#I've been a pretty happy camper since then

[ofswordsandpens]

what do you think could’ve been done better regarding camp half-blood besides spending more time there/pacing? i’d love to hear your thoughts!

!! okay I know you're specifically asking for things that could have been done better beyond spending more time at CHB, but straight up that one issue is really the crux of everything. -- The time we spend at CHB before the quest in the show is half the time we do in the book. (And for a different frame of reference, the book is aprox. 40% over by the time the trio is leaving camp borders.)

And since the show runners halved the pre-quest chb runtime, as a result we lose quite a bit of content that helped to establish context, tone, foreshadowing, character dynamics etc.

Because we have to prioritize Percy and Luke's relationship in the show, it forces the rest of the relationships that were established in CHB in the book into the background, (or simply makes them none existent):

We have pretty much only ever been told verbally about Luke and Annabeth's bond by this point (episode 5). They have a two second interaction at camp that's not particularly noteworthy and that's that. Imo that's not particularly compelling story telling lol. We'll likely (hopefully) get something from episodes 6-8, but I maintain we still should've gotten something more substantial between Luke and Annabeth at camp. I've said before, at bare minimum the show should have had Luke see them off at Thalia's tree like he did in the book.

I've mentioned this before but Annabeth and Percy's dynamic had a much greater establishment in chb in the book because she's the one that's his guide at camp and she actively seeks him out more. In the show, we have to give this role to Luke and while I can give this change between book to screen more leeway because, yes, we have the entire quest to build Percy and Annabeth's dynamic, I still didn't like that it pretty much forced Annabeth into the periphery in the show. As a result, it made her seem a lot more distant and aloof than she ever was in the book. (Shoutout to Leah's armor strap improv, she's doing more for Annabeth than the show runners are).

2. We don't really get see the effects of Percy being claimed as Big Three Kid at camp:

Yeah, Percy moves into the new cabin in the show but then almost immediately after he's off on his quest. Meanwhile in the book, Percy's claimed as a big three kid... and then we see how it ostracizes him.

He misses being in the Hermes' cabin. Campers avoid him. He sleeps and eats alone now. He has to have solo lessons with Luke because the others are scared. He's miserable! And none of those experiences were translated to screen.

Again, they told us that big three kids are taboo, but have not shown that impact.

Like the difference in reaction during the claiming scene between the book and the show pretty much sums up this discrepancy.

3. General loss of foreshadowing and tone:

Because we don't get as much Annabeth, we lose how in the book, she had been aware that something was wrong with the gods and surmised that something was stolen long before the quest. She shared this with Percy. It was a great showcase of her intelligence. It helped set the tone that something was wrong before the quest even stared. And all of it just, didn't really make the cut.

The hellhound attack also didn't make it and its just another loss of foreshadowing. Luke was straight up trying to kill this kid from day one. Percy was not safe even at camp. Things weren't okay ever.

The weather! Yes the boundary keeps the weather mild at camp but in the book Percy remarks on the huge storms that surround them at one point. Before he leaves there's a storm so bad approaching that the campers are nervous. Even before he got to CHB there were "inexplicable" storms all the time. I wish this had been maintained in the show even beyond the camp. The gods, Zeus, they aren't happy.

Also, I tried rewatching the episodes to find this convo but I couldn't so please let me know if it's there somewhere but I don't think Luke conveyed anywhere in the show that his quest "messed things up" for anyone? Like, sure, they could include this at the end, but I think it's more impactful when we see more hints of his bitterness early on.

4. Minor Nitpicks + More things I miss:

Annabeth should have gotten soaked by Percy's Supreme Lord Bathroom moment like she did in the book. Percy had flooded the entire bathroom and she wasn't speared. In fact, Percy was the only person who wasn't wet.

The self-filling goblets in the book + the blue Coke moment.

I wish the show had Percy like, white knuckling his minotaur horn refusing to let it go. In the book he saw it as the last souvenir of his mother, refused to let anyone else hold, and was afraid it would be taken.

Rip Argus :(

#oh I've been waiting for this one TURN IT UP!! #pjo show crit #edit: I said foreground instead of background nobody say anything :(

[bingbongsupremacy]

Camp Hawkins AU Pt. 2

pairing: Steve Harrington x plus sized reader

Warnings: Use of Y/N.

The story doesn't mention a lot about being plus sized but it is there.

Summary Overall: It's your third year being a camp counselor at Camp Hawkins and your 7th year knowing Steve. Every year your crush seems to grow stronger and stronger.

Pt. 2 Summary: You've been avoiding Steve ever since you caught him and and Nancy making out at the Lake. Unfortunately, you can't avoid him forever. While helping him clean up after a messy s'more night, he approaches you.

*Not Proof Read*

ABC List Part 1 Stranger Things Masterlist

*****

It's been two weeks.

I've done my best to avoid Steve and Nancy as much as possible, which is proving to be a very hard thing to do.

Morning meetings are the worst. Every morning at 5 am, the counselors are expected to meet at the dining hall for a brief run down of the day. Usually everyone is still in their PJ's, hoping the meeting will be short enough for everyone to catch a few more minutes of sleep before the kids get up.

The mornings are usually pretty cold. Almost everyone shows up in some sort of jacket or sweat shirt. Not Steve. Every morning he comes dressed in a nice fitting T, perfectly showing off his arms.

Stop staring at Steve.

Stupid crush. Stupid fucking crush.

I force myself to look away from Steve. Instead of his usual spot by Nancy, he's decided to take a seat next to Robin and Vickie, one of the other camp cooks.

" If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on Harrington. " Eddie's voice is teasing but quiet.

I snap my head towards him. " Do not. " I state sternly, fear running through my veins. He can't find out.

Eddie chuckles. " You sure do stare a lot for someone without a crush. " Eddie's elbows rest comfortably against the table. His legs are sprawled out, not bothering how much room they take up. His hair is tossed up into a sleepy bun, a rare sight for the man who always has his hair down. " Don't worry, I won't tell. " He raises a finger to his lips, indicating my secret is safe with him. He winks, sending a flurry of embarrassment running through me.

I've never liked Eddie like that, but he sure does know how to fluster someone.

" I don't like him. " I insist. " So you don't have anything to keep secret. "

Eddie nods mockingly. " That's not what Henderson told me...but if you insist..." He holds his hands up in surrender.

I let out a small groan. Of course Dustin blabbed to Eddie. Dustin tells Eddie everything. Nothing even happened, I don't understand why Dustin spinned it to sound like we made out.

" Is everything alright over there? " Hopper asks, looking over at me and Eddie. " Are you feeling alright? "

" Yeah, perfectly fine. Just a little headache. " I lie.

" Well, if you're alright, we'll get back to today's agenda..."

My eyes scan across the table. Across the way, Steve's eyes meet mine. On his face is a small look of...confusion?

This is going to be a tough morning.

-------

The loud chatter of happy campers slowly fades away as the large oak dining hall doors close. Soon, Steve and I are left alone in the echoing room.

I begin picking up various chocolate wrappers on the floor the tables. They'd somehow managed to completely trash the dining hall in a single hour.

" So..." Steve begins, cutting through the silence. " are you and Eddie...a thing? " He asks calmly, glancing over at me from the table he's wiping down.

I let out a small laugh. " Me and Eddie? No. No way. He's...not my type. " The constant smell of weed is headache inducing. Frankly, it's confusing how Hopper hasn't fired him for drugs. He doesn't sell to kids but that definitely doesn't mean he doesn't sell to other of age counselors.

Plus he's not really into relationships. He's more of a hit it and quit it type.

" What is your type? " Steve asks. I feel his gaze on me as I start scrubbing one of the tables with a wet rag.

" Not Eddie, that's for sure. " I scrub a little harder at a hardened drop of melted marshmallow. " I like guys who...I don't know, like the same things as me. Why do you ask? " I don't understand why he gives a shit about my love life.

Steve shrugs, his gaze finally moving away. " I saw you and him this morning and I thought maybe you were dating or something. It's stupid, it doesn't matter. "

" Still single. " I mumble.

A thick silence settles in the room. Once again, Steve is the one to break it.

" Are you mad at me? " His voice is soft, like he's worried or something.

I look over at the brunette. " No. " I reply honestly. " Why would you think that? "

We both pause where we are, instead occupying ourselves by looking at each other. We're both trying to read each other.

Steve shrugs, folding his arms over his chest. " You just seem...distant. I don't know, ever since you caught Nance and I at the lake we don't talk anymore. Did I do something? "

I shake my head. " You...you didn't do anything. "

" Then why are you avoiding me? "

If I tell him he'll probably get weirded out. I mean, how awkward is it to be around someone who has a massive crush on you when you don't reciprocate the feeling?

But it might help me get over him if he stops actively trying to talk to me.

I'm going to do it. I need to. Fuck, but what about Nancy?

Fuck Nancy. I need to get over this man. This handsome, kind man.

" I have a crush on you, okay? " I blurt out. " It's stupid, I know. You're with Nancy, I understand that. "

His eyes widen in surprise. " What? "

" I don't want to make things awkward. I'm trying to get over you, that's why I'm avoiding you. Fuck, can you please just stop asking questions now? You got your answer. "

I feel a blush creep onto my cheeks. I did it. I told him.

" I like you to. " Steve pushes himself away from the table he's leaned against. He walks towards me.

My eyes go wide. " What? "

He's joking. Right? He has to be joking.

No this has to be a dream, some weird fucking dream. In no universe would Steve Fucking Harrington like me back.

" I like you too. " Steve finally makes it to me. He stands a close, leaving only a few inches of space between us. His eyes stare into mine, a small smile resting on his lips. " I have liked you for the past couple of years. "

I shake my head, stepping back to put some distance between us. " You're with Nancy. You can't like me. That's fucked up. I don't want to be a homewrecker-I can't be. You-you and Nancy are good together. "

Steve shakes his head. " We're not together, Y/N. I broke up with her. For good this time. " He sighs, running a hand through his hair. " Just because we're good together doesn't mean we're meant to be together. "

I'm the reason they broke up. Robin was right. I'm the fucking worst. Who ruins a relationship? I mean, I didn't know I was ruining it, but Steve's crush on me ruined everything for them. Nancy probably hates me.

" Nancy has known about my crush for a while. " Steve admits nervously. " That's why we've broken up so much. I-no matter what I do I can't get you out of my fucking head. " He lets out a frustrated sigh. " Your smile, your eyes, fuck it's all I see at night. I sound insane, I know, but I don't know what to do. I can't just be in a relationship with someone else when all I think about is you. "

I continue to create space between us. " So I'm the reason you guys broke up? " Guilt begins to build up in my stomach.

