#'cause i assume fandom's more dead than ever

[bruhvik]

baby girl, what have they done to your face in the 2nd game, you were perfect in the first one, look at you

#the evil within #sebastian castellanos #don't mind me i'm just going thru my screenshots and don't quite wanna commit to a whole hour of fancy editing yet #'cause i assume fandom's more dead than ever

[anonymous-dentist]

Hi, I’m A.D., I’m a historian, and let’s talk about the nuclear bomb and why the one that exploded at the end of QSMP’s Purgatory Event probably didn’t kill all that many people upon initially exploding.

The nuclear bomb, as everybody knows, has only ever been used in a war twice. Both explosions were caused by the United States in their war against Japan at the tail end of World War Two in one final terrible last ditch attempt at ending the war through any means necessary.

Pictured above are the atomic explosions at Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right.)

These are big huge clouds, which makes sense! Nuclear weapons, on average, have the strength of somewhere between 10 and 50 megatons of TNT. Hydrogen bombs, meanwhile, are WAY worse, with the first test coming in at a whopping 10 MILLION tons of TNT.

To put it in Minecraft terms for all you nerds out there, imagine Doomsday from the Dream SMP and how it razed an entire nation to bedrock level by using somewhere in the range of 20 stacks of TnT (if I’m remembering correctly.) A nuclear bomb, in these terms, would have blown L’Manberg up something like eight times over and then some.

So that’s. Bad. Right?

Well, here’s the QSMP’s bomb as was constructed by our favorite depressed detective, q!Maximus:

This bomb, notably, is underground. It was never dug up, it was just moved somewhere else. It isn’t above ground, and it never left this room. Watch the cutscene back (linked here), the bomb never left the room.

So this is where underground nuclear testing comes in.

Underground testing began in 1951, and it remains the only form of scientific nuclear testing not banned by the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

No big surprise, a lot of early underground tests were conducted by the US out in Nevada, where they kinda tested nukes legit fucking EVERYWHERE in the desert for a long time. Below are some photos, just for funsies:

What’s important about underground nuclear explosions is that they actually end up releasing less radiation into the atmosphere than regular nukes do. What happens beyond that depends on whether or not the radiation remains contained.

A contained explosion’s aftermath:

And an uncontained explosion’s aftermath:

There hasn’t really been many negative biological effects reported from these underground tests, which is really saying something considering how close to nuclear blasts the US had its guys at most of the time (see below)

The worst you got out of the underground tests was some radioactivity in cows’ milk, which is NOTHING compared to the effects of the above-ground nuclear testing at the Nevada Site:

So… what does this mean for the QSMP?

Well, if we’re going off of historical and scientific precedent, legitimately nothing substantial happened to the islands of Purgatory. There’s more of a risk of dying from the pre-established radioactive rain disaster effects as well as the earthquake and meteor disasters.

Fun fact! Underground nuclear explosions usually registered as weaker than actual fault line activity, aka actual earthquakes.

If Maxo’s nuke was dropped from above, the devastation would be greater. Nuclear fallout is no joke; even today, cancer rates in the American West are still pretty high from the above-ground testing conducted at the Nevada Site. The Bikini Atoll will never be the same after all the testing the US did there, either.

But, because this nuke seemed to have gone off underground, I can safely assume that the damage done to the islands above was minimal at worst. Maybe there’s a radioactivity leak, but everybody staying on the islands had already experienced radiation up to that point.

It’s important to remember this because several characters did stay behind on the islands, and the fandom is assuming them dead because, well. A nuke went off. But those characters aren’t dead yet (outside of q!Maxo, who was possibly directly above the nuke when it went off and thus would’ve been hit full-force by the explosion.) Many were on the beach, far from the the nuke. They’re fine, and you can prove it with history!

TLDR; the nuke from the end of Purgatory was assumedly set off underground, which would have negated a lot of its potential damage, so everybody’s fine except for the unfortunately deceased q!Maxo

#long post #qsmp #I’m not a nuke expert BUT I do specialize in the Cold War

[billyjoecobra]

JOSEPH JOESTAR CHARACTER ANALYSIS (1)

I never see anyone talk or analyze Joseph very often in the fandom, which is tragic because i believe he's very complex!! So here's some thoughts to chew on, rattle around in your head a bit. It's all under the cut, and it is LONG AS HELL because i have a LOT to say on him!!! Warning though, it's not super properly punctuated as these are discord rambles of mine, but -- enjoy nonetheless!!

i think it's super interesting to note how every time someone puts joseph down, or does something shitty to him, he just doesn't care. not a single bit. he even says it's fine, maybe even deserved sometimes. he assumes people always thinks the worst of him, and yet doesn't really care aside from the one time he dressed in drag and got insulted about it. even then he was just kind of, "man. i looked hot though.." however every time someone even remotely upsets his friends or hurts those who don't deserve it or his family he goes. ABSOLUTELY APESHIT. he will get SO fighty.

he will immediately throw hands and hurt you physically without thinking about it he likes to put assholes in their place sometimes (i.e. the taxi driver, the nazis who insulted him. and any nazi really ) but that is different than really caring about what they say to him. i think he has a very strong moral code, though people tend to see him as quite dubious because of his loud and obnoxious behavior every consequence to his actions, he only worries what others close to him will think and he can easily be driven to a blind rage revenge if you dare to hurt his family in any way. because you DONT fuck with his family. family is the no. 1 thing he cares about

beating up racist cops? he only feels bad because he doesn't want to stress out erina with the thought of bailing him out. told speedwagon is dead? he's upset, but he keeps his cool and throws a punch at the guy for upsetting erina, and worries more about her comfort than his own. guys hijacking a plane and holding him hostage? he couldnt care less if he was the hostage, he only cared enough to stop it because it might risk getting speedwagon hurt. and it goes on

and for the sake of his family he keeps purposefully trying to risk himself to death repeatedly. when fighting kars lets not forget when he shot kars into space and his thoughts were about how he was ok with dying if it meant his family was safe i think . and i said this before this is just me getting my thoughts out way more eloquently with points i've already touched on before. but.

in a non emo way, it's really hit me how he isn't like. beat up about it. about assuming ppl always think the worst of him. he cares way more about others than himself type of guy thats like similar to "they're friendly but after awhile of their support and talking to them you realize to your horror you dont actually know anything about them at all" other than he's like. bold and brash and likes to start fights sometimes oh and lest we forget he also tends to take the death of loved ones so hard to the point that no matter the circumstances true causes he always blames himself.

he always blames himself and gets a bit. ummmmm i wouldn't say suicidal but like way too risky with his life and stops really caring if he'll die. he's just so used to nobody ever understanding him and his "off kilter" tbh neurodivergent way of thinking and living that he. like. he doesn't exactly have great self image beyond thinking he has sexy lips which sounds so silly but it's true and again it's not something he dwells on it's just kind of, A Fact to him. and this isn't even touching on the slew of issues i'm sure speedwagon's constant comparing of him to his dead grandfather must have caused.

It's very evident to me that he has ALWAYS felt like a burden to some degree i think. even when erina and speed havent really treated him as such. This is why I think his dynamic with speedwagon would be pretty strained / already seems as such -- bc. As I said before, he's ALWAYS comparing him to jonathan, even when he was just a kid.

NOW BY ALL MEANS!! I DO NOT THINK speedwagon means any ill will. it's just something that he just keeps.. doing because. well he respected jonathan so much, and it kind of clouds how he sees joseph because -- well, joseph is the SPITTING IMAGE of him. But not intending harm does not mean he hasn't caused any by doing that -- comparison can WRECK you pretty bad. joseph has made it clear that he knows he's nothing like jonathan in any regards except looks and i think it kind of contributes to his overall. tanked self image. and also the fact that he's a reminder of the tragedy of losing his parents ( or so they thought for a while. yk )

he deeply cares for him still, this much is true. he always will. but, it doesn't negate the serious comparison issue, constantly being told "WOW you have an attitude not at ALL like your grandpa, he would have never done x!! how do you look like him while being such an angry kid!!"

..... said without real malice or really bad intention, more out of exasperation. but. those kinds of things stick with kids. yknow? Joseph's always bottled up his emotions and tried to be on his best behavior for erina's sake. hes always a little more open with speedwagon. but .............. BWGHGURUGURGGH!!!!!!! i could go on for hours about it ok. but i shall move on to my next point now.

what sucks about it though is that the fandom tends to gloss over these bit of characterization at every turn. there is a lot of sadness and concerning things surrounding joseph that he just simply SHRUGS OFF about that it's kinda concerning! not that he'd ever really see a problem with it.

the fact that he was prepared to die / did the bet if only to distract them long enough to let caesar and speedwagon get away... you COULD maybe read it as a little bit of self preservation but given how he handles literally all other instances of him possibly dying., and the circumstances of him leading whammuu away being to SAVE those two. I think it yet again falls in line with "who gaf if i die i care if THEY die". then he gets stressed about the time he has left. which i imagine would stress ANYONE honestly. but . part of me thinks that it's also because this means that he has a short time to make sure he can be strong enough to protect everyone he loves and cares for..

that isn't ALL there is, of course. but i feel like with his behavior that is probably a big reason of it. You can summarize it all with one sentence; essentially,

joseph isn't afraid of death, nor dying himself; he's afraid of his loved ones dying.

This fact is extremely present in everything he does and says, but especially so when Caesar's death hits. THAT, however, i will make it's own post on. I have a lot to say on that and how it fucked him up for life. For now, though, I will move on and touch on another topic.

for all the loud opinions joseph seems to also speak none of it is ever really looked into much deeper as anything more than " he's just being joseph again" and he never really elaborates on it either, hence why a lot of people don't know much about him. While he is schrodinger's himbo -- too stupid to be smart, too smart to be stupid -- it's clearly all an act to get people to lower their expectations of him. He doesn't like being taken as a joke though. that he is a hater of for sure so. Joseph hides his true self behind a mask of idiocy and lackadaisical attitude to the point where it's blended into his actual truest self and he can hardly tell what's real and what's the mask. But at the same time, Joseph gets very angry when nobody takes him seriously because of his facade and trying to make everyone lower their expectations of him so he can pull the rug out from under them.

He's so mad when people don't take him serious but then continues to act pretty unserious and it's like. Well if you want them to take you more seriously bro you should stop doing that. Stop lowering others expectations so you can kick their asses or have a general upper hand just in case ( but he won't 💖)

he is a bit of a polarizing character but i hate when fandom reduces him to just "funny goofster" or ""cheater"", or writes him off as annoying with no depth to him. To judge Joseph through a lense of solely good or solely bad is a terrible idea; that man is gray moraled as HELL, he has a strong sense of self justice while also being incredibly underhanded and sneaky. If you dislike him, that's fine -- but don't discount his complexity just cause of that!!! He's not puddle deep, there's a lot of facets to how truly fucked up he is.

yeah. he is goofy, and he's a cheater at many things. but there's a lot to him. HE'S COMPLEX!!!!

#joseph joestar #🐍 txt #i have. a lot of feelings about him ok? #also part of this is old ass posts from my discord but i think tumblr should see it too

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

i think the reason why people don’t like mai for zuko is because zuko is already a very grumpy, angry, pessimistic person and so is mai soo they reasoning is that he needs somebody with a more opposite and optimistic, personality like jin and katara who are more nice and caring than mai idk cause zuko does cheer up a little at the end aand katara is more supporting at the end at least oor that’s what people say idk what do you think? why does zuko chooses mai and not jin or katara? and what do you think of the people who “knows whats best for z ??

