#wayward son changed me as a person

[nelistry]

this will forever be one of my favorite quotes in any book ever

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

These are the songs you all have chosen as winners of the Showdown polls for the second round of a hundred songs. There's 11 songs listed due to a tie. :)

What song did you personally like the best? Did a song make an impact right away or did it require the full version? Did the artist reveal change your opinion of the song itself for better or for worse? Tell me in a reblog!

(note: this is not a popularity contest or to vote for a favourite artist out of loyalty 💖 it's still about the song.)

[wittlesissyb4by]

"Uhh...are you supposed to interrupt me while i'm camming?" Jimmy's step-mother snapped as he timidly entered the room.

"No Mommy...I just--"

"You're lucky I just started and there aren't many people in yet." She said, annoyed, but not completely dismissing him. Terri could have abandoned Jimmy just like his father did, but she always had a strange attachment to the boy. Like a lost puppy you just had to take care of.

But there were rules. Terri didn't trust the 'men' in the house to use the toilet proper. They constantly left sprinkles on the seat, or left the seat up altogether. She decided long ago with Jimmy's father that diapers were the way to go. For both him and his 22-year old son.

Jimmy's dad hated it, but Jimmy--though reluctant at first--eventually took to them like a moth to a flame. Jimmy was always a wayward kid. Lacking direction, and not very independent. He liked having someone to tell him what to do. To care for him, even if it was in a somewhat demanding, demeaning way.

They depended on each other. They both had jobs, but it wasn't always enough to make ends meat, so Terri started up a side hustle.

"So what is it?" she asked, maintaining that testy tone. "Do you need your diaper changed? Or do you just have a stiffy situation?"

"I...I..."

"Pull down your pants."

"Nnghh no..Mommy..I...I..." he whimpered as he undid his belt buckle and pulled his pants down to his ankles, "I didn't mean to interrupt you I just--"

"Hush." She said, knowing he probably didn't have anything to say. He just needed some attention. A little direction. A little dominating. "Suck your thumb to keep you quiet. Or do you need your paci?"

He blushed, shakily putting his thumb in his mouth. It made Terri feel warm inside, seeing him obey and knowing he was secretly happy to do it, unlike his father, who she couldn't get to agree to much on anything.

"Good boy, now come here." she said, "Now come let Mommy check your diaper."

Jimmy waddled forward as much as his pulled down pants would allow.

Terri groped the front and back of Jimmy's pamper with no regard for Jimmy's personal space. He didn't seem to mind, though. Judging by the prominent throbbing coming from beneath the warm, bloated padding.

"Oh my!! Someone has quite the pamper poker in there!" she mused. Continuing to knead and rub the front of the soaking wet diaper. Jimmy blushed and whimpered, but didn't stop her. In fact, he pressed further into her.

"Awww! You poor boi! Do you need Mommy to take care of it real quick?"

Jimmy nodded harder, whining desperately.

"Ohhhhoho you do, huh?" Terri giggled. It made her melt to see him so worked up. She enjoyed being his little caregiver. It gave her a weird sense of purpose in a life where she otherwise hadn't found any. Of course the situation was bizarre, but hey, with how much Step-mom p0rn was on the internet, people didn't seem too put off by it, so why should she?

"Mmmm who's my big boi?" she asked, his diaper harder and faster now. "Are you gonna make a goo goo in your diaper for Mommy? Hmm? Are you gonna make it nice and sticky with your cummies? Do it for Mommy baybee. Cum in your diaper!"

It didn't take long. In less than 30 seconds, Jimmy was quivering and doing everything he could to keep his legs from collapsing while he busted a big, fat load into his already warm diaper.

"Good boyyy...good baybee..." Terri cooed, continuing to rub him softly while he came down from his high. Once he breathed a hefty, satisfied sigh, she tapped the front of his plump pamper dismissively.

"Off you go." she said, "Mommy has some work she has to do. Go play with your games or something. Mommy will be in in a little while to nurse you."

Jimmy nodded, thumb still in his mouth, but unable to hide a tiny smirk of glee. He didn't even pull his pants back up, just waddled back out of the room and closed the door behind him.

Terri sighed, smiling.

"Oh shit!" she exclaimed, suddenly remembering the live feed she had going. She raced to her computer. "Sorry about that!" she said, checking to see how many viewers she lost during that little episode.

But instead of dropping from the usual 80 or so viewers, the lobby had jumped to almost 2,000! The tips and comments were rolling in.

"Wish I had a step-mom like that!"

"She's sooo fine!"

"The diapers were weird at first, but now I'm kind of intrigued ngl"

"Always wanted to be a diapered dork for a beautiful woman!"

"FINALLY! Some good abdl stuff!"

"It's kinky as hell. But i'm here for it.

"New favorite channel."

"Subscribed!"

Terri couldn't believe it. The money was rolling in, the numbers were skyrocketing!

And it was right then that she realized there was about to be a very new type of Step-mother p0rn on the market.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was a weird one, I know. Not usually into this sort of relationship, but I had an idea and had to run with it.

Credit for making this wonderful pic goes to @zzk13122

Follow me here, Subscribestar, or Allmylinks to stay updated!

Another random place too: @wittle5i55ybaby Just in case.

[wordywarriorwrites]

Feels Like Home

Feels Like Home | AO3 | Rating: M | Main Masterlist​

Pairing: Javier Peña x F! Reader

Summary:  They say you can't go home again, but maybe for you and Javi, home isn't a place - it's a person.

Warnings: NSFW. Smut. Language.

Getting Chucho Peña back up on his feet after a bad fall from the hayloft – that was all you’d been tasked to do.

But you hadn’t considered the prodigal son.

You hadn’t thought about all the ways dark, earthen eyes – eyes that had seen too much – could be so compellingly, devastatingly, hauntingly preoccupying. Hadn’t really thought of how the stories of this larger-than-life individual would pale in comparison to the actual person. Hadn’t really believed that this man and this town would get to you, become so much a part of you that you’re thinking about rejecting a career-changing offer that would see you moving on to bigger (though perhaps not exactly better) things.  

Four seasons have passed, and yet, you haven’t felt the itch to pack a bag and hit the road. And because you stuck around, Javi, Chucho, and you have become los tres amigos. Reading books and watching Cheers. Exchanging cards and gifts on birthdays and at Christmas. You host dinner at your place once a month. Javi occasionally pops in during your meal break at the hospital to bring you something decent to eat. And sometimes, his dad will call you nenita – a term of endearment that feels far too precious to be directed toward a drifting, wayward soul like you.

It’s hard not to mull over the what-ifs – especially with how Javi looks beneath the sparking lights of the convention center. Exuding confidence, chit-chatting, and mingling with your coworkers like a pro, all understated power and authority. He stays still while everyone else gets pulled into his orbit, revolving slowly around him, like planets circling the sun. He steers you in that way, too, pulling you into his atmosphere, making it painfully impossible to keep your gaze averted from the fine figure he makes in his charcoal gray suit.

This isn’t the first fundraising event he’s escorted you to. In fact, he’s graciously played the role of plus-one several times. Haughty conversations, dry chicken dinners, watered-down drinks, and office politics – he’s been there and done that. And for a man who says he hated it, that he’s left all that bullshit behind, he’s really good at it, reading the room and owning his space within it better than most of your puffed-up peers.

It’s difficult not to admire him. Get attached to him. To feel as if you’ve made a real, true friend. You don’t have many of those and neither does he. It’s as if you’ve somehow been chosen. That out of all the people in the world, he’s picked you.

Bowling on Thursdays. The little snort that sometimes escapes when he laughs. His gentle manner with horses. The scent of his cologne; a blend of leather, wood, and oakmoss. The way he always refuses dessert, but somehow, ends up finding room for two servings, especially if it’s your homemade peach cobbler. His shoulder – the one you lean on when you nod off during a football game. His arm – the one you grip during scary movies. His ear – the one he lets you talk off when the day has been too hard and too bloody, and you can’t fall asleep.

If you leave, you lose it all. You lose him.  

“Is it just me,” Javi prompts with a slight nudge, turning away from the inner circle and leaning in close to speak directly into your ear. “Or are all the doctor jokes really fucking terrible this year?”

His voice – low and amused – cuts through the chatter and clinking cutlery, guiding you out of the spiral of dark thoughts and back into the present. You glance up at him and wonder if that inquisitive, clever mind of his has worked out how you really feel and uncovered what you really think. And if he knows, has he just been too polite to say anything? Even if it’s only to let you down gently?

