#and jack literally dies and comes back changed so he has a special connection with death also

[chaoticfvckingdisaster]

I'm so autism for doomed-by-the-narrative and characters that are connected to death

#plays Born To Die by lana del rey and rattles the bars of my cage #somewhere in me there lives a dark romanticism poet and every now and then I pat him on the head and give him a sad cracker #a character was born to be held by death their whole life and I'm kicking my feet giggling #one day I'll put it into words why I like it so much idk #UGH CHARACTERS FACING THEIR OWN MORTALITY HNNGHXHZJFHSGG #klaus hargreeves #nico di angelo #ben hargreeves #hazel levesque #doctor who #percy jackson #the umbrella academy #jim lake jr #<- this one isn't explicitly said but in my head Jim is doomed by the narrative ok #UGH who else #I was thinking of mainly tua #even before I watched tua I was connecting my original characters with themes like this #tj is master of life and in being the master of life he is also connected to death #and jack literally dies and comes back changed so he has a special connection with death also #I just realized they're basically just klaus and ben but not related but then again tj can't actually communicate with the dead and I don't #think he's immortal so there is a difference #tropes #media literacy #literary analysis #analysis #dark romanticism #poetry #chaotic is thinking again #MARCUS DAVENPORT

[last-flight-of-fancy]

hi hello i hope you don't mind but Special Interest Infodump Mode has been activated please keep hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times-

this explanation comes to us courtesy of Dark Road! You know, that cutesy little mobile game where literally the whole cast except the two protagonists dies. This is on brand bc the explanation has it's own fridge horror levels to it if i think too hard about it tbh.

So, worlds have hearts. We've known this since KH1, seen what happens to a world that loses its heart, and how they can be affected. It's rarely been expounded on beyond that however, aside vague allusions to the titular Kingdom Hearts being/harboring the Heart of All Worlds.

(which has. other implications now that i think about it but that's stepping into theorising territory. im sorry im trying really hard to stay on track honest)

fast forward to Dark Road, where we have a bunch of kids venturing out into the worlds for the first time, and as such have to have things explained to them (and thus the audience). NOW i will note here that KH looooooves unreliable narrators and characters imparting incorrect information without knowing it, so there is always the possibility that this could later turn out to be wrong, but currently I see no reason this would be the case and thus for now i feel safe in taking their words at face value unless otherwise contradicted.

Why are there no people? Because each world is alive, and after the Keyblade War sundering THE World into MANY Worlds, each needed to recover and restore what was lost; life, time, movement.

This bit here is important, bc as a result

All of this is the direct result of the Keyblade War of old. Even after so much time, the bits of worlds are *still* recovering, and I do think there's something to be said about how like... the repition between worlds and their apparent stagnation often *stops* after Sora visits them. I don't think it's because Sora's special(tm), but rather just because of who he is; the Dark Road kids are told never to interfere, and as a result the worlds they visit that Sora also visits later are exactly the same to Sora as they were 80+ years before.

But when Sora visits the same world only a short time after his first visit, things CHANGE. Hercules' story moves forward, Simba is having a crisis about being king, Jack Skellington has learned his lesson about Christmas and is on to new shenanigans. And that's only in kh2! in kh3 we see Twilight Town fill with people, barren Olympus expands into a full town (and there's more there too with BBS and how the Wayfinder Trio may have been Olympus' start towards restoring itself completely, and Sora's later arrival more speeding things along)

my point here is *connections*, which is a consistant and overarching theme of the series. Empty worlds are baby worlds, still healing and restoring from being broken away from the rest, and what helps along that healing? Being connected to others.

Which is to say that the keyblade weilder's doctrine of 'do not interfere' while most certainly well-intentioned (as Dark Road also points out, one persons darkness is anothers light, and morality is not a solid truth across worlds, so interfering is risky at best and dangerous at worst), the flip side to this is that without being connected, without that ''interferance'', the world's restoration stagnates and struggles. It will still get there eventually (the Tangled world seems to be doing alright for example), but chances are it might've been a little easier/faster if someone had done a little interfering.

tldr keyblade war broke the worlds and reset them all to zero. As the worlds heal time stops until it's People finally pop back into existance and their stories can resume. And that's how the invisible crowds in early kh games are canon.

#I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE INFODUMP MODE IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD AT BEING CLEAR #and also i kept slipping into speculation mode #im sorry i cant help it kh does this to me #its just so juicy #stop talking to yourself flight #kingdom hearts #meta

[destielharlequinchallenge]

The Destiel Harlequin Challenge Master Post: 2020 Mega Bang

Participants in the 2020 Destiel Harlequin Challenge completed an amazing 20 fics and 3 sets of artwork! You can learn all about those here!

Spectre (fic by a_dusky_gold, art by aceriee)

This whole thing… this was supposed to be a fucking farce. A way to keep Nicholas Vaught occupied until the deadline he’d given Dean would run out, and he’d still get the money to send Dad to the Town Hall rehabilitation for alcoholism, because that was the goddamned deal.

There were no such things as ghosts or magic or a Book of Life. Dean knows, okay? He wasn’t the Army’s goddamned Mystery Raider for nothin’; he knows history, he knows artifacts, and he knows that the Book of Life is an ancient myth that is about as real as werewolves or vampires.

And yet.

“The Book of Life,” the man had said. Dean can’t even remember his name.

Shit, shit, shit.

Dangerous Ground by Amethystaris

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Castiel Novak and Dean Winchester have been partners and best friends for three years, but everything changed the night Cas admitted the truth about his feelings for Dean. And when Cas was shot a few hours later, Dean felt his reluctance to get involved was vindicated.

Can a camping trip in the High Sierras save their partnership?

Honour Undressed by andimeantittosting

Among his friends, Castiel, Lord Milton is everyone’s confidant and, along with his trusted valet, the fixer of problems. But there is one secret Castiel has never shared: he is in love with his valet and has been for years.

Born in the gutters, Dean Winchester was assigned as Castiel’s batman in the war, and when Castiel travelled home to take up his title, Dean followed him as his valet. To assist Castiel, Dean is not above a little burglary or blackmail. But the one thing he wants for himself is Castiel’s heart.

When Castiel’s closest friends become the target of a blackmailer, certain truths come out. But while Dean determines to seduce Castiel, Castiel is adamant that he must resist, for if there is one rule a gentleman must follow, it is never to dally with his servant.

Havenport by BlueMasquerade

Castiel cleared space on his desk by the expedience of sweeping the previous contents to the side. He set the bundle down in the center of the surface and studied the knots in the rope before expertly untying them.

The book was old, its leather bindings cracked and crumbling. He carefully opened the cover to reveal the pages within, each hand cut, the edges beautifully deckled, the text written in pen and ink.

“This is written in ancient Enochian.” Castiel looked up, gaze narrowed. “Where did you obtain a book written in ancient Enochian?”

“Is that what it is? All I could tell is that it sure as hell isn’t English.” Mr. Winchester grinned, a dimple flashing in his cheek.

an aching in my heart by contemplativepancakes

When Dean’s best friend dies, leaving behind her daughter, Dean knows he has what it takes to give Claire the life she deserves. The problem is, they’re not related by blood, and Claire’s long lost uncle gets called to take her in. Castiel Novak was bad news when he was in highschool with Dean, and judging by his blue hair and tattoo sleeves, nothing’s changed. Castiel ran out on his family once before, and there’s no way Dean’s going to let that happen to Claire without putting up a fight.

Fools and Fate by Danica_Dust

Castiel Novak fled his coven to escape the rigid, predetermined Fate laid out for him within its confines. Desperate and alone, he took shelter in the city of Sacriloga, forsaking all magic and living off whatever he could steal. There, witches like Cas are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

When Jack, a young witch also on the run from his own coven, seeks out Cas’ aid, however, Cas finds that he cannot reject the boy, leaving him to his sure destruction. Especially after the newest visitor to Sacriloga makes his presence known: the legendary Hunter, Dean Winchester, who has been following Jack’s trail.

Sworn to the Men of Letters, Hunters live by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Dean’s path was never meant to cross with Cas', but a desperate stunt and a single mistake forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between the witches and the Men of Letters is an ancient one and Cas' most dangerous enemies bring a Fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore his growing feelings, yet powerless to change what he is, a choice must be made.

A suffocating Fate on one hand. A precarious freedom on the other. And in between, the kind of love that makes fools of us all.

Ozone by Deancebra

A young magic user who wants desperately to live. A jaded recluse who has forgotten what living means. They’re each other’s only chance.

Dean’s wild magic is killing him. The mage guilds have given up on him, and it’s only a matter of time before he dies in a spectacular, catastrophic bang. His only hope is an exiled wizard who lives in seclusion—and is rumored to have lost his mind.

The years alone on his hilltop estate have not been good for Castiel Novak. After the magical accident that disfigured him and nearly destroyed the village, he drifts through his days, a wraith trapped in memories and depression. Until a stricken young man collapses on his driveway, one who claims Castiel is his last chance. For the first time in fifteen years, Castiel must make a choice—leave this wild mage to his fate or take him in and try to teach him, which may kill them both. The old Castiel, brash and commanding, wouldn’t have hesitated. Castiel the exile isn’t sure he can find the energy to try.

A Demon Like Him by EllenOfOz

Dean Winchester doesn’t want to be a warlock. The idea of working in a lab, channeling demonic magic into enchanted batteries is not what he wants to do with his life, but it’s a dangerous opinion to have—his father was a powerful and well-connected warlock, and Dean is expected to follow the family tradition.

His only way out is to fail the demon summoning class—failure means expulsion from the Warlock College. Despite Dean’s best efforts to fumble the summoning, it works. Although not the way anyone expects.

Dean’s demon, Castiel, is an incubus, but also a powerful mage on a mission to rebalance the magic that is being stripped from Demonside by warlocks.

Dean must choose: fail out of his final exam and turn his back on becoming a warlock, or help Castiel and graduate. But he doesn’t count on how hot the incubus is, or how close they have become in just a few days.

A Working Relationship by fangirlingtodeath513

The homes that Castiel Novak designs for Angelic Houses are to die for. They’re pristine, perfectly designed and organized, and they’ve caused more than a few bidding wars. It’s the perfect job—he’s organized, good with math, and he’s able to pick up on design trends relatively quickly. The only thing that isn’t perfect? His obnoxious older brother, Luke. Castiel’s been vying for a position on a flipping team for years now, but Luke has never even considered it. When a lecherous gossip reporter overhears an argument, they receive an offer they can’t refuse.

They’re invited to compete on Flip Off, a competition where two people flip houses and compete for the highest profit. Castiel wants the leverage a win would bring him, but he also wants to prove himself. Enter Dean Winchester, a contractor with his own team and one that’s blissfully unconnected to Angelic Houses, allowing Castiel to prove himself without any help from the family company.

The undeniable attraction between them certainly doesn’t help matters, but Castiel is resolute in his decision to make a move only after they’ve finished working together. At least, that had been his plan until Dean made him an offer he simply couldn’t refuse.

Crashing In by followyourenergy

Castiel Novak is convinced he’s the last unwillingly single person in Lupine Cove. Even Gabriel, his perpetual bachelor brother, has found love. It’s probably because Cas leads the most boring life in existence. He’s a gay man living in a rented, one-room cottage in the same small coastal town he grew up in, just getting by as the owner of the same convenience store he was practically raised in. The most excitement he gets is chatting with the locals or maybe, if he’s unlucky, oversleeping and rushing to work. So when a baby is left at the Safe Haven drop-off at the local fire station, he takes the opportunity to step in for the child temporarily, at least until suitable parents, plural, can be found.

Life certainly gets more interesting.

And it gets even more interesting when a handsome man comes crashing—literally—into his life.

Make Me Believe by GhoulsnHalos

Ten years ago, Castiel Novak’s stepfather disowned him, taking from him his place as hereditary heir to the head of the Hunter and Warrior Guild. Now, he’s a self-made, and celebrated, master gem and metal smith. Castiel doesn’t believe that the God’s decide your soulmate. Until he designs what can only be a gift fit for his soul mate, who in contradiction to the etiquette, if not the laws of Neffroen, must be a man.

Dean Winchester is convinced that he is a lowly, dumbass, no magic hunter who couldn’t possibly be on the same social scale as a Novak. So, why is it when he spots the jewelled torc in Castiel’s shop, Dean develops an obsession over the neckpiece and its creator? It can't be anything to do with the will of the Gods, no matter what anyone says, because that's baloney and Dean's not into men.

When Castiel’s long-lost brother turns up and suggests he ought to challenge their stepfather and that Dean is destined to help Castiel rule the clan, Castiel takes some convincing. The real problem is Dean. Can Castiel with the help of family and friends convince Dean of his place by Castiel’s side? Can Dean play the part everyone expects of him to help Castiel regain his rightful place in society?

Shielded Heart by JuniperJones

Arthos, the Infinite City, is a place of alien wonders and indescribable beauty—and, most importantly for Dean, it’s also halfway across the universe from his abusive ex-fiancé. He came to the city desperate for a fresh start, but he finds himself downtrodden on a world of aloof alien beings with little hope of finding his place—and a good chance of being kidnapped or killed before he can even settle in.

At least until he is saved by an irresistible alien with piercing eyes and a seductive smile.

Castiel is the living embodiment of temptation, and he makes no effort to disguise his desire for Dean. But when his past threatens to drag Dean into a dangerous underworld, Dean discovers Castiel isn’t who he claims to be. After enduring so much suffering, can Dean bear to take a leap of faith with this mysterious alien? Can he trust Castiel with not only his life, but his heart?

Stumble and Fall by Kitmistry

Castiel was raised to do one thing: serve his country, whether that was fighting a war or becoming an expert spy. But when his lover is charged with treason and executed Castiel defects. He has evidence that can destroy the KGB’s entire spy ring in New Mexico, he has names of scientists involved with atomic weapons who send information to the Soviets, and he won’t stop until he has revenge.

Putting all his trust in the Americans, Castiel finds himself under the protection of U.S. Marshal Dean Winchester, who is too cocky and attractive for his own good, but at least seems to know what he’s doing.

When a routine transfer to a safehouse goes horribly wrong, Castiel and Dean narrowly escape with their lives. With the Marshals compromised and Castiel being framed for murder, he and Dean are on the run from KGB and law enforcement alike. They have no one to trust except each other, and nowhere to go that their enemies can’t reach.

The Shots We Don’t Take by MandalaRose

Still nursing the tatters of a broken heart and trying desperately to stave off the terror of his impending graduation, college senior Cas Novak decides it’s time to blow off a little steam. Not just any hook-up will do, however. The last thing Cas needs right now is a distraction. On the lookout for someone he can enjoy a steamy night of passion with before leaving them behind entirely, Cas thinks he’s found exactly what he needs in cocky university hockey star and well-known playboy Dean Winchester.

Dean is gorgeous, doesn’t date, and is the singular most infuriating person Cas has ever met. He’s the perfect one night stand...that is, until Dean decides he wants an instant replay of what was supposed to be a one-time event. Will Cas’ offer of friends, sans benefits, convince the arrogant love ’em and leave ’em hockey defenseman to find an easier score? Or will Dean wear down Cas’ defenses and lure the sexy nerd in the dorky trenchcoat back to his bed?

Bullets Over the Bayou (fic by mattzerella_sticks, art by dontbelasagnax)

Everyone wants Castiel Novak to quit the force, including Castiel. But he stays on despite the toxic work environment he’s surrounded by. Still believing he can do some good despite the many lines of red tape impeding him. Luckily, a pair of scissors by the name of Dean Winchester drops into his hands, and he finally feels like he can do some good.

Dean Winchester thought he would be in New Orleans for a day or two. Identify the body of his deadbeat father and then move on. No one knows he’s here. His mother and brother are blissfully unaware of the danger his father roped him into. With a parting gift of a journal, delivered to him the same day he received word about his father, Dean has become the target of a group of people who want him dead. The same people who killed his father.

Racing against the clock, can Dean and Castiel figure out what is so important about John Winchester’s journal that someone would kill for it?

Masquerade by noxsoulmate

It had begun as such a good plan; one that benefitted them both. And masquerading as Castiel Krushnic's boyfriend during the weeks of balls, galas, and charity events certainly was no hardship. With the impending end of their arrangement, though, Dean Winchester must admit that behind the mask of an aloof CEO lies a man he could fall in love with. Or maybe, he already has…

The Medium by raths_kitten

Detective Dean Winchester hates it when his Chief sends a medium to consult on his cases. But this time, the murder is closely linked to Castiel’s world and they both need to work together to solve it.

Any Semblance of Touch (fic by saltnhalo, art by c-kaeru)

1925, New York.

Dean Winchester’s life’s work is protecting the world from the supernatural relics that could destroy it. When an amulet with the power to control the tides is shipped to New York, he must intercept it before it can be used to devastating effects. This time, in order to succeed, he needs a powerful psychometric… and the only one available has sworn off the magical world altogether.

Castiel Novak’s gift comes with great risk. To protect himself, he’s become a recluse, redirecting his magic into museum research. But with the city’s fate hanging in the balance, and faced with the power of Dean’s charm and persuasion…

He can’t force himself to say no.

The Love of a Righteous Man by SargentMom573

Five years ago, Captain Dean Winchester defied his father, Senator John Winchester. With his brother Sam, and his spaceship Impala, Dean found his place among a ragtag fleet of pirates and smugglers. Their latest mission left him with a price on his head and a scar on his heart. When a surprise attack separated him from Sam and revealed a Sith weapon, he would do whatever it took to bring his brother back – even sacrifice his own happiness.

After Emperor Michael’s death broke the psychic link between them, Emperor’s Hand Castiel Novak spent years drowning his sorrows at the bottom of a barrel. Mostly sober, three years ago he found a new purpose as the Impala’s Chief Medical Officer, and Sam Winchester’s guide in the Force. And a good friend in the Impala’s gruff but kind Captain.

