#the concept of this show has stuck with me

[sepublic]

The Owl House Pilot Leak!!!

            Oh my titan.

            The Owl House’s original pilot episode (basically a bunch of voiced-over storyboards) just got leaked and OMT. Watching it felt like experiencing the original magic of the show all over again… Reminding me what it was like to fall in love the first time!!! The hype and rush, the excitement to type down my thoughts after a new episode, analyzing and gushing over both big and small moments, the details!!! The pilot has reiterated all over to me again why I love these characters, from Luz's powerful earnestness, to Eda's chaotic demeanor! It’s like having the whole show open ahead of me, the possibilities endless when knowing this is just the beginning and we could go anywhere from here!

            What’s interesting is that Luz’s conflict with Camila doesn’t really exist here; In fact Camila isn’t present or mentioned at all! What brings Luz to the isles is Amity, who’s been learning in the human world, under the guise of being a human by disguising her ears! It’s alluded to that Odalia and Alador made her do it, though we don’t know why…

            But WOW that must’ve been so meta, doing S3 with Amity stuck in the human world with Luz, hiding her ears! It must’ve been a fun way to bring back the older concepts in new form! And indeed, we see a couple of stuff we’ve already gotten glimpses of, such as the storyboards of Luz offering her friendship art to Amity! I love that we get to see the actual scenario of how Amity accidentally defended Luz in the first place, since we heard that but didn’t get to see how it turned out.

            It’s interesting that Lumity is basically the inciting incident of the story, though I can see why the final version opted instead to emphasize Luz’s conflict with her mother. Especially with how she chooses to stay in the isles in the final draft, which leads to guilt over lying to her mom, having her ‘coming out’ moment that eventually occurs in Yesterday’s Lie, etc. So more agency when it comes to Luz losing her access to the human world. Plus in the pilot, there isn't the same emphasis on Luz trying to live out her dreams of being a witch, and her obsession with stories that ties back to Manny and forms the basis for a lot of other themes and arcs.

            That said, I also appreciate what this alternate take offers, and how Lumity helps tie everything together, it really is the queerness that is such a foundational part of the ‘weirdness’ theme that the show is about, and it’s intertwined with the pilot! God Luz being heartbroken when Amity dismisses the drawing… And then crying when Eda compliments it without realizing who it’s about! Or maybe she did, she could’ve recognized Luz there and figured out a way to stealthily make Luz feel better…!

            I love Luz routinely lock-picking her locker because she presumably forgot the combination! And it’s interesting that we have a setup of there being multiple dimensions that the Boiling Isles has access to, and not just the human world and Demon Realm. That plays a role in the climax, more on that later. Given we have what is basically an airport for different dimensions, I wonder if we would’ve seen Luz find her way back home much earlier on, under much less intense circumstances, in a S1A episode?

            The ‘Emperor’ is also alluded to in the pilot, which we didn’t get actual mention of until the fifth episode in the final show. He apparently dislikes humans and wants Luz brought over to him, is this still operating off of the ‘Pupa’ version of the character who claimed to speak on behalf of the true ruler, trapped in their metamorphosis by him? So maybe he wasn’t always human, or maybe this is Belos’ hypocritical way of ‘protecting’ humans by keeping them away and in blissful ignorance of the demon realm.

            We also establish Hexside much earlier! IIRC Hexside was always part of the show, but executives pushed for it to have more emphasis, which the crew continued to follow through on in S2 onwards because that had already been set up. Lilith is the principal, and I recognize the storyboards of her, including her bat transformation! We get a Tinella Nosa cameo, we see Amity, and there’s also a brief cameo of Willow too! Nice way to set her up before her proper debut.

            The ‘barrier’ containing King’s crown turns out to just be a regular human locker, which makes me wonder if the writers updated the final draft to make it a force field that only allows humans through, because of the whole Belos twist. Which makes me wonder if in this draft, Belos is Pupa, who never was human, or maybe they realized the opportunity to insert foreshadowing into a big twist regarding the main villain. Makes me wonder if the house we see Amity enter in the pilot, which is on sale, would've had any significance like in the final show. Love how Tinella Nosa is a student at Hexside, and also Dana having to occasionally insert lines for Wendie Malick and others was great.

            Lilith is a lot more openly adversarial, which is different compared to how her actual debut provides a softer side to her; I imagine this would’ve been apparent in a later episode of the ‘Pilot AU’, and her transformation has me curious; Was she originally the one with the curse, but then the writers changed it to Eda? Or did they both have a curse? Eda also has an owl form she can summon and control at Will, maybe all Clawthornes have a beast mode that’s less of a curse and more of a talent. Lilith ends up trapped in another dimension, which makes me wonder if she’d have a temporary replacement –possibly Pilot Bump- or if she’d return offscreen. We see the portal key get destroyed under much more casual circumstances, though it’s less as big of a deal for this and the established ‘dimension port’ we saw before.

            (Also, Amity recognizing Luz in the hallway… Everything to me!!!)

            Warden Wrath doesn’t exist and neither does the Conformatorium, it’s Lilith and Hexside. With her as principal and Amity as student, I wonder if we would’ve gotten more of their relationship in the pilot AU, if Covention was a way of carrying over that former connection since Amity would be a teacher’s pet in either version of the story. And speaking of ties to Covention, it’s interesting is that Eda’s chest gem seems to be linked to the Emperor’s Coven, as ‘Pilot Kikimora’ uses it to control her. Curiously, we have a scene at the end mirroring what we got with Lilith in the final draft of the show!

            I feel it implies that Eda DID join the Emperor’s Coven with Lilith, if only for a brief moment, but then defected; But the chest gem is basically the pilot version of the Emperor’s sigil, except with the explicit function of being a shock collar. I find it interesting that Eda still has the mirror to contact the EC with, instead of just getting rid of the thing. Is she a rogue agent who hasn’t totally cut ties, because she can’t? Won’t?

And the fact that Pilot Kikimora can just shock Eda at will makes me wonder if the Emperor is low-key just letting Eda roam around, which makes me wonder if he’s aware of the familial connection, is using Eda to find Luz, already knows about her doing that because of the time loop, etc. We’d of course have gotten an episode where Luz finds out about Eda’s connection and helps her deal with the gem… I realize now that Luz learning Eda also wanted to join the EC with Lilith is a carryover of this idea.

