#and then she says ''I really am going to miss you Adora''

[moriavis]

Prompt: someone says they need a hug, but only because they think the other person needs one. Any fandom. 🙂

This isn't a kiss prompt, but it's cute!

(Also, to the anon who requested sugar daddy barry, that turned into a longer thing than I expected, but I am working on it!)

Today is technically Hug Your Dog day, but I'm a cat person, so... Hug Your Cat? Featuring pre-series!Adora and Catra.

~*~

Catra was in a bad mood today. She was already gone when Adora woke up, which never boded well. Adora steeled herself, taking a deep breath, and then started her routine as though she wasn't already missing Catra like a phantom limb.

She wasn't there at breakfast, or at training, and Adora's sense of unease deepened. She looked over at Lonnie as she shoveled food into her mouth. "Where's Catra?"

Lonnie rolled her eyes. "You're the only one that keeps track of her. Not my problem if you've lost your cat."

Adora shot her a narrow glare. "You could at least pretend to care."

Kyle bit his lip and offered, "I saw Catra going out, but she didn't tell me where she was going."

Adora sighed. "Thanks, Kyle." She finished her meal and bussed her tray without waiting for the others, and she headed toward Catra's favorite hiding spot: a high bridge that connected the training facility and the dorms. Catra always managed to climb up to the bridge easily, which made Adora quietly envious. She was sweaty and tired by the time she caught sight of Catra, and it still took her several minutes of effort to climb up to her side.

They sat in silence for a minute as Adora caught her breath, and she used the extra time to sneak looks at Catra from the corners of her eyes. It looked like Catra had been crying and Adora stared down at the ground so far below them.

Catra would get prickly if Adora tried to be nice, so... "Hey." Adora tried to look appropriately sad. "I had really bad dreams all night. That I didn't get a promotion to Force Captain and you were awesome and cool and left me alone."

Catra peered at Adora over the cover of her crossed arms, her tail lashing quietly at her side. At least Adora had her attention.

"And then I woke up and you were gone, and it just felt... too real." Adora's eyes stung at the thought, and she swallowed past a lump in her throat that hadn't been there a second ago. "Can you give me a hug?" Catra stared at her for a moment and then uncurled, wrapping her arms around Adora. Adora congratulated herself on her success and squeezed Catra tight enough to make her grunt. "Why were you gone?"

"Shadow Weaver," Catra muttered, and she hid her face against the curve of Adora's shoulder, refusing to say any more.

Adora didn't mind.

She would sit there on that bridge and hug Catra forever if she'd let her.

~*~

#she ra spop #catradora #my fic

[blonde-and-cat-suc]

1, 9, 16 for the ask game please also thank you for providing a safe space for antis!

It's no problem at all! happy to be here dude xoxo

-

1 ) Character everyone gets wrong?

*deep breath*

Almost. The. Entire. Main Cast.

But, perhaps most egregiously, Catra.

The reason why sister!c//a literally could not be taken out of the narrative is because if we don't accept that Catra and Adora are sharing Shadow Weaver as a mother figure, a HUGE chunk of Catra's arc very specifically is missing (or, more times than not, horribly misunderstood)!

Catra doesn't hate Adora because Adora is a better soldier. Catra doesn't care about that. She makes it extremely clear that she doesn't care about social status that first episode. She's not bitter and pissed about her commanding officer. She doesn't care about Hordak, so it's not really about approval from authority either.

She very clearly and obviously sees Shadow Weaver as her mother. She wants approval and acceptance and love from her mother. She is upset because her sister is the favorite child of her mother.

*exhales*

It's not a secret that I feel this way, but it felt nice to let that out into the air again...

9 ) Worst part of canon?

Uh, probably when Micah is introduced as this lame dad trying to get Glimmer's love.

And then... not much really coming from it. Why didn't he just stay dead. Why did we have to trade Angella for Micah. Why. I don't get it. To this day. 2/10 would not recommend swapping out parental figures. Especially since the narrative kind of seems like... it has nothing insightful to say about Micah in particular. He kinda starts to feel like DILF bait after a while. That might have been a compliment if I wasn't lesbian and he did a little bit more of that Father Figure thing people talk so much about. But, oh well.

16 ) You can't understand why so many people like this thing... (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)?

Okay, so, we're already in this far, so I'm just going to come out and say: I am actually a furry. IRL. Yeah. No, seriously. I am.

But Catra's? Not??? Fucking? Hot? I just don't see it. She's cute in a purely cat way. But hot???

I feel like people who crush on Catra are closeted furries (sometimes not) and this repression of their furriness kind of... fell on her??? Cause??? What????

But yeah, I'm sorta tired of the characterization that Catra is this ultra hot bad bitch,,, she,,, licks herself clean,,, it's just a little too animal for me. Not even furries really make their fursonas do shit like that. No, seriously. Seriously.

#*longest fucking sigh* outing myself as a furry again. but yeah. mariposa lore. youre welcome. #but anyway #asks / anons #salt ask games #and you know? to add onto the last part #it's not that i don't understand the appeal of catra #but acting like she's OBJECTIVELY hot??? that she's the LESBIAN ICON??? #that's the fucking part that gets me #ADORA IS RIGHT THERE #SHES LITERALLY RIGHT FUCKING THERE #cw: mariposa being more vulgar than usual #whoops! tag rant

[noirandchocolate]

Round 3 super fun happy comments post time!

Match 1, Vimes vs. Rob

Vimes I love you buddy but there is no way you can handle a Feegle going down your drawers.

--@purpledemoncat

Vimes would probably get adopted by the clan. He has a similar distaste for lawyers. All they need to do is get rid of his penchant for following the law.

--@missnotlob

Feegles are superstitious Rob would see the following dark and bugger off.

--@shiftyfly

But also this poll missed a golden opportunity for Rob v Adora Belle. Because there's plenty of people Rob could beat who could also beat Adora. But I firmly believe no male feegle could ever beat her. You really think that someone afraid of the pursin' o' the lips and the tappin' o' the feets could beat Spike??? I do think after the fact all the rest would be terrified of her but Rob would actually become great friends with her. (Much to Moist's terror.)

--@myidealhousehaschickenfeet (This is so funny, yes I definitely want these two to meet.)

Match 2, Granny vs. the Librarian

Granny would just Borrow him and we'd have a "stop hitting yourself!!' situation.

--@purpledemoncat

Granny turns the Librarian back into a human, or headologies him into doing it himself. He spends the next week crying and trying to grab things with his feet.

--@missnotlob

I once again point out that Granny Weatherwax is somewhat unclear on the concept of a friendly fight and very unclear on the subject of Granny Weatherwax losing anything. The Librarian ain't no fool. He's either pulling a Rincewind or backing away very slowly.

--@the-damn-things-overlap

The Librarian is a clever ape. He takes the bag of peanuts Gytha Ogg brought, thoughtfully eats one, shakes his head and points to Granny. He isn't gonna fight her.

--@msmeiriona

I feel like the fact that the Librarian is an inherently silly figure is what could lead to an upset here. Granny can rise above any serious threat and will herself look silly sometimes in handling minor ones like say raindrops or her broomstick. But I don't know how well she'd tangle with an inherently silly threat. And I think the Librarian could actually snag this one.

--@omicheese

Match 3, Vetinari vs. Nanny

@pourablecat did fanart of this match's outcome!

I can't articulate why I voted Nanny but I looked into her smiling face and it just felt right.

--@hazelnootle

There's a reason why Nanny lives in Lancre and it's to stop her from pile driving this man.

--@purpledemoncat

It's sheer narrative logic. What looks like a friendly old lady goes up against a trained assassin. The only way this could look more million to one was if she were blindfolded on one leg.

--@katistrophe

Vetinari plays Thud, Nanny Ogg plays Twister.

--@modstin

Would Nanny winning be fucking hilarious? Yes. But they had to invent a cursed gun and an entirely new system of poisoning to get a scratch on Vetinari so. And he couldn't be convinced to drink her scumble anyway. Vetinari got one-shotted by a magic user exactly once and is not about to let that happen again.

--@twofoursixohjuan

Vetinari may be a dictator but Nanny Ogg has to plan family game night for 100 people every weekend. I think that makes her far more powerful a foe. His ass is not ready for the Ogg.

--@spunchthegoblin

The only person Vetinari has ever feared is his Aunt. Nanny is the primordial matter from which all Aunties are formed.

--@thisblogisboundforglory-blog

Match 4, Carrot vs. Angua

@thestuffedalligator and @oorpe made this one sexy in a silly kind of way, and I am here for it.

Carrot, being ever the chivalrous gentleman, tries to LET Angua win. She realizes what he's up to & losers her whole entire temper. Carrot ends up having to pin her to stop her thrashing him in a fit of rage. he wins by accident for the pin & is DREADFULLY embarrassed about it.

--@javaelemental

This is a IDW Sonic Issue #57 moment, here.

--@cipher-of-the-round-table (I don't know what his means but I laughed.)

SO MUCH good commentary on the fights this time, I really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts. Everybody go check out the notes on all the fights, they're full of more funny and well-reasoned rationales for voting!

#terry pratchett #discworld #discworld fight club 2023

[plot-prominent-horde-squad-au]

Fleshed Out AU as Vines

Rogelio: “Dear diary, today I couldn’t find my diary, so I’m writing this on both my Kung-Fu Panda 2 DVDs.”

~~~

Rogelio: “Do you ever wanna talk about your emotions, Lonnie?”

Lonnie: “No.”

Kyle: “I do!”

Rogelio: “I know, Kyle.”

Kyle: “I’m sad.”

Rogelio: “I know, Kyle.”

~~~

Both Rogelio and Lonnie in Season 4: “I am disgusted, I am revolted, I dedicate my life to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, and this is the thanks I get?!”

~~~

Kyle, after the end of Protocol: (Crying) “Today was a good day. Can’t wait for tomorrow-” *Starts crying harder*

~~~

Lonnie: “I eat cheerios because they’re heart health! And my heart has been severely damaged…” *Grabs camera* “So Adora, if you’re out there-”

~~~

*Someone runs up to Baby Kyle*

Baby Kyle: “Daddy?”

The person, who is a Horde Soldier: “Do I look like your da-”

~~~

Lonnie at Catra: “Let’s tell each other a secret about ourselves. Alright, I’m gonna go first. I hate you.”

~~~

Catra: *Sneaks up behind Lonnie on the couch*

Catra: *Shoots a gun at the ceiling*

Lonnie: *Falls off the couch* *Turns and points at Catra, who is laughing*

Lonnie: “THIS IS WHY MOM DOESN’T FUCKING LOVE YOU!”