" No! " Steve shakes his head. " You-you didn't do anything. There were plenty of other problems involved with our break up. This wasn't your fault. Honestly, this has been building up for years. Even if I didn't have a crush on you, Nancy and I probably would've split for good anyways. "

I still feel horrible. Like I contributed to their break up.

" Please, Y/N. You have to believe me. This wasn't your fault. "

I search Steve's eyes for any sign of lying. His expression is desperate, like he's scared I'm going to leave.

I stop.

Relief floods Steve's face.

" You really like me? " I ask quietly, scared he's going to laugh and make fun of me for believing him. He did have a mean streak in high school. I thought he grew out of it though.

" I swear on my life, I like you. " Steve's expression is sincere. " I like you so much sometimes I feel like my heart is going to explode. "

I smile at the man. I never would have imagined this would happen. " I like you too. "

Steve begins to walk towards me again. This time, I don't run away. Once he's a few inches from me, he gently takes my hand. " Will you go on date with me, Y/N. "

" I would love to, Steve. "

#fanfiction #fanfic #steve harrington #steve harrington x plus size reader #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington x reader #stranger things x reader #stranger things #x chubby reader #x plus size reader #x female reader #xreader #x nonbinary reader #x male reader #x male y/n #x female y/n #x fem!reader #x gn y/n #x gn reader #x yn #x y/n #x you #x y/n fluff #x you fluff #x thick reader #x fat reader

[thecluelessdoctor]

ok ok fine I'll make the rant I've been planning for like.. a week now.

It's about time I talk about Helluva Boss, It's fandom, and it's creators themselves.

i personally really love helluva boss, even though it definitely has fallen short since the last season. I think the most recent episode is probably going to be their best one and they'll go back to falling. but, personally, I like the show! It's goofy and when it's not being srs, it does it's jokes well! Normally. There is one joke I hate though (if yk, yk. It's in happy campers 💀) ANYWAY

Character design in the show is... okay?? I guess???ammon looks like a Christmas tree so idk man.

But we aren't here to talk about the show itself rn. I just had to say some praises before I start bashing it otherwise stans will come after me and that's not a fun brawl.

ANYWAY *SLAMS ON UR DESK* AA

I wanna talk about it's fans. Some of its fans are really chill (like myself) and only get stirred up if something really bad is being made of is happening. But other fans are more.. intense. It's in every fandom so I won't say too too much on it, but yall- stans please chill out- let bigons be bigons endless its something immoral. (Like more than murder. Yk what I mean)

The major reason I wanted to make this is to talk about Viv, and spindlehorse in general. Mainly because of my recent AU, I really need to make this clear.

I do not support Vivziepop, or any of viv's actions.

Ive been reading about all the controversy and discourse involving her and Brandon (yeah he's not innocent here don't act like he is) (we will only be talking about recent things, basically from Hazbin to now)

And jts.. something.

Abusive work, transphobia, ablelism, favoritism etc etc. yeah so that's fun.. it's hard to know what is stated is true or not, so I'll just settle on saying this

Viv is juvenility petty. Like, I'm still pretty young, but this is just insane. I grew out of these behaviors by 11ish, and I'm still younger than 16. She's what- 30ish now?!? She shouldn't be acting the way she is at her age, just saying.

I also wanna touch a bit on Brandon (even though I know less about him than I do Viv) but I.. highly dislike how people are claiming Brandon to be innocent and Viv isnt. Like- that's not fair. Let me point this out, viv and Brandon are working TOGETHER on this, all the writing and shit. Meaning Brandon also gave the "yeah this is good" to all of her petty shit.

Anyway let me wrap up by saying don't attack anyone mentioned or implied here, because doing that is cringe and it just waists your time. Anyway I'm dotty, and I'm a homosexual

#helluva blitzo #helluvaboss #helluva boss season 2 #helluva boss #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #anti spindlehorse #spindlehorse toons #vivziepop #vivziepop criticism #vivziepop critique #vivziepop critical #Anti Vivziepop #hazbin critical #hazbin hotel criticism #hazbin hotel critical

[blubushie]

So today, for a list of notes/shit I've gotta do to this ute to make it functional:

Tray rust: confirmed simple surface rust. Sandblast the rust off then put down bedliner.

Whatever dipshit painted the deep blue on there painted over the bevel. Gotta strip that off.

It has tow plug.

It has 1 original key, 1 spare, and 1 petrol key.

Manual choke.

Heater core needs to be flushed the bloke thinks. Might need replacing, says me. The latter's more likely.

Engine has not been tuned up since rebuild. Will need a tuning now that everything's settled.

It has new manifold gaskets on both sides, new flange gaskets on both sides, and dual exhaust.

Brake master cylinder has a booster—bloke thinks condition of master cylinder is because of shit coating that leaves the factory being the cause of them all rusting. "It's either shit metal or shit coating." I'm inclined to agree—every fucken one I've seen so far that didn't have a brand new—or painted—master cylinder is rusted to fuck. On the plus side the rust is just surface rust but I'm inclined to test that servo housing myself cuz I don't trust it.

Firewall looks good.

No water leaks, wipers are ok but probably need new pulleys.

Window rubber is tight and good, had a boot at one time.

HE HAS A SLIDE WINDOW SOMEWHERE HE CAN GIVE ME!! Probably the first thing I'm doing on this car is installing that fucken sliding window and my rifle rack.

Rear signals don't work because the pins/switches are mixed up, also horn doesn't work. Need to figure this out. If I can't do it maybe I can get that sparky down the block to have a squiz at it.

Engine sounds fucken incredible. 360 V8 with C6 tranny.

GVW is rated at 07500 so it'll hold Matilda.

Wheels are 16in 6ply.

2 petrol tanks, 20gal front & 25gal rear.

Fuel gauge doesn't work. Bloke has the new gauge ready, just hasn't installed it. Maybe there's a problem with the sending unit. Considering it doesn't work for either petrol tank I'm pretty sure it's not a float saturation problem.

Whatever dipshit installed the old manifold gaskets had the wrong size square which caused a leak (maybe F350?)—this is fixed now! She rides smooth.

Rust above windscreen rim causing improper seal along the drain rail—luckily it's not rusted through. Can be fixed but may need a plate welded on. I can do that myself.

Old BB holes in windscreen. I like them for their character but they're gonna crack the entire windscreen eventually, especially in the Australian heat as the windscreen warms. Need to replace windscreen.

One crack in dash around radio, dashboard is clean otherwise. I don't care about the crack but replace radio with an early 70s AM/FM with AUX jack.

ORIGINAL COLOUR IS PEACOCK BLUE WITH WHIMBELDON WHITE STRIPE! Restore to og paint because bloke wants me to. "I'm happy if it goes to someone who'll treat it well and make it look factory."

Passenger mirror is cloudy, needs a clean or possibly replacement.

Engine was rebuilt less that 3,000mi ago and has a 100,000mi warranty.

Bloke will get me a copy of the work order of all the work done to the ute—total of $12,000 for the work done.

"I know he did SOMETHING with the transmission." Tranny likely not rebuilt but WAS removed for alterations during engine rebuild.

Has hooks AND ringlets for turnbuckle attachment for camper.

Has rig mirrors.

Has reinforced tray springs. Has reinforced front, auxillary, and rear shocks.

No carpeting on interior. Get rubber mats I don't want blood in my carpet.

Get a seat cover so Misty doesn't ruin the vinyl.

Has manual steering and manual brakes. Get power disc brakes put in ASAP. I can do the power steering myself. In the meantime, maybe a suicide knob?

#ford blu

[paisholotus]

ᑕᕼᗩᑭTEᖇ TᕼᖇEE

༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ Gₑₜₜᵢₙg ₜₒ ₖₙₒw ₜₕₑ ᵤₙfₐₘᵢₗᵢₐr ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ

Percy's Pov

He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you." He said, leaning back. "Uh, thanks." I scooted a little farther away from him because, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.

"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the black girl with brown and blonde braids. She came forward, and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. And I see you've met Selene, daughter of Clio, the Sun Goddess. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now." He said, pointing down the cabins.

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." She was probably my age, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep brown skin and her long blond/brown braids, she was beautiful too, I've never seen girls like Selene and Annabeth from my school. Annabeth's eyes were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight. While Selene's eyes were a light brown color, with a hint of gold shimmering, they reminded me of pools of honey.

Annabeth glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at me. I imagined she was going to say, "You killed a mino-taur! or Wow, you're so awesome! or something like that. Instead, she said, "You drool when you sleep." Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her braids flying behind her. "So," I said, anxious to change the subject. "You, uh, work here, Mr. Brunner?" I laughed awkwardly.

"Not Mr. Brunner," the ex-Mr. Brunner said. "I'm afraid that was a pseudonym. You may call me Chiron." He said, smiling. "Okay." Totally confused, I looked at the director. "And Mr. D ... does that stand for something?" I asked, looking him up and down. Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like I'd just belched loudly. "Young man, names are power-ful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason." He said blankly. "Oh. Right. Sorry." I apologized. "I must say, Percy," Chiron-Brunner broke in, "I'm glad to see you alive. It's been a long time since I've made a house call to a potential camper. I'd hate to think I've wasted my time." He said, biting into an apple.

"House call?" I asked, confused. "My year at Yancy Academy, to instruct you. We have satyrs at most schools, of course, keeping a look out. But Grover alerted me as soon as he met you. He sensed you were something special, so I decided to come upstate. I convinced the other Latin teacher to ... ah, take a leave of absence." He said lowly.

I tried to remember the beginning of the school year. It seemed like so long ago, but I did have a fuzzy memory of there being another Latin teacher my first week at Yancy. Then, without explanation, he had disappeared, and Mr. Brunner had taken the class ."You came to Yancy just to teach me?" I asked. Chiron nodded. "Honestly, I wasn't sure about you at first. We contacted your mother and let her know we were keeping an eye on you in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. But you still had so much to learn. Nevertheless, you made it here alive, and that's always the first test." He said proudly.

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, "Are you playing or not?" He asked. "Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair, though I didn't know why he should be so afraid of a pudgy little man in a tiger-print Hawaiian shirt. "You do know how to play pinochle? Annabeth and Selene are my best players." Mr. D said, looking at Selene proudly. "I'm afraid not," I said. "Well, Selene, do you mind teaching Percy?" He asked her. I looked over at her, watching her give him a big smile and nodded. "It would be my pleasure, Sir." She then turned to look at me, smiling softly.

"it is, along with gladiator fighting and Pac-Man, one of the greatest games ever invented by humans. I would expect all civilized young men to know the rules." He explained what the game was. "I'm sure the boy can learn. Plus, Selene is a great teacher, " Chiron said. "Please," I said, "what is this place? What am I doing here? Mr. Brun-Chiron-why would you go to Yancy Academy just to teach me?" I asked, desperately trying to understand his reasoning. Mr. D snorted. "I asked the same question." He said, chuckling.