I can see the ups and downs between both versions; The final draft sets up Luz’s conflict with Camila and the reality camp, which is foundational to her character arc throughout the whole show. Her pain over being ‘sent away’ is just so vital that I appreciate its inclusion in the first episode. But I also like the inclusion of Lumity and the earnest desire to be friends with someone who showed her, unwittingly, any kindness at all! We get explicit bullying from Luz’s peers in the pilot, but in the final draft we also get her thoughtlessness that plays a big part in her S1 arc. And Luz’s arrival in the isles is more intertwined with Eda and King in the final version, which also feels right; The show is about these three in particular!

All in all, this was wonderful to watch! The magic was experienced all over again, not just in watching an episode, but also commentating on one that was just ‘released’ as well? I thought the last time I’d do anything like this was with the series finale Watching and Dreaming… But as Luz said, it really comes full circle with watching the first episode all over again! So maybe we have other stuff to still look forward to after all… At the very least, we have an eternal anticipation with an unexplored universe ahead of us, that will never reach completion; So it's like our ever-lasting final gift from TOH, and a good last one. So until next time: BBBBBYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

#the owl house #luz noceda #amity blight #lumity #eda clawthorne #edalyn clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #analysis

[lollytea]

I was looking at reddit comments about Carol & The End Of the World and I got so frustrated with people completely misinterpretating what the show was about and hating on Carol because they found her unrelatable. Or "her monotone voice is annoying". The show itself wasn't perfect and I was a little unsatisfied with the ending but I loved it so much for the premise and the choice to focus on a character like Carol. It's a really unique angle.

The world will end in six months and everyone on earth has gone carpe diem mode and are living out their wildest dreams. They're partying, they're rioting, they're traveling the world, they're eloping, they're having orgies, they're picking up new daring hobbies, they're doing all these crazy hedonistic things that life has never given them the opportunity to do until now.

And Carol, poor Carol. Carol's parents are worried about her because she has not felt inclined to do anything like that. It's just not how she wants to live. Carol is quiet, she's awkward, she gets overwhelmed at parties. So intense doomsday chaos is not her scene at all. She finds peace in normalcy and routine. Simple things like a boring desk job and grocery shopping and doing laundry and eating at her favourite restaurant are what make Carol happy.

But when society has collapsed, all sense of structure has gone with it. So she has to hunt to find meaning in a way that suits her own personality.

And is she not entitled to finding joy during the end times on her own terms?

Carol has also felt unfulfilled in her life. But not because she's disliked the rigid routine she has built for herself, but because her socially awkward demeanour has prevented her from really connecting with other people. She's lonely. She's 42 years old and she doesn't really have anyone that she feels she can open up to.

The show is about Carol's tiny victories and her own spin on seizing the day on a much smaller scale than the rest of the world. She doesn't need to travel. She doesn't need to find the love of her life. She doesn't need to jump out of a plane. Maybe all she needs in order to feel whole is a few close friends that she can bake banana bread for. All she wants is the calmness of routine and the warmth and reliability of friends. She doesn't want to feel alone anymore. Carol's desires are simple and mundane, and she might be judged for not choosing to live a little louder when the clock is ticking down. But it's what will make her happy. Is that not beautiful? I think it's very beautiful.

#GAH #im not saying anything of value here im just thinking out loud #the concept of this show has stuck with me #i really wanted it to expand more on stuff. but the message itself. the character of Carol. it hits me very hard #she doesnt want much...but once the world ends she'll feel content...GAHH

[starryluminary]

Do I have enough concrete evidence to claim Lindsay has prosopagnosia. All I’ve got right now is it’s the only reason that makes sense to me why Lindsay can’t remember Tyler’s Tyler in world tour. What if she literally can’t remember his face

#prosopagnosia is a disorder that makes it near impossible for someone to remember faces #I don’t remember island or action well enough to say she has it for sure #(obviously the real reason she doesn’t remember Tyler is because she’s a ditzy blonde joke and the show writers thought it would be funny) #but listen to me for a second!! #what if she knows heathers Heather cause her bossy voice is stuck in her head #what if she knows Beth’s Beth because she never takes off her side pony #what if she only remembers Tyler’s Tyler because she recognized the little T patch on his tracksuit #and I KNOW in island she likes him cause he’s cute or whatever but I don’t think that’s enough to disuade me from the concept #what if she found his hair cute?? his headband?? the way he walks and runs?? the hit on her when Duncan killed the roach in the first- #-episode?? #and if she did find his face cute I don’t think that’s enough to just cure your prosopagnosia for a person #she thinks he’s cute looks away looks back and remembers all over again #I’m no expert on prosopagnosia I’ve just read a couple articles so I don’t know if that’s accurate but. do you get me do you see what I see #food for thought #total drama #total drama lindsay #td lindsay #Starry speaks

[figureofdismay]

It's been interesting getting back into both Sam/Jack and MSR at the same time, I get to compare and contrast really similar themes (secret duty, dangerous truths, aliens, government oversight, honor, loss of family, pining, devotion etc) from really different framing. The X files is a much darker show overall and Chris Carter's misogyny problem and hand of fate baby arcs are frustrating and painful, and yet the MSR fic has so much more room to be much sweeter and more openly domestic and a lot of times the stakes are lower because as much as it affects their own lives, the Syndicate and the threat of Colonization is much bigger than what they personally alone can bring about or prevent. They have guilt and repression and fear of losing each other or the work to contend with, but we're also shown that as long as they have each other they're generally okay even without the work -- I mean aimlessness and depression (and out of character writing choices) yes, but the Syndicate operations aren't that closely affected by if Mulder and Scully are in the basement office or not, so you can conjure up a wide variety of believable paths for them to be together with or without 'the files.'

