#threading: i'll be able to help more folks now

[duskofendflame]

@fujinheart continued from here

“I think the only dragon who lost his mind is you, Kamui.” Takumi spat out harshly. “Our paths diverged the day you chose to betray us, yet somehow everyone still sang your praises! I don’t understand how you do it. I could laugh, if I didn’t feel like throwing up.” He could never understand. What was it that he lacked? Why was he never loved and appreciated the way Kamui was? Even though he hurt everyone, betrayed them, what did he have that Takumi didn’t?! Why did Ryoma, Hinoka, Sakura and even Mother still love Kamui more than him?! “I.. I still haven’t forgiven you, you know that? So you can take your fake modesty and shove it. Stay away from me, or I will actually kill you this time.” He threatened, yet he knew full well it was a lie. He couldn’t, not when he wanted nothing more than to call him brother.. but he couldn’t. He thought he was at peace. He thought he could’ve forgiven Kamui. But now, seeing him again after so long, it was as if all the difficult emotions returned to him. So long as his pain still remained, he couldn’t forgive him, no matter how badly he wanted to in the depths of his injured heart. He just had to remind himself. Of Cheve, how he felt when he heard Sakura was imprisoned. …how he felt when mother died. All of it, he had to keep convincing himself, was the fault of the man standing before him. Even when it rang hollow in his heart, he’d just have to stop listening to it too.

Our paths didn't diverge at that field, even if that is where fate spilt. No, I think they diverged long before that. The very moment I was stolen away to Nohr, I became something different from you. From everyone else.

"I have not betrayed anyone. Not in the timeline that I know of. I cannot apologize for the actions of a version of me that I do not know," He was not the same as the Kamui that Takumi knew of, he had seen too much of what controlled the actions of their world and drove those like Takumi to insanity, "But I am still sorry. You, no version of you, deserves to be so pained."

He wishes that he could drive his sword through Anankos' heart once more, for the pain that had been wrought in timelines that were not Kamui's own. He wishes that he could mend all of the broken pieces back into one whole. But he can't, no matter how much he wishes to.

"You can kill me if you want. I wouldn't stop you. If you think I have wronged you, then it is only right to get revenge... isn't it?"

#ic: i make my own fate! #ic #thread: takumi [01] #threading: i'll be able to help more folks now #supports: you know me so well #support: takumi #fujinheart

[re-lmayer]

i've found myself in a bad situation. the tl;dr is i have to move, but i can't afford to. i'm a disabled student and just do not have the funds required to rent a truck, hire movers, and cover deposits. so, i'm offering various services on my kofi, but if you don't need those you can also donate there or via paypal. my cashapp and venmo are both erinshelley91 if you'd like to donate on those platforms (i couldn't figure out how to link to those)

if you can't afford to commission me or to donate, reblogging this post and sharing my twitter thread is a free way to help me out and is so appreciated!

more context and stuff under the cut, i just don't want to make a long post on ppl's dashboards

my landlord has been cheating on his husband, and their relationship is rocky. he also has a massive spending addiction according to his husband. his spending addiction is making him not want to perform the actual duties of a landlord, because investment costs are cutting into his shopping spree funds

ex, he is illegally not fixing a leak in the shower of the upstairs tenants, and claims the costs are more than their rent. he told them to "figure it out, or get the fuck out." (verbatim.) he also told me it would be cheaper for him to not have tenants at all bc his utility bills would be smaller. he then left it to ME to inform another tenant to leave (then gaslit me and denied it in front of his husband when his husband questioned it)

in his words, we have 90 days to leave. i am disabled and a full time student and have been living on my fafsa returns, and the last job i had made one of my disabilities worse to the point i've had intensive physical therapy (several hours several times a week) and am likely going to have to undergo surgery

i'm also mi/nd, so even on a good day i'm not very well equipped to handle things, and the recent stress has also caused my therapist to see me several times a week in lieu of institutionalization

all that said, i'm not in a good spot physically or mentally, hence the best i can do right now is offer some of my skills on kofi

i'm currently working with my state's vocational rehab to try and find a suitable job until i can get my degree, but even then i simply would not be able to afford the costs of a sudden move in the timeframe i've got to work with

UPDATE MARCH 25, 2024: i want to invest in a scooter to do gig work like doordash. this will let me work at my own pace, and earn towards the move myself, then i'll have some more independence to continue doing that after as well

they require 50cc or under, which means i could get a scooter for under $1,000. i'd also need to cover fees to renew my license (i let it lapse since i haven't had a vehicle), get a helmet, and get insurance (roughly $100 annually)

i also made some amazon wishlists for folks who would like to help but prefer to know exactly where their money's going. i have one for housewarming stuff here, and one for necessities here

update as of april 5: my cat peed on my bed, and since it's a memory foam mattress it soaked all the way through and ruined it

update as of april 7: she did it again. this time there's blood in it

update as of april 14: i still haven't been able to take her to the vet, but i've been trying to do at home remedies

[nyerus]

Hello! I'm really sorry to bother you with some stupid questions but I'm a little bit confused. Can you tell me about the TGCF revised version and what to expect from it? I made my research a little bit but I'm not sure I get the full picture. I just finished reading all the novels in official EN translation and it bugs me a little that I just got everything settled in my brain and now...smth will be changed in the revised version? What does it mean for canon?

I'm sorry it I make no sense, just a little bit disoriented. Thank you for answering in advance!

Hello Anon!

I totally understand how confusing it could be! I'll try to help clear it up, so no worries!

There are two main versions of TGCF now:

Original/Serialized

Revised

The original webnovel was released in a serialized manner, and this is the one all existing printed translations are based on. Including the official EN translation! This is also what the manhua and donghua are adapting. It was never released as a printed version in mainland China.

The revised version was released in early 2023, in mainland China only (thus far). It has significant changes here and there such as: removal of some minor characters, revision of certain characters' backstories, fleshing out of some inter-character relationships, expansion of existing Hualian-centric scenes, several additional scenes (mainly Hualian-centric), modification of some arcs/plots (e.g. the Bloody Banquet is quite different -- all the way from the lead-up to the ending -- though the broad strokes of it remain similar to the original). Plus just a lot of general streamlining! However, the overall structure of the story and the main plot remains the same.

The printed revised version that was released in China is also a censored edition (for obvious reasons). There is no publicly available uncensored edition available for us to read. That being said... the audio drama is actually working on the uncensored revised version (which they got from MXTX directly, it seems)!

The AD is absolutely fantastic, and if you're interested in checking out the revised version, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's easily my favorite adaptation, by far. This is an old guide on how to purchase + listen, but it still mostly works (you can purchase the entire season with google pay now too). Follow this for enabling EN subs (MTL). There are folks doing fanTLs, but those are not yet complete and still in the very early episodes as of now.

Additionally, there is a fan translation for a few select chapters from the printed revised version, done by Clearnoodle256. Though while yes, it's censored, the plot stuff and extra scenes are absolutely amazing. There's a lot of extra insight into Hualian especially, but also other characters like Lang Qianqiu! Check it out here!

If you'd like more information, I also made a twitter thread about the different versions, but it's similar to what I have already outlined here!