~~~

Rogelio, about either Catra or Lonnie: “She’s so rude. I hate her. She’s soo ugly. But she’s my best friend.”

~~~

Papa, at Thad: “Wow, son, your whips are getting really good.”

Thad: “Thanks, Dad.”

~~~

Kyle & Lonnie: “I hate myself. Oh, I really hate myself.”

~~~

Kyle: “And just remember that no one will ever hate you more than you already hate yourself!”

~~~

Kyle, in the barracks: (Scream singing) “I never wanna dance again! Guilty feet, I got no rhythm!”

~~~

(Pre-canon) Catra: *Jumps out from behind corner to scare Kyle* “Rah!”

Kyle: “AH! Shtap! I could’ve dropped my grey bars.”

~~~

Lonnie: “Oh good, you’re not busy.”

Rogelio: (Working on his audio log) “Actually, Lonnie, I am busy.”

~~~

Rogelio, in his audio logs: (About Catra and Adora) “And they were roommates-”

Person in the future: (Watching the logs) “Oh my god, they were roommates-”

~~~

Lonnie: (Driving a truck) “Road work ahead? Uh, yeah, I sure hope it does.”

*Crashes truck*

~~~

Lonnie: “We all die, you either kill yourself or get killed.”

Lonnie: (Dancing) “Whatcha gonna do?” (dun, du dun dun) “Whatcha gonna do?”

~~~

Rogelio or Kyle: “When there’s too much drama at school, all you gotta do is: walk a wa-ay-ay~”

~~~

Lonnie: “Hey, you doing okay?”

Rogelio: “Yeah, just lately I haven’t been able to think straight.”

Rogelio’s thoughts: “Balls. Two guys holding hands. Clay Aiken. Weener.”

~~~

Kyle: “This one’s to end war!”

Kyle: *Throws basketball* *Somehow misses basket entirely*

Kyle: :(

~~~

Someone, at Kyle: “You can’t sit with us.”

Kyle: “Actually, Megan, I can’t sit anywhere. I have-”

Kyle: *Turns to camera*

Kyle: “Full body burns.”

~~~

Lonnie: “I just love working here, we all have a lot of laughs.”

Lonnie, at Catra: “Fuck off, Catra. I’m not going to your fucking invasion.”

~~~

Thad: “Kyle! Kyle, watch the Horde soldier, dude! Watch the Horde soldier.”

Baby Kyle: *Hits the Horde soldier head on with his tiny sword.*

~~~

Kyle: *Pours lemons into a bowl* “Well, when life gives you lemons.” (dun dun dun dun! DUN)

~~~

Lonnie: *Drops a staff during practice*

Lonnie’s Instructor: “LONNIE!”

Lonnie: “......”

Lonnie’s Instructor: “Get it together sweetie, we have a competition this weekend.”

~~~

Lonnie & Kyle, dancing in the barracks: “I hate. My body. I hate. My body. I hate-”

~~~

The Horde Squad at the end of season 5: “Fuck this shit, I’m out.” *Jumps into the Whispering Woods*

~~~

And of course:

Everyone in the Horde (minus Rogelio): “What the fuck is up Kyle?! No, what did you say, dude?! Step the fuck up, Kyle!”

#She Ra #shera #She Ra and the Princesses of Power #she ra kyle #spop #spop kyle #she ra lonnie #she ra rogelio #fleshed out au #she ra au #vines #she ra as vines #she ra memes #horde squad #she ra fandom #she ra netflix #she ra dreamworks #she ra reboot #she ra 2018 #spop fandom #spop netflix #spop rogelio #spop lonnie #fandom memes #half this shit isn't even restricted to the au half of it is just straight up canon

[nny11writes]

Nunny! I'm sending you asks for your game.

I'm tempted to send you the entire post and just see the Nunny Rant. You might not even do She-ra. I'm thinking of She-ra sending these but go off about star wars or something else if you think it applies better to the question :D

the character everyone gets wrong (ahahhahahaaaaaaaaa)

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about (im sure there is a long list)

9 and 10 - Worst part of fanon and worst part of canon (imo there is some overlap)

13. worst blorboficiation

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

lakhglkajfas, I think my rant would mostly just be keyboard smashes and crying emojis so this is the better way to go lol!

the character everyone gets wrong God, like, fucking- ALL of them. :) Buuuuuut the one that's bugging me the most recently is Mermista.

I am SO sick of post canon Mermista in c/a fics specifically. Mermista would not hold a grudge that hard that long and that violently!!! Stop having her hate Catra and actively be out to do harm to her. Mermista's response to losing her kingdom was like a bad breakup where she just cried in a tub eating ice cream. Her response to seeing HORDAK at the end of the series was just a, "So are we good with him now?" implying that she's chill to be chill.

Mermista and Catra 100% would sit at a table calling one another a bitch (begrudgingly fond and pretend to not be) back and forth. Mermista would not be out to skin Catra alive! Mermista wants to talk to Catra about her murder novels because Perfuma reads too slowly and doesn't like spoilers but she NEEDS to talk to someone about the butler who has a brain cell because Sea Hawk seemed to miss the whole first half of the book AND FURTHER MORE-

9. and 10. - Worst part of fanon and worst part of canon

Worst part of fanon is the fucking shippers. This went from one of the more open and accepting fandoms for all ships that I'd ever been in to one of the worst.

Like, straight up, one of the fics that lives rent free in my head is an explicit fic where Catra and Hordak enthusiastically consent to having sex. Like Hordak is trying to be kinda standoffish but can't stop looking at boob window tits, he was Entrapta trained I'm afraid. The number of times I think of his awkward proposing they do it more frequently followed shortly by Catra dressing and winking saying, "Seriously, great cock!" is a lot lol. It's such a porn movie style fic and there is something fantastic to be said about it.

But you even hint that Catra could be headcanonned as anything besides a lesbian and your body will be found in a few months time in several different bags. Suggesting Catra and Hordak having any romantic or sexual relationship probably gets you reported to the fucking government or something. So there's a reason it's never made a rec list from me but fuck it I'm mentioning it now.

They aren't real. If I want to occasionally have a giggle about them and make my little dolls bump uglies everyone else should politely not look while my fellow weirdly sane people who get that this is all make believe but sure we're the freaks here come poke and enjoy!

Fucking shipping wars and discourse man. I'm sick of it.

Worst part of canon for me is the censorship and uncertainty that caused various issues with the plot and prevented the show from being even stronger. You can see it in real time while watching, but man it was wild in December 2018 to see how professional media talked about the show and Catra and Adora being adoptive sisters, to AJ (I think?) getting dumped on for repeating that idea and having to apologize, to the open gayness at the end. I love SPOP, but the rocky terrain the crew-ra had to navigate really did impact the quality and created weird gaps that asshole fans hunkered down into. Like, we cannot pry some of those fuckers out.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

I need you to understand that my immediate response when I started writing this answer out was a very strained and painful sigh through my nose as my brain returned a static white noise sound.

I am really tired of forcing this jock!Adora and slacker!Catra thing. Like, it started in modern AUs but it's gone and infected people's idea of canon as well. It falls into a bit of the "dumb adora" trope, which people just don't seem to actually understand what that means or is about. It also falls into Shadow Weaver's narrative of who Catra is which is wild. Like. Really wild.

You are telling me Catra, a cat person who grew up in a military, is actively against exercise? Yes, she would 100% sleep in a sunbeam for a nap, and then she wakes up and craves some low key chaos and violence.

You are telling me Adora, forced into a golden child and leadership position, is bad at reading and math and science because all she cares about is training? Adora 100% enjoys physical fitness and using her body, but she's got a sharp mind on her and there's no way in hell she doesn't like to work it too.

I am just exhausted with it in modern AUs, and now it has gone to infect canon interpretations. It flattens their characters out, ignores/denies parts of their abuse, and nukes their abilities from orbit. I hate it so so much.

Also if I have to see one more fic or art piece where Catra is willingly and happily wearing dresses, skirts, and heels I swear to fucking god I will KILL. :)

13. worst blorboficiation

Again, this is all of them. Everyone suffers from being blorbo'd to an insane degree, but it just shifts depending on which character is the favorite of that part of the fandom. You have talked several times about the insanity of Catra fans vs. Hordak fans, the blorboification is insane there. Same with Catra fans vs. Glimmer fans.

Like. God damn. I'm so glad the Adora vs. Catra fan fights died out real quick because this fandom is exhausting enough.

With Catra being my favorite it's extra exhausting because there is CONSTANTLY people attacking her and then total asshats trying to defend her who I do not want to be associated with. I love her. She's a fucking idiot and a bastard and a baby. Somehow, every take on her is both the worst and factually correct and then the fandom fights.

Tipsy, I. Am. Tired.

14. that one thing you see in fics all the time

OKAY

Let's fucking talk about how GLIMMER IS NOT AN EVIL BITCH. Can we talk about that? STOP TRYING TO LEAVE THIS POST AND SIT YOUR ASS DOWN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS AGAIN because someone needs to hear it louder in the back.

Glimmer is the character who is probably be done the dirtiest by the fandom but for wildly different reasons throughout the whole show. Hands down.

After S1 fandom took Glimmer and made her into an entitled dumbass whiner who threw money and her titles at her problems. They made her act like a child without any complexity. And it 100% took me from not really liking her character much to detesting her which is outrageous every time I remember that I kinda hated her at that point.

This did not improve post S2. :)

Post S3 probably was the most sympathetic and understanding the fandom was to Glimmer but it came at the cost of trying to bulldoze Catra for the Portal and people making callout posts like these characters were real people. I feel like the rise of some of the G/A shippers that I really can't stand was around this time. It was catra vs. glimmer fans going bat shit and drawing lines for ships.

If they couldn't assassinate Glimmer's character, by god the fandom would assassinate both Catra and Adora's in wildly different ways instead!

Do I need to talk about post S4? The idea of dark Glimmer and Glimmer going off the rails should have been a fun thing to play with in the sandbox and instead just writing it down made me cringe. Now Glimmer has to be an evil bitch because she had a trauma response and made bad decisions, now she is irredeemable because I made up a situation where she did something she didn't in canon for reasons so OOC someone probably slapped Donut Steel on it somewhere.

There was a little lift post series, but man people are holding onto Glimmer being a spoiled brat to play off of for Catra or a cruel bitch for Catra and, again, as a Catra fan, I want to bite bite kill kill bite kill kill kill!!!