Dean and Castiel must work together to bring Sam home alive. But when Castiel’s last mission is exposed, will Castiel complete it and destroy any hopes Dean had for a family? Will Dean forgive Cas’ horrific purpose before it is too late? And give them both what they really want — the love of a righteous man.

SKID by spnsmile

Dean Winchester swore off love after getting dumped and fired from his job the same day. Badly drunk, he ended up balcony-hopping until a pair of hands snatched him inside a darkened room. But it's no hero, it's someone with deep voice whispering threats with a gun pointed at his back. Dean’s too drunk to deal with life but one good look at his hot assailant plus enough beer sold him to his accursed fate. The next morning, he found himself engaged to the most notorious leader of a powerful clan, Castiel Novak.

Married life in the compound for a month was not as blissful so when he could, Dean fought for that freedom. Castiel relented and as Dean tried to put the pieces of his normal life together, getting a bike messenger job and dealing with pain in the ass clients, he now also needs to deal with the dangerous presence of his very jealous and very protective husband watching over him.

Is his life ever going to get back to normal?

#2020 masterpost #destielharlequinchallenge #destiel harlequin challenge #destiel fanart #destiel fanfic #destiel

[ar-jae-spn]

Okay okay, let's talk Dean and Jack's reLAtIonShIP - season by season.

(I'll take you through four stages! Prevention, elimination, realization, and solution.)

Season 12:

Okay, obviously we don't see a lot in this season, but Dean still has an opinion on Jack, who he is, and what he'll become.

When they first figure it out, there's an immediate action - find Kelly and her "lucifer love child" and figure it out from there. They don't really go into specifics yet, because they have no clue what it is that they're going to do. They're focused on sending Lucifer back to the cage, leaving Kelly in Cas's care. As we know, she quickly gets away, and they go back to trying to find her.

Here - Dean is in the mindset of prevention. Prevent the bad thing from happening, before it happens. He thinks something is coming, something bad, because when has the name "Lucifer" ever been a good thing.

Lucifer dragged his brother to hell. Lucifer drove Sam to the edge of death. Lucifer is bad news, and Dean's been wanting to stab that angelic arse since season 5. (This becomes so much clearer at the end of season 13, when they finally kill Lucifer. The relief is so clear when they beat him.)

So, what does "prevention" mean. Well, to Dean it means stopping the birth of Lucifer Jr. by any means necessary. This is SO IMPORTANT TO NOTE. Sam is the idealist - he believes that they make the world a better place. He believes in them! He believes that there is always, ALWAYS another way, because he has too. This because Dean is the cynic. He believes they're saving people, but making the world a better place? He's not so sure. He relys on anger and trauma in order to keep going, because he believes the only thing waiting for him is death (which actually becomes quite literal in seasons 14 and 15). He doubts whether everything is worthwhile. He doubts his decisions, and it makes him a mess. That's why he's so good at hunting. It's an absolute for him. You see something bad, you kill it. No second-guessing, no doubts.

So, any means necessary. That includes death. He doesn't want to kill Kelly, but if he believes the single touch of this baby corrupts, what's to say she's not brainwashed? What if she's evil too? Are they willing to take that chance? But when Sam finds a way to save them both, Kelly and her child, he gets on board immediately. He's for it, because if there is a way you can save this mother and her child, and the world while you're at it, he'll go for it. He'll go for it because he believes in Sam.

But then this child takes Cas, and Dean is lost in what to believe again. He's scared - for Cas, and even possibly of Cas. The way he burned Dagon to a crisp? That's power we haven't seen from Cas since the fall. That's scary. He's scary. And his best friend just went off the grid. What if he's hurt? What if he's gone?

And then we get that final showdown. Lucifer is coming, and he's pissed, and we don't have time to argue anymore. This baby is coming, and it's coming now. We get the door to another world, the disappearance of Mary, and Cas's and Kelly's death. In return, Dean and Sam get Jack. How can a creature who caused so much death, who has so much power, possibly be good?

Season 13:

Okay, this is the beginning of the end.

Obviously, Dean's pretty angry at, well, everything. This child is alive, has been born, and the prevention stage has gone out the window.

It's elimination time.

Dean's immediate reaction? Climb the stairs and put a bullet in Lucifer Jr. Sam tries to stop him, but the bullet goes off and Jack's powers are activated. Pure PURE instinct. He hasn't learned enough yet. He doesn't KNOW enough yet. He's just been born for Chuck's sake. And why did Dean act so recklessly? Because he's pissed. He immediately blames the death of Cas, Kelly, and Mary on Jack, because who the hell else is there left to blame? (Also, that moment where Dean calls upon God with no reply, will also start the lead in to "the end".)

Now they're on a chase, a chase for the son of Lucifer. They find him, Sam gets that little moment with Jack saying "will you tell them I'm sorry", and now it's about convincing Dean that Jack is good. But yeah, that doesn't go over well because Dean lost Cas and he blames Jack and Sam blames Lucifer, because Lucifer stabbed Cas. (These boys I swear.)

And then what happens? Cas comes back, and it's because of Jack. This is so so SO important, because this is the moment that Dean starts to ease up on Jack. He respects Cas, he loves him, and Cas's return also proves that Cas and Sam were right. This kid CAN do good.

So then he goes off to save Mary. Dean is surprised, but pleasantly, and they let him do what he has to do. We get that any means necessary vibe from him again, except now it's about saving Mary and protecting Sam. (Threatening Kaia/keeping Sam at the bunker.) Jack goes to Apocalypse World and Sam and Dean go to the bad place. They get back (via the amazing team of wayward women) and get they're spell on.

And, you know, Sam dies...

And then Lucifer is back - again - and Dean gets defensive, because that's his kid and his kid's mentally abusive father just came popping back in on them bearing the single gift that Dean can't refuse (Sam's life). Jack immediately connects this with his own experience. (Oh! I brought Cas back and now Dean thinks I'm good! Bringing loved ones back from the dead is good. i.e. Lucifer must be good.) Because he's a kid, barely a year old, and that's what kids do.

And Jack doesn't want to hurt anyone, driving him to join his father "in the stars" to protect Sam and Dean. Again, final showdown, Jack's grace is taken, Lucifer dies, and Dean disappears.

Season 14:

Moving on to the third stage ~ realization.

Okay so, season 14. I want to start off by mentioning that scene where Jack is determined to kill Michael even if it means sacrificing Dean because it's "what he would want". He's okay with sacrificing one life to save a million, even if it is Dean. Cas is obviously taken a back by this - clearly seeing that Apocalypse World shaped Jack in a way that the Winchester's hadn't. (I also want to quickly mention that this is the same mindset that Jack has now in season 15. His singular life over the world? No contest.) Here he still has his soul, yet the audience is meant to be offended by his proclamation. we've been considering Jack to be a kid who looks up to his father's but obviously it's more than that. He's was weapon of mass destruction, and now he's helpless. He's running out of options and his mortality is crashing down on him.

Then Jack takes ill, and Dean is thrown into a position that he's never been in before. He's about to lose a kid, someone he has treated as a monster since birth until he was able to prove his worth, and he's taking it REALLY hard. He feels guilty and he's totally unprepared to lose child. He failed with Jack in the same (but less extreme) way John failed with the brothers. And he's starting to realize that Jack has always just been a kid.

So they bring him back. Jack has soul, but it's limited now, and he has powers, but he can't use them. But that same feeling of helplessness will come into play when Jack ends up using his powers to save Cas and to save Sam and Dean. He burns out his soul, get his(?) grace back, and saves the world from hyped up monsters in exchange for his morality.

And then he kills Mary. (Personally I never liked Mary's character, but that's for a different post.)

It was an accident! He said stop, used his power, and she disintegrated. I mean if the soulless being, who maybe has too much power and just fried another human being tells you to stop, you should probably do it. I found the way Mary died to be very... stupid? I don't know. Personally I think she should've been smarter than that (but again, another post).

And now Dean is pissed. Because of course he's pissed. His mom just died by the hands of a kid that they helped take care of. I mean, the betrayal he must have felt in that moment is just astronomical. Not to mention Jack just saved Sam's life??? And then goes off and kills his mom??? Like how are you supposed to feel about that? He ends up quickly taking a step back into the elimination stage of our story, as "needing revenge" is the Dean Winchester way.

Then, obviously, we get the show down with God, the "equalizer", and Dean's apparent resistance to follow through with Chuck's "story" (probably because of Sam and Cas, thanks boys). But then Jack dies because Chuck kills him, and that would seem to be the end of the story.

Season 15:

Haha you thought-

Anyways, this is when Jack became the solution.

I just quickly want to mention the scene in the car where Balthagor asks Dean "who was he anyway?" and Dean replies "he was our kid, kind of." Clearly Dean still saw Jack as "their kid" even after everything that happened. He even has trouble replying to the question and then quickly changes the subject.

And then Jack comes back.

At first, Dean seems troubled that Jack has returned, but once Jack fills him in about Billie's plan to kill God, he seems on board, because of course he's on board to take down Chuck. Even so, there's still that mild skepticism about Billie, her plan, and Jack's involvement in it. None of them seem to like where this is headed, and Dean even says that they're being kept in the dark on purpose. They're even more concerned because he doesn't have a soul. Yet, he still volunteers to help save Kaia because it was "his fault". He's trying to right his wrongs because he remembers (logically) what she felt, and he wants to help her. He even says "I owe it to her" and "it's the right thing to do" because he's in her debt. They end up saving her, but get a face full of Billie's wrath in the process. They're clearly scared of her, and they should be.

I feel this is substantial, as Billie has taken a special liking to Dean, and Dean obviously respects her (as he did as the og Death as well as Reaper Billie). He's ten steps ahead in this plan, already thinking about killing Amara too. He's down with clearing the board of cosmic entities.

In "Destiny's Child," when Jack goes to the garden, Dean seems genuinely concerned about him, but taken their given situation and this new plan, it could easily have been mistook for distress over loosing they're last hope at victory. (Then again, when Jack comes back from the garden Dean makes extra sure that he's "okay", asking multiple times.) This is then followed up by the realization that Jack has his soul back and his teary plea for the brothers' forgiveness.

When the season ended here back in March, I thought for sure that Dean and Sam would forgive Jack. It seems so obvious to me that he felt guilty about it. I mean, the boy's literally crying!!! Not only that, but Dean and Sam have made plenty of mistakes in the past, some of which include beating or even trying to murder each other. With that in mind, I just thought they would forgive Jack for what happened to Mary considering he was soulless. I didn't expect Dean to forgive Jack right away, but I didn't expect him to be so reluctant about it either. I think he was really caught off guard when Jack asked for his forgiveness and I think he's still has a long way to go considering the betrayal. (I mean, clearly Dean doesn't forgive things easily. Even when it came to Sam, Sam struggled constantly to gain Dean's trust again until "Sacrifice".)

Then we got "Last Holiday" where we can clearly see Dean being conflicted over his relationship with Jack. He's not ready to forgive him but he doesn't inherently want him to die. He still has a protective instinct over Jack, and he doesn't really want anything to happen to him.

But when Cas tells Dean that Jack is going to be a bomb to blow up Chuck and Amara, Dean's first instinct is to protect Sam from this news. He truly believes that this plan, Billie's plan, is the only way that they're going to win. He blatantly says "You don't have a choice. We don't have a choice." This dialogue can easily be taken as aggressive and selfish, but Dean often hides his hurt with anger. He's pissed at Chuck, he's pissed at Amara, and yeah, he's still angry with Jack. But I have a feeling of Cas is able to find a way to save Jack, he'll be on board with it. There's nothing more important to Dean than Sam, and to just think that he's going to forget that Sam cares deeply about Jack is out of the question. Obviously, Sam has a strong connection with Jack (a profound bond you might say) and Dean didn't want to tell him because, once again, Sam is the only person in the world who could possibly talk Dean out of Billie's plan.

I think Dean is trying to take his anger and hurt from when Mary died and that sense of betrayal and turn it into a defense to cope with the loss of Jack. Jack is going to die, and Dean is certain of this, but he still doesn't like it. Even while he's talking to Billie at the diner, he mentions Jack's inevitable death disdainfully to her. She even has to ask if he's still on board, if they have a problem. He says no, but it's because he doesn't feel like they have another option. Chuck is coming and this is the only play they have right now.

Final comments on 15x16:

Dean doesn't believe they have a choice anymore, which is strange because the whole reason they're fighting in the first place is so that they can have a choice. The poetic irony of this is really in your face and kind of annoying. I think the writers could have done a better job with "Drag me away", especially with dialogue between Sam and Dean. The ending in the car was gold, and they definitely should have built up more dialogue and tension between them before that final scene. A lot of this episode was also emphasizing the fact that Dean would do anything for Sam (as if we already didn't know). But besides that, I thought it was a decent episode. I think it's weird that this episode came this late in the season, but I'm hoping it will tie in nicely in the end. Anyways, this was my analysis of Dean and Jack's relationship and I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave comments or things I might have missed. Stay safe out there!

#spn spoilers #supernatural #dean and sam #dean winchester #sam winchester #sam and dean #spn famdom #supernatural 15x16 spoilers #supernatural 15x16 #spn 15x16 #jack kline #cas and jack #jack supernatural #dean and jack

[traykar]

How about that last Episode?

Ko is moping the floor. All is as it should be.

Don't you just hate it when your leg spontaneously breaks?

Why are we flipping through diffrent villains?

It's playing the Ernesto theme from the Ok Dendy episode!

"Get ready to pay your taxes!"

Deathro exists. Thank you Toby Jones for giving me something I didn't know I needed.

Wait, Ko has the TKO snaggletooth?

Elder abuse

Wally the White has short legs.

Venomous and Fink are back from their destroyed planet to fight the plazatutbians!

Also the title cards of episodes we're never going to get!

Toby Jones is giving us the rest of the story one second at a time!

Holy heck!

The animation is so good!

Cartoon Network is the villain responsible for this!

Billium Millium is shooting money at them!

The Were forms of our heroes return?

Were forms for the robots?!?!?

Were are the cowboy hats?

Ahem, where are the cowboy hats?

Darrell is a gerbil? Raymond a lizard? Shannon a cat? Is that last one supposed to be a Radicles parallel to reference the episode Rad Loves Robots?

Red Strike?

Cartoon network cameos!?!

Plazamo?

The unaired episode "Let's save the Plaza"!?!!?

The unaired Episode "Let's save the planet"?!?!?

With a Captain Planet cameo!?!??

The Unaired Episode "We have to save the Multiverse"!?!??!

Space Gars?

Garnets there?!?!?

The Unaired Episode "We Have to Dave the Fourth Fimension"

The Unaired Episode "We have to Save All of Space and Time"

The minot villains have teamed up?

Dogmun's been changed by the war! He's out for blood!

Boxman's back, after apparently leaving?

Too many Boxmans !?!?!

Eggman Boxman? Eggbox? Boxegg? EggBoxMan? ManMan?"

Buff inal boss boxman from the game?!?!?!

Thing will never be normal again.

Enid decided to go to witch college? Hogwarts?

She's leaving? What?

Damn commercial breaks

She's a witch Ninja Now? Goodbye hug failed?

Radicles will never lead.

Radicles is leaving.

He's been drafted into the space army?

He's alone.

He thought he would have more time to experience the important moments in life. Who's fault is that?!?!?

Aaaarrrrruuuugggghhhhh!

Carol's married to Mr. Gar?!?!?!??!

Is she the Ms. Gar?

Is Ko now Ko Gar?

Ko is running out of time, literally. We have to cramped in his entire life before the show ends!

Potato and Colhort got hitched?!?!?!

His episodes are posters!

He's not ready for it to end.

Life is rushing ahead, because we can't always be 6-11 years old for all of our lives.

Rad has a Space Warrior cat cafe!

Enid runs the Fitness Dojo!

Boxman promoted all of his Children!

Darrell owns a farm!

The Unaired Episode "RMS and Brandon's Lost Episode!"

An Ok Kk Shannon Spin off? Being filmed in the "Let's Watch the Pilot" studio!?!?

Joe Cuppa is in the spin off?

Raymonds make up the show's band!

Beardos? Oh gosh it's the freaking truffles! Time for nightmares!

An unaired Christmas Special where Venomous goes to ask for Boxman's forgiveness?!?!

With a cake!?!?!?

Cardsly's in hell?!?!?

Greyman and Foxtail retire

(Bout time)

Ko's now 13 to 17 years old! Rad has stubble! Dendy has long hair and her pond! Mr Gar has a beard!

Little Teeth became Big Teeth!

Combobreaker's been remembered? Un-dismembered? He's fine and joints point, Neil is hecking proud.

Boxman Reconects with Mr. Logic!

Fuck, the Pirds are multiplying!

Gar and Carol have a kid??!?!?

Ko gets a sibling?!??!?!

It's just pancakes.

=P

Ko and Dendy graduate from school!

"Don't cry because it's over, Smile Because it's over! You fought till the end, you are my best friends."

Ko is 18 -24 now!??! Everyone looks different and it would be redundant for me to list out all the changes!?!??!?!

Grown up Fink beats Jack the rabbit in a major videos game tournament!

Venomous is in the front row and crying because he's proud! He's also greying a little.

Some of fink's fans have signs that say things like, "I want F1nk to bully me too," and "We stan a Legend"

Mr Gar journeys to his home town!

He's bald!

Is this the day of the dead?

He's paying respects to his mother! I assume.

Holy heck he's at Abeula Garcia's Bodega to pay respect to his family!

This means that Mr Gar is Eugine Garcia! It means Carol is Carol Garcia, and that Ko is Ko Garcia! Holy heck!

They remembered that Skateboard Nerd fucking died! Also Ginger is dead, but it's a double cross!