Meanwhile Sam and Jack could literally be prosecuted for disobeying orders/getting involved within the same chain of command, they could get their team or the whole program taken apart thanks to that excuse in the hands of Simmons or similar, they're directly on the front lines for 8 years and they're repeatedly shown via the quantum mirror that Sam and Jack both being active members of SG1 is the only reason Earth wasn't decimated in a hostile Goa'uld invasion so they can't just resign and be together. For a second you think there's a window but then there's a new war and they make Jack everyone's boss and send Sam to a different galaxy and then put her up on a ship, and you go; Oh. So that's an endless set of circumstances, then. There's so much 'be miserably, honorably apart, serving and pining forever or the destruction of Earth will directly be your fault' baggage baked into Sam and Jack's narrative setup that you're boxed into either character-bending wish fulfillment (which is satisfying to read but hard to commit to writing ime) or the soul excoriating 'hanging on waiting for what can never be' flavor of overly believable quiet tragedy.

I'm finding I'm spending more time with the show where the skinny grey aliens with big eyes are a lot more evil and the themes are more bleak but the characters are less entirely trapped by their own best intentions 💀😭😭

#msr #sam x jack #the x files #stargate sg1 #it is very interesting though the way the 2 shows use so many of the themes and concepts but point them in totally different directions #i mean they were both Vancouver scifi in the 90s so they had to be somewhat aware of each other but I don't think it was that intentional #the whole txf.... thing seems to have been very insular #but they were still treading a lot of the same ground with the aliens and conspiracies and the pining and whatnot #it's just funny to me that bleak grim misty never resolved and mumbling txf has room for so much sweet silly domestic hopeful fic #and the bantery straightforward scifi show with a lot of comedy and yay teamwork themes has.... #some of that but also so much 'it's literally impossible how can we cope' themed work as a natural consequence of canon #that I ended up taking breaks from reading s/j because I got tired of crying my way through it so often #i mean it's cathartic but. that sensation of 'there's gotta be a solution so they're not stuck like this right?' gets stressful 🫠 #and no i didn't come up with any bright ideas either

[pearlsdiamondsandvodka]

me thinking it’s good that claudia is not played by a child since child actors is a very tricky area vs me thinking about how the storyline won’t be as impactful when claudia is portrayed by an actress who is 18; fight

#the thing is the show has surprised me in all good ways so far so I should expect the same thing from the Claudia part #it’s just….it’s such a nice concept Because of the fact that it’s a child vampire so being played by and adult… #idk it takes away a lot of what I did like with the Claudia story originally #I understand aging her up and I can get behind it but the actress does not look like she’s 14 at all #and they’re probably going for something different in the show #but I just don’t think it can top Kirsten dunst performance during the ‘ #‘can’t I change ‘ ‘which one of you did it’ scene bc that is mwah and it’s chilling and horrifying thinking about being an adult stuck #as a kid #and I will miss that tbh #again I think the actress I going to be great since it’s been such high quality so far! #but still a part of me is ver ;( #interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire 1994 #interview with the vampire 2022 #claudia #lestat de lioncourt #louis de pointe du lac

[adridoesstuff]

Elisabeth das musical Czech production appreciation pt. 14

Die Shatten werden länger with Pavel Režný as Smrt/Death and Pavel Klimenda as Rudolf

#elisabeth das musical #elisabeth plzeň #the whip does make me nervous to see what the choreo will be like based on what I witnessed from the concert version #but I did read in interviews that this Death doesn't just kill with kisses he kills on touch #which is an interesting concept to work with but I will have to see the show live to know whether it works #but with that in mind this is probably the only way we can get Death touching Rudolf #interesting to see them have two different Rudolf jackets on photos #I like the lighter non-epaulette version better but they seem to have stuck with the other one #also love how Pavel Klimenda in those top two photos has completely opposing vibes going on as Rudolf and I can't wait to see him live

[kirathegreatfoxandkingofeyeballs]

Have you ever been so inspired to make something, but lack the technical skill to make it, or for some reason or another have no way to externally express this like pent up need to make SOMETHING, and it feels like a gazillion thoughts running through your head and you get so restlessly frustrated because you NEED to make something, but for some reason or another, be it personal or technical, you just can’t? And then you end up giving yourself an anxiety attack and heart palpitations and it feels like you’re going to explode?

#i’m trying so hard to get back into drawing guys #but either i’m so uninspired that it feels impossible to even consider making something #or i’m inspired but i don’t trust myself to even be able to create what my brain wants to create in a remotely satisfactory way #i feel like i’m going crazy #and everyone has advice and it helps in concept #but in practice i just feel so fucking stuck #i just want to draw #and fucking enjoy it #for fucks sake #one of the few times i legit feel so frustrated with myself i’m lowkey feeling like #not great ig #to put it in a nice way #i wish drawing didn’t result in me wanting to destroy all my sketchbooks because i hate everything i make #and i’m too ashamed to even show it to anyone #fuck #i don’t normally vent on here #but i feel really alone today because all my friends are busy doing stuff #or they’re not the type of people i feel comfortable venting to #i just feel like i’m suffocating and i can’t make it stop #and i’m so afraid of losing my love of drawing because i’m so fucking stupid about this shit #ugh #kira vents

[pensbridgertons]

SWANFIRE OUTLANDER AU YOU SAY????

first of all LOVE that we all understand The Vision and Genious of this au. second of all you guys really are gonna make me do something w this huh 😂

#teresa answers #asks #ankahikoibaat #like i cannot stress enough how underdeveloped this au idea is to me it is a vague concept lol #beyond emma being from tlwm and neal from ef and emma ending up traveling to neals ef time and getting stuck and they run into each #other there #i dont exactly know how yet tho #and obv this is a no curse au but im thinking neal ran away from rumple and while he’s on the run is when he runs into emma #and emma for some reason goes to storybrooke and there’s some kind of portal there that emma accidentally travels thru #and then jumping ahead i don’t WANT to include the separation but it’s both a big thing in the ol story and the sf story #so I don’t know why yet but emma has to go back BUT they don’t know emma is pregnant #and i think emma raises Henry in this #and the story book shows up in Henry’s life again when he’s like 10/11 and he figures out abt his dad (bc emma obv hasn’t told him the #truth abt it. a fairytale universe??? so hard to explain) #and Henry brings it up to emma and they talk abt it and Henry finds out it’s possible to go back and then they do #and that’s what i have rn 😂 #but I have a long car ride tomorrow so you know i’ll be spending it thinking abt this 😂 #and i am Not a writer so all i will have to offer is a moodboard/picspam of sorts and some rambling plot description lmao #and again i would love to hear anyone else’s thoughts on this idea as well!!!

