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namelessghoulsfacelessblogs · 6 months

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Sweet Little Murmurs

Aether x GN! Reader

Telepathic Aether has some fun messing with one of the siblings of sin..

Hypno kink, masturbation, voyeurism at the end... Probably gonna lead into another fic~

Note: I'll be using neutral words for body parts (chest, sex, etc.) because I'd rather it be gender neutral

You'd been pent up for a while- well, it wasn't like you had been trying. You just hadn't been able to.. Finish, lately.

You were relaxing with Aether for a bit, reading a book, when one of the scenes started to turn a bit more heated and erotic. Your body started to heat up, and you shivered- then felt Aether's hand trail up your side.

"Hey.. You like that kind of thing?" He wasn't looking at the book- but directly at you, and you could feel a small tug at your temples.. Telepathy.

"Aether.. You know the rules.." You looked at him, frowning.

"I know, I know.. But your energy shifted and I wanted to make sure it wasn't anything bad." He smiled and tilted his head. "Why didn't you say something? I'm glad to help you out, you know."

You blushed and looked away again, glancing at your book. "I mean.. It's a little awkward.. Isn't it?" You closed it, setting it on your lap. "I mean.. I'm not as big as you are, and you're.. Well.. Ghouls are a little different.." Your cheeks were warm, and you knew they had to be going red.

"Sweetheart.. We both know you like my cock. And we both know you asked me to put those little words in your head a while ago so I could help if you ever got like this. We even gave you a safe-word protocol, remember? You'll remember even when your mind is mushy and empty and all you can focus on is your pleasure." He tilted your chin up so you had to meet his eyes, making you shiver. Heat pooled in your belly as he spoke, and you could feel yourself giving in already- and he hadn't even spoken the words yet.

"Aether.." You whined softly, and he smirked as he placed a hand on your thigh.

"What is it, precious? You want me to say it?" He leaned in, kissing your cheek, then moved to your ear, nipping at your earlobe gently, grazing fangs along the skin, prompting you to whine. His fingers wandered closer to your groin, where your slowly growing need made itself obvious. You panted and nodded your head, only for him to chuckle, low in his throat. "Words, love..."

"Mmh.. Please, Aether..?" They came out shivery, breathy, and he hummed again.

"Alright, alright.. Playtime, sweetness." Within an instant, your mind went fuzzy, and your entire body tingled. You felt like you'd been surrounded with cotton, and could only feel his touch. His one hand gently stroked your thigh, the other cupping a cheek as you murmured something that you barely even felt was words. "That's it.. Let me take care of you.."

You felt him pick you up, but it was all like a dream- and it was amazing. You clung to him, and he kissed your cheek as he carried you to his room. He gently placed you down, and began to remove your clothes, hands sliding up your body as he removed the robes that hid your skin from him. You reached up and cupped his face, and he smiled, taking your hands. "You like how my hands feel on you, baby?"

You nodded, but he didn't even need you to tell him. The evidence was clear in your undergarments, already bearing evidence of your arousal. He freed you of them, then leaned in, kissing your lips, to which you further submitted. It felt so good- and then, his hand was between your legs, fingers working on your sex to tease you. He wouldn't properly touch you like this- but that was alright. It was part of how you two went about it- you would be able to stop him easier if he wasn't inside, and he would be able to keep you under longer. An agreement that the teasing was enough to get both of you excited- and in this state, it was perfect. This particular drop always felt good.

"Ohh.. You love how I make you all mindless, don't you? No worries, no problems... And most importantly, assurance you get to cum this time." Those words made you whimper and whine again, and he gently kissed your jawline, placing his hand on your belly as he trailed them along your jaw and to your neck, where he gently suckled. You were throbbing, panting, and you knew he could tell. How? His own cock was beginning to perk up against your thigh, and he was gently purring.

He could feel your arousal in his own mind, and that little tugging at your temples said he was trying to see how to please you. Whatever you wanted, he would do, and that only made you hornier. You whined, legs trembling, and he increased the pace at which he teased you as he continued to kiss and mouth at your neck. He trailed down to your chest, gently biting to leave marks on you. He moaned a bit- and that pushed you further into the fuzzy feelings. You felt his lips on your skin as he kept kissing down your chest and to your navel, and then below.. The moment he reached your waistline, you felt him tug at your mind again-

"Cum for me.. I know you want to.."

As soon as you were given permission, all your pent up frustration and desperation reached a peak, and you finally came. Pleasure spread through your entire body, tingling sensations taking over your skin. You made little noises as your vision went white with orgasmic pleasure and bliss. Your breaths left you in panting gasps, and Aether gently purred as he moved to your ear. "Good job, baby.. That felt good, didn't it..?" You nodded and made a noise, and he cupped your cheek. "Good.. Now, I want you to get some sleep for me.."

As you began to drift off, the pleasured shockwaves dying down, Aether hummed, tucking you into his sheets. As soon as he knew you were asleep, he chuckled, then spoke. "You know, Papa.. I can feel you too.."

A very flushed- and already hard Copia, tensed in the doorway, blushing, heavily embarrassed. "I-"

"Don't worry, I have plenty enough for you too."

#prince writes tag #the band ghost #ghost band #ghostband #ghost fandom #nameless ghouls #band ghost #ghost the band #aether ghoul #aether ghost #aether x reader #ghost band smut

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mygwenchan · 9 months

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Let me think a bit about this scene between Jump and Porche to distract myself from the fever 😩

So! I guess a lot of us have wondered why Jump was so interested in Porche's dad during the car scene. After all, what does it matter to him who Porche's father is? But of course, Jump has already shown that he can be quite attentive. He is someone who likes to acquire information about the people around him, because you never know when it'll come in handy!

So now we have Jump who notices a piece of paper in the car's trunk. It tells him that the car is registered under the name Jason Lee.

He then learns from Porche that Jason Lee is Prom's and Porche's dad. But wait... Lee? Jump gets very interested all of a sudden, because neither Porche nor Prom use that family name. Their name is Ponglred!

Jump immediately moves away from Porche and continues to ask "Are you mixed?" (aka dad is Chinese while the mom is Thai) and most importantly:

Now I don't know about you guys, but Jump actually looks really concerned to me here. It's like he wants Jason Lee to be Porche's stepfather and not the biological one...

My guess right now is that Porche and Prom are the sons of Mr. Lee's mistress. That would explain why they have their mother's last name (divorce hasn't been mentioned so far). It could also be the reason why the two of them are allowed to sort of waste their potential. Mr. Lee sounds like a very rich and powerful CEO, yet Prom doesn't get pressured into being a big shot at the company (Porche is the only one who told him to quit that job at Playboyy, but only once and Prom dismissed him. Cause really, why should Prom bother? He still gets to live in that villa with the giant pool!). There doesn't seem to be too much pressure on Porche either, if he's able to spend his days fucking the car wash boy (and before that Porche was hardly ever present at the car repair shop). Yeah, sounds to me like the spoiled kids of a rich guy's side chick.

And that might very well mean that Mr. Lee has more than just those two kids (the old cougar probably jumps onto everything that moves...)! Maybe some other mistresses' son didn't get as lucky as Porche and Prom. Maybe his mom got cast aside and ended up living in poverty, meaning her son had to pick up sex work to survive 👀

Playboyy likes to drop hints pretty openly and in-your-face (like Nant's necklace for example), so I'm very certain that Mr. Jason Lee will play a bigger role in future episodes. Who is he exactly? Just a random CEO? The owner of the Playboyy lounge? Or maybe even a sort of king pin who is pulling the strings from behind the curtains? Also: Does he have a third son?!

One thing is obvious. We should keep the name "Jason Lee" in mind!

#playboyy the series #playboyy ep5 #playboyy #gwen's watchlist #playboyy meta #meta #thing is #we've already seen so many “taboo” topics #they might as well add some sweet home alabama to the mix...

