#this set took me like 4 hours only for tumblr to make it look like crap 😭😭😭😭😭

[justagalwhowrites]

Halcyon - Ch. 3: Why don’t we try to actually get our shit together?

You and Joel come up with a plan. A continuation of Halcyon from the prologue through Ch. 2, a modern no outbreak AU TLOU fic found on Tumblr here.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: Some mild diet talk, no explicit mention of reader's weight or size (beyond she is smaller than Joel but my Joels are all giant, OK? Joel is like 6'5" Joel is a big big man, big big man). Modern No Outbreak AU, No use of Y/N, Slow burn, 18+ only, Minors DNI

Length: 5K

AO3 | Main Master List | Prologue | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

“Sir, I can’t just… Well, I understand that you say that but…” 

Amanda, the sophomore girl who worked the front desk of the English department offices, frowned, phone clutched against her head. 

“I understand that,” she said again. “But she’s a special case, Professor…” She flinched and glanced up to see you coming in, looking relieved. “Sir? Give me just one second and I can check…” She pressed the hold button and lowered the receiver. “Professor, I am so so sorry, I know we’re not supposed to send unexpected calls or emails through to you but do you know a Joel Miller? He’s insisting he’s a friend of yours and…” 

You raised your eyebrows before answering. 

“Yeah, I know Joel. Go ahead and transfer him back to my office. And if he ever gives you a hard time again, tell him to fuck off.” 

Amanda looked relieved and took Joel off hold as you went to the end of the hall and unlocked your door. You didn’t have to share an office like a few other people in your department. One of the perks, you imagined, of being a big name that got the university some attention. But you hadn’t done much with the space yet, the only thing on the wall a framed poster that the dean had waiting for you when you started there. 

Your phone rang just as you set down your bag and you picked it up, tucking it against your shoulder. 

“Yes, what do you want, I’m busy being very famous and important,” you said with a slight English accent. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize best selling authors were such a hot commodity,” Joel said. “Should I make an appointment?” 

“Probably,” you replied. He snorted. “What’s up?” 

“Did you know that you tried to put your number in my phone the other night?” Joel asked. “Note that I say ‘tried’ because what you actually did was put something in my notes that has four numbers and then seven symbols which, if you’re counting, ain’t even the right number of digits.” 

You scoffed. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t change your passcode or set an alarm for 4:30 in the morning,” you said. “Sounds like you got off easy.” 

“You’re a menace.” 

“I know,” you said, smiling a little to yourself. “So why were you looking for my number on a Monday morning?” 

“Because I was looking for your number on a Sunday morning and ended up shit outta luck,” he replied. “Figured I could catch you at work. They got you all locked down over there, huh?” 

“Trying to discourage random readers from contacting me here is all,” you said. “There was a problem with that at Brown right when the book first got popular. I don’t think it’d be as much of a problem now but still, administration thought it was smart. Speaking of which, don’t be a shit to my office aide.” 

“Makes sense, I guess,” he said, ignoring your last comment. “Think you can put me on the list of people who are allowed to talk to you? And on the list of people who are allowed to bring you food?” 

“Bring me food?” You frowned. 

“Well, yeah,” he said. “I was hoping I could do that. Like… today. In an hour or so. If you’re not shaping young minds or whatever.” 

“Don’t you have work?” You laughed. 

“New job starts tomorrow,” he said. “And I don’t exactly have a lot of time without Sarah where I’m not at work.” 

“And you want to see me?” 

“No, I figured I’d just call and annoy your secretary as a new hobby…” 

“Office aide.” 

“You free for lunch or not, Goldie?” He said, exasperated. You resisted the urge to laugh. 

“Yeah,” you said. “Yeah, I’m free. I have a class gap from 11:30 to 2. I can meet you somewhere…” 

“I’ll just come to you,” he said. “Assuming that a fancy schmancy professor will still eat tamale lady tamales…” 

“OK you could have opened with tamale lady tamales,” you said. “Buried the lead there, Miller.” 

Joel laughed. 

“I’ll give you my number and you can text me where your office is,” he said. “Then I’ll have a way to contact you that isn’t fucking gibberish. See you in two hours.” 

You put his number into your phone and texted him. He responded with a screenshot of your note with the message literally none of those numbers are right which made you laugh. 

It was hard to focus as you taught your next class, checking your watch every few minutes to see just how much time had passed. You were keyed up, stomach tight, and you tried to talk yourself down as you walked half way across campus back to your office. 

It was Joel. Just Joel. Sure, before Friday, you hadn’t seen or talked to him in years but falling back into friendship with him had felt so easy so far. He was safe and comfortable. You’d spent every day with Joel once upon a time. 

But that felt so long ago now. You were different people then. Joel was a jock who pretty much just hung out with you and tried to speed run his way through every hot girl in school. You were a geek who spent her entire life either trailing along behind Joel or with her nose in a book. A lot had changed in the last decade and a half. Joel had a kid. You’d gotten married and divorced. Well, almost divorced. Nothing was finalized yet but you’d stopped wearing your wedding band when you moved to Texas even though it still sat on the ring stand on your bedside table. 

After Friday and Saturday, you weren’t entirely sure if you were going to see Joel again. You hadn’t gotten his number and you remembered nothing of trying to put your number in his phone while you were drunk. You weren’t sure if it was going to be a fluke, just a blip on the radar of your lives that had gone on totally disconnected paths for more than a decade, or if this was something that would continue. 

