlight of his college days and even brightened up some of his stressful weeks of the semester, and he's certainly planning on not stopping anytime soon so to further incite panic on his cute kitty girl, Kazuha pulled himself away from your chest and places himself onto your shoulder, earning to hear a well-deserved squeal out of you as he playfully makes several clicks with the tip of his tongue.

“Oh dear, have you been misbehaving in my absence? You know I don't tread lightly with any misdemeanor of yours...“

The pitch in his voice steeped to a low octave as the loving grip on your waist began to harshly mark crescendos in the flesh, restraining your movements as he led you to the door of his bedroom, a sinister smile growing on Kazuha's lips as he hushed your panic cries.

”Shhh shh...stop trying to resist, you deserve this don't you..?” Kazuha brazenly wiped the tears from your weeping form as a dark seductive laugh escapes from his lips, coming from such a mesmerizing face and flowery words...you hadn't noticed that Kazuha already unlocked the bedroom door and you swiftly landed on his bed.

By then, what snapped you awake was the apparent sound of clothes ripping and the wide physical shock from seeing your master already placed in between your legs, biting and sucking so harshly on the supple flesh that you're sure blood would appear.

“K-kazuha haah...! sniff enough please! It hurts!...hic- sssso much! Ssssoso!-“ You wail a panicked cry on deaf ears as Kazuha slapped your exposed clit with an amused smile, tutting at your whining.

“Ah ah ahhh~ you know that isn't my name in this situation, say it correctly and I just might go gentle for tonight's punishment...♡“

Kazuha playfully mused as he briefly blew a wisp of cold air on your exposed cunt, causing you to shiver violently from the sensation with a yelp.

“M-mreow Hah! Master! P-please go gentle on me~“ You mewled desperately that you haven't felt your fluffy cat tail wrap around his wrist that delayed another teasing on your puffy clit, to Kazuha's distaste.

“You disappoint me kitten...haven't I told you to stop resisting? Enticing me with that sweet voice of yours won't make things better either...” Kazuha sighed before cruelly plunging three fingers inside your vulva with no warning. Before you could even realize the tears swelling in your eyes, all you felt was the painful stretch of his slender fingers inside your gummy walls. The bed then creaked slightly as Kazuha adjusted himself on your pathetic form to nibble on your fluffy cat ears to his liking.

“Come now and caress those pretty nipples of yours to encourage my fingers to start moving, that's what you want don't you?” Followed by a shaky nod, your hands started to toy with your perky nipples to feel your master finally, finally! thrust those three fingers of his inside you, sliding just right to your tight squishy walls while gradually coating his fingers in your slick...even picking up the pace a bit by thrusting in and out of your pussy.

”Ahh..ah! Fuck! Y-yes yesyes! Ooh! Right there m-master i'm...hahh..so close!“ You moaned in relief as you've begun to roughly tug and squeeze your nipples in an attempt to ease the impending orgasm for that night and the sinful noises of Kazuha's fingers squelching inside of you wasn't helping with your embarrassment either. Oh well, at least he was fingerfucking you so damn good that you could barely comprehend the dirty talk Kazuha was whispering in your ear...and after a few harsh thrusts, a moan was ripped out of your throat as you let out your orgasm, causing you to cream so much around his fingers.

While you were preoccupied twitching intensely underneath him, you felt your master pull his three fingers outside of you with a string of your essence present as he grinded his clothed erection on your bare pussy with a lazy grin.

”Fuck...that was hot of you, my love...open wide~”

Kazuha then nudges the corner of your mouth open with his thumb to allow access his three fingers to rest snugly on your tongue with the taste of your sweet-salty cum overfilling your taste buds...you swear you would see the twisted expression of affection Kazuha is showing if it weren't for the sensation of his fingers shoving you open.

| 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫! 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢 🍀

Leave it to the fun professor of the Monstadt Department to get high with his cat-well er...catgirl. Jokes aside, Venti is a doting master to you almost frequently, despite your ironic contrast of being the responsible one in this living arrangement. Yet every once in a while, he forgets your constant scolding of his reckless behavior when he gets carried away with unwinding~

NSFW under this!

Dear god, if only you knew the devious shit he had planned for the both of you that day you would've shut the door on his face when he came home after a day at his University but to your reluctance, it was already too late for that when you found yourself sat on his lap with his lips hurriedly scattering kisses on your neck while you shakily lit up the rolled-up cigarette in his hand. While Venti; of course who noticed your nervousness began to take advantage of it by fiddling with the hem of your flimsy underwear, in the midst of his advances you winced from the sensation as you didn't even notice Venti's harsh sucking omit from your neck.

“Haah, you put on a facade as if you're not enjoying it~“ Venti nibbled hurriedly on the shell of your cat ear before swiftly taking away the lit-up cigarette off your hands with a soft inhale.

Although your cheeks were flushed, you still scoffed at that cocky accusation of your head turned away with a haughty pout;

“You leave me no choice, If I left you alone, only god knows the things you would- nffmph?!”

