#ONCE THEY'RE NO LONGER FEUDING?

[winterdadandspiderson]

WINTERDAD AU #1

(part one because this got way too long. this is essentially the plot of an old fic i started back in 2020 and what would've happened of i'd continued it. i might try and write it again one day, perhaps, if i don't give up after 2 chapters. anyway here we go)

- mary parker was a shield agent when she met the winter soldier, both were on a mission. they fought, but never got as far as mortally wounding each other. mary would always slip away. it was like a game. bucky had been kept out the ice for a few weeks at that point, running a long job. but the longer he's out, the more he starts to remember little pieces, who he used to be.

- mary feels pity for him, seeing through the stone cold image hydra forged for him, to the person within. they fight. but then they also talk. they keep seeing each other while bucky scouts. eventually one thing leads to another and they develop a relationship of sorts. 

- mary later discovers she's pregnant but bucky never finds out. he's taken back, wiped and put under the ice once more. mary quits her job at shield so she can provide for her kid and keep them safe. knowing full well if anyone in shield or hydra caught wind that she was carrying the winter soldiers child, they'd never be safe.

- she's sad that bucky disappeared again, she knows hydra likely had him wiped and iced again. but she moves on, meeting richard soon after who she tells she's expecting a son, that the father disappeared without a word (technically not a lie) he tells her he'll love him like he's his regardless.

- when her son is born she names him peter james parker (during the few weeks they met, the last time they talked, bucky ended up remembering his first name, mary wanted peter to have at least a piece of him)

- peter ends up looking a LOT like bucky. he has the same shade of dark brown hair, facial structure which shows as he grows. but he has mary's eyes)

- the plane crash was really just an unfortunate incident. peter still goes to live with aunt may and uncle ben when he's seven. and then things go as they usually do in canon. the avengers form, yada yada all that stuff, you know the drill.

- when he's 14 peter is bitten by the radioactive spider. BUT. an important detail here is that due to the expiermentation bucky was subjected to by hydra and the enhancements which altered his genes, some of that, though remaining dormant, passed onto peter. but it didn't really do anything, it was just there. but it did keep him alive after the spider bite. without those enhancements in his blood peter would've died. instead, he gained his powers.

- uncle ben still gets shot, which as usual influences peter to become spider-man. and months after tony still comes along and recruits him to fight in germany. peter does.

- when he briefly faces bucky ("you have a metal arm? that is AWESOME, dude!") neither know so that also goes as normal. bucky is bewhildered by the kid who managed to block a hit with so much force behind it, while also shocked to know that he was just that, a kid.

- now one vastly different thing here is that while the avengers do split for a good year, steve and tony eventually talk and make amends. the avengers reassemble, deciding that they need to put the world before their feud. they're not on super good terms, but they tolerate each other. tony still refuses to forgive bucky.

- homecoming happens during the time where things are still rocky between the avengers so peter still deals with vulture alone. but he does see tony more often, stopping by for lab days to work on his suit among other things, to keep up the "internship" charade. tony grows fond of him, though he doesn't admit it.

its post homecoming where things start to go wrong.

#i wanted to keep mary as peter's mom because in a lot of the few winterdad fics i've read #his mom is always nat for some reason ??? so yeah. mary parker is still his mom. richard isn't his step dad he's the dad that stepped up #part two will probably be done by tomorrow! lmk what you think so far i'd love to hear your thoughts :)) #marvel #mcu #marvel cinematic universe #bucky barnes #peter parker #mary parker #winter soldier #the avengers #winterdad #spiderson #marvel au #mcu au #the winterdad au #marvel fanfic #mcu fanfic #oh also keeping the irondad dynamic in there because it adds to the conflict and plot <3

[lullaebies]

Absolutely love your blog! If you're still taking Jaehaera/Aegon III requests what about one where they're in a secret relationship and are keeping it from their families but some shenanigans ensue (maybe they snuck out or something, or someone walked in on them kissing?) and they're somehow discovered? Also please overprotective father Aegon II because yes!

(Preferably an AU where the Dance happens later?)

The gathering in the room feels like a court of thorns, and Jaehaera feels as if she is going to hurl. Standing by her family with her grandmother looking at all around with hawk eyes, she feels if something is about to implode. Aegon had been taken from her side to his mother’s, Princess Rhaenyra. The heiress to the Throne had been most wroth, her, her husband, and her sons waking in the middle of the night for this… issue.

The worst of it all, Jaehaerys had been still laughing with damn near tears in his eyes while telling what he witnessed. She had begged him to leave it be, but then he and Aegon got into an altercation, and now… Ugh!

“So I enter her room because I left my book there—” he looks at Princess Rhaenyra and her family, particularly Aegon. “It was my room once too, do mind— and what do I see if not Aegon the Younger pining my sister against her own closet? The closet, grandmother. He didn’t have the mind to get her against a bed.”

She’s going to choke him.

“Oh, fuck off,” Aegon yells at her twin. “As if she hasn’t told me about you becoming a damn near Rosby stableboy in your visits there—”

Princess Rhaenyra pushes him back to his half-brothers, the lot of the brown haired boys holding their brother of nine and ten, yet only his father manages to stare him down. On the other hand, her father had been gritting his teeth beside her, while mother held onto Jaehaerys’s forearm in warning. Alicent gives her twin a pointed look.

“Mind your words, Jaehaerys,” she says, and turns to look at Rhaenyra and her family. “Prince Aegon, would you mind explaining how you came into my granddaughter's rooms?” 

Aegon licks his lips, and Jaehaera swallows. The story is longer than both of them would be able to admit. Despite the blood feud of the families, they had managed to talk last year at the ball for her and Jaehaerys five and tenth nameday. Even went on a joint ride with Morghul and Stormcloud, and before he left for Dragonstone, they decided on a day to meet again at the Kingswood. Such meetings repeated. They could only afford a day a moon, but those days were all so sweet. Did she do anything wrong? Yes, had been the objective answer, but she couldn’t care for it.

And here he is, in her very own home. They could hardly speak by their family, how could she not ask for a moment of privacy?

Rhaenyra rubs her temples. “Things like these happen at this age, Alicent,” she says. “You are stressing Jaehaera and Aegon both.”

Alicent furrows her brows. “Oh, these things do happen at this age, don’t they?” she asks, glaring. “We had known since we were her age how reputation matters in finding marriage. Your son is three years her elder and should know not to fiddle with a noble girl’s corset strings at the hour of the bat.”

Jaehaera feels some tears well up in her eyes. She doesn’t care for the embarrassment of being caught by now, but this makes her feel a fool. It had been nothing insidious, was it? They hadn’t even kissed until they celebrated the new year. She hadn’t lost her chastity, either. It is not just…

“He came into those rooms because your granddaughter let him in, Queen Alicent,” Prince Daemon says. “You should mind her doings before you lay judgement on my son’s.”

Jaehaera’s father had been standing quiet for the longest while, but with that he flares. “Men had been sent to the wall and got castrated for less, Uncle. If you don’t like my mother’s judgement, perhaps I should see to it?”

She holds onto her father’s arm. Please, let this stop. 

Daemon eyes him dangerously. “See to your own misgivings,” he says. “Your own son laughs at your daughter's.”

“Father, please,” Jaehaera says, when Aegon the Elder tries and almost manages to escape her grip. Her mother and brother come quickly beside them. Her mother stands in front of her father and puts a hand on his chest, warning, while Jaehaerys comes to Jaehaera’s side, a wroth smirk thrown at their grand-uncle’s way.

“I am laughing at my sister’s choices, grand uncle. At least if it had been Viserys, he has my aunt’s pretty face,” he says, backing their father for once. They often argue, but at times they work together, they prove they’re made of the same cloth. “The Seven had laughed at Aegon giving him yours.”