You weren’t sure what you wanted. Losing him the first time had hurt. It might have been the worst thing that had ever happened to you, even worse than losing your mother, than watching your sister sister fall apart in slow motion over the last decade, than your father entirely. Was it something you could survive again? Was it something you’d need to dig back up and talk through with Joel now that you were speaking again? If that was what he needed, was that something you could handle doing? You weren’t sure about any of it. 

But you were already starting to think that you’d go along with anything Joel wanted as long as you got to keep him around this time, just like high school. He’d been the sun and you’d been caught in the gravity of him. You wondered if you’d ever escaped it at all. 

You straightened up your office a bit, not that you’d had much time for things to get too messy. Most things were submitted virtually now, though you insisted on poetry being printed to make sure formatting was maintained, and most of your personal notes were contained to planners and notebooks that were in orderly piles on your desk. You were absently checking your email when there was a knock on the frame of your door and you looked up to see Joel standing there, a foil covered plate in one hand, two glass bottles of Dr. Pepper in the other. 

“Oh my God, is that Dublin Dr. Pepper?” You gaped at him. 

“Technically no,” he said, coming in and setting a bottle down in front of you. “Stopped making it at the Dublin plant years ago but basically the same thing. Hi, by the way.” 

“Hi. And I’ll take basically the same thing,” you said, leaning forward to peer into the hall. “Do me a favor and close the door?” 

He nudged it shut with his foot and you took the bottle, popping it open on the edge of your desk. Joel sat in the chair on the other side of your desk before he followed suit, smirking as he did. 

“I didn’t want witnesses if I broke the desk I’ve had all of a month, OK?” You said. 

“Goldie, I don’t think you could break the desk if you tried,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. You did the same, humming a little in appreciation. You rolled the liquid on your tongue like you would a wine, the bubbles crackling and dancing there before you swallowed it. 

“God, that’s good,” you said. “I can’t remember the last time I had a soda that wasn’t diet…” 

“Christ you sound like a Yankee,” Joel laughed, sitting back in the chair. “That’s a Coke in your hand, darlin’, not a fuckin’ soda.” 

“Oh God,” you groaned and laughed, too. “That was such a hard habit to break! I’d ask my roommate if we had any Cokes, she said no, I’d go in the fridge later and see Diet Pepsi and have a what the fuck moment.” 

“Strange world out there,” Joel smiled slightly, turning the glass bottle that looked so small in his large hands. 

“Are these the tamales?” You asked, nodding at the plate. 

“Oh, shit, yeah,” he said, taking the foil off the plate. The corn husks glistened and you groaned a little. Joel pulled two sets of plastic wrapped silverware out of his pocket and handed you one. “How long’s it been since you had one of these?” 

“I don’t even want to own up to it,” you said, unwrapping the fork and knife. “I’ve basically been on a diet for the last decade of my life, these look incredible.” 

You wheeled your office chair around the desk and sat next to Joel before peeling back a husk and cutting the end off with your fork and taking a bite. Your eyes rolled back in your head and you slumped back in the chair with a satisfied moan. 

“Jesus Christ.” 

“That good, huh?” Joel laughed.You just nodded, mouth full, and sat up to cut off another bite before you even swallowed the first one. “Diet for 10 years?” 

“Yeah,” you nodded, covering your mouth with your hand until you could swallow. “There was the book tour, they wanted me to look a certain way. And… well, my husband has a type so…” 

“Fuck that guy,” Joel said, opening another tamale and taking a bite of it. You rolled your eyes a little. “Mean it, fuck that and fuck him.” 

“Oh, so you don’t have a type?” You asked, brows raised. “Because I seem to remember a very distinctive type in high school…” 

“Oh lord,” he rolled his eyes. 

“Pretty, for sure,” you said, teasing a little. “You definitely seemed to be a bit of a boobs man…” 

“If I were with someone I sure as shit wouldn’t make them fucking diet to be my type,” he cut you off. “He’s a fucking idiot, Goldie.” 

“You’re making a bigger deal out of this than it really is,” you waved him off. 

“No, I’m really not,” he replied. “If we’d been talkin’ I’d have fuckin’ come to Rhode Island and kicked his sorry ass.” 

“Joel,” you rolled your eyes. 

“What?” He asked. “I would’ve. And he’d fuckin’ deserve it.” 

“Anyway,” you said, cutting off another chunk of tamale. “You’ve got a new job starting tomorrow?” 

“Yeah,” he nodded. “It’s one that I’m actually lookin’ forward to, too. Get to be a little more creative…” 

“You don’t normally get to be creative?” You frowned. 

He scoffed. 

“Not on any of the big shit,” he said. “Owners and managers get to do that. They toss me the smaller projects here and there to plan and run, this one is some owner’s suite remodel. Doin’ the bathroom, fancy fucking closet, that kind of shit. They’re letting me run it so I’ll shut up about never getting to do the fun stuff.” 

“How long have you been working there?” You asked. 

“Since I was 20,” he said. “So… fuck, 13 years? Jesus, I’m getting old…” 

“And they’re not letting you do the creative stuff?” You asked, brows raised. 

