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wingsoverlagos · 1 month

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This is a fun collection of quotes from the Let It Be Beatles Interview with Mark Lewisohn conducted on August 20, 2018. This is mostly for @mythserene's enjoyment, but it's also a fun lil supplement to this comment by @talking-perfectly-loud on a post by @anotherkindofmindpod, which includes some revealing, deeply salty quotes by Lewisohn from an episode of Nothing Is Real.

The below soundbites focus on Lewisohn's feelings towards the Harrison estate, particularly Olivia, though Lewisohn also lets us know that he considered suing George at one point. Italics used to indicate tone; bold font is added emphasis by me.

This is from ~1hr8min into the interview, after a discussion of Mal Evans diaries. Here's a partial transcript:

"No, no, Olivia Harrison doesn't want anything to do with me at all. Yeah, so it's very frustrating because I just want to make the history better and better and better and more and more correct, especially more and more correct in terms of balance on all four Beatles, but whatever."

This is a longer clip (6:26) from ~1hr23min in the original interview. They're discussing Lewisohn's falling out with Apple/the Beatles/George in particularly, which came about because he was falsely accused of bootlegging, or something like that. He's told a few variations of this story.

The first 3ish minutes give some flavor and backstory. Some choice quotes (they're at about 2:50, 4:35, and 5:42 in this clip):

“To the day he died, George blocked me, and Olivia blocks me in George’s name, and so it still carries on.”

“I’ve never, ever leaked, and that was why it was so galling to be accused of being a bootlegger. George Harrison accused me of being a bootlegger to my face in front of a whole film crew, the bastard. I mean, really. A horrible, horrible thing to do. I really should have done him for slander, and in fact at one point I was tempted, believe it or not. Because, you know, I’m a professional, I’m on a shoot, I’ve got a whole unit with me, and he’s accusing me of being a bootlegger in front of everybody, which was- he had no evidence for because there wasn’t any, but that didn’t matter. He was accusing me without evidence, and it was wrong, and um, you just have to put up with these things. These people, they can get away with murder. Celebrities, you know?”

Lest we think George was wilding out solely because of the bootlegging, Lewisohn helpfully clarifies that it was also Paul's Fault:

“The irony of that was that I actually had started off really well with George. I knew George from ’87, personally, and we’d had nice times, and it was- one of the things that flipped it was when I began working regularly for Paul.”

This was the part of the podcast that really took me aback, from around the 1hr43min mark. There's some chatter about Let It Be (the film), and then Lewisohn goes off once again about Olivia Harrison. He's quite impassioned, and then seems to make a conscious effort to talk himself down.

“I don’t know Olivia Harrison. I’ve never met her, which makes her- just- [angry] blocking of everything I do so ridiculous, because she doesn’t even know me. But if, as it would appear, she’s taken it upon herself to perpetuate George’s wishes, which is something that you might expect a spouse to do when their partner’s died, if the partner says, ‘Don’t ever allow this’, then she would take it as her duty not to allow it.”

This is followed by some hedging.

There are several other choice tidbits in this two hour Lewisohn marathon, but Olivia Harrison was foremost in his mind. But don't worry, guys, he's not biased!

#george harrison's last words were fuck mark lewisohn. hare krishna #CONFIRMED #olivia harrison get behind me #next substantiative post coming soon #just a bit of fun for now~#mark lewisohn #tune in #lewi-sins

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poltergeistsoup · 1 year

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Gowillaz monstew AU, just for you 🤲

Murdoc: Vampire

2D: Zombie

Noodle: demon/demon slayer

Russel: human (possessed)

* Russel’s backstory is pretty much exactly the same— he witnesses his friends’ deaths and becomes possessed by their spirits and now he has the ability to summon and absorb spirits. He can also sense whether an entity has malicious energy or not. After his friends’ deaths, his parents send him to his uncle’s in England, where he starts taking on jobs to “exorcise” peoples houses (he’s not expelling the ghosts, but letting them reside inside his body)

* Noodle uses her demonic abilities (ala Devilman Crybaby) to fight other demons. She and Russel meet when they both show up to the same building to deal with the very powerful spirit that’s haunting it. They team up, since demons are too powerful for him and Noodle can’t slash ghosts with her sword.

* In their travels, they accidentally hit a shambling zombie, our good friend 2D, with their car. While Noodle is ready to take his head off, Russel senses that he’s harmless, and so they let him join them. Since Russel also does taxidermy, he helps repair 2D’s body as he tends to fall apart

* 2D doesn’t have any sort of bloodthirst, but he can regenerate if he’s buried and left to rest for a day or so, and then he digs his way out again

* Murdoc is a vampire who desperately wants to be the next Dracula. He resides alone in the abandoned and thoroughly haunted Kong Studios. Though this takes place in the equivalent time period to phase 1, he basically larps as a 17th century vampire with a laptop. He still sleeps in a Winnebago in the garage, only he’s spray painted it black and has a coffin inside.

* Noodle hunts down Murdoc to kill him, but he goes down so easily she decides he’s barely a threat. The three of them start freeloading in Kong to keep an eye on Murdoc and also because they need a place to stay. He allows it in exchange for them providing blood for him, getting rid of the spirits that plague his house, and also because he’s secretly been very lonely

* Since Murdoc isn’t opposed to taking blood from defenseless humans, Noodle brings him blood from her demon hunting trips. While he gets along fine with them, they don’t fully trust him to get blood on his own

* Since 2D regenerates, he also lets Murdoc drink his blood. They bury him in the graveyard behind Kong to recover so he can do it again and again. However, it’s tiring for him and the more damage he takes/after having a strenuous few days in a row, the longer it takes for him to come back. So while Murdoc can get away with knocking 2D’s head off when he’s annoyed with him, and 2D might play Jackass for fun once in a while, it’s in their best interests not to overdo it, which they often do.

* While Noodle insists on using her powers to fight other demons, Russel worries for her since she’s still a little girl, and sticks around to look out for her as well as 2D. She insists on being independent and often disappears for days at a time, but begins to grow attached to them (including Murdoc, after a while) and as she does, she begins to regain her memories of her life before she acquired her demonic powers

Misc tidbits:

* 2D became a zombie after being hit by a car and doesn’t remember his life before that. When he was hit by Russel and Noodle, he acquired his second eight ball fracture

* Murdoc was turned into a vampire in 1966 when working as a gravedigger

* Murdoc can turn into a bat

* They all meet around the time of early phase 1 (1998ish) and while they don’t form a band, they do stick together over the course of time (and Noodle does age since she’s not fully a demon).

* Vampires also age but very slowly— drinking monster blood keeps them going but human blood makes them immortal at the cost of becoming completely monsterous. Murdoc has not done so yet but keeps saying he’s going to be immortal some day but for one reason or another has been putting it off

* Russel letting so many spirits reside in his body takes a major toll on him and he eventually is given an exorcism to function again, but in the process loses Del and the rest of his friends

#gorillaz #gorillaz fanart #murdoc niccals #noodle gorillaz #2d gorillaz #russel hobbs #gorillaz au #monster au #thank u Kat for helping me put this AU together <3

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vaya-writes · 8 months

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Serving the Serpent - 7

Briar owes Lord Isen her life. She works off her debt by serving in his castle. Dealing with the rapidly changing circumstances of her life, she’s not used to anyone paying her much attention. It’s hard when Isen seems set on interacting with her.

Cis female human with selective mutism x male naga (slow burn, co-workers to lovers, power imbalances, eventual smut). 2700 words. Content warnings for this chapter include allusions to Briar's cult-like upbringing, it's implied that Isen did not have a great childhood, and some unwanted romantic advances (though not taken far). Divider from firefly-graphics

Briar is still adjusting to her new position. Cue some world building, and some backstory tidbits from Isen regarding his family.

Previous - Masterlist

Briar’s stress starts to pick up the first time Isen uses the speaking tube. She hadn’t slept late. Not really. But Isen had to be up early for a meeting, and had woken before Briar in a rare instance.

There’d been a shrill whistle from the tube beside her bed, and Briar had been awake immediately, heart pounding, panicking as she tried to kick her legs free of the blankets. It had taken her several moments to place herself, to identify the source of the noise, and to calm her breathing before opening the valve of the speaking tube and tapping on the metal mouthpiece, nails clacking to signify she was ready for Isen’s message.

Things grow hectic from there. With Winter's arrival, Isen is busier, attending meetings with the locals at least twice a week. Much of Isen’s time is spent with Dinah Vulsinger, his financier, finalising the budget for the upcoming year. The rest is spent with Arol, Isen’s right hand. The lizard is from the area, and has a large part in organising last minute supplies for the winter, and preparing for the thaw.

