#the only other movie I feel like i can compare this wonderful weirdness to is maybe the first 3 lotr movies

[13eyond13]

how did I forgor Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) when I had to list my favourite movies here recently

#seriously if you haven't seen it it's a ridiculous piece of work #and I can't believe it's only 120 minutes long #ok let me be a nerd about this movie for a minute: #it was like cooking in the director's brain for literal decades and that's why it has an insane amount of worldbuilding built in #you don't have to see the previous 3 mad max movies to somehow also understand this world and everything that's going on #and yet it barely takes any time to sit you through long boring exposition chunks? #Like it RESPECTS the audience's intelligence enough to be like 'you guys are smart you will figure it out now let's get moving' #NOTHING is wasted in this movie and you pick up new cool things every time you watch #almost all of it was done practically including the vehicles and stunts INCLUDING stuff like the pole cats on the cars in the final act #in order to make the cars and props they had to build most things from a scrap yard instead of running to home depot for new parts #Every single vehicle and character down to the smallest war boy had their own backstory they made up #the only other movie I feel like i can compare this wonderful weirdness to is maybe the first 3 lotr movies #In terms of the insane work that went into it behind the scenes and the dedication to making the world come alive with so much artistry #and practical effects and years of worldbuilding and writing and the bizarre ways they had the crews bond behind the scenes #also fun fact: the director was also the guy behind Babe the pig movie and Happy Feet hahaha he's a very eclectic director to say the least #anyways now every time I see a movie that's 2.5+ hours long I'm like if Mad Max FR could be 120 mins long why can't YOU be 120 min long? #Like sorry but there's no excuse anymore. just simply get better at telling the story in 2 hours or less my guys #p

[dailyadventureprompts]

Do the ethnostates inherent in major fantasy ever feel real weird to you? You’ve got elftopia (full of elves, where everyone speaks elf and worships the elf gods), orc-hold (full of orcs and maybe their slaves, where everyone speaks orc and worships the orc gods), and dwarfton (made by the dwarves! for the dwarves!).

You might have some cosmopolitan areas, usually human-dominant, but those are usually rare enough in-setting that they need to be pointed out separately. Is this just based on a misunderstanding of the medieval era, and the assumption that countries were all racially homogenous?

This has been bouncing around my brain the last little while. Do you have any thoughts on that? Is it just in my head?

I think what you've noticed is a quirk of derivative fantasy writing, which like a lot of hangups with the genre originates in people trying to crib Tolkien's work without really understanding what he was going for:

Though it contains a lot of detail, Tolkien's world is not grounded. It functions according a narrative logic that changes depending on what work in particular you're focusing on at the time (The Hobbit is a fairytale full of tricks and riddles, Lord of the Rings is a heroic epic, The Silmirilion is a legendary history).

One of the reasons the races are separate is to instill the feeling of wonder in the hobbits as POV characters for the reader, other folk live in far off places and are supposed to feel more legendary than our comparatively mundane friends from the shire. The Movies captured this well where going east in middle earth was like going back in time to a more and more mythologized past.

In real life, people don't stay static for thousands of years, no matter how long their people live. They meet, mingle, war and trade. Empires rise and fall creating shrapnel as they go, cultures adapt to a changing environment. This means that any geographic cross section you make is going to be a collage of different influences where uniformity is a glaring aberration.

What the bad Tolkien knockoffs did was take his image of a mythical world and tried to make it run in a realistic setting. Tolkien can say the subterranean dwarven kingdom of Erebor lasted for a thousand years without having to worry about birthrates or demographic shifts or the logistics of farming in a cave because he's writing the sort of story where those things don't matter. D&D and other properties like it however INSIST that their worlds are grounded and realistic but have to bend over backwards to keep things static and hegemonic.

Likewise contributing to the "ethnostate" feeling is early d&d (backbone of the fantasy genre that it is) being created by a bunch of White Midwestern Americans who were not only coming from a background of fantasy wargaming but were working during the depths of the coldwar. Hard borders and incompatible ideologies, cultural hegemony and intellectual isolation, a conception of the world that focused around antagonism between US and THEM. These were people born in the era of segregation for whom the idea of cultural and racial osmosis was alien, to the point where mingling between different fantasy races produced the "mongrelman" monster, natural pickpockets who combined the worst aspects of all their component parts, unwelcome in good society who were most often found as slaves.

This inability to appreciate cultural exchange is likewise why the central d&d pantheon has a ton of human gods with specific carveouts for other races (eventually supplemented with a bunch of race specific minor gods who are various riffs on the same thing). Rather than being universal ideals, the gods were seen as entities just as tribalistic as their followers.

#dnd meta #history #tolkien

[clairegregoryau]

Through the Looking Glass

From fairytale in Season 1 to stark reality in Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death- meta ported across from this Twitter thread by popular demand!

This thread contains spoilers for the entirety of OFMD Season 2

First OFMD S1 rewatch since S2, and holy shit, if you haven't done that yet... do that. A thing that it made instantly clear: they told us *all along* where this was going, but there was a reason we didn't see it. Because we were living in Stede's world then. Now it's Ed's.

I know that a lot of us have felt that the tone shift at the end of S2 was... jarring, compared to what's come before. This felt like a show that wouldn't go there. One where being run through was a temporary hiccup. We've travelled all the way from this to this.

But we haven't jumped there without a journey in between. And from the minute we started hearing about Blackbeard, the show never tried to hide what Ed's world and his specific life was like. Not once. In fact they told us over and over and over.

But Season 1 told us a lot of those things through song and story and fuckery. It blended reality with fiction.

Stede met the Blackbeard he knew through books and tall tales, and the real man was even more wonderful than he'd imagined.

We, along with Stede, were comfortable thinking that all those other tales were exaggerations and misrepresentations, and a lot of them very likely were.

The Ed Stede got to know was a person who was capable of whimsy and silliness and loved soft things and doing something weird. Yep, he was also capable of violence and rage, but when he was with Stede, he didn't feel it so much.

This was a vacation from that life.

To Stede he was absolutely lovely... oh, and also a bloodthirsty killer. And Stede loved (and loves) everything about him, and both of those things can be true. This is a perfect example of a spot where (in watching Season 1 without the benefit of hindsight) I assumed that everyone else in that pub was wrong, and Stede was simply trying to protect Ed's fearsome reputation by agreeing on the bloodthirsty bits. And I think from Stede's perspective that was largely true. I think that's how they wanted us to see Ed, through his eyes. Now, after watching both seasons, I think it wasn't the whole picture.

They told us, we heard it, we saw glimpses of it. But we (and Ed) were in Stede's run-away-to-sea fairytale the whole time. It wasn't until Stede left that we saw the reality- the Ed we knew had been, to a degree, a fictional character all along. I always saw this scene as Ed putting a bit of distance between himself and reality; it always felt like the Blackbeard of Stede's storybooks was the fictional one. But now it feels like the softer Ed that Stede knew was much the same- neither of them the whole story of who Ed was and is.

The one person who refused to live in Stede's fairytale was Izzy. I've seen people say it before, but he always gave off that vibe of the only human in the Muppets movie, or the guy who was in Black Sails while everyone else was in Pirates of the Caribbean. He saw the real risks clearly.

And in that light, the end of S1 has shifted an inch to the left for me, and I'm seeing it at a slightly different angle.

Izzy ripped away the healing Ed was doing, but in some respects he did it by tearing away the fairytale we'd all been living in, shoving Ed back into the Blackbeard story.

And that's where we pick up again in Season 2.

The fairytale reference came back in S2 in two notable places, those being Jim carrying that legacy forward in the darkest times, and in Izzy invoking the wooden boy against Ricky's efforts. Stede's made himself into a real boy. Ricky, nope.

Now that I've watched both seasons together, the tone shift doesn't feel so jarring at all, actually.

It feels like sliding through the looking glass, out of Stede's world, and into Ed's- a world that existed all along; we were just seeing it, la vie en rose, through Stede's eyes.

At the beginning of S2, Stede's gone, and we're seeing it unfiltered through Ed's reality.

But Stede wasn't lying when he said he loved everything about Ed. He made a promise to come back and find him- he went down into Ed's darkest place and reminded him that no matter how bad things got, there WAS someone waiting for him, ready to love him.

The contrast between S1's fantasy and S2's reality (excluding mermaids and actual bird guys and cursed coats) is stark, but it really is that.

We have the same settings, the same people, and very different ideas and outcomes at different times.

But it was always there.

Things do come back to a state of (precarious) balance once they're all together. Apologies are made, whether they're spoken out loud or through actions. Things go right, things go wrong. Healing happens. Izzy continues to have the steadiest, most real through-line in the story as he tracks toward redemption, finds acceptance, and to an extent finds himself.

Once again, I hate that they went here with the ending and I wish they hadn't. But it got a fraction easier for me looking at it not as a continuation of Stede's fairytale, but of the grounded-in-pirate-reality arc Izzy was always on, even while we lived in Stede's world.

Where does that leave us? We're not going back to the fairytale, but we're not going to be living in Black Sails for S3, either. We've hit a fusion point where S1 ended with each of them going to separate, miserable homes, but S2 ended with them in the same place, ready and willing to make a go of it.

Season 3 is going to give us their world, together.

I LOVED the moments in this season where the deep emotions were in balance with the silliness I've always adored about this show. Eps4-6 were wonderful like that. Clearly we're not done with drama, either, but like Ed and Stede, I think we'll find a middle ground.

Anyway in conclusion, a rewatch of S1 after S2 somehow made me love the first season even more, which felt impossible? It's now gained /even more/ layers of depth than it had before. No matter how you feel about S2 I think it's worth that rewatch.

Adding one more bit of clarity for myself: I think we got a bit (intentionally) seduced in S1 by the idea that the Ed of the storybooks, the Vampire Viking Clown with the nine guns, was a version of him that others saw, when Stede saw the REAL person who 'worked' for Blackbeard.

In hindsight I think it's clear the Ed Stede go to know was also not the complete version of himself- the reality is, there's a whole spectrum between the two, and they've landed in the middle of it now. Ed intentionally leaned into the unlovable Kraken image to protect himself.

It very much didn't work, just like being just... Edward hadn't worked to protect himself, either. This season has been very much about pulling those two extremes together and finding all the parts that make up Ed overall (another thread on that here on Twitter, which I'll also shift across to Tumblr soon!)

And I think one of my favourite things in S2 has been seeing the way Stede SEES that- he knows what Ed's done, everyone's told him, but he still loves Ed. sees his trauma and how it affects him, and believes he's a good man regardless. He IS lovable; he's not forever broken.

And together, they can heal.

#ofmd #our flag means death #gay pirates #ofmd meta #unreliable narrators #fantasy vs reality #ofmd spoilers #ofmd s2 spoilers

[roses-for-readers]

Hello, this is my first time requesting something and i was kinda nervous and i have a few ideas in mind.

But i was wondering if you can write an avatar x maleficent readeri don’t see many of these and i would like something different, and love your writing (if you can’t thats totally fine) thx

This was such a cute idea that I had immediately started it once I got this request! I kinda did a style of the movies still exists and it's not just a random occurrence in the universe. I cut this off to have a nice and fluff type ending but with the opportunity to do a part 2 with heavy angst. And if you want one with the second movie, like it's a growth from this one, just let me know.

Finding Home ~Avatar x Maleficent! Reader

Warnings: Small injuries and a miscommunication that almost causes a fight (Tsu'tey doesn't understand human friendship dynamics)

Masterlist

Being born with wings was definitely a surprise when everyone in the delivery room when I was born. Especially when I later began to grow horns with each passing month. I could only imagine everyone's surprise when they all found out I was exactly like the Disney character Maleficent. That the story wasn't as fictional as everyone had once thought.

Growing up I had idolized the movies of her, ecstatic that I was unique just like she was. Though their were difficulties with my uniqueness as I got older. It was harder to breathe normally compared to someone that had regular problems when I had come to be about 6.

Mom worked with the RDA as a researcher, so they were willing to take a look at me to see what might be wrong. They finally came to the conclusion it was because of the lack of natural forests with fresh air. This caused me to have to use a special inhaler at least 3 times a day. But it was also a discovery that changed my life because I got to meet Grace.

"You know, I'm going to a special place. A different planet that's supposed to have a lot of trees and all kinds of animals and flowers. I think it's just the place you need to truly thrive. Do you like that idea?"

That's what led me here 21 tear years later, technically 15 if cryosleep isn't counted. A botanical expert that would be working alongside Grace and the other members of the Avatar program.

During the safety briefing, I could feel everyone staring at me. But I had become used to it and just focused on the information that was being given to us. Feeling anxious to see Grace again after so long since I first and last saw her.

After the meeting was over, I got ushered along with a Norm and Jake to go and meet up with Grace. I had a small bounce in my step as I walked along with them, not even noticing the weird looks.

"I just gotta ask. What's with the wings and horn things? You like dressing up in them or something?"

"Jake!"

I chuckled softly at the question, casually looked over at the both of them as Jake just waits for an answer as Norm looks absolutely mortified. Stretching my back slightly, I lift one wing up to hang over his had for a second. Smirking at the look of pure awe on both of their faces. "That good enough for you?"

"Holy shit," Jake softly laughed out as he stared at them for a few more seconds before shaking his head. "Now I've seen it all."

"No, I don't think you have yet." I look ahead as we get to the control center of the Avatar program. A smile spreading across my face as I take in all the technology around us, focusing mostly on the screens that were playing overhead.

The sound of one of the pods opening drew my attention away to across the room. A genuine smile coming across my face as I saw her sitting up from the machine, Dr. Grace Augustine.

Grace spoke to some of the other researchers before she turned to look at all of us. I had to keep myself from jumping in to hug her when she turned her focus to me.

Taking in my appearance, she had a small grin as she reached out and affectionately cupped my chin. "Look at how much you've grown. I don't even recognize that little kid that used to carry around a stuffed Maleficent toy like it was a part of you. I'm glad you got to join the program, (Y/n)."

"Thank you, Dr. Augustine," I bashfully reply, feeling ecstatic that she even remembered my name from one interaction years ago. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here and working alongside you."

