#i wanted a fire motif through it but i am not great at that so it's.. there

[whickerfurniture]

.· 👫 — 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆／𝑫𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒆 . · au where they live in the same town somehow idc i know donnie isn't from americana but i need my corny good girl x bad boy ship please

Arsonist's Lullabye by Hozier

July by Noah Cyrus

Absolutely none of this has been approved by Ella first so take it all with the biggest grain of salt imaginable and strap in for 900 words of nothing at all

i.

Catherine takes one look at Donovan Marshall and knows everything she needs to know about him. One look was all she needed to know he would leave her heartbroken, if he was given the chance. He would be no good for her, no good at all. A boy like that doesn't change, no matter how much you love him, and he will drag you down with him. He will laugh as he drags you both to hell. Catherine only needs that one look, and yet she doesn't stop looking at him. He catches her attention from her peripheral vision, and like an open flame, she cannot help but stare. Her friends tease her for it, when they finally notice, but Catherine takes it all in stride. He's handsome, she admits. She can look, without it meaning anything.

Her family aren't exactly religious, but she was raised with a healthy amount of respect for Christianity. Something about his use of the occult feels almost scandalous, in a way that makes her heart race. She wishes she was brave enough to follow him into it. Because wouldn't that just piss her parents off, more than anything else? If she ruined their perfect image by showing up to school with a pentagram on her shirt, or carved the anarchy symbol into her desk. They'd be called, from whatever stupid holiday they were on, and be forced to pay attention, then. She wonders if just being close to him would be enough, like it could rub off onto her.

She hears from more than half the girls in the school that he's no good, that his odd charm brings nothing but bad luck. There is nothing Catherine wants more, than something people tell her she shouldn't have.

ii.

The first time Catherine actually talks to him, she makes a fool of herself. She's a step behind him the whole conversation, on the back foot, defensive. He flirts with her, but she knows it means nothing. She likes it anyway. She thought she was better than this, better than other girls. She thought she was better than to be wooed by a guy who probably didn't even know her name. He gives her a lazy smile, and her knees go weak. In her limited experience, she'd never felt anything quite like it. Like sitting at the top of the rollercoaster, and waiting for the drop. She talks too loud and too fast, and she can't help herself. She doesn't even know why, in truth. From everything she'd heard, getting Donnie's attention wasn't hard, the trouble was keeping it. And she didn't really want to keep him, she told herself. He was nothing but trouble. But, it was the cliché, for her to go for the bad boy. To have the story in her back pocket, something she could take out and reminisce over when she was middle aged, with a kid of her own. She takes a breath, and maybe a drink, and tries again. Because he might be insane, but he also seemed fun, in a way that not many people in her town were. And sometimes, the story was worth it.

iii.

She watches him carve his initials into a tree with a knife she definitely didn't know he had. Maybe she should feel put-off by that fact. It certainly wasn't a green flag, that he had hidden weapons. But maybe she was just naïve. Maybe she should have expected it. A person with a bone collection probably wasn't completely stable, and this was what she signed up for. Besides, he didn't threaten her with it, or make her feel like she should be threatened, as low as the bar was. So, she rolls with it. So what, he's got a knife. So what, he made a joke about bombs that didn't really sound like he was joking. That was just who he was, and Catherine had to accept that, if she wanted to be around him.

He teaches her to shoot a gun, and she's never felt more alive in her life. She hold in her hands the power to take someone's life. Sure, she didn't hit the can even once, but she tried. She felt the recoil up her arm and into her shoulder, and the ache is delicious. She turns to him and smiles wildly. She finds out holding the gun and holding Donnie don't feel different at all.

iv.

When they do inevitably crash and burn, Catherine pretends it doesn't bother her. She knows she drove him away. She was too much, she always was. He needed more, and less, than her. It was her fault, and she wanted nothing more than to go back and do it all again. She jokes with her friends that no good comes from fucking someone like Donnie, and she means no good at all. She reduces it to just sex, she minimises the pain he caused. She pretends that he didn't get under her skin, and that part of him still didn't live there.

She writes down all her feelings, just to purge them from her system, but looking at the notebook makes her feel ill. She sneaks out one night, and goes into the woods, and burns it. She watches the flames eat away at the paper, and pretends its cleansing her as well. Pretends it's burning away his touch. Then, like she's in a trance, she reaches out to touch it. She burns her palm, an awful, blistering wound. She cleans and wraps it at home, and tells people she burned it making tea. She hates tea. She picks at the wound, every time she thinks of him, until hearing his name causes her pain. She will train herself out of wanting him, at the expense of her health.

She knew from the first look Donnie would be bad for her, she just hadn't expected to like watching him ruin her.

#this is very bad and was not edited even though it definitely needs it tbh #⌞i have seen them fall⌟ catherine forsyth #i wanted a fire motif through it but i am not great at that so it's.. there #⌞try to talk refined for fear that you find out how I'm imaginin' you⌟ catherine + donnie

[thethiefandtheairbender]

I think the biggest difference for me between projects (like to be clear I think NATLA is not good as an adaptation or a show, and I think the PJO tv show works as an adaptation and a show) is something that feels so basic, but shocked me when it clicked, which is that

NATLA has no actual visual storytelling going on

Which sounds ridiculous, but let me explain what I mean. "Visual storytelling" is how you communicate aspects of character or relationship through visual framing, parallels, that kind of thing, usually to indicate progression or a character's viewpoint. Many people have noticed that NATLA's cinematography leaves much to be desired, there are some shots that are good particularly in episode 6 (the Zuko transition shots between past and present, and one of the ending shots between him and Aang) but that's by and large the exception.

What I mean when I say "visual storytelling" is that NATLA doesn't have visual motifs. It doesn't really have parallels happening that much in the text or in the visuals. And this is something that ATLA did really, really well, all the time, particularly with Zuko's scar. Just take this framing of Zuko and Aang, in particular, from The Storm and The Blue Spirit.

They even have consistent colour tones of Aang having a warmer, lighter yellow (Air Nomad) and Zuko having a darker, deeper red (Fire Nation).

And this is something I think Percy Jackson does pretty well. They have consistent motifs / descriptions if it were, particularly when it comes to Percy and Annabeth's relationship and her character.

Percy: [Choosing Annabeth] And if the mission required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed, you want someone who won't hesitate when they do it.

Percy: [literally pushes her down the stairs but to save her life]

Ares: You're new to the family, young one, so let me fill you in on how we work. [...] Olympians fight. We betray. We backstab. We will push anyone down a flight of stairs to get ahead. Annabeth: This isn't the Arch, Seaweed Brain. You're not pushing me into the stairwell aagain. Percy: Yes I am! [...] It's why you're here. When I was choosing my team, I told Chiron I needed someone who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice me if the quest required it. He agreed. That was you. [...] You're better at this than me. You just are.

Annabeth: [Refusing to get back in Athena's good graces] It isn't how it should be! It isn't. Eat or be eaten [referencing the Kronos story Ares said earlier]. Power and glory and nothing else matters. Ares is that way. Zeus is that way. My mother is that way. He isn't that way. He's better than that. Maybe I was that way once. But I don't wanna be that way anymore. I won't be like all of you. I just won't.

But we also see this visually.

And to be clear I think it's well done, I'm not saying this kind of thing is a Masterpiece™ but what I am saying is that if you do these things, it's a great way to convey information to your audience visually and a sense of progress both in individual characterization and relationship development. And it just makes sense to lean on things visually if you're a visual medium, because prose can't do framing like this to the same degree.

And NATLA just... never does it. There's almost no real parallels, there's very little framing happening, and the even more intense overload of exposition does not help matters in this way either. The original series had a lot of parallels steadily built up (i.e. Aang's presence in the SWT and Sokka's plotline in Jet -- hell, even some of the lines he gets at Roku's Fire Sage temple -- were to show how Sokka was moving away from a more xenophobic worldview even if it was still a work in progress). There were also more overt ones, such as Sokka dressing himself for battle versus Zuko having guards/servants do it for him, but both ultimately tether the two together into having to put on a performance of confidence, manhood, and war more so than being the children they actually are.

And NATLA just has... no real visual parallels. The closest we get is the parallels between Sokka-Yue, Tui and La, and Kataang in the finale, but that's about it.

There's not a lot of scenes where a character is presented the chance to make a similar choice only to then make a different one. Even Aang wanting to go to the NWT to make a difference is muted because he never actually ran away in the first place; when you rip away character flaws or mistakes, you also gut their room for growth. When you strip away visual storytelling, it means that what you see on screen is a 1:1 of exactly what you're getting, and that is just a lot more Boring to watch as well as gutting your chances to show more character exposition. And it's just - it's just not good

#natla critical #natla #pjo tv show #the one that kills me the most is when hahn is like 'you have something the rest of us don't [in fighting the FN]: experience' #and it's like. sokka has not fought zuko or barely any firebenders since the pilot #the only other time his fighting skills got developed was with suki. also at the beginning #he has not done basically anything since then warrior wise. nvm with the fire nation directly #analysis series #analysis #sincerely a very tired nb english major #pjo

[wannab-urs]

The Spreadsheet Digest - Vol 16

Howdy folks,

I went into a state of psychosis this week and read a truly absurd amount of fics... again. I don't even know where I'm finding the time, truly, but here we are. I didn't spend as much time keeping up with the WIPs I'm reading, so honestly that's probably it. Also I had a lil monsterfucking moment one day this week. I'll highlight those green so if you want to avoid reading the summaries/thots on those they're easy to spot.

You can find my Spreadsheet here and all my previous recs here! Do feel free to tag me in your works and I will happily give them a look and most likely you'll see them here the next week!

Recs below the behind the scenes Joel!

SNAFU - a Frankie series by @theywhowriteandknowthings

The Triple Frontier boys as Shifters!!! This honestly makes so much sense? Like they work SO well with this dynamic. I adore Pope and Reader's bond like right out of the gate. What I really, really fucking loved though was Reader and Frankie, of course. I love how they characterized him and I really love the way that Frankie and reader bonded over time. Frankie being grumpy is so fun lol. A lot of the little details in this fic are what really make it good, ya know? The pack dynamics, the bonding moments, the badass reader, reader's uhhh issue (spoiler, I think, so I'll be quiet here) but yeah. Just. Wonderful. Can't wait for more.

only daddy that'll walk the line - a Joel one shot by @millerscoffee

So this request was sent to two different blogs and I read them both and loved them both. I read this one first. I really fucking loved Reader's dynamic with Joel in this. Joel is such a dick lmao. I thought the situation with reader's dad was done well and I also loved the hinting at Joel's trauma. And of course... the smut. God that was hot. Joel is so fucking dominant. The spitting? please. and Reader keeping up the brat thing just really fucking makes it. She needed Daddy Joel to make her behave lmao. SO GOOD

Little Bee - a Joel one shot by @atticrissfinch

And this is the other version of this request that I read. I related to the specifc brand of Daddy Issues in this one lmao. Dad who doesn't want you so you look for a protective older man (why am I like this). I loved the way reader antagonized Joel in this. The denture comment is hilarious. The bee motif is fuckin great, also. I like that Joel kind of initiates things in the mess hall. The smut is so god damn hot man. Like jesus fucking christ. And then the post nut clarity really made me giggle. "should not have done that" PLS

Closer - a Joel series by @beardedjoel

Hot neighbor!joel!! This is a smut marathon style fic with a good bit of feelings. The smut is sooooo good!! I really liked her friend Sofia too. I'm about halfway through this and I can't wait to see how reader and joel's relationship develops!