Briar dutifully follows Isen in this time, keeping her ears open, learning as much as she can about how he governs the Lowlands.

She learns to write with ease. It’s still slow going, and her vocabulary is miniscule compared to those around her. But gradually she learns new words and their spellings. Numbers come less easily to her, but Lockwood has her practicing different sums each day.

Isen makes Briar read the documents Dinah sends him. He makes her read everything, for that matter, until the words swim before her eyes, and she no longer parses meaning from the papers. Sure, reading budgets and stock counts help her understand applied mathematics. But there’s only so much she can absorb each day.

She comes to relish her work as a cleaner and servant. It’s a chance to let her mind wander. To work without being in a state of intense concentration. But the tasks dwindle as she becomes more efficient. With the floors cleaned each day, it hardly takes her half an hour to do them. She could probably change Isen’s linens with her eyes closed. It leaves her with far too much time on her hands – time that Isen easily monopolises.

Because when she’s not cleaning, or reading, or following him around from meeting to meeting, duty to duty, he’s speaking to her. Chattering about his work, even if half the information goes over her head. Asking how to sign certain things. Gently prodding now and then, about Briar herself. About New Haven. About her aunt. About her life before.

She’s grateful he doesn’t ask certain questions. Not what happened to her parents. Nor why she is mute. Or how she ended up a sacrifice to the beastly creature of Eastern Highwood. She’s not sure if she’s ready to share those aspects of herself. It’s hard enough talking about herself. She’d been taught from a young age: she was to be seen and not heard. Speaking only when spoken to. Her worth was less than those around her.

Isen must have been raised differently, she thinks. Despite being a Lord. Despite owning land. Something must have happened to make him different. Why else would he treat all his servants with kindness and smiles? Greet the peasants among them with familiarity, and good humour? Why else would he keep asking her opinion? Touching her hand as he passed? Bumping shoulders when she forgets her guard?

It confuses her. Flusters her. Unsettles her. But she grows... not quite used to it. But to expect it. The casualness, and the disregard for etiquette. His freedom with touch, and his continuous quips. She’s not sure she’ll ever be completely okay with them, but it gets easier to mask her surprise. Easier to relax her shoulders, and not freeze up completely if he lingers in her personal space a moment too long. He’s proven himself safe to be around. Backing off when she ices him out, or apologising if he notices her discomfort.

“You look tired,” he comments over one dinner.

She straightens, suddenly aware of her slouch. Then shrugs. ‘I’m fine.’

A smile flickers at his mouth, before he covers it with his hand. “You’re allowed to be tired, you know.”

Is she? She’d woken up to the speaking tube again, letting her know that Isen would be taking his breakfast elsewhere. Hastily she’d dressed and stepped into Isen’s chambers to ask if he wished she accompany him, but he’d waved her off.

It takes a mental toll, being switched on all the time. Being on standby, even when Isen doesn’t have her working. She’s loath to disappoint, or to keep Isen waiting. He doesn’t interrupt her during her down time often, but when he does, she can’t help but scramble into action, an unwelcome anxiety growing in her, that if she makes him wait too long, he’ll be unhappy. He’ll punish her.

“Are you following the new lessons Lockwood gave you?”

She stills her features, masking her displeasure. She’d started learning multiplication and division. It’s a lot to get her head around, but she is picking it up. ‘They’re not easy, but I can do them.’

Isen lets the smile show this time. “They’ll get easier with practice.”

There’s a beat of silence while they both eat. Isen breaks it again. “And the meetings. We haven’t been debriefing as frequently. Did you have any questions?”

Endless questions. She lets her next frown show. ‘Yes, but...’ she struggles with her phrasing, ‘...I don’t know where to start.’ She also hadn’t wanted to bother Isen. She knows he’s open to teaching her, answering her questions. He does so with patience every time. But she also only asks the most pertinent of questions, not wanting to take hours just to fill in the gaps of her knowledge.

That and there are questions she literally can't ask. She doesn’t know the signs, or the spelling for several of the concepts that are mentioned in front of her. It’s frustrating.

“Start at the beginning?”

It’s not very helpful advice. Still. She leans back to consider a topic. Decides on something of current relevance.

‘What happens during the thaw?’ (Thaw. Melt. Ice change to water.)

“Oh, the thaw. Well, it floods, of course. You probably haven’t seen the worst of it in Highwood, but depending on the length of the winter, some of the usual settlements become uninhabitable. It doesn't last long, but it can be quite destructive.”

Briar frowns. ‘Why build there?’

Isen shrugs. “Where else? The woods are narrow, populated with humans and beasts. You can live in the marsh if you build on stilts. The only things we can farm in this area practically grow in the water. And there are no main roads, so all imports have to come by river.”

Briar almost doesn’t ask her next question. ‘Is it worth it?’

Isen raises his brows. “What? Living here?”

‘Ruling here.’ (Ruling. Owning. Working.)

Isen smiles at that, the expression unusually contrite. “It’s... not a glamourous area, no. But my father bestowed stewardship to me. And people would live here regardless of rule. So, I take it upon myself to do a good job.”

It’s strange having such a casual conversation with Isen. Learning details about him that don’t come up when he’s on the clock.

‘Who is your father?’

Isen’s expression hardens, if minutely. Still, Briar braces at the change in his exterior. “My father. Lucien Kovit. One of the Collective. He rules over nearly half of the Isles, if you include my and my sister’s territories.”

Briar blinks. She’d had no idea that Isen had come from such an influential family.

He winces at her expression. “Don’t. It doesn’t change anything. My father is an arrogant, controlling, unkind male, and I’d rather not be grouped in with him.”

Still, curiosity eats at her. Her family situation was vastly different from many of the ones she saw growing up; she can’t help but wonder at how Isen was raised.

‘What about your mother?’

Isen relaxes, but not by much. “One of father’s many wives. Their partnership was less political, and more about offspring. A boa and a sea serpent were considered an unstable match, but father wanted a clutch of venomous children. Regardless, I barely knew the female. We were all my father’s creatures.”

Something about his phrasing makes Briar reexamine Isen. Sympathy creeps through her. Enough so that part of her is tempted to share her own fraught history. A part she staunchly ignores, in favour of more interesting information.

She hopes it’s a lighter topic. ‘And are you?’

“Am I...?”

‘Venomous?’ She has to mime the meaning, pointing at her teeth when no synonyms come to mind.

“Oh, no. Well, I’ve no venom I can use in combat anyway.”

There’s a grey tinge to Isen’s cheeks. Is he... blushing?

A growing part of her is dying to know what he means, politeness be damned. ‘Not in combat?’ (Combat. Fight.)

“No,” he says, more firmly. “My sister Zyla, and my brother Starlen inherited deadlier venoms. Zyla possesses an uncommon neurotoxic venom which paralyses her opponents, whereas Starlen has a more traditional hemotoxin.”

Briar has no idea what several of those words mean, but she knows a deflection when she hears one. Clearly Isen doesn’t want to talk about his own abilities.

She respects the move, begrudgingly, and shrugs. ‘You have siblings?’ (Brother. Sister. Both. Siblings.)

He grimaces. “Too many half siblings to count. Literally scores of them. But of my clutch there are three. Zyla, Starlen, and Kylet.”

‘What are they like?’

Isen finishes his food and slouches over his desk. “Zyla is the golden child. She has a whole island under her stewardship. Starlen... has a posting in the Isle military. Kylet is a bit of an entrepreneur. A bad one. Regardless, father still funds their businesses. Encourages them when they fail.” Isen frowns. “That one could get away with murder if they tried.”

Briar tries reading between the lines. She’s not sure why but it seems like, ‘you’re not favoured?’

Isen’s nose crinkles. “Not in the least. Father doesn’t like my style of business.”

‘Why?’

Isen shrugs. “I’m not trying to conquer the neighbours. Or build a monopoly. My name won’t be in history books or written on statues and plaques. He’s obsessed with legacy. Always on my case about making a name for myself. Or how I run the place.” He rolls his eyes. “Just thinking about it irritates me. Can we talk about something else?”

Brian offers Isen a rare smile. It’s small, and strained, and her next signs are hesitant, but she offers as much solidarity as she can. ‘I wasn’t favoured either.’

Isen’s next smile matches her own. It’s more of a grimace. “Based on how we met, I’d gathered.” He doesn’t meet her eyes when he next speaks, staring instead at one of the reports on his desk. She gets the feeling that he’s paying close attention, however. “Did you want to talk about it?”