"Always the modest one. That's one of the things I admired about you." She playfully shook my head before finally letting go. Her face becoming a little more stern as she looked at Jake and Norm. Speaking a little more firmly with them.

Letting her words fade into the background, I look back over at all monitors that sit in the center of the room. Marveling at the images that were showing up along with the graphs and how quickly they changed every few seconds.

"They update in real time, you know." I turn my head over to see a guy with glasses standing there with a smile. Pointing up at one of the screens, he continues, "The graphs and the numbers. They help us monitor the vitals of everyone while they are in the pods."

I let out a small 'oh' in understanding as I look back at the monitors for a couple more moment before looking back at him. Holding my hand out, I begin to introduce myself, "I'm (Y/n)."

"I heard," he chuckled out as he took hold of my hand. "My name's Max. I help track the vitals of everyone. And I'm sure everyone heard your name earlier. Grace has never been that nice to anyone before, except for the children."

"Children?" I give him a questioning look as I drop his hand. "They have children here on the base?"

"No, the Na'vi children. Oh, I bet that they are going to love you when they get a look at you." Max's eyes widen when he realized what he had said. Opening and closing his mouth as he tries to find something else to say.

"(Y/n), follow me. Time for a little academic show around." Grace calls out as she begins to head out the door with the men close behind.

Turning back to look at Max one last time, I raise my hand with another smile as I walk away. "I hope your right about that."

I lightly jog to catch up with the group as Grace leads us through the series of hallways until she pushes open a set of doors. When we enter, the first thing I noticed was the dim lighting and blue tint that almost glowed around us. The second thing was the glass tubes that held our Avatars.

Grace placed a hand on my shoulder before leading me to a specific pod off towards the back of the room. Speaking softly when we get closer, "It will take a little longer for you to get your Avatar than the others. It decided to pick up a few extra strands in your DNA that we used."

I stare in awe as I stand in front of the tank, noticing what she had meant. There laid a Na'vi body with features just like mine. Along with a small set of horns and wings that were still developing to fit the rest of the body. Stepping closer, I set my hand on the glass as I smile down at the body. "It's beautiful."

Grace stood beside me with one arm around my shoulders as she put her other hand on the glass with me. "Just like you."

While I didn't have the Avatar body, Grace still let me tag along during the research expeditions. Just as long as I promised to keep my inhaler on my person and my mask stayed on at all times if I didn't need to use it. Just because she wanted to test out the theory of me potentially being able to breathe the air here slowly and in a controlled environment.

We were carefully walking through the forest to a spot where Grace had decided to get some new samples from earlier. There wasn't much talk as we took in the sight of living plants in front of us. Or at least me and Norm were mostly focused on them.

"So, are you able to fly with your wing? Or do they not work for that?" I turn my head up to see Jake staring back at with a confused look on his face.

"I can, but not very well. There weren't many places that I could do something like that back on Earth," I casually explain to him before looking around back around at the area around us.

Grace kneels to the ground around some roots in a tree as she begins to get the equipment ready with Norm as she guides him on what to look for with the images that showed on the screen. I tried to pay attention as I looked down, but I saw Jake walk away out of the corner of my eye.

Following after him, I see him interacting with a different kind of plant. The moment he touched it, it retracted towards the ground as a defense mechanism. I smiled as I watched him do it again with the same result. We both laughed slightly until all of them went to the ground to reveal a small group of the native animals.

We both hold our breaths as one of them gets closer to us. Grace comes running over with Norm as she calls out to Jake. "Don't move. It's only a defense tactic. Just stand your ground."

I watched as he stared down the creature until I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Slowly turning my head around and up, I saw a different animal with sharp fangs staring down at me. I held my breath out of fear as it looked over at Jake and let out a low growl. Jumping over the both of us, it stared down at Jake as he took a step back.

"What do I do with this one?" Jake called over to Grace as he locked eyes with the predator in front of us.

It let out another low growl when Grace called back, "Definitely run!"

I barely processed the fact that Jake had turned around to start running. I let out a small scream as he lifted me over his shoulder. I held onto his shoulder as I helplessly watched as the creature chase after us through the dense forest.

Suddenly Jake came to a halt which caused me to look over to see we had gotten to a cliff edge near a waterfall. "What are you doing?! Go!"

"Can you swim?!"

"Fucking jump!" I apparently didn't have to tell him a second time when a deafening roar sounded through the trees. He pulled me down to his chest and jumped down as he stiffened his body. I wrapped my wings tightly around us right before we hit the surface.

Water rushed past us for a few seconds before Jake began to swim upward. Pushing away from him to start swimming myself, we raise our heads over the surface. Jake gasped for air as we both look to see the creature slowly walk back into the forest.

I let out a small sigh as we swim over to the shore and check for any injuries. I glare at Jake after making sure I was fine from the fall. My voice laced with a subtle anger when I say, "'Can you swim'?"

Jake looks at him as he raises a hand as he backs away. "I was trying to make sure you would be safe if we-"

"Can you swim!? Can you fucking swim!? That's the first thing you thought of!? Not, 'is your mask waterproof' or 'is the thing catching up'! You could have thrown me and I would have flown down while you jumped if you were that worried! But 'can you swim' was all you could think of!?"

"You know," Jake began talking as he turned around and started to walk through the forest, "you are very angry for someone that looks like a Disney character."

"She was a villain to begin with anyways. Maybe you should watch your back Sully." I continue to glare at his back as I walk behind him deeper into the forest.

He looks over his shoulder with a smile as he takes in my disheveled appearance. Trying his hardest to hold in his laughter as he shrugged. "Grace wouldn't let you."

"Grace isn't here," I whisper to myself as we continue to walk. I hear noises of unknown animals from deep in the forest. Despite being mad at Jake, I quicken my pace to be walking beside him. Looking up at the trees, a strange feeling coming over my body as I scan the leaves overhead. "Jake..."

"I know," he mumbled as he carefully scans the trees as well. Reaching a hand out, he gently takes hold of my arm and pulls me to his side. "I feel the eyes too."

"Where are they? What are they?" I hold onto his arm as I start to breathe a little erratically. Using my free hand to rub at my chest as I begin to cough.

"Hey, hey. Calm down there. We'll be okay." Jake looks down at me as he stops walking. Kneeling down a little as his hand goes to my soaked bag. "You need your inhaler 3 times a day, right? You haven't used it since breakfast. Let's get it out and take a deep breath. Can you get it out?"

I nod my head as I let him take the bag off my shoulder. Trying to take a few shaky breaths as I begin to rummage through everything that I had packed. Quickly grabbing hold of the inhaler the moment I uncover it from under everything else. Pulling it out as I shake it lightly as I look at Jake. He gives a small nod, which help my nerves as I bring my free hand to my mask. Pulling it up just enough, I bring my inhaler up to my mouth and take a deep breath. Pulling it away almost immediately to secure my mask back into place with a deep breath.

Jake rubs my shoulder as he waits for me to catch my breath. Giving me an encouraging nod as holds my bag open as I put my inhaler back inside. "There we go. Come one, we need to keep moving. It's going to be night in a few hours and we need to find a place to spend the night."

I nod my head again as I look back at the trees above. Taking my bag back from him and securing it on my shoulder before we began to get on our way once again.

The sun had went down just a little over an hour ago. The sounds of multiple animals circling around us was all that I could hear as Jake began to sharpen a stick. I anxiously look around the trees to try and find where the animals might come from, but they just kept circling around just past our line of sight.

"(Y/n), look at me," Jake speaks in a slightly stern voice as he grabs my arm. As I look at him, I see the fear in his eyes at the situation. But he keeps his composure as he keeps talking as if he wasn't to begin with. "If anything happens, if I tell you to run, you forget about me and get out of here. You fly up and get into a tree until morning when Grace will come back and find you. You look after yourself and I know that you'll be fine. Do you understand?"

I quickly nod my head to show that I understood. I was going to say something to him, something about how it wouldn't have to come to that, but the words stopped short as the bushes right beside us rustle. I can't even fully comprehend it before Jake began to push me away in the opposite direction as we started running again.

We didn't run for long until the animals began to circle us in. I ended up with my back pressed against a tree as the dog like creatures snapped their teeth at Jake. I shut my eyes as soon as he begins to fight off the creatures. I didn't want to watch if he potentially had to kill a few of them before they hopefully ran off somewhere else.

Just as soon as everything got crazy, everything went quiet. I hesitantly opened my eyes to see Jake on the ground as a Na'vi woman kneels down to one of the creatures. Though I couldn't quite make out what she was saying, I could tell she was mumbling a prayer for the creature. That act alone made me look down and away from her, remembering how Grace told us of how sacred life was to the people.

Jake apparently wasn't informed of that or didn't remember as he tried to get closer to her, reaching out and touching her shoulder as he repeatedly tried to thank her. I had to keep from laughing as she swung her bow and hit Jake right in the face. I didn't do that good of a job as she looked over at me with a small hiss before turning around and running into the forest.

Jake quickly got off the ground and followed after her. I didn't even have the chance to protest as he called out from over his shoulder. "Come on (Y/n)."

I quickly made sure my bag was still closed, I ran after the both of them. Though it was a little harder considering that they were larger and more physically equipped to be jumping around the limbs of the trees.

"Hey, wait up!" Jake called out to the Na'vi as we got to a tree that was decently high up from the ground. He had just caught up to her when she turned around to face him.

"Away. Both of you," she spoke in a quiet tone, but the disdain was evident as she looked between the both of us. Getting so close in Jake's space that he took a step back and almost slipped. I held my breath as I watched Jake try to reason with her, even blocking me from her view by steeping to the side just slightly.

I tried to keep focused on the situation, but something moved closer to us out of the corner of my eye. Turning my head out of fear that another creature had followed us. But to my surprise there were small plant like things floating in the air. Slowly getting closer to us before most of them began to land on Jake. A hand full of them remained floating in the air nearby. Hesitantly, I reach a hand out to them, watching in awe as it slowly landed on my open palm. I laughed softly as it gently tickled my skin while the others continued to float around us.

After a few moments, they began to float away from us. I turned towards Jake with a huge grin at what had just happened. My gaze quickly turns curious as I see the Na'vi looking at us both in awe as well.

She looked between me and Jake before she beckoned us with a wave of her hand. "Follow me. Come now."

Jake looked like he wanted to protest her sudden change in heart, but I lightly pushed against his back to get him to follow her. With a sigh, Jake quickly began to chase after her with me following close behind.

We continue running across the tree limbs that seem to stretch on for eternity. Anxiety and anticipation coursing through my veins as the three of us go deeper into the forest.

"Where are we even-" Jake stops in the middle of his question as something comes in contact with his legs. I watch in horror as he violently falls down to the forest floor.

"Jake!" I call out as I lean over to see if he was injured. But I was forced to stop short as something wrapped around my chest. Throwing me off balance as I fall down to the ground as well, landing just a few feet from Jake. The impact leaves me disoriented as my head hits just lightly against a rock that was barely uncovered from the dirt.

I blink away the blur that comes into my vision as yelling sounds from almost every direction. A pair of hands lifts me up before one removes itself. My body tensing up entirely as I feel a sharp, cold blade carefully press right in between my shoulder blades.

Glancing over at Jake, I see he was in a similar situation with a knife pressed against his neck as they held him by his queue. But my attention quickly shifts again when the Na'vi who seems to be the leader of our ambush committee comes forward. He jumped down from his mount as he began to stalk over to Jake.

When he got just a few feet from Jake, the woman jumped down from the branch. Effectively blocking his path as the two of them began to argue between the two of them. I wasn't able to catch most of what they were saying due to how my head was throbbing due to the fall. What I could tell was that he wasn't happy with our presence and she mentioned something that involved their Tsahik.

The conversation came to a quick halt as the leader got back onto the horse like creature. He gave a short order to the rest of the group, which caused the Na'vi that were holding us to pull us to our feet. The sudden movement caused my head to spin so much that my stomach churned. I kneeled back to the ground before lifting up my mask, throwing up what little content I had in my stomach. Barely having enough time to secure my mask back on before the Na'vi begin to force me to my feet once again.

"Kehe!" The tugging on my arms stops when the woman calls out to them. They quickly let go of me when she pushes them away. She gently grabs my face with a small frown as she turns it to the side. Her voice is soft as she ghosts her fingers over a spot on the side of my head. "You are hurt. Let me help you to Hometree. You will get treated once we are there."

I don't stop her when she awkwardly wraps her arms around my body. Being tentative not to touch at the base of my wings too much as she lifts me up. I close my eyes with a small sigh as I slowly grasp at her words. My voice hardly a whisper when I ask, "We're going to Hometree?"

She shushes me as she begins to run with the rest of the group. I hold onto her with a small whine from the motions, even if I wasn't seeing the sights that were passing us by.

Before long, the movements came to a stop as soft murmuring echoed around us. I open my eyes to see that we had finally made it to the Hometree of the Omatikayan people. Many of them gathered around as the group came to the center.

I gently get set down near Jake, leaning into his side as I sway just slightly on my feet. I take another breath as I hear a conversation happening between the woman and another member of the clan. Making out just bits of what each of them were saying in the broken haze of focus that I had.

"What is he saying?" Jake's voice sounds out like a sore thumb when he asks the question. Though I couldn't tell if he was asking me solely or if it extended to the woman as well.

"My father is deciding on whether to kill you both or not." I frown at the blunt explanation she gave at the question. I barely even had time to register that information when I felt Jake move slightly before yelling sounded and I got jostled around.

My eyes immediately shot open at the motion as my wings stretched out in a defensive manner. This had caused more yelling as Jake pulled me closer to his side. But all the noise stopped when another voice calls out for silence. Everyone shifts their gaze over to see the Tsahik stepping into the center of the circle.

I blink away at the dizziness that I feel when she stands in front of us. Taking a deep breath, I bring my hand up to my forehead as I do my best to greet her without messing up the pronunciation.

When I lifted my gaze back up to her, she had a small grin on her face. "I see you were taught some of our ways. Though I see that you might not know the language."

I look at her confused at what she had just said. Looking up at Jake, I speak in a soft voice, "I swear that I pronounced it right."