[serialgirlposter]

I love how it's so difficult for me to make a top 10 characters i love list but if someone where to ask me my most hated characters well then i'd be able to make LIST

#lenore from castlevania misaki unasaka #and the entire cast of patalliro except for maraich who slays tbh #sooo sad his ass has to be stuck in that literall 1/10 problematic ass show he's such a good character concept #just a little hater at heart ig #someone ask me to work this out more and i'll do it #still not over maraich btw. #honestly the only characters i hate are usually the characters justified by the narrative or fanbase lol

[angelcasendgame]

Omg Dean in 1x03 checks his blind spot before pulling into the street how times have changed

#the show really does change in these lil ways #like later seasons is such Main Character vibes because they do these small things #like i wish s15 luck thing came down to stuff lile this #instrad of their abilities #like getting stuck in traffic. running into more police bc theyre on thr fbi list #things that are considered 'unimportant' to their lives as hunters #bc tjr concept of the brothers never having talent or the skills after their entire life as hunters #is a terrible thing to consider?? #and makes no sense considering the whole plot of thr show #like it really should have been about lil things like getting sick more often and yeah credit cards not working #things that are out of their control #but like baby shutting down also doesnt make sense bc Dean has always taken care of her #im just tired and rambling now ignore me #renu rambles

[flaysmen]

@brokenalibi​  said:  ❝  I  need  more  bastard  content  thanks  Jen.  ❞

     I  didn't  think  anyone  would  be  interested  in  anything  else  bastard  related  but  once  again  Zatan  proves  me  wrong.  In  the  original  post  with  their  sketched  out  concepts  I  mentioned  that  I  was  looking  into  Roose's  book  based  lore.  I  will  be  reading  the  books  as  soon  as  I  finish  the  show,  and  honestly  with  the  information  I  pulled  from  the  book  series  wikis  I  most  definitely  plan  on  basing  Roose  on  the  book  series  rather  than  the  TV  series.  While  glazing  through  the  wiki  I  found  out  what  the  First  Night  tradition  was.  Considering  that  Ramsay  came  to  be  from  this  I  thought  it'd  be  interesting  if  Ramsay  had  more  bastards  because  of  this.

     So  here  are  his  bastard  twins,  Segovia  and  Lucius  Snow.  Their  mother's  name  is  Astrid,  her  husband  is  Nikolai  Ashborn.  Thankfully  for  Astrid's  sake  Nikolai  doesn't  enjoy  having  a  woman  in  his  bed,  their  marriage  a  ploy  to  those  around  them.  A  year  after  the  birth  of  the  twins,  Nikolai  and  Astrid  did  have  their  own  child  since  it  was  obvious  that  the  twins  weren't  his.  On  the  first  night,  Astrid  actually  enjoyed  her  time  with  Roose  and  insisted  that  the  night  go  on  longer.  She  never  told  the  twins  who  their  father  was,  but  Segovia  was  able  to  figure  it  out.  While  she  wasn't  quite  book  smart  like  her  brother  Lucius,  Segovia  learned  how  to  read  and  work  people.  Just  based  off  how  her  mother  would  speak  about  the  Lord  of  Leeches  and  how  she  looked  at  him  when  he'd  pass  through  their  village  for  annual  checks.  After  she  knew  the  truth,  the  next  time  Roose  Bolton  passed  through  the  small  village,  she  threw  a  straw  doll  with  nails  jammed  into  its  head,  hands,  and  feet,  trying  her  best  to  replicate  his  house  sigil.  The  two  made  eye  contact,  and  without  any  words  falling  from  her  lips  Segovia  told  him  ❛  I  know  our  secret.  ❜  She  of  course  told  Lucius  what  she  knew  and  about  two  other  bastards  who  were  clearly  their  half  siblings.

     The  third  bastard  is  Clauneck  Snow,  his  mother  being  Eissa.  When  she  was  wed  to  Ivan  Erikson,  Roose  claimed  the  first  night.  Ivan  had  no  objections  but  was  disgusted  with  his  wife  afterwards,  he  never  laid  with  her.  When  he  found  out  she  was  pregnant  he  abandoned  her,  his  body  was  found  in  the  woods  weeks  later,  his  death  caused  by  being  attacked  by  a  wild  animal.  After  Clauneck  was  born,  Eissa  started  working  in  a  brothel.  She  never  tried  to  make  contact  with  Roose  when  her  son  was  born,  Roose  found  out  about  Clauneck  after  one  of  his  banner-men  had  seen  Clauneck  playing  with  other  children  in  the  area.  Segovia  later  sought  out  Clauneck,  curious  to  who  her  half  brother  was.  Clauneck  thought  Segovia's  interest  in  him  was  because  she  was  attracted  to  him,  he  found  out  the  hard  way  that  it  wasn't  when  he  tried  to  kiss  her  which  resulted  in  her  kneeing  him  in  the  crotch.  She  yelled  at  him  stating  that  they  were  siblings,  Clauneck  followed  it  with   ❝   Just  because  our  last  names  are  Snow  doesn't  mean  we're  related.  ❞   She  kneed  him  in  the  groin  again  then  informed  him  of  who  their  father  was  then  called  him  a  ❝  half  wit  whore.   ❞

     Clauneck's  strengths  are  his  swordsmanship,  his  physical  strength,  and  quickness.  Lucius  is  incredibly  book smart  and  well  versed  in  the  art  of  healing.  Segovia's  strong suit  is  being  able  to  read  people,  figure  out  what  drives  them,  their  intentions,  and  so  on.  The  three  grew  close,  almost  inseparable.  Roose  took  notice  of  this  and  started  watching  them  closely.  Out  of  all  his  bastards,  Clauneck  was  the  first  to  be  legitimized.  After  he  earned  his  father's  family  name,  he  met  Ramsay  who  told  him  the  fate  of  Domeric.  Clauneck  took  this  tale  as  a  threat,  out  of  fear,  Clauneck  ran  off  to  The  Wall  to  join  The  Night's  Watch.  