“I’m apparently ‘too valuable’ runnin’ the crew,” he used air quotes. “They throw a few of these little jobs to me every year but mostly I just make sure shit goes right on site for bigger jobs. Get it all done on time, all that.” 

“Do you like doing that?” You asked. 

“Not really.” 

“OK,” you frowned. “So why are you still there?” 

“Well, mostly because I tried paying my mortgage once with dreams and they told me to fuck off,” he said dryly and you glared at him. 

“You know what I mean,” you said, cutting off a chunk of his tamale. 

“Hey!” 

“Shove it,” you popped it in your mouth before he could take it back. He rolled his eyes. “You’ve been doing that work for a while is what I mean, I’m sure somewhere else would hire you and you could do the parts of it you liked.” 

“What I really want is to start my own company,” he said. “Well, what I really want is to play music but that ship’s sailed. Realistically, I’d like to start my own company. I think I could make some really cool shit if I had the chance.” 

“So do it,” you shrugged. 

“Oh yeah, easy for you to say,” he scoffed. “What, you just write your fuckin’ book?” 

“No,” you said. “It took a lot of work and editing and rewriting and I’m not sure I’ll ever do it again but I did it. You can do it.” 

“What do you mean you’re not sure you’ll ever do it again?” He frowned. “Thought I saw somethin’ about you writing another one.” 

You looked at him for a moment, frowning a little, fork frozen over the plate. You were contracted for another book but that wasn’t something that had made national news, just an item in some industry publications after the press release from the publisher. 

Why would Joel know that?

“What?” He asked. “Why are you starin’ at me?” 

“Oh,” you said. “Just got something on your face…” You dipped your fork into some of the drippings on the plate before smearing it on Joel’s cheek. “Just there, nothing crazy.” 

He pursed his lips and looked like he was struggling not to laugh. 

“You’re the worst person I know,” he said, wiping his face with a tissue from the box on your desk.

You smirked, sitting back in your chair and putting your legging-clad legs in his lap, the way you used to sit with him on the couch back when you were teenagers. 

“I know.” 

“I’m serious though,” he said, the hand not holding the fork going around your calf just like it always had. “What do you mean you might never do it again?” 

“I don’t know,” you sighed, peeling the husk off another tamale and cutting off a bite of it. “I don’t know that I have another story to tell. I’ve been trying to tell another one and I just… haven’t found one. I think I had one good story in me and I told it. That’s the end.” 

“That’s bullshit,” Joel said. 

“It’s really not,” you shrugged. “When I wrote the first one it just kind of flowed. At least the first draft did. I wrote it in about six months after my mom died and Gale…” 

“Brad.” 

You glared at him. 

“Gale,” you repeated. “Edited it and workshopped it with me.” 

“Oh I’m sure he was a fuckin’ natural at that,” Joel said, voice dripping in sarcasm. You glared at him. “What, you’re telling me I’m wrong? I don’t think I am…”

“He was well equipped for the job,” you allowed. “And yeah, it took a lot of edits and rewrites before it was ready to even start trying to show to agents, it was years of work… Who would I do that with now? I don’t know that I can do it by myself…” 

“Do it with your publisher and shit,” Joel said. “Come on, don’t tell me that jackass is what’s holding you back…” 

“It’s not just that. I really don’t know that I have anything else to say. And even if I did…” you took a deep breath. You’d never said this aloud, not even to your agent. “If I did, what if it’s not as good?” 

Joel waved you off. 

“Of course it’d be as good, the fuck are you talking about?” 

“I’m talking about the fact that everyone freaked the fuck out about the fact that my ‘debut novel,’” you put the words in air quotes, “was so brilliant and shit, what if I never write anything better? What if everything I ever make after this is a let down? What if I never do anything good again? Everyone who took a risk on me, everyone who read my first book, everyone who ever thought I could do something will be let down by it. Jesus, one reviewer said it was the best debut novel since To Kill a Mockingbird, how the fuck am I supposed to live up to that? Starting to understand why Harper Lee didn’t publish anything else for decades…” 

 “Goldie,” Joel said gently. “I’m sure you’d write something great.”

You poked at your tamale, staring at it as you did. 

“What if the only great thing I ever made was great because of him?” You asked quietly, eyes darting to Joel for a second before looking back at the plate. “What if it was just fine when it came from me and it only became what it became because of him?” 

“Anything you’d write would be great, got nothing to do with fuckin’ Brad,” he said. “Not sure you can write something that’s not great.” 

You rolled your eyes. 

“Joel, you read the articles I wrote for the school paper,” you said. “I don’t think you’re a fair judge.” 

“And your lit mag stuff,” he said defensively. “Look, I’m not a genius or anything but I’m smart enough to know when something’s great and you’re great, alright?” 

“Yeah, well…” you nudged his leg with your knee. “So are you.” 

He just looked at you for a moment until you frowned. 

“What?” 

He leaned forward with his fork, smearing some tamale drippings on the tip of your nose.

“Got something right… there.” 

You laughed and he squeezed your calf and you cleaned your face before you went back to focusing on the food and life outside of your broader ambitions. Before what felt like too long there was a knock on your door and Alyssa poked her head in. 

“Sorry, didn’t realize you had company,” she smiled, her eyes drifting to where your legs were still in Joel’s lap. “I was just going to put a note on your desk, I figured you’d be at your next class already. Have you written your midterm yet?” 