She lets out a noise of displeasure.

Isen looks back to her, surprised at the vocalisation.

‘No thank you.’

He gives a begrudging smile. “If you ever change your mind, I’ll listen.”

She shrugs, and stands, ready to tidy up. She’s collecting dishes and clearing the desk when she notices Isen’s stare. He looks contemplative, biting his lip absent mindedly.

It’s an effort not to fidget under his gaze, and she wonders if he even realises he’s staring. Until he breaks the silence.

“I’ve a trip planned later this week. It’s not far, just touring the villages in the Lowlands. Would you like to come with me?”

Briar blinks. It’s hard to parse an expected reaction when Isen’s face is carefully composed into neutrality. She evades the question, asking instead, ‘Should I come?’

Her boss shrugs. “It would be a good opportunity to see the Lowlands. Learn about the villages. See me at work.”

She imagines he might let her stay behind if she truly wished. But he makes a fair point. Apprehension still fills her. ‘I’ve never travelled before.’

He breaks into a gentle smile. “It’s a longer trip from Highwood to here than it is to the villages.”

She contains a wince. Keeps the sentiment to herself – that she doesn’t remember much of that trip to Riversreach. That she’d been drugged into insensibility and numb with terror.

But he waits patiently for her answer. Perhaps he’d be amenable towards a few questions...

‘How long?’

He relaxes fractionally at her interest. “A day at the shortest. It’s usually an overnight trip.

‘Why?’

“Why is it an overnight trip?”

‘Why do you go?’

His eyes unfocus as he considers. “This trip is to inspect preparations for winter and the thaw. Arol could do it for me, but I try to visit the locals once each season. Remind them I exist.”

‘They would otherwise forget?’ (Else. If you did not.)

Isen smiles, though not at her. “It’s easier to build trust and connections with a person when you know their face, don’t you think? When you can speak with them from time to time. I could delegate the work, but I like to hear the local problems for myself on occasion, too. It certainly makes them more tangible than if I just read about it.”

She’s surprised at his reasoning. The Pilgrims had taught her that authority (except from their own leaders, or course) was always out of touch. That they did not care for the peasants or their problems. She’d wondered why he’d been so busy with meetings lately. The stream of locals visiting twice weekly had perplexed her.

“So, will you join me?”

She’s still apprehensive. But now she can’t help but feel curious. And that curiosity outweighs the fear. Barely.

She gives Isen a measured nod.

He smiles. “I’ll let Arol know. He'll sort our transport and accommodation. Do let Lockwood know that you’ll be absent from your lessons, yes?”

Briar finishes her tidying. Typically, she’d rejoin Isen at the table, reading over his reports, but tonight he waves her off.

“You’ve done enough today, Legs. Unless you want to keep working.”

She conceals a grimace at the nickname. Then shrugs. ‘What else would I do?’

Isen stills, before frowning at Briar. “I don’t know if anyone has told you this, but you are welcome to leave Riversreach on your days off. Or visit your old quarters to socialise during the evenings. There are shops in the villages too. You might see something you’d like to purchase.”

She had not been told. She hadn’t even been aware that she had days off. Perhaps Lockwood had informed her, on that first day here. But she’d been too sick with anxiety, too grief stricken over the loss of her home to take in any of the details. She hadn’t even left the castle in her weeks here, nor spent any of her wages. It’s little wonder she has no source of leisure.

She doesn’t let any of that show on her face, though. Instead, she gives Isen a gracious nod. ‘I’ll bear it in mind.’

He tilts his head, a playful lilt entering his words. “Unless, of course, you’re lingering because you enjoy my company.”

She gives Isen a flat stare, but it’s not enough to dissuade him from continuing.

“I’m actually going to bed now, Legs. So, unless you wanted to join me...”

She can’t help but stiffen; her lips pursing with the effort it takes to bite back her scowl. She decides right then that she’d rather spend the next few hours doing nothing in her room, than deal with Isen’s casual advances.

‘Goodnight, my lord,’ she signs, before promptly leaving.

It’s a shame of course, she reflects upon entering her room. She’s confident by now that Isen won’t fire her for leaving so suddenly. That he won’t hold it against her if she denies his advances, or shirks his humour.

She just wishes he wouldn’t make such attempts. If it weren’t for them, she could almost allow herself to agree with him. To admit that she really does enjoy his company.

If only a little.

#sorry for the long wait #writing this was like pulling nails #i had to take a bit of a palate cleanser with those little fanfics i dropped #but im back on my shit with these two #we've got an only one bed trope coming up soon #vaya writes #serving the serpent #monster romance #nagas

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kaaragen · 9 months

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Rise of the Red Blade thoughts

One of the things I’ve long been asking for is for canon to do something to address the Inquisitors. We partially got that with Kenobi, but Reva is more of a special case. But with Inquisitor: Rise of the Red Blade we do finally have something that does, so it behooves me to add my thoughts. We do get a lot of interesting bits from this book - including, at last!, some canon Seventh Sister backstory!

(Minor spoilers ahead - though if you’ve read the Darth Vader comics you know how this story ends)

First of all, on a story level, it’s entertaining and I think does a good character dive on why Jedi fell and became Inquisitors. Ishkat Akaris is the POV character and she provides an interesting angle on struggles with the Jedi Order. She’s neurodivergent, and while not specified I’m picking up ADHD. She struggles and never quite gets the support she needs. But she is an unreliable narrator, and there is a particular Roshomon incident from when she was young that we return to again and again, getting some different perspectives. Though the narrative (in true Roshomon fashion) never says which was the ‘true’ version so you’re just left with the various ‘certain points of view’. But as a look at someone’s personal journey to the Dark Side, where at of the steps seem plausible and fair from their perspective, it works really well.

But what the book is great for is showing, better than other canon material I’ve come across, what the war does to the Jedi. Communications are poor. Information is sketchy. And young, inexperienced and over promoted Jedi are being sent out as commanders into highly stressful situations. And it really shows how the sheer stress of the war, and how this starts corrupting the more inexperienced Jedi, as the pressure to achieve results in impossible circumstances starts leading them toward ‘quicker and easier’ answers, with even the brighter and more devoted Jedi starting to fray by the wars end.

It maybe doesn’t deep dive as much as I would like; and the timeline is a bit wonky in places (according to this the Jedi had the clone army before they went into the arena on Geonosis which ??), but as far as canon goes I think it’s one of the best explorations on offer.

There’s some other tidbits as well:

Confirmation that if you don’t connect with the Force regularly you will lose sensitivity to it and have to ‘relearn’ as per Kenobi.

We get a bit more in how the Inquisitorious works. Basically a perverse form of the Jedi Order. There are candidate Inquisitors, and when you ‘prove’ yourself worthy you get a Name (eg X Sister). Which was hinted at in Kenobi (the use of ‘Reva’ over Third Sister to emphasise her outsider status)

That said, numbering system still doesn’t make sense to me. I think the implication is supposed to be the number is the order in which a candidate ‘proved’ themselves, but I find it hard to believe that Trilla was the first one to do so. Particularly not as it says Fifth Brother joined willingly and Tenth Brother was already half-way there at the start of the war.

The Agricorps are back baby!

And some canon Seventh Sister backstory! To which:

She’s a little older than Ishkat, whose about 19/20 when the Clone War kicks off. So my rough guess would be that she’s about 25ish when Order 66 happens. So Seventh is definitely a Jedi Knight - which does tie with her line of dialogue to Ezra mocking Kanan for not achieving the rank.

She was Aayla Secura’s Padawan (asterisk on this one - the exact line is ‘trained by’ which is a little vaguer, but Padawan reads to me as the intent.) This would constitute a lore revision that Mirialans are only Padawan’s to Mirialans.

Something absolutely horrific happened to her to make her an Inquisitor. Which you might think ‘of course it did’; but Ishkat meets Second Sister and hangs out with Ninth Sister and specifically mentions sensing something appalling happening to Seventh. So yeah, we’re talking orders of magnitude bad in comparison.

(For those wondering who read A New Dawn Breaks: none of this will affect Sorfelia; I already had something terrible planned 😈)

So overall, I’d say it’s worth a read. And if you’ve read the comics there’s some fun Easter eggs here and there as well!