Alas, before your master could hear another harsh scolding from you; he was quick to slot his cigarette in between your lips instead.

“cough- cough! What the f...aAh~” Venti who let out a soft shush to your whining, encourages you to inhale while nudging his knee into your clothed cunt sensually by swaying side to side against your drenched clit...chuckling slightly from how your slick leaked so much through his knee. You, on the other hand can start to feel the effects of the drug start to take in with the helpful pointers from your teacher~♡

With a swift exhale out of the cigarette in between Venti's fingertips, you leaned into his slender chest while grinding back onto his knee, while the room continues to smell like sex by the evident sounds of your panting growing louder by adjusting to the rhythm on his lap to satisfy the underlying urge your instincts were screaming at you to fulfill.

“Shit- That's my windblume...F-fuck i need to-“

Venti swallowed your moans with an intense kiss as he allowed you to continue grinding your weeping cunt onto his evident hard-on before getting you off his lap to throw your back on the couch, wiping away the drool from his mouth to abruptly lift your leg over his shoulder to continue pressing against your now-drenched pussy.

“My snobbish kitten looks so vulnerable under me...you look perfect this way...“

Venti muffled his moans in between your neck as you felt his throbbing cock slip out of his boxers- adding more sensation to this high of yours and not a second more, you could see the self-restraint in his demeanor slip away with every quick inhale he took out of his cigarette.

“I-i can't hold back anymore...“ Venti panted in your ear before biting his lip so harshly that it threatened to spill red, accompanied by the feeling of his experienced hands straddling your hips that sent shivers down your spine as he briskly thrusted his engorged tip against your outer pussy lips, bottoming out completely with a gutteral groan. "M-master... fuck! it hurts-!" You immediately clasped your arms around Venti's back to dig in your sharp nails onto his skin effectively marking bright red-crescendos on your owner just as he wanted due to the fact that Venti's thrusts against your pussy started to reach deeper places inside of you...His lips omitting a puff of smoke onto your face before quickly asserting his ownership over your tongue and- wait, was that the taste of catnip on his lips? Venti could only chuckle between your lips at your bewildered expression; "You know I- shit...wasn't sure if catgirls like you could get high off regular weed...so I-" Venti pulled away from your enticing lips with a string of saliva glossing over as he paused his words to focus on the tight squeeze of your cunt, hitching his self-restraint to the best of his ability to prevent shooting ribbons of his cum inside you too soon~

"So I- purchased some catnip as a precaution..!- ah, lucky for me however..." You found his slender fingers wander to your chin, lifting it slightly to present his predatory gaze over yours, a smile that could only hold desire for his one and only pet.

"Your lewd moans in a chorus of a sweet melody deserves praise from her teacher hmm..?" You could only continue to claw harder against Venti's back to let him know your response as you start to feel his hips relenting it's pace-

”f-fuck wait- windblume...! S-SHIT!“ -and with a sharp thrust, Venti released globs of his cum with a whine as your walls convulsed around Venti's cock warmly as you started to tighten up around him to milk him for what he's worth...Yeah, you're sure as hell that Venti is going to be late for his prof class... Although maybe you'll give his scolding later~

[unnaturalequilibrium]

Capítulo 5

- Mafin rewatch (Sueños de Libertad)

Isidro is possibly the father of the year. Maybe I’ll change my mind when it turns out he’s kind of homophobic, but for now that man gives some seriously good advice. I get why Fina is the way she is, oh not the mood thing, but the stability, the self-assurance. When you have someone holding you up like Isidro does, giving advice like he does, about how the best approach is to find the good sides in yourself and commit to those - I mean, yeah, it’s not hard to understand he could raise a daughter like Fina. It’s also such a nice contrast with the next scene which is the de la Reina’s sitting down for a meal and it’s just the absolute opposite. They too talk about work, but there’s no emotion and there’s no support, it’s more like open hunting season and holds none of the open vulnerability and sincerity of Fina and Isidro's conversation.

Aw man, fuck up my heart with that look Marta gives when Damian talks about how nothing makes him happier than having his kids get married and start families. All that effort she puts in and still she can’t truly make her father proud. That shit is got to sit lodged in her heart like a very jagged piece of broken glass. Also, I think this is the first glimpse of a personality hiding behind the mask.

Jesús and Andrés are two stupid boys fighting over what they think of as toys, women. I do not care for them.

Marta is a sarcastic bitch to Elena and I approve. Okay, second glimpse of a personality, nice. Broken and sarcastic, playing my tune.

That thing Spanish people do with their tongue between their teeth as they pronounce certain sounds, is it just me being gay or is it kind of hot? Granted it’s mostly Marta who is hot when she’s doing it, so I might have answered my own question.

Petra, stop fucking touching Fina! It is not your right to be that handsy and I do not care for it. Keep your scruffy looking nerf-herding paws off of her!