“Not yet,” you said, looking at your watch and you realized it was far later than you realized and you had less than 10 minutes to walk to your next class. “Shit, I have to go!” 

Joel released your leg from his hold and you scrambled to collect your things as Joel cleaned up the remains of lunch. 

“If you wanted to write midterms together,” Alyssa said as you slung your bag over your shoulder. “Maybe next week?” 

“Sure,” you said, looking around at your desk and grabbing your gold notebook before standing next to Joel. “Email me?” 

“Yup,” she smiled, looking Joel up and down. “Absolutely will. Hi.” 

“Hi,” he said, smiling a little. You looked between them and fought the urge to groan. She was just Joel’s type. 

“Alright, some of us have to go teach,” you said. “Out of my office so I can lock up.” 

You ushered them both into the hall. 

“Have fun teaching,” Alyssa waved, giving Joel a last look before heading to her office a few doors down from yours. 

“Oh I’m sure I will,” you said, taking Joel’s hand and pulling him along behind you before he could start gawking at her and then you were really late for school. “See you later…” 

“What was that about?” Joel laughed as you spilled out into the hall that was tight with the press of students. 

“I know your type,” you said. “And I don’t have time to wait for you to be done doing your thing…” 

“My ‘thing?’ And you know my type?” He asked, brows raised. “Really? Well, in that case…” 

“Oh shut up,” you rolled your eyes and he laughed. 

“I came by to see you, for the record,” he said. “And apparently feed you properly since you aren’t gonna do it yourself…” 

“Thank you,” you said, sincerely. “That was really good. And it was really nice, hanging out with you.” 

“It was good to hang out with you, too,” he said, smiling a little, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Should let you get to class though. Those minds aren’t gonna shape themselves. And I have your actual number now, not the fuckin’ hieroglyphics you tried to leave me Friday…” 

“And I have yours,” you smiled back. “But I do have to go…” 

“Right,” he said, leaning in and pulling you into a hug and holding you close for a second. He was warm and his chest was firm and there was something about the way his arms fit around you that was so all encompassing you were certain that you belonged there with him. That, somewhere in the universe, the root of you both had grown together and separated just to find each other again. He pulled back. “Don’t let those college kids give you too much trouble.” 

“I won’t,” you said. “Don’t let Sarah give you shit.” 

“Oh, I will,” he said. “Can’t help it. Bye, Goldie.” 

You smiled.

“Bye, Joel.” 

You were three minutes late to class. You didn’t care. 

When you got home, you went to one of the boxes you hadn’t unpacked yet, one that sat in the  extra bedroom that you hadn’t found a use for yet. You knew exactly which box, the one filled with things you only looked at when you were feeling especially strong or particularly weak. You sifted through old notebooks, past one of Joel’s faded band t-shirts that you’d swiped at his house when Tommy had knocked a cup of Kool-aid over when you were wearing a white shirt and Mrs. Miller and scrambled to get your top in the wash to get the stain out and then you’d never given it back, down to the shoebox of photos. You pulled it out and looked through them. Joel at 16, a confused look on his face as he lay on the wheeled contraption he used for sliding easily under his truck and you surprised him with camera, a splotch of grease on his cheek. You, 17, in Joel’s letterman that was big on him so it was massive on you, sleeves shoved up around your forearms as you stuck your tongue out at the camera. The two of you, 16, sitting on opposite sides of a restaurant booth, your legs stretched out on the benches, a basket of fries and a milkshake between you. You were flashing a peace sign at the camera and Joel was looking at you, a soft smile on his face. 

It was easy to remember what friendship with Joel had been. It would be so easy to fall back into it. It felt like you were always supposed to be this way, lives so intertwined they were built on the same foundation. It had seemed an impossible thing, to blow it all apart. You’d loved it then. You missed it now. But it had blown apart and you weren’t sure you could survive losing it again. 

You sighed, flipping to the back of the box to the photos from prom night. Your mom had sent them to you after you’d moved to Rhode Island and they’d languished at the photo lab for weeks. There was a simple note: “Thought you might want these,” a little heart drawn at the end. 

You found the picture of the two of you together, your hand on his chest, his arm around your waist. You were looking up into his eyes and he was looking into yours, a small smile on his face, just enough for the beginnings of his dimple to show. You looked at it for a while before you signed, packing everything else away and moving to your office, propping the photo against your computer as you sat down to write. 

***

Sarah had been in rare form that night. Very skeptical about why she needed to do homework at all and trying to logic her way out of needing to do it for as long as she possibly could. 

“Kiddo, if you just sat down and did it, you’d be done by now,” Joel had groaned at one point. 

“But if I just didn’t do it, I’d be done by now, too,” she replied. 

He took a deep breath. Sometimes, this girl… 

“Not on the table, Baby Girl,” he said. “You can either do your homework now and have time to watch TV before bed or you can not do your homework and fight me on it, not watch TV and get up early tomorrow to finish your homework. Up to you.” 

She groaned, picking up her pencil, bouncing her leg impatiently under the dinner table. Joel wasn’t sure who was happier when the damn worksheets were done, him or his daughter.