Anon, I'm gonna be honest here: the people that genuinely dislike Mai with any kind of bias affecting their judgement are very rare. Anyone who tells you the overwhelming hate she gets, both as Zuko's girlfriend and as her own character, are not 99% the result of zutarians being bitter that she "stole Katara's man" are either lying to you or were lied to.

Mai, alongside Ty Lee, is one of the most chill antagonists of the show. Zuko was far grumpier and MUCH more furious than she ever was. Hell, her main deal is that she is always too chill because she was taught to repress her emotions and not voice her opinions.

THIS is why she is Zuko's true opposite, the yin to his yang. When he is letting his emotions cloud his judgement, she's the voice of reason. And in turn, when she's getting too distant, he makes get out of her shell and connect. They've had their issues, sure, but by the end of the show they were all pretty much fixed.

Also, I would NOT call Zuko a pessimistic character. He has low points and moments of panic, but that boy kept himself mostly sane during three years of exile by holding onto to hope that, maybe, just maybe, this supposedly dead enemy of his nation that had been seen in 100 years was not actually dead, thus his mission wasn't pointless, and he'd have a way home. Just look at how over-confident Zuko is battle and at how many life threatening situations he got himself into because he acted without a plan, assuming that everything would turn out alright somehow. That boy is an optimist. A grumpy, moody, reckless optimist, but still.

Again, that's the kind of situation where he and Mai would ballance each other out. She likes the thrill of these adventures as much he does, but she will NOT act without thinking. Hell, she won't even put up with stuff that is not dangerous but that she considers beaneath her (see her refusing to follow orders in "The Drill").

This is thing that really bothers me about shipping, not just in this fandom: people forget that no one wants to date their clone, but no one wants to date their COMPLETE opposite either. You need common ground.

Katara and Zuko have the same temperament - proud, strong-willed, stubborn, wearing their hearts in their sleeves, and willing to get VERY mean when pissed off (never forget the "The stars look beautiful tonight. Too bad you can't see them, Toph!"). Then being a couple would just BEGGING for them to have some very ugly fights. As for their differences? Like I've said a million times before, their goals in life are so different they wouldn't even live in the same country. How could a romance between EVER work?

Ty Lee's temperament would be a good ballance for Zuko's, but the most common ground they have is they hang out with the same two girls and maaaaybe Zuko believes in auras too since he basically demanded Mai to defend herself when Ty Lee insulted her aura (this is totally not me letting my headcanon of Zuko taking that stuff 100% serious and writting down everything Ty Lee says on the topic cloud my judgement). Other than that, we see that Zuko clearly wants to be Fire Lord, and while Ty Lee just wanted to go back to the circus or travel around with her new friends. We barely get any interaction between them, so acting like there's evidence for her to be his perfect match is quite the stretch.

Same for Jin. They got along well enough on their date, but that was just for short bit of an episode, not even the entire episode itself. That's too little to claim she could be "the one" for him.

With Mai meanwhile, we had a ton of episodes, in which we got to see their relationship's ups and downs, and see that they managed to bounce back from some pretty serious conflicts and still clearly adore each other after it all.

As for Zuko choosing her over any other girl, it's simple. He likes her. He likes her dry/sarcastic humor, how badass she is, how much she enjoys physical affection, how she doesn't put with any bullshit fro anyone (including himself), how she was bold enough to basically tell him, Azula and Ty Lee to fuck off, how pretty she is when she hates the world (unbelievably iconic line) etc.

Mai is Zuko's type of girl, she likes him back, and they are compatible, and thus they ended up together. It's not rocket science.

#anti zutara #pro maiko #pro mai

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Jean Vicquemare

He's a minor character with a surprising amount of depth when u look into it!! But he is also a Cop (derogatory) and I feel a lot of people take the few things we know about him and twist it into an entirely different entity separate from the source material. I think he's an interesting character and should also be catapulted into the sun <3

This could not be more of a divisive character in this Fandom, which is hilarious considering he doesn't even have that much screen time. He is either seen as the devil incarnate or a poor little baby who's so sad! Being a fan of him means it's just best to block his tag here on Tumblr otherwise you'll tear your hair out at how frustratingly people misrepresent his purpose in the story.

Dark Pit

Most of Dark Pit's mischaracterization comes from the fact that he's in SSBU- everyone assumes he's like every other nintendo clone; evil and just a 'bad' version of the original. But he's not!! Even the characters in his own game think he's just cruel by nature, when he's never actually done anything wrong. He's a dick, yes, but wouldn't you be a bit pissy if you kept getting dragged into a war you want no part in, called a name crafted specifically to belittle your own existence?

Dark Pit was created when Pit, the original, was on a mission to destroy a mirror that would copy anything that stood before it, since the villians were using it to create an army. It's incredibly important to note that it does NOT create 'evil' versions or even just copy the body and leave the personality at home. It's a 1:1 conversion. Unfortunately, the villians also knew Pit would destroy the mirror quite directly, standing in front of it (or more accurately, flying kicking towards it) and triggering the copy to be made. It was shattered midway through creation, creating Dark Pit- something the villians were hoping would happen, as Pit is the last angel to exist and they REAAAALLY want their own angel.

Immediately everyone assumes Dark Pit is just evil by default- even the villian is gloating about her new minion, but he immediately rejects that and punches the villian and helps you in the fight. He steals her power and flies away after, but its important to realize that Dark Pit could've just allied with the villians for the same result, and instead chose to be alone. Sure, he's kinda a dick to Pit, but he hasn't done anything outright evil. Just took a dead god's power in order to fly and left.

Cue the next mission where Palutena calls Dark Pit 'twisted' and 'inherently corrupt' like ma'am where??? Hes just an asshole cmon, you would be too if your birth parent is a reflective piece of glass. You go off on a mission to try and KILL him, and he obviously defends himself- once again, he's done nothing outright wrong. He's rude and aggressive, yes, but he literally doesn't want ANY part of all this war between gods shit, and here you are killing him for merely existing. During the final battle of the mission Dark Pit tells Pit that he is his reflection, and that they're the same person- Dark Pit is just more than willing to say the things Pit refuses to admit to himself.

AND HE'S RIGHT. Dark Pit believes the gods are selfish, are using Pit as a tool for their own gain, and that the world would be better off without them since all they ever seem to do is cause war and destruction. If you pay attention to how Pit reacts to the world around him, he DOES share these beliefs but instead of acting on them, he just buries it. Pit will even snap at the gods about half-way through the game, telling them outright that its THEIR war that is destroying the planet and that THEY'RE all at fault. Dark Pit is NOT an evil clone; he's an inversion. Everything Pit hides away, he wears on his sleeve, and interestingly, everything Pit openly is, DARK PIT STILL IS TOO. He, just like Pit, hides it away instead of admiting it.

After the fight Dark Pit runs away, and shows up mainly as an ally to Pit going forward. The game mentions further how kinda fucked up Dark Pit's whole situation is- if Pit's soul is removed from his body, Dark Pit just DOESN'T EXIST during that time. If Pit dies, Dark Pit dies, and he has no control over it. He never even gets his own name- its either Dark Pit, or his nickname of 'Pit two' (Pitto). If Pit ever attacks Dark Pit and tries to kill him, there's little Dark Pit could ever really do; In the game he'll defend himself and try and kill you, but at that point he's dead either way. His life is barely his own.

Worst part is, SSBU confirms Dark Pit allied with Viridi after the events of Kid Icarus Uprising. I cannot STRESS how horrible that is for his characterization so far. Viridi is the god of nature and hates humanity for even existing, with her first appearance being her dropping NUKES onto towns and cities to purge humanity. And Dark Pit now works as a commander under her. Either Viridi has to mellow out REAL damn fast and stop nuking medieval humans, or they accidentally wrote Dark Pit to be a Human Murderer (we specifically know Viridi sends her commanders to kill off anyone who survives her nature nukes). Really hope this stays in the realm of 'not canon' because holy shit there's so many better options to pick from than the 'little girl god with a hit list and a factory of bombs'.

(Not even sure WHY Dark Pit, who thinks gods are selfish and use angels like tools, would want to ally with a god. Yes, he can't fly without a god's help, but even then why ally with the most vindictive and murder-happy god that isn't Hades??? Poor dude really just needs a break from all the gods to sort out who he is and to start building his own life independently from Pit)

#misrepresented morally grey #round 2 #bracket c #both bracket #disco elysium #jean vicquemare #kid icarus #dark pit

[agentbuckshot]

I think a lot about the fact that all of the female freelancers, not just Tex were designed to fail in one way or another. For Connie, she was told she would never meet the skills of her colleagues, which put her in such a position where she was doomed to snap, and a position she was doomed to be hunted down loosing it. Carolina was taunted with the brink of failure, her whole life she believed what was perfect was being at the top of it, this was only really fueled by the Director. While not directly ever said we can assume this was the only way Carolina could see herself close to her father. Then it was just taken away from her where failures piled up on her and up on her causing her to become obsessed with someone she can literally never beat. South was the control variant of an experiment, South was forced to snap constantly and was punished for doing so. She was constantly taunted like a dog. Even Ohio, all she’s ever known was failure, she and the triplets tried and tried to make themselves known for being more then bottom of the barrel freelancers, but never succeeded until they were just left for dead

Project freelancer egged all of them on so much to the point where they can only be known as their worst qualities and the writers did an excellent job at this because most of the fandom thinks of them similarly. All of their worst qualities were just fueled and fueled to the point where during the freelancer arc, you can forget their good qualities. I think South’s the best example, because so many people can’t see her as more then a backstabbing short tempered bitch, rather than a highly skilled, well organized, timed and motivated killer, who can fucking hide amongst pipes and wipe out guards without a sound, while sometimes over her head can and will defend herself. Or Carolina, became selfish with obsession, to the point where she’d betray her partner and friends, in favor of pursuing her idea of success, because in the program, there wasn’t another way

I’m in no way a South apologist, but honestly, I feel like all the female freelancers, all had such strong themes of failure in their lives, some were able to overcome it and become so great and badass, some accepted it and became happy, and some were killed for it

#red vs blue #rvb #rvb tex #rvb carolina #rvb south #rvb Connie #rvb Ohio

[thelostgirl21]

Watching the episode "Beside Still Water" (2.20), I've just realised something...

Is it me, or has the Malec fandom (myself included) somehow collectively managed to forget one rather essential aspect of the wish Valentine was trying to make to Raziel before Clary successfully stopped him from doing so?!

Because, in virtually every alternate universe scenario (ex: fanfiction, story outline, discussions, etc.) I've read where Valentine does succeed in making his wish, said scenario tends to assume that Magnus (Simon, Luke...) would die, and Alec & co. would be left behind to mourn the loss of all Downworlders.

Except the immediate death of all Downworlders was only one part of the wish Valentine intended to make... The scene actually goes:

RAZIEL: It has been a thousand years since I was last summoned to this place. Why do you summon me now, Nephilim?

VALENTINE: My Lord Raziel, the great men and women in the lineage of Shadowhunters, which you have created here, have failed in their mission to rid this world of demon scum.

RAZIEL: I see you are impatient. What is it you ask of me?

VALENTINE: Immediate death of all evil-blooded creatures, demon and Downworlder alike, as well as the disloyal Shadowhunters who protect them.

RAZIEL: The destruction of the souled creatures of the Downworld, and of our own Nephilim, that is not Heaven’s wish.

VALENTINE: What?

RAZIEL: But thou who spills thy blood, thou shalt compel from me an action.

Doesn't it mean that, should Valentine have succeeded in completing his wish, only the Shadowhunters believing in the righteousness of his cause would have survived?