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gigawatt-smile · 2 years

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Here's the Foreword from the Lockwood & Co Netflix Tie-in Edition. It's basically just The Screaming Staircase but this was also here from Mr Shroud Himself (under the cut):

'A girl and a boy knock at the door of a house in south-west London. It is a fairly modern house and they are wearing modern clothes, but they each have a rapier at their belt, and kitbags full of salt bombs and iron chains. They have come on professional business. They are there to destroy a ghost.

And that, when I sat down and wrote the first three pages of what became The Screaming Staircase, was pretty much all I knew. Who was this pair? Why were there no adults accompanying them? What was the horror that waited for them beyond the door? I didn't have a clue (most of my books start like this, with a single, improvised, scene). What I did know was that I wanted to write a ghost story, that children were going to be my heroes and that, when they came face to face with something nasty, I wanted it to be a fair fight.

The trouble with ghosts, traditionally, is that they hold all the cards. They are nebulous, ectoplasmic and difficult to destroy. They exert great powers of terror over the living. In most ghost stories they also hang out in remote and eerie locations, preying on solitary individuals - people whose greed, curiosity or plain bad luck makes them vulnerable to supernatural attention. In the classic tales of M. R. James, for instance, the victim is usually a bookish gentleman who has been poking his nose into old manuscripts or artefacts that don't concern him. Is it going to be an equal contest when the malevolent spirit shows up? No. You'd put your money on the phantom every time.

I love these traditions, and I certainly intended my ghosts to be scary - that was why I was writing the story in the first place. But I also wanted to shake things up a bit and give my characters a chance.

And so I decided to tweak the rules.

For starters, we'd have an epidemic of hauntings in Britain. Ghosts aren't just to be found lurking far off in creepy man- sions. They're everywhere, threatening death to anyone they touch, and adults can't see or hear them before it's too late. Only certain young people - like my two protagonists, Lucy Carlyle and Anthony Lockwood - have the psychic talents to deal with them. This is vital, but it's not enough to keep them alive.

So I gave them some proper equipment too. The spectral plague has spurred an industrial revolution in ghost-hunting techniques, and each agent goes into the night armed with decent weapons: salt bombs, silver nets, magnesium flares and rapiers of cold, sharp iron. That evens the score a little.

Next, and most importantly, I gave my heroes each other. From the moment I began this first scene, I knew that the relationship between Lucy and Lockwood (along with their friend George Cubbins) was going to be the beating heart of the story. I could hear the energy in their voices - I sensed their personalities, their rapport, their shared jokes. As I wrote my way into the book, I learned more about Lucy's courage, faithfulness and determination. Lockwood's self-conscious charisma was there from the start, as was his air of mystery (he would keep his deeper secrets a while longer). But their skills were complementary. Far from being isolated, they would pool their resources, and so make Lockwood & Co. a match for any Phantasm or Raw-bones that floated across their path.

Finally, I gave them 35 Portland Row: Lockwood's rambling townhouse in Marylebone. It's their home and headquarters. It's where they train, it's where they sleep; it's where they can sit around eating cakes at midnight without a Wraith creeping up to give them ghost-touch. In other words, it's a place of sanctuary - the vital counterpoint to all the haunted buildings they encounter, and in some ways almost a character in its own right.

One of the many triumphs of the Netflix series is its flawless recreation of Number 35, complete with its rapier racks, rows of masks and dusty tables piled with unpaid bills. It was an extraordinary feeling to visit the house on set in Ealing Studios, to walk up the steps, cross the iron line and step straight into Lockwood's hall.

For sheer impact, though, this was nothing compared to that breathless moment when I saw Ruby Stokes, Cameron Chapman and Ali Haji-Heshmati acting together for the first time. All at once, Lockwood, Lucy and George were standing there before me, living, breathing, showing precisely the right rackety camaraderie and charm. Seeing them gave me the same electric charge as when I wrote that initial scene, all those years before.

And, sure enough, this was a fabulous new beginning. together. Since then, I've watched a stunning TV series come Presided over by Joe Cornish and the brilliant production team at Complete Fiction, Lockwood & Co. conjures Lucy and Lockwood's world in all its horror, and its light. It's certainly got plenty of terrifying ghosts in it. But it's also got a lot of friendship, humour, love and loyalty - and these things more than match the darkness. It's why I was drawn to these heroes in the first place - and why I think you'll be happy to walk with them into the shadows too, no matter what is waiting for you there.'

Jonathan Shroud, June 2022

#this is so heartfelt man #worth the money just for that #lockwood and co #lockwood & co #l&co #anthony lockwood #lucy carlyle #george cubbins #george karim

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yennefer-of-vengerbergs · 2 months

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Confession

Rewritten version of this oneshot

Summary: Astarion reflects on his feelings towards Syanna, from when they first met, up to when he finally decides to confess everything about his nice, simple plan to her.

Pairing: Astarion x f!durge

Other notes: Like with the previous, original version of this fic, this is my own spin on Astarion's thoughts and feelings about the relationship between him and Syanna throughout the first two acts of the game, up to his confession scene, which I've taken the liberty of expanding upon once again. Follows the order of events from my first Dark Urge playthrough.

Divider from here

Read below. Comments are appreciated!

Astarion found himself thinking about her.

About Syanna.

What a walking contradiction she was.

On the one hand, she was so prone to being a bleeding heart that he found her infuriating in the beginning.

Barely off a crashed Nautiloid and she was picking up other survivors, himself included.

This was in spite of the fact that he had thrown her to the ground and threatened her with a dagger. All things considered, she had taken it surprisingly well, telling him she most likely would have done the same exact thing in his position.

Then she was agreeing to help the tieflings from the druid grove. And rescuing a child from being killed by the druid leader, Kagha. She even helped that bard, Alfira, with her song.

On the other hand, there was something else about her - she was also prone to violence, so much murderous violence, which she could not always control or resist.

She did always feel guilty afterwards though. Everything, from the squirrel she had kicked, to brutally killing Alfira once she joined their camp, had affected her greatly.

She liked animals, so it was easy to see why the squirrel incident had left her feeling horrible.

She was also genuinely excited to have Alfira join them, something that was snuffed out the moment she had murdered her, the bard laying in a pool of her own blood and insides as Syanna came back to her senses.

Whatever dark urges were compelling her clearly did not want her feeling anything even resembling happiness.

She had always been completely honest with all of them about how broken her mind was though, hoping someone might have some kind of advice or answer for her. However, instead of help, she was met with one version or another of ‘we all have those thoughts sometimes’ and how she should ‘focus them on their enemies’.

Naturally, she felt as if nobody took her seriously, not realising how severe things were for her.

She had been genuinely grateful when Astarion seemed to be the only one to notice how she was not well. How she was spasming and twitching sometimes, seeming almost rabid and sick. How, more often than not, she was tired, a fact made all the more obvious by the dark circles under her eyes. Or how she had bouts of swooning and swaying. But most importantly, she had been grateful that he simply did not judge her. Even after killing Alfira, he did not judge her. True, he had also told her that the look of guilt on her face was truly priceless, and that she should have been more subtle about it, which she certainly did not appreciate, but that was a different story.

The point remained; once everyone else had seen what happened to Alfira, she was immediately judged and blamed. The rest of their party were scared of her, telling her to keep her distance. Some even made a point of saying that they would defend themselves if she tried to hurt them next.

Still, she did not blame them for it.

Naturally, she began to distance herself from everyone. Astarion noticed how it started with smaller things at first.

During the day, when they traveled, she would either wander further ahead, or stay further back, away from everyone.

She would no longer get involved in conversations, unless she absolutely needed to. Whenever they stopped to rest, she would find her own spot further away from the rest of their party.

And during the evening, or at night? He noticed that she would take her bedroll to the small ruined building that was next to their camp, choosing to rest there instead, her reasoning being that it was fine, truly - the roof was at least partially intact, so she would be safe from the elements, and If anything, it would be an improvement over resting and meditating in the dirt, next to the campfire. And she could always use a spell to start a fire to keep herself warm.