“Maybe you should teach them a thing or two,” you manage to quip, burying your emotions by taking a rather undignified gulp of merlot.

Javi snorts and shakes his head, “With their egos? Not likely. Look, can we get outta here? Go get some real food?”

You nod, placing your now empty wine glass on the tray of a passing waiter, and snagging your purse up from the table. Javi is quick to take your arm and the lead, guiding you both through the throng and a seemingly endless stream of polite farewells. The elevator, the parking garage, the drive-thru – none of it really registers. It’s not until you’ve fallen into the cushions of your couch, a heavy bag of tacos in hand, and two beers on the coffee table in front of you, that your brain gradually starts to come back online.

“M'starving,” Javi announces, snatching up the takeout bag and plopping down next to you. “Remind me next time to eat before I pick you up.”

He peels off his jacket. Kicks off his shoes. Wriggles his sock-covered toes into the plush carpet and sits forward on the cushion just far enough to reach the table. Large, deft hands drop napkins – one onto your knee and one onto his own – and then, he’s unfurling paper and distributing a half dozen oversized carne asada taquerias onto two paper plates. A brief pause. A rather ferocious bite. A long, low groan.

“Fuck me, that’s good,” he mumbles, cheeks puffed out and comically overfilled.

“Emily Post would not be impressed,” you teasingly chide.

Javi grins and juts his chin, “Hey, get my tie? It’s the one you got me for my birthday, and I don’t want to ruin it.”

Once his messy hands are out of the way, you do as he asks, working the knot free and slipping the silk off with a careful tug. You pop a few buttons for him, too, and he gives you a nod of thanks before digging back in with renewed gusto, washing it all down with long pulls on his beer.

You don’t know how he does it, but his steady, calm demeanor always manages to soothe you. You unclench your jaw. Relax your shoulders. Even eat with him. Once the food’s devoured and the mess is cleaned up, you offer him a nightcap that promises to be better than what he’d been served at the fundraiser, and he happily accepts.

With tumblers in hand, the two of you migrate out to the patio. Javi is quick to indulge in his after-dinner smoke, bringing flame to paper-wrapped tobacco with a practiced flick and inhaling deeply. He fills his lungs with nicotine a few more times before turning his attention to his glass, bringing it to his nose before taking a slow sip.  

“Dios mio,” he appreciates aloud. “What is this?”

“Macallan,” you tell him.

“That’s damn good whiskey.”

“It ought to be for five grand a bottle.”

Javi chuckles and lets out a low whistle, “You lift it off a truck or something?”

“It was a gift,” you admit, taking a seat on the outdoor bench. “From Brad.”

He blinks slowly, “Your ex?”

You nod and shrug slightly, “Bastard always did have good taste.”

Javi doesn’t pry – he just smokes and paces, seemingly content for you to either share or plead the fifth. You take a sizable gulp for courage and finally tell him about Alaska, about the brand new, state-of-the-art facility, and what an opportunity it is. You explain the position. Tell him it offers better pay and an extremely generous housing stipend. A year there, maybe two, and you’ll have your pick of any hospital you want to work at going forward.

Brad’s presence, his role as department head, his status as your ex-fiancé, the wholly inappropriate “welcome gift” he supposedly sent on behalf of the entire staff – a gift you’re certain was pilfered from his dad’s private collection – none of it matters. You’re going there for work because you go where you’re needed, nothing more.

“Got the papers inside,” you say quietly. “Just gotta sign ‘em.”

Javi curses. Drops the butt of his cigarette into the remaining inch of whiskey. Sets the glass down a little too hard on the window ledge. It’s tense now, the air between you, the atmosphere filling with acridness neither one of you is accustomed to. He rolls his jaw. You tap your nail against the tumbler. Javier runs a hasty palm over his mustache and then, much to your surprise, he sits down next to you.

Your glass is taken and hastily put aside. Slowly, carefully, as if giving you the chance to pull away, Javi slots his fingers between yours. When you don’t protest, he holds on tight and brings your knuckles to his lips. His palm pressed to your palm; he lowers his head until his furrowed brow meets the back of your hand. It’s so achingly, intimately tender, so unexpected and jarring, that makes your eyes well.

You swallow hard and clear your throat, “Look, Javi, I’m –”

“Don’t,” he interjects with a slow, purposeful shake of his head. “Just… Don’t.”

The moment stretches, unbearable with the weight of the unknown, all nerve-wracking and heady at the same time. Javi eventually looks at you – eyes searching and examining and questioning. Head slightly tilted, a wayward chunk of his hair tumbles out of its’ carefully coiffed place, and you don’t consider your actions when you take back your hand to carefully brush it off his forehead.

“I don’t want you to go,” he murmurs.

You frown and stroke his cheek with your thumb, “I don’t want to, either.”  

Javi’s fingertips brush your forearm, and when he leans forward, you meet him in the middle. Your mouths join. Lips brushing, breath stolen and returned. The two of you are traversing unmapped and uncharted territory, but it’s so easy. It's as if you’ve been touching like this, kissing like this, for such a long time.

All languid and unhurried until he licks into your mouth, coating your tongue in hints of vanilla, nutmeg, and smoke, and then, you’re both in pursuit of more. Tripping over each other to get back inside. Both of you going for his belt, and then, your underwear – no finesse or thought of the bedroom just steps away because the couch will work just fine.

Knees sunk into the cushions and cheek mashed into an armrest. Heels kicked off and the skirt of your ankle-length dress tugged up over your hips. Javi explores and discovers you from behind, tongue tasting the unmistakable evidence of your desire, and fingers stoking the flame until you’re begging him to put you out of your misery.

“Condoms,” you croak, gesturing blindly. “In my work bag.”

A low growl. Nips and licks and sucks to the back of your thighs, the curve of your hip, the rounds of your shoulders. You’re melting to the floor, rolling into your back, eyes barely able to focus as he snatches up your battered canvas tote and upends it, the contents spilling out messily and noisily across the carpet.

“Preparing for an orgy?” he teases, letting the line of rubbers unfurl above your head.

“Shut up,” you sass, nudging his thigh with your foot. “You know I had to teach that sex ed class today.”

“Did the hospital supply bananas?”

“Actually, it was cucumbers.”

Javi laughs. Tears open the package. Rucks up his shirt. You watch, gaze hooded as he slides the rubber on. You toss out a compliment to his technique, and he flushes, all hasty to push your legs apart and make room for himself between your splayed thighs. 

“It’s been – I haven’t done this in a while,” you admit, bravado lessening slightly.

Javi clicks his tongue, thumbs making small circles on your kneecaps, “Me, neither, cariño. Been saving myself for you.”

Your spluttered laugh brings out his hidden dimples, and then, he kisses you. Smiles gradually fade, amusement giving way to urgency, prompting you to reach for him, guiding him until he’s slowly sinking into you, filling you. And it’s a snug fit, but it’s just right, and when Javi rocks his pelvis, you’re remade. Suddenly cast adrift, in search of an anchor, you dig your fingers into his hair. Seek out his shoulders with your hands. Follow the curve of his spine and twine your legs around him just so you can feel the way flexes and stretches into your touch.

“Don’t stop,” you whisper against the shell of his ear. “Javi, please… Please, don’t stop.”

“I won’t,” he promises against your throat. “You feel so good, mi corazón. Feels like you’re mine. Like you’ve always been mine. Fuck.”

His words thrum through you, wreaking havoc, curling your spine, bringing even more heat to your cheeks. There’s no hiding the way your legs are trembling, no stopping your body from bearing down, from clenching hard, from trying to keep him deep inside for as long as possible. His name spills out from your lips like marbles on a wooden floor, the reverent mantra smothered only by his mouth seeking yours.

“Say you’ll stay with me,” Javi demands, teeth nipping your chin.

You nod frantically, “Yes. Yes, I’ll stay with you.”

In possession of you, of your agreement, Javi’s hold becomes unforgiving – fingertips digging into the meat of your hip and the nape of your neck. His thrusts turn pointedly devastating – retreating and surging forward, all precise and measured, purposeful in the way he seems to take control, bringing you to orgasm for the third time with a broad, self-satisfied smile that isn’t as humble as he probably thinks it is.

When he finally comes, he buries himself to the hilt, hips stuttering, stubble rubbing against your cheek as he muffles his groans of pleasure into the crook of your neck. As the two of you lie together in the afterglow, his head pillowed by your breasts, your arms and legs wrapped around him, breaths slowing until they match, the truth of you, of him, becomes undeniably clear.

Home isn’t a place. It’s a person.