Glimmer is allowed to grow up from being a spoiled kid who had good intentions and was naive. She is allowed to be over eager, bratty, petty, silly, funny, caring, and smart too. She's allowed to make bad choices and struggle with how to recover from it.

STOP MAKING ME THE LEAVE BRITTNEY ALONE MEME FOR GLIMMER

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

Shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs, shut up about redemption arcs-

#choose violence ask game #spop #she ra #long post #my hot takes that are very true and correct and somehow someone will say I'm wrong #love how much I'm like ''wish more people would be active in the fandom'' #and also ''MORE OF YOU NEED TO LEAVE NOW'' I am #stahp pitting bad bitches against one another #also #deadly serious #SHUT UP ABOUT REDEMPTION ARCS #I do not care who did or did not have one according to other fans who want to torture their least fave #*creaky old man voice* back in my day we wrote hate fic as a hobby not a religion! #you know that joke about seeing discourse that's like watching a dark shadow pass below your boat? #sometimes I see the fucking leviathan pop its head out to try and convince me of who deserves love and happiness #in the show about how EVERYONE is deserving of love and making your own happiness as you heal #and I feel like the protagonist from Dredge just pretending I don't see it to get back to shore

[disorganizedkitten]

Bursting Bubbles of Bad Luck Chapter 7

Miraculous Ladybug | 2020 | 1,331 | Ao3 | Prev | Masterlist | Next

July 3rd-Boredom

So the whole discord chat idea? Magic was the less fun part. Felix should have let Allegra add him ages ago.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Go-Go-Gadget-Chatroom

21:25

Snow Cone King: I’m just saying, Ics, that if we have to petition Walmart, we should at least do it with a lot of people.

Flutetastic: ...Almost everyone on this server and probably half of tumblr and a corner of twitter and a few people from school and my entire family

Considering my family includes you and all the cousins on your half too, that’s a lot of people.

Snow Cone King: Amb. Ics, ics you know what this means?

Speedster: Y’all, I think we should just use the online petition thingy. Get millions of email subscribers from all over the world.

Snow Cone King: My dad probably would totally sign a petition to get Inspector Gadget merch back in stores and then actually make it happen

Flutetastic: It’s sm fun to see you have one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies.

Flutetastic: Als, why do you save your logic for the middle of our discussions?

Speedster: Gotta take the time to come up with my genius.

Snow Cone King: Show off.

Penny Could Kick Me: I find it very amusing to watch you guys casually say things like ‘one of those My Dad Is A Millionaire epiphanies’.

Snow Cone King: :Squinty eyes: i can’t tell if that’s an insult

Penny Could Kick Me: Is me laughing out loud at you insulting?

Flutetastic: Say no

Snow Cone King: I haven’t decided.

Fluteastic: FE AMB! Q ARE YOU LIKE THIS?

Snow Cone King: I think so?

Penny Could Kick Me: I love you guys.

Snow Cone King: That’s def. A compliment. Thank you.

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #By-The-Power-Of-Greyskull

7:45

The Orange Death: Y’all I just found an article saying Damian Wayne and Adam are friends and someone needs to explain to me how that happened and if that means I missed a He-Man reboot

If so, Imma cri

Snow Cone King: Wait who has the rights to He-Man?

The Orange Death: Honestly I figured it was netflix ‘cause they just did that she-ra reboot but like

Apparently not?

Snow Cone King: I’m looking this up amb

Useless Ace: I thought the last reboot was in 2010?

Snow Cone King: I am apparently a very uninformed fan

There was a life action movie in 1987

The Orange Death: What

Snow Cone King: My to watch list is much bigger

I thought there were only the two versions? I don’t even know which versions they were now?

Useless Ace: Welcome to the world of fandom my friend. Experts are few, far-inbetween, and deserve mad respect bc I could care less to follow every bit of canon ever

Snow Cone King: Mood

Snow Cone King: As of dec 18, 2019, Netflix wants to do a CGI reboot

Useless Ace: Oh thank goodness. My biggest beef with the She-ra reboot was the lost potential for Adam/Adora shenanigans.

Snow Cone King: Have you watched it?

 Useless Ace: See above

Snow Cone King: :facepalm:

Actually I can’t judge, it’s still collecting dust on my to-watch list

Whatever

Snow Cone King: Reading more and Mark Hamill? Will be Skeletor?? That sounds like it'll go really well

The Orange Death: Y’all I have no idea but now I’m excited

About time He-Man came back

Snow Cone King: Fr tho, I can’t find anything about ties to dc or where he’d have met Damian

Flutetastic: Whack

The Orange Death: You’re telling me

Snow Cone King: You’re telling me.

Snow Cone King: I’m giving up. Some fandom guru who actually knows stuff can figure this out

The Orange Death: Valid

8:58

Snow Cone King: I lied and looked further and apparently not only are there multiple comicverse crossovers (Injustice vs the masters of the universe)(DC Universe vs Masters of the Universe)(he Man and the Masters of the Multiverse(I’m guessing is a crossover too)), but there’s a THUNDERCATS one too!

 My childhood will be complete as soon as I read that

Useless Ace: Dude that’s amazing

That’s going top of my to-read list

Snow Cone King: Mood

Gerald: Mood

The Orange Death: King, you really are a king, thank you so much!!!

Useless Ace: I rlly hope they give Adam a better costume like they did w/ Adora in the new reboot

The Orange Death: It’s a bit overdue

The Dead Fandoms Discord - Channel #Magic-Troubles

14:19

Snow Cone King: amb there’s a illusion lady in my lit class and normally Idc but she’s being so annoying and she keeps illustrating the whack tales she’s telling and the teach could care less but she’s directly in my line of sight and I wanna learn

Is there a nice way to ask her to stop?

Goldie Queen Of France: Tell her she’s making it hard to see. Rlly, just bc we’re magic doesn’t mean we have the right to be a jerk

Snow Cone King: I’m a jerk by nature

Just wanted to make sure

Flutetastic: King, you’re not magic

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

23:39

Killjoy: I’m just saying! Thanos’ plan was dumb!

Jackie of Jackaland: You didn’t even watch the movie

Killjoy: I don’t have to watch a movie to know that it’s dumb to kill people for resource management when another option is literally just to make more resources

Jackie of Jackaland: Valid point op but pls start watching movies and reading comics before you rant about them based off of someone else’s tumblr rant

Killjoy: That’s less fun

Jackie of Jackaland: You mean less headache inducing

Goldie Queen of France: @Killjoy @Jackie of Jackaland polite, remember? If you’re gonna throw hands, do it in the dms.

Killjoy: Right, sorry

Jackie of Jackaland: Sry

The Dead Fandoms Discord chat - Channel #Magic-troubles

20:13

Snow Cone King: Wait are trails colored different by sect or by person?

Coracle-Miracle: Supposed to be by person, but mine turned a purple/black after whatever happened with the heart

Snow Cone King: Ouch

Coracle-Miracle: It hurts less to use magic the more I use it, although Idk what that means. We’re just powering through

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #MURDOCH

4:30

Snow Cone King: If I ever leave Paris, I want to go to Canada

Mapleblood: Dude that is my entire life motto

‘Cept I’m Brazilian

Point stands

Speedster: Valid x100

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #Less-than-dead-corner

17:20

Flutetastic: Salut, t’all, should I watch Gravity Falls?

Pigtails ftw: I say yeah

It gets weird later on, so I never finished, but I liked what I saw in the beginning

Flutetastic: Awesome. I wanna see if it beats Paris rn

Pigtails ftw: What even is Paris rn?

Flutetastic: Mood

Pigtails ftw: No but like, legit. What’s going on over there?

Flutetastic: #That-Real-Life

The Dead Fandoms Discord Chat - Channel #That-Real-Life

17:23

Flutetastic: @Pigtails ftw so yaknow about the magic hearts thing?

Pigtails ftw: didn’t know they were real

Flutetastic: Common response

@Snow Cone King @Coracle Miracle @Rough-Glamor @Goldie Queen Of France come help me out

So the heart/miraculous of Modification got corrupted by somebody, so far no one knows if they’re a strong sorcerer or a lucky human, but it happened and is messing with all change mages.

Snow Cone King: And he uses the extra power to possess civilians and turn them into rampaging monsters who are supposed to hold the city hostage for the hearts of Destruction and Restoration

Coracle-Miracle: which are, btw, also the hearts of purity and chaos

Snow Cone King: How does that work?

Coracle-Miracle: Those two hearts are the strongest and have multiple tie-in clauses, like luck, but that translates to really dangerous and often selfish sorcerers so instead they split into sections within theirs. It’s really interesting actually! Jaclynn O’Conner wrote a really cool book on it, I suggest you read that.

Pigtails ftw: That sounds demonic

Flutetastic: It nearly is

#BBoBL #Bursting Bubbles Of Bad Luck #Miraculous Ladybug #Felix #Felinette #ml fanfic #jaymeow writes #old writing #Felix July 2019 #Felix July 2020 #Timeline what timeline #Crossposting spam #Friday update

[ericas-spop-blog]

Would you say Catra was written ooc in White Out?

Eeehn. I have complicated feelings about it?

Being weirdly specific: There's a discontinuity between Promise's "Bye, Adora. I Really Am Going To Miss You" and White Out's "You're Mine Now, Adora." Both draw on the same roots; the imbalance of their relationship, Catra's desire for control. But they don't quite ... mesh, as presented.

Catra so explicitly severs their bond in Promise (and is intentionally ambiguous on her feelings around Mind Control), that the show snapping to "OF COURSE Catra would be all in on dragging around a Brain-Wiped-Super-Weapon-Adora; it's all she ever wanted!", ends up feeling weird. It's not OOC - it's not something I can't see this character doing, in the situation presented - but it's under-contextualized. There's missing connective tissue; there needs to be a bridge saying why she's okay having Adora back NOW, in THIS context.

"I didn't want you back, but if I get to be in charge... well. Good thing you never did have much faith in me, huh."

((Also to be weirdly petty - While it's a funny line, I'm trying to imagine a scenario where "Obvious and Profound issues with physical contact" Catra would casually use "No Boundaries" Scorpia as a scratching post, and, uh. Having trouble seeing how Catra was the instigator, honestly.))