"You didn't say anything," Jake told me with a concerned expression.

I blink at him a couple of times before I pointed at him with a serious look. "I believe I have a concussion."

"You believe? What gave you that impression?" The sarcasm dripped from his voice as he looked back up at the Tsahik. My face scrunched up slightly before I looked back at her as well.

She slowly took out a knife that had been resting in her neckwear. She quickly stepped towards Jake as she stabbed into his chest. I cringed as she licked away the small bit of blood that was on it. She looked at Jake with a curious expression before she looked down at me again.

She was about to do the same thing until the younger Na'vi, presumably her daughter with what I was gathering, stopped her before the knife hit my chest. She gently took my hand and pointed to the center of my palm. "One touched here."

The Tsahik seemed slightly intrigued by the statement, but she didn't say anything. She gently poked her knife just enough to collect a small bit of blood on the tip before licking it way with a thoughtful look. She looked between us once more before she addressed the crowd. "The Dreamwalker and the... human, shall stay with us. They will learn of our ways and what it means to be Na'vi. We shall all watch them as they learn."

Multiple reactions sound through the crowd at the choice their Tsahik had made, but she didn't pay them any mind. Instead, she turned to her daughter while saying, "Take him to get out of his demon clothes. I will tend to the child."

"I'm in my 20s. I'm not a child," I spoke up at the comment about my age. I knew that compared to their size I probably wouldn't been seen as a full adult to them. But I had been expecting to be acknowledged as more than an adolescent.

Jake gave me a light pat on the shoulder before he reached into my bag and started rummaging around. "Let's get your head working right first before you argue how old you are. But you're going to use your inhaler first before you get out of my sight again."

I let out a sigh as he pulled my inhaler out and placed it in my hand. Nodding my head at his statement, I took a deep breath before lifting my mask back up and taking a couple of puffs of the medicine. I blink back my dizziness when I put my mask back into place.

Jake takes my inhaler from my hand and puts it back in my bag for me. He tilts my head up slightly so I look him in the eyes as he speaks again. "You do what she says so you get better. And don't fall asleep for at least a couple of hours so we make sure your actually okay."

"Yes, mother," I snark at him as the Tsahik gently grabbed my arm and began pulling me up the steps that they had for the tree. I was mostly nudged up the tree by her until she guided me into a small platform that was suspended between the branches. She guided me to sit down on what seemed to be a woven blanket. She moved around and collected a few plants and a small bowl before she began to grind them into a paste.

She never looked up from her task as she spoke to me in a soft tone. "You are not entirely human."

I shake my head with a bashful grin as I watch her mix the plants together. Leaning forward slightly as I try to get a better look at her process. "Everyone thinks that I have fairy blood or something. None of the scientists could really agree on one theory about my condition. Just that I had a mutation somewhere in my family tree or such."

"You used a human thing earlier. What is its purpose to you?" She continued speaking as she grabbed my chin to turn my head. Gently rubbing the paste against where I had hit my head.

I closed my eyes with a small sigh, enjoying the cool feeling on my skin. Humming softly as I think of how to explain it to her. "It's a medicine thing. I use it so I can breathe normal enough to go on day to day. A lot of humans have the same thing. I just have an extra special condition."

"You can't breathe your own air." Based on her tone, I knew she was making a statement and not asking. I opened my eyes as she removed her hands from my body. Watching as she went over to grab a few bandages and a small bowl like container.

I shook my head as she sat down next to me again. Watching as she applied a bit more of the paste to the bandages. "No. That's part of why I'm here. Grace had thought I could maybe breath the air here with the forests. But that was before everyone knew the air here was toxic to humans. But she still wants to see if I can handle. Grace wants to do a few test before we fully see if I can."

As I finished my explanation, she began to carefully wrap the bandages around my head. When she was done with that, she then grabbed the container and held it out to me. "Drink this. It will help with the pain and let you rest well through the night."

I wanted to argue that I shouldn't go to sleep anytime soon, but I stopped myself when she gave me a stern look. I took a few quick drinks as I repeatedly took my mask off so I could drink however much she saw fit. When all the liquid was gone, she finally took it from me with a small nod. Almost immediately after I put my mask back on for the last time, she began to guide me to lay down on the blanket.

I watch her walk around he area, organizing things as she went. My eyes started to flutter shut with passing second that I watched her before speaking up just slightly in the quiet space, "My name's (Y/n)."

I thought I saw her smile a little as she continued to move things around on a shelf. I heard her voice speak out one last time before I went to sleep. "You may call me Mo'at, (Y/n)."

I begin to wake up to sound of hushed giggles filtering in and out of my consciousness. With a small groan, I opened my eyes to see a group of children standing over me. As soon as they see me wake up, they let out small shrieks before running off towards the bottom of the tree. Effectively dodging Mo'at as she comes into the area with a small basket.

She smiles as the children run by before she comes back over to me and sits down. Immediately lifting me up into an upright position as she begins to undo the bandages on my head. "I see the children have already taken an interest in you."

I smile at her before glancing over at the stairs that lead down. "I guess they do. I'm just glad they aren't terrified of how I look."

"They are young. Your world makes them curious and they have never seen one of your people with your... characteristics."

I laugh softly at the last part of what she said. Looking back at Mo'at, I saw she had set aside the bandages that she put on my head last night. My gaze becoming a bit more serious as I noticed a small bit of blood had soaked into it.

"You are fine. The worst that might happen is a small scar," her voice was firm but gentle when she reassured me. Taking a few new bandages from her basket before rewrapping my head in a slightly more snug way than last night. When she was done, she gave my head a small pat before pushing the basket towards me. I noticed that it had a small arrangement of foods in it as she stood back up and moved over to a shelf. "Take the mask off so you eat. It's not of use to you if you can breathe the air."

"But we don't know if I can breathe the air. Grace hasn't done the test to see if I could." I quickly try to remind her that it was only a theory that I could live without the mask on Pandora. That I couldn't know for certain if it would possibly to even do it for even a short period of time.

"You seemed to do just fine with it being broken while you slept." My breath caught in my throat as I took in her sudden revelation.

I frantically grabbed the small oxygen tank to see that the capacity was at zero. Frantically taking off the mask, my gaze immediately fell on a small bit of glass that had broken off and leaving a small, but still noticeable, hole. I take a few small breaths to see if anything seemed off, but it all was normal as I kept taking deep breaths.

"I'm not dead," I utter in disbelief as I look back at her in confusion. My mouth hanging open as I try to piece together how that could have worked. "But... how?"

"I believe you had said something about 'fairy blood' last night. Or did you not really mean that when you told me?" Mo'at had a playful grin on her face as she glanced back over at me.

"I'm going to be perfectly honest here, after I fell off that branch last night, I don't remember much of anything. It's all a blur besides from getting here, your daughter Neytiri, and a very grumpy man who shouted a lot."

"Tsu'tey. That is the man you remember. Now eat," she spoke firmly once again before taking a few bottles from the shelf and setting down not to far from me.

I shuffled a little closer to the basket and pick out some of the fruit that was there. Taking small bites as I watch her work on refilling the herbs that she had begun to get low on. We just sat together in silence as she did her work. Occasionally, I would interrupt her work to offer her a piece of fruit that she would take with a ghost of a smile.

Our attention is soon drawn to the entrance when Jake and Neytiri come walking in. I bit back a laugh as I take in the sight of Jake, dressed in the traditional clothing and covered in mud with a few cuts here and there.

Jake immediately stops in his tracks when he looks at me with wide eyes. "Where's your mask at?!"

"It's broken." I give him a small shrug before I look over at Neytiri. Watching as she went over to her mother and motioned for Jake to come closer and sit.

"What do you mean it's broken?! How are you not dead?!" He continued standing there in disbelief. Completely ignoring the small glare Neytiri was giving him.

"I'm special or something like that." I grab another few pieces of fruit from the basket and hold my hand out for Mo'at and Neytiri. Mo'at takes a piece before Neytiri does the same with a small nod of her head.

Jake just continues to stare in disbelief as he moves over to sit down. I pass him a piece of fruit before giving him a small pat on his shoulder.

"I see he is learning well," Mo'at comments as she passes some herbs over to Neytiri.

"He's a skxawng," she responded before she crushed the leaves into small flakes before moving to rub it into his cuts.

"What does that mean?" Jake looks at Neytiri, hoping she would explain. When she ignored him, Jake looked over to me with a confused look.

"It means you're an idiot." I give Jake a smug grin when I answer his question. Eating another piece of fruit before I glance over at the entrance. Tensing up when I see the Olo'eyktan and the man known as Tsu'tey walking towards us. Lowering my gaze, I lean towards Jake and whisper to him, "Now, try not to be an idiot and keep your mouth shut when they walk in."

Jake rolls his eyes before looking at the two warriors as they walked into the area. I glance up at the two with a small frown on my face. They both look at me and Jake for a second with guarded looks on their face. The Olo'eyktan soon shifts his gaze over to Mo'at with a knowing look on his face as he tilts his head slightly towards the entrance. She nods her head in return before standing up. Mo'at affectionately brushes some hair out of Neytiri's face with a smile. Then she turned to me and softly pats my head before walking down the tree with her mate.

Once they leave, I look back at Tsu'tey to see him already giving me a small glare. I give him an awkward smile which only makes him scowl even more. "Demon," was all he said before looking back at Jake with an even deeper scowl.

"Hey there buddy boy," Jake playfully quips back as he begins trying to wipe off some of the mud on his chest with his bare hands. Though he didn't do much other than just smear the mud around as he smiled like an idiot.

"Accident," he continued to scowl as he looked Jake over. Clearly unammused by Jake's joking attitude.

"Aw. I think he likes you Jake. You should give him a big hug to become friends." I have a grin on my face as I look between the two men. Taking notice of how Neytiri looked shocked by my suggestion one time as I glanced towards Jake.

"He raises a hand towards me, I will cut him," Tsu'tey speaks in a menacing way as he glared at me.

"I know," I laugh a little as I stare straight back at him. Biting my lip as I try not to grin like an idiot at the shocked look on Tsu'tey's face.

"Okay, (Y/n). Reel in the manic for a minute. I think you're freaking them out with your humanly sense of humor." Jake slightly pushes my head in order to bring me back to the moment.

I roll my eyes with a small pout before picking up another piece of fruit from the forgotten basket. Popping it in my mouth and slowly chewing. Looking at the woven floor as I finally mumble something pointed towards Jake, "Virgin."

"What did it call me?!" My eyes widen as Tsu'tey reaches down and grabbed ahold of the front of my shirt. A small scream coming out of my mouth as Jake and Neytiri both shoot up from their spots. Both trying their hardest to get between us and remove me from his grasp.

It had been a little over a month since Jake and I had gotten to Hometree. He had been training hard as a warrior while I learned more about the plant life from the clan healers. Everything was going well for us as time went on, despite the bad start that I had with Tsu'tey. Though he seemed to be convinced that I was in fact talking about Jake and not him after I explained a few human customs that were common among friends.

Jake even had enough approval within the clan that he was able to get Grace to be able to visit. She was shocked about the fact that I hadn't been wearing my mask since we had gotten there. But she was very happy that I was thriving in the environment like she had always wanted for me. She even told me that in another month, I might finally have a viable Avatar to use if I still wanted it even though I apparently could live without it.

But living amongst the Na'vi didn't mean that everything from my life before them stopped. Especially with my unique genetic makeup.

I went over to Jake as he ate breakfast with Neytiri and Tsu'tey. He looked over at me with a smile as I nervously sat down near the group. "Well good morning. You normally don't come and join our group until it's around time for lunch."

I fidget with my fingers as I look at the group, glancing at everyone until I focus on Jake again. "I need your help with something. And I'm only asking because your a good friend and I have to do this today."

Jake's expression becomes serious as he looks over at Neytiri and Tsu'tey. They both appear confused as well when they look at me for an explanation.

I look down at the ground as I bite my lip. My face heating up as I quickly tell them what was wrong. "I'm molting."

"That's it?" Jake seems in disbelief at what I told him. He even laughed a little as he leaned closer to try and get me to look at him again. "That's not too big of a deal. I'm sure you'll be okay."

I glare up at him as I stare him down. Taking a deep breath as I begin to further explain to him the situation. "It is a big deal. I can molt for multiple days sometimes, but I need to get as much taken care of the first day. If not, I could get infections and intense back pains that could last for months. And that's on top of the pain I can normally feel due to having wings."

The smile on his face faded away as I kept talking. His eyes becoming apologetic as he let's out a sigh. "I didn't know it was that big of a deal. Are you sure it has to be today?"

"I'm very sure. Once when I was in high school, I waited two days because I had to focus on studying for some stupid geometry final. When I finally got it taken care of, over half my feathers were gone, molted and perfectly healthy ones. It took months for them all to grow back and I couldn't even sit up in my bed without having someone help me for weeks."

Jake nods his head a little with a serious look in his eyes. "Tell me what you need help with."

"Thank you," I softly mumble as I sit with my back facing him. Slightly spreading my wings for him to have an easier time with helping me. I take a deep breath as I begin to lightly guide my fingers through the feathers. "You just basically brush them with your fingers and let the bad ones fall out. If there are any that are loose but not coming out yet, leave them be. They probably just need a little time to be ready."

It took a few moments, but I finally felt Jake start to work on the back of my wings. I could tell he was hesitant to do it because he didn't want to cause me any pain. As the time went on and I didn't tell him that it was hurting, he began to get a little more confident with each movement.

There was a decent amount of feathers laying around me when I took a small break to look around. Stopping my gaze when I noticed a group of children looking over at me from around a corner a little ways from us. Most of them a little older with what seemed to be their younger siblings. They kept pointing as they whispered to one another. But one little girl stood out as she just stared in awe while looking between the pile of feather and my face.

I smiled a little as I reached my hand out, gesturing for her to come closer. She seemed a little taken aback by my action, but soon smiled as she quickly walked over. She immediately sat down beside me, leaning against my body as she excitedly reached a hand up to touch one of my horns.

