#i kept thinking about the bee movie the whole time while editing this

[supernova1us]

My changes/edits to ROTB to make it a better film, without actually changing the film as it is.

so without changing the overall plot of the film as it is, these are the tweaks and changes i would have made to the film to, to me, make it a far better film. please comment if this makes it better in your eyes

-in the opening, more maximals would be seen fleeing from the terrorcons to the transwarp tower with the main group. the film would also hint more heavily at the maximlas being from the far future.

-there would be less of Noah's scenes in the early movie; just a few of them showing his family is struggling/sick brother and would quickly movie on to him reluctantly joining in Reek's heist to make the money, so we paint him as more of a regretful criminal than this luckless job hunter that isnt a team player.

-the optimus/transit fight would be included(minus narration) after meeting noah and elena; this would be both to show how tough optimus is so it is a bigger shock with how he gets beaten by scourge. also to intro the transformers earlier; the films keep thinking the TFs arent relevant until the plot needs the humans to encounter them when we already know its a TF film and the bots are the whole point of the story. also, optimus' arm cannon would be redesigned to be less bulky and ridiculous looking.

-the dump truck disguise would clearly be shown to just be a hologram

-a bit more play up of arcee and bumblebee as a close duo, including failing to tagteam battletrap, who is more audibly enjoying the fight and boisterous.

-mirage's redundant "what, they fly now?" line would be gone and replaced with something more sensible like "who the hell are these guys? they ain't cocky enough to be decepticons"

-optimus' "impossible" line would be removed. guy acted outraged that someone caught his axe strike.

-a few shots at the museum/alley of the autobots mourning bumblebee

-airazor and elana's deleted scene would be kept in, we would also see airazor transform just to emphasize her point, to which even optimus would cock and interested eyebrow.

-a few changes would be made to scourge; cosmetically, his left hand would always remain the big claw/cannon and not convert to a normal hand. he would be a bit more morose at times, showing that while he relishes what he does, he does still hold some resentment of his slavery.

-after being mentally tortured by unicron, scourge would be mocked by battletrap and they almost come to blows, but nightbird breaks it up. battletrap would then comment that they only follow him because he is unicrons favorite servant...for now.

-the plane ride would be a few minutes longer, and would include; mirage's bravado cracking to show he feels partially responsible for what happened to bee as it was his plan, optimus' explaining to the humans that an autobot hidden in south america will meet them as he sent other autobots around the earth to hide, stratosphere doing some pilot announcements and elena waving out the window to airazor as she flies past.

-wheeljack would have his concept design(the wide one on the far right of the linked pic). the whole accent exchange would end after wheeljacks line "accent, what accent?" with noah just shrugging it off after that. https://i.redd.it/jpal6uh9wr8b1.jpg

-both elena and wheeljack would be the ones to explain history/exposition stuff, often eagerly finishing each others sentences. wheeljack would also be the one to give noah the gauntlet.

-it would be explained there are so few humans around where they landed because of the festival and stratosphere says he will take off before he is seen. prime would also look back at bee's body and stratosphere says he will take good care of him.

-while noah and elena descend into the caves, we have a couple minutes between the autobots. wheeljack tries to talk about bumblebee but arcee gets angry and mirage and optimus chime in to break the tension.

-after scourge comments that the autobts are moving and must have found the key, he is content to wait for the right moment but it is the over eager battletrap who decides to move and force them to give chase.

-the cheetor and rhinox being in the cave scene would be kept in

-as they walk down the river, it would be clear wheeljack and arcee are talking as they walk rather than just blankly walking in the background as mirage and noah talk.

-after primal asks optimus to walk with him in the village, there would be a scene of cheetor giving one of the human kids a ride. mirage would then ask about them staying in beast mode and rhinox would explain the original maximals swore to live more peacefully in their beast modes unless in great need. cheetor would ask if anyone else wants a ride, to which elena, then noah, mirage, arcee and wheeljack all sheepishly raise their hands.

-as optimus and primal talk, primal has a flashback of witnessing human achievements over the centuries, both constructive and destructive, before saying they are worth defending(as was seen in some concept art).

-cheetor and rhinox more openly mourn airazors death with primal, as does elena.

-a line would be inserted to make clear the power of the transwarp key that it can simply will the transwarp gateway into being.

-rhinox would be the one to produce the hologram and explain the tunnels that the humans could use, clarified to be exhaust vents.

-we see scourge specifically use the keys power to summon the sweeps through the tower.

-optimus alone takes out battletrap, with him replacing primal in the mace grab moment and be a bit more drawn out.

-mirage's body envelops noah before reformatting into the suit around him rather than that trash we got of his body just sorta falling apart and metal just materializing slowly over noah like marvel nanotech.

-bumblebee's voice is restored and there is more of a happy/shocked reaction from the autobots at his return

-stratosphere provides cover fire and smack talk from the air as he strafes the volcano

-primal joins optimus in double teaming a more frantic scourge and is the one to deliver the killing blow to avenge his home. scourge would have also morbidly remarked during the fight that he'd once been brave "like them" but all still fall to unicron.

-change scourge's last line to a desperate "unicron MUST prevail" showing that being the slave is all he has left. his death would also simply be primal impaling him through the spark as his body sinks into the lava flow.

-unicron delivers a final threat through the portal just before it closes, along the lines of "you cant deny me forever" or "i will find you"

-a shot during optimus' speech would show the autobots and maximals burying airazor before the shot of primal on the cliffside.

-wheeljack would be seen going back to US with the others

-noah wouldnt get a closing narration, we would just see the scene of him reuniting with his family with music over it.

-mirage being revived wouldn't exist, nor would G I Joe; the closing scene would just be noah going to his interview, seeing elena on tv, and going in with renewed confidence before it cuts to black.

#transformers #transformers rise of the beasts #ROTB #hasbro #maximals #autobots

[symphea]

☀

Meet Min ha, My lesbian baby who will bike her way to steal your girl’s heart

#i kept thinking about the bee movie the whole time while editing this #LOOK i love thatmovie okay #and here comes the sun by the beatles just fits the mood #i spent 30 min furnishing that lot but its barely even there ASHDJKS #ts4 edit #sims 4 edit #ts4 edits #ts4

[mocacheezy]

Things that made watching Transformers (2007) easier and even enjoyable:

[note: B'verse gets the treatment that it gets by fandom for good reasons. There are tons of posts that dissect the bullshit of these movies far better than my second-language-english-non-american self could ever tackle, so I am not doing that, or plan on doing that. But if I decide that I'll get through every continuity of the franchise I will find a way to make it fun for myself. And so, this is my search for golden nuggets in these movies, because they did bring in new fans to the franchise and that's why we have other continuities that we might not have otherwise. Credit where it's due, and some positivity for those that did find B'verse at least amusing if nothing else. ]

🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪🥄🔪🍴🥄🔪

Frenzy

Anytime Frenzy was on screen made me smile because his movements and personality were hilarious, he is just so expressive despite looking like someone super glued a bunch of knifes together. I wouldn't know it was Frenzy if I didn't go to the Wiki, but no matter that, he was funny and that's what matters.

The original Cybertronian robot modes

We don't see them for long, but the glimpses were glorious. Just look at Optimus

Gorgeous. What I wouldn't give to see the details up close. Maybe I'll go looking eventually, but this is just so nice.

We also get a "sexily rises from the pool" scene with Ironhide (probably unintentional and I am biased due to being a robofucker. In any case, very very nice and Cybertronians look so good as aliens)

"Excuse me, are you the Tooth Fairy?"

You see this kid?

This little girl was the only human I cared about in the movie until I saw just how badass Mikaela is, and how cool the military dude is. I don't like kids, but I would lay down my life for this girl.

This one scene just makes me think of what would happen if her parents showed up way earlier. Ironhide would be her guardian and it would be both adorable and hilarious because "Honey, you have to drive in a sentient alien that looks just like our car because the goverment men said so or there will be consequences and potential alien threats."

There are so many joke potentials there; the cultural barrier, the "I am the ine that is supposed to keep her safe" glaring contests, there is just so much shenanigans that could happen.

Also, tea party with the kid. Tea party with the kid.

Sam Witwicky actually reacts like an average human would when faced with the situations he finds himself in

Do I like Sam Witwicky? No, he is the kind of character that I would want to punch irl because of his personality and actions. He is disgusting. But watching him scamper and scream and stutter when faced with giant metal robot aliens that can squish him like a bug? Good, that was a beliavable reaction and I enjoyed it a great deal.

Megatron. Just, ✨Megatron✨

(the best screenshot of the few I could take while watching, no, I am not going back for a better one, he looks perfect like this)

I also laughted at how they kept him frozen like a popsicle. And not even well, like, they COULD'VE made an actual freezer and pop him in instead of using those couple of tubes just so he was displayed for all personell to gawk at. HE CRASHED IN THE ANTARCTIC!

The design looks so good, because it looks ALIEN and POINTY and AGH!!! The colors? There are no colors that would make him stand out, he looks like someone opened a cutlery drawer, mixed up what's inside, threw in some extra knifes for a good measure and then shook the whole thing until this guy materialized from the pile. It is both incredibly annoying and satisfying.

🔪

Mr. Welker did an amazing job with his voice, I don't know what the directions were, but oh man it sure sent shivers down my spine. That is the kind of voice that spells "You are going to die" and I already have my coffin picked out.

EDIT: SO APPARENTLY! IT WAS NOT WELKER THAT VOICED MEGATRON.

It was Hugo Weaving, and yes the man did am amazing job, but I apologize a million times, I was CERTAIN that THE OG VA OF MEGATRON WOULD ALSO HAVE VOICED MEGATRON. LIKE, OKAY BAY, OKAY!

🔪

LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF ICE! With how quick he came back fully online once Frenzy turned off the freeze liquid tubes, I bet he was half awake through the whole thing. Systems just below idling or something, in any case, AGENTS YOU ARE SO DUMB! WHO WAS GIVING SUBPAR FUNDING TO THEM, THEY BETTER BE FIRED!

I also was glad that Sam refused to call him by the name the sector asigned to him, despite Megatron being in stasis. And that he insisted they use the correct name. Good job Sam, acknowledge the threat by the actual name and show respect to a fellow sentient lifeform. Even though said lifeform is hellbent on destruction of the universe and your world.

ALSO, AND I CANNOT STRESS THE LAUGHTER AND AMUSEMENT HERE; the sheer DISRESPECT! They don't disassemble Megatron's corpse. No, these idiots, these absolute morons decide to dump him into the ocean, letting him sink to the lowest possible point (not sure if they did say it was the M' Trench or not), where there are proper freezing temperatures - good! You're learning, good job!! - just... In full. Full corpse. What's left of him. Just blup! Down with the fishies he goes!

I understand that they probably didn't know how to approach Optimus about it, but... At least behead the guy. He came back ONCE, who is to say he won't come back again?! Safety precautions my dears.

They also completely disregard what a giant extraterrestrial metal alien rusting away on the bottom of the ocean could do to the ecosystem at large. Like, I find this incredibly amusing, because this ISN'T something most folks think about when watching a movie but we have giant squids down there. We have so much weird things down there, the ocean isn't even fully explored AND YOU WANT TO CHUCK AN ALIEN CORPSE DOWN THERE?!

Now the real question: is he a looker? *looks at the pictures* hmmmm, depends on if you like knifes. Like, really like knifes. Like really, really REALLY want to get it on with a fine assembly of kitchen knifes that were exposed to the elements but somehow haven't rusted away completely.

I think he's neat.

Needs a good long powerwash though. Preferrably with something to help the whole "I was frozen for more than 50 years and sprang back to action as soon as I woke up" thing that happened.

My man needs to take a moment and get his bearings, like dude. Please. You can conquer the world after some energon and slow system boot-up period. The strain on the systems my dude, you ain't young.

Also love that this "death" was probably reused in TFP because lord golly, do we love our faves ending up under the sea. (Though Megan took a much bigger fall, Bayverse WAS PLOPPED INTO THE WATER LIKE A NEWLY ACQUIRED FISH I CAN'T YOU GUYS I CAN'T!)

In short: I love the comedy of american military giving such disrespect to an Alien Warlord. These guys are really sealing their fate.

I loved the way they got the Witwicky family to be important to the plot

The whole "selling my great great grandpa's glasses on e-bay" thing gives us a very good self insert/OC/rewrite/movie AU potential. Don't like Sam and his disgustingness? Find a way to write a cousin or some far off relative or hell, even just someone who buys the glasses off e-bay and go wild with it!

Archibald was also clearly an inspiration for Isaac Sumdac as far as I can tell, what with both of them using Megatron as a means of helping technology advance.

Only difference being one of them lived and actually talked to Megatron after he came back online and the other got driven to madness and death due to the amount of information beamed into his brain. Isaac also acquired a space baby daughter, so the guy is absolutely luckier of the two.

Mikaela being fucking competent and badass throughout the movie, and not being just fanservice eyecandy

I could do without the fanservice, but her personality? I loved it. I loved that she wasn't crawling to Sam and wasn't being "hard to get". Which is also why I was very displeased at the very sudden "oh yeah, romance! She returns his feelings after he took her for a ride and let her vent her frustrations!". The movie is 2 hours long and they could throw in some moments where these two connect?

Welp, it is an action movie, boy gets girl no matter what, can't complain about the staple in the genre.

However, Mikaela x Optimus? Now THAT is something I considered as soon as the two locked eyes and interacted. Like, even taking my shipping goggles off, these two could have a very interesting dynamic and Mikaela could be a very good protagonist. I wonder what the movie would be like with her as the lead and Sam being the fucking moron she has to drag along with her.

BUT ALSO! Can we talk about the horrible, excruciating fact that her and Bumblebee drove around with Bee's damaged legs dragging over asphalt all the time he was shooting at 'Cons? There were sparks flying! SHE WAS DRIVING BACKWARDS! She took command of the situation and did what she could because Bee still wanted TO FIGHT!

Also, they way she beat up Frenzy? Gorgeous, I want to slap Sam's non-existent balls off for not atleast saying "thanks". The dude would be sliced thinner than cabbage if she wasn't there.

The millitary man we are supposed to care about because his wife gave birth while he was on duty and we see his baby three times in the whole movie, actually being a pretty awesome and well-written character

Look, personally, I was a little confused at the reason why we were seeing his wife and baby interacting/the scene where she thinks her husband is dead. Mostly because I don't like kids, so scenes like that, when I don't even know who the character is, have no impact at all. Him having a baby isn't going to make me like the guy more, unless I know his character. Him being absent because he's on duty doesn't mean he'll be a good dad (though he looks like the kind of man that will try his best, and I like that in a man). So seeing his wife and kid at the start of the movie seemed pointless to me.

BUT! FOCUSING ON THE POSITIVES HERE!