#star wars #inquisitors #rise of the red blade #minor spoilers #seventh sister #my thoughts

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astagsart · 6 months

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Gutenberg Recap

Okok so the pianist starts the show w an announcement it’s very funny, Andrew and Josh come out and start explaining the show, there’s a lot of funny physical bits involving stage crossing and kicks and an inhaler, and also repeated jokes like thatched roofs and stuff

Andrew and Josh interacted with the audience a lot, there was a lot of looking at specific people for approval which was super cool bc Andrew and I nodded at each other and I gave him a thumbs up and Josh waved at a lady whilst laying down after an inhaler bit too

There were a couple breaks where smth would make Josh laugh and Josh would make Andrew laugh, examples:

Andrew was getting some water upstage and Josh was downstage doing some lines and someone yelled ‘yes!’ to which he wagged a finger and said ‘no”, which people laughed and one man towards the back coughed and Josh stopped his monologue and asked ‘you okay there?’ and people laughed, and he started to laugh and it just became a mess bc Andrew came up laughing, and then Josh coughed and said ‘I think I’m catching what he has!” Cue more laughs, then they got back to the scene

There was also a strong choice by Josh where he said a line very strangely and it broke Andrew, “that was an interesting choice” and they did some improv a bit, very funny

Andrew is very flexible and explicit in the show, especially as Gutenberg. Lots of body rolls at a wine press, high kicks, and 3/4 of a split very very close to me which was honestly impressive

Josh was killing it with random kicks, hand movements, and gyrations

Bud and Doug both work at a nursing home, and have some interesting backstory tidbits through the show, and there were a couple moments that made me think: yeah, tony nominations

Both had some really stunning vocal performances including andrews beautiful tenor belt, Josh’s falsetto, and lots of accents. British, small children, and German, where andrew sounded like Hedwig

At the end, there’s a little call and response singing bit where they sing we eat dreams and have the audience sing we eat them to and they had the gentlemen and then the ladies do it

Not so humble brag, I was front and center so I had a lot of nods from Andrew and played along best I could so when he said now the ladies, he held a hand out to gesture to me

It was very neat and honestly possibly the best show out there right now, not to mention it’s incredibly funny. I could not stop laughing and was in tears at some points

#gutenberg #gutenberg the musical #andrew rannells #josh gad #ava’s word vomits

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oneatlatime · 9 months

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Season 1 Zuko & Iroh Thoughts

Zuko

zuko is a villain when he's trying, an asshole when he's not. He's not even very effective! He's bad at being a bad guy, and when he isn't actively being a bad guy, he's just an unpleasant person. -Do I have enormous sympathy for him? Yes, especially after The Storm's backstory revelation. -Is he in an enormously awful situation? Yes, although he's not the only character in an enormously awful situation, and others in situations as bad are doing far better. -Do I like who he is as a person? Nope. Not at all. He's an unpleasant scoundrel. He's an ass. He does have some useful and arguably good qualities - he's driven, has (some) planning ability, is bonkers at swords, and occasionally remembers not to be a dick to his uncle or his crew.

I don't deny that a lot of what I dislike about him is caused by the difficult extenuating circumstances that apply to him. But, even if all those difficulties disappeared, I feel like I wouldn't find his base personality appealing either. That being said, I don't know if I've glimpsed the "real" Zuko yet. I don't think there has been an episode yet where he doesn't have a reason to be on high alert. But in episodes when he's not actively pursuing the Gaang, he's yelling at his crew or his uncle.

He does seem to have a (deeply buried) inner core of decency and lines he won't cross, unlike Zhao. After Sokka and Katara helped Aang escape Zuko's ship back in episode 2, he didn't go back and destroy the southern water tribe. Zhao would have. Zhao never would have accepted Aang's deal to protect the tribe in the first place. But rather than making Zuko an appealing character, this inner core of decency just makes him a less effective villain. It's too small to make him someone to root for; it's just big enough to have enough of a restraining effect on his villainy to make him seem pathetic compared to other Fire Nation villains.

At the end of season 1, my question regarding Zuko is this: why does any fan like him? You can't root for him as a villain, because he's not callous or suave enough to be a badass, crazy enough to be entertaining, or competent enough to be a threat. You can't admire him when he's not actively in villain mode, because he's a disrespectful shouty little butt. My very limited knowledge of this show before I watched it did include the tidbit that Zuko had a big fanbase. Why tho?

Iroh

Iroh obviously has something deeper going on. Which I find confusing. He obviously doesn't have the same 'burn the world' zeal as Zhao, and in fact is more interested in defending the world as a whole than advancing Fire Nation interests when the chips are down (see him defending the moon fish). I think he still supports the Fire Nation cause; I think he would be more actively discouraging Zuko's Avatar hunting if he didn't still support/believe it.

It was Zuko's ship they were on, so Iroh doesn't have command over or responsibility for Zuko, which means that he can't just tell Zuko what to do. But he's shown himself to be someone capable of subtlety (at least the amount of subtlety required to get something past Zuko). And he's shown himself to be capable of teenager wrangling. So I'm forced to conclude that the 'something deeper' that is going on with Iroh is the fact that he is either currently on the fence about, or slowly drifting away from, Fire Nation ideals. He can't actually disapprove of what the Fire Nation is doing, otherwise he would have taken advantage of the last three years of totally uninterrupted contact with his nephew to start steering him in an anti-war direction.

So either Iroh has only the slightest anti-war leanings at the moment, or it took literally every second of Zuko's last three years at sea to recover from getting half his face blown off. While I can believe that the injury was slow to heal (especially the psychological side), one of the first lines that Iroh says in episode one is cautioning Zuko against getting his hopes up about having found the Avatar because there had been countless red herrings previously. Which implies that they've been actively Avatar hunting for a while.

So my question is this: if, as I am being led to believe, Iroh does not fully support the Fire Nation war, why has he not, at any point over the last three years at sea, attempted to sway Zuko into thinking the same? I could understand not wanting to rip the rug out from under Zuko if they were a few months into their banishment, but after three whole years, is it not borderline irresponsible of a guardian-ish figure to allow their charge to keep believing in something they suspect may be untrue? Surely in the three years since banishment, Zuko has seen enough destruction caused by the Fire Nation for him to start putting the pieces together himself?

That being said...

I'm meh on Iroh; I actively dislike Zuko. But Zuko + Iroh? That's good stuff. Their dynamic is exponentially more than the sum of its parts. Their interactions are believable and entertaining. Of the first ten episodes, my favourite is The Winter Solstice Part 1: The Spirit World, in part because of their odd couple dynamic. Zuko is only tolerable when he's bouncing off Iroh. Iroh is at his best when he's in Zuko wrangling mode. I forget that I dislike Zuko when he's having a non-shouty interaction with Iroh. And then he goes and talks to shouts at someone else and I remember why I dislike him.

I do think Zuko is an ass on a very fundamental level, but I also wonder if he plays that up when he's around people he's not comfortable with. Take Zuko and Iroh's interactions when Zuko is stowing away on Zhao's ship to the North Pole. Quiet, controlled, genuine, almost as much left unsaid as is spoken aloud. They obviously have a deep understanding of each other. And they have mutual respect, although Zuko would never admit it. Now compare that to Zuko and Katara interacting in the Spirit Oasis when Zuko is trying to kidnap Aang. The jerk tendencies are turned up to 11. Which wasn't actually necessary, and probably detrimental since Zuko's one liner announced his presence and took away the element of surprise.

So maybe Zuko isn't that much of a jerk deep down. But since Zuko is not the main character of this show, we're pretty much guaranteed to only see Zuko in the context of interacting with others in the cast, where he will be a jerk. So whether or not he is as much of a jerk as he appears will be irrelevant, because we'll only see him in contexts where he is at maximum jerkiness, if that makes sense?

Honestly I don't even know if Zuko and Iroh will be in season 2. Zuko is on the box art for my season 3 DVD, so I guess he comes back at some point, but by the end of season 1 he and Iroh are no one and have nothing. The days of them being a threat, even a nuisance, to the Gaang are over. What can the writers even do with these characters now? Where can they possibly go?