     Seeing  that  Roose  lost  another  son,  instead  of  just  giving  Lucius  his  last  name,  he  asked  if  he  wanted  it.  Lucius  said  he  wouldn’t  mind  having  it,  seeing  on  how  he  had  planned  on  going  to  Oldtown  to  study  in  the  Citadel  it  wouldn’t  matter,  but  he  would  return  after  finishing  his  chain  to  be  the  Dreadfort’s  maester  if  that’s  something  Roose wanted.  Lucius  did  take  on  the  Bolton  name.  Segovia  is  legitimized  after  Ramsay,  it’s  not  because  Roose  was  particularly  fond  of  her,  or found  her  useful  in  anyway,  his  thoughts  on  it  being  that  he  might  be  able  to  arrange  a  marriage  with  another  house  to  strengthen  an  ally  ship.  Segovia  wasn’t  pleased  with  this  when  she  found  out.

Here  is  a  piece  I  did  of  Segovia  and  Lucius.

     Below  the  cut  is  something  short  I  wrote  up  on  the  twins  and  their  mother.

     Roose  Bolton’s  bastard  twins  may  have  his  blood  flowing  through  their  veins,  yet  they  lack  the  coldness  of  his  heart.  Instead,  what  beats  in  their  thoracic  cage  is  their  mother’s  love.  The  warmth  that  it  brings  in  their  chest  is  one  that  can  combat  the  Northern  winds.  Their  compassion  could  never  be  hidden  by  ghost  grey  eyes  ;  their  only  feature  that  proved  they  were  Roose’s.  Every  other  trait  they  hosted  was  gifted  by  their  mother,  a  lowborn  with  a  queen’s  beauty,  if  only  she  was  born  to  a noble  family...  maybe  her  children  would  be  fully  acknowledged  by  their  father.

#𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓. ( headcanons ) #thanks zatan ily #i did not intend for these bastards to be in his lore but now they are since im attached #art tag pending #i tried following both book & show canon when i wrote this up #one thing that pushed me to make clauneck dip was the line ramsay said to walda in the show #i like being an only child which was after he killed roose #and it stuck with me #since i did the concepts i knew lucius was gonna become a maester #which works out for ramsay i guess since maesters toss out any claims to shit like the nights watch #and with segovia 1 already being a bastard #2 being younger than ramsay #3 being the last to become a bolton #and 4 being a woman #she has no claim over anything #so i dont see him being threatened by her in anyway #especially since roose only made her a bolton to marry her off to another noble family dude #yeah these are my bastards and i love them they will be heavily written into rooses lore #and if anyone likes them enough ill either make this a multi or throw them on a sideblog #if i do add them or do the sideblog ill throw ramsay on it too #also might be writing drabbles that ft these bastards #𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐄. ( answered )

[jitteryjive]

also because i finished schmigadoon! the other day. it left me thinking like… now that josh and melissa know schmigadoon stops existing and changes and basically erases the previous schmigadoon to be a different musical with different people. do you think they just left without thinking about the mortality of that. they showed no delay in schmicago being there and completely replacing the previous characters. i didn’t think a dumbass musical show would wrack me

#it’s so unusual to me.. like what would happen if a schmigadoonian left and went to the real world #cause emma and her son almost did in the original schmigadoon but we never got to see what would happen if a schmigadoonian left #also they made a joke at the beginning of the series about people dying on the hikes which i assumed was people getting trapped in m’dude #schmigadoon.. which.. what does that mean???? what if there were people who got stuck there??? #would they also be completely clueless it’s a musical and unaware they’re probably the hundredth version of a person who stops existing #when there isn’t a real person present #fuck. this show is so weird i wish it wasn’t cancelled they should’ve touched on how bizarre the concept was #also what if a person dies???? #because whoever elsie was died in schmicago???? is that permadeath??? what the fuck #anyways. has anyone else ever seen this show #schmigadoon

[merrymorningofmay]

thought i’d share another thing i made here :’)

i started working on this thing back in january, as russian troops were gathering around our borders, and i got around to finishing it a couple months later, after they retreated from kyiv and my lucky family and i were able to get back home.

for half of the process i was asking myself, “is making this even worth it if it’s going to be bombed to ashes in a couple of weeks?” (the answer was yes); for the other half, i was asking myself how and why do you even make a house now that there are dead and gutted houses all around (the answer was “well, what else is there to do anyway”).

was aiming for the “small ukrainian granny’s apartment” vibe with soviet era “ugly 70s brown” color furniture and a bit of a witchy/magical realism touch :’) details + a bit of ukrainian folk trivia below!

featuring:

a little pot with a star in it, because stealing stars from the sky and storing them in pots for their evil little purposes is a classic ukrainian witch thing;

eastern orthodox icons, because every respectable ukrainian granny has those in her house + massive church-sanctioned witch hunts were never really a thing in ukraine and a witch is likely to have as amiable a relationship with god and saints and angels as with chorts (demons);

portrait of taras shevchenko, adorned with a rushnyk, because, again, can not be a proper granny apartment without those;

a blooming fern, because fern bloom is a Thing in ukrainian folklore (leads you to a hidden treasure, protects you from evil magic, brings you good luck, all that stuff);

a calendar booklet. it has recipes, farming + (dubious) medical advice, lame granny jokes, and shows February 25, because we’re still stuck in February 24 and hoping for the next day to arrive;

a mysterious tiny door. that rune means “heritage,” and i thought that a witch’s inheritance would warrant a little spooky door to keep it safe (also, our heritage is precisely what russia is trying to take away from us right now, so the concept has a special meaning to me);

fashionable pink slippers!

bonus: a CREATURE

#mari makes #miniature #diorama #ukraine #witch #ukrainian folk #ukrainian art #taras shevchenko #rushnyk #lots of tags bc i want attention

[stra-tek]

This is one of the greatest things ever. Walk around every single version of the U.S.S. Enterprise in photorealistic 3D in your browser, from the Roddenberry Archive. On a phone you just see wraparound 3D pics. On a PC or laptop you get the full 3D interactive experience. They NEED to make this VR compatible, it'll be beyond words.