Daemon starts stepping towards them. “You think you are a jester, you defected—”

Prince Jacaerys comes against his step-father to stop him from coming forward, the same ways her mother has to stop her father from doing the same. Her grandmother and Princess Rhaenyra had come to yell at one another, and even the kingsguard had come to get involved. Jaehaera’s body is reduced to shaking, fat tears fully sliding down her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” she says quietly between gentle sobs, the sleeves of a dishevelled dress wiping against her face again and again to try and catch all the tears. Only the family beside her hears, so loud were the voices in the room. Her brother and father turn around, with similarly apprehensive faces. “Please, please stop..”

Behind them, from the other side of the room, Aegon sees her in her pathetic state too. She never was the emotional type, and she had oft hoped he liked it for he had been none too different. The unusual petrification on his face makes her blood feel as if it is running dry, and it feels all gone when the dark amethyst of his eyes fall into what she could only call resigned acceptance.

Aegon, her Aegon, comes by his mother and her grandmother, holding Princess Rhaenyra’s arm. “It was my fault. We didn’t mean to… I took it too far,” he finally says. “I won’t come by her any more, Queen Alicent.”

It hurts more than anything else he could’ve said.

Her mother pushes their father aside to cloak her in an embrace. Jaehaera can only tremble and sob against her mother’s robe.

The room grows silent as Princess Rhaenyra and Queen Alicent agree to not tell The King or all else of the incident; so ill had been King Viserys, it had not been worth ailing her grandfather further with this issue when he had been on the brink of passing. 

All is to be forgotten, and cast away. Jaehaera’s puffy eyes lift from her mother’s shoulder, and catch his gaze one last time before he leaves. He tries to mouth something, but is pushed by his family out of the room.

Jaehaera sinks against her mother again. Even if she banishes the days in the green Kingswood from her thoughts, the scent of the campfire charring wood black will live in her dreams.

#and they completed the task they didn't manage that night in the middle of the war and brought peace 🙏 the end #i wish i could add more jaehaerys shittalking it was my favorite thing #i have one more request for jaehaera/aegon iii and then im focusing on exams and my longfic #jaehaegon #aegon iii targaryen x jaehaera targaryen #jaehaera targaryen x aegon iii targaryen #aegon iii targaryen #jaehaera targaryen #alicent hightower #prince jaehaerys targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #i would tag daemon and rhaenyra too but i don't think those who go their tag would care for this #hotd #hotd fanfic #my fics #my fanfics #reqs #answered #forwithinthishollowcrown

[canonicallysoulmates]

J2 Gold Panel Charlotte con 2023

Before we get into this panel quick psa that this con took place while the actors union, SAG-AFTRA, is on strike. This means the boys cannot directly name past, present, or future projects. For the sake of clarity I will be mentioning projects the boys are referring to by name but please be aware that the boys themselves did not do that they complied with strike regulations.

Jensen had a mustache this con. I don't know how I feel about it. I also don't know how I feel about the shirt he was wearing, it makes me think about those lime popsicles they sell.

Anyways...Jared mentions that the shirt he is wearing is going to be auctioned to charity later on in the day. The shirt he's wearing is the one he wore to SDCC for the last ever SPN panel and Jensen says if he's giving it away he wants it and Jared replies he'll send him the link 😂

And then Jensen says it comes with a free spatula and I love Jared's reaction cause he gets so flustered, he even admits he was not expecting that, and tells Jensen they gotta do it together and Jensen at first is like I'm not doing that, and Jared still flustered tells him not the spatula but the other thing meaning Family Feud. That when the world gets back at it they should do some stuff about some things.

For those that might be confused Jared had filmed an episode of Family Feud a while back that aired recently and one of the questions in the game was to name an item from the kitchen a couple might bring into the bedroom, and he was the person in his team who answered and said spatula.

Questions!

The first fan asks Jensen if they could sing a bit of Simple Man. Jensen says no that they're not taking requests, it's not karaoke morning.

So the fan asks another question: Was Jensen ever bullied as a child, and do his children experience bullying? If so, how did he get through it?

He was when he was in middle school. He was around 12 or 13, maybe 14, and he got the shit beat out of him for a good several months, and he never talked to anybody he didn't tell any adults and his friends knew but they were too scared to do anything so what he did, and he says this isn't advice it's just his experience, was that he found an upperclassman one of those scary guys with rumors of him carrying weapons to school, befriended him, and asked him to help him deal with his bully. And the guy did, he went up to Jensen's bully and basically told him touch him again and I'll kill you.

As for his kids, recently JJ was getting picked on by a young boy in her class and at first he thought 'Oh it's because he likes you' (no, Jensen, no) but she waited till it escalated to a point where they got called in by the faculty and they're the ones who brought it to their attention she hadn't mentioned it to them beforehand. And his first reaction was 'how bad could it be? he probably has a crush on her or something' (again, no Jensen no) but that wasn't the case, and his initial reaction as a father was to get angry at the little boy but he found out that the kid was coming from an unfortunate situation and he felt really bad and wanted to get him help.

Jared has also dealt with bullying as well as his kids. He says he got injured a lot as a kid whether by bullies or accidents. Those physical injuries hurt more at the time but they went away mental injuries however have a longer-lasting effect. His sons have been bullied by other kids and he has told them to stand up for themselves cause they can either get bullied hard once or get bullied forever. And a big thing is that it's difficult for a kid to understand but to remember and try to help kids understand that hurt people hurt people. x

Under the current circumstances have they been doing any extra babysitting lately? Of course, it would be a man asking this question, and in such an incredibly outdated way 🙄 This is that person's way of asking if they have been spending more time taking care of their kids.

They both reply so much. Jared says he had a talk with G the other day that he has worked so hard for 23 years professionally to become an actor and he got really good at being valuable on set but he's only had 11 years of opportunity to get good at the parenting side of things and for many of those years he was in Van so he's still a white belt but he's eager, he's earnest, he's a sponge ready to learn.

He tells a story about how the kids are in school now but a month or two ago, possibly even longer around March or April, G had something to do and asked if he could watch the kids till 3pm. So she leaves, he wakes up the kids, gives them breakfast, and basically they end up playing in the pool till 3 o'clock rolls around and G arrives home. And when she gets there she asks them if they had fun and then asks what they had for lunch, and Jared was confused cause he hadn't realized it was already 3 and past lunchtime. He forgot to feed the kids lunch so he's still learning.

Jensen says the other day D was leaving and his daughter asked her if daddy was babysitting them, and she replied that it's not babysitting he's their father and asked what is it when she's around and the kid replied well you're mom and she said exactly he's just dad it's not babysitting he's just taking care of his children. I agree with the statement 1,000%. x

What does Jensen put on his hair to help with the frizz?

Jared jokes that it's an expression of their inner self, he's kinda greasy and gnarly and Jensen is very soft and smooth. He also says he used hotel shampoo and put on a beanie and then Victoria took care of him, and that he hasn't had a haircut in around 5 to 6 months but she makes him seem somewhat human. x

If Jensen had to do it all over again would he spend his time on Days of Our Lives, and is it something he would recommend to other people trying to break into the industry?

100%, He says that was his training ground, he didn't go to a proper school or get properly trained but there he learned things that he doesn't think they would even teach you in certain acting schools like hitting your mark, finding your light, understanding how to navigate personalities. That show had 30 actors and everyone had a different personality and you have to navigate that to survive, so that was such a valuable experience for him. He talks about it all the time, and it's such a great gig for actors, says that when he left that show in 2000 he always thought to himself that if he went out and it didn't happen he would 100% go running back to that cause it was so great.

The fan mentions that in Q&A's colleagues of his have mentioned things like community theater but none have mentioned soap operas. He and Jared say that any kind of expression, of creating creative content whether on a stage, in front of a camera in your room with your friends, or reading a play all of that fuels something in you if that's something you strive to do, and Days for him was essentially his college it was his training ground for what he went on to do and he's forever thankful for it and he'll always praise them.