And you’ve finally found each other.

[imagineitdearies]

~ A Flawed Eternity ~

(AKA drabbles set in the Perfect Slaughter universe. 🩵 Special thanks to @secretbraintwin for the ko-fi request! 🩵)

In which Chatterteeth considers Tyrus and Astarion’s relationship.

-

“I never want to see these wretched little pieces of misery again.”

The undead woman, now called Chatterteeth, froze where she stood. She’d thought long and hard for the past year on how best to ensure her goal. She returned to the material plane for a very specific purpose after all—the Szarr reign’s end. And now it was so close.

Sentiment for these boys standing in front of her couldn’t color her judgment.

As much as she saw good in him still, thought of him nearly like a wayward son, she had been prepared to let Tyrus die. He showed enough signs to warrant concern, if not certainty, of continuing the monstrous Szarr legacy whether he became a true vampire or not. His sweet beloved, on the other hand, only seemed to want Cazador dead. 

Only after hearing these words from Astarion’s lips, however, did Chatterteeth realize she may just have spent less time around him.

A very long time ago, Donnela had promised at first to set the other spawn free under Gathwycke’s reign. She’d sworn, in the shadowed, intimate moments they stole away together, that she would only do what was necessary. And before she drank the vampire lord’s hideous blood, she likely meant it. 

But necessities quickly changed once power was gained. “Aenore,” she’d said over and over again after killing the others only a few weeks later. Sounding so justified in her explanation, “Aenore, they questioned me at every turn; they already whispered plans of my demise. They couldn’t be trusted like you. It was necessary. I only do what is necessary.” 

It must have been Chatterteeth’s first given name. Spoken so soft and entreating in the memory that a shudder traveled down her old bones even now.

Perhaps Astarion’s words lacked the coldness of Tyrus’s orders, but the justification and sheer loathing in them was much more extreme—and he hadn’t even reached true vampirism yet. He could well turn out worse than Donnela.

One of these two boys had to defeat Cazador, however. Chatterteeth glanced between them as they began to follow the group ahead, suddenly at a complete loss as to which.

Her mother had served Gathwycke all her life, raising “Aenore” in the Tumbledown estate. The young girl witnessed from an early age that any person was capable of doing horrible things. But often there were signs to indicate those most inclined. Which made it all the more disgraceful, how blinded she became once Gathwycke brought his beautiful young cousin to the estate for the family rites.

At the age of 142, Aenore had rarely left the estate except for her studies, too quiet in her classes to make a single friend. She’d never left the outskirts of Baldur’s Gate. Donnela brought novelty, beauty, and passion into Aenore’s life, sharing all her tales of traveling across Faerun, uncovering lost items and secrets of the past. And in her, Donnela seemed to have found a confidante, a support, an enthusiast to plan the next adventure with.

They fell in love rather quickly—meeting outside the estate on quiet nights to explore the city in ways Aenore never had before, kissing and then making love under the false protection of darkness.

But Gathwycke threatened that bond over the years. As he grew more controlling, he exercised cruel punishments on Donnela and forbade her to ever leave the estate. As he became more covetous and paranoid, he stunted Aenore’s arcane studies and even burned her spellbook. Eventually he forbade them ever speaking on pain of death.

With her beloved threatened, Aenore had been more than ready to kill him for it.

She saw some similarities in Tyrus and Astarion now. They fought for love and liberation; they trusted no one but each other. They were ready to make sacrifices, no matter how great, to ensure the other’s happiness.

But she’d seen how such sentiments could sour. How what was sacrificed in the “name” of love fell far from the actual thing, and could end up tainting such feelings forever. How trust could falter as priorities twisted to center around power and control. How liberation could turn into a new kind of enslavement.

Aenore helped Donnela kill Gathwycke. But she’d only given her master a new name.

Astarion helped Tyrus so willingly now, supporting his weakened form as they braved the first few stairs down into the grand chamber. And Tyrus kept moving, even knowing he was walking towards his own death, so that he might save Astarion’s life. The sight alone nearly cracked the fortitude of her reasoning.

But she and Donnela had once held each other just as gently. How long would either of their touches continue as caresses, their gazes keep soft, their love stay true, should she reveal another path? One that would not only help them survive together, but seize power?

Aenore, young and foolish as she’d still been, supported Donnela’s decision to drink from Gathwycke’s neck. It seemed like the only way to ensure they kept control of the Tumbledown Estate, and not fear when the other vampiric Szarr family members came to call. Even after the death of the other four spawn, even once Donnela started to Turn her own unwilling fledgelings, Aenore had refused to see what was happening. She only tried to steer her beloved towards other projects, like the Tourmaline Depths excavation and new palace construction.

She tried to control Donnela in return. And that is where she failed her. 

“They are only fodder now,” Astarion had just said of the victims around them. And if he ascended, how soon until Tyrus was as well?

“You were a step on my path to eminence,” Donnela had said with some measure of melancholy, right at the end of it all. Straddling a defeated Aenore on the crypt floor beneath the new palace they had built together, stroking a blade up and down her sternum. “An important one, my dearest. But I left you unruled, indulged your quiet rebellions too long. Even the bite would not tame the hissing, venemous little thing you've become. Would it?”

Aenore hadn’t fought, not once her own necromantic ability to command undead failed her against Donnela. “I did . . . only what was necessary,” she whispered, thinking of the much more quiet defiance she’d enacted against the woman she loved: creating one last soul cage, enchanted onto a simple folded parchment in the library along with instructions for whoever found it. A way to turn the enchantment against the vampire lady one day, and entrap her own soul within it for a long, cruel eternity.

With that last measure in place, she didn’t resist the soft kiss Donnela pressed against her lips with those same soft, petaled lips she knew so well, just before the blade pierced her heart.

Yet neither had she resisted the chance to return and ensure, this time, that the Szarr legacy was fully destroyed, the cycle of violence and bloodshed finished. That another Donnela wouldn’t walk into these halls and suffer the same fate as her own beloved.

Or so she’d thought.

Now the skeleton called Chatterteeth was at an impasse. If Tyrus killed so many, he would fall into darkness. Even if he didn’t kill them, giving him the mere knowledge on how to control Astarion could prove disastrous. But if Tyrus died—clearly Astarion would be lost all the same.

Donnela and Aenore’s fight for freedom turned into a quest for power that destroyed them both.

Was there any surety that these two could be different?

No, Chatterteeth realized as she hurried her old bones into motion and caught up with the boys’ descent down the stairwell. Her jaw clicked uncontrollably as she steeled herself for what she was about to do—for all she was about to risk.

“Tyrus,” she hissed as she caught up with them. “Tyrus.”

There was no surety they would make better decisions than she and her beloved. But perhaps there was a hope.

[mybrainproblems]

hello, i'm finales georg...

i don't want to further clutter up the notes on this post while responding to the tags below but the persistence of the "finale is short/scenes are missing/extra ad break” conspiracies drives me absolutely bananas when i've watched the finale ten times and have posted about this A LOT trying to clear things up. (disclaimer that yes, i'm a goddamn destiel shipper but i care about Facts above all.)

ok but this is weird because i'd swear the episode was shorter (11 missing scenes!) but okay. maybe we all mandela effected ourselves into #beleving that. because it felt shorter. but i will die on the hill that it had another ad break. i understand this person has the thing #recorded with ads so i am thinking maybe different ad breaks in different idk time zones??? #because the finale did air an hour earlier in canada so maybe idk i am reaching here but maybe different states or whatever had different #ad breaks??? as for the last minute changes - wasn't the cover band asked for permission to use their version of carry on like a week before #the thing aired??? so even if the episode was 42 minutes and had no additional ad break - which i am side eying but lets say all was normal #i will always say they were changing thing until the absolute last minute (carry on my wayward son X 2 #the crew on the bridge which is not only giant 4th wall breaking but also wow they really got all those people in one place in times of #covid???) #anyway. tinfoil hat stays on sorry guys :/ (via @officialmisha)

short and snarky: there are plenty of real and sourced examples of network homophobia and scripted/directed destiel scenes being cut to point to. we don’t need to make this stuff up just bc the finale wasn’t what we wanted. so it’s not the mandela effect — it’s ppl repeating a conspiracy/rumor bc it supports their narrative and it’s easier and more fun to repeat something that supports a narrative they already believe (misha or something destiel was cut) vs the boring act of fact checking.

longer circumspect answer with links bc like many ppl i am in my debunking era and i rewatched "roblox_oof" last night.