Rises the Moon - a Joel one shot by @psychedelic-ink

(monsterfucking, but you're the monster! also monster is being used very loosely here) mermaid reader x lighthouse operator joel!!! I really enjoyed this. The mermaid reader was super interesting. I wanted to know more about her background, honestly. And the way poor lonely Joel so desperately wanted to care for her UGH. It was seriously lovely. I also really liked how reader didn't commit to like... giving up being a mermaid for him (even just once a month), and he didn't ask her to. The ending is really lovely. (And the smut is hot idc if I couldn't quite imagine how it worked, it was perfect).

Playing with fire - a Joel one shot by @beskarandblasters

Super hot smutty lil dad's best friend one shot. I love when Joel gets all pissy. Makes me want to tease him even more lmao

Cupid's Chokehold - a Din one shot by @deathwife

I haven't read a body swap fic before and I must say the dynamic with it being Din, so reader can't see his face even though it's her face, and also the smut was just like... really good. I was fascinated the whole time + the smut was hot as hell. It's really fun to read it from the perspective of the dick owner lmao. I really adored their relationship and just overall thought this was lovely. Reader calls Din "Djarin" so if you're like me and marrying Din would give you an awful name (Din Gin....), you're not alone. <3

I think i know - a Joel one shot by @pascalisbaby

OMG Reader's sister is so mean in this she fucking deserves Joel cheating on her. Yes this is Sister's Husband!Joel. And yes it's really fucking hot. Reader is a menace to fucking society in this prancing around half naked and seducing a married man and I support every second of it. I know what Joel said at the end but I think he'll be back for more....

close your eyes, pay the price for your paradise - a Joel/Tommy series by @ozarkthedog

Raider (?) Tommy and Joel are so fucking hot. Read the warnings on this one kids, it's gonna be a rough one. Nothing happens in this part though, really. Basically you're stranded on the road (post outbreak / pre tess) and Joel and Tommy roll up in their truck and take you to their cabin.

a day in the filth - a Joel one shot by @toxicanonymity

This is pure filth, as the title implies. It would seem you're Joel's little sex toy, essentially. Brat tamer!Daddy!Joel. There's a lot going on here and it is all unreasonably hot.

Bodily Exchange - a Pero Tovar one shot by @absurdthirst

I finally caved a read a mafia fic and somehow it wasn't Joel. I really loved how much of a fucking dick Tovar was and how bratty reader was. The end was so much sweeter than expected, which was a nice surprise. Such a filthy fic with a sweet happy ending!

New York or Nowhere - a Joel series by @beskarandblasters

BODEGA JOEL!!! I love when you're trying to help your friend come up with a fic based on a very specific request and somehow you come up with a completely different fic altogether. New York transplant Joel owns Beldro's Deli. You think he's really hot but your friends think he's a creep. I personally think if he's a little bit of a creep that just makes it better, but then again I'm a little insane <3

Shiver and Shake - a Joel one shot by @multiversed-daydreamer

I have ADHD and literally do the thing where I have thought spirals during sex. I loved this take on that experience and mean ol dom Joel being there to bring your focus back where it belongs (on him). Super fucking hot ugh. And it was their first TLOU fic and I thought the QZ Joel characterization was spot on <3

Roads - a Joel series by @milla-frenchy

Baby's first fic!! So you grew up with Tommy, best friends and all that. You get to know Joel as an adult and there's a spark right away. The first installment here takes place 3 years before present day, after Joel breaks your heart and you literally move to get away from him. The promise of so much angst has me salivating almost as much as the really hot smut.

Promise - an Ezra one shot by @criticallyacclaimedstranger

MONSTERFUCKING! I had a little binge this week.. you'll see. Anyway Ezra is a literal actual dragon in this with a big ol dragon dick and everything. This fic includes so many wild ass kinks I simply do not (or did not know I?) have. And yet I still loved it. Thought it was super fucking hot. I really liked the imagery of the castle and the bedroom. Also the end was kind of sweet?

Common Courtesies - a Din one shot by @juletheghoul

More monsterfucking -- demon!din! I fucking love Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen in general. Mr. Darcy is one of the literary loves of my life. This little Pride and Prejudice-esque Demon!Din fic hit every mark. I loved it so much. Din is so charming and mysterious and sexy ugh. I would marry him in a heartbeat.

Solum - a Dave York one shot by @ezrasbirdie

You guessed it! Monsterfucking. Demon!Dave York!!! I really enjoyed the blending of the movie plot with the demon arc! It was so well done!! Dave was super sexy in this ugh. I too feel a strange pull toward extremely dangerous men covered in blood. Reader gets me. I am her. She is me. Demon!Dave can take me as his little human sex toy any day, idc. I also kind of loved that he was so sweet on Carol in this? Like usually in Dave fics he kinda hates her or cheats on her or she's his ex, but in this one the whole catalyst was keeping her and his girls safe. Very sweet.

Sell My Soul For You - a Marcus P one shot by @absurdthirst

--monsterfucking-- Marcus is so sweet. So sweet that Reader is getting a little aggravated he can't be a less sweet in bed. (Girl have you tried like... talking to him about it?) Anyway, sweet, impulsive, reckless Marcus finds out you feel this way via buttdial and does he like... work on it with you and slowly learn to be better? No. He goes out and sells his soul to a demon to be a better Dom. Idiot. He's cute tho, so I'll let it slide. The smut is super fucking unreasonably hot, of course.

Bad Moon Rising - a Jack series by @wardenparker

--werewolf!Jack-- This fic is actually so fucking sweet!! So part one, Reader doesn't know Jack is a werewolf and he just kinda shows up on her ranch and they hit it off immediately. There's lots of lovely animal references and stuff and it's all really hot. I love the plot too!! this is not just werewolf porn! Shit is incredible! I love the characterization. But anyway if you're not into monsterfucking just read part one. Part two tho... oh boy. Full on werewolf sex. And reader has a kink for it! She's just like me fr.

Kudzu - an Ezra one shot by @beskarberry

--weird alien hybrid ezra-- I have lots of emotions about this fic. First of all, read the warnings. They're extensive and they're there for good reason. I love a good horror fic, which is kind of what this felt like? Like the weird tension and unknowing and the freaky way Ez is talking and that arm. I was thoroughly freaked out (and I love that!!). There were so many clever and interesting things going on in this fic AHHHH, Oh and the ending is just like super sweet and wonderful and so good? The end balances out the kind of horrific nature of the rest of the fic. Also if any of that sounds insulting I really don't mean it that way, I promise. I went in to it expecting to be freaked out and it delivered so well.

Yes Father - a Joel series by @chloeangelic

Your boring catholic husband doesn't fuck you right and you really want to leave him, so Father Joel helps you satisfy your needs so you don't destroy your marriage and go to hell. I love blasphemy. It's hot idc. I think my favorite thing about it is Father Joel randomly admonishing you for foul language and taking the lord's name in vain while he's literally got some part of his body buried in yours. I giggled. I really adore this. It was super fun and super hot.

Pillow Talk - a Joel one shot by @theboredinsomniac

Joel is soooo the jealous type. This fic is basically y'all having an adult conversation about him being an insecure jealous little bitch and it's got the most adorable ending.

Born to Run - a Marcus Pike series by @whataperfectwasteoftime

Penny's Marcus is just perfect. Every damn time. Unless I'm mistaken, this was her first Marcus fic? I was in the mood for a sweet multichapter thing with some hot smut and I was sooooo not disappointed by this. I'm on chapter 8 now, so about halfway through. Marcus is so sweet and precious and still impulsive as ever, but unlike Theresa, reader is right there with him. I really adore that this fic takes place in KY (and it really captures the vibe of Kentucky too) since I'm from there! I very much do not relate to the fact that reader is a marathon runner, but that's okay. I think it's really cool and I love the way they meet and that Marcus isn't fully a white knight? She can take care of herself. Super fucking cute fic ugh. Oh yeah and the smut is to die for jesus christ Marcus is hot.

----------------------

Happy Reading!

#fic recs #the spreadsheet digest #fanfiction recommendations #pedro pascal #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro fics #pedro pascal character fanfiction

[bonefall]

Nature spirit Star flower? Bleeding Clear Sky dry eight times over? I am curious please explain more

Here's the general idea of it, this would all come after the end of BB!DOTC, which closes out with the aftermath of the First Battle and the naming of Windstar, Riverstar, Thunderstar, Shadowstar, and Skystar.

NOTE: You're basically about to read notes. This is not solidified yet. I have "Moments" I want to build towards, but they're loosely strung together. Fragments.

First off, Hollyleaf's Century gave us the intro to the Four Gods of this region.

They go by many names, but each is connected to a season. Sol, Midnight, Rock, and the man of the hour himself, One Eye, God of Summer.

One Eye was last seen possessing Lion's Roar. It's established that you need a certain number of violent, blood-based sacrifices to invoke him.

And, of course, he is drawn to the smell of death, the reek of rot in the summer's sun. The First Battle called him here, investigating the wonderful scent.

Star Flower is his 'daughter'. Natural objects of great value can manifest into beings of their own once destroyed, and Star Flower was an extinct, localized species of forest flower back at the Lake.

Still working out the exact rules of that, but it seems like nature spirits do have to be born somehow (like Broken to Yellow). One Eye found her in his travels and took her under his wing.

So anyway back to the arrival of One Eye in the Clans

(WIP STUFF, basically put a bunch of ???s past this point, this is plotting stuff.)

He is currently still possessing the body of Lion's Roar, an old and ragged thing. He's not fancy like Sol, who likes to travel around through time with its change powers.

One Eye took a shine to Clear Sky and his warmongering, infiltrating his group, and eventually making his nature known by eating Tom

He has a palette for violent people and accumulated evil. He will promise you 'revenge' to get at your enemy and make you into a delicious meal as well.

Skystar is NEVER getting a redemption arc in BB!DOTC, but he's not a moron either. He realizes that Sharptooth is practically trying to season him, and the horrifying death of Tom is what makes him work with the other Clans

to save his own giblets

Thunderstar Did Not Like That, but there's a bigger fish to fry

(Side note: One Eye was probably deified long ago for being the inventor of fire... vague cooking motif, perhaps?)

The Clans worked together to get rid of One Eye. It's important that the person who landed the final blow was a Tribe-born cat-- probably Sun Shadow.

One Eye vows revenge on his killer's homeland as he dies... not realizing that Sun Shadow was not born here, he was born at the tribe.

(May shuffle this moment to later, you'll see why in a moment)

Star Flower at this moment begins her own work, buddying up close to Skystar, getting close to him so she can stab him in the back

And she does! She drags him to the place where One Eye was buried, and bleeds him slowly, exploiting his 9 lives with a horrible magic loophole;

If he dies of blood loss, StarClan heals THAT, not any of the tiny injuries she's put on his body.

So he's letting out 8x the blood of a normal cat.

But before he can die for the last time, she is interrupted, probably by Thunderstar

She offers him this; "Go on! Take the last sacrifice! One Eye will be grateful to you. You'll get what you want, have your revenge, and Skystar will never threaten you or your family ever again."

Seeing Skystar, pitiful, bloody, and helpless, he refuses this. This wouldn't be honorable. To kill to win his feud is not justice; it's revenge.