#atla #avatar: the last airbender #season 1 #zuko #iroh #avatar the last airbender

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batmanego · 1 year

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COLE CASH READING LIST

cole's backstory is kind of a nightmare to wade through as he has been subject to so many retcons and reboots and general fuckery, but here is a list of issues i consider to be essential in understanding his character and/or key points in his backstory, with some explanation/extrapolation added.

bolded is essentials, italicized is personal favorites. links included.

wildc.a.t.s: covert action teams: this is the og comic. not too cole-centric, but there are some important bits and pieces. wildcats trilogy and grifter (1995) are included for chronological reasons.

issue 1, issue 5, issue 8, wildcats trilogy 1, wildcats trilogy 2, wildcats trilogy 3, issue 20, grifter (1995) issue 1, issue 25, issue 31, issue 32, issue 50

grifter (1996): cole solo series. has some important things related to his past and his psyche. i really like this series. it should be noted that (SPOILERS!) cole's dad being alive is literally never acknowledged in any other cole media ever, so it's fair to say that that is not canon and jacob is still extremely dead.

issue 1, issue 2, issue 3, issue 4, issue 5. i think the rest of the comic is pretty good too but you don't have to read it.

wildcats (1999): i really, genuinely recommend reading this entire series. it is an excellent examination of the horrors of war and what it means to be a good person. it is also a buddy cop comedy about three guys trying desperately to run a company. it is very, very good, and i couldn't bring myself to narrow it down.

issue 1 is here. start with that and then read the whole comic. please also read the annual, because Holy God.

team 7 (1994): this miniseries is very short, and the whole thing is pretty essential to cole's character.

start here.

team 7: dead reckoning: see above.

start here.

point blank: takes place after/during wildcats 1999. again, a short miniseries essential to cole's character.

start here.

wildcats 3.0: god, i hate wildcats 3.0. there's some relevant cole stuff, though. tw for rape in regards to everything that wax (blue suit spooky eyes guy) has going on in issue 8.

issue 1, issue 2, issue 3, issue 4, issue 5, issue 8, issue 9

wildcats (2006): lots could be said about grant morrison and jim lee's failed one-issue venture into wildcats, but i actually think the single issue they put out is really good when it comes to characterizing cole. it is not canon even a little bit, though.

read it here.

wildcats (2008), more commonly known as wildcats: worlds end: it's... okay. it's an apocalypse narrative. we get some fun tidbits about cole and he does one important thing.

issue 1, issue 18

grifter (2011): kind of a weird take on the classic daemonite thing, but the discussion between cole and his brother is important, so i'm putting it here.

issue 3, issue 8

batman: urban legends: i think his stories in this are cute, if a little apocryphal (saying max is his older brother? for shame!). also, it is an anthology series, so you'll have to skim to find his stories.

issue 1, issue 2, issue 3, issue 4, issue 5

#comic recommendations #cole cash #ferris reading list #dc #wildstorm #wildcats #tadaaaaa

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gorgojijijijito · 2 years

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im gonma make bride of discord relevant againt i sweer

anybody else remember bride of discord (and daughter of discord) by that disneyfanaticbunchofnumbers on youtube? yeah i freaking loved it as a kid. still do now honestly, it was honestly one of the cornerstones of my childhood and it's my favorite thing to listen to while i work. i call it my soap opera.

that being said 90% of the morals are AWFUL holy shit. i still appreciate it because it's heartwarming as a passion project and comparably more mature piece of fanwork considering the my little pony fandom at the time; but the toxicity between discord and fluttershy? the homophobic undertones in the sequel?? the treatment of rarity as a character??? THE APPLESPIKE??????

that shit has GOT to GO. so im writing a fix-it-fic for my own self indulgence lmao. i'll be posting my progress and some tidbits here, but i'm not even halfway done with transcripting the episodes and planning out my changes, so it'll be a long while before the final drafts are ready to post. when they are, they'll be posted on archive of our own, but until then, everyone and anyone is more than welcome to offer changes that they would like made, or factors of the story they'd like to be kept. theres no guarantees that they'll be included, but it's still so fun talking about this thing with other people, and it's always good to engage with others in this phase of the process. below is a list of major to minor notes i've already got in mind.

I want to keep the serious tone of the story. By far I think the thing that kept me attached to this series for so long is how the mood differs from so much of the fandom back then. the stakes in the beginning were legitimately high, the conflict took itself seriously, and the production quality was through the roof. this is the audiodrama's hallmark, it's iconic and must be kept in mind when contemplating changes.

Many smaller changes must be made to the Fluttercord plot in order to make it healthier and more natural: the infantilization of fluttershy, discord's overbearingness and harrassment, literally nearly all of episode 9. red flags. i think the biggest issue is that the character arcs are based more on shipping and tropes than the actual characters. there's nothing wrong with this in moderation, but in this case, the relationship is unbearably toxic. the arcs in the rewrite will be a lot more character-focused.

Instead of applejack and spike being the secondary romance, i'm going to make it applejack and rarity. yes i do ship rarijack, but this decision was primarily made in order to get two birds with one stone with applejack and rarity's depictions in the series and its sequel. free my girl rarity and leave my boy spike alone :(

Take pinkie pie more seriously as a character. this isn't just a problem with BOD but also the actual show FIM. she just gets annoying sometimes and her lack of depth really irked me in BOD.

GET RAINBOW DASH AWAYYYY FROM SOREN GET THAT OUT OF HERE

i feel like fluttershy's "tragic" backstory explaining her hesitance as being adored is kinda underwhelming. so is her insecurity, her insecurity not expanding beyond the "doesn't know she's beautiful" trope just rubs me the wrong way, she deserves more depth than that.

discord. discord. the relationship is so one-sided to discord that i think i can only name 2 things he legitimately done for fluttershy's happiness (both of which he lowkey ruined not a day later. most of their "bonding" scenes are just him trying to distract her from her tragic reality and her desires by doing stuff he wants to do, which btw is a manipulation tactic so GET THAT OUT OF HERE)

theres quite a few weird undertones and stereotypes. the pedo and "nice girl" stuff with applespike is the most obvious one, but theres also some lowkey misogynistic quips thrown in there and, although this might not have been an issue at the time, zecora does fit the "wise black woman" trope that's been pointed out many times in recent media, so i do need to adjust how she's portrayed.

another problem that FIM also commits, but rainbow dash just feels so mischaracterized as an element of loyalty at some points. i want to make her loyalty more prominent, to the point of putting her career on the line because she couldn't abandon fluttershy or her friends when they were breaking down. that would be real sweet.

i dont know if im also going to rewrite daughter of discord, i might consider it after im finished with this one, though. also i promise i write way better than i do here when i try lol

#bride of discord #my little pony #mlp fim #mlp #fluttercord #rarijack #bride of discord rewrite #ive been working on this for 3 months already :(

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ryctone · 7 months

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THE PUMPKINVERSE GUIDE.

A guide to many Pumpkin Creams that'd I made so that people don't get confused anymore, even if I'm the only one who cares about having them organized :D

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1-Pumpkin Cream Cookie.

The original Pumpkin Cream from the ‘prime’ universe I developed when I first adopted him from my pal Raven (@the-wereraven), or how I like to call it: The Pumpkin Cream from the world where everything is BASED /injoke.

The Pumpkin Cream who, after failing the final test at the Paladin Academy and being shadowed by his half-brother Madeleine, leaves the Crème Republic in search to find his own propose. He becomes a P.E teacher in the prestigious Parfaedia Institute at the magic city of the same name, and that’s where he meets with a certain necromancer... He also has a great connection to animals, being able to communicate with them; his main companion is a large cake fox chimera called Syrup who is with Pumpkin in almost every universe!

Here’s his TH Page - A bit outdated, but still works to show a bit more about him along with some art I did of him over the years.

🌷LCJTR Side Stories🌷series on Ao3 - Has many tidbits about Pumpkin’s backstory (And stories involving his father, Calamari Pumpkin Cookie) that can also apply to the other Pumpkin’s in the Pumpkinverse.

༻❁༺Licorice Cookie's Journey to Redemption (And Love)༻❁༺ series on Ao3 - A bit more focused on Licorice and LicoPumpkin scenarios/stories which are canon to this prime universe.

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2-Custard Guard!Pumpkin Cream Cookie.

A well-known Pumpkin Cream some had become quite familiar with, the Pumpkin from the ‘Custard Guard’ universe!

One of the main reasons he left the Crème Republic in the prime universe was because there was nothing he was attached to there, especially with the bad memories it brought him after the Academy fiasco… But, what if a certain consul came around to change that after confessing his feelings to Pumpkin? As the personal guard of the Clotted Cream Cookie, he makes sure the consul is never harmed on his watch.

🎃Custard Guard!Pumpkin Cream Cookie AU🎃 series on Ao3 - Has some lore, including an alternate ending for a fic from the prime universe called ‘Circles’, here being call ‘Divergent Circles’ (The catalyst of the timeline split).

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3-Hunter!Pumpkin Cream Cookie.

The Upper City has their divine golden paladins… The Lower City has the sea monster hunters- Here comes Hunter!Pumpkin Cream!