In time, everyone else seemed to slowly warm up to her again. Probably due to her continuing to be a bleeding heart and her insistence to help everyone and every animal they came across, almost as if she wanted to redeem herself for what she had done before. Interestingly though, she did seem to favour his company the most.

One day, while searching for the goblin camp and possible ways in, they had found a dog named Scratch, near its dead owner. The dog was hostile at first, but soon calmed once Syanna had talked to him - she always made sure to have a potion that let her speak with animals on hand - even sniffing her hand and remembering her scent after she had told him that he can come to their camp later.

On a different day, they had found the so-called devil that Wyll was hunting. Except Karlach was not a devil, but merely a tiefling, who, as it turned out, had also been infected with a tadpole. Syanna had immediately taken her side when Wyll wanted to kill her, pointing out everything that had been shared between them through the tadpole - that Karlach was indeed telling the truth and would not harm anyone.

Astarion found himself approving of that. Hells, in time, there were plenty of other things she did that he approved of. Some were chaotically fun and hilarious to him - like when she had let him open the barn doors where the bugbear and ogre were enjoying themselves (and the fight that broke out afterwards). Or when, while at the goblin camp, she had twisted a goblin’s words around and made him kiss her foot instead.

Other things were on the practical side.

Others yet, were oddly heartwarming, even to him. Such as when she had taken in the owlbear cub they had found in the same goblin camp. Most people probably would not have done that, seeing it as nothing more than another beast to be afraid of, especially once it would be fully grown.

Syanna didn’t see things that way. Instead, what she saw was a young cub, scared of his surroundings, wounded and alone, his mother having been killed by the goblins who captured him for their own entertainment.

But perhaps the most important thing during that time was how she had not shunned or staked him when he had tried to feed from while she was resting. If anything, she had been surprisingly reasonable about the whole thing, even offering to let him feed on her anyway, telling him he could have just asked her.

She had also sided with him when the others weren’t particularly pleased with him being a vampire.

Then she had agreed with his idea of feeding off their enemies, seeing as he could fight with all his weapons, fangs included. But she had also extended an open invitation to him to feed on her, if and when he needed it.

It most certainly was a gift. One he would not forget.

More time passed and Syanna seemed to be doing better, although she was still reserved around the others, preferring his and Karlach’s company, along with the owlbear cub and Scratch.

Karlach had appreciated her help and trust when they met, as well as her bleeding heart, so in her eyes, Syanna was someone good overall, although tortured by her own demons. She had also been honest with the tiefling about her urges and what had happened with the bard, but Karlach had simply told her that if she had the guts to say it outloud, to feel regret, then she would be able to change. And if she was willing to resist those urges, as Syanna said she was, then surely she was on the right track.

Once the druid, Halsin had also joined their camp, he too became someone that she got along with. There was a certain wisdom and kindness about him that she also appreciated. And of course, she had been grateful when he offered to help her with her broken mind, once the tadpole was dealt with.

Still, it was obvious to everyone that Astarion’s company was the one she preferred, a fact which he knew would do nicely for his plan. All she had to do was fall for it.

Naturally, he had started to flirt with her, doing everything he could to charm her enough so that she would always be on his side, always willing to help him with what he needed. And if he had to resort to his usual tactics, so be it.

Seducing her had been easy - she already preferred his company and reciprocated his attention whenever he would give it, flirting and teasing, culminating with accepting his advances when he finally propositioned her one night.

What he hadn’t expected was for her to actually care what he wanted that evening, not willing to simply be a passive participant. Instead, she wanted to reciprocate.

To touch him.

To show him how he made her feel.

To bring him the same kind of pleasure.

It was surprising to him. Unexpected even.

Even more surprisingly, he found that he enjoyed himself during their little escapade. Not as much as he would have liked, as at one point his mind had gone somewhere far away (which she had noticed and pointed out the morning after), but at the same time, he couldn’t deny those moments before that.

All in all, his plan was moving along splendidly.

So he carried on: he continued to flirt with her, honeyed words dripping from him each time. He invited her back to his bed frequently, making sure each night would be unforgettable for her.

And she more than reciprocated each time. It still baffled him.

He’d even stolen her away during the party the tieflings had organised for their group once the goblin camp was defeated and their leaders killed.

Even though others seemed to have the same idea that night, she still went to him.

Excellent.

Eventually, she had started spending her nights in his tent. At first, it was something that happened after sex, when she would simply stay there, wrapped around him and comfortable. But then, she would simply seek out his company, wanting nothing else but to spend time with him.

Talking.

Or reading.

Cuddling.

He never had been one to cuddle, but having her so close and holding on to him, not expecting anything more?

It was nice.

Most shocking of all was the fact that those nights actually seemed to mean something to him, a strange sense of comfort starting to emerge whenever it was just the two of them.

And on the rare occasion she didn't spend the night in his tent? He actually found himself wanting her there.

Shit.

She had done him kindness after kindness on multiple occasions, not expecting anything in return.

Some things were smaller, such as when she had given him various things for his tent whenever they cropped up during their travels - a new bedroll, alongside a pillow and blanket for instance. Or when she would point out books she thought he would find interesting.

Especially the ones about Drizzt Do’Urden’s adventures. He enjoyed those in particular, and was always glad whenever Syanna found one lying about.

But he found that the things that truly mattered to him didn’t have anything to do with the material objects that she gave him.

No, what actually mattered was how she listened to him whenever he confided in her about something.

How she had pointed out his scars and the fact that they were written in Infernal.

How she had drawn them out for him to see, first on the ground and then twice in a notebook she had, giving him one of the drawings, so they could both research them more easily, promising to keep an eye out for any books, occult or otherwise, that could help in the matter.

How it wasn't her problem, but she still wanted to help him.

Or how she had acted as his mirror when she found him trying to look into one, telling him how she saw him (even if some of the things she told him sounded very…grandmotherly). Soon after that, she had the idea to cast a Mirror Image spell on him so he could actually see himself for the first time in centuries. And once that spell worked? She brought him spell scrolls for it so he could cast it himself whenever he needed to, and was always on the lookout for more, wanting him to have a steady supply of them.

He found himself being incredibly grateful for that. Seeing himself for the first time in centuries was something unexpected to him.

Just as unexpected was her willingness to help him with everything he needed, without asking for anything in return. Part of him was always waiting for her to do that, despite it never happening.

She had already started looking for anything that could shed some light on what his scars meant. And once Raphael had proposed his deal to Astarion? She did not hesitate to help him once more. And that she did, with Yurgir dead at their feet after convincing him to kill his merregons, his displacer beast and then himself. It was almost frightening how easily she managed to convince the orthon to do so. Frightening, but impressive. Regardless of the method, his end of the deal was done, and the mystery of his scars became clearer, but turned into something even more muddled at the same time. Still, Syanna immediately swore she would do everything she could to help him with dealing with Cazador and the ritual of profane ascension that he was meant to be a part of.

Then there was the way she had put that vile drow in Moonrise Towers back in her place when she treated him as nothing more than a thing to be traded or passed around.

Anyone would agree his nice, simple plan was a resounding success.

So why did he feel so awful?

Of course, he knew why.

He had started to genuinely enjoy her company the more time passed throughout their travels.

Astarion couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment that happened or when he started to have feelings for her.

What he did know was that he would find himself thinking about her more often. And looking out for her in combat, his arrows always aimed at those who were too close to her, something which he initially brushed off as him being practical, seeing as she couldn’t offer him the protection and help he needed if she was injured or killed. He would also apply the same thought process whenever he was distraught about her being downed in battle, with him immediately on his way to help her, a revivify scroll and healing potion at the ready.

There was also the fact that he genuinely had fun with her, enjoying their little jokes, their banter and the teasing.