Fina established as a clumsy queen from the getgo tickles me. The way she practically smashed that perfume bottle through the counter as she tried to make a good impression on Marta (and failing) gives her the kind of humanity my otherwise perfect lesbian needs to be nuanced. No one likes a perfect being who looks like her, smiles like her, has that self-assuredness of hers, unless there is also some flaw too her. The fact that this is a character who is so perfect in many ways, but at the same time could probably tear down an entire china shop on her own without the assistance of any bulls - it makes her really loveable. And as a woman who have broken her toe by kicking it into a threshold and given herself a black eye by walking into a doorframe, well I feel represented. Oh, don't get me wrong, there are more flaws to Fina than this, but we're not there yet. One step at a time.

The face of a woman who does not understand the power she holds over other women. And I don't just mean that as a crack at her being lesbian catnip, but the character doesn't actually understand the impact she has on the women around her. She's so used to being compared to the men in her life that I think she doesn't see or understand what a role model she has become for a lot of women, especially those working for her.

Fina being so dismissive when Carmen tells them she’s crying because of Tasio is gold. She just has no time for these fools and I love it. Her silent nod when Carmen says “why bother with a man who doesn’t love you back” - perfection. She is the Oprah gif personified. As I regularly channel my inner Xena while I’m in a professional setting, I think from now on I’ll also try to be channelling my inner Fina when it comes to my personal relationships. As blunt, but reassuring as she is, I think we should all strive to me more like her with our friends and family.

[butmakeitgayblog]

I just rewatched IWI and these are my thoughts (maybe spoilers?):

- plot is insanely tight

- the intro confuses me the first time round but this time it ties in neatly with the ending when everything is explained

- the mannerisms of the character (redacted) are subtle but revealing the second time round

- I don’t like the character Nikki but she’s a survivor and a great schemer, so it’ll be interesting to see what she’s going to do as (redacted) to regain her body and her life

- I think Maya just has chemistry with everyone, so I’m not seeing something more in her interaction with Nikki

- in the garden scene where every body is quarreling with one another, the director is actually playing with the viewer’s sense of reality by juxtaposing the bodies with the real characters (dead or alive) … I’m not explaining this well but this scene is worth rewatching to get that trippy “wait what?!!” feeling

- if you listened carefully, Maya is actually the truth-teller throughout the movie

OK FIRST OF ALL

They were girlfriends.

So jot that down 😤

Seriously tho listen I'm not saying anything actually happened or whatever, and I didn't say it was Maya who was the one acting fruity 👀, I'm just saying there was chemistry there intentional or not and the fact that I'm not the only one who saw it says something. Nikki specifically gave off very fleeting moments of having a draw toward Maya. Didn't she call her catnip? We are told she has a boyfriend and yet we never see him in pictures, she herself never brings ~him~ up, however when Shelby posts a picture as Nikki? The first thing that happens is a woman texts her.

I know what you are Nikki

Also how could you hate Nikki??

That is the baddest bitch in the game. Was she vapid? Yes. Was she vain as all hell? Yes.

But we support women's wrongs in this house 😤

[sammysdewysensitiveeyes]

Okay, I went ahead and watched the first Descendants movie:

I am no longer the right age demographic for these movies, but I'm sure young teenage me would have eaten these right up, and also wrote fanfiction with OC children of my favorite Disney characters. I'd have the daughter of Fflewddur Fflam starting a garage band with the son of Taran and Eilonwy because they won't let her play a harp in the school marching band. (I hate the Disney version of Black Cauldron, but I'd jump at the chance to write their OC kids.)

It's basically High School Musical with Disney characters. It's cute and silly, and campy.

I feel like the movie basically works because it leans into the camp factor and doesn't take itself too seriously. The Evil Queen from Snow White doesn't have a name, she is literally just called "Evil Queen" or EQ, but she does have a daughter named Evie. That's the kind of movie this is. (I'll choose to believe that she does actually have a name, but she's so proud of her role as the Evil Queen that she insists everyone call her that.)

How many villains got exiled to the island and how many kids did they have?! Enough to apparently fill a small town full of extras and back-up dancers.

The concept really does get creepy if you think about it too long. How bad does someone have to be to get sent over there? Wanting to seal away Maleficent, who is genuinely dangerous, is understandable, but apparently there's at least one Cinderella stepsister over there, so being mean to your stepsister is also punishable by banishment. And then they all start having kids over there, and the good guys are like, "Well, that's unfortunate. Anyway."

Love all the poor and downtrodden villain kids with their cool leather anime-character outfits. They all look like they just stepped out of a Kingdom Hearts game.

"What's going on with Jane's hair?" Snow White, you petty bitch, you are talking about a teenage girl. I don't mind the Disney villains becoming wacky, incompetent sitcom versions of themselves, but I can't stand Snow White the reporter coming off as snotty and elitist. She is one of the nicest Disney princesses, she would be like, "Wow, that gown is gorgeous! Whoever 'Evie' is, she is very talented and I hope to see more of her work!"