The camp director dealt the cards. Grover flinched every time one landed in his pile. Chiron smiled at me sympathetically, the way he used to in Latin class, as if to let me know that no matter what my average was, I was his star student. He expected me to have the right answer. "Percy," he said. "Did your mother tell you nothing?" He asked me. "She said ..." I remembered her sad eyes, looking out over the sea. "She told me she was afraid to send me here, even though my father had wanted her to. She said that once I was here, I probably couldn't leave. She wanted to keep me close to her." I told him, sadly.

"Typical," Mr. D said. "That's how they usually get killed. Young man, are you bidding or not?" He asked me.

"What?" I asked. He explained, impatiently, how you bid in pinochle. "I'm afraid there's too much to tell," Chiron said. "I'm afraid our usual orientation film won't be sufficient." He said.

"Orientation film?" I asked. "No," Chiron decided. "Well, Percy. You know your friend Grover is a satyr. You know"-he pointed to the horn in the shoe box -"that you have killed the Minotaur. No small feat, either, lad. What you may not know is that great powers are at work in your life. Gods-the forces you call the Greek gods-are very much alive." He said.

"Yeah, I kinda figured that when I saw Selene's mom. I mean, my best friend has furry legs and hooves." I said, glaring down at the floor. I stared at the others around the table. I waited for somebody to yell, not! But all I got was Mr. D yelling, "Oh, a royal marriage. Trick! Trick!" He cackled as he tallied up his points.

"Mr. D," Grover asked timidly, "if you're not going to eat it, could I have your Diet Coke can?" He asked. "Eh? Oh, all right." He said, rolling his eyes, and handed him the can. Grover bit a huge shard out of the empty aluminum can and chewed it mournfully.

"I just can't believe GOD'S are real. Are they like the same thing as....like...Jesus..that type of GOD?" I asked. "Well, now," Chiron said. "God-capital G, God. That's a different matter altogether. We shan't deal with the metaphysical." "Metaphysical? But you were just talking about -" "Ah, gods, plural, as in, great beings that control the forces of nature and human endeavors: the immortal gods of Olympus. That's a smaller matter." He said, matter factly.

"Smaller?" I asked. "Yes, quite. The gods we discussed in Latin class." He said. "Zeus," I said. "Hera. Apollo. You mean them." He nodded. And there it was again-distant thunder on cloud-less day. "Young man," said Mr. D, "I would really be less casual about throwing those names around if I were you." He said sternly.

My heart pounded. He was trying to make me angry for some reason, but I wasn't going to let him. "Ok, sure. But I don't believe in gods." I said, flatly. "Oh, you'd better," Mr. D murmured. "Before one of them incinerates you." He said, crossing his arms.

"P-please, sir. He's just lost his mother. He's in shock." Grover said, pleading.

Selene nudged me and urged me to stick out my hand. She told me to close my eyes and I looked between Chiron and Mr. D, then back to Selene and hesitantly closed my eyes. I felt both of her hands cup mine, and I felt my hand warmly vibrate. She told me to open my eyes, and I gasped.

There was a glowing golden orb floating in my hand. I looked up at Selene, then back to the floating ball in my hand. "W-what...is that?" I asked her lowly. "It's my powers. I can do more, but I'm still practicing." She said, gigging at my mouth- opened shocked face.

"Well, Percy, do you believe now?" Chiron asked me. I couldn't even process what I was seeing. She carefully took the glowing ball away, and suddenly, everything that had happened the last 24 hours was swirling around in my head, and I suddenly felt light-headed.

"UH OH! HE'S GOING DOWN AGAIN!" I heard someone yell before everything went black.

#black reader #black writers #black tumblr #self post #tumblelog #black girls #black representation #poc reader #poc writer #black excellence #percy Jackson #percy jackson lightening theif #percy jackson sea of monsters #percy jackon and the olympians #percy Jackson x black reader #grover underwood #annabeth chase #greek mythology #pure love found #paisholotus

[etherealsign282]

Imagine giving abusers/ex abusers respect on a silver platter for the mere concept that they could've possibly changed, and going easy on them

Only to harshly criticize abuse survivors for "gossiping" and "talking shit" about their abusers because "you're saying words but I'm here to see the ex abuser's actions"

But they are not seeing the abuser's actions, they're only hearing that they may or may not have changed and they've already given them a chance with zero caution and zero doubt which means any red flags are harder to spot (bc your mindset is already trying to focus on pardoning them and being biased)

While demonizing and ostracizing the survivor and not giving them a chance to be heard because "they're just bitter" which means every little flaw and mistake becomes a red flag

And both sides are just saying words (maybe the survivor is backing up the evidence sometimes) but somehow because the abuser is being their usual, egotistical self and passive aggressively doing a smear campaign based on "they don't like me anymore even though I did my best and I've changed" (which shows a very huge lack in self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and empathy), while the abuse survivor is aggressively calling them out, the abuser just seems better to listen to

And I'm tired of the injustice toward abuse survivors. I'm tired that abusers can just say or do whatever and people give them a second chance for pretty much no valid reason, when they're so overly critical of the people who were literally abused (with criticism possibly their whole life)

And people are willing to actually hang out with p3d0s and rxpists and abusers because "they probably changed" but then the people that are hanging out with these p3d0s and rxpists are just so quick to be like "anyways I can't be your friend if you're a shit talker or you're bitter and haven't moved on from trauma yet". Like I'm talking shit but your bestie RXPED SOMEONE.

Like there's clearly some part of you that is not rationalizing things properly and is making you more likely to demonize and attack people for calling a rxpist a rxpist, than demonize the rxpist itself because they can play nice to specifically get on your good side by seeming perfect and never negative (which is a huge sign of manipulation but ok)

But I've found that I just can't save y'all and make y'all see that irrationality, and I shouldn't bother trying.

Because so many people just want me to extend my emotional labor to teaching abusers not to abuse, teaching abuse apologists not to be abuse apologists, and have wanted me to since I was a kid

And the more I rant and rave the more exhausted I get with this idea in mind that I'm ranting to save them and make them understand, and I know it just won't fix anything, not for me and not for y'all

Bc y'all are dead set on letting the abusers play the victim because they know how to play the self-pity game just right to seem more relatable than the angry abuse survivor, and make the angry abuse survivor seem like the big scary mean ones for growing a jagged edge to their moral compass

And y'all have been groomed to empathize more with a bad guy who cries victim than a good guy who is here to *do good* not just to pretend play nice. And I'm over trying to be the therapist that makes you understand how fxked that is.

And no this isn't me saying I'll just move on and be positive and be a good happy lil camper that just loves and tolerates everyone and never vents anymore.

This is me saying that the mental burden of your fxcked up, victim blamey perspective is not my responsibility to fix and I'm not going to rant with the idea that I CAN fix y'all.

Imma rant about how much I can't fucking stand y'all who weaponize ignorance and incompetence, and how much I want y'all to suffer and be as miserable as the rxpists that you ride for their approval, since y'all clearly are going to be on their side either way (until they fxk you over themselves).

And how much I know you're already at that level of misery if you genuinely can't shut the fuck up about abuse survivors for two seconds bc of your insecurity and fears making you project onto them all these things you're scared of being, and how delicious it tastes to me, and how much I crave to see more

Until you're in your 50's saying contradictory shit every two seconds and starting a fight every week like a toxic boomer because you no longer know who you are, what you stand for, and what is based on your authenticity vs your performativity, you just know you want to yell and scream away your insecurities.

And if you don't like it? Cope and seethe.

(bc I might rant a lot but at least I'm ranting for justice and I'm ranting bc y'all are actually being dicks and trying to ruin my mood for no reason- ranting about how survivors are bad bc they wont repress the things that happened to them like you do is very clearly a "I'm miserable and bitter and just won't admit it so I'll project it onto everyone else" thing. The problem is I don't attack good people, and y'all will attack anything that seems even mildly threatening to your insecurities).

#toxic positivity #abuser apologist #victim blaming #victim complex #trauma #emotional abuse #toxic #mental abuse #abuse survivor #but yall the same people that uses narcissist as a buzzword for YOUR exes #but people cant say “hey i was abused by x person” without being toxic #fake supporter #hypocricy #weaponized incompetence #ignorance #performativity #oh but you understand exactly how invalid the “i tried my best and ive changed” argument is when its someone who hurt YOU

[til-f]

EPISODE 2 WITH SPOILERS

BTW there were some cute ass shots of Walker in this one. He just exudes percy vibes and I'm loving it. I like how vengeful he is about his mother. I like that he wants to be powerful.

PROS:

-there were some parts that made me LOL. Nice. The books are so funny. I want all the funny.

-Camp is cool. The cabins are cool. The campers are cool. I like the armour and the pavilions and the fires.

-The fighting is done really well and that makes me happy

-the claiming scene was awesome. The fight with clarisse was awesome.

-Clarisse is hot

-Overall, at the end of the episode, the plot holds true.

CONS:

-The scene were Mr. D tries to convince percy that he's his dad. Funny for a second there, but then it just got weird. Like why. also dionysus is a little strange to be honest. literally in the books he doesn't give a fuck and plays pinochle all day. and now he's yelling at percy that he's gotta go on this quest to save the world. Like, Mr. D wanted to turn percy into a dolphin lol

-The bathroom scene was meh

-I was looking forward to the claim scene when the camp bowed to percy and Chiron said "hail, Perseus Jackson." So that was a tad disappointing. But as I mentioned in the pros, I still think the scene was done really well and this is a small complaint.

-another small complaint, but one that I've been peeved about since the trailers came out. WHY IS RIPTIDE LIKE, ONE FOOT LONG? It's a freaking sword, not a steak knife. God damn. Give this little boy a three foot long sword.

-I'll be honest, that yes, even though at the end of the episode, the overall plot was pretty much consistent with the books, I didn't understand why they veered from: grover meeting with the cloven elders, and they tell him that he has one last try to get his searcher's license. (WHICH ACTUALLY, IS A DECENT BIT FROM THE PLOT THAT'S MISSING SO FAR BUT IT'S NOT THAT BAD) And percy, who still thinks that his mother is dead, is resolved to go to the underworld REGARDLESS and bring her back to life. Percy wants to wring hades' neck. INSTEAD they do this weird thing where percy doesn't want to go on the quest until grover tells him that his mom is still alive. Like, I don't know. Sure, I guess. Just seems random.

Other notes:

Please know that all the criticism is just because I care a LOT, and shows that have any meaning to them, honestly, anything that creates controversy, means that people care. To stir the pot and do something to get people roused, is the only way we know we're alive.

And I cannot thank the makers of this show enough that they're doing this, and I am literally so excited for the next episode :) and for the rest of the season. AND FOR THE NEXT SEASONS!!!!