Because technically, protecting Downworlders is part of a Shadowhunter's duty. Even those that are filled with prejudice generally agree that it is their responsibility to keep the Downworld safe and wouldn't wish to destroy them all. They just fear and generally don't trust them. And they sure aren't loyal to the Circle.

Sure, when creating an alternate universe, there's nothing wrong with the author wishing to alter more than a single element of it.

If you wish to have Clary fail to stop Valentine from making his wish to Raziel, while also changing the nature and intent of the wish itself, it's no problem at all! By all means!

What surprises me is the fact that I can't recall having ever read a single "Clary failed to stop Valentine from making the wish" story where Alec, Isabelle, Clary, and/or any Clave member that ever dared oppose Valentine's vision (a.k.a. the "disloyal Shadowhunters who protect [Downworlders]") all suddenly died alongside Magnus, Simon, Luke, Maia, and the rest of the Downworld when the wish was made.

Actually, I literally had to do a double take while watching the scene to make sure that I had heard right.

It's like the image of Magnus suddenly dropping dead right in front of Alec when Valentine successfully makes the wish (and all the angst and despair that typically follows it), is something that I've seen done so often in fandom that my brain had totally erased the part where Valentine's wish also included the immediate death of all "disloyal Shadowhunters who protect [Downworlders]" as well!!!

It's uncanny!

I've just realised that if an author was to write an A.U. where the ONLY THING changing about that Lake Lyn scene was Clary failing to stop Valentine from properly making that wish, both Magnus and Alec would be killed by it!

So would Clary, Isabelle, Maryse, Robert, Andrew, Lydia, Imogen, etc.

As tragic as that would be, part of me can't help but find the idea of a bunch of Downworlders and Shadowhunters suddenly all entering the afterlife together with no real prior warning somewhat hilarious!

Valentine: [Spills blood and makes wish.]

Everyone in the Shadow World that didn't agree with the Circle's ideals: [Dies.]

Raziel: It is done.

Alec: Wait. Where are we? What happened? Why does this look like some weird Downworlders-Shadowhunters convention, and what's with all the white?

Magnus: Don't panic, but I think we're dead.

Alec: What?

Isabelle: [Sighs.] Most likely.

Clary: Yeah, sorry. Valentine wished for the immediate death of all Downworlders and the Shadowhunters who protect them. I couldn't stop him.

Alec: Oh. [Small pause as he appears to consider it.] Okay then.

Magnus: Okay?

Alec: Yeah. Okay.

Magnus: You were killed by a member of your own kind simply for not wishing all Downworlders dead, Alexander! How is any of this [Gestures at the huge gathering around them.] OKAY?!

Alec: I just went through the soul-wrenching agony of feeling my parabatai die; meaning there was a very good chance that his attempt to stop Valentine had failed. Ever since, I've been utterly terrified that the man I love would just suddenly drop dead in my arms! Instead, I'm here, you're here, my soul feels whole again, I can sense Jace's presence nearby - meaning he must be here somewhere, too - my whole family [Gets distracted by something he sees in the distance.] HEY MOM! [Waves.] OVER HERE! [Brings his attention back to Magnus.] seems to be here, also... So yeah... I'm not happy that everyone I've ever cared about just died - or that the Mundane world is now at the mercy of the Circle - sure! But... Okay, I guess.

Maryse: [Waves back enthusiastically, looking relieved to see familiar faces, and quickly proceeds to make her way to them.]

Magnus: [Stunned.] I...

Clary: Yeah... The man you love dying in your arms? Not recommending it. Can't say I'm too upset that I won't have to go through the whole grieving process that usually comes after, though... Can you really sense Jace?

Alec: Yeah, don't worry, he'll turn up. We probably landed on opposite sides of... [Gestures at their surroundings.] whatever this place is. Best stay put, 'cause I know the little impulsive shit won't, and then we'll just be chasing each other around...

Maryse: [Hugs her two children as soon as she reaches them, then Clary, before surprising an already stunned Magnus by offering him a big heartfelt hug, too.] Is everyone okay? Have you seen Max?

Alec: Not yet, but there seems to be a rather large gathering of Shadowhunters from the L.A. Institute over there.

Isabelle: And we're good, Mom.

Maryse: Good? [Visually checks on everybody again.] Good. [Gestures towards the gathering Alec just mentioned.] Is it okay if I just leave for a moment to go find your youngest brother?

Alec: Sure! By the way, if you come across Jace, could you please let him know we're here?

Maryse: Of course! I'll be right back! [Briefly turns towards Magnus.] It's so good to see you, Magnus. Well, not that I'm happy you're - you know - dead. But I'm just glad that Valentine was wrong and, wherever we are, or are going, our spirits apparently still belong together.

Magnus: [Mightily confused, much to Alec and Isabelle's amusement.] Ah... Likewise?

Maryse: And I'm glad you two found each other again. [Smiles, looking at her eldest and Magnus in turn, before giving Magnus two affectionate pats on the shoulder and leaving in search of her youngest son.]

Magnus: Actually, we're...

Imogen: Lightwood! There you are!

Isabelle: [Sighs.] Figures...

Alec: [Mumbles.] Well, good to know she apparently was trying to protect the Downworld...

Imogen: I've been talking with Jia, and our latest intel never said anything about Valentine planning to wipe out a bunch of Clave members alongside Downworlders! Have you or his daughter been keeping information from us? [Starts speaking to him in hushed tones.] Word has it she was with Valentine when he made his wish. [Sends a suspicious side glance Clary's way.] How do we know we can trust her?

Clary: Hey! I'm right here!

Alec: First, she's family. Second -

Magnus: [Still trying to process what Alec had previously said, as well as his mother's reaction to seeing him.] Sorry to interrupt, but you still love me?

Alec: Of course, I still love you! Nephilim love once, Magnus. Well, maybe not polyamourous or aromantic ones - but most typically do. And even if that wasn't true, I know I've only ever truly fallen in love once in my whole life, and I can't imagine ever not loving you in the afterlife, either.

Magnus: [Incredulously.] Even after all of this? [Gestures to all the people that died, in part because Shadowhunters and Downworlders had stopped working together to stop Valentine.] After I lost faith in us, and pushed you away in favor of my people, thinking you were holding me back from doing what was necessary to protect them?

Alec: I gave you reason to doubt my word, and you were scared, Magnus... [Takes a small step towards Magnus to gently grab and hold his hands, and tenderly look in his eyes.] You don't stop loving someone just because they are afraid of making a mistake trusting you. You either find a way to win their trust back, or respect their boundaries if you believe you can't or don't know how to do that yet.

Magnus: [Gaze softens.] Alexander, I...

Imogen: [Rudely interrupts.] Look, it's all very touching, but that still doesn't explain why you believe we can still trust her! [Points towards Clary.]

Clary: [Sighs heavily.] Yup! Still here...

Alec: [Rolls eyes at Imogen, rather pointedly, and reluctantly lets go of Magnus' hands, whispering to him.] Sorry, just... hold that thought. [Back to Imogen.] As I was saying: First, she's family and I'd trust her with my - well - afterlife, I suppose. Second, Valentine killed Jace right in front of her! Pretty sure she felt very little sympathy for him after that - biological father or not!

Imogen: [Gasps.] Jace is dead, too? Are you sure?

Alec: [Incredulously.] I felt him die. [Gestures at himself.] Parabatai, remember? He and Clary were at Lake Lyn on a mission to stop Valentine from making the wish when it happened, and they both died trying to stop him. I mean, look around! You do realize that every single Shadowhunter on Earth died alongside the Downworld - except for Circle members and sympathizers - right?

Imogen: What?!

Clary: Yeah, I was there when Valentine made his wish. The immediate death of all Shadowhunters protecting the Downworld was a big part of it. And since watching over the safety of the Shadow World was pretty much our duty as Shadowhunters...

Imogen: [Finally acknowledging her presence.] Come with me! We have to report this to Jia and the rest of the Council at once!

Clary: [Incredulously.] What Council? We're dead! The Downworld no longer exists, and the Mundanes are out of our reach!

Imogen: [In shock, mostly to herself.] My grandson is dead... the whole Herondale bloodline has ended, again... For good this time... Shadowhunters have failed in their Heavenly mission, and the Clave is no more... How could we let this happen?

Clary: [Pats her back in mock sympathy.] There, there...

Isabelle: [Shrugging and looking very unimpressed.] By wasting time pointing fingers and trying to blame others for the Clave's mistakes, instead of improving on communications and collaboration with the Downworld in hopes of actually defeating Valentine?

Imogen: [Glares.]

Simon: [Suddenly showing up after having caught the end of their conversation.] Wait. Are you telling me that anyone here is actually surprised that Valentine was never planning on allowing those with the actual power and resources to hunt him down and hold him accountable for committing mass genocide to live after he made the wish?!

Alec: The dead guy's got a point.

Simon: Seriously?!

Alec: [Shrugs with a small amused smirk.]

Jace: [Making his way through the thick crowd.] Alright, sorry... Coming through... Look man, I got here first, and I'm trying to reach my girlfriend and my parabatai over there! So, unless you want me to make you move...

Clary and Alec: JACE! [Both rush over to throw themselves in his arms, nearly knocking him and a bunch of innocent bystanders over.]

Jace: Whoa! Easy! You'd think you guys thought I was dead or something! OW!

Alec: [Having slightly pulled back to hit him over the head.] Not funny, Jace! I felt the bond break, you dumbass!

Jace: [Wincing apologetically.] Yeah, that must have been unpleas - OW!

Clary: [Having just hit him, too.] And I watched you die.

Jace: [Rubs the back of his head awkwardly.] Okay, sorry. Too soon?

Alec: [Still visibly shaken and close to tears, throwing himself back into Jace's arm alongside Clary.] Just don't ever do something like that again. I told you to be careful?

Jace: [Tightening his hold on his parabatai.] I know, and I swear I was! Leaving you behind felt like a part of me was being torn apart, too, by the way. I'm sorry we lost, but I'm glad you're here. Death would have been Hell without you.

Clary: [Hugging them both, slightly amused.] You guys let me know if you need a moment?

Jace: [Almost possessively crushing them both in his embrace.] Nope! You two aren't going anywhere! I need both my soul and my heart here with me, thank you very much! At least for a few more minutes.

Alec: Good thing I no longer need to breathe. Clary: [Chuckling.] You and me both!

Imogen: [Wisely chooses to observe the very emotional reunion from a distance.]

Simon: So, Magnus, have you and Alec gotten back together yet?

Isabelle: Simon! We barely all just got here!

Simon: And they haven't even kissed yet? I mean, come on! What are they waiting for? I get you're upset that Alec didn't tell you about the Soul Sword right away, Magnus. But with the Clave threatening to take his position away, and Robert having used it as leverage against them...

Isabelle: [Warningly.] Simon...

Simon: What?

Isabelle: [Stares back pointedly.]

Simon: Wait. Was I not supposed to have known about that?

Isabelle: [Sighs.] I might, indeed, have forgotten to ask Alec for permission before telling you...

Simon: Oops.

Magnus: Telling me what? What is he talking about?

Robert: [Joining them with Maryse and Max.] The only reason Alec didn't take the fall and lose his position over Valentine escaping while in his custody was because I threatened the Clave to let Alec know about us having lost the Soul Sword, and they were scared the minute he did, he would let the Downworld leaders of New York know as well.

Magnus: Are you telling me that Alec wasn't supposed to know about the Soul Sword when I came to the Institute to have dinner with him, and the Clave indirectly finding out he did might have landed you both in hot water?

Robert: There's a bit more to it, but that could have been a possibility, yeah...

Luke: [Having finally reached them, Raphael in tow.] Told you Alec was trying, and we should have continued to trust him...

Magnus: Mistakes were made...

Raphael: Yeah, he probably needed a moment to figure out how to navigate that whole mess with the Clave… You know, in hindsight, we'd have stood a better chance continuing to work with the New York Institute rather than accepting the Seelie Queen's terms...

Magnus: I have regrets...

Luke: To be fair, she did say that the Seelie Court had been beyond the reach of the Angels and their powers for quite some time now, and promised us all asylum...

Simon: [Scoffs.] Pretty sure she just meant the Seelie Court had been beyond the reach of the Angels and their powers for quite some time because the Angels had shown no interest in reaching them for quite some time, too!

Magnus: [Blinks a few times as it suddenly dawns on him.] Oh.

Luke: ...

Raphael: Yeah. I can't believe any of us fell for that.

Meliorn: If that's any comfort, the Queen's been heavily sulking in that corner over there ever since we all got here...

Isabelle: [Almost jumps back, caught off guard by the sound of Meliorn's voice talking right next to her.] Okay, where are you all suddenly coming from?

Raphael: [Ignoring Isabelle's question, and pretty much having decided not to question anything that happens in this place anymore.] It is a bit of a comfort, actually.

Luke: Yeah...

Simon: Yup! Not to be the petty one, but serves her well!

Alec: [Returning to their small group and going to hug Max and his father.] Have I missed anything interesting?

Isabelle: [Shrugs with an amused smirk] Just Simon proving he's got more brains than all of us combined, apparently.

Alec: [Confused.] What?

Luke: He detected the hidden lie in the promise that the Seelie Queen made to keep the Downworld safe from Valentine upon hearing it right away, while we'd all missed it.

Simon: To be fair, after that whole kissing stunt she pulled on us, I've been expecting the worst from her.

Alec: We should always expect the worst from her.

Luke: Yeah, expecting the worst from the Seelie Queen is pretty much "Shadowhunting 101".

Simon: You know, I'm curious... Alec, if the Queen swore to you "You'll be safe in our realm. It has been beyond the reach of the Angels for millennia now", what would be the first thought that would pop to your mind?

Alec: That the Angels have had no interest in interacting with Seelies for millennia, so there's been no attempt on their part to reach it, and that you'll be safe from any Seelies attempting to harm you while you're down there, why?

Simon: [Breaks into a self-satisfied smile.] See!

Magnus: [Groans.] Okay, now you're just rubbing it in.

Alec: [Confused, while looking at all the other members of the Downworld Cabinet.] Wait. Did any of you actually fall for that?!

Magnus, Raphael, and Luke: [Trying to make themselves very small and all avoiding Alec's gaze.]

Meliorn: I didn't! To be fair, that's why the Queen had me temporarily removed from the Cabinet - or more appropriately put under house arrest. She was concerned I might experience a... conflict of loyalty over her intentions of siding with Valentine.

Isabelle: You mean she was concerned you'd attempt to warn us?

Meliorn: Well, she was pretty confident that her Alliance with Valentine, and promise that we'd just keep to our own realm - steering clear of Circle members and Mundanes on Earth- would ensure our safety as well as that of those that had chosen to take Sanctuary with us. But I knew he could lie... [Pauses.] Plus, you might all be credulous idiots - well, except the Daylighter and Mr. Lightwood here, apparently - but I may have grown rather fond of you lot.

Raphael: Are you still unable to lie, or...?

Meliorn: [Sighs and rolls his eyes.] Would you be unwilling to take my word that I didn't wish any of you dead even if I could? I mean, despite working for the Clave, Isabelle's always been willing to bend the rules and protect us at great personal risk. Her brother seemed to be coming around and trying to change the system from within... With the right type of support, I had hope he might succeed... At least, it kept things from being boring.

Luke: Sadly, now we'll never know...

Magnus: All because I overreacted, and pulled out too fast...

Simon: [Snorts.]

Isabelle: [Hits him, trying her own best not to laugh.]

Raphael: [Rolls eyes and sighs heavily.] Sexuals.

Magnus: [Eyes going wide while finishing his sentence.] ...of the Cabinet and the Accords! Lilith!

Alec: [Glares at Simon and his little sister.] Really?! I'll have you know that Magnus isn't - [Suddenly remembers he's got nothing to prove, and really couldn't care less what anyone might think of his love life.] - You know what? Never mind.

Simon: [Stifling his laughter.] Sorry.

Isabelle: [Regaining control over her own emotions.] It's been a long day. [Looks around.] Hey, where's Maia?

Simon: We came across some guy named Kyle on our way here.

Luke: Jordan Kyle?

Simon: Yeah. Apparently, they used to date, and he's the one that accidentally changed her into a werewolf, then left. There seemed to be lots of tension and unresolved business between these two, so I thought it best to give them some privacy.

Raphael: And you're not scared he might try to win her back?

Simon: [Shrugs.] Truthfully? I don't know if it's a side effect of being dead, or what... But I don't feel especially possessive over those I love right now? Kind of like... I don't see why her opening her heart to someone else should replace or remove my own space from hers, or make her love me any less. At this point, I just want all of us to be happy together and find our own peace, you know?

Meliorn: [Nods.] I do. So, once we've settled in this new plane of existence, would you and Isabelle be both interested in joining me to explore what unearthly delights the afterlife might have to offer us?

Simon: [Stunned.] I...

Isabelle: [Laughs and shakes her head bemusedly] You're not wasting any time!

Meliorn: [Shrugs, while smiling warmly and sharing in her amusement.] What can I say? There's obviously an easy chemistry between you two and, from what I've heard, your question about Maia wasn't entirely devoid of interest.

Simon: [Actively thinking this over...] I might need to discuss it with Maia first, and I've never been with a guy before, but... I mean... Well, I'm not sure about being sexually attracted to you, but I'm strangely okay about the idea of sharing an intimate moment and cuddling, at least... Does that make any sense?

Raphael: Yeah. Tons of sense. I'm really not into sex, but emotional intimacy, cuddling, and closeness is often good, regardless of gender.

Isabelle: [Smiles dreamily.] Raphael's cuddles are amazing. And this has nothing to do with the yin fen, by the way.

Meliorn: I'm into pretty much everything - even when not directly involved - although I'd never enjoy watching or sharing while knowing it makes anyone uncomfortable. If all agree, I say Raphael should be welcome to join us for cuddles, if he wishes!

Raphael: [Considering.] Maybe I will... Although, it may take some time for me to get used to the idea of cuddling up to a group of people...

Isabelle: Hey. We can start by spending some time on our own, too. Or even stop there if you're not comfortable going any further. Like Simon said, I don't think developing our own more exclusive relationships in a place like this would ever take away from anything else my heart might be comfortable sharing with others.

Simon: Agreed. No one should ever feel pressure to do anything they may not want to.

Raphael: [Blushing lightly.] Thanks. I'm not saying "no" to getting close to anyone else. It's just a lot of new things to adapt to for now, and I've always been someone that enjoys taking my time to build friendships. Even on the romantic front, such connections occasionally happen, but they don't exactly do so frequently, nor easily.

Simon: Yeah, I get why suddenly getting close to a bunch of people might be a little overwhelming in that context.

Raphael: Might have an easier time cuddling up to you, though.

Simon: [Shocked.] Me?!

Maia: [Showing up with Jordan, holding each others' arms, looking relaxed and happy.] Don't sound so surprised. You're a pretty amazing guy that makes people easily feel loved and safe. I mean, we might have been joking that everyone wants to have sex with Jace, but I think an even higher number of us just want to cuddle you up!

Clary: [Returning with Jace, looking slightly out of breath, despite not needing it, hair a bit tousled.] Who wants to have sex with Jace now?

Meliorn: I do.

Magnus: I don't.

Raphael: Me neither.

Alec: I thought I once did.

Maia: Been there. Done that. Might want to do it again.

Jordan: Yeah, I can see the appeal.

Luke: Bit young.

Raphael: Give it a few hundred years.

Luke: Still, we've got a bit of a father and son - or at least weird uncle - vibe going on...

Maryse: I think Robert and I will both pass.

Robert: Amen to that.

Isabelle: Yeah, and with the whole brother thing, for me that'd be too weird...

Max: Ew...

Jace: [Mock glaring at Max.] Geez! Thanks, bud!

Max: You're my big brother!

Jace: [Playfully ruffles his hair.] I know! Just messing with you!

Simon: I... might?

Isabelle: [Shocked, but also greatly amused by the admission.] Really?!

Simon: Truthfully?! There's a lot I'm questioning right now.

Imogen: I don't. He's my grandson.

Simon: [Confused, looking at Isabelle.] Wait. She's still here?

Isabelle: [Shrugs.] Apparently.

Jace: Well, as flattering as all the attention is - and I can't believe this is coming from me - but it would appear that I've been having rather strong monogamous instincts lately.

Meliorn: And we shall all respect that.

Clary: [Teasingly gasps in shock.] But what about your Bookclub?

Jace: [Leaning in to tenderly kiss her.] I'm sure they'll find something else to read.

Max: [To Robert.] So... If you can have more than one girlfriend or boyfriend, why did you cheat on Mom?

Maryse: Max!

Robert: Because the Clave's traditions would have us believe that it is wrong and against the will of the Angels - that everything about our lives has to be about resisting our impulses, leading with our heads, and putting duty above all else.

Alec: Yet I'm pretty sure that what hurt Mom the most isn't that you fell in love with someone else, too, Dad; but that you lied about it, and tried to keep it away from her rather than addressing the issue as partners.

Maryse: It's true. Although I've been so conditioned by the Clave to believe that loyalty and exclusivity in a matrimonial partnership between Shadowhunters is everything, that I might have wished to get divorced either way. Oddly enough, I think Robert and I have always been better together as friends.

Robert: I couldn't agree more.

Max: Okay, but if I wanted to have two girlfriends... Or a boyfriend and girlfriend?

Isabelle: [Laughs.] How about you start with one? You'll know if polyamory feels right when you get there.

Max: What about you, Alec?

Alec: I've got nothing against polyamory, and I'll admit to perhaps being a bit of a closeted "hugger", but -

Simon: I knew it!

Alec: [Fixes Simon with a stern stare over his sudden interruption.]

Simon: [Recoils sheepishly.] Sorry... [Grins, as he playfully decides to put Alec's declaration to the test.] Come here! [Starts to move closer with his arms held wide open.]

Alec: [Says nothing, but rolls his eyes and groans - pretending to be annoyed - yet still walks right into Simon's open embrace and wraps his own around him in a big, heartfelt hug.]

Simon: [Momentarily freezes and isn't exactly sure how to respond, because, to be honest, he was expecting Alec to back away from him and/or firmly tell him "no", like Jace had, once.]

Alec: [Closes his eyes and lets out a satisfied hum, relaxing further into the embrace, while making no indication that he's intending to let go anytime soon - or ever.]

Isabelle: [Is trying not to laugh.]

Simon: [Awkwardly shifts a bit, only causing Alec to tighten his hold to keep him firmly in place and hide his nose in the crook of his neck.]

Magnus: [Can barely breathe while doing his best to contain his laughter as well.]

Simon: [Whispering.] Izzy? Izzy, what do I do? He's not letting go, Izzy.

Isabelle: [Biting the interior or her mouth to help her stay in control.] Yeah, you might be stuck there for a while...

Maryse: [Chuckles.] Pretty sure he and Jace hugging it out could well last 10 minutes, sometimes.

Simon: [Eyes go wide as he mouths back "10 minutes"? to Izzy.]

Magnus: [Is now wheezing.]

Alec: [Shoulders start shaking lightly as he starts struggling to keep himself from laughing, too.] Yeah, but we're parabatai. Want me to let you go?

Simon: [Hesitates.] Yeah. Maybe? I mean, it's nice and all, but you basically went from being unable to remember my name and looking at me like you want me dead, to giving me one of the biggest hugs anyone's ever offered me in my life!

Alec: [Chuckles and moves back, but still briefly holds Simon's arms to steady him, only fully letting go once he's sure he's found his balance and is solidly standing on his own.] Can't want you dead now that you already are, Simon.

Simon: [Frowns.] Good point. [Realizes.] Hey! You said Simon!

Alec: [Smiles knowingly while shrugging it off.] I did. [Moves back to return his attention towards his little brother.] So yeah, I'm fine with hugging my family and close friends, but I'm pretty sure I'm rather strongly on the monogamous end of the spectrum as far as romance and sexuality goes...

Simon: [To Izzy.] Wait. Did your brother imply I'm part of his "family and close friends" group?

Isabelle: [Amused]. You mean, you didn't know?

Luke: Yeah, even I caught the exasperated big brother vibes rolling off him in waves whenever you're around.

Raphael: Or the way he'll get all worked up about you getting yourself into trouble, and express worry that you'll be doing anything impulsive and stupid that will only make his work harder.

Magnus: Pretty sure I even caught him saying "That little shit! I swear, next time I see him, I'm going to wring his neck!" once, before taking off to go fix one of the messes you'd inadvertently caused.

Isabelle: That bad, huh? Usually, that's the kind of talk he uses while referring to Jace.

Maryse: You've never had an overprotective big brother looking after you, have you?

Simon: No. Just one big sister. No brother.

Maryse: That explains so much.

Alec: [Eyes widen in distress as it suddenly dawns on him.] Oh, shit. Simon, I'm so sorry...

Magnus: [Looking at Alec with concern.] What is it?

Alec: [A little helplessly.] His sister, and his mother, they're...

Simon: [Looking a bit dejected, too.] Mundanes, I know...

Alec: [Taking this apparently really hard.] And we've left them all behind with a bunch of sociopath Circle members, and no one to protect them.

Luke: Well, at least the Circle was always about cleansing Earth from demonic influence to keep the Mundane world safe.

Raphael: Yes, until they all collectively decide that "demonic influence" isn't only defined by the presence or absence of demonic blood, and that anyone with "impure ideologies" must be cleansed...

Magnus: Somehow, if you're trying to be reassuring, I don't believe this is helping, my Dear Raphael.

Raphael: [Confused.] Is "being reassuring" what we are supposed to be doing?

Magnus: [Points towards Alec that seems to be starting to have a bit of a mental breakdown, and Simon's increasingly concerned looks.]

Raphael: Oh. Right.

Alec: [Mostly to himself, starting to pace...] I was so relieved that everyone I loved was safe - [Winces slightly, as he realizes that "being dead" might not be what people would typically considered "safe".] relatively speaking - that I was starting to forget about all those people we were supposed to protect, and that got left behind...

Magnus: Alec, they they aren't all your responsibility.

Alec: Aren't they?! Nephilim were created to protect the world from demon, and we just -

Sudden booming voice resonating in the white space: This is Raziel speaking. I am receiving an abnormally heavy volume of prayed requests for answers right now. This is thus a public service announcement. First, my apologies over what happened, but I did not have the power to refuse to grant anyone the wish as proper procedures had been followed; a mistake we angels shall try to avoid making in the future. Due to the current volume of new arrivals, your souls have all been placed in a temporary waiting area. If you are here, that means you aren't going to any Hell dimension. If some of you suddenly start glowing and vanishing - no worries - that only means your own corner of Heaven has been properly set to welcome you, and you should all be joining your friends and families in a timely manner. In response to the horrific nature of the wish that was made, please take note that all surviving Nephilim have been utterly stripped of their runes, sight, and any angelic powers, and all further attempts to contact or summon us shall be properly ignored.

[Pauses as the sound of collective cheering in the room would have made it difficult for even Raziel's voice to be heard.]

Raziel: Those that come to genuinely see the errors of their ways and repent might be granted salvation. Others shall be lost. Mundanes should be safe from any demon that has been killed through the wish until they fully reform in Hell dimensions and somehow attempt to return to Earth, but we expect this to take a few centuries. Until then, we shall be monitoring the situation.

Simon: [Looking relieved at the news.] Well, this is reassuring.

Alec: [Looking relieved, too, but still reeling a bit.] Yeah... Yeah, this is good. I mean, if Circle members are just a bunch of jerks without powers, Mundanes should be able to look after themselves, right?

Simon: Sure! Plus, I mean, a few centuries is a long time, you know? Long enough for them to start World War IV and possibly nuke the planet.

Clary: You know, Simon's right. Demons possibly returning to Earth in a few hundred years is likely not the first thing Mundanes should be worrying about right now.

Izzy: Well, that sure is a very uplifting thought.

Alec: Yeah... [Sarcastically.] I'm feeling much better about it now, thanks.

Simon: Anytime, bro'!

Alec: So, basically you're telling me the Earth is doomed regardless of anything we did?

Clary: Most likely.

Alec: Great.

Magnus: [Wrapping his arms around himself.] Well, at least, you're not the one that let his personal issues get in the way of his ability to think clearly, and made a terrible mistake that ended up indirectly costing all of us our lives, and breaking your heart in the process.

Alec: [Concerned and confused, taking a small step towards him while searching for his gaze.] How is any of what's happening here your fault, Magnus?

Magnus: [Hugging himself tighter.] Simon and you saw right through the Seelie Queen's hidden lie right away, Alexander! If I'd let you explain how you found out about the missing Soul Sword in the first place, if I'd known the Clave had been threatening to take the Institute from you, I...

Alec: [Interrupting while going to stand right in front of him, trying to get all of his attention.] Yeah, but you didn't know. And part of the reasons you didn't know is because I thought keeping my own problems from you would protect you from being under more stress after everything that had happened with the Clave and Valentine. [Grabs and tenderly hold one of his hands again.] Point is, we all made what we believed to be the best choices we could make with whatever knowledge and resources we had available at the time.

Magnus: [Stares back a him, listening attentively, but still looking unsure.]

Alec: [Reaches with one hand to cup Magnus' cheek with his free hand.] All I know is that I don't think I could have lived without you, and I'm pretty sure I simply can't move on without you now, either. [Almost pleading with him.] Magnus, I love you.

Magnus: [Gaze softening, reaching to cover Alec's hand with his own and closing his eyes for a moment.] I love you, too, Alexander.

Alec: [Beams back at him.] Good. Then I need you to let go of that guilt, and trust me when I tell you that things are going to be okay, alright?

Magnus: [Nods and lifts his head to kiss him, wrapping his hands around his neck.]

Alec: [Meets Magnus' lips halfway, securely wrapping his own arms around his back, holding him close.]

Simon: Ah, guys, I think you're...

Isabelle: Shh... Don't ruin the moment...

Alec and Magnus: [Keep on passionately kissing while the light that's started to surround them gets brighter and brighter, and...]

Simon: Yup! They're gone!

Isabelle: It's alright, we'll catch up...

Jace: [With his arm wrapped around Clary's shoulders, him and her having both started to glow, too] Yeah, about that... Hope you won't be mad if Clary and I just...?

Isabelle: [Laughs while shaking her head fondly at the sight.] I know, I know, where he goest, you will go, and where he lodgest, you will lodge, and all of that.

Jace: [Returns her laugh, as the light surrounding him and Clary intensify, pointing towards Isabelle.] You seem to forget something else, too. Three go in... [Winks back at her before vanishing with Clary.]

Isabelle: [Noticing that she's also started glowing.] Three come out. [Extends her hand towards Simon.] Want to catch a ride?

Simon: [Laughs, and reaches for her hand, pulling her closer.] Think it'll work? [Quickly finds himself bathed in light, too.]

Isabelle: [Smiles smugly, leaning against his chest, looking up.] Looks like it.

Simon: [Briefly looks away at the rest of the group.] Hope you guys won't mind if we...?

Meliorn: No, you guys go right ahead!

Luke: Sure, you know. Just save us a seat, or a cloud, of whatever we're supposed to be sitting on when we get there.

Maia: Yeah, you can go ahead and kiss her!

Simon: T-t-that's... Wait, that's not what I asked! [The glow surrounding him and Isabelle keep growing brighter.]

Isabelle: Yes, but Mr. Simon Simon Lewis, would you like to? Unless you no longer think I'm hot?

Simon: [Chuckles and brings his attention back to her.] Oh no, you're still and always have been hot... And glowing... Wow, you're just glowing so bright right now! Think we - [Gets interrupted by Isabelle finally locking lips with him, to the sound of their friends cheering.]

Catarina: [Arrives with Madzie in tow, just as Simon and Isabelle are disappearing together in the middle of a heated embrace.] Hey guys! So if that was Isabelle, and Alec's not here, I suppose that means he and Magnus already moved on?

Raphael: [Nods.] Yeah.

Catarina: [Sighs.] Damnit. Madzie's been asking to see Alec and we've been searching for them ever since we got here.

Maryse: Yeah, you just missed them. My only kid that has yet to cross over is Max, over here.

Madzie: [Perks up as she leaves Catarina's side to go stand in front of Max, and extend her hand to him.] You're Alec's little brother? I'm Madzie.

Max: [Smiles back at her and shakes her hand.] Yeah, I'm Max. Nice to meet you, Madzie. Whoa? Are those gills? They look so cool!

Madzie: [Beams back at him and starts glowing. Max, too.]

Max: [Still holding her hand.] Wait. Are you doing that, or are we...?

Madzie: [Shakes her head "no".] Not the one doing it. [Turns towards Catarina with a questioning look.] Mom?

Catarina: [Reassuringly.] It's alright, Kiddo. You two go right ahead, we'll be there in a moment.

Madzie: [Spontaneously throws herself into Max's arms, hugging him.] Are you scared? It's okay. I'll protect you.

Max: [Chuckles and protectively wraps his arms around the Warlock child.] Yeah, I know you will.

Maryse: [Watches as the two vanish, amused.] Yeah, he must like her. Max didn't even argue about having completed his Shadowhunter training, and being the one supposed to keep her safe.

Robert: [Thoughtfully.] I was just thinking that.

Raphael: [Slightly annoyed.] So, are we all supposed to form couples before we're allowed to move on? Because I'm going to be stuck here for a very, very long time.

Catarina: [Rolling her eyes.] God, I sure hope not! But, you know, just in case. [Goes to Raphael's side and wraps and arm around his waist.]

Raphael: [Glares back at her, but doesn't try to move away from the embrace.] Seriously?

Catarina: Would you rather cross over on your own?

Raphael: [Challengingly holds her gaze, but stays silent.]

Catarina: [Smugly.] Just what I thought. Besides, Magnus would be upset if I didn't make sure his kids didn't get lost somewhere on their way home.

Raphael: [Sighs] I hate you.

Catarina: [Chuckles.] No you don't.

Imogen: [Outraged.] What are you doing, Seelie?

Meliorn: [Innocently, while linking arms together with her.] What? If Raphael's theory is correct, you'll be stuck here a very long time otherwise.

Imogen: [Still unimpressed.] And why is that?

Meliorn: [Chuckles.] Most people tend to run away at the sight of thorns. [Lifts one of her hands to bring a gentleman's kiss to it.] While we Seelies know thorns are meant to protect a much gentler, softer, pliant core...

Imogen: [Blushes, taken aback by the compliment, having obviously not expected it.]

Luke: [Having started to glow while standing on his own.] Yeah, I might have to put a question mark on that theory...

Maryse: Oooh! Wait up! [Moves to Luke's side to go wrap an arm around his waist.]

Luke: [Laughs and makes room for her, while putting his own arm around her shoulders and holding her firmly against his side.]

Maryse: [Smiles up at him.] Hope you don't mind. Kinda want to make sure all the kids are okay.

Luke: [Smiles back.] Not at all. [Extends his hand towards Robert.] Robert?

Robert: [Shrugs.] Why not? [Reaches for Luke's hand, coming to stand next to them.]

Catarina: [Points to someone in the distance.] Is that Lorenzo Rey making out with a curly blonde guy over there?

Raphael: [Nods.] Yeah, probably a good thing Magnus left early.

Maryse: [Follows Catarina and Raphael's gazes, as the light surrounding her, Luke, and Robert keeps on glowing brighter.] Oh! The curly blonde guy's named Andrew Underhill, by the way!

Catarina: You know him? A Shadowhunter?

Maryse: [Nods.] One of our best.

Catarina: [Bemusedly.] What is it with Warlocks and Shadowhunters, lately?

Raphael: [Notices that Lorenzo and Andrew have started glowing, too.] I don't know, but I'm not kissing you to see if it'll allow us to leave faster.

Catarina: [Gives him a pointed glare, while Luke, Maryse, and Robert vanish together.]

Maia: Ah, I wouldn't worry about that too much. [Looks around, as she notices that everyone else in their small group has also started to glow.] I think we're all catching the next ride.

Imogen: [Not listening to anyone in the group, too busy making out with Meliorn while attempting to start loosening his armor, Meliorn eagerly doing the same with her shirt.]

Raphael: Okay, he really wasn't kidding about being into pretty much anything.

Catarina: I... Don't think I can ever unsee that.

Jordan: Right there with you.

Maia: Here's hoping they show up somewhere in their own private room when get to the other side.

#Shadowhunters #Magnus Bane #Alec Lightwood #Malec #Clace #Clary Fairchild #Clary Fray #Jace Wayland #Jace Herondale #Jace Lightwood #Good thing I don't go with all the Jonathan Christopher stuff too #Alexander Lightwood #Isabelle Lightwood #Izzy Lightwood #Simon Lewis #Sizzy #Max Lightwood #Madzie #Catarina Loss #Raphael Santiago #Luke Garroway #Maryse Lightwood #Robert Lightwood #Maia Roberts #Jordan Kyle #Meliorn #Lorenzo Rey #Andrew Underhill #Reyhill #Shadowhunters Crack

[yours-truly-henry-jekyll]

Dead Gay Wizards Headcanons. Part 1: Barty Crouch Jr

First of all, to hell with JKR. All my friends hate JKR. Our fandom is a diverse and tolerant place for Merlin's sake.

1. Intellectually precocious (learnt to read when he was about 3 years old), reads everything he can lay his hands on, so naturally very dirty-minded since much earlier than anyone else. Besides both lit and science are perfect for secretly name calling everyone around

2. As a child had to learn to play some classy musical instrument (I am not settled on violin vs piano yet). Still salty about not getting to play the guitar

3. Probably has impostor syndrome and completely ruined self-confidence because of his father's attitude towards him

4. Was actually all prim-and-proper until like year 4 or 5 of Hogwarts then snapped so hard the hell broke loose and we got the human catastrophe we know him to be. Still kind of apprehensive with swear words as he thinks he can possibly be overheard

5. "Help you with homework? Maybe I could, but bold of you to assume that I remember what the hell was our assignment"

6. Kins Mick Travis and Amadeus as in rock opera( I am more than sure he called Regulus or Snape "his Salieri" at least once) also maaaybe both Paul Jr and Florence Dombey from "Dombey and son"

7. Did a shit ton of insane, dangerous and questionable things purely on a bet or out of spite. Also greatly extended the list of things forbidden in Hogwarts because everything not explicitly forbidden is technically allowed and Barty would use every loophole to do crazy shit and go scot-free

8. Needs glasses (eyesight deteriorated because of too much studying) but he would rather subject himself to crucio or killing curse than admit he needs them. Why? Cause glasses for him are a part of the "prim-and-proper, people-pleasing golden child" image he wants to utterly demolish

9. Last but VERY not least. I do not really get the Italian headcanon for my bbg. Like where did it even come from? I personally ever since getting a bit more in Marauders fandom hc'ed him as being of East Asian (and more specifically Chinese) descent.

The whole thing with emotional negligence mixed with academic pressure, some really glorious study results and screwed mental health just screams so called "tiger parenting" to me (source: personal experience with author's own Asian family). And OK, not to go fully against the already established fanon he still has some Italian roots as "the family legend". And because of the films I also think he has some Scottish ancestry

#marauders era #marauders #slytherin skittles #dead gay wizards #barty crouch jr #headcanon ramblings #italian barty crouch jr #scottish headcanon is here only because of the films #barty is asian and you can subject me to crucio #not that i am not projecting anything here #also he def has ADHD #and he's the chaotic academia incarnate #the next post would most likely be dedicated to pandora and what her maiden name is

[baldy-wan-kenobi]

Okay people, here we go:

Baldy's Book Club

Episode 1: "Into the Storm"

By Taylor Anderson, Book 1 of the Destroyermen series.

Okay, so, on the recommendation of my most esteemed mutual @frogblast-the-ventcore , I have been coerced to read the Destroyermen series, and post my thoughts about them as I do.

So, for part 1, here we go. I'm going to assume those of you reading have read the book, cause if you haven't, you should be going to buy it, right now. I mean it.

First and foremost, this book was written by a ww2 nerd, for ww2 nerds, and by god does it show. Taylor Anderson is a professor of history, and it shines through in every part of the book. From the technical details of the USS Walker, to the shortcomings of the Mk. 14 torpedo, to the attitudes, lives, and habits (both good and bad) of a 1942 Asiatic fleet destroyerman. Speaking of which, call me Dean Kamen, cause that's a perfect segway to talk about

The Characters

To begin with, do not expect a normal person's assessment of these characters. Expect a Normal™ person's view of them.

First: Captain Matthew Reddy. Oh my lord this man. He's an absolute mess, knows it, and yet cannot let that show, because, well he's stranded in an alternate universe with humanoid lemurs and sapient velociraptors. In my head, he's got total divorced dad energy going on, 30-something going on 50 because of stress, greying at the temples but still hot in a DILF kind of way, not overly muscular, and with one hell of a voice. (I'll admit the audio book colored my perception, but it's a fantastic audio book so I don't care.)

Next, Chack-Sab-At, the biggest and most baddass guyfailure to ever live. "Oh, I'm a pacifist" then the very second that an enemy without moral repercussions comes along he's all "I love violence and killing and murder and death and injuring people and blood and biting and cutting and-" like, seriously, dude says he's a pacifist before turning around and becoming Furry Doomguy.

Next, Dennis Silva, he-who-was-told-not-to-fuck-the-monkey-cats-but-did-it-anyway. Moving on,

There's literally more I love about the characters than I want to sit here and type out, so I'm going to cut it short, but Oh My God these characters are A+.

Next, I just want to touch on something these books made me feel. A lot of times, as an USAmerican with an actual brain, I can get bogged down in the fucked-up shit my country has done and feel like I can't celebrate what makes the US cool without making it sound like I'm excusing all the bad stuff, but this book kinda made me stop for a minute and go "man, the US is kinda fucking rad, when you think about it." Because, you know what? It is. Yeah, we've done fucked up shit, but we've also done some pretty awesome stuff. For every My Lai Massacre, there's a moon landing. For every Trail of Tears, there's a Berlin Airlift. Sometimes, it's okay to take a moment and just go "Fuck yeah, guys. Were pretty cool." Because this book really makes you feel that, at least it did to me, but I'll get off my red, white and blue high horse and keep going.

Alright, now we come to the part that I need to get out...

THE BRITISH EAST INDIA COMPANY

Literally everywhere in my life, I am haunted and stalked by the specter of a long-dead megacorporation. In every piece of media, in every topic I research, no matter what, they're there. As the Frogman quoted from me in a meme a while back "I'm being haunted by the ghost of English imperialism". What the fuck? Anyway, if you wanna chat about the book, please do, because I am at terminal levels of Fandom.

Anyway, if you want to read along for the next Baldy's Book Club, we'll be reading Crusade, the next book in the Destroyermen series.

(P.S. Frogman, I know this review isn't very good, but my brain is soup rn so this is whatchu get.

#Baldy's Book Club #destroyermen

[cto10121]

R&J Clown Takes Special Edition—Hamlet/Horatio Parallels and The Migratory Slash Fandom

In which I focus on one particular clown take and see if it at least gives me a couple of chuckles/insightful meta. Today’s R&J Clown Takes comes a relatively rare but definitely not unheard-of crossover I’ve seen pop up every so often—supposed Hamlet/Horatio and R&J parallels, particularly their death scenes.

But all right, OP, I’ll bite. Let’s investigate whether these parallels are warranted.

So in R&J, Romeo goes on a fulsome speech before he drinks the potion. His last words before drinking the potion are these:

Romeo. Come, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide,

Thou desperate pilot, now at once run on

The dashing rocks thy seasick weary barque

Here’s to my love. [Drinks the poison]

O true apothecary,

Thy drugs are quick! Thus with a kiss I die.

He kisses Juliet, then dies. Juliet wakes up after Romeo ends himself, the Friar pleads with her to go with her, Juliet rejects him, he leaves, and says this:

Juliet. What’s here? A cup closed in my true love’s hand?

Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.

She then immediately tries to drink it. But it’s all gone.

Juliet. O churl!—drunk all, and left no friendly drop

To help me after? I will kiss thy lips.

Haply some poison yet doth hang on them

To make me die with a restorative. [kisses Romeo]

Thy lips are warm!

Like Romeo, Juliet also kisses him. She then hears noise and decides to kill herself with Romeo’s dagger.

In the ~supposedly equivalent scene in Hamlet, Hamlet is dying from Laertes’ cut, and urgently tells Horario explicitly to tell his story to the world.

Hamlet. Horatio, I am dead,

Thou liv’st. Report me and my cause aright

To the unsatisfied.

Horatio. Never believe it.

I am more an antique Roman than a Dane.

Here’s yet some liquor left.

Horatio rejects Hamlet’s request (or rather command), comparing himself to an ancient Roman than a modern Dane—as in, a subordinate soldier to his commander. He then aims to drink the potion.

Hamlet. As thou’rt a man,

Give me the cup. Let go. By heaven, I’ll ha’t!

Hamlet not only rejects Horatio’s attempted suicide but also tries to stop him verbally and (implied) physically, by throwing the cup away from him. He then repeats his injunction:

Hamlet. O God, Horatio, what a wounded name,

Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind me!

If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart,

Absent thee from felicity a while

And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain

To tell my story.

Hamlet’s “If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart” is clearly rhetorical, but it’s interesting that he still felt the need to ask him to mourn him and act as witness, as if he weren’t sure Horatio’s affection for him.

Apart from “there’s yet some poison/liquor” idea, I think it’s clear from these two death scenes that there is no true parallel. Romeo compares himself to a ship, a pilot, and explicitly calls Juliet his love. He dies on Juliet’s kiss. Juliet, waking up, tries to kill herself on his kiss before opting for the dagger. All throughout, the emphasis is on their love.

Meanwhile, Horatio compares himself to a Roman soldier, whose honor would compel him to commit suicide for his superior. Hamlet rejects the suicide but implicitly buttresses this general/lieutenant metaphor, giving him the command to “report” his story—like an actual general to his lieutenant. There is also a clear parallel/reference to Julius Caesar, written about a year before Hamlet, particularly Brutus’ commander’s honor suicide as well as Brutus’.

In any case, there are no kisses and unlike Juliet, Horatio does accept Hamlet’s command that he not kill himself (and, explicitly re:Hamlet, to “man up!”). For his part Hamlet is almost wholly concerned with his reputation, although he does acknowledge Horatio’s feelings and how difficult it would be for him to talk about his late friend.

If Shakespeare had wanted a true R&J parallel, one would assume he would have had Horatio drink the poison after Hamlet’s death. Or better yet, decide to use his dagger/sword and attempt to wound himself along with Hamlet, as Juliet did. But of course, that would have been OOC for Horatio, and go against the very quality Hamlet had praised him for—not being passion’s slave. Even his attempted suicide was logical—as in, it follows the logic of honor killing.

#romeo and juliet #hamlet #hamratio #rj meta #r&j clown takes #rj clown takes #rj clownery #are the gays okay #no they are not #in any case even if they were a couple hamlet and horatio’s dynamic is not r&j #it’s lieutenant/commander #the exact same dynamic as johnlock

[seek--rest]

Seek, I love when you “talk shop” to us, so here’s my question this week: how do you feel about posting completed stories vs updating as you go? It seems to me that after following you for a while that you do a little bit of both, and I’d love to hear what you consider the pros and cons of the different updating styles!

There's nothing better than talking shop!!!!!!!!!! I always love talking shop i could talk shop all the time please always send me shop talk asks!!!

The pros of backlogging:

i know exactly where the story is going. the only surprises are whatever the characters can throw at me and for the most part, if it's 75% done then there's less of a chance of something extending unexpectedly.

the "work" is done. i've written nearly everything (cause it's very rare that something is ever 100% done when I start posting) so I'm free to work on other things.

The cons of backlogging:

if i write enough of something and it ends up not being as well-received as I would've liked, that's expectations innit. i've set myself up to really be invested in something that others aren't and while we write for ourselves, we post to share and i've written 40k of something that no one else wants to read,,, it might still be worth it but sometimes it's better to level expectations.

on the flip side, excitement. sometimes i'm writing something in chapter 8 that i can't wait to share but i haven't even posted chapter 1. assuming i post a chapter weekly, that's waiting two months to share exciting thing i just wrote. for most of my time in fandom, 90% of the time this was really worth it but nowadays, the fandom is so quiet and mostly dead that there's never any guarantee the same people who are reading chapter 1 will even still be in the fandom by the time chapter 8 comes around.

slightly related, if I have a really cool idea that I really want to write and others really want to read with me,,, but then I write and backlog and end up posting it a month later,,,, the moment has passed. it might still be worth it for /me/ but again, if i'm just screaming at the wall sometimes that's worth it and other times it's Not

The pros of writing as I go:

instant feedback loop. not in the sense that i'll write to the whims of others but more, "wow i wrote this. i can't wait for people to read it. aha! i've posted. now people can. serotonin please." excellent.

freshness. expediency! there's just some kind of buzz from being inspired to write something, writing it, posting it and then regardless of the feedback, knowing you did it! in these cases, the feedback is secondary. it could be none at all. just knowing that i was able to have the vision, make it reality, and then post it out into the world can be delicious all on its own.

the cons of writing as I go:

if i'm writing as I go, i may not have a plan and if i don't have a plan, the fic is almost DOA. every longstanding wip that hasn't been updated in the last 4 months is because i either don't have an outline or i don't have a strong one / didn't write a chapter or two before posting the next.

and that's related to: life. life happens! i'm busy! i like backlogging and writing other things as i post other things because life is busy and while i'm writing on the go, knowing i have some """"cushion"""" makes it easier but if i /don't/ then i become a bit more reticent in sharing what i have and if i flat out don't have the time to write,,,,, no updates at all

tl;dr I think both can work for different reasons and for different stories. if it's a long, meatier, more angsty/twisty story, then i can't imagine writing as i go. i'd need the time and plot and backlog so that regardless of the feedback, i know where the story is going. if it's something silly and fun and very low stakes, then writing as i go? works perfectly! it's easy and quick and i don't have to think.

#seek speaks #seek shop talk #<- possibly new fic talk ask tag? #for example: pov was originally very silly and had very little backlog #it is now over 80k #so. yeah.

[ten-cent-sleuth]

for the fic writees ask, 49? (im reading a galling yoke so i hope youll talk about the next chapter 😂😂) and also 15 33 and 41 bc im curios

What’s your favourite AU that you’ve written?

My best AUs are for Philinda lol. My favourite is Committed to the Cause, a POTUS/USSS one with Coulson as the president and May as his head of security.

If you write chaptered fics, what’s your ideal chapter length to write? Is it different from your ideal chapter length to read?

My ideal chapter length to write is 4–7k, which is also about my ideal chapter length to read. Maybe my reading ideal is on the shorter end, so more like 3–5k, but gfhjsgdhs that’s not too big a difference.

Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

There are a few that come to mind. The main ones are literally anything by @indilwenofmirkwood (but especially What Makes Her Tick, which can be read here on AO3 and here on FFN) and Kismet by @midnightlovestories (can be read here on AO3) for how they developed plot/romance, analysed my comfort character, and got some whumpy goodness snuck in there. The former is for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. while the latter is for The Addams Family.

Feel for You by @parksanddownton603 (can be read here on AO3) made me fall in love with a specific tone of AU and gave me the motivation to try my hand at writing an AU like they did (also for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). On the flipside, Defensive Wounds by @rebecca-in-blue (can be read here on FFN) is an in-universe fic but I greatly admire the characterisation in it and would love to know and honour my blorbos as well as they do. It’s for NCIS.

Another one for the Addamses, Human by @unhappychildhavingfun (can be read here on AO3) packs the kind of emotional, meaningful punch that I want my writing to throw. Though I also aspire to churn out numerous one-shots that just put my guys in situations the way @suallenparker does (if I must name particulars, the ones that affect me the most in this way have been Bulletproof, Lifeline, Safe and Sound, Liar, Mayism, Second Chances, and Being Someone Else, all for Philinda hfjsgdhhd).

And can’t play dead by @widespindriftgaze (can be read here on AO3) is…simply some of the best creative writing I’ve ever read. I love how they dabble in various, sometimes small/short-lived fandoms; I long to do that.

Welp, that was more than a few.

I hope the authors don’t mind being tagged—I wanted anyone who reads this post to be able to click onto your blog directly, but if you’d rather I not tag you, let me know and I’ll neutralise the ping right away. Sorry!!

(And of course, the one you’ve been waiting for, anon—)

What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

I am currently working (well, focusing) on A Galling Yoke, my Sherlock Holmes x Reader exes-/friends-to-lovers casefic. (It was actually supposed to be enemies-to-lovers lolol.) I’m like a third or so into Part 12, and I’ve got like seventeen chapters planned total plus an epilogue. Exciting stuff!!

And hey, you want a few lines? >:P

“No.”

“Mr Holmes, I cannot impose—”

“It shall not happen!”

You straightened in your seat, shoulders tensing. Sherlock groaned and dragged a hand down his face.

“I meant not to be…domineering,” he said. “But […] am I not to assume that you came here…for a reason?”

He and you looked at each other for a long, open moment.

I grabbed that out of the middle of a conversation for Maximum Suspense. I cut out […] because what I have written there currently is a bit of a placeholder. There was another part I wanted to share because it’s got a long quote from Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton”, but I figured that excerpt was a tad too spoilery. I’m sure you guys will prefer this romantic tension anyway. ;P

Thank you, and please feel free to send in more!

#the rare quarter #the dimensions of fandom #a dime for your thoughts #committed to the cause

[insom-nom-nom-niatic]

...Redheads...

Fandom: Vox Machina (Critical Role)

Pairing: Vaxleth

Rating: E (if you are in the fandom of CR... this is like child's play let's be honest)

AN: I have a thing of not liking to go very much over 500 words, so this little drabble is a 2 part thing. It's also my first time getting back in the writing saddle for a very very very long time so... it is what it is. I also am a redhead, we all know what I mean when I say... what I say.

“Oh sweet Percy, do tell these folks of our last trip to Whitestone.” Vex’ahlia wrapped her fingers tightly around the snowy-haired man beside her. Glancing quickly towards Vax with an all-knowing nod. He quickly turns on his heels, headed for the door, and grabs Keyleths hand on the way. “Oh me too?!” She gasps as she gets whipped from the group. 

Green shoes make the slightest thuds against the hard wood floor panels, sending vibrations through Vax’s knee like an un-rhythmatic massage to the joints while he continued his work on what had to be the grandest lock he’d ever seen.  

“I'm not used to going on the super stealth missions.”

“No? Really?” Vax whispered with a smirk. It was pure luck for both of them that the guard dogs had all been preoccupied with the abundance of guests and Grogs loud belly laughs downstairs. 

“Yeah! Don’t know why though, this is kinda fun.” Vax just smirks at the redhead’s ideals of a ‘joyous’ time. 

2 minutes pass: Keylth is leaning on the door, her forehead rubbing back and forth on the cold wood whilst her eyes roll back and forth. Her red locks covering her features but Vax can tell her ‘joy’ was shortly lived.  

“Vaaaaaaaaaaaax. Hurry uuuuuuuuuuup. This is so boring.”

“Kiki-“

“I know I know,” she stands to mock his posture and accent in a low tone; “if it was easy, there would be no need for locks.”

Vax slowly cocks his head to meet the woman beside him. His brown eyes glaring up at her green ones peering back, causing slightest giggle echoing in her chest making his heart skip a beat. 

Footsteps begin pounding on the ground down the hall. Only a heartbeat later, the footsteps stop. Keyleth’s eyes widen as she every so slowly takes a step back, peering down the hall at 2 heavily armed guards looking directly her, They move their heads down and back up as they take in the strangers frame. “Uh, hello there.” Keyleth’s fingers fiddle with the side of her dress. 

“Get rid of them,” Vax murmurs. His eyes never leaving the lock he has sworn is ‘almost there’ for over 5 songs now. A small pink nub of tongue peeking through the side of hi lips a another tumbler of the lock settles. 

“How do I do that?” Keyleth wasn;t sure how loud she had spoken. But given how the guards’ faces contourted in confusion made her assume it wasn;t as ‘stealthy’ as she hoped. The guard further to the left gripped the sword tied to his hip a bit more. She could feel a small ball of sweat roll down the back of her neck when both guards began stalking forwards. 

“I don’t know! Do what you red heads do best!” Vax couldn’t help the grin that arose to the corner of his mouth at the words. She was innocent of course, but there was something in that woman that was much more than what she thought she was. 

But as Keyleth stood still, fright taking over her body as she stared at the guards inching closer by the heartbeat, Vax’s words replayed in her mind. She was sure she didn’t understand the meaning of what he had mumbled.  

Then instinct kicked in. 

Keyleth brought her 2 hands together with clenched eyes and a small gasp at what was going to happen. Simultaneously,  2 vines sprung from the floorboards, cracking through the wood and snapping both men together with a quick clash. Both men lay unconscious, possibly dead, in the middle of the hallway. Beside them, the 2 large vines slithered back into the holes they had left gaping on the floor. 

Vax arose to his feet. His mouth hung partially open trying to catch his breath as he stared at the, once formidable foes that are now at their feet, That definitely wasn’t what he meant… but it works he supposed. 

Keyleth stepped back quietly, heals carefully laying flat on the small area rug directly behind. Her ever green eyes still wide as they caught a look at Elven rogue beside her, the glimpse of a smile pulling at his lips caused a knot to begin growing in her stomach, before his smile infectiously rose to her own features.  

She did good?

She did good.

#critical role #vaxleth #vox machina #keyleth #vax'ildan #fanfiction #vox machina fic #vaxleth fic #vaxleth fanfiction #I wrote a thing

[electricprincess96]

why do you dislike astarian?

I'm sure if I answered truthfully I'd get mountains of lectures telling me why I'm wrong and awful for not liking the fandoms darling but heres my attempt to articulate my issues. This is in no particular order.

1. It actively makes no sense in character for any version of Tav to keep Ast*rion alive.

A good aligned Tav would likely attack him after he attacks them when they meet and if we assume we give him the old "OK we'll forgive you this time but don't do it again" once he tries to snack on us without consent while we sleep that reasonably should be his last straw.

An evil aligned Tav should have even less reasons to give him second chances cause killing should be nothing to them. And it isn't till later we really know how his worldview would align with an evil Tav

The only real reason to keep Ast*rion is if you are roleplaying a pushover OR you are being Meta because you the player find him attractive. Even Lae'Zel who starts the game really mean (somewhat justifably so since shes put in a cage and racially abused after being put through what her people claim is a fate worse than death), has a good reason to be kept around, she claims to have a cure for the parasite and will share it with the rest of you. Ast*rion offers nothing other than trying to stab you when you meet and then trying to drink your blood without consent while you sleep. Realistically his luck should have run out like if it was Wyll or Karlach or Lae'Zel in charge and you didn't control them he'd be dead. Probably even Shadowheart and Gale would as well.

2. By changing how DnD Vampire Spawns work they made his plot actively very confusing.

OK so Vampire Spawns are meant to not have any control over themselves, their master is meant to be able to control them. We briefly see this when one of the Spawns goes to disobey Caz*dor later. The issue with that is if Caz*dor can control them.... why does he need to punish them into submission? Ast*rion says he almost escaped once but why did Caz*dor ever give him enough freewill to even attempt that? Is Caz*dor just a sadist? If so they don't do a good enough job portraying that. They make the hunger and bloodlust that Spawns feel seem almost.... inconsequential for Ast*rion after that first feeding scene, they basically plays so fast and loose with the DnD Vampire lore but still used the lore to justify every bad thing Ast*rion did under Caz*dor so that he doesn't have to admit any fault like no don't bend the lore into a pretzel but then still use the lore for justifying and exonerate Ast*rion.

3. I don't get the impression he changed as much as people claim.

Like does he grow through his romance? Sure he starts to see Tav as more of a person and less of a tool. That's great. But Lae'Zel and Shadowheart both have fantastic development OUTSIDE of their relationship to Tav. The bar was set too high for you to hide his development behind a romance route I have no desire to do. I'll admit this is an issue Gale to a degree suffers from as well, less so that he doesn't change if you romance him but in his case more so his very examples of his growth are hidden in his romance scenes.

But with Ast*rion I did not think he really self reflected in the ways I would have liked. Even right before fighting Caz*dor he was still claiming he had no reason to feel guilty about what he did as a servant of Caz*dor, like yes the game wants me to believe you had no control, but someone with a conscience would still feel guilty about it. Also everyone else provided you've been pushing then towards good throughout the game will choose to make the right decision on their own accord when given the chance in game, every version of the Ascension scene I've seen requires a persuasion roll for Ast*rion, meaning he doesn't choose to not do the ritual himself he always needs to be persuaded not to whereas provided you've pushed Shadowheart towards good the whole game she will choose to save Dame Aylin on her own, Lae'Zel will choose to turn against Vlaakith on her own etc. The only way he doesn't need persuaded is if 1. He never learnt about the ritual from Raphael, thus he is only there to kill Caz*dor anyway or 2. You kill one of the Spawns in the battle thus the ritual can't be complete

4. He was favoured by the developers at the detriment of other characters.

It's insane that there's literally proof from some of the people who worked on this game that they favoured Ast*rion over other characters when it came to content. And some of his fans think this is somehow a good thing? When all this does is show the rest of the fans (who let's remember the most recent stats the majority of players are not Ast*rion Girlies, they are very loud within fandom but fandom is not everyone who bought and played this game) that we are not as valued by Larian and that's gonna breed resentment.

Wyll got absolutely shafted compared to other companions and everyone got shafted compared to Ast*rion. When the game had to cut out content for Wyll and Karlach but was able to add in like double the amount of romance scenes of Ast*rion when compared to the next companion with the most scenes then we need to start asking why this was allowed. We'd all rather have a complete story for everyone than an extra sex scene with Ast*rion that doesn't add anything to the plot.

5. His fans are obnoxious

Now.... I will be the first to admit all the fans of each of the characters are kinda obnoxious (except most Wyll fans, you guys are cool, I like you). I love Gale and even I know that his fans can be overly defensive at times (sometimes justifiably so, other times they just need to take a step back and realise not every joke at Gale's expense is hateful). BUT because Ast*rion fans are so prominent in fandom spaces you are more likely to run into obnoxious Ast*rion fans than the rest. Like if a post doesn't mention him, don't bring him up in the comments, if someone says "I'm role-playing a Lawful Good Paladin etc. I need a Rogue cause my character wouldn't bring Ast*rion along" don't spend the next hour of your life trying to twist yourself into a pretzel to justify why someone who is Lawful Good should be OK with having the man who disapproves of you helping slaves around. And stop throwing the "canon" word around. This is an issue I have with fandom in general nowadays but "canon" doesn't matter much. BG3 will NEVER canonise a love interest for Tav, they might never even canonise a class or race for Tav. So stol trying to argue that because Ast*rion x D*rge got so much extra content that it's canon to try and win some silly Internet war. All you're doing is annoying people.

What's kinda sad is... I found Ast*rion to be incredibly charming early on, not my type for romance but I enjoyed having him around for the snarky commentary. But whenever his plot came up I found myself rolling my eyes cause the rest of the game Ast*rion seems so self aware that he's kinda an asshole yet when his plot scenes happen he seems to lose that self awareness and it just soured the character for me. But hey, by most modern day gaming standards he's still basically Shakespearean in comparison so this will likely be the only post I make detailing my issues unless I'm asked something more indepth.

#princess answers asks #anon #bg3 blogging #vampire elf discourse

[alligatorjesie]

you're really dedicated to making reylos look horrible. like maybe 60% of reylos are actually awful people right but you really just want to make it look like 100% of them are

Man, first off how fucking deep are you yanking these fucking numbers of your asshole because this is shit antis say. 60%? That's over fucking half. I've seen some pretty toxic fandoms, which reylo is most fucking certainty not fucking one of them, that have better numbers than that. Fuck the Star Wars fandom itself, you know the fandom that made the kid who played Anakin have to get therapy, the fandom that caused the man who played Jar Jar to consider killing himself, the fandom who made the actor who played adult Anakin quit fucking acting for a really long time, the fandom who made Gorge Lucas not want to make fucking star wars anymore, the fandom that made the actress who played Rey leave Instagram, and the fandom who made the actress who played Rose just leave the fucking internet entirely has a better statistic than that and there are actually nazis in that fandom, on top of all the shit I just listed which is hardly fucking everything this trash fandom has done. The worse I seen the Reylos do is get upset with John Boyega because he made comments about fucking his coworker and I'm pretty fucking sure Daisy Ridley, a married woman, wouldn't fucking appreciate that. Generally sexual comments are regarded as sexual harassment even if they're in tweet form. The reylos were more appalled that a man who is close to her and calls her a friend would say something like that. I don't make mean spirited sexual comments about my friends to goad people on twitter of all fucking places, that's fucking weird. Either way, what happened was fucking minor. John Boyega is still on twitter and fairly unaffected by the event. Daisy on the other hand was harassed off twitter and instagram by fanboys upset that a girl was the main character by sending her fucking death threats. These things are not the fucking same. If you fucking think they are you need to reevaluate your moral compass. What the ever-loving fuck is fucking wrong with you? But your shit morals aside: Mmm. But those reylos. Just thinking about how much they want to see the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo be redeemed and live a happy life for once is just enough to put any unsympathetic asshole's panties in a bunch. I'm being fucking sarcastic by the way. There is not a single fucking thing wrong with that mindset. What is a bad mindset is dedicating a large chunk of your life to hating what is essentially Space Beauty and the Beast because you can't emotionally comprehend a simple fucking redemption arc. No, I'm dedicated to telling anti assfucks to go fuck off and out of a tag they ain't got any fuckin business being in to fucking start with. I don't like Anime and wouldn't you fucking guess it? You'll catch me dead before you see me in the fucking anime tag being a useless twat to people in that fandom. Because I'm not a fucking twat. Well... I mean I am, but not to people who don't deserve it. Antis deserve it. Antis who come into my fandom space and actively harass me and my friends for enjoying a canon ship really fucking deserve it.

I don't fucking care what a anti thinks about me. I want antis to hate me, fuck they already do so what the fuck is a little more? I ain't winning you fucknuts over with honey any fucking day soon so baby it's time to get the Raid. I want every single anti who meets and fights with me to remember the fucking prick who told them to fuck off in such excruciating detail it would overfill a Jehovah's Witness pamphlet.

I want every single fucking anti asshole who comes into contact with me to remember the mean alligator reylo who told them they can kindly just pop their heads back into their shitty assholes where I can only assume their shitty opinion originate from and sonic roll out into low tide. I don't give a flying fuck and honestly at this fucking point I don't fucking care anymore. It's been 8 fucking years and if your opinion on reylo was this shit that long ago having one more telling you to kindly dick off isn't going to change your fucking mind. Oh no, one asshole thinks a reylo is an cunt, the same asshole who just told me statistically they already think over 60% of reylos are just fucking cunts so why the actual fucking Christmas Christ do you think I give a single solitary shit about you thinking I'm a cunt? Go ahead mate. I don't fucking care what you think. But you can close the door on your fucking way out and I hope it smacks you in the fuckin ass so hard it sends you flying out space never to be fucking seen again. Fucking Bye Felicia.

#reylo #anti talk #I have reached critically low levels of fuck oh no

[teslacoils-and-hubris]

8, 14, 30?

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

oh god ive got far too many to count. I guess the most fleshed out recent one was my idea called Godeater. It followed a helper created by the gods to serve the Hero in her prophetic quest to slay the Godeater, a being who gained power through literally eating it and planned on consuming the gods to become the sole most powerful being in exsistance. With Godeater defeated, the Hero dead after a long happy life, the helper is left alive, trying to figure out what place someone like them has in the world now that their fated destiny is served. I toyed around with the idea that the Godeater would reincarnate somehow as just a normal dude, the idea being that actually the helper and the Godeater are stuck in this cosmic loop, the Godeater always becoming corrupted by power and the helper always destined to help another Hero slay Godeater. In this second loop, however, the helper becomes friends with Godeater before he became corrupted by power, eventually falling in love before realizing what was happening. I could never nail down their character designs though, so it eventually fell through. Maybe i'll come back to it or find a way to rework it into Loam eventually

14. Any favorite motifs

hmmm im assuming this is in my own work and not in general, which is hard because I don't generally include much symbolism or motifs in my characters. I should though its really fun. I like eyes and bugs, and in a more art history sense I like wounds as vaginal symbolism

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I do wish this piece had gotten more attention cause I really love it and it took fucking forever, but in general I wish my non fandom art gained traction as quick as my fandom stuff lol. I get why it doesn't, this is the fandom website after all, but its kind of weird knowing that that fionna and cake doodle i did in like 20 minutes has more notes than any of my more original stuff ever will

#asks #ask game