It's generally a bit weird that the children of some of the kindest Disney princesses (who went through a lot of suffering themselves) are set up as the snobby prep kids, but I know we needed some rich snobs for the cool outcast villain kids to clash with. At least Ben is nice.

Will I watch the rest of the movies? Maybe if I'm really bored or morbidly curious. Like I said, I am way out of the right age demographic for these, and have no patience for the high school nonsense, but I can see how this would be absolute catnip for younger fans. Next-gen high school AU with plenty of room to create your own Disney OC's? Yes.

[wawamouse]

Thoughts on Mukada and challenging myself to write fic with him*

(Under the cut bc this reads more as Rambling Opinions and personal vent at times, not interesting show meta or anything)

* I’ve felt an inkling to since I began writing fic for Oz but I’ve never gotten around to it. This post has been partially written in my drafts for ages… and lately, I’ve been reflecting more on what fics I still want to write and which characters I want to explore but haven’t because M/C is just more fun for the time being, so I decided to add onto what I had and post

There is a snippet of an old wip I started a couple months ago which I havent touched since, and it got me thinking more on why I don’t bother with his character despite him being Asian, usually a draw for me as a viewer, being Chinese (altho Mukada himself is presumably Japanese) and not seeing that many Asian characters in western dramas.

Tbh, I think it really comes down to the fact that

a) he’s a priest**

b) main ship with him in the fandom seems to be shipping him with Miguel, which kinda gives me the heebie-jeebies^

c) as a result, I haven’t felt too motivated to explore his character more, either in a character study, or in something shippy.

** = what the fuck would summon a person into priesthood… it boggles the mind. I feel like trying to tackle a backstory for him (exploring his Asian identity, something I’d be interested in doing) would be difficult for this reasons, although I do have some backstory thoughts below.

^ = Therefore, I am hesitant to write anything with them in it because I'm a control freak and I don't want my vision misinterpreted lol, or something lame like that.... I fully understand the logic of shipping Mukada with Alvarez but I personally am ambivalent / mildly repulsed by it because instinctively I feel like reading a sexual or romantic interest between them is a huge disservice to Mukada’s character and grossly corrupts his intentions as a priest. Yes, I’m aware that’s what makes the ship tasty to others, so it’s just a personal squick thing (obviously i find other fucked up scenarios fun and dandy)… and it’s undoubtedly the religious chip on my shoulder as a gay dude, but I fucking hate the closeted homosexual priest trope where the priests affections are for one in his flock. (Me sorta shipping Mukada and Cloutier is basically bc their relationship feels kind of on the same footing. And also because it's funny). Add in the fact that Miguel is like mentally vulnerable when Mukada helps him; I find it tragic and insidious to read that as anything but platonic interest from Mukada. And it’s projection on my part/my specific interpretation for sure because I feel Miguel’s mental issues are relatable to my past, but if a spiritual/guiding figure at that point in my life later turned out to have some kind of non-platonic interest, that would be so violating to me lol. I am also idealistic, I think, about priests/pastors/spiritual leaders in fiction, because all the ones I’ve met IRL fueled a complex or told me my existence was a sin (I wasn’t raised religious, but I went to bible camp as a Thing To Do for several summers in grade school, which gave me unnecessary Issues, mix in getting stuck in a bible study in high school) so when there is like a nice priest or something in a story of fiction, I like to believe that they take their role and everything seriously and are interested with their whole soul in simply helping their parishioners. Maybe that’s juvenile. And I think there’s no platonic explanation w Mukada @ Miguel (not that I’ve seen it, just saying) is such a laughable take because he’s literally a priest, as well as a generally good person who can see the good and hurt in Miguel so why tf wouldn’t he take a special interest in someone who’s trying so hard to be saved but still falling short? 🤨 That’s gotta be like catnip for Mukada both as a person and as a priest (lol)

But this sort of brings me to a point when it comes to writing fic for Mukada/are Mukada centric:

One fic I would like to write, besides an exploration about of his background, which I remain unsure about*^ , would be one that gets more into Mukada reckoning with how he came to the statement of 5x04, telling Miguel they’ve had their ups and downs but yada yada; the show kind of just left the bulk of Mukada trying to help Miguel to s1/2 and a lot of shit happens obviously but I headcanon Mukada still visits Miguel in Solitary to take confession and such during s4—stuff we don’t see that could be interesting to explore in terms of conversations that bring more closure to their earlier chaotic relationship and bring them to that point in s5 where when Miguel (obviously in some shit) asks Mukada for advice, dude doesn’t even get all nosy about it (in a respectful distance type way?). So…. A fic that’s just all conversations and Ray pondering his role and shifting views over the years as prison chaplain. I’m particularly struck by the idea of him realising that in this line of work, at Oz, there will always be a Miguel Alvarez that he encounters and wants to help more than others; should he try in the future not to let every Miguel Alvarez pull him off balance or should he just push up his sleeves and do what he can every time, and as a result, likely burn out of Oz earlier than need be?