#pjo show #percy jackson #meta

[thedaytheworldburned]

'Deja Vu' First Rections - Part 2

Part 2! Thoughts below the line. Part 1 HERE

Taehyun is... looking at old memories? I guess? Looking at memories of Gyu? Since yellow is associated with Gyu in this MV...

...and the next shot we get is Gyu crying the same odd magic that Taehyun did. I hope those are tears of regret for murdering Taehyun.

This is also the first shot we get of Gyu where he ISN'T glowing all MV - tying him as an opposite to Taehyun who was in the dark/grey all MV.

... He's... trapped in the mirror? Probably not - it's probably more of a 'mirror leads to the magical world' thing. Interestingly, the tears in the mirror are BEHIND Taehyun's head - really showing how trippy all of this is. And suggesting a complete blurring between the real and magical worlds, which is also, fun fact, a motif in TXT's story.

Taehyun's office/room looks like it's from the 90s or something, so we have; Yeonjun in the 30s, Kai in the 40s-ish, Soobin in the 70s or something, Taehyun in the 90s-ish, and Beomgyu being the mandatory dead member for this MV.

A bus - a symbol of transit, and also a way to get to Magic Island if needed. Also very reminiscent of the Eternity/Drama concept images, where Gyu was indeed the main character.

Also, he's in Yeonjun's world.

Yet, inside the bus, he is in a magical world - as expected. And also asleep. As expected.

Soobin, wtf are those shoes? If they're not supposed to be a stand-in for Gyu, I don't know what to say to you, man.

Speaking of, we now get Gyu's tears falling in Soobin's room - or, magic bleeding into the real world, which it only seems able to do via suffering (ahem, CROWN, ahem).

HE'S AWAKEEEEEEE. In a room that seems like a hospital or something - cold and no personality - and in a blue room, which means now we have Gyu, Soobin, Yeonjun, and Kai all associated with blue in this MV.

But Gyu and Taehyun are still connected (as always) through the blue sky, and seem to be having some joint experience.

I mean, Gyu was in a sky with clouds.

Is Gyu... the girl from Eternally who hugged Soobin....?

Also I only just realised that Kai is on a bridge thing, not a boat. My time/period judgement still stands, though.

Well, we all know that gravity only goes funny when you start messing with time and magic, don't we, Yeonjun? Hmm, who burnt down Magic Island, Yeonjun? 'Tis all your fault, Yeonjun.

Anyway, at least he gets to dance his feelings out in this pseudo dream world while he loses grip of whoever he was holding onto in that hand shot.

TXT's storyline? More like sad-Yeonjuncore.

Colour has come back to his world, but I don't think he's happy about it.

Anyway, Kai is running after Yeonjun now too. He's got his hands full looking after everyone.

And Yeonjun is still sad, and Gyu still glows.

See?

I just realised I've been assuming this is Gyu the whole time because of the hair extensions. Pretty sure it is him, but still.

Doesn't that look nice and peaceful?

Anyway, somehow Yeonjun managed to do the impossible and bring Gyu back. Unsure why how or what is going on but it's a nice moment I guess, and probably a reversal - chances are, Gyu slipped from Yeonjun's hand before, and now Yeonjun has to fall so Gyu can save him.

And now the colour is back and everyone is together and happy, right?

Right?!?!!?

Yeah wait until the next album lol I bet.

And that's it for the MV! But we still have the lyrics, and before we have a look, let me just say that I am validated in my music opinions - I can see many people saying in the comments that this feels like a 2nd or 3rd gen song, and like a SHINee song. I'd also like to add Infinite to my original judgement.

Alright, time for -

The Lyrics.

Well, I'm a happy camper. There's a LOT, and I mean A LOT of references to Dream Chapter themes in these lyrics (A RETURN TO THE DREAM CHAPTER IS COMING EVERYONE BOW DOWN FOR THE QUEENS OF TXT ALBUMS).

For instance;

Dreams

Names

Crown

More code

Promises

Nostalgia

Stars and starlight

Memories and friendship

Running to leave things behind

Fate

Beginnings vs the future - past vs present vs future

Rain vs fire

Eternity

Togetherness and friendship

Becoming beautiful BY each other/sorrow becoming beautiful through togetherness

Soulmates

The desolate outside world

Repetition/time/repeats

Light

Yes, a lot of these things have appeared in later comebacks, but they were ALL cemented/introduced as concepts in THE DREAM CHAPTERRRRRRRRR!!!! YEAH.

So yeah, the song feels like it's entirely a reference to TDC. They even brought back Morse code to title one of their songs on this album.

Now, in this song Kai uses the word 'anomoia,' which is basically just a kind of nostalgia - for a place or time you've never known - aka, a Utopia, or some other dream-like, magical place. Very on-brand and fitting for both the DREAM chapter, and this song.

Conclusions

As I said, I am a happy camper. This is, as I predicted and hoped, a return to/reference to The Dream Chapter - in concept, in story, in music, in lyricism, and more.

I suppose you could say, it evokes Deja Vu of The Dream Chapter?

:)

#txt #tomorrow x together #moa #minisode 3: tomorrow #deja vu

[gontagokuhara]

OKAY I FORGOR💀 TO MENTION THIS actually idk if I already said this but I LOVE the way you write kokichi? Like kokichi's jesterism clowncore energy is not talked about enough in this fandom, he's not just a lying troll, he can also be a corny little canned-bit filled jokester! He can be your angle! Or yuor devil! But he and Kaede give off such an "annoying little brother"/"exhausted oldest sister" vibe in pointy objects it never fails to make me laugh and also feel feelings!

Also ngl writing my lil (literally >2k) review gave me the energy to do my writing assignment so thank you for indirectly but also directly contributing to me not failing my class LMFAO

hi hello!! first of all thank u again for ur very sweet comments i keep rereading them . actively working on the next chapter and i reread them like an hour ago <3 also you are so me re: the writing thing literally i am writing this long ass response out as a warm up to getting started on the chapter again I SEE U. solidarity u got this class

as always below the cut because i like to yap (no spoilers butttttttt call it a small hint of what's to come next chapter)

ANYWAY !!! im glad people like that choice <3 his general silliness tends to get lost in canon in the midst of such a heavy fraught situation (where his dumbass is instigating fights constantly......) and so i feel it more natural to have it bleed into him in pointy objects you know? his backpack also offers just unreal opportunities for clownery and i can't help myself. i have issues with a lot of canon/fanon portrayals of kokichi so with him (as i do miu, and kiyo, and kaito, etc) i like to do the classic mogul move yoink & twist. i take character that needs fixer-uppering, mash 'em around like playdoh, and make them mostly the same but......better in my humble opinion. i feel like i do that pretty well with kokichi, and hearing those choices are appreciated makes me very happy <3

in that vein the kaede/kokichi dynamic is SOOOO important its one of my favorites ive worked into pointy objects i think. justice for my real protag kaede BUT her biting the dust so early both robbed canon content of what a friendship between them could look like. but it also gives me LOTS of room to pick up their barbie dolls and make them have good moments together. speaking of pointy objects canon, they arrived at camp within about a year of each other, before a lot of the other mainstay demigods began living there full time. gonta, miu, kaede, maki, and kokichi spent a lot of time as the only ones at camp; kids like kirumi/tenko/himiko/angie/kiyo are all summer-only, and full-timers ryoma, kaito, and kiibo came later (ages 14, 16, and within a few months of sonia giving them a soul [roughly the same stretch of time as ryoma's arrival], respectively).

all that lore TO say: kaede and kokichi grew up together in a lot of really important ways, and the dynamic that developed over the years very much is that exhausted older sister/exhausting little brother who are fiercely and kind of unexpectedly protective over one another. i could go on about all of the early full-time campers' dynamics because there's a lot within those five especially that i've like. developed in my brain? but havent fit into the 170k words 💀 the mind palace of spiderwebbing character relationships is very vast for how much has actually made it into the fic.....but wink wonk we WILL see a taste of it this next chapter

and finally, re edits: i did my one BIG edit fest back in may, and since then there haven't been any major changes. that said, i do reread the prior chapters quite often (checking details to make sure new writing doesn't have any discrepancies, getting myself back in the headspace to write shuuichi's voice, etc) and do occasionally find typos or phrasing or sentence flow i like changed, so i do fix those as i see them. that said, i DO know what you're talking about with chapter 3; that was a chapter i did pretty majorly redo in may, and there was definitely some redundant word use and odd sentence structure i went back and corrected. but i haven't made any changes that drastically alter the contents of the story; not more so than i did back in may, at least!

ok this as always got very long but it was as always very fun to answer!!!! thank you again for all your support MWAH MWAH and im sure we'll make contact again soon enough!!

#ask #bittercideristaken #pointy objects #ALSO.......when i think about you in my brain im split between calling you 'bitter' or 'cider' DO u have a preference <3

[farshootingstar]

It's my lunch break and I'm soooo bored. Since I don't feel like working on any playlists at the moment (Kadsey's is done and I'll post a link after I draw the cover image, and I've been working on an Oberon playlist but that one also needs a cover and I'm not sure anyone will be interested in that), so I'll just mention some idle thoughts I had while going through Kadsey's playlist earlier.

Cut for spoilers from Picture Perfect Boyfriend REBOOT.

I've come to the conclusion that Ashino's preoccupation with Kadsey is especially stupid. I'm not even talking about Ashino's insistence on gaslighting Kadsey over Ashton's existence because he wants to be the only Ashton in Kadsey's eyes. What I mean is that... honestly, I don't think Ashino knows Kadsey near as well as he thinks.

Sure, he knows things like Kadsey's exact favorite dinosaur and probably other things like that his favorite food is chorizo tacos, but I just can't get over the fact that he calls Kadsey a ball of sunshine and says he's always upbeat. That's patently untrue and I always kind of side-eyed that, but didn't really stop to think of it all that much.

I find it strange, too, since Kadsey mentions he's feeling a bit burnt out about the whole influencer thing and Ashton even told him he could just quit if it's that bad. Kadsey even opens up to us about his silly attitude being a front for making his exuberance more tolerable to other people. Sure, the player is a weird anomaly, but the fact that he's never mentioned any of this kind of stuff to his supposed best friend in another life is weird to me when he's done that with other friends.

I don't think Ashino's necessarily wrong that Kadsey is a sweet and helpful guy to people (Kadsey can be really cute and funny in his date), but the assertion that he's always a happy camper is way off base. Ashino even tried to brush off the troubles between them by talking about it during the first date like it was some sudden falling out entirely of Kadsey's own volition and that strikes me as unfair. It might have been a case of being guarded, since Ashino doesn't like talking about Ashton's existence with us, either. I don't think Kadsey did some sort of 180 because of the events of the first game, even if it did make him start out pretty hostile towards us in REBOOT. Granted, I also don't think he's going to accept some stranger making claims like Ashino's, either.