Once Joel was certain Sarah was asleep, he went to the back of his closet and found the box that he kept stashed away. He didn’t have to look far, the two copies of your book right on top. One was signed. He didn’t open that one, just looked at it now and then, held it when he wanted to touch something you’d touched once. 

The other had a worn spot on the spine, where the structure of the book had cracked and bent enough times because he’d tried to read it dozens of times but could never bring himself to go past the first page. 

He liked the cover of it, certain that you’d had a hand in picking it. It was simple, an orange sun with a gilded flower in front of it, the title, Halcyon, in bold letters below the abstract image. Joel flipped past the pages of praise, the title page, the table of contents, the forward written by fucking Brad. He turned until he got to the words that were yours. He knew they were yours, he recognized the voice of you, even on paper. No matter what you said, there wasn’t an ounce of Brad there. At least, not on that page.

“The sun in Texas was hot in summer,” you’d written, “melting ice cream and asphalt in equal measure. But it was the heat of his palm that made my cheeks burn…” 

He closed the book, looking at the back cover with your picture on it. Your arms were folded so that one was in front of you, the other vertical alongside your face. Your gaze was intense, a knowing smile on your lips, as though you were staring at him, teasing him, tempting him. “The answers are all here, Joel,” your picture said. “If you could just make yourself read it, you’d know.” 

He put the book down and got his phone out of his pocket, finding your number in his contacts. 

You answered on the second ring. 

“Oh my God, you’re so demanding,” you sighed in faux exasperation. 

Joel laughed. 

“I know, I’m so fucking needy, don’t know how you stand me.” 

You laughed back. 

“What’s up?” 

“Been thinking,” he began. 

“You?” You said. “Really?” 

“Shut up.”

You giggled. 

“Anyway,” he continued. “Feel free to tell me to kick rocks but… Sounds like neither of our lives have exactly gone the way we’ve wanted them to.” 

“You mean you didn’t plan on being a single dad and I didn’t plan on being divorced at 32?” You gasped. “Color me shocked!” 

“We were always good at holding each other accountable,” he said, ignoring you. “Hell, you’re the only reason I graduated high school…” 

“And you’re the only reason I started at the school paper,” you said. Joel smiled at that, the memory of standing outside the newspaper office while you talked to the teacher so you couldn’t back out. 

“Right,” he said. “Well… what if we did that now?” 

“Now?” He could hear you frowning through the phone. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean,” he said. “Why don’t we try to actually get our shit together? You make me better, always have…” 

“You, too,” you said quietly but you at least sounded serious now. 

“When are you supposed to have your next book done?” He asked. “Assuming there’s a contract with a deadline for that shit, right?” 

“End of next year,” you sighed. 

“Great,” Joel said. “Alright, let’s give ourselves to the end of next year to set ourselves straight. You finish your book, whatever else you want to get done…” 

“Finalize my divorce,” you said. 

“That’s a good one,” Joel said. “I’ll see about starting my own business…” 

“And having a stable relationship?” You asked. 

“Sounds like a good goal,” he answered, his stomach twisting a bit at that. “What do you say? We come up with a list of shit and go from there? You know we’re better when we’re on a team than when we’re not.” 

You were quiet for a moment. 

“Yeah,” you said eventually. “Yeah, let’s do it.” 

Joel smiled a little, looking down at the box, the cover of your book looking back at him. 

“It’s a deal,” he said. “We’ve got this, Goldie.” 

You laughed a little. 

“Hell yeah we do.”

Next Chapter

A/N: So sorry for the long wait on this! Should be weekly updates from here out for a while, promise <3

Thank you thank you thank you for reading! I'm so excited for what's coming up for these two, I just love how they love each other and yes. I can't wait to explore it all with you.

Thank you for being here! Love you!

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x oc #halcyon

[squoosheez]

Sweet Relief

Finnick Odair x Reader

summary: Yesterday, the reaping took place. Your name was the one picked from thousands—and it was your last year to even be eligible. Being from district four, your mentor is none other than Finnick Odair. Prince of the Capitol. Your relationship is off to a rocky start, but on your second night, he starts to come around.

setting: The 70th Hunger Games. You’re the female tribute from District 4, on your way to the Capitol with your male tribute, Caspian, and your mentor, Finnick Odair.

pairing: Finnick Odair x Fem!Reader

warnings: smut, mentions of death, implied mentions of forced prostitution but not blatantly mentioned ykwim?

notes: I wrote this in two sittings and it’s not proofread and it’s also my first time posting anything on tumblr soooo…

word count: 5.2k

— • — • — •— • — • — •— • — • — •— • — • — •— • —

socials: ao3 (that’s all I have bcuz my cc isn’t working rn 😭

Thick, humid air circulates through your enormous room. This was not what you expected when they had called your name for the reaping. You still remember it like it’s happening in the present. You find yourself laying on your memory foam bed with satin sheets—courtesy of the capitol. One thousand thoughts race through your mind as you recall the events of this evening.

To start, you almost punched your mentor in the face. You try to convince yourself he deserved it, but he was just trying to lighten up the situation and try to make you feel better. At dinner, he made a comment about the games. His words rang through your mind. “Even if you don’t win, just try not to be killed first.”

It makes your blood boil just thinking about it. You’re appalled by his insensitivity. You know those people aren’t any less smart or skilled as anyone else in that arena. Just because Finnick was the one to kill them off, doesn’t make them any weaker.