(Here's when I was thinking of shuffling that earlier Sun Shadow moment to, have the resurrection be incomplete and have a final fight of partially-summoned One Eye. Angrily lays that curse for having his plan thwarted. Boss fight against half-fossilized cave lion.)

After this, I'm not sure what to do with Star Flower. She just killed Skystar 8 times, so, SkyClan isn't going to take her back.

I could have her be wandering, a loner or rogue who is just part of the background now. Maybe I don't need to wrap it all up here just yet.

So, there you have it! This is pretty rough but it's where I'm at with her.

Since this is post-main arc DOTC, it may make for a very good redux of Thunderstar's Echo. Maybe Thunderstar's Justice? Something like that. Make the central conceit be Thunderstar vs Skystar, wrapping up their arc from the main series.

#I'll tag as Thunderstar's Justice until I decide on a name #Thunderstar's Summoning or Ritual could be a good one too though and a unique title #BB!DOTC #Better Bones au

[canyouhearthevoices]

BOUNCY MV First Reactions

COWBOY COMEBACK!

Thank you KQ for releasing this in the middle of my work day... :/

I have to say, I love that they used a different aspect ratio for the MV - it’s another example of ATEEZ’s unique use of the screen itself (another one being when the robot arms come out of the video in WONDERLAND).

I’m in love with the MV. For starters, Gothic pirate cowboys. And then we have blue-hair Hongjoong making a return. And then we have the funky vibes of the song itself. And, of course, epic ATEEZ choreo. And then there’s the use of film grain, and the increased budget they have, and how they integrate elements from previous MVs (like they always do), and in general, each comeback reminds me of why I ult ATEEZ. This is the kind of stuff I’m into. 

And I hope you’re into it too, if you’re on this blog. 

Oh by the way? You know how ATEEZ were talking about bringing anarchy onto the world in HALAZIA and Guerrilla? Well, now they’ve literally brought anarchy onto the world through one of the world’s (hah) best-known representations of anarchy - the American Wild West. Whoever made this choice is a genius because it’s amazing shorthand for the anarchy and passion they’ve actually created, and brings an expressive world for them to put their music out into. 

Also - fire. Ahem, the fire Hongjoong destroys things with? Don’t forget that Don’t Stop was one of our first teasers of THE WORLD. 

Now, I will say that I don’t condone (and hopefully ATEEZ don’t either) the dangerous and/or illegal activities in this MV (no-rules boxing, driving motorbikes without a helmet, murder, owning illegal weapons, drug dealing). That said, they did make me laugh a lot in this MV. Idols are supposed to have a perfect image and ATEEZ are happily breaking the law everyday. And I found some specific moments oddly quirky and funny which I will dsicuss later. 

But let’s talk about the MV. Full discussion below the line.

Lyrics

Well, they’re what I’d expect from a cowboy ATEEZ comeback. They have the common motifs of bouncing/dancing, playing music, being the coolest, and so on. They also include the mandatory ATEEZ references to burning up, exploding, and so on. And they include the mandatory THE WORLD references to raising your microphone and making your own voice and music in the face of... well, a world that prohibits those things.

But that’s, as I said, to be expected of ATEEZ. Let’s talk about the actual MV.

MV Analysis

So it starts the same way the opening sequence did, but in snapshots - since they know that we’ve already seen it. I do think it’s interesting that they cut out the Wanted posters, since they have been a pretty integral motif for the past few years. 

I’d just like to say that this is the perfect shot to open this MV on. It’s got the warm colours, gritty tone, and fire that are important to this era (THE WORLD), and seen in ATEEZ mvs in general (FEVER). It’s got the fire - another important motif, it establishes the setting which I’ve already mentioned is a representation of anarchy, and thus establishes the tone of the song and comeback. But it also has an interesting camera angle - one which places the audience in a position inferior to ATEEZ, but ATEEZ inferior to the remnants of the government/other institution that has power in this world. 

It’s also a very pretty set, which is always a bonus. 

This is a great followup shot since it again shows how powerful Mingi is - although we don’t know it’s Mingi yet. It also shows that this world isn’t quite as gritty and old-fashioned as we thought - there are electric lights and the floor is actually relatively clean. 

Nice context for the actual face reveal, and, since it plays into Western tropes, it gives us a hint of what will come - a face reveal, dramatics, and a shootout.

I am a massive fan of black wing eyeliner Mingi.

Crazy Hongjoong is back.

Ahh yes goats - the symbol of the Wild West.

Not entirely sure what the red lines are supposed to mean here - other than ATEEZ and lights being big, and red and HALATEEZ.

Ahh yes, best set is the drug-dealing den disguised as a reputable establishment. This also further shows that the Wild West setting of the story doesn’t apply to everything - for instance, it is quite different (yet also surprisingly similar) to this underworld cyberpunk city.

SAAAAAAAAN. And here is our third setting - the boxing arena. All of these settings have the motif of anarchy and conflict, but the Wild West, grungy neon city, and boxing arena do so in different ways - guns, crime, and punches. 

I love the grainy effect here - another visual symbol of ‘the old days’which are seen as being more like anarchy, and, in lots of cases, like a better time. 

I also love how this MV practically made Woosan canon. 

This is definitely the heist Wooyoung from Don’t Stop.

CG motorbiking ATEEZ do not condone riding your motorbike without helmets. Protect your brain - it’s important.

Turbulence tunnel?

Love how he’s doing nothing and is far back but is still subtly checking on San. 

Dude wants his money and a husband.

Very convincing police disguises...

This shot is great because it is way easier to notice the steampunk aspect of the bar and the world. 

JOOOOOOOONG AND HIS SHIPPPPPP.

Mandatory pirate reference.

10/10 choreo - groovy and slightly threatening, but also relates to the story since they cut the chillis in half to reveal the bullets they’re hiding. I f eel like it wouldn’t be a very good way to store bullets but good on them - whatever works to take down the 1984 government.

A fascinating shot and scene - the ornate architecture paints them as gods of some description, while the red is of course, scary, and the glass it’s encliosed in reminds us of the cube in Say My Name. The chandelier is also a motif in their MVs. 

There’s also the contrast of blue and red, and of the grunge of the motorbikes and ornate room around them.

I hope they have a bigger chilli farm than just this one box, because this one ain’t gonna produce a lot.

Yes try to kill Mingi - I’m sure it’ll work out for you.

CHILLLLLLLI.

Moral of the story - Mingi’s on drugs. Maybe this whole MV and era - or even all of ATEEZ’s storyline from the start - was just Mingi on drugs. 

I love the choreo and cinematography of this scene - it’s another example of ATEEZ’s unique use of the camera and alternating jerky and still camera angles. And, of course, it’s used to tell a story and to create hype. 

CG Seonghwa says you should keep your hands on the wheel/handlebars when driving. 

Where to KQ get these extras? They’re great!

This is when I started laughing. It was the canon Woosan, how the water just dribbled out of San’s mouth, how dramatic they were being in an MV, and how serious they seemed when I know the director said çut’and someone rushed over to put more blood on San.

Unsubtle storytelling is here. 

Clearly the only reason San was losing was because he was boxing, not using his martial arts skills. 

I love the freeze frame when he kicks his opponent for emphasis. 

Lmao. Literally smoking the money. Wooyoung has great facial expressions. 

Great combination of lyrics and video to tell a story and to subvert my expectations of what the lyrics would mean (I was thinking of WONDERLAND’s start of a race).

This was another shot that made me laugh. It was the funky camera angles, the weird dance moves, them all being in a line, and how serious Hongjoong was while doing it all. 

My respect for him and his performance grows every day. 

I mean the choreo is pretty snazzy, it just shouldn’t be painted in such a serious light, I think. 

Literal canon Woosan literally being on top of the boxing world. 

ATEEZ the gods of the chilli pepper. 

On a more serious note - the shift to white is a bit unusual, but it leads us into the final verse and to the reveal that comes later.

OMG NOW WE KNOW WHY THEY’VE BEEN DRUG DEALING CHILLIS. 

haha

Hello High Noon Jhin from League of Legends.

Okay, bruv.

Why would you destroy your chilli crop?

Okay, it’s probably a different scene, but still.

That is one nasty bullet. That won’t do any more damage than a regular bullet unless it explodes on impact.

Please imagine that I gasped so hard that I fell off my chair, my jaw detatched, my soul left my body and I revived and became a god. 

My question then is - did this bullet actually kill the Guardian? Was that why it was weird? Is it possible to kill the Guardians?

And by the way this is the ‘white’reveal that I was talking about. Believe it or not - the white earlier probably made it easier for the audience to process this split-second reveal. 

I love the transition from fire to fireworks to champagne/water/whatever it is - it helps the audience understand, makes sense in the given scenes, and is HYPE.

Hey Don’t Stop ~

I love how this is like an old Western poster - and also how it includes buildings we are more familiar with from Guerrilla and HALAZIA - which connect it to the previous albums. 

According to the subtitles, this says ‘so freaking persistent,’which may or may not be censored. 

To which I assume he means the Wanted posters - but which could be the mark on them. Am I unobservant, or have we not seen this mark before? I doubt ATEEZ made it. Did the Guardians make it?

I also find it interesting that Mingi is kind of the main character of this MV. He’s a great choice for it, especially with the Wild West and intimidating theme of the MV, but I wonder if there is also a storyline reason for it. 

And that’s it! That’s the end of the MV! It pretty nicely continues the story from the previous releases, and shows how the world has progressed in the period between albums. They picked some super clever imagery to express this, which is all in service of the storyline and communicating the story as easily as possible in such a short time frame. I heard that some people think that it’s sad that ATEEZ are so dedicated to their storyline, since it means that they create less ballads - something that lots of people like. But not only am I not a fan of ballads, I love how dedicated they are to the storyline because it’s so unique to be this dedicated, and because the story itself is their identity and a key part of their success. They’ve showed dedication to artistry and storytelling over popularity, and that’s great. Not that prioritising popularity is bad - just that I admire ATEZ’s dedication. 

Conclusions

Woosan is now canon, ATEEZ’s directors, set designers, creative directors and so forth are geniuses, their extras are hilarious, and ATEEZ have amazing performances which I want to see more of. The cowboy theme is amazing here - andI probably love it even more since it reminds me of Face The Sun by SEVENTEEN - another stellar comeback and album. 

#ateez #atiny #ateez theories #bouncy #outlaw #the world #the world ep 2 #the world ep 2: outlaw #mv analysis

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

Pausing halfway through reading one of your fics to pop in and say I really love your narration and character voices. It’s not common in fanfic for an author to write in a way that’s layered enough for the reader to gain their own insights and conclusions. Like I’m in the last chapter of therianthropy and there’s the stuff that happens on the same page when there’s dissonance between thoughts and actions or when Karen buys Matt the sympathy muffin and Matt’s mad that that tactic totally works, and there’s also the longer story motifs that must be so hard to tie together when you’re publishing at the same time as actively writing.

The bit that got me to stop is when teenage Matt’s at Fogwell’s. Previously we saw Fogs starting to talk about the little boxing found family and Matt’s all “oh geez I hope he doesn’t start the lecture about sacred boxing fraternity 🙄”. And on its own this was a great scene because it showcased the characterisation of Fogs, Matt and Lisa in a few short paragraphs. Fogs is real passionate about this one thing, Matt’s heard this windbag go on about it a million times and is comfortable enough to be a little bitch, and Lisa’s relaxing for the first time in a /long/ while. And it’s beautiful.