"Aen'ya!" Neytiri trys to scold the girl, but I raise my hand to let her know it was fine. Neytiri looked at me with a sympathetic like look. "She is very trusting. But she also still needs to learn to keep her space."

"She's okay. Kids back on Earth would do the same thing. I'm just glad one of the children is doing something other than just pointing from a distance." I smile at Aen'ya as I speak, happy to be a part of her child like excitement. I gently take her hand and she looks spooked by the contact. But she keeps smiling as I move her to sit on one of my legs and hand her some of my discarded feathers.

As she takes them out of my hand, I look back at the small group to see them all looking back in awe. I wave my hand at them to come join as Aen'ya starts to randomly place feathers into my hair. A few of them start to laugh as the excitedly push each other closer as a couple others run off in the opposite direction.

Soon the group comes and sits down closer by as they lightly reach out and touch my wings. They are extra gentle as they laugh with each little handful of fluff they managed to pull out. By the time they have their own little piles, the others that had run off return with their arms full of strings and a couple of baskets full of other little supplies to do whatever they had planned. Passing everything around as a few of them began to hold up a combination of beads they had to my skin with little giggles.

"Wow. You look like you got dragged into a second grade art class," Jake lightly snickered as he leaned back into his original spot once the kids took over for him to get a couple more feathers.

I make a face at him which causes the children to start laughing. But the seem to take his words as an invitation, because a couple of them grab his arms and pull him to sit on the ground. A couple even go the extra mile and do the same thing with Neytiri and Tsu'tey. Neytiri seemed happy with it as she began to help them with what they each were making. Tsu'tey most just sat there with a soft scowl on his face, but he would pay attention to any of the children if they held up something for him to look over.

We all just sit there laughing with one another as the children continue to work on their projects. But soon one of the boys grabs my arm to hold it still as two girls begin tying something around my bicep. I look at it confused until I realized that they had made me an accessory with beads and a couple of my feathers hanging down. Then a few others do the same thing as they tie an anklet on me with wide grins.

I take a look at both pieces of jewelry to see just how uniquely beautiful they were. Smiling as I open my arms out to pull each of them into a hug as a thank you. They all laugh as they begin to lean into my arms for one big hug.