#spop #asks #catra #adora #this is kind of a non answer sorry #the characters in SPoP are legitimately and intentionally dynamic #there is no singular IC way for them to be #only depictions that are more and less consistent with each other #but yeah to the extent I think White Out is off #it's that it presents 'Catra tries to capture Adora/She-Ra' as an ongoing thread #and not one that was very firmly terminated last season

[aprillikesthings]

okay one more tonight

Which according to netflix is s3 ep1 but ehhhhh it's really a continuation of s2 imho

The Price of Power

(ominous)

I told myself I'd make this post shorter than the last few and I'm 99% I completely failed lol but this one had a LOT of lore and shit

AAAUGH

Angella's protectiveness is usually annoying but tbh I would feel the same way here in her situation, anyway Glimmer got it from somewhere lol

low blow, Shadow Weaver

I couldn't figure out why she woke up gasping so hard even though I just watched the last episode like three hours ago lol (Hordak had cut off her air until she passed out, and this is where she woke up, poor thing)

Catra: "It doesn't matter what I do. I don't get to win." :( but also "winning" should not be the objective of your life and you will spend the next season and a half being forced to learn that

Once again Scorpia's obvious one-sided love is painful to watch.

I hate that she's not entirely wrong!!! Like given her life up to this point of course she'd come to this conclusion. D:

Glimmer: The Horde is evil, and EVIL PEOPLE DON'T CHANGE Adora: I'm standing right here. Like you're literally talking to me.

(Okay but it's often true in the case of abusers, especially in romantic relationships. If you haven't read "Why Does He Do That" you should. Majority of abusers don't change for long--he talks about the circumstances under which they do, but repeatedly notes that it's very very rare and that a lot of them are good at faking improvement just for the amount of time it takes to get you under their control again. In any case that's why if people believe your partner is abusing you, the universal advice is "you need to leave.")

uggggh and the worst part is, she's actually right about a number of people in the Horde! I always knew it was a matter of time before Scorpia left the Horde, for instance.

But Shadow Weaver? Adora wants to believe this because Shadow Weaver was her mom, basically.

that's not how it works!!!

NOT REALLY.

I know I'm going to end up referencing this post again later, but it's worth a read:

"You think Shadow Weaver should have had a redemption arc? From her perspective, she DID." It also compares her arc to Catra's.

(spoilers for the rest of the show obv)

Anyway Bow and Glimmer offer to go with her, which is a good thing to do if you're ever going to try to talk things out with your abuser, because 1. they behave better in front of witnesses, generally speaking 2. other people are more likely to spot manipulative bullshit

yeeeurgh the way she says it is so icky

seriously she lays it on thick "oh I've missed you my child" eat dirt. Even after Adora's like "lol nice try" she's still like "oooh, so clever, I always knew you were smarter than everyone else" like you're still doing it.

"I was special only as long as I obeyed you" damn right

Compassionate to a fault as always, but also, I know there's still that bit of hope in there, the same one Catra had, of making her happy and finally getting loved. Adora has a huge advantage Catra didn't, though; which is that she has a great deal of love in her life from other sources. :(

Hordak: I am Evil and Scary!!! And I want Catra GONE. Entrapta: Yeah, okay. So anyway like I was saying, Catra's improved everything, but also, we need her to get us this thing!!! Hordak: No. Go away. Entrapta: :( k but I'll leave the info here for you to read on your own

The sad thing is, Shadow Weaver can be a good teacher.

ngl that's cool

also ugh. Shadow Weaver is in fact honest here: she's got nowhere to go, she wants revenge, helping Adora's the best way to do that.

plotty stuff I want to remember later: Hordak's goal is opening a portal into space to get Horde's armies through and defeat Etheria forever--and this is the first time a bunch of characters find out the Horde is bigger than one army on Etheria, and the reason he's close to getting that portal now is that Entrapta is helping him, and that once upon a time Hordak did succeed in opening a portal for a moment, and Adora was the result--she wasn't born on Etheria.

Glimmer: you're a fuckin' liar Shadow Weaver: I mean usually yeah lol. But like, why would I bother this time, what would I get out of it?

has anyone written an essay/post/paper about Adora as a bit of a Jesus figure

(I mean a LOT of people treat She-Ra like she's a messiah equivalent? But uhhhh that's also just how The Chosen One trope tends to go. Plus Jesus didn't resurrect himself so he could kiss a girl--though he did choose to show himself post-resurrection to Mary Magdalene first, so interpret that as you will.)

Anyway Adora kinda flips out at this information (she knows in her bones that Shadow Weaver is telling the truth) and bolts from the room

airbrush THAT on the side of a van lol

The way she screams "answer me!" at Light Hope is so good

Adora: babies don't remember shit????? Light Hope: oh.

There's a "vaginas are portals to another dimension bc childbirth" joke in there somewhere.

plot plot the First Ones came from beyond the stars, the sword is made to only respond to "one of their own kind," congrats Adora you're literally a different kind of person than every other person on Etheria.

(the timelines on this are confusing to me, I can't remember if Mara taking Etheria into another dimension also fucked with time passing, OH HEY I FOUND A FAN-MADE TIMELINE no idea how accurate it is tho especially considering the number of typos/misspellings, also elsewhere someone said each season of the show is apparently meant to be a whole YEAR?? I was thinking a few months at most??? I need to find if that's Word of God anywhere)

Theoretically yes but Netflix doesn't have the rights to any of the He-Man stuff, sorry

When Mara cut Etheria off from the rest of the universe she destroyed the portal capabilities. If you open a portal now bad shit will go down

(uh oh)

Adora: omg Mara's from the same place as me???

LIAR

Light Hope: being She-Ra is an honor!

Oh look it's one of the major themes of the show! Being The Chosen One sucks, actually!!

GEE, REALLY??? you think maybe people like getting to fuckin' cHOOSE

Adora: man I am tired of people not telling me shit!! Fuck this I'm gonna see what I can actually figure out on my own

She wants to know why Mara stranded Etheria. Remember that constellation being over part of the Crimson Waste that was in the whole "Mara portal Serenia" message bullshit? That's where she's going

Glimmer and Bow: road trip! road trip!

i'd be pissing myself in fear ngl

Hordak: this bitch is a failure!!! Catra: no u

everyone's reaction to that is priceless omg

LOL SHE'S RIGHT THO does Hordak want to spend his day looking at files listing how many bits of armor they need

I was gonna make an Entrapta joke but the next line is "and that's why you can't defeat a group of teenagers" and damn she's got a POINT

BAAAHAHAHAH

"My girlfriend doesn't want to do stacks of paperwork and shit either, it turns out; anyway you're going to get us some old spare parts First Ones' tech from the Pick-n-Pull Crimson Waste"

(I just realized people might not know what a Pick-n-Pull is--it's like a junkyard of cars where you can go and just take parts off of things for cheap. You have to find and take the parts off yourself.)

Catra: dude nothing lives in the Crimson Waste??? Hordak: heh heh I know :)

AAAND END OF EPISODE

Sadly I have the energy for another one but my headphones are killing me and I can't do it in the bedroom without headphones because Daci is trying to sleep. Which is a shame because the next episode is Huntara!!

ALSO y'know that timeline I linked way earlier in the post? parts of it are kinda iffy but I'm lol'ing because good lord as bananas as the lore can sometimes be, I'm still thinking that one for Steven Universe would be even wilder (and we know Rebecca Sugar actually had one, written out on paper, with a ton of color-coding). But also this summary of Adora's first convo with Light Hope is WILD because IT'S NOT WRONG (hardcore spoilers ahoy? but also if that's an issue you shouldn't be reading these posts lol):

Adora encounters Light Hope and is given the quest to "balance the planet". Light Hope attempts to isolate Adora from her friends my saying that balancing the planet requires her to let go of her attachments to her friends. This bears remarkable similarity to cult-psychology isolation tactics. It is especially worrying once you know that Light Hope is a Paperclip Maximizer and "Balance the Planet" is a euphemism for "rebuild and rearm the Weapon of Universal Genocide".

And if you've never heard of "paperclip maximizers" the wikipedia page about them is awesome but also I once wrote a post about the gems from Steven Universe also being paperclip maximizers. Here's a quote from the wikipedia page:

Suppose we have an AI whose only goal is to make as many paper clips as possible. The AI will realize quickly that it would be much better if there were no humans because humans might decide to switch it off. Because if humans do so, there would be fewer paper clips. Also, human bodies contain a lot of atoms that could be made into paper clips. The future that the AI would be trying to gear towards would be one in which there were a lot of paper clips but no humans. (Nick Bostrom, “Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence”, 2003)

#april rewatches spop #the price of power

[evelhak]

Hi Eve! Hope it's a good day! I'm curious to know about your art process, where does inspiration come from for you? Lots of love 😘, V.

Wow, that's a big question. Short answer is everywhere but obviously that doesn't really say anything. This is hard for me to describe, so thank you for asking such a challenging question. A key feature in inspiration for me is that there's something I need to exist that doesn't exist. Before I start my fan art and fan fiction, a new project especially, I typically have gone through a lot of other people's art, not finding what I'm looking for, and eventually ending up with the conclusion that I have to do it myself. Like, I would be happy just consuming if what I wanted existed in the world. Maybe it's not quite so clear cut, but I think it's heightened on the fandom side of things for me. Yes, in my original work my initial inspiration is similar but I think on that side I would still have the need to create for fun even if I didn't think I HAD TO bring something specific that was missing, to existence.

So, when an existing story and characters are my inspiration it's things that come together in my head from various threads that are sort of just hanging or floating there in the original material that I see no one drawing together, and I get a little frustrated typically, because I realise these things are not going to come together and then I NEED to draw those threads together, because otherwise it won't happen, and I need it to happen. So, it's things like "Why isn't anyone writing this character in these situations?" "Why isn't anyone paying attention to this underlying pattern?" "Why haven't I seen this joke made before it's literally on a silver platter, why does everyone pass by it?" "Why is this character so underappreciated?" "Why isn't anyone talking about the similarities between this series and that literary work or a fairytale?" So, a lot of times it's that I see missed opportunities.

That's not nearly enough for me to actually draw or write something though, because my projects are just usually big because my brain is like that somehow, so they really have to be worth my time for me to start what I know will eventually be huge. And I think that happens when the things that I see mentioned above tie into a bigger context, a bigger theme that I think is important in the world and that it should be talked about more. Of course sometimes I just have fun and giggles within those projects but it's rare for me to start unless there's something in it that I feel is meaningful thematically and psychologically. Basically something that has the potential to heighten people's self awareness and understanding of the world, and the feeling of community. I know this is so abstract and broad but I can't really help thinking these things. It's not like I'm fantasizing about having a big impact necessarily, it's more like awareness of these things just affects my small choices in art and life.