There are more Enterprises here than Tumblr will allow me photos of, and more will likely be added.

Here's the TOS Enterprise, which appears in several incarnations ("The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and TOS proper as well as TAS with the second turbolift!), has the correct original graphics and is perfect.

This is the bridge from the unmade Star Trek: Phase II series (whose pilot episode "In Thy Image" was rewritten to become Star Trek: The Motion Picture), with it's legendary big comfy command sofa seat and tactical display bubble!

The Motion Picture, such an accurate recreation that there's even a very faint flicker on the rear-projection animated screens as seen in the movie.

Enterprise NX-01, looking exactly as it did in "Broken Bow"

Recognise this? It's the briefing room of Discovery season 2's version of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701. Although at the front of the saucer on the "real" ship, here it's off the second bridge door which may well be where the set was IRL.

I wasn't expecting modern Trek to be represented equally as the originals in this project, but it is. This is the Enterprise from Strange New Worlds, with Pike's Ready Room located just off the bridge.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. My favourite version of the classic bridge, as a kid I drew all these control panels and stuck them on my bedroom walls. And now I can look around and look at them all close-up! They've even replicated the noticable TVs stuffed into the panels for the more complex animated screens.

The Enterprise-C bridge from "Yesterday's Enterprise". This one has always fascinated me, being a low-budget TV set (formerly the Enterprise-D battle bridge, originally built from the rain-damaged TMP set's back wall and redressed endlessly though TNG) representing TNG's immediate predecessor. In the episode they mostly shoot the back wall and imply the consoles make a huge circle, but here you can see the set's real dimensions and the weirdness of the classic movie helm/nav console in front of the TNG con/ops panels. I love it.

You know how much I love the Kelvin movies, so seeing this was amazing. For some reason the consoles don't have their screens lit (hopefully this'll be fixed soon), but you can see the saucer under the window and it's shiny and amazing.

The last thing I expected was the U.S.S. Titan-A/Enterprise-G bridge, but it's here. And the lights are on.

Other bridges available to explore which I'm out of pictures to show: The Enterprise-D (of course), Enterprise XCV-330 (the ringship, based on concept art for the unmade non-Trek series "Starship"), the Planet of the Titans U.S.S. Enterprise (again, based on concept art for a cool multi-levelled set) and the "launch" U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 (based on the very first piece of TOS bridge set concept art), the Enterprise-E, the Enterprise-F (seen on viewscreen for all of 2 minutes in Picard) and the U.S.S. Voyager NCC-74656!

Take a bow lads, you've done good. Now just add VR support!

That link again.

#star trek #star trek aos #star trek movies #tng #voyager #star trek picard #star trek phase 2 #roddenberry archive #strange new worlds #set design #deep lore #star trek ships #star trek tech #star trek discovery #star trek enterprise #enterprise #uss enterprise #ncc 1701 #starfleet museum

[mcmansionhell]

this house may or may not be real

on grayness in real estate

Allegedly, somewhere in Wake Forest, North Carolina, a 4 bed, 5.5 bathroom house totaling more than 6,600 square feet is for sale at a price of 2.37 million dollars. The house, allegedly, was built in 2021. Allegedly, it looks like this:

A McMansion is, in effect, the same house over and over again - it's merely dressed up in different costumes. In the 90s, the costume was Colonial; in the 2000s, it was vague forms of European (Tuscan, Mediterranean), and in the 2010s it was Tudor, dovetailed by "the farmhouse" -- a kind of Yeti Cooler simulacra of rural America peddled to the populace by Toll Brothers and HGTV.

Now, we're fully in the era of whatever this is. Whitewashed, quasi-modern, vaguely farmhouse-esque, definitely McMansion. We have reached, in a way, peak color and formal neutrality to the point where even the concept of style has no teeth. At a certain moment in its life cycle, styles in vernacular architecture reach their apex, after which they seem excessively oversaturated and ubiquitous. Soon, it's time to move on. After all, no one builds houses that look like this anymore:

(This is almost a shame because at least this house is mildly interesting.)

If we return to the basic form of both houses, they are essentially the same: a central foyer, a disguised oversized garage, and an overly complex assemblage of masses, windows, and rooflines. No one can rightfully claim that we no longer live in the age of the McMansion. The McMansion has instead simply become more charmless and dull.

When HGTV and the Gaineses premiered Fixer Upper in 2013, it seemed almost harmless. Attractive couple flips houses. Classic show form. However, Fixer Upper has since (in)famously ballooned into its own media network, a product line I'm confronted with every time I go to Target, and a general 2010s cultural hallmark not unlike the 1976 American Bicentennial - both events after which every house and its furnishings were somehow created in its image. (The patriotism, aesthetic and cultural conservatism of both are not lost on me.)

But there's one catch: Fixer Upper is over, and after the Gaineses, HGTV hasn't quite figured out where to go stylistically. With all those advertisers, partners, and eyeballs, the pressure to keep one foot stuck in the rural tweeness that sold extremely well was great. At the same time, the network (and the rest of the vernacular design media) couldn't risk wearing out its welcome. The answer came in a mix of rehashed, overly neutral modernism -- with a few pops of color, yet this part often seems omitted from its imitators -- with the prevailing "farmhouse modern" of Magnolia™ stock. The unfortunate result: mega-ultra-greige.

Aside from war-mongering, rarely does the media manufacture consent like it does in terms of interior design. People often ask me: Why is everything so gray? How did we get here? The answer is because it is profitable. Why is it profitable? I'd like to hypothesize several reasons. The first is as I mentioned: today's total neutrality is an organic outgrowth of a previous but slightly different style, "farmhouse modern," that mixed the starkness of the vernacular farmhouse with the soft-pastel Pinterest-era rural signifiers that have for the last ten years become ubiquitous.

Second, neutrals have always been common and popular. It's the default choice if you don't have a vision for what you want to do in a space. In the 2000s, the neutrals du jour were "earth tones" - beige, sage green, brown. Before that, it was white walls with oak trim in the 80s and 90s. In the 70s, neutrals were textural: brick and wood paneling. We have remarkably short memories when it comes to stylistic evolution because in real time it feels incremental. Such is the case with neutrals.