A warm feeling came into my chest as I just held all the children close to me. Staring at each of them as a sense of peace washes over me. Similar to the feeling I had when I watched the movies when I was young. The feeling that I had finally found the place that I truly belong.

~~~

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this little installment. I'm glad for my first request and I'm going to start working on a few other add ons for Silent Treatment and Aggressive Caregiver (I need a masterlist at some point). But have a good day and remember; We are bad bitches, and bad bitches follow boycotting to the fullest. Don't actively give any money to Disney for anything. We're smart and kind people who were raised on revolutions that Disney wrote. I'm sure we can pirate movies from someplace or have the DVDs for the movies. Do your part as best you can. I love you all and stay happy for the year to come.

#avatar james cameron #avatar oneshot #avatar x reader #tsu'tey #tsu'tey te rongloa ateyitan #tsu'tey x reader #jake sully #jake sully x reader #neytiri #neytiri x reader

[msperfect777]

big sister talks : chapter 2

1. if you care about what other ppl think of you, ur wasting ur life

spending time worrying about what other ppl think when they look at you is sooo useless. you are creating imaginary and false ideas of urself thro others. you walk past a group of ppl and you immediately become voice insecurities to yourself. who even are those ppl? they are nothing compared to you. thinking that their “prettier” or “richer” or “smarter” is stupid asf bc all those are just society aspects that are false. there is no such thing as being prettier than blah blah blah. you are you just like she is she and he is he and they are they. we are all our own ppl so why waste time thinking ur less than in other ppl’s eyes? spend that time telling urself how valuable you are. realize that insecurities arent real. theres literally nothing wrong with you. you are perfect period. society may tell you that you arent but who tf are they? you wanna stick to a victim mindset or you wanna be accurate in knowing you are already perfect?

you cant spend all your life worrying about what others think of you. stop being goofy and know that the only opinion that matters is you. focus on the thing that rly matters: you. love urself bc ur the one that will never leave ur side.

recovery tips: dance in front of the mirror naked while listening to your favorite song. notice how perfect your body is. the thought that ur ugly is the same as the thought of your pretty. theres no difference right? so now you know how much of a waste of time it is to think you arent perfect.

think about how the ppl you think are thinking bad about you are a bunch of nobodies. do you think they care about those insecurities you think you have? no. so why would you care and stress about their useless opinions. notice how those thoughts are coming from you. those thoughts say that they are staring at you and that they think you look weird. thoughts arent real🤡. all this is an illusion. so enjoy the ride and dont get caught up in useless little things like thoughts and other random ppl. enjoy yourself bc you can.

2. dont waste your time on male validation

as a female in this society, we are expected to look up to men and please them…first of all.. look at what a beauty you are. you rly think a beautiful being like you would have to worry about pleasing others, especially men?? nahhh. never. remember that that little part of you that feels the need to impress men is just a result of this society. forget about it. the only one you need to impress is you.

recovery tips: know that you are a powerful limitless being. never accept impressing others. your so high up that ppl have to impress you. its never the opposite. listen to bad bitch edit audios. watch iconic 2000s movies. realize that you are the main character. why would a queen and a main character focus on impressing ppl that are already below her??… exactly.

3. be spontaneous and free

go out for a damn walk in the park or wherever. dont even worry about where your going. just walk. just enjoy the moment. get tf off the phone and take some fucking sun. for all my beautiful black angels, we all know that our afros grow towards the sun. you notice how when ppl start to get locs, they get thicker like a tree branch? while afros grow like a tree itself. we are nature. go out to the sun and let it bless your beautiful melanated skin and incredible afro hair. for everyone now: go have fun in the sun. humans are not meant to stay at home all day on they phone like stop being stupid and take a walk wherever.

dont worry and dont plan. just do and it will be exciting believe me.

4. love your beautiful black hair.

when i was little, i didnt know how to take care of my pretty type 4 hair bc my mom didnt have the same hair type as me. i would always look at the girls with straight hair or loose curls and wonder why i dont have that hair type. now im in love with my hair bc i learned to take care of it. the tight curls, the way i can put it in twists or cornrows or leave it in an afro. my hair is so versatile! theres no way i cant love it. idc if ppl call ur hair “difficult” or “too hard” or “ugly”… thats bc they will never know what its like having perfect hair like this. they could neva compare and thats a fact. it took me years to love my hair and i wish all little black babies grow up to know how perfect they hair is.

black barbie hair tips:

get a moisturizing shampoo and deep conditioner. i recommend companies like shea moisture, mielle organics, camille rose naturals, kinky-curly, and there are more just research and try which ever works for your hair

soak your hair in warm water and massage your scalp. use your shampoo and scrub with your finger tips not your finger nails (or else you can get cuts). shampoo 2-3 times.

put ur deep conditioner and when you detangle ur hair, use your fingers and detangle in small sections. do not use a small comb. use a wide tooth comb if you want. then, you can put ur hair in twists and put a cap on or steam it in the shower so that the deep conditioner moisturizes your hair.

rinse and use a moisturizing cream / leave in conditioner and put it on ur hair in sections and comb thro. do big or mini twists to lock in product.

when you have on an afro, do not pick your curls and pull it. this can cause breakage and split ends. when you have twists on, water your beautiful hair with water and some product in a spray bottle everyday / few times a week. think of your hair like a plant, you have to water and care for it.

when you take out your twist of any other protective styles, take your time to reduce breakage. and its better to detangle hair when it has conditioner in it. try using pre-shampoo when detangling dry hair.

spend time understanding your hair. thats how special it is. love it bc its raw black beauty.

everyones hair is different so what i do for my hair and the products i use will not always work you. research your hair porosity and hair types. a hair care journey starts off messy at times but the more it lasts, the easier it gets. you can start off hating your hair but you will soon realize how much of a perfect prize it is 💋

© msperfect777

#self healing #self love #self worth #self care #self impowerment #self improvement

[homestuckreplay]

Well, it keeps happening! Homestuck has put out its third update in as many days, and this one is SO much fun (I keep saying that, but 'fun' is genuinely the best word to describe this thing so far). I love when Being On The Internet is well represented in stories, and John's computer does this right away. John and his chums having incomprehensible matching usernames, John's filenames for his failed programs, and the 'graphic design is my passion' tier wallpaper are all excellent, but easily my favorite joke in the comic so far is Pesterchum having five generically upbeat and happy mood settings and one Evil Angry Mood Setting.

It was definitely a surprise getting to see a whole conversation between John and turntechGodhead, who I guess is officially our second character! They definitely have a bored and disaffected tone compared to John, like they're trying to keep emotion out of their messages, whereas John is 50% Goofing Around and 50% movie trivia. Once again I haven't seen this movie, and while the conversation explains it well enough that I can follow the joke, I'm still missing some nuance (for example, is John exaggerating or being literal when he says it was the 'fifteenth day in a row' Howie Mandel peed in his juice?)

I LOVE the panel on page 28 where, after just seeing the view from outside John's window, we're flipped around and we see it reflected in John's glasses as the shadow of the window crossbar falls on his face. He's just looking up and smiling hopefully and I find myself wondering again about the title - John seems like a happy kid who enjoys messing around in his room, but is he really stuck at home? We learn in this update that he can leave his room, go downstairs and see his dad, but not necessarily that he can leave the house - maybe something always interrupts him when he tries? Is he gazing at the front yard because it's a magical land he wants to visit but can't? We hear about the importance of the tire swing, but there's no indication that John has ever used it.

That's probably an absolute reach and an absurdist interpretation, particularly as everything on page 30 feels so relatable. The bedroom being both a place John is trapped as well as his only safe space pretty well reflects my experiences being a kid, and ignoring a friend's incessant messages even while strictly not having better things to do is something I still do all the time. John is an easy character to connect to, and manages to be an everyman at the same time as being a distinctly Weird Kid (so far, at least, though he could develop more into one or the other as the comic continues).

Bring on the next pages! I'd love to hear from John's other friends soon!

#homestuck #reaction

[mortalityplays]

Only tangentially related to today's ask discourse but I was thinking about this- do you have advice on pushing more out of your comfort zone ie media? I feel like its really easy to say you like or want stuff thats making you uncomfortable or is less palatable to wide audiences etc etc but I have trouble going out of my way to actually experience things like that over more popcorn you know

a good way to start if you're intimidated is to look for curated recommendations close to your cultural comfort zone (I'm focusing on US/UK lists here but you can look for recommendations from museums, libraries, and national award bodies just about anywhere in the world). e.g. the BFI Sight & Sound list or the National Film Registry (for movies), Booker Prize or National Book Award winners for literature

Don't feel like you have to watch/read everything all at once, it's fine to skim for something that sounds particularly up your street and start there. It's also fine to jump right into something intimidating and find out what all the fuss is about! the absolute worst case scenario is that you're bored or underwhelmed and can pick something else next time.

a lot of my film knowledge comes from when I was at university. I discovered that there was an A/V library and viewing room on campus that I could use for free l, so I just looked through the catalogue and started picking out things I'd never seen that sounded interesting. every day between classes I'd go, pick a title, and spend a couple of hours giving it a try. I watched Blade Runner for the first time in a darkened basement booth with headphones on, and The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, and Wild Strawberries, and Persepolis, and countless other weird and wonderful things. sometimes I picked something incredibly boring or something that annoyed me, but I always came away feeling good that I'd expanded my knowledge of what was out there.

once you do start finding new things you like, a whole other path opens up to you. you can dig deeper into the work of one writer or director or actor, look up interviews and find out who inspired them. if you loved a specific book, see if the author mentioned any direct influences, or if critics compared it to something else you might enjoy. you get to start building these maps in your head and getting a sense for where different things fit, and it becomes easier and easier to hunt for hidden treasures.

finally! if you can find a group of friends (or even just one person) who is interested in taking this journey with you, start a club. take turns to pick something you want to explore, share the journey, and discuss it as you go along. keep sight of your purpose, whether that's to broaden your horizons beyond your home culture, take on more challenging works, or just be better informed. take it a step at a time, and learn to enjoy the experience of exploration even when you don't like something. figuring out why we hated Lady Chatterley's Lover is some of the most fun I've had with our book club yet. introducing friends to The Left Hand of Darkness and getting hype about it with them was just as good. love the process and you'll change your life.

#I hope this helps!!! there's no wrong way to tey new things as long as you're making a good faith effort to engage with them

[konata-izumi-kinny-writes]

Rescue Bots x Reader romantic hcs

Seperate

[A/n: I know its weird that i like these four. Shish.]

Anyways here yall go.

Heatwave

Beeg frumpy man

Literally just picked you up and said, "I love you. You're mine now." And walked off with you

Hes a tsundere at first but grows softer the longer you're with him.

Fr he needs someone who'll listen to him rant or smth without making fun of him

Give this big boi a hug

He'll be confused, but he'll grow to like it

Kiss the big man.

He got BIG soft lips, well, big compared to you but you get the point.

You may be wondering how the flip they're soft.

The answer is, 'a flip ton of bendy cords and fuel lines layered with some memory foam and waterproof carbon fiber cloth' (same goes for the others)

Another thing you can do is pepper his face plates with kisses

Automatically starts blushing.

VERY protective and lowkey jealous

He carries you around like a baby. Theres no reason for it, thats just what he does. If Kade has any snarky remarks to say about it, you bet Heatwave is gonna clap back with something better.

Treats you like glass.

You're just so teeny tiny compared to him and he doesn't want to hurt you.

He'll feel absolutely terrible if he does.

Despite all of that though, he does generally treat you like a normal person. As well as letting you have your own life.

Do NOT make self deprivating jokes around this dude. For multiple reasons.

1, they make him stressed and sad (he won't admit that hes sad in front of the others tho)

2, It automatically triggers him to be even MORE protective

3, Heatwave will aggressively tell you how much he loves you and how pretty/handsome you are

For example,

'*Squishes your face with his fingers*, "Shush. You're fragging amazing. Say anything like that again, and i'm snuggling you for the entire godamn day."'

He doesn't yell at you though. Just has an aggressive tone.

He does the same for any insecurities you have too.

Oh, and he means every word he says when it comes to his bellicose praises.

"...I warned you, Dear."

*proceeds to pick you up in his hands and lay down somewhere while holding you against his chassis*

LOTS of kisses. Like for real you'll be out of breath when he's done with you.

It doesn't end there either.

He sometimes puts you in the passenger seat if there's an emergency so he can still keep an eye on you.

Depends on the emergency

He gets angrier than usual if you're the one in danger, he only calms down once you're safe.

Chase

He loves and supports you so much aaa-

He was VERY blunt when he confessed to you

"(Name). Forgive me for saying but I have fallen in love with you, and wish for you to be my conjunx endura. You don't have to feel the same, but you have the right to know."

He was lowkey surprised when you said you felt the same

Chase proceeded to kneel down and pull you into a hug. You responded with hugging him back along with a kiss on the faceplates, the rest is history.

He loves any kind of affection you give him, just don't use sarcasm, he can't pick up on it.

His love language is usually physical touch, words of affirmation, and quality time

Chase only wants three things from you throughout this relationship.

Your happiness, your affection, and your safety.

Though he does want to keep you safe he's not really overprotective.

He insists on carrying you if you're somewhere where one of them could step on you.

You used to go on patrol with him...

Until you almost got merc'd by a haywire lawn mower.

Since then you stay at base, and he always looks forward to seeing you run up to him when he gets back.

Hes not a fan of scary movies, but he'll be fine if you're holding his hand or hugging him.

Bring an inhaler, you'll need it for how much he'll make you laugh

At this point he's still trying to learn human culture... that (un)fortunately includes slang

"(Name), look. I have acquired an 'annelid on a string'"

"Dearest conjunx, what is 'Goated with the sauce' and why does a caprine have a condiment?"

"(Name), what does it mean to 'simp' for someone?"

Whether you feed this fire or not is up to you.

Pet names include; Dearest, Honey, Love, My Light, My Conjunx Endura, ....scrinkle (I'm not sorry)

Despite the mixups with slang, hes still pretty damn blunt.

Not to mention, even with how monotonous Chase is pretty romantic when hes talking to you.

This means that you can tell that he's being honest whenever he starts whispering sweet nothings to you.

And Chase mean everything he says.

And he always looks you in the eyes when he says one specific line, just so you know he really means it.

"I love you"

Blades

Oml hes so friggin nervous.

He didn't confess to you... Kade did

He heard Blades talking to Dani about you so he decided to mess with him.

"HEY (NAME), BLADES TOTALLY HAS A HUGE CRUSH ON YOU!!"

"NO I DON'T, SHISH!!!"

He only admitted it once you said you felt the same

"...you do!? This isn't a cruel joke right?... I.. love you too."

He leaned down and gave you a kiss on the forehead

HES SO SWEET TO YOU

Lots of snuggles, hand holding, kisses, hugs, carrying you around, you name it!

Flip, he loves touching you in general.

You're just so squishy compared to his kind, he can't help but be enamored

Big touch-starved snugglebug

He likes watching tv with you on his chest

Sometimes the baking shows he comes across motivate him to bake something for you.

Half the time its good, half the time it isn't.

Pet names are; Sweetie, Honey Bunny, Cupcake, Lil Squisha, and My Spark if he's feeling really romantic

Don't yell at him please :(

He will be more anxious and sad if you do.

Its enough from others, it hurts more if its from you.

Unless you're happy and excited. He'll be yelling with you.

Very protective and jealous

He isn't too overbearing with it though

Hes just nervous and scared

Nervous about something/someone hurting you, and scared that someone will take you from him.

Thats why he doesn't take you with him on missions, even with how much he misses you.

Please comfort him when hes scared, he REALLY needs it.

Blades loves your laugh so much

He'll find the cheesiest jokes to say just to get the smallest noise out of you.

He'll be very impressed with whatever talent you have, and will try his best to support you.

KISS THE BEEG NERVOUS BOIBOI

He needs it... badly.

Will immediately turn blue and get extremely flustered, but he loves it and won't stop you

He gives you little trinkets he finds at random... well, they're little to him.

"Y/N! I got something for you :3" *Proceeds to place the biggest tumbleweed you've ever seen right in front of you*

Sometimes, Blades legit out of nowhere picks you and and carries you somewhere where nobody else is around

He proceeds to lay down and put you on his chest

Totally peppers your face in kisses before looking you right in your eyes and saying how much he loves you.

"I love you so much, Honey bunny. You're my little cupcake and i won't give you up for anything or anyone. I promise."

Boulder

Hes so sweet to you

It took some encouragement and advice from Gram for him to confess to you, but he did it!

He went out and picked a bouquet for you too