What if Clotted hasn’t confessed to Pumpkin that day, but this one didn’t really want to completely leave the Republic either? That is this universe. After failing in the Paladin Academy, he decides to embrace the sea cookie-half of himself; probably because his father lived long enough to show him the wonders of the ocean, and becomes a hunter of the Lower City to help everyone he can from sea monsters; being trained by head hunter Tilapia Cookie and on some occasions, Rehrücken Cookie (An ex-head huntress and his grandmother).

🍃🌿Hunter!Pumpkin Cream AU🌿🍃 series on Ao3.

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4-Hell’s Oven!Pumpkin Cream.

This one is a tricky Pumpkin Cream to talk about, but I still consider him part of the main Pumpkinverse so I’ll do my best. To start, the AU this Pumpkin is in doesn’t belong to me- It belongs to my pal Raven; here’s the blog for it if you wanna learn more @hells-oven-au.

In short, he's dead and became a demon; he is a menace, he curses and smokes and overall is the most different from the other Pumpkin's in the Pumpkinverse-Holds a great resentment towards Clotted Cream because he thinks he was the cause of his dead... But, is that really the case?

Hell's Oven other stories (AU by Wereraven) series on Ao3.

#Pumpkin Cream Cookie #my ocs #oc #cokie run oc #Custard Guard!Pumpkin Cream #Hunter!Pumpkin Cream #Hell's Oven!Pumpkin Cream

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anne-chloe · 4 months

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Darling Girl

02 | Feast Your Eyes

Summary : You’re sorted into Gryffindor and begin making some friends over the Grand Meal of the evening. More backstory of your parents is uncovered, including tidbits of your older sister.

There was a beat of silence before the Gryffindor table erupted into ferocious cheers. You stumbled from the stool as soon as the hat was lifted from your head, your mind fuzzy with glee and nerves as you mindlessly walked towards the loudest table.

You were welcomed immediately and encouraged to take a seat. You sat in an empty space and listened to the applause and praising shouts from your new housemates.

The rest of the sorting ceremony went by in a blur. You couldn't recall much else happening, only that the other houses cheered when a new student was sorted into their respective house. It was clear that Hogwarts prided themselves on house pride; you admired that, and you were excited to feel the same type of pride in the future when you would eventually welcome new students.

Professor Dumbledore concluded the ceremony with a heart lifting speech before announcing the grand feast that would take place. In a matter of seconds, the middle of the table was suddenly full out various yet delicious foods to choose from.

You helped yourself to some roast chicken, mash potatoes, roasted carrots and parsnips, and some gravy. Your cup filled itself with pumpkin juice, which you greedily chugged down in excitement. Pumpkin juice happened to be a delicious delicacy that you savoured every time your parents brought it to the dinner table, and the taste immediately gave you the comfort that you needed in that very moment.

"Blimey! A Potter and a Darling!" Someone exclaimed over the noise. You perked up at the mention of your name, immediately zoning in on a pair of red-heads sitting slightly down from you. They seemed to be entertaining a handful of Gryffindor students.

The identical twins glanced down to where you were sat, their smiles wide and mischievous. You smiled shyly in response and gave a small wave, now feeling more eyes turn to you.

"Your sister is mad scary," one of the twins teased with a knowing smirk.

"Extremely," confirmed the other twin.

You frowned at this. Bonnie wasn't scary at all. Sure, she could be a little mean and firm sometimes, but she was overall a nice person to be around. Bonnie was always kind and loving towards you, even before she got into a huge argument with your parents and left in the middle of the summer holidays. You refused to believe someone could ever describe her as 'scary'.

"I haven't seen her yet," you confessed, ignoring the scary comment and instead trying to focus on finding her. You glanced over at the Slytherin table once again, searching for the dark haired girl that you were desperate to see. "She wasn't with me when we got on the train, and I haven't seen her for a couple weeks..."

"Rumour has it she was with Gregory Finch."

"He's just as scary."

"If not even more terrifying."

"That's enough, you two," demanded another red-head from behind. You blinked in surprise - how many red-heads occupied Gryffindor?

"Ignore Fred and George, they enjoy winding people up. My name is Percy, Percy Weasley. It's a pleasure to have you in Gryffindor, Miss Darling."

"It's... it's nice to be here."

You continued eating your dinner. The conversation continued without you participating; the subject changed and soon the twins were teasing somebody else, taking it in turns to speak and finish one another's sentences. You briefly wondered if they shared the same brain cells, or maybe they could communicate via telepathy.

Once dinner was finished, pudding replaced the empty dishes. You were in amazement at the variety. Victoria sponge cakes, lemon drizzle, spotted dick, sticky toffee pudding, scones with jam and clotted cream, jelly and icecream... there was so much to choose from and you couldn't help but stare with a watering mouth. You weren't the only one in awe at the choices; many first years found themselves unable to choose just one pudding, and they easily tried a bit of everything.

Eventually the feast came to an end. Professor Dumbledore said a few more words before dismissing the first years into the care of the houses prefects.

You quickly discovered that Percy was the Gryffindor prefect. You, alongside the other first years, followed him back through the castle. You came upon many stone stairs, which moved and rotated to different platforms; you watched with your mouth hung open and wondered what would happen if you were standing in the middle when it suddenly moved. Would you fall? Would the stairs not move at all?

"[Name] Darling."

You looked over at yet another red-head; trailing at his side was the same boy that Draco had been speaking with before the ceremony. You blinked at them both, waiting for them to speak what they wanted to.

"I'm Ron Weasley. Is it true your parents were undercover spies that helped to take down you-know-who?" Ron asked fast, his eyes lit up with curiosity.

"Uh... they weren't spies," you clarified. "They were prisoners that took down one of the elite groups under his command. They defeated and were the reason that his second-in-command was captured and sent to Azkaban."

This seemed to engage Ron even more. You looked over at his friend, who seemed to be listening just as much, though his confusion was pretty evident. You recognised him as Harry Potter; he was almost sorted in to Slytherin, but something changed the hat's mind last minute before placing him into Gryffindor.

"That's wicked," Ron exclaimed.

"Quiet, Ron!" Percy barked from the front of the group.

The group stopped at the top of some stairs, now standing in front of a painting of a Fat Lady. She sat surrounded by grapes and wine, her posture relaxed yet composed as she greeted Percy and the rest of the new years. Percy announced the password as 'Caput Draconis'. The Fat Lady's painting swung open, revealing a hole in the wall.

Percy climbed in first and the group quickly followed.

You were greeted with a magnificent sight of your common room. A gorgeous space with cosy chairs and a fire place, various tables all decorated in the gold and red colours of Gryffindor. There were two different staircases that led upwards to what you assumed would be the dorm rooms.

Percy explained a few more things, such as curfew and schedules for the students. He gave reminders to the returning Gryffindor students, who all seemed to wave and shrug him off, which irked him slightly. You wondered why they reacted like that towards him.

You followed a group of girls towards the staircase that would lead to your dormitory. At the top, you found yourself split off into more rooms; you entered one and came across your trunk waiting atop of the four-poster, single bed. You set yourself to start unpacking straight away, and the other girls seemed to have the same idea.

"This is exciting," spoke a girl to your right. She had bushy hair and two rather large front teeth; she reminded you somewhat of a squirrel, but he features were far from rodent like. You smiled kindly at her.

"I agree. I'm [Name]." You pulled out your pyjamas and started to take off your robe.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I've read lots about your parents, [Name], they're extremely talented in the wizarding community!" Hermione gushed as she also started to loosen her tie and change into her pyjamas.

You nodded. It seemed as though a lot of people were going to speak to you about the achievements your parents had made. You didn't mind—you loved to talk about your mum and dad, but you were hoping nobody would expect you to be just as perfect as they were during their younger years. Even now, as members of the upper-wizarding class community, they continued to make a difference in wizarding laws.

"What class are you looking forward to the most?" Hermione continued, taking note of your lack of response towards your parents. "I think I'm most excited for charms—or perhaps transfiguration! It's all so brilliant."

You hummed. Hermione appeared to be very thrilled about Hogwarts. Almost as if she had never experienced magic before in her entire life. "Are you muggle-born, by any chance?" You questioned with a raised brow; not that it would change anything between you both, but you were definitely curious.

"Yes," she replied.

"I thought so," you chuckled. "I guess I'm excited for potions," you declared thoughtfully, "potions and charms. Both are useful skills to have, I also believe it would be interesting to learn."

"What about herbology? Or the care for magical creatures? I also heard defence against the dark arts is something to look forward to in our third year."