Jared adds that something he and Jensen learned in different ways and times- he loves theater it's different doing the version they ended up doing cause if you're doing a play you get 3 months to rehearse but doing something like where they started you learn really quickly you don't have all day, you don't have all hour, you might only have 5mins to get it done so that really helped when it was necessary when they were working together.

Jensen mentions he recently did a little part in a film and it was this big end scene with all the major players in the scene, and the sun was going down, and more importantly, there was a helicopter that was supposed to fly overhead and the shot had to time out with the helicopter coming and they only had two shots at it; it was a race to the finish and his coverage was left to the very end and everybody told him they were so sorry but they were only getting one or two goes at this and he was like that's cool, and he had to give a whole speech. He did both his takes, and he remembers the director was like 'I love television actors.' x

If they could be fluent in any instrument they do not play what would it be?

Jared says piano or bagpipe. He has a friend who went to Westpoint and was part of the marching band and he got to play for the royal family, he's amazing and he brought his bagpipe up to LA 20yrs ago and went out to the balcony to play, and after he plays a bit he turns and says thank you so Jared and his friends, who were sitting inside listening to him, go look and there were people gathered around to listen. He says it is so haunting and so visceral. Jensen says piano or accordion. x

I thought Jared could play piano cause he's played it before so I'm a little confused by him mentioning piano, but I figure he means he could play with more expertise 🤷‍♀️

Jared has saved so many people, does he have someone who has gotten him through something like that?

I'm just gonna directly quote the man: "Yeah, I'm standing next to him" 😭💗 That's beautiful.

J2 Gold Panel Charlotte

#j2 tinhat #mine #i am so fucking tired #but so glad to have finally gotten these done #non iwtv

[saintmeghanmarkle]

Well now we know where she got the "paps on the school run" fantasy by u/dearest-ribwich

Well now we know where she got the "paps on the school run" fantasy The David Beckham documentary on Netflix is a very entertaining watch, and not just because it was basically 4.5 hours of eye candy 😁 As a Canadian, I don't really know much about him, just that he's gorgeous, married to Posh Spice, a friend to the RF, and a former friend of Haz. He came off as very likeable, fun, and hard working, though stubborn as anything, an extreme perfectionist, with his own share of insecurities. A decent human being. After watching the show, it's obvious he's sooooo much higher quality than Halfwit.In the last episode, there are a few moments where they discussed the unrelenting paps and press when they lived in Spain, and how it was quite overwhelming and scary for their kids. They said this was one was one of reasons they moved to LA. They knew they'd get attention in LA, they'd get attention anywhere, but it would be nowhere near as bad as in Spain. The schools in LA are much more private, and they weren't really targeted when there were much bigger stars around. But this little passage really stuck out to me:DB: Every time I went to drop Brooklyn off at school, 10-15 paparazzi were there every morning. The school run, it was live on Spanish TV. Brooklyn at the time was so young, and he had to go through it, and I, uh, I don't know if it's harmed him. I don't know. It strongly reminded me of what Meghan said in The Cut about potential UK schools runs with Archie:Earlier in our conversation about her goals for the life she’s creating here, she’d remarked upon how, if Archie were in school in the U.K., she’d never be able to do school pickup and drop-off without it being a royal photo call with a press pen of 40 people snapping pictures. “Sorry, I have a problem with that. That doesn’t make me obsessed with privacy. That makes me a strong and good parent protecting my child,” Meghan says.I'm wouldn't doubt the Beckhams talked to H&M about their experience with the kids & paps in Spain, and now two things have happened:1) H&M used the Beckham's story as their own to justify their move to LA, and2) Meghan was shading David & Victoria following their feud. Beckham very clearly had guilt and regret over the whole situation, and Meghan saying a "good" parent wouldn't allow it to happen seems (to me) like a comment meant to hurt him and Victoria.The Beckhams must be so relieved they are no longer friendly with H& M. They're such trash for not only taking that horrific experience lived by (at the time) their friends while also exaggerating it for their own benefit, but also for questioning the Beckhams' parenting through a difficult situation they had no control over. Remember The Cut article came out first, and now, just over a year later, we get an actual account of paparazzi harrassment at school by former friends of the Sussexes. Once again proof they haven't an original thought in either of their heads! post link: https://ift.tt/BijYAcP author: dearest-ribwich submitted: October 10, 2023 at 05:27AM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

#SaintMeghanMarkle #harry and meghan #meghan markle #prince harry #voetsek meghan #sussexes #markled #archewell #megxit #duke and duchess of sussex #duchess of sussex #duchess meghan #duke of sussex #harry and meghan smollett #walmart wallis #harkles #megain #spare by prince harry #fucking grifters #meghan and harry #Heart Of Invictus #Invictus Games #finding freedom #doria ragland #WAAAGH #dearest-ribwich

[iintervallum]

the only sort of thing of worth i can contribute to a very specifc discussion that is taking place on here is, vis a vis this weird sort of transmisogny v racism comparison thing that i keep seeing cropping up and also admittedly keep looking into because I'm curious why people think how they do is this:

at the very least people do recognize racism as an axis of opression, even the most liberal of liberals knows it's a thing that happens and that people do experience it, even if they don't take stuff like micro agressions seriously or think that racism is no more somehow because of Martin Luther king or whatever, they still understand that its something that a person can experience and be a victim of, even if they think we've "gone past it"

meanwhile i still see trans fems get hounded for trying to just explain why tme/tma are useful terms and that transmisogny is a genuine thing that can happen. people somehow managed to make the toonimal thing about trans women who didn't know the guy, like huh?

people bring up tme poc as people who would get the experience, but honestly, especially in the cases of tme women of colour, i feel like they are more likely to want to distance themselves from trans fems, they would get offended if they were to be compared to one, I've seen it happen a few times.

like sure terf/radfem ideology is very much racist yes, but you find transphobes are perfectly fine rubbing shoulders with racists if it means getting to paint trans people as 'degenerates'.

people of colour are just as culpable in transphobia and it should be brought up, i don't like to bring it up because unfortunately people can't talk about the homophobia/transphobia in non white spaces without being racist about it."oh well they're backwards anyways what do you expect" how about you fuck off

that's one of the reasons its so annoying to see people of colour that are terfs, like they aren't going to fight for you. i distinctly remember once while i was looking into the radfem tag to block people, i once saw a radfem that was poc, complaining about how racist people within the radfem community can be,and i thought "didn't think the leopards would eat you too huh"

im vaguing about a specific "discourse" that i honestly think shouldn't be even called discourse it's been going on for a lot longer than when i first heard about it. im not involved with it but I've been looking at it from a distance and man, if either of your sides don't seem to involve transfems of colour then your statements talking about either transmisogny along with racism seem to ring kind of hollow. i really don't like how this thing that seems to be born out of one specific incident like 2-3 years back has kept going and morphed into something a lot more insidious. i think people are stiring shit with it too and sending horrible anons and asks to bait drama as well which sucks

i want to see more conversations about those topics that don't circle back to this weird feud that neither circle involved seems to want to keep going on with but for whatever reason there's just something or the other that ignites it every few months. like we're stuck at stalemate here unless someone new comes in to fully blow it up even further.

tbh i don't even blame twoc for keeping their distance on this it's genuinely not worth it, youd just get the brunt of the horribleness of both sides and none of benefits. that's honestly the most i can say, I'm not trans fem, and I'm non black too, as a lot of the specific kind of racism they are talking about is antiblackness, which of course with either topic I'm not the person who can really talk with any authority on.

hence why reblogs are off I'm just giving my 2 cents on this because im finding it difficult to sleep and i have a lot of thoughts