MXTX has said that both versions are just as "canonical" as each other, and fans are welcome to pick-and-choose aspects of both. Personally, I adore what I have seen and heard of the revised version thus far (though there are a few parts where I prefer the original ver). It doesn't feel like a whole new story, but more like seeing the same story with fresh eyes and getting a lot more details! It's very exciting to be able to somehow experience TGCF all over again! 💖

#tgcf #tian guan ci fu #hob #heaven official's blessing #asks #anon #sorry i am COMPELLED to shill for the audio drama whenever i can because it's THAT PERFECT

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

03/02/2024 Daily OFMD Recap

TLDR; Cast & Crew Sightings; SambaSchutte; Vico Ortiz; Captain's Orders; AdoptOurCrew Saturday Sillies; Saturday "Masculinity" Fuckery; March 3 Reminders; FOTC and Short Poppies Watch Party Polls; Our Flag Turns 2; The Pirates Watch party; New Watch Party: Next Goal Wins; Repo News; Articles; Love Notes; Daily Darby/Tonight's Taika;

= Cast&Crew Sightings =

= Samba Schutte =

Samba's new short film "I Keep Bumping Into Candy Maldonado" is screening tomorrow Mar 3 @ 10 am at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival! If you happen to be there, give it a watch!

Src: Samba's Instagram Story

= Vico Ortiz =

Vico's out here re-tweeting the AdoptOurCrew #TheseThems Watch Party! Way to go @adoptourcrew!

= Today was Captains Orders!=

Several folks got out and took some time to enjoy nature! I only got a few permissions to share so if I get more, I'll add more tomorrow! Thank you to @lucyrosebutler for sharing! The last two images are me and my sad dry state. Bonus, my nugget before he ran off.

== AdoptOurCrew Saturday Sillies ==

Our lovely crew-mates @AdoptOurCrew are back again with more #SaturdaySillies! This time around it's Pirate Connections! Want to know how to play? Check out the guide. If you already have twitter, please visit the Adopt Our Crew Thread to play! Don't have twitter? No problem! Their links to the Pirate Connections are below!

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

Game 5

Game 6

== Saturday Fuckery! ==

Our darling @RedsiesWorld on twitter started up a fuckery! Various crew members managed to lots of positive, healthy masculinity posts running through the #MasculinitySaturday tag!

== Reminders for March 3 ==

= FOTC/Short Poppies Watch Party Polls =

Have you voted yet for times for the Flight of the Conchords or Short Poppies Watch Party? @iamadequate1 still has the polls up!

How should ep breakdown in a Mon-Fri week be for the 12 eps of FotC S1?

What is a good hashtag for a FotC watch party?

What is a good hashtag for a Short Poppies watch party?

= #OurFlagTurns2! =

Our friends over at @AdoptOurCrew are hosting several questions on twitter regarding #OurFlagTurns2! If you're on twitter, please respond on their feed, otherwise, if you want to respond on any other platform, just add the hashtag #OurFlagTurns2!

Mar 3: The Pirates! Watch Party! 

This is a family friendly movie so bring the kids! Or the adults-- or anyone you know, really, as long as it's not against their will! Sunday March 3rd, 3 PM EST, 12 PM PST, 8 PM GMT!

Watch Party Hashtags:

#OurPirateCaptain

#SaveOFMD

#AdoptOurCrew

== New Watch Parties! =

March 8th - Next Goal Wins!

When: 8 pm GMT / 3 pm EST / 12 pm PST

Thank you @lamentus1 for the info! Now available to buy in the UK: £11.99 @ Apple (https://tinyurl.com/mr3p6bvm) and £9.99 or £11.99 @ Amazon https://tinyurl.com/2fwdmezz.

(US fans can watch on Hulu, and Disney Plus)

Watch Party Hashtags:

#SaveOFMD

#OurFlagWins

== Repo News ==

Hey all! Sorry it took so long.. I finally got the Renewal Repo Resources up with approved resources this time. I also added a new permission form so if you'd like to offer up your creations to be added to the repo for the purpose of sharing (with or without credit) you can do so and choose how your creations will get to be used. If anything on that form doesn't make sense or doesn't include something you feel needs to be included, please reach out to me! I got lots of feedback but I know there's always room for improvement, and I want to make sure I'm covering everyone's bases.

Please Note: This form is for shareable media. For "Fan Spotlight" I'll still be reaching out individually and those will be in a completely different part of the repo and not for sharing purposes.

OFMD Renewal Repo Sharable Media Submission / Permission Form

== Articles ==

Anti-Warner Bros. Sentiment Grows as Major Boycott Gains Traction (A shout out to @adoptourcrew in it! woo!)

== Love Notes ==

Hey lovelies. I hope if you were able to get outside today that it helped a bit with giving you some relief. Nature really can be healing, as the captain says. If you weren't I hope you got to do something fun, like make a gif, read a fanfiction, eat something you love, and get some rest. Just wanted to remind you that you can do anything. You can write that fic. You can draw that art. You can learn that language, or that subject you want. You can get that new job, or take that break. You can make it through another day, even when it feels like you can't. Remember that. I believe in you <3 The crew believes in you <3 If you don't already, one day I know you'll believe in you too. Sending all the love <3 To Quote @bossbabe.inc "yes the fuck you can".

== Daily Darby / Tonight's Taika ==

The gif theme tonight is "Strut your stuff". Rhys Gif Courtesy of @lacefuneral Taika Gif Courtesy of @fuckyeahworldoftaika

#ofmd daily recap #ofmd daily recaps #daily ofmd recap #daily ofmd recaps #ofmd #our flag means death #rhys darby #taika waititi #save ofmd #renew as a crew #adopt our crew #@adoptourcrew #samba schutte #vico ortiz #captains orders #next goal wins #flight of the conchords #short poppies

[flyingpurplepeopleprogrammer]

Let's talk about thoughtlessness and brainlessness:

It's a broad topic, so I want to be clear that I'm not lumping the blissfully mindless in with mushin or the wannabe brainless bimbos, but there is a common thread.

See, so many of y'all aim for those spaces and then - like the dog that caught the car - have no idea what to do when you get there. You get that fleeting moment of peaceful, free, empty, or dumb and then... Whoops. Where'd that thought come from? It's a tragedy.

Now don't get me wrong, you can play with that: degradation for not even being able to not think or fractionation in the form of rapidly switching between here and nowhere - there's no shortage of options.

But think about what you're actually doing for a moment. Your brain is a finely tuned noise generator, a veritable idea generating machine that's evolved and sophisticated over a bazillion years and you're trying to make it not do, like, it's Thing. It's not trivial. Is it distracting thinking about how terribly affected you'd have be to be able to just stop thinking like that?

If you really want to be mindless and stay that way, then you've got to look at things a little differently.

People who are mindless don't just have their brains turn off. They're just doing a different kind of thing - experiencing a different kind of focus. Some folks get it through exercise or meditation. Others chase spirals. If you want to float in mindlessness then you need to give that lovely and clever brain of yours another way to be.

And since the intelligence play crowd will feel left out otherwise - I should say that that's how you get to be a silly little puddle, too, but to address that I need to put on my wholesome educator hat for a second:

People our society calls stupid or dumb are very, very seldom so. They've got the same kind of clever brains as everyone else! Most of the time - and that's the "most" of a person who habitually never says always - they're just caught up in what we decide are the wrong kind of thoughts. Maybe they missed some vital prerequisites. Maybe they really, really confidently believe that this or that line if reasoning is off limits to them. (Looking at you, shitty sexist math teachers.) Whatever the reason, even the most vapid creature is going to show you that they're quite clever and quite able to learn if you put them in an appropriate environment, and if you listen to "stupid" long enough to understand then you'll usually find they make perfect logical sense. It's just that their logic might be missing some vital pieces of information.