Lennox is a good character and whenever he was on screen I was invested in what is going to happen to him. He's the kind of action movie lead that would have me invested, despite my meh interest in mainly gun fight oriented action movies.

Essentially, loved the guy, would love to see more of him while also being able to tell what's happening on screen. Also the comedy scenes he was in were usually funny.

~

Okay so these are the things I like about the first movie! It was very long, had to watch it on 2,5x speed because it simultainously dragged while ALSO giving me too much information, but the moments like these and the way my imagination latched onto characters I liked made it watchable. It isn't a movie I'd use to introduce someone to the TF franchise, but it provided me with lots of material for my imagination to run wild.

#moca watches #transformers #transformers bayverse #moca screeches #Yes the cutlery divider is due to the Decepticons looking like they do. It amuses me greatly.

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

"Won't it suck, Cas?" Dean declares, as Castiel enters their room with bags hoisted on both shoulders, and elbows the door shut behind him - because apparently when you're pretending to date in front of your parents, sometimes they turn out awesome enough for you to get to - or, Dean supposes he should say, have to share a room.

Cas puts the bags down, next to their bed.

"Won't it totally, and completely, and really suck if our cover blew?"

"Who suspects what?" Cas turns, with a frustrated frown. Which soon flips to a planning, expressionless face. "Because I've still got some of those baking-stories left. I believe I can swing them into a conversation." Cas folds his arms. "And you should come with me. You tell them great, because it's the one thing which isn't a lie."

That - isn't completely fair.

A lot of things, at least as far as Dean sees them, have not been lies.

Dean does make Cas coffee every morning, sometimes takes it to his bedroom too, and Cas does do most of the shopping for the flat - there's this inside joke Dean has going with Cas's brother Gabriel, that the employees at Walmart are terrified of Cas because he once threatened someone over pie, which he never forgets, and Dean always gets so soft over that story.

They do share clothes sometimes, even if it's just ratty t-shirts they'll never wear outside, and they do have movie nights every Thursday where Dean comes up with amazing films and Cas unpreventably falls asleep in the middle of them. And they did name all of Cas's bees one night, drunk and dreamy on the balcony.

Sure, they don't fall asleep in each other's arms later, or do the couple-y things they've had to edit into otherwise real stories, but Dean thinks he makes up for it by being in all kinds of love with Cas.

Not that Cas knows, of course.

"Well, I don't doubt that you've got enough adorability ammo." Dean returns, grinning. "We are pretty cute, to be fair. And, nope." He clarifies. "Nobody doubts that we're not dating yet."

When opportunity had presented itself a couple weeks ago, at the beginning of December, Dean had found in himself just enough courage to ask Cas if he'd be okay with being his fake-date for New Year's, since he was spending it with the Winchesters anyways - adding hurriedly, that if Cas felt weirdly about it at all, he could drop the idea right there, and he'd quietly just go off in search of someone else and not bring it up again.

Cas had blinked at him a few times before saying okay, and what a wonderful understatement that had been because by the time they had to leave for Kansas, Cas was more invested in the program than he'd ever been.

"Yet?" Cas recoils, eyebrows knitted together. "What are you implying, Dean?"

What had started off as a means to shirk off lectures from his family, was now being treated like a mission. But as of the moment, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the bed - Dean is happy. He's around the people he loves most, and well-fed on a heavy homemade lunch and two beers, and he's feeling light-hearted and brave.

"Tonight's fireworks night." Dean shrugs, trying to go for nonchalant and hoping he lands in non-shy, at the very least. "Out by the riverfront, sitting on blankets on the grass, and staring up at the night sky - the whole shebang."

"So?"

"People will probably expect us to kiss." Dean clears his throat, studying Cas's face for reactions. There's nothing for him there, but he doesn't stop staring. "And since we can't do that, we might -"

"I -" Cas interrupts, and maybe he's blushing a little. Jesus, Dean hopes he is. "I can."

Dean raises his eyebrows.

"Kiss, I mean."

And fuck that fucking fucker for not specifying that he can kiss Dean, because those words, strung together in a sentence and delivered in Cas's glorious fucking voice would've automatically sent Dean to paradise.

Dean's run out of things to say so he lets out a sound that's supposed to be the wordless equivalent of a 'huh'.

"I-if we had to." Cas adds, uncertainly. "Couldn't you?" He asks, and the ball is back in Dean's pitiable court.

"No, yeah." Dean supplies, and his voice cracks unhelpfully. He clears his throat and braves on to previously untraversed territory. "I could. Sure, I could."

That's one too many, and Dean wants to swallow his words back but Cas has already heard them, and there's a slow smile stretching slowly on his features.

"Then what's the problem?"

"It'd be obvious," Dean answers him, matter-of-factly. "Way too obvious that it's our first kiss. The, uh." He can't believe he's actually saying these words. "Being that close, basically. First times are bound to be weird - just the very newness of someone's lips on yours." He's goddamn rambling but he isn't going to be the first to acknowledge whose, either.

Cas's cheeks are sufficiently pink by now for Dean to feel a little bit triumphant. But then it's his turn. "You're not wrong." He begins, nodding seriously, in spite of his flustered voice. "It takes all couples a while to fall into rhythm. Sync up pace, get comfortable touching each other, and grow familiar with their partner's technique."

They're both just saying words now, and it doesn't really mean much - in fact, it's infinitesimal as compared to the lengths being exchanged by means of a long-held stare.

Questions are proposed within the silence, and permissions are granted in whispers.

"Not for nothing," Dean finally says out loud. "But maybe we should get the first time out of the way."

Cas steps closer, and there's a twinkle in his eye. "Maybe we should." Dean keeps on staring, his tongue shooting out to wet his lips. "Maybe, right away."

Dean stands up, breathing out traces of a 'yes' and Cas is right there. He's so close, and so gorgeous, and just that one inch shorter - so Dean can just lean in and Cas will probably go on his toes a little bit, and it'll be like they're meeting in the middle, and -

Dean's so lost thinking about it that he almost misses the first spark which goes through him like goddamn electricity in his veins, when Cas's hand cups his cheek, fingers splayed on his neck and thumb oh-so-close to his lips.

Dean can feel his breath hitch when Cas gently runs the pad of his thumb across the bottom lining of Dean's lower lip, and he doesn't have a single thought in his head except for Cas, Cas, Cas, as he reaches forward to grab the lapels of his coat and closes the gap.

He knows he's probably expected to ingest the intricacies of how the kiss feels - the details of Cas's taste and smell and touch; the curve of his lips, the stubble across his jaw, and his hand on Dean's face.

But far from mapping Cas's fucking technique - Dean can't even process when he's supposed to pull back. All he can do is stay, hands entangled in Cas's coat, and trapped between them, eyes closed but all other senses overly sensitive to everything Cas does.

It's not like he doesn't do his bit, but that's all instinct - his brain's signed out for the day, and this is just his nerves in command. It should be terrifying, feeling this lost - or more appropriately, afloat, in the middle of a kiss, but as their noses bump and lips collide, in slightly different angles each time they pull off to gasp for breath, it just feels right.

It feels real.

Their first kiss isn't just one kiss, Dean muses, as they separate finally but linger. It's an amalgamation of a thousand kisses, and a half a thousand breaths because Cas kept taking his away - and it's the way Cas's hand came to rest on Dean's arm, and Dean's fingers clutching a soft material which is more Cas than anything else he owns, and it's every little everything, and then some.

"Wow." Dean sighs, and he doesn't even regret sounding as overwhelmed as he does. "Cas, I - wow."

He's never been kissed like that.

Cas looks back at him a little starry-eyed, and proceeds to relax into a gummy smile instead of words - and it's happy, and lovely, and perfect.

"I might be wrong," He mutters, stepping ahead, and there's no space left, so Dean falls back to sit on the bed in surprise. "But second kisses can be pretty tricky too."

"Right." Dean scoots on backwards on the mattress, and Cas follows, climbing on the bed. "Right, yeah, with all the pressure from the first -"

"And the relatively newfound elements of intimacy -"

"And the -" Dean tries to add, but Cas is unbelievably kissable, just leaning over him, with his smile and his eyes and his hands, and Dean stops himself short. "We just really shouldn't risk it."

And that's all the preamble before he's pulled Cas over him, lips desperately seeking out all the right places to be, and their hands all over the place like they're trying to make up for years of tension in a single minute - but after a while, they're back to kissing slow and deep and warm, and he's wrapped his hands around Castiel's neck - and Castiel's fingers ghost over his spine every now and then, from where his hands rest on Dean's waist -

And it's everything Dean's ever wanted it to be.

#destiel #dean winchester #dean winchester/castiel #bisexual dean winchester #castiel #castiel/dean #castiel/dean winchester #destiel fluff #fluffy destiel #deancas fluff #destiel ficlet #fake dating #destiel college au #roommates au #destiel kisses #destiel first kiss #flustered dean #soft bois™ #just them being soft and lovely and totally gone on each other because im supposed to be working on my wips and instead im out here #dishing out #fluff

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 15

first time reader - click here

TW/SUMMARY: Is bad humour a trigger? Cards against humanity. Loki in the wild. Chaotic Tony, chaotic Reader. Team bonding, a gag chapter lmao

My beta is babey 🥺 @miscmarvelwritings

If someone had bothered to ask me what kind of relationship I had with Tony, it would've made my brain glitch. In the weeks we spent fucking, sciencing and hanging out with the Avengers, it never once crossed my mind. We had fun and it was easy. Unlike both of our lives, it didn't require much mental energy for us to get what we wanted from each other. For me, it was easier to ignore my skin aching for Tony when he was already spending so much time on me. I wasn't sure if it would ever be enough, really, so taking exactly as much as he was giving was my best bet.

We built things in his workshop with Pete by our side and it wasn't awkward. The spiderling said he was happy as long as we were happy and didn't mind it too much when Tony got handsy. The man had at least some morals and stuck to kisses, ass-slaps and lewd comments which made Peter snort and fake-retch sure, yet the boy never displayed any real discomfort. It was endearing. He really became the little brother I never thought I would have.

The sex was fantastic, to say the least. We fucked on just about every flat surface on the residential floors. Steve caught us once, although I am almost hundred percent sure Tony staged it all on purpose. The good Captain didn't even blush, instead just silently closed the door behind him as I stared in his face, gripping Tony's head with my thighs.

The weather grew dreary yet both of my parents still stayed out of New York. Mother went back to Canada and dad continued his never-ending party on the West Coast, conquering California and living his best life. My house was dark and cold, and I started hanging around the tower more often than ever. If I wasn't with Tony, I was busy catching up Wanda and Bucky on pop culture, teaching Thor how to bake cakes and doing other meaningless, domestic stuff. The Avengers tower bustled with life at all hours and there always was someone...

I never felt lonely. It was such an unusual experience. Comfort and reassurance was always one room away. Be it Thor with his gratuitous amount of physical affection or his brother's incredibly witty, dark humor, I never had to stay one-on-one with my thoughts for too long.

Personally witnessing Bruce's coming out of his shell was the highlight of my life, no lie. I was so used to the quiet, mousy Banner that my brain refused to acknowledge his amazing sense of humour at first; I wasn't sure if he was joking or ... Or what? Truth to be told, Brucie-bear was as snarky as Tony,Loki and Stephen. The sorcerer had started visiting more often too, under the guise of tutoring Wanda, but all of us saw the way he lingered in the communal areas after their study time came to an end.

If loneliness was a sickness then the tower's inhabitants and frequent visitors were beginning their recovery journey.

"Have you guys heard about Cards Against Humanity?" I asked one evening once the movie credits began rolling. Wanda was squished into my side with her legs in her brother's lap; Clint laying atop both siblings like the trash bag that he was. And I meant it fondly.

On the other side of me, I had Bucky and Loki, who had begun to discuss their respective collections of sharp and pointy things once they deemed the movie lacked action. Legally Blonde and action, did they really think..? Nevermind.

"Yes, and if you're offering, the answer is yes," Clint mumbled, reaching for his second pack of Cheetos.

We gathered in a circle as I brought the shoebox that had the original deck plus a couple of expansions. This was beginning to look interesting. "So, I have the special Avengers edition right there..."

"Say no more," Clint even abandoned his snacks. "But I'mma put on the episode of Lucifer I missed. Multitasking," He winked, wrestling the remote from Pietro. We waited patiently as they finished the obligatory round of horsing before settling down for the game.

I explained the rules of the game, choosing to disregard Loki's scoffing and Wanda's doubt about the quality of the humor in the game. We played a few rounds with me explaining some of the deeper pop culture references. At a point where all of us were engrossed, laughing and poking fun at each other, more of the Avengers parked themselves on the couch.

Stephen, Tony and Bruce evidently had been sciencing, all three men having had their safety goggles perched forgotten atop their heads. Sam, Natasha and Steve - probably sparring. All three of them brought the smell of soap and laundry detergent to the room. All of the newcomers observed us with mild interest, periodically glance at the TV.

It was Wanda's turn to be the card Czar. I had to take a moment to finish my last giggling fit.

"Okay, the white card goes..." She paused dramatically. "I never truly understood blank until I encountered blank." With that, she poked the timer app on her phone. The sixty second countdown began.

I did a quick inventory check. Then I snorted. I had to quickly stuff two knuckles in my mouth, biting down, to attempt to silence the hysterical fit of laughter I was on the brink of. Loki was definitely going to stab me but the opportunity was too good to pass. No fear, we die like men.

"Ooh, she's got something," Clint teased, having noticed my shaking shoulders.

The timer beeped. Naturally, Loki went first. He wore a mildly disgusted smirk. "I never truly understood parting the red sea until I encountered third base," The trickster caved and began chuckling.

Somewhere behind me, Sam and Tony began cackling while Stephen and Steve groaned loudly in mild distaste.

"Press F to pay respects," Pietro clapped Loki on the shoulder with a sympathetic chuff. "I raise you - I never truly understood licking things to claim as your own until I encountered the clitoris," The young avenger struggled through laughter, followed by everyone else this time.

"That's a keeper, ladies," Sam's rich baritone quipped.

I laughed along, inwardly preparing for the inevitable. "Yikes," I whispered, side-eyeing Loki. "I never truly understood daddy issues..." I trailed off, hearing Bucky and Steve beginning to tease Tony. "... Until I encountered Loki, the trickster God."

The room drowned in a sea of laughter, Tony and Clint busting a gut so hard they fell over. Said trickster God was less than amused, however, glaring in my direction with the force of a pissed off bee swarm.

"Ow, that's cold, Princess, that's just cold," Clint squeezed out.

"Loki," I abandoned my stack of cards, crawling over Pietro and Bucky on all fours, settling prettily on my knees in front of Loki. Making my very best puppy eyes. "I love you, with all my cold black heart. And you're technically the patron saint of fun and shit, so that means you must approve of this very clever joke," I pouted, batting my eyelashes.