#aster.txt #transmisogyny #racism #non rebloggable #<- should add this as a tag for the posts that have reblogs off #honestly people should use rebloggable or non rebloggable if they want people to be sure so they don't have to ask #but asking is still nice i like when i go to the replies and people ask it's sweet #just a little reminder that there are nice people in the world #this situation too has these circles of people that i don't particularly like #and if you pay attention it's centered around like one specifc guy #that is clearly never going to accept his complicity in the harm caused in this #while i don't like either circle i dislike his thing of getting involved in stuff and then going woah #i was just posting on my own blog how did this happen?? like hey you know your reputation here #you know that if you were to comment on stuff people will make a thing about it #and clearly people are willing to get nasty over this on anon to defend you so somewhere you went wrong #i followed that person for a bit of time before seeing this play out and going nope i dont like you actually #ugh i feel nervous posting this but whatever I'll delete later if i regret it

[kopw]

i don't know if i'll expand on this in my stupid long primer i'm working on but i love how kenny weaponizes the support of the audience within the context of his feud with ospreay. like, on paper, ospreay is the face and kenny is the heel (although, they're both more tweeners than anything) but... you can't expect the crowd to boo kenny after his big return to new japan, and especially now, with forbidden door being in canada. and ospreay is... ospreay. he's a self-admitted dickhead, and generally very brash and forward when it comes to his interactions with kenny, while kenny is a lot more patronizing in his insults. he loves making himself out to be the "good guy"

however, with ospreay coming back from injury, there's been even more of an evident attitude change, or, uhm, some sort of shift... he's insanely over, is the thing. i still think he's in that precious gray area alignment-wise, but (at least in new japan) he's clearly face-leaning. so, really, it's all about perspective. and the perspective that will most likely dominate at forbidden door is... kenny's. kenny, who just got betrayed by don, and lost a major ppv match, getting positioned almost as an underdog (despite holding the belt)

but it's still about the audience! i think... which is really interesting. i don't really mean like, the actual people who attend events, more like the audience as a homogeneous entity that exists within the framework of wrestling storylines. "the audience" who decides who's in the right. did kenny rightfully reclaim what was once his, or did he intrude on a company that no longer needs him as their top star? i think kenny knows how to work the answer in his favor but ospreay is too... sincere, to do that

#wrestling is deathly serious to me except when it's not but when it comes to these two it is #wk17

[leidensygdom]

For your Gharmyra campaign, I've got a bunch of questions!

You've run fucking 90 SESSIONS, which is a crazy long game (so congrats to that lmao), so what would be some of your favorite moments to come out of the game? This is both from your players and something they did that was amazing, and from you surprising yourself through a great DM moment!

For your worldbuilding, what's your favorite bit of info? Could be a large thing, could be a small little detail that your players will probably never interact with but you love it anyway!

Finally (there may be more later lmao), I ADORE the crystal and watcher lore you have! Where did the idea come from, and how did it change as you developed it?? I love hearing inspirations and the creative process!! And what's the most tragic/cool/fucked up thing you did with the watchers to your players??

In conclusion, your world's cool as hell, your art's sick as FUCK, and I adore all of your characters!!!

AAA THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU'RE SO NICE!!!

Higlights: From a player

There's been a lot of highlights in these 90 sessions. I'll focus a bit on Laestis here, since the other players are no longer in game (because they just don't have the time or drive for dnd anymore). One of the highlights was a bit of a climax that happened after Act 1's end and Act 2's beginning, which was about dealing with her patron's crystallized corpse and retrieving the staff that once belonged to Vest. I even got a commission by the ever-fantastic EllirhShaan from that scene:

A watcher's original, crystallized corpse isn't really more than a bunch of crystal for the most part. Which means that if, unoccupied, someone else can take that over and use it. Vest's "mother" (Solaralith) decided to use it to avoid Laestis from retrieving Vest's crystal staff (seen in the background of the last panel). So, threatening golden watcher is the Solaralith-possesed-Vest-corpse, while friendly looking watcher is Vest's appareance (Which was more ghostly). Getting to settle that down, getting Solaralith vanished for a bit, retrieving a significative weapon that was a next step towards their pact (and in a way, helped giving Vest more physical presence) and leaving behind her current sword (the one that had hosted Vest's seed for all this time (which Laestis took from the sword) was all very climatic!

Highlights: As a DM

On my end, as a DM, I really enjoyed Mythannae's Nightmare arc. Before he became my PC in another campaign, he was a background NPC. He had been a dissident watcher, that lead a group that tried to do exactly the same than the party is trying to do: End the long feud between watchers and avoid the war. And yet, his group failed terribly, which ended with the death of most (or worse-than-death fates) and very few of them surviving the ordeal. I'll explain what is a Nightmare a bit late, but let's say it's somewhere where memories persist so strongly, you can view stuff from the past. And to get information, they visited one related to Mythannae- And got to talk with their memory!

And also fight him (in a friendly manner) to understand the sheet power that the big watchers have. For scale, a token is about the size of these lil gems in the center of the five platforms. I got to do an animated battlemap, which I was very excited about! The fight was tense and fun, the party found out methods to end watchers, they retrieved the weapon that was used to kill Mythannae in the past. Also found out a bit more about a NPC that they had quite a lot of doubts about, who happened to be very close with Mythannae

A bit of lore I enjoy

So, other than the watchers (and a lot of worldbuilding focused on nations, which can be a bit harder to develop in a post like this), the mechanic of the Nightmares was fun and a great way to introduce lore in the shape of a dungeon.

Basically, in this setting, extremely strong memories, if mixed with a magically charged environment, can create Nightmares. They're areas where reality is over-written by the source of these memories: Things change to adapt the past, often creating whole new areas and spaces that can be traversed as if they were physical. Nightmares can be caused by individuals or collectives. They're often chaotic and not completely logical: Events that might have been many years apart (or very far away physically) can happen in 2 rooms one next to the other. It allows the players to have a much more direct view on these events, and even partake in them. Which is always fun to have, since the alternative tends to be a lore dump or giving them lenghty text descriptions.

Usually, they need to face the source of the memories to end a nightmare: It tends to be the person who caused the nightmare in the first place. The first time, they fought a knight of the Ark'Sava from the times they were most tyrannical. The second time, they faced Mythannae. The physical objects that were tied to these were a statue to said knight, and Mythannae's whole corpse.

Here's the Ark'Savan guy : ) his name is Sygdom, he's where I get my nickname from. The nightmares had some mechanics tied to it, related to how long they were in the space, and how involved they got in them: The line of reality and dream got more progressively erased, and the memories started to overwhelm the characters. Mechanically, they could accumulate up to 30 "nightmare points", which had 3 tiers. Each tier meant the dream-stuff around them affected them further, to the point they started to get their views influenced by it. For example, one character started to side more with the Ark'Savans, while another character was more akin to the Ark'Vossians. It affected against enemies and even between them: In the second tier (from 10 to 20), they couldn't end their turn next to each other due to some natural distrust. It was overall a fun bunch of things!

On the watchers

So! Watchers were made originally as part of a lore for a forum. I was given the task to give some lore to a barren land in the map, and I ended up going for "drows" and "crystals". I had no idea what drows were like in DnD canon and just ignored it altogether. Don't regret it. The idea was that, within that setting, drow had thrived and made great advancements, but suddenly disaster struck their main city and most of them perished in the catastrophe, with few survivors running away and scattering across distant caves. They had relied in crystals for technology, but now, they feared it: The crystals were related to the mess, but the survivors weren't sure what went wrong.

Millenia passed, and people kept fearing the magic crystals, never going back to where the catastrophe stuck because it was an extremely dangerous land. But there were almost no records on what did exactly go wrong. And some people were tired of being kept in the dark, of not using a resource that was so invaluable. Something that could give them the chance to fight back much bigger nations, which were all readying for war. These people started to investigate and use the crystals, and their leader travelled to where the catastrophe stuck. He returned with a crystallized arm and much knowledge, including the fact that people in said place had both, feared and yet also adored crystalline creatures. Unknowingly to him, being magically corrupted made him the perfect vessel for watchers, which had caused the accident, and were looking forward to expanding their reach.