like i said. i've watched the finale ten times. i’ve gone over the episode with a fine toothed comb and posted a detailed breakdown of timing marks on my blog. it’s actually extremely obvious where the ad breaks are once you know roughly where to look for them (they have a longer fade to black instead of a quick cut scene change). there’s no room for extra ad breaks and i think this conspiracy/rumor persists in part bc the episode feels so sparse in terms of cast and the fact that the episode’s momentum hits a barn post (and rebar) less than 20min into an hour-long programming block.

also i’m begging ppl to actually look at that timing mark post. it’s very straightforward and i spent a lot of time on it. i don’t care if ppl plagiarize it at this point if it means this conspiracy stops. i've got almost every second accounted for.

the "eleven missing scenes" that you're thinking of are probably from the finale script of questionable authenticity that @spnscripthunt acquired back in 2021 which can be found here. it's dated as the “final draft” from 11 sep 2020 and filming on 15x20 wrapped on 10 sep 2020. as noted at the bottom of this superwiki page "[the] script came from someone claiming to have been the person who did the closed captions for the show in Russia. There are some indications that it possibly may not be authentic, but this has not been confirmed."

if we go with the possibility that this was a transcript meant for subtitles, the "omitted" scenes were probably written but never filmed since it's the "final draft" and not a color revision (blue, green, yellow, etc). unfortunately, i’ve lost track of where i read it and a preliminary duckduckgo search isn’t bringing it up bc there's a program for script writing called final draft, but iirc the “final draft” version of a script is a transcript of what was filmed (e.g. there are parts of that 15x20 script that ended up being deleted scenes on the DVD). spnscripthunt also has an example of a confirmed final draft for 09x02 (funnily enough, also a dabb-penned ep). if anyone can confirm with a source that i have the purpose of the “final draft” version designation wrong, please let me know! i love being proven wrong with Facts.

i do want to acknowledge that the two “final drafts” do look different from each other and the 15x20 one doesn't look like a “real” final draft script since it lacks the revision/versioning dates that a script would normally have on the cover page. it could be that it was intended for subtitles; there's the chance it's been re-typed to anonymize it if there was anything indicating who the "owner" was, tho that seems a wee bit cloak and dagger to me. and again: it's considered of questionable authenticity. there are some things that don't quite line up but oh dear god i don't want to get even further out into the weeds than i already am.

i won't disagree that it's weird as hell that neoni only got asked about using their cover seven days prior to the episode airing (tiktok here). my personal theory is that they were hoping to get a more expensive song (maybe a zepp song, idk) and didn't manage to secure the rights in the end. again: this is pure conjecture on my part! but i could absolutely see someone working on the show hearing neoni’s cover and liking it and then maybe they were using it as a placeholder until it got down to the wire and they had to make a call/send the ep to networks. because yes, it is baffling they played a song and then a cover of it with only a 40 second break between. (i do actually really like the neoni cover! the placement is just weird and i think it could have worked if they had the kansas version at the beginning and closed with neoni's full cover.)

as to the 4th wall break COVID stuff: robert singer talked with variety magazine about filming the last two episodes and the logistics of filming during a pandemic. whether they should have been filming during a pandemic is a separate discussion but their use of office vs set pods, strict quarantining and daily testing meant that they had zero positive tests in the month they were filming (18 aug to 10 sep). so given all that, i personally don’t think it’s totally out of pocket to have everyone standing outdoors on a bridge for maybe an hour to get a drone shot of them together. (i won’t get into incubation periods and viral load, but if everyone tested negative that day and every day for a month prior, it was a fairly low risk scene to film outdoors and for all we know everyone was masked until the last possible second. there were plenty of outdoor masked protests in 2020 that weren't superspreader events.)

and before anyone brings up “but misha was in vancouver!” i know someone who looked into it and they said no dice, nothing matched up between the backgrounds in those pics and places in vancouver. his statements about “us” going back to set over the summer were pretty generic in hindsight and “we”/"us" could be him or the spn crew generally. unfortunately i’m not able to find those tweets but the use of “we” was likely so as not to give away he wouldn’t be returning to set. (bc we were absolutely casbaited!) and bc it comes up a lot: the "onion field pic" was from when they were filming 15x17 and was not taken while filming 15x19 and 15x20.

besides, it would be ridiculous to go through the financial and logistical headaches of bringing someone into the country to film during a pandemic, only to cut their scenes in the end! honestly, the script is pretty tight when the scenes are given so much breathing room! the only thing i could see being further cut down is The Monologue and even then, i don’t think there was any intent to cut it down given it was filmed in fairly long takes.

i’ve said it many times before, but i believe the finale was fucked long before they returned to set. walker got the green light in sep 2019 and it was being marketed heavily as a “follow on” show to spn given jared’s involvement. the demo they were courting for walker has little to no overlap with the demo for destiel fans — why would they want a finale that catered to a demo they weren't interested in courting? we just went through a historic double strike that exposed so much of the rot of business interests overriding creative vision. this isn't completely unfounded conjecture.

i will not apologize for the length of this bc i wanted to be thorough, but i do want to give context that i think the reason these conspiracies and rumors grind my gears so much is because anyone can fact check all of this. the truth is out there and absolutely none of it is that hard to find. the most time consuming/difficult part of this was finding someone who had a DVR’d copy of the finale from when it aired live and they actually found me themselves after i’d been low key asking around for a year!

and like. i get it. conspiracies are fun. but there are so many sourced instances of network homophobia and destiel being cut that it's like. why is this something folks are hanging onto? the cw is notorious for having upper level meddling with finales bc there's a follow-on show they want to shuffle fans along to and spn is no exception.

[autisticrosewilson]

Todd Family Tree pt. 1

I know you guys have been waiting with baited breath for this (Read: no one but me and a handful of select mutuals care), but fret not because it's finally here.

Let's start with the side of Jason's family we know the most about, Willis's. A lot of things I'll have to say about Willis himself will be things I've said before with maybe some new additions, but a lot of the focus will be on his relationships with his family anyway so hopefully it won't get too repetitive.

Someone on my last Todd Family post commented that the Ma Gunn aspect may have been retconned, however I already integrated it into my personal canon so let's just keep going shall we?

Also shout-out to @perseus-jackass who let me ramble to them about all of this and helped me iron out some of the finer details!

The Todd/Gunn Family; Canon:

- Willis reportedly named Jason after his father, Jason Todd Sr.

- Faye Gunn II is the niece of Willis which implies Willis has at least one sibling that is never mentioned, although Faye was either raised by or very close to Ma

- Faye was named after Ma implying that whichever sibling she was raised by was close to Ma

- Assuming Gunn is her maiden name, or perhaps an alias, she didn't keep her husband's last name and Jason Sr. Is never mentioned, which could mean that they split or that he's dead

- Obviously from a meta textual stand point the reason Ma Gunn was never mentioned as Jason's grandmother is because it was a later retcon, but in universe this and Willis's choice to keep his father's last name implies he wasn't fond of his mother/was closer to his father

Sub note: The candidates for Jason's mother included Lady Shiva (I'll get into my thoughts on her in Part 3) and an Israeli woman. Edit: @ammomancer informed me that Jason was Spanish (Basque specifically) in the Bombshells continuity as well!

- Ma was implied to be from Australia, and likely taught there for a time.

- Ma implied that she had sons, and possibly that they're dead. (I have obviously disregarded this, but I'm not against the interpretation that one or both of the girls are trans.)

So my version of Jason is black/Asian/Latino! I think he's Japanese/Indian from his mom and black/Latino from Willis so keep that in mind.

Fleshing Them Out; My Expansion:

I'll start with Ma Gunn, since we see the most of her in the comics and she has the most groundwork laid for her already. Mostly I'd like to make her a little more complex.

She's proven to be a ruthlessly pragmatic character, but I don't see her being someone who does what she does for fun. She's someone who values control, someone who doesn't take perceived slights lightly. I imagine growing up a woman on Gotham's streets with so many relations to organized crime builds grit, spawns bitterness and hate. She seems like the type to value tradition - in the Gotham crime family way- this is how she was raised and the way she raised her own children. There is no changing the world they live in, only surviving it. I think she really wanted to teach her kids, both the ones she birthed and the ones she fosters, how to survive.

That's not to say she really cares though, I don't think she's close enough to anyone to really care, even if maybe in the early days of motherhood she wanted to be. She's a stone cold bitch and she's proud of it, she made her kids strong and look at the reputation it's given her. Ma Gunn's school for wayward boys isn't just for strays anymore, there are some big names dropping their brats off for training these days. Crime lord daycare. Truly, only in Gotham.