"Baby girl, I think you're laying it on too thick," Tony gasped, slumping on the couch, holding his sides. Everyone kept laughing, now at my feeble attempt at placating the upset Loki.

Who, by the way, looked a bit spooked. Subtly but surely, the raven-haired Asgardian leaned away from me.

"Don't be mad, I'm too cute to be mad at," I finally snorted, pat-pat-patting him on the shoulder. "It's okay, you can join my club. We have hot old dudes and cookies."

That broke it. First, the corner of his mouth twitched. Then, Loki looked away. I saw the storm before it crashed; with a weird noise of his own and his cheeks puffed out, Loki joined in on the shit-fest, howling full volume and doubling over. I followed suit, until all of us were writhing around on the floor. We'd stop and then someone would make another remark and it would go into another round again.

"Menace," Loki scoffed at me, smiling. "And for the record, the hottest old dude, as you put it, would be me." That said, he went back to calmly waiting for his next turn. "I'm about a thousand years old."

"Thor's older," Bruce noted thoughtfully.

Loki scoffed. "That man cannot chew with his mouth shut. If that's considered attractive, I'm leaving this forsaken planet."

That struck a thought within me. One that was brewing a long time, to be honest. "Thor is the god of himbos," I said with the same tone as "Eureka!".

"Shit, you're right," Sam exclaimed, following with another, weaker fit of laughter meanwhile Bruce had to be the one explaining the term to the poor, poor, clueless members of the Avengers.

I need to find a way to award them some kind of points for learning the gen-z lingo. "Patrick" stars maybe, since they lived under a fucking rock?

"Princess, never a boring day with you around. You don't half-ass this shit," Tony's warmth reached me as he shuffled around on the couch, sitting directly behind me. I leaned my back against his legs.

"I'm not a clown," I shot back. Tony stiffened. Dramatically flailing my hand I announced: "I am the whole god-damn circus!"

As the game progressed, we found out that Clint was That Guy - meaning, the dude every CAH group had, the one who grossly overused the "Bees?!" card and made Star Wars references whenever humanly possible. The only even slightly funny joke was about a lightsaber up the ass, in the end all of us finding out that Bucky knew a little too much about modern sex toys - "Hey, I saw one on Amazon, I'll send you the link, Birdman" - to Steve's open-mouthed horror.

What Loki lacked in references he made up in wit. The play on "During sex, I like to think about genetically engineered supersoldiers" had Bucky scrambling to switch places with Wanda whilst Loki himself was attempting to shoot bedroom eyes at Steve. It was a mess.

Bucky's own play had Steve abandon all pretense at being in any way appropriate as he struggled for air. "The Avengers new rules prohibit using Mjölnir as a dildo." Me and Tony became somewhat of a messy guffawing octopus of limbs for a moment after the super-soldier said it.

"Don't. Tell. Thor!" Strange gritted out, hiding his laughter behind a palm, uncharacteristically having lost his stuffy attitude. By god's will the man was attractive when he smiled.

As time ticked, each one of the starting players had attracted a newcomer. There weren't enough cards for everyone to play (Tony had, of course, ordered additional ones but they wouldn't arrive until the next day) so people kind of whispered and pointed at what they thought would fit.

Natasha conspired with Wanda, Sam went to his bird-bro, Bruce was forcefully dragged by Bucky to his side. Surprisingly, Steve teamed up with Loki which made Pietro stick his nose up in the air and promptly declare he needed no backup.

I already had Tony on my side. The genius wasn't of much help, however, he simply annoyed me out of my skull by randomly giggling and making immature jokes. It should've alarmed me that Stephen was eager to join me and Tony - usually he just butted heads with anyone who had any opinion whatsoever.

I was left bewildered upon discovering the wizard liked drama as much as the Kardashian clan and was quite competitive at causing the most shit.

My clown crown felt threatened.

"This one," Tony poked at a card in my hand.

"If you think that's funny, your intellect is obviously overestimated." Stephen dismissively waved a hand. "This one," It was unmistakable whom the trembling finger belonged to. It pointed at a card on the other side.

"Wizards are just hilarious," Tony seeped sarcasm.

"Try me, Beyonce," Stephen murmured darkly.

That was just background noise to me. I had all my undivided attention on the TV, my last two functioning brain cells focused on the scene unfolding right in front of me. The Lucifer episode, the devil and his insatiable thirst for honey. The timer buzzed but I was still drawn towards Tom Ellis dipping two of his fingers first in the honeypot, then in his mouth, all the while looking like a damn snack himself. Illegal. I've never simped so hard for a fictional character.

A golden glow snatched a card out of my grasp, levitating it.

"Girl, what the hell?" Wanda saw my face and attempted to revert me back to earth. "Someone turn off the TV, there's not enough water in the tower to quench her thirst."

"Hey, did you two just - don't ignore me!" Tony whined, managing to tug on my hair and attempt to reach for the card now held in Stephen's grasp, simultaneously.

"I don't blame her," Clint mused. "That right there is one very fine dude."

I shook my head, clearing any untoward thoughts. Focus. "First of all, Bird, you're a dude. That there," I pointed up at the TV. "Is a man. A Man." I emphasised, getting a jealous poke in the back from Tony. "Second of all..." I turned towards Stephen. "The quaffle, the snitch and the AUDACITY OF THIS BITCH!" The last of my sentence was pitched. The sorcerer had raised his arm, clutching the card, and I struggled to reach it.

"What... What did you just say?" Stephen was laughing, not at all phased by me climbing him like a tree to take hold of what's mine. Tony was actively helping - or, trying to. One-handed. The other hand attempted to snatch the rest of the cards from my grasp.

"And that's an F on teamwork," Bucky's sarcasm was complemented by Steve's famous Captain America Is Disappointed In You look.

"Uhh... Guys? What's going on?" Peter's timid voice leaked confusion.

"Hello, friends," Thor boomed, drowning out the boy's questioning noises.

"We're playing a game. Cards Against Humanity."

Wordlessly, Peter towed Thor along with him to find a spot amongst us. And even if Thor didn't get any of the references, he still was good fun. His laugh was infectious. The way he cheered for every winner was incredibly wholesome. Golden space puppy. The urge to immediately pet Thor and give him endless pop-tarts was strong in me.

Loki was one dramatic, vengeful bitch. "Women get turned on by the Devil himself"? I was ready to throw hands with the trickster. Everybody's laughter drowned out any cursing I might or might have not directed towards Loki who looked far too satisfied with himself. I was going to substitute the sugar for his tea with salt one day, mark my words.

I wouldn't admit it over my dead body, but the way he got back at me for the daddy issues joke was kinda funny. Okay, very funny. It was fucking hilarious. I admire a clever man.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby

#party favours #bun writes #tony stark x reader #tony stark x y/n #tony stark x you #bruce banner x you #bruce banner x reader #bruce banner x y/n #stephen strange x y/n #stephen strange x you #stephen strange x reader #avengers team x reader fluff

[morkofday]

2020 – a (content creator) year in review

I decided to make this into a mix of these two games I was (kinda?) tagged into so thank you for @leonzhng and @tiesanjiao ♥ I hope you don’t mind me doing it like this ^^ all the questions were just so interesting that I wanted to try!

(bc of the amount of questions, I’m placing them under a cut so that I don’t flood anyone’s dash) 

Me

(this is the 2020 year in review that hanyi tagged me to ♥ sorry am so late!)

Top 5 Movies you saw this year

wow tbh I didn’t watch many movies this year as I realized yesterday when I was thinking about this for certain reasons. Or at least I feel like I didn’t watch that many? Nothing really stuck with me it seems.

Because of this, I will only mention two: Parasite and The Old Guard. Those were both wonderful in their own ways and I’m very happy I got to watch them both ^^

Top 5 TV shows you watched this year

this one is difficult bc I watched so many (and forgot even more?) but:

The Lost Tomb Reboot (my introduction to DMBJ. this drama stole my heart and helped me through the tough autumn semester!) 

Joy of Life (it’s nuts that this happened during 2020? it feels like it was ages ago)

Kingdom (such a positive surprise and I really hope we get more of this :o I really recommend!)

Detective L (easy, nice aesthetics, amazing costumes. Bai Yu was a delight as Luo Fei)

Sand Sea (I am still baffled by how much I loved this bc I had so many doubts? am happy I did tho)

Bonus: Guardian (bc it has come to stay and the rewatch has been so emotional but so rewarding)

Top 5 songs of 2020

this is a tough one too bc I’ve heard so much new music during 2020 but I will try to put it simply:

Black Swan by BTS (I absolutely adore this song. I listened to it on repeat when it came out at the beginning of the year, I have cried for it a ton, I enjoy every stage I see for it and it’s just a masterpiece. it has also helped a bit with my writing struggles that I’ve felt creeping up on me lately)

Always by By The Coast (an amazing song that always leaves me in my feels. inspires me a lot all the time)

Love me or Leave me by DAY6 (this whole album was a masterpiece and I listened to it on loop for like. two weeks? this was my favorite song on it even if I adored the rest too, especially Zombie)

all of my life by Park Won (listened to this a lot in relation to my xicheng and the wedding I finally got to write for them ;; that’s one good thing that came out of this year tbh)

雨人 by 刘畅 (Liu Chang) (with the Reboot’s ending song, this one is my favorite on that ost. I love Liu Chang’s voice, I loved Liu Sang as a character and as I said, I loved Reboot as a drama. I get super emotional about this ost so I think it defined this year a lot for me)

Top 5 books you read in 2020  

All For The Game -trilogy (listened to these as audiobooks but that counts right?)

The Song of Achilles (as an audiobook too and really adored the reader’s voice)

The Smoke Thieves -series (I really just binge read the two first books in this series and am so excited for the next one!)

Call Down The Hawk (love love love)

Guardian novel (am not very into these novels usually but I was positively surprised this time? it was so cool to finally get the original story and compare it with the drama version)

5 positive things that happened in 2020

joined mdzsnet and met all the amazing ppl there and got to become part of this loving community and :’) I’m so thankful, it’s been a joy

learned more about editing? or started doing it regularly. I still can’t do shit but am having fun learning more all the time and I really hope that maybe the upcoming year I can switch to PS and try out giffing?

went to Halsey’s concert! it was in february so a bit before all the hassle with covid happened over here ;; it was super cool and so nice and I just. I love Halsey

fell into the DMBJ hellhole which am very much enjoying. it’s a great universe and the story is so good and the dramas have been so fun to watch and. it feels like a good continuation to The Untamed somehow haha (also brought me a new friend! you’re amazing ashen!! ♥)

started therapy and it’s been... a journey. but towards something better I think? it’s something I would’ve needed ages ago but it’s better late than never I suppose

My Creations

(this is the other part where ali was being super sweet and mentioned me ♥ thank you for being so awesome!)

1. first creation and most recent creation of 2020: wow it’s been a while since I’ve looked at this horrible creation but here ya go jkdhgk [x]. I’ve come a long way from this (and my xicheng has come a long way from this too). most recent one is this xiaoge edit that I absolutely adore [x]. 

2. one of your favorite creations from 2020: this wwx edit that was part of my agust d2 edit series [x]. I loved to give him blue instead of his typical red. 

3. a new style you tried this year and a gifset edit that uses it: this [x] wwx edit which I don’t know if I like or not but I was playing around with the font and all the effects instead of just normal screenshots + coloring. also I just adore the quote. 

4. a creation to be proud of: I could mention that xiaoge here but in addition, I will also say this wu xie edit for reboot [x]. I managed to capture my vision so well, I was surprised. for cql, this songxiao edit [x]. I loved how it turned out in the end. 

5. a creation that took forever: this wangxian edit [x]. like I’ve said several times, I lost sleep bc of it. I just kept struggling with the third pic and how to place the text there D: 

6. your creation from 2020 that received the most notes: this lwj/wangxian edit [x]. I had many ideas for this edit when I first started making it and I never managed to capture my vision in the way I first intended... the pictures I was supposed to use just never fit quite right sigh. I dunno why it was this one that gained all the notes in the end bc I personally think I have better ones too but am still thankful :’D 

7. a creation you think deserved more notes: as said, dmbj fandom on tumblr is very small so I really want to say the two already mentioned ones (wu xie and xiaoge) and then my pingxie edits [x] [x]. also these wwx edits which I personally am very happy about [x] [x]. and from my agust d2 series, this yun bros one [x].

8. a new fandom you joined and a creation you made for it: really just dmbj this year and I’ve already linked all of my creations for that :’D tho I have plans for another pingxie edit and a liu sang edit! oh and maybe I could mention guardian here with this shen wei [x]. I had so much fun while making it (also the quote just haunted me relentlessly until I gave it a moment). 

9. a creation you made that breaks your heart: this must be my easter islanders (lwj and jc) edit [x] that just. awoke many thoughts in me? I’m going to put a link to the version where you can read my ramblings underneath :’D 

10. a ‘simple’ creation that you really love: my creation for the creator (gif?) challenge that was going around! [x] it was simple and nice to do and I loved the result. also, it was nice to work with jl for a change :’) 

11. a favorite creation created by someone else: oh wow ok so this is going to be rough bc I have so many favorites ;; you can look at this post here [x] to see more! 

but to love my two taggers am going to say these [x / x] [x] [x] [x] [x] by hanyi (I always love your edits, the colors you choose, the thoughts you put into them (and your humor too!). there are so many cool things you’ve done that I just stay in awe of! I adore all of it ;; ♥) and these [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] by ali (I love all of your gifsets so much, they have such pretty colors and such good scenes, and I am thankful every day that you make all the amazing dmbj content, pls never stop ;; I should go through all of your creations properly one day! I noticed you have sand sea stuff too and let me scream?) ^^ ♥

12. your favorite content creators and blogs that you appreciate: this is going to be a huge list and I’ve already made my love heard for some but no hurt in doing it again so @i-am-just-a-kiddo @ashenwren @tiesanjiao @kholran @lzswy @englishbunnyrocks @leonzhng @aheartfullofjolllly @yibobibo @inkblue-black @cross-d-a @bloody-bee-tea @fytheuntamed @mdzsnet @lifegoesmon @creeds-eagle @underaswift-sunrise @sarawatsaraleo @lan-xichens @mylastbraincql @wangxianbunnydoodles @manhasetardis @distantsnows @ohsehuns @minmoyu @linglynz @highwarlockkareena @yiqiie @aowyn @alienwlw @wangxiians @kingbadcat @sassyassassy @tytangfei @lanzhannnn @skzmxtp @leoyunxi @yoonqiful @softjeon @rapbabenamjoon @ronan-adam @miyakuli @pavusdorian @arsuf @brolinskeep @gawincaskeyy and so many others! (sorry for all the random ppl on this list that I’ve never even talked to ^^’ just know that you make my dash a wonderful place! ♥) 

I won’t tag anyone separately here but everyone who’s already been tagged or sees this is free to do this (or link me posts if you’ve done these already!) ♥ have a nice day everyone! 