District four. Your home, family, friends, everyone you love is there. You can’t imagine not making it home to them. You also can’t believe this just had to be the last year you’re even eligible for the games. The worst luck ever. You groan as you pull the comforter over your body. One of the perks about being a tribute has got to be how well they treat you before you’re sent off to your death. You finally start to drift off into a semi-deep sleep—since real sleep is impossible—when you hear a soft knocking at your door.

You groan again before allowing the person into your room. You watch intently as the figure makes its way further and further towards your bed. You can only assume it’s an avox coming to give you a spa treatment or something else extravagant. But to your surprise, it’s your fatally charming mentor.

“What are you doing here, Finnick? Wanna piss me off some more?” You immediately bark out, not even giving him a chance to look into your eyes. This obviously makes him angry, you can see it on his face.

He bites his lip in frustration. “Listen here, little girl. You should try showing your mentor some respect for a change. I could be the very difference between life and death for you in that arena. I wouldn’t take that for granted if I were you,” his fake smile pierces through your blanket of security. He really knows how to make your spine shiver.

“Here to tell you that we’ll be arriving at 7am tomorrow morning. I suggest you be up and ready before then,” he continues. You watch as he takes a piece of fruit from your nightstand and bites into it. He gives another fake smile and walks out of your room, the automatic door sliding closed behind him. The sound of his voice makes your face grow hot in anger. It’s like everything he says is made to piss you off, but he had a good point. He’s the one who decides what gets sent out. He can help you live or let you die. Maybe you should try and get on his good side.

A good two hours fly by while you lay helplessly trying to grasp onto an ounce of sleep. It’s no use. You’re far too nervous to even close your eyes. The thought of losing everyone creeps into the back of your mind, but you deem the thought selfish. You’re not losing them, they’re losing you. More than they already have. Your mother and sister sitting at home wondering why it was you. Your best friends pondering what life will be like without you. It was your final year.

The good thing about coming from district four was that most oftenly, they were able to form alliances with the main careers, district one and two. Though, you deemed them to be quite arrogant, stuck up, obnoxious.. the list goes on. You were probably the only one in district four that doesn’t wanna prove they can win The Hunger Games.

The boy two doors down from you has been training his whole life for this moment. Technically, it’s illegal to train, but since when does anyone follow the rules when it comes to the games? The little boy whose name was picked at the reaping was only twelve. You thought that maybe they were related, but he just really wanted a chance to win. Foolish. The boy doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into, you think.

When it comes to Finnick, he seems to favor you—which seems peculiar considering the fact you treat him like shit and the boy is nothing but pleasant towards him. You always assume he just acts that way towards the girls, he does seem to be a charmer. Capitol’s prince, some would call him. That warning he gave you earlier, was probably him genuinely trying to be helpful. You find that very hard to believe.

You turn on your side and click on the bedside lamp. The light brightens up the room more than a lamp probably should. The Capitol needs to stop sucking up to us, you think as you sit up and tread off to your bathroom. The bathroom is huge, a big shower that could fit any toiletries you could imagine. There’s a vanity full of makeup and hair products that you have never even seen before in your life. Red velvet robes that look incredibly soft and inviting. Last but not least, it smells of roses. The whole bathroom smells like you just walked into a florist.

You stretch and look at yourself in the huge wall mirror. You don’t look like yourself. Your features seem distorted and different. You know that you really do look the same, but you don’t feel like yourself. It’s definitely the Capitol. You turn on the water in the shower and wait for it to reach your desired temperature. You discard yourself of your clothes, realizing that you had never changed into your pajamas. When you finish undoing your hair and undressing, you step into the hot water.

Ten minutes pass and you’re rinsing some rose scented conditioner out of the ends of your hair. Everything here seems to be rose scented. Do we smell that bad? You laugh to yourself as you step out of the shower and grab onto a towel. You quickly dry off your body and hair, wrapping the towel around your hair and slipping into one of the velvet robes. Soft doesn’t even begin to describe it.

You open the door to your bedroom and begin to walk into it before you realize there’s a figure sitting on your bed. You assume it’s the boy from your district, probably couldn’t sleep either. Wants to talk strategy with you, pretend to be in love or helpless or siblings, or something even more ridiculous. To your surprise, it’s not the tribute boy at all. Quite the opposite.

You take a few steps closer, examining everything you can in the dark before you come to a conclusion. It’s Finnick. His golden-brown curls falling on his forehead paired with his sea green eyes, it’s obvious.

“What are you doing here?” You snarl, earning a laugh on his end.

“Well, you’re very welcoming,” Finnick says in return. He yawns and stretches before completely spreading himself out on your bed. “I went to check on your friend, Caspian, but he was dead asleep. Just thought I’d make sure you're sleeping.”

I knew he had a name. You roll your eyes and give Finnick an annoyed expression. “It’s impossible to sleep knowing I’m about to be sent off to my inevitable death.”

Finnick smiles. It makes you angry. He sits up to look you in the eyes. “It’s stuff like this that makes me think you really do have a chance. Definitely more than your friend down the hall, hate to say it.” He gives a fake disappointed look and it makes you chuckle to yourself.

“I’m not so sure about that,” you say. You slowly approach the bed and sit down beside Finnick despite how wrong it feels. Finnick rolls his eyes and grabs your hand.