He especially enjoyed teasing her whenever she would be entangled by twisting vines, tsk-ing and saying that he was starting to think that she liked being restrained. She would always tease back, telling him to find out for himself later.

At the same time, he was genuinely concerned for her. She was almost always exhausted, often choosing to not rest out of fear of her nightmares returning and of the urges coming back. He could also see how those urges were eating away at her, how she struggled with them.

Sometimes, when she was finally too exhausted, she would actually fall asleep next to him, her face nuzzling his chest, an arm wrapped around his waist. Whenever that happened, he found that he would have much rather stayed there and let her sleep until late morning, not having the heart to move and risk waking her.

He felt like such a fool.

Most concerning however, was the night when she woke him up, not quite herself, but scared she would hurt or kill him, unsure of what to do to stop it from happening. Somehow she had managed to tell him what had happened, how that little shit of a butler came to her, telling her she had to kill the person she cared about most. The last thing she managed to tell him was to get to safety before collapsing in front of him. Quickly, Astarion moved, grabbing a length of rope and tied her up. He certainly was not about to leave her alone, not when things had gotten so murderously bad for her.

She should have talked to him about it before. After all, they were technically in it together, and whatever it was that was controlling her, they would both fight it.

It didn’t take long for her to wake up, and it was immediately obvious that she was no longer herself, all control gone. Immediately, she had started fighting against her bindings, all while threatening him. Screaming. Growling.

At the same time, she looked to be in pain and sick, almost as if she was trying to break through and regain control of herself. But it seemed so, so difficult for her.

It truly worried him, seeing her like that. He had been worried about himself at first, yes, but he was even more worried about her.

He was determined. He wouldn't let that thing have her. He wouldn't let it win.

So he spent the night with her, trying to comfort and encourage her where he could. Keeping her safe. Shooing away the rest of their companions whenever they came to see what was happening.

It had been a long, long night, but it eventually passed, bloodlessly. Syanna was laying on her side, still tied up, teary eyed, with a look of remorse on her face.

Astarion approached her and began to untie her, helping her sit up once he finished. He noticed how her wrists were raw and bloody from how much she had struggled, trying to get herself free. She was clearly exhausted, a sheen of sweat on her face, still looking pained and sick.

He hated seeing her like that.

He handed her a healing potion and listened to her as she recounted what had happened before she came to him, how it had only happened because she refused to kill Isobel and how she had been fiercely fighting against her dark urges.

Astarion felt for her, truly. Not being in full control of herself, not having a say in what was happening to her or what she did? It certainly was something he could relate to. After all, if anyone understood an internal voice forcing one’s hand, it was him.

So he reassured her that she was not alone in whatever that was, that she would get through it. And that he would be there to make sure she did, no matter how much she protested that it could happen again, and what if she hurt him then? Or that it would probably be easier if he simply hated her for what had happened that night and be done with her.

He could never hate her. Not when that wasn’t who she was. She actually gave him something to care for and that was worth the peril.

He also found himself wanting her approval, wanting her to think of him as something more.

He no longer wanted to keep up the lie or to manipulate her.

He cared.

He wanted to tell her the truth, as frightening as it was to him.

Still, what if she broke things off between them afterwards? What if she hated him for it?

Of course, he could just not tell her, letting things continue between them, knowing that his plan had gone out the proverbial window long ago.

It was real for him. Why risk ruining it?

No.

She deserved the truth. She deserved something real, something more. She didn't deserve his lies. She deserved to choose if she wanted to continue whatever was between them or not.

Having made up his mind, he walked over to where Syanna was sitting near the campfire. Noticing him, she set aside the book she was reading, greeting him with a smile.

“Do you have a moment? I think we need to talk.”

Gods, he sounded so concerned. Scared almost.

Noticing this, her smile fell, replaced by genuine concern.

“What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“Oh yes, I’m fine. I just…feel awful.”

She frowned, standing up.

“You and I have a very different definition of ‘fine’, Astarion. Please, talk to me?”

Gods, why was she being so nice to him? She was always so nice to him.

“Look, I had a plan. A nice, simple plan - seduce you, sleep with you, manipulate your feelings so you’d never turn on me.” He laughed nervously.

Syanna didn’t say anything, too taken aback by the sudden confession.

Astarion continued. He had to continue.

“It was easy - instinctive. Habits from two hundred years of charming people kicked in. All you had to do was fall for it.”

He hated the way his voice started to crack as he continued talking. What he hated even more was how tears were forming in her eyes because of him.

This is it. Surely she would leave him. He would lose her.

Still, he carried on.

“And all I had to do was not fall for you…which is where my nice, simple plan fell apart.” Astarion paused for a moment, gesturing towards her. “You…you're incredible. You deserve something real. I want us to be something real.”

He looked at her, with sad, scared, but hopeful eyes.

“So…the time we spent together meant nothing to you then? All those nights, all those moments, were they just lies?”

“Of course they meant something - that's the problem! Or part of it.” He sighed. “Being close to someone - any kind of intimacy - was something I performed to lure people back for him.” He made no effort to disguise the disgust he felt towards Cazador as he told her that.

“And even though I know things between us are different, being with someone still feels…tainted. Still brings up those feelings of disgust and loathing.”

Disgust and loathing towards himself. Towards Cazador. Towards most of those he had to lure back to the palace. Towards those he was lent out to.

“I…don’t know how else to be with someone. No matter how much I’d like to.”

He had said what he wanted to say. He looked at her, vulnerability obvious in his expression, waiting for a reply.

It terrified him.

“Astarion…” she swallowed, trying to rid herself of the lump in her throat. “I’m not naïve enough to think that things were something…more between us when they started, but…” she took a breath to calm herself, to keep her voice from breaking any more than it already was. “But they actually became real for me. I thought…I hoped it was mutual. I wanted it more than anything.” She let out a bitter laugh. “Hells, I still do. I do care about you. Deeply. But I won’t lie, this…this hurts.”

Tears had begun to fall, rolling down her cheeks, but she still tried to keep herself as composed as she could.

Astarion truly hated himself in that moment for making her feel that way.

Worse yet, he didn’t know what to say to her. Could he even say anything to her? Something that would comfort her, in any way? He didn’t know.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I’d understand if you wanted to end things between us.”

It hurt him to say it, it was the last thing he wanted to happen. But he would not hold it against her if that was what she wanted to do. Which is why what she did next took him by surprise like nothing else had.

She hugged him.

Astarion was so taken aback by it that he didn't know how to react or what to do at first. He couldn't even remember a time when he had been hugged.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and found himself not wanting to let go of her once he returned the hug, her face nuzzled against him.

“That would hurt me even more.”

Her voice was a broken whisper, but he heard her nonetheless.

Syanna moved to look up at him, a weak smile on her face.

“And I literally just told you I still want us to be something more, in case you haven’t noticed.”

She cleared her throat.

“What I’m trying to say is I meant what I said. You do mean a great deal to me, and I want…us. Just us.”

He felt a gentle tug at his mind as Syanna’s tadpole tried to reach out to his own. Letting her in, he felt a sudden wave of genuine affection from her. Of warmth. He saw how she began to care for him more and more as time passed. How she enjoyed being with him, just being with him. Then, just as gently, the connection vanished.

Relief washed over Astarion at her confirmation. But he was still so, so nervous.

“I…just don’t know what ‘real’ looks like. Not after two hundred years playing the rake. Honestly, I have no idea what we’re doing.”

He looked at her, as if waiting for a hint for what to do, how to proceed.

A small, nervous laugh left Syanna, as she placed a hand on his cheek.

“What makes you think I do?”

Gods, they were both such fools, weren’t they?

“We could just start over then?” She proposed.

“Really? Just like that?”

“Mhm.” Syanna nodded. “We could just get to know each other, actually know each other, and see where this takes us.” She paused for a moment. “And we don’t have to have sex, for as long as you need.”