But then. BUT THEN!!!!!!! This *fucking* speech Fogs was about to launch into!!!!!! Is the very thing that made Matt feel genuinely loved for the first time since Jack died!!!!!!!! Nearly ten years!!!!!!!!! And when Matt finds this traumatised teenage soldier that needs reassurance, love and support, he takes her to the the place where that unconditional care was given to him all those years ago and arhgrgahgrhhogohrgohhhh don’t even get me started on kintsugi ok I hope u never stop creating ok ur fics make me wanna howl at the fucking moon

2/2 Sorry my coherency evaporated real quick there. Your stories are also laugh out loud funny

Hello extremely kind ask I have neglected in my ask box for far too long. Thank you for your kind words they made me extremely happy and made me feel more competent than I actually am.

The tough part about fanfiction is that everything y'all get is basically a first draft because, like you said, it's publish-as-you-go and I don't have the chance to go back and rewrite the story to be more cohesive. Like, the act of writing itself means the plot and characters are still developing, and i really rely on editing and second drafts for that in a way that's not super possible with fanfiction. Sometimes the characters just Do Things and i'm like "wha--stop that. why are you. since when do you. why didn't you do that like 100k words ago." and it gives it a very flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants vibe from my perspective.

I am a very big fan of Recycling when it comes to my writing, and i think it makes it seem a little more put-together than it is. Like, I always have big Scenes in my head that exist from the start of the story that I know are going to make an appearance, so I just bury references to them them I need to craft the moments leading up. Or, if I don't have a scene planned and there's something missing, I tend towards trying to tie it back to something that already existed in the story, so there's a little bit more of a common line running through it. Granted, if you do this too much it seems a little kitschy, so I don't always do it, but I'm a firm believe in using what you have to the fullest extent.

If i recall correctly, Fogs' confusing Matt into staying by just sort of talking until he passed out was a Big Scene and I was just planting my chekov's guns like a deeply unqualified gardner who should have been fired a long time ago and never given access to the guns safe. I knew that I wanted Lisa being taken in by Matt to parallel his own recovery from Stick, so it was sort of low-hanging fruit to have Fogs go off on the same rant. I also kind of liked it because I think time does a lot for reframing how we think of things.

Like, when Matt first gets Fogs' speech about Ancient Sumerian Men Beating The Hell Out Of Each Other, he's half starved, half feral, and trying to fling himself back out into the hostile streets of New York because he feels safer alone than he has ever felt with other people. He passes out, wakes up with a blanket over him and Fogs asleep at his desk even when he doesn't have to be. Like you said--it's the first time in a very long time that he's felt safe.

Then, when he's in the future, it's just very casual. It's not really framed as remarkable, and Matt doesn't hold it in his mind as something that glitters. I thought it showed an enormous amount of healing for him to be so comfortable with Fogs that he didn't seem to remember that this was something that once brought him to tears.

And you're also right about Matt bringing her there--it was easy recycling in the sense that i needed to answer the question of "where would he bring this traumatized child he doesn't know how to help" and figured the answer was "probably the place that helped him."

Thank you for your kind words they made me extremely happy and I'm very glad you like my writing

#if you have an unanswered ask in my ask box you are not being ignored I’m just still chipping away at them #one day I’ll finish cleaning out my ask box and it will be over for all you bitches #see I go through this cycle where I start to answer them and then I can’t finish in one sitting and then it sits in my drafts for months #when i say some have been in my drafts for like. a year. #see i was doing them in order that they came in but that just ended in a lot more asks getting very old so now i just answer at random #with zero rhyme or reason #will you get an answer in a minute or a year even i don't know #but yeah from my perspective its messy screaming hurtling down a cliff and landing wrong but trying to make it look purposeful #i'm thrilled and touched you like it

[midnightsunnyday]

MC And The Brothers In: The First Ever Demon Lord’s Castle Tennis Championships!

Masterlist

Warnings: MC and Asmodeus are…MC and Asmodeus, or at least how I'd write them together. A bit NSFW due to suggestive dialogue.

************

MC: and he’s ready to serve…ooh and a lightning fast strike made by Lucifer. Yet another point for Team Royals.

Asmodeus: that it was, MC. And if you’re just joining us, welcome to the first ever Demon Lord’s Castle Tennis Championships! I am your hauntingly beautiful commentator, Asmodeus.

MC: and I’m MC, your resident human of the evening.

Asmodeus: MC my dear, you look absolutely adorable this evening. Maybe when this is all over, me and you can have a few rounds of our own.

MC: sure, I’d love to play with…oh *giggles* Asmo, calm yourself.

Asmodeus: oh, and it looks as if Mammon is screaming something. Now, I’m not sure if you know this MC, but one of my many, many talents is lip reading.

MC: a very convenient skill to have.

Asmodeus: I know, right? Ok, hold on. He’s saying...“If you put one hand on them I’ll break through that booth and shove a racket up your...” HEY!

MC: such passionate and threatening words from Team Money’s Mammon.

Asmodeus: *clears throat* also, just to inform the audience, Team Money was not the choice of name for Mammon’s partner, Leviathan, who, and I quote, “found the name not only stupid but lacking, unable to counteract the sheer might of Team Excalibur, the sword used by Henry in Season 12 of TSL when he defeated the evil—“

MC: --ooh, and a nice return made by Mammon. He's on that ball like a cat on a keyboard.

Asmodeus: a rather strange metaphor made by my fellow commentator, but agreed. And though painful to admit, looks close--yet not quite--as fashionable as myself today. A severely needed upgrade from his usual choice in clothing. And he’s giving me the finger… along with a few other naughty words that, for the sake of our audience, this commentator chooses not to repeat.

MC: a mature and might I say sexy choice, Asmo.

Asmodeus: thank you, hun!

MC: indeed. Mammon looks especially striking, choosing a yellow motif on this warm, unsunny afternoon in the Devildom.

Asmoedus: yes, while his partner Leviathan, though not as coordinated, indeed did his best with the Ruri-chan themed sportswear. A statement in which I was also given the finger for.

MC: those are a lot of fingers, Asmo.

Asmodeus: that they are, MC. Though nothing I'm not able to handle *winks*

MC: And Lord Diavolo is up. He launches yet Team Money is in sync and giving Team Royals a bit of a run for their um, money, so to speak.

Asmodeus: speaking of money, the winners of this particular game will be treated with a fabulous prize, per of Lord Diavolo’s gracious honors.

MC: yes, money is a great motivator, especially for Mammon, who’s definitely fired up and ready to take home the gold.

Asmodeus: oh, and it looks like Leviathan takes the point! What an impressive serve! You know, for someone who spends all day in his room playing games, he has a surprisingly strong arm and stamina.

MC: admittedly, I have to agree with my fellow commentator. Not once have I seen this man lift anything heavier than a manga volume, yet somehow has the body of a sculpted god.

Asmodeus: speaking of sculpted gods, next we have the royals who—in this reporter’s opinion—are giving rich sugar daddy vibes.

MC: all the jet-set babes and Devilgram models in the crowd will be happy to know that both Lucifer and Lord Diavolo are single, as this reporter can greatly attest to.

Asmodeus: oooh, now I wonder what that could mean?

MC: another time. Though I find that although Lucifer’s outfit may be giving the girls what they want, is it giving them what they need? What are your thoughts?

Asmodeus: thank you, MC. Though I admire my brother’s casual, depressingly black ensemble, I personally find it distressing that he hadn’t chosen to go with the more risqué look as his partner, Lord Diavolo.

MC: indeed. A more smaller, tighter pair of shorts would’ve been appropriate for the occasion. In fact, one would say preferred.

Asmodeus: as for Lord Diavolo, one could surely balance a bottle on such a fine specimen.

MC: I’m sure that such assets could feed several starving nations in the human world.

Asmodeus: truly he is the Sun of the Devildom.

MC: that he is Asmo, that he is. Oh, but it looks like Lucifer has left the court and is currently heading towards the commentator booth.

Asmodeus: he does not look happy.

MC: that he doesn't, Asmo. This reporter is both terrified and stimulated.

Asmodeus: how badly do you think we’ll be punished, MC?

MC: judging by our colorful commentary, I would say the severity of our punishment would be at least an 8. One can only hope that it’ll be swift and painless.

Lucifer: Asmo. MC. Get down from there this instant.

MC: well, it looks like this concludes this commentators' first and possibly final Demon Lord’s Castle Tennis Championships. This is MC, signing off.

Asmodeus: and this is Asmodeus, who really wishes they'd worn a more reasonable pair of shoes.

MC: we’ll see you all—Lucifer! *breaks in the door*

Mammon: *staring up from the court* I told ya we shouldn’t have let them be the commentators. All they do is say suggestive stuff and talk about everyone’s outfits.

Leviathan: at least the game wasn't actually being aired live. I'd probably die of embarrassment. I m-mean MC, thinking I have the body of a sculpted god. Me. No one else. Especially not Mammon.

Mammon: had to throw in that last one, huh?

Diavolo: *chuckles* well I for one enjoyed their commentary. Those two have quite the imagination.

Mammon: too much imagination, if ya ask me *hears MC screaming* Keep runnin’ babe!

MC, running for their life: run Asmo!

Asmodeus, running but not as fast: MC noooo! Don't leave me behind!

Diavolo, lost in thought: I wonder what Asmodeus meant about balancing a bottle? Should I ask Mammon? Maybe Barbatos could assist in such a trick.

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me luficer #obey me mammon #obey me diavolo #obey me asmodeus #obey me leviathan #obey me mc #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios

[randomalistic]

MMMMM i just watched corpse bride and frankenweenie back to back . (Corpse bride was better .) their main characters are literally the same guy and they’re and both named victor LMAOO

SPOILERS. BY THE WAY.

In frankenweenie I’m a little disappointed that they did a fakeout death for sparky instead of having the Actually impactful message of “sometimes things are only here for a little bit, and then they’re gone” that THEY WERE SETTING UP BY THE WAY. THEY LITERALLY SAID THAT LINE. But OKAY I GUESS. !!!!!!!☹️ THEY HAD TO GIVE IT A HAPPY DISNEY ENDING !!!! But Yeah Duh it still made me cry because I thought it was gonna be more impactful than it actually was LOL and then at the last minute they’re like SIKE THE DOG IS GONNA LIVE FOREVER. Whatever. it was still cute. But like… missed potential man…. Just let the dog rest he’s literally falling apart the poor thang.

Worst part of the movie /LH they made the dogs kiss at the end. I’m so mad at this children’s movie for being light hearted and happy how could they (but also. What if they made it better. Kids movies can be deep and impactful. You know. Ok I’m done hating on the ending I swear ok haha. ……. )

OK FINEEE but I still enjoyed it, the science teacher Mr. Rzykruski was Actually the best part and I loved him so much. He was SO PASSIONATE about teaching his students, he just had a very Intense way of expressing it. But he is such a good person and a truly great teacher . I’m SO fucking mad at the town for getting him fired. THE TOWN LITERALLY DOES NOT DESERVE HIM. Maybe he’s the one that was only here for a little while and then he was gone …. The part where he spoke to Victor about how his experiments must be made with love and passion before he left . that was honestly the most genuine part of the whole film. I’m so glad they were able to depict that..