“I think you have the drive. If you really wanted it—which you will in the arena—I definitely think you have a good chance of surviving. We’re district four. Make some allies, I know deep down you can push that cold heart and face of yours out of the way.” He gives your hand a squeeze of encouragement.

It makes you think. Just two hours ago you were sulking about losing everyone and everything, when in reality you don’t have to. You breathe out slowly, taking in everything Finnick said. He’s still there, staring at you with his green eyes. For once, his face doesn’t fill you with rage. His voice doesn’t infuriate you. He looks gentle. Compassionate. Charming. Finnick.

“Thanks,” is the only word you can mutter out. He looks at you with an endearing smile and kind eyes. You didn’t think he was capable of being nice. He looks actually sincere for once. Wow.

Finnick stands up and starts to make his way towards the door when your voice cuts through his action. “Finnick—” He turns around to face you, curiosity plastered on his face. He mumbles a quiet ‘hm?’ and you freeze. It’s like your words aren’t yours anymore.

“Will you stay?”

Finnick’s breath hitches in the back of his throat at your words. Immediately, you regret saying it. You want to hide underneath the comforter and never show your face to him ever again. Your face lights up a bright red, and you hope he doesn’t notice this.

A smirk creeps up on Finnick’s face. He doesn’t even give you a straight answer, he just climbs back into bed with you—which in most circumstances is very inappropriate for a mentor to do with a tribute. It’s fine, he’s only twenty.

Finnick wraps his arm around you, it's only then you remember you haven’t put on pajamas yet. You’re laying there in the robe from your bath, and your towel is still wrapped around your hair. You pull the towel off and let your still somewhat wet hair free to fall onto the sides of your face. Finnick looks over at you and gives your shoulder another squeeze of encouragement. Him and his squeezes of encouragement.

You reach around for the remote before finding it and turning on some show you’ve never seen before. In the districts, you only really get Capitol news. It’s definitely nice for a change. You and Finnick watch whatever drama is unfolding on the screen, holding each other as tightly as possibly.

“What’s it like?” You mutter out against Finnick’s shoulder. His head perks up as he registers what you said. He stays quiet, probably because you weren’t specific enough. “As a victor, I mean.”

He takes a deep breath, his eyes closing as if he doesn’t want to tell you. Like it’s some sort of bad news your parents tell you when you’re ten. “It’s not as great as I make it seem.”

Your eyebrows raise. He always makes it seem like he’s living the dream out here. Money, jewels, fame, glory. He has it all. What could possibly be bad about being a victor?

“I want you to win. I really do, and I think you’re very capable of doing so but..” his words catch in the back of his throat. “I don’t want you to go through what I did.”

His expression is cold. He’s not even looking at you anymore, his gaze is fixated on the screen, but you know he’s not watching. It’s like watching him hold back tears with no tears to hold back. This time you give his shoulder a squeeze of encouragement. This makes him smile softly and return his stare towards you.

“It’s wonderful.. now. I do have money and jewels, fame and glory. But nothing in life is free.” His smile fades, and he brushes a piece of your wet hair behind your ear. He is so good at keeping you oblivious. It’s frustrating.

He pulls you in closer, his grip on your shoulder tightens. Your breathing grows faster. You can hear his heart beating in his chest, and it makes yours beat even faster. His hand starts to move towards your hair. He runs his fingers through your slowly, making sure not to tug too hard. Just three hours ago, you could’ve sworn he hated your guts. What is wrong with him?

All you can do is look over at him. You realize he’s staring at you, but he doesn’t look away. The look in his eyes is something to fear, that’s for sure. He has to be zoning out.. But he’s not. He turns his body to face yours, resting his free hand on your side. You’re dumbfounded. Star struck, even. You open your mouth as if to say something, but nothing comes out. Finnick smiles and caresses your jaw with his thumb. This seems oddly intimate, and you have zero experience in being intimate.

You want to pull away. You think. You’re frozen, a slave to his touch. You want to move, but you don’t. His fingertips dance across your hips and jaw. You start to believe he’s playing a trick on you. He wants to see how far you’re willing to go. Well, you’re not a quitter. That’s for sure.

Instead of your typical surprised expression, your face morphs into a confident smirk. You bite your lip hard enough to draw blood, in fact it does. Before you can wipe it away, Finnick presses his lips eagerly against your own. His tongue runs over the drop of blood, tasting the metallic substance mixed with your saliva. Jesus Christ.

His hands pull your face even closer, along with your body. Your robe is becoming loose, you feel the knot slipping slowly. Your hands are entangled in his golden hair, your eyes are closed so tightly. All you can focus on is how good he’s making you feel.

This is definitely wrong on some level, but when he’s touching and kissing you in all the right places, it seems to not matter. His lips begin to move downward. He places soft kisses on your jaw and neck. Once he reaches your collarbones, the kisses get more intense. He starts sucking dark purple hickeys and leaving discreet teeth marks on your fragile skin. He’s eager, but careful. As if your body is a porcelain doll and he’s the only one allowed to hold it. He’s so gentle yet abrasive.

Your muscles tense as you feel his hands travel down your waist and resting on your hips. You know his intentions. He’s not just kissing you in your bed while practically laying on top of you for nothing. He looks up at you, his sea green eyes pleading for you.