#tag game #wow this took ages #am sorry am late #thanks for tagging me tho!! #i enjoyed this a lot #about me

[naitiaclo960writings]

Day 11 - Rock & Roll

Castiel had always loved music. Despite his many centuries on Earth observing Humanity, he had never taken the time to listen to anything in particular. He had attended celebrations in the Middle Ages and music festivals in more modern times. He had even heard a Reggae concert in the distance one day when he was harvesting honey in the countryside. But no, despite his fascination for this human invention, Castiel had never had his own music to listen to.

When he met the Winchesters, however, Castiel discovered another music field. Although Sam was—as usual—curious about several musical genres, Dean was constantly immersed in rock music. He knew the subject so well that Castiel was always relatively impressed when his friend quoted him bands and all their members with obvious ease. Finally, when Castiel lost his wings and was forced to travel by car, he began to enjoy sitting in the Impala and listening to Dean talk about his favorite bands while a cassette played in the audio player.

"Wait." Dean was surprised one day. "Seriously? You never listened to Led Zeppelin, even for fun?"

Castiel shook his head on the passenger seat as they drove towards the bunker, returning from a shopping spree at the local apothecary to restock their reserve.

"Shit." Dean replied, clicking his tongue. "But what do you do when you have free time?"

This time Castiel tilted his head to the side before looking at the road, adopting a confused expression that was so familiar to him. He took the time to seek the answer in his mind to a question that should not have been so difficult, he knew it.

"I watch the bees." He finally said with a small happy smile. He turned his attention to Dean. "Or I listen to your prayers."

At these words Dean let out an awkward little laugh.

"I don’t pray to you all the time Cas." Dean huffed, trying to hide the redness of his cheeks with a certain frustration.

"You don’t have to explicitly say my name so I know you’re thinking of me." Castiel smiled.

After these gentle words, Dean had to take a few minutes during which he tapped on his steering wheel to calm down.

"Anyway, the thing is, you have to listen to Led Zepp, they’re the best in classic rock, believe me." Dean resumed as he turned down the alley to the bunker garage.

"I believe you, Dean." Castiel replied automatically with another relaxed smile.

Two weeks later, Dean handed him a tape while stammering two or three explanations before disappearing into the library. On the label, Castiel could read "Dean’s top 13 Zepp Traxx". He felt a strange warm feeling spreading through his chest when he understood what it was. The first time he had read it on the tape player of his old Lincoln Continental, he had spent most of the time searching for meaning in the lyrics.

Ramble On and Immigrant Song were Dean’s two favorite songs, he remembered hearing him tell Sam about it during an innocent fight in the Impala. Stairway to Heaven was more complicated to understand and even after the third listening, Castiel was still not sure if he had grasped the main message. When he picked When the Levee Breaks, he couldn’t help but think of Dean over and over again. Finally, everything reminded him of Dean in these songs, because these tunes were each part of his own identity. Arriving at Whole Lotta Love, Castiel was smiling.

He did not know how long he kept this tape in his car, but now he had had time to learn each song by heart. As the words passed, so did the years, and soon Castiel and the Winchesters put whole apocalypses behind them, one after the other. Everything changed and yet everything remained deliciously similar in the small details.

Sam still loved to run in the morning to enjoy the silence and fresh air brought by dawn. Jack was expanding his collection of magnets while Sam and Dean were always careful to bring some back from all over the country. Dean was still the fastest when it came to dismantling and cleaning a weapon, but also to improvising meals when there were only three aliments left in the fridge. Castiel, on the other hand, became unbeatable on rock bands thanks to his now husband. Dean could literally spend hours playing music on his phone while questioning him about the title and the band and the Winchester had to admit that Castiel was starting to get good at it.

Finally, in the midst of all this change, Castiel also continued to slip behind the wheel of his Continental just to play the famous mixtape in the small cockpit. On those evenings, he would go to the garage plunged into darkness, only turn on the lights on the ceiling of his car and throw his head back on the driver’s seat to let himself be enveloped by the musical notes.

The first time Dean caught him doing this, it was mostly because he went to get something to eat for a night snack before getting in the mood to watch a movie with Castiel. Finding him nowhere, he ended up finding him in the garage, his relaxed face only illuminated by a warm light. He opened the opposite door as gently as possible before slipping into the car in his pajamas.

"Hey."

"Hello Dean."

Neither of them had spoken any more unless it was Dean humming his favorite music. Soon it became a ritual taking place at least once a week. Sometimes Dean would bring food supplies even though the angel didn’t need to eat, and other times it was up to Castiel to bring blankets to compensate for the broken heater in the car. When Dean decided that Castiel knew enough about Led Zeppelin classics, he made him a second tape on Metallica. It took Castiel a month to hold on to the essentials before Dean came into the car one night with another tape labeled "Dean’s favorite AC/DC".

Tonight particularly, they were listening to Bon Jovi as Dean squeezed a little closer to him in the front seat. The winter was rough outside, and although the bunker was heated, Dean still had cold feet. Both bundled up in a large blanket with Far West patterns, Castiel felt his companion gently sagging on his shoulder. When he no longer heard him whispering the words over the music, he turned his head and looked down to find Dean’s relaxed, sleepy face pressed against his shoulder. Discreet snoring came to mingle with the music that filled the car and Castiel took the time to lower the volume a little before kissing the top of Dean’s head tenderly.

If that was all it cost him to learn more about rock 'n' roll, then Castiel had all the time in the world ahead of him. He was in no hurry to outstripping his teacher in this matter, not this time. He was going to let himself be carried away.

* * * @winchester-reload

Okay, it’s totally not October 11 in my country but here it is! I updated it with the beta-red version. See you tomorrow everyone, all your arts/fanfics/edits are just so stunning, I’m never tired of seeing them!

You can find the whole series on Ao3

Tag list /!\ PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE ADD TO (or removed from) THE TAG LIST so you won’t miss any updates.

@misha-moose-dean-burger-lover @styggtroll @thanks-tacos @petrichoravellichor @iamcharliebradburylevelperfect @ladywaywarddsc @hellfire37 @destiel-221b-sabriel @aloha-cowgirl @destielhoneybee @dysfunctional-destiel @ozonecologne @doofcas @castielrisingabove @zoerayne2426 @tibbinswrites @vicmc624 @thegirlofstarlight @berrieseveryday @staycejo1 @certaindeanwinchesterforcastiel @bab-spnfamily @lo-mindpalace

#suptober20 #destiel fanfic #Day 11 #rock & roll #dean winchester #castiel #suptober 2020 #suptober #inktober2020 #inktober #supernatural #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fanfic #Destiel #dean x castiel #deancas #casdean #destiel fanfiction #sam winchester #jack kilne #soft castiel #soft dean #domestic destiel #protective castiel #impala #Dean's Top 13 Zepp Traxx Mixtape #mixtape #domestic fluff

[arecomicsevengood]

Seeds

Before I read it, I had this idea I could write a review of Ann Nocenti and David Aja’s The Seeds for the Comics Journal, but the book just sucked too much. It had basically nothing going for it, or even decipherable as an advancing plot. One thing wrong with it is there’s this sort of conspiracy element, or this “no one believes the news” anymore element of it, but Nocenti didn’t want it to be about “fake news.” Donald Trump has rewired the narrative, so now entire types of subject matter feed into this propaganda machine simply by being addressed. Nocenti’s best work does not shy from topicality, addressing the currents in the cultural air, but this time the modern world feels too hot to handle.

I ordered the Daredevil: Typhoid’s Kiss trade paperback, reprinting a bunch of Nocenti’s work with the Typhoid Mary character from the nineties. The longest story in there is a miniseries with art by John Van Fleet. It’s partly about post-Tarantino video-store employees turned filmmakers kidnapping Typhoid Mary to use her as the subject of a documentary about serial killers and violent media. It’s also about Typhoid Mary working as a private detective trying to track down a killer of prostitutes, who the police don’t care about, and are maybe the actual killers of themselves. Storywise, it’s a pretty cool attempt to address real-world issues of the day within a pulp context.

Van Fleet’s art is pretty boring and bad in a way that’s distinctly ahead of its time. While the miniseries itself probably wouldn’t exist without the precedent of Elektra: Assassin a decade before, (a spinoff about a female Daredevil villain created by the writer during their run on Daredevil where that character defined their run) all the photoreference that’s probably actually just photo backgrounds run through filters sets a precedent for the Alex Maleev/Matt Hollingsworth Daredevil stuff to come a decade later. And it’s frequently annoying on a page design/panel background level. Like in terms of how the panel borders sort of default to grid shapes so there ends up being things that “read” as panels but that don’t actually do anything for pacing. It’s just fitting the narrative into regimented design choices.

This maybe only happens the once. But the art is also just super-stiff throughout, with a very chunky line that eliminates any real nuance. There’s a bunch of characters, but a lot of them are indistinguishable from one another, and that’s because the linework is about as muddy as the color palette — It kinda seems like he’s working with models and photo reference but also doesn’t have that many models to work with so he’s having them play multiple roles, but also his work basically seems more like photoshop filters than actual drawing? There’s a bunch of stuff that I think sucks, basically. But you can also draw a direct line from what Van Fleet is doing in Typhoid to what Aja does in The Seeds. All these choices that are meant to be classy and dignifed, a move away from the excess of superhero comics. The covers of Typhoid are just portraits of the main character, interchangeable from one issue to the next, which was a move that again, was ahead of its time: This is what so many Marvel covers in the 2000s looked like, the Tim Bradstreet Punisher covers probably being the go-to example. It’s pretty dull but it’s nice they’re not super-sexualized.

While the choices arguably suit the subject matter in Typhoid, which is at least partly about movies, in The Seeds, the story doesn’t really make any sense because the visuals seem so steeped in unreality. The premise is that a tabloid has photographed an alien, proving aliens are real. There is really nothing within the context of the story that explains why the news outlet would have enough gravitas to be convincing and have this be an actual news story. And the book is drawn in Photoshop, which is itself a photo-editing software, so the “reality” of the book is defined by the very medium that people recognize as why images can’t be trusted. This contributes a level of irony that could maybe be worked with if the book itself wasn’t so ugly and dull. The whole thing looks like some Banksy bullshit. Outside of word balloons, text appears in the large all-caps typeface of image macros. I don’t have scans of The Seeds because I gave my copy away on account of there not being any reason to keep it around.

The book is beyond dated at the time of its release. Partly this is due to the speed the cultural conversation has been moving for the past five years.  It’s been a difficult time period to work on a work of fiction about the news, certainly, and not only has the comic been a long time in the making, the writer has also been away from making comics for decades now. If the authors had been able to make this as a serialized monthly comic, it might’ve stumbled into timeliness, or the predictive, but as it is, the reading experience feels like a bunch of different, disparate ideas that do not really cohere into a narrative. Leaving aside how the book seems to emerge from a general cultural gestalt of the the 1990s, when The X-Files and Weekly World News were objects of discussion, every major plot point or news story chosen for thematic resonance is approximately fifteen years old. I believe 2005 was when I started to hear about colony collapse disorder. This bee metaphor has been lapped by a Honey Nut Cheerios campaign at this point. (A few years back, boxes of cereal came with seeds of wildflowers you/children could plant.)

Darin Morgan’s episode of The X-Files revival “The Mengele Effect” ably addresses all the issues with how cynicism and conspiracy theories feel different now, all the issues that Nocenti seems terrified of and hopes the audience doesn’t think of when reading her humorless X-Files throwback comic. That episode’s great.  Much of The Seeds seems like it was better done in the decidedly not-great Transmetropolitian. There’s something so dated and sad about this comic’s idea of a cool journalist protagonist: People barely smoke cigarettes anymore! I know no one wants to draw people vaping, but the imagery this book wishes meant “cool, urban, woman” reads as nostalgic affectation in 2021. That so much of the commercial landscapes of our cities has been replaced by vape shops was one of the biggest clues we were already living in a dystopia three years ago.

Nocenti, when she was working regularly, got to be a pretty effective writer for having a monthly deadline wherein she could speak on the issues of the day as they were happening. In the absence of a regular gig, this rare chance to speak her mind gets hampered by how much there is to talk about, and how complicated it all is. If it’s too complicated to address in an ongoing superhero comic, a one-off graphic novel with vaguely commercial ambitions turns out to be a worse space for it. It’s so much sadder than anything in this dream-of-the-nineties comic that the authors were given the grace to make something only under the conditions that doom it to failure. Real people made this work of fiction, and I don’t know what the fuck they’re even talking about, and that’s a more complicated narrative than the journalists in this comic who… stumble upon a story and then need to take to back because it’s too important or something? I don’t understand what this comic is about. It’s clearly gesturing at being about a bunch of different things, but what they get from being in juxtaposition with one another, I don’t know.

In interviews in advance of the release of The Seeds, Nocenti talked about how this was the first time she got to make a comic that didn’t have to have fight scenes or conflict in it. But reading Typhoid it’s clear how conflict ties the story’s disparate threads together. But also while reading Typhoid I kept on thinking about how visually, the Steve Lightle shit that preceded it is so much cooler! Here he is, bifurcating a page so two narrative threads can be told with different approaches to stoytelling:

People sometimes talk about how crazy it is that Nocenti started her Daredevil run immediately following up the Miller/Mazzucchelli Born Again run with a fill-in drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith. But I don’t think anyone has pointed out that, since these Typhoid Mary team-up comics appeared in Marvel Comics Presents, she’s basically following up Barry Windsor-Smith’s Weapon X, and Steve Lightle is totally capable of doing that! Even if these comics are kinda whatever narratively, Nocenti comes up with dense enough narratives to give him shit to do. She’s a good writer within the context of the harsh strictures of early nineties mainstream comics. Which I know seems like a harsh diss! But being a writer that makes work that consistently gives a comics artist something interesting to do is a difficult job that many people are just not interested in doing for various reasons, so it should be recognized when it’s attempted and accomplished.

It’s also interesting that the whole visual approach where both Steve Lightle and Barry Windsor-Smith shine is dependent on flat color. The changes in storytelling made to accommodate the shifts in visual language in full-color mainstream comics didn’t really benefit anyone, and now needs to be outsmarted. In The Seeds, we’ve got this pretty dull reading experience that superficially in its two-color print job and nine-panel grid, looks like it might be influenced by Mazzucchelli’s work in Rubber Blanket and City Of Glass. And we’ve got a black and white Barry Windsor-Smith comic coming out from Fantagraphics in a few weeks that I really hope blows it out of the water.