Both yourself and Hermione look over at the girl across from you. Dark skinned and dark hair; she wore a kind smile that immediately makes you feel like you have made a new friend.

"Emily Twine," she introduced herself. "I hope we can be friends."

The rest of the night was spent exactly like that. The three of you chattering about the things you were excited for; you spoke of your dreams, what you wished would happen and what you hoped would happen. The excitement about your classes, what you would achieve from them.

Hermione didn't ask again about your parents, which you were grateful for. She seemed extremely bright for her age, picking up on social cues that most children your age wouldn't. For a muggle-born, it was surprising that she knew so much about the wizard community; she spoke in depth of things that you only knew briefly about. The First and Second wizarding war was only an example of things she knew deeply of.

Emily was extremely chatty. It was clear she enjoyed the sound of her own voice; she spoke a lot about her own family history, as if the Twine family had a more intricate lore compared to the Darlings and Potters. She spoke proudly of how her mother worked for the Ministry of Magic, and how her father worked directly under the Minister of Magic himself, Cornelius Fudge. In a way, her father was similar to a right-hand man.

As the night continued on, you found yourself tucked up in to your bed, curled under the covers and listening loosely to Hermione and Emily chat away. Hermione asked lots of questions about the Ministry of Magic, which Emily was gleeful to answer so long as the attention remained on her.

Turning their voices into white noise, you found yourself drifting into a much needed sleep.

#fan fiction #harry potter x reader #Harry Potter #Draco Malfoy #Draco x reader #Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone #reader insert #female reader #slow burn #enemies to lovers #friends to lovers to friends again #situationship #fluff #angst #Harry Potter lore #fantasy

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sonic-oc-showdown · 1 year

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WELCOME TO THE SONIC OC SHOWDOWN

Do you have an OC made for/inspired by the beloved Sonic the Hedgehog franchise? Would you like to let them duke it out against other Sonic OCs all in one spot? Look no further than THIS the SONIC OC SHOWDOWN!!!

This will work like all the other hundred character vs character polls you’ve seen out there. After a number of nominees are submitted, they’ll be set up in 1v1 brackets again and again until one stands victorious over the others! You’ll be tasked with providing a brief description of your character that can include fun tidbits about their personality, backstory, etc. so the audience can learn a bit more about them before they vote!

RULES!:

One entry per person. This entry must only be one character, so if you have multiple, choose wisely!

The OC must be derived from the Sonic franchise in some way. They can be a Mobian, a human, a god, whatever, as long as there is some sort of connection there.

The OC MUST be yours! Please don’t submit other’s OCs just in case the original creator doesn’t want to be a part of the competition. If it is a shared OC, please include both tumblr users in the form field

Propaganda is allowed, but if I find that there is bullying going on between creators, your character will be disqualified.

Do not make fun of anyone else’s OCs. You will be blocked if I see this. If I find that you’re doing this and you’re a part of the competition, you will also be disqualified.

No entries from proshippers, transphobes, racists, etc.

HAVE FUN!!!! At the end of it all, I’m making this competition to learn about everyone else’s Sonic OCs! So I hope you all can experience the joy of witnessing other’s creations as well :]

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED!!

1v1 polls will begin May 8th!

#sonic the hedgehog #sth #sonic oc poll #sonic poll #poll

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microraptorreactor · 16 days

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Time for random SftBT lore tidbits

Because there's so many little lore notes that didn't get included. Below cut because long!

Kaine and Kai (from chapter 15) are good friends! They worked together during V1 and proto-V2's production.

The external feathers mentioned in V1's segment in chapter 21 are a whole deal. That don't get mentioned because the only V unit who has the temperament to keep them nice and is old enough to even get them is Mirage. They grow in once a Viscera unit looses the brown markings on their internal feathers. V2 would theoretically get some around the time it enters hell, but those would get damaged or pulled off fairly quickly thanks to, you know, hell (Which is also why V1 doesn't have any during the actual game). The other problem with the external feathers is that, like real birds, Viscera units will try pulling them out if board/stressed. V1 was the worst about this since it got board easily. Feather pulling probably would have also been a problem for V2 if it had lived long enough.

Caladrius still has pilot bots! Post-war they are really more of a tourist draw, and there's only four, but BA-31 (the group) is still totally a thing. Mostly they are either used for airshows or to stand around historical societies.

On the theme of BA-31, British Pilots are one of the most common repurposed bots! But only if you're in Britain. The BA series is pretty well-liked and was a common robot to be assigned to. Which is exactly why assistant bots were based off them, lol.

Julyen Ryker and Baeri/Sleet both have British accents. Nayea has a Russian accent. Saavi and Elber are both Finnish, and Kaine and Kai are American. (Kaine has a Chicago accent, specifically. Kai has a generic Southern accent.)

Not every Earthmover agreed to Hell's request. Solar-powered Earthmovers were excluded from it, and some more strong willed blood fueled Earthmovers also refused. New Requiem and Midnight Point are not some of those Earthmovers though. Neo Eclipse was, though.

Nayea has a whole-ass backstory that was never mentioned. Mostly because halfway through writing I realized that giving any more screentime to one of the characters with an incredibly horrific (although offscreen) death was maybe a little cruel. Long story short, she was not born on New Requiem, but was brought there as a freshly-orphaned small child.

Back to Nayea's death, she's super dead lol. All the Earthmover handlers are various flavors of starved if they got trapped inside the earthmover, or mauled if they managed to get out of it. Nayea was mauled a couple days into the revolution after she wiggled out an air vent and tried to get help.

Just realized I should write out Mirage's full deal here instead of referencing the lore from the AO3 comments. Mirage IS a real person in this au, and she is Proto-V2, specifically. After Proto-V2 was killed by V1, a wad of its processors were set aside for further study. That wad of processors contained her Kernel, some (incomplete) memory banks, and a simulation processor. In Kernel mode, Mirage slowly built her own reality based off what she had been told the outside world was like (mostly through TV shows the engineers showed her). That's how S-2 exists in this world, lol.

Koda has albinism. It's not really mentioned because V2 doesn't care about appearances, but she looks mildly demonic with red eyes, pronounced eye bags, and white hair. The irony lmao.

#stories for the blood thirsty #sftbt handle with care

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rad-roche · 4 months

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I love your bg3 character…. I keep seeing her and going Mm.m big Woman….

Any characterization tidbits you’re thinking about? I’ve really enjoyed reading DWW and I’m CRAVING more thoughts from your head

thank you!! i've been cookin up a little backstory for ratanir. i kind of work backwards. usually i'll get to the end of a game, then pick through retroactively for things i think would be cool or interesting, then make that the character. gloria being as blunt and offputting as she is came as a result of having 3 charisma and failing every persuasion check going, including nick's romance! some ratanir lore under the cut, subject to tweaking and change in the future

for ratanir, i think she's the product of a happy, if unusual, marriage. her father is a human accountant, her (now very elderly) mother was a very successful war general in her time. they became trapped together after both of their camps were blind sided by a raiding party and hit it off. really hit it off. they had ratanir, who took her mother's surname and general habit of never wearing shirts. part custom, part advertisement

when she came of age, she bummed around baldur's gate, doing mercenary work. odd-job to odd-job, picking up tattoos as she went. there's not much of safety in being a sword for hire, but being nearly seven feet tall and hundreds of pounds of muscle means it's a reliable income. it was supposed to be a buffer job until she figured out what she wanted, but she's been doing it for 20 years. her mother doesn't like that she's crushing skulls for pretty bad reasons. her father doesn't like that she's crushing skulls at all.

i think there's something really funny in a berserker barbarian actually having a pretty moderate, even-headed personality. she really isn't all that quick to anger. it's like when professional chefs go home after a hard day of cooking delicious meals and throw something easy in the microwave. save it for the day job, y'know? she's more inclined to let a slight go than pursue it. she's good with animals and kids. pretty popular with the ladies, for obvious reasons, but is too flaky to really make a good girlfriend. of course, then she gets Tadpole'd. it turns out what she wants is 'not to have a brain eating tadpole', so that triggers some growth in her

#ratanir onag #bg3 #tav #text post #gloria roche #dead man talking #dead woman walking #thank you! here are my thoughts. no hammer and spoon required #trying to figure out alignment i think. chaotic good?

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rayshippouuchiha · 2 years

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Ray Ray I need to tell someone about these past few weeks bc it’s has been. A Ride. It’s almost been like a fever dream Ray and I need to tell SOMEONE so that I can stop obsessing over everything in my head. I have to let it out, to document this for posterity, sorry for ranting at you.