THAT was the original lore. It was done when i was 14 years old or so. Then, the forum died down due to drama, and I never got to explore much the lore. I decided to port it (With adaptations) to another forum, but this time, I decided to instead focus on the city that had fallen down due to crystal corruption and watchers: Try to understand what happened before disaster struck. The idea was that, if the lore advanced enough in that forum, the disaster could happen. OR it could be prevented! That's how Gharmyra was born, and how the watchers were further developed. Again, that other forum died (RP forums die like crazy), and I was again left with a lot of lore and nowhere to use it.

(Here's a watcher, to spice up the post : ) ) And that's when, years later, I decided to port it towards a DnD campaign. All these new ports meant refining the lore, cleaning up issues and holes, and detailing things further. A surprising amount of the ideas came from ages ago, but my 14yo worldbuilding was not the best in many regards So I've had a lot of time to polish things and bring them to their current state!

Anyways, this is a very long post already!! I'll get into watcher spooky things in another moment. I hope that does answer most of it though, I appreciate a lot the questions <3 It's giving me an itch to get finally back from the long hiatus!!

#dnd #dnd art #dnd homebrew #homebrew #worldbuilding #watcher #watchers #kalashtar #gharmyra #undead #crystal #drow #dark elf #elf #ttrpg #pathfinder

[dimiclaudeblaigan]

Do you think some of the backlash Engage got came from Edelstans who were salty that the game didn't adhere to their narrative of "FE is all about all dragons bad, humanity good"?

I wasn't aware Engage got backlash tbh. I know it wasn't particularly well loved and that players moved on from it pretty fast (I similarly moved on pretty fast and didn't even bother finishing the DLC because it felt pointless to do so. It was too difficult too early on, but if I finished it late game when it'd be easier, I'd have the DLC units for so short a time in that run it would be pointless), but I didn't see it get any specific backlash.

If it did then yeah, I can only figure it came from Those Stans. Anyone who has played FE for longer than Three Houses (most people either started at FE7, FE9/10, FE13 or FE14 prior to Houses) doesn't give a shit about that stuff that because we all know that's not the narrative of the franchise. In fact, usually it's an internal conflict between dragons.

For anyone less aware of the dragons' story in previous titles:

Basically you've got Naga in one continuity (FE1-5 and the remakes) who made a call that a group of dragons didn't agree with and they turned against her, refusing to forgo their pride as dragons (i.e. they could stay as dragons and eventually go insane because of the decline at the time (something not present in FE4-5 which happens before FE1-3's timeline), or they could switch to a human form and live as humans and stay sane). It ended up in a long running feud between them.

Some of those dragons were bad apples and those are your endgame villains. Since the timeline starts with the Jugdral games, you get Loptous first who doesn't vibe with Naga (who at this time doesn't interfere with humans and doesn't believe in dragons doing so) and they're enemies. Loptous is the big baddie because he wants to conquer the continent, so his motivation is basically just dragon!Edelgard (nice irony at least), and he surrounds himself with people who are loyal to him and kills the rest (Edelgard lol).

During this time you're in gen 2, and during gen 2 the protagonist is led by a human loving dragon who never even announces his identity as a dragon and assists the human in surviving against the big bad dragon. Since the big bad dragon wants to kill the bloodlined people and enslave the rest as part of his conquest, you could say it technically falls right into his war with Naga. Conquer a continent, get a bunch of mooks to fight for you and have the power of a whole ass continent behind you. It would help him in fighting the dragons who sided with Naga. Thankfully we have mister human loving dragon who won't let that happen.

Later in the timeline is FE1, where we have big bad Medeus who is in a similar boat (except this is like 1000 years post Jugdral). Doesn't agree with Naga and wants to fight her. Starts conquering a continent with his little human mooks. By this point Naga has realized that isolated the dragons from humans was a mistake and enlists Marth's help. Medeus is defeated but comes back for FE3.

FE2 was about dragons among humans and the pros and cons of it. Happened between FE1 and FE3. There was no mention of All Dragons Bad because each dragon was seen as a god to the humans and they respected them (similarly to Jugdral's part in the timeline, where all the characters' gods are actually dragons).

Come FE6, that timeline is ditched entirely until FE13. FE6 and FE7 are about dragons and humans living in peace, and how a war broke out between them because humans got too fucking greedy and started killing them (so the dragons retaliated, got defeated and went into hiding behind a sealed door so the humans would leave them the fuck alone). The general idea behind these two games is, similarly to other other titles, about human greed.

Jugdral expresses this by Naga shutting out humanity because she saw how greedy they were after saving them once, seeing humans fighting each other again and again and again - especially the ones who got greedy because they had the power to conquer, which was given to them by the dragons. Basically the dragons in their goodwill gave humans losing a war the power to survive the war/fight back again, and then years later humans used that power to start more wars. Naga decided nope and stopped interacting with them. Mind you, in no part of these games does Naga personally ever try to help humans. She stuck to her guns regarding no helping humans and in background info from the creator apparently made it law not to interact with them.

FE8 ditches the concept of dragons almost entirely, having a manakete character who is pretty much completely irrelevant to the main plot.

FE9/10 don't focus on dragons as the Big Picture and are instead equally incorporate into the story with everything else. The racial issues aren't between humans and dragons, but instead just humans (referred to in these games as beorc, with "human" being used as an insult similar to a slur due to sub-human being used for laguz) and laguz. Dragons are a sub species of laguz and are generally neutral in conflict, with only some individuals acting with motivation.

So that all said, older fans with awareness of all this (especially prior to playing Houses, i.e. Houses wasn't their first game) don't look at Engage through Houses tinted lenses. We look at it as any other entry and base it accordingly. Nobody who has played the older titles prior to Houses seems to have any backlash against it. Most seem to find it mediocre as best as a game, but overall have no issues with the story and just mainly see it as much more lighthearted than most FE stories.

That said, yeah, the only people I can imagine giving outright backlash are people who are angry that the formula didn't follow its roots because in their ignorance, all they know being pixel waifu, goes against their beloved Agarthan/humanity/Agarthan-brainwashed-Edelgard narrative.

Engage follows the story of good and bad dragons, and the good dragons being friends with humanity while the bad dragons get fought by the good dragons and their human friends. It didn't continue CF's narrative because CF was the outlier in Houses in the first place, literally intended to be the villain route, and surprise surprise, the villain route is when dragons are the enemy.

In FE7's case in particular, there are only good dragons and they fight the big bad human who is obsessed with dragons because of their power. The final boss is a dragon who came out of the gate because Nergal tricked three dragons out basically, and in seeing humans the dragons reacted violently (which like, can you blame them? After everything humans put them through for pure greed?). Ninian had to kill them to stop them from rampaging, but she said it "wasn't their fault" (it wasn't), and she was only strong enough at the time to take two of them down, so you're left to fight the last one.

In FE8, the only dragon you get isn't bad and is just from a place got attacked and destroyed, so she's the only survivor who Ephraim helped, so she joins your army.

In other wordssss... every single FE has had the same general theme for each story. CF is intentionally the only outlier and while yes the devs 100 percent fully intended to make Edelgard lovable and were they themselves obsessed with her, it doesn't change the fact that it was made to specifically be the route where you sided with the bad guys. They do acknowledge her as the villain, they're just so obsessed with her that it comes across as her not being a villain. They also can't seem to handle becoming attached to a villain they wrote because then they don't want them to be a villain and suddenly can't commit to the route properly anymore. Wah wah.

I wrote about that stuff recently more than once so I won't do it again beyond that, but... yeah, anyone who knows the standard FE formula knows Engage is the same as all the others. Nobody who understands that is gonna complain about the overall story or be mad that it's not some humanity-is-best fantasy (when even irl most people are aware that it's not and that humans are literally destroying the planet lmao...).