[pinkyshy101]

So I got bored and decided to type out a list of the cartoons/tv shows I’ve watched, cause why not! I think this is all I’ve watched, or at least recent enough (I’m thinking like…. 2014/15 onward, when I actively started to watch more cartoons)

It’s kinda long, and I’m kinda rambley, so I’ll put it under a keep reading thing (if I can) so you don’t have to scroll through that if you don’t want to. Idk who will actually read this, but hey maybe it’s an idea of what kind of things I might reblog on here! I’m always taking any suggestions for shows to watch, I love learning about and watching more and more cartoons! So if there’s something I didn’t list as something I watched and you think of be interested, feel free to please recommend it! I may update this with a reblog or an edit or something at some point in the future, idk though. For now, its September 19, 2020, and here’s what I got for ya

This ended up way more rambley than I meant for it to be but I started writing it at maybe 12:30ish am and now its almost 2am when I’m getting ready to post it so oops 👀 I’m not really expecting anyone to read this but hey, it’s something! Read if you wanna know what shows and other stuff I watched lol idc

Cartoons I’ve watched in their entirety (or what’s all aired as of today 9/19/20):

(updated 12/2/20 as starting with ATLA)

Gravity Falls - watched since late 2014

Steven Universe (including the movie and Future) - watched since mid June 2015, right before the second stevenbomb/sworn to the sword (early season 2)

Over The Garden Wall - watched back around when it first came out, can’t remember exactly when but sometime in 2015

Star vs The Forces of Evil - watched the first 2 seasons as they aired, then stopped watching for a while and rewatched the whole show in June 2019

Hilda - watched for the first time in I think October 2018, rewatched in May quarantine

She-ra and the Princesses of Power - watched all 5 seasons about/not even a week after season 5 came out, idk why I waited so long to watch it

The Owl House - started watching it after the grom episode aired, idk why I waited so long to watch it but molly and noelle and everyone was screaming about grom on twitter, so of course I had to watch it then

Kipo and The Age of Wonderbeasts - watched it all in early August, right before I watched The Owl House

Infinity Train - watched the pilot back in 2016, then the first season when it came out, but then I started college and didn’t get the chance to watch the 2nd/3rd season until I decided to watch the whole series (s1 again, 2/3 for the first time) this past week

Ouran High School Host Club - ok I know it’s anime not a cartoon and I can’t see myself reblogging anything from it but it’s literally the only anime I’ve watched more than like 1 or 2 episodes of/the only one I’ve seen in its entirety so I figured eh I’ll mention it

Camp Camp - I almost forgot to mention this one! I started watching it when there was I think only 3 episodes of season 1, so back in 2016, and I’ve loved it since then! I guess this summer’s season couldn’t happen cause of covid.... But I’m still excited for when/if it does eventually come out!

Avatar the Last Airbender

Shows that I’ve partially watched but not completely:

We Bare Bears - I’ve seen the first 2 seasons, maybe some of the third I can’t remember, I watched it when it first came out but I haven’t watched it in a while, so I would probably need to rewatch a bunch of it (I did rewatch I think the first season sometime this year? But it was while working on school projects so I wasn’t giving it my full attention), apparently there’s also a movie now???

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic - I was huge into the brony fandom from roughly 2013ish-2017ish, I’ve seen up to season 8 and a few episodes of season 9, and the 4 equestria girls movies, and the mlp movie; I probably know seasons 1 - 4 the most, maybe a little of 5, 6 and 7 are kinda fuzzy but I’ve seen them, 8 I watched over quarantine (since it’d been a few years since I had watched any of it, I also rewatched bits of 5-7) as well as I think the first episode or so of season 9, but I don’t remember them too well. I watched the movie (the pony one, not eqg) when it came out in theaters, and not too long after that I drifted away from the mlp fandom (tbh I was drifting a little bit before it came out, but I knew I had to stick in there at least until it came out since I had been waiting for so long for it). The equestria girls movies, I saw them all when they first came out (I even saw rainbow rocks in the theater). I think there’s like, half hour shorts or episodes or something?? That’s in the eqg universe?? But I don’t think I’ve seen any of them, and if I have it was probably a really early one a long time ago because I haven’t really kept up with anything after Legend of Everfree came out

Animaniacs reboot - I’ve seen the first 5 episodes and it’s nice!

Shows that I’ve only seen an episode or few of that I (probably) intend on continuing to watch:

Glitch Techs - I saw the first episode! Definitely want to continue it

Rick and Morty - I watched a few episodes of the first season in like March/April quarantine, but I was still dealing with online school at home finishing out last semester then. I think I want to watch this eventually, but I have other shows that I want to catch up on/watch before I’d get to this one

Tangled the Series - idk if that’s the name I’ve seen multiple names but I hope you know what I’m talking about, I saw a handful of episodes from the first season I think sometime around fall 2019, but I’d probably have to rewatch the whole thing

Adventure Time - I’ve never had cable/cartoon network so I didn’t watch this growing up, but I’ve heard really good things about it and seen a bunch of stuff from it (I’d have to be living under a rock to have not seen anything lol) but it’s so long and I just haven’t gotten around to it yet! Well I’ve seen maybe a dozen or so episodes of the first season but it was a while ago so I’d have/want to start over probably

Shows I haven’t started

Amphibia - I’ve heard it’s good! I just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Avatar the Last Airbender - probably next on my list to watch, I’ve been meaning to watch it for years but I haven’t yet, its on Netflix now so that should make it easier to watch and a friend from school made me promise that this would be the next one I’d watch so that’s what I’m doing (I did watch the last 2 seasons of infinity train that night though, since I was really wanting to finish it first… But atla is next) watched it! (updated 12/2/20)

The Legend of Korra - obviously I’m waiting to watch it until after alta, and I’m probably going to watch it right after I finish atla

The Dragon Prince - idk really anything about it other than I think it’s on netflix? and apparently it’s good and maybe gay idk but I’ve heard it’s good thus why it’s on here lol

Black Horseman - idk too too much about this other than apparently it’s good but also kinda depressing. Similarly to rick and morty I want to watch it eventually but its not insanely high on my list

OK KO - don’t know a ton about it other than it’s decent, a step up from r+m/bojack on where I want to watch it but not urgently

Ducktales Reboot - similarly to OK KO, don’t know much about it other than it’s decent, same level of want to watch

Milo Murphy’s Law - saw a couple episodes when it came out, haven’t watched it in forever so if I ever do want to rewatch it I’d have to restart it, not super high on my priority list though

Bee and Puppycat - another one I almost forgot! I don’t know a ton about this but I’ve heard its nice! Plus from what I’ve seen I like the artstyle so  👀 maybe someday

Animaniacs (original) - I started to watch the reboot and I think I want to watch the original eventually! Just haven’t gotten around to it yet

Clone High - listen it’s not that I desperately WANT to watch this, I just have friends who are like, hey, watch this lol it’s apparently not super long so why not

Other non cartoon shows I’ve watched:

Brooklyn 99 - idk when I started watching it, maybe around season 4/5ish? I think sometime in 2018 so idk the season, idk, most of the episodes I’ve only seen once so I couldn’t tell you exactly what happens in every episode but I still like it

Rise - ugh I miss this show, I started watching it after/around when the 3rd episode came out (end of March 2018?), and I don’t think I’ve watched any of it since it ended (mid may 2018) cause its not on any streaming services anymore :/ at least not that I know of but I loved it and would love to rewatch it

Andi Mack - I’d heard it was good but hadn’t watched it after it ended (early august 2019 I think I watched it), haven’t rewatched it since then but it was decent, I mainly watched it cause I had seen clips of gay but yknow it was alright

Sex Education - watched 1st season sometime in 2019, when rewatched it/watched season 2 when it came out January 2020, this is like WAY more mature than like anything on this list but like it has an interesting story

Love Victor - watched first/currently only season when it came out mid june 2017 (how was June so long ago what)

Queer Eye - I’ve seen a couple seasons of it idk I figured why not add it lol

Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist - I think I watched this around when there were maybe a few episodes of season 1 left (well there’s only one season now but still), idk I liked it cause like musicals and stuff idk

Idk what else to add to this section but if I think of anything (to any category on this list) I’ll probably update it later maybe idk (again I’m not necessarily going to be reblogging stuff from all/any of these but like, I figured I’d mention it cause idk)

Musicals:

Another thing I love is musicals, like I’m a design/tech major in college rn so yeah I like theatre lol so I’m going to list some I’ve seen (mostly watched bootlegs of, but I’ll list some professional/tour ones I’ve seen in person)(but if it doesn’t say anything special I probably just watched a bootleg, 2017 was a big year for me and my google drive being filled with bootlegs…) This might not be all of them and I won’t go into as much detail (I hope, I haven’t typed it yet) but we’ll see:

Broadway tours I’ve seen: (I swear this isn’t bragging they were cheap seats way up high lol)

Dear Evan Hansen (May 2019)

Wicked (first professional show I saw, October 2017, haven’t watched a bootleg or anything of it since then and I went in completely blind)

Mean Girls (November 2019, last professional show I saw before quarantine)

Come From Away (September 2019)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (November 2018)

The Book of Mormon (August 2018, was hoping to again this August but quarantine :( )

Non professional/high school/college/other shows I’ve seen in person/been on crew for (not all of them, but some) (assume I’ve also seen bootlegs/proshots if there are any)

Newsies

Spring Awakening (spot op)

Shrek (props)

Legally Blonde

I’ve seen done way more but I don’t feel like listing them or that they’re anything I’d want go reblog/actively look at fandom content for (that’s not saying it reblog stuff from shrek the musical but still lol)

Other shows I’ve seen only in proshot/bootleg form:

Basically every Starkid show

Spies are Forever

The Solve it Squad

Hamilton

Heathers

Be More Chill (yes I was in that big amalgamation of musical fandom stuff with these and deh in 2017 aaaa)

Falsettos

Beetlejuice

Spongebob

21 Chump Street

Les Mis

Phantom

(Again maybe not necessarily all but some there’s a slight chance I might reblog things about)

Musicals I still need/want to watch/listen to:

The Prom

Six

The Great Comet (not typing it all out)

Hadestown

Waitress

Bonnie and Clyde

Something Rotten

Tuck Everlasting

Again there’s more I want to see I’m sure but I haven’t really watched bootlegs in a while…. Idk feel free to suggest shows tho

Movies I’ve seen/like: obviously I’m not gonna just every single movie I’ve seen but heres a few I like:

The Sound of Music

The Wizard of Oz - these 2 have actually always been my favorite movies since I was little, I can’t dee myself reblogging much of anything about them but figured I’d mention them cause why not

Love Simon

Some but not all Disney movies (I grew up with no cable/mostly just pbs)

Most pixar movies?

I don’t think John Mulaney shows count as movies but eh whatever I’ve seen them on netflix

Idk what else lol I know I’ve seen more movies than this but eh

If anyone actually read all of this... Wow I’m surprised honestly lol have a free cookie or something for your struggles or smth, idk, thanks for reading this though lol I appreciate you (but also slightly worry, this was a lot of words and a lot of rambling)

#long post #me #personal #really long post

[sincerelymarinette]

A Recorded Life (48/50) - Miraculous Ladybug

Words: 1597 Chapter Summary: Time to figure out what they found at the Agreste Mansion and take some action. Soon enough this war with Hawkmoth will end... Author's Note: I lowkey love this chapter. Gives out underdogs some more screentime :) only two chapters left and I'm so excited to write them!! ALSO, IT'S OFFICIAL! There will be a mini-sequel!! Mayve 5-10 parts because I really want to touch on what happens after this story in my youtube au universe and I feel like the chapters of this youtube au have been lacking actual videos oops. Keep an eye out for that after the story ends! (On wattpad, it will be posted in the same book!)

Prev / Next / Masterlist

Tracking

---

Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Rena Rouge found everything they needed at the mansion. Alya was able to download pretty much everything on Gabriel's computer, even the locked stuff. It would take her a little longer to crack it, but she would get into that soon enough. Plus, there was a hit on the bug. They all knew it wasn't them because it was planted as they were leaving last time, and it wasn't Gorilla because he has been staying at the Bourgeois hotel to accommodate him while he's out of a job. He wouldn't go back to the Mansion; it would put him at risk, and Adrien didn't think that was a possibility.

Since the bug had a hit, they got out of the Mansion as fast as they could. They don't know what would happen if they ran into Hawkmoth without the full team, and with their guard down, it was better to stick together. Luckily, getting back to the bakery was easy, and as Alya worked on her computer with Nino, the other three listened to the bug.

There was a lot of muffled noise, like walking and random buzzing, but once they heard a deep voice, they all perked up. It wasn't the easiest thing to understand, but they were still able to get something out of it.

"That Akuma was a mistake," The voice of Adrien's dad grumbled. "They needed to shut up."

"Well, it's too late for that," Nathalie's voice came through much quieter. "We shouldn't even be here. We should get back to the-"

It got quiet, and the team assumed there was a silent action that made them stop. "No, I need to check on something," Gabriel insisted. "We will go back to being off the gird soon. Just trust me," He said.

"Yes," Nathalie said. "You're sure Adrien doesn't know about the Etserga home?" She asked.

"Positive. His mother and I kept it a secret from him just in case. Sure, this wasn't its intended use, but it's working-" They paused again. "They've been here...recently. We have to go," He said quickly, and their footsteps followed, running.

Adrien looked confused. "The what home?" He said just above a whisper.

"I heard et-something," Chloé said.

"Alya," Marinette turned to her. "Anything about a home starting with e-t?" She asked. Alya nodded as she typed away, and a few seconds later, put her head in her hand.

She sighed loudly. "Well, we never did say Hawkmoth was the smartest. He's got something in here about Etserga, but it's a locked folder. I'll get into it, just give me a few minutes," Alya said. "But that's Agreste spelled backward," She laughed slightly and went back to typing.

Adrien turned back to the group and looked more confused than before. "I wonder why they kept it a secret from me," He said. "Seems like they were always planning to do something evil."

Marinette put her hand on Adrien's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Adrien," She said. "You know we're right here with you. He won't get away with this."

Adrien didn't respond, but a small smile grew on his face, and he shut his eyes, laying his head on Marinette's shoulder.

---

"I don't know how much time we'll have," Rena Rouge warned as she held her flute in one hand and her phone in the other. "I can hold the Mirage of us, but we don't want to take any risks," She said.

"We'll be quick," Carapace promised. "We just need to get confirmation that this is the right place," He reminded.

Queen Bee scoffed as she nearly tripped in the forest. "No wonder Adrien didn't know about this place, it's in the middle of nowhere!" She complained.

"Yeah, I think that's the point of a hideout," Carapace joked. "I still don't understand why they didn't tell him."

"Gabriel's weird, why would he?" Rena Rouge said. "Okay, stop, we're getting close," She said and put her phone down and bringing her flute to her mouth. Once she finished her song, the three blended in with the forest surrounding them. They didn't want to get too close, but this would protect them from even having the chance to be seen. "We have to be quiet, too, don't forget," She told them.