So, um, I'm trying to give examples to bring this a bit more to the ground level.

In my She-Ra comics one big theme was Adora's abuse because it wasn't on the screen the way Catra's was (for a good reason, I mean that's the point), and I felt like some people were missing how important part of the original story that was, so I felt like making the effects of it visible in a way that a children's show obviously couldn't have.

In KnB a lot of my inspiration is things like... "Fujimaki is unknowingly representing something he doesn't understand at all so he's writing accidental minority characters and then he's using those qualities for barely more than running gags, while so much more could be done with these things and this representation could actually make a difference in someone's life if the angle was shifted ever so slightly".

Obviously I already love these stories, I am a fan of them and I think they are doing so many things right, and that's why when I see something missing or I see fandom interpreting things in a way that I think is mischaracterising something, or even toxic, I just feel like I need to do something.

In my original work the process is similar, just less specific in a way. It's a bit broader. Like, I feel like something is missing in the fantasy genre, or some relationship trope is too toxic and overpowering, or detective novels are the antithesis of everything they stand upon, or "not interpreting this fairytale in this way in this time and age is so tone-deaf". Ideas like that come to my head, so then I have to do something about it.

So. In a way a lot of my inspiration to do things is sparked by something being wrong or missing, which is a bit ironic because in the end my fuel for art has always been joy. I can't really do things out of pain like some artists can, for me it's always happiness that keeps me going because really I see no point without it. I suppose that's why my art is also all about growth, even though it deals with heavy topics, the point of it is always overcoming your obstacles and becoming a better and happier version of yourself.

I guess I could conclude with how I have this love and hope for the human nature, and I easily see the best version someone could be, mentally. I see them loving themself and seeing their own good qualities and treating others with respect and opening up to other people, and inviting the world in. I always have hope because I see that so clearly in everyone, in a specific way that is all about who they are as a person, so it's like... I wish that if I could write characters that people love, in a way that demonstrates that hope, and growth, someone who is struggling could be inspired by those characters. That those characters could help them see the way out of their misery and also call people out when they are treating others or themselves badly. Because the power of example is way more effective than telling someone what to do, because the individual has the freedom and responsibility of interpretation when it comes to examples. And really, I believe that's how it should be because we can't influence anyone who doesn't want to be influenced, no matter the good intentions.

That's... my inspiration, in (not so) short? In the end I'm just a naive idealist with a need to butt in, but with the added benefit of an adult's self-awareness and complexity of thought, haha. And I'm aware I'm a weird, reluctantly obsessive fan artist, because really I want to focus on my original stuff and I want to be able to live by my pen and be an "original" artist, but I can never give up fandom because that's where I feel my specific skill set is utilized to its peak. Because my art process is so source based, that obviously the more specific, the more well defined the source is, the stronger the impact of the things I can bring out of it is too, because I know how to use the reader's expectations and viewpoints way more specifically than I can know them in a broader landscape, such as a whole genre I might be writing my original fiction in.

And this is why things like Sherlock Holmes becoming public domain is like a lottery win for me! That's a very specific but also huge and incredibly complex and popular source that inspires me right now!

Thank you again for the ask, and I hope my answer wasn't too overwhelming.

#ask #fan art #fanfiction #spop #knb

[lucky-clover-gazette]

i think this fic i wrote in 2019 honestly still sums up my feelings about catra as a character really well. i'm sad that s5 didn't address some of the things it brought up. i don't know, this show makes me feel a lot

And in that moment Catra wanted to scream. To tell this pathetic kid all the fucked-up things that she’d do and say, all the ways she’d be hurt and abandoned, all the times she’d feel bad with no one to help her feel better.

Instead, she just sighed. “Listen,” she said, “someday, you’re going to be alone.”

“I said, go away!”

“And you’re going to feel so bad, and Adora won’t be there to help—”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

She grabbed the younger girl’s wrists, firm but not tight enough to hurt. Tears fell from yellow and blue eyes as Catra finally faced herself.

“But I will be,” Catra affirmed. “I mean, you will be. There, with you. And you’re… you’re not bad, you’re just… a little lost.”

“I don’t care about the Horde,” Young Catra admitted. “I don’t even want to be a soldier.”

Catra nodded. “You were never given a choice to do anything else.”

“Yeah, well, that’s dumb.”

Catra laughed shortly. “You’re right. It is.”

Young Catra looked up with renewed interest. “I wanna ask you a question,” she said.

“Go for it.”

“Who do you think you are?”

Catra finally stood, ruffling the child’s hair and realizing that she missed its wild texture. “I’m very strong,” she said, “and I am very tired.”

She leaned down and pecked her younger self on the forehead, cupping her face for just a second. “But I’m not giving up.”

Catra felt dizzy as the dream began to fade. It was just them now, standing in darkness, alone but together. Young Catra blinked, unfazed. Her voice achingly familiar, she spoke barely above a whisper.

“You promise?”

#spop

[seokjinsonlyone]

Idk if you’ve been asked this before but what is your favorite song from each members solo projects so far? Lol the astronaut is the exception 😂

omg!!! we must have some sort of connection bc i was just thinking about this earlier and i'm gonna assume this is in our hiatus era bc the rapline just has so much history it'd be impossible to pick just one LOL so imma go in chronological order of when it was released!!

for hobi it's safety zone like that song just really hold a special place in my heart like the sound of it is soooooo i can't even describe arson is a close second tho

for joonie it's closer hands down when i first heard that track i literally started vibrating on the frequency of bees

for mini it's it's actually hard to pick but his lil ep hit so freaking hard and was so unexpected for me and listen i am not really a lyric girly like i will listen to a song in english mind you could know all the words and sing it but not really pay attention to what it's saying at all like there's this one song i love and i swore by that song listened to it on repeat for hours wanted it played at my wedding that's never gonna happen and everything and like a year later i realized it was a breakup song all this to say that the english version of like crazy makes me soooo insane specifically the line "emotions on ice" like that one line right there changed the trajectory of my life BUT THEN there's alone and like i said NOT really a lyric girly so the way that this song sounds and just the composition is SOOO clever like in the chorus part where he's like "day and night fall" and when he says fall there's that voice effect that literally drops and the overlapping "mayday, get me out of here" that's literally a cry for help like that is so freaking genius and caught me from the beginning and it's just so it's a song i really like to listen to even tho it's really sad LOL BUT THEN there's set me free pt 2 which i realize now i could've just led with bc it really does have both those elements like it has that sound that makes me vibrate and the lyrics that alter my brain chemistry (especially when he's like raise your hands for the past me i'm just head in hands about that line AMONGST MANY OTHER PARTS) AND THE PERFORMANCE MY GOD i don't even know where to start talking about that one so i won't so let's just say set me free pt 2 is king for me

for yoongi i literally decided on my way into the house after getting off from work that dday was my favorite from the album like i was going back and forth between dday and sdl and decided that what takes sdl to the top for me is adora's adlibs like she really snapped but if i was picking my fav from yoongi bc of yoongi it's dday like y'all don't understand the way i be blasting that song everyday on my way to work it be like 5am and i'm in the car volume turned all the way up talm bout time for some paycheck and i'm riding downtown 😭 it's become my ultimate hype song me thinks

and i know my seokjinnie only has the astronaut but it's SO good like "when i'm with you there is no one else and i get heaven to myself" is such a wonderful and lovely line and when he starts belting about how much he loves me god my heart is so full i am at peak military wife whenever it comes on

and the babies haven't released anything yet but i will use this opportunity to say that i am forever changed by taehyung's jazz covers like that festa video that dropped had me listening to jazz for the rest of the week and like you can tell how much he has improved as a singer his voice is just like honey and i gulped it down with a cup of tea fr like i've probably watched it five times by now i love it so much and for jk can i just say that i miss when he was in his silk sonic phase like i was literally screen recording that one live when he covered leave the door open for the first time honestly i have most of that concert screen recorded LOL like baepsae hip thrusts and all but i think of all the songs jk has covered and my god there has been plenty his cover of leave the door open is my favorite and i'd like to hear more of him with that sound there's also this one other song he covered once it was during one of his morning lives it was a korean song and he was imitating the singer but i have no idea of the artist or the song but just know that there's a section in my brain that holds that one specific cover dearly

i have no idea how this got to be so long i didn't expect to have this much to say on this topic BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING

#ask #I LOVE TALKING ABOUT BTS' MUSIC MORE THAN ANYTHING AND I WISH MORE PEOPLE WOULD TALK TO ME ABOUT THEIR SONGS #BC NOW THAT IM THINKING ABOUT IT I ACTUALLY HAVE A LOT TO SAY ON SO MANY SONGS I ALWAYS DO #i engage myself in one sided bts song discussions like once a month actually and that's just up here #my head go crazy #ANYWAY #i added a cut so as not to clog up anyone's dash

[foryoufirst]

why clean from 1989 is she-ra coded (more specifically about catra)

you may think that clean is about s4 adora accepting that catra has done terrible things without remorse and that it’s really over for the two of them. but you could also say it’s about catra choosing to change her behaviour + her struggle with herself.

- hung my head as i lost the war = double trouble calling out catra's behaviour and betraying catra. she's well and truly lost.

"everything you've worked for will be destroyed."

- the sky turned black like a perfect storm = when horde prime takes over etheria

- by morning = nature returns with the power of the sword

- gone was any trace of you, i think i am finally clean = her desperate destructive side of herself is gone, because there's no war to fight anymore. the horde is gone and she knows better than to keep hurting people. her ruthless ambition and the resulting choices she made were out of a need to be accepted, but she's found people that care about her now. (doesn’t mean she’s redeemed of everything she did, but she’s choosing to change so that’s good.)

- when the butterflies turned to dust that covered my whole room = her childhood happiness with adora being left behind, untouched and forgotten. left to gather dust.

- i punched a hole in the roof = catra destroying the room, and ruining her relationships. she's destroying everything around her.

"are they laughing at me?"

- i screamed so loud but no one heard a thing = her breakdown where she’s all alone.

- just because you’re clean don’t mean you don’t miss it = she misses how easy it is to lash out at people and to be destructive and angry, but she’s going to work on it.

- now that i’m clean i’m never gonna risk it = she has adora (and lots of other people) by her side to support her and she’s doing better than she ever did.