He sat down criss cross applesauce and told you how he felt after taking a deep breath.

"(Name)... I have.. developed some strong feelings for you.. romantic ones. You don't have to say yes, but i still want to ask.. will you please be my love for life?"

You of course said yes and gave him a hug before he could even give you your bouquet

He closed his eyes and returned the hug, all the while rubbing your back.

Dates at the zoo are a must. Obviously. Like cmon now. This is Boulder we're talking about.

Will bring you random plants and animals and ask if he can keep them

If not that, then he'll pick flowers and other plants for you. Ofc he makes sure theyre not spiky.

He paints for you.

GIVE HIM SMOOCHES

Theres nothing he loves more than your lips

Well- he loves your tummy too.

Its a tie

ANYWAYS-

SNUGGLE THE BIG HIMBO HE NEEDS IT

(They all do but you get the point)

Like Heatwave, he carries you like a baby. But he just does it because he thinks you're cute.

Like for real, to Boulder, you're the cutest little fleshy he's ever seen.

Until he sees a baby.

He looks at you with the most "🥺" expression ever

"[Name]-"

"No we're not having a baby, bubbas. Sorry"

"🥺"

His pet names for you are; Dearest, Bunny, My Flower, Small one, Sweetie, Dove, Angelfish, Wifey/Hubby/Lovey (whichever you prefer or identify as)

He loves you, but no. You can't go w him on emergencies.

Literally on the verge of tears if you're the one in danger

If that happens, prepare to be snuggled for 3 days straight.

#rescue bots x reader #heatwave x reader #chase x reader #boulder x reader #Blades x reader #konata izumi kin writes #transformers x reader #this is cringy

[starlightsearches]

I have a request for Eddie x Reader where the reader is his best friend. They’ve been best friends for years, and are extremely close, sharing everything with each other. While hanging out and teasing one another the reader admits to Eddie that she’s worried she’s not good at giving head, (maybe an ex made a comment or something.) Eddie laughs at first, thinking she’s joking, but when he realizes she’s seriously upset about it he tries to comfort her. She ends up asking him if she can blow him to see if she’s bad at it and he’s reluctant, because he’s secretly been in love with her for a while, but eventually let’s her. She’s in love with him too, which is partially why she’s wanting to blow him. After or during the blow job she finally admits to him she’s loved him for a while. (Bonus points for praise kink/princess or good girl used)

Feel free to change anything to make it work for you! Thanks in advance.

What Are Friends For?

This was such a fun idea, bestie! I'm sorry it took me so fucking long!

Eddie Munson x F! Reader / 4.4k words

18+ only, best friends to lovers, pornos, oral (m recieving), fingering (f receiving) praise, nicknames for reader (princess, sweetheart, babe), language.

When Eddie asked you to run some errands with him, this wasn't what you had in mind.

You'd never been in the back room of Family Video—the bold, red 18+ only sign had kept you far away even after the warning stopped applying to you. But Eddie breezed past the curtain like he fucking lived there, so of course you had to follow. 

It's really not that exciting. Just a bunch of shelves—the same ones they have in the rest of the store—and if you don't look anywhere for too long, it's like you're watching him browse for a regular movie. 

Kind of.

"Hey, look at this," Eddie laughs, flashing one of the covers in front of you. It's a picture of a girl—half-naked but wearing a wide-eyed expression—a cheap replica of the Freddy Krueger glove reaching towards her tits, covered demurely with the palms of her hands.

"Ew, Eddie! Tell me you're not actually watching shit like . . . Wet Dream on Elm Street?"

You'd only been back in Hawkins a day or two—finally home from your first semester of college—but you're glad to see that things with Eddie are the same as always. After the shit storm the last few weeks had been, you needed this to be normal . . . or at least, as normal as it can be when you're shopping for porn together.

Eddie scoffs, but he places the tape back in the same empty space on the shelves. "Jesus, when did you turn into such a prude, princess? I thought going to college was supposed to fix that."

Ouch. Eddie may know you better than anyone, but that doesn't make him a mind reader. You shrug the comment off, despite the sting. "Guess it didn't work on me."

Leaving Eddie where he is, you sneak off to a new aisle, one where you can feel a little more comfortable letting your eyes brush over the lewd pictures to satisfy your curiosity, if nothing else. It's actually kind of . . . fun, in a weird way—comparing the sex appeal of all the bare-chested men stretched out on silk sheets, laughing at the cheesy titles. 

Until you catch Brian's eyes staring back at you from the front of one of the video tapes. 

Then there's his shining, wet smile, the feeling of his hands slipping against your skin in the darkness of somebody else's bedroom, heavy breaths and muffled music and is this okay?

"Blowjobs, huh?"

You flinch, heart stuttering when you turn towards the voice, feeling stupid for getting so worked up. It's just Eddie.

"What?"

He points to the same video that shoved you into the spiral. On second glance, the man doesn't really look like Brian—older, for sure, with a little less boyish charm . . . and a much bigger dick bulging against his underwear.

There's a girl on her knees in front of him, dainty hands planted on his thighs, and you wonder if you'd looked like that when it happened—all coquettish and doe-eyed, pink tongue hanging out of your wide-open mouth. 

Maybe then he would have called you back. 

"Oh, no, I was just—" you swallow hard, skin itching where it grows warm across your chest. You don’t get the chance to think through what you say next. "What does it feel like?"

There's a little crease between Eddie's knitted brows.  "What does what feel like?"

"Um, getting your dick sucked?" You're all hot with shame, but Eddie's hardly phased. 

"It feels awesome. Why?"

You could brush it off. He'd take your words at face value if you hit him with a just curious, but you're tired carrying this secret, and the longer it sits inside of you the more it feels like you're lying.

"You remember that guy I told you about, right?" 

Eddie frowns. "What guy?"

"You know . . . Brian. The one from my Creative Writing class?"

"You never said anything about a guy," he says, and the tone of his voice is hard as he doubles down. 

Damn him. Eddie had been paying more attention than you'd given him credit for in those weekly phone calls. You had to keep most of the conversation PG anyways—since there was always somebody waiting for their chance to snatch up the hall phone the second you'd set it back on the receiver—but you could have told Eddie about the whole thing without mentioning any of the nitty gritty. 

If you had wanted to. 

"Maybe I forgot." You shrug, pretending to browse, like Eddie wouldn't see through that act in half a minute. "Anyways, we went out a couple of times right before finals, and kind of . . . hooked up at a party and I went down on him. I dunno, I thought he might've liked me, but he stopped calling me back."

Eddie lets out a sharp sigh. "Christ. What an asshole." 

"You don't know that," you snap, feeling oddly defensive, "maybe it was bad." Maybe I was bad, you think. 

But that just makes him laugh in his distinctly Eddie way. "Unlikely, babe."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, it means that getting your dick sucked is pretty much always great," —he shrugs one shoulder, eyes tracing along the shelves again without seeing anything— “besides, you’re good at everything.”

You've developed a sudden, irresistible interest in ceiling tiles. "Whatever."

The silence between you is uncomfortable, and loaded like a gun, neither able to look at each other but both too flustered to look anywhere else.

"Well," Eddie cuts the tension in a voice that rides the line between serious and ironic, "there is one way to improve your technique."

He's got the not-Brian video again, waggling it in front of your face. 

Your first instinct is to slap it out of his hand, but you manage to keep your arms down, turning away from him instead. 

"Gross, Eds," you mumble, but just thinking about it still makes you warm between your thighs.

The more Eddie waits, though, the more he's convincing himself of it. He leans up against the shelf with his idea face on. The one that always comes before trouble.

"You wanna learn, right? Then you gotta learn from the best."

He holds the video out to you, but this time you can tell he's serious.

"I can't, I- my parents would see."

"Okay. I'll check it out for you." He adds it to his stack with the other video he’s grabbed before tucking it under his arm. You lunge for the tape, eyes wide, boxing him out with your shoulder when he reaches for it. Eddie doesn’t hold back, leaning all his weight against you until you’re pushed against the shelves, the hard slats digging into your chest and thighs.

You’re a little too old for play-fighting, but that’s not what’s got you all embarrassed. Eddie’s body smothers yours, warm and soft and so much fucking better than you’d imagined it, and he’s making these little grunting noises in your ear, trying to get a hold of the tape.

Oh fuck. 

You let him take it. Not the best option, but it’s more mature than throwing the fucking thing across the room, and that’s not a conversation you’re willing to have with the guy at the front desk. Eddie’s distracted enough by his success that you can finally slip past him, into the open air. He adds the tape triumphantly back under his arm, wearing a cheeky grin. 

The victory’s gone to his head, clearly. “Should we go, or do you want to find another one while we’re here?”

"I don’t have anywhere to watch it, Eds." You’re still breathing hard, and the heat in your cheeks won’t dissipate. 

“Watch it at the trailer, dummy."

"Okay,” you laugh, “what are you gonna do while I'm watching porn?"

He shrugs, looking down at his hands, picking some dirt out from under a nail. "We needed something for movie night, anyways.”

Jesus. That stuns the laughter right out of you. "This is different, Eddie."

He’s got this smile on when he gets in your face, your favorite little cheeky, shit-eating grin that makes your heart flop around in your chest. 

"Why? You worried you're gonna go all crazy with lust, baby? You afraid you're gonna fall in love with me?" He bats his big eyes at you, just joking again. 

Like you needed a reminder of what got you in this mess in the first place. Fuck somebody else to get over Eddie Munson sounded like a way easier thing in your head.

Still, it's not the worst idea ever. You mull it over, chewing on the thought like a tough piece of meat. Watching a porno with your best friend would be all kinds of awkward, but it also might be the least embarrassing way to get the answers you need.

Which says a lot about how dire your situation is. 

Eddie misreads your silence, slipping the tape back from underneath his arm, holding it out to you, a peace offering. “Listen—we don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

You keep your hands at your sides, eyes flashing between Eddie’s soft brown ones and not-Brian’s on the box. 

"Do you think- do you think it would actually help?"

Eddie makes a sound like I don't know, shrugging his shoulders. "There's one way to find out." 

He’s right about that. You dig your nails into your palms and let out a heavy breath.

"Okay . . . but let's find a different video." 

The couch cushions are squishy beneath your palms, and you rock back and forth, eyes anywhere but the TV or Eddie. He’s on one knee in front of the wobbly little stand, bent in half and fiddling with the controls, pretty cavalier about the whole thing as he tosses the case on the floor. He flops down beside you once he reaches the couch, grabbing a pillow off the floor and tossing it in his lap.

"Comfortable?" 

Eddie leans over, sticking his fingers in your side until you squirm and let out a few little high-pitched giggles that sound nothing like your usual laugh. 

"I'm good, Eds."

He hums a sound, making it clear he doesn’t believe you. You hope the whirr of the tape will cover how heavy you're breathing. 

It doesn’t start out so bad. The screen lights up with the little blonde girl from the cover lying spread out on the red sheets. She shifts around for a few seconds, posing seductively while the guy—who looks nothing like Brian, this time—kisses at her pink lips, big and barrel chested, swallowing her body under his as he crawls on the bed. Just kissing and moaning, with loud wet mouths. 

You know, like any other movie. 

Eddie shifts beside you, just settling into the couch cushions, and you try to stay relaxed, gripping at your knees tight enough to feel the bones moving underneath. 

The man pets a big hand down over the woman’s hip as he adjusts for the camera, slipping it between her thighs and pressing tight against the lace of her underwear while she moans, writhing against the sheets.  

It’s getting harder to breathe. Brian hadn’t really touched you the night it happened—just second base—cupping your tits over your clothes while he kissed you all sloppy and wet. You’ve thought about hands under your skirt before, late at night in your dorm—imagining thick, long fingers and heavy rings.

But that part doesn’t last long enough for you to dwell on it. She’s getting on her knees.

The air in the room grows tighter, like saran wrap across your face, and you think Eddie is watching you, the burn of his eyes warm against your cheek. Maybe he is, but you don’t dare check, glued to the screen while the girl slips the man’s cock from under the band of his boxers. 

Jesus. It’s not like you’ve seen that many dicks—just the one—but there’s got to be something wrong with this guy. They’re definitely not supposed to be that big. It looks like a monster from a sci-fi movie, like the chest-burster from Alien, red and throbbing.  The girl can barely wrap her hands around him, trying to unhinge her jaw just to get his cock part way in her mouth.

“You okay, sailor?”

Eddie’s nudging you with his foot, graying sock planted against your clenched thigh. You let your eyes fall closed, counting back from ten. 

“I’m fine,” you tell him, but your voice is tight.

It feels like you’re gonna crack a tooth the way you can’t get your jaw to release, watching on the TV as the big man takes that poor girl’s head in his hands, shoving her down farther and farther over his angry, red, monster dick until she’s gagging, shining tears in her eyes. The retching sounds pour out of the tinny speakers, rattling your whole brain.

“Okay,”—you’re off the couch before you can really think about where you’re headed, fumbling for the power button on the front of the TV, pressing a bunch of others in your haste, stopping when you hear the heavy click. The screen buzzes out with a hum, and you fall on your ass to the carpet. 

You can see Eddie on the couch in the screen’s distorted gray reflection, eyes so big they’re taking up half his face.

“You okay?” he asks, quiet.

It’s hard to know for sure. Your body buzzes with the static of conflicting feelings, like you’re only half-way here.

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. That was just, you know . . . a lot.” 

Eddie clears his throat, and maybe you should turn around and face him, but you’re not sure what he’d see when he looked at you—if all your emotions are just sitting there on the surface of your skin, waiting for him to pick them apart.

 “Yeah,” Eddie hums, “they’re not all that intense, though. We could always go find another one.”

“I think the one was enough.” 

You try to laugh, to show him that it wasn’t his fault you couldn’t handle it. Maybe that’s why Brian had left you in the dust. He was probably looking for a girl to give him something like that. Maybe all guys were. And that’s got you feeling really small. 

Eddie crawls from the couch, moving to sit beside you, one hand still bunched in the pillow to keep it tight against his lap. 

“It’s no big deal, sweetheart. We could always—”

Whatever he’s about to say next though, you’re not even thinking about it—too busy putting the pieces together for an entirely different puzzle.  

“Are you hard?” you blurt the question out.

Jesus fucking Christ. 

Eddie flushes, and that’s answer enough.

Your mouth floods wet and hot, and you curl your fingers into the carpet, trying to swallow it all back down. Now is not the time to think about Eddie’s cock in your mouth. There is no good time to think about your best friend’s cock in your mouth. Thinking about his rings catching in your hair, the way his head would fall back as you tasted him, his deep voice full of whimpered moans and praise while you sucked the soul out of him. 

“I mean— we were just watching porn, so it would be normal, you know, if you were.”

“I, uh, yeah. I can’t help it.”

He laughs, maybe to make you feel more comfortable, but it’s got you wishing the floor would raise up and swallow you. You should have kept your fucking mouth shut. 

“Oh.”

A few beats of silence pass, and you wonder if you’re ever gonna be able to come back from this, or if you’re gonna spend the rest of your life wishing you could drive into oncoming traffic. 

“Why’d you wanna know?” He nudges you on the shoulder, and your hands find their way to your cheeks, pressing in until it hurts, trying to hide from him and to stop the sting of tears at the back of your throat.

“It’s stupid,” you whisper.

Eddie takes both your wrists in his gentle, calloused hands, tugging until he can look you in the eyes.

“Now you gotta tell me, princess.”

His thumb traces little shapes on the inside of your wrist, and there has to be some kind of magic he’s hiding from you, because you’re actually thinking about telling him the truth.

“It’s really dumb, okay? I just thought . . . if I’m gonna learn . . .”

What you don’t say is that he’s the only person you trust enough for something like this. You don’t tell him that it feels like your only hope. You don’t tell Eddie how badly you want it to be him. 

His thumb stops right against your thrumming pulse.

“Oh.”

“Sorry, sorry, it was fucking stupid and I should just go—” You’re almost to your feet when he grabs at you again, pulling you to a stop. 

“It’s not stupid.” 

Eddie lets the pillow drop from his lap, and your eyes trace over him—down the Metallica logo on his shirt and his belt buckle and the bulge in his jeans.

The weight of the moment slows your movements, has you straining to meet his eyes before you ask, “are you sure, Eds?”

“Yeah, of course I’m sure,”—he swallows— “if it’ll help you out, yeah.” 

You didn’t expect that. Didn’t think he’d give you a yes, and now you’ve got to ask yourself if it would be better to see Eddie Munson fall apart for you just once in your life, or never at all.

“Should we just-” you gesture back to the couch, and Eddie takes a couple steps in that direction until his knees buckle against the cushions. You slip to the ground with a little help, steadying yourself on the arm rest.

It’s fucking weird, finding your balance with your hands at his thighs, feeling the denim beneath your palms and the soft give of his skin beneath that. Eddie’s taking heavy breaths through his parted lips when you look at him, looking almost as scared as you feel.

“You’re still gonna be friends with me, right? Even if this sucks?”

That makes him laugh, and he nods. One of your hands snakes towards his belt.

“Wait,”—Eddie catches your fingers between his, tugging a little— “do you think we should kiss first?”

“What?”

“I mean,” his cheeks go pink, and he won’t look you in the eye, staring at the hand that’s caught yours while he fiddles with one of his rings, “you’re about to have my dick in your mouth. I just thought, maybe that would be weird, so . . .”

“You think kissing first would make this less weird?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Eddie says, but the dejected look on his face talks louder, “I’m just being stupid—”

You catch his jaw in your hand, pressing your lips to his before you can talk yourself out of it.

Eddie’s kiss is warm and soft after he gets over the shock of it, relaxing into you with a gentle sigh that sends a jolt through you, whole body electrified. Something about him tastes familiar—like he’s been stealing all your chapstick from your bag again—but there’s nothing greasy left on your skin when he shifts, catching your bottom lip between his own. He just tastes like Eddie. 