But how did that help you, dear reader, be a silly, giggly object? I'll tell you: you want to learn from them. Silly enlightenment isn't not having a brain; it's letting your brain wander over to play with things that don't matter. The version of that you dream up well be your own, of course: you might picture your ideal silly self replacing serious smartness with lustful daydreams and 47 palettes of makeup. Or you might see yourself fixated on what's really, truly, blissfully important to you - less valley girl, more devoted thrall. Or, well- the options are endless, as are the ways to keep yourself wherever you want to end up.

Some folks don't really have a problem with any of that, mind. They just slip into whatever headspace they wanted and their clever brains keep entertained in the background - possibly even by delighting in watching themselves tumble face first into decadence.

For the rest of us, though, what's important is that you don't despair if your first brushes with an empty head are fleeting. There's a set of skills to be learned, and if you spend a little time exploring where you want to end up and what it looks like to stay there then it can be a lot easier.

#Mine #mindlessness #mindless #brainwashing #hypnosis #we can have a little hypnotalk - as a treat

[bloggedanon]

TOY COMMISSIONS ARE OPEN. DM IF INTERESTED, OR IF YOU JUST WANT TO DONATE.

Alright, listen up, folks.

My hours have been reduced to nothing for months now on account of disabilities I'm trying to get treated for, I got a med bill I wasn't expectin' in the mail, and now I'm woefully far from bein' able to pay for my upcoming psychiatrist appointment, which I have to pay for by the 24th of this month. This one is really important because there's a strong probablility this one will be the one to prescribe me some meds that just might enable me to be able to acually take care of myself (read: actually function at all) for the first time in my life. I'm prolly gonna need like $300 to cover the appointment. I ain't askin' y'all to help me for free, however.

I can sew together little pillow monster things. They have zipper mouths and button eyes. They're hand-sewn, from a pet-free home.

This is my oldest (and smallest) example. about 7" wide and tall. The ones I'm proposing to sell will be about 9" wide and tall.

Here are the buttons and (9) zippers I have available for this endeavor. (Sorry about the lighting.) Note the loops on the zipper pulls for easier zipping.

Uhh, those are soda can pull tabs in the corner. Ignore that, I'm procrastinating on working on a project.

In terms of fabric, I have fleece and flannel of various colors. 'S all preshrunk in a washer and dryer, but I don't have a good way to showcase or store fabric other than shoving it all into one plastic bag. That aside, here's the flannel I have:

(Dark blue, light blue, teal, white, space [small amount], and scales [purple, blue, and green scales, small amount])

And here's the fleece:

(Purple, red, orange, and black [small amount])

Note how I have more of some colors in one material or another than in others. This means certain body surface colors may not be possible due to material limitations. I have a whole bunch of thread colors, and just an overall abundance of thread tho 👍

These are custom made to order, and the production is paid in advance. You can do custom colors (body, front vs back color, the color of the inside of the mouth, whether or not you want it to have a tongue, number / color of eyes) and you can POTENTIALLY do other customizations. (Want it to have a ridge on its back like a cartoon dinosaur? Want me to give it horns? Want me to try to figure out how tassles work? Want it to have floppy, doofy, cow-lookin' ears? [I recommend fleece for these kinds of additions, trust me on this one.]) Shape alterations mmmmaayyyyy be possible, but that's pretty dubious. Bear in mind that any customizations / additions will likely drive priduction time wayyy up, and there are things I might not be able to do.

Shipping will be paid seperately, and at the time of shipping. I can't really afford to cover shipping, but also I have no earthly idea how to calculate shipping. I have a tiny scale at home now that I can use to weigh the finished product, but that's about it. These are gonna have to be personally taken to the post office, which means a lot of walking. I dunno, we'll figure it out.

This is all being said and shown in the interest of maximum transparency with this stuff. You will recieve update images with progress on your little monster dude, and you're gonna have to give feedback on the button placements and angles before I sew 'em on so that way I know I've got the look you want on it.

Payments are done over Paypal.

Base price: $35 USD + shipping

Comm slots open: 9

Customizations and additions will add to the price, but the extent to which it happens is (sort of) negotiable. Most customizations are going to be (sort of) experimental on my end, and hand sewing takes forever, especially when you have "everything magically is really hard and takes too long" disease.

If I hit my goal, I'll stop accepting donations. If all 9 commission slots are taken, I will update this post with a good ol'-fashioned pinned reblog and close commissions AND donations. Note that I can only work on one pillow monster at a time, and that it's on a first-come-first-serve basis. If I'm working on one and you want to commission one, I'll let you know and ask if you wanna wait for it. You'll get a number (1-9) to signify whose order I need to do next.

In the meantime, I need to go pop out and sell some blood plasma, probably. 🤡

#commisions open #comms #commisions #toy commissions #mutual aid #(?) #long post

[changingplumbob]

Woods Household: Chapter 1, Part 7

In this final part of the chapter Samir gets a visit from his adoptive mother and brother, reminding all of us that Reece is the only one able to get more than one word or sentence from him. Samir gets ready for another shift where he tries to keep hold of his humanity.

Low level content warning: Some sim spice and mentions of death

*knocking*

Kawikani: Maybe he’s not home

Yesenia: Of course he’ll be home

Samir: Visitors?

Yesenia: Better not be calling us that or you’ll disappear in two seconds flat. Come here honey, are you doing okay? You eating properly

Samir: Suppose

Kawikani: Still a man of few words huh bro

Yesenia: Now where is that boyfriend of yours? It really is high time I meet the boy my son is living with

Samir: Fishing

Having seen guests approaching the house Reece packs up his gear and jogs back from the lake.

Yesenia: Oh look at these photos, very nice dude (she's a bro sim btw)

Samir: *smiles* Reece looks nice

Yesenia: Don’t be modest honey, you’re up here to

Samir: Suppose

Yesenia: I’m so proud of you for being brave enough to claim your home back, you know that right

Samir: *nods* Hmm

Kawikani: Reece, dude! Nice threads

Reece: Thanks

Yesenia: Is that my boys boyfriend?

Reece: Hi Ms Mireles, I’m Reece

Yesenia: Gosh, you’re a lot… younger than I expected *looks at Samir with concern*

Kawikani: Scoring a younger partner, nice one

Samir: *blushes* Yeah. We fit together *blows kiss*

Reece: Aww, thanks

Yesenia continues to look worried and at a loss for words. Samir's brother however sees nothing wrong.

Kawikani: two sentences at once bro? This day is full of surprises

Yesenia: Now Kawikani, you know your brother doesn’t like to talk, don’t make fun

Kawikani: Any updates on your parents case

Samir: Yes… werewolves?

Yesenia: I beg your pardon

Samir looks pleadingly at Reece who promptly takes over sharing what they’ve found. Samir figures Reece is better with words anyway, that's one reason why he loves to hear him talk. When Reece gets to the part about Samir turning into a werewolf Reece can feel Samir tense up, waiting on a response from his family.

Yesenia: Hopefully this will help you find some answers then. No matter what, I'll be your mother. But I know you need to know what happened to your birth parents

Samir: You don’t… mind?

Kawikani: Course we don’t bro, come here

Kawikani pulls his brother into a hug and Samir feels his chest lighten just a bit.

Kawikani: Besides, when have we ever been a typical family unit? Why not add werewolf to the mix. I seriously hope you find the bastard who killed your folks, I know you’ve always wanted a why

Kawikani and Yesenia get talking and Reece pulls Samir aside.

Reece: You need to go for a run right? You're getting restless

Samir: But blondie I get the feeling mum...

Reece: Thinks I'm immature? Yeah, me to. But hey the best way to change that is for me to talk to her right

Samir: Just know I love you, no matter what she thinks

Reece: I know. I love you to, regardless of others approval or disapproval

Samir heads out for a run while Reece tries to win over Yesenia. She’s in a tense mood so Reece attempts to calm her emotions. She’s much happier after that and Reece hopes it’s a step in the right direction.