Honestly, seeing how detached from reality those stans are is utterly baffling but also disgusting. That is, of course, assuming they're not all imperialists irl and yadda yadda, which I'm sure some are even if not all (as an American I can say that tends to be the average American straight white man mindset, and like Edelgard considers Fodlan "the world" in both games, said Americans also tend to view America as the world itself and conveniently forget other places exist). Most are probably just so detached from the reality of what they're defending so intensely and taking so seriously that they don't see or realize how horrific it all sounds.

Again though, being that detached and obsessive is just... insanely unhealthy to points those words alone can't describe. Also, to play a totally unrelated-to-another-timeline-in-the-franchise game and yet still judge it based on less than a fourth of the content in a previous timeline-isolated entry is pretty deranged (and I say less than a fourth because CF is several chapters shorter than all the other routes, so it's not even a fourth of a game with four routes).

If people are genuinely going to judge all other FE titles based on their imperialist pixel waifu, I'd prefer them to just not play the franchise at all. FE as a franchise is not CF The Franchise.

Also, that fictional/dragon race hating mindset feels like something that's the beginning of something much worse, i.e. actually being racist toward real people because it gets you thinking a certain way that may stick with you, you know?

These people are why the FE fandom has such a horrible reputation nowadays. They're also the reason why Edelgard as a character is as controversial as she is. Many people who hate her hate her because her stans have shoved their bullshit down their throat when people weren't even talking about her or were peacefully on their own space of the internet (i.e. their own Tumblr, Twitter etc). I've seen several people actually admit to this - that they didn't originally hate her but the stans made them actually hate her.

Stans have literally tried to go at me for posting things that I didn't even tag outside of my standard DCB Comments tag. The second they find something from the For You section (or back when Tumblr search for some reason showed posts based on the content in it and not based on the tags (which iirc they fixed?)), they can't hold themselves back and continue scrolling and ignore it. They can see it's not tagged and interact anyway, ridiculing and attacking people for posting "hate" (read: usually just literary criticism) that isn't even posted in any variation of Edelgard's tags.

See, here's the thing. I love Dimitri and Claude and I've seen plenty of shit takes about them that I loathe with my very being. But like, I know people with opinions that strong already are not going to agree with me. Ever. I'm not gonna bother wasting my time trying to change their mind or argue with them because it's just going to be an irritating back and forth. I see a bad take on them and I keep scrolling and ignore it, because interacting with them/the posts gets nobody anywhere at all. Unfortunately stans don't have this mindset and feel they have to attack anyone they can find. Funny really, how much like their imperialist waifu they really are.

So tl;dr as an answer to your question: yes, I do think any backlash for the game was from Edelgard stans, because anyone else playing this franchise has more than zero brain cells and can figure out that Engage is a very standard and normal addition to the franchise. Many people don't really care for it, but there wasn't any outright backlash from anyone else that I've seen.

#DCB Ask #the worse they behave the stronger my words for them get honestly #they went from annoying to just outright dangerous and disgusting #I've seen the whole thing going around about a totally unrelated to social media author getting harassed for their fic #it's honestly extremely tiring to have to be careful what you post that isn't even fucking tagged #and I've reached this line of like... I've stopped caring and post what I want but also being paranoid abt it #evidently even if you don't get directly attacked by them they DO share shit with each other and bitch abt you #and make up shit about the kind if person you are without even knowing you and just #basing you entirely and completely off a single post they found #like you can't be in this fandom without by extension being one of their potential targets at any given millisecond #even if you're not involved with them or even if you don't even know they exist! even if you're just #innocently existing! they WILL come after you if they decide you don't like Edelgard ''correctly'' #like I said. funny. they act exactly like her so no surprise they're madly in love with her/the idea of her iron fist ruling a continent #one that mind you she refers to as ''the world'' -gags-

[madara-fate]

Their “brotherly” bond it’s been explicitly denied in the manga too, I don’t know how you’re not getting it. Anyways, Naruto and Sasuke are not brothers and that’s canon.

You don't know how I'm not getting it? How I'm not getting what? How many times do I need to say that I've always acknowledged the fact that they are indeed best friends first and foremost? Why are you accusing me of not getting something, as if you've actually refuted anything that I've said thus far? And then you go and say how "Naruto and Sasuke are not brothers and that’s canon", as if I or anyone else for that matter, has ever said that they are actual brothers? I mean seriously, what the hell are you talking about?

Firstly, their brotherly bond has never been explicitly denied. All Naruto said, was that they weren't actual brothers, they were not Ashura and Indra, because they were their own people. That obviously does not equate to him denying the fact that they had a sibling-like relationship. Just as Hashirama and Madara did before them, because that was the friggin story.

Let me explicitly demonstrate it to you.

Naruto told Sasuke during Pt.1, that being with him is how he imagined it would be like to have a brother:

He later told Itachi, that despite the fact that they weren't blood related, he viewed Sasuke as more of a brother to him than Itachi was to Sasuke:

He told Hagoromo, that while he and Sasuke may not be true brothers, they were still the best of friends:

That obviously doesn't mean that Naruto was denying their sibling-like relationship, he was just highlighting the very obvious fact that he and Sasuke were not literally brothers.

Lastly, prior to their final fight, Naruto proclaimed that all sibling squabbling was going to end then and there:

Thereby once again acknowledging the sibling-like nature of their relationship, in part due to the continued feud between Ashura and Indra that had taken place throughout the generations, and who they were reincarnated from. So tell me where their brotherly bond was apparently explicitly denied in the manga?

If you wanna keep talking after this, then you'd better do so with your account, and let's see if you have the spine to say this nonsense publicly. I'm no longer gonna waste my time on an anonymous person who somehow got the idea that I'm denying Naruto and Sasuke's friendship bond, while believing they're actual brothers.

#Naruto Uzumaki #Sasuke Uchiha

[penflicks]

The Christmas market one ☃️🎁

It's that time of the year when Blackbridge has a Christmas market. A weekend in mid-December, they're free to go if they want to. Andreas and Saul are asked by Beatrix and Sky to come with them so they can spend some family time together. Whether they're already a couple or not is up to you. I feel like you might want to add Sebastian and some jealous Andreas but that's just a guess 😝

Saul loved the Winter Solstice markets, that sprang up at this time of year in preparation for the enormous holiday. He always made sure to take Sky to the blackbridge one and this year was no different except they had Andreas and Beatrix with them. It was Beatrix's first and she was so excited by everything. It had been years since Andreas had last had the chance to come to a market and so he let Beatrix drag him from stall to stall in her excitement.

Before long though Saul flagged them down so he could stop and get them all spiced hot chocolates. Beatrix didn't seem convinced as she'd just spotted a stall with bright, glittering decorations she wanted to look at. Andreas however was putting his footdown. This was a family outing and Beatrix could endure having to wait a little longer so he could kiss his boyfriend and drink a steaming mug of spiced hot chocolate. He wrapped his arms around Beatrix's waist, picked her up and spun her around just as he had when she was little. Beatrix shrieked and grabbed at his arms as he carried her back to where Saul and Sky were waiting in line.

"Have you stopped long enough to buy anything or are you just running from stall to stall like you're five?" Sky grinned at Beatrix as Andreas put her down and accepted a kiss from Saul.

"Shut up Mr-I-had-a-pony, not all of us got everything we ever wanted because our dad was too riddled with guilt not to." Beatrix snarled with perhaps more venom than was necessary.

Before the two of them could descend into another sibling feud, Saul bopped whipped cream on their noses and handed out the mugs. Sky grimaced and rubbed the cream off while Beatrix spent a full minute trying to see if she could lick it off with her tongue before using her finger instead. Andreas grinned as he watched her getting to be playful for once. Alfea had had just as bad an affect on her carefree nature as it had for him. Sky was like Saul though and thrived under strict rules and duty. Andreas was grateful for that, it meant he could see his son blossom instead of shrivel the way Andreas was sure he would have if Andreas had raised him.