Dendy is taking Carla's Job!

Ko has finally grown up! He's thirty five plus, and everybody is here!

Who the fuck is Robby, and who sent him?

Oh my gosh, it's "One Last 'Sode"!!!!

New Plazaturbians!

Grown up KO is even more jacked than what the Fan art predicted !

He's level one hundred, and he's in Mr. Gar's cloud! no, Ko is in his Cloud. He's become the power hero that he's always dreamed of becoming.

Now, there's only one thing left to do, after all,

It's Only Magic

Isn't it Amazing When yayu Know?

Every Second that You See Is

Twenty Four Connected Peices

Thank you for coming

Thank you for staying

Thank you for watching the show!

#ok ko let's be heroes #ok ko #Ko #Rad #Enid #Carol #Gar #Boxman #Boxbots #Venomous #Fink #ok ko lord boxman #tko #spilled tears

[viktcrr-alt]

MAXENCE DANET FAUVAL / NONBINARY — don’t look now, but is that viktor samuels i see? the 24 year old visual arts student is in their senior year and he/they are a rochester alum. i hear they can be observant, ingenious, reticent and dependent, so maybe keep that in mind. i bet he/they will make a name for themselves living in garcia row. ( james. 20. est. she/they. )

LAST INTRO WOOOO !! u know what to mf DO !!

TW DEATH, HEAVY GRIEF, OVERDOSE / DRUG ADDICTION, HOSPITALIZATION, HYPERSEXUALITY, RELIGION MENTIONS, MENTAL ILLNESS

a e s t h e t i c s

old tvs and their static, worn tapes, horror movie screams, spilled ink, a sculptor’s hands, clay-stained, chicken scratch handwriting, messy notes, messy hair, scoffs and eye-rolls, bruised knuckles, sore throats, funeral homes and a crying preacher, shattered ceramics, knife fights, high ledges, vertically-striped pants, red lights, the moon shrouded in clouds, cigarette butts.

general info !!

full name: viktor phillip samuels

nickname(s): icky vicky :/

b.o.d. - jan 2nd

label(s): the black hole, the crepehanger, the impious, the opaque, the tempest, etc.

height: 6′0″

hometown: rochester, new york

sexuality: uuuhhh god … probably pan tbh

pinterest

stats

biography !!

okay so … born and raised in rochester, new york to the well known samuels family. preacher father, a mother, a twin sister born 15 minutes before him - aka tatiana samuels, who died back in january.

kinda … grew up as a really awkward, quiet kid? like … just didn’t really interact with other kids super well, preferred being alone and like … digging up bugs in the dirt. only friend was like … his own sister.

grew out of this as they got older, instead sort of … becoming a bit of a dick? to compensate for years of awkwardness? will bite the hand that feeds him. was a full on nuisance by middle school. tatiana was not, at least, noticeably.

has always been a fan of darker materials, y’know - grim and creepy, morbid shit. big fan of tim burton ever since he was a kid, which isn’t … a good look for a preacher’s son, but he’s never really felt ~in~ with the rest of his family, anyway.

drew disturbing pictures as a kid probably tbh that prompted one or two or five phone calls home 2 assure everything was fine.

has always been really … good at art, in general - from drawing to painting to playing with clay, that’s always been viktor’s Thing.

aNyWaYs. being tatiana’s twin brother was kinda hard sometimes. tatiana and him were near opposites besides their same mean-spirited trait. she was better in the public than he was, but viktor was arguably more talented than tatiana. they both loved each other deeply and found each other as competition for their parents’ attention - a rivalry, of sorts.

high school is when viktor really started to act out - started extreme, like losing his virginity in their church and vandalism around the neighborhoods. faked being possessed in the middle of sunday service. almost had an exorcism performed on him, probably.

the only redeemable trait was like … his sheer talent with art. was in a 3d art AP course, specialized in sculpting - could pretty much create anything he wanted with enough dedication.

because his parents would be focused on disciplining him for his antics, tatiana could sneak away and get away with stuff easier. so like, y’know, that’s on the bright-side of things.

never been particularly motivated to do much - wasn’t planning on attending lockwood but his parents kinda … did and sent in his application for him b/c they were Not on board with him Wasting Away (wanted him out of the house asap)

actually pretty smart !! just doesn’t like … want to apply himself ever. double majoring in english and visual arts because they’re like … two of his only interests :/ plus he wants to write and illustrate his own series of children books with a style similar to tim burton’s

he’d been experimenting since high school but college is where he really started to like … crack down on himself and figure himself out. was out as pan & nonbinary by his sophomore year of college, just … not to his family, necessarily. thinks tatiana always knew, but didn’t … really use it against him, blessedly enough

always felt like the whole twin - connection thing was … both wack and also not-wack? sometimes it felt believable but sometimes he had no idea what was going on in tatiana’s head. but he felt oddly transparent to her, always - like he was predictable to no one but her.

( TW DEATH, GRIEF, OVERDOSE / HOSPITALIZATION BEYOND THIS POINT )

but when tatiana disappeared - it was like, like viktor knew. the moment she had been kidnapped - felt something deeply wrong in his gut. and when tatiana died - viktor felt something cut so severely in him. he knew, he always knew exactly when. he couldn’t put his finger on how - but he knew. even when everybody else held out hope for her to be found - he knew.

went on a bender around the same time, had always struggled w/ drug addiction but it got worse the longer tatiana went without being found.

( also struggled heavily with his mental health, too ?? has manic and depressive episodes. will fixate on a sculpting project for six months and then purposely knock it off the table and destroy it in the matter of seconds once it’s finished for. no fucking reason. impulse spends A Lot. )

when her body was found, viktor went off the rails. ended up overdosing and being hospitalized where he spent the next like … however long months … until they deemed him better.

has been back since the beginning of fall semester in an attempt to finish his senior year - mostly out of his parents’ insistence that he did, because he very much did not want to. 

is still dealing with a lot of trauma & grief, which was only amplified with dean lockwood’s death - causing him to spiral and be unpredictable with his mental health. some days are good, and some days are very bad.

personality !!

the human embodiment of a gremlin, fed after midnight. a goblin, if u will. one of those cats with a narrow head and big ass ears. that’s him.

b i g horror & halloween enthusiast. loves the old campy horror movies. probably has an abundance of masks from different movies. dresses like a grimy millennial beetlejuice more than he should. love those vertically striped pants!

fashion alternates between e-boy (would b tik tok famous if he were like … 17), millennial beetlejuice, and like … goth in a crop top and sweatpants. big fan of crop tops. big fan of sweatpants.

he can be fucking mean. petty, aggressive, instigator. will literally spit in ur face or no reason. kind of person who’ll stick his gum into other ppl’s hair. other than that he’s like … pretty okay. he’s not always mean, he’s just a dick like … 70% of the time lmao

i mean yeah okay he’ll call someone a stinky bitch for no reason except He Feels Like It And Believes It. it’s fine he’s fine, we’re fine.

despite the fact tht he’s probably getting into fights whenever - considers himself 2 be a lover n not a fighter but that’s just because he Fucks a lot. kind of uses it like a coping mechanism, like he’s this big fancy carnival show that’s like ‘come one, come all! fuck the dead girl’s twin brother!’ may have a problem w/ hypersexuality but it’s nothing he’s fully. aware of.

the preacher’s whore son, basically

like i said he’s pan & nb, switches between he and they pronouns but like … he has such a fragile grip on his identity that u could call him ‘dog-faced bitch’ and he’d turn like hey wassup :)

vastly impulsive, like i’ve mentioned … destroys his own creations 4 the fun of it, spends all his money on useless shit, will cheat on someone bc he feels like it. screams into the night sky frequently, like a cat in heat.

i mean he also creates useless shit for no reason too. spent six months sculpting a hollowed out tree the size of him and then took a sledgehammer to it.

dramatic fuck. used to play the organ at the church like … when no one was looking after him and service was about to start. just these creepy as melodies. would do the same thing at home on his keyboard w/ the organ setting whenever he got grounded until his parents took away his keyboard sadjfkg

won’t talk about his time away b/c it’s not rly anybody’s business but ofc nothing is sacred to the watershed app, y’know, nothing’s private.

still like - he absolutely refuses to talk about tatiana’s death and like, his mental health or his addiction (he’s fallen back into it tbh but it hasn’t gotten bad again … yet) or like … anything involving his own emotions

will literally just change the topic! abruptly, no warning, asks about the jonas brothers instead.

that being said he’s obsessed with tatiana’s death. tatiana was very much a rock for him, kinda dependent on her in a way? just … being there, y’know, kept him grounded.

so he obv became a shepherd bc he wants to know Everything there is abt the app, wants to be deep inside it, wanted to know Who Exactly Killed Tatiana and like … not saying he wants 2 commit murder but :/ yknow. he’s very upset.

emotionally unavailable while also like crying twice a day.

will tell you straight up what he wants from you, no bullshit, no beating around the bush - just blunt. if he wants to just fuck, nothing else, then that’s that. if he feels deviation he’ll ghost in like. less than a second. kinda awful like that! feels no shame.

but like … also is emotional ?? as shit ?? it’s confusing. he’ll cry on a whim and then flip u off if u try to console him or like. ask him anything. will bite you.

he goes to therapy but he generally fucks around and wastes most of the time until the therapist threatens to like … idk what therapists r allowed to threaten. to send him off to another therapist? idk.

likes being intimidating but like … not with his body or nothing ‘cos he’s a TWIG, but like … uses his love for horror n creepy shit to his advantage. has an abundance of fake blood. has channeled the energy of jack nicholson and used it on tatiana’s boyfriends before.

( also a big fan of sfx makeup, has dabbled in it)

probably chases kids with a chainsaw (w/o the like … chain … or w/e … so it’s not actually Dangerous) around halloween

he’s generally never doing good, both mental health wise and morally.

would probably steal candy from a baby for the fun of it.

i don’t know if there’s a good to him, deep down, and i don’t know if he sees any issues with himself either !! nothing really breaks through to him anymore, the only person who ever really made him stop and Think about his actions was tatiana.

kinda introverted, recluse type who doesn’t rly like most people or going out, but he’ll go to parties if it means he’ll be high as shit.

pretty observant. likes to analyze people even though he’s probably not … fully right.

wanted connections !!

he lives alone currently but like … ex - roommates where viktor was just. a nightmare to live with.

feel like a lot of enemies is also a possibility !! viktor’s messy.

people that like … knew tatiana. dated tatiana, even, and viktor would pretty much try to intimidate / scare them at any given chance :/

close friends of tatiana too

people who hated tatiana but liked viktor. people who hated viktor but liked tatiana

people who take pity on him and he Hates it viciously and vocally.

a band of hooligan gremlin kids who do drugs and fuck shit up around town like they’re edgy teenagers even though they’re all early to mid 20s.

the girl he lost his virginity 2 in high school lmao … a distant memory

fellow rochester locals, from church or school or whatever

exes from the past !! good terms and bad terms, but i love bad terms a whole lot mainly b/c viktor’s a jackass.

don’t know if he’s soft towards anybody but we can try. we can Try.

friends, old friends, new friends, bad friends, good friends, close friends, frenemies, etc. etc. all of it

hookups !! so many hookups. fwbs, one night stands, whatever.

uuhhhh god. i don’t know. im so sleepy rn. people in the same major or similar majors.

maybe a ride or die.

people he’s a bad influence on / an enabler towards / all around toxic for them / each other.

people he’s fought !! people who’ve seen him get into random fights and were like ‘uh wtf’

fellow shepherds !!

literally anything im not picky.

#huntingtonintro #death tw #grief tw #overdose tw #drugs tw #addiction tw #hospitalization tw #hypersexuality tw #murder tw #religion mentions #mental health tw

[ick25]

Rockman.EXE Episode 46 Review.

In Battle Network universe, curry takes YOU out!

Are you gonna explain how Regal gets Dr. Wily’s robot eye gene or something?

We begin the episode with one of my least favorite characters in this season demanding curry at the restaurant of my least favorite group of villaines. Count Elec is working while complaining about Rush and wondering if the WWW will ever come back. Suddenly, his PET starts to emit a sound with a bright red screen, and we see that the rest of the WWW members also have the same problem.

They are all gathered at the Maha ichiban, with Rush still waiting for his dang curry, trying to figure out what is going on. The PETs then slowly reveal an image of Dr. Wily.

Are we forgeting already that Madoi has sleeves?

After the title card we see that all PETs are connected to a tv where they find out that it is a video recording of Dr.Wily’s will. Wily tells them about a special chip where he engraved his intellect and where to find it.

All of this as the monitor shows the mod code for HP+250 for some reason.

After hearing this the WWW members are amazed and glad that they will finally return, but a certain dog hears them and escapes to alert our heroes.

Another way to make this character useful. I honestly don’t know why they don’t even question Rush, like they already know who he is and what he can do.

We cut to Netto who is happily skating while singing Aki’s cheezy song (very badly BTW) until he is surprised by Rush who suddenly appears in his way. Rush seems to be trying to tell him something, but Netto simple can’t understand him.

Why? She speaks bitch? XD (It’s not a bad word if I’m not using it as an insult)

In the next scene we see the Ex-WWW stealing a helicopter from a local airport by drowning the employees in curry. I also want to point out that Madoi and Count Elec are wearing those weird looking hats from when they were hand gliding in episode 31.

Custom hats for their hair styles?

Madoi reminds them that Gauss might also be interested in finding Wily’s brain chip, before we see him at his company with the family picture we saw in episode 30.

Meanwhile, in Yaito’s secret tree house base, Roll somehow translates what Rush said about the Wily chip, (ignore the weird spacing in the second panel) and for some reason they all think it’s THEIR job to stop them.

Rush demonstrates once again that he can cross between worlds to show them the map to the chip, and right after this, Yaito calls them from a entirely different art style and background just so we can get Yaito’s animation of getting into her private jet Batman style.

It just looks so weird going back and forth between art styles like that. Even the shading is different!

They find the island with no signs of the Ex-WWW anywhere, until Rockman totally jinx it because it turns out they were waiting for them to fly and shoot at them!

Rockman in forth panel: “I hate to be right all the time”

It’s been a while since the WWW tried to MURDER Netto! They literally shoot at them because they knew Netto and Rockman were there!

After blasting them out of the sky, the WWW land on the island were they find a waterfall that, of course, has a jack-in point next to it. This means the waterfall is fake because it dries up once they plug-in to reveal the chip.

Just plug-in, play Wily’s video and no more waterfall. Before they can take the chip though, one of Yaito’s drill cars bursts out of the ground. Yaito, Dekao and Tohru attempt to runaway with the chip only for the drill to stop working leaving them stuck there. Meanwhile, Netto is driving underground in a second drill car.

“Girl please, who’s the main character here? I can find the plot with my eyes closed.”

The loser squad try to defend the chip, in a very poorly way because Mahajarama ends up picking it up easily after Madoi drops it. Hinouken celebrates, but they are all interrupted by a blimp from Gauss that suddenly arrives before cutting to commercials.

We return from commercials with Gauss blasting the WWW helicopter with a laser from his airship.

Yeap, that happend.

Gauss reveals himself and immediately proceeds to insult Madoi.

I like how the camera switches to Madoi dissapearing and then going back to Gauss getting slapped by her. This is officially the second time Madoi slaps him.

Gauss reveals that he is interested in collecting Wily’s chip for his fan girl collection before Netto and Meiru finally burst out of the ground behind the blimp. Gauss then reveals a vital piece of information to eveyone.

Whaaaaa... I’m just kidding, we already knew that.

Turns out Gauss changed the family name to Magnets after their mother died and considers the Count a failure. He offers to take him back on his blimp in return for him handing over the Wily chip. The Count accepts shocking everyone, except for Mahajarama who has fate in him.

Then Meiru comes running at Yaito and the others telling them that Netto is on that ship too.

“Main character!”

Inside the airship, the Count refuses to hand over the chip and challenges Gauss to a Net Battle, but not just any Netbattle, one with the same rules used in his battle against Rockman back in episode 30. 

Were the subs done by the same guys from episode 38? WHAT THE HECK ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!

Gauss accepts and we then see Netto hiding in a closet where Rockman tells him that he will disable the security so he can sneak around. The electric battle begins with Elecman and Magnetman rushing at eachother as we then cut to Rockman taking out the security Navis with his cutted buster shot.

I’m liking the lighting effects used in this episode.

Elecman attacks Magnetman with his Elec Sword, but the magnetic Navi blows him away. Magnetman attacks with his Mag balls, Elecman tries to avoid them but one of them eventually touches him causing the Count to get shocked by the battle machine.

So gay. 

Anyway, the Count shuts him up after he sends a lightning rod to Elecman to protect him from Magnetman’s attacks and returning the damage to him.

That’s not a real chip, but I don’t care.

Gauss gets angry and Magnetman manhandles Elecman.

This battle is intense! I am personally rooting for Elecman and the Count. I don’t have anything against gay people, I just happen to dislike Gauss, and his Navi Magnetman is very vicious. You can see how Elecman struggles in the battle just for the Count. That is Navi loyalty at its finest!

Meanwhile, we go back to the island where one of Yaito’s maids tells her that their rescue crew has arrived, they can now go get Netto from Gauss’s blimp. Speacking of Netto, we cut to Rockman now in the Heat Guts style burning more security Navis to disable what I guess is a motion sensor.

I think this is the first time we see burn marks left by the Heat Guts attack, it is suppouse to be a flamethrower after all.

Back to the battle, Elecman and Magnetman launch their attacks at the same time. The collission of their attacks for some reason means that both Gauss and the Count get electricuted. During this, a spark runs wild and starts a tiny fire somewhere in the blimp.

Netto finally arrives at the room where they are having their Net Battle and spots Wily’s chip in front of their family picture.