*^ = idk if I mentioned it here before but I have some Mukada headcanons, namely that he’s Catholic after his father converted, growing up attending a Catholic institution (headcanon his paternal grandfather was a Shinto practitioner)… he also went to Catholic school and as a kid was well-behaved and a teacher’s pet, the shiny special Token Asian in the school! Impressive in the eyes of the teachers, but also made fun of behind his back by his peers. I think in his teenage years, Mukada would’ve had a period of deciding he preferred secular things and even though when he was younger, he’d announced plans to go to seminary school and being a priest, at this point he starts to have his doubts; he knows he’s smart/ the best in class and it occurs to him via conversation with people he meets outside his circle that he could actually do something else with his life.

A year later, i haven’t cemented my headcanon for how Ray actually ends up in the priesthood because all my imaginations free him of that fate lol (the limits of my own imagination, you could say). But given that he starts out so proud, I lean toward a vibe almost of Ray ultimately pursuing priesthood originally in part because he has a moment where he realises be doesn’t know anything else, which is scary, and he interprets that running back into safe territory as the priesthood calling to him. Something I also think would be interesting to explore is if he realises that down the road—maybe when Sister Pete is doubting? Or, he just sees himself in that moment—but I do think regardless of his original reasons, he does find he thrives as a priest and his work in that role is righteous and fulfilling, which ultimately is what matters.

Anyway, there’s my Mukada word vomit.

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s2 episode 11 "excelsis dei" thoughts

okay!!!! i've kept you waiting long enough. now let's get into the things i liked about this episode while ignoring the stuff i didn't.

first. mulder walking into his office. and scully sitting there in the dark, watching a tape.

this had me HOWLING. how did she get in there? she keeps a key to his house and his office on hand at all times? the level of casualness with which he turned on the lights only for dana scully to be sitting in his office chair, as if it were the most natural of things in the world, floored me. she made herself welcome. she looks up and says hello.

then we get a little lore break to learn about the case and yeah yeah case stuff hold on. did she just say she got there at 6 am?

yes, you heard me correctly, she made her way into his office at 6 in the morning to watch the video and go through all of the related x files. i think i had tears in my eyes at this point and i definitely do now as i recount it. dana scully you are such a little weirdo and i love you so bad. i hope you enjoyed your time rummaging through his stuff. glad his space has really become yours as well.

and his entire lack of reaction to her being there pushed me even further over the edge. like, sure. at this point in their relationship, why not walk in to see her sitting at your desk and going through all your shit? the level of casual intimacy is at once so fucking funny and so heartwarming.

(a few weeks ago i was chatting with a friend about our top five favorite fictional characters, and i made the argument that scully and mulder ought to count as just one character for the sake of the ranking, because of how entirely they blend into one person. and her just being there when he opens the door- and having been there for hours at that point- really solidifies my reasoning. and i had made that argument BEFORE seeing any of s2, let alone this moment)

the next moment that had me laughing was when they went to the convalescent home (which wasn't a word i was familiar with before all of this) and our poor agents get stuck questioning a 74 year old man during his bath time. i already had a "oh noooo" feeling of dread about the whole situation- for how could the academy prepare them for this? and sure enough, he flashed them.

now, this was, like i mentioned in an earlier post, part of an attempt at social commentary that i could and might write an essay on- but let's set that aside here, and just deal with the fact that our poor agents have been put into such an awkward position, while understanding that the scene is being played for comedic value despite how awful that would be irl. because mulder smiles and says "thanks for sharing", while scully also bites back laughter. their faces at this moment had me laughing. it was such a "fuck my entire life" moment for both of them and i felt that extreme case of tv show-induced secondhand embarrassment.

and i think they handled it quite well!!! have we considered giving them a raise? for having to deal with all the haunted children and now creepy old men? god. their poor eyes. "thanks for sharing" stfu mulder... he cannot act seriously for ONE minute!!!!!!

there was another big ass coats moment when they walked outside and spoke with someone involved in running the program. and you know by now that's catnip to me!!!

one of the old men starts choking to death (he was taking mushroom pills he wasn't supposed to) and scully slips into Doctor Mode and it was deeply satisfying to watch. she starts saying fancy words and calling out for certain medications- "this man's in ventricular fibrillation, i need 75 milligrams of lidocaine and one amp of amphinephrine" and i'm sat there like yes. exactly right!!! she's doing serious doctor business!!!!

(i need to edit this image to make it appropriate for when her doctor mode takes over. because this is what i'm always referencing when i say someone is "shifting into ____ mode" and i don't think i've ever spelled that out before so i should here. have not seen seinfeld just saw this image one day and it permanently altered my vocabulary)

there's another moment where she's having a doctor-off with the dude who worked at the place and she said the line "the clinical benefits are marginal at best" and idk man i just like to see her doing her doctorly thing.