Samir: They gone

Reece: Yep, the house is ours

Samir: Good because I need to mark again

Reece: *smiles* I have to admit, I find the claiming territory thing attractive as hell, even though puddles are included. You letting the other thousands of werewolves know this house is in your territory

Samir: You’re my territory blondie *howls* everyone out there should know *howls*

Reece: *blushes* but seriously, do you think there are others out there? Apart from whoever bit you

Samir: *shrugs* Maybe. There are... a lot of smells in those woods

Reece: Do you want to like-

Samir: Cozy up and make a werewolf bff pack, nope. You know I don’t do crowds

Samir: I see you got books, good boy

Reece: And a bookshelf to put them in boss

Samir: Wait... why are half of them romance

Reece: *chuckles* You really wonder why I'd like to read about woohooing werewolves

Samir: Well... yeah. Why read when I can show you whenever your needy self wants?

Reece: *laughs* Not that I could ever say no to you but these books could help. Myths, legends and folklore have to come from somewhere right?

Samir: I mean that sound like the excuse of a- wait... I feel like there’s something in the margins here. Do you see?

Reece: I can't see what you're seeing

Samir: I can’t see it properly enough to read it… but it’s there

Reece: Maybe your eyes are still changing, give it time

Reece: One sausage and peppers for me, one raw steak for you

Samir: *eating* thanks, it’s all I really feel like

Reece: Maybe I was wrong, if you catch all the food you eat then grocery cost shouldn’t be a challenge

Samir: Plus, the plate disappears, no dishes

Reece: Guess I’ll clean up my single dish before we head outside then, hey!

Samir: *eating* what

Reece: I thought you didn’t want to eat the meal

Samir: *chewing* I can’t resist food in front of me though

Reece: You’ll get an angry moodlet

Samir: *swallowing* worth it. Always worth it

Samir: Okay, one planter box. How hard can that be really

Reece: Just remember to keep it all square

Samir: What’s a square again

Reece: *sarcastically* Wow, you’re hilarious

Samir: I’m glad you see- ouch

Reece: What happened

Samir: I got distracted by the plant evolving lights and hit my head

Reece: Blame the watcher, I normally do

Reece: You ready for bed

Samir: Yeah. I just… it feels like I could turn tomorrow

Reece: If you do, you do. We’ll handle it

Samir: Any genius ideas of how

Reece: You take the house, I’ll take the outdoors?

Samir: *laughs* Fine, you get outside, this time. I suppose that makes sense if I’m not wanting to scare people. Now, you mentioned something about bed… woohoo and cuddles? But only cuddles after if you’re good

Reece: *giggles* such a task master

Samir: Come on. You show me what you think those books have taught you, and I'll show you some stuff I've read up on that involves your birthday gift

In the morning Samir feels his internal rage nearing its peak and marks his territory out of habit before going to find Reece.

Samir: Hey gorgeous I don’t know how long I’ll be rampaging

Reece: I should have done scouts, then we could have used smoke signals

Samir: I mean... phones exist

Reece: Have it your way, but I'll still be listening out for when the howling stops

Following breakfast Reece heads outside and makes sure the external doors are locked. More than just wanting Samir to be safe inside, he doesn’t want any nosy sims trying to check out the howling. Especially not Sheriff Captain. The dew collector has broken, again, so he fixes it before foraging for wild berries.

Samir has some leftover meat for breakfast. Not the freshest but still fresh enough. He wants to go hunting but doesn’t trust himself around others when he’s not in control of the fury within. He figures if he’s stuck inside, he may as well stress clean. He’s just finished in the bedroom when he feels the rage boil over and his body starts to shift.

Reece spends the morning fishing, or trying to fish while listening to the semi regular howls. He could always catch something in Sulani, even if he’s nowhere near as skilled as his dad. In Moonwood Mill however the fish are having fun alluding him. After a very unproductive hour at the lake he decides to switch to the river that runs through town. While he gets a change of scenery he doesn’t have any luck catching more than seaweed.

We need to mark what’s ours! No, no, we already did that. We need to do it again! Howl so Reece knows it’s not safe yet. No, howl so whoever that killer is they know not to mess with us.

Poor Samir deals with the battling voices in his head for an hour, marking his territory repeatedly and howling so much that he shoots up to being a prime werewolf! With more power seems to come more control and with a series of collecting breaths Samir is able to calm himself down, returning to his human form and unlocking transformation mastery.

Adjusting back to his human form, Samir realises he’s standing amidst an abundance of puddles. He looks around, hoping he broke the sink. Nope, sink is fine, they have to be from him. Rather than feel ashamed at the mess Samir feels something resembling… pride? (his latest temperament is prideful) Of course he managed to pee more than could actually fit in his bladder, he’s clearly going to be a wolf not to be messed with. With a smug smile he sets about starting to mop up, the marking will stay but he doesn’t need the puddles damaging the already dodgy floor.

Reece: *knocks* Can I come back in now

Samir: Sure blondie just… watch your step

Reece: I see you went to town with marking

Samir: And howling, my throat is killing me. But… I managed to turn back by myself!

Reece: That’s great! So it means you're getting some control over it, right?

Samir: It feels like it

Reece: Although that probably means whoever killed your parents…

Samir: Chose to do it in wolf form. Yeah. Hey, I need to get out of here. Come on a date with me?

The couple head back to the park in Cooperdale where they had their first not date of skipping prom together.

The two take a seat and as per normal begin flirting up a storm with each other. It helps that the rain has kept most people away from the park, as Samir really doesn’t do crowds. When Reece pulls out some mistletoe for a special kiss however, Samir realises he does really do romance, cementing his identity as a romantic sim!

Samir: So tell me blondie, are you truly okay with all that’s happened to us since we moved in together

Reece: I mean, it’s been a lot… *chuckles* wilder than I was anticipating, but yes. I’m better than okay, I’m with the guy I love. I’m happy

Samir: I love you to. Now you are still going to apply to university right

Reece: If you insist

Samir: I do. I don’t want trying to find out who killed my parents stop you from flourishing into the genius you are. Plus, there’s many ways we can study biology together

Reece: Have some ideas for that do you

Samir: *smiles wickedly* always

Reece: I mean there is a public bathroom over there if you felt like getting a head start on the curriculum

Samir: *kisses* clearly we still need to work on your patience. Let's go home

Separate dinners eaten together, some wild and playful woohoo, and Reece and Samir fall asleep happy, if on the wrong sides of the bed. This is the end of their first chapter living together, but they’ve got many more stories ahead.

Previous ... Next (Knightstone)

#sims 4 #the sims 4 #the sims #Rotation8 #ChangingPlumbobStorytime #WoodsHousehold #ReeceFoster #SamirHadji #simblr #R0806

[acourtofantumbra]

Ever since I reread Crescent City I have been irked by one intrusive thought: why doesn't Bryce have powers like Feyre?

And while, I'll follow that thread to start... know my eye is twitching toward the dragon theory I've been chipping at alone here on my mountain (of crazy). We'll get there. Hold your horses.

Now, here's the thing about the Bryce power = Feyre type power theory... we don't know that Bryce doesn't? A gorgeous double negative I know, but Bryce is told multiple times like, "hey girlie, your workout is future you's warmup... so... get on that." She is very much skimming the surface of her power's full potential. Granted, she doesn't have a ton of folks with the kind of powers we're dealing with on... idk... Prythian? I wonder if anyone there might be able to help her out or has any experience unlocking a stubborn independent female's full potential. Pray for her.