#spop #she ra and the princesses of power #catradora #taylor swift #1989 #clean #1989 is she-ra coded

[shooters4logan]

Hiya adora 👋👋

It's me it's me..... date anon

So I thought about a few things and I really like really want to be called in the story ofcourse Circe cause of yk the Greek goddes she was my favourite and I'm in love with the Madeline miller novel. Also then you should have a name also. And and can we please have a Sapphic romance , I'm just dying to read about two girls falling in love. Okay after thousands of my requests which I'll love you forever and pledge my future kids to you like in rapunzel (the folklore version) if you accept them. Babes ive had so much things to say also quite unfortunate that I didn't come back to some mild altering statement again although I do have so much fun scrolling through your blog and catching up on all the aus. Babes I'm in love.

.............

Its been a few weeks before we see each other and during all those weeks everywhere I go , I try to look for your face in my surroundings. I text you alot but I'm scared that I'm playing my cards too early but as soon as the ding for a message come through all my worries are lost and all I want to know is what you have to say. I hang on to every word and store them in my mind like it's the last thing I'll ever hear. I walk around with a permanent smile on my face and in my head i say that I want people to take a look inside my heart cause it's beating wildly and it's alive and its screaming look she chose us look she likes us. You tell me about you work and all the drama around I tell you about my uni and how exams are coming up and I neglect to tell you that i can't concentrate on anything because it feels like every breath I'm taking is just the next breath till I get to see you. I want to see you and kiss you on the cheek and take your hand and run through the rainy weather because we both forgot our umbrellas. I want to sit and watch horror movies with you because I say I'm not scared but I just want and excuse to latch on to you andbto hold your hand and finally i just eant to be near you cause I feel like you're the sun and what is the moon without the suns light. Goodness sake i jsut want to be next to you . We try to make plans but you have work and I studying and I'm internally dying because I miss hearing your laugh in person I missed seeing your eyes twinkle . I miss all your hand gestures and how passionate you are about things. I want to invite you out but my mother's birthday is coming up and she's invited me however she wants me to bring a plus one and I don't have the nerve to ask you ir take you with me because I don't know what we are and i don't know if I uave the right yet. Although I would really love it if you were there with me but simultaneously I'm also scared of taking you because how am i meant to answer my parents when they ask what are you to me ? How do I give them an answer when I'm not sure of their reaction how can i make you feel as if I want to hide you but still I gather the courage and finally text you

Would you like to come with me ?

Babes see you next time. I really really enjoy doing this and I did look more into iconography its really fuckin cool oh my god !!

Also f1 is back so yayy for us also did you watch one day ??

<3🫂🫂🫂

Hello Date anon!!! I hope your uni is going well!

Your other ask got eaten unfortunately, but I remember what you wrote so yippee. Vale's stupid laying down smugcat picture has enchanted me and I fear it may be a permanent fixture of my blog now. If you think Circe is a bit old Timey, why don't we go for a name similar to it. Maybe one from the odyssey or as Circe means Bird in Greek, a bird-themed name like Paloma?

I'm so happy f1 is back and no I haven't watched one day just because I promised my sister I would but my mum ended up accidentally spoiling the end so I'm probably going to only watch the happy parts.

Okay back to the fun bit, a dual author sapphic romance, made via Tumblr asks.

We keep in contact, each message of yours distracted me from work. Maybe giving you a specific ringtone wasn't the smartest idea. But I didn't want to miss a text. My co-workers have begun to catch on that something is up, and they prod for more answers but I give them a smile, keeping you close to my heart. I've been caught many times during meeting smiling at my phone but my manager says nothing as my work is on time and she is invested in whatever is going on. I have a goofy smile on more and my mother has started to catch on, questioning me in the kitchen whenever she can catch me. She wants to meet the woman who has her daughter daydreaming. But I pat her on the arm, reminding her that we've just met and I don't want to scare you away.

We talk about work and I tell you about the new girl in product design, conveniently leaving out all the times she caught me biting my lip while messaging you. You tell me about your uni work and I laugh, remembering how I had nearly missed my last assignment, too busy daydreaming about you. I go to cafes under the guise of studying but I end up texting you. Or my friends who both are tired of me not asking you out properly and excited for the two of us. They tease me relentlessly but I joke about how at least I've got you on my arm. My friends remind me that we haven't seen each other for a while in person and my mood sours slightly.

We go out more cute dates that we don't call dates. More hand holding and stupid pickup lines that I googled the night before. More days spent thinking about what I should have done different when with you and more days spent with my friends telling me I should have made a move. I come more soaked on more than one occasion, my mother confused as I never leave the house without an proper raincoat. But if I have a raincoat how are we supposed to share an umbrella? How could I come so close to you without making things awkward.

The weather takes a turn for the worse, so we move to staying in. Whenever we turn a scary movie on, I thank mother nature for being so extreme. I laugh at the jumpscares, my heart threatening to leap out my chest as you hold onto me. You assume I'm scared of the movie and I nod along dumbly, your hair under my nose as I wrap my arms around you. I thank everyone and anyone who made it possible for us to be so close. I keep sneaking glances at your face when your distracted and I have to fight the urge to lean in and kiss whatever part of you I can.

You mention your mother's birthday and how you need a plus one. My heart leaps into my throat, who is this other person you could ask. You ask if I want to come with you and I have to stop myself from sounding too enthusiastic. We agree the time, date and location before you leave. Normally whenever you leave I end up stomping to my room, hiding under blankets. But not tonight. I rush to my mother, quickly telling her the news as she gives me a hug. I rush upstairs, texting the group chat as they start planning how I could impress your family.

I fall asleep after messaging you again, my phone in hand and a website about the flower language open.

#asks??? in this economy??? #Date anon!!! #Circe tag

[drewsaturday]

anyway idk how i feel about the season we've gotten so far. some things were better than others, but off the top of my head:

can... randor face consequences if he knew about keldor? could we get literally anything about that please instead of continually hailing him as some great hero and king? i imagine we'll get more now that adam is living at castle grayskull and keldor is in the dungeon but. the "you aren't a victim" speech when skeletor tried to keep randor from preternia did not hit for me because... yeah skeletor is choosing to be skeletor, but... keldor being the royal family's darkest secret, that randor had SOME KNOWLEDGE OF AT LEAST, was not fucking addressed.

lyn joining the cosmic enforcers is nice! but i kinda want her to keep going her own way for a bit? keep working on that atonement maybe and see what adventures it takes her on? i do hope she gets some fun new dynamics and adventures with that team, and maybe it lets us see her more in the future since they're escalating the threats some more.

the animation was sooooooooo sexy, especially all the stuff having to do with teela!!!!

i liked marlena's new voice, did not like teela's

it does look like lyn and orko got to do some trollan magic together which was rly nice but i wanted more of them ;-; him saving her though!!!

lyn and the dragon's whole thing was cool too. her seeing a reflection of herself there, and realizing maybe preternia could await her too--something she's probably never ever thought in her entire life before.

the worldbuilding really sucked lmfao. i liked the bits we got about the different gods! but... can we explore anti-gar sentiments? can we have any thoughts from the individual citizens of eternia about disliking having a monarchy, especially spurred by now having a gar suddenly be king at that point? honestly... didn't andra kinda have a fucked up life that could've tied into anti-monarchy sentiments? missed opportunity there.

i missed the season 1 adventures of teela lyn and andra all hanging out together. i feel like we didn't get much of that downtime and banter and bonding because they threw us into major conflicts so fast... not to cling to the bechdel test since it's never perfect but i am... disappointed we didn't really pass it very often, if at all. idk if season 1 even passed it since lyn talked about skeletor nonstop but i just wanted more female characters on screen together. at least more of lyn training teela.

also sad we didn't get much of teela and her mom before yeeting her off to preternia... could we have at least gotten a little convo between them maybe? or duncan saying goodbye?

i know teela and adam are forever endgame and i do like them together but i always get a little... annoyed when other characters make it a point to try getting a pair together. lyn poking fun at them once they kissed was kinda funny though, and i have to admit lyn trying to use adam to help teela harness the snake powers did make sense!

could we have gotten longer with teela and the snake powers tho? or with the ram!teela design? so many cool concepts and things for her to learn but it all went by so fast :(

i'm not mad at the pacing because i know it's hard to write when you don't know how many seasons you're wanted for but it rly did just feel like this could've been 1 longer 10 episode stretch rather than one 5 episode part.

i want more on the keldor storyline in this iteration. maybe we'll get that now that keldor's... possibly less skeletor'd? and able to have a normal conversation? who knows. we can't really trust him. i guess it's good randor's in heaven so we can ask his side of the story! :///

i am glad that we're getting that essential piece of the keldor story though, regarding adora/despara. i just hope they still have time to do some more fun unique twists with keldor now that we have so much more time to explore his whole thing.

idk basically. pacing would've been better for more episodes but i get why it went down this way, i just hope they take advantage of where they've landed in the next part if there is one, idk how that works lmao.

#motur tag #i couldve paid more attention honestly but i accidentally stayed up very late to watch it lol #i need to do a proper rewatch with season 1 alongside it #i also know that a lot of what drew me into s1 was stuff that... #changed some of the core characteristics of motu a lot! #so i shouldn't rly expect a lot of the same stuff here now that i know more #but god i rly do miss those days

[nny11writes]

For the violence ask game, 23 2 21 for spop fandoms but also any star wars commentary you want to throw in would be cool!

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

I actually had to give this some thought because I am part of ship and let ship, and one of my favorite parts of She Ra is how easily and compellingly you can multiship in it. As long as you ignore the fandom that is.

The extremely limited things I've come around on were primarily willingly because I wanted to understand why people liked it.

But, uh..........well, the one and only one I got dragged around into is........................

There's no easy way to say this, but it's Glimmer and Catra.

Which is fucking WILD considering I participated in the first Glitra week in 2019. BUT! Keep in mind that Season 2 didn't come out until April 2019 and between S1 and S2 I actively avoided Glimmer as my least favorite character due mostly to fandom assassination. But yeah I did not like her so I did not get all the C/A/G fics that were out there. There were no fics or art I saw before S2 dropped that were glitra only, so it was introduction via an OT3. I kept hearing good things about Rage Break by Emberswitch (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17227490) and eventually caved to read it, and that was what got me turned towards the idea of Glimmer and Catra as a ship. I hadn't intended to and I hadn't been actively looking to change that opinion, but the hype on the fic eventually did make me go, "Well...what if there is something there though? Maybe I'll take a little peak. For science."