Finally, the all-gray palette is the end logic of HGTV et al's gamified methodology of designing houses with commodification in mind: if you blow out this wall, use this color, this flooring, this cabinetry, the asking price of your house goes up. You never want to personalize too much because it's off-putting to potential buyers. After twenty years of such rhetoric, doesn't it make all the sense in the world that we've ended up with houses that are empty, soulless, and gray?

A common realtor adage is to stage the house so that potential buyers can picture their own lives in it. In other words, create a tabula rasa one can project a fantasy of consumption onto. Implied in that logic is that the buyer will then impose their will on the house. But when the staged-realtor-vision and general-mass-market aesthetic of the time merge into a single dull slurry, we get a form of ultra-neutral that seems unwelcoming if not inescapable.

To impose one's style on the perfect starkness is almost intimidating, as though one is fouling up something untouchable and superior. If neutrality makes a house sell, then personality - at all - can only be seen as a detriment. Where does such an anti-social practice lead us? Back to the house that may or may not exist.

In my travels as McMansion Hell, I've increasingly been confronted with houses full of furniture that isn't real. This is known as virtual staging and it is to house staging as ChatGPT is to press release writing or DALL-E is to illustration. As this technology improves, fake sofa tables are becoming more and more difficult to discern from the real thing. I'm still not entirely sure which of the things in these photos are genuine or rendered. To walk through this house is to question reality.

Staging ultimately pretends (sometimes successfully, sometimes not) that someone is living in this house, that you, too could live in it. Once discovered, virtual staging erases all pretensions: the house is inhabited by no one. It is generally acknowledged (though I'm not sure on the actual statistics) that a house with furniture - that is, with the pretense of living -- sells easier than a house with nothing in it, especially if that house (like this one) has almost no internal walls. Hence the goal is to make the virtual staging undiscoverable.

If you want to talk about the realtor's tabula rasa, this is its final form. Houses without people, without human involvement whatsoever.

But what makes this particular house so uncanny is that all of these things I've mentioned before: real estate listing photography, completely dull interiors and bland colors all make it easy for the virtual furniture to work so well. This is because the softness of overlit white and gray walls enables the fuzzy edges of the renderings to look natural when mixed with an overstylized reality. Even if you notice something's off in the reflections, that's enough to cause one to wonder if anything in the house is real: the floors, the fixtures, the moulding, the windows and doors.

This is where things are heading: artifice on top of artifice on top of artifice. It's cheap, it's easy. But something about it feels like a violation. When one endeavors to buy a house, one assumes what one is viewing is real. It's one thing if a realtor photoshops a goofy sunset, it's another to wonder if anything in a room can be touched with human hands. I won't know what, if any, part of this estate costing over 2 million dollars actually exists until I visit it myself. Perhaps that's the whole point - to entice potential buyers out to see for themselves. When they enter, they'll find the truth: a vast, empty space with nothing in it.

The better this rendering technology gets, the more it will rely on these totally neutral spaces because everything matches and nothing is difficult. You are picking from a catalog of greige furniture to decorate greige rooms. If you look at virtual staging in a non-neutral house it looks immediately plastic and out of place, which is why many realtors opt to either still stage using furniture or leave the place empty.

Due to the aforementioned photography reasons, I would even argue that the greigepocalypse or whatever you want to call it and virtual staging have evolved simultaneously and mutualistically. The more virtual staging becomes an industry standard, the more conditions for making it seamless and successful will become standardized as well.

After all, real staging is expensive and depends on paid labor - selecting furniture, getting workers to deliver and stage it, only to pack it back up again once the property is sold. This is a classic example of technology being used to erase entire industries. Is this a bad thing? For freelance and contract workers, yeah. For realtors? no. For real estate listings, it remains to be seen. For this blog? Absolutely. (Thankfully there is an endless supply of previously existing McMansions.)

The thing is, real estate listings no longer reflect reality. (Did they ever to begin with?) The reason we're all exasperated with greige is because none of us actually live that way and don't want to. I've never been to anyone's house that looks like the house that may or may not exist. Even my parents who have followed the trends after becoming empty nesters have plenty of color in their house. Humans like color. Most of us have lots of warmth and creativity in our houses. Compare media intended for renters and younger consumers such as Apartment Therapy with HGTV and you will find a stark difference in palate and tone.

But when it comes to actually existing houses - look at Zillow and it's greige greige greige. So who's doing this? The answer is real estate itself aided by their allies in mass media who in turn are aided by the home renovation industry. In other words, it's the people who sell home as a commodity. That desire to sell has for some time overpowered all other elements that make up a home or an apartment's interiority to the point where we've ended up in a colorless slurry of real and unreal.

Fortunately, after ten years or so, things begin to become dated. We're hitting the ten year mark of farmhouse modernism and its derivatives now. If you're getting sick of it, it's normal. The whole style is hopefully on its last leg. But unlike styles of the past, there's a real, trenchant material reason why this one is sticking around longer than usual.

Hence, maybe if we want the end of greige, we're going to have to take color back by force.

If you like this post and want more like it, support McMansion Hell on Patreon for as little as $1/month for access to great bonus content including extra posts and livestreams.

Not into recurring payments? Try the tip jar, because media work is especially recession-vulnerable.

#architecture #design #2010s #mcmansion #mcmansion hell #nc #2021 #essay

[dc418writes]

🧚🏻‍♀️✨Bippity boppity bow chicka wow oww! You’ve been visited by the Shameless Hoe Fairy, and now you must share a hoe drabble about:

Ari + pinned down + “Fuck, sweetheart, I love it when you whine so pretty for me.”

*incomprehensible screeching* ok ok calm down self no pressure 👀 lol but thank you Siri for this prompt! And all who read I hope you like what I came up with☺️!

Mine

✨Pairing✨: ex!Ari Levinsonxblack!reader

Summary🪄: As luck would have it, your ex is there to save you from a creep. Some coincidence right?