Saul slipped his arm around Andreas's waist as they walked away from the stalls and into the square where tables and benches had been arranged and music was playing loudly. Sky found them a table and Beatrix reluctantly sat down to drink rather than race off to the nearest stall.

Sky caught sight of a break in the lines at one of the food stalls and darted off to order donuts and fritas for them all. He returned with steaming bags which the four of them fell on with delight.

Saul felt the warmth of being surrounded by family fill his torso. This was everything he wanted. He kissed Andreas's knuckles and got an indulgent smile in return. He was looking forward to spending the afternoon shopping the stalls and in the evening when these tables and benches were cleared away, dancing in the town square with the rest of the blackbridge residents. He didn't think life had ever been so good.

#fate the winx saga #Fate winx saga #Ftws #Saundreas #The Eraklyons

[ghosthorse-tracks]

Hello ☺️

You can call me Ghosthorse (she/her). I am twenty-something. Some things on this blog are suitable for 18+ only.

My main fandom is Only Murders in the Building. Right now we're in the off-season, so I'm mostly occupied with my vintage game show obsession (specifically Match Game and Family Feud, because I have a big, weird crush on Richard Dawson). I watch a lot of TV, so I reblog Succession, Barry, The Bear, and more.

I'll ship anything and everything if it's written well enough. But Detective Kreps and Poppy White from OMITB season 2 are my OTP! ❤️ My shipping posts about them are tagged #kreps x poppy.

Sometimes I make gifs.

Look under the cut for a guide to my fics ☺️

My fics

You can find more info and specific warnings in the AO3 tags/summary/author's notes.

Match Game

match the stars (18+)

Richard Dawson/Reader. Remember above the cut when I said I was obsessed with old game shows? I wasn't joking. This is pure, self-indulgent wish fulfillment.

OMITB

i'll be like a wildflower (18+)

Kreps/Poppy. What happens after they lock eyes at the Chicken Chug.

Coney Island Night Shift (18+)

Kreps/Poppy. My idea of what a romantic evening looks like for these two once they're settled in NYC.

holding hands and twisting knives (18+)

Kreps/Poppy. How they managed to frame the mayor of Chickasha for a fake murder. Includes some Poppy backstory and some smut. I swear it’s my masterpiece ✨

Coming soon eventually: Poppy/Cinda??? Just trust me on this, it’ll make sense!

HACF

make me forget my sorrow (18+)

Joe/Gordon. Noncon and just generally dark and upsetting, dealing with Gordon's illness and his close but uneasy connection with Joe.

Stuck

Cam/Donna. A little angsty, a little silly and sweet.

Classic films

Early Morning Rain

Casablanca, Rick/Louis. Written for Yuletide 2013, my most popular work, and I can understand why. It is soft and tender in a way I am no longer capable of being.

Echoes (18+)

The Third Man, Holly/Harry. I wrote this for Porn Battle. Does anyone remember Porn Battle on LJ? Those were good times.

Check out my AO3 for even more 😊

#personal #pinned post

[scruffina]

(simpsons longpost) not to be like

like a ravenous little shipper hunting for skinner/edna crumbs, but the writing for them in season three seems to imply they have, at least, a tense but storied professional relationship. more likely a years-long friendship, marked — maybe flippantly, or maybe there's more resentment there — by their digressions into professional gripes/feuds with one another.

on a slimmer chance, they're supposed to be romantically involved, or at least have a history or have the tension/intentions that would lead to them becoming involved.

now where on earth is this remarkable bit of baseless reaching coming from?

i observed all this based off a clip from "bart's friend falls in love", timestamp ~4:15-25 in the episode. when skinner introduces samantha to the class:

and now longer and without captioning, to fully see their expressions:

really, it's as much in the wallace and shearer delivery as in the animation/staging, so you'd benefit from hearing the clip as well. (the whole show is on fmovies if you don't mind closing spam ads super-fast. you could make a game of it!)

but honestly, the direction here? the way skinner leans in to speak to edna but never looks at her, his intonation...

"i think we should talk about this later" is a couples-centric cliché, almost always delivered as this stern, low-voiced warning [which can imply a shitty power dynamic so that's no good! though i don't think that rings true for these characters. but why do men always have to tell women to shut up through gritted teeth? like calm down mister]...

edna's flat exasperation at the school's strained resources; her brief cycle through disapproving side-eye, to far-off contemplation, to a pasted-on smile, which says: it's fine, right? with a twinge of nervousness i find really compelling.

you see two adults wanting to have an adult conversation, but needing to save face in front of the children.

there's so many potential "laters" to this:

they exchange barbs over their coffee break: maybe half-hearted, if they're otherwise stressed and tired and kind of over it. or maybe it's a more lively argument; they're both kind of the type to let something small stew and get worked up about it. plus they love to battle intellectually, one-upping each another both in debates about school policies and in name-calling.

if you interpret this as implying they're more than friends, you might imagine seymour later trying to apologize and placate edna for the added stress, and edna being honest about her shitty day and seeking comfort, or not taking to seymour's weakshit efforts and acting cold. the 'we talk about this while driving home together after work, and it determines how the rest of the night goes' universe

neither of them is unafraid of a dour mood, i imagine. they're lonely and cynical and not trying to hide it. they're not trying to be popular among staff or students. if they really had this kind of dark-sided kindred-spirits, 'we just eat lunch together in companionable pissed-off silence' thing going with their friendship — which is kinda my favourite read of things at this 'time' canonically (i.e. early 90s, if they get together in spring '97 in accordance with "gsc") — then this samantha incident should hardly mean anything.

[subpoint but i can't indent further] it should almost be an inside joke that's only funny in the absurd sadness unique to their context: god isn't our school falling apart and we're so so messed up and burnt out we can't attend to the kids' education properly but don't we really owe it to them? but no they're little pains and didn't we have dreams once an—

anyway, there's just a lot of rich character stuff to be mined from a throwaway cliché 'disgruntled couple' moment if you're a tin-hatter like me. no real conclusion to these scattered thoughts yet again!!

as a side note, the other time off the top of my head season three plays up their bond is in "bart the murderer", where bart imagines krabappel inconsolably weeping over the skinner memorial fire hose: "he loved fire drills!" again, the writers make it seem like they're close friends.

bonus richard chamberlain of the day:

#principal skinner #seymour skinner #edna krabappel #skinner and krabappel #simpsons meta #the simpsons #simpsons #season three #bart's friend falls in love #bart the murderer #meta #character analysis

[phanfictioncatalogue]

Angst (7) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six

A Stolen Ring (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan’s not normal. Why?

He's not human, he has a mysterious ring, and he hates Phil Lester. They have a strange past, one filled with bullying and avoidance, but when Dan turns into an incubus, everything changes. He struggles with his identity and cries himself to sleep most nights, yearning to be normal. And somehow the universe makes it worse by bringing him and Phil together - in the most literal sense.

A Strange Mirror (ao3) - glowingatmosphere

Summary: Dan felt safe escaping to the attic of his grandma’s house, until he found a strange mirror with a strange man trapped inside. The man refuses to reveal the details of his entrapment, but Dan’s feelings urge him to solve the mystery even if it’s the last thing he does.

After the Storm (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Dan survived the car crash, but he has to relive it every night in his nightmares. Luckily, he has Phil to comfort him.

baby can't you see? (i'm calling) (ao3) - danfanciesphil (thejigsawtimess)

Summary: Two years after Dan's ill-advised stint up a mountain, and Phil's escape from a Royal psychopath, their dramatic flying off into the horizon hasn't had such a steady landing. Phil is consumed by his new venture in giving back to the world, but Dan is receiving none of this graciousness. Their living situation remains unstable, and they're barely in the same room long enough to hold hands.