And then somehow I've posted 19 glitra fics and my longest fic ever is HtQY. :|

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

A compelling argument? Meeeeeeehhhhhh-

But, I do actually headcanon Catra as demiromantic and somewhere on the asexual sliding scale so when I think of canon Catra I think of someone who flirts because she's learned how to do so as a manipulation tactic (both for protection and power), so she comes off as a lot more sexually motivated than she really is. So I don't think my fave would top or bottom because I don't think she's into sex at all. If she has it, she does it more to please her partner so it's a performative act that can be enjoyable but not something she personally is into. If she gets turned on she'd rather rub one out on her own thanks.

Like I said, compelling? Probably not. Is someone still going to be annoyed or angry that I personally headcanon Catra in the show as being aroace but still a lesbian with a powerful and loving relationship? Yeah. People still fucking hate asexuals and aromantics, and I'm sure someone thinks I'm a lesbophobe for it lol.

So I think I'm still choosing violence here.

Especially because the complimentary side to this is canon Adora is not a top. She might enjoy pleasing her partners but you really think the person who has taken multiple gold medals in overthinking something so hard that you turn it into a disaster and your own worst nightmare wants to take charge during something as strange, vulnerable, gross, amazing, and complex as sex????

Miss me with that shit.

21. part of canon you think is overhyped

Catradora is canon gets overhyped. Like, sorry folks, I love them and was glad to see them be recognized in canon very explicitly at the end and have seen them be obviously a thing but through more subtext and interpretation before then. But catradora itself is overhyped.

Like, I can't remember who it is (you? Tispy? someone else??????) who straight up didn't watch the show for a long time because catradora focus was so intense that it was off putting.

If part of the canon is so intensely hyped or pushed that it's off putting....like.....c'mon

#choose violence ask game #way less salt in this one lol #but I still think declaring that Catra would not top or bottom is choosing violence in this slutty slutty fandom #I love seeing her as a top and I love seeing her bottom but that's for funsies not realsies in my head lol #(if you want me to rant about people topping Catra and calling her kitten on the other hand I can absolutely bring the salt!) #while saying catradora is overhyped might rustle someone's jimmies that's also #like #just a given in the fandom and I think pretty well accepted #or maybe I've just done a good job with my fandom curation who really knows #not me and I plan to keep it that way for my own sanity :) #spop #she ra #long post

[xansmenagerie]

Sibling Rivalries

Mel again, part of the playbook change backstories. This one is "special item - skeleton key" - it's also how she really first came across magic and how nasty it can be...

"Wait, did you really just say that last bit?" Muse asked suspiciously, "Because it sounded quite a lot like 'Hi guys, I just took out a contract on your behalf to steal something from my mother.'"

"Is there a problem with that, Muse?" Crystal was very genteelly cleaning her fingernails with a very small - and from Muse's personal experience extremely sharp - pearl-handled knife, but after all these years Muse was used to this sort of posturing from her girlfriend.

"Let's see, what possibly could be the issue with stealing from Madame Adora Hackett, wife of crime boss Gerald Hackett, the woman who literally wrote the book on some of our techniques and about whom there are cautionary tales about what happens to people who get on her bad side that the writers of the Saw franchise would consider 'a bit extreme'? Fidget, Oyster, Lanky Dave, am I missing something here?" Muse didn't often raise her voice if she could help it, but by the end it was an effort of will not to shout.

"She's not wrong, Crystal," Fidget spoke up; he promptly cringed back under the older woman's death glare. Muse caught Oyster stopping himself moving protectively in his direction and bit back a smile.

Crystal turned the glare on Muse. "Does it matter? It's a done deal, anyway, it would do our reputation no good to back out now - and think of the reputation we will gain when we pull it off."

"As if we'd be stupid enough to tell anyone it was us," Lanky Dave muttered, moving sideways as he spoke to hide behind Oyster.

Muse sighed. "Just…tell me Courage didn't put you up to this?"

Crystal glanced away.

"Oh, Crystal…" Muse couldn't help the frustration creeping into her voice. "Look, I know you're upset that your father's handing the business over to him despite you being older, but this is too much."

"This. Isn't. About. That." Crystal spat out each word in a rare public display of temper, the knife suddenly still in a way that suggested it could move very quickly indeed at short notice.

Muse held her ground. "Crystal, please…how would we even do this, anyway? If we try to ghost in, your mother certainly has plans in place for that, and there isn't a big enough distraction in the world to catch her off her guard."

The sudden triumphant smile from Crystal gave Muse instant forebodings. "Oh, there is. You're going to need to get your best suit cleaned, darling, as I think it's time you finally met my parents in a more intimate setting."

Muse was consumed by immediate deer-in-the-headlights panic.

Crystal leaned over and patted her hand, secure in her victory. "Don't worry, it's just a nice family dinner already arranged, Courage will be there too. All you have to do is be your best charming self, maybe do a bit of inside prep work, and let the boys take care of the rest."

The dinner was almost exactly as painful as Muse expected it was going to be. She was pleasantly surprised and relieved at the lack of personal questions - her family and so on - until she realised that the Hacketts had simply assumed that anything said on the matter would be a lie and simply weren't bothering to ask. Of course, they knew that Muse had started her association with Crystal as her chauffeur, so perhaps they had also decided that it would be embarrassing to bring up that their daughter was dating a menial. It was probably for the best; she was already working under an assumed name, so adding an assumed family on top of that would only complicate matters.

It was the first time Muse had met Courage, Crystal's younger brother, in any capacity, and the little blonde bit he had on his arm was either a stunning actress or genuinely the only innocent at the table. Rosa, introduced as a 'budding model', was, as far as Muse could tell, actually quite a nice person; for all that she had manners closer to that of the Hacketts than Muse could manage, she was also saying thank you to the serving staff, and made interested contributions to all of the conversation. Under other circumstances Muse probably would have enjoyed getting to know her better - just as a friend.

As it was, while Muse was doing her best, having to concentrate on both being witty and charming and on which cutlery to use when was draining, especially given she was clearly on an uphill struggle for acceptance with Crystal's father. Crystal's mother was more considerate, specifically drawing Muse into the conversation, and that was possibly more worrying - Muse wasn't sure how much she was keeping her feelings off her face and didn't dare any of them slipping out in the circumstances.

It was almost something of a relief when during the third course one of the security staff walked over to Gerald Hackett's chair and said something quietly in his ear. Crystal's father, in turn, leaned over to Adora and murmured in her ear; Crystal's mother frowned the smallest of frowns, her mouth a moue of disapproval.

"Courage, Charity," she said in no-nonsense tones as she stood up, "Perhaps you might like to show Rosa and Persefoni the long gallery as a break between courses? I'm afraid Mummy's got some unexpected business to attend to."

Muse was admittedly impressed at how swiftly Courage stood up and did her best to emulate him, pulling Crystal's seat out for her a scant beat after he pulled out Rosa's. She offered her arm to Crystal as formally as possible, earning her an amused look from her girlfriend and an approving one from Adora.

The two women graciously allowed Courage to lead the way with Rosa, although as soon as they were out of the dining room Muse and Crystal started whispering sweet nothings to each other. They waited until they were at the gallery itself to drop back a little and gain a little privacy, using a nook by an urn to justify slightly more heated behaviour.

Muse kept her tone light and teasing as she murmured in Crystal's ear, "So much for 'the boys will be fine' - tell me there's an extraction plan?"

"There is…they shouldn't have needed it, but they should make it out in one piece," Crystal hummed back, her smile almost reaching her eyes.

Muse relaxed a touch out of relief but noticed the almost concealed discomfort. She took the opportunity to nibble on Charity's ear, barely noting the sound of a deliberate scoff - did people really do that in real life? - from further down the gallery. "What aren't you telling me, darling?"

Crystal pulled Muse towards her, foreheads touching. Her lips barely moving. "If they were caught this early there may be…complications. And they certainly won't have achieved the objective."

"Oh, for goodness…" Muse couldn't help the quiet harumph. "And tonight was meant to be my night off as well."

Crystal's eyes shone like her nickname. "What do you need, lover?"

"As much of a distraction as you think you can make for Fidget and Oyster, please, that should give me room to work too." Muse wrinkled her nose fondly. "Yes, I am giving you permission to seduce Rosa loudly if that's what it comes to, although don't get too carried away and don't break her."

"You really are the best girlfriend," Crystal declared, allowing her voice to rise just a little and catch Courage's attention. Muse couldn't help but look smug. Crystal dropped her voice again, "You know where you're going? And you still have that locket I gave you?"

"Yes, and yes although I'd be happier if I knew why you were insisting on it so hard," Muse replied, watching Courage and Rosa covertly through the side of her eyes.

"Just humour me, okay?" Crystal batted her eyelashes.

"Don't I always?" Muse skipped back just fast enough to avoid a pinch for being cheeky, then moved aside to let Crystal get to work. She leaned back against the wall, listening with eyes closed as Crystal's heels thudded away down the carpet with the staccato of incipient mischief, plotting her route in her head and smiling fondly to herself.

Once Crystal was out of earshot Muse moved, slowly and casually. Her first touch point was a bathroom on the floor above - just about close enough to plausibly be somewhere to 'powder her nose' - and from there she could work her way up to Adora's private study. There were going to be locks to work through but, perhaps not so surprisingly, no cameras; the Hacketts weren't inclined to do anything that might be used as evidence against themselves at a later date, after all.

She walked as a slightly lost tourist might, examining paintings and statues as she went and mumbling directions as though trying to remember them, all the while devoutly hoping that Fidget and Oyster were making a clean getaway wherever in the building they were.

The bathroom door ahead of her opened; Courage stepped out. "You're taking your sweet time about this," he said with cool amusement, "From everything Charity's said about you I was expecting you to have purloined all the silverware and be halfway home by now."

Muse remembered belatedly that Courage had been the one who pushed Crystal into this stupid dare of a contract. "Personally," she replied, watching his face carefully, "I was just here to meet my future in-laws and enjoy my dinner."

Courage scowled. "You can't really think that you'd be allowed to have anything more than a fling with my sister, can you?" He stepped forward and grabbed her by the arm, hard enough to bruise. "A nameless no-account whose only redeeming feature is that she can keep Charity quiet for five minutes, which is more than anyone else can manage-"

Although he hadn't realised it, Courage had made two fatal errors. The first was that he'd insulted Crystal; the second that he'd let Muse get into kicking distance.

Strictly speaking, beating people up was Oyster's job, but that didn't mean Muse couldn't handle herself in a fight if she really had to. She did hope that Rosa had other options for the evening as from the noise Courage made and the truly satisfying way he'd folded over and curled up on the carpet he probably wasn't going to be providing her with much entertainment for at least a couple of days. For good measure she broke his nose as well, purely to prove a point, although she did regret it a little when he turned out to be a bleeder.