Let me set the stage for you. It's early September and the 7th anniversary of Undertale's release, as well as the 1st anniversary of Deltarune Chapter 2, are right around the corner and the UT/DR fandoms are salivating because Toby Fox, the creator, announced that there would be an event of some kind, as there has been for the past few years.

On the 5th one we got a magnificent orchestral concert and some lore tidbits. On the 6th we got an incredibly funny and wholesome stream of Deltarune Ch. 1 starring Toby himself, as well as the release of the aforementioned Ch. 2, so hopes were high

Let's tackle the events that followed in chronological order

First thing that happened, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, was that Sans Undertale becomes the Ultimate Tumblr Sexyman and kills the Queen of England (lol). Toby Fox posts a drabble on twitter to commemorate the occasion. Much fanart ensues

2. Shortly after that, Fangamer announces the release of a highly anticipated plushie for a beloved Deltarune character. Said character is a funny psychotic trash gremlin, and is a personification of spam emails from the late 90s, so of course they're highly popular on tumblr (was even one of the contestants of the mentioned sexyman poll), so of course Fangamer somehow managed to capture their energy with the release trailer, which included: someone finding the plush in a literal garbage can, the plush apparently having a magnetized nose so that it can “sniff out” coins, and the plush being soaked in an entire gallon of milk, slurped on, and thrown against the walls??

Despite the weirdness of the trailer, it seems Toby Fox and Fangamer know their people - The fandom goes WILD

3. On September 17th, Toby Fox announces that there will be a charity event themed after the previously mentioned spam character. Initially, we all think it’s just gonna some auctions or giveaways with a quirky design, but it turns out that Toby turned the website hosting the event into a maze chock-full of hidden links, easter eggs, new lore and teasers for the upcoming chapter 3. Also, new secrets and prizes were unlocked as more money was donated. The fandom goes APESHIT. There were people on watch for the entire 24h+ of the duration of the event, fancontent galore, hundreds of analysis posts, and a group of tumblr users made a 75 page Google doc compiling all the secrets and lore as they were revealed.

Btw the prizes included the gremlin’s “dirty socks”, him “after not surviving”, a body pillow, a “wedding ring”, toilet paper themed after him, and an “ass-scented” candle

(no, I was not kidding about the candle)

I wonder who gets to explain to the kids benefiting from the charity that their lives were made better because over a million people liked this garbage man so much they donated over $320,000 for some of his backstory

4. About halfway through the charity event, we unlocked a Q&A with the gremlin, who had “taken over” Fangamer’s twitter account. Some of the tweets seem to imply the gremlin is bisexual and the ex of a character from Deltarune Ch 1?? Predictably, much fanart and fanfics ensue

5. Near the end of the event, the last item to be unlocked by donations (which wasn't in the initial list of items available and appeared out of nowhere btw) was the gremlin’s “fate”, and we were told fans had to donate either towards “Freedom” or “Silence”. There was tons of speculation as to what this meant exactly for hours before finally “Freedom” won with ~$58,000 in favor

I saw several people among the donations towards Freedom saying stuff along the lines of "noooo he can't die he just came out as bisexual!", it was so funny 😂

Fun fact: out of the ~$29,000 for Silence, apparently around $15,000 were donated by Toby Fox and Fangamer with the caption "he can't get away with this!", which is so freaking funny asfdgfngfd his own creator lmao, top 10 anime betrayals

6. After the charity event was finished, there was an announcement that there would be a commemorative stream. We all thought it would be similar to the stream that happened on last year’s anniversary, especially since the people in the thumbnail were the same ones who participated in the previous one.

Instead, we got an unhinged, extremely cursed video where some guy wearing a costume of the spam character announced the winners of each item and narrated several poems praising the spam character, all in an old glitchy TV style.

It included: the guy putting whole blue eggs in his mouth, infomercials for a fake product which was later said to explode, the assistant eating pasta with a vacant expression on his face, and several segments where they seemed to pray?? as if the gremlin was their god or something.

Near the end of the stream, the people in the thumbnail appeared and said that someone had illegally hijacked their stream and that the FBI were on their way to apprehend him. The guy in the costume then ran away saying that he was not actually the gremlin, and had just been hired to play the part BY the gremlin. The stream ends with the poor guy running away, attempting to call the gremlin, and then being grabbed by… something as ominous music played, leaving the phone hanging off the hook.

So… the gremlin apparently paid a guy to impersonate him on camera so that he could get away scot-free while hosting his highly dubious giveaway?? Therefore, we the fandom gave him his Freedom but “killed” a man in the process adfgnasfgdhfng it’s so freaking funny

So concludes the deranged saga of this year's UT/DR anniversary. I still can't believe it all happened in like the span of 10 days.

Y'know, despite how crazy it was, I'm really glad I was there for all of it. It really Avengers Assembled the community too, we were all making theories about the new lore, documenting new findings, making art and writing fics shipping the gremlin with his ex 😂

I really do hope you play one or both of the games someday Ray, because even setting aside the fantastic storytelling, music, and characters, if you're careful and find your little niche of creators then the community is fantastic.

this is so much, so so much and I honestly love it

#Undertale #Delta Rune #RayRambles

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kiwibirdlafayette · 1 year

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(this is so dumb, but your newest art reminded me of this convo. love to hear more about mianite pete if you’ve got more lore bits btw!!)

LMIUDUYDEGFB OMG YES canon now. this is canon it was foreshadowing all along I cannot believe this it is not dumb at all m8 im CACKLING

as for lore tidbits 👀 i gotchu i needed an excuse to infodump hehee

Pete began life as a sentient humanoid slime entity, think like cSlimecicle in DSMP where he just kind of learned from observing the champions around him and he gets pretty damn good at a lot of things

When the peeps go to Ruxomar in S2, Pete sort of emerges from the ground and is found by Mianite, who is impressed with his knowledge of stuff from survival to mechanics/tech, and grants him with a similar power to what FyreUK got from Athar, making him a funky little wizard

so he's sort of a mianitee as well bc from what ive learned from the cPete enjoyers is that he values fairness and rules, or basically the facets of order

His skin is like a combination of human and slime, so hes not like perpetually slimy but he's very bouncy (think like perma jump boost)

I like the idea of all wizards in Mianite drawing their magic from the essence of something out of nature (Firez has magma, KillerTom shadows, Brute maybe the sunlight, Wag is plasma/star matter), so in Pete's case, its the swamp biome, like mushrooms, swampland foliage, etc. Fits bc swamp is overworld, which is Mia's domain

Part of his abilities include the ability to procure slimeballs without his wizard powers, good for redstoners bc boom instant sticky piston

he mostly uses his wizard powers for tech related builds moreso then big structures which is how him and Gaines get along so well

his house is filled with a bunch of little slime cubes, whom are all his helpers (mayhaps the Jerrys jordan saw in mianite S1?)

It feels like it would make the most sense for this Pete and the Pete in VH to exist as separate versions of the character (also because I already like the VHPete backstory and design I made a month or so ago) and that could be even funnier if there was a X33n variant in the S1 Mianite universe as well with another name (as its supposed to be Gaines as the X33n in VH) and he technically befriends two multiversal versions of the same guy because I could see him and Gaines gettin along if they hung out. I could also see him being friends with Rupert, who seemed like he was the weapons/tech expert on Capsize's crew, Pete could find some cool way of reinventing somethin im willin to bet

And kind of on the flip side off my tags in the original post, another interpretation of his character could be to put him exclusively in Aitheaca as Wag and Steve's alt in that universe with the same sort of backstory (where Mianite still gave him his powers, but he'd be closer to William and Merina) and powers, but instead of being a more passive figure who's just here to do his own thing and be a god at stuff, is like a Gaines figure to Mianite helping the cause against Ianite and Flash- idk, nothing's really set it stone of course

But yee that's what I've got so far!

#but omg i cant believe jerry and pete are canonically related this is so cool /lh #the jerrys in mianite S1 were just petes little friends going to say hi to jordan (collect information for espionage)#mianite #mianite AU #petezahhutt #lafakiwi talks #but yeeee i just. im silly #i may be thinking into this correct if im wrong but I dont believe it was ever revealed who Gaines was supposed to correspond to #in the way steve is wags alt #it would be fun to see how that could play out #also sorry im so late with replying i had to write out some other brainrot first before i forgot that haha #idk how much I'll develop him but just for fun hehe #asks #licantropa #also offtopic but toms fucking animal shit comment #this man really. yeah.

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