Just wanted to brag my good timing with this shot where Netto sees the Count before hiding.

Magnetman and Elecman are both tired, the fire in the airship starts to expand, the Navis decide to take the other one down with their fists resulting in a double log-out and both operators getting electricuted and falling over.

On the floor, they both talk about the past. Gauss even admits that their mother and him were worried about the Count before she passed away. 

This tender conversation is interrupted by an explotion caused by the growing fire, but there is another surprise for them, Netto attempting to sneak away with the Wily chip behind their backs.

You know, Netto, you could’ve taken advantage of the explotion to run away without them realizing it. 

Netto runs away and plugs out Rockman who was still burning security Navis in the cyberworld with Gauss and Count Elec right behind him.

Rockman deleting the security might have weakend the airships emergency protocals in case of a fire...Wooops. Either that or Gauss’s blimp was poorly designed.

Netto tries to escape from them by running to the roof only to be stopped by the fire.

.........

Only in the original version can you find an openly gay Gauss.

Netto threatens them by throwing the chip overboard, but another explotion causes him to lose balance.

The villains saved the hero?

Of course they did it because they thought he still had the chip. Luckily for Netto, he grabs on to a lose part of the blimp slowly tearing its side and leaving him hanging from it.

Gauss and Count Elec once again start to fight over the chip, and once again an explotion occures making them fall over with the chip sliding pass between them and finally falling off the ship.

LOL, there goes Wily’s brain.

The blimp is slowly falling with Netto getting closer to the water until something saves him from drowning or freezing to death.

Oh no, its the return of the Yaito Mako!

Netto is saved and the blimp ends up crashing into an iceberg while our heroes just watch the bad guys die.

Oh the Elec-Manity! Or Magnet-Manity? o-o

After this we see the Ex-WWW on a boat in front of the iceberg believing that their dear friend died. Of course this isn’t the case because the camera quickly shifts to the Count and Gauss bickering on a block of ice, ending the episode with both of them sneezing.

What do I think?

The beginning was pretty dumb. Netto and friends just trying to stop the Ex-WWW like it was their responsability. I mean, granted, Rockman is the hero that stops their evil plans, but they never got directly involve before. Fighting against the WWW Navis was because they were causing problems to them and the rest of the city, but their operators don’t stand a chance against a group of adults in real life. The cyberworld is where Rockman is superior and is able to stop them, that’s the Battle Network formula, giving kids an advantage over adults.

The best and most important part of the episode was the revelation of Gauss and Count Elec being brothers and the Net Battle between their Navis. If you saw the anime before playing the games like me, this was something we were waiting for after seeing the Count’s family picture in episode 30. The game was pretty vague about this, how were we suppoused to know that the Cout’s real name was Jack? They are never seen interacting with eachother in the games, Gauss’s introduction was the only time where this was mentioned. During the plane hijacking in BN2, Gauss reveals that he came from a very poor family and that his brother Jack was taken in by a wealthy family, making him bitter towards humanity and the reason why he joins Gospel. Here, they both come from a rich family but chose different paths, specially since the Count ran away from home a long time ago.

The reason why there was a mod code in Wily’s video was part of their publicity for BN3, by adding secret codes for the game in the anime. It is very plausible that we will see more secret codes hiding in some of the future episode.

#Rockman exe #MegaMan NT Warrior #megaman battle network #anime #dub vs sub #my reviews #ick25

[tonguetiedmag]

interview: Milkk

After making their way through a blizzard to play a house show with a last minute venue change, indie 3-piece Milkk sat down to chat with me about upcoming music, celebrity crushes, and the time lead vocalist Pat Kiloran was convinced to dye his hair yellow after a show. From the non-stop teasing between the trio to their effortless ability to finish each other’s sentences, the men of Milkk clearly share a light-hearted and special bond that only adds to their likeability.

Let’s kick things off with some fun. If you could have any celebrity star in your next music video, who would you choose?

Kiloran: “I love Ellie Goulding, she’s my secret crush. But.. on the other spectrum, I have my man crush on Jake Gyllenhaal, naturally. So let’s bring Jake in...and I don’t know what he’s doing in the video, but just looking great, being Jake. “

I love that! Strawberry milk, chocolate milk, or white milk?

John Ogelby(Percussion): “Chocolate.”

Kiloran: “Chocolate’s like a treat, I guess on a day to day [basis] I’m more almond milk. In my coffee I like to put oat milk or coconut milk.”

Jack Vondrachek (Guitar): “Strawberry.”

Kiloran: “Why?!”

Ogelby: “Comes out of nowhere, I love it! Right when you think you know him...”

What’s your favorite place to eat, on the road specifically? A roadside restaurant, if you will.

Ogelby: “Consistent, Chick-Fil-A.”

Kiloran: “Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle, probably.”And on Sundays its Chipotle, right?

Ogelby: “On Sundays we break into Chick-Fil-A. I love.. I think it’s called ‘Pok Pok’ in Portland?”

What kind of food?

Ogelby: “It’s like vietnamese fusion, but they have these wings that are just.. I don’t know what the secret is, but its amazing. The spices and seasoning, it’s like nothing I’ve ever had -- I don’t even like wings, but I love these.”

Kiloran: “There’s this tamale place in Indianapolis that I’ve been several times that I love.. There’s this deli in New York called ‘Katz deli’ that’s famous, but it lives up to the hype. It’s like twenty dollars for a sandwich, but it’s so worth it. There’s a place in Ft.Worth, Texas called ‘Joe T. Garcia’s’, it's this big patio mexican place and there’s like two things on the menu. You can just pay and they bring it to you, and it’s just a good vibe.”

Ogelby: “I feel like there’s a lot of places we’ve all hit up separately, but because this is only our second tour, we’re figuring it out. We’re pretty much on the same page though as far as food goes..”

Kiloran: “I don’t think anyone’s too picky. Obviously sometimes if we’re driving quick we have to get fast food, but we try to keep it relatively healthy-ish.”

2018’s almost over-- what have been your favorite album releases this year?

Kiloran: “I liked Lany’s new album, its good.”

Vondrachek: “I liked new Kanye. It was weird but, I liked that.”

Kiloran: “I love the Fickle Friends album. I know they’re a little smaller but it’s super good.”

What have you guys been listening to on drives lately?

Kiloran: “Senses Fail, Underoath, all the old crap that we grew up on. Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Chapel. We listened to One Direction today. We did a couple, mostly off of “Four”. We did ‘Steal My Girl’, ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’, ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, we did ‘Drag Me Down’.”

If you could set up your ideal tour, what bands would you want to tour with?

Kiloran: “That's a hard question because I think there are a few different ways to answer that. I think there’s ‘What would the DREAM tour be?’, and I think at the end of the day for me, the dream tour is, getting to the point where we’re the headliner and just doing headline tours. Obviously, I think a lot of people want that. But, if we were opening for someone, on the dream tour level... the last several years I got into bands in the more indie pop world -- some of the staples, like The 1975 or Lany, I just genuinely like those bands. Even though they’re so popular, I like them. Those are some I would enjoy as far as that, but then there’s the other level of next year, just on a realistic rise, ‘Who would we tour with?’ ...It would be really cool to do some co-headliner smaller support stuff with.. we’ve been talking to Chapel a lot and I’m hoping we can work something out with them, because I know we’re both interested in that. It’s kind of a hard question -- I think as long as..it’s artists that are similar in vibe to what we’re doing, and that make sense as a tour, and that are just doing something that’s cool...I think that’s what matters as far as touring with someone. We’re just kinda trying to do our own thing, and so if someone else is doing their own thing and it’s cool, and it fits together, then I feel like its a good tour.”

Ogelby: “It’s always awesome, too, when personalities just work out, ‘cause it just sucks touring with people that you don’t get along with.”

Kiloran: “We’re doing some on the west coast coming up, but we’ve done a handful of dates this year with that band The Stolen, its co-headline stuff, and they’re really nice guys. Musically they’re a little more rock than us, but it’s similar enough that it works and the hangs are good. So really, those are the things you look for.”

I know you guys haven’t toured much, but have you had anything particularly odd or funny happen to you while traveling?

Kiloran: “We did a show in upstate New York.. out in the mountains, and me and Jack ended up staying up til like 2am, and that’s when the yellow hair happened. Someone dyed my hair yellow and we just hung out by a fire pit and chilled. It was super cold, I was half asleep and had zero brain cells left -- it wasn’t odd or weird, it was just a non-traditional tour experience, because I feel like house shows, in general, are not as common in our genre. We just got to hang out with the people who came there to see us which was really fun and cool, and then it ended up..dying my hair outside and getting sprayed with a hose trying to wash it off, and getting bleach all over my pants and shoes...it was just a funny experience.”

Ogelby: “I thought of something. We played in Philly at this arts center, and it was a good point in the tour where we were hanging out with The Stolen a lot and it was good, it was friends. So we’re loading in and setting up, and the sound guy introduces himself..he’s pretty nice, but all of a sudden --

Kiloran: “--you could tell he was a little bit of an anarchist punk type.”

Ogelby: “--and I’m like ‘I don’t care, that’s awesome!’, but then he starts playing this music....I listen to a lot of music, but this was creepy, gutter-like--”

Kiloran:”--it was just like... weird groaning.”

Ogelby: “And it’s LOUD. It’s not ‘Oh, I’ll just play this in the background’. We were setting up and there were people there to help with merch and take photos, and other people outside of our band, and we’re looking at each other like, ‘How do we ask him if we can somehow play our own stuff?’ We literally had to do it right before doors opened because we were afraid people were going to get freaked out and leave.”

Kiloran:”It was in a mausoleum, so it was even weirder. That was pretty bizarre.”

On to more music related things, the phrase “welcome to my headrush” has been pretty prominent on your socials, and it flashed at the end of the “Thinkin’ Bout U” music video. Can you tell me more about the significance of that, or what it means?

Kiloran: “I guess all I can say for now is that you’ll ..see. Because it’s all part of the plan, it’s just a piece of the puzzle...We’re working on leading up to our first album so everything’s kind of coming to a head with that stuff.”

Should people be expecting another EP next or a full-length album?

Kiloran: “Full length.”

Very exciting!

Kiloran: “They can probably be expecting a couple songs from that album first.”

Do we know when we might be expecting new music?

Kiloran: “Some very soon, and some soon enough. The album won’t be till next year, that’s all I can say.”

Right --I’d be impressed if it was this year, considering it’s almost over.

Kiloran: “Plus music dies after Thanksgiving. No one in the industry answers their phones, it’s just done.”

Vondrachek: “Unless we do a holiday record..”

Kiloran: “Yeah, let’s do a Christmas album!”

Ogelby: “Cookies and Milkk.”

What would you say is different about playing house shows? (vs clubs)

Kiloran: ”I enjoy it, it’s a totally different thing. It’s not really the way you would necessarily expect to hear our music. I think what’s cool about it is it allows the songs to be played in their raw form because a lot of our songs have a lot of production, and stuff going on. I don’t think we’ll do much more of that [house shows], it’s just for this first year to get us from point A to point B. The thing I do like about it is that it does allow us the opportunity to connect with people on a little more laid back level -- there’s no venue, no other bands playing, no security, it’s just really laid back. We’ve had some that are small like this one where there are 10 people, and we’ve had somewhere 30 people show up to it, and it’s just fun in that way; it allows a more personal connection. If it’s just us, it’s most often people who came specifically because they like our songs. When you go play a club.. on a tour with someone else, some people are there for you, some people are there for them, and you never know what’s going to happen — if they’re going to dig what you’re doing or not --, but doing a show where it’s just a couple dozen people and they’re there for you, then we know they’re gonna be stoked on it, and it gets you into it, and then you can spend time with them after and hang out. It’s a good connecting point on both ends, I think.”

What’s it been like playing new markets?

Kiloran: ”It’s always nerve-wracking because you literally never know. We had played Chicago before and we did one of these house shows there, and we saw people come back, so that’s always cool. Sometimes you go in thinking, ‘This is gonna suck, I don’t know who’s gonna show up’. Then there’s a full room and you’re like ‘Oh, sweet!’. Other times you literally have no idea, and there are 10 people.. and you’re like, ‘Cool!’-- It’s just part of it. It’s definitely a little scary, but it seems like there’s been at least a handful of people everywhere, so as long as there’s that it’s like, ‘Ok cool. We’re here.’”

You guys aren’t all from the same place--what’s it been like for you guys’ creative-process wise, being separate but together?

Ogelby: “The internet. Lots of emails back and forth.”

Has it created any difficult obstacles for you?

Kiloran: “Jack and I are producers by trade, so we do what we need to do and send the files back and forth.”

Vondrachek: “It is definitely ideal to be together, though”.

How do you guys all know each other?

Kiloran: “Me and Jack grew up together..we’ve known each other since junior high in Minnesota. Then I moved around a bunch and met John just playing gigs in Nashville the past couple years. When I asked Jack to start this project with me, it was just going to be a duo thing-- but then John and I were on a gig together one time, back when I was doing solo stuff before Milkk ....and it just kind of organically fell together.”

What do you want fans to know about your music?

Kiloran:“I would say I’m probably the principle writer, especially as far as lyrics go...It started as a fun project, just writing songs that sounded cool, and as we’ve went it’s gotten more personal, and the stuff on the album is definitely very much more just straight from my own perspective.”

Ogelby:”Except for the one you wrote about the girl I dated but named it after—“

Kiloran:”-after a different girl?” *laughter* “Yeah okay, so there’s some mutual perspective, that’s fair. I think at the end of the day, as long as someone can connect with it and relate with it and it gives them some sort of feeling, I don’t really care what feeling that is, cause I think that’s the point. I think good music or art just evokes something. So when people are like ‘I HATE this band’, or ‘I hate that band!’, I’m like, ‘Well, sounds like they’re doing something right, they made you feel something.’ When people have told us that we suck, I’m like, ‘Cool1 It evoked something that stirred up a reaction in you.’ It’s better than hearing ‘Yeah, it’s fine.’ I love hearing ‘You suck’, or ‘You’re awesome’.

How has future music evolved from previous releases? What can people look forward to?

Kiloran: “I think it’s getting more and more unique; more personality, more personal. I think it’s steering away from the typical indie pop and some stuff is veering a little more pop. A lot of the stuff that’s coming together, I haven’t heard stuff like it that’s out there right now. I’m not saying it’s drastically crazy or different -- it’s not this weird avant garde thing --, it’s still pop music, but I think there is some sort of unique quality to it. It’s very song focused; song writing. We’ve been trying to write really good songs, and then take the production around that to fit the song.”

Where have you pulled inspiration from for unreleased music?

Kiloran: “Sonically and sound wise, we’re just trying to do what we like and not worrying necessarily about ‘this person’s doing this’, or ‘this person’s doing that’..It’s more of a.. ‘this sounds good to me. ’ ..I’d say the whole point of this album from a lyrical perspective is to open up the mind of an artist to a listener, in the sense that I feel like a lot of times bands or artists sometimes put up a persona, or have a wall there. What I wanted to do is..have this concept of peeling away those layers of the social media, and the photography, and the production and just let it be. ‘This is what it’s like to be a fellow human person who’s doing this weird career., the emotions that go along with that because of it, and also from other life things.’ It’s supposed to open up a little more of the humanity of the ‘glorified artist’ mentality, because I think ‘celebrityism ’ is so common and I think that’s really dangerous. ..What I’m trying to do is connect with people -- like ‘Hey, I know you like what I’m doing, but that doesn’t have to be blown up’. I hope a bunch of people like it, and I hope we can sell out a bunch of stuff, I wanna do all that , but I just like the aspect of that personal connection, and letting people see inside.”

And to close with Tongue Tied’s signature question, How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard music before?

Ogelby: “It’s like you’re tapping your foot, but you’re wondering why you’re crying. A sad bop.”

Check out Milkk online:

https://wearemilkk.com

https://twitter.com/wearemilkk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

https://soundcloud.com/wearemilkk

https://www.facebook.com/wearemilkk/

Article by: Liz Holland

#music #live music #milkk #concert #interview #milk interview #music interview #liz holland

[pick3mahlord]

Chase and Anti

A theory I’ve been hanging onto rather painfully for a while now, in special celebration of father’s day.

I love the sobbing sunshine bean as much as anyone, but once you start to reframe things in these terms, some of the pieces do start to fall into place. As such, even if it doesn't turn out to be true in the long run, I do humbly resubmit the idea as an interesting concept. (under the cut to save everyone’s dash. I should probs just do that with all of my theories from here on, because I talk too much and I end up writing out veritable essays.)

So, back when JJ showed up, not everyone was fully comfortable with him, because he first appeared at a time when we were fully expecting Anti. And if Jameson wasn't the good ol' glitch bitch in disguise, then he was at the very least still visibly corrupting, and subject to his will.

Lest we forget, we were initially confused with Chase, too, and for many of the same reasons. He shouldn't have been able to be created at all - Anti was in full control during that time period and he has no reason to allow that to happen. It might easily pose a danger to him and draw his own dominance over the channel into question.

Thinking it over, it would make a lot of sense if Chase was originally meant to be a ploy - to be Anti in disguise, hoping to manipulate and worm his way further into the community somehow, by taking a different approach we’d never be expecting. A little game of his own. And those who realized it would be crushed, of course. A sick prank in addition to a tool. Originally.

At the end of all his skits, he's shown to be fine. The filmed suicide, the fear born out of an abusive past, it's all revealed to be an over-acted joke on his part and he gives a mischievous smile for the camera.

But what about the hallway skit, I hear you ask, wherein Chase confronts a smirking, demonic Anti and demands to know where his children are? If Chase is only a game Anti's been playing with us, a mask he's hiding behind, then how would he confront what is basically himself? Why even *would* he? That was true terror in Chase's eyes. And something beyond arrogance in Anti's.