"Drat. You know, I liked the pattern on this one," she said as she pulled the pocket square out of the top of her jacket. She very deliberately wiped her knuckles on one edge of it then refolded and replaced it in its pocket, the blood hidden at the bottom. "Charity will appreciate the souvenir though. Good evening, Courage." She stepped over him and carried on up the corridor, outwardly confident even if inside she was already calculating the manoeuvres she and Crystal would need to make to prevent retaliation.

Muse picked up the pace; from this point on there was no way she could claim innocence for being in the wrong place, especially once she used one of the servants' stairs hidden behind a decorative panel. Plus, with the best will in the world, while she had every confidence that Crystal could provide a distraction there would still be a time limit before her parents realised it was staged; best to get the theft over and done with quickly and get back to safety before that could happen.

The study was exactly where she expected it to be from Crystal's directions, built into what had been a turret before extensions and renovations surrounded it on all sides. No windows, thick external brickwork a shell around the room; it didn't make it impenetrable by any means, but it certainly made it much harder to use any entrance other than the heavily locked door.

'Thank goodness for underwires,' Muse thought, quickly unbuttoning her jacket and shirt to get to her bra; she'd anticipated the pat-down on arrival at the house, and while she wasn't meant to be getting involved she did always feel underdressed without at least one pick these days, so while it was a terrible novel cliché she'd had made certain adjustments to her underwear to accommodate an emergency set. The smaller, more flexible picks were harder to use, inclined to bend where she really needed them to be stiff, but it couldn't have taken her much longer than normal before the lock clicked open. She ghosted inside and pulled the door to behind her, relying on the torch on her phone for light.

True to the turret it had been the study was close to circular, with shelves and cupboards and a desk built to fit it exactly. Even the carpet featured circles, rings within rings with patterns between them. The target was an otherwise innocuous cupboard built into the desk itself; rather than a key lock, it required a sequence of various concealed buttons to be pressed in the correct order and rhythm, including one that was coated in a contact poison and another that would trigger a needle into an unsuspecting forearm if held too long.

Muse sighed. It was going to be incredibly obvious that this was an inside job, given the intricacies of the mechanism, and also Fidget was going to be extremely envious as this sort of nonsense was what he lived for. She carefully tucked Crystal's locket into her bra to keep it out the way and got to work.

The last button pressed, Muse held her breath - and gently released it a moment later as she heard the catch release and saw the cupboard door swing ajar. The next breath caught in her throat as something moved through the gap, one moment smoke and the next solid, a tentacle reaching out for her. She stumbled backwards with a yelp, knocking over her phone; with most of the light gone, now she could see the patterns on the carpet glowing faintly purple. That was more than enough; Muse rolled to her feet and lunged for the door, only to find to her horror that she bounced off an invisible wall that followed the line of the patterns.

Something cold and clinging closed around her ankle, knocking her over and pulling her back towards the desk. She reached and tried to pull the creature off her but her hands went straight through its substance. Resisting had been a bad move; more smokey tentacles poured out of a space nowhere near large enough for them and started wrapping around her, the coldness spreading up her legs and latching onto one of her hands when she didn't move it out the way fast enough.

Muse wasn't screaming, but only because not making a noise while working was so ingrained by now.

It was getting harder to struggle, both from the tentacles holding her in place and the cold seeping into her muscles, and while she really didn't want to know what would happen if they reached her face there wasn't much she could do but watch in panic while trying to grab her phone. There was just enough light for her to see one of the tentacles reach the locket, pause, then continue working up towards her throat.

Muse whimpered, the sound forced out of her by pure fear. The cold was getting into her ribcage now, the tentacles starting to constrict her breathing. Her questing fingers caught the edge of her phone but she couldn't get a grip on it.

Another tentacle brushed against her jacket pocket. Abruptly all of them stopped moving; a heartbeat later and they dissolved into smoke again, whipping back into the cupboard and out of sight.

Muse lay on the carpet panting, still caught in deer-in-the-headlights panic, until her inner voice broke through loudly enough to point out that whatever had just happened was almost certainly going to have attracted some sort of attention and she had a job to do. Slowly, making sure of every muscle before moving it, she pulled herself up onto hands and knees, rescued her phone, and reluctantly crawled over to the cupboard. She steeled herself and opened the door fully.

There was a distinct lack of tentacle creatures made of smoke inside, although there was a worrying little wooden carving with a suggestion of tentacle that Muse resolved to avoid touching in the slightest.

More importantly, there were the labelled boxes. One for Courage and one for Crystal. Muse carefully opened the one for Courage; inside, in little padded wells, was a complete set of baby teeth, and tucked into a clip in the lid was what had to be a first lock of baby hair.

Mel slipped a condom packet out of her jacket inner pocket, extracted the condom and parcelled the canines in it. She'd chosen her hairstyle well tonight; it was pretty easy to hide such a small container in the bun. After a moment's thought she picked out a second condom packet and repeated the process with Crystal's baby teeth, adding one of her own hairs to show which was which.

There was another box, unlabelled; Muse couldn't help herself. Inside there was a key of sorts wrapped in a silk handkerchief - it had no teeth, only a bare shaft, and she desperately hoped it was made of ivory. Out of sheer relieved pettiness she snitched it and the handkerchief as well, although lacking any better hiding places that had to go down the side of her boot.

Muse tidied up as best as she could and closed the cupboard again. The markings on the carpet faded out as the lock clicked; she got slowly to her feet and approached the door, this time meeting no resistance. After listening for anyone outside Muse slipped out of the horrible, horrible study, closing and locking the door behind her. She put the picks away properly and buttoned up her shirt and jacket again with trembling hands; she knew that she was going to look mussed at best and a fright at worst, but in the circumstances she just wanted to get out of the house no matter what.

She distracted herself as she made her way back to the dining room by working out her cover story, one where she could turn her fear into a credible impression of anger. Muse entered to the sound of a fine old argument going on; Rosa looked about as mussed as Muse did, only a lot more embarrassed. Crystal was also mussed and not in the least bit embarrassed about the situation, a fact she was explaining loudly and at length to her father. Happily Courage hadn't made it back downstairs just yet…

"Charity, you would not believe what your brother just tried-" Muse said loudly and aggrievedly as she walked through the door, cutting off in apparent surprise at there being more of an audience than intended. She darkened her expression as she took in the now cringing Rosa and the smug Crystal.

"I see." She kept her voice flatly neutral as best as she could, but it was still enough to get a raised eyebrow from Crystal.

Deliberately not looking at Crystal, Muse walked up to Gerald and Adora. "Sir, ma'am, I do apologise," she said in her politest tones, "I've come down with a headache and feel it might be best for me to go home."

Crystal's parents glanced at each other; Adora nodded. "You are, of course, welcome to stay in a guest room overnight, but…yes, going home might be for the best."

"Thank you." Muse forced a smile and gave a small bow before walking out of the room, heading for the front door. A few minutes later she heard the staccato of Crystal's heels behind her; without saying a word to her girlfriend Muse simply led the way back to the car, politely opening and closing the door for Crystal. She drove them out of the gates and into the night, still silent, her knuckles a livid scar across the arc of the steering wheel.

Crystal showed remarkable restraint and waited until they were well away from the house before cracking into an excited smile. "Well? Did you get them?"

"Charity." Muse was impressed at herself for just how much she wasn't shouting right at that moment. "What in the name of all of God's little creatures was in that cupboard?"

Crystal sat back, stung by both Muse's tone and the use of her given name. "Baby teeth, Mama is rather sentimental that way. But you knew that, that was the whole target of the job."

Muse abruptly pulled the car over and up onto the pavement, ignoring the double yellow lines, and concentrated on her breathing. "That wasn't what I meant, Charity. I meant the thing, with the smoke and the tentacles, that thing in the cupboard."

Crystal looked genuinely surprised. "You…you weren't supposed to see that," she said, sounding a little bit worried, "You were wearing the locket I gave you, weren't you?"

Muse cracked. "Yes, I was wearing the bloody locket! It didn't give a flying fig about the bloody locket!" she spat out, all of the terror of the evening sharpening her tone to a knife edge. "That could have killed me, Charity, and I don't even know what it bloody was!"

A small, vicious part of her was pleased to see Crystal flinch back for at least a moment at the unexpected onslaught, but the older woman rallied, "It's a guardian, that's all I know - Mama paid someone to bind it there. But it's not supposed to attack anyone marked as family!"

"Marked with what, expensive jewellery?" Muse was still riding the wave of adrenaline, aware that she was going to pay for her behaviour later but right now unable and unwilling to care.

"No!" Crystal sounded upset. "There's some of my hair in there, Fidget and Oyster had the same - it should have been enough! It must have been, or you wouldn't be here now! The only reason it wouldn't work would be if I'd been cut out of the ward!"

"Let me get this straight," Muse snarled, "You're telling me that you sent the three of us into a potentially lethal situation with no information, no warnings, and a plan that 'should have worked' that you hadn't bloody tried out?!"

Crystal pouted sulkily. "You're making it sound far worse than it is, especially as you've clearly come out fine so my plan must have worked. From what Mama said the only things more powerful than hair are blood and bone, and you definitely didn't have either of those from me."

Muse looked at her in stony silence for a moment before flourishing the pocket square at her. "I never thought I was going to be quite so happy I punched your brother, but between him being the reason for the contract in the first place and it being the reason I didn't die…"

Crystal grabbed the square out of her hand and held it up to the light coming through the windscreen. "Oh my goodness, is that…?" She chuckled. "He is going to be livid."

Muse wasn't willing to let up on Crystal just yet, although tiredness was already starting to win over anger. "It's a good thing I got those teeth then, as I'm sure you can use them for…I don't know, blackmail or insurance or something." She sighed. "Right now though I just want to go home, check the boys made it back safe, shower and sleep, and tomorrow you can explain to me in small words about wards and guardians and everything in case it comes up again. Right?"

"Oh, alright," Crystal said, still smiling at the pocket square in a faintly disconcerting manner, "Let's go home."

It wasn't until much later, lying wrapped up in each other in the dark, that Crystal said sleepily, "I am glad you're okay, Muse. I wouldn't have sent you in if I'd thought you were going to get seriously hurt, I promise - I love you too much for that."

Muse's heart, her eternal weakness, still skipped a beat at the declaration as the last of the anger ran out of her. "I love you too, Crystal," she whispered back, knowing her girlfriend was almost certainly already asleep.

#mel is nominally the sensible one #short fic #writeblr #writblr #motw character #wlw