I'm not sure if everything Ashino's said about the situation is a lie, but it sure as hell isn't all the truth. Were they really friends before Ashton took his place? Or had Ashino been more of an acquaintence desperately vying for Kadsey's attention? We at least know Ashino willingly volunteers sometimes at Café Rose (even getting someone to take that extremely staged picture of him in uniform), so I do believe they knew each other. Admittedly, I could be waaaaay overthinking things and Ashino just doesn't want to open up about relationship woes.

Not really sure what to think about it all, but food for thought.

#rambling #picture perfect boyfriend #picture perfect boyfriend reboot #ppbr spoilers #spoilers

[wastelockwoes]

20 questions for fic writers

I stole this from @chipper-daily 💚

I'm also terrible at tagging, so if you see this, consider yourself tagged :3

1. How many works do you have on Ao3?

Oh lord. Public - 21. Actual total uh... Oh fuck, 30 fics.

2. What's your total Ao3 word count?

378,162

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently IZ, I doubt that'll change anytime soon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Suck (IZ, ZADR, NSFW)

Ready to Burn (IZ, ZADR, NSFW)

Get Down, Make Love (IZ, ZADR, NSFW)

Twisted Transistor (that's right, that's mine lmao) (IZ, ZADR, NSFW)

Seven Minutes In Heaven (IZ, ZADR, NSFW)

If you're sensing a theme, that's cuz you're right. I have brainrot. I wonder if anyone from my Silent Hill fic days even follow me on AO3 anymore lmao.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Unless I just genuinely can't think of a reply (i.e, someone makes a request for what they'd like to see happen in an In-Progress fic, and I know it's not gonna happen but don't want to accidentally come across as rude. If there's nothing else for me to reply to, I won't respond to that comment. Sorry!)

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For IZ, it's Post-Blue for sure. For Silent Hill, despair and die has the worst ending of the two fics I wrote by far. Sorry Henry <3

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Weirdly enough, I think most of my fics have happy endings? I say weird, because I'm not actually a happy ending kinda guy, but I do like to provide some sort of resolution since fic is predominantly something people turn to for entertainment.

That being said, I'd say Suck is probably my most hopeful ending, and that things genuinely stay pretty good for the lads in that AU barring the light kidnapping incident that occurs in the sequel.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I have been wonderfully blessed so far, which means now I've written that and manifested it into the world, someone is gonna leave me an absolute ripper of a hate comment. Worst thing someone ever did was ask for an update on Suck after less than a month, while also calling me stinky.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nah.

JK, I write a lot. If you're over 18, go check it out yourselves <3

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Oh boy. Yes, I actually do enjoy writing crossovers, even though I never read them. I wanna write an actual IZxSilent Hill crossover sometime soon, but for now Prisonic Fairytale is the closest to achieving that (and desperately needs updating soon, sorry orz)

BUT, my first ever IZ fic was actually technically a crossover. The plot of Love Is A Verb is based on the film Wristcutters A Love Story, though things diverge a lot and the ending is very loosely based on both the film and the original novella that was based on called Kneller's Happy Campers. I only don't have it tagged as a crossover since I diverged so much from the film's plot halfway through the fic, and no characters from the film appear (or do they...?)

If you check that fic out, please mind the tags. There's a lot of very heavy themes in that fic.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

If I have, I have no idea, and tbh I'd probably rather not know.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I have not!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

The wonderful @chipper-daily and I currently have something in the works that you're all gonna love >:3c

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

If you couldn't guess by now, it's Zim x Dib.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Oof. Honestly, my Foodcourtia fic Enemy of the Fugue State. Because I started writing that as a total stream of consciousness kinda thing with zero outline, and my brain put on the breaks half-way through a goddamn sentence and I'm not sure how to get to where I wanna go next.

This isn't to say it's abandoned by any means! Just that I might need to go back to the drawing board with that one.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm good at writing dialogue?

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I could be way more descriptive tbh.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

All about it. Alas, I'm monolingual, so that's not something I can experiment with myself. Unless Dib or Zim ever go to France or Germany and need to ask to borrow a pen or something. In that case, I'm all set.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Final Fantasy 7. It was terrible, and no longer exists. Cloud and Vincent got married at the Gold Saucer and that is literally the only details you'll ever get out of me. I was 13 xD

Tho getting super technical, the first 'fic' I ever wrote was a class creative writing assignment in Year 5, where I wrote about Digimon.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I love all of my fics, else I wouldn't have written them! That being said, my favourite published fic is definitely Love Is A Verb 💚

#ask game #i really need a writing tag

[ravenwitch45]

I Went Back Through Winx Season 4 and I have Feelings

Now you may have seen my post about my rewatch of Winx Club Season 3 where I shared a few frames that I liked and I wanted to share. Well now since apparently I'm rewatching the entire show now I went through Season 4 and I kinda wanted to do the same thing. Then that idea kinda mutated due to something I've neglected to mention.

I Fucking LOVE this season. It has problems I'm well aware but still. Believix is my favorite ever transformation, I love the season sound track and it brought so many cool characters into the show that are criminally underused these days. I'll talk about some funny moments, some sad ones, and ones that just make my heart soar with happiness, or ones that make me want more.

(Of course spoilers for season 4 but uh... it's been out for years so I'm not going to tag that)

Here we go, this is long so be warned but so are my feelings. (PS: this get's more intense and deep the further we go so... yeah, and it may become mulitple posts idk)

First up Tecna's face. Why does she look so mad?! Then again she literally threw herself into a vortex and got sucked into Ice Hell and now she has to do basic manual labor, honestly I'd be mad too.

"The Winx are going to beat you to death" saga continues (If I can find something in S5 for this I will howl like a hyena)

Okay tell me if I'm crazy but that girl with the purple curly hair looks like Stormy in disguise? Maybe that oppositus spell had lasting effects on her pchyche and created a second persona, who knows?

Oh and this! This camper van or whatever the specialists get the Winx has antena. Like seriously. I guess it could be to tie into their fairies which have insect wings but it still looks stupid. Also I'd feel like it's cause some issues line of sight wise.

Ogron: Oh you're apporaching me?

Bloom: I can't get kick your ass without getting closer.

This immediately made me think of that and I kind of love that.

Roxy going feral at Gantlos for calling Artu just a dog gives me life, also it's just so fitting for it to give her her fairy form

Oh and she's so pretty! I so wish she got to have more transformations eventually. She was robbed of Butterflix and you cannot convince me otherwise. She literally had butterflies already come on!

Gantlos is just so fucking done with the Winx's nonsense, and i'd say same but he's a fairy hunter so suffer.

Cursed Stella. That's it, good lord Girl what happened to you?

This Roxy outfit deserved so much more. I think it shows up once more and again in season six but still it's SO refresing to see Roxy in something new. Can we just agree Roxy deserved some more outfits later on instead of getting locked in that stupid paw shirt for all eternity. I'm sorry it's not that bad but it's just so old at this point to me good lord. Roxy got fucking robbed of everything.

I'm just going to say it, I love the wizard's outfits honestly. Especially how Duman, Gantlos, and Ogron are all in dresses/skirts and honestly there all a little feminine. What I don't love is that the only feminine men this show has ever had are some of the most sadistic villains as well. Men can be feminine and not be evil for Fucks sake!

And now for the Earth fairies to steal the show for a bit, particulary Morganna cause I completely forgot how much I liked her as a character. I love her design a lot cause she is gorgeous. I love her dress and her hair and even her wings even if there a little basic, her color scheme being green and blue makes sense cause from space... well those are the colors of the earth but before we leave this scene...

Why is everyone so surprised when she invites them to join her court? She hasn't even brought up the vengence so the shock seems strange to me, loving Bloom's face though. On a more somber note...

Right before the door closes you can see Morganna frown, which makes sense cause not only will her vengence force her to fight other fairies but she'll have to fight her daughter as well. Oooh I love details like this cause it shows that her being Roxy's mom wasn't a last minute idea and they thought it through (Well not really but we'll get to that later)

Let's take a small moment to appreciate Flora's cat. I don't know their name but I love them so much. Flower kitty supremacy, you deserved to meet your dumb wolf brother you sweet ball of cuteness

In fact let's appreciate all the fairy pets, and not only them but the fact all the Winx have little carriers for theirs and Bloom has one for both her's and Kiko. Flora making me mad jealous as usual cause I wish I could carry my cat around in a purse. So cute.

Not Roxy lowkey giving Timmy a "Why are you so thirsty?" look. Good lord I did not appreciate her enough when i first watched this.

And Diana is here, we can now bow. I really forgot how much i loved the major fairies cause dang. Her hair, her wings, her powers having the detail of lightning making it look a lot more wild compared to Flora's. Spectacular. I'll get to Aurora and Nebula don't worry.

I don't know if this has happened before but the Winx briefly glowing their respective color after transforming seems new. I don't know correct me if i'm wrong but I honestly really like it.

Musa and Tecna being really extra in the air for no particular reason I just love. I wish we got this more in the newer seasons cause now they just float there soulessly. Let my fairies be flamboyant!

Flora's hair normally

Flora's hair up. No. Fuck no that is not happening. There is no way all that hair can go up in those tiny buns, and that goes for Aisha too. What kind of Tardis scrunchies do they got?

And Once again Tecna's face is just priceless, I don't know what it is but it just makes me laugh

Ah yes, Roxy being told to hang back for... not really a good reason. Yeah she doesn't have Believix but they let her come along to deal with Aurora so what happened there? And you'd think a fairy able to get animals on their side would be fantastic for a mission in a wild rainforest but no. This is the beginning of the end for you Roxy...

Stella being completely calm so close to a wild snake is just... so cool to me. Cause going off the basic fashion girl character you'd think she'd freak out and scream but no. Stella is different, she's rebellious and she loves nature and the world and appreciates it and is nice to it. Stella got so degraded later on but she was so cool at first. I want this Stella back please.

Can I just say that Flora and Diana deserved more one on one stuff, there both fairies connected to nature and we get barely any stuff with just them. I would love a fanfic with these two just bonding- or OR Flora could bring some lynphean plants and show Diana, theres just so much potential and none of it was used. Enngh...

Also Diana is actually really tall, which as a tall girl myself I appreciate. Yes she is wearing heels but everyone does in this show so that point is mute. Love ya girl, sorry you just get ignored for the rest of the season though (Seriously why weren't her and Aurora at Tir Nan Og during the cermony?)

Okay well with Diana's venegence ended now so is this post, cause only thirty images per post so I'll make a sequel for the rest of this eventually.