But Feyre discovers she has literally all of the powers because the High Lords each give her a drop (a Drop) of their power. Other than the High Lord equation, show me the difference between these two pictures. (Plz don't do that I know there's more but ssssh)

As we can see in the passage above ^ , Bryce and the Gates essentially activate the "power yielded" by every Migardian who has visited them over the centuries. Notably...

Every kind of Migardian. Bryce isn't just powered up by fae power, but shifters, and mer, and draki, angels, sprites, and just to be cute SJM leaves us with a mf-ing ellipses. She will never let us know peace.

All of this cross species power is able to blast Bryce back up to a battle-torn Lunathion with a power level that makes her AK dad shake in his boots.

But in CC2 we start to explore Bryce's light power that acts as a beacon and conduit for power - she can get "charged up" and notably does something resembling carranam with Hunt. She also learns to winnow (CC version of it). But this is all she's had the time to work on with a group of fae, angels, and shifters who are in a world with a power suck (literally).

But we never see Bryce idk... growing a tail or in Feyre's case sprouting some sexy (Rhys' words not mine) wings. And I find that suspicious as hell. But I also think good things come to those who wait and perhaps that's where we're headed. Obvi there are so many incredible "Bryce and Dusk Court" theories out there... they plague my dreams and I hope people never stop blowing my mind with them. But what about... Bryce casually absorbing all the powers of Midgardians and being a doppelFeyre theories? I'm not equipped to explain what's happening to the people so please someone help me out.

Anyway, there's one more bit. My dragon bit I wont let go. Look, if one day my dragon theories mean anything, I have a group chat who is gonna make me feel like the smartest gal in all the land. If not... SJM... what was with all the breadcrumbs? Anyway, I present you this...

Look, I know I'm talking about dragons and looking for dragons, but also so is SJM. And I just think it's all rather convenient that it's been a back burning plot with ONE OF THE FEW ABILITIES to defeat a Prince of Hel... like... it's gotta materialize at some point. Why not CC3? Why not in Super Bryce? It's Chekhov's dragon.

I also need to stop pushing everything onto CC3 like it will finally give me all the answers because when has Sarah ever done that?

#sjm multiverse #sjm multiverse spoilers #sjm theory #cc3 #crescent city #bryce quinlan #house of earth and blood #house of sky and breath #house of flame and shadow #the drop #feyre archeron #dragons

[aluckiicoin]

budget mobile rules/about

Aventurine belongs to the Honkai Star Rail universe. More specifically:

A senior manager in the IPC Strategic Investment Department and one of the Ten Stonehearts.

As far as personality goes:

He is not a nice person. While he seems rather laid back and as if nothing could ever bother him, he will talk down on you, use you for his own advantage, sell you out if he thinks the offer is good enough. He will manipulate and use you to his whims. His constant smile and ability to wrap words around makes it almost impossible to discern his true feeling. Truthfully, he might not be able to ID them himself. He can be nice and he will be if he thinks it will help him win you over.

But if you want more about how he is, you will have to look up the Information tag (and the one on the old blog).

A very short breakdown on rules:

he won't know who you are unless you are (for now) Topaz. If you want him to, you can mention it before (that does exclude OCs that are a integral part of the IPC, obviously he should've heard of those before). He might have heard of you if you're known to the IPC however.

I can decide what he does by myself, thank you

I'm not big on ships, mostly because I don't wanna hurt myself or others; and he's likely never gonna be what you want him to become

I'm terrified of people and therefore hate dms with a passion, mostly because I can only get myself to concentrate on talking to two people at a time

no nsfw here, it's all over there

if you have a problem with trans folks you canfucking leave and get hit by a car for all I care

general tumblr rp lingo:

I am not mutuals exclusive

I will have favourites, it's a human thing to do

I'm a fan of OCs, so come at me

you can always bother him via askbox

it would be awesome if you could cut your posts. You don't have to but if you don't it's unlikely I will follow back because I only have so much space on my dashboard and if I come back from work I'd rather not scroll through 98 posts on the same thread.

I don't mind duplicates - really I wanna see him mess with other versions of himself

in the spirit of favourites I'll probably find mains, those will be the people meant if any muse is ever mentioned in a thread. That's not first come, first served.

I'm very low activity. I will likely reblog one or two memes every day but answers will likely have to wait until the weekend.

The writer:

I'm not a good person even though people that know me will disagree

I agonize over everything I say and then it still comes out wrong

for someone usually rping muses with people skills I am AWFUL at it

I'm overthinking everything, I get anxious about anything and I wish any of my muses would just share a tiny bit of their fucking ego bc I sure could use it

You can call my Skully (Skullbert)

I'm 30+ years, from europe and a guy.

and verses!

encased in amber light ( verse I; everything star rail) which is everything pre-penacony (as in everything up until 2.0 and actually checking into the hotel)

swarm disaster; muse edition (star rail but the characters keep multiplying) ; anything from 'the characters found tumblr and use it' to general meeting multiple versions of the same character goes here

the emergency plan; depending on how the penacony storyline goes on, Ven fakes his death and hides out in Belobog from then on (though with Boothill's description I might have hopes that my suspicions are wrong)

everything else

#out of cards ( ooc ) #mobile rules

[the-blind-geisha]

Onward to 2023

It's been a crazy, emotional year for me (more where my health is concerned). I won't miss it (for the most part). Instead of focusing on the bad, I'll focus on the positive. ♥

I got to befriend some amazing people and even continue some friendships a bit more. I can hardly say any of them were tested. We stood strong beside one another, helped one another through rough times, and learned I'm not alone in how I view my own OCs. It's always nice to find a deep connection with folks on personal levels. ♥

Rping on Twitter was hardly what I expected. What I thought would become boring in no time at all, has actually become a joy. I met some great people and formed bonds I didn't think even Demiurge would make in those threads! I feel like I get to be apart of my own Isekai Quartet in a way where OCs are included. XD

I finally finished my comic from 2020, Dancing with the Devil. Upon learning an easier way to fill in lineart, I was able to get through it in no time at all. I am happy that was the case, but now I'm trying to motivate myself to either do smaller comic ideas like I used to as a kid, or talk myself into making Oreana's story into a Webtoon. ^.^; We'll see what becomes of that.. lol ADHD is a killer of many things.

I found the courage to finally start writing to the formerly nameless Angelic SB MC. It was hard to make that decision, but I decided not to let fear ruin me. Life is short, and I need to ignore the negative voices (in the fandom and in my head). ♥ I don't plan on the story being that long, as I can't really foresee myself being creative enough in an AU to still make it that engaging. But I am still shocked by the love it has with only 3 chapters! I love being able to get my own headcanons of certain situations down on paper.

The Demon King of the Desert still shocks me to this day. What began as a 'I need a break from the fandom and write my own thing with this character' turned into a lot more. It's been cathartic for me. I will be sad to see it go sometime next year, but I know all good things must come to an end. ♥ I like to believe my Demiurge has a unique soul that is hard to just vanish from one world, so there will be many other stories with him.

But also, many other monster stories in general. ♥

I do have ideas for next year, but I won't spoil them. Let's make 2023 a fun one full of good and welcoming surprises.

#and i can't wait to hang out in acnh tomorrow with some friends #i need to uh.. kill the roaches in my house though #and talk to my villagers x'D #i feel SO bad #it's been over a month since i've been on #mod talks

[mittensmorgul]

What do you prefer as far as reading fics? For an already completed fic would you rather the author: post the whole fic at one time so you can binge all the chapters or read it at your own pace, or space out posting the chapters so you have something to look forward to a couple days a week?