Jason Todd Sr. Is a non-character. We know basically nothing but his name and that his marriage failed, and he's probably very dead. Which may or may not be related to said failed marriage.

Do I think Ma hired a hit on her husband? I wouldn't put it past her. I think she'd get rid of anyone if they were dragging her or the family down.

We can assume he was close to Willis, and I like to think that Mr. Todd was the homemaker because I can't really imagine Ma staying home to tend the kids. It's more likely her version of family bonding was a bank heist. Willis may have very well learned to drive from high speed car chases.

I think it would be very funny if Mr. Todd is from some third or fourth rate crime family that's using a mechanic shop as a front but Mr. Todd was actually really interested in it so he got an engineering degree and had little to nothing to do with the actual crime side of things. Maybe his family married him off to make him someone else's problem and while the Gunn's aren't a notable crime family they have a lot of resources and a lot of contacts, not to mention the small army of feral children.

Ma thought she was getting a seasoned criminal to help fund her illicit activities but instead he's a stay at home dad who has turned their home into a board game because he insists on fixing it all himself (if you use the microwave the doorbell might ring and you need a screw driver to use the shower ect.)

A lot of the experiences I associate Jason having with Willis I imagine Willis had with Mr. Todd, doing homework together, working on cars in the garage, Willis definitely learned how to cook from Mr. Todd because I just don't think Ma can do better than hamburger helper and public school lunch.

For the sibling situation, and I have no real evidence canon has completely left the building with this one, but I think he has sisters. Middle child Willis and also boy who grew up with all sisters Willis is real to me for reasons I couldn't say.

Completely made both of them up, but this is my house I can do what I want.

I'll start with the oldest sister, who I've decided to call Celia. I think she's the closest to her mother, the one who took over after her. Probably a serious, studious kind of person, she grew up with more opportunities than Ma did so she probably had more schooling. I can definitely see Celia as someone who worked her ass off to bring home good grades to make her mom proud and always falling short because Ma didn't really value traditional education.

Her and Willis definitely clashed growing up, Willis never liked Ma but Celia idolized her. Where Ma's crude demeanor and distance drove Willis to acts of rebellion it made Celia even more desperate to please.

Although I'm sure Willis would deny it, I think it's still a sore spot to him that Celia's way kind of worked. Once she got old enough to really learn about the business Celia was great at it, Ma started coming around to the benefits of having someone better with the numbers and paperwork.

I think that even after Willis leaves he genuinely tries to keep in touch with everyone, I don't think he ever stops trying to reach out to Celia. I don't think he agrees with who she became even if he saw it coming, regardless of how much he doesn't like their mother (he'd never say he hates her) Celia is still the girl who put bandaids on his scraped knees and let him crawl into her bed when he had nightmares and he can't bring himself to cut contact with her.

Celia is nicer than Ma, more adept at caring for the kids and because of this she earns their trust more which ultimately makes them more loyal to the Gunn's. This is a purposeful tactic because although she does see the kids as her own she doesn't see anything wrong with manipulating them for her gain. They're family, and family always want to help each other.

Jason was not allowed to visit his auntie, and didn't even know his grandmother was still alive.

I don't think she'd have a husband or boyfriend, a romantic relationship would take too much attention away from her business and if there's one thing she learned from her mother it's that a man would only drag her down or try to control her.

Willis is, to the surprise of no one, is who I have the most to say about but I'll try to keep it brief. For all he gets a bad rep I think he's a family man at heart, I'm positive he always planned on kids even if he wasn't sure about settling down with anyone at first.

Mostly because his mom kept trying to arrange marriages which is how he ended up dating Sheila for a time...which obviously didn't work out. One could say he wasn't keen on a repeat performance after that fell apart.

Man whore I fear, Gotham's fourth most bisexual man. Where's that one post about the goon who causes a distraction for his boss by making out with the bank teller and his wife. That's literally him Willis Todd ghost wrote that post. I'll get more into his various relationships in Part 3.

This man was born to tell dad jokes and wear funky ties but he's forced to live a life of violence and crime. Because of poverty and generational trauma.

I think the most tragic part of Willis Todd is that he tried. He loved his wife and he loved Jason and he gave everything he had to providing for them so Jason wouldn't have to grow up like he did but it ended the same anyway. And he'd never be disappointed in Jason, although Jason thinks he would, because home knows his son and he knows Jason wouldn't do it unless he really thought he was helping people.

I know everyone holds the opinion that Catherine was the most serious about Jason's school but I argue it's Willis, Cathy taught Jason to love learning but Willis taught him the importance of it. I think Willis always got good grades but he never went to college because part of ditching his family was ditching their money and most of what he made went towards supporting himself.

I've named the youngest sister Joan, and I think it's important to define her relationships more than her personality for reasons I'll get into in a bit.

For continuity's and sake I'll say she was a pre-teen when Willis moved out at 18-19, which would give her a large gap between both Willis and Celia - who I imagine are maybe two or three years apart - age wise. So while Willis likely tried to take care of her, to influence her away from their mom and sister, I don't think he was super fond of being at home to begin with so I don't think he was around much and I think Mr. Todd died not long after she was born so she didn't really have the gentle hand that Wills did growing up.

This left her with little to rely on but Ma and Celia, it was a real rock and hard place. Ma is honest in her ruthlessness at least, but Celia uses her love as a tool for manipulation. I'm sure she grew up right beside the other kids at Ma's school.

So I think it's no wonder that when she found herself with a baby she had no clue how to take care of, it was very easy for her mom and sister to convince her to give the baby over. Easy for Joan to decide that her daughter was in better hands with Celia as her mother.

And then Joan...vanished. No note, no phone call, no body. Most suspect it was Ma who did it, even though the woman had her kids - former and present - rip the city apart looking for her. No one knows the full story, and no one knows Joan Gunn's whereabouts.

Well, no one except Willis Todd, not that anyone else knows that.

Faye Gunn II has a lot of potential. I think there's a chance for her to parallel Jason. They both grew up on the streets and both have affiliations with organized crime, but where Faye is comfortable perpetuating the cycle of violence expected of the Gunn women Jason spends every night busting his ass to make sure another kid never has to go through what he did.

I also think it would be fun if maybe Faye wasn't entirely human, y'know give her a little bit of meta gene as a treat. Beast Boy isn't using the name Changeling anymore and I've long subscribed to Gotham operating by faerie rules so maybe she can borrow it for a few issues.

I don't have many thoughts on her as is but I'd like to do more with her in the future!

This got really long and I'm certain it will only get longer with the next additions. The next part will focus on the Clemens/Johnson family! Catherine Todd lovers stay tuned for part 2. Remember that all of this is just how I view them based on the cookie crumbs we get about them in canon.

[bazzybelle]

Good Omens 2 and Wayward Son - A Fan's Commentary on Fandom Reactions

I’m going to start off by saying apologies for any obvious grammatical errors. I am writing purely from the heart here. 

Also, apologies to my Sandman friends. If you haven’t read The Simon Snow Trilogy, this will go over your heads. However, I have been going back and forth on writing this meta since the release of Good Omens 2, and I just finished reading a spectacular meta on queer ships becoming canon by @avelera, which you can find here (read it, it’s brilliant). Anyway, I feel now’s a good time to let out all of my feelings when it comes to Good Omens 2 and how similar it was to reading Wayward Son. 

Simon Snow friends, you all know that Wayward Son is my favourite book out of the trilogy. You also know that this can be considered a controversial take within the fandom. And I don’t mean that in a toxic way, this fandom is one of the more wholesome fandoms I’ve seen; But in the way of like… Wayward Son is itself a polarizing book. 

I say this, knowing full well what went down when Wayward Son was released. Perhaps I had the advantage of not being completely embroiled within the Simon Snow  fandom until after I’d finished reading the book, but I lived on the periphery. I followed Rainbow on Twitter (fuck you, I am not calling it X), I had saved some artwork on Pinterest (before I found out those were stolen, wherein I immediately unpinned them and deleted my fandom folders), and I was excited to get Wayward Son as soon as it came out. So much so that I asked my husband to go to the Indigo near his office and buy it because I wanted to read it right away. 

Friends, I demolished that book within a DAY. 

Then I read it again. And again. And again. 

Then I wrote my first fanfiction in eight years. 

This book changed me. But you all know that. I’ve talked about it often, and that’s not what this meta (Editorial? Opinion piece? Shouting into the void?) is about. 