“Hah, why, that almost sounds like a challenge.” He was nervous again. He didn’t know how to react. What else would he even be good for, what else could he even offer her?

“I mean it. I don’t want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.” Syanna looked into his eyes. “And, Astarion? I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for, darling?”

“That you felt as if you needed to force yourself to go through with this…plan. That maybe I had a hand in making you feel like that. That I didn’t realise it before. That–”

Astarion interrupted her.

“Darling, you had no way of knowing about it.”

“Still, I should have–” Realisation suddenly hit her. “Oh Gods, oh Hells, I did notice it, but I didn’t know what it was back then.” She stepped back from him, pacing anxiously. “That first night, in that clearing you took me to…that’s why…that’s why you seemed so far away, isn’t it?”

Oh. That.

He nodded, and Syanna looked mortified.

“Shit. I’m so sor-”

He interrupted her once more. “You don’t have to apologise.”

“But-”

“We’re starting over, remember? So let’s start over. Even if I have no idea what comes next.”

He didn’t want her blaming herself for what had happened before. It wasn’t her fault. If anything, she was following along with his plan and doing exactly what he wanted her to do.

Besides, her blaming herself would make him feel even worse about everything. And Astarion wanted nothing more than to start over and to make up for the lies and manipulation.

Syanna looked at him, her eyes still wide, still concerned for him.

Astarion took her hand into his own, a small smile on his face. He hadn’t expected the way things turned out, or Syanna’s reaction, but he was glad he decided to confess everything to her. What’s more, he was glad that, despite everything, he didn’t lose her.

He placed his other hand on top of hers.

What they had together was something entirely too precious to him. And this, knowing that there was still a chance for them? A chance for something real, built on honesty instead?

It was nice.

#astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion bg3 #astarion fanfic #astarion fanfiction #astarion x durge #astarion x the dark urge #astarion x oc #bg3 fanfiction #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 fanfiction #my oc: syanna

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loveislandthegame · 3 months

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thoughts on todays volume! we're not even halfway through the season and i'm already over it . i'm lowkey struggling to write these posts 😭

first up is excess baggage, where we get another glimpse into our forced backstory: MC didn't go to her season's afterparty, and later on it's revealed that finn was the host (i'm just like, why the hell has he been a host twice? what was he even doing in love island australia? but FB is putting zero thought into writing these seasons, so i should just put zero thought into analysing them)

like i've said before, it wouldn't be a LITG challenge without some bullshit. they decided to make finn's baggage "saying that MC is the sexiest love island star," that's great for people romancing him, but i was just grossed out 🫠 unfortunately it only gets worse from here

melissa and henri got dumped . at least it wasn't natasha or kelly, though kelly suddenly no longer cares about my MC, so it seems like that chat with melissa did lock in one wlw LI

kelly and finn get everyone together to play one of those guessing games, idk what it's actually called. but more importantly, tf is wrong with these people ? you weren't thinking that MC would be tired of everyone and their mother constantly bringing up the guy she was with for two weeks? at this point i wouldn't be surprised if they revealed that MC and stefan were engaged or some shit

side note, lyle's evening outfit looks beyond ridiculous but i kinda love that (tbh it looks like some shit tyler the creator would wear)

MC gets a note inviting her to the pool, i thought it was gonna be chen or maybe natasha, turns out it's fucking finn. we should've had the option to cuss him out 👹 (and a scene like this should've only been triggered if you're on his route, but FB cannot be bothered to branch, we're forced into this for the ridiculous drama/cliffhanger later)

i cant lie, this was freakin adorable, i would be a little tempted if i wasn't focused on natasha ... and if he didn't dump my ozzy route s6 MC for ivy 😫 (side note: with the amount of times he's been calling the other guys attractive...it goes without saying that straight dudes can compliment each other, but idk, make him bi/pan you cowards)

we barely had time with natasha this volume, so i had the gem scene date with her. cuteeee

i didn't screenshot it and i'm too lazy to go back for it, but she said something about us being in the hideaway together. (if you didn't see my other post, i did want to go with her but stuck with chen because i thought it'd be too awkward) i don't know what's up with all the glitches, i hope it doesn't cause issues later on, like in a movie night or some shit 😭

we return from our dates, and shocker, finn's note has kelly fighting with kat. i just hope we can clear everything up immediately, i'll be so damn mad if they drag this out for the whole volume 🤦🏽‍♀️

#love island the game #litg #litg spoilers #spoilers #litg s9 #litg all stars #litg season 9

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dbh-bb · 5 months

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More questions

Why is the minimum length 10,000 words?

For some of you, this might be your first Reverse Big Bang. (Or your first Bang in general. Welcome!) We’d like to offer some context as to why this year’s word count minimum is, and will remain, 10K.

First: the event has already started, and artists have signed up in good faith knowing they will receive at least 10,000 words about their idea. We don’t think it’s fair to change that with so many people already signed up.

Second, as we say in our FAQ, Big Bangs traditionally focus on a longer time frame to produce longer fics and more arts of higher quality all around. The first ever Big Bang event had a fic minimum of 50,000 words! (Check out the history of the event) Most Bangs actually have higher targets; in many bigger and older fandoms, a Bang with a 10,000 limit would be called a “Mini-Bang”. We think that 10K is a reasonable target to produce a story (rather than just a scene) without asking too much of writers, whether it’s a traditional Bang or a Reverse one.

Third - and most importantly - what artists are providing in their concept is more than just a sketch. Artists will be coming in with ideas about the story that they want to tell with this art. An RBB works just like a BB - there is a story to be told with art that goes with it - it’s just this time, the artists get to come up with the ideas. Then writers and artists work together to make it happen.

Artist concepts are meant to be flexible, because this is a team event (rather than “order up fic on demand”), and artists may have more than one idea for their sketch that their author can choose from. Writers have over three months to come up with their story — that’s around 100 words per day, for those of you that like math. And, from the mod point of view, last year not a single person worried about hitting the word count once the ideas were out and the event started. There’s a lot to be said about excitement and momentum!

The mod team is considering a reduced wordcount for writers who pick up more than one art concept. However, because we expect fics to tell a story about the artist’s idea, we are unlikely to go lower than 7,000 words if we do decide to do so. We apologize if this makes you decide not to participate, and encourage you to find other events that aren’t Bangs to have fun with!

We realize writers are nervous about this event because Reverse Bangs aren’t as well-known. We encourage you to hang in there and give your artists a chance — there are so many good ideas coming your way!

What happens if we don’t have enough writers?

An RBB depends on the numbers more than a traditional Bang. We can’t make the numbers match (although we’re trying). So while artists are still allowed to submit two ideas, if we remain short on writers, we will only be able to guarantee one will be claimed, although we will match as many as possible. Sometimes, ideas surprise us and writers suddenly decide they want to grab more than one.

So what happens to any unclaimed concepts? Well, surprise! A month or so after we match up our teams, we’ll take all of the unclaimed ideas and release them to be claimed again, either by writers who have made more progress than expected and want to grab another prompt, or backup writers that feel like stepping in. In this case, since these ideas will have a shorter completion time, the maximum word count for fics will be lowered to 4,000 words. The standards for the arts will be comparably lower as well, due to the shorter time frame.

This part will be much more lax than the formal event, so expectations can be adjusted accordingly. We can’t guarantee your second art can be claimed, but we’re hoping with a wider pool and lower requirements, we can make everybody happy.

This accomplishes a number of things for us: artists that submitted two ideas get two fics, writers that can’t commit to the 10K requirement still have a chance to grab something, and all of us get more works at the end of the Bang. The mods think the additional work is worth the effort.

(This is not a chance to submit more than two arts — we will only be using art that wasn’t able to be claimed in the initial submission. Sorry!)

For more updates, to ask questions of your own, or even if you just want to hang out (and maybe consider picking up an art to do a 4k word fic without having to formally join the Bang), join the discord.