Hi hi! This is one of those things that I think everyone has different thoughts and feelings on, for completely valid reasons. And honestly, whatever an author prefers is the best way for the author to post, you know?

It’s just a function of the AO3 sort feature that fics that are updated get bumped to the top of the search results list every time an author adds a chapter, and for a lot of authors this is a definite benefit. It helps grow their audience from people searching for what the author invested a lot of time in writing, you know? So I totally get why authors would choose to post serially, even if they’ve completely written the work already.

I am not that patient as a writer. I don’t post works in progress because it just doesn’t work with my writing process. I always go back and edit earlier parts of the story as I work out the later parts, so posting as I write is just not possible for me anyway. And once I finish writing, I have no patience for stringing out posting (I tried once, it was a disaster, I got anxious, and just posted the rest of the thing within days lol).

So I get why authors would make either of these choices personally for themselves. But as a reader? I always prefer to read completed stories. Because again, that’s just how my brain works. I will not remember details from a story if I have to keep putting it down for a week or two at a time (or longer). Especially if I’m also reading other things in between, and also trying to write my own things. My brain just can’t hold that many storylines at one time lol.

(for reference, the only reasons I’m surviving Dracula Daily are because a) it’s daily, or near enough, and b) i’ve read dracula probably 30 times already so my brain isn’t likely to forget details in between updates)

So I see a lot of fics I really want to read, that look intriguing as authors post updates week after week, but I’ll almost always wait until the story is complete before starting reading. Or I’d have no hope of being able to follow the story.

So really, it’s entirely up to the author! If they want to take advantage of the AO3 sort system, and they’re patient enough to wait for their posting schedule before updating, then more power to them! But I’ll wait until I can binge the whole thing, thanks. But again, that’s just me! I know a lot of readers who love the constant updates, even if it’s just a wait of a few days for an author stringing out posting a completed fic, and those folks would likely appreciate serial posting! And the rest of us (when we’re eager to read the story based on the concept/plot we’ve seen in promos) are happy to wait. :)

(the only thing I'd personally beg authors to do is to make a post alerting folks like me that the work is complete. Just make a new post, not the one with 30 reblogs with each chapter linked in a thread below it, or not just the final chapter's post, but a tidy one with a summary, maybe a teaser, and a link that leads to chapter one, because I love promoting completed fics! and I almost never reblog wip posts because again, I lack all patience and want to read the whole thing, and it's one way i resist hobbling myself when it comes to reading fic... i make it easier for myself however i can. and i personally find I abandon wip's that I start, because I'll pick up on the next chapter, have no idea what's going on, and have to read back again, and I just don't have time to reread all the chapters again every time a fic updates, so i just stop reading... which makes me sad. so personally I'll choose to wait. But I've discovered a lot of the time I'll see the same update post again and not register that it's announcing the story is now complete, because I've seen it so many times over weeks/months and mentally filed it as "wip mittens danger zone do not read" and I just... don't see the completion notice! but again, this is just me, and I have no idea how other readers feel about any of this, and really it's up to the author entirely how they prefer to post and promote their own works... readers will still find our stories regardless <3)

#adventures in fanfic

[duskofendflame]

Application

You stare up at the impressive structure of the monastery as you wait. You’ve seen plenty of large buildings before, but cathedrals like this are rare back where you come from. And you are always so curious about things that you have not seen before. It’s impressive, and beautiful. A lovely backdrop to the boredom that threatens to succumb you. The bustling of the churchgoers keeps your mind occupied, curious eyes observing everyone that they can.

The cold stone thumps against your bare feet as you shuffle awkwardly in place. How much longer are you meant to wait anyway? You are eager to be able to explore your new environment.

“Lord Corrin?” Your head jolts up quickly as someone calls out your name, ruby eyes quickly snapping to attention. The monk looks kind, but you have learned that is not exactly a perfect judge of character. You still want to be able to trust people, want to believe anyone you come across, but you know now that appearances are not always exactly as they seem. But for now, you have no reason to want to distrust the man. So you stand, and smile brightly.

“Yes, that’s me! I suppose you are the one I was waiting for then? The interviewer?” The monk nods gently and you move to follow him as he directs you to a room off of the corridor. You laugh softly to yourself, ready to get started upon this new adventure.

“Please, sit Lord Corrin.” You quickly do as told, staring ahead at your interviewer with wide eyes, curious about what he will even ask you. You’ve never been interviewed before, but maybe it will be a little bit fun!

“Alright then, allow us to get started. What has led you to where you are today?” Oh! So this was the kind of thing that would be asked. You could surely handle this. You smile, thinking back on the path you have followed. You think you were right in the end, but there was still more than you could have done for the world, a little bit less loss you could have prevented. You know the path you had chosen was right, that your actions in the end were the only thing you could have done without losing any more family than you had to.

“The path I was led down was because of the love I held for my family, to be able to unite the two extremes that I called home. That love is still what leads me, to know that the choices I make are correct.” Your eyes are bright as you speak of your family. They are what makes you confident that your choices have always been correct, that the path that you followed was the right one - for both yourself and everyone else.

“Thank you for your insight Lord Corrin. Moving on, What are your greatest strengths? Greatest weaknesses?” 

“Hrm… well for strengths, I’d certainly say my ability to trust those around me! I’m also quite good at thinking on my feet! Or at least I’d like to think I am!” You laugh, running a sheepish hand through your hair. It is your weaknesses that are not so easy for you to admit. To be able to speak your insecurities is not easy, you would not want to betray any of the expectations that are set upon you. To admit that you feel as though you are inadequate compared to others in your life, it is truly hard.

“My weaknesses… I… I tend to have trouble with larger forces on the battlefield, but my only true weakness is my inexperience. I hope that teaching here at the academy and any other parts of life will help me be able to grow out of that inexperience.” You know you are not as strong, nor as smart, as people may expect by looking at you. But with time, you also know that you will improve.

“Thank you again Lord Corrin. Finally, If your life was a storybook, what role would you play?” You perk up instantly, compared to the intensity of the last question, this is easy. Your own life already felt much like it was the story of a hero, of a fantasy that you never could have dreamed of when you were a child.

“I’d like to think that I’d be the princely hero who saves everyone! But perhaps that is just an ideal that I cannot hope to ever embody. It’s a nice dream, a nice story, for a book though!” Your story has really only truly just begun, so you cannot truly tell what your role will be in the end. Only time can tell, until your fate has become determined. A fate that will always lead you down the right path, of that you are at least sure.

#ic post #ic: i make my own fate! #threading: i'll be able to help more folks now #supports: you know me so well #mission board: i wonder how much i've changed #housekeeping: i've never been very good at cleaning anyway #ooc: what should i do now? #drabble: guess i did it right #events: i think the next battle will go my way #dropped: how... could this happen? #inbox: i can always count on you

[aluckiicoin-a]

budget mobile rules/about

Aventurine belongs to the Honkai Star Rail universe. More specifically:

A senior manager in the IPC Strategic Investment Department and one of the Ten Stonehearts.

As far as personality goes:

He is not a nice person. While he seems rather laid back and as if nothing could ever bother him, he will talk down on you, use you for his own advantage, sell you out if he thinks the offer is good enough. He will manipulate and use you to his whims. His constant smile and ability to wrap words around makes it almost impossible to discern his true feeling. Truthfully, he might not be able to ID them himself. He can be nice and he will be if he thinks it will help him win you over.

But if you want more about how he is, you will have to look up the Information tag (or read old rps).