(she also gets very doctorly excited about the idea of there being improvements for incurable conditions such as alzheimer's and it's good to see some joy on her)

next thing that had me laughing:

"are you saying that the building's haunted? because if you are, i think you've been working with me for too long, scully" <- said in a flirtatious manner

don't remember what was going on at this point beyond someone had just fallen to death, but i wrote "another scully serving looks moment in the midst of tragedy" and i stand by it. this is really an epidemic. scully stop working angles in front of the dead... or don't because i'm not actually complaining <3

we also see mulder prowling down a dark and damp hall and cracking open a lock to break into a room. which seemed like a typical activity for a guy like him. literally just a tuesday in his life. he found a bunch of mushrooms and i made a frantic note reading along the lines of DO NOT TOUCH THEM because famously mushrooms WILL kill you but he seemed unharmed. thank god.

he's all, what if the mushrooms are what is helping the patients, and scully delivers this banger line: "mulder, mushrooms aren't medicine. they taste good on hamburgers, but they can't raise the dead"

which is 1. a hilarious fucking line just for its sheer ridiculousness, and 2. a critical insight into how scully orders her burgers... which i WILL be adding to my list of useless character facts

the episode winds down with mulder getting trapped in a room with rapidly rising water and we see the door SLAM right before scully can witness the ghosts tossing things about. and the commitment to that gag of her never actually seeing the paranormal stuff really got me there.

then, the door breaks due to the water, and everyone is soaking wet, which is always a good look.

overall, highlight of this episode to me was by far scully breaking into his office at 6 am. nothing will top that for me in terms of comedic value. it has become Her space now. she has claimed you mulder, there is no going back, you are in far too deep and thank god for that because you freaks deserve each other.

[arbitrarygreay]

@mimeparadox and I finished watching Black Sails together!

I, at least, highly benefited from watching the show through a MFS lens, because it transformed swaths of the sausage-fest parts of the show into "lol Flint is Alder" goodness.

Like, seriously, this show really dug its hooks into me because Flint and Eleanor are both Alder, and Black Sails is a show that tells us "this is what happens when Alder doesn't have magic and a fungus god to make changing the world that easy," and that is CATNIP.

Flint and Eleanor have that vision of qualified freedom and intensity of will and a fondness for betrayal while rationalizing it to themselves as necessary to pursue the ideal at every step. The difference lies in that Flint lacks access to the levers of power with any sort of legitimacy (read: capital). So where Flint eventually ends up something more like a Spree AU Alder, Eleanor more represents the post-Accords Alder, riding the lines of legitimacy and needing to placate authority.

(Although, obviously, S4 Eleanor muddles this up, but I feel like they lost the plot with Eleanor towards the end there, so)

Also Anacostia is Billy lol.

And, like, Tally is obviously nothing like Silver, but SOMEHOW Flint/Silver is not not Talder?

(There's not really a good comparison between MFS characters otherwise, given that everyone in MFS has strong beliefs in ethics and patriotism, whereas Black Sails starts with "pirates have a self-centered criminal baseline, and civilized society is not much better" as a core foundation. I gueeeeessss one could compare Raylla to Bonny/Max if they really squint? Nicte could compare to Vane, but only from end of S2 through S3 Vane.)

[atopvisenyashill]

9, 12, and 25?

9. worst part of canon

okay let me dig into the dothraki thing - what annoys me the most is that he compares the dothraki to is ~great plains horse riding tribes~ but there is NOTHING of them culturally in the dothraki or even in their setting!! the apache comanche navajo and other plains nations have such a rich history and i get george probably didn’t have access to that sort of information in the 90s but god he doesn’t even try!! i don’t know a lot about mongolian history but i would hazard a guess that the dothraki bear no resemblance to the actual khans that existed in the mongolian empire. there’s like an attempt to characterize dorne. there’s not even a tiny attempt to flesh out the dothraki or the lhazareen as cultures.

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

okay i think this series has been around long enough that there’s not really unpopular characters bc everyone has their own mini fandom. i think you can find like a good hundred stans of every character in the series atp and i think that’s a fun change from when i first entered the fandom and people would make metas with lines like “sansa the bitch in the north begging for scraps” and this got reblogged by ~serious people~ in this fandom without comment. i think the fandom blowing up in size made some things worse, bc sometimes the h particles in this fandom go crazyyyyy but i also do like that when i say “i think sansa and theon are gonna be in love” while at work, i get taken seriously now.

that said, obviously it’s joffrey. idk what it is about this kid that makes people unable to see his complexity, despite his death being seen through the eyes of arguably his two biggest victims in tyrion & sansa, and both of them only feel grief and anguish at his death! he was born into an awful situation and it turned him into an awful person and he is dead before he’s had two decades of life.

i think cersei also gets this treatment, this refusal to engage with her complexity, which is why you get so many people who will call her ~jaime’s abuser~ when it’s just so much more complicated than that, or the guys on reddit who think robert should have beat her more. i think they both make people uncomfortable bc a lot of people know if they were in that situation, they’d absolutely crack up under the pressure too. they would not stay good people and they don’t wanna think about it so joff & cersei must simply be born evil! i feel like in the Fandom Right Now, they’re the two that really get that the most in several places and i think it’s crazy, cersei should be winning “best character in all of history” awards man!!!!