The three heroes were silent once they got closer, they had no idea what could be in this forest, and they don't want to be caught off guard. If Hawkmoth found them snooping around, they would lose everything they've been working towards.

"There's a house," Queen Bee whispered and pointed straight ahead.

"That's gotta be it," Rena Rouge nodded, looking down at her phone and back up at the house. It wasn't very big, and looked a bit run down. Probably to make it look like no one lived there, keep it out of any suspicion.

The group moved out of direct sight of the house and hid behind a few trees. "Just because he can't see us doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful," Rena Rouge said. "Let's do this quick and get back to Marinette and Adrien," She said.

"Got it," Both Carapace and Queen Bee responded at the same time.

"Shell off," Carapace called quietly. It took Wayzz a few seconds to adjust to being out of the bracelet, and Nino gave him a quick snack. Once Wayzz adjusted, he took his part in the plan. Wayzz sighed. "He's definitely in there; I can feel Nooroo. He's sad and nervous," He said. "I've felt Nooroo before, but this is much worse," He reported.

Rena Rouge nodded. "Great. I'll let Marinette know we're coming back. Suit up and let's get out of here," She said. "This ends soon."

---

Adrien and Marinette sat out the visit to the woods. They knew Alya, Nino, and Chloé could handle it alone, and it could have caused issues if all five went. Besides, Adrien was exhausted, and if they were right, this fight could happen sooner than expected, and Adrien needed to be rested.

He still couldn't believe that his mother was in a secret garden basement the whole time. It had been years, and he thought he and his father had finally gotten through all the pain...but no. Adrien needed a mental break, which is also why they stayed back.

Adrien and Marinette sat on the couch with a random movie playing. Adrien was focused on the movie, and it was nice to have a distraction. Marinette distracted herself with editing a fashion video she filmed a few weeks ago- she had a few as "in case" recordings if she was going to miss an upload day. Though her upload streak has majorly died recently, due to essential circumstances, editing videos always got her mind focused and off the superhero world.

She decided to take a break and look at some recent comments on her videos. She was a little afraid of what she would find, but she wanted to know what her fans thought.

I miss marinettes daily videos but i hope her and everyone is doing okay. I can't imagine the kind of mental and psycial stress the crew is under right now. Mari, we stand behind you!!

I love mari and her crew. I can't wait for them to kick hm's ass once and for all. You guys got this!

ugh i get why she cant upload but i miss her and adrien. they always make me so happy

Adrien idk if you read mari's comments but if you do: I love you and I hope you're doing okay, I can't imagine what you're going through and I wish you the best. Mari give Adrien a big hug from all of us!

I can't wait to see how the world changes after they get rid of hawkmoth, like that will be iconic. I hope they record his demise.

> I hope they don't, that will be traumatic for Adrien to see everywhere. For all of them really, please be considerate

>> yes taking him down will be iconic, but we need to remember they are actual people...TEENAGERS having to do this

mari adrien alya nino chloe thank you

Mari is a BOSS, you're doing amazing. I'll keep watching all your videos over and over and over again to keep supporting you in any way I can. I'm not from Paris but i know they love you!!

Marinette was pleasantly surprised by how kind most of her comments were. They were sensitive to her situation, but she wasn't sure what changed. She hasn't been on social media at all recently, so maybe some nationwide campaign about being kind to the heroes happened. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised at this point. Nothing really surprises her anymore.

"They're there!" Alya, Nino, and Chloé shouted as the burst through the door.

The sudden noise scared Marinette and Adrien, and they were both staring at the group with wide eyes, more awake than ever. "Wayzz could feel Nooroo. We found them," Alya clarified.

"Great," Marinette nodded, set her computer on the couch, and stood up. "Then we go through with the plan."

"If I may," Wayzz flew from behind Nino. "You all are a great team and I support the plan. But please remember that Hawkmoth has made it clear that he does not care that you are kids or his son. He is ruthless," Wayzz said. "And he's not holding back anymore."

Marinette looked from Adrien to Tikki, who was floating next to her. She looked back at the group as a whole. "Then neither are we."

---

@lady-of-the-roses-and-lilies @bookishserendipity03 @avatheexceed @gkz10 @coccinellegirl @kat-thatoneweirdo @strawberryblondish @snow-swordswoman @lilgaga98 @evufries  @toodaloo-kangaroo 

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug and chat noir #ml #mlb #ladybug #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste x marinette dupain-cheng #adrien x marinette #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #Nino lahiffe #chloe bourgeois #chat noir #rena rogue #carapace #Queen Bee #arbi tikki #human plagg #marichat #LadyNoir #ladrien #adrienette #adrinette #fanfiction #ml fanfic #Lilly writes #a recorded life

[mormonmommyphilosopher-blog]

My Abuser

I have gone back and forth for years about whether I ever wanted to share about my abuse in my blog. Today, while eating breakfast, it hit me, and I realized that I needed to. Not just for myself, but for anybody whom is currently going through what I am, or maybe is still being abused and doesn't know what to do about it.

My abuser, like most, was someone very close to me—a family member and someone I felt very connected to. However, the relationship was toxic, and was for my whole life. Only 3 and ½ years ago did I finally face my abuse, and my abuser, and end the relationship. The abuse was going on for over 21 years. And before it started with me, it happened with someone else—until that person realized she was being abused and got out of the situation—and then it transferred to me.

So much of what kept me from sharing my abuse story, is that sexual abuse, like mental illness, is still something that is taboo to talk about. But here we are.

To start, my sexual abuse was not all physical. To clarify beyond that, the abuse wasn't even physical molestation. My abuser molested me mentally and emotionally, by talking about my body, in teasing, joking, and praising my physical beauty—my breasts, my “voluptuous” shape, my sex appeal, and also about his body—how well-endowed he was, his sexual experiences, what turned him on, etc.

The physical touch only accompanied the verbal abuse—resting his hands on my waist/hips, rubbing and squeezing my things, and hugging me so tight that my breasts pressed hard against his chest. The last straw with the physical touch was at a family Thanksgiving party.

At every chance he got to hug me, I was sitting down, and he would slide his right hand, fingers spread, groping, all the way up my left thigh to my bottom. My husband, Jack, watched in horror as this person was grooming him to see how far he could push the limits without Jack intervening.

However, because this person was so loved and defended by me my whole life, Jack never reacted. Only after I was sobbing on the way home from the party and couldn't let Jack even put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me, did he tell me that I needed to tell this person how I felt.

The rest of the way home from the party in Perry, Ut to our home in Layton, half an hour away, I spent my time writing a letter over social media messenger to this person about how I felt. I told him how uncomfortable I was and about how I couldn't even let my husband touch me because I was so upset. My letter was met with an apology that I felt the way that I did, but that those were not his intentions and that he only ever had the purest intentions toward me.  

After this incident, I decided to speak to a therapist to help me figure out what to do. Especially where, not only was this family member sexually abusing me, but had started grooming my 3 year old daughter.

At parties or visits, he would take my beautiful, little blonde, blue eyed daughter away from the group so that he could be with her alone—whether it was in her room, outside, or another room in the house, he wanted to be alone with her, and felt entitled to be.

Not only this, but the dirty jokes and teasing about my body started coming out while my daughter was around. He doted on her. He gave her gifts. He praised her for everything she did. He posted pictures of her on social media of them spending time together and about how beautiful she was and about how they must be kindred spirits and must have known each other in the previous life, etc.. Anything that I ever posted about her on social media, he would go on and on about her to the point that several people reached out to me and my husband to be wary of the way he was acting toward our daughter and that it wasn't normal.

For awhile, when my daughter was about 18 months old, I went back to work and even let my abuser babysit her, even though I knew what he was capable of. I don't know why I trusted that he wouldn't do anything to her, but these narcissistic abusers are very capable of persuasion, making your fears about them seem petty, and even that you, yourself, are the one in the wrong. There's a word for that—it's called “gaslighting.”

I still beat myself up for letting my abuser tend my little daughter, and then just letting him be around her for as long as I did in general. I don't know if he ever touched her, and there have never been any indications, that I noticed, that she was ever abused. Regardless, I will still never forgive myself for letting him be alone with her.

Four months after the Thanksgiving incident, I finally wrote my abuser a letter to cut ties with him. Before you read on, be aware that it is somewhat graphic. I have edited to censor names.

March 11, 2018

It is with so much pain and sorrow that I begin this letter. I'm not even really sure where to start. After months of deliberation, the last two weeks of discussions with my therapist, making lists, soul searching, scripture study, prayer, and the last two days of an emotional breakdown of battling my strong answer given weeks ago from my Heavenly Father versus my natural, temporal emotions, I have come to the very difficult decision to ask you to no longer be a part of mine or my family's lives.

I never want to see you again. And it's not because I hate you. Lord, help me! It's because I love you so much! I love you unconditionally. And I know that if I saw you, all of the good times would come flooding back, and I would want to change my mind! But as much as I love you, I have to remember my first priority. And that is to my family. To my little girl and being her parent. Her protection is my responsibility.

After what happened this last Thanksgiving, among other things, all of the memories of you saying and doing inappropriate things started resurfacing in my mind. I decided that I really needed to talk to a therapist about it. I've talked to Jack and a couple of close friends about some of the things that you have done in the past and none of them have been able to understand why I keep seeing you and especially why I keep taking risks with [my daughter]. I think Jack has always just trusted my judgment and figured that I would keep [my daughter] safe and not let you and [my daughter] be alone together. But when he found out that you like to have “one on one” time with her as often as you do, that really worried him.

From an early age you exposed me to a lot of sexual information. You let me watch sex scenes on TV and in movies. You told me about the birds and the bees in graphic detail. Once, right after I sneezed when I was a little girl, you told me that sneezing was an eighth of an orgasm. You told me what the “get yourself a spin cycle” joke meant from the movie “The Great Outdoors” when I hadn't even asked what it meant. You told me a story of a lady who used to put peanut butter on her vagina and let her dog lick it off in her kitchen and one time her husband and all of their mutual friends walked in on her. 

You told me that you had the biggest penis of all of your brothers and then told me whom ranked next all the way down the line. You told me that I had a “gum drop” nose and when I didn't understand what you meant, you explained it to me that it meant it looked like the head of a penis. You showed me a container of something once, and told me that that was how big your penis was.

 When I was in the third grade, I tried on some new pants and you told me that my butt looked good in them and that all the boys in my class would like how good my butt looked in them. After puberty you talked about how I had a nice heart shaped butt, and big boobs like my mom. Since then, most of the inappropriate talk has been about my breasts and their size. How I'm a “poor girl” because I have my “mom's curse.” “Ample food supply for [my daughter],” etc..

 When I was about 16, [my sister] and I were changing in the blue room at Grandma's house, and [my brother] was being a punk and kept knocking on the door to bug us, but we kept shouting at him to tell him that we were changing, when all of a sudden someone barged in. We thought it was [my brother], but it was you. Later you said that you didn't see anything except for my butt and the side of my boob.

 You told Me and [my sister] that you “knew” that I shaved “downstairs” and that she didn't when we were teenagers. There are many other situations, but these are just a few of the examples off the top of my head.

 You have also touched/rubbed my thighs on many occasions. It used to really bother [my high school sweetheart] and now it really bothers Jack. I have asked you stop both the inappropriate talk and touch before and you haven't. Not only that, but you have switched the issue back onto me as if I am the one with a touching/privacy problem—that I am just a “private person.” 

I won't mention all of the other things that I have heard that have happened with [the person you abused before me], [my sister], and with [my brother] on the matter of sexual inappropriateness. This is not what this letter is about, however I think that they are some things that you should personally reflect on and try to repent for. 

Again, I love you unconditionally. I've obviously been able to overlook all of those things up until this point because we have continued to have a close relationship where we talk and visit each other on a regular basis. But what happened on Thanksgiving shook me to my core. Not only was your hand continually sliding up my thigh with every hug you gave me, but there was also the fact that Jack saw what was going on, noticed how upset that I was, but didn't feel like he could do anything about it because of how much I get after him about needing to be nice to you. I cried the whole way home, and couldn't let Jack touch me at all for the rest of the night.

 I will always remember the good times, I promise. I will remember watching Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings with you. I will remember our discussions about books and music and movies. I will remember the camping, hunting, and fishing trips. I will remember all of the special, little, nice things that you've done for me, [my daughter], and Jack.

 I will remember all of the choir concerts and programs that you've come to. Don't think for a second that I have forgotten all of these things! I have shed so many tears in coming to this decision. And I know you love [my daughter]. I know you love her so much. And I am so so sorry. But I am doing what I believe is best for her. Because you care about her so much, I know that you will understand me doing everything that I think is necessary to keep her safe. My heart is as heavy as I can ever remember it being right now.

I love you so much. And I always, always will.

McKell

My letter was met with anger--accusing me of being crazy and a liar. I was told that no one would believe me, that I knew what I was doing was wrong and that it would break my grandma's heart to know that I could do such a thing.

I took his response as confirmation that I was absolutely doing the right thing. Not only was my abuser a pedophile and a sexual pervert, but a narcissist as well. And even just getting out of a relationship with a narcissist is a healthy step in the right direction.

I meant to keep the situation quiet and continue to have relationships with the rest of my family members on that side of the family, but my abuser took the matter to as many family members as he could and tried to convince them of my insanity and dishonesty. It breaks my heart to say that very few believed me, and that most everyone took his side, and I was ostracized from my family. Does it hurt like hell? Yes. Do I regret it? No. I know with all my heart that I did the right thing. I know that I'm protecting myself and both my now 6 year old daughter, and my 2 year old daughter as well.

About 6 months to a year after I cut ties with my abuser, he got in trouble for child pornography. At that point, a few people who were on the fence about whether to believe me or not, decided to believe me. However, surprisingly, so many people still believed him over me, even though I had never done anything to make them think I would lie about something so serious, and he actually has a track record of dishonesty, laziness, and stealing, among other things.

If anyone who has read this is going through what I've gone through, I am so sorry and I feel for you. Keep going. Know that you're doing the best thing for you and that is perfectly alright. If anyone who has read this and is currently being abused, I urge you to get out of that toxic relationship/situation. It might be so hard, and even life altering, but you're life will be so much healthier. You will feel safer. You will be happier, I promise you.

McKell Hadlock

[unmovableseat]

Based off pic #4. I only ever write for work anymore but I keep writing things like this where it’s a little “Sam + Bucky = ♥️” but also “Sarah x Bucky = ♥️” but mostly “Sam Wilson is ♥️🥺♥️🥰😍😘 and everyone in his life says so, especially Ms. Whitney”. Brief mention of Sam x Riley, a quint of Sam x Steve, and no editing because I’m going to delete it like all those who came before it if I do.