But erm yeah the ending was a bunch of weird frankencreatures the other Bitch Ass Kids made and they all fought and it was a little bit of a forced Kids Movie Climax but that’s ok. It’s ok. I swear I enjoyed this movie. I’m complaining because I care about it.

Holy shit corpse bride on the other hand they LET HER FUCKING DIEEEEEEE THEY DID IT RIGHT THEY DID IT THE RIGHT WAYYY OH MY GODDDDD THEY LET EMILY PASS ON AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND IMPACTFUL AND PERFECT. THE BUTTERFLY MOTIF HELLO??? Aham … Anyways.!!

Corpse bride surprised me a lot, I was expecting it to be gloomy the whole time BUT NO THATS ONLY THE LAND OF THE LIVING. THE LAND OF THE DEAD WAS SO FUCKING FUN I LOVE HOW VIBRANT AND SILLY AND GHOULISH IT WAS I LOVED THE SKELETONS I LOVED THE WITCHES IT WAS ALL SO SILLY!!!!!! incredible. Emily looks so ethereal when her gown flies through the wind those shots of her were like genuinely breathtaking. AND THIS WAS MADE 18 YEARS AGO! Ugh this movie is so good.

How could I not mention the music until now what is wrong with me the main melody is so beautiful and ITS GOOD ITS GOOD OK ITS GREAT. GREAT MUSIC

The character designs for everyone in the living realm are Fucking Insane in the best way possible. You just have to watch it okay please trust me.

They stretched out the pastor’s features as much as they could get away with . I don’t think he could get any longer and pointier

Anyways yeah great characters Amazing visuals and colors what the HELL!!!??. ALSO THE SKELEONS. The skeletons are the best skeletons I’ve ever seen maybe. these are Top Tier Goofy Skeletons. If you want something silly and fun and spooky watch this movie NOW!!!!!!!!????

THEY HAD GOOFY SILLY DANCE NUMBER WITH BONE SKELETON MUSIC YOU ARE GOONG TO LOSE YOUR MIND OVER THIS. Maybe The perfect Halloween Movie. (I am 11 days late)

Oh also The main villain was a little weak and I saw the foreshadowing coming from a mile away lmao but That’s Ok I think movies are allowed to have a silly goofy evil villain with 0 motives sometimes 💙 like why did he even show up to the wedding at the start . How was he planning all this. Am I stupid

Anyways they LET HER BE SO AWESOME. IM SO GLAD THEY LET HER BE AWESOME BECAUSE THIS WAS 2005 AND THEY EASILY COULD HAVE MADE HER WEAK BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!! I really liked Victoria as well I love how much she didn’t give a fuck about her abusive ass family. Yeah!!!! break out!!! Play the piano!! BE AS IMPROPER AND SCANDALOUS AS YOU CAN!!!! and Victor is a little pathetic at first. but in an endearing way. Awesome movie it’s actually a must watch imo .

Anyways yeah 🥹I enjoyed both movies and I think it’s very cute how frankenweenie was inspired by corpse bride so much . (This movie also had a dead skeleton dog lol) But yeah corpse bride is better Sorry💙 I might also rewatch nightmare before christmush. But closer to christmas .. ehee…

Also don’t even get me started on paranorman I think I maybe already talked about it since I saw it earlier this year but. Holy shitttttt……… please watch that too it’s genuinely fantastic and it doesn’t hold back. It WILL surprise you. and make you cry. I NEED MORE MOVIES THAT WILL SURPRISE ME. GOD PLEASE!!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!!!!

#we was on a Tim burton roll tonight #movie #movie review #corpse bride #frankenweenie

[kuwdora]

Latest things meme... (Two posts in one day? Wonders never cease. Enjoy the ADHD flavor rambling below.)

Anyway, thank you always for the tag @kiriele!

Last song:

I have to again preface that most of my music consumption is for vid-related purposes these days.

I came across this hilarious meme that gave me my latest vid idea. It’s a photo of Paris Hilton picking out some ice cream treats, and overlaid on the treats are one Cassian Andor from Star Wars and John Silver from Black Sails. The captain reads “Actually, can I have five more of these [can’t escape the narrative] bitches?” And the OP writes “finally figured out why these two makes me so feral.”

I saw that and I felt like my third eye opened. Like. 🤯 Because there is a perfect thematic vid there showcasing these two’s specific struggles. Especially in the context of resisting an encroaching empire and and and... they really got sucked into the narrative and can't! fucking get out!! And then they end up believing in the cause (in their own ways) and ah ah ah...ahhhhh..

Okay that context being given, I went and spent all 5 minutes going “I need a song. I need a song for these two. Two sources, two voices? Maybe, maybe not. Male vocalist? Raging against the authority is punk, but I love mash-ups and pitting parallels and contrasts of with multiple musical sources. Wait, I already had a DJ artist who made this other mash-up I loved am going to use for a vid…surely he has something that could be… interesting or great for Cassian Andor and John Silver. Surely??”

Friends. Friends. Even those of you who don't know or care about vidding, this is just a sort of beautiful mini-nirvana moment when you discover the perfect song (especially so quickly).

BEHOLD. My Cassian Andor and John Silver vidsong that I may or may not make but you hear it first:

I can see the whole vid unfolding before my eyes. Frantically trying to download Black Sails and searching my 3 hard drives to make sure I had in fact nabbed Andor earlier for a different vid idea. Yet…I have so many other vid things in my queue and only so much hard drive space and brainRAM.

Currently watching:

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I want to like it more than I do. I like elements of the characters, (La’An and Chapel are extremely compelling, Ethan Peck is bringing a great human cheekiness to his portrayal of Spock, Pike remains a great Space Dad) but there’s still something that’s not gelling fully with me. Which is sad because I am so on board with the more episodic angle again and some of the classic themes and motifs from TOS but it’s just…idk, I think I need a whole post to think aloud on it.

Currently reading:

Ahsoka by EK Johnston, Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski. Almost done with Spin State by Chris Moriarty.

Currently obsessed with: Oh, I’m burbling with obsession…

In my reading I’m still losing my mind over how much I love Baptism of Fire. Milva sucker punching a peasant. Regis’ entrance to the narrative. ZOLTAN, sloppy drunk. Geralt dreaming of Ciri…Ciri dreaming of Geralt. 😭

Ahsoka learning how to pretend to be a Normal Twice-Orphaned Teenager. How do people interact outside wartime situations and executing battle strategy?? Honey… (I need to go look for some post-O66 Ahoska fic novels…)

ALSO!!! @dragneto has also infected me witcher fic idea that’s got me foaming at the mouth. I want to tackle the idea but I’m also dying to finish my WIP chapter first before I can play. I’m so obsessed with this ridiculously horny and sad idea.

I also have 4 vid ideas I’m chewing on like a rabid gremlin and it is definitely to the point of obsession. Mad that I won’t be able to follow through in the short or medium term…too much on the brain, lack of focus, stress from life stuff, other WIPs eating away at me.

Two Witcher ones vid ideas: my Phil vid…she’s so bad, I love her. Sexy song, lots of bad. And I am revisiting an old pan-canon humor/thirst/thematic vid about Geralt… Which is more about how the characters see him.

Then I got my Star Wars Rebels idea which I’m having technical problems that’s keeping me from starting.

…And then this Andor/Black Sails thing…

tagging @deerna and @danegen and @shetiger and @simuran and @whatkindofnameisvolta ...and anyone else who wants to go.

#tag game #latest things meme #the vidding process #kuwdora's random witcher stuff #textpost #vidspiration

[justanotherghostwriter]

I'm sending you so many fic titles. You don't have to do all of them if you don't want to. I got them from what my sister and i would have Sims title books they were writing. | (Call Me Innocent) (Walk Softly) (The Benefits of Screaming) (Ghosts I Have Loved) (And the Shadows Wept) (The Stars are Different Here) (Her Name Still Echoes) (Honest Creatures) (Wooden House, Paper Unicorn) (Though All to Ruin Fell the World) (The Echo or the Answer) (Above Us, Only Stars)

Firstly: sorry I answered this so late. Life came and ate me when I thought I'd have time. Go figure.

Secondly: I'm so happy to see that somebody else thought about what to title their books in Sims. I had a list, too. In one game, I had three generations of writers, and they kept writing new books "for the same series". Obviously, the game didn't care, but I had such a fun time seeing them all in the book store xD

Thirdly: Thank you for answering this! <3 And, in particular, answering with so many great titles to chew over. This was a fun mental exercise. I'm still throwing metaphorical salt in a circle around all of this so these silly ideas don't become less silly. I'll need to live another lifetime to finish all the fic on my To Do list, at this point.

Now, onto the actual answers!

Call Me Innocent. Probably something that starts with/includes the Buddy Wakefield poem "We Were Emergencies". I know that thing off-by-heart. In particular: "Make love to me, like you know I am better than the worst thing I ever did." So... Animorphs post-war? Like many years post-war and Cassie and Jake get that second chance. Orrrr Roy and Riza after the events of canon trying to put the world back together, with a healthy side-helping of Ed, whose guilt tendencies didn't just go away after defeating Father. Shocking, I know.

Walk Softly Agent Carter fic. A fix-it for Endgame. It will be Peggysous. There will be Daniel and Jack bromance. And Daniel and Steve bromance. This is all.

The Benefits of Screaming Avatar the Last Airbender. Azula gets love, therapy and a life-changing field-trip with Zuko (and Katara). I don't know the particulars, but I think it would sort of be a community service combined with going out to see the world through new eyes sort of fic. Just letting Azula lose control in safe ways. By that I mean go penguin sledding or run through a field of flowers for no reason. And Zuko and Katara, despite being Fire Lord and Ambassador to the Water Tribe and totally responsible adults, would also have moments of just being able to be kids. Lots of both Zuko and Azula apologising to one another, and starting from scratch to build a proper relationship.

Ghosts I Have Loved An Everlark fic. I'm thinking about Peeta and Katniss more often than even I realise, I think. And, although it's been done a thousand times by very talented people, I want a fic in that space between Peeta coming back to once-Twelve and the epilogue. Possibly even beyond it. I'll always want to go to war with "I didn't want kids but Peeta really did so we had kids I hated it but you know" because it bugs me. It would include Katniss and Haymich and Annie and some other survivors, but would be mainly focused on Peeta as he grieves all the people he lost and how complicated it is. His whole family was wiped out. One of those family members was canonically at least a little abusive. He lost friends. He lost who he once was. He lost the (fake, impossible) ideal of Katniss in his head; his first love, if you will. So it would just be a slice-of-life of Peeta observing and internally commenting and also stepping in to help where he sees he can, with this motif of all the love haunting him. And how he figures out how to let each "ghost pass on", so to speak. While also watching other people around him do the same. Johanna and Peeta friendship, because they rock.

And the Shadows Wept This is such a cool title, but I couldn't think of anything proper to go with it. Only half-baked ideas. And I didn't want to delay this answer for too long wracking my brain for a fic that won't ever exist lol. So I take the L for this one.

The Stars are Different Here Going back to the second fandom I wrote for here on Tumblr for this one. Doctor Who. More Metacrisis and Rose. For the record, in case anybody cares, there will be no calling him John. Or thinking that naming him is like naming a dog. (If you know, you know.) Just the two of them having ordinary adventures. And some not-so-ordinary ones. They're still the Doctor and Rose Tyler, and they have an earth (or two) to defend. Maybe even start with Rose's adventures with that dimension canon, because that's some good untapped writing potential right there.