#fanart #detroit: become human #detroit become human #dbh #fanfic #dbhrbb2024 #reverse big bang #big bang #dbh big bang #detroit become human reverse big bang

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bylerschmyler · 1 year

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Stranger Things - Clocks and Watches S1

People who are following me for a while now are certainly aware that I have special interest in Clocks and Watches in Stranger Things.

So recently I finally made a whole ass rewatch dedicated to look more into what the show presents. This was heavily supported by the ongoing analysises by @aemiron-main, @henrysglock and everybody who participates in the detail hunt.

So while I already posted a few "What are the times off this episode" and "Look here this a funny time specific thing" posts I will dedicate this post to patterns rather than specific observations (while the latter will be addressed too. So now worry's).

So are you ready for the ride?

So let me say some stuff about the general basis of these patterns.

These Things aren't production errors. Why am I so certain about it? Well, let me get this right.

The main villain of the show has one very specific artifact that is a fucking grandfathers clock. The same person is shown as manipulating this very clock in order to change the time shown on the clock. We have multiple characters in different situations who are talking about changing time or wrong time. The very introduction to S4 is a letter where one of the main characters talks about how the people within in the show are basically time travelers. We have very deeply rooted parallels to Back to the future - a very famous movie about time travel - since S1. And most importantly, if the show doesn't want us to see the times why are they showing it to us?

It's very specific that each season starts with a date. If you pay attention it is quite easy to make a rather rough timeline off events each season. And clocks and watches a very often shown to us. So if the showrunners didn't want to emphasize the importance of time why are they showing us so many watches and clocks while it's very easy to just not do that? Especially since the very much capable off using techniques to not show the time. I mean every (main) character besides Eleven has a watch. Clocks are multiple times shown as a very focus off a scene. So if they don't want us to pay attention to the time why show it?

Ways of hiding the time to the audience

It is very easy to hide the time from the audience. And the show is very much capable off doing so. I will explain the specifics on the basis off scenes from S1.

Leaving out clocks and watches

The very easiest way off hiding the time is to just not have watches and clocks in the scene. So for characters to not have watches and for inside scenes to not show clocks. Eleven for example doesn't have a watch in the beginning off S1. She is later getting Mike's watch and giving it back towards the end off the season. They basically share the watch equally but for that very reason Mike doesn't have a watch during BOTH quarry scenes and everything happening between E3 and E7. Also have you taken a look at the Wheelers and the Byers house? Have you spotted clocks? Well I almost didn't too. The Wheelers suppusdly only have one clock at the ground floor

While the byers could have a clock in the kitchen too, but I am not sure if that thing is a clock

So the show is not giving us any basis to see the time by clocks in both houses.

It also left out clocks and watches during Steve's pool party.

Both Steve and Nancy usually wear a watch. But both don't have one during/after the pool scene (as if they planned on going swimming). The show left out watches here on purpose to hide the time.

2. Removing the pointers

Regarding the pool scene there is something else which is interesting regarding the lack off time reference. The show sometimes removes or at least hides the pointers off watches to hide the time. What do I mean specifically? Well look at those 2 shots from Jonathans watch during the pool scene:

Notice how Jonathan has a very high contrast watch? It's black with white pointers which is very easy to make out even in dark scenes. And than we see Jonathans watch (more than half of it) in a quite close up scene. And his pointers are nowhere to be seen.

3. Moving the clock away from the audience

It's very easy to hide the time by characters turning their watch away from the camera or hide behind an object or under their clothes.

Lucas turning the watch towards us vs away from us.

4. Using digital watches

another easy way to hide the time is to use digital watches. Because (especially considering the 80s) digital watches are hard to read from most angles. And because most off the times the watches are not shown to us up close we can't read. Even if you normally could read it you can just turn off the watch and nobody will notice because the audience will just think that your looking at it in the wrong angle.

In S1 4 main characters have digital watches

Mike

Dustin

Will

Hopper

Best example for this is Will in S1

If Will's watch would have been analog we would know the time 100% but because it's a digital watch we can't make out a time.

Here is another example brought to you by Scott Clarke

While yes he said what time it is. But we can't confirm if his watch has the same time.

So now that we have established that the following scenes are neither production error nor coincidence let's look at the patterns I noticed in my rewatch.

Lucas the "reliable" time telling source

I wanna start with Lucas. As I pointed out before Lucas has a very high contrast watch. It's black with white pointers and therefore very easy to see even in dark scenes. I could make a whole post about what times he tells us but that's not useful I guess. I rather wanna point out that in most scenes he is giving us a time. I'm using a time and not the time because I very much think that Lucas watch is not working correctly.

This is one of the very rare occasions where we see two clocks/watches in one scene. And Surprise, surprise they are not showing the same time. The wall clock is 9:10 AM while Lucas watch is more like 7:50 or so.

Here are just a few occasions where Lucas watch tell us a time. Lucas watch is very often in the frame and tell us the time. But I don't think the time he gives us is very reliable it's correctness.

Jonathan the unreliable time source

Jonathan - like Lucas - has a very readable high contrast watch. But he hides it from us constantly. Beside the pointer removal thing (which I think happened in S4 too) he often hides his watch from us.

And here his pointers are removed again.

Mike and El sharing a watch

Mike give his watch to EL at the beginning of E3 (10 min in). She gives it back in E7 when she goes in to the bath (~11 min left). So she basically wears it for 4.5 Episodes (So Mike wears it for 2.5 episodes).

While both characters are very important to the plot and the exchange of the watch is both time very prominent to the audience we are never shown a time on Mike's watch. It is always (as far as I can tell) unreadable.

Characters not showing the time

As far as I can tell there are only 6 characters who's watches don't tell us the time.

Mike

Will

Hopper

Karen

Ted

Possibly there are more small characters which I didn't count in here because they are not important enough for me here or I didn't pay attention to them.

Timiline shenanigans

Remember that one scene from my Lucas part above where his watch doesn't add up with clock on the wall?

Here you have a similar situation. Earls watch shows us something 11:40 while the clock on the wall says 6:00 or 12:30

I also talked about other timeline shenanigans like this in those posts:

Going back in time during Shepard scene

Jonathans watch and Nancy's alarm clock

But there is more.

The Library clock shows different times when Joyce goes to Melvald's

Nancy's alarm clock seems stuck at 9:00 o'clock

(The second pic is from the morning after they have the encounter with the demogorgon when Karen lockpicked Nancy's door.

Lucas watch seems stuck at 7:10 during E1 and E2.

I think that's all I have noticed in S1. I could post more pics where you can see the times so if you want to find things for yourself just give me a hint and I will post my screenshots.

#stranger things #stranger things clocks #clocks in stranger things #stranger things and clocks

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asherlockstudy · 1 year

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In search of a decent nap

It is very interesting that the latest video is coming around the time it’s been discussed that Rhett appears to be constantly on the verge of a panic attack. I wonder what the timing of this video’s filming is. Before or after GME?

“We took a decent nap” is Rhett’s commentary on himself. The well known fact that Link is an instant napper while Rhett struggles to fall asleep is here used conveniently for the allegory. In a way, it’s hardly an allegory. Rhett struggles to fall asleep because he can’t shut his mind easily.

Rhett cannot find rest and peace at work. He wants to but he fails again and again. His problem is big enough that Link agrees to accommodate him as much as possible and help him through it. Link confides in the viewers that the reason he wants Rhett to nap is so that he can nap “even harder”. As they try to make Rhett sleep, Rhett finds issues and obstacles compulsively. The most justifiable one of them is Link’s apparent expectation, who’s zooming in on him waiting when Rhett will finally take the nap. At one point, Rhett confesses that one of the reasons he keeps coming up with problems is that he is ashamed that he is a side / fetal sleeper and not sleeping straight on his back. He admits he fears people’s judgement. Link helps him to handle this too, he tries to cover him and make him look like he is sleeping on his back, but like every other strategy, it fails.