//////

Captain America and the White Wolf are doing morning shows and people want to hear about saving the world and What That’s Like. Except Sam has really gotten into his plants and wants to show off his fav and spent 45 minutes that morning talking to ALL of his plants about how he loved them all very much but that he just HAPPENED to choose this random plant (but totally whispering to The Chosen One in the elevator that it is absolutely his favorite). And Bucky thought he was kidding bc he was busy showering and getting dressed during the Plant Pep Talk (and he might have been texting back and forth with Sarah all morning and gotten distracted by a picture she sent of herself from early that morning, holding a cup of coffee, perched on the dock, the sun rising in the sky, but her warm eyes and bright smile outshining every sunrise he’s ever seen) so he’s only just putting his phone away when he comes out on the living room and sees Sam gently placing Ms Whitney (“because she’s so beautiful she makes me wanna dance with somebody! Nevermind, man, but I’m making a bee playlist for you.”) in a burlap sack that Bucky had never seen before and gently lifting her in his arms. And Sam asks “what’s got you looking all goofy” and Bucky needs to pívot, quickly, because while they’re not hiding anything from Sam, this is all kind of new and quiet and not many things in either of their lives gets to be quiet right now. So Bucky says “did you finally tell the other plants that she’s your favorite?” just to watch Sam’s face muscles jump into 50 expressions at once while trying to nudge Bucky out the door and hurriedly assure the other plants that He Doesn’t Have A Favorite and when they get in the hallway Sam shoulder-checks Bucky into the wall and Bucky would normally trip him but he overwatered Ms. Whitney one time and Sam didn’t get mad, he got upset and he didn’t even say anything but the face he made had Bucky volunteering to take over all household chores for the next two weeks so Sam could just focus on her.

He told Sarah later that night on FaceTime that he felt like he would have preferred a punch on the face. “It’s his eyes, he’s always been able to do that. He has our Titi’s eyes and he doesn’t even realize how easily they convey his pain and joy in equal amounts. When he came home after—“ Bucky waited and let Sarah breathe, reminded once again how much of a ‘Wilson’ Riley had been before…before. “He would try to fake it for us but we always knew. Carlos used to take him out fishing sometimes. They’d spend hours just fishing together, quiet, out on the water, out deep where our Daddy always took us when things got bad or we all just needed a break. Carlos and he got real close. Folks didn’t talk about it so much back then but when Nathaniel, Carlos’s ‘roommate’ of 30 years passed on, we all came together and mourned him as a community like anyone else’s spouse. Sam was on the run back then, we hadn’t heard from him in almost two weeks, but the next morning, he pulled me aside after we sorted our hauls and let me know that Sam had stopped by about 15 minutes after the last person had left, told Carlos how much Nathaniel was loved and what a role model he and Carlos had been for him all those years. Carlos told me he looked in Sam’s eyes and could see the old pain had sprung up again, but it felt like he was helping Carlos ease his own pain by sharing that bright pain with him.” Sarah had paused, laughing, and Bucky (not knowing the screen was going to alert Sarah) snapped a picture of her, head tilted slightly down, nostrils flared wide with the little crinkles in the bridge, thinking he wanted to see that expression every day for the rest of his life but knowing it was still way too soon to say anything even remotely close to that. Sarah didn’t comment on the message popping up but Bucky had a similar one flash across his screen that made him blush and flash his own grin as Sarah continued, “and Steve must have come with him because Carlos told me ‘Sammy nabbed himself another pale blonde white boy and, Nathaniel forgive me for saying it, but if I were a few years younger, I would have tried those biceps out myself!”

Bucky couldn’t help but laugh at that. Sam had told him the same story and mentioned that he didn’t think him showing up did Carlos any good that night but ‘Steve and his obsession with tight shirts would help ease any man’s woes.’ Bucky always hoped that Sam just deflected because he didn’t want to focus on himself when mentioning someone else’s pain but Bucky made it a point of letting Sam know how much he loved and appreciated him, as a friend and a partner. Bucky wasn’t great with hugs with everyone just yet but knew Sam loved physical expressions of caring so he would always hug him hello and goodbye, an extra squeeze thrown in at the end. Sometimes even just throwing an ‘appreciate you’ at him for something like Sam giving Bucky a break by making dinner. Bucky would make Sam Wilson know how much Bucky and his whole community loved him if it was the last thing he did. So, as he sat on the couch with Sam and Ms Whitney, Sam glowing from describing in harrowing detail how ‘The Winter Soldier tried to take her out!’ and how he only just ‘saved her and nursed her back to health like one of those old war movies’, Bucky couldn’t help but make faces at the camera. He realized they had four more shows today and he was going to hear this story over and over again, wondering just how much the details would change as the day went on. He watched the interviewers all genuinely laughing as Captain America Himself described his role as a WWI nurse (in a very respectable outfit because ‘it’s not that kind of movie, don’t get your hopes up too high’), feeling elated that he gets to have his man, his Captain but more importantly, his Sam, in his life.

He felt three quick vibrations against his thigh and felt the grin break across his face, knowing that was Sarah messaging home, probably asking what in the hell he and Sam got into before the morning show and how a 40year old and a 100+ year old shouldn’t be day drinking and flaunting it on National TV! Sam looked over at him, saw the ‘Sarah smile’ as he dubbed it (‘not your fault, James, we Wilson’s are made from angelic stock. You really had no chance), and gave Bucky a private, small grin before launching back into the best way to make each and every plant feel like it had the majesty of a redwood even if it was no bigger than a tiny pea shoot. Bucky continued making his faux faces of a beleaguered partner at the screen, but probably not fooling anyone because Sam was truly in his element, sharing the story of Figaro’s and Alpine’s first foray into ‘if you even THINK about attacking those Monsteras!’, and Bucky’s thigh kept vibrating with Sarah’s pattern, letting him know she was absolutely roasting Sam at this point, and Bucky had to just take a second and be thankful that his new normal was chaotic af.

#Sam + Bucky #Sarah x Bucky #Sam x Riley #Sam x Steve…if you squint #but mostly Sam x Ms Whitney #AND SAM X ALL HIS PLANTS #he told me it was important to say that bc he doesn’t play favorites #but he was also watching a movie with Ms Whitney and Bucjy while he said it sooo… #idek what this is #Sam Wilson #Bucky Barnes #Sarah Wilson #Riley #Steve Rogers #Carlos from tfatws #Bucky*

[babycharmander]

I finished reading the unofficial novelization of Grim Fandango last night. (I’d link it, but then Tumblr wouldn’t let this post show up in the tags--just google “grim fandango novel” and it’ll be the first result). It’s a full novelization of the entire game, and not the kind of novelization that just copy-pastes the dialogue and writes out word-for-word what happens.

It’s over 200 pages long, though the last 10 pages or so are two short stories (one amusing one featuring Manny and Glottis getting drunk during New Years between year 2 and 3, and one from Domino’s perspective that fills in some of the gaps at the beginning of the book). If you’re a fan of the game, it’s definitely worth checking out.

You can read my review under the cut.

Quick disclaimer: I don’t know if the author of this novel is still ‘round the intarwebz, but I understand that this novel was written nearly 10 years ago. My criticisms in this review are toward the story itself, not necessarily to the author, whose skills as a writer have doubtlessly improved since he wrote this story.

I’ve been reading fics for 20 years now, and I’ve read my fair share of (attempted) novelizations, both official and unofficial. Of what I’ve read, most novelizations have the same problem: they very stiffly try to stick to the script, resulting in very wooden writing that leaves the reader wondering why they’re reading the novelization instead of watching/playing the source material.

This novelization did not leave me with that feeling.

Not to say that the writing isn’t stiff (more on that later) but the writer adapted the game in such a way that it does not at all read as a direct copy-paste of the game’s script that was clumsily edited into novel form. Rather than trying to add each conversation and write out every puzzle, the author took the whole game as more of a rough outline for his book. Some scenes and conversations are adapted more directly than others, but for the most part, the author does a pretty good job of keeping the story flowing more naturally than a direct, word-for-word adaptation of the game would.

One of the things I liked most about this novelization is the way different parts of the story were fleshed out. We see a lot more of what Manny’s time in the Eighth Underworld was like before the events of the game, how he came to terms with his own death (which is not pretty), what Manny and Glottis’s trip to Rubacava was like, and nearly everything leading up to Year 2. An enormous chunk of the book is spent in Rubacava, as you would imagine.

The author spends a lot of time detailing the specifics of what life is like in El Marrow and Rubacava, Manny getting his casino started, his relationships with Carla and Lola, winning over other souls to the cause of the LSA, and so on. A lot of this is really fascinating to read. But some of it is... not.

Here’s a quote from the website that currently hosts the novel:

Now, a thorough revision of the novel has been completed to be hosted here. Many plot points are developed more fully and the entire text has been tweaked to become more textured, more adult. If the game was intended to reflect film noir, then the novel is meant to key off of the writings of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald.

I have to admit, I do not know a lot about the noir genre. I had little interest in it before playing Grim Fandango (though Who Framed Roger Rabbit is one of my favorite movies, if that counts for anything?), and I’ve never read a novel written in the noir style. Perhaps the style the book was written in is closer to the noir style--I don’t know.

But I have to say, if you’ll excuse the pun, the book is dry as a bone.

I prefer character-focused stories, and while the novel does give some good insight into Manny and the other characters and their feelings at times, other times it feels like the author was more caught up in the plot, the schemes, the worldbuilding, and the politics. There were times when I really, really wished I could see more of what the characters were feeling or thinking, but the author was more concerned about showing the impact this or that event had on the Underworld as a whole--which is still interesting to see, but not what I was hoping to read. Sometimes you get a good character-driven scene (there’s some nice moments between Manny and Meche, and Lola’s death is as shocking as it should be), and that’s one of the main things that kept me reading.

The website pointed out that this version of the novel is a revision, which makes me wonder how much of the original was revised. Given how the novel seems to inconsistently go from more character-driven scenes to dry-as-a-desert exposition, my guess is that the more character-driven stuff came later, and I wish the whole novel was written that way.

I’ve mentioned I’ve read other novelizations, both official and unofficial, before, and another thing I’ve noticed with them is that you can usually tell what parts and what characters the author liked the most. The same holds true for the Grim Fandango novelization. While no major characters are really skipped over, to my memory, the novel really skips over a lot with Velasco, Lupe, the sea bees, and Pugsy and Bibi, which was a bit disappointing, since I like all of those characters. And, bizarrely enough, it spends a lot of time with the communists in Olivia’s bar. (In fact, a huge part of the Rubacava portion is dedicated to Manny and those guys talking about communism.)

While some scenes from the game were elaborated more, others were cut entirely. We don’t see Glottis getting smashed at the cat track, for example--that whole subplot is nixed. Some of the more humorous scenes are cut as well--for example, I was disappointed to find the scene where Manny walks into the fog and falls into the ocean was absent, which makes Velasco’s “are you going to make this a tradition?” line a bit nonsensical. The thing that shocked me a lot though was that, of all the dialogue that was cut or altered, Manny’s character-defining quote--”Love? Love is for the living”--is gone.

I feel this is a good time to point out that Manny in this novel is a bit different from Manny in the game. In the game, Manny goes from “I’m getting out of here even if I have to STEAL a lead and break all the rules” to “I’m not leaving this world until I can save EVERYONE.”

In the novel? He starts as the latter.

I’m not really sure what the purpose of this was. I didn’t really notice the difference in Manny’s character until he got to Rubacava and was already talking about bringing Hector to justice and saving all the lost souls. Maybe this was an attempt at making Manny more sympathetic, but it felt the opposite for me. It makes scenes that would have been more character-developing and emotional more frustrating than anything. I don’t like the “oh woe is me, I’m ruining everyone’s lives even though I didn’t actually do anything wrong” shtick, especially since the game avoided that because Manny is a jerk in the game. 

Some of the other characters got a weird treatment as well. Velasco somehow comes off as even more harsh and mean than he is in the game (or maybe that’s just me?). I think next to Manny though, Glottis is the one who got changed the most. As I mentioned before, a lot of the humorous stuff from the game was cut (probably in an attempt to make the novel more “adult”), which necessitated a change in Glottis’s character. As a result, he reads as more mature and responsible than he is in the game, which makes him feel more bland than anything. Lines kept from the game that make him seem silly tend to be reinterpreted as sarcasm. He does, however, get some character development in one scene that was drastically altered from the game, and I won’t spoil that for you. Unfortunately while there is a buildup to this part of Glottis’s character development, it’s mostly dropped a little after that scene, which makes the scene feel more like it was added for shock value.

Not all characters got this treatment, fortunately. Salvador, Eva, Meche, Carla, Olivia, and Lola were written pretty well from what I remember (I read through this slowly and I’m still feeling kinda messed up due to unrelated stuff so I can’t remember everything right now), and I don’t really remember having any objections to the way the villains were written (other than wishing I could have seen a bit more of them).

Among other criticisms, I will say that I feel the novel has a bit too much swearing. There’s language in the game, yes, and that would have been fine, but characters drop the f-bomb with more frequency than necessary in the book. While there’s some suggestive stuff here and there in the game, it’s taken a little bit further in the novel (including one weird scene where Olivia gets a bit closer to Manny than is necessary, and a few alarming comments from Domino in his bonus chapter). It’s not too much like the language is, but the added stuff does feel a little weird.

While yes, I have a lot of criticisms for the book, I didn’t feel like it was a waste of my time. It was interesting to see a different look at the story (even if I disagreed with the author’s interpretation of some scenes and characters), and some of the ways the author interpreted and expanded on the story were genuinely cool and interesting.

If you’re willing to put up with the dryness of a lot of the writing and willing to put up with a very different interpretation of Manny and Glottis, I feel it’s worth a read.

#grim fandango #fanfic rec

[nerdprincess73]

I think the real problem with season 4 of Sherlock is that after Moriarty, they just kept trying to build without any breaks, so there’s no satisfaction. Like, season 1 had a good arc. there was the high of meeting, the lull of tBB, which still carried the Moriarty plot forward, then the peak of TGG. Season two, we had the release of that tension, and The Woman, another slight lull of tension with Hound, and then Reichenbach. 

Season 3 had the lull of Empty Hearse, which reestablished John and Sherlock’s friendship, started the Mary and Magnussen plotlines, and it was fine. Sign of Three had some real Sherlock vibes with the case happening during the wedding, and then some angst. And Last Vow was once again a series ending episode, with a Big Bad, a last minute save, and a slight break in tension, followed by build again. Much like leaving the heros at the pool, and with Sherlock’s fake suicide, John and Mary and the baby are safe, but Sherlock’s flying off toward doom and then he’s not because Moriarty. 

then there was The Abominable Bride, which I don’t know added anything really. Like, Sherlock’s high, and he’s having a weird trip, and reliving things but weird, and it doesn’t really do much for the plot progression. 