🚨: 18+ NO MINORS, soft/dark-dark elements, mention of sexual harassment, violence (man-man), unprotected adult happy funny times (please be safe everyone!), fingering, breeding kink, mention of alcohol, a couple bad language words

Your once pleasant buzz has since been replaced by a dull headache as you sit in the middle of your ex’s king sized bed. One of his shirts - smelling a mix of his cologne and detergent - covering your freshly washed body after the small bar brawl left the front of your top and skirt soaked with beer.

Every few minutes your mind wanders back to that moment where the “kind” and charming stranger showed his true colors. His touches becoming unwanted while trapping you against the bar and ignoring your protests. If it wasn’t for Ari, quickly yanking the hazel-eyed man away from you before his fist was soon meeting his cheek, you’re sure you’d be stuck somewhere and missing for God knows how long.

Maybe even worse.

A light knock on the door has a small smile curling on your lips seeing Ari in the doorway. His muscular body nearly taking up the entire space standing in his black sweats and some worn looking band tee.

“Hey, you feel alright?,” he asks and you nod. “Need anything?”

“No, just tired.”

“Get some rest. I’ll be out here if you need me.”

You didn’t want him out there though. In your current state - emotionally vulnerable and unable to get the events out of your mind - you wanted him next to you. To not be alone for tonight at least.

“C-Can you stay? Please?,” you call after him halting any further movement out of the doorway. With that tilted smile you still loved, he was soon removing his shirt and joining you under his sheets.

“Of course sweetheart.”

His thick arm wrapped around your middle with your back against his front, it was like old times how instantly safe and comfortable you felt. How you fit together so well, it was as if you’d never even broken up in the first place. And when his nose bumps behind your ear barely touching one of your special spots, that familiar flip returns to your stomach as well.

“Goodnight.”

“Night Ari,” you whisper, but you already know sleep is a far off concept from your highly active brain still focused on the bar. Trying to force you into reliving every detail as if helping you study for your own exam.

So many minutes pass of just feeling the air from Ari’s nostrils against your neck and hearing cars run by that you’ve accepted you probably won’t be sleeping tonight.

“That pretty head’s going a mile a minute again huh?,” he asks slightly startling you thinking he was asleep this whole time.

“You can tell?” He nods and you can feel the gentle scratching of his beard on your skin.

“Your pulse is a bit high; not to mention your body’s tense. Not as relaxed as I know you wanna be.”

He was always so intuitive with you. Knowing how you were feeling or if you were off without you having to even say a word. It was honestly scary sometimes how he was there with what you needed before it could cross your own mind.

“Why am I not surprised? Spot on as always,” you softly chuckle.

“Because I know you sweetheart,” he replies placing a chaste kiss to that sweet spot behind your ear. “Know all about this body. What goes on in your mind.”

His voice in your ear as his hand slowly drifts from under you and down your abdomen to the front of your thigh has you beginning to squirm. An ache quickly forming between your legs you want him to erase.

His fingertips trace a slow circle just centimeters from that junction as his lips create their own steady path down the column of your neck to your shoulder. It’s a tortuous buildup you wish he didn’t enjoy so much.

“Let’s get you to sleep, yea?”

“Please,” you shamefully beg anticipating his touch where you needed most.

And he doesn’t disappoint placing your leg over his so you were spread wide for him. His middle finger immediately dipping in your needy core and dragging just right you couldn’t stop the moan that tumbled from your lips.

“Still so tight after all this time. We can work around that though can’t we?”

By the time he was done - having readied you with two orgasms - you were already in a mindless haze only capable of babbling incoherent noises, “please”, and Ari’s name.

Exactly how he wanted you as he pushed your thighs up against your chest keeping them in place with his wide upper half while his hands pinned yours over your head. You were now completely at his use as he slowly began to push into you with a low groan and silent curses how you gripped him so tight.

“Ari please,” you whined. Head lulling to the side to lie on your arm. “Need you.”

“Fuck, sweetheart, I love when you whine so pretty for me,” he finishes with a gasp finally pushing to the hilt. For your sake, he tries to start slow, but the feel of you clinching around him and all the sweet noises you’re making, it doesn’t take long for that rhythm to quicken. The squeaking of the bed and the sound of skin slapping soon taking over your moans and panting.

“Mm don’t stop!”

He moans nipping at your bottom lip. “I’m the only one that can take care of you. Knows all your spots that make you dumb. Isn’t that right?”

Ari takes your whine as a yes, smirking as his mouth finds yours in a heated and numbing kiss.

“Because you’re mine sweetheart.” His pace quickens and you shriek as your release squirts to the sheets below. It only spurs him more moaning as he feels his own release approaching. “Always have been, shit, always will be.”

You want to whine and push him away with your new sensitivity and puffy folds that feel raw, but that blissed out cloud just keeps lifting you higher and higher that you don’t want to come down.

“And everyone’s gonna know it too seeing you with our little baby bump. Gonna be the best mama to our babies.” The thought of you carrying a mini version of the both of you pushes him over the edge moaning his release as you have one last one of your own feeling him fill you up with deep ruts wanting it to stick as deep as it could go.

Finally meeting that blissful high with you, a tired chuckle leaves his lips as he kisses all along your sweaty face. You’re pleasantly knocked out - mouth slightly parted - as he carefully lifts up so your legs can be stretched out again. Although soft, he doesn’t pull out; instead staying buried deep so none of him can escape.

Plus having you wrapped around him so snug, occasionally pulsing and clinching, it’s better than any blanket he could ever buy.

“Now, if only you weren’t so stubborn, I wouldn’t have had to go through all this,” he whispers before leaving one last peck on your temple.

HiredHelp: I said only one punch! (sent 12:29 am)

HiredHelp: That’s an extra 2K (sent 12:30 am)

HiredHelp: 5K in my account by tomorrow or we meet again very soon (sent 12:30 am)

So for those who’ve read my works over the years, this is definitely a bit of new territory for me (soft/dark-dark and smut) so hopefully it’s not cringe🫣. Thank you @stargazingfangirl18 for this prompt and for allowing me to play☺️! Also sorry if this is longer than a standard drabble lol

#ari levinson #ari levinson x black!reader #ari levinson x reader #chris evans x woc!reader #ari levinson au #red sea diving resort #chris evans #chris evans x black reader #chris evans x reader