Link also brings him in contact with old men named Charles in hope that with their wisdom they can advise Rhett how to not have worries and nap peacefully. I can’t tell what the old men symbolise, if anything. It would make sense to associate them with Link’s father but I can not work around why it would be Charles indeed. Perhaps it’s not the case or it’s something that happened that we factually do not know at all.

Eventually Rhett has an epiphany; the problem had been that he tried to have entire control over the situation, trying to regulate all the circumstances and parameters and whatever could potentially go wrong. This would not help him ease his mind, he could not let go, feel free to allow sleep overtake him. Link approves of his realisation very gutturally.

They go to their office again, ready to try napping together (Link very excitedly). They lie down in the couches - Link falls asleep instantly as usual. Despite his epiphany and his willingness to try once more, Rhett again does not manage to relax and go to sleep. He realises he is not tired enough to want or to be ready for a nap.

As he’s lying there, he notices Link is drooling. He’s drooling more and more until it looks like it’s water spilling from his mouth. The water floods their office. Rhett is in panic, unable to regulate or stop the water spilling from Link’s mouth.

There is where the continuity becomes a little unclear because then we jump into a scene where Rhett is struggling in the water of their pool in the Creative House. It turns out that it all has been a Mythical set, where Rhett is being filmed fighting with all the tons of water spilled by Link, while Link himself is the very director of this whole project. Rhett protests that the whole thing (which is a mere practice there) is not well planned, not convincing enough and, most importantly, exhausting for him in particular.

Rhett makes an exit, asking for this to be thought over again. Despite being in the Creative House at first, he walks in a hall and gets back into their work office. He is very weary. There, exhausted, with no projects, no other people, theoretically no camera filming him, and also no Link, he is finally able to fall asleep.

…

So, like I said, I think it’s no coincidence this specific video comes so soon after GME. I really wonder whether this was scripted before or after it though.

It is also interesting to note that it is a recurring theme when Rhett fights waters. Here, in the cover of his Human Overboard album and even as Rex in the Lost Causes of Bleak Creek. His connection to the literary character is insinuated in this video in fact, when one of the old men miscalls Rhett as “Rex” and Rhett replies amused that he responds to this name as well. The guitar inexplicably flowing in the waters in the office might be a reference to Human Overboard.

#Rhett and link #rhink #Rhett McLaughlin #randl #R&L #R&L videos #mythical

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kevin-the-bruyne · 8 months

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while writing sandray's divorce fic and as i scramble to try and save their marriage - something about the way their dynamic never fundamentally worked for me has revealed itself. Sand kind of stays coolly above Ray through the whole show. Even when he isn't, even when he's directly responsible for Ray spiralling out of control and almost killing himself, he's still the good guy. He saves Ray! He's never meant to take it this far!

Sand never stops being the good guy and so Ray never stops being the bad guy. But most importantly we gloss over how Sand is wholly aware of how to manipulate Ray and nothing is stopping him from doing it again other than his infallible goodness.

Ray's entire measure of goodness at the end boils down to how good he can be to his most terrible friends (I still hold by how not forgiving Boston has been the most fatal character flaw that the show could have served Ray with) and how good a boyfriend he can be to Sand.

As much as i admire Khaotung's acting that therapy scene was so disappointing because it was about Sand. I know I was the one who said Sand taking the place of Ray's mother in Ray's life was tantamount to Ray's healing but jeezos they didn't have to take it THAT far. Instead of taking charge of his pain, Ray takes upon this grotesque goal of being and acting more like Sand. Of pleasing him even at the cost of himself. This wasn't entirely bad because Ray's ability to think sympathetically with other people was a point of growth he needed and I found the pool scene with Boeing oddly...sweet. It was how his final arc was once more dictated entirely by Mew and motivated entirely by Sand which has always been my problem. And that's where the show leaves him. One therapy session that was about Sand and a future that is entirely about Sand. By the end of the show this man hasn't batted a single eyelash towards his own trauma, his own familial issues that were at the root of his every problem with Sand anyway. And this is how I find myself writing about Ray desperately struggling to find himself in a decades long marriage with Sand. And then asking myself - who's causing this conflict that they're in? Why have they stopped communicating? And the fic is from Sand's POV so let me tell you that this narrator is not only unreliable to *you* (if you've read it that is) but he's unreliable to me. He's hiding things from me and I *will* find out what. Sand's infallible goodness will become fallible if it's the last thing I do!!! (also its the only way to save their marriage imho so if you want me to give them their happy ending you have to be on board lol)

#sandray fic #sandray fanfic #only friends meta #sandray meta #sandray #nani's writing shenanigans

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convenient-plot-device · 1 year

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My unorganized thoughts after finishing The Dragon Prince season 5

Finished binging the season!!! I loved it. It dragged in places and that stupid fucking lemur thing is still the bane of my existence but I loved the character development and plot beats! I also loved seeing more of Terry. He has something deeply wrong with him <3. Also liked Viren completing his redemption arc, though I would have preferred the resurrection spell actually require Claudia to sacrifice herself or at least like sacrifice a limb or something to truly complete Viren's arc. He has no attachment to that fuckin homunculus thing, and his reasoning for not killing it being that "Dark magic led Claudia down a dangerous path, I'm not doing any more dark magic" is a little weak. I do appreciate that the way they did it gave us a whole scene of Aaravos talking about "our child" with Viren, peak evil gay, but it did a disservice to Viren's redemption arc. I get that it was kinda the only way, since Aaravos knows Viren would never hurt one of his actual kids at this point in his arc, but still. I also am really interested in how Zubeia being corrupted goes, how Claudia losing her leg goes, and what's up with that magic pearl. Is that really Aaravos's prison? Or is that the key to his prison? Loved Callum struggling with what he's willing to do under pressure to save those he loves, and how that's contrasted with Claudia, who's kind of a dark mirror for who he could become if he can't learn to let go of those he loves. Loved the reveal that he used dark magic to save Rayla in the Sea Legs episode. Also just really liked Finnegrin, he's a great character and I love his design. Love a ruthless evil pirate who wants revenge on the Archdragon of the Ocean for killing his beloved hermit crab, who keeps pet hermit crabs all over his office, and who has a neckline low enough to kill god. I also love Elmer! What the fuck is his deal though. Are there just plant trolls in Xadia now? Not opposed, just wanna know.

I also really loved Soren this season! I like how his kindness and unwavering faith in others is his greatest strength. Very sweet. That man is the One True Himbo. Dumb, strong, and most importantly, kind. Fucking LOVED seeing Tidebound elves this season. I've wanted to see ocean elves since season one! Fuck yeah! Janai and Amaya are so cute together. Same with Terry and Claudia, love a good fucked up couple. He's just like "I can fix her" and she's just like "No you can't but you CAN join me in my insanity." Callum and Rayla go back and forth for me; sometimes they're really sweet, but sometimes they seem almost forced and I'm just like... can't they be BFFs? Or in a QPR? I feel like it would fit better than a romance TBH. I also love how Villads was 1000% willing to get his hand chopped off for a few kids he met once three years ago. My kind of dude. Fuck that General lady, also. Like, how is Karim worth betraying your entire people and possibly ruining the future of your whole society?? Does he kiss you on the forehead sometimes? Please get better judgment you are literally a judge on the High Court. Also what is up with the Sunfire high priest? He's clearly hiding what's most likely a corrupted wound but why? And why side with Karim? I loved Kim'dael. Love an emo vampire lady with sapphic energy who could kill a man with her fingernails (literally). I like how she isn't strictly evil and has a clear goal that she acts toward with logic. She wants to be freed from her mercy debt so she can drink the blood of anyone she wants, and she acts with logic toward that goal. I still CANNOT wait for them to finally free Runaan from the coin. Honestly Rayla's parents come second for me because we just don't know them as people. But like. I wanna see the cut to Ethari standing over the pool and seeing Runaan's life lily rise to the surface again. I will cry and that is a promise.