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

don’t love the idea that brienne shouldn’t fuck jaime bc shes ~too good for him, i think this is flying too close to madonna whore stuff and the jaime/brienne/cersei triangle is RIFE with this it’s like catnip for people, and this is bc jaime himself idealizes both women as madonnas and whores BUT for brienne it’s like. her story is about learning she’s allowed to be a woman in however way she wants to be, and she can be a knight and also crave sex and romance, she’s not a freak in a dress for desiring fine things like any other woman of her station. finding a sexual and romantic partner who looks at her and feels LUST and feels LOVE is imo a very important part of her character arc and i think the idea that she has to settle for someone like connington is crazy and also like, mean 😭😭 it just forces her back into that mold of the madonna to cersei’s whore and i don’t like it!!

[archon-maenad]

the taylor hebert I'm writing that got reincarnated as naruto (don't @ me ik it's cringe but I love the genre anyways) has gotten Attached to a minor character that somehow stumbled into the plot without my permission.

girlie he doesn't even have a canon last name! yes yes ik he's catnip to you because he's an authority figure who treats you with respect and focuses on the deconstruction of basics and actively helps in your weaponization of benign techniques, and ik it's the first time you've ever had a mentor who not only put effort into teaching you without hesitance but did so exactly in your style, but seriously I am having to build up this mfer from scratch it is SO MUCH effort why couldn't you have picked someone who had more than like ten minutes of screentime!!!

if this au ever becomes a publishable fic the first and possibly only relationship tag is gonna be "taylor hebert & ebisu (naruto)" bc this is just my life now.

[dontcallpanic]

Hi my wonderful buddy, I got a little ask for you too along with the one you asked me ( I'm curious about your answer 🫂💗)

What kind of story is your favourite love story?

+ why is it your favorite? what does it tell to you personally?

Hey – I’m so, so sorry this has taken forever. Life, the universe, everything etc.

Thank you so, so much - I really appreciate the ask – and your reply to this question was SO beautiful and just properly perfect in every single way I wanted to actually spend a bit of time thinking about my interpretation. So, sorry, sorry and here we go!

What kind of story is your favourite love story?

This IS a hard one – and it’s kinda nice to have it served back to me actually!

Firstly, I am a terrible person. I am the kind of terrible person who will say ‘I don’t like love stories’ and then about 15 pages into a fic or story or whatever (could be while reading or when I’m actually writing something myself) I will suddenly sit back and go ‘oh shit, it’s a love story.’

So basically I’m a massive liar!

I blame this on growing up in the 90’s when every other romance story was one where a woman has to make a complete fool of herself to get some random guy. (This is NOT a dig at romcoms at all – this is more baby me looking at these examples and going ahhhh I’m not sure about all this love stuff. It seems confusing and I’m not sure I really want to go through that).

So… What convinced my subconscious to fall in love with love stories? Essentially I really liked what you said about the things that at first glance appear not to be about love but then you scratch the surface and it’s there.

I love the kind of stories where the love isn’t the be all and end all – it’s not obviously explicit but it’s there, woven into every glance, gesture, touch, choice of phrase, decision made. I love it when the love story moves from subtext, very slowly into text. I love it when it’s two characters start to grow together and because of that they become more than the sum of their individual parts. I love it when the simple love and presence of the other, enhances their world beyond what they imagined. I love equal dynamics, one way or another. I love to see people fall in love with someone for who they truly are. That total, complete, non-judgemental acceptance is so beautiful and I very much believe that can be true of platonic love as well. I love the kind of story where you can see the evolution and growth of this relationship, where people fall in love almost accidentally.

There’s a few books I’ve read like this, where the love story is there but subtle but honestly, the best examples of this, for me, I’ve found in fanfiction where the time and space can be given over to developing these kinds of relationships without other stuff (real world stuff like strict editing) getting in the way.

If you write fanfiction – doesn’t even have to be this kind of fic – I love you and I am extremely appreciative of all that you do and incredibly thankful that you exist!

All of this, to me, is why I’m glad shipping is a thing! And shout out to the big steamy passionate romance stuff which is always a lot of fun!

Why is it my favourite?

I really like people! I think people are pretty amazing (on the whole). So getting to see two people figuring out how amazing the other one is… seriously it’s like catnip! I love watching the growth, change and evolution of their characters and love feels like the biggest payoff sometimes. The more I think about it, the more I realise how complex and how beautiful love is. I like seeing all the different incarnations and when people write about love, I’m always learning and always seeing something different - someone is always sharing just a bit of themselves, especially when they write about love. That’s pretty stunning and amazing to me.