Her Name Still Echoes Also Doctor Who! All the places people still find Bad Wolf, and variations thereof, throughout time and space. I'd have to actually catch up with things for this, I think, which would take a while (I think I stopped actively watching around season 7 or 8 and just read Wikipedia since then lol). But just letting Rose's desire to keep the Doctor safe be OP across their lives. And, because I'm me, I'd bring in the origins of the Big Bad Wolf and probably seven references to Red Riding Hood and/or The Three Little Pigs. Possibly even a tie-in to number 6, and all the ways the Bad Wolf echoes in all the places Rose jumped with that canon. (Rose and River bff-ship is a strong need for me tbh.)

Honest Creatures I'm forever dying to poke at the Scott and Rachel father-son dynamic. Or even Scott and Laura Kinney. Friendship/adopted dad only; I don't want to think about the direction the comics took with Displaced Scott and Laura, thank you. Either in canon-verse (whatever the heck that means, any more lmao) or trying to do some clean-up with the way Scott was written as he went off the rails... but not really. Anyway. Complexities of Scott Summers, screwed-up leader and oblivious collector of children he adopts.

Wooden House, Paper Unicorn Since this is all hypothetical and I don't ever need to actually write this, this one would be used for a Firefly/Serenity fic. Simon gets captured and thrown into prison on an Alliance prison ship. While there, he starts to doctor the other prisoners. His skill becomes known by the guards. And he gets pulled out to help an Alliance girl's emergency when her parents frantically hail for help from their ship/planet. Only oooooh the Alliance people have guests for their little vacation out in space, and two of those guests are Mr and Mrs Tam. Who have, according to their official records, never had kids. The drama. The Simon Sass. More drama when Serenity tracks Simon down... No, I haven't actually thought of this concept a hundred times in my head, why do you ask? Yes, there would be Simon whump. I'm basic, and you should expect nothing better from me.

Though All to Ruin Fell the World Zutara in an AU where either the war didn't end so nicely, or where winning the war didn't magically fix everything. I'd probably re-use concepts from Battles After War. Try and do something similar to MJ's stunning Ghosts Through The Smoke, but even more hopeless. Fire Nation leveled to nothing hopeless. Zuko failed as a Fire Lord/was never allowed to take the throne hopeless. Or, like, Zuko chooses the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, but Aang still dies and Katara doesn't know she saved him and she and Zuko get split from the others and go into Survival Mode kind of hopeless. Anyway, you get the picture. The world fell to ruin, somehow. :P And, yet, Zuko and Katara protect each other and fall in love. Although it takes a long time for them to be able to call it that. Maybe it will even be a little tragic; they are never able to let love grow past a certain point, because there's just too much to do. And they end up dying as soldiers who help the world limp towards a bright future. But never together.

The Echo or the Answer Okay, but the way I love this as a title? I know it's become slightly... not pretentious, but over-used, but... I will lean into the connotations if I can ever find a thing worthy of this title. I know this isn't an answer, but I couldn't think of anything that I want to "waste" this good title on lmao.

Above Us, Only Stars Animorphs, my beloved. Again, since this is hypothetical, and I never need to actually have the skill to write any of these fic: this one would be a role-reversal where the auxes got the morphing power first. But the OG six get pulled into the war by James and his team, because the Powers That Be nudge James toward Tobias, Elfangor's son. Who has been having strange dreams of the ocean shared with Cassie, even though neither of them know why. I'd be fascinated to see the OG six as team B under James' leadership. I'd not know how to write this fic, but I'd love to read it xD

SEND ME A MADE-UP FIC TITLE AND I’LL TELL YOU WHAT I WOULD WRITE TO GO WITH IT.

#askbox answers #About My Writing #Sort of not really but I don't want to start a new tag lol

[theseptemberist]

was going through obi wan kenobi tags when I came across someone recommending you anakin/obikin song, so let me pop up quickly with three more angsty song recommendations that no one asked for!! 1) jhene aiko - wading (this one is all about tatooine yearning, idk it just gives me THAT feeling of obi wan wanting to move on but knowing he can't, like, ever) 2) daughter - touch, and 3) halsey - haunting

send me a song for my obikin playlists and i'll send one back!

OKAY OKAY i feel you. if i am being honest my entire prior experience with jhene aiko is around eating booty like groceries which. okay yeah that is also obikin. anyway was not expecting her to pop off with tatooine angst but i do see it!! this one is well and truly about VIBES but sometimes vibes are everything.

touch - daughter is so apropos as a vaderwan force bond dream sex anthem. they're both so sad and lonely and isolated in different ways and they can't hold back from getting all tangled up in each other's signatures because they are the most important people to each other even after all that damage. it has that edge to it but also an edge of sadness?? ouch

and YES of course halsey always delivers the obikin bangers. haunting is exactly what anakin does to obi-wan. both literally and figuratively. everything in his life reminds him of anakin, there is no escaping him, but at the end of day it's better to be haunted than it is to lose him entirely :((((

it's really fun that two of these have water motifs because that's something i've noticed in a lot of my obikin songs!! which somewhat bothered me cause their breakup was all about fire and lava really, but since the most recent OWK ep was very Wet i have decided it all makes sense and is part of the plan.

so for your recs, a song with a longing theme and a water motif much like wading is tactics by japanese breakfast. "a love that has to move a great distance from you, cross a sea, keep you from me"

and then for the vaderwan, inevitably haunting each other, unable to untangle their souls vibes check out bloodstream by stateless. "i think i might have inhaled you/i could feel you behind my eyes" OUGH

#thank youu nonnie #halsey really uses obikin as a primary source of inspiration #coming down is an obianidala song if you're into that sort of thing #obikin #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #song rec #ask game

[shiroxix]

Hoid's Fucking Idiot Face That I Hate: An Essay by Me

In the banner for the Secret Books kickstarter by Dragonsteel Entertainment, Hoid has possibly the most punchable face I have ever seen. This bastard stands in an open, nondescript rocky field, a river behind him and a night sky that I would rather be looking at instead of this fucking Bastard Man. He's dressed in what I can only describe as Cosmere Jesus Chic: a long white robe with very nice embroidered trim with long sleeves and a high collar, covered by a blue tunic and a pretentious black cape closed with a brooch that depicts the cosmere symbol with a blue gem at the center. Design is chillin' on his shoulder. She's cool. I'd rather be looking at her. There is some deranged instrument on his back that he probably knows how to play like a god. I want to smash it over his idiot face. He also has an idiot belt harness covered in the tools of his idiot trade, metals, bottles, chaos, god knows what--

As for his pose, again, I can only describe this man as a Jesus cosplayer. He looks like he's trying to lead you off screen to some idiot camp fire where he'll tell you a story about a dog that you will fundamentally misunderstand, leading to another 1200 pages worth of stunted character growth. His hands are delicate, which is excellent because it means he wont be good at punching me back when I deck this man so hard he flies through the cognative realm and comes out on the other side.

All of that is fine. It's great, even. So many nice details. But this bastards *face* though? His fucking face? I am not kidding when I say he looks like the most punchable dillweed to ever walk the surface of too many planets he ever had the right to. First off, the bitch has a swept back undercut which is code for "I am an insufferable prick". He has pale pink skin that makes him look like an infant and significantly bolsters my confidence that I could lay this man in the dirt with one punch. His brows are quirked in what I can only describe as the Dreamworks face, with one raised slightly above the other like "huu huu you want to know some secrets, I have some secrets" which just adds to the total and complete unlikability motif he has going on. His eyes are dark blue and smiling, surrounded by wrinkles at the inner corner of his eyes and beneath the bags under his eyes from all that lack of sleep he's gotten knowing that at any moment I will rocket out of the sky and chop him and the smug look on his face in half. He has the most insufferable, knowing smile and I hate looking at it. His lips are thin and give him an expression that straight up makes him look like the Grinch. I hate him. The worst part is that his nose is perfect. It is hawkish and aquiline and everything that I like about a nose, which is a real shame because I'm about to fucking shatter it.

#cosmere #stormlight archive #cfsbf #mistborn #warbreaker #i don't want to tag this as all the cosmere things #it just felt weird to only tag it as stormlight archive #row spoilers

[beepboop358]

A Prom in S4 Theory & Music Coding Predictions

Some leaked set pics indicate that there MAY BE a junior/senior prom at Hawkins High, which they are calling the "Lover's Ball". It's unclear if this prom will be included on screen, or if it will just be mentioned as an event coming up at Hawkins High because this flyer could just extra set decor. Regardless if the prom happens on screen or not, there will probably be some tension about 'who's asking who' to the prom that we will see in s4. Given that this picture was just leaked a few weeks ago, it probably falls closer to the end of the season sequentially.

Having a big school dance in s4 is suspiciously close to how they had the Snowball scene in s2. This would certainly follow the even/odd season patterns, (and actually add to the list of the patterns), which kind of makes me think we will see this prom on screen, or at the very least it will be mentioned in the course of the season.

The Duffer Brothers love Steven King and reference his work and especially 'IT' a lot in the show, but they haven't done anything with Carrie yet so maybe we will get a Carrie moment this season at the prom...

Carrie was on the video store fridays movie inspiration board for ST4.

At the "Lover's Ball", there will be definitely be some music coding relating to Byler. Since music coding is kind of a key thing in the show, I've been rifling through 80's songs to try and find some that may fit with s4's themes/character storylines (and I may do a seperate post about that later), but for this post I'm just gonna focus on what they might use at the prom for relating to Byler.

Since the season is most likely going to take place in 1986, I only selected songs that had a compatible release year so it would be historically accurate. (these songs would also be great for a byler playlist!)

Some strong contenders for the songs that might play at the prom to reference Mike and Will's relationship could be:

"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986)

This song is honestly too good of an option for them not to use. I'm reallllyyy crossing my fingers for this one.

It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small

"And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid (don't be afraid) To let them show your true colors True colors are beautiful (you're beautiful, oh) Like a rainbow Oh oh oh oh oh like a rainbow"

If this world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear You call me up Because you know I'll be there

"Heaven" by Bryan Adams (1984)

This first verse is literally just the story of Byler... 😭 The rest of the song applies but that verse verse is just sooooo accurate. (I'm crossing my fingers for this one too)

"Oh thinkin' about all our younger years There was only you and me We were young and wild and free Now nothing can take you away from me We've been down that road before But that's over now You keep me comin' back for more

Baby you're all that I want When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe We're in heaven And love is all that I need And I found it there in your heart Isn't too hard to see We're in heaven

Oh once in your life you find someone Who will turn your world around Bring you up when you're feelin' down Yeah nothin' can change what you mean to me Oh there's lots that I could say But just hold me now 'Cause our love will light the way"

"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (1986)

This song is on Will's Spotify playlist, and I thought it could also be used at the prom since it's a romantic song. I see it as an 'entrance to the prom' moment song, almost like a 'first look' - like the Mike and El moment at the snowball when she first walks in, but with Mike and Will this time. I think the lyrics clearly hint to this kind of 'first look' moment as well.