Also, that bit where Janai has a nightmare where Aaravos tells her that her great-grandmother's fate was that Aaravos "swallowed her"??? Why are half the lines out of Aaravos's mouth innuendos. Is it the VA's voice? Does it just compel people to write his characters like that? Or is Aaravos just Like That as a person.

I mean like. Aarvos also flirts needlessly with Viren every chance he gets. Not even for manipulation because Viren is not into him, he's just incapable of not acting like that. Viren is definitely gay though. Like definitely. Even my cishet brother could tell in that scene where Viren is having a dark magic-induced fever dream about Harrow. Like oh you *liked him* liked him. Sure had a funny way of showing it, Mr. Kill The Princes. Anyway. Yeah that's my thoughts on The Dragon Prince season 5! Cannot wait for seasons six and seven, I'm sure they will be so cool.

#the dragon prince #the dragon prince season 5 #tdp spoilers

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writer-of-random-things · 9 months

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On Muddy Trenches & Middle-earth

I recently finished All Quiet on the Western Front for school and my only thoughts are: A) I should have never gotten emotionally attached to a war story, and B) the book made me understand The Lord of the Rings so much more. I know Tolkien stated the the LOTR was never allegorical, and so it may be; but meaning there is. So obviously, I'm going to write about it: how the 'lost generation' is reflected in Middle-earth, the beauty of comradeship, and maybe most importantly, finding hope in the darkest of times.

Paul Baumer, the protagonist of All Quiet, was goaded by his schoolteacher to enlist for WWI only to find out its realities as everything he loves gets destroyed. Although this is very different from Frodo's story, the emotion, the trauma, and the comradeship both of these characters went through is something that will be remarked on time and time again.

When people talk about Tolkien, WWI, and LOTR, they most often draw the connection between the Dead Marshes and No Man's Land. After all, the Dead Marshes are described as such:

"They all lie in pools, pale faces, deep deep under the dark water...grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad. Many faces proud and fair, and weeds in their silver hair. But all foul, all rotting, all dead."

Meanwhile, No Man's Land in All Quiet is described as:

"Thus we stagger forward, and into our pierced and shattered souls bores the torturing image of brown earth with the greasy sun and the convulsed and dead soldiers who lie there--it can't be helped--who cry and clutch at our legs as we spring away from them."

The land is barren, people are dead. And the protagonist of both stories have to trudge through the wasteland without looking back. Furthermore, All Quiet Chapter 9 has Paul stabbing a French soldier in a fit of panic, only to have to watch him slowly die. Paul laments:

"Comrade, I did not want to kill you...we always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that our mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony--Forgive me, comrade, how could you be my enemy?"

This is quite similar to Sam's reaction when he sees a dead soldier; Tolkien writes,

"It was Sam's first view of battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad he could not see the dead face. He wondered where the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies and threats had led him on the long march from home; and if he would rather have stayed there in peace."

The above connection was first brought to my attention in Tolkien in the Twenty-First Century: The Meaning of Middle-Earth Today by Nick Groom, though I selected the quotes myself. Yet that is not all. Before we delve into the beauty of Sam and Frodo's friendship, I want to focus on Chapter 10 of All Quiet, where the soldiers get to guard an abandoned village (with lots of food, no less!) and continue to cook while shells are falling amongst them. They take refuge in a dugout, where they have a feast. Why is this important? Because the dugout is basically a hobbit-hole. A hobbit-hole is cozy, with food and warmth; the ideal of an idyllic home, even if the rest of the world is going to shambles. @moonlightredfern said it best, in a reply to this post. It's a testament to all the cold and miserable days, dreaming of a better time where everything is nice and cozy. It's deciding that the simple joys are worth risking your life for--indeed, that such tiny moments is what makes life worthwhile in the first place.

The same sentiment can be applied to friendship. Tolkien himself said that Sam was "a reflexion of the English soldier, of the privates and batmen in the 1914 war, and recognised as so far superior to myself". Sam's humble origins in the Shire brings into mind a scene of Paul's thoughts when he encounters Russian prisoners:

"They ought to be put to threshing, reaping, and apple picking. They look just as kindly as our own peasants..."

Like the soldiers, Sam could've stayed a gardener for the rest of his life; he comes from the same simple origins they do. Despite all the odds, they both go into battle; more importantly, they both rely on comradeship. And that makes all the difference. For both Paul and Frodo, friendship is what makes their battles bearable. Take Chapter 5 of All Quiet, when Paul is cooking a goose with his friend Kat:

"...we have a more complete communion with one another than even lovers have. We are two men, two minute sparks of life; outside is the night and the circle of death. We sit on the edge of it crouching in danger...in our hearts we are close to one another, and the hour is like the room: flecked over with lights and shadows of our feelings cast by a quiet fire."

Friendship is the flame that keeps out the dark. Gollum only became the creature he was because he was alone while the ring slowly corrupted him. But Frodo had Sam. And Sam would not have grown as much as he did, would not have been a brave as he was, without Frodo. The same is for Paul; when the only thing he has left--his friend Kat--dies, Paul says, "All I know is that Militiaman Stanislaus Katczinsky is dead. Then I know no more." Without friendship, life sparks out. In its fragility, maybe, lies its beauty: that moments and memories between two people are as magnificent as life itself. This connection, in a way, is one of the most important things in both stories.

Finally, I want to touch on my favorite chapter in All Quiet, and its connection to the ending of The Return of the King. In Chapter 7, Paul returns home, only to find out that nothing was the same as it was. Everybody treats war as a glorious thing when Paul has seen what it really is. He feels lost and disconnected:

"I...say over to myself: 'You are at home, you are at home.' But a sense of strangeness cannot leave me, I cannot feel at home amongst these things. There is my mother, there is my sister, there is my case of butterflies, and there the mahogany piano--but I am not myself here. There is a distance, a veil between us."

For refrence, let's just compare this to Frodo's lines near the end of RoTK, shall we?

"But I have been hurt too deeply, Sam. I tried to save Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me."

I don't think I have to explain this much. It speaks to the lost generation of WWI veterans as a whole; after all the pain and torment, battlefields filled not only with blood but also broken dreams, how does one pick up the threads of an old life? It makes sense, then, that both Paul's and Frodo's stories do not have a 'satisfying' ending that readers would like to see. Instead, they portray the reality of trauma and healing--or rather, the absence of it. Yet both tales are not devoid of hope. Paul states that all his experiences would be worthwhile if he could make sure that nobody could experience what he has again:

"A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends...I am frightened: I dare think this way no more...I will keep them, shut away, until the war is ended. My heart beats fast: this the aim, the great, the sole aim, that I have thought of in the trenches; that I have looked for as the only possibility of experience after this annihilation of human feeling; this is a task that will make life afterward worthy of these hideous years."

In addition, hope has been pervasive throughout the entire LOTR trilogy, even when fear and despair have the upper hand. Hope is not a passive act; it is a decision of will, a choice of a small, unsurprising hobbit that said, "I will take the ring, even if I do not know the way." It is symbolized in Sam carrying Frodo up Mount Doom, of Eowyn and Faramir overcoming their past troubles and finding each other, of a group of people that saved the world because they dared to try.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind when comparing All Quiet on the Western Front and The Lord of the Rings is that they are two works with different purposes, yet their authors lived through similar circumstances. The thematic motifs of friendship, hope, trauma, and violence are still relevant today. Perhaps Paul's hope for the future, as well as the Fellowship's determination to see the quest to be end, can be summarized by the oft-repeated words of Gandalf:

'I wish it need not have happened in my time,' said Frodo. 'So do I,' said Gandalf, 'and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for us to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.'

#lotr #tolkein #tolkien meta #frodo and sam #all quiet on the western front #im westen nichts neues #look I just wasn't expecting a book I read for school to hit me this hard okay #I think this calls for a lotr reread

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