#winx club #winx club s4 #winx bloom #winx stella #winx musa #winx flora #winx aisha #winx tecna #winx roxy #winx ogron #winx anagan #winx gantlos #winx duman #winx morgana #winx nebula #winx diana #winx rewatch

[kellanved-ammanas]

Space Mercenaries AU Chapter 23: Confession

My Xmas gift to myself this year is continuing this fic because I've been wanting to come back to it for a while now and just kept not doing so. I intend to start working on it properly in the New Year. Whether or not I will follow through on that intention remains to be seen. But hey, because there's no big over arching story, it's easy to drop in and out of as the mood takes me.

~

Even after being heavily modified the ‘camper van’, as Sniper had dubbed it, was still quite small as far as Scout was concerned. Though, since it had originally been sized to be small even for the Tuefort aliens, making it even this big was impressive. Even with Engie and Pyro’s help, it had taken Sniper several weeks to finish it and make it habitable with air conditioning and the like. But… the bed had to be folded up against the wall to make room for the card table. How could anyone comfortably live in such a space?

“You sure you’re comfortable living out here by yourself?” Scout asked as he closed the door behind himself, making the space feel even smaller.

“Yep,” Sniper replied with zero hesitation. It hadn’t even been a full week since he’d moved out here though so he might still change his mind eventually. Probably wouldn’t though if Scout had to guess. “I warned you it was small.”

“Yeah, you did. But, uh, as long as you’re happy with it, who cares, right?”

Sniper grunted an assent. “So now that you’re out here, what you wanna do? I got cards and drink… or uh, maybe let’s not do that. It’s from the bar in town.”

“Yeah, no thanks. Cards sounds good though.” Even though that’s what they did a bunch back at base. Never could go wrong with it though.

Without another word, Sniper pulled his deck out from one of his tiny kitchen’s drawers and sat at the table. Scout sat across from him.

They played for a while, doing a small amount of gambling and chatting, Scout doing most of it of course. Pretty normal stuff but… they were all alone out here, just the two of them. Back at base there’d been the constant possibility of someone else wandering in, passing through or coming in to do their own thing or sometimes even join in and play with them. Here though, the possibility was so much lower it might not even exist.

Being alone with Sniper was something that Scout thought about quite a lot, probably more than he should. He liked to daydream about things they might do together when alone, many chaste but some not so much. But well, if he were to ever even so much as confess his feelings, being alone together would be the time to do it, right? So maybe…

But, no. That would be weird, right? They were friends and coworkers, if he didn’t feel the same it’d just be awkward. And then if they did start something and it didn’t work out, that’d be even more awkward and uncomfortable.

At the same time though, his feelings weren’t just infatuation based off Sniper being hot. He genuinely enjoyed Sniper’s company. He listened to Scout’s blather without complaint and even seemed to enjoy Scout company, so much so, he’d invited Scout out here to see the camper van. So maybe… he felt the same?

Was he even into men though or people in general? Was there any way for Scout to find out? … Probably yeah but he didn’t want to be invasive and weird. So maybe he should stick with what he’d been doing and just be content with…

“You okay, mate?” Sniper asked. “You’re being awfully quiet all of a sudden and it’s your turn.”

“Oh, uh… sorry. I was just…” Scout played his hand. Oof, that was bad; he hadn’t even really looked at it.

Sniper raised and eyebrow before playing his hand, winning the round and the small pool of money they’d placed on the game. He didn’t deal the next hand out yet though. “You want to talk about it?”

Apparently Scout had gotten himself so worked up and flustered over Sniper and his feelings for him that he seemed unwell enough to be worried about. He was real bad a romance, huh? Well, this was a chance to talk about it so… “Do you think that dating a coworker would be unethical?” Gotta establish that first right before bringing up the possibility for anything else.

“Uh, potentially a bit awkward, especially if a breakup happens, but probably not unethical. Why? You into one of the guys?”

“Yeah.” Scout couldn’t even bear to look at Sniper. Instead he stared down at the table between them. Why was it that his confidence always seemed to desert him whenever it came to romance? It was just plain not fair. Even when he wasn’t feeling it for real, he’d learned to do a pretty good job of faking it except when it came to personal relationship stuff. … Relationships were hard, especially romantic ones.

“Oh, can I ask who?”

Here it was, Scout’s chance. All he had to do was look up an say ‘you’ with suave flirtatious confidence. He could do that… maybe.

He looked up. Sniper’s arm rested comfortably on the table in front of him as he looked at Scout with his usual intense stare that Scout still wasn’t sure was a sign of interest or just how Sniper looked at everything. Scout took a breath and… nothing came out of his mouth.

He wasn’t ready to confess yet. He’d never truly considered doing so before now. It had only ever been daydreams and wild imaginings. Normally he planned these things. Really put thought into want he was going to say and how he was going to say it to reduce the risk of blundering his words bad enough that his exact meaning was lost or obscured. Maybe that had always been his downfall but… regardless, he wasn’t ready yet.

It was too late though. They were already talking about it and Sniper was waiting for an answer. If only he could melt into the floor or… vanish like Spy liked to do whenever he wanted to be done with a conversation. Yeah, becoming invisible would be a real neat trick to be able to pull off right now. Too bad that was…

Sniper’s eyes widen. “Uh… didn’t know you could do that.”

“Do what?”

“Go invisible.”

“I’m not…” Scout cut off as he looked down at himself because he had become transparent. Not his clothes but seemingly everything else. “Huh, didn’t know I could do that either.” Even as he watched, his arms faded back into being visible, much like how Spy faded in and out of being visible, but a slower process. “Um… cool, I think.”

Could he do it on command? He’d wanted to become invisible before and had, so all he had to do was think about it and… it worked! He was fading again! Again, slower than Spy’s shift into invisibility but happening nonetheless. Having lost focus, he shifted back but still pretty awesome. “It’s like I have super powers or something.”

Sniper didn’t look as excited about it. “You maybe want to go talk to Medic about… whatever is causing that?”

Scout took a breath to say ‘no’, he didn’t want to go see Medic about anything medical related outside of battle unless absolutely necessary but… it would be the perfect opportunity to escape their prior conversation. Which would give him more time to think about how to confess his feelings before actually doing so. So… “Yeah. Probably a good idea.” He wanted to know about it anyway.

***

A loud knocking disturbed Spy’s reading. It was Scout, he always knocked like that. Spy could ignore it until he went away but… Scout didn’t come to his room often so he probably wanted something. Likely something inane but it didn’t hurt to make sure.

So Spy put his book to the side and got up to answer the door. Scout was grinning like an excited idiot on the other side, meaning most likely it was something inane. Too late to not answer now though.

“Yo, Spy, guess what.”

Spy crossed his arms, making sure to continue to block the door so Scout couldn’t come in. “What?”

“Turns out I’m half shapeshifter, the same kind of alien you are. Isn’t that cool?”

If Spy had a proper heart it would’ve skipped a beat at that. How had Scout found out? And more importantly did he suspect anything further? Probably not, else he’d be mad, right?

“Medic apparently knew this whole time but didn’t tell me for some stupid reason because he thought I knew or something. Even though I think it was pretty obvious I didn’t. But hey, check it out, I can do this.” He went still, clearly focusing on something and started to fade into invisibility. “Pretty cool, right?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah, yeah, you can do it too, I know. I think it’s cool though.” Scout faded back into invisibility as he spoke.

“Why are you telling me then?”

“Because… I don’t know. You’re the only shapeshifter I know so…” he shrugged. “It means my deadbeat dad is or was one too. You probably don’t know him, the galaxy’s pretty big and you can’t know all of them but… maybe you do? My mom’s name is Ellen so maybe you know a guy who talked about her or maybe about having a son with her or… something.”

“Even if I by chance did know your father, why would you want to meet him? He left you, didn’t he? So why would you want anything to do with him?”

By now all of Scout’s excitement had drained away, leaving him looked kind of dejected. “Just… I don’t know, curiosity about who he is or was, I guess. And I want to know why he left. Like, maybe he left because he had to not because he wanted to. Probably not but a guy can dream, right? So I thought it was worth asking on the off-chance you did know him.”

If Spy was ever going to come clean, now would be the time. He wasn’t going to though. Scout probably had a right to know considering how closely they were working together but… Spy was still a coward and too selfish to try to do better. It was easier for both of them this way.

“But anyway,” Scout continued, “you think my mom knew?”

Yes, she’d known and had been into it. “I don’t know, probably.”

“Hmm… I guess I’ll have to ask her. Speaking of that, I got to go tell everyone else now too because it’s cool.” His smile had returned. “Not so great talking with you as always. See you around.” He turned and left.

Spy stepped back inside his room, quickly closing the door again. It had only been a matter of time before Scout learned he was half alien of course but… it had still come somewhat as a shock. At least he didn’t know anything else… for now. Hopefully it would stay that way but who could really know what the future held?

#my writing #tf2 #team fortress 2 #space mercenaries au #space au #scout #sniper #spy #speedingbullet #spydad

[heartofstanding]

I'm writing a companion/alternate POV fic of but it is my knife and my heart too, this is the fic where at the height of the quarrel between Henry IV and the future Henry V (Hal), Hal turned up at court and gave his father a knife to kill him, so I thought it might be fun to do a commentary on that fic.

This is one of those fics that are frustrating to re-read because I see all the flaws and all the things I don't like, when before I thought it was a pretty solid fic. It seems all a bit too slapdash to me now. The voice doesn't seem quite right, various elements seem undeveloped. The first three scenes feel underworked. I read them now and feel like I dashed them off because I was setting things up to get to the scenes where Henry and Hal meet. They could be so much better - now that I'm writing Hal's POV of the same scene, I've got a lot meat there that sells the tense, claustrophobic atmosphere before Hal meets Henry (or at least that's what I think it's doing!) and I feel like that the scenes in but it is my knife and my heart too don't have a similar atmosphere to sell us Henry's fear and paranoia. It's there but it's more just telling than showing, it's not embedded into the narrative voice and atmosphere.

Let's start with the notes.

I'm pretty sure I edited the notes to reflect how my understanding of the dagger incident has changed since I wrote it The source of the story is The First English Life of Henry V, which itself cites the "report" of the Earl of Ormond. When I posted this, I didn't know that the Earl of Ormond in question was Henry V's contemporary rather than his 16th century descendent but I do now. Another fun fact I've since learned is Ormond (Henry V's contemporary) was in the retinue for Thomas, Duke of Clarence so it seems likely that not only was he well-placed to be a reliable source but also that Thomas knew about it.

Was Thomas present for the meeting? The account says:

Then the Kinge caused himselfe to be borne in his chaire, (because he was diseased and might not goe) into his secrett chamber ; where in the presence of three or foure persons in whome the Kinge had his most confidence he commaunded the Prince to shewe the effect of his minde.