It's possible that he doesn't know.... what he is. Or at least, that part of him doesn't. In the same fashion that Anti separated from Jack, he is once again essentially two minds trapped within the same body, both tearing in half, away from each other.

 Maybe it started out as pretend. A cruel and self-serving joke on the community. But then it began to squirm and change unintentionally and take on a life of its own. All of this attention for "Chase" started a confusion in him somehow. He'd severely underestimated the hold on him that we have, and the kind of power we possess. And in our ravenous hunger at the sight of a new ego, we tore Anti apart at the seams.

The attention Anti garners from us also works to make him who he is. We cheer for the snarky, cold-blooded serial killer, the terrifying puppet master of the channel, and that's who he is. We literally formed him out of the aether and told him who to be for us.

And so we cry out and reach to comfort the lonely, alcoholic divorcee he’s pretended to be, and... the influence we have over Anti starts to form cracks, and to force him to split somehow, and to twist and bend to accommodate that too. To be the violent and maddened nightmare that we want, and the kind and loving father figure he's pretended to be to get in our good graces, that we've also decided we want. And his former, deeply-ingrained nature doesn't allow for both.

Chase wasn't a real person, but now he is. But he's also Anti. But he isn't. If he never had a family, then why does he miss them so badly? If he's a family man and not a killer, then why did he kill Sandra?

He needs to help/kill jack and take over/watch over the channel... That is his purpose..

That’s why, in addition to visiting Jack in the hospital, Chase is the one in charge of recording right now, when by all rights that title should logically belong to Anti since all the way back in Oct. 2k16. There's no contradiction here, it hasn't slipped from his grasp out of laziness. They ARE in control of the channel. Just... switching off. We're forcing him to be both, and the logic of it is sending everything haywire. The only way to resolve this is to kill off what "Chase" has become, and thereby pull himself back together as Anti.

And in Chase's own mind...well. Having Anti as an outside influence is a perfect excuse. Chase is the popular bro youtuber, the good friend who has dominion over is keeping a dutiful eye on Jack's stuff while he's away. Anti is a way to deal with his own actions when they don't fall in line with his self-image and our image of him. When a nerve is hit, and his poorly-buried frustrations come to the surface, and the screen takes on a familiar greenish cast as the topic switches from carving food to carving people. When he not only threatens the life of a coworker, but sings happily on-camera when that coworker dies. Chase rejects that part of himself, just as much as Anti rejects him in tormenting him.

This behavior is not in his coding. It's not who they're meant to be. Which one are they meant to be?

"I wouldn't have done this. I did it. Anti did it. Stacy, the kids.. they're fine. They don't exist. They've just gone somewhere, they left me and now Anti has them and it's up to me to find them. I'm the good guy. None of this is my fault, I don't even know who Anti is, I've just heard stories...

..she deserved it, anyway. Always on about a family I don't get to have."

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Were there any truth to this, I think it's interesting to note the kind of person that Anti came up with, when he had to. It's...rather transparent, really. In addition to being a family man, first and foremost, and possessing that kind of intense connection that Anti himself seems to deeply crave, Anti creating Chase as a character is easily a mockery of everything Jack is and everything he knows Jack is afraid of. It’s a parody of everything he’s trying to turn Jack into.  Chase is a dumb, happy-go-lucky youtuber that had a family and lost it. Jack is a wildly positive letsplayer, with a community that views itself as a 19k+ family, and Anti will absolutely take that from him if he can.

*This audio feels deathly important to all of this for some reason, but I can’t adequately frame it into words.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye egos #jse egos #antisepticeye #chase brody #jacksepticeye theory #jse theories #pick's ego theories #pretty much every theory I write is gonna have a read more link at the start because I ramble way too much #thank you guys for putting up with this #seriously #this is ridiculous #happy father's day chase

[whopooh]

Play it again, Jack – fourth and final post of MFMM fics you love to reread

There is no thing as reading too many times, Dot. And of course I can read this on a public transportation if I want to! 

This post is the fourth and final of “Play it again, Jack” – posts that collect the fics we love to go back to and reread.

It has been so fun to hear about your thoughts and to put these posts together. Thank you to everyone contributing!

First I want to start with a comment from @bumblemama that fits perfectly to the spirit of this collection:

Aaaaand another thing... despite having read literally every story on ao3 with the mfmm tag, I realised I couldn't actually remember them all. So I've just gone back to the very start and am working my way through again. There are some lovely gems, and it's really cute to see requests for a season 3, or even a few 'wonder where s2 will go' comments. A good reminder of how perspectives change and stories evolve. There would be plenty that would fit into one or more of the year of tropes, but they somehow seem less consciously trope-ish, I guess because they hadn't been done in this fandom before. Anyway. No specific recommendations just the generalized advice to find page 82 (!!!!) of the fics and work forwards!

@chrismarieisme sent me several lovely recommendations I felt I couldn’t cut up and mix, so here they are all together:

This was difficult because I love so many of the fics, but here we go:

“Be still” by @flashofthefuse – very sweet glimpse of a moment between P&J the night before she leaves for England. It's exactly how I'd hope that moment would be.

“He Calls Her Beautiful” by @ladyroxie – simply exquisite.

“A Perpetual Feeling” by @missingmissfisher – so romantic! The intuitive connection between P&J.

“The Actor” by @ollyjayonline – Jack & Jane, Pride and Prejudice. What more does one need?

“Merciful Powers” by @scruggzi – Jack, tights, Shakespeare. Ngggh.

“The Wager” by @soupsouffle – fun, witty, deliciously, steamy URST.

@soupsouffle, “The Wager”. Reread by @kanste

A wager between Phryne and Jack about who gives into seduction first makes for great banter and flirting. I love how they both use every trick in the book to seduce the other. This fic has some of the best flirting/banter and some of the hottest smut scenes ever. Do I need to say more?

@omgimsarahtoo, “A Thief in the Night”. Reread by @rubycaspar

This story is just so much fun. I love the beginning, told from drunk!Phryne's POV, and then the lovely moment when Jack wakes up and finds her there in the morning. I love the characterisation of both of them in this fic, and the concept is so cute and so well-executed.

@ladyroxie, “The Sweetest Fruit”. Reread by @kanste

Can I just say I love Peach and this fic has a lot of it. It has no smut but it is sooooo sexy. I love to imagine Jack in the garden, especially on a hot day like today. The banter/feeding is just like them and turns up the heat some notches.

@jackphryne4eva, “Cafe Blend”. Reread by @omgimsarahtoo

I adore the meta nature of this fic – the story is of a female MFMM fanfic reader who needs to find a quiet place to read the latest chapter of a smutty fanfiction. Her anticipation is delicious, as is the small French cafe she finds! There's an element of all of us in how she is struggling against her impulse to hide her obsession with MFMM and its fic, and how she decides to read on, working to smother any shame she's been made to feel. It's got a million tiny moments that evoke the show, and so many spots that could be any one of the Phrack fangirls we know. I just love it!

@aljwritesphryne, “and stealing my heart...”. Reread by @rithebard

.... Sweet story. Jack takes Phryne home to escape her mean father and it is just such lovely touching story.

@evendale, “Finally”. Reread by @scruggzi

Set after “Unnatural Habits”, this was one of the first fics I read and I was fascinated by the exploration of phrack's developing relationship with a much more inexperienced depiction of Jack than in many other fics. Phryne in this is very much the teacher, ushering him into the modern world through their developing relationship. Their characters take on this nice point and counterpoint dynamic, with her representing the age of modernity and him a traditional approach that he's fairly eager to leave behind. It's mostly a very gentle story with some lovely banter and very sweet moments between the two of them and it's very much a comfort fic for me. Something I tend to re-read when I'm grumpy. Although I think I lean towards a more experienced version of Jack's character now, with its setting at the end of season two I think this one works as an interpretation and it fills me full of the happy feels whenever I go back to it.

@firesign23, “Grasping at Shadows”. Reread by @rithebard

Phryne and Jack go back to Paris after the war and are haunted by their past and have a hard time sharing it with each other. This is sweet and special because it touches on their vulnerabilities. And how their love bridges it. It is a lovely tale.

@aljwritesphryne, “A Collingwood girl for an Abbotsford Man”. Reread by @kanste

Phryne and Jack return to the footy field and it turns out very different then in the show. I love the flirting and how determined Phryne is to "win over" Jack.

There is desk sex too.......

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Power of the Feminine”. Reread by @kanste

Another series of fics. I love all the different aspects Sarah put into the fics. There is young Jack having sex for the first time and Sarah manages to make the life of the woman with whom it happens come alive. She also introduces us to all the different women who made Jack the man and lover he is today. Of course there is Phrack sexy time. She gives us a new family member whom I like very much and I hope makes a return sometimes.

What made me especially happy is the Happy End Concetta is getting after Jack. It is such a wonderful heart-warming story for a lovely minor character.

@phrynesboudoir/Sassasam, “Mirrors into Windows”. Reread by @scruggzi

This fic combines all my favourite elements of undercover phrackvestigation and resolved sexual tension. Phryne and Jack have been estranged since her return from London although Phryne doesn't know why Jack's not sought her out since she's been back. After being thrown together on a case involving slaughtered academics they renew their friendship and try to navigate a big change in Jack's life and what it means for their partnership. There are lots of lovely things I could say about this fic but basically Phryne as a professor was a kink I never knew I had and it made me spectacularly happy.

@promisesarepiecrust, “City that works” and "A Whole World in Here". Reread by @balticprincess

These are two of my special favourites. Unusual, but great!

There are three things that I love best in fics I like: Angst, Modern AU and a happy ending. And while the first two are not mandatory, I enjoy other fics as well, the last one is. As I watch only movies with happy endings, of course this goes for reading fic, too. "A Whole World in here" by @promisesarepiecrust is written as a play. Nevertheless you can suffer and rejoice with Phryne and Jack in this one. It is full of suspense and romantic. And angsty. So angsty. The epilogue is lovely AND it is M-rated, as I like it. So, an unusual one, but so good and well written.

"City that works" is a modern AU. Total AU: Jack is the free-spirited rich guy and Phryne the divorced policewoman with PTSD. It works so well, that one. Romance, suspense, will-they-won't-they, sex, love, misunderstandings, fun: all there. So, also unusual, but so worth reading!

lefaym, “Locked Rooms”. Reread by @whopooh​

I have probably read this fic more than ten times. It’s fun and lighthearted, and it captures awkwardness in such a wonderful way. Phryne is sure she is about to die in a cellar together with Jack, and she decides to kiss him, because she “had no intention of going to her grave without ravishing Jack Robinson at least once”. When they are saved by Dot and Hugh, they are found in the most compromising situation, and from this moment on the fic is all about delicious awkwardness, and Phryne not wanting to admit she feels awkward. She tries to push it away as not important but fails spectacularly. Here comes one of the funniest lines I’ve read: “Phryne was not going to be defeated by a small masturbatory lapse in judgment“. Finally, the people around her decides she needs a push in the right direction, and we meet the lovely concept of Aunt P ex machina. 

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Female Gaze”. Reread by @kanste

Why do I like that fic? Well, it has Jack in a shower (a lot). But that is not all. Every single reaction to Jack is spot on and lovely. Especially Elsie has a soft spot in my heart

YouknowmeasJ, “Before the World”. Reread by @scruggzi

I'm am absolute sucker for a fluffy reunion fic and this is one I especially like. Jack catches up with Phryne before she leaves Australia and they scheme together to get the Baron home without Phryne having to fly him because he's driving her up the wall. Some lovely funny banter, a little bit of smut and that nice 'you and me against all obstacles' aspect of their partnership really comes to the forefront.

@phrynesboudoir/Sassasam, “The Nearness of You”. Reread by @rithebard

I love pretty much everything Sassasam writes but I chose this one because it really touched my soul. Jack dies in 1929 on the way to meet Phryne and his ghost finds it attached to her home but no one can see him for years till her a new Phryne Stanley comes along. I love this story because you love Phryne's decedent and you feel so deeply for both Jack and Phryne Fisher's sadness and loneliness. Incredibly touching.

@gaslightgallows, “Creatures of Stillness”. Reread by @rithebard

Again I really love gaslightgallows's stories. But this one just really touches me. Jack becoming a merchant seaman to get to Phryne in a beard and dirty peacoat all he wanted to do was get to Phryne and she was delighted. She loves taking care of Jack and it is a very sexy story but it was what they discover about their feelings that really touches me.

@jeneenp/ CollingwoodGirl, "A Man in Need”. Reread by @kanste

This fic has so much going on. I love the PhrackAngst, how everyone works together to get our two idiots together, and the little glimpse in Jack's live. It has some of my favourite Phrack scenes in it. Phryne convincing Jack to let himself touch (in the train), Phryne being her goddess self and bathing in the forest lake and Phryne teaching Jack how to use his tongue. As a plus you have Dot in detective mode.

@olderbynow , ”Smoke and Fire”. Reread by @zannadubs23

According to my reading history it’s around five hits. I love this for a couple of reasons. It’s light and sweet, but still smoking hot. Phryne who is normally so wonderful at everything, just can’t handle the baking of the biscuits. I like that she wants to try, not because she’s goo-goo eyes for Jack (well, not only that—thought that’s clearly part of it) but because he challenges her. That’s it right there. It hits the essence of what makes them tick and lights our imaginations on fire with these idiots. He challenges her and she loves it. She challenges him and he loves it.

@ollyjayonline​, “For Fox’s Sake”. Reread by @whopooh​

This fic is such a happy place, it’s a fic that kind of sparkles with fun and companionship and teasing and love. Phryne and Jack are bailing out from a fox hunt to instead first save the fox and then ravish each other in a folly. The way they interact has such energy and at the same time lightness in it, Phryne’s teasing about Jack’s slightly higher levels of embarrassment is lovely, and it’s a delightful fic.

@omgimsarahtoo, “Romantic Overtures”. Reread by @kanste 

This is not a single fic but a whole series worth reading. I'm really, really fond of letters and Sarah writes some of the best letters out there. I love how Jack and Phryne get bolder with the letters and how in the later fics they keep up with the letters. I would love to have something like that in my relationship

Comeaftermejackrobinson, “Method in their madness” & Miss Templeton, Twelfth Night series (starting with “A Willow Cabin”). Reread by @rithebard

Reunion in England, "Method in their madness" is another favorite, so lyrical and poetic. It is really a story for romantics which I am and exploring the inner lives of our heroes. I also love Miss Templeton's Twelfth Night series on ff.net. She creates a fascinating arc in their romantic relationship while they professionally solve case after case. Also it is fun. And they both have their vulnerabilities with real understanding and though they don't say it out loud love.

DivineMissP,  "Impact" and "Pure Bliss". Reread by AnonM

Dark, well written hurt/comfort. Jack gets to be a reluctant hero without taking anything away from Phryne's strength.

@omgimsarahtoo, “The Breathings of Your Heart". Reread by @kanste

This is Sarathoo's take on the soulmate trope and one fic I've turned to many times. The concept of one soulmate is troubling but Sarah did it beautiful. I love that Phryne and Jack aren't really convinced of the concept (Jack marrying Rosie, Phryne is doing Europe) but when they need comfort turning to each other.  The picture of Phryne writing over her bruises without the ink gives me so many feelings. To balance it out, the conclusion and especially her last message made me laugh out loud.

@firesign23, “When I Sorrow Most”. Reread by @omgimsarahtoo

This is one of those stories that I go back to when I just need a moment to cry. It's short, but saturated with emotion, and just perfectly painful to read. It's like those movies you watch, knowing that they're going to tear your heart out and you're going to love every minute. It breaks my heart every single time.

@heavyheadedgal​, “Queen’s Gambit”. Reread by @whopooh​

This is only a ficlet, but I have found myself coming back to it agfain and again. Although Phryne and Jack are only playing chess in this fic, there is still so much happening and so much understanding flowing between them. I love the way they talk about themselves and their possibly developing relationship while they seem to be talking only about the game in front of them.

This was all.  Here are the earlier posts in the series: I ; II  ; III.

I hope I managed to include everything that has been sent to me -- if I missed something, please let me know and I’ll remedy it!

#reading miss fisher #mfmm fanfic tidbits #mfmm fanfic #mfmm fanfic recs

[margarittet]

SPN Season13 in the Galaxy not so Far Away, aka Supernatural vs Star Wars

We all know how important “Star Wars” are in the SPN universe, but I just had a revelation yesterday: we are now in the point of the story that literally just arrived at the doorstep of “a new hope”, and everything just fell into place. 

(To the fellow SW fans: I am drawing parallels here only to the first six movies, excluding everything else, because I realised this is a topic that you can write about for hours and hours - with this thought in mind, I have limited myself to the very basic character overview. If anyone wants to add plot analysis, philosophy, more future speculation or whatever else, please feel encouraged to do so!)

The classic “Star Wars” is a franchise that is an archetypical, medieval adventure/fairy tale/coming-of-age story set in space, with magic, romance, religion, philosophy, knights, dark lords, orphaned heroes, a princess, wizards and scoundrels, a quest, epic battles, a war between good and evil, love, choices and redemption. It also talks a lot about free will, nature vs nurture, found family vs blood family, the power of love, faith, hope, self-understanding, and self-acceptance.

It’s a perfect parallel to Supernatural. So, let’s have a look:

1) Lucifer is Anakin/Darth Vader. The one with amazing powers, the one who stood out among the Jedi/angels, who was supposed to be “the bringer of light”, but who was brought to the Dark Side due to hubris and hate, and to rules he didn’t agree with, the rules given from above. The moment love was gone from his life, Anakin/Lucifer went bye-bye, gave in to the power of evil, and became the Dark Lord. 