What I am going to talk about is the amount of pure vitriol this book got once it was released. There was SO MUCH complaining about the book. It was too short! There was no point to it! Why aren’t Simon and Baz having sexy vampire sex? Why aren’t they living together (never mind that this was briefly discussed at the end of Carry On, but go off I guess)? 

And you know what’s even funnier? Within a couple of weeks (it might have even been days, I’m a little fuzzy on timelines) Rainbow announced the third book. We knew, right away, that Wayward Son was meant to be an in-between book! Rainbow, being a fandom person herself, has said time and time again that she had always considered Wayward Son as an in-between book, structured like The Empire Strikes Back within the Star Wars original trilogy. Like think of the in-between books of any series, they are ALWAYS the darkest ones. In order to fully appreciate the win in the end, you need to go through the tough shit. 

What I loved about Wayward Son was it took that idea and spun it. It went all “ok, yeah we dealt with the win, now let’s deal with the aftermath. Only then can we have the makeouts and sexy times these guys deserved.”  (and damn, did Any Way The Wind Blows deliver on that promise).

But I am getting away from myself again. Point is, it was always meant to be an in-between book. There was always meant to be a resolution at the end of the trilogy. But that sure as hell didn’t stop people from outright demanding Rainbow give them the happy ending NOW. Pestering her on Twitter, (not so much on Tumblr) demanding she do this, or do that, or “you better not kill Baz” (even though she has ALWAYS SAID SHE NEVER WOULD) or “they better not break up” (even though, narratively, it was heading in that direction). The closer the book got to release date, the more people complained about how awful Wayward Son was. 

It was really disheartening to see. 

Which is why I got really upset when the SAME THING happened after the release of Good Omens 2. 

(For clarification purposes, because several of my friends have spoken to me about their own personal issues with Good Omens 2. And you are all super fucking valid. I am strictly referring to the amount of anger I saw online because although Aziraphale and Crowley kissed, they didn’t have an immediate happily ever after. I am also speaking of the anger expressed because the season wasn’t wrapped up in a neat little bow.)

Like with the release of Wayward Son, people seemed to have forgotten that season 2 of Good Omens was meant to be an inbetween season. Neil Gaiman has not been shy to talk about that. He has said over and over again that Season 2 was always meant to be a bridge between the Good Omens he and Terry Pratchett wrote together, and the sequel they had been planning. 

What… did you all just forget about that? Do you not know how narrative writing works? 

It’s like people refused to take a step back and breathe for a second and appreciate the season for what it was. A beautiful romantic story (because, IT WAS! Just like Neil said it would be), as well as a lead up into what will be the epic, dramatic conclusion. No, instead people started demanding the happy ending NOW, and getting angry when Neil wouldn’t budge and offer more information (even though he never has before) (funny how people just… forgot that).

It was Wayward Son all over again.

Yeah, I’m not going to lie, I was crushed with the way Good Omens 2 left off. Just like I was so confused when Wayward Son ended out of the blue. You know what I did about that? I wrote fic, I read the book again, and I happily anticipated the upcoming final part that would tie up all the loose ends.

Know what I’m doing to heal after Good Omens 2? I’m looking at gifs, rewatching episodes, laughing at memes and crack, and hoping to all the gods of story writing that Amazon approves of a third season, so that Neil Gaiman can be allowed to finish the story he and Terry Pratchett built together.

It’s become sad to watch this feral hunger from fans demanding immediate gratification, and getting upset when it isn’t the ending or gratification they were expecting. Wayward Son came out after years of Carry On fans having nothing else but the one book. Like I said, I wasn’t part of the fandom then, so I don’t know how fans from 2015 felt upon learning they’d get more Simon and Baz. Same with Good Omens. I only really got into the fandom a few months before season 2 came out. So I don’t know how OG fans felt waiting and waiting and waiting. So maybe I have that going for me as an advantage, that my hunger wasn’t growing more and more feral. 

Then again, I’m now a part of The Sandman fandom, and we’re essentially waiting on Season 2 to start development. And while I’m hoping a few things are tweaked (like Dream and Hob’s relationship), I’d be more than fine if it stays the same as in the comics. And if they decide to go about that in an entirely different way, I’d be fine with that too. You know why? Because I’ve learned to trust the writers of the stories I love not to lead me astray. 

And if I’m unhappy with something –because nothing is ever 100% perfect, and even my favourite stories end up coming short– there are always fanfictions to write, gifs to laugh at, and fandom friends to discuss plots and meta with. 

I may have lost the point of this meta. I tend to do that, following a train of thought that doesn’t always make sense in the end. 

Fandom friends, can we all just agree to take a breath and be thankful of the stories given to us? Can we learn to appreciate the entire picture, and not just a tiny section of it? And for the love of all that is holy, can we learn to be patient and to listen when our story tellers remind us to wait and see? To trust them when they assure us that our characters will have a happy ending, even if they need to traverse a little in the dark to get there?

I sure as hell am, and I hope you will too. 

Gonna tag @carryonsimoncarryonbaz because she was instrumental in encouraging me to write this.

[itsybitsylemonsqueezy]

Continuing my new series of "dumb thoughts I have about Baldur's Gate 3," I have a strong conviction that every companion/main character may be represented by an (hilarious) 80s anthem (if you pretend that 1976-1983 is the 80s).

So, without further ado, here is my personally curated playlist for the BG3 Companions!

Astarion

"Somebody to Love" by Queen I mean, where do I start? Take a look in the mirror and cry? I spent all my years in believing you? Or my personal favorite, I just gotta get out of this prison cell/Some day I'm gonna be free! Lord... And the thing to get about this is not so much that Astarion is looking for romance necessarily, but he wishes to be in a place safe enough to love. I think that's really one of his most cherished dreams, being able to form a stable, long-term relationship with someone who will keep him safe, where he will be safe and not alone anymore. But also, can you imagine this drama queen complaining, with a full choir back up, about how hard he works every day? Dear god. So I humbly pitch "Somebody to Love" for his anthem.

The Emperor

"More than a Feeling" by Boston Listen, I was overcome by the fact that a tadpole in your brain certainly is more than a feeling. It was too good not to share! He just wants to love you!

Gale

"Tainted Love" by Soft Cell Is there a more appropriate sentiment for Gale and Mystra than I gave you all a boy could give you/Take my tears and that's not nearly all! ? This is my break up song for the poor boy. You can do this Gale, I believe in you!

Halsin

"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cyndi Lauper You see a big bear sprawling in the sunny flowers in the middle of a forest clearing and what do you think? Girls just wanna have fun, absolutely! Also, Cyndi Lauper is an OG in sexual liberation, which is very Halsin.

Karlach

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler Oh, the jokes really don't stop with this one ^^; It's about living in a powder keg and giving off sparks? Being lonely for so long? Bright eyes? I mean... Karlach absolutely lives up to the melodrama here.

Lae'zel

"Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor This one I'm probably least satisfied with as it feels very hurr durr Lae'zel fight good. But "Livin' on a Prayer" didn't come out until 86, "Welcome to the Jungle" was 88, "Immigrant Song" is right out in 1970... and none of these are quite right either. Haven't found one yet that properly captures some of the nuance of our complex, fighty lady. Perhaps subject to change later.

Shadowheart

"Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey Alright, I'll admit this one isn't perfect either, but... come on! The title is just too good! And such a rosy, hopeful song about beating the odds in the face of Shadowheart's pessimistic doom and gloom, it was just so good!

Withers

"Hotel California" by The Eagles If bone man isn't the personification of You can check out any time you like/But you can never leave I don't know what is.

Wyll

"Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas If this song is ruined for you by certain other cultural touchstones... suck it up. Or if you must, replace with "Take On Me" by a-ha, because that was a close second. But I think when you really think about it, Wyll is very much a wayward son, trying to create a little peace in this world.

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

What song did you personally like the best out of this round? Did a song make an impact right away or did it require the full version? Did the artist reveal change your opinion for better or for worse? Tell me in a reblog! :D

(note: this is not a popularity contest or to vote for a favourite artist out of loyalty 💖 it's still about the song.)