And you can’t get enough of it. Even when you know that you should pull away—when you recognize that this is more than a friendly pre-blowjob peck—you don’t want to. You press forward instead, just letting your tongue brush the seam of his lips. Eddie smiles against you.

Then he jumps back with a little huh, almost like a moan. You’re surprised to see that your hand had slipped from his belt buckle, tracing the shape of his cock through his jeans.

“Oh,” your cheeks go flush, and you pull your hand back just a little, “sorry.”

“No, don’t be,” Eddie tells you, “did you wanna . . .?”

He glances back down at his bulge. 

“Oh, yeah. Right.”

You slip the strap of his belt through the loops before fiddling around with the buckle. The metal clinks when you push it to the side, jingling a little as Eddie shifts. There’s the soft pop of the button, and the metallic rumble of his zipper, uncovering more and more of Eddie’s blue boxers, and it’s all got you on pins and needles, shaking with anticipation. You keep your eyes on his when you reach inside the fabric, finding him by touch instead of sight.

Oh. Eddie’s cock is warm in your palm as you slip it from the gap in his boxers. He’s a little bigger than Brian was, but not enough to scare you, deep blue veins tracing paths from the patch of dark hair at the base up to the pink flushed head. 

This one only brings the total number of dicks you’ve seen up to three, but Eddie’s is definitely the prettiest.

His thighs are tense under your arms as you explore him with your fist, bouncing your hand just slightly, your thumb tracing one of his veins. Eddie’s trying to keep it together for you—lips pressed tight so you won’t hear the little sounds he’s making, or the pink flush climbing up his neck, but you know, and you see it, and you want more. 

 You lean in just close enough for your lips to hover over the tip, stopping before your lips brush against him. 

“Let me know what feels good?” you ask.

Eddie nods, voice tight. “Just . . . start slow.”

Easy enough. You let some spit collect at the front of your mouth, coat the tip of your tongue with it before parting your lips against his burning skin, just wide enough that you can take the head inside, sealing your lips under the seam. 

“Yeah, shit, just- just like that.” 

You’ve hardly done anything—just circled your tongue around him, pressing at the slit a little, but Eddie’s acting like you’ve fucking put a man on the moon, curling one hand in your hair, the other in a white-knuckle grip against the couch cushions. You take a little more of him, and the stretch isn’t so bad when you glance up through your lashes. 

Eddie’s got his head thrown back, jaw taut and chest heaving, and it’s got you wondering if he was right earlier. 

Maybe you are good at everything. 

The praise goes straight to your head, of course, confidence doubled knowing that Eddie likes the way your mouth feels around him, and wasn’t that what all of this was for? 

“Fuck, princess, that’s so fucking good. Fucking perfect.” 

The hand in your hair guides you, but gently, as you bounce up and down on his cock, tugging a little at your roots until you whine. There’s a swell of pleasure in your belly, one that travels straight to your cunt when he groans, and you know you’ll be thinking about this moment for a long time, every night you’re alone. 

You’re getting far enough down that you can feel the head of his dick nudging at your soft palate, eliciting a soft gag each time your head dips to kiss the edge of your fingers. Some spit leaks down from the seal of your lips, and you spread it with your palm, coating all the spaces you’re not going to be able to reach.

And Eddie’s so fucking loud—just the way you want him—whining and babbling as his hips shift and his dick twitches and you’re sure you’re gonna make him cum some place besides your dreams.

“Jesus, princess,” Eddie pants, and he can’t get a whole word out between his heavy breaths, “knew you’d be good at this. Never could stop thinking about you on your knees for me.”

What?

Maybe he forgot you were here. Maybe he’s thinking about somebody else to get through this, imagining their lips and their hands, but you don’t think so, even if it’s always seemed impossible. With the way he’s cupping the back of your head so gently, how you can feel his muscles shift under the palm of your hand, you know Eddie’s too far gone to lie to you. 

And maybe that makes you a little crazy, doubling your efforts as you hollow your cheeks around him, letting your tongue lave over his sticky tip, tracing the shape of him until he can’t help himself.

“Jesus, fuck, baby—” he’s trying to pull you off him, maybe embarrassed about how easy it was for you to get him so close, maybe worried that you don’t want a mouthful of his cum. 

But that’s exactly what you want. You hear his deep groan, feel it shaking in your chest as it drips down your throat, and you swallow every drop of it.

“Jesus H. Christ.”

That’s all Eddie has for you when you finally pull off him, eyes blown wide and expression slack. For the first time, you let yourself think about how pretty he is without the accompanying guilt. 

When he gets a hold of himself, he can’t meet your eyes, too busy tucking his spit-coated dick back into his pants to look at you.

You crawl up on the couch beside him, just watching, smiling too wide. It makes your jaw ache, but you can’t help it. Eddie’s all embarrassed when he finally meets your eyes. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” you tell him, scooting a little closer, pressing chest to chest. It’s your turn now to be a tease, after all the shit he’s given you. “I’m just wondering how long you’ve had your little crush on me.”

“Okay,” Eddie blanches, looking for some kind of escape route, but you’re not giving him an inch, “it’s not that big of a deal . . .”

“Yes it is, Eddie. Because, if we’re being honest with each other now, I want you, too.” 

Eddie’s hand shakes when you take it in your own, trembling against your thighs when you press it up your skirt, holding against the soaked fabric between your thighs. He lets out a little surprised breath, eyes searching. He looks scared to death of you. 

“Oh, fuck. Really?”

You hum, pressing his fingers tighter against your core until one slips between your lips, right up against your dripping hole. 

“Since I made one of your fantasies come true, why don’t you return the favor?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nods, like he still can’t believe his luck, “okay.”

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x f!reader #eddie munson x female reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson #eddie the freak munson #eddie x reader #stranger things fanfic #my writing #requests

[azrielgreen]

Hey, I was just wondering how you stay motivated to write. I used to be really good at creative writing in school, but I fell off with it and don’t feel I’m half as good as I was. I have some amazing ideas in my head but fear I can’t execute them that well. Or I start something and have no will to finish! Does it come naturally to you? Do you find it hard to stay on task some days? Thanks.

Hi, thank you for this important question. I think so many of us struggle with this and it's really important to share in it.

Firstly, I believe that energy is cyclical. It waxes and wanes. We have to respect the times when we can't do as much as we could the week before, the month before even. Creative writing requires creative inspiration, hence why writing can feel so easy when you're newly inspired by a hyperfixation. All energy ebbs and flows, though, so there absolutely will be times you need a gentle break to indulge in things you love again. If you plant seeds in the same nutrient-depleted soil over and over again, what grows there will be void of minerals and vitamins.

When you find yourself starting new stories (because that feels SO GOOD) but being unable to finish them, you know you're running low on creative sustenance. You can only go so far and what's worse, your brain - a dopamine hungry thing - will notice that you get a little rush when you start something new, but get nothing much from forcing yourself to push on with it and it will annoyingly guide you towards that kind of thing unless given balance.

Looking after yourself and romanticising your process as much as is ✨HUMANLY POSSIBLE✨ and even beyond is always what I recommend. When writing starts to feel like work, get away from it. Take a break, find new songs, watch new movies, write other stuff, weird new stuff that's just for you. Move your furniture around, make a candle, go for a swim, but don't write for a week at least. Then come back to your desk, light some candles, make a new playlist, let the air in and go absolutely fucking wild.

This is what I do. I make a huge fuss of my process, I treat myself to little things before I sit to write, I make the house nice, I check off errands first (this is actually very helpful too - the uncluttered mind), and I light candles, play Debussy and drink my tea while holding onto the fucking JOY that will come from "that scene" I have planned in my head.

Doing this a little bit every day helps build momentum. I don't push myself as hard as I did before, but I do write every day (outside of monthly breaks), in one way or another and I make it a beautiful indulgent process rather than a harsh grind. Writing everyday, even just 200 words, helps get movement and momentum flowing, helps build your confidence again and above all, prevents burnout. Taking breaks is essential too as I said. I have creativity days where I do new things, open myself up wide to the universe and it's on those days I usually realise how easy it is to close myself off and hold tight to the feeling of "writing felt good before, it felt good again, it's all I need". Writing isn't enough, comments and kudos aren't enough and they should never become what it's all about. If you write ONLY for those things, you'll live in a perpetual state of stress, insecurity and disappointment because those things will fade regardless.

Write for yourself. Make it a process you look forward to. Go wild, have fun, indulge, explore, stay open, look after your body and your mind and let your spirit touch nature once a day. Don't let other people dictate how you spend your energy and above all, please, don't compare yourself to others.

This is what I do.

All my love to you.

Az.

💜💜💜

[talas-first-lady]

Ok so I'm not going to be able to do this whole thing for femslash feb but I'm excited about the idea so I have to talk about it.

I was trying to determine what Disney movie would be the right fit for Spooner and Astra and then I realized that it's not a Disney movie at all.

It's Anastasia.

I will be shamelessly smashing together the animated movie and the stage musical because I feel like it (but mostly because musical Dmitri actually has a backstory).

Anya - Spooner

I know what you're thinking. Astra is obviously the princess of the two. But let's compare.

They both have happy childhoods that are suddenly destroyed by someone killing their family. They get away under extraordinary circumstances but with significant memory loss. When they're found, nobody can figure out who they are or where they came from. The memories they do have make no sense and are dismissed by everyone. They grow up to be weird loners. Eventually they cross paths with other weirdos who take advantage of the fact that they have these bizarre holes in their histories.

But it accidentally leads to them finding out the truth about who they are and reconnecting with their families.

Dimitri - Astra

They're also orphans, but they know exactly where they came from. They were on their own in very difficult circumstances from a young age and had to learn to con and steal and use their heads to stay alive. They're sarcastic and always put themselves first because that's the only way they've been able to survive up until now.

And then they get stuck with Anya/Spooner and have to learn to actually cooperate with someone for once. It does not go well.

Until it does.

Until it does.

Oh, and those extraordinary circumstances that made Anya/Spooner survivors of what happened to their families? Guess who was there?

Anyway, they accidentally reunite Anya/Spooner with their families. And then Dimitri/Astra has that moment where they realize that the only way Anya/Spooner get their happy ending with that family is if Dimitri/Astra loses them.

But Anya/Spooner figures out a way to get the family and the boy/girl.

Anyway, I can't find gifs for all of the side characters but

Pooka - Gideon

Vlad - Nate (but maybe a little bit Behrad because I can't see Astra and Nate voluntarily coexisting)

Sophie/Lily - Zari

Rasputin - wow, I wonder which Legend would have sold his soul to demons for personal game. That's a thinker.

Bartok - Gary

#legends of tomorrow #esperastra #anastasia

[ben-talks-art]

The way Bendis wrote Miles during his run of Ultimate Spider-Man had very interesting ideas but not the best execution

Now I just want to make this clear, I like Miles' initial runs and his character, I'm not someone who goes "Oh, things only got better once Bendis left!" No, I do like a lot of things in his run.

But I do have a few problems that I want to talk about a little.

The premise of someone taking the mantle of one of the greatest heroes of their time and trying to live up to the expectations and pressure while also trying to get out of his shadow and learning to be his own thing is honestly a great idea and a very relatable thing for teens to connect with since so much of being a teenager is (thanks to evolution of social media) about anxiously comparing themselves to others and wondering if they're as good as they should/could be.

He's basically what Hal Jordan was to Abin Sur. He's the new guy that's constantly being compared to the old guy, except he's a kid, which leads to even more anxiety and insecurities.

I also like how, while Peter became Spider-Man due to a lack of action caused by disinterest and arrogance, Miles became Spider-Man due to this same insecurity and fear of not being good enough to do it.

This feels like a nice way of showing the change in struggles through the passing of time.

People back then felt that they knew everything, so they were more arrogant, and people today always feel like they don't know enough, like they're not good enough.

Teens back then felt they were invincible, and teens today feel like they're made of glass. It's a nice way of differentiating Peter from Miles.

The issue was that while the struggles was there, the overcoming of the struggles would often come a tad too easily.

Miles had a bit too easy of a time winning over most of his challenges, almost, ALMOST, in a "Gary Stu" kind of way.

You can even see that in the way Miles's venom blast was basically an "I win" button.

His victories would often feel like they came because the plot says so, not as much because he truly learned a valuable lesson or proved himself. He had great setups for solid character arcs, but often seemed to skip the climax of these arcs and goes straight into the victory.

Bendis just has this weird habit of dunking on his own characters and making their lives miserable and proceeding to say "They matured because they learned how to live with it after enduring a great pain, that's what being an adult is." Like, his characters don't really feel like they finish their arcs, they usually feel like they just learn to accept things suck sometimes, and then they move on.

Like, for example, when he assumes he killed his uncle by accident, we never really see him dealing much with the idea that he needs to learn to control his strength and impulse, he just finds out later on that he died due to a malfunction on his suit. This was a missed opportunity for him to mature a little, and his run has a ton of those, a ton of "Don't worry, Miles, you're doing great just as you are! 👍"

Like... that's not what being a teen is. Being a teen is about messing up and learning why they messed up and how to be better.

Miles was a good boy with a lot of room for good lessons, but the lessons kinda came too fast and easy to him at times so they didn't always carried the weight they could, but you could still grasp the idea of the lesson.

He was a good character, but he definitely needed another hand to unlock his full untapped potential, and the Spiderverse movies did exactly that.

You can see in the way they actually let him be a mess in the movies. The kid makes mistakes, he broke the pendrive that would stop the collider, he was a scaredy cat, he sucked at talking with girls, he didn't had control of his powers, and his initial motivation was revenge, not wanting to help people.

The initial Miles runs were definitely not perfect, but you can still see that there were a lot of good ideas waiting to be used around him, the passing the torch, the anxiety and insecurity, the learning the ropes, and so on, they were all there, they just needed to be properly used.

A lot of people often say Spiderverse basically fixed or reinvented Miles, but I think that's unfair to Bendis, and I feel a more accurate term would be that they "saw the vision" of what he was trying to do and gave it a proper polishing.

They made him flawed, more human, and thus gave him room to actually grow and evolve, and watching characters growing and maturing is always one of the best parts in any narrative.

They took what was good about him and added some much needed elements to enhance and emphasize that good, bringing us the hero we have today.

#miles morales #ultimate spider man #ultimate comics #ultimate comics spiderman #spiderman #spiderverse #Miles was never “just another Peter” #Miles is Spider-Man

[starleska]

Beach Ken as a mint-condition boxed doll: a heartbreaking Kencanon 💔

Barbie is the kind of movie that’s going to inspire a thousand interpretations, and i wanted to play around with some of the ideas within!! don’t take this too seriously - i do think the Barbies and Kens are more like physical representations of ideas, but it’s still fun to think of them as characters 😉 spoilers for the Barbie movie below!!

so the brilliant @avatarmerida/Allisa came up with this fascinating bit of lore for Ken...that Stereotypical Barbie is not really ‘his’ Barbie, and that Beach Ken really ought to have a Beach Barbie has his counterpart. Allisa posits that Weird Barbie may well be Ken’s original Barbie, prior to her weirdification 👀 check out this behind-the-scenes picture from an apparent deleted scene:

i think this is a marvellous theory that ties up some very interesting things about Ken’s behaviour in comparison to the other Kens, and especially why the other Barbies and Kens seem to be quite comfortable with one another (even if the other Kens also felt rejected enough to follow Beach Ken on his patriarchal bender). we get a lot of Ken’s inner workings and self-loathing in a cover of a song he sings to Barbie, ‘Push’ by Matchbox 20:

'Said, I don't know if I've ever been good enough I'm a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving in And I don't know if I've ever been really loved By a hand that's touched me, and I feel like something's got to give'

here we can see that Ken’s deep-seated insecurity isn’t a recent development: he isn’t sure that he has ever been good enough. he makes references to never feeling like he’s been loved ‘by a hand that’s touched me’...this supports Allisa’s idea that Ken has never been played with, or was/is neglected in some way compared to the other Barbies and Kens in Barbieland. i wonder if the ‘rustiness’ he’s referring to is actually his capacity for intimacy. 

if we run with Allisa’s idea of Weird Barbie being Beach Ken’s Barbie, we have to ask: is Ken intellectually cognizant of ‘his’ Barbie being missing, or does he experience this void in a traumatic kind of way - a deep, sinking, emptiness in his gut? the way Ken’s jealousy manifests makes me lean towards the latter, especially with the way that the Barbies and Kens are largely ignorant of how they relate to the dolls that humans play with. here’s a related thought: isn’t it curious how Weird Barbie, the Barbie who has arguably been played with the most, is the one who knows about the human world? this connection seems consistent: the more Stereotypical Barbie was thought about/’played with’ by Gloria as an adult, the more aware she became of the human world. if we take that bit of canon and work backwards, we have to ask...what would happen to a doll who has been played with the least - or was outright neglected? let’s take a look at some more lyrics from ‘Push’:

‘Said I don't know why you ever would lie to me Cause I'm a little untrusting when I think that truth is gonna hurt you And I don't know why you couldn't just stay with me You couldn't stand to be near me When my face don't seem to wanna shine Cause I'm a little bit dirty, oh, well Don't just stand there, say nice things to me' it’s possible that not only is Ken only vaguely aware of why he’s in so much pain: he could be less aware than another Ken with a missing Barbie would be, because he has been played with the least. although the other Kens are about as insecure and dumb as you’d expect from dolls designed to be accessories, our Ken specifically seems to believe there’s something wrong with him: that Barbie hates him and that it’s down to the way he behaves or just is as a Ken. he moves from describing himself as ‘a little bit dirty’ to begging Barbie to do something, say anything that would make him feel good about himself. everything Ken does from his scary jealous-dancing to his upending of Barbieland shows off how badly he wants to be noticed. Ken isn’t just touch-starved: he’s intimacy-starved.

i don’t think this damage is interchangeable with the other Kens; as of the time of writing, it seems that Ken is unique in Barbieland for not having a Barbie as his counterpart. whether or not the other Barbies and Kens were designed to be together, or were paired together during play, it appears that our Ken is the only one without a Barbie who reciprocates his affections in some manner, or understands they are ‘supposed’ to be together. we see this in his song ‘I’m Just Ken’:

'I have feelings that I can't explain Drivin' me insane All my life been so polite But I'll sleep alone tonight Cause I'm just Ken, anywhere else I'd be a ten Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blond fragility?' those feelings that are driving him insane may not be unique to Beach Ken, but i think either the size of those feelings, or Ken’s capacity for dealing with them, is. the other Kens (notably Simu Liu’s Ken, or ‘Ken 2′) seem relatively well-adjusted (for Kens) until Ken returns with knowledge of the patriarchy. perhaps it’s because we are supposed to focus on Beach Ken’s emotions, but it does seem like our Ken has a disproportionate amount of self-loathing, anxiety, arrogance, and a desire to be loved. why is he like this compared to the other Kens? well, i think that our Ken has the wrong end of the stick. he believes that there is something wrong with him - that he is dirty, defective, or broken in some way - but it’s actually the exact opposite. i think that while his counterpart Barbie - Weird Barbie - was played with and loved a great deal, that our Ken was kept in the box, and has never been played with once. 

what would happen to a doll in Barbieland whose self-esteem and understanding of relationships hinges on the way, or how much, they’re played with? when i say i think Ken is a boxed doll, i don’t mean a collector’s item; i’m inclined to believe if he was, he would be able to feel that love the way Barbie could feel how she was played with. i think it’s more likely he’s still boxed, and was forgotten about and never opened. doesn’t it make sense that Ken has so much rage and self-hatred whilst looking physically ‘perfect’, whilst Weird Barbie is more than content despite her body being so physically altered? there’s nothing to suggest that a boxed doll couldn’t exist in Barbieland, but i wonder what that would do to a doll’s psyche...we’re having a real Toy Story moment 😭 hell, we could take this a step further! the emotionally volatile, restrictive, stunted aspects of Ken’s personality could be down to his never having been played with. this could be why our Ken is so insistent that he isn’t allowed to be on a certain part of the beach. this could be why he considers himself ‘fragile’. this could be why Beach Ken wears his emotions on his sleeve and looks visibly more upset than any of the other Kens. self-actualisation was achieved for both Stereotypical Barbie and Weird Barbie because they were thought about, played with, acknowledged...and above all else, Ken craves acknowledgement from Barbie. he ‘only has a good day if Barbie looks at him’. when Ken tells Barbie, ‘I only exist within the warmth of your gaze’...he means it 💔

that’s the idea!! i hope i’m making sense with my ramblings 🙈 fanfic authors, fanartists and theory-makers, feel free to go nuts with this silly little notion...as much as i adore how terrible and arrogant and sexy Patriarchy!Ken is, i would love to see some stuff exploring this angst and him finally getting all the love and attention he deserves 😖💖

#barbie movie spoilers #ken #gosling!ken #beach ken #barbie #barbie movie #starleskatalks #long post

[tunashei]

First Impression of Animorphs!

I'm listening to the Animorphs series while I work, through Animorphs Aloud - a fan made reading of the series. Here are my first impressions/random thoughts about them! Spoilers below if you haven't read them.

Book 8: The Alien

OOOOOOH AX POV! Ax Pov! This is not a drill! I am so hype

Oh the mental imagery of Ax watching the space battle above him while sitting alone in this artificial dome is so...so emotional. The strange disconnect of watching helplessly in a veritable garden of eden as your brother and others fight above you in the cold vacuum of space. I'd like to draw it

And then the absolute terror of being ejected from your ship and falling into the ocean of the nearby planet. Stuck beneath miles of water pressing down on you. Chills

Also now I'm really curious what the surface of the sea looks like if you're looking up at from below many miles

Ooooh we got little diary entries! Very amusing! This book is starting off so strong

Loving the amount of planning for taking Ax to a movie, they've learnt from previous times!

One of the reasons I was so excited for Ax pov is stuff like learning all these Andalite words, and bits of biology, the different ways of observing things. Alien perspective is so interesting

Confession time, I listened to this book before Megamorphs 1 which is before this book in the timeline. So I had no idea was a Veleek was and was rather confused they'd beaten one

I love the regular forays into Ax's Adventures with Food. Please don't eat cigarettes baby

I was cracking up at work for this whole sequence. Got some funny looks.

Going to make a prediction. Seerow's Kindness is referring to Andalites helping out the Yeerks somehow. Also Seerow is Visser Three's Andalite Host.

My man eat with he feet

I'm so here for Ax and Tobias best buds friendship

Ax confirmed canonically hetero this is a sad day for us all :(

Ok why after the semi-disaster of the movies would you take Ax to school, that is one of the most stressful confusing environments for anyone. Also schools have registers they're not going to just let you bring in a new kid

Unless maybe the teacher won't care because they've got a bloody Yeerk dying in their head! The book has predicted this predicament!

However, very unrealistic that the kids fled the room instead of crowding around the freaking-out teacher. You'd spend 20 minutes chasing them out the room and they'd still crowd around the door peeping in.

Oh this is...a bad thing to have hidden Ax. Poor Jake. This whole conversation is very tense. Ax bringing up his brother as if to remind Jake he's already lost HIS brother to this war

Ax is always described as blue-and-tan, implying he's more blue than tan. I have a hard time believing people would think he's a deer from a distance considering his colours

Huh...wouldn't it be weird to never have moonless nights? The stars are always brightest on those days, great for stargazing. I wonder how bright the night would be if you had multiple moons. Or would it not be additive?

Fascinating evolutionary implications from a species having a biological clock that makes them war every 62 years. Some kind of mass population cull? Ensuring only the strongest breed?

Ok this is pretty funny but actually made me reconsider how we appreciate stuff?? Actually kind of mindblowing. We really don't appreciate food as an art form. After I'd listened to this bit at work, my boss gave us all a tin of chocolates. Ate them on the way home and took some time to really savour the flavour. My life is being enriched by these books.

'He was a male-as all human fathers are' Implication Andalites can have female fathers??? Maybe. Would be cool.

Ax totally winning at social interaction

Aw Ax, you are being very brave :(

Huh so this Yeerk controller loved another Yeerk? I could have sworn in a previous book it said they were incapable of love, I think the one where Jake gets infested

Poor Ax. You really feel his struggle in being compared to his brother, now having to take the blame

The yeerk just fuckin bailed out the andalite?! I was not expecting this. You beat Visser Three?!

Aight so the Visser's andalite was not Seerow. He's just...some guy. Ngl was hoping for a bit more info on that, I've been very curious how Visser Three got an andalite which no other Yeerk has acomplished

Although...they're on the home world? Maybe there are other andalite controllers. Ruh roh

You guys are absolutely going to regret not putting this andalite out of his misery. He's literally begging for death and you know the horrors of being infested, and will be an incredibly powerful enemy again if you leave him. I mean, you couldn't even try to lug him out of there? How many people are going to end up killed in the future because Visser Three remains an andalite?

Called it on Seerow's Gift being helping the Yeerks. I kind of get it though I'd feel sorry for any sapient species that had to life it's entire life as a slug in a pool

Winced when Ax confessed his fears of giving humans help that would lead them to be conquerors, and Marco brushing it off. Humans would absolutely become conquerors, it's in our history

Wow. This is definitely my favourite book so far. I expected it would be, I'm very into xenofiction (when a book is written from a non-human perspective) but I think the emotional journey was also great in this. The ending was a bit quick and weak. But overall great.

#animorphs #animorphs aloud #audio book #book #first impressions #reading

[willowwind78]

Bard

So... you might notice this particular miniature isn't exactly like the other one's you see on Etsy, which is where I purchased this when it was unpainted. I dropped him. He broke. I can't find the missing piece that links the illusion to the ball and when I tried to glue his hand back on it didn't fit right. Hence: How Not to Paint Miniatures!

Tip of the day: Don't drop your miniatures on the floor.

Still, he's pretty awesome. I kind of feel like the base detracts from the mini a bit though. That stump is a lot. A bit of distraction. He could have just sat on a rock.

Then again, maybe the stump is where his magic is drawn from. That would be most inconvenient. I find it more likely that his magical power is drawn from the fungi growing on the stump. I wonder if he's thought of that or if he just hangs out on the stump because he thinks it's the only place he can cast spells.

willowwind78 on eBay

I don't mention this very often on here, but I feel the need today. If you like the absurdity and weirdness of my posts, you should check out my YouTube Channel. I currently have 5 subscribers!

Pastor Jen @pastorjen_hntpm

Yes, I am a Pastor. I play role-playing games. I paint miniatures. I play video games. I am goofy. This morning, I wrote a sermon comparing Jesus to the atom bomb because I was watching the movie Oppenheimer. I related the destructive capabilities of the atom bomb and its power to either create or destroy the world to the way so many terrible people use Jesus Christ and his teachings as a way to divide and destroy others.

I am currently having some struggles trying to get my churches videos edited to just my sermons and then uploaded to my YouTube channel so you don't have to watch the whole service from the QuietDellChurch channel just to hear my message. I'd print them but they don't read the same as I deliver them.

My view of Christianity is a bit different than you might think. My Jesus made water into wine, chatted openly and actively with prostitutes, interacted without fear with women who somehow had five husbands that no one questioned how they all died, and thinks everyone has a voice. You might hate me because despite that I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ I do not believe He is the ONLY way to salvation, happiness on earth or any other such thing. Check me out, you might find something that inspires you. God walks with me.

#miniature painting #how not to paint miniatures #painting miniatures #dungeons and dragons #zombicide #etsyfinds #etsy

[yourlocalbimexican]

I Expect You To Die 2 thoughts

context: I bought a Meta Quest 2 at Best Buy two weeks ago and I finally came in yesterday. One of the games I knew I wanted to play was the I Expect You To Die trilogy (I’m a huge sucker for escape rooms, puzzles, and spy movies) I finished the second game recently so here are my thoughts!

SPOILERS FOR IEYTD 2

This game is sooo gooood. Like, WOW I wasn’t expecting this. IMO the first one was pretty okay, nothing extraordinary but entertaining and it taught me what to expect in future titles. Going into the sequel was a whole different experience however.

The opening credits had me hooked from the get go. The va for John Juniper did a wonderful job. John made the game for me. Honestly. The soundtrack was phenomenal as well, which only helped the game. Anyways let’s get into the missions one by one.

(also I will be giving an overall score for each mission, with 10/10 meaning the mission’s puzzles felt complete and compelling, the mission fit what it was supposed to do, and my PERSONAL enjoyment of it. If you disagree, then tell me the comments as to why. I would love to hear your thoughts!)

-Stage Fright-

a simplistic but entertaining mission. Not the best out of the sequel but better than the first mission in the first game. The switch you need to do with the two cans was pretty smart and made good work of the pov depth that VR provides. It did take me a couple of tries when it came to the crossbow shooting but (mostly because I didn’t realize you could pick up the Zoraxis’ agents bolts)Overall: 6/10

-Jet Set-

okay, I’m gonna be honest here. Jet Set is the worst in the sequel. Now that doesn’t mean it’s a bad mission, but it’s the worst puzzle mission out of all the others in the sequel. Most of the puzzles in the mission didn’t feel connected at all. That is what bums me the most. It felt like this mission was a lot of cool ideas combined into a plane mission. The puzzles were fun, but they didn’t make sense when put into a mission. The next mission will better demonstrate what I mean. Overall: 5/10

-Eaves Drop-

This. Mission. Rocks. From the first laser puzzle, to the various desk puzzles. This mission feels so put together compared to Jet Set. It’s begins with you descending into The Fabricator’s workshop, in order to investigate John Juniper, Zoraxis, and any plans the three of them might have. The thing that really makes this mission feel so put together compared to Jet Set is that everything, and I do mean, everything, has a purpose. From the wheels on the board being used to crank open the Mimic Mask, to the manual that describes how to use the bear trap (which comes in handy when the guard shows up near the end). Everything in the puzzle has a purpose towards the mission or lore. I get that not every mission can expand the story of the game (otherwise the games would be over very quickly) but that doesn’t mean that missions have to be completely irrelevant.

Anyways, this part is getting long so I’ll wrap it up. In short, the mission makes full use of its environment to provide multiple fun and engaging puzzles that further the story of the game in a meaningful manner. Overall: 10/10

-Party Crashers-

Come off the trails of Eaves Drop, Party Crashers takes a turn in mission direction. We start off by impersonating Gibson (John’s wine guy) at the wine cellar. Sending John the right wine took more tries than I care to admit. Retrieving the Mimic Mask was clever. Looking into the hat for clues on the Keg puzzle was a nice touch. Eliminating the guards with the gas was neat and the callback to the tutorial mission was just the cherry on top for this mission. Party Crashers was the mission that took me the most time to figure out, but when I finally did figure it out, it was satisfying. Overall: 8/10

-Safe and Sound-

I think this is the shortest mission in the entire sequel. It definitely feels like it is. That isn’t a bad thing per se, but it just makes the mission feel…weird. The speed run timer is 1:30 which is incredibly fast. Considering the mission after this one is so monumental (and the final mission) and the previous mission being the head-scratcher it was, makes Safe and Sound seem small and easy. The most difficult part of the mission was the mirror puzzle even that was fairly easy to solve. I do understand why this mission is this way. It makes the finale seem so much bigger and gives the player a needed brain break from Party Crashers, but maybe Safe and Sound could’ve been a bit more difficult. Just a tiny bit. Overall: 6/10

-Rising Phoenix-

OKAY here we are. At the finale, and I gotta say. It doesn’t disappoint. Compared to the Death Machine mission from the first game, Rising Phoenix makes its goals simple and clear. The math to get there? Not so simple nor clear. My biggest fear for this mission was that it would be too convoluted or not long enough. However, neither fears game to fruition and this mission really shows what the devs can do. My personal favorite puzzles were the battery ones and the final briefcase puzzles.

also, John Juniper’s death was out of left field for me. I didn’t think he would die. I thought we would be able to arrest him or he would fly away on some jet but no. He dies. He died because his ego got in the way of his role and his use quickly left him. A interesting end to a interesting character.

Recently I re-watched Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (highly recommend the Knives Out movies if you love who-dunnits). Anyways, during the beginning of the movie, all the disruptors are mailed a box that has a series of puzzles in it that eventually reveal a card with an invitation to a private get-away on a Greek island. The briefcase puzzle in Rising Phoenix is basically the box from Glass Onion. Multiple different puzzles granting access to one thing. In the movie it’s a invite, in IEYTD 2, it’s the abort button to stop the rocket* from launching. Mind you, the entire briefcase puzzle is on a timer. So when you finally unlock the abort button, what happens? Well in a cruel twist of fate, Doc. Zoe turns off the power and the button no longer works. Worry not however! Remember the battery from early? Well we can use that to provide the briefcase the power and abort the rocket! Sadly the facility will blow either way, but the world will be saved.

this is the type of missions I love. When everything comes together, the reuse of old tools to progress through new puzzles, the clever solutions to sticky situations. This is what makes IEYTD 2 such a good sequel. From the get go there is a pressure to beat Zoraxis and defeat John Juniper and in turn, save the world. The final mission of the first game was lacking the build up, which made it seem very…sudden when it ended. Here? The finale is well expected. We now we are in the third act, and that this mission is do or die. Its just phenomenal. Overall: 10/10

-closing thoughts!-

I do believe that I Expect You To Die 2 is a wonderful sequel and is definitely worth the price. Jet Set (as much as I have said about it) isn’t a horrible level. Its has issues but maybe it’s just not my cup of tea. Eaves Drop’s atmosphere and classic spy elements makes it (IMO) the best level outside of the finale. Party Crashers is a fun, head-scratching follow up, and Rising Phoenix manages to deliver on everything the other missions were building towards. Overall: 9/10. I highly recommend you play it.

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