It's all about to break apart, when the pandemic hits them where it hurts. Once again, Dan and Phil find themselves thrown into isolation with one another, back up where it all began. The memories of The Secret of the Alps are both fond and traumatic; being there again, trapped and in a bitter feud, is worryingly familiar. Can they make it out together a second time around? Or is this cycle doomed to repeat itself forever, until one of them calls it quits?

Butterfly (ao3) - A_Million_Regrets

Summary: Phil Lester, a lonely writer, finds a dying boy with beautiful black wings on a cold, rainy night in a dingy alleyway. He recognizes the boy as one of the winged men hated by human society. They are considered to be wild, ferocious beasts, but Phil's sympathy forces him to help the boy.

What happens when the boy, considered to be a wild beast, gets too attached and follows him home with an innocent, dimpled smile?

By the way, I adore you. (ao3) - lxzyfangirl

Summary: Dan is very sick, and the future is not looking too bright for him, thankfully, he has Phil, his best friend, to accompany him through it all. But is Dan satisfied with being just friends?

Change Will Come (ao3) - rainbowchristy

(TW) Summary: Dan’s a depressed university student. Phil’s just a cute coffee shop barista who writes notes on Dan’s hot chocolates.

Dandelions (ao3) - throughtheirsnoses (det395)

Summary: Phil returns to his small town after studying how to improve his power that lets him grow plants with his mind. Phil is anxious and struggling with the expectations put on him to grow new plant-based medicine and on top of it all, his childhood best friend, Dan, gets his heart broken and turns to Phil as a rebound. Phil panics.

do you feel it too? (ao3) - heartsopenminds

Summary: A bad break-up has left Phil scared of getting his heart broken again. He’s not ready to date, but he’s missing the easy affection of a long-term relationship.

Cuddle therapy might be the perfect way to get what he needs, with no strings attached. But what happens when that’s no longer enough?

easy for you to say (ao3) - phantasticworks

Summary: Phil tries to convince Dan to throw away the grey shirt. Dan can’t do it.

Hurt me once (ao3) - Augusti_Lila

Summary: song fic of "hurt me once- ben platt"

Dan had decided to confess Phil his love. But sometimes what we plan it's not what we end up having.

in the refrigerator light (ao3) - indistinct_echo

Summary: All Phil wants is a glass of water. Something that he can keep on his nightstand and turn to when his breaths get all hiccupy and he can’t seem to take in enough air to avoid drowning in his own tears. He thought he’d outgrown the need for that sort of thing, but maybe, as he got bigger, his emotions did too.

A fic about expectation and emotions too big to hold alone.

It'll be okay (ao3) - Chibikkos_Hat

Summary: Dan didn't believe in love before a certain boy came along

Lost inside Your Dreams (ao3) - dip_the_pip

Summary: Phil's worst nightmare comes true...or does it?

Peach and Lime (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: Phil doesn't do relationships. And then he meets Dan. He still doesn't do relationships, but he has a fun angst-filled night.

siren song (ao3) - lestered (clonetrobed)

Summary: He thinks of last night, teetering on the edge of the cliff, so happy with the idea of following Phil’s voice all the way down. That’d been a particularly close call, and he doesn’t even care. He just wants to hear the song again.

Supermodel (ao3) - Coffee_Lester

Summary: Phil Lester feels emotionally neglected by his boyfriend. Maybe he can find more comfort in his boyfriend's best friend, Dan Howell.

Thunder Only Happens When It's Raining (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: Dan meets Phil at the lowest moment in his life and is immediately enchanted by him, but nobody is perfect - not even those with good intentions and a kind heart.

This is the story of two imperfect people trying to do their best, to find love and strive in life. They gravitate towards each other at every turn, sometimes dancing in harmony, other times colliding.

We Could Never (ao3) - danielshands

Summary: Dan navigates the world while also contemplating coming out.

What if There's Someone Else (ao3) - completelyuncreative2

Summary: Dan has been spending all of his free time at Phil's flat since he started university. When Dan goes out with his uni housemates, Phil can't get it out of his head that Dan might find someone better.

When Jokes Go Too Far (ao3) - blissedoutphil

Summary: "i hate men but i want them to touch me"

- actual Dan on twitter

so this fic is based on that lmao

Without You Here (ao3) - raisedufromperdition

Summary: “I never thought losing you would be so hard,” Dan began, with a deep breath. He toyed with the strings of his grey hoodie, ignoring the stinging in his eyes.

A story which consists of Dan talking to Phil’s grave and reflecting upon their life together.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phan #phanfic #phanfiction #dan and phil #masterlists #angst #angst masterlist

[zawazawanightmares]

Scáthach & A Hole

You, Scáthach (Fate Grand Order), are connected to A hole Your partner selected the 18+ server.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): ...

A hole: Who approaches?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Scáthach. Now identify yourself.

A hole: I do not exist outside of this domain. No need for a name when I remain in one place.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): I see. So there is also no need for me to acknowledge you.

A hole: Not unless you have a fascination with the arcane, I suppose.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): I know all there is no need to know about the arcane so no. The subject bores me now.

A hole: No interest in monsters either then? A shame I have nothing to entice you with, normally my visitors fold when they hear things like that.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): If you know a monster that can kill those who have immortality, then you will have piqued my interest.

A hole: *A yellowy eye peers out from within the hole, illuminating the cracked wall surrounding it.* Mm, perhaps so. Is that a request for you, or for some other unfortunate creature?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): A request for myself. Note that I am seeking the battle to end all battles...

A hole: Something to justify an age of easy victories?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Something to make the battle actually entertaining. It is not a true fight if there is no fear of death.

A hole: Ah, I see. I regret to inform you that I may not be of much use then. I am trapped.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Trapped? By what?

A hole: A curse.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): What curse? Considering my own experience with curses, I may be able to break it.

A hole:  ... why would you want to? I can't imagine I am of the strength to give you a thrill if I cannot escape from this place without help.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): That's a good question. To be honest, I am insanely bored and it will give me something to do.

A hole: I see, I see. Will I be indebted to you for this, if so? What would you request of me once I am no longer restrained?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Nothing. You have said you are too weak to give me what I want. When you are free, you may do what you wish...hm. If it's possible, I would prefer you to not go on a rampage or to start targeting humans for malicious purposes. Lest I may have to track you down to destroy you.

A hole: Oh, believe me, that's not why I am here.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): So what happened? Who cursed you?

A hole: I may have said some choice things to the wrong person at the wrong time.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): And this wrong person is?

A hole: ... well. Affairs of the heart, you know how it is, right?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): ...A lover. Your lover trapped you here. Or...your lover's partner.

A hole: In essence.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): So, where do I find this..."villain"?

A hole: Erm. They're dead, most likely.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Ah. Most unfortunate.

A hole: Perhaps if their soul is still lingering about, or they got summoned somewhere... oh well.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): "Summoned"...hm.

A hole: What?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): I too was summoned into this body for some random war, despite being a true immortal and therefore, not dead. Maybe, if your curser is famous enough, they may also be summoned so that we can get them to end the curse.

A hole: Indeed? A life of undeath. I'm surprised you have not found a great battle in that war to free you of all these strange burdens.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): I thought I did...but the curse prevented it from giving me my wish.

A hole: What kind of war requires soldiers that can't die?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): A war for the ultimate wish. The Holy Grail War.

A hole: Sounds pompous.

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Extremely. Either way, I was summoned and I obligated to serve my master regardless. She's currently away with another "Servant" so I have some free time.

A hole: Even worse, being at the beck and call of another. Is the wish truly real, or just an excuse to feud for eternity?

Scáthach (Fate Grand Order): Hm...good question.

Your partner timed out

#scathach #fate grand order