"Watchin' every motion in my foolish lover's game On this endless ocean, finally lovers know no shame Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn around and say...take my breath away"

Watchin' every motion in this foolish lover's game Haunted by the notion, somewhere there's a love in flames Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn my way and say...take my breath away"

"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (1981)

This song was originally meant to be included in the snowball scene from s2, but it ultimately was not used and "Every Breath You Take" was used for this scene instead. Since it was intended to be a part of the s2 dance, that's why I think it may be used at the prom this season. (you can read the scripts on 8flix)

——— I forgot to include this explanation originally BUT, I think this song might be used to show some anger/resentment between the two, and to show a decent amount of tension, depending on their development this season. Like maybe Mike is kind of leading Will on in private by continuing to initiate intimate scenes between them, but in public Mike is still trying to put on his “straight boy act” and kind of being a jackass about it, and this song could be used to show the tension between them that has caused.

"And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, (Oh lord)

Well, I was there and I saw what you did I saw it with my own two eyes So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been It's all been a pack of lies.

Well I remember, I remember don't worry How could I ever forget It's the first time, the last time we ever met But I know the reason why you keep this silence up

No you don't fool me The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows It's no stranger to you and me"

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (1986)

Some of the lyrics in this song just SCREAMS byler, just look at the 1st, 2nd and 4th paragraphs. I would be suprised if they didn't use this song in either s4/s5.

Love, I get so lost sometimes Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart When I want to run away I drive off in my car But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return The grand facade, so soon will burn Without a noise, without my pride I reach out from the inside

In your eyes The light, the heat (in your eyes) I am complete (in your eyes) I see the doorway (in your eyes) To a thousand churches (in your eyes) The resolution (in your eyes) Of all the fruitless searches (in your eyes)

Love, I don't like to see so much pain So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away I get so tired working so hard for our survival I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

"Heroes" by David Bowie (1975)

David Bowie was bisexual. A cover of his song “Heroes” is used in the show twice already, sung by Peter Gabriel. The song plays when they pull Will's fake body out of the water in season one and Mike cries in his Mom's arms, with some very queer-coded lyrics in the background, and after Hopper's letter in s3 (which is very Byler-centric)

"I will be king. And you, you will be queen 'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact. Yes, we're lovers, and that is that. Though nothing will keep us together. We could steal time just for one day We can be heroes forever and ever. What d'you say? I, I wish I could swim, like dolphins, like dolphins could swim I, I can remember (I remember) Standing by the wall (By the wall) And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads) And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall) And the shame was on the other side. Oh, we can beat them forever and ever. Then we could be heroes just for one day We're nothing, and nothing will help us Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay But we could be safer just for one day"

I just thought the above songs might be some highly likely possibilities given that they fit the year of the s4 and also make references to not only love, but the idea of hiding, pain, shame, longing, etc., and can make some (partially stretching here) references to other things in the show such as:

RAINBOWS and TRUE COLORS, SHINING THROUGH (rainbows imagery is always associated with Mike & Will in the show and a is symbol of lgbtq+ pride, True Colors shining through = who you really are on the inside finally coming out)

IF THIS WORLD MAKES YOU CRAZY ("crazy together", "only love makes you that crazy" and references the "world" motif in the show)

YOUNGER YEARS, ONLY YOU AND ME, YOUNG, WILD AND FREE (references "not wanting things to change" and wanting "to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter, and the "But we're not kids anymore" comment during the Byler fight)

ENDLESS OCEAN and SWIM, LIKE DOLPHINS (references water's significance in the show)

FLAMES (Will in front of the burning car in s4 teaser?)

LIES and LYING (Mike lying to El about how he feels)

INSTINCTS RETURNING, FACADES BURNING, WITHOUT MY PRIDE, I REACH OUT FROM THE INSIDE (Mike's feelings for Will are his instincts, the facade is the act he put on in s3 to seem straight, burning could reference Will & fire, and I think the last 2 lines of that 2nd verse reference vulnerability- perhaps in an apology/confession)

I GET SO LOST (confusion about his sexuality, feeling lost without the other) and SO MUCH WASTED TIME (known each other since kindergarten but were unaware the other felt the same way/was dealing with same things, they could have been even closer)

KINGS and QUEENS (the d&d game mike wrote where he has king Tristan give him a medal in s1)

STEALING TIME (references "turning back the clock, to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter and the time theme in s4 and time is central to the s4 plot)

AND WE KISS - AND THE SHAME (references the shame they both feel about being gay since it was so stigmatized in the 80's)

Byler @ Prom Possibilities:

If Mike and Will did dance together at the prom, they will probably get bullied because they live in a small conservative town. They will probably either run out, upset, or Eleven will step in to protect them which could lead to the Carrie moment.

Or Mike and Will will not dance together in the actual dance room, but instead sneak off to somewhere else in the school and have a private Byler dance moment where they can't be teased and it's just them together.

OR Mike and Will are still acting weird at this point in the season because neither of them is communicating what needs to be said out of fear, or one of them has confessed or done something to indicate how they feel, but the other hasn’t so everything is weird between them. There would be lots of tension from this and we would get lots of longing looks and adoring moments between the two of them from the sidelines. (I think this one is the most likely)

#byler #byeler #st4 bts pics #st4 spoilers #st4 leak #byler rights #byler is real #byler obsessed #byler is canon #byler theory #byler proof #byler is endgame #will byers #mike wheeler #will byers is gay #mike wheeler is gay #mike x will #will x mike #eleven #stranger things #stranger things 4 #stranger things four #stranger things season 4 #stranger things season four #st4 #st4 theory #byler headcanon #byler playlist #st s4 prom theory #st4 speculation

[ultranos]

Fox spirt au for the WIP asks?

You’re not the only person to ask about one! So here’s the notes on the premise:

the post-canon redemption arc that's basically "Journey to the West or Aang and Azula's Excellent Adventure". Possibly featuring an Azula who takes a Leverage approach to good deeds and Aang tagging along conflicted because no but actually yes?

Basically, it starts with the Last Agni Kai. Azula gets chained to the grate. Katara and Zuko wander off for their victory pose meeting with the Gaang. The...logical thing happens when you leave an enemy commander helpless and vulnerable in a coup: someone takes a fucking shot.

Whoops.

Zuko comes back to find his baby sister with an arrow through her throat and proceeds to go into a guilt spiral. He gets violently jerked out of this guilt spiral when he wakes up that night (or the first time he goes to sleep alone)...to find his sister attempting to wrap clawed hands around his throat?!

("Miss me, Zuzu?")

TURNS OUT: the spirits were like "wait, no, this is bad and wasn't supposed to happen" and try to fix it. Except spirits have a Very Odd Understanding of humanity, so when they yoink Azula's soul from her journey to the great Agni Kai grounds in the sky, they...work with what they know.

Fox spirits! (Azula and kitsune work really well together as a motif, because fire and trickery). They can do all kinds of transformation bullshit when they get all 9-10 tails. Including turning fully human. Or ascending to heaven. So shove this wayward soul into a fox spirit container, let her get enough tails, and boom, problem solved! ...oh right, that process takes 1000 years.

So the spirits muck with it and add a cheat way to get them faster.

Get unconditional acceptance from 9 people. Each one gets a tail.

Spirits: We r so smrt. Azula: ...my life is a train wreck, how am I supposed to do this? Spirits: ...AVATAR HALP.

The fun bit is that Azula is basically a spirit? So she can't really...interact much with the physical world. She either has to make a bargain/exchange with a person to do something OR they're one of the 9.

If someone wants nothing to do with her, she literally cannot do anything to them. She can still influence the world so she can solve her own problem, eventually. But this puts her on even ground with the Gaang since neither can really harm the other should they decide to get involved. (Azula is paralleling Sun Wukong, for the Journey to the West comparison)

In case it’s not abundantly obvious, this is another “crack treated seriously” fic, although it eventually leans a little more into humor. If only so I can use the scenario:

Zuko is dealing with Guilt Complexes multiplying and politics. Meanwhile, Azula is over in Ba Sing Se stealing 40 cakes. That's as many as 4 tens. And that's...actually the baker was horribly corrupt and selling out refugees to racists. And the cakes went to the biggest orphanage in the city. 

(Aang is delighted.)

#atla #for the record azula does in fact get stuck with fuzzy ears on her head #she is not amused #(aang is continually tempted to pet them) #krastbannert #nos answers things #you have no idea how tempted i am #to just title it 'what does the fox say' #fox spirit au

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Day 4: Mirror / Overblot

“When I look at my reflection, the ‘me’ I see is not my true self.”

I wanted to explore the mirror motif and how it is usually linked to themes of self identity. Today’s prompt was actually really hard to write and draw for 💦 I went through a lot of ideas and drafts!

There were a great many things Jade picked up on during his time babysitting looking after the young raven. She always took her tea with milk and one sugar cube. A lantern or a candle--some source of light--would always be present in her quarters. And she had a most peculiar way of sleeping.

When night fell, Raven would gather up various blankets and form a little nest with them, complete with a little pocket in the middle. She would plant her pillow in the center, then curl up into a ball and lie down atop it, tugging the covers over herself in the process.

Perhaps it is simply a bird custom beyond my comprehension, Jade reasoned to himself. Ever the gentleman, he chose to keep tight-lipped, stowing the tidbit away for future use.

But on this particular evening, Raven neglected to tend to her nest of blankets. They remained scattered in a messy heap on her mattress while she lingered by her writing desk--illuminated by the steady flame of a candle, encased by the glass walls of a lantern. With her face half-buried in her arms, Raven watched the fire flicker and dance.

Jade cleared his throat. “Staying up late today, are we?”

“If you’re going to nag me, save it.”

“I was not planning to do anything of the sort,” he assured her with a chuckle. “The fire must be good company to keep, seeing as you have been preoccupied with it for quite some time.”

“I have some things on my mind,” Raven mumbled. She fell silent for a few moments, entranced once more by the way the wavering flame moved. “... Isn’t it strange?”

“What is?”

“The fire.” She cupped her hands, forming a little ball with them. “It can grow, and it can shrink. It can be a spark, or a raging inferno. But it is still fire, no matter what form it takes.”

“Fufu.” Jade’s mouth curved into a feline smile. “Truly, you are amused by the simplest of things.”

“Maybe I am,” she confessed. Her voice was tiny, shaded by the shadows. It faded into a brief silence before finding itself again. “... Jade, do you ever look in a mirror and feel that something is off?”

“Off? Whatever do you mean?”

“You and me, we’re not like fire,” Raven pointed out. “You’re a merman, and I’m a raven. These bodies of ours aren’t the originals. We’re without our usual fins and feathers, we’ve changed to fit new molds. Doesn’t it ever feel strange to you?”

“It certainly was at first. Clothing felt foreign, my legs were difficult to maneuver, and there was an abundance of new customs and sensory information to take in. However, I do believe I have become quite accustomed to life on land since taking my first stumbling steps.”

He paused, his eyes curiously sliding over to the raven. “What of you?”

“It feels weird every day.” She clenched a hand into a fist--squeezed--and loosened it, as though testing that it did, in fact, respond to her commands. “When I look at my reflection, the ‘me’ I see is not my true self.”

Raven shook her head.

“I’m not fire--I’m not even a girl. I’m just a bird. I can hope and pray and wish all I like, but a raven can’t be a part of this world--a part of your world.”

“... You mustn’t think like that.”

“I can think however I want.”

“Then allow me to think this: what does it matter if your reflection does not match what you believe you are?” Jade’s brows pinched together mockingly. “Fire, bird, girl. No matter what form you take, you will always be ‘Miss Raven’—not a common wild raven.”

“I once was one.”

“You no longer are.”

“You can’t say that for sure.”