So possibly? I didn't put Thomas in the scene because Henry doesn't want him there. He knows Thomas will likely be a disruptive, emotional presence in any meeting he has with Hal, that Thomas is not yet a stage where he'll be accepting of how Henry treats with Hal, particularly if Henry opts to punish Hal. He also is paranoid enough that he doubts whether, if push came to shove, whether Thomas would pick him over Hal.

(Maybe once I've finished writing Hal's POV, I'll have to write Thomas's because oh boy he's not a happy camper. He's probably just Team Please Can't We Just Hug It Out.)

Knowing that Thomas possibly was there now, I still wouldn't put him there because the way I write him means it would end with him tackling Hal to the ground, yeeting the dagger in the Thames and then hugging Hal into submission.

Onto the fic proper.

The first scene is really just exposition to set up the conflict between them and Henry's emotional state, his fear and paranoia, the sense of decay - he had once been a great man but now he's weak and sick, maybe dying. Upon reflection, I don't know if Henry is as accepting of his slow descent into inevitable death as I wrote him here - historically, he seems to have had a tendency to declare he was going to campaign here or go on pilgrimage there only to call the whole thing off at the last minute because he's not well enough. IIRC, he was talking about leading the French campaign that Thomas is going to lead but his health wouldn't allow for it.

Oh look, it's one of my favourite passages:

He has found that when Harry is not with him, Harry becomes a construct other men’s desires and sins and not himself. His flesh is pliable, weak – Henry had the impression that whoever set their hands on Harry’s shoulders would feel their fingers sink deep into clay-like flesh and then would mould Harry into whatever they wanted him to be.

Hal, as Henry V, was sort of this perfect king and it's interesting to speculate how he did that. It's a strength, really - that Hal can appear or be whoever and whatever he needs to be - but Henry sees it as a threat to himself and to Harry. Harry should be the construct of his desires, not his own person or someone else's creature.

(sidenote: I really want to explore this quality of Hal more, especially from his perspective and maybe in relation to sex too.)

Enter Thomas.

This scene could be stronger but I like the bare bones behind it. Thomas wants to confront the problem; Henry doesn't. Henry wants to live through Thomas.

There's something terribly gothic and Cronus-like about the way that Henry sees and uses his eldest sons. Thomas is the one Henry wishes he was like, the one who carries off the chivalric bravado with the ease that Henry never really had (Thomas doesn't really care, I think, and in not caring carries it off). Henry uses him to do the things he could never be brave enough to do and the things he can no longer do. In a way, Thomas represents Henry's desired object, the person he wishes he could be and so seeks to act through. Hal, on the other hand, is the repository for all Henry's shame and fear - they're a lot alike in ways that only alienate them from each other but Henry also projects things onto Hal that aren't there, cf. the comment about Hal hating him as a baby. Hal, in a lot of ways, is someone who Henry views as a figure of abjection to exorcise his own flaws. Cast Hal out and Henry will be perfected by his absence. I think, too, that there's a neat parallel in that Henry sees Hal acting in a way that Henry himself acted in 1399 - a usurper of kings - but really, at this moment, Hal is more like Richard in 1399 - a victim of Henry. Which was a sort of accidental inversion of the theme in Shakespeare's Henry IV where Henry sees Hal as Richard but really Hal is more like Henry. Henry can never see his son as having a self of his own but always as a projection of someone else (himself, Richard, Mary).

This scene is also the first scene that references Mary. I didn't know it at the time but Hal actually met Henry either on the day of her anniversary or the day after (Mary died 1 July, Hal probably met Henry on 1 or 2 July). I can't kick my past self's butt for not including that, since I didn't know (and no historian knew then either! and most still don't! 🤫), but I should kick my past self's butt for not making more of the fact that Mary had died around this time.

Enter Joanna of Navarre.

When I wrote this scene, I wanted a sense of "aw, they both have atrocious taste in clothing, #couplegoals" since I have a running gag that Henry has no fashion sense, cf. his gigantic hat and toad gown. But I wonder now if that comes across as a bit mean to Joanna now though I do handwave it with a "well, he wouldn't know what good fashion sense looked like so his opinion on her fashion sense means nothing".

Joanna here is behaving as a queen "ought" to - acting as an intermediary between Henry and Hal, gently checking Henry's unfounded assertions to urge a reconciliation, and when Henry still seems reluctant, offering to deal with Hal herself. I think I'd emphasise this more in a rewrite (and am in Hal's POV). Even though it's Mary's memory that ultimately convinces Henry to see Hal (and I think if I were writing it again, I'd have Joanna invoke her deliberately since in the rewrite Hal invokes Mary when he talks to Joanna), this comes after the intercession/advocation of both Joanna and Thomas.

Finally, enter Hal.

I've talked about the gown Hal wears a bit over here already; I don't think I have much more to add to that beyond saying that I put Hal in the red undergown to emphasise the sense of wounded-ness.

The impression Henry has of his son is one of youthful vigour and maturity - the Hal he is most familiar with was Hal before he was Hal, really; his son before he went into exile and lost that skittish shyness (and the reality is that Hal wasn't so shy so much as intimidated by Henry). Now Hal is confident, young and fit - everything Henry wishes he was.

Henry's reaction to that youthful vigour is to try and claw back the appearance of himself as a strong, fit man and to demonstrate his power as king. And because he's Henry, he tells himself that asserting his power and control over his son is not the same as Richard asserting his power and control over his subjects. One thing I wish I had done more of is having Richard haunting Henry - I wanted something a bit like the vibe in this constant forsaking, where Henry's subconscious is always Richard but when I was writing it, I never seemed to find the space to add Richard's voice in. However, I kinda dig the fact that in this fic, Henry has made himself so lonely and cut-off that his ghosts no longer haunt him, he has to conjure them and he can't really do that. He's so damned that he's been abandoned even by those who really ought to be haunting him.

Arundel is a creep. I do think that a lot of the downright nastiness in this period is down to Arundel. I suspect he was a bigger driver in the tension between father and son.

So the fun part of this is not knowing whether Hal intended to pull the dagger incident in front of everyone in the hall (which includes two of his brothers) or has just worked himself up enough that he starts on the speech as soon as he gets to speak to Henry. Though it doesn't matter because Henry cuts Hal off in another display of control and fear(!) and moves them to somewhere much more private.

One of the hard things for me is knowing whether the dagger incident was "real" in the sense that Hal thought Henry could do it or whether it was "fake" in the sense of, well, giving your father a knife and telling him to murder you is probably going to not result in your father murdering you. Henry already considers Hal's death a possible outcome of the crisis they're in but if Hal is to die, he wants distance and plausible deniability - an execution or an assassin, not a murder committed with his own hands and without any kind of trial to add legitimacy to his actions. Hal coming to him and saying, "if you don't trust me, kill me, here's a dagger, go on, do it, I forgive you my murder" makes it all the more impossible to act. If he accepts Hal's offer, there's no plausible deniability or legitimacy to his actions. He's killed his own son - who has just submitted to him, If he doesn't accept Hal's offer, it makes it harder for Henry to kill Hal through execution or assassin, because Hal has just literally laid in his life in Henry's hands in a show of loyalty and submission to his king and father and Henry has accepted his son's loyalty and submission, and refused to take his life. So, yeah, cards on table, I think it's very likely that Hal knew the dagger incident was very unlikely to result in his actual death.

But I want that sweet, sweet angst.

Hal does think it's a distinct possibility that Henry will kill him (and we'll find out what he thinks about that in the fic I'm writing). Rationally, he probably knows Henry won't but emotionally? That boy is a mess and he has a shitastic relationship with his father so he still feels that Henry might very well kill him.

The actual dialogue of the dagger incident scene was pretty tricky because there was actually dialogue, quite a lot of it, in the source. I used A. R. Meyer's modernised but condensed text (which I've posted here) and then dipped into the full Early Modern English text as published in The First Life of Henry the Fifth. I didn't feel confident with my ability to read early modern English to deal with the full text in of itself though nowadays I would give it a go.

(The thing about writing a POV shift some years on is the debates on whether to stick with the version of the story you wrote or adapting it to fit new knowledge and understandings.)

Even in Meyer's modernised English, the dialogue didn't really work. It was jarring, too stiff and formal, too wordy. It was so obviously not my dialogue. So I had to adapt it and, in doing so, gained some sympathy for the people who write those godawful No Fear Shakespeare modernisations. The first pass was godawful. Clunky, stiff, unnatural. Overly literal, just snipping out a few words here and there. So I did it again and ended up much happier. Reading it now... yeah, I think I'm going to take a fresh stab at it in this POV-switch.

I had fun writing the stuff around the dialogue - if it was a play, I'd guess you'd call it the stage directions but it's not a play. It'd be fun to play with splitting it up in different ways.

Hal wrapping his hand around Henry's to push Henry into action and place the dagger where it needs to be to kill him is actually stolen from a pretty horrible novel about Henry V I read because that idea was cool.

‘I would forgive you my murder,’ Harry says and closes his terrible eyes. ‘I would, I do.’

Fun fact about me: I love echoing Hal's "I do, I will" in Henry IV, Part 1, Act 2, Scene IV in my dialogue, though obviously the tense shift is reversed here because Hal's shifting from saying "if you did it, I would forgive you" to saying "you're doing it, I forgive you".

Henry refuses and Hal basically shuts down. Which we will see more of in Hal's POV, I promise.

I've had a comment about how Henry sends Hal away to be looked after by other people and how he should've been the one looking after Hal. I actually think this is the one actual decent moment of parenting Henry does in the fic. Yes, his son's in a bad way but Henry knows that he can't fix it. He knows their relationship is so wrecked that he is the wrong person to look after Hal. Hal doesn't trust him, Henry doesn't really know his son to know what he needs as much as he loves him. So the best thing to do is to send Hal to the people who Hal trusts to look after him (and by "people", I usually mean "Richard Courtenay" because I'm nothing if not cliche).

Of course Henry undercuts his Actually Decent Parenting by going, "oh, the things you're worried about? They'll be dealt with in due course." So Hal really wins nothing but his own skin for the time being - Henry's still holding the charges over him. And Henry is right, to a degree, that the charges need to be examined and justice be seen to be done. But it's not really a reconciliation if you're holding charges over your son's head, Henry. And that was a choice dictated by historical record, not me seeking the sweet, sweet angst. Great job, Henry.

I said in the ao3 tags that "Everything is terrible but it's all uphill from here (isn't it?)" and I did mean it at the time. I had the visual that Henry was really going to try to be a better father. He'd go and talk to Hal's buddies, try to make an effort but... then I wrote "when this kingdom comes" and yeah, things haven't improved at all from Hal's side of things.