Once Luke/Jack came into the picture, Anakin/Lucifer started looking for him to lure him to the Dark Side, because Vader, just like Lucifer, doesn’t understand the concept of love above blood, and of free will that can steer our innate nature. Luke does not give in to the dark side, and in the end he manages to draw his father back to the side of light because of love and light he chose for himself - and Anakin dies redeemed. I’m not sure if this is Lucifer’s path, but since he “was not a villain” in his story either, we’ll see.

Anakin/Lucifer used to be the Chosen One, the one destined to change Jedis/angels, but he went astray. Luke/Jack is now the one set to repair the damage he has done.

2) So, Jack is our Luke Skywalker now. At the beginning of our story it was Sam who was Luke’s parallel, but Sam has grown and can now be the older, smarter “Jedi” who has seen it all before, and can use it to educate his young padawan. That just underlines the similarities between Jack and Sam that will play a big part in the future. 

Jack/Luke. A young kid, who has humongous amounts of power/magic/Force inside of him, who is “a new hope” for the universe, but who needs outside influences that would keep him away from the Dark Side. He will need his teachers and friends to stay on the path of light, to fight for the right cause, and to help restore the Republic (balance). They will also help him understand the new world he was thrown into with all the politics and family drama behind it - his dad is the Prince of Darkness after all (Lucifer/Darth Vader), his mom was a sweet, innocent soul who loved purely, but is now dead (Kelly/Padme Amidala), he himself posseses the potential to build or destroy, and now the question is how he will choose to use his abilities.

(Ok, since we don’t yet have gifs of Jack, here you have a preview from another show:)

He will figure out where he will put his power, faith and heart, with a little help of his friends:

3) Dean/Han Solo - an actual human, with no superpowers of his own, but by no means unimportant or without special traits. Just as Han, Dean is the epitome of charm, courage, skill, quick wit, friendship, love and humanity. He doesn’t need the Force/magic/angelic powers to be one of the most important people in the Galaxy. He would happily die for his friends/family, and he is also the lover in the story, a BAMF fighter and a great pilot/driver with a cool vehicle.

4) Cas is part Yoda, part Leia. Yoda is Cas’ supernatural - “angelic/alien” - side. Leia is Cas’ human side.

He is paralleled to Leia in the fact that he is the newly found family to Luke (Sam/Jack), and a lover to Han (Dean). He also resembles Leia in the way that, even though she has a very strong Force heritage (that would be angel powers in this analogy), she is not really interested in her skills, and prefers more down-to-earth activities, like fighting for the cause, and enjoying love/family life. 

Oh, and the sass.

As for Yoda - he just now is becoming a Yoda parallel. He is being separated from Sam and Dean, going through his spiritual awakening into self-awareness, and gaining knowledge (his own Buddha-like path), so that he can emerge again, more prepared to take a role of a teacher. I almost can see some kind of Dagobah-like scenario where Jack and Cas go away for some time, so that Cas can show Jack something connected to his angelic side - the light side of the angelic “Force”.

Life lesson to be taken from this: never take the dorky little guy at face value.

5) Sam, who used to be Luke, swinging between the light and dark inside of him, can now become Obi-Wan, being half a teacher-philosopher, half a warrior - not unlike Cas, but I think Cas is definitely more Yoda. Castiel is”alien”. Sam is fully human, only with special powers, so he’s Obi-Wan. Additionally, in another parallel, Sam has a past with Lucifer, something that can be used now when he will try helping Jack.

Sam, as a mirror to Jack, has always been the HOPE in the show.

(Just a side comment: the sass is strong with this one.)

Angel!Cas/Yoda and Sam/Obi-Wan are very similar to each other in a way that they are both a bit hermit, they have no problems being alone, studying new things, or just spending hours doing things that people like Dean/Han Solo or Jack/Luke would find deadly boring. They have few earthly possesions. They don’t nest. They prefer knowledge/faith/spiritual growth to material things and strong emotions (of course Cas is slowly breaking out of this, becoming Leia). It’s a very Buddhist approach to life that Jedis preached as well.  

(I guess Sam is a bit of Chewie, too.)

Human!Cas will be different. He will be earth bound, love bound, and mission bound - and once the mission is done, and balance is restored, he will find his place, his home with his lover, and he will be very happy with it. Love will be a huge part of his character story, but not the defining part - just like Leia, he will be a fighter, a strategist, a soldier, and in the end, a lover.

Sam and Cas, paralleling Yoda/Obi-Wan, once they teach Luke/Jack about everything he needs to know, will die (figuratively) which means that they will finally be able to ”rest in peace” - settle down in their final endgames - Sam a scholar and a hunter, and Cas a lover, a hunter and a human. Jack will be settling down, too, after his job is done and Lucifer is dead - like Luke.

It’s going to be a good ending. There will be music, dancing, kissing and ILYs. 

And, hopefully, some Ewoks.

#supernatural #parallels #star wars #character analysis #dean winchester #castiel #Sam Winchester #jack the nephilim #destiel endgame #jack kline #luke skywalker #princess leia #han solo #obi wan kenobi #yoda #spn meta #long post

[starchildsteven]

I know you've mentioned your headcanons for children of the UD gang, but could you describe their kids in more detail? Like appearance, personality etc

Okay anon, myheadcanons are very much always in flux and I have differentversions of most. Especially in the ‘after the game’ category.  Sojust as a heads up I’m basing this on THIS version of my UD childrenheadcanons because it is the only one that I have a detailedheadcanons for and really it’s the only one of them that isgenuinely happy.

—

Josh (Jay) has onetrait in common with his mother Ashley, her green eyes. They bothcried over it a lot when he was very young because sometimes lookinginto his green eyes was extremely painful as they are also the samecolor of his namesake’s. He’s a Joshua with green eyes and thathurts, so they decide to call him Jay instead. Chris still cries overit sometimes but much less often. Other than that Jay could not bemore his father’s son. In looks or attitude, he literally looksnothing like Ashley. He is a serious show off and know-it-all far toomuch smarter than his peers. He has quite the obsession with buildingthings in the garage. Unfortunately like hisblow-torch-out-of-a-deodorant-can-to-melt-army-men andshoot-the-tank-of-a-flamethrower-hoping-for-the-best father, he isclever but not the least bit careful. Chris and Ashley spend so muchtime at the ER, Chris jokes they should see if they can get aspecial, permanent parking spot. Ashley does not find this funny. Jaydoes not have too many other interests outside that, school and videogames. He isn’t a trouble maker in any other way and is anintrovert with few friends. He’s gay, which as his brother istransgender Chris jokes he and Ashley must have queer embedded intheir DNA as they’re both demisexual and nb themselves. Ashley doesfind this funny.

Jackson (Deadname:Jacqueline) was named for Flamethrower guy after Chris finallytracked down his real name. That’s because “He saved my fuckinglife, Ash.” Coming out was weird for him because Ashley respondedby saying both they and his father were trans too and asked how hehadn’t noticed. To be fair, he was 7. He looks far more like acombination of his parents. His hair is a perfect blend of red andblonde. He reads a lot. He has about as many books as Ashley does.Chris and Jay would much rather they used kindles so the house wasn’tas crowded with bookshelves. Unlike Jay, he’s extremely embarrassedby his parents, but most especially by his father and Chris takes somuch joy in purposely embarrassing him. Ashley finds it as funny ashim. He might not be interested in anything that is not Entomology(thestudyof insects) or Cryptozoology(thestudyof mythical Creatures).Even as young child he had an avid interest in creepy-crawlies andmyths. This massively bothers Chris and Ashley but they can’t tellhim why and don’t want to force him to change hobbies. SometimesAshley cries over it and Chris will sometimes yell at him. (thoughboth are exceedingly rare). They do try steer him towards insects asthey’re terrified a career in the latter will lead him into a dangerthey both know is very real.

Grace is very muchlike Jess, as well as being basically a spitting image of her. Shehas Mike’s lips and his body more like his. She is almost tall asher father. So Grace is straight banging! We are talking model prettyhere. She is also fit and strong af. Girl’s got a six-pack thatwould put every guy in her grade to shame. Mike is more than a littleproud his baby girl could definitely kick a grown man’s ass andprobably shoot a deer from 200 feet away, killing it in one shot.However survival training skills are hardly her only interest andhonestly she really only does it to stay in shape and keep up theskills. Mike instilled this habit in her from a young age. He willnever allow what happened to Jess happen to his children. Grace wouldmuch rather like to pursue a career as a professional dancer and Jessnot only supports it, she loves it. Mike suspects Jess may be tryingto vicariously live though their daughter but she doesn’t push iton Grace so he lets it go. She dreams of being a back-up dancer tosomeone famous like Arianna Grande or Beyonce (not specifically themas they may no longer be stars in her time, but someone as famous.)She is quite talented. She’s skilled in everything from hip-hop toswing to salsa although Mike would prefer if she didn’t like themore sexy styles of dancing as much as she does.

Mike Jr. (MJ) looksa lot more like Jess than Mike but he does have his father’s faceshape and jawline. He is very different than the rest of hisout-going, extrovert family members. He is trained much like Grace insurvival skills. So he is strong and fit but much less so than hissister. He forgets to keep up with his work outs and training. Heremembers enough to still be pretty skilled at all of it but he wouldrather do much more quiet endeavors. He likes practicing the guitarand far more musically inclined than he is anything. He is an A+student much like his father was though unlike with Mike Sr all ofhis teachers would rather he participated more. Mike tries to be okaywith this. He really does, but he is more worried than he is upset.He is afraid MJ is going to have a hard time in life because despitebeing physically strong his is too emotionally weak. This also upsetsMike because it reminds him of Hannah. Jess doesn’t really see it,so she is often comforting him over it. He also doesn’t seem tointerest girls but he also doesn’t seem to interested in boys. Jessand Mike aren’t too worried about that as they think he might growout of it. Even if he doesn’t they don’t want to force anythingon their children. Jess is secretly happy her son is this way. Sheworries Grace’s attitude will get her into trouble like it didJess.

Riley obviouslylooks nothing like either of her parents. She’s Latina though asshe has been with Matt and Emily since she was just a baby shedoesn’t speak Spanish. She is almost the perfect stereotype of aspoiled rich girl. But she’s spoiled sweet not rotten. Matt hasmanaged to instill in her his kindness and gratitude for life. Emilyhas encouraged to be a good student. So while she has a bit of askewed view of the world as she has rich and semi-famous parents (herfather especially) she’s not a mean girl. She was born 5 yearsafter the youngest of her parents’ friends’ kids (Jack). In fact she’squite sweet if naive and a little out of touch with reality. Sheisn’t naturally smart like Emily is. But she studies hard and itpays off for her. That and she attends the best school Emily couldget her in. Even though she’s a girly-girl she is a daddy’s girland dada was her first word. Matt is more than willing to play dresswith her and play with her dolls and do her hair when she is little.He often falls for the puppy dog eyes when she is a teenager and willbuy her anything she wants. Emily asks him if he is aware she isplaying him and Matt always says “Yeah, but look how happy she is.”Emily is quite proud of her daughter’s work ethic and her sense ofstyle. She is also thrilled Riley wants to go into fashion design.

SPOILER: I’mhoping (*fingers crossed*) to write a Sam fic based on this next headcanon so if youwant to read that if and when it comes out do not read any further asthis contains a major spoiler. If you don’t care, read on.

Sam has twochildren, twins born around 9 months after the events of the game,Hannah-Beth Giddings and Christopher Giddings each of them namedafter their parents’ best friends. For those of you who can’t seewhere this is leading to. They are Josh’s kids as well and Sam wishesshe could’ve told him about it before he “died” (Wendigo-Joshcanon). They, quite unfortunately for everyone, look exactly like allthe Washingtons and literally nothing like Sam. As to avoid anyconfusion they call Christopher by the nickname Kit. They are theoldest of all the kids in this generation for obvious reasons.

Kit is, much likeJay, his father’s son. Though unlike Jay he is a terror in everyconceivable way. Sam is constantly being called in his school becausesurprise, surprise Kit is in trouble. He is though a very well likedkid. He has many friends but honestly his best friend is of courseHannah-Beth, but he likes all his mom’s friends kids. He does notlike the outdoors. He does not like animals. He does not likeclassical music. He does not like pretty much anything Sam likes.This makes it hard for Sam to bond with her son. He would much rathergo to a house party or play video games and (“don’t you daretell, mom!”) build models. Again since he is a Washington at hearthe is drawn to most creative pursuits. Film, painting, singing. Hehas many artistic interests and talents. It might be all of theseinterests that make him so many friends with a wide variety of peopleand he is considered a heartthrob. He also inherited the dreadedWashington trait of skilled lying.

Hannah-Beth, usuallyjust called Hannah also looks all Washington though this means shelooks more like Hannah and Beth. Sam is unsure if her daughter islike her or if her daughter is like Beth. The two of them had a lotin common. She has almost the exact opposite interests as Kit. Sheloves sports and the outdoors and most of all she loves animals. Shewants to be a vet. Personality wise though she is very much like herbrother. An out-going extrovert with a lot of friends. Sam’s kidsmight be the most popular ones in their school. Hannah plays softballand she wrestles. She got Josh’s sense of humor and his love ofmaking people laugh. She and Sam spend a lot of time together and shefeels she connects more with Hannah than her son. Hannah thinks shehas the coolest mom too which granted she might. Much like herbrother Hannah is considered a knock-out. She is fiercely stubbornthough. She is going to get her way, just like Hannah 1.0 always did.

Christopher andHannah-Beth also have the most important Washington trait of all. Undyingsibling love.

Ages: Kit and Hannahare the oldest with Jay about a year or so younger then Grace twoyears younger than Jay then MJ under a year younger than his sister withJack a year after MJ. Riley is the only one still a child when theothers are teenagers being 9 years younger then Kit and Hannah. WereRiley 1 year old then Kit and Hannah would 10, Jay would be 9, Gracewould be 7, MJ would be 6 and Jack would be 5

Extra headcanon: At some point Kit and Jay start dating and eventually get married too. (Chris is a little happy his and Josh’s kids ended up together.)

[thefaeriereview]

Tour: Boys of Brighton

https://ift.tt/317ZAif

SERIES REVIEW TOUR

BOYS OF BRIGHTON SERIES by M. TASIA

Welcome to Brighton, Texas. Where anyone can find a home.

The stories are standalone but set in the same town.

Genre/s: Contemporary MM Romance

Overall Heat Rating for the series: 4 flames

Check out the series on Goodreads

Series Buy Links

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords | Kobo | Boroughs Publishing Group

BOYS OF BRIGHTON

1 Gabe

2 Sam’s Soldiers

3 Rick’s Bear

4 Jesse

5 Coop

6 Travis

7 Grady

8 Vincent

9 Shadow

10 Holidays

  BOOK 1

Two Men. One Fire.

Book Title: Gabe

Length: 41 410 words

Release Date: September 8, 2016

Trope/s: Hurt/comfort

Themes: Trust and hope

Goodreads 

Buy Links

Amazon | Kobo | Smashwords

Blurb 

UNQUENCHABLE

Gabe Mason is a fifth-generation firefighter unable to move forward with his life after a devastating betrayal two years earlier. Graphic designer Johnny Jeffrey relocated to Brighton, Texas, to flee persecution and fear, and to begin living again on his own terms. The two meet amidst fire and smoke, and soon Johnny is in Gabe’s arms, right where he should be. The connection is palpable, undeniable, and hot, and healing from the past is within reach of both men. And yet, the office-building blaze that brought them together is only the beginning of their struggles. Not family, not faith, not a lunatic’s rage. It took a fire to bring Gabe and Johnny together. Nothing will tear them apart.

BOOK 2

Three Men.

One Duty. Love.

Book Title: Sam’s Soldiers

Length: 40 560 words

Release Date: December 29, 2016

Trope/s: Revenge/Salvation

Themes: Forgiveness

Goodreads

Buy Links

Amazon | Smashwords | Borough Publishing Group

Blurb 

Emergency room nurse Samuel Mason is offered a ménage relationship with two ex-military men and discovers a love more dangerous—and more exquisite—than he anticipated.

Welcome back to Brighton, Texas. Where any man can find home.

THE POWER OF THREE

As an emergency room nurse at Brighton General, Samuel Mason spends most of his days caring for the sick and injured, and his nights alone. Until now.

Jack “ Spider” Forrester and Dante Snow have arrived. Retired from the Army, they provide protection to those in need. They’ve come to Brighton to guard Sam’s cousin from a dire threat, but it’s Sam’s world they turn inside out. Jack wears his heart on his sleeve but is no pushover, and Dante is scarred from a past he’d sooner forget. They two are partners in all things, from the bedroom to the office to the street, and they want Sam to join them...for as long as they’re in town. But there is danger ahead, and not just from the type of men these skilled, muscled heroes have sworn to take down. The danger of falling in love.

  BOOK 3

Some things are better in person.

Book Title: Rick’s Bear

Length: 40 060 words

Release Date: March 3, 2017

Trope/s: Opposites attract, hurt/comfort

Themes: Family and strength

Goodreads 

Buy Links

Amazon | Smashwords | Borough Publishing Group

Blurb 

Welcome back to Brighton, Texas. Where any man can find home.

A DEN OF THEIR OWN

Clem “Bear” Mitchell owns the only diner in Brighton and prefers to be left alone. After growing up in—and barely escaping—one of the toughest motorcycle gangs out of Chicago, he just wants peace. Librarian Rick Johansson is the same. Due to his anxiety, he has always lived on the outskirts of society, finding it far safer to stay in the stacks. But no man is an island, and when the two are thrust together by dangerous events playing out around them, they see that life is better together. The tattooed, bear of a biker and the quiet, unassuming librarian will soon show the residents of Brighton that the local bookworm can teach an old bear new tricks.