“Can I take off your robe?” He says softly. His voice seems safe now. Not infuriating. You give him a nod, but it’s not good enough for him. “I need to hear a yes.”

“Yes,” you say. And with that, he unties your robe in one swift motion. The sides of the robe fall off onto each side of your body, completely revealing everything. Obviously, since you just got out of the shower, there was nothing else underneath. Finnick observes every inch of your body before continuing to attack your chest with kisses.

It makes you smile. He’s so eager to make you feel good, and it makes you forget how you hated him moments before this. You feel his tongue trace the shape of your breasts, slowly making its way to your nipples. You’re quickly reminded just how bare you really are when Finnick licks a stripe up your nipple, his teeth catching on the bud. Your body tenses, and a chill runs down your spine. His hands move to your lower back, making you arch for him. You notice his smile at your helplessness.

You squeeze your legs together in a desperate attempt for any sort of relief. Your mouth drapes open as Finnick continues to tease you. Kissing everywhere, touching everywhere except the place you desire it most. Back to frustrating. You pull his head up by his hair to look him in the eyes. You’re pretty much begging with the look you’re giving, but Finnick still doesn’t think it’s enough.

He places another gentle kiss on your upper thigh, leaving his tongue to linger slightly longer. “Is there something you want, honey?” His voice was condescending yet so sweet to hear.

His words make you squirm, but the grip he has on your hips prevents you from going very far. You attempt to speak but all that escapes is a strangled moan you didn’t know was lurking in your throat. Finnick chuckles against your abdomen, causing your muscles to tense up. You realize quickly that he’s not going to resume his work until you give him an answer.

You roll your eyes at him to hide your embarrassment, like usual. He knows exactly what you want him to do. He knows exactly where you want to be touched. He just wants to hear you say it. “I wanna feel you, Finnick.”

Not good enough. He immediately refutes your statement.

“What do you want to feel, baby?” He places another kiss on your inner thigh. You can feel the throbbing sensation between your legs grow even more prominent when he calls you ‘baby.’ You can’t even form words; he just laughs at your struggling attempt.

“What about..” he begins. His fingers trail down the sides of your waist and stop at your hips. His calloused hands move forward to the front of your thighs, giving them a squeeze for good measure. “My tongue? You seem to be enjoying that so far.”

Fuck yes.

You throw your head back at the proposal. You would be laughing like a maniac if it weren’t for your inability to form words, which once again is not going too great for you. Finnick awaits an answer and the only thing coming out of your mouth is drool and moans.

Luckily, he starts to ease up on you. His hands find their way to your knees, spreading your legs apart as far as you’ll allow him. You feel so exposed in the best way possible. Finnick continues to leave sweet kisses on your inner thighs, teasing you on and on. You physically cannot take it anymore.

You grab Finnick by his hair, once again, and yank him forward. “If you don’t eat me out right now, you may never get the chance to. I would make your choice wisely and quickly.”

His eyes widen at your words, clearly surprised, but not unhappy. His sly smile creeps back onto his face as he licks a stripe between your folds. Your back immediately arches against his tongue. He takes the opportunity to grab the back of your thighs, allowing himself full control of your position.

You don’t resist whatsoever. As soon as his tongue is back inside you, tracing circles around your clit, everything fades away. He flicks his tongue over the same spot and a sharp moan echoes through the room. You come to the conclusion that it’s from you. Finnick chuckles softly. The cool air against your wet heat just makes you feel like you’re floating. And if he can’t tell how much you’re enjoying this by your body’s reaction, he can tell by the look on your face.

Finnick’s tongue continues to work its magic as your hands flail around for something to hold onto it. They end up grabbing onto the pillow and you’re surprised the whole train car can’t hear how loud you’re being. You swear no one else could make you feel this way. His tongue knows exactly where to go and what to do. You feel his hand move closer to your heat and it drives you crazy. His thumb moves slowly towards your clit, rubbing soft circles on it. Meanwhile, his tongue is prodding at your entrance. A loud moan escapes your lips as you attempt to focus on one thing at a time.

“Finn..” you whimper out. He pulls away from in between your legs, a mixture of juices dripping down his chin. He looks up at you, his chest heaving. He looks so good. Something about him looking so fucked out just manages to turn you on. “You look so fucking hot.”

A smile creeps up on his face at your words. He licks his lips and climbs up to meet your face. He places a soft kiss on your lips as a ‘thank you.’ You smile back and take the opportunity to give the obvious bulge in his pants a gentle squeeze. A groan leaves Finnick’s mouth and his hand makes its way back down to your pussy. He slips a finger in between your lips, flicking it over your clit again. Now you’re even.

You squeeze your legs together, making the pressure ten times more intense. You let out a soft whimper that seems to just push Finnick over the edge. He immediately pulls down his grey sweats, revealing his erection underneath a pair of black boxer briefs. You don’t even have to look twice to determine that’s gonna hurt.

You sit up and cross your legs to be face to face with him. You watch as he runs his fingers through his hair trying to determine what he wants to do next. His eyes flick back and forth between you and his dick before coming to a consensus.

“On your knees,” he smiles. You quickly scurry off the bed and onto your knees in front of him. You pull your hair into a tight ponytail and wetten your mouth, a smