#but referring to just me as a single individual refer to me as a doll please!

[copiasblair]

i had this in my pinned for a while and then took it out and i can't remember why but, if you wouldn't mind, if it comes up, would you all mind not referring to me as a person, but as a doll instead? like instead of saying "boy" or "girl" (obviously, no gendered terms for me), or even "person" or another gender neutral signifier similar to it, instead refer to me as a "doll", if that's alright!

#i've just been thinking on it and the idea of calling myself a doll or identifying with dolls #kind of goes beyond just an aesthetic label or even a gender #but it's kind of baked into how i conceptualize myself on some base level for. a lot of reasons. #so um. yeah #obviously terms like friend or spouse and the like are fine since they're more related to my relationship with a given person #but referring to just me as a single individual refer to me as a doll please! #e.g. ''this is blair! it's a very nice doll who likes silent movies and its husband copia'' #do you see what i mean? #what do you have to say doll?

[shadysadie]

I was looking at Hunter’s bedroom the other day and made some observations One of the things TOH excels in is subtle background story telling, I mean, this is the show that gave us then entire backstory of Caleb and Philip in half obscured paintings. So every time a character’s bedroom is shown, I make sure to really look at it to see what it says about the character, and Hunter’s honestly surprises me a lot because it says a lot about him, but not necessarily things I expected.

First lets look at the things I did expect: a pile of books, newspaper clippings on the wall, the Emperor’s Coven diploma prominently displayed above the bed. This reinforces things we’ve already learned about Hunter at this point: he is bookish, well educated, and very proud of his position as Golden Guard. This all makes perfect sense to be in his room.

The general clutter is a bit surprising because I would have expected a more militaristically tidy room, but instead we have overstuffed drawers and things just thrown about, an unmade made bed, what appears to be a first-aid kit left open, which is a nice indicator that Hunter is not as well put together as he appears to be.

But then we have the first unexpected find, several toys including a Belos doll/action figure. Now in fairness this could be an idol seeing that Hunter more or less worships Belos at this point, and it is placed highest on the shelf, indicating a place of great honor, but given that it is in such close proximity to the giraffe doll and Big City Greens reference, it kind of implies that they all serve a similar purpose.

We don’t know exactly what age Hunter was created at, but given Belos makes a comment about thinking he would “last longer than the others” I’m guessing he’s already reached what is around the typical life span for a Golden Guard. 

Now we don’t exactly how long each Golden Guard lasts but we can figure out an average. 

Given that one of the ingredients is Bone of Ortet, and there are 206 bones in the adult human body, that means Belos could make a max of 206 grimwalkers if he used every single bone. All that appears to be left of Caleb’s body is part of his ribcage and a section of spine, it looks like 8 ribs and maybe 12 vertebrae. That makes 20 remaining bones, plus the one unfinished grimwalker makes it 21. 206-21=185 possible Grimwalkers including Hunter. Lets say Belos has consistently been making Golden Guards for the past 360 or so years, that means on average, each Grimwalker lasted about 2 years. (Holy shit, that’s brutal.) No wonder he stopped giving them individual names and just started calling them all Hunter.

Now I’m sure there were some who lasted longer, and some who lasted shorter, but given what we know about our Hunter, 2 years seems to be a good guess for his age. That means he was “born” at 14, the same age Luz is at the start of the series.

At some point during his very brief childhood, (because yes, fourteen-year-olds, y'all are still children) Hunter actually was given a chance to play with, (or at the very least collect a handful of) toys. That is not something I would have expected, but it is kind of nice. Also, along with the action figures he has a Sprig plushie under his pillow. I know out of Canon that plushie was put there because they had to fill their Amphibia reference quota for this season, but in Canon this means Hunter sleeps with a stuffed animal. And the location of it right under his pillow implies that it is really important to him, I'm willing to bet this is a comfort stuffy and before Flapjack, it was probably the only source of comfort he had. Personally, I’m glad that poor boy had SOMETHING to cuddle up with, titan, he deserves that much at least.

Then we have the pillow itself, like a lot of other things in this room (including the occupant) this pillow is beaten up and ragged. Particularly, compared to the Sprig plush which was probably only owned by our Hunter, given the fact we know he is the youngest Golden Guard (Belos probably gradually started making them younger and younger in the hopes of making them easier to manipulate). The rest of the bed looks like it was probably used for decades. So Hunter sleeps on the same lumpy, tattered pillow that all of his murdered predecessors slept on. And given the fact we know Hunter and Darius (who was mentored by the last Golden Guard) value sewing as an important life skill, y'all know these poor boys are repairing it themselves. #give hunter a new pillow 2023

Finally we have the darkest fucking twist: Hunter is in possession of Philip's Caleb Killing Knife. That is nearly as dark as having Hunter track down the ingredients for his own replacement. Belos at one point made the active decision to give this child-clone of his dead brother the knife he used to kill the original. There is absolutely no reason to do that other than as a twisted inside joke. Belos, you are one sick fuck.

#Sorry I have covid again and am very bored #the owl house #toh #hunter the golden guard #hunter #toh hunter #hunter’s bedroom #observations

[cadaverdolls]

Edit: I FORGOT TO CLARIFY. What I’m make is a drawing. It’s meant to mimic a drawing that would be used for a plushie company to make a plushie from, the ones that make those chibi ones for games. Usually referred to as cotton dolls online.

Idk how to stop polls earlier but the one for what I should do for my 30th doll are in favor of a LI. So I’m post this poll now since this will literally take forever till the polls end. If the tides to change on the OG pull then I’ll just save the results of this poll for another time.

Which love interest should I turn into a doll? (If you really really really want me to turn someone that isn’t a LI then tell me in the tags or comments.)

Is Ivory Wraith a LI? I can’t remember. Haven’t encountered them a lot since I’m literally always running around like a lunatic. Also for some reason they only bother me when I don’t steal the neckless.

A custom one usually cost 100 or so but to manufactured on a larger scale for consumers it would only cost you 20 or so. I’d need to find a company, send my concept design, have them send me a prototype (each one cost 100-300 so if changes need to be made then I could be looking at spending a lot of money on just prototypes), once decided I’d have to order a stock and that means you need to usually order a huge quantity (300 but some companies probably do a little less, still 300 is on the smaller side). Protyping, buying stock, shipping, website management (or store management if you’re using something like Etsy), and advertising. It’s a lot of time and effort to get plushies made as a single individual and it’s a risky investment if you don’t have enough customers. If I did do something further down the line then I’d have to be sure that it be worth the effort.

Just wanted to break that down so people understand what this poll is about. I have been plushie gun for a bit now and I completely forgot to clarify that this wouldn’t be a physical item. It may be in the future if I ever get an embroidery machine but that’s a what if idea.

#plushie gun #degrees of lewdity

[katyspersonal]

Bloodborne WLW ships stuff

Me and @brainhyperfixed touched the topic of how there aren't enough wlw ships around (there are like, 2-3) and then I mentioned I see many of them (because my two braincells somehow contain every single loreless gremlin at once).. They wanted to hear out my ideas but since it is A List I wanted to put them in a separate post 🤔

Just some ships besides the "obvious" ones; Mariadeline (self-explanatory), female hunter x female character (it can be very individual!), Ariadella (heavily controvercial classic, same as Aflred x Crow) and Yurimposter (that's what I call... well, Yurie x Imposter Iosefka, since we don't know imposter's real name...)

______________________

Eileen x Doll (Dolleen??): Eileen is the only character in 'outside' world that mentions the Doll, seems like she left an impact on her! Hard to tell whether Doll felt anything back since she seems to care about all dreaming hunters equally and it is implied Doll feels her first (1st) genuine emotion after holding Small Hair Ornament, but it is all speculation that is not THAT restricting... Like I love to say:

Adeline x Doll (Adolline): I guess it is more AU/speculation stuff, imagine them meeting however you like! I am particular on Adeline being able to reach Doll and dream after ascending, personally xd They could just vibe on higher plane of thinking. But it also feels like both Maria and Adeline having sort of a chance on happier fate in afterlife? It is broad in interpretation, really!

Eileen x Viola (I am NOT calling it Violeen xd ..okay maybe I do haha): That's just good old idea about Gacoigne and Viola having open relationship or a polycule! Usually little daughter referring to "grandfather" is interpreted as Henryk, but it is not binding, and in many cultures words like 'grandfather', 'auntie' or 'uncle' can be used towards like, just a close friend of family lol. So yeah, Gascoigne x Henryk whereas Viola x Eileen. Or you can make it a cheating if you want dsjfdhs

Adella x Imposter: Not sure about a creative name for this one, but IT CAME TO ME IN A VISION fsjdjdfs Not a joke, actually! I saw it in a dream! Adella is another person that can be sent into the clinic, so I guess it is an alternative turn of events lol. Adella is acknowledged as someone of 'lower' rank in Church:

Me and @val-of-the-north love joking that Adella simps for strong/smart fellow Church members regardless of gender fdjhfds In my dream, Adella basically kept distracting Fauxsefka from her work by switching between coy and clingy, until they were really affectionate. Adella also really liked her hair 🤔 The mental image seriously got stuck in my mind fdhfdhs But what I am saying is, it feels not as random as what I first thought!

Adella x Iosefka (Iosella): See previous ship, but this time there is no need to twist events to have Adella be safe xd They could just be sitting on operation table and K-I-S-S-I-N-G

Adella x Henriett (Henriella?): Henriett is implied to have been a Church hunter previously, since she has Church weapons yet a drip of a common hunter and is a summon against Church-related bosses! These two could be bitter EXes but were a thing before, or they might be in the love/hate strain after Henriett's "betrayal"!

Henriett x Iosefka (Henriosefka??): See previous ship, but I'd imagine Iosefka being far less bitter, if at all. She is a white Doctor, she sure knows that Healing Church's is very shady and full of dirty secrets! Not to mention her research to free the healing blood from... well, blood:

I like to think they're both redpilled, but Iosefka sees herself more useful staying in Healing Church and doing what she can "against" it in secrecy.

Henriett x Amelia: I am not sure what this ship is called, because actually I've seen it enough times? But I don't know the name! I assume Ameliett? Usual context is the two being close even if Henriett walks her own Hunter way from now on, and Henriett having agreement with Emilia to slay her if/when she becomes a beast! A promice, even.

Yurie x Rom (Yurom, or Vacurie xd): Since Julie is known as 'the last scholar', she could've been one of the original ones! Why she hasn't aged a single day is up to interpretation. But her purpose as a hostile NPC boils down to not letting us reach Willem... and/or Rom. Willem encourages us to hunt Rom, so seems like Julie does NOT want us to hurt her, ritual or not. She really could simply care about her and protect her even after ascension!

Rom x Ebrietas (Spiderietas): The petrified spider Ebrietas is weeping could be Rom's mortal body, especially considered it's 12 large legs and Rom having 12 large holes above her smaller legs... And Ebrietas' lyrics mention Mensis Ritual:

( x )

(If you never angered anyone to the point of them mentioning you in a song, what WERE you even doing with your life? xd)

Their bond is speculative, and considering running theme of Great One yearning for a surrogate child Rom could've been exactly that! But we also don't know! Besides, Ebby is a 'special' Great One who is a half human (is adult version of celestial larvae)... It could be love!

Maria x Rom (Romaria): I wrote Adeline and Rom being very similar, so in my headcanons Rom is Maria's type of a girl! But also, Maria and Rom have many parallels (elaborated in this ( x ) post)! They protect fucked up secrets even after death and their teacher is now some guy in a chair fsdhfhsd It can be a ship similar to Mariadeline, but without the same touch of guilt from Maria's side.

Black Church hunter x White Church hunter (nightmaresearch): Did you guys know that.... both of the ladies that kick your ass when you enter cathedral that leads you in Research Hall do not have names ;-; I feel like this seriously robbed the fandom off more ships involving them since they can't even be referred to properly! But they are a perfect dynamic of a smart, arcane-attuned woman and her bodyguard. Take Forgotten Madman and his escort but make it lesbian instead, you see?

Maria x White Church hunter (Knightmare? lol): They could've been close since Maria used to be a caretaker in the Research Hall! The white church lady is not as simple as just another 'nun', since she is praying at the secret Surgery altair and not at the facade 'normal' altair, as well as shoots Blacksky Eye projectiles! And, well:

She was one of the doctors! If not THE doctor (maybe Laurence was REALLY busy with blood instead of eyes!). Depending on how aligned you make Maria with the Healing Church, maybe she was close with this "coworker". We know that Maria dreaded the hunt, but maybe she had faith in the research, rather than feeling like a trapped person there. She did give Adeline a key to go play with other arcane-attuned patients at Lumenweed garden after all!

Maria x Annalise (Mariannalise): Another controvercial classic! It is not very popular for obvious reasons and I am not fond of the ship myself, but some people enjoy it for the potential of exploring really fucked up dynamics. (Some people also think being just collateral relatives is not a big deal in this historical context..)

Maria x Gratia (idk... Maratia? how do you mix these...?): Gratia is wearing Old Hunters set, but with a cap instead of their wide cap and without a glove on her left arm! They were old hunters together! This ship is doomed, of course, since Gratia is found dead in underground jail of the Healing Church. But maybe they were close for some time. And maybe Gratia lost her sanity rather than was caught as "heretic" of the Church. There is a room for this ship, even if not a huge one! I like how they are both very tall and strong women, but Gratia is a brute and Maria is soooo elegant x) They're similar but also not!

Eileen x Henriett (Henrileen): I largely base it on the headcanon that 1) Eileen survives after the night, just retires from the hunt and 2) Henriett was familiar with Gascoigne's family same as Eileen, since both and Gascoine detracted from the Church! They could get together afterwards. Maybe even adopt the little girls (they survive in the scenario where Hunter doesn't try to "help" them because I said so </3).

Viola x Henriett (Henriola): Similar explanation for Eileen x Viola, just different character!

Fauxsefka x Iosefka: I don't know what it is called, but I see it sometimes? It is very vague because based on their identical face data, they could be twins... so, that'd be incest :т But they can also be interpreted as just similarly looking people and "devs were lazy", and I've seen a few artists drawing them somewhat different! It is controvercial in either case since Iosefka tries to help the patients and Fauxsefka just """solves""" the beasthood problem by making them Kin (included Iosefka herself), I'd say it is AT LEAST straining.

Yurie x Amelia or Fauxsefka x Amelia: Since School of Mensis yeeted itself into Nightmare and Choir kinda fell apart, these two are the last people from high rank Church echelons left. I've never actually thought much about them, but as (presumably) next most important people in the Healing Church after the vicar themselves, they could be close!

Fauxsefka x Arianna, Maria x Arianna or Fauxsefka x Maria: Again, I didn't give much thought to these (at least not yet lol), but Fauxsefka is strongly implied to descend from Cainhurst herself! (I only mention justification for that headcanon in every second post, I think you all remember the 'moonlight scent', the Cainhurst summon and the trademark Cainhurst potions prepared by Fauxsefka! I headcanon that Arianna was already born in Yharnam, but we can't know ages of these characters or timeline for sure. These characters are not necessarily related, either! I personally think that Maria x Fauxsefka has the most fundament because they both seem to abandon blood antics of their castle and side with the Church's research instead!

Yurie x Arianna (Yurianna): I will just leave this here:

I doodled it so fast that I forgot to de-colorize Arianna's hair, but that ship happened after a doodle request ask for them both! (featuring my former variant of Julie before I finally accepted her canon hair color data :pensive: ) Julie would be actually helpful to Arianna with caring for her eldrich baby, and maybe help to be less terrified of it, haha. They could get close as a result!

Yurie x White church doctor: Haven't come up with a creative or funny name for this ship, but I enjoy it a lot! My headcanons go so far down as that one White Doctor being one of the original Byrgenwerth people!

In my headcanons, her and Julie are sole most 'responcible' and serious scholars in the whole institution! They'd spend a lot of time together as a result. In Research Hall, too.

Fauxsefka x White church doctor: See above, but with different vibe! In my headcanons, Julie is way more interested in experimenting on creatures and chemicals than actual people... But these two absolutely were super passionate doctors :')

Yurie x Adeline (Yurine?): Came to me in a random idea that Micolash kept getting a little too weird towards Adeline (who was too eager and not at all afraid of Deep Sea horrors unlike others), so Julie felt protective and elbowed him, becoming her doctor instead. I mean, not much things can stop Adeline from her eagerness, but they could've formed a similar bond to Mariadeline!

Yurie x Maria: I don't know how to name this ship in such a way that it doesn't simply form a third real name dshfdh But they both are close with very smart but slightly unhinged girls all too fixated on transcending their humanity. Who also don't understand their worth. Who are also fixated on a guy who is a bad influence (Laurence and Micolash). They have so much to talk about! Though Maria ships are all very sad, since no matter who she had proximity with, apparently it never was enough to prevent her from self-isolation and death...

Honorable mentions:

1) Izzy and Caryll have masculine names according to Japanese original script (イジー/Jiří and カレル/Karel), but some people say 'fuck it, regional variant 🙏', and also he/him or they/them lesbians, or GNC women easily could pick masculine names! So, Karel could have good ship with Rom, especially under assumption that they both were way more in touch with Willem's ideas and were nerds together. Or maybe Karel x Yurie! At the same time, consider Jiří x Maria or Jiří x Gratia!

2) I've listed pairings, but these characters can always make poly ships, remember that!

3) I haven't found a sapphic ship personally for Dores, but Dores is a feminine name, and in original script Dores is not a 'he'! There is no gender, actually:

Error appeared from translators referring to Dores and not their mask! But yes, this can be female character, who can also be shipped with any woman from Byrgenwerth, or from Old Hunters!

_____________

Okay that's all..... for now fsdhdfs I tried to focus on the context and explanation, and not dive into my vision of characters' personalities or else I'd be here all day. That was interesting to revisit! Again, obviously I do not ship all of these, and some even really contradict my headcanons; this is the post of IDEAS!

#bloodborne #shipping #multi character post #bloodborne headcanons #use later #damn I expected much more text #looks like I am finally learning to compress the amount of my text haha!! good #some people just don't know how to say more with less... I am one of them

[matthoopergay]

OINGO BOINGO SEX DOLL??!?!?!?!

SO THIS REQUIRES SOME BACKGROUND INFO. There’s this guy (Nick Marra, if anyone wants to look him up!) who’s made a few sculptures of Quint. I DO REFER TO THEM AS WAX STATUES but I did just look it up and they’re apparently actually silicone! Which is… worse, maybe??

But here’s the most well known of the Quints, revealed in 2017.

Obviously VERY good craftsmanship but he’s so scary to me 😭 He doesn’t quite look like Robert Shaw, he looks like they tried to sculpt him from a single picture of Quint instead of actually studying Robert Shaw’s face (he looks very different without the mutton chops! it looks like they didn’t sculpt his actual face shape but instead sculpted what they think he looks like under the facial hair).

Here’s the second Quint, from this year actually!

The old guy is Joe Alves, who was the production designer of Jaws! I got his book “Designing Jaws” for my birthday but I haven’t read through it yet, I’ll probably post some stuff from it when I do! Generally I have the same complaints about him as I do the first one BUT I do appreciate the clog representation!!!!!

But that’s all just a warm up for this. The ORIGINAL set of statues, from 2013. A Quint, a Brody… and Hooper.

Here’s individual closeups of each.

I think this may be the best of the Quints? He’s not perfect but he’s not as uncanny as the other two, in my opinion.

He certainly is identifiably Brody? He kinda looks like someone wearing Roy Scheider’s skin, but eh. Still looks like in involves Roy Scheider’s skin so I’ll let it pass lmao.

Finally, we come to Hoopsie… my first thought when I saw him was that he landed somewhere solidly between “computer recreation of an ancient human based on their skull” and, well. A silicone sex doll. Why is his mouth open like that!!! He looks like one of those fleshlights with the lips!!!!!!!!! Awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As for why we call him Oingo Boingo Hooper, well. He’s sex doll Hooper from unga bunga times and also this

So yah that’s Oingo Boingo sex doll Hooper.

#sorry main tags tho #jaws 1975 #hooper #jaws #asks #sharkspeak

[streamsofstardust]

tal's take on sacred the thread

ok now that i've listened to sacred the song, here are my thoughts that not a single person asked for:

i figured josh was joking when he said the song was about his jumpsuits and i think to an extent it is a joke but also not entirely.

lyrics on a surface level do make it seem like the song is just about their outfits, mostly josh and danny in my opinion and i'll get back to that in a second.

if we go deeper than just what's being said, and actually put it in perspective with something they've been trying to express for a while now, to me the song is more about the freedom of individuality and self expression through their physical on stage appearance as a rock band. i mean obviously there's a huge difference between the vibe of the highway tune music video and what they were wearing and the meeting the master music video and what they've been wearing for the last two ish years, again, more specifically josh and danny.

when you think of a typical rock band, one with clear influences from past bands, you expect to see what we saw with highway tune for the most part. you don't expect skin tight velvet bodysuits covered in rhinestones, rhinestones on their faces and elaborate eye makeup, vibrant feather boas, etc. i think a lot of us just expect something similar to like guns n roses. tee shirt and jeans or leather pants (like i said, highway tune) but that's not what they do anymore.

i think the way they all dress on stage now definitely goes hand in hand with their own comfort on stage as they've grown as artists. josh, who used to look up at the ceiling when he'd sing. jake, who once wasn't able to face the crowd. sam, who was shocked to find out that people cared about the instruments he played and his own talents and skills. and daniel. my sweet, incredible daniel, who still to this day gets shit for being in the band and is seen by some as being replaceable (he isn't, obviously, but that's a topic for a different post).

now they've moved past the fear of having to prove themselves. they did the work, they put in the time and effort, they made a name for themselves, and now they're playing madison square garden. they're big, they're well known, well respected not only by us as fans but by artists that came before them. they're comfortable, and in that comfort, they've reached a period where they can dress however they want and it doesn't take away from who they are as musicians, because like i said, they've proven how good they are.

this is what i was referring to at the beginning of this post where i mentioned something they've been trying to express for a while. that being, they don't need to dress a certain way because of the music they play. they aren't any less of a rock band for wearing gemstones and glitter and makeup. rock and metal artists like mötley crüe, kiss, bowie, the new york dolls, twisted sister, poison, and ratt all wore makeup and elaborate wild outfits. it didn't take away from who they were/are as musicians, and it didn't make their music any less of the genre it was.

it all comes down to self expression and it's really lovely to see greta van fleet be another band to find the look they like. bringing something inherently feminine doesn't make them less masculine, there's a balance, and i've talked about this before.

this is also why i think i'm finding it hard to not associate josh and danny with the song the most. while each of them obviously plays a part in it - and now jake and sam have branched out with their looks and are including some makeup - josh and danny are really the ones we think about when it comes to this. josh has gone from simple stones, to more elaborate designs and now actual eye makeup (the gold on his eyes was so cool I'm obsessed with it) and danny has done the same, even getting to the point of wearing more makeup than josh until a bit recently. and we've also seen danny at least wear eyeliner when he's not on stage, just when he's out with friends which i think is really cool. all of that playing into the idea that they've found comfort in a style and a look that they didn't have or maybe didn't even consider when they first got started.

on a different note (pun perhaps intended), i don't quite see where this song falls in the general idea of continuing the story and the world building we've seen since from the fires. i'm not sure if it's even meant to, but of course, that won't be fully determined until the rest of the album is released, and once it is i fully intend to pick it apart and evaluate it not just as an individual album, but as a part of the entire discography.

anyway that was a lot and if you didn't read it i don't blame you. if you did read it feel free to talk more about it with me.

#tal's take #sacred the thread #stt #gvf stt #gvf sacred the thread #gvf starcatcher

[luminouslumity]

THOUGHTS ON: BARBENHEIMER

Finally got the chance to see both (specifically, Barbie, Oppenheimer, and then Barbie again) and I'm glad I did! Watching them back-to-back was certainly an experience and I'm not even joking when I say they really made me think about life and all that it entails.

As someone who grew up on the old animated Barbie movies, I had a lot of fun watching the new film, especially when it came to all the doll jokes and references had me laughing more than once (Magic Earring Ken, anyone?). Kinda mad they didn't have any references to the animated movies though, or at least none that I'd noticed.

Speaking of Ken, wasn't sure about him being the villain at first, but I can see what they were trying to do and I thought it worked pretty well all things considered, that Kens have just as much of a right to live alongside the Barbies as the Barbies do them and not just in the shadows of each other. If this film is anti anything, I'd say it's anti-Patriarchy as well as anti-Matriarchy. Preachy, sure, but understandable. Really, I'm more annoyed with how this apparently went over so many people's heads even with how blatant it was; seriously, President Barbie even says the message of the film after the Kens fail, so how anyone could've misinterpreted it is beyond me! The only thing that comes to mind is when the Narrator says that the Kens will be treated just as well as women are treated in the real world, and to be fair, that statement alone can be interpreted in a lot of ways depending on certain factors, but I don't know, I feel like that should be a wake-up call more than anything.

Barbie herself was also really interesting, though throughout the film, I found myself wondering if she was meant to be the Original Barbie with an upgraded look or just a random Barbie who's basically just an amalgamation of all the others (like she says, she's what everyone else thinks of when they think of the doll). Either way, this certainly adds a whole new layer to the relationship between her and Ken because keep in mind, when the film says that Ken was created for Barbie, they mean it literally.

Going into a bit of history here, Ken Carson was created in response to the backlash Barbie was facing two years after her own creation for the horrific crime of... *checks notes* being single. Since then, Ken has had a few jobs of his own, but it's still nothing compared to Barbie's—this even becomes a joke in the Life in the Dreamhouse series, where the Ken in that series worships the ground Barbie walks on. Probably literally. This man didn't even get his own car until 2012! Then there was the whole seven-year break-up incident because Ken apparently didn't want to put a ring on it (yeah, Barbie has in-universe lore and it goes hard!) so keeping all this in mind, it's no wonder Ken seems to be as attached to Barbie as he is in the film, all while also struggling with his own identity as an individual.

Yes, I probably am looking too deep into a children's film about dolls coming into the real world. This is my life now.

The Mattel scenes were definitely one of my favorite things about the film, especially with how dedicated the CEO is when it comes to his job and how he genuinely wants what he believes is best for everyone, but my favorite part are definitely the scenes with Ruth, which absolutely had me crying! And hey, glad to see I was at least partially right! She made an appearance, just not in the scene I thought it was going to be (also, apparently the sweet old lady on the bench isn't even Barbara, it's costume designer Ann Roth).

Narrators also tend to be hit-or-miss for me, but I thought it worked really well in this film! I especially loved how self-aware the story is and how if you're going to try and make Barbie look ugly, Margot Robbie isn't the way to go. And the cutaway to Depressed Barbie? Hilarious, but now I low-key want that to be a thing lol! And just the world in general was super fun!

Honestly, if I had any complaints about the film, it would absolutely be the pacing. Sasha in particular seemed largely unnecessary and her turnaround to at least tolerating Barbie happened way too quickly, even if she did only want to help for her mom's sake. It would've been nice if the film had had at least one or two scenes where she realizes that while the Barbie brand has its issues that deserve to be addressed, it's also not as bad as what she'd originally thought it to be. And also, it would've been great to just see more of this world in general; after all, Barbie and Ken only spend time in LA for less than a day, and even then, it's only for a few hours at most.

Basically, I wish the film had been longer, but what we got was still great.

As for Oppenheimer, I never really have much to say about biopics, but I love history in general and am always fascinated when it comes to warfare and all of the ethical questions that come with it. This is also the first Nolan film I've actually watched, so I knew this was going to be an interesting time, at least. Let me start by saying that the special effects with the bomb dropping and tense silence afterwards were beautifully done and I thought the use of black-and-white for some scenes and color for others was a really nice touch too, as well as the fact that the film went beyond just WWII and that we get to see Oppenheimer deal with the guilt he'd faced afterwards. I also always forget that Einstein would've still been alive during the time most of the film takes place, so his appearance was certainly a surprise, but a pleasant one nonetheless. I was also wondering in what context the "I am become Death" line would come up, so the fact that the film actually addresses that it comes from Sanskrit rather than suggesting it originated from Oppenheimer himself was such a great detail! Overall, a great film about a very complicated man!

#barbie #oppenheimer #barbenheimer #my thoughts

[the-broken-truth]

Can I request i male reader who treats all of the lords and mother mranda like his own kids cause of his animal instincts? 🙍‍♂️🐾

(You can choose the sifter)

Broken (Chuckles): Hello, @imanewboi99 - back again to spoil me with delicious scenarios, are you? (Reads ask) A Shifter that treats The Lords & Mother Miranda like his children? Hm...I can imagine the Lords but the Lords see Mother Miranda as their mother...I'll make him Miranda's Lover - Hopefully that is good for you, my friend. As for Shifter Form... I'll make him a Caracal Cat; I like their ears and they have stubby little tails, plus cats are one of the animals I think will take in another animal's infant as their own. Now, let the words weave together!

Note: The Reader will be known as [Father].

🦇 [Alcina Dimitrescu] 🦇

When Alcina met [Father] during the Lord Meeting, she didn't like him for the simple fact he was a man but she was curious of the large feline ears he had in replacement for his human ears & they weren't just for show - he made that clear when Karl called Alcina 'Lady Super-Sized Bitch' during a Lord Meeting, causing the tall buff man to walk over to the 4th Lord and glare down at him.

His Response: "You will not refer to another Lord, your sister, and my daughter as a 'bitch' in my presence or the presence of your mother and siblings again, Karl Heisenberg or I show you the power I hold in a way you will not be fond of. Now, apologize to Alcina this minute."

When Karl didn't move fast enough, [Father] grabbed the German by his trench coat and held him high (Keep in mind that [Father] is around the same height as Alcina) with a glare on his face and snarl in his voice, "I SAID 'APOLOGIZE', YOU UNGRATEFUL BOY!'; Karl wheezed out an apology before the man placed in back on the pew, "And never...disrespect anyone of my children again, I wouldn't let any of them do it to you, Son." then he went to sit.

As time went on, [Father] would come to Castle Dimitrescu and repair any kind of structural damaging or ask Alcina if she needed anything to be delivered to the castle.

Alcina would say, "Father, you don't need to worry yourself with these petty issues."

But he would say, "As your father, I don't want my eldest daughter and granddaughters to be without. Please, let me be a good father and grandfather to you and my granddaughters, Alcina."

Alcina was touched and handed him a list of things she needed to be taken care of that no one else would do or couldn't do. Everything was done within a few hours.

When it comes to the daughters, [Father] loves them as a man would love his biological grandchildren.

He would come to the castle with gifts: A new book collection for Bela, Gadgets of Torment for Cassandra, or a new weapon for Daniela.

If the daughters were bored and had nothing to do, [Father] would turn into his Feline Form and let the daughters hunt him, but he was rather fast & which made the daughters have fun with the chase.

[Father] has a manor that is around the same size as Heisenberg's Factory and the daughters love to visit because the large man spoils them too much.

They would go every single weekend but one day, Alcina told them that they didn't need to go everything single weekend and to give [Father] some space. The daughters didn't like that and called their grandfather to complain and waited around the corner when Alcina received a call from [Father].

"Father, all I said was they don't need to be over there all of the time," Alcina explained.

"Alcina, don't say anything to me; you are lucky that I am 5 whiskey glasses in, otherwise I would come to get them myself. Call the carriage and bring me my granddaughters." He hung up after that.

Not wanting to disappoint her Father Figure, she called the carriage and delivered the daughters and she was given a case of fine wines to relax with while they were with him.

She may hate men - but [Father] was the only man-thing she would admit to caring about. Mother Miranda picked well.

🎎 [Donna Beneviento + Angie] 🎎

[Father] knew that Donna was timid & Angie was her way of communication - he didn't want to frighten her thus began their relationship with phone calls.

For the most time, he spoke to Angie and each conversation would with [Father] asking if Donna or Angie needed anything; yes, he considered Angie another person and not just a doll.

On the occasion that they did need something, he would go purchase what they needed and let it on the porch of Beneviento Manor, knocked on the door, and stepped away; he knew that Donna was scared of his height.

One day, he was delivering some Doll Parts Donna asked for, he did his normal routine and was about to leave when Angie called out and asked if he wanted to come in for tea. He accepted.

He shrunk himself to be a more acceptable height for Donna and the three of them had tea and conversation.

Donna became more adjusted to his presence and would call him herself - without Angie - and ask if they would have tea, make dolls together, or work in the garden together.

One day, he came with an eyepatch with the Crest of House Beneviento stitched into it as a way to cover the scar but not her whole face.

At the next meeting, she wore it.

Salvatore complimented her on it and she said 'Father made it for me.'

He smiled.

🐟 [Salvatore Moreau] 🐟

Salvatore was curious about [Father] but was too nervous to talk to him - thinking he was going to be mean or make fun of him his appearance. Imagine his surprise when [Father] wanted up to him and smiled before saying, 'Hello, Salvatore. It's nice to meet you, son.".

Salvatore looked at him with wide eyes - he thought of Salvatore as a son? He didn't make fun of him?

Salvatore and [Father] would talk whenever they saw each other at the Lord Meetings but one day, [Father] asked to spend a day with his son because he never got to learn about him.

Salvatore was nervous but agreed.

When [Father] arrived at Salvatore's Territory, he was displeased that his son was living in such poor conditions and he vowed to do something about it and his son's vomiting.

The two of them spent hours watching movies together and eating cheese & fish while Salvatore told [Father] everything about him.

One day, Salvatore was surprised to see his father building a new house on steady ground and told Salvatore that it was his new home because he was not gonna let his Lord and Son live in poor conditions like that. Salvatore was also informed that there was a new collection of movies for the two of them to enjoy.

They have movie nights every Wednesday and Sunday.

As for Salvatore's vomiting, [Father] was able to make an elixir that prevents vomiting but Sal has to drink it every month. It's bitter but he will do it regardless.

🛠 [Karl Heisenberg] 🛠

[Father] knew that Karl was still cross with him for embarrassing him before Mother Miranda and the Other Lords & no real father would want his son to be angry with him at every family get-together.

[Father] went to Karl's Factory with an apology but when he went inside, he saw his son running from a strange contraption with a large drill arm.

His Paternal Instincts kicked in and he charged at the creature, crushing its head in his hand before turning to his son to make sure he was alright.

Karl was angry to see him at first but he did thank him for saving his life before that thing turned him into a pin-cushion. He then asked [Father] what he was doing in his factory and the taller man said he didn't want any bad blood between the two of them and offered his services to his son.

Karl wasn't interested and first but he then realized that he could use [Father] to get inside information on Miranda so he agreed.

The two of them worked on projects, blueprints, or repairs for hours, enjoying each other conversation and presence.

[Father] asked the 4th Lord to be kinder to the other lords - he hated seeing his family argue and be bitter with each other.

Karl - while he never saw the others as his family - agreed to this for the sake of the only one he really respected and cared for.

Karl was still planning on making Miranda suffer for what she had done to him and the others...but...Did [Father] really deserve it?

This man - he had a heart of gold - but it was clear he suffered as well and this 'family' was the only thing that kept him together, kept him happy - Karl didn't want him to be unhappy.

What would destroying Miranda and this 'family' do to [Father]? Karl wondered but at the same time, he didn't want to know. This man was a father to him...what was he supposed to do?

🧪 [Mother Miranda + The Lords As A Whole] 🧪

Miranda would wake up to the smell of [Father]'s cooking and coffee every morning - he refused to let her start the daily research without a good meal and coffee, and she didn't object to this - the man made some delicious food.

One day - Miranda went to the meeting grounds and found the man cleaning, fixing pillars, and making individual thrones for the Lords, Mother Miranda, and himself. Reason: "My wife and children are not sitting on old ass furniture and possibly getting sick."

The Lords love their thrones - he even made one for Angie.

When an argument - mostly between Alcina and Karl - broke out, [Father] would roar for them to shut up and respect the Mother of All and each other.

"You are my children - not savages - and you will act like it or I shall show you how savages were treated where I came from!"

It would take Miranda's gentle hand to calm him when the children acted out of line.

When it came to the Cadou Experiments - [Father] would aid Miranda or his children without a second thought. Whatever they needed, he would get for them.

[Father] would try to have a family dinner with everyone at his manor once a week, just so the family could all be together.

As much as Miranda didn't want to admit it - she loved the dinners; it really felt as if she had a real family.

Maybe...when Eva was returned to her...they could be a family.

[End]

#Mother Miranda x Male Reader #Alcina Dimitrescu #Donna Beneviento #Salvatore Moreau #Karl Heisenberg #Resident Evil 8 #headcanon

[derangedhyena-delphinidae]

numerous issues with “The Aftermath of Seaworld”

When I get time to do so (aka when I’m done with the documentary), I’m likely going to make a video version of this going into the details. 

But for right now, I’ve made this. Both as a guideline for me and so everyone can begin to get an idea of the severity of issues involved.

Researching things is time-consuming and can be very difficult - believe me, I know. But I’m of the mind that if you’re making content with the intent of educating people, you have a responsibility to perform a certain level of due diligence. It IS okay to express uncertainty or doubt if you have it. It is NOT okay to confidently assert things that you do not know with certainty.

The video has an anticap slant, and I’m obviously not disagreeing on that front. But again: if you’re gonna go through the trouble of teaching people something. Bare minimum... please make sure it’s actually correct. *** 1) x ‘founded in 1964 and based out of Florida’ -  ???? Seaworld definitively began on the west coast, in San Diego, CA. And given that the first park opened in early 1964… things came together before that. Uh? 2) x ‘four people founded Seaworld [...]’ For one… it wasn’t originally conceived as a restaurant, it was originally conceived as an underwater bar/lounge. Two… calling the four guys involved in founding the place “frat brothers” is fucking ridiculous and completely overlooks a) how each was actually involved and b) the overall significance of their contributions to the field as individuals. Hint: like it or not, they were important and did a lot! 

3) x If one is going to bring up SWBGCF/rescues while talking about the literal founding of SW, it gives the impression that it’s been around for that duration. It hasn’t.  It’s actually a bit unclear when SW started an organized rescue program, but the Fund itself and all that it did came about much later. The rescue information and how it’s presented is actually INCREDIBLY complex, nuanced, and has a fascinating history (from a “bad company behaving badly” perspective). Oversimplifying this, to this degree and in this misinformative way, does the facts of the situation an INCREDIBLE disservice.  

4) x [assertive statement about what the name Shamu means]  ….Uh actually there’s several explanations for the name Shamu, and the most likely one IMO seems to be the “she-namu” one, not the “friend of Namu” one(? What is this even based on.) 4b) It’s not quite clear if she’s saying “Namu was the first ever orca to be displayed and perform shows” or or Namu was the first to be displayed and, like Shamu, performed shows. Either way, Moby Doll was the first to truly be displayed to the public, not Namu.

5) x ‘Namu died after one year in captivity and you’d think that this might deter Seaworld from doing the same thing again…’ Seaworld truly had nothing to do with Namu. And they leased/took possession of Shamu before Namu died. ‘Again’? What?

6) x “Now, PETA paints a pretty disturbing picture…” [while showing Okura’s artwork] This video segment is, and this is putting it nicely, a pile of poorly-researched BULLSHIT.  -Yes, PETA talks about Shamu’s capture, re: the harpooning of her mother. This Youtuber cannot apparently be arsed to look more than 1 Google search into this, as she proceeds to dismiss the information as potentially fabricated. There are two detailed accounts of Shamu’s capture that I’m aware of - in books - and though they have some slight conflicts, it’s absolutely NOT in doubt that the female who was very likely Shamu’s mother was 1) harpooned, 2) died from her injuries and 3) this had been done to make her easier to catch/locate because there was a fucking buoy attached to the harpoon. Which she dragged around for at least 24 hours prior dying.  So maybe don’t dismiss that as PETA hysteria, maybe TRY to determine the truth of the matter, which would inform one that it is both true and completely horrifying.  -In addition, Okura is an awesome individual who has worked very hard to create a variety of informative artwork for our cause. Okura is NOT associated with PETA and it’s borderline libel in my eyes to use their artwork in this dismissive manner when the primary sources of it can be easily identified online, with full explanations and everything. Do I take special offense to this because of the misuse of artwork? Absolutely. Artists get disrespected enough online. I’m tired of it. This kind of laziness IS NOT acceptable.

7) x ‘timeline is fuzzy about when Shamu died’ …………… it’s…. It’s really not … newspapers are pretty clear about it…..

8) x [complete and utter oversimplification of the lifespan issue, which is not acceptable for anything published in 2020. It just isn’t. If you’re going to bring it up like this, either do the legwork and get into the weeds or stay out.] 8b) [same for reproductive ages. sigh]

9) x if we’re going to talk about when Cornell was involved with Seaworld it’s very important to specify when Cornell was involved with Seaworld and not make it seem like it’s present tense.

10) x “both were rescued by Seaworld” - uh? no. Zero orcas have been rescued by Seaworld. Literally none. The infected-jaw orca was Sandy, whose story is complex and certainly does not involve Seaworld until much later. And many of the orcas in that time period had bullet wounds, often only identified post-mortem because they didn’t seem to hurt the animals much. Also, unflinchingly blending 70s captivity ethics with modern ones is also complete nonsense? 

11) x [tilikum coming from sealand] inhales I am going to make an entire video centered on this fucking subject because it’s one of the single most profound arguments for Seaworld being garbage as assessed by US government agencies in the 90s yet everyone utterly fails to mention this. Why?!

12) x what on earth is this nonsense re: quoting a quote from Zimmerman’s article - which has already been removed from its original context, so the original context is not available - and then penalizing the quote for existing as if Zimmerman’s article were the context? That is offensively disingenuous. I honestly don’t know what the original context is, either - but it’s wildly inappropriate to act as if the Zimmerman article is.

13) x this is relatively minor but ‘Paul Sprong’? You literally have his name on the screen. And then mis-reading his age too? While asserting it from a static article published years ago? Effort? Where is it?

14) x ‘another trainer, Peter’ ….. Ken Peters…. 

15) [weirdly glossing over the widely-available list of orca-trainer injuries/aggressions, despite it being central to the point.] 16) x This pilot whale outrage certainly happened but it was pretty clearly Blackfish that started the cascade of woes for Seaworld. Who has ever asserted this?

17) if you’re gonna just rehash blackfish, tell people to go watch blackfish.

18) x I’ve already gone over the context issue with Seaworld calling out Howard’s statement in Blackfish here (point 23). Which is to say, IN CONTEXT in Blackfish it’s clear what Mr. Garrett is talking about but, divorced from that, it sounds incorrect. But this Youtuber AMPLIFIES the issue by doubling down on the assertion with “no record of a killer whale doing any harm to anyone in the wild.” The surfer event should always be mentioned. Yes, there’s absolutely room for doubt. But there’s also a clear demarcation between an accidental attack (eg mistaken identity, as was likely for the surfer) and intentional one (eg the incidents at marine parks.) Why do people kneecap themselves on this point 18b) please stop acting like Luna represents orcas in general.

19) x “Howard, for all of his research…” … while referring to David Duffus’ b-roll and statements. Uh. 20) x Apparently this Youtuber has single-handedly resolved the dorsal fin issue. You know, the thing that hasn’t been properly researched ever, that has been subject to a ton of debate, that isn’t 100% settled for a variety of reasons, and almost everyone talks about in terms of theories and likely possibilities.  21) x Alexis Martinez wasn’t “torn to shreds.” In a space where even moderate exaggerations are often penalized harshly by the opposition, this kind of blatant nonsense is not welcome. Plus, the reality’s bad enough… you don’t have to make anything up!

22) x *sighs. points at own webpage*

23) Talking about the shows stopping without acknowledging how that’s a bit of a farce is something else. In addition to apparently just flipping to buying what Seaworld’s selling re: its ‘improved image.’ 

*** Tl;dr video is so unrelentingly full of errors ranging from small to egregious it makes me seriously concerned for the veracity of the rest of this person’s content. The maker of the video provided a list of their sources in their video description, which I will have time to look through in detail later. The above is solely a response to the information they present IN THE VIDEO - which, is very important because let’s be real: a lot of people are not going to look at the list of sources. People don’t even do it when citing papers (no really, you’d be surprised, fml.) For anyone who wants to whinge that I haven’t linked or asserted any sources of my own for my claims… well, remember what I said about time-consuming and ‘I’m busy’? Yhea. Getting all of that together will be part of making a video. So if you want to shrug loudly at my list here… you can, that’s your prerogative, I’m happy to say I DGAF if that’s your takeaway. 

What I hope, is that if there’s anything I’ve made clear over the While of running this blog, it’s that I don’t fuck around when it comes to sources and information and do my best to provide what information exists, all of it, not just cherrypicked bits and bobs. Anyways. Here’s step 0 at least. Please don’t share that video. Pretty please.

#seaworld #grumble

[adobe-outdesign]

Reviews of All Scrapped Spaceword Betas

Exactly what it says in the title. This is also for my reference, as I might redesign some of these later for funsies. 

I’m only including Pokemon that were 100% scrapped (we’re not here to argue what might have become what) and aren’t evos/pre-evos of existing Pokemon. Also, I’m using the English fan-translations for the names because I don’t speak Japanese.

Flambear/Volbear/Dynabear

Our original fire starter, and yeah, I can see why this was scrapped. For starters (heh), it looks more like a rodent that evolves into a lion than anything resembling a bear. And secondly... it doesn’t really have a clear focus, nor a memorable design. It’s just kind of a rodent-bear thing with flames tacked onto it. 

The best Pokes usually have a "catch” to them, and these guys lack that. For example, this got replaced by Cyndaquil, which has the concept of flaming spikes that form out of its back. That’s memorable. This, well, isn’t.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of focus/interesting design

Pokes to fill the void: Teddiursa and Ursaring are probably the closest in terms of being bears. Something about it also reminds me of Growlithe/Arcanine, probably because it’s a fluffy fire thing that evolves into a bigger fluffy fire thing with a mane and black markings.

Cruz/Aqua/Aquaria

This has the same problem as the Flambear line, just less extreme. It’s okay, being a little plesiosaur that evolves into a bigger plesiosaur, but it also lacks an interesting catch to it. The pearls are maybe something, but they’re not really emphasized, just kind of tacked on. Plus Dragonair kind of has the crystal neck ornaments on lock. And the horn. And the underbelly. And the water theme...

Whoops.

I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to a plesiosaur water starter in the future, but it would probably have to be completely redesigned.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of focus/interesting design; too similar to Dragonair

Pokes to fill the void: Dragonair, as mentioned above. If you want a plesiosaur, Lapras is always a thing.

Putting the rest under the cut for length.

Sunmola1/Anchorage/Grotess

This is one of the most chaotic beta evolutions out there, aside from beta Girafarig. I can see the resemblance between Sunmola1 and Anchorage to some extent--counter-shaded blue fish with two fins and a short body--but the anchor part of the evolution comes out of nowhere. Then it sporadically turns into a gulper eel, which has nothing to do with the previous two evolutions at all.

I’ve heard some people suggest that Sunmola1 basically gets dragged into the depths and turns into a deep-sea creature due to its anchor, which is a fantastic idea. However, if that’s what they were going for here it’s not really clear, and I think it could be executed much better.

Individually, Sumola1 is a little plain. Not terrible, but I think they could do something more interesting with the little head thing. Anchorage is memorable, but there’s something very un-Pokemonish about it. I think it’s just the fact that it’s basically cut in half--I keep expecting the backsprite to show its organs or something. Grotess is also a bit too plain.

It’s also worth noting that at some point, this was the evolutionary line, which is more consistent but much less interesting (save for the middle evo’s eyes, which are pretty great).

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of evolutionary consistency; some designs plain or not very fitting for Pokemon

Pokes to fill the void: Alomomola is a sunfish Pokemon. Sharpedo is a shark crossed with an object, and Grotess almost certainly became Huntail and Gorebyss.

Rinring/Bellboyant

These two... are pretty good. They have a simple catch--black cats with bells--and the designs are nicely executed and memorable.

If I had one complaint, it’s that they maybe seems a tad unfocused in the backend of things. They’re dark types, but have a bunch of “cutesy” moves, and it’s not clear why’d they be dark apart from being black cats. They seem to have a magical girl vibe (Bellboyant looks a bit like Luna from Sailor Moon, which is probably not a coincidence), which also has nothing to do with the bells or the dark theme. I do think that the designs themselves are fine though, and that if you just focused on the sound concept a hair more you’d have a pretty great Pokemon.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Not entirely sure, these definitely would’ve been popular. Might’ve just been a balancing thing, or it lost the dev popularity contest. 

Pokes to fill the void: Skitty kind of has the same vibe as Rinring. They also remind me a bit of the Meowth line, being cat Pokemon with metal attached to them. The Purrloin line takes over the “dark-type cat” aspect.

Bomseel

I’m torn on this one. On the one hand, it’s a very plain looking Pokemon. The idea of it balancing a fireball/bomb on its nose instead of a ball is clever and memorable enough... except that it’s dependent on it being on that pose. It can’t balance that 24/7, and once it stops all you’re left with is a plain sea lion with dark points.

However, it’s fire/water. The only fire/water we have right now is a legendary, so it would be sweet to have one that’s just a regular poke. So it’s not that the concept itself is bad, using a water-based animal and adding a fire type; it’s just more that the execution is lackluster. Give this guy a hook not related to the fireball and make the seal itself more interesting and I think you’d have something here.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Lack of interesting design

Pokes to fill the void: Volcanion is our only fire/water Pokemon for now. In terms of seals/sea lions with a circus theme, Popplio is a decent enough match.

Tigrette/Electiger

Someone at Gamefreak hates tigerballs, because this line was planned for Gen 1, scrapped, then planned for Gen 2 and scrapped again. Which is strange, because while it’s not the best design it’s not bad either. It’s very very cute, and could definitely find an audience.

However, I’m not really sure what the premise is here. If it’s based on tiger clay bells, then it doesn’t really play into the bell theme much at all. And if it’s not... why is it so round? It’s not that the roundness is bad, but it would usually form the hook for this Pokemon, like it collects static electricity in its fur that makes it puff out or something. Maybe some dex descriptions would’ve made this clearer, who knows.

Also, Electiger is literally the exact same design as Tigrette, just bigger. It would either need a completely new final evolution or would need to show up as a single evo. 

While that sounds harsh, I do really like this design. Fix the evo, figure out/build on the hook of it being round or bell like, and maybe refine the markings a touch and it would be pretty perfect.

Possible reason for being scrapped: Not sure. Might’ve been too similar to Pikachu (both being yellow round electric type Pokemon with zig-zag tails, and og fat Pikachu was also very round). The need to rework the evolution also might’ve turned GameFreak off of it.

Pokes to fill the void: Spheal and Rowlet are both pleasantly round. Pikachu is cute and electric themed in a similar way. In terms of tigers, Raikou is also electric-type. The exact way the stripes are done here is also very similar to Litten.

Kurstraw/Pangshi

GameFreak. GameFreak, you are telling me that we almost had a voodoo-doll Pokemon based off of Ushi-no-Toki-Mairi that evolves into a fucking jiangshi panda?? You are killing me here.

A few interesting things to note here:

Kurstraw evolves at level 1. How? Why? No idea. It could just be a placeholder, but...

The fact that Kurstraw was set to have Curse as its signature move (then called “nail”) and that it only learned this move at level 100 makes it evolving at level 1 seem intentional.

To make things more confusing, it almost seems like (and this is speculation on my part) GameFreak’s intention was to encourage players to not evolve this thing. Stats are comparable, Kurstraw only gets its signature move if you level it up to where it can’t evolve, and Kurstraw has the better moveset (getting frigging destiny bond at lv. 16, while Pangshi gets... splash (which. makes more sense when you consider it’s called “hop” in Japan but it’s still useless). If that was what they were aiming for, then that’s a really unique mechanic that would really make this poke stand out.

Design wise, Kurstraw is... well, it’s a doll with a nail rammed through it. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not very Pokemon-ish. Meanwhile, Pangshi is maybe a little too much like a Jianshi rather than being reminiscent of one, right down to the little hat. The pose, fangs, and panda colors (which resemble Jiangshi mandarin robes) are more than enough to get the hook across.

What I really love about these two are the expressions. They are just like, so dissonantly happy. Kurstraw is literally like

and Pangshi has the dead-eyed thousand-yard stare of Espurr, except unlike Espurr it looks completely and utter deranged. It looks like if this Pokemon ended up in Mystery Dungeon, it would respond to every question with “my favorite color is blood”. Amazing.

Possible reason for being scrapped: I think these two might’ve been scrapped just because they were too scary. I mean, it’s a voodoo doll impaled on a giant nail that evolves into a literal actual corpse. The implied violence was probably just a bit much for GameFreak.

The reason I think this is, beside the fact that they have fairly solid designs, good hooks, and all of their stats and moves in place, most beta Pokemon have had their premises revisited at some point. But we’ve really never gotten a voodoo doll Pokemon since this, and we definitely haven’t gotten any jiangshi Pokemon either, which suggests the problem lied in the very concept rather than the execution.

Pokes to fill the void: People say that Kurstraw was reworked into Banette, but if anyone Pokemon resembles it to be, it would actually be Mimikyu. They both have cloth bodies with drawn-on smiley faces that resemble something cuter than them and they both want to curse you for existing.

For Pangshi... well, there’s Pancham if you’re looking for tiny pandas. If you’re after a jiangshi though, you’re out of luck.

Wolfman/Warwolf

This Pokemon has a great hook. I mean, a Pokemon that wears a pelt that transforms it into a werewolf? Hell yeah. Not to mention it might be a reference to an obscure Nordic tale about people donning wolf pelts to turn into wolves for ten days.

Design wise, it... well, Wolfman looks almost exactly like Venonat. I’m not the only one who sees this, right?

That aside, I think the idea could be played up a little more. Wolfman is fine, save for its Venonat-ishness, but Warwolf doesn’t do much for me, basically just being a larger version with claws and fangs. If the idea is that it turns into a werewolf by wearing the pelt, what if its evolution looked somewhat like a wolf? Or better yet, the actually body of the thing changes to fill the wolf skin more, so it looks like its a part of it? That would really elevate this Pokemon to a new level.

Possible reason for being scrapped: I’d guess that it’s the same problem as Kurstraw and Pangshi--too scary. I mean, that is a dead pelt of some kind, which means that it killed and skinned some kind of Pokemon, and that’s not getting into questions of what Pokemon they got that from.

It’s also worth noting that when we did finally get a werewolf Pokemon via Lycanroc, it was minus the pelt concept.

Pokes to fill the void: Lycanroc as our werewolf Pokemon. In terms of design, Venonat is very similar as noted above. And something about it really reminds me of Snorunt, being little critters with glowing eyes that wear a cloak of some kind and live in the cold (this line was ice-type).

#pokemon #pkmn #beta pokemon #pokemon gold and silver #pokemon gen 2 #outdesign posts things #god this ended up a lot longer than I intended it to #anyway I hope you enjoyed me rambling about concept art for 2k words

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Jeff - Frostbite 

Please note this work contains themes much darker than my normal writing, proceed with caution.

Soooo~ Here’s that winter themed scenario that I spun those wheels for last week~

This was a pleasure to write as I’ve never gone dark with my best boy.

If you’d like me to add tags to this work please make me aware.

This is how I ACTUALLY see Jeff, as compared to my blog Jeff. This actually didn’t come out anywhere near as dark/mean as I planned it to.

Summary: You loved being outside with Jeff, whether it was a warm summer day, or a soft wintery one like you were having now. You loved being out in the fresh air with him, enjoying yourself and having fun. Jeff loved you. He didn’t care where he was with you, all he cared about was that he was with you, and that it was him that you loved most.

Warnings: 16+, Yandere Jeff, MC at this point has stopped fighting against Jeff, Because they’ve been with him so long they know it’s best to play nice in general, You could say this is a consensual relationship but MC is only consenting so they don’t die although MC has a survival mentality, Physical abuse, References to sex but nothing in explicit detail, Manipulation from both the reader and Jeff.

-

Cold.

Gazing up at the sky above you all you felt was cold, as the breeze wafted around you, and the snowflakes above you floated down upon your face as you gazed up at the sky. You took a deep breath and exhaled, watching in joy as your breath puffed out in a cloud around you.

Beautiful.

While you were entranced by the beauty of the nature surrounding you, Jeff was entranced by you. By the look of adoration upon your face, the look of adoration he wished was directed at him. The way your body trembled, the inadequate clothing adorning your form doing little to keep you warm in the freezing temperatures. As you turned to smile at him, swaying in the snow, he couldn't help but return your smile. As you reached out for him, he took your hand, and you plopped down in the snow, tugging him down as you began creating snow angels, inviting him to join you.

Fast.

The beat of your heart was fast as you laid in the snow with Jeff. There were many reasons for this fact. First, your heart working in overdrive as your body tried to stay warm amongst the frigidness of the late winter surrounding you. Second, the excitement thrumming through your body as you finally got to relish in the fresh air surrounding you in your eternal isolation. Third, the fact that if you played your cards wrong it might be months again before you can come outside again. Jeff was difficult to read on a good day, and so you had to do your best to learn to flip the right switches at the right times.

Time.

So much time had passed, you were sure, since you had been kidnapped by Jeff. This was the fourth winter since you had last had a breath of true freedom. Since you had normality, where you lived a life where you didn't have to calculate every single decision you would make. You couldn't relax around Jeff. Being too casual would give him the idea that you thought you were of the same level of importance to him. Being too subservient made him suspicious of you and would cause him to grow bored.

Balance.

Absolute balance was required in this relationship. You had to train yourself. Train yourself to be a strong-willed individual that would not crack before his harsh treatments while teaching yourself to manipulate him at the same time he manipulated you. You were just as he would call you; his precious little doll, his pet that he adored and treasured more than anything else in the world. Breaking your facade for him would lead to him breaking your neck. The bruises and scars adorning your body served as a constant reminder of what would happen when you disobeyed him or upset him, when you flipped the wrong switch at the wrong time.

Switches.

Jeff had a lot of those. You had to memorize them, every single one of them, otherwise, you'd find yourself in a situation where you would lose. Relaxing back in the snow, Jeff had sat himself atop of you as you rested, and as he stilled his body, and glanced at you with a certain look, a feeling of dread filled up your stomach. You had flipped the wrong switch, pushed the wrong button; after all, there were two things that were arousing to Jeff. One of them was the pain and suffering that would flow through your body when he had reason to punish you, and the other was when he thought that you were enticing him like you wanted his touch. You shouldn't have reached your hand out to him.

Cold.

Your body felt cold as Jeff yanked your clothes off of your form. You knew protesting him doing this in the cold would earn you a firm slap to the face at best, so you laid back, praying that doing this would bring you warmth. You let him do as he pleased to you, and you did as he wanted you to do. It was subtle, the way he would demand things of you, being able to command you with only the look in his eyes. Your body had finally fallen numb amongst the cold weather, so numb you didn't even feel his teeth breaking into your neck; the only indication being the smell of your blood in the air as it flowed down your neck into the snow below.

Beautiful.

"You look so beautiful." He cooed above you, his body finally stilling again. His face was painted in glee, and it made you want to throw up, but you instead responded in kind with a placid smile, not wanting to speak and risk pain.

The chain and cuff looped around your foot were already giving you enough pain, the sting from the severe cold doing little to help your body maintain any source of warmth.

"I wonder what would happen if I left you out here for a bit... I wonder how your body would look if it got cold enough..." His hands roamed around your body, and tears began leaking from your eyes, tremors shaking throughout your body at the fear of being locked out here. He would do it. He had done it before in slightly warmer weather, and you had nearly died from how cold you were.

"Ah.... Come on, pet, don't look at me with those tear filled eyes... You'll make me hard again." He cooed, a dark chuckle slipping past his lips as he leaned down to nuzzle into your neck, kissing and sucking along the fresh bite on your chilling flesh.

"I know, you don't want to be abandoned out here. You want to be with me, right? Wrapped up in my arms and safe inside with me... I'm all you need and want in life, right, pet?" You nodded against him, and he pulled back, a dark look dancing in his eyes. "Right?" He reaffirmed again, and while his voice was low and even, the hidden violence behind it had more tremors running through you.

"Yes, Jeff. You're all that I need, all that I've ever wanted." You swallowed before ushering out your praises for him, trying to appease the anger you knew was always just bubbling up at the surface of his mind. His hands dragged up along your body, and he tightened them around your throat, just loose enough so that you could barely breathe if you were calm enough, but still tight enough to cause pain.

"You'd give your life up for me, right? You completely belong to me, right? I own your life, don't I, little pet? I could take your life away from you, and you'd be fine with that right?" You struggled, but you agreed to his questions, telling him that you did belong to him, he could take away your life, but he didn't seem satisfied with that, something in his face, not content.

You knew this would be a risk; you knew that he just might kill you for this, but you had to try because your consciousness was beginning to wane. With all your remaining strength, you dragged your arms along his, and you danced your fingers along his neck, digging into the skin. You could see the anger flash in his eyes, but before he could scream at you, you spoke first.

"You belong to me too, right Jeff? We belong to each other. I belong completely to you, and you belong to me, right? You don't want anyone but me, and I don't want anyone but you. Our lives belong to each other, right? You'd die for me, right?" You all but purred out below him, your fingers weakly coiling around his thick throat. His eyes widened, and he began to tremble.

In your moment of desperation, you had managed to flip the most important switch; the one that would trigger his more masochistic side, the one that would bow down before you, the one that loved you most and would do whatever you asked. You couldn't flip this switch often, but when you could manage to do it, it was normally the switch that would save your life.

"Yes... Yes, that's right," he burst into a fit of laughter, tears streaming down his face, "Yes! We belong to each other.. Oh, I'm so happy, I'm so happy that you love me in the same way I love you!" He tugged your form upwards, hugging you to his chest, rambling on about how he loved you and you'd always be together as he cradled you tightly to his form.

"Jeff... Can we go inside? I'd like to... warm up with you." You drew your words out, whispering them into his ear, hoping that special little switch was still flipped. He shot up, glancing over your form as he noticed the blisters beginning to form upon you from being in the cold too long.

"Yes, oh yes, I'm so sorry... Oh, please don't be mad at me, please don't hate me..." He sobbed out, picking you up and rushing you back into the safety and warmth of your cabin.

This won't last. When he wakes up tomorrow he'll be back to his normal self.

Jeff was many things. He could be the soft and caring person he was now. He could be cruel and vicious, causing you pain until you lost consciousness from the overwhelming treatment. He could be inattentive and uncaring, ignoring your presence until another side of him came out and he absolutely had to come crawling back to you. You never knew which side of him you were going to wake up to until he was pressing kisses against your bare skin, or biting bleeding marks into your flesh.

Maybe it would've been better to stay out, you thought, as you glimpsed the last bit of the outside as Jeff ushered you inside.

Perhaps it would have been better to remain out there tonight, in the cold.

Better to die of the cold than live a life like this, living as someone else just so you wouldn't face the punishments of the man that had caged your entire being within his arms.

Suddenly, frostbite seemed like heaven amongst your own violently twisted mind.

When it came down to it, you were no better than him.

Someone caving to madness because of the person they loved.

In this eternal game of cat and mouse, neither of you were the victim; you were both willing participants at this point, deriving your sick pleasures from beating the other at the game.

Frostbite was a death too kind for you.

#creepypasta #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta x reader #creepypasta headcanons #creepypasta scenarios #creepypasta scenario #jeff the killer #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer headcanon #jeff the killer headcanons #jeff the killer scenario #yandere #creepypasta yandere #yandere jeff the killer

[fromthedeskofelizabeththird]

Habanero

You're a good girl, well behaved.

Absolutely not the type to rail random guys in nightclubs.

Until you are.

Fandom: BNHA

Pairing: Polyamorous Erasermic x Reader

Rating: Some references to explicitness towards the end

Trigger Warnings: None in this chapter.

AO3: Here | Want to support me? I have a Kofi

Chapter: 16/16 (all chapters)

You were proud of your home.

You had painted the walls yourself, built cupboards and shelves and painted those too. You’d crocheted your own throw blanket and stuffed every single cushion you owned.

You had made room in one corner for a moses basket and built a wine rack for when you had adult guests over.

It was warm and cosy and you often found yourself dozing off on the couch.

Today, in fact, was such an occasion. You opened your eyes to soft light, snuggled up in the same position as when you returned from work. You had taken off your coat and shoes and set aside your purse, meaning to take a couple of minutes before getting up to make dinner.

Clearly, that had not gone according to plan. You sat up with a wince and rubbed the spots of your back that had grown stiff. How long had you been asleep?

You moved to get up from the chair but that was easier said than done. You were, after all, extremely pregnant and even if your center of gravity wasn’t completely displaced, navigating your swollen belly was getting increasingly difficult.

This was your last week at work before you left for maternity leave and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t glad. Your nesting instincts had hit you hard within the past month or so and you’d reshuffled the furniture more times than you could count.

Nezu had been more than accommodating when he brought staff members into the dorms on site. Your dormitories were more like apartment complexes than the shared halls the students lived in. Your apartment was built to very specific requirements, namely that it was sound proofed and made from two apartments merged into one larger one, with doors connecting them together. There was enough room for Hizashi to do his radio show, for a home office, a bedroom for Eri and, more recently, a nursery.

Eri had a room to the left of yours, specifically chosen for easy access when she had nightmares and needed reassurance. You chose the room on the right of yours for the baby. Eri had offered to share her room, though you got the feeling she didn’t understand much about babies in general, let alone night time feeds and diaper changes.

You could hear three sets of voices coming from the nursery and you waddled towards it, clasping one hand over your belly and the other on your hip for balance.

Hizashi, Shouta and Eri were in the middle of building a crib, Hizashi leaning over the half finished frame, Shouta holding out tools and Eri sitting cross legged in the nursing chair, squinting at an upside down set of instructions.

“Are you sure that’s the right screw?”

“Positive.”

“It’s just that...I need five of them. How many do you have there?”

“One.”

Hizashi was a lot better at DIY projects than Shouta, thanks in part to how much of his time he spent building sound rigs and fixing his equipment. You could have lingered in the doorway forever, just watching them, though your back and ankles were already beginning to protest.

“Having fun?”

Eri gasped in happiness at the sight of you standing there, launching herself out of the nursing chair and reaching for your hand.

“We’re building the baby’s bed,” she said, hopping on the spot as you lowered yourself into the chair. “They’re following my instructions!”

“So I see,” you said. “Looks like you’re being very helpful!”

“We couldn’t do it without ya, Eri,” said Hizashi, before turning back to Shouta. “How many do you have now?”

“ One .”

“That can’t be right.”

Hizashi sat up and shuffled across to Shouta, counting out the screws and other materials.

“One,” he said, turning the screw over in his hand. “Why would they only give us one ?"

“Probably so we’d have to go back and spend more money,” said Shouta.

You sat back in your chair and rubbed your hand over your belly, glancing round at the near complete nursery. Everyone had contributed something; all four of you (and several others) had made your mark on this room.

Hizashi had assembled just about everything, from the changing station to the bookcase to the nursing chair you were currently sitting in. The very same day you told him you were pregnant, he came home with an armful of toys, almost all of which were sound related and certainly far too advanced for a newborn, though he refused to hear it. He’d also bought a music player and specialised headphones so that he could play music or voice recordings through your belly. It had become his favourite thing to do ever since your bump got noticeable, mostly because it almost never failed to make the baby kick.

Eri (under supervision, of course) had painted rainbows, clouds and kitties on the walls, as well as a picture of her and the baby enjoying a basket of apples. She didn’t know much about babies, much less what this one would look like, so her painting looked a little like a potato. She’d been something of a bad influence on Shouta, too, who couldn’t refuse her at the best of times, much less when she was pointing out cute onesies.

Shouta supplied almost all of the stuffed animals in the room, as well as the mobile you planned to hang above the cot. You hadn’t realised just how many baby toys, clothes and equipment were cat themed until Shouta bought almost all of them.

Nemuri’s gift lurked in the corner; an enormous teddy bear with glass eyes and a tartan scarf. It was almost as tall as you were and possibly the most hideous thing you had ever seen, but she and Hizashi had both smiled so widely when she brought it over that you had had little choice but to put it next to the bookshelf.

Your colleagues at UA (with the exception of Shouta and Hizashi for obvious reasons) had gifted you a storybook, with buttons at the side. They had recorded themselves speaking the lines and sometimes, when you wanted a giggle, you pulled it off the shelf and pressed the buttons yourself.

You had overseen everything without picking up quite as many individual items, though in your defense you were contributing the baby.

“That reminds me,” you said aloud without meaning to, “just a second…”

You had done something a little special, something you had been working on for weeks and couldn’t wait to hand over.

You climbed up out of the chair and waddled into the bedroom, coming back with a box you’d gone so far as to wrap with a ribbon.

“What is it, doll?”

“I got the test results back a few weeks ago,” you said with a grin, holding the box out towards them. “I was wondering how to tell you...so I made this.”

Due to your somewhat unique circumstances, you had gone through much of your pregnancy without knowing the identity of the father. You knew it was either Shouta or Hizashi, but couldn’t put that on the birth certificate.

You’d sent samples of your blood and Hizashi and Shouta’s saliva to be tested, though as far as they knew, that was where the story ended.

Both of them eyed the box in your arms, knowing that whatever was inside it would change the course of your futures. One of them was about to become a father, biologically speaking.

Eri didn’t fully understand the situation, but she did understand the concept of presents.

“Can I see?” she cried out.

“Sure, sweetie, why don’t you open it?”

You handed the box to Eri and sat back down in your nursing chair, watching in anticipation as she unfastened the ribbon and lifted the lid.

Maybe it was the hormones, but you’d been thinking about Ego a lot lately. You remembered glasses shattering against the floor, remembered your heart shattering into just as many pieces.

“It’s a onesie,” Eri cried out, dragging the black fabric out of the box.

“Sure is, honeybun,” said Hizashi. “What else is in there?”

It had been years since that night at the bar that changed everything and up until then you hadn’t been the biggest believer in destiny.

“Look,” said Eri, dragging out a small, grey strip of fabric, “it’s a scarf! Oooh, and there’s goggles!”

“That’s right! It’s a hero costume.”

You remembered how long you had shivered inside of a toilet stall, scrubbing away a stranger’s cum. You’d panicked, the reality of what you had done sinking in. You had never been so happy as when you got your next period; you didn’t even complain about the breakout and hellish cramps that came along with it.

You planted a hand on your belly, unable to stroke your son’s hair and so settling for his general vicinity.

Needless to say, you were a believer now.

#erasermic x reader #poly!erasermic #aizawa shouta x reader #hizashi yamada x reader #present mic x reader #habanero

[sovpologist]

So I really, really love Destiny 2. I have a soft spot for this game like I've never had for any other game. it's 100% because it seems, at least to me, like the design teams have gone out of their way to avoid anything male gaze-y in the character designs, cinematics, and player character model presentation. I've also noticed in the past two years especially that they've put more effort into referring to the young wolf/The Guardian in gender-neutral terms wherever possible, which was honestly a pleasant surprise. I'm a PC player, so I've never had the chance to play D1, but I think there were some elements of that in D1 (like if you look at Petra's D1 design, she definitely had her shirt glued to her chest and belly 😂), but they at least tried changed her design up a bit for D2. And I think she looks much better, to be honest! Much less silly

The female characters do get sexualized by gamerbros, but I can't even tell you how refreshing it is to play a game where I don't have to worry about suddenly having a pair of heaving tits shoved in my face. Like there is a time and a place for that kind of stuff and I can promise you it's not when I'm trying to do some looting and shooting. I fucking love that the armor for the female model is the same as the male armor, and that there's not a single pair of combat Louboutins anywhere to be found. I recently played TW3 for the first time, and the number of women I had to watch prance around high heels with their tits almost completely exposed was........ frankly really fucking awful, especially when you're suddenly being solicited for sex out of nowhere. like PLEASE leave me alone I just want to run around and stab things. Really made me think about how D2 handles character design and that they very specifically do not have storylines that use sexual violence as a plot point. (bc there's a time and a place for that kind discussion and narrative, and I'm of the opinion that a post-apocalyptic sci-fi space wizard looter shooter ain't it)

I've seen people arguing that it's all pandering, but tbh if being pandered to means Ana Bray gets to have an alive girlfriend and Eris Morn's trauma can be taken seriously AND she can wear sensible shoes, then please!!!!!!! Pander away!!!!

Also on that note but completely unrelated, I think it's hilarious that warlocks almost universally have No Ass. The wild hunt robes really made it obvious that nobody thought we'd ever see a warlock without a long robe

i completely agree. i came from playing games like dragon age and mass effect, which are great games, but they are a little dated. mass effect especially has really cringeworthy female designs and while dragon age is better, there’s still boob armor everywhere. also when i recently took a break from destiny, i got into genshin impact which is just…. ridiculous. it’s very anime style inspired and it’s weird how sexualized yet sexless those characters are. all the women are in skimpy, skintight clothing and yet it’s impossible to be actually attracted to them (for me) bc their ingame models look like weird childlike dolls. it’s just creepy. the cutscenes also constantly focus on the women’s boobs and asses. it was honestly so refreshing to come back to destiny and just have female characters that i felt werent sexualized at all but rather were just treated as people. it’s SUCH a low bar that unfortunately is often not cleared even now.

d2 is a def better than d1 but even d1 is better than a game like overwatch, which is another game i used to play a lot. i actually got into destiny bc an overwatch fanartist i loved started drawing a lot of destiny fanart. take these two characters- they’re both wearing the same kind of skintight jumpsuit, but where dva’s is vacuum sealed to each individual boob, elsie’s is much more realistic and acts like…. how fabric should actually act in this situation. it’s almost reminiscent of a sports bra.

i also don’t think it’s pandering bc bungie never tries to pat themselves on the back for this or market the game as this hugely feminist game. trust gamer bros to take literally just the bare minimum aka what they SHOULD be doing as pandering.

#also yes i love that it’s canon that warlocks have no ass #no ass is genderless #ask #long post

[natromanxoff]

An Exclusive Interview With Queen!

Music Life September 1975 issue

By Kaoruko Togo and Keiko Miyasaka

[Original text in Japanese, translation by deathtoming]

Around noon on July 14th, we left the hotel by car, and around two hours later we arrived at the beautiful Ridge Farm, surrounded by trees. We were blessed with clear skies on this day, and the blue sky and the greenery of the farm were almost blindingly beautiful. It was a bit past 2 o’clock. When we arrived in the main building, we were first greeted by a large dog, followed by a familiar voice from a room in the back. It was a large food hall, with Freddie, Brian, Roger, and John present.

When they see us, the four of them say, “Hello! You’re from Music Life, right? Welcome!” and greet us with handshakes. The four of them rented this Ridge Farm to focus solely on rehearsing for their next album. “We’re about to have lunch. Want to join us?” We knew we couldn’t work while hungry, so we accepted their offer with thanks. When the meal finished, we could begin our interview at last….

Music Life (ML): Are you in the middle of recording now?

Roger: No, we’re not recording yet. We’re all practising our new songs together. Once we practise them, we get an idea of how we should record them, I think.

ML: When do you think you’ll start recording?

Roger Maybe in about 3 weeks…

John: We might use Rockfield Studios in Wales.

ML: Do you always record there?

Roger: No, not really, although we did a bit of recording there for our third album, Sheer Heart Attack.

Freddie. We used around five studios to record that one. We’ll probably use several studios this time around, too.

ML: You’ll do a bit of recording in London, too, right?

Roger: Probably a little bit, yeah. We usually do our mixing in London.

Brian: But when we first record the backing track, it’s better to do it somewhere where we’re nice and settled, so it’s good to do it while we’re holed out in the studio. By doing that, we’re able to relax and do the recording.

ML: Can you tell us something about your upcoming album?

Freddie: Yeah, well we only have the rough framework at this point, but I think it will be our best work so far. We’re in the middle of creating the songs now.

Roger: Nothing has really come together yet, so it’s difficult to explain.

John: When we first came here we presented what songs we had written so far to each other, and we had about two albums’ worth, haha.

ML: I hear you’re heading to the US on tour soon.

John: Probably. Our manager is in the US now, and he’s apparently in talks with a bunch of people.

Freddie: We have to decide whether to record the album or go on tour in the US like we had decided during our previous tour.

ML: How long have you been working with your producer?

Freddie: His name is Roy Thomas Baker, and he’s been with us since our debut album.

Roger: We’re co-producing the album with him. Our next album will be with him, too.

ML: This Ridge Farm is such a beautiful place. How did you find it?

Roger: Our mixer, John Harris, found it. The owner often rents out this place to rock groups, apparently.

<At this point, an airplane flies overhead, making an extremely loud noise! Everyone shouts “Quiet!”>

ML: When you write your songs, do you do it individually?

Freddie: Yes, that’s right. Everyone writes their own songs in their own homes, and then brings it to places like this and we all work on it.

ML: How many songs will be on this album?

Freddie: I don’t know yet. Maybe around 12.

ML: When will it be released?

Freddie: That depends on a lot of things. But I want it out some time this year. It will probably be by the end of this year.

ML: What have you been up to since you came back from Japan?

Freddie: For several weeks, we kept on talking about our time in Japan, haha. We’d unwrap the presents we got from Japan. Please pass along our thanks to our fans in Japan, because we were really treated so kindly.

<An airplane makes another appearance. The four look up and protest again.>

ML: Is there anything that stands out in particular from your time in Japan?

Roger: Aside from the people we met, probably our final show in Tokyo. Something felt special. It was also our final show in Japan. The atmosphere was wonderful.

John: I also remember appearing in a kimono on stage for the first time in that concert.

ML: What about Japanese food?

Freddie: Like, tempura, haha. We went to a Japanese restaurant with our bodyguards in Japan. Oh that’s right, please send our regards to those bodyguards; we owe them a lot.

ML: What do you want to do the most the next time you’re in Japan?

Roger: I’m going to go shopping for sure, haha! Things like tape recorders and other things. Last time, Freddie bought lots of ceramics, and Brian and John bought cameras.

ML: Brian, you like cameras, don’t you?

Brian: Yeah, I do photography sometimes, and I have lots of other hobbies. Right now I’m really into audio.

ML: Since when have you been taking pictures?

Brian: Since quite a long time ago. But I only recently got a good camera. In England, cameras are so expensive.

ML: This is especially the case in Japan, but you have a lot of young girls for fans. What do you think about that?

Roger: It’s outstanding, haha! Japanese fans in particular give us lots of presents. We don’t get too many gifts from other countries, but it seems to be a part of the Japanese tradition.

ML: Among your young, female Japanese fans, there are some who say that Queen is their first encounter with rock music.

Roger: Great!

Freddie: That’s a good thing. It was really exciting when we were in Japan, and I think it was probably the same kind of atmosphere as it was for the Beatles in the ‘60s.

<The others chime in with comments like, “That’s really good!”>

ML: Were there any interesting gifts from Japan?

Brian: I received a lot of birthday gifts, so thank you very much to all of you for those presents. I received many works of art, and also things like dolls and traditional balls wrapped with beautiful string. We got lots of toys, too.

Roger: That ball with the string was hand-made, right? I got one, too.

<The plane flies by again, distressing the band.>

ML: In your free time, what kind of music do you listen to?

Roger: I’ve been listening to Led Zeppelin's first album.

Freddie: Lately, classical. Like, Chopin. Also things like Led Zeppelin and John Lennon.

ML: Freddie, you have a broad range of interests.

Freddie: Of course. I’ll listen to anything that I like. That said, there’s no artist whose album I’d buy as soon as it was released.

ML: Brian, what about you?

Brian: Pretty much the same as everyone else. I often listen to Led Zeppelin.

ML: There’s a place called “Rhye” in the lyrics for Lily of the Valley, but is that a real place in England?

Freddie: No, it’s a land from my imagination. It’s also mentioned in Seven Seas of Rhye, and I guess it’s like a fairy tale.

Roger: There is a place called “Rye” in England, although the spelling is different.

ML: Your songs’ lyrics seem to be influenced by classical poets.

Freddie: You’re referring to lyric poetry. I don’t think we’re influenced by that too much. Truthfully, I don’t have time to read. I just like expressing myself in that way. Those kinds of expressions are easier.

ML: Do the really passionate lyrics for love songs come from your personal experiences?

Roger: Ahhhh--!! Haha, yeah right! But I guess there’s, uh, a little bit of something in there.<Grinning> But Brian sometimes writes really passionate ones.

ML: She Makes Me is quite the song, isn’t it?

Brian: No, it’s not like that at all. <Acting quite bashfully> Although there are times when my personal experiences are expressed in song lyrics.

<The rest of the band hoot and holler at this!>

ML: The band does a good job recreating the sound from your records live on stage, don’t you?

Roger: We’re not trying to reproduce what you hear on the record exactly, though. Of course we want to produce a good sound, but on stage we also need to add an exciting mood to the quality of the sound. So that’s why it needs to be a little different from the album.

ML: Which do you like better, recording or performing live?

Freddie: I like both. They’re both interesting in their own ways.

ML: Do you use any special equipment on stage?

Roger: No, although Brian uses echo machines and such.

ML: Do you have a lighting technician?

Freddie: We do have one, but the band comes up with the idea, and our lighting guy -- his name is James Dann -- takes care of the rest. We’ve already come up with our next stage design and it’s going to be interesting.

<The plane flies by again. Everyone looks defeated.>

ML: Killer Queen was a big hit single; are hit singles important to you?

Roger: It’s not absolutely necessary. But we’ll keep on releasing singles. Of course we’ll only release ones we like, though.

ML: Which do you like better, singles or albums?

Freddie: Definitely albums! I think our music is geared more towards albums rather than singles.

Roger: Rather than releasing single after single, it’s better if there happens to be a song in the album that works well as a single, and we release it if the timing is right. It’s not good if we start thinking we need to release a single every 3 months.

John: On this upcoming album as well, we will record everything first, and then release something if it works well as a single. But we don’t particularly record only songs that would work as singles.

ML: Does it seem like you’ll have another song like Killer Queen?

Freddie: No, when Seven Seas of Rhye became a hit in England, the people at the record company wanted our next song to be like that, but we couldn’t do it. We go in the studio and record what we’re feeling at that time, and only after everything is finished do we decide as a group what to release as a single.

ML: So, you’re always looking for a new sound?

Freddie: It’s more interesting that way.

Roger: That’s why we come to places like this, and while we’re rehearsing we make a bunch of noise and form songs from that.

ML: Did someone serve as an inspiration for Killer Queen?

Roger: Freddie’s mom.

<Everyone bursts out laughing>

ML: Do you have plans for a British tour?

Roger: Yeah. Probably by the end of this year.

John: But first we need to record our album, and we don’t know what will come after.

ML: Which country’s fans do you like?

John: Japan’s, of course, haha!

Brian: <Speaking seriously> We were really surprised by the reaction of our Japanese fans. Honestly speaking, we didn’t realize it was at that level.

Roger: We thought there would be difficulties because of the language difference, but rock fans are the same around the world, in the end.

ML: Did you have a break after you came back from Japan?

John: Just a little. But we had lots of preparation to do, so it’s like we didn’t have a break.

ML: And uhh… now I’d like to ask about things outside of the music. It’s something Japanese fans want to know: when did you fall in love for the first time? What kind of person were they?

<Everyone reacts in horror, and they point at each other, with no one answering the question. Finally, Freddie speaks for the group.>

Freddie: Err… our first love is, of course, music, haha.

ML: Do you have any memories from when you were going to school?

Roger: I haaaaated school!

ML: What about you, Brian?

Brian: I went to an all boys school. I had no idea what girls were like, right up to when I graduated when I was 18. It was really a shock when I first got to know girls. But that’s the British school system for you. I was raised away from girls for so long that I was afraid to meet them.

Freddie: You’re still afraid of them, aren’t you? Haha. <This was a tough joke>

ML: Freddie, what subjects did you like in school?

Roger Oh, I know! ”Needlework”! <Everyone bursts out laughing>

Freddie: Art. I studied graphics and illustration at an art school for 3 years.

ML: What about sports?

Freddie: I did everything. Cricket, tennis…

ML: Do you still meet up with your friends from school?

Freddie: I often meet with around two of them.

ML: And, finally, are you married?

Roger: Japanese fans often want to know things like that, but I won’t say. <Roger winks mischievously.>

Freddie: We’re all single! But the Japanese girls have to find that out for themselves.

ML: Let’s get a message from each one of you to our readers…

And with that, the friendly interview came to an end. We were fortunate that the band talked to us in a relaxed mood while bathing in the bright sun.

#queen #queen band #roger taylor #freddie mercury #brian may #john deacon

[belle-keys]

I Love Matthew Fairchild aka Incoherent Thoughts about Chain of Iron (2021) by Cassandra Clare

I made one of these rant-rave reviews for SJM's book so check it out if you want, no pressure tho lmao.

Aight so I finished Chain of Iron last night and OMG I HAVE TO YELL like I loved it sooo much like yooo, I have a lot to say. I know the book is new so... beware for spoilers plebs.

Also context: I been reading the Shadowhunter books since I was 12 and I'm 19 now *insert dead emoji face* so yeah, I'm just so happy rn with where the Chronicles have come and the fact that they’re still ongoing *insert uwu face*. I remember when in like 2014-2015 or something when Cassandra Clare teased that Will and Tessa's kids' generation was gonna get a trilogy set in Edwardian London, loosely based on Great Expectations, and holy hell? I think that was perhaps one of the best days of my life considering how much I adore The Infernal Devices (that trilogy really changed the way I see YA literature... don't ask cus I won't shut up about it) (also yes I read TMI and loved it too but there's a “generation gap” between TMI and the other Shadowhunter books stylistically so don't ask me about that either cus I also won't shut up).

Anyway, shoo from here if you want a critical essay on Chain of Iron. I'm not providing that, this is just me raving here for the fun.

Listen... I want the bulk of this to just be two main things: The Matthew Situation, and then all the literary and judeo-christian meta aspects of it.

BUT I ALSO NEED TO TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE SO FRICK LET'S JUST START WITH THE OBVIOUS SHIT LIKE THE PLOT AND WHATEVER

Okay, the plot and writing and shit, let's get that out of the way:

The WHOLE Jack-the-Ripper-esque ambiance was just sooooo good man wow like I did not expect the book to take this cold turn but it worked so well. There was such a contrast between Jamie and Cordelia's warm little house and then the cold winter and the stabbings and shit and it felt like a nice little callback to the actual Ripper phenomenon that preceded them and a nod to the Whitechapel Fiend story from Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy.

Bitch OFC that whole thing with Wayland was a set-up like nawww that was too easy to spot and I get why Cordelia feels like shit about it.

Dawg Lucie was just the Among Us imposter here in that my girl was just venting and sneaking around with dead people and I was like nooooo girl run, don't deal with Fade this is a set-up THINK ABOUT JULES LUCIE THAT'S LIKE YO GREAT-GRANDSON *sobs* but yeah anyway my girl has death powers she gonna kill some bitches next book.

You see that confrontation between Lilith and Belial? MASTERPIECE DIALOGUE like this was the point within which I was just like "yo is this the book of Genesis or a YA Fantasy novel" like when Lilith said "I may have been cast out but I did not fall" like??????????????????? I YELLED she did not have to END Belial like that. What a bad bitch.

More on Lilith and Belial... "You, who brought nations into darkness? Shall I finally be able to tell the infernal realms you have gone mad, lost even the image of the Creator." HAHAHHAHAHA SHE SAID "YO BELIAL GO GET SOME THERAPY AND GET OFF MY ASS" LIKE??????

Ughhhh yasss Clare has improved writing diverse characters in this book compared to in The Dark Artifices in my opinion... I'm not gonna expand on it cus ain't nobody got time for that but like, I enjoyed how she wove Persian poetry and tales into the story and the way in which she writes Cordelia and Alistair. They're not caricatures of Persian people but rather multi-faceted beings who also happen to be Persian and I appreciate that. Also, Alistair and Thomas and Anna and Ariadne were just so fun and interesting to read as coupbles but also as individuals. She really higlighted diversity in a very natural manner. All I need is a hijabi character and I’ll die a happy woman lmao.

The level of META man like the references to Classics and art (I swear, she might have compared Matthew to angels out of Caravaggio AND Rosetti AND Boticelli paintings and I Am Living For It) and just all the quotes from holy books and shit omg I love it here like you really feel catapulted into the time period, she draws reference to external art and philosophy so well and I feel like she upped the notch on it in this book (didn’t know that was possible but it was the prose is BEAUTIFUL, archaic, but not pretentiously so). No, like the characters live in their OWN worlds of literature and art and history in the way we are living in THEIRS. They quote Wilde and Milton while we'll quote Clare. It's awesome.

This is an unusually structuralist take even from me but: I like the way the milieu social of the book, i.e., the high society Edwardian circles and their values, have a direct influence on the plot. James and Cordelia got married because society’s values essentially forced them to, not a demon. Cordelia abandons Jamie at the end of Iron because her shame as a woman in society and fear for her reputation made her, not a demon. Thomas and Alistair can't be together solely because of how Alistair tarnished the reputation of the Fairchilds and Lightwoods by using the horror of infidelity against them. Issues relating to marriage, gender roles, etc, stemming DIRECTLY from the time period rule the sequence of events to the same degree as the epic fantasy aspects (demons, Princes of Hell, the lore itself) do and I LOVE that dear God above.

OKAY THE GOOD SHIT LET US TALK ABOUT CHARACTERS AND SHIPS (N.B. but imma discuss Matthew and the Fairstairs situation separately below this portion):

Alistair's redemption arc: No, cus Alistair's redemption arc is honestly amazing. He really did change and it's not like his betterment as a person was linked to any one heroic deed but rather he simply decided he wanted to be better especially for his family and he decided to become a proper protective son, a caring brother, and an amiable friend. He fully owned up to his Malfoy tendencies and apologized without expecting forgiveness. He shows how he cares in the little ways and omg it's so sweet and tender. I really do want him to love himself now and be embraced by Matthew especially and the rest of the Thieves.

Dawg Lucie and Jesse are so funny to me like it's so hilarious how this girl fell in love with a whole ass ghost that no one else knows about like HHAHA. Are Lucie and Jesse my ult ship ever? Nah, but it's nothing to do with Clare, it's just that their relationship happened pretty quick and feels quite like something epicly romantic that Lucie herself would write. I just like slow burn and friends-to-lovers the most from Clare. To be honest part of me just wanted Lucie to not have a romantic arc all together but like, it's all good, I'm not complaining.

Okay Grace- like yooooooooooo I never hated her yunno. She has been abused and isolated all her life. It's not that she is a bad person, but rather that she does not know what being a person even entails. Can't even say she's a “doll” of a person cus she's never even been pampered like one by her family. I really started understanding her motivations since when they gave us her half-childhood with Jesse. I want better for her but cmon can she REALLY be saved???

GRACE X CHRISTOPHER *pretends to be shocked*... Okay, sometime in the middle of the Dark Artifices series some big brain put together a very thorough family tree of the families and like, it clearly showed that Grace and Christopher got married so like, lmfaooooo, I knew this was coming one way or another, but the journey to this ship is more important than the destination. Like in a way Christopher is such a cute baby lamb that it makes sense he'd end up being immune to her Grace-ness when he's just a cute little Einstein boiii. Like this is just so funny to me cus he's so oblivious to social conventions while she makes the milieu social her entire life so OFC it's gonna work. Like, this is such a worlds-colliding trope like just Give It To Me.

James and Grace - aw mannn Jamie just had me fricking wanting to hit a wall every two seconds cus like yooooooo every single time I think he and Cordelia are gonna stop being emotionally-constipated spouses, Jamie says some kinda shit like "omg me and Daisy are just friends uwu" like DO I NEED TO HIT YOU?????????? See I can't blame him for not slamming the door on Grace's face even tho he totes should- Jamie is so cerebral and kind that even if Grace wasn't using the enchantment on him, I think he would always be soft for her even if it isn't in a romantic way. There's just so much miscommunication cus like he said "Thank God" when she broke off the engagement with Charles and lowkey embraced her but it also wasn't his fault cus it wasn't even romantic BUT OFC IT LOOKED HORRIBLE TO CORDELIA like James literally never told the woman at least once that he loved her so OFC she thought she was back to square one with him dear God above what a mess. Not his fault, but she DID set down one rule for him: don’t cheat with Grace. And yeah even tho he hasn’t properly cheated, it must FEEL horrible to her cus she’s just been enduring the pain of their unrequeted love for so long :((

See imma just say it but if Cordelia thought that James didn't love Grace then she def would have confessed to him about her feelings right but like James, on the other hand, was delaying his own romantic confession cus he was BEING EMOTIONALLY CONSTIPATED and I can't even say the bracelet was solely to blame cus like my boi was just being so difficult omg I believe he should be lightly spanked by his three parents aka Will, Tessa and Jem *cries*.

Cordelia is such a MOM like she's so mature and stable and her self-preservation instinct? OFF THE CHARTS I love this woman like James definitely treated her well as a hubby but like I JUST WANTED HER TO HAVE CLOSURE ABOUT SOMETHING and boy oh boy she did get that closure she got it good but not from the person she expected in the LEAST *hehe* *pelican screeching*... like Lucie was being sus with the whole ghost business and James was being just, quite a case, dealing with Grace and Belial right and I don't blame them at all for their secrecy and shit but her FATHER DIED and her friends were hiding a lot from her so in a way she turned to Alistair for help but he could only do so much cus of his own pain (she couldn't even talk to her mom cus she's pregnant and she doesn't wanna stress her right) and then there was this emotional block between her and Jamie, Lucie was often absent and conspiring with the dead... the last person remaining was HIM (imma discuss this soon), but yeah my heart just went OUT to her cus she's tryna save herself and her family and she just doesn't know what to do. That's why I love the way her mom told her to stop holding herself back for others and live her own life. Like Cordelia grew on me so much cus in Gold she undoubtedly was a strange Elizabeth Bennet-wallflower hybrid and I... do not usually get attached to wallflowers but in Iron I feel like I finally understood that she was just tryna be unproblematic and self-preserving all along and nottt put her family and friends in a tough situation.... she reminds me of my mom personality-wise so yeah I’m totally rooting for her now that her *situation* in the past seems clearer.

Anna, Thomas and Matthew are such a SQUAD lmfaooooo like united in their gayness they'd be so unstoppable.

Will and Tessa are the most in-love of all the in-loves in this story and I respect that so much.

I lost a year to my life every time the romance between James and Cordelia got cockblocked. Like they were MARRIED and I thought they were gonna at least sleep next to each other at least once BUT NO James couldn't take a hint omg I'm actually gonna eat my fist and sob (but in retrospect, I think this serves a bigger purpose in terms of the narrative structure i.e. the interruption of all the spicy James and Cordelia action serves a bigger purpose which I think brings me to my next section, *exhale*)

Welcome to the Matthew Fairchild Enthusiast Club (this section is me talking out loud; it makes no sense):

bitch.

LISTEN TO ME LISTEN WELL I LOVE THIS BOY SO MUCH IMMA SCREAM I REALLY AM GONNA SCREAM MY FIST IS LITERALLY IN MY MOUTH *BACKFLIPS OFF THE ROOF WITH LANA DEL REY PLAYING*

Okay like where to BEGIN I think the Shadowhunter boy who I'm most attracted to is Julian while the one I love the most is Will but I think I see myself in Matthew the most. Like ever since that first story where the Thieves all met at the Academy then got expelled, I think that I just KNEW Matthew was destined to be epic. Plus the whole Wilde obsession? I’m no libertine myself but I just love his chaos and passion for life.

NO CUS HE'S SO WITTY AND SWEET AND EPIC AND YET SO SECRETIVE AND DEAR GOD ABOVE AHHHHH WILL HE SURPASS JULIAN FOR ME??? Ion even know but this is just sodjsgdwsdygyegydgef

Hear me out but I said after finishing Gold last March that I wanted this book to be Matthew's healing arc right so halfway into the book when I realized that we weren't getting all that good healing arcing I was confused just cus I thought it seemed natural to address all of his alcohol issues and sadness by now. LITTLE DID I KNOW CASSIE WAS SETTING UP A WHOLE OTHER ARC WITH HIM THAT I WOULD HAVE NEVER GUESSED WTH.

At first I thought Matthew didn't have feelings for anyone at all, and if he DID develop feelings unexpectedly, I fricking thought that maybe he's catching feelings for James, if anyone??? I mean, I did have some suspicions about Matthew from the get-go: like he's so secretive and as readers we think we know everything there is to know about him since we were all privy to the truth potion incident in his short story right BUT NO I GOT PLAYED AND I DESERVE IT SO BADDDDDD.

Listen I hadn't shipped him and Cordelia simply because I never thought it in the realm of possibility but it MAKES SENSE as a ship... think about it: he never says what he feels, he flirts with her like he does with EVERYONE, he is kind to her in the way he is with EVERYONE. Really, Matthew is shippable with everyone, doesn’t matter if they’re taken cus that’s just what his Matthewnes allows for ya feel. There is such a beautiful irony that CORDELIA herself did not see this coming. Even the little teasers and hints in Gold have only NOW started making sense to me likejhss. I just felt like the hints in book 1 did not indicate to me that Matthew really harbored real romantic feelings for Daisy. I thought he was upset that James and Cordelia were being fakes, not a developing CRUSH on the woman fgs.

Not to mention that you usually sense a ship building when the emotional connection or sexual tension between the characters is made clearer but to me their FRIENDSHIP grew right but it didn’t feel like Cordelia was thought that she liked him or he liked her so that means me and Cordelia are clowns *together* 😤

Okay I was lowkey having SUSPICIONS but I immediately shut them down right... like firstly when he took her to the White Horse in his car and she went OFF and OFF and off about how she felt free for the first time? I thought Cassie was just tryna develop Cordelia's self-liberation arc through Matthew there. Heck, I didn't even think ANYTHING of it when Matthew confession to Cordelia about the "truth potion" incident at all cus I was like they're FRIENDS??? BUT now it's adding up now...

See when they were at the inn place and he was telling her that she doesn't in the least seem like a 100 year-old married woman? I was like hmmmm he's so sweet but why did Cassie phrase it like that like??? When Cordelia later reiterated that she thought Matthew's flirting was “meaningless”?? I was like hmmm kinda SUS tho. And then when he and James had their fight over the way Jamie kissed Grace like again I thought he was just like? ion know? mad at James for it but I didn't think he was in LOVE with Cordelia??? So I immediately put aside my slight suspicions. The probability that he had a crush on James at that point seemed more likely to me.

BUT THEN it started hitting me that every time Matthew drank, even before he explained his issue with the truth potion, that Cordelia would note it, she would worry about him, she would think of her father which seemed so poetic to me, history repeating itself and all that but this time you can FIX it??? Yeah, but again I didn't think the L WORD would be involved man???

Now imma sound like a delulu shipper here but it just makes sense they would develop feelings logically- reason being that it definitely is possible based on the way Cassie set up the story, like there's a combination of little “friend things” that can turn this into a proper ship: Matthew rescues Cordelia in the ballroom when Grace captures James' attention in Gold. Cordelia sees her father in Matthew all the time but knows now she has a chance to be there for him in the way she couldn't have been there for Elias (classic “history repeats itself” trope, she doesn't want Matthew drinking in Paris like dhshghdfhdhch). Cordelia tastes freedom for the first time when driving with Matthew. Matthew caught James and Cordelia making out in the room and was pissed but not even HE properly knew why then??? Umm, when she thinks James is forreal cheating with Grace on her she subconsciously goes to Matthew??? I also found it funny just how every intimate marital moment between her and James got interrupted somehow. Like, it's as if the narrative is just a living force REFUSING to let James and Cordelia as a ship be consecrated. Heck, every time Matthew is scantily clothed Cordelia notes it. LITTLE CRUMBS I TELL YOU LITTLE CRUMBS.

I tell you when Cordelia showed up to Matthew's flat I thought they were gonna f*ck as friends but I got SOMETHING EVEN BETTER SOMEHOW

THEY ARE GOING TO PARIS LA BELLE EPOQUE PARIS THE PARIS OF DREAMS AND ART LIKE??? FRICKKKKK I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING AT ALLLL MAN? I deadass thought the story would be restrained to the UK but like it MAKES SENSE the trope subversion MAKES SENSE.

“In Paris, with you, I will not need to forget.” SHITTRGEGGGDG

BUT CORDELIA LOVES JAMES TOO LIKE I CAN'T DENY THAT... where are we GOING with this like Matthew wouldn't lie about his feelings and yet Cassie wouldn't give us Matthew and Cordelia crumbs to only end it in the next book immediately for her to just ditch him for James. I mean she was clearly holding back on fleshing out James and Cordelia as a ship for this but to WHAT END??? Daisy feels wild and free with Matthew and she feels warm at home warm with James. I can’t advocate for the sinking of ANY ship here.

Imma say what we're all thinking: Is she gonna give us a Will x Jem x Tessa type situation where Cordelia gets both of them cus I'm not strong enough for this but I also think it'd be really funny if James gets a surprise bi awakening in the next books and then we get POLY even tho this would never happen, it’s actually impossible, because of the whole parabatai thing.

Listen I ship Cordelia and Matthew much more than Cordelia and James, not that I dislike James in any way tho. It's just: Matthew is so unrestrained and she's so composed. They seem like an unlikely pair so it makes sense that they hit harder for me. James and Cordelia have such similar personalities but I ALSO don't ship James with Grace at all so like?? Poly would be... ideal... but it can’t happen especially cus they are fricking parabatai... a Will-Jem-Tessa situation seems more likely but mannnn ion know what to expect. I just want FAIRSTAIRS to have their moment in Paris. I mean James and Matthew clearly don't abhor each other for this.

Take everything I say with several grains of salt, take everything I say with the whole Dead Sea actually, cus I damn well know that Matthew is so flirty and whatnot that I’d have shipped him with anyone in their little circle but now that she set him up with Cordelia it all feels so right?? I have wanted this man in a good relationship since he walked onto the page in Nothing But Shadows so-

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I can't believe Cassia duped me like this omg, Matthew is gonna have his healing arc in Paris with Cordelia by his side like- THIS IS ALL I HAVE WANTED AND SO MUCH MORE. Question to yall btw: are you all as surpised at Fairstairs as me or did yall see it coming all along like smart people? Am I a lone clown? 🥺

BRUH okay criticisms of CC?:

Lmfao a part of me feels like I GOTTA say something bad about CC or the book but honestly I have no objective complaints about it as of now. Am I saying that it’s the PEAK of Young Adult literature and Urban Fantasy? I mean, I make no such claims tbh. I’m not here to be critical when I read as a hobby and when CC’s writing makes me happy regardless of how flawed some people see it.

Okay what next?

So like I’m excited for the adult high fantasy she’s releasing in the fall and whatever other works she might be releasing outside of Chain of Gold within the Chronicles.

As for TLH itself? Man I’m just VIBING like I suspect I will reread Chain of Iron soon and maybe one of the anthologies just because I am happy that this series actually happened after me waiting like 6 years for it when it was just a concept: a Dickensian retelling filled with poetry and culture and history and the conventions I so loved in TID at age 12. This is all I been wanting tbh. I’m just enjoying watching this series come to fruition for it to inspire and transform me in some way. I feel like in a way my coming-of-age aligns with that of these specific characters yet I ALSO feel like I raised Jamie since infancy. Wack.

MATTHEW AND CORDELIA IN FRANCE LA BELLE EPOQUE TO BE EXACT IMMA CRY I DID NOT SEE THIS COMING AND AHHHHHH. ALSO WILL AND JAMIE GOING TO CORNWALL TO GET LUCIE AND MAYBE BOND I LOVE WILL. HE WAS ONE OF MY DILF AWAKENINGS AT AGE 12 AND NOW HE’S HERE AGAIN IMMA CRY. I WANNA SEE MATTHEW GET HAPPY. AHHH.

Ending with a fun quote: “In the wise words of someone or other, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy, Maurice.” 😉

#the last hours #the shadowhuter chronicles #shadowhunters #will herondale #james herondale #cordelia carstairs #fairstairs #matthew fairchild #grace blackthorn #wessa #jessa #chain of iron spoilers #chain of gold #chain of iron #the infernal devices #ya books #books and literature #books #book lover #cassandra clare #cassie clare #tts fandom #book review #james x cordelia #chain of thorns #jordelia

[anika-ann]

What I’d Never Say or Do (Had I Been in My Right Mind) - Pt.1

We Both Break Free (…if We Make It on Top)

Type: series, soulmate AU series  (part 1, part 2, part 3)  

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count (Ch1): 2050

Series summary: A story in which you officially come back from the dead, Tony with Natasha decide to take the blame for the whole mess and organize a party with unexpected party crashers and Bucky should consider thinking before speaking.

Fic title applicable to Tony, Natasha, Steve and his soulmate (aka the Reader), Bucky and his sort-of-buddy Matt Murdock and possibly few more.

Ch.1 summary.: In which Natasha and Tony go mad.

A/N: This series will be just a smaller thing, snippets set around The Age of Ultron (and later, Endgame). Later will be referred to as WINSoD because the title is a monster.

Warnings (ch1): mention of death and resurrection, mention of superntural creatures (see Errare Humanum Est), language, fluff

༻༺༻༺༻ღ༺༻༺༻༺

Tony Stark was a ridiculously theatrical person.

While that was no news to anyone who knew as much as his name at least, but he still managed to outlive the legend, the reputation that preceded him.

He left you standing by the door, walked in to gain the undivided attention of the person inside the office and wanted you to reveal yourself in the exact right moment – a moment he trusted you to recognize.

Well. You assumed with a revelation like yours, it was rather hard to keep the drama away. But leave it to Tony Stark that he would blow it to proportion just to have fun.

“Tamara, darling!” the billionaire howled, the door opened only for a crack, so you could hear the reaction. You rolled your eyes, sighed and nervously looked around. The department was empty safe for the woman in the office, but it still made you feel uneasy; probably the effect of having to hide for the past weeks to avoid detection that could lead to a major scandal.

“Oh god, what happened?” Tamara asked, sounding as horrified as annoyed.

“Why do you assume— okay, that’s fair. How’s you hubby doing?”

“Alright,” the poor woman answered, clearly suspicious. “I more or less cleaned up the latest mess, so I’ve been coming home early…”

“Yeeeeah, about that. I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?” Tony offered cheerily.

“Bad news. Always. Let me just sit down-- no, no, don’t let me sit down, I have a feeling I’ll wanna pace irritably.”

That caused the corners of your lips to turn up. You were starting to like this woman already.

“I’m gonna need you to deal with a major scandal worthy of your skills.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere and I assumed as much.” Now you officially loved her – and you saw why Tony did too. Sass and snark; Tony’s language. “So, care to elaborate?”

“Nah, I’ll give you the good news. You’re gonna get some help. I brought reinforcements. She doesn’t have much experience with PR-” Try none. “-but I’m pretty sure she’ll be the one all the questions will be aimed at.”

“Oh my god, Anthony, did you get a woman pregnant?!” the woman hissed, not bothering lowering her voice. She sounded… kinda pissed. Which was reasonable, given the fact Tony Stark was happily-not-single with one amazing Pepper Potts.

“What? No! I have Pepper!” he opposed her, having the nerve to be offended. You smirked, hoping Jarvis caught that one line too. “This is all on Capsicle-“

“Captain Rogers got a woman pregnant?! What the-“

You felt like this was the moment.

“No, Mrs…. Tamara,” you said it the end, realizing Tony never told you the poor woman’s last name, and entered the room. “But his soulmate sort of came back from the death.”

Tamara was a middle-aged woman, with blonde medium-length hair and huge majestic glasses, business suit in a bloody-red colour and lips perfectly shaped in an “O” as you demonstrated the problem at hand.

“Holy. Shit.”

Leave it to Tony Stark he would flee the moment an actual explanation was needed, letting the others deal with the aftermath of his dramatic tendencies. To be fair, this was more of your drama, so…

“Good. Looks like introductions are not needed. I’ll send you the necessary data. Have fun.”

He strode through the door, winking over his shoulder at you and sending an air kiss to Tamara and you nervously smiled at the woman, your awkward side showing when you raised your hand to a reluctant wave before you could realize a handshake would be more appropriate.

“Uhm. Hi…”

The blonde blinked several times, shook her head with an incredulous chuckle and stuck out her hand.

“Hi. I’m Tamara, Antony Stark’s cleaning service. What can I do for you?”

Oh yeah. You’d get along just fine.

…

The story was simple and yet enough to make at least two Avengers very much hated.

Tony and Natasha, perhaps from some residual guilt of which you weren’t sure where was coming from, were determined to be thrown to the wolves of public.

Apparently, it had been all their idea – to have Steve and you kidnapped in the first place by the bomb enthusiast psycho. They had caught something fishy, been aware of it for a long time and opted for drawing the something rotten within SHIELD and company out by leaking early info on where you and Steve would be going to dates for several nights in a row without your or Steve’s knowledge. Perfect bait with nearly perfect surveillance background and safety measures.

Predictably, it had gone to shit and while you had never been blown up to death, which was something Steve had had zero clue about, you had been recovering from your life-threatening injuries for weeks in a hidden facility of top-secret location with way too much security. Still without Captain America’s knowledge.

Admittedly, this tale was a PR nightmare in making, not to mention a complete bullshit. Yet, the Avengers (sans Steve so far) unanimously approved of it. Tony and Natasha would be the first to blame, while the rest would reluctantly admit they knew as well and they had all kept it from Steve.

“You can’t be serious,” was all you managed to come up with, Steve sitting on the couch next to you while the rest of the team, the part that was momentarily on Earth, gathered around you to break you the news. This was what they came up with? “People will hate you.”

“And their hearts would still bleed for their golden boy, who would forgive us in time, especially since we offered his girl a job and an apartment she can’t quite refuse.”

“Wait, what kind of a job?!” Steve snapped, waking up from the deep thoughts he had fallen into with this stupid talk.

“The non-dangerous kind, Steve, calm down, please,” Natasha cooled him off flatly, but you could see her sincere gaze when it met with Steve’s. We wouldn’t endanger her, not again, it whispered. Steve’s shoulders slumped.

“What kind of a job?” you echoed, still worried. You assumed the apartment Tony mentioned was a place in the Tower, not bothering to ask about that part.

“PR. Unless you want to deal with your old job of which I have no doubt your best buddy would give back. I’d just like to remind you how the public reacted to you dying.”

Right. You wouldn’t mind a little privacy and safe space. You liked your old job, but it didn’t seem like an option now. Except… this was crazy.

“But they will still hate you. It makes you guys terrible friends and teammates. Frankly, it makes you kind of… terrible people,” you said slowly, taking time to examine everyone’s face.

“She’s got a point,” Steve agreed, wheels in his head clearly turning in a lightning speed.

“Meh. You should know what Fury’s up to during his ‘the end justifies the means’ periods – which is non-stop. I wouldn’t worry about that,” Natasha shrugged it off, pursing her lips a bit.

“Wasn’t it you who said you weren’t sure how to get her back to the world without having to explain she was literally led by an angel from Heaven?” Clint reacted to Steve, who sighed.

“Yes, of course, but this-“

“-is perfectly believable,” Natasha interrupted him, raising an eyebrow before beckoning to Tony and herself. “Me and Tony came up with the operation – a spy and a billionaire with questionable conscience. We pulled the rest of the team into the charade. This can work.”

“I can’t say I’ll enjoy this,” Bruce entered the conversation for the first time, surprising everyone. “However, it will allow you to walk the streets freely – with uncomfortable questions, yes, but it is a reasonable deal for us.”

“Steve? Thoughts?” the spy turned to him again.

Your soulmate observed his team for a long time, just like you, watching each of them individually, trying to read them as he himself was conflicted and undecisive. Finally, his eyes settled on you, a hint of an encouraging smile on his lips.

“Doll? How do you feel about that?”

The softness of his voice, the actual freedom he gave you when it came to this decision warmed your heart and made you shudder at the same time. You had no doubt he had come to a decision; but the final step was on you and you only. He would be affected too, of course, but this was your life that could turn upside down for like… what, the third time since you had met him?

You worried your teeth over your lower lip. “I mean… I’d really appreciate not having to hide in here all the time, but… I don’t want people to hate you, guys. I feel like I caused enough problems-“

“No, doll,” Steve whispered, his hand covering yours and squeezing firmly as he locked his gaze with yours and didn’t let go. “I’m not asking about them. I’m asking about you. They are clearly willing to do this.”

“Are you?” you questioned despite being confident about his answer.

“Do I love you?”

That caught you off guard. “Huh? That’s not what I-…?”

What did that even mean? Did he love— come again? How was this about his feelings towards you all of sudden? Was it time to question them? God, you hoped NOT.

“That the newest version of asking whether the sky is blue, doll,” he explained with a lop-sided smile and you released a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding.

Idiot. Sap. Sweet-talker.

“You’re such a sap.”

“You love it,” he hummed confidently. You smiled despite your better judgement. You loved him. And yeah, you loved this silliness too.

“I do.”

“So… are we doing this? Together?” His smiled grew a little wider, the twinkle you adored appearing in his eyes and you couldn’t but squeeze his hand back.

“Yeah. Together.”

“Jarvis, send Dum-E with some insulin shots,” Tony cleared his throat and you felt your cheek dust with a blush, roughly pulled out of the haze Steve managed to put you in once again. “We’re all having unhealthy sugar rush.”

The captain rolled his eyes. “Har, har, Stark. Are you guys really okay with this?”

Clint huffed. “It’s not like people will start planning our assassination more than they do already.”

“Tamara might,” Natasha opposed, amused.

“Ah, poor Tamara, I better bring a wine with me when asking…” Tony mused, scratching his goatee.

You turned to the red-head spy, not happy about being out of the loop.

“Who’s Tamara?”

Tamara, the head of the PR department for Tony (and sometimes for the Avengers too, because those two clients, so to speak, often came as a package deal), was currently starring at you speechless when you told her the tale of what actually happened and what lie they had decided to feed the public.

The silence lasted long enough for you to start worrying.

“Are you alri-“

“Angels are real?!” she burst out, nearly making you jump out of your skin with the sudden exclaim. You placed your palm over your chest to keep your racing heart inside your ribcage.

“…yes. But so are demons, shapeshifters, witches and so on, so…”

“Not a good thing to go public with. Got it. I understand the cover-up now. Though people being able to be resurrected would be enough on its own even without the… creatures. My my… we have a lot of work to do.”

“I’d imagine,” you agreed, not having a clue how to do this and where to start.

The woman looked at you over the rim of her glasses, her smile kind, in the Stark contrast to her loud cry only few second ago.

“…you don’t have any experience with PR at all, do you?”

“Nope,” you admitted, accenting the P and looking away, ashamed that Tony threw you into this without giving you anything helpful.

Now Tamara had to deal with the scandal and with you trying to help. That woman was worthy of some serious pay raise (though you had no doubt Tony paid her enough for her to own a villa or something, exactly as much as she deserved for dealing with his shit).

“I’m gonna kill Anthony, I swear…. Okay,  let’s get this shit on the road. Also, Jarvis? Tell Antony to get the freakin’ wine ASAP.”

Oh yeah. You would actually adore Tamara, you were sure of it.

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Part 2

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Here we go! The final part of the series. Admittedly, I’m not sure about quality of this thing, but I’m trying.

Chapter titles are taken from the chorus of Les Friction’s What You Need

Thank you for reading ♥

(I’ll be tagging my Errare Humanum Est taggies, if you don’t want ot be taggged anymore, let me know)

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