  BOOK 4

If you can’t stand the heat…

Book Title: Jesse

Length: 40 810 words

Release Date: June 2, 2017

Trope/s: Second chances at love, secret past

Themes: Moving on from the past

Goodreads 

Buy Links

Amazon | Smashwords | Borough Publishing Group | Kobo

Blurb 

HEATING UP

Royce Evans has worked as a paramedic in Brighton since graduating college. After the accident, though, his life seemed over. His husband died. Then he met Jesse. Handsome, brave, loving—the short-order cook is everything Royce desires. Everything he’d thought forever gone. Now Jesse’s tan, muscled body has brought him back to life, and nothing is going to shut that down. Not his own fears of heartbreak. Not Jesse’s past, or the fact that he ran from it. And definitely not Jesse’s crazy violent family, the Redemption Squad.

BOOK 5

At All Costs…

Book Title: Coop

Length: 41 430 words

Release Date: September 5, 2017

Trope/s: Hurt/comfort

Themes: Changes, strength, forgiveness

Goodreads 

Buy Links

Amazon | Smashwords | Borough Publishing Group | Kobo | Apple | B&N

Blurb 

CATCH ME WHEN I FALL

King of the one-night stand, Coop Stenson knows his warped upbringing and chosen profession with the Sentinels, a private security team, has conditioned him to avoid romantic attachments. Yet when accident-prone Matthew Whitton literally falls into his life, one thing is abundantly clear: Matt deserves more than a man-slut.

Matthew’s love is overpowering, and just as Coop is ready to take the plunge, having fought its inevitable pull for as long as he could, an old nemesis targets the partners of the Sentinels. So keeping Matt safe is about more than just another job or set of logistics. It’s about the rest of his life.

  BOOK 6

To Protect and Serve.

Book Title: Travis

Length: 44 450

Release Date: November 7, 2017

Trope/s: Hurt/comfort

Themes: Overcoming fear, trust

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Blurb 

BEAUTY...

After living on the streets and in his car, Travis has found a home in Brighton, Texas. His job as a cook at the local diner pays enough for him to afford a small apartment, and, for the first time in years, he's able to feed his passion, buying a few art supplies so he can sketch. He's safe, and, oddly enough, feels accepted in this small town. And, for reasons he cannot fathom, Bo Mason, a gorgeous cop, seems interested. While flattered, Travis knows if his secrets are revealed, Bo won't want to have a damn thing to do with the likes of Travis Boone.

IS MORE THAN SKIN DEEP

From the moment he saw the new blue-eyed cook at Brighton's diner, Bo Mason fell. Hard. And while getting close to Travis Boone has been like gentling a terrified animal, Bo knows there's a special person hiding behind those small smiles and closely guarded secrets. Slowly, Bo starts to peel back the layers cocooning Travis and learns the heart of an angel beats inside the most beautiful man Bo has ever known.

  BOOK 7

Book Title: Grady

Length: 43 650 words

Release Date: March 1, 2018

Trope/s: Forbidden Love

Themes: Loss, forgiveness

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Blurb 

WATCH OUT FOR

After coming out, Grady Reynolds is disowned by his family, and is forced to leave his job in the Dallas PD. Becoming an officer in the small town of Brighton, Grady has to start over while feeling adrift and alone. When he meets firefighter Ben Mason, life takes a sudden, happy turn until Ben tells Grady they have to keep their relationship on the DL. After months of loving a man who thinks of him as no more than a booty call, Grady has had enough and wants out.

THE WRECKING BALL

Ben Mason loves Grady Reynolds like crazy. But Ben can't tell his lover how he feels. He can't acknowledge him in public. He can't claim him as his own. Ben wants to tell Grady the truth, but the danger in that is deadly, and Ben won't risk it. But peril and menace find Grady anyway, and Ben's lies and deception come crashing down around him. Just when he thinks he's lost everything, he learns that a love as deep as theirs can survive anything.

BOOK 8

Only the strong survive.

Book Title: Vincent

Length: 44 690 words

Release Date: July 17, 2018

Trope/s: Bodyguard

Themes: Never give up, rebirth

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Blurb 

ONLY THE STRONG

When he moved to Brighton, novelist Tristan Michaels was thrilled to leave his past behind. Trauma and danger had shattered his world and almost ruined his life. When everything finally seems to be settling down, he becomes embroiled in his best friend’s drama, which leads to more danger and…Vincent. And while love at first sight had been the stuff of Tristan’s books, when he meets Vincent fantasy became reality.

SURVIVE

Vincent Greyson has spent his life fighting for what’s right, first as a Navy Seal, and now as a member of the elite team known as the Sentinels. When he meets Tristan Michaels, Vincent knows his heart will always belong to this magnetic, special man. But love and patience is tested when horrible fates keep befalling Tristan, and Vincent vows that he’d do anything for his love, even leave the Sentinels.

  BOOK 9

The most difficult thing to do is face the truth.

Book Title: Shadow

Length: 41 560

Release Date: October 25, 2018

Trope/s: Bodyguard, rescuer

Themes: Betrayal/forgiveness

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Blurb 

THE MOST DIFFICULT THING TO DO…

Imagine knowing your family hates you and has no problem sending you away to be abused – to die alone. Randy Reynolds was living that reality until he was saved by a man called Shadow. What Randy learned about himself and the people who were supposed to love him was nothing short of horrific. What he found with the Sentinels and Shadow was everything miraculous.

IS FACE THE TRUTH

Jake Kennedy’s past haunts him. Ghosts drove him into the shadows until he became Shadow. Unseen and not really there, he lived his life without any connections but for the Sentinels, the team that saved him from oblivion. Then a mission changed his life and forced him to shed the shroud that kept his heart from feeling. Now, for Randy Reynolds, Jake will come out of the shadows, he’ll be present and whole instead of the man who had kept himself hidden for twenty years.

  BOOK 10

Book Title: The Holidays

Length: 39 960

Release Date: November 29, 2018

Trope/s: Celebration, update on couples

Themes: Looking forward to the future

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Blurb

Tis The Season

Some had waited years to find "the one," while others had given up on love and had closed themselves off from feeling anything. But each of these men have found the person that makes them whole, gives them hope and strength to face whatever life throws at them, and to show them what love really means. Welcome to the holidays in Brighton, Texas. Sit down and stay a spell. We invite you to soak up the joy of the season with your favorite lovers.

Excerpt From Travis (Book 6) Travis cleaned his cup, made his bed, showered, and headed downstairs to the diner. The dining room was dark, the solo light from the kitchen spilling out into the area, casting a dim glow. He loved this time of day. Everything was fresh and new; anything was possible. Since the diner faced east, he’d soon be graced with a beautiful sunrise filled with reds and yellows. Someday, he would capture that sight on a canvas. He turned from the window and headed for the kitchen. He’d get a tray of biscuits on before he started the coffee, knowing he’d have company soon enough. Since he’d decided to come back to his apartment from the hospital, Bo had been showing up every morning before the diner opened to have coffee with Travis. Then throughout the day into the evening, Bo would stop by until Travis was done with work. If he were honest with himself, he looked forward to their time together. And that was all he could allow. Nothing closer and certainly nothing more. Aside from the hospital staff and physical therapists at the rehab facility, no one willingly had or would ever touch him. Within twenty minutes, Travis had a tray of biscuits ready for the oven. He set the timer and went to turn on the coffee when he heard a knock on the front door. Bo. “Just a minute,” Travis yelled as he poured the remaining water into the coffee makers and headed for the door. He rounded the booths and saw Bo’s police cruiser in the parking lot, and the man’s large body filling the front door’s frame. Bo stood there smiling wide as if he had good reason. Travis felt his body heat up, and he knew he was blushing. Life had made him tough; he was a loner, and he didn’t blush, dammit. But the sight of Bo turned Travis’s brain into tapioca pudding. Quickly, he unlocked the door and let in the man of his dreams. He could look but never touch. “Good morning.” Bo’s deep voice resonated throughout Travis’s body like a caress. He reminded himself to remain unaffected; he could never allow himself to slip. “Good morning, Bo. I just put the coffee on. It should be ready any minute.” “Great. Will you be joining me this morning?” Bo’s brown eyes were so warm and inviting. Travis had already put on the biscuits, so he had a few minutes to spare. But should he? Bo being a cop meant he could read people well. “A couple minutes is all I’m asking for, promise.” Oh, what the hell, why not? “Okay, I’ll get the coffee.” Bo sat his large body on a stool at the counter. With only the light from the kitchen illuminating the area, this familiar scene felt almost intimate. Travis’s hands shook slightly with equal parts excitement and trepidation. Though there could be nothing physical between them, maybe they could be friends. That way he wouldn’t lose Bo completely once the man realized Travis was a lost cause and Bo moved onto someone who could be what he needed. Carefully, Travis added sugar and cream to Bo’s coffee, and then walked to the opposite side of the counter across from Bo, making sure a physical barrier remained between them. Bo smiled when Travis returned with his black coffee, and if Bo noticed Travis was keeping his distance, the cop gave no indication. “How was your night? More nightmares?” Bo cradled the coffee mug between his large hands. Travis had tried to keep his nightmares to himself, but Bo had seen the effects they had on him in the hospital, so there was no use in pretending they didn’t exist. “It wasn’t so bad. Only one last night.” Travis played off how shaken he’d been and attempted a smile. Bo reached over and took Travis’s hand, holding it gently. Travis froze, unable to pull his hand away. The big man’s warmth moved up Travis’s arm, and excitement filled his body. Bo reached into his pocket and pulled something out before placing it into Travis’s open palm. “I want you to have this.” Bo removed his hand, leaving a shiny, black cell phone behind. “Please accept it.” Travis never had enough extra money to buy a cell phone—a roof over his head and food in his stomach took precedence over any creature comforts. He looked at the phone’s shiny screen and its sleek body and had no clue what to do with it. Of course, he knew there was a button to turn it on, but that was as far as his knowledge base went. “I…I’ve never…I can’t take this.” “Yes, you can. I bought it for you.” “But why?” Travis asked, truly confused. Travis could have sworn Bo’s cheeks pinked. Why would he be embarrassed? I’m the one who doesn’t know how to use the damn thing. “You should have one for safety in case you need help, or if you just want to talk to someone. I programmed my number into it, but you can add as many people as you like. Here is your new phone number.” Bo handed Travis a slip of paper then took the phone from his hand and said, “I’ll show you how it works,” saving him the embarrassment of admitting he was clueless. He figured Bo must have noticed Travis didn’t have much by way of possessions, particularly a phone. Bo spent the next ten minutes explaining all the features. The only things that registered with Travis were how to text and make a call. He had no idea what he’d use the Bluetooth for. There was even a little picture of Bo on the screen Travis could push if he wanted to call him. Bo smiled wide, handed the phone back to Travis then stood while placing his money for the coffee on the counter. “I’ll drop in later today for lunch.” “But I didn’t say I’d take it,” Travis called out as Bo headed for the door. “Try it out. See if you like it,” Bo replied. “Have a good day.” The door swung shut, and he was gone. Travis stood at the counter for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do with the phone. In the end, he shoved it into his pocket before returning to the kitchen.

About the Author

M. Tasia, is a romance author who lives in Ontario, Canada. Michelle is a dedicated people watcher, lover of romance novels, 80’s rock, and happy endings. Who grew up with a love of reading. She’s a firm believer that everyone deserves to have love, excitement and crazy hot romance in their lives. Love should be celebrated and shared.

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[kekoaskorner]

I’ve been looking forward to see Justin Timberlake again for months. I knew that the show would be one of the concert highlights this year. I didn’t want to see, read or hear anything about it and I was right to do it. The show blew me away!

Justin Timberlake performed at the Super Bowl Half time show this year so I knew a tour was soon to be announced. Little did I know that it would already be in August this year that I get to see him again. Unfortunately due to the high ticket prices the show wasn’t sold out unlike in any other country so he only performed once in Zurich and enjoyed his free time golfing 🙂

cof

But first things first. Justin Timberlake is smart. He wants the people to have a great time at his gig and he wants them to be in a party mood before he even comes on. So he’s got a DJ with him who’s warming up the crowd! I loved the song choices especially when Ed Sheeran‘s “Shape of you” came on. Soooo many memories haha The party cooled down a little while his support Bazzi took the stage – a Justin-wannabe in the making… But hey, you kinda need a break before the big party starts right?! Because you don’t want to be pulling a hamstring while you go low low low low 😀

cof

Let’s get this party started

I had this vision of Justin Timberlake’s show and I was sooo excited to see if I was right or not. To me “Filthy” was the best way to start the Man of the Woods tour and luckily Justin agreed 😀 The lights were out and the stage including some trees which was sneaking its way all across the Hallenstadion was dimly lit. It felt like you were in the woods. Then there was this white light and one by one the Tennessee Kids emerged until Justin Timberlake himself started with a bang which happened to be exactly how I imagined it! The dancing was on point and he and his dancers were making their way towards the back of the Hallenstadion on this awesome stage!

“Midnight Summer Jam” was next and I was hoping he would mix it up with “Let the groove get in” but he didn’t. But hey you can’t have everything 😀 Slowly people started to get antsy on their seats… It really was time to dance but I knew I had a mission so I waited. One of my usual concert buddies – a huge JT fan – couldn’t be there so she told me to record song No. 3. Notice how she didn’t tell me what song it was? She really knows me too well 😀 I was ready and so I happened to catch Justin’s cute tribute to Aretha Franklin who unfortunately died on that day. He started “LoveStoned” with a little “Respect” 🙂 I was super happy because it is also one of my fav songs. At the end he did this cool thing were his face is all blurry on the big curtain screens just like in the video!

Time to dance!

Mission accomplished. Time to dance! 1 beat was enough and I was up on my feet. Justin Timberlake brought “Sexy back” and a lot of people were dancing with me. I was so glad because honestly how can you stay seated?? It was already such a great atmosphere you don’t usually get until way at the end. What I loved about this show and Justin Timberlake he was literally everywhere and he was involving every person in the building. Up on the sides, down at the back (or was is the front? :D) and of course the standing area – everyone felt included. Then one of my fav tracks on the new record “Man of the Woods” came on and I was soaking it all in so I would remember when I would listen it in my car. That Justin really IS a southern man we got to experience a little bit later in the show.

It was super hot and I already felt really warm so it was nice to quickly chill for “Higher Higher” until the keyboard popped up and Justin addressed us.

Are you ready to dance? So I need everybody to stand up!

And the WHOLE Hallenstadion stood up from song 7 until the end! Tell me when was the last time that happened? We were dancing to “Señorita” until Justin Timberlake said:

So I want to try this with you. The guys sing with me:

“It feels like something’s heating up, can I leave with you?”

and the ladies sing:

“I don’t know what I’m thinking bout, really leaving with you”

And yes, there were some guys who actually helped him sing the guys’ part 😀 You just have to love concerts where you know every song and can sing a long to. Within two weeks I got to enjoy Ed Sheeran and Justin Timberlake and both shows were completely different both were so amazing at the same time. I can’t tell you how lucky I am that I got to make this incredible memories.

From “Señorita” to “Suit & Tie” Justin quickly changed into a suit jacket where showed off his dancing skills during a little laser show. It was impressive!! The keyboard was replaced by that same buttons pad you see at the beginning of the “Say Something” video.  I was already excited to hear this awesome tune but Justin Timberlake wanted to play a little. So he put on some parts of his newest song “Soulmate” until he pressed some buttons which turned into “My Love” – my least favourite song haha

Let’s make it rain

The pad thingy stood on top of the main stage behind the musicians and from there the fog started to roll in. From the rows up top the stage looked like it was shooting lightnings down the front. This show looked different from every angle and you felt like you were part of it. Justin Timberlake started the first beats of “Cry me a River” and the curtain screens turned into falling rain. You didn’t know where to look! This didn’t change when Justin stood on the middle stage with the curtain screen above him showing his reflection about 20 times! And yes, obviously the song was called “Mirrors”. It hit me like a deja vu. This was the last song on the 20/20 experience!! Like in 2014 the whole Hallenstadion was on their feet singing and clapping to the song. It gave me goose-bumps!

I am sooo glad Justin Timberlake left “Drink You Away” in the set. It was one of my fav moments on the last tour and this time he made everyone lift a glass for the incredible soul diva that Aretha Franklin was – because that’s what you do in the South. Again a nice little tribute to her. Unfortunately not a lot of people know “Drink you Away” but it didn’t keep me from fully enjoying it! After this song it went dark and it looked like a little break because they had to fire up the bonfire! 😀

Campfire atmosphere with 13k people

Justin Timberlake took his guitar and his musician friends from the Tennessee Kids band and sat around a little fire on the 3rd stage surrounded by trees and grass. The curtain screens showed a moon and we were literally transferred into the woods even more. He asked us to put our phone lights up for “Until the end of time” and this turned the Hallenstadion into a flood of lights. WOW – just beautiful. It was the let the Tennessee Kids including the backing singers Zenya, Nicole and Cowboy Jack with covers from amazing musicians. First up was Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” and a beautiful rendition of Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor” and my favourite cover by John Denver “Thank God I am a country boy”. Cowboy Jack has an amazing voice and it is crazy to think he’s only singing in the back ground!