A very short breakdown on rules:

he won't know who you are unless you are (for now) Topaz. If you want him to, you can mention it before (that does exclude OCs that are a integral part of the IPC). He might have heard of you if you're known to the IPC however.

I can decide what he does by myself, thank you

I'm not big on ships, mostly because I don't wanna hurt myself or others; and he's likely never gonna be what you want him to become

I'm terrified of people and therefore hate dms with a passion

no nsfw here, it's all over there

if you have a problem with trans folks you can fucking leave and get hit by a car for all I care

general tumblr rp lingo:

Aventurine is a sideblog, so if you're mutuals only you will have my OC @hyenapriest following you

I am not mutuals exclusive

on here I also don't care if you are of age, there's not gonna be anything more than suggestive too but I count on you to wager if you wanna click on those readmores

I will have favourites, it's a human thing to do

I'm a fan of OCs, so come at me

I don't mind duplicates - really I wanna see him mess with other versions of himself!

as for now I'm independent

in the spirit of favourites I'll probably find mains, those will be the people meant if any muse is ever mentioned in a thread. That's not first come, first served.

I might make this a main blog sometime in the future (or not)

And last and least the Mun(ster):

I'm not a good person even though people that know me will disagree

I agonize over everything I say and then it still comes out wrong

for someone usually rping muses with people skills I am AWFUL at it

I'm overthinking everything, I get anxious about anything and I wish any of my muses would just share a tiny bit of their fucking ego bc I sure could use it

I'm Skully (Skullbert) and basically 10k dead rats in a trenchcoat (or a Lich)

I'm also a guy and if you ever find me anywhere else and see a muse of mine pls never assume them to be straight.

I'm really slow, it can be months (work, gaming, personal life) before I answer, over 30+ years and from europe

and verses!

There's currently only two but only one has a name

- encased in amber light ( verse I; everything star rail) & everything else

#Rules; Memo; Guidelines; Intel - abriged! A short version for everyone mobile; really #out of cards ( ooc ) #hsr rp #aventurine rp #aventurine #aluckiicoin

[djregular]

It's Bandcamp Friday: Bandcamp United Edition

As we usually do about this time of the month, I'm gonna encourage you to go splash out on Bandcamp purchases from your favorite artists, as Bandcamp waves their cut of sales and puts that money directly in the pockets of the artists/labels. I'll drop some of the stuff I'm copping in after I make another request.

The good folks over at Bandcamp United are Bandcamp employees that are currently organizing and making an effort toward a formal union. Ethan Diamond, Bandcamp's CEO and leadership at the company are currently engaging in union-busting practices. Given Bandcamp's status as a place that puts artists first, it would behoove Ethan to consider extending the same spirit of equity and fairness that they preach for artists to their own employees.

Before you cop anything from the site today (and you should, in addition to helping your favorites see more bread, the folks at Bandcamp United are encouraging you to do so as well), consider following this thread on what you can do to support unionization efforts.

That includes, writing a letter to Ethan Diamond asking him to halt union-busting and allow the employees to hold fair union elections. The BCU Ally Toolkit even has an example draft for what to say, but as they note certain keywords might get filtered out, so I took a stab of my own in an email that I sent yesterday:

Dear Ethan,

I've been a customer and evangelist of Bandcamp as a fair and equitable platform for musicians for years. Looking at my own personal collection, I've got over 400 titles from Bandcamp, and I've eagerly purchased music here specifically because it's one of the few internet storefronts left that seems to leverage itself to uplift the artists that use it, rather than the other way around.

With that in mind, particularly on the eve of Bandcamp Friday when I'm about to push plenty of my friends, family members, and followers to support their favorite artists via your platform, I'd urge you to also offer that spirit of fairness and equitability to your employees by not infringing or interfering with their right to form a union. Not only is it the right thing to do to honor workers who pour themselves into ensuring that artists are able to support themselves, it also reflects back onto artists. I can call out several bands and musicians by name who already cite Bandcamp as a lifeline and a beacon. If they could easily point to Bandcamp as a place that also empowers its employees to make decisions for themselves, they would no doubt be more comfortable with continuing to call Bandcamp home.

Thank you for your time,

And now, a smidgen of what I'm copping today:

High Bias, an album compilation from Backwoodz Studioz

Rat Saw God by Wednesday

i'm not supposed to be here by Illingsworth

Horseradish by Milc & goldenbeets

Visions by Marissa Nadler

As always, make good choices and support workers.

#bandcamp #bandcamp friday #bandcamp united

[davidmann95]

So, thoughts on Superman and Lois now that the Season is over?

Anonymous asked: So what do you think of Superman & Lois S1 now that the finale is out? Hopes for S2?

Anonymous asked: Superman and Lois season 1?

Anonymous asked: Any thoughts on the Superman & Lois finale + season one as a whole?

Anonymous asked: Thoughts on Superman & Lois Season 1? Any hopes for next season?

Anonymous asked: Haven't seen anything from you regarding the S&L season finale yet-- Thoughts on the ep/a season overview?

And then there were none. Not much to say about the finale itself beyond that I thought it was probably the best episode since the pilot at threading the various needles in play in capturing what works about the show, and I liked that the cliffhanger managed both a mandatory "ooooooo, it's a refereeennnncceeee" while really more importantly being about a shakeup to the family dynamic. As for the season as a whole I'll go into the pluses and minuses below, while noting the one really big 'minus' upfront that remains why all other considerations aside I'm not going to say 'you should totally watch this show!' until or unless at minimum Todd Helbing exits the production, preferably with a clear sign of 'hands off' regarding Geoff Johns as well.

The Good

The Cast

This was what had me rooting for this show's existence years before it was a glimmer in the CW's eye - while he can't fully keep up the same overwhelming intensity of Superman-ness across a weekly TV show rather than bi-annual guest appearances, this did nothing whatsoever to abate my conviction that Tyler Hoechlin is flat out the best live-action Clark Kent of all time. Dude just fundamentally gets it right down to the core, with a scope and range to what he successfully does with the character that his peers simply can't match. What was a revelation over time for me was Lois and the kids: I liked Elizabeth Tulloch a lot from day one but the layers she got to peel back over the course of the season (helped by the flashback episode, which landed a little colder for me than most but did a lot to illuminate her performance by contrast with her playing 'classic' Lois) genuinely got me to rethink how I consider the character, and Garfin and Elsass took what could have been the blandest if not actively irritating stock roles in the boys and managed to imbue an earnestness and vulnerability simply above and beyond what the scripts offered them. The Cushing-Langs largely land to an extent I never would have expected going in, Wole Parks wrings every atom of pathos out of Steel he can, and Adam Rayner once he fully emerges as a threat feels like he's coming from an entirely different kind of sci-fi show in the best way. When the material sags the way it was a given it would coming in as a CW production, the folks in front of the cameras stepped up.

Relative production value

Not a ton to say here, but dang, this looked pretty good? There was a clear difference in which episodes had real $$$ to play with and directors who got this was going for something fundamentally different than The Flash vs. which didn't, but even its cheapo moments at least had clever superpower setpieces and solidly charged action beats to offer.

Commitment to its deal

Probably the most important aspect in terms of it hanging together: it largely followed through on the vision it established for itself. With its aesthetic, with its family drama engine as driven by the two best people (if not necessarily always best parents) in the world regularly shaking up the status quo, with solid, grounded emotional moments of grace we've never seen realized onscreen before like this for these folks and real swings for the fences with the mythology. For all its stumbles it established a strong identity among its peers, and its one that should be able to carry it forward a good long ways.