Then we have the Six Thatchers, which gives us AGRA and Mary’s story, and Mary’s death. Then there’s the Lying Detective, which decides that we need another Big Bad, Culverton Smith. He’s Unstoppable, because he’s wealthy, and Necessary and he has a murder hospital, and John’s beating Sherlock, and smith tries to kill him and in the end they get their man, but while this episode does do something to mend the Sherlock/John divide, the stakes are too high. Sherlock’s high, and seems to be going crazy, even if you do believe him about Smith, and John beats the crap out of him, and they have an impossible serial killer, and it’s not a regular case. 

Which makes The Final Problem and Eurus’s emotional Jigsaw situation inevitable. Because you can’t end the season, let alone potentially end the whole show on anything but something that big and devastating. So there’s Moriarty and a Mystery Sibling and High Stakes and Torture and Death, because why not, and a Dead Child, because it wasn’t bad enough that Redbeard was Sherlock’s dead dog, no, we had to go and make him a dead boy. And there’s no slowing down the whole season.

it’s like that bee movie edit where every time they say bee it goes faster, except with death and torture. I mean it goes from Last Vow ‘did you miss me’ to Thatchers ‘go to hell Sherlock’ to John being shot by Eurus at the end of Lying Detective, and there’s no relief. There’s nothing that slows you down to build again, so they have to build on top of what they’re already at. 

And like, season 4 starts out at a nine and builds. There are peaks and valleys in any classic development of tension, or at least, different rates of build, but like, they started out nearly vertical, and by the end they were pulling some Mission Impossible cliff grabs, climbing out horizontal and upside down. 

#sherlock season 4 #thoughts #writing 101

[eevahn]

I had a really strange dream...

Where i traveled to you, to a far away town. A town where i didnt know anyone but you. You asked me to come, to see you and i listened. I felt so foolish when you asked me, but my smile grew bigger and bigger. So i traveled to you. Once i got to you, things were going really well. I felt like you and I were a possibility and it was going to happen. But there was a lingering doubt inside me, burning a hole in me. It needed to be heard. I kept putting off, as just a case of uncertainty. As the day progressed, your friend came over. You introduced me to him, and the doubt solidified inside me. Like cement in my stomach it felt heavy, my legs could no longer support this. My heart began to crack ever so slightly, feeling each and every snap of its flesh. I was not ready for this to end. But the possibility was real. The way you laughed at things he said. the way you smiled at him, it kept breaking me. I had so many questions, but i didnt know how to ask them with out throwing up all my feelings for you. So i kept quiet, we went to the movies. you sat next to him instead of me. The anxiety grew larger, like a hive of bees in total chaos. I couldnt take not knowing much longer. After the movie ended the whole world i was in started to implode. We were all getting chased by men in uniforms. Your friend was paralyzed in fear. I kept us moving forward. keeping us a step further then those men. We ended up in a small SUV, it was green. It was cold out side when we entered the car; and a thick fog started to roll in. We all exhaled releif, and it was at this moment i asked you “Do you even want this to happen? Do i mean anything to you?” you took a few minutes and said. “Of course i do, youre a safe bet. Youre always there for me. Its hard not to feel things for you”. Pent up with frustration i left the SUV and walked into the fog. i got far enough to take a few breathes. There was a man with a cowboy hat next to me. 

He said “she likes him because of the shallow satisfaction he brings not because it means any more then that.”

I frowned and replied “why cant i be all that for her?”

“Because shes scared to feel anything more, you bring something more then just satisfaction to her and it terrifies her”

“Im not going to win her over, am i?”

“I think you have, she just doesn’t realize what she needs is you.” 

“thats a no, isnt it?”

“at the moment, It is a no unfortunately” and he walked away into the fog. All of my anger was gone. It was now replaced with sadness. A real sadness that i would have to go back and ask her the real question on my mind. “Why am i not enough for you?”. So i made my way back to the SUV, i opened the door and she looked at me with concern. I ignored it.

*I wake up for a second check my phone and see nothing on the screen. I take a long bong rip so i can hopefully not dream of this anymore I lay down*

We are now in an airport of sorts. The sky was dark, gloomy. the three of us are still traveling together. Trying to escape the men in uniforms. They have guns now. They have been shooting at us. Trying to kill us. We are walking through a gift shop, you keep looking at me, as if youre trying to reach out to me. I see it on your face ,but i cannot give you the time. Trying to survive is my main focus. Your friend picks something up from the gift shop and tries to take it. The shop keeper notices it and stops him, I go up and try to settle the whole thing. But once i get up to them its too late. The men in uniforms spotted us. They pull their guns; I grab the kid and drag him back to a bookshelf. They shoot with no mercy. A bullet rikotches from the ground next to me and grazes my face. Blood starts to drip down my face, I feel the pain but i chose to ignore it. You see the blood on me and fear fills you.

“are you okay?” she asks

“im fine, your friend just got us killed” I scold her

“im sorry”

“why am i not enough for you?” i blurt out

Time seemed to slow down, the echos of gunfire are now just muffled clicks. i hear the men saying things but all i can do is look at you. Waiting for your answer.

*i wake up at this point. Im not sure what to make of this. But it feels significant i dont dream often anymore. So this kinda impacted me in all kids of way. Im sure later today ill have the right words to express this better.* EDIT: Ive been thinking about this for a while now. I thought it was about specific person. But I don't believe that to be the case anymore. Back to pondering this

#iggyspersonalposts

[roxy-davenport]

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Pairing: Crowley x Reader

Word Count: 1,582

Prompt: This was written for @cici0507 Heaven or Hell Christmas Edition Writing Challenge with the prompt, Hell/Tree decorating with Crowley. This was also written for @winchester-writes Christmas Song Challenge with the object wrapping paper and the song Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. This was also written for @avasmommy224 with the prompt, ornaments. There may be a part 2 if you’re all good. ;) Hehe. I’m a Crowley tease lately. Not apologizing, just stating a fact.

Also on AO3

Never in a million years did you think you’d be decorating a Christmas Tree with Crowley.  You turned on your favorite Christmas song, Rockin’ Around the Christmas tree. It was upbeat and always made you move. Some of the other Christmas songs people play sounded a bit sad to you. You shook your hips humming along as you pulled out an ornament from your giant holiday decoration bag. It was a fake severed finger. Crowley pulled out a zombie Santa.

 “Really, pet?”

 You shrugged.

 “I love horror movies. Why not celebrate with a macabre sense of holiday spirit? I’m shacked up with the King of Hell after all. Did you really expect pink girly shit all over the place?”

 “No, but I did expect normal ornaments. You know if you really want a finger--.”

 “I like my body part ornaments fake thank you.”

 You pulled out a small bat ornament with barbed wire wrapped around it. Crowley smirked back at you reaching into the bag yet again this time pulling out an ornament with blood splatter on it.

 “If you ever had the need to spend the holidays in hell, this tree would certainly fit in. “

 “I prefer to have you all to myself and demon free. I mean it -- if I see one demon in here I will kill it. You’re mine during the holidays.”

 “How very sentimental of you.”

 “You don’t agree?”

 “On the contrary, I feel quite the same way. You are mine and no one will be interrupting us.”

 “I like when you get all possessive like that. Rawr. And that smile is delicious.”

 “My face does that sometimes.”

 You giggle.

 “What? … smile? So does mine.”

 Crowley’s eye roamed up and down your figure. He smirked at you as he reached forward into the bag again and this time to his surprise found a Winnie the Pooh ornament and a yellow Care Bear with a sun on his stomach.

 “That’s Funshine bear,” you say.

 You giggled slightly before placing your hand over your mouth trying not laugh hysterically at Crowley holding those in his hands. You moved slowly and quietly grabbing your phone and took a quick picture just at the moment that Crowley looked up at you. The horror, disgust and confusion on his face -- priceless. He stayed there frozen. You bit your lip and shrug. Taking a deep breath you try to talk.

 “Mementoes of childhood. Who doesn’t love a chubby, honey addicted bear?”

 Crowley remained silent trying to think of what to say. You glanced over at your phone laughing at his expression. Crowley quickly placed the ornaments on the tree actually right next to the two severed body parts, before turning his attention back to you.

 “Really, Crowley? Two happy go-lucky bears near the horror ornaments?”

 “Give me the phone, luv?”

 “Um…let’s see. No. It’s my phone. I’m not going to text this to your court. This is just going in our holiday scrapbook. Look at your expression. This is comedic gold!”

 Crowley looked furious but then he noticed how happy and animated you looked. He grumbled something inaudible and looked away.

 Speaking up a bit louder this time Crowley grumbled, “Fine.” 

You moved to the other bag and threw bright blue and deep purple tinsel on the tree. You stepped back and looked at it in all its glory. What a mismatch of different things you loved, light and dark, sweet and terrifying, much like the two of you. Crowley felt strangely sentimental, as he always did around the holidays, pulling you close to him, kissing your forehead. He secretly loved spending the holidays with you and always booked the week off from Hell for every human holiday.  He would leave the ruling of Hell for that week to the only demon he trusted, Guthrie.

 You turned up the music and started dancing like an idiot. Your socks glided across the wooden floorboards. You used a comb to sing out the words. You used your whole body and really get into it literally rocking around the Christmas tree, which was in the middle of the room. You peaked out from behind the tree motioning for Crowley to dance with you. Being the party-pooper he always is, he declined the offer with a shake of his head. He enjoyed watching you dance and wasn’t too keen on dancing. You being you, you didn’t accept defeat and instead dragged him close your chest. You held his hands and looked into his eyes seeing utter confusion. You swayed from side to side and then let go of one of his hands twisting this way and that. He watched you and couldn’t help but subtly move with you. It’s the best you’ll get for now. You’ll have to work on getting him to dance more. Maybe if he was drunk? Do demons get drunk? Towards the end of the song you let go of his hand and started taking off your clothes. You quirked your eyebrow before looking him up and down. He took that as the verbal cue it was to get undressed. By the end of the song you were in a lace bra and lace panties and he was in black tight briefs that read, “Bow before your King,” on them.

 “You’re wearing those?”

 “Thought you might need a reminder.”

 “Oh, I know you love me on my knees my King. And I love being there but… I need to wrap your presents.”

 You smiled and bit your lip.

 “Now? You pick now?”

 “Oh come on. You know the second I get in that bed. I won’t be leaving until the morning. You’re a sex all night kinda guy. That’s one of the many things I love about you.”

 “Little girl, you have no idea the hell you’re bringing upon yourself.”

 “Oooh, sounds sexy. You’re gonna punish me for teasing you? Mmm wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

 You thrust your ass out and he gives one check a good slap before massaging it.

 “You better be quick, pet. I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

 You slowly turned around to face him, “I know patience isn’t one of your virtues.”

 Crowley smirked at you. You gently pushed him towards the stairs.

 “I’ll make it worth your while, my King.”

 You put your hands behind your back and clasped them together swaying from side to side batting your eyelashes acting coquettish. You waited until Crowley walked up the stairs watching his ass move in those tight briefs.

 When you were sure he was in the bedroom you ran, nearly face planting. Mental note don’t run in socks on a wood floor. You grabbed the bag you hid in the closet. Your hands reaching for tape and your zombie wrapping paper.  You laid the wrapping paper down, tape on the other side, and the presents in the middle. You placed the present number one down on the wrapping paper taking a few seconds to make sure the paper would cover it and then a few seconds later you closed it up. You worked as fact as you could anxiously anticipating Crowley’s reaction when you came back. You were half debating whether to just hang out here and make him wait longer than he had to. Something about Crowley made you want to tease him and challenge the authority and power he always clung to.

 You heard steady footsteps on the stairs and flung your body over the last present covering it so Crowley couldn’t see. Well maybe he could see a small blue corner but not enough to give anything away. He glanced around you to see how many presents you had got for him. He thought you only bought one and you were just making him wait for nothing but seeing how generous you were, he couldn’t help but smile. He had got you over 10 gifts himself but he never though you’d give him so many.  He quickly turned away from the present. You glanced over your shoulder to see him staring at the wall so you went back to quickly wrapping the package. Once you were done you put it down and turned around trying to read his expression.

 “I see we’re back to horror.”

 “Zombie wrapping paper is my thing.”

 “Thinkgeek.com?”

 “I love that website. Yep.”

 Crowley was ecstatic you still loved that store because quite a few of his gifts were from there. He looked around again at the packages, trying to guess what were in them. There was a huge one under the tree. Dragging his eyes away from the presents he looked over at you.

 “Now I know what took you so long. What a woman you are, dear. Showering the King Of Hell with gifts? I can’t possibly stay mad at you. What kind of boyfriend would I be? Come with me right now pet and your punishment will be very light.”

 “What if I say no?”

 Crowley cocks his eyebrows.

 “We forgot the ornament that goes on the top of the tree silly.”

 You reached in and picked out Freddy Kreuger’s arm with a slightly ripped red and green sweater and his gloved hand with knives jutting out. Crowley smirked, walked behind you and placed the Freddy Kreuger arm gently on top of the tree. His hands moved down your body ending at your hips. He held your hips firmly as he ground his cock against your ass.

 “Get your pretty little hunter ass in our bed NOW, little girl.”

 “Anything for you, my King.”

 Tagging

Forevers: @killerofthesouth, @charliebradbury1104, @chaos-and-the-calm67, @chelsea072498, @everyday-supernatural-af, @kalliravenne, @loveitsallineed, @toogardenenthusiast, @winchesterprincessbride @one-shots-supernatural, @take-me-tonirvana, @hellsmother, @ellen-reincarnated1967

Crowley: @vintagevalentinexx, @thinkwritexpress, @mysupernaturalfics, @gadreelsforbiddenfruit, @curliesallovertheplace, @singingflames, @jencharlan, @growleytria, @samtomydeanwinchester, @i-never-said-a-pilot, @kayteonline, @faith-in-dean, @trenchcoat-and-bees, @skybinx-blog, @thebunkerismyhome, @feelmyroarrrr, @gimmethepieandnoonegetshurt, @for-the-love-of-dean, @salvachester. @beachy2014, @sunriserose1023, @sis-tafics, @howmanytuesdaysdidyouhave, @babypieandwhiskey, @wayward-mirage, @ferferelli, @katnharper, @crzcorgi, @deerlululucy, @manawhaat, @iridianuniverse, @shortandlongstories, @chrisatplay, @jotink78, @notnaturalanahi, @mrswhozeewhatsis, @helvonasche, @impala-dreamer, @frenchybell, @cici0507, @captain-princess-rose  @memariana91, @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid, @blushingsamgirl, @bkwrm523, @for-the-love-of-dean, @deansleather, @supernatural-jackles, @ilovedean-spn2, @jpadjackles, @wi-deangirl77, @fandommaniacx, @writingbeautifulmen, @mysaintsasinner, @winchester-writes

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