The very cool campfire section ended with “Morning Light”. Justin Timberlake surprised me by singing the very old “What Goes Around… Comes Around”. It’s been one of my motto’s before he sang that song and it got even a bigger meaning when he sang it. I was sooo happy! He performed it on the middle stage right where my friends from Loads of Music stood. I was screaming for them when he got close to them and even wished one of their friends Happy Birthday! How cool is that?! His show might be super planned down to the minute but Justin Timberlake’s still got time for a little spontaneous gesture 😉

The end came closer with every song

FINALLY the first chords of “Say Something” resonated through the Hallenstadion and I couldn’t contain myself anymore. I was overjoyed! Thanks to the song being in the radios a lot the audience also knew the song. However this was the first time I got really disappointed. My vision of the show was that Chris Stapleton would show up on the curtain screens and sing his part. He didn’t in fact the 2nd verse was completely left out. I was so sad for a 2nd and really mad haha I couldn’t believe he just cut out Chris Stapleton. How dare he? 😀 And since I’m already complaining I might add that the sound was really bad at some points. The sound check should have been done a bit better. But hey let’s focus on the good things again 😀

Another song “Montana” to sway from side to side and catch your breath while I was back dancing for “Summer Love”. Those old songs just bring back so many memories. I love gigs where you know every song and connect them with special memories. For “Rock Your Body” the Hallenstadion was turned into a dance floor. The screen curtains were turned into the same colours as in the video clip. And suddenly a proper dance floor with square lights showed up in front of the middle stage down in the party pit! How cool?! Justin Timberlake was actually dancing in the middle of his fans 🙂

I told Shirley of Loads of Music before that I will be thinking of her when Justin Timberlake’s gonna before “Supplies” because she totally “ruined” the song for me. All I hear now is EI EI EI which in German means Egg… I cannot stop laughing during the song. It will hold a special place in my heart 😀 From super new to super old. JT’s first solo single “Like I love you” was performed on the 3rd stage with the exact same moves he did in the clip. Me in the little space I got remembered almost every move and tried to dance like JT 😀 Oh well, I tried 😀

After two hours I knew the end was near and with Dance Dance Dance aka “Can’t stop the Feeling!” the show ended but not before you saw the whole venue dance and sing and clap. It was an incredible feeling seeing everyone having a great time enjoying themselves. I can only imagine how this must feel for the artist. I loved the end of the show! I couldn’t have wished for a better one. First the Tennessee Kids left the stage and only Justin Timberlake was left to sing the last chorus with us. We were sent into the night with:

Thank you! Ich liebe euch! Good Night!

Even a few days after gig everything is still vivid and I wished I could have seen it another time to find out other things about this incredible show.

So it’s your turn! What did you find out? What made the show so special for you?? 🙂

Check out my latest gigs: Saint City Orchestra, Kate Voegele and Tyler Hilton, Ed Sheeran

Justin Timberlake's Party in the Woods! Read more about the amazing show on the blog -->

#20/20 Experience #Bazzi #Campfire atmosphere #Chris Stapleton #FutureSex/LoveSounds #Hallenstadion #JT #Justified #Justin Timberlake #Live Nation #Man of The woods #Super Bowl Halftime show #support act Justin Timberlake #The Tennessee Kids

[valorousowl]

So I'd said I'd complain here. Because I want to. But I also don't want to. Under the cut because sensitive shit.

My father died two weeks ago on Sunday. I've made about 3 posts about that. Last week we had some funerary services. Mom is having a month long wake for people to pay their respects to his ashes which will be mixed with hers following her death and then buried together, likely in the Military Cemetary in Pennsylvania where her brother is also buried.

I performed some of the services, reading

Psalms over his remains from his Lutheran service book at my mother's request. I also said prayers over his remains a few times and blessed a cross she's received as a bereavement gift.

Other than that we just spent a whole lot of time together, not enough, and talked a whole lot.

This is thw second funeral I've been at in 6 months. In may my Uncle Jack died and if home down briefly for that. An aunt had died cut In that time, Ngoc, but I wasn't close so I ended up not going/not invite to her funeral.

My sisters at that time, had been quite angry that id gone to his among other things, despite the fact he'd been like a second father to me and always looked out for me during high school.

To make things simple I'm gonna bullet what they did last time under their names.

Page

Bitched a lot about me choosing a nonblood relative over a blood relative

Had a whole homophobic* rant about it not being fair the family accepts my wife but not her girlfriendbeating, childabusing, alcoholic, lazy, boyfriend.

Ended up leaving me until way after the funeral ended because she was pissed at me. My other sister had to get us and take us to the after part.

Not great but not bad comparitively.

Hillary

Ended up showing up late to pick us up from the pick up location in Ithaca. I literally can't give her my address it's that bad.

I had to drive us down. She'd programmed her gps, two of them, to give conflicting turns so the other was no help when I got lost after Harrisburg.

Wanted to sleep at a rest stop parking lot only halfway through, this is the DAY OF the funeral.

Literally started screaming at me for getting lost and said "I drive like a man"

Told me she'd kill me for transitioning when I joked that I can't drive like a man when it's so expensive to transition**.

Repeated it, making sure I looked her in the eyes, in front of a witness, that she will kill*** me if I ever transition.

Tried to drop in unannounced at 6 am at the mother of the dead aunt to pay condolences. Even if I'd been invited that'd be supremely rude.

Immediately went to sleep when we arrived about an hour or two BEFORE the funeral.

Continued to hang all over me and call me ungrateful for not visiting for almost 4 years before this.

That was last time.

This time she did something worse, and what makes it even worse was the fact that it was our FATHER.

I know it shouldnt matter because family is family but she was there when he died and had tried to get ahold of me at work before it was too late. All of this made me think she was at least acting like a decent human being. I was wrong. I know people process grief differently and I'm no different, im still fluctuating between denial and anger and even mom is pushing it far from her mind so she doesn't have to face the reality of it. But there's certain things that are unforgivable.

Page in comparison was really kind, so anything she did out of frustration I'm skipping this time because she made an effort to be civil.

Hillary

Lent us her bedroom which was nice, except she was in there all the time. Like not to get stuff she needed she was just hanging out in there all the time. And I know you're thinking "It's her room, stop being an asshole!" Except it brings me to point two. She'd especially do it after picking fights, so that literally we didn't have anywhere to get away from her. She'd do this when I lived there too, except she'd do it in MY room, which had literally no way of locking her out as we shared one connecting door that only locked in her side. She does this for attention so she cannot be ignored.

We went out to her work, where she introduced me to Everyone as her daughter. There's about three problems there alone, but I had to be polite to her co-workers. She did so so she could basically just mooch off the free samples. Which they all commented on, pointedly.

Afterward she had me drive just to start an argument about politics, literally took me down several new roads I didn't know, and got mad when I wouldn't make the turns instinctively and made me make what were basically illegal turns. She made up for this by buying my therapy cat some things at Wal-Mart including a fidget spinner****. Then stayed in our room for three more hours.

The next morning she acted like nothing had changed and said we were going out to eat. We went to The Green Dragon which is a fancier Asian buffet with a variety of dishes. It was nice. Until she started discussing politics LOUDLY. It wasn't that kind of restaurant, it was mostly older people, like 80% 60-80 year olds on the early bird special, not somewhere you want to talk politics in rural Amish country Pennsylvania.

I told her three times, we aren't talking about that here and now.

She insisted she was talking to "My friend*****"

I told her neither of us wanted to talk to her about it so she dropped it for a while.

It wasn't long before she was back on her bullshit. She went on about infowars or some shit. (She doesn't like him, per se, but she's a "conservative in a gay hat" type) and how it was hilarious to see him get ripped apart over "Michael obama"

I tell her it's pronounced Michelle. She replied "no it's not! He's really a man, haven't you seen?" And extrapolated from there. I told her she can't call women she doesnt like men just because she doesn't like them or isn't attracted to them. (She does this)

At this point, she continues on about how Michelle is "a transgender or whatever", not really a woman, had a penis, and even without my biases, she still is SHOUTING THIS IN A PACKED RESTAURANT FULL OF OLD PEOPLE IN RED PA

I tell her to back off because she doesn't know anything about trans people and maybe she should just not talk about it because I'm not going to talk to her about it. To which of course she replies that she knows so much better because she knows lots of """"""real trans people"""""

She goes on about how they're disgusting, they smell bad, they're bad people, she outed her friend who I didn't know was trans and said that she (She managed proper pronouns for her at first then reverted to calling her a man) forced her to support her even though she was *insert insults* and even went so far as to call them... rather us, mentally ill freaks.****** She insists we wouldn't have high suicide rates of we didn't "pretend to be the other gender and accept what we really are!"

I'm done. I've had enough. I just get up and say "I'm going to the bathroom" and I literally walk away and lock myself in the family bathroom. While I'm gone she asks what my problem is and my wife tells her off, basically that she doesn't get to decide anyone else's journey for them, it costs 0.00 USD to respect people's identies and not be a fuck. To which Hillary says "don't tell me she's one too" which I'm not annoting because I've already made two notes on this. Rowan tells her "It's not my story to tell,"

"That tells me all I need to know." (Yeah no shit Sherlock you were told outright)

Rowan says she's gonna check on me, so Hiillary tells her "well, tell her her mother's dead. She doesn't have one anymore."#

##

So I'm having a breakdown in a public bathroom, on the phone with my mother, because she has humiliated me and outed me to a restaurant of strangers, and she still keeps us out with her for another hour past leaving the restaurant even when I said I wanted to go home.

She immediately tried to retract and say that first off, "[I] don't understand how hard it is and [I] don't understand the choice [I'm] making" I am not talking to her about this.

She insists she'll always support me. I want to go home.

Here's where she actually took I to Wal-Mart. Rowan has reminded me this is what the Wal-Mart trip was to make up for. On that note. She tried again to say she'd "always support me and I know it". I reminded her she told me last time she said she'd kill me over it. She denied it and I told her I still had logs to which she said "ugh, okay whatever!"

This all led to outing me to the REST of the family, which thank God they took better than her. They admitted they didn't understand and hoped I'd get lots of doctors who could help me transition safely with my health issues. Overall it was better than expected but I'm the second openly trans member of the family.

She continued to say that I hold grudges and I shouldn't be so sensitive among other things but that's really all I have the spoons for. This took three hours to write as is. So yeah, additional notes are below. This is why I will never live in PA again and never live near her again. All of this when we were supposed to be mourning our dead father.

*Its homophobic from perspective because I'm only out as a lesbian at this point.

**She is a (closet-bi) lesbian who has been told twice at this point that I'm trans. She's said I'm confused. I don't know what I am. She didn't give birth to a boy etc.

***This is about the third time in my life she's told me if it was up to her she'd have killed me. She said she wanted to abort me, she said if I'd been a boy (xy) she would have. She says if they wouldn't let her, she'd have smothered me coming out and as it stands as a "girl" (xx) she planned to orphan me if mom hadn't told her to being me home.

**** I don't even know. She insists cats love fidget spinners. Mine doesn't care.

***** I don't have to explain why this is fucked up. But I will. If you havent had this situation happen to you, regardless of sexuality and presentation, it means that person who is so important to you to be your significant other, does not measure up. Other than dehumanizing them it's just in general a shitty move. And when they dont even use your SOs name it's clear they're seen just as an accessory of you.

****** y'all remember I've already told her I'm trans? I have the Facebook logs from that convo still.

#I got sick of counting stars, so we're switching to hashes. I'm adopted. Hillary is my biological mother and we were both adopted by the same charitable lady. Her statement doesnt make a lick of sense, mother is at home. She constantly tries to insist she's my mother after all of the above and more I can't even go into here.

## If I knew all it's take was coming out as trans for hee to disown me, I would have much sooner. Soon than I did. She'll forget this in less than six months likely. Because I'm not important enough to expend memory on. I'm marginally okay with this.

#long post #personal #vent #transphobia and homophobia mentions #reasons why i hate my family #heres hoping the readmore works

[raystart]

Step Back in Time with Ebbets Field Flannels’ Vintage Jerseys

More than any other major league sport, the history of baseball is intimately connected to graphic design. Think Yankee pinstripes, Dodger blue, and the Tigers’ Old English D. As a young boy growing up in 1960s Brooklyn, Jerry Cohen was well aware of that connection: While most of his friends were tearing open new packs of baseball cards in search of their favorite players, Cohen was focused on the uniforms, the logos, and the colors.

Fast forward to Seattle, 1987. Cohen is searching for an original wool baseball uniform to wear onstage while performing with his rock-and-roll band. When he finally realizes he’ll need to make it himself, he discovers a warehouse in Rockport, New York, with yards of baseball flannel dating back to the 1940s. Cohen made a few of his own jerseys, and before too long, people were asking to buy the shirts off his back. And Ebbets Field Flannels was born.

Three years later, Sports Illustrated highlighted the company, which quickly led to celebrity commissions from Spike Lee and David Letterman. Ebbets Field Flannels provided jerseys for 42 (the Jackie Robinson biopic), and outfitted Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and other Hall of Famers at the closing ceremonies for Yankee Stadium in 2008. A die-hard Mets fan who now oversees 22 employees, Cohen recently added football and hockey jerseys to EFF’s collection, but vintage minor-league and Negro-League uniforms will always form the heart of the lineup, along with those from the historic international baseball hubs of Japan and Cuba.

When you decide to create a “new” product, where do you start?

I’m not like most clothing designers who think, “What will people like next season?” I follow history. It’s my job to be a curator and accurately take a two-dimensional form—often a black and white photo—and turn it into a three-dimensional form, which is a living, breathing piece of clothing. If I have any talent, that’s what it is.

I’m a little cagey on the subject of research; I don’t like to tell people about my methods because I have a lot of competition, and I’m not going to make it easy for anyone else. But I’ve collected a lot of reference materials over the years, and sometimes it’s very serendipitous—stuff comes across my desk and I follow leads, like any good detective.

What’s the most difficult thing about recreating these uniforms?

In many ways, it’s harder to do a simple thing than a complicated thing. Today’s graphic designers go their entire lives using Photoshop or Illustrator and many of them don’t understand the elegance and simplicity [of doing things by hand]. If you look at baseball graphics or athletic uniforms of today, the general approach is more—more colors, more layers, more of everything crammed into a very small space. But back in 1915 or 1945, it was the opposite; design literally meant someone drawing with a pencil in a sporting goods store, then someone else rendering that illustration into dies that were used to cut felt lettering.

Describe your typical customer.

When we started, there were still plenty of old timers who went to the games of the San Francisco Seals, let’s say, so that was our original market. Five or six years ago, we discovered a new market—much younger people who are driven by the craftsmanship of the products as much as they are by the history and the teams.

Now, our audience is much more diverse—we’re working with ACE Hotel and other contemporary brands [including Jack White’s Third Man Records], who seem to like our vintage approach. With so much cynicism in marketing—particularly in sports-related products—everything is so “of the moment,” but when the moment changes, all that stuff really seems obsolete. We try to sell timelessness.

Designers are always trying to connect people to brands, but it’s hard to think of a brand more powerful than baseball—simple letters and numbers and the words “New York” seem to add up to a lot more. True?  

That’s where the history comes in—putting the letters and the colors in the context of history, finding those touchstones, and even bringing a story to people that they may not be aware of. If you could describe the Ebbets approach, it’s not, “Here’s a Yankees hat like they wore in the World Series,” because that’s been done. From the beginning, back in 1988, it was, “Do you know about the Negro Leagues? Did you know this whole other universe existed and it was wonderful and rich, full of all these amazing characters?”

As historians, we’re always trying to find those little stories, so that every product we make has some emotional connection or historical resonance. It’s not always possible to discover all the details about some of the more obscure teams, but I always try to find one or two things, even if it’s just a couple of interesting statistics from an old class B minor-league team from the ’30s. Because you have to give people something to sink their teeth into, beyond a black hat with a white “A” on it.

In one interview, you point out how much you love design from the ’30s to the ’60s, and although you’ve considered creating uniforms from the ’80s or ’90s, you’re not in any hurry. What was it about that earlier era?

I’m sure there are people who would respond to something from the ’80s or ’90s just as powerfully as I respond to something from the ’50s. But to me, the ’80s is when designs became dispensable and transient, with polyester materials and logos changing constantly, so I tend to lose interest.  

Right around the ’70s is when you see regional domestic manufacturers get phased out of athletic garments, and big guys like Nike take over and it becomes more about marketing opportunities. Then the computer programs kicked in and everyone had to have their own Pantone color; it wasn’t just red anymore. We’ve recently started making more vintage collegiate uniforms and we have to explain to the schools that back in the day, there were really just seven or eight colors that everyone used; they didn’t make felt out of Harvard’s burgundy Pantone—those specs just didn’t exist. And there’s something I like about that.

It’s like playing music: Today you can have 64 digital tracks on top of one another, and the ability to make any sound you want, or you could hand someone an acoustic guitar and say, “You have to do it with this.” For me, it’s more interesting to work with a limited set of tools.

Today, no new professional sports team would choose to do something as simple as what the Yankees still wear: a one-color interlocking monogram. And yet, you can’t measure the value of that Yankees logo because it has 70 or 80 years of history behind it and it hasn’t really changed. I don’t mean to sound like everything was better “back in the day,” because that’s not true, but there’s something about American style from 1935-1972 that, for my taste, represents something really special.

You’ve been at this 30 years. Have there been any special moments when you were struck by the impact that your company has had?

The kind of people who buy our stuff are the kind of people I’d like to hang out with—experts in other fields. Early on, Spike Lee adopted us, before the Sports Illustrated article even came out—you’d open a magazine and see him wearing one of our Negro League jerseys. I remember opening up a copy of the Sunday New York Times, and seeing documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney in the section where they ask notable people what they’re watching and listening to, and under “What I’m Wearing” it says “Ebbets Fields Flannels”; I had no idea we’d be in the New York Times when I woke up that morning. I’m a huge Beatles fan, and 20 years ago Michael Lindsay, the director of the Beatles documentary “Let it Be,” called us out of the blue and asked to be put on our mailing list—and we still still talk to him. I love it when that sort of thing happens.

And of course, working on uniforms for 42 was a great experience for me personally. Jackie Robinson is part of the DNA of our company: Growing up in Brooklyn, my dad would tell me stories of Jackie Robinson and from there I learned about the Negro Leagues; it’s a springboard to everything we do. So getting to work on that movie, taking my dad to the premier, and seeing our work up on the screen—that was really special.

#startups #text #startup #advice #busieness #howto #news #tech #love