Maybe Arundel gets at Henry before he can put into place Operation Become A Good Father, maybe Henry's just too sick and dying to really have the time and energy to spare, maybe there's just too much mistrust on both sides, maybe Henry's damaged their relationship too much for Hal to come back to him...

Henry does love Hal, though.

#hal's dagger incident #fic commentaries #text posts #if there are fics you want commentaries on please just throw them in the ask box #anon is back on too! (but for these kind of questions not spamming me with wotr questions) #fic talk

[woodsfae]

idk what sort of powerful drugs I got in post-op, but it kinda felt like being on shrooms. Boy, was I a happy camper! I woke up physically, full-body, spasmodically shaking with cold, at a 6+ on the pain scale, but utterly ecstatic. I went under anxious and terrified and did not expect to wake up absolutely 100% positive that everything was peachy-keen and suffused with delight.

What I had was a laparoscopic, partial hysterectomy. Edit: it was a vaginally-assisted, robotic, total hysterectomy. I kept my ovaries and yeeted the fallopian tubes, uterus, and cervix. My doc used a robot to do the surgery - no idea what that looked like, but I've been delightedly imagining one of those claw machines.

So far the worst pain has been the gas they pump up your abdomen with. The wildest thing is that it extends into your shoulders! Apparently the gas irritates a nerve in the diaphragm and that causes excruciating shoulder pain. I do not understand why. At no point has any pain in my abdomen been worse than menstrual cramps.

I walked (feeling very unsteady, clinging to my IV pole and wishing the nurses were carrying me by my elbows instead of just lightly touching my arms) to the bathroom and then to my hospital room bed about an hour after waking up. I couldn't pee for a couple of hours, but I got up and walked (with a nurse holding my arm) to the bathroom to try after another hour or so. I was able to pee on my second attempt.

I had the most bonkers almost-lucid dream repeatedly while I was dozing the afternoon away. I kept dozing off and immediately dreaming that I was in my exact room and exact bed watching red-robed, hooded figures pop into existence on either side of my hospital bed. They would silently walk past the head of my bed into a vast, cavernous space behind me and pace back and forth. Every time I woke up I would realize there was no room behind my bed for them to fit into. And then I'd doze off again and have the exact same dream. It was completely a neutral experience. I wasn't distressed at all, and was really just fascinated by them appearing out of nowhere and doing their strange walk-by-and-pace-behind-me routine. They looked just like these evil little guys in Lode Runner.

But thankfully they didn't eat me like the Lode Runner guys do when they catch you.

I had the worst dry mouth I've ever experienced. I asked my room tech to refill my water so many times she eventually brought me a pitcher to refill my own, then I rang to get unhooked from the machines to go pee so many times, the nurse came and unhooked everything I couldn't get to myself and showed me how to unhook and re-hook myself into everything else, since I was very clearly ambulatory and by then my sister was there to follow me back and forth so I wouldn't fall.

A little before 7pm, they discharged me at my request. Doc had said as long as I was ambulatory, my pain was controlled, and I could pee, I didn't have to stay the night.

Instead of going home, Partner and I went to my sister's, since right as Partner arrived to pick me up, our housemate texted and said they'd just tested positive for covid. So we crashed at my sister's for two days till housemate's symptoms subsided enough that their viral load would have to be pretty low, and now we're quarantining away from each other in the house as much as possible, running our multiple UV-light HEPA air purifiers, and masking outside our rooms.

Five hours before I had my surgery, I had a little niece born in the same hospital, so I got wheelchaired down to see her before heading to my sister's. Now that I'm much less drugged, I'm amused that my brother just fuckin handed me his fresh-out-of-the-womb daughter with just, total confidence, not to mention my niece's mom being totally chill with it! I don't even want kids and idk if I'd hand any baby to someone who just came out of general anesthesia only six hours earlier, lmao.

Anywho, the new tiny little family also came to my sister's the next day, and our oldest sister came to town as well, so lil sis had a very full house. I spent my first 48 hours out of the hospital alternating between napping and holding Fresh New Baby. (she is super, super cute)

Partner has been a total gem - he knows I'm on total pelvic rest and am not supposed to bend or twist at the waist at all, or really even use my abdominal muscles, and so I have hardly done a thing for myself - I haven't even really lifted my own feet in and out of bed! That's definitely contributing to my pain management, since when I do lift my own legs, I feel an ache.

Every day he's gently lowered me into the car and taken me for a little enrichment drive somewhere in the county - I actually highly recommend this, as the road vibration legitimately seems to be vibrating the gas out of me. Plus the car has heated seats and that's nicely soothing for all my sad muscles, too.

Overall, I'm ludicrously positive, feeling well, and am happy to be coddled to an almost silly extent.

Fingers crossed Partner and I don't come down with covid! I don't want to experience coughing while my insides are unmoored from their normal hawsings.

Everyone at the hospital was really, really nice to me. I felt extremely well taken care of by the medical staff, my doc has such a good bedside manner I think he's at least half-way cured me of my medical anxiety, and I finally got a diagnosis! Endometriosis. And now that shit's been ablated the fuck out of my torso.

This is definitely a very serious surgery and my body knows it. I feel the urge to hold my abdomen at almost all times, and in a very unlike-me turn of events, I have no desire to do anything I'm not supposed to. I barely want to get up and walk around a little. I'm zoning out constantly. I can hardly hold an entire train of thought in my head, and I haven't been able to get to genius in the NYT Spelling Bee game since before my surgery. This is definitely take-it-easy time, and I'm grateful that my body and brain agree that I need to be very still, and very easy on myself.

#hysterectomy #woodsfae #medical details #surgery #endometriosis

[organic-guacamole]

HSMTMTS SEASON 3 EPISODE 7 REACTION

i just finished watching the paw patrol movie so at the end of this episode I can see how they compare 👯‍♀️

ooo a Maddox opening

why did they do that cut with EJ saying "I wish I could" to Gina. THERE IS A VALID EXPLANATION DONT DO HIM DIRTY

no one gonna mention how hot these campers all are? ummmm I'd be down for a shallow lake spin off because every camp I've been to cannot compare.

Ricky didn't finish the crust though🤨🤨

just when I thought they couldn't break ricky any more than they already have....

ASHLYN

wait her name is Valerie?

ASHLYN

she looks so happy and I'm happy eeeeeee

so was Maddox and Madison's thing why the rule was implemented? 👀

AWW JET

I don't understand why Maddox couldn't go with Jet to talk, like now these kids are outside in their dressing gowns and she's fully dressed 🚶🏽‍♀️

"you can come out now"

"no I already did that"

cOMEDY IM WHEEZING

oo JoJo Siwa *acts shocked like I didn't know she'd be in this 2 months ago*

this episode is something omg

"I want David Bowie not Rupaul"

"I have never shown this much cleavage"

who's writing the scripts and when can I meet them

2 things: love the running joke of making assumptions on the theme and LOVE Carlos in headbands thank you stylists.

no because I like Jet but why would inviting an ex with no warning be good. also MADISON YOU BROKE UP WITH HER. YOU KNOW HOW SHE FELT(probably) WHY DID YOU AGREE.

I can't stand the way everyone's getting upset with EJ for working. they are literally at a party and he has no choice but to perfect the musical. like, ???

"yes, sir" I do not understand.

brother stop gawking at the man's girlfriend please.

Richard I like you too but if you don't stop rn I will give a standing ovation when EJ drop kicks you out the window.

this MadMad scene is nice and all but I can't say anything funny about it, nor do I have enough history of their trauma to talk about it so: they're sweet. I love them now. the end.

OMG AWW Carlos and Ashlyn needs to be a friendship we see more though

wait wait wait is EJ gonna bring seb? cuz....I would very much like that...

I like seeing EJ be meaningful and considerate, which feels weird to say.

NVM SEB'S HERE IDK HOW BUT YES

DUDE A SECOND SEBLOS KISS

SEB SBE SBEBSHAKA

HE DRESSED LIKE HE'S IN HIS 70'S I LOVE SEB I MISSED SEB

EJ babe you're hurting me

but also they did have less than 2 weeks to learn the lines so

Maddox telling her whole life story one stage is such a Disney movie thing. I love it.

SEBLOS HAS A SONG YAY

THIS IS SO CUTE I love the sibling storyline surprisingly

Saylor is so pretty.

no but like I just realized, no one here knows Seb except for the wildcats, how weird is this for them to see a random 15 year old on your stage.

ftr, I'm not entirely against Rina objectively. I just HATE how they're trying to make it happen.

EJ's trying, so hard. like I'm sure I can see grey hairs showing up on his head because of all this stress he's under.

aw he even wants to play a song so they can have their dance

since when is a summer 14 days long ?🤔🤔🤔

this thing Gina keeps going back to, "were having different summers"... I have something to say but I'll make a separate post for that. maybe. depends on how badly I want to be ripped into by fans ig.

the way they all use metaphors and weird wording for break ups in shows has always been funny for me. is is just me or does literally no one say "solo" in normal speech...

NO I ABSOLUTELY HATE HOW HE JUST ACCEPTED THAT WITH A NOD AND A SMILE BRO WHO HURT YOU

Cash Caswell

Unnamed mother Caswell

Unrealistic societal expectations due to his family

Nini Salazar-Roberts

Richard Bowen

His own mentality which has been programmed to believe he has to be more than he is to matter

right, nevermind.

AW I LOVE SEB HIS TIMING IS SO AMAZING AND HE'S JUST IN SHOCK OVER EJ'S NAME WHY DO I ALWAYS USE CAPS WHEN TALKING ABOUT SEB? HE DOES SOMETHING TO ME I SWEAR

not Richard Bowen telling a stranger about his own show, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, now streaming on Disney plus 🤨🤨🤨

why did Gina walk in between the people's conversation? legit just step around them

her crying makes my heart hurt.

AH THERE'S KOURTNEY FINALLY

I'm actually crying. this scene with all the girls is probably the best one all season. there's depth, emotions, love, an amazing song, Maddox fitting in with them and just the most beautiful and interesting storylines and characters coming together.

Dara Renée deserves an award for this.

THE BOYS OMG THIS IS SO MUCH MY TEAR DUCTS ARE IN OVERDRIVE

someone added that guys water scene self indulgently I think

"I was born to be brave" the callbackkkk

"Bro" coupled with the high note can we actually not do this to me? you know how I feel about the "bro" since last season

the timing of Ashlyn walking by when Maddox and EJ are talking, man I love this show.

How did Val find that out though.

anyways the finale will be fun...

#hsmtmts #hsmtmts s3 #hsmtmts season 3 #ej caswell #ricky bowen #gina porter #carlos rodriguez #seb matthew smith #i missed using that tag #kourtney greene #ashlyn caswell #maddox hsmtmts #jet hsmtmts