Personally, in my family history, love has not been modelled as well as it could have, which is just how it goes sometimes, so I was quite sceptical of love growing up. I have my own experiences of how love can be a twisted and bitter thing but I’ve also been fortunate enough to  learn how incredible, warm and beautiful it can be. I love seeing all these themes mirrored in writing and stories so much, especially as each one is so different from the next. I love to see how love can heal (as you put so beautifully) and I suppose, it gives me hope! Hope that there are always lovely people in the world.

______________________________________________________________

Ooft! I am VERY not used to being this romantic in real life, let alone on Tumblr of all things! But thank you for letting me pour my heart out a bit!

@gege-wondering-around You are a TRULY wonderful person, thank you, as ever, for being so damn kind and lovely. You are absolutely one of the nicest people around and you deserve only good things! I will mirror your gorgeous words right back to you: May you always find a place where you feel loved and may you always be surrounded by people who love you. You deserve it. Be kind to yourself, nos da a cariad mawr!

[imadhatt3r]

No video game series will ever piss me off more than p/ersona, because it has literally everything I love in fiction: A cast of characters where each one has a side story, hidden parts of their psyche, and harbors some kind of deep secret that tortures them every day? Character interaction in different scenarios? Exploration of different characters' psyches that look like personalized, abstract dungeons that you have to literally fight through? Exploring themes like innevability of death and different ways people cope with it or societal injustice? Tarot motifs? Use of Jung's psychological theories (which are BOGUS, but make for AMAZING addition to fictional stories)? Every element, including UI, is heavily and consistently stylized? Music that goes INSANELY hard???

Like this series should be like crack-infused catnip to me, but I just can't get into it bc Atlus always has to include something so tone-deaf and just downright DOGSHIT into these games (usually something relating to the dating system or pretty much anything relating to how they CONSISTENTLY potray queer people in their games) that I just cannot bring myself to seriously attempt to get into it 😔

[rotworld]

I just finished Avici and I had to come over here to express how amazing it was. I'm usually not into romance fics but Sukuna/Reader stories usually get at least a second look from me because his canon character is just very hard to write a 'normal' romance for so any story seriously tackling that is worth trying imo, and I'm so glad I did!

The characterisation of Gojo and Sukuna are wonderful, you really delved deep into the darker side of these monstrously powerful sorcerers in the frankly grim world of jujutsu. I've seen a lot of fics make these two softer (especially Gojo) so your portrayal is like a splash of cold water on a hot day lol. I don't even particularly like Gojo honestly but stories that show his darker side kind of make me see his appeal, a little.

I gotta say normally I'm ambivalent towards smut and don't actively search for it, but it's such a core part of Avici that I feel it wouldn't really work as well without it. The flashbacks and slow reveal of what exactly the reader is and the twisted bond they have with Sukuna and later Gojo really add a sense of tension and like, dread? To the whole thing, which was lovely. I also read your director's cut bc I was so enthralled, I'm blown away by how much went into it!

If you're willing to weigh in, what do you personally imagine happens to the reader during the canon timeline?

answer is long and contains jjk manga spoilers. 

aaaaaaaaaa that makes me so happy!!! i started out with very little interest in gojo but sort of wrote myself into liking him lol working on avici made me realize how easy it is to draw comparisons between him and sukuna. the things i've come to like about him are mostly things that lend themselves well to angsty scenarios, characters who are messy like that are like catnip to me. as for how things would go for the reader, it’s mostly just more misery.

by the end of the shibuya arc, the reader is in the custody of kenjaku and uraume. as a result of the failed noh exorcism, they have a strong connection to gojo so they would’ve felt it when he was sealed. it would resemble what sukuna’s dormancy feels like, and i think it would leave them with some complicated feelings. maybe that would be enough for them to leave and start wandering in search of some other way to pass the time, or maybe they’d stay there waiting. either way, uraume finds and retrieves them. this would probably involve a fight. the reader by the end of avici isn’t the docile creature uraume remembers. sukuna probably had the foresight to warn them, since this is an outcome he anticipated and even wanted, but that wouldn’t make the reader any easier to deal with. they are, by design, the kind of curse that only someone like sukuna or gojo can safely handle. maybe kenjaku can help with the apprehension lol

for the most part, i don’t think the reader would be very active. they would stick with uraume and kenjaku because they know that’s where they need to be. they would be there to spectate the culling game, they would be there when sukuna reappears in a new host, and they would be there when gojo dies. that might be the thing that finally sets them off, since they were counting on gojo to win that fight. if we’re going into fully indulgent territory lol then the reader would be involved in the final battle against sukuna, however that turns out. that’s the natural conclusion of their arc and it would be poetic for him to die at not only the hands of the thing he created, but the collective remnants of the people he used and tortured in the past. and it would be fitting for the reader to follow him, as promised, into whatever kind of oblivion comes next for curses. 

i guess that’s a little bleak lol but that’s more or less how it was always going to be. there’s no end to this for the reader, they’re stuck with him for eternity because he made them that way. but maybe there’s some closure there at least.