The Bad

Even a Superman can only carry so much

One of the first things I said when the series was announced was that it should initially keep fairly streamlined, and I wasn't proven wrong. Even with the additional ordered episodes (which themselves hurt more than they helped, as they were much more padding for time rather than diving into the nooks and crannies of the setup), this simply wasn't a show that could juggle the 6 interfamily relationships AND the fall and rise of Lana's family AND Smallville's socioeconomic decline AND parallel Earth drama that wound up intertwined with both the superhero and family threads AND Superman's secret evil brother AND a coming of age narrative revolving around the formation of a first relationship (with a mental illness aspect that very frustratingly went nowhere) AND the kids fitting in at school AND Superman's tenuous relationship with the powers-that-be AND his struggle to juggle his commitments AND Lois rebuilding her life in a new town as she battles the corporatization of reporting. That'd be a lot for a best-of-all-possible-worlds Superman show to handle. This? I clearly liked a lot about it, but nuh-uh.

Is He His Brother's Keeper?

A friend of mine speculated from pretty early on in the season that this was initially pitched as a one-child show, with the boy who would've been Jonathan turned into Jordan when higher-ups refused the idea of a Kent Family show entirely about Lois and Clark's relationship with their 'troubled' son; as a result the version of Jonathan we got was either created from scratch or retooled from a best friend character to serve as the picture-perfect Son of Superman, to establish his brand in that regard if they ever wanna make a movie or cartoon about him. When the showrunner is talking in interviews about how next season they'll start to delve into 'what he wants', it's hard to deny that however exactly things shook out behind the scenes (though at this point I'm REALLY leaning towards my friends' theory) he was very much an after-the-fact consideration. I'm not personally affronted in the sense of it doing a character I like dirty - whatever they were named both boys were clearly a conglomerate of a lot of different takes on the idea of what Lois and Clark having kids could look like, going back long before 2015 - but damn, you wrote this really kindhearted kid played with a lot of warmth by Elsass and you put him through the wringer on every level for 15 episodes in order to facilitate stories and realizations for everybody else, and that's just not narratively satisfying.

Where's the Romance?

I don't mean the love between Lois and Clark - the show did a quality job there on the foundation of Hoechlin and Tulloch's chemistry. But I mean capital-r Romance in the classical sense. It could sure tap into it when it wanted to with its tableaus of Superman's big saves, him and Lois kissing as they float across the horizon, the Kansas or Arctic landscapes, the odd really lovely mid-fight framing. But as much as this wants to be a 'grounded' show, it was more focused when it chose to puncture that bubble on odd bits of Lore (The photonucleic effect! Bishop Six! X-Kryptonite!) than really expanding that framing outwards, and that's when it felt most like a stock CW superhero show with a few more bucks to throw around than something unique among its kind. That mystique and wonder is something Superman thrives on, and I think a lot of the show's problems and shortcomings (especially with flailing with how to handle a non-super kid in a captivating way) had this at the root. Hopefully this is one of the post-season one course-corrections sure to be made: even if it probably didn't consciously register with many I doubt it's a coincidence that the moment in the pilot the internet exploded over didn't just have him in the Fleischer suit, but was the most technicolor, dreamily unreal moment the show has had to offer thus far.

Now what?

So thus far, about as much a mix of good and bad as could've been expected from the outset of the premise of 'a bunch of really good actors are gonna make a CW Superman show'. As for where to go from here:

* In an ideal world, this would be moved to HBO Max with a new showrunner so it could spread its wings and ditch its baggage; this feels exponentially less likely with the Val-Zod show in production there, but I know this is doing way better in streaming than it does airing live so I can dream. In any case, it needs to commit harder to stylization with whatever resources they do have.

* Give Jon powers, at least by the end of the second season. I get the 'one son with powers, one without' dynamic should in theory have legs, and it'd be harder to manufacture drama for him once he's that impossibly well-adjusted AND can toss a truck like a baseball, but as-is this just isn't working and this isn't the kind of show that can do 'what if you were an ordinary kid but your dad was SUPERMAN' with whimsy and excitement rather than it being a drag. Give the powers some complications compared to Jordan's for awhile and you're good.

* I'd say 'give Superman his real clothes' but I'm like 90% certain they've known that they'd be doing that with season two since 10 minutes into the broadcast of the pilot.

* Glad to hear they'll be using more, smaller villains next time around; even if they're rightly sure to have Brainiac as a big bad at some point I still hope they'll be willing to just go 'and this week he fights Parasite!' every now and again. Hold off on Cryer a little longer though since Luthor hung over the first half of season one. And we'll probably see that alt-Earth possessed Superman sooner rather than later, which is fine.

* They sorta teased the notion of a new DEO head but drop that altogether, the show had to stretch to make Superman working with the military remotely palatable as-is and I wouldn't say it fully succeeded, just run with Sam Lane trying to be a family man.

* Long-term, I know what I'd want them to do with the final season, but before then at some point: bring in Kal Kent! He's buck-wild, he's easy to do on a budget since he'd rapidly lose his powers if he was stranded in the 21st century, and he ties directly into the big ideas of the series.

* Oh and Routh's gonna show up at some point, right? Hand to GOD they're gonna bring in Routh again at some point.

#Superman & Lois #Superman #Lois Lane #Jon Kent #DCTV #Opinion

[abstractreign]

❯ mains check & call !!

alright— now that i've gotten a lot more used to roleplaying here, i think it's as good a time as any for me to establish some mains! aside from my prioritizing our threads and your asks, here's what i'm seeking in my mains:

— firstly, us being mains will apply across my blogs unless otherwise discussed, so consider this also a call in advance for mains on @/heavenshot and @/negentropied for when i finish setting those up.

— your muses don't necessarily have to be from the same world as that of mine*. not at all. those with duplicates can be mains, and i can be mains with different people who may happen to have the same muse. (especially given the nature of my muse, and the multiverse being canon as it is.)

— us being mains mainly (heh) means that i can come to you much more often regarding plot, thread, and interaction ideas, as well as other relevant ooc topics such as headcanons about our muses' dynamic. as with threads and asks in general, i don't mind however long it takes for someone to respond, or if they respond at all. there are so many reasons for someone not being able to — or wanting to (!) — respond, and that there are so many matters that take precedence over a hobby such as this.

all that i ask, as mains, is that i can be reassured that i'm not necessarily being overwhelming should i send things that remind me of your muse/s right as i come across them, or if i spontaneously bring up several, probably disparate ideas in a short period of time. i know myself to get really excited at times— and i also know that sort of energy isn't for everyone.

again, i don't mind at all if messages are sporadic; i just want to make sure that i won't stress you out by popping into your messages a whole bunch.

(on that note: you'd also more than welcome to do same if you want! it warms my heart when people send me things that reminded them of my muses!)

— i happen to have an overarching plot involving my muses and their own world, so do know that i'd love to be able to involve my mains in it in some way, however inconsequential or significant the role/s they want their muse/s to play.

conversely, if you wish to involve my muse/s in your plots with others, know that i'd be more than down for that. i live for interwoven narratives, and i enjoy having my muse/s help move other folks' plots along.

— us being mains doesn't necessarily mean we're also exclusives. i'm open to establishing those as well, but i'll likely be even pickier with them.

* save for sh.oka sakuran.e and sh.iba miyakaz.e, i've also yet to establish other blogs canon to my muses' world, and it'd be nice if i could also do that.

if you're interested and a mutual, feel free to like, reply, or message me about it! do note that responding to this call doesn't automatically establish that we're mains, it just means you're open to the discussion. i might not be taking everyone who responds to this call as mains.

#my money plant's dying and the dust is collecting ❯ important #(all the world is sleeping) ❯ ooc