“If ‘Miss Raven’ were to go, I am certain that it would leave a gaping hole in many hearts. Your poor uncle would lose a helping hand around his household. Vil-san would be without a valued student. Rook-san and I would be ever so lonely. Many others at Night Raven College would miss its sharp-tongued storyteller.”

“You’re just saying that.”

“No, a little black bird told me,” Jade replied teasingly—a mismatch with his solemn expression. “It will take time, but it is my hope that you will, one day, be fully comfortable with any face that returns your gaze in the mirror.”

Raven’s mouth flew open to make a retort, but instead of a smart comeback, out came a yawn. She groaned, rubbing at her eyes as she slowly drew herself up in her seat.

“I believe it is early morning by now, Miss Raven,” Jade advised, his smile turning sympathetic. He extended a hand and gently eased her out of the chair. “Come now, your bed awaits.”

“But...”

“There will be plenty of time to discuss your midnight musings—later.”

“That’s not the problem. I’m not done making my argument yet, and I’m not sle...” Raven yawned again.

“It seems our heated conversation has worn you out,” Jade noted, razor-sharp teeth arranged into a dangerous grin. “Shall I assist you in making your nest and tuck you in for the evening?”

#Jade Leech #twst #twst oc week #twst oc #twisted wonderland oc #twisted wonderland #Raven Crowley #disney twisted wonderland #my art

[wedreamedlove]

MLQC Men Headcanon Notes

Now that I’ve spent more time with these men (it’s getting close to 2 years!) I wanted to share the general thoughts, themes, motifs, etc. that I keep in mind when I’m writing their character.

This is 1000% headcanon territory, so feel free to take what’s useful and ignore what’s not LOL but I’d also love to see people add in their own “character reference cheat sheet” to this!

(I’m especially curious because, due to being of Asian diaspora, I write best in English but my understanding of the characters come from CN/JP text). Incidentally, if anyone feels ANY of this when reading my fics, then that’s all I could ever ask for LOL.

LI ZEYAN

He is Capricorn² and, while the game doesn’t make explicit mentions to this, I associate the element earth with him because of this. He’s described with attributes like being steady, calm, and always in control. He is the epitome of an immovable boulder and things revolve around him, not the other way around. I like to draw on imagery of unbending steel and/or the stable ground.

Meanwhile, like the goat of his astrological sign, every step he takes to climb to his goal is assured. He doesn’t do anything spontaneous or without thought, so if he does lose control and act without thinking then it has to be a momentuous occasion. Basically, it’s really important to me that if I write a loss of control, then it’s likely to be the centerpiece.

Keeping in mind that his Evol is time control, I also like to try and subtly weave an atmosphere of how everything happens at his pace. Winter being his season only adds onto this because the world stills when it’s covered in snow; everything becomes muted, hushed, and slowed in this season.

The chemistry in his romance arc is how his pace and control gets disturbed, but he adapts quickly and learns to go along with these moments of whimsy. Or more like that’s his character development and how love changes him.

His canon (spirit) animal is the cat and lion. Felines go along very well with the emperor or noble archetypes he has in all his AU cards, because cats are stereotyped as being independent and haughty animals. He’s not big on PDA or excessive skinship, but he’s not disagreeable to them either. Too much stimulation and, like a cat, he’ll probably show exasperation. Ignore him for too long though and he’ll come to share his presence with you.

For me, his love is shown through quiet acts of service that don’t have any attention drawn to them. Him just being in the same room or giving his attention is how he emotes his love.

He’s quite low-key in his normal life so he doesn’t seem like someone who gets confused over commoner things, but there are also moments where he spends an enormous amount of money without blinking. If life can be made easier with money then why not, right?

Keywords: Calm. Steady. Earth. Immovable. Control. Exasperated Affection. Time. Cats. Literal Capricorn. Winter. Mature.

ZHOU QILUO

First thing that comes to mind is the sun and heat. Fire is his element and so I go for stereotypical imagery like flares of passion and burning bright. He switches expressions and moods at the drop of a hat and he’s a mood maker to the extreme, but there’s no hiding the way he shines with his love for his love.

However, because he’s also Helios, it’s really important for me to play around with dualities and explore the other side of this positive imagery. So, just like how the sun can bring warmth and life, it’s also a deadly laser something that can hurt people by blinding them or setting fires. It’s also fun to remember that the moon only has light from the sun’s reflection.

Game-wise, I believe Helios has been described with cold and ice imagery but, because I try to keep that imagery for Li Zeyan, what I like to consider instead is that extremely cold things can “burn” you too. Frostbite can also be called ice burn.

The sky is repeated imagery for Luoluo too, because of his eyes, but I’ll admit I’m still uncertain about how to interpret this for his character. Generally, the sky represents freedom but...? How I approach this is that the sky doesn’t discriminate and protects everyone below it (echoing his quote about how he protects the light in the dark).

On this note about the sky being welcoming, I view Luoluo’s love as one that accepts his love no matter what they’re like and he grows together with them (unlike the two adults, Li Zeyan and Xu Mo).

However, again, it’s super important to remember his duality and just because he’s a playful mood maker doesn’t mean he’s not able to switch into a serious and mature mode. He keeps his innocence and warm heart despite the darkness he’s seen and understands.

His canon animal is the bear which also makes me tilt my head. I can only see this as how bears are seen as both cuddly and cute, but also fierce and protective. He was also given a stag but... no one uses that LOL.

Keywords: Fire. Passion. Playful. Innocent. Little Sun! But Moon. Spring. Sacrifice. Darkness. Sky. Mischievous. Mood Maker.

BAI QI

Every single cell in his body is attuned to his love. You ever lose your phone and then, for the rest of the day, you feel as if you’re missing an important piece of yourself and you have intrusive thoughts wondering where it is? That’s him. You ever see something so cute you experience cute aggression and don’t know what to do with yourself? That’s him. You know those dogs that strain at their leashes on the streets because they want to go and greet you? That’s him.

It’s all about the yearning.

I know, I know, I wrote essays about how he can survive without his love and how he’s someone who carries both love and a greater justice BUT let’s not kid ourselves that he doesn’t revolve around his love like Jupiter around the sun.

Anyway, so the game shoves wind descriptions down our throats. It’s literally another vehicle for him to emote his love and, to be honest, I don’t do much with it other than use it for that. I talked about it extensively in my character essays, but I suppose I play with the irony of how he’s only free because he has a home can return to. [Loneliness SR Wind and Care Call] “Because I have a place for my heart, I can fly anywhere.”

I don’t believe the game emphasizes this any more than it does with the other men, but I try to always have a point of contact between Bai Qi and his love because, again, the yearning and vibrating with All That Love. He’s such a physical character (military archetype) that I also want to emphasize that in writing.

In addition, I’m all about him being the most feral of the men. Heck, his canon animal is the wolf which is great for both its stereotypical and non-stereotypical meanings, such as being a lone wolf and ferocious animal but also a pack animal that can’t survive on its own and needs a pack. Meanwhile, NW717 is described in-game as a monster.

Look, one of his signature descriptions in the game is resting his chin on or against his love’s head and nuzzling them. I’m not baselessly trying to push my kink I swear.

So, like how Bai Qi said in [Light Bath SSR: Tenderness Call] that maybe he only shows his gentleness towards select people (his love and mother), he’ll give the person he loves all the warmth of his being but, oh boy, I see him as being a beast who will remember his true nature upon being chained; the “chain” of love gives him the reassurance he needs to be truly free... in all its meanings.

Keywords: Ginkgo. Summer. Primal. Wind. Love is love is love. 3-Point Contact. Wolf. Yearning. Vitality. Justice. Freedom. Physical. Restraint.

XU MO

First, given how vocal I am about Elex’s changes, this is probably going to be the most drastically different section out of everyone vs. their English version.

Soft. Light. Gentle. Kind. Gossamery. Feathery. Ethereal. Faint. Whenever I write him, do I literally open up a thesaurus to find synonyms for gentle, light, and soft? Yup! LOL.

Fun fact, in CN and JP the word for “smile” and “laugh” is the same character and so sometimes there is ambiguity when translating if there’s no clear markers. The writers definitely had a word in mind when they wrote the scene, but unfortunately we don’t have the ability to check with them at every use and so sometimes it does come to subjective interpretation.

For me, Xu Mo is characterized by a lot of quietness. Game-wise, there are enormous usages of silence and descriptions of emotional fluctuations in his eyes so Significant Silences and Looks are a major thing with him and in my writing for him, which is why I always choose “smile” over “laugh” if there is any ambiguity in the line (I believe Elex leans towards chuckles).

On a similar note, the game also gives him a gigantic serving of descriptions that only ever use the word for “light, slight, faint, soft, gentle” in JP and CN. It gives him a very floaty and dreamy feeling, even if he’s doing something physical. So, it’s important for me to keep a similar atmosphere when writing and make everything feel as if it has to be shared in a whisper.

A bonus here is that it doesn’t require much to turn this ethereal feeling into a melancholic one, so you get that dash of angst that layers over everything. Leave a few things unknown here and there, incomplete actions, eyes that get averted and Boom. Angst.

Shifting gears, but if my imagery of Bai Qi’s love is like a tense, vibrating, and restrained chain of yearning then Xu Mo’s love is like a flood barely being held back by a dam. Knowledge of the quantity and weight behind the dam is terrifying, but it’s safe to be submerged inside it. Much like Luoluo and Helios, Xu Mo also has a dangerous duality in Ares and so I also like to play with this imagery.

So, on this point, I like to preserve an underlying sense of darkness (all-consuming possessiveness, etc.) and envision that he also wishes to stain his love in his colors, like a drop of ink on white paper and how it seeps into every fiber of the paper until the whole thing is saturated with him.

Incidentally, I’m reminded that—whenever possible and natural—I want to exclusively use water imagery with Xu Mo. The game supports this too! He is described with extensive water imagery and so I try to use water metaphors, analogies, and similes.

I try to make sure every sense is present, but I feel like the game emphasizes (especially with the red thread of fate imagery) that Xu Mo and his love are connected at a soul-deep level and so I always keep in mind a mental, emotional, and spiritual aspect.

Lastly, his canon animal is the fox (we ignore the black goat LOL) so contrasting his elegant, scholarly, and gentleman’s air with a black belly, teasing, and mischievous air is also important! Sexual but with, you know, class.

Keywords: Butterflies. Monochrome. Artist. Red Thread. Autumn. Melancholy. Water. Soft. Gentle. Light. Faint. Dreams. Spiritual. Fox.

LING XIAO

I’m getting more comfortable with him, but he’s still shrouded in so much mystery. If every one of the other men treat their loves with gentleness though Ling Xiao is definitely one who isn’t afraid of roughhousing. He’ll act first and then ask for forgiveness afterward, if needed.

But I like to keep in mind that, for all his roughness, he’s still a good kid at heart and when he saw MC’s skirt rising up when he tried to pull her over the fence he immediately stopped. So, a bit of a bully but without any humiliation.

Intelligent, strong, and dangerous but hiding all of that beneath a devil-may-care attitude and someone who does things on a whim. I don’t know what to do much with his canon animal being the shark except to attach it vaguely to this point and think that, as an apex predator of the sea, it does things at its own pace (somehow, it gives me the image that he likes to bite... but, uh, that’s probably just me LOL).

Keywords: Mercurial. Lightning. Sarcasm. Physical.

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