[evevoli]

original story concept: flight feathers (working title)

aka me shoving my new OCs in everyone's faces for a few minutes. low and behold, my gang of losers:

from left to right: Phoenix, Selene, Helios, and Killian

so a wayward beam of divine insanity lightning struck me about four months ago in the form of the first genuinely coherent original story idea i've had in... basically forever and i am finally crawling out of my mad ornithologist lab to talk about it, if only so i have something to point to when i start tagging random innocuous text posts with the names of characters no one's ever heard of. this project is perhaps the most self-indulgent Autism Fueled venture i have ever gone on and it is so fun actually

the basic gist of the story is that local Teenage Bird Hater Selene accidentally gets isekai'd to a Greco-Roman/baroque-inspired city on a floating archipelago hidden in the clouds, inhabited by bird-worshipping winged people. there she befriends a strange one-winged fortune teller named Phoenix, who takes her in while she looks for a way back down to earth.

as a certified Bird Disliker(tm) for reasons she will absolutely not disclose, the idea of being trapped in this city with its strange bird-entrenched culture has got to be Selene's personal hell. but she's already made a few good friends and is learning a lot, so hey... if you ignore the castle surrounded by doves looming off in the distance, and the general poor sentiment surrounding corvids, maybe it's not such a bad place to be after all.

...until it turns out the King himself might have it out for her, much to the dismay of his son and loyal knight, Prince Helios and Captain Killian.

there is. A Lot more to it than that lol—and at least like 8 more characters i haven't gotten to drawing yet—but there's your elevator pitch. to explain the world a bit more, everyone has bird wings to fly with, their own Bird Familiars(tm), and rides around on pegasi and different species of griffin. the world consists of little islands connected by bridges, with the city developed vertically, and sort of resembles a fusion between the Aether mod in Minecraft and Zephyr Heights in MLP G5.

and now the most important thing, the Closeups

some notes:

Selene is transfem :), Helios is transmasc only because i tried giving him curled ram horns and got so frustrated trying to draw them i just gave up and gave him the ewe ones instead

Selene is a Wolf Kid and really vibes with the lyrics to Angel of Darkness on a personal level

Helios's wings are weak and undersized so he can't take off or fly for very long on his own

i like to consider Helios my personal challenge to design the most unapologetically cringe and archetypal character ever. i am going to make a character that is so sad little loser prince. kicks him

Phoenix is a childhood nickname, Killian is just a shortened form of Achilles. Phoenix absolutely hates his birth name. Killian is ambivalent towards his

Phoenix lost his left wing in an accident that changed the trajectory of his life forever teehee :3c

the little blue jay is named Celeste, the crow is Peanut, and the tawny owl is Athena :)

and that is all i shall reveal in this post >:) this idea has been rotting my brain from the inside out for months now so don't hesitate to shoot me an ask if you're wondering about anything :]

[stranger-rants]

So many abused kids are raised in conservative households that indoctrinate them to have very harmful ideas but when they're freed from their homes either because they ran away or went to college or got a new job or whatever they meet new people, gain perspective, and turn into the most leftist individuals you will ever meet.

It happens all the time. There are big name conservative politicians who notoriously have leftist children who speak out against them. I've certainly changed my views quite a bit from the time I was 13 until now. The same could happen for Billy. We know his dad is a conservative and a bigot. We know Billy is also itching to get away from him.

I would actually *love* to see that journey for him because it's entirely possible. Billy being free would have made such a big difference in his life. I know it would. I don't care what happens to Neil. I don't care if he's still alive spinning tales about his wayward son. I don't care if he's in jail for hitting Billy. I don't care if he's dead and Billy pees on his grave.

The biggest justice for me would be for Billy to be able to live his own life and be his own person, not controlled any longer by his bigoted father who tried so aggressively to mold him into a "mini me."

[tribrvd]

❝ I've been through hell and back but I've emerged STRONGER and more determined than ever. I won't let my past define me ; I'll create my own D E S T I N Y. ❞

✧.* { DANIELLE ROSE RUSSELL & SHE/HER & CIS WOMAN & 19/52 } Is that HOPE MIKAELSON? I’ve seen them hanging around town here and there, I’ve heard they can be pretty STUBBORN. How typical for a TRIBRID. I guess they must rely on their FIERCE side shining through.

CHARACTER STUDY.

NAME: Hope Andrea Mikaelson

BIRTHDAY: May 2nd, 2012

AGE: Forever 9teen / fifty-two

SPECIES: Tribrid (Werewolf, witch & vampire)

HOMETOWN: New Orleans, LA

CURRENT RESIDENCE: Mystic Falls, VA

FAMILY.

MOTHER: Hayley Marshall

FATHER: Klaus Mikaelson

STEP-FATHER: Jackson Kenner

GRANDPARENTS: Esther Mikaelson, Ansel, Mikael Mikaelson, Hayley's parents.

SIBLINGS: Marcel Gerard (Adopted brother)

UNCLES: Finn Mikaelson, Elijah Mikaelson, Kol Mikaelson, Henrik Mikaelson

AUNTS: Freya Mikaelson & Rebekah Mikaelson

HONORARY FAMILY: Davina Claire (Aunt), Keelin Malaraux (Aunt), Mary Dumas (Grandmother)

PERSONALITY.

LABEL: The Catalyst

POSITIVE TRAITS: Brave, ambitious, compassionate, determined.

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Guarded, impatient, impulsive, unpredictable.

FEARS: Not living up to her families expectations, losing the ones she loves.

AESTHETICS.

Uncertain paths, tears from laughter, spirited debates, never taking no for an answer, confidence that could kill, driving fast with the windows down and music loud, dancing in the rain, worn leather jackets, paint stained hands, blood stained hands, living up to be her families legacy, drunkenly dancing on tables, voice sweet as honey, saving everyone but herself, stargazing on the lawn, thunderstorms and combat boots, black lace, watercolors, a blank canvas, the smell of acrylic paint, fierce loyalty, late night runs in her wolf form, grimores full of rewritten spells, soft glow of candles.

ABOUT.

Hope's wiki can be found here, everything about her is canon until the end of the show.

Hope's entire life was flipped upside down when she lost her parents, and in losing her parents - she felt as if she lost her entire family. Immediate, and pack.

She never felt as if she belonged anywhere in the school, but that changed when Greyson showed up. Though he was older than her, she felt closer to her pack than she had before. Seeing Greyson also gave her the hope that there was still some Crescents around.

While he was at the school, Hope grew protective over him and the friendship budded between the two.

Try as she might, Hope ended up falling in love with Landon. As time went on, Hope learned that Landon was the son of the very thing that wanted her and every other supernatural creature dead. Landon was to be the vessel for Malivore.

Time went on it was revealed that the only one who could kill Malivore was Hope, with her tribrid blood. The problem was, Hope wasn't a full tribrid yet. With the help of her Aunt Freya, she became the full tribrid. She searched endlessly for ways to kill Malivore without killing Landon, but couldn't find any other way.

It came down to saving the supernatural world, or saving Landon. Hope knew she had to make the hard choice, so as she struck Landon/Malivore with the blade made of her blood, Hope turned her humanity off.

She was an absolute menace without her humanity.

When it wasn't one thing, it was another. The school was now dealing with a world ending God.

In the middle of dealing with the God's, Hope's humanity switched flipped back on just in time for the final battle.

She very hesitantly made a call to Greyson to see if he could come help, the more hands the better.

After the battle with Ken was won, the school celebrated in their victory as well as mourning the loss of those who've they lost.

Hope began to make a pack of her own in Mystic Falls, recruiting wayward wolves who had no pack, wolves who once had a pack but got hunted down, and when things finally settled down enough, Hope went back to New Orleans to visit the remaining crescents. She recruited them as well, blending the pack into one as she took her spot as alpha, making Greyson her second.

New Orleans still wasn't safe for the crescents after everything, so Hope suggested they move to Mystic Falls. When they did, Hope acquired a piece of land in Mystic Falls near the lake. Soon, she had small cabins and houses being built. A new home for the crescents.

One night, while Hope, Lizzie and Josie were all consoling each other over the loss of Alaric, Josie wished her dead could be brought back, and Hope agreed, wishing they were all back. Unknown to them a jini was eavesdropping.

The dead came back with a rush, then a slow trickle but still no Alaric. Reaching out to Landon, they came to the realization that Alaric was never in limbo.

Years went by, people went missing and according to Landon never showing up in limbo. They realized they were dealing with yet another new monster.

As the years went by, Hope grew closer to Greyson, the friendship between them blooming into something more. It scared Hope, because she didn't have the best luck when it came to that department, in one way or another they always ended up leaving. However, she wasn't always subtle about the way she felt for him.

Just when it seemed like they were both going to admit their feelings for each other, Greyson died.

Hope was never good at dealing with the death of those she cared for, so she held off on the Crescent's funeral for Greyson and magically preserved his body until she found a way to bring him back. Finding a way, Hope brought Greyson back and since then things have been different for them.

Doing her best to distract herself, Hope's been focusing on strengthening the Crescents, keeping them safe while the soul harvester was out and about, and trying to find a way to figure out what it was that was holding souls from crossing over.

[sam-glade]

Happy WBW!

What are some important events in your world’s history? E.g: Infamous battles, famine, plagues, technological advances, etc.

~tabswrites

Hi Tess, Happy WBW!

The first one that came to mind is the War of the Dispossessed, in which the Sun King's son waged a war against the allied forces of the three of the five princedoms, led by the White Dragon. While it was a personal tragedy for the Sun King, the greatest horror came from Swords fighting on both sides - and using their powers against other humans.

Full description, as told by Ianim to the rest of the cast, under the cut. Note: Ianim isn't exactly impartial - if it ever sounds like he's 'towing the party line'.

Days of dusk taglist (please message me to +/-): @acertainmoshke @another-white-hole @poetinprose

~*~

“Eighteen centuries into My-Sun-and-Light the King’s reign, His son was born in the Palace in the Clouds, where He’d taken residence with the King Consort, the Dancer. Despite the Sun King’s objections, she told their child stories of this earthly plane, of all the things she’d found beautiful, of snow-covered forests and gleaming mountain streams, of azure seas and flowering meadows.” Master Varré swirled their hand to get him to hurry up. Ianim shot them a look, but didn’t rush. “All of that the Dancer — the most powerful Elemental Dancer to have ever lived — created in the Palace in the Clouds, but the one thing she told her child about, which she could not bring into their home, was human kindness.

“She spoke at length of the positive sides of human nature, so that the child might understand why his father the Sun King had loved His people so much. She had hoped to spark the same love in her child. And her tales piqued his curiosity.

“The child begged and begged, until the Sun King relented and permitted him to walk among the people as one of them, to experience what they do, and understand the human nature. The child however, was ill-prepared. The Dancer did not instil in him sufficient caution nor did she warn him that people can also be cruel, and malicious, and wrathful.

“He was left to discover it for himself and found a taste for cruelty. His parents wept over the changes in their precious boy, but were unable to stop him as he rallied supporters and amassed an army. The Sun King and the Dancer called on the White Dragon and his company of the Winged Riders to bring home their wayward son.

“The son’s army grew, and he relished in power. He appealed to people’s carnal desires, stoked their ambitions and fears. He moved around the Five Princedoms, pillaging, burning, inflicting violence, leaving nothing but destruction in his wake. The White Dragon’s company chased him doggedly, while the Weaveress, his wife, commanded the army of the Princedoms of Light and Rock, to defend their borders — the Sun King’s son pitched the princedoms against each other to sow further chaos.

“The war lasted for decades, with shifting alliances and broken pacts. Since the Battle of the Burning Banners three thousand years ago, it is without a doubt the darkest period in our history. Swords fought on all sides, convinced or forced to use their Gifts of Fates to inglorious ends — at times even sent forth among the enemy ranks, only to be shot in the back so that the blast upon their death would take out dozens of soldiers.

“In the end, the Sun King’s son’s company met the Winged Riders on the field of battle, and My-Sun-and-Light the King sent the dragons and the King’s Blades to fight against His own child. The son died in this battle, slain by Seiris Embersong. The Sun King then declared him to be Dispossessed. No longer was he to be considered a child of the King and His Consort, and neither would be his descendants — if there were any.

“The Army was then established, to be led by the Feldmarshal, formerly a Captain of the King’s Blades, to unite all Swords in the Five Princedoms under a single banner, so that they may protect the people from the Spawn of Darkness, but never ever again fight against each other or any other person.”

[arataka-reigen]

I'm not putting Frankenstein in this list because I already made up my mind to participate in Frankenstein weekly anyway.

Again, I reserve the right to go against the results of this poll but I will still try to be faithful to it

Brief synopsis for each of these books if any of you are interested in knowing more about it (probably not, but, oh well):

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut: Centering on the infamous World War II firebombing of Dresden, the novel is the result of what Kurt Vonnegut described as a twenty-three-year struggle to write a book about what he had witnessed as an American prisoner of war. It combines historical fiction, science fiction, autobiography, and satire in an account of the life of Billy Pilgrim, a barber's son turned draftee turned optometrist turned alien abductee. As Vonnegut had, Billy experiences the destruction of Dresden as a POW. Unlike Vonnegut, he experiences time travel, or coming "unstuck in time."

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born -- a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam -- and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity.

The Witcher - The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski (it's the witcher. idk what else to say)

Wayward Children - Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: it views a world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of a young girl, as her father--a crusading local lawyer--risks everything to defend a black man unjustly accused of a terrible crime.

All Tomorrows by Nemo Ramjet: The story begins in the near future, as burgeoning population pressures force humanity to terraform and colonize Mars. After a brief but violent civil war between the two planets, the genetically engineered survivors begin a new wave of colonization, spreading across the galaxy. Everything is looking up for the human race... until the colonies encounter the Qu, technologically advanced aliens on a religious mission to remake the universe. Although humans fight valiantly, the Qu easily overpower humanity; as punishment, the aliens decide to genetically modify the survivors, turning most of them into mindless, animalistic creatures before departing.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin - After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy must have been a rare jellyfish sting--things don't just happen for no reason. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory--even if it means traveling the globe, alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

PJO - The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (reread) - This would be a reread, i'm gonna do it sooner or later, but you get to decide if i do it sooner than later.

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The King's Coronation and the Overseas Grifters by u/ocean_swims

The King's Coronation and the Overseas Grifters People are always posting here about how soft King Charles is for not dealing with his wayward son. I feel like they fail to recognize that he's doing much more important things. Hazno is overseas and the BRF have moved swiftly on. The King has no time to spare for his spare.Those who watched the Coronation Documentary can see for themselves how the BRF machine operates. It's a full time job with only 2 full days off a year (Easter and Christmas). As king, Charles, following in his late mother's footsteps, never stops working. He has no time or inclination to worry about Hazno, the ILBW or their many attempts to tarnish the family's reputation. He has real world issues to deal with, as Commander in Chief and King. His every movement and word makes a global impact and he's acutely aware of how much he can uplift not only people, but whole communities, around the world. We see that impact in the work of the Prince's Trust and in the inclusivity showcased in his coronation (the first time in history other religions were included- and to such a profound extent). This man has always been ahead of the curve on social and environmental matters, and he's not slowing down with age. He will continue to make history, serving his peoples of all ethnicities, creeds, backgrounds and religions.Charles has always been focused on the bigger picture- the people, the service, the use of his platform to highlight important issues and causes. He's not soft on Hazno, he's literally indifferent to him, choosing instead to focus on his duty as king and put his energy into dealing with the real word issues facing his peoples.Charles cares and he leads by example, taking decisive action and putting his attention to things that matter. For example, the public is unaffected by Hazno's petty quibbles- that does not keep their homes warm in winter. The public is directly impacted when King Charles opens up his personal properties to create Warm Spaces for those who cannot afford their heating bills. He put his time and attention to the thing that was actually important and ignored the noise from the pair who think they're important.You see this throughout the BRF; their work ethic is like no other and their vision is astonishing. Their causes make a real life difference and they will not dedicate a second's thought to the temper tantrums of the overseas babies.Hazno and ILBW are insignificant and don't need to be dealt with in some grand, public manner. Responding to them in any way would only fuel the narcs and put the BRF's energy and focus into things that aren't worthy. The grifters are doing a fine job of showing the world who they are, all on their own, while the BRF focuses on the future, moves forward with courage, and the grifters slowly fade into insignificance in the background.I know for a lot of people, the removal of titles or some equal grand gesture feels necessary, but I feel that would only give them more opportunity to whinge. They are a footnote in history and are already forgotten. Those of importance who remember them think of them as failures who threw away every bit of opportunity and goodwill they had.Whatever we think we know, the BRF continues to show me (personally, I cannot speak for others) that there is a bigger, more important point of focus behind the scenes. There is real work happening every day and it's much bigger than any word salad false promise the ILBW can make into the nearest microphone to appease her blind stans.While the grifters spend their whole lives in a fishbowl, focused exclusively on revenge and looking like humanitarians, the rest of the family spend their lives in the wider world, actually being humanitarians and doing the unglamourous work in villages, nursing homes and youth centres, effectively changing people's lives for the better. Time and patience is needed; the truth will always out. post link: https://ift.tt/DqMh27E author: ocean_swims submitted: December 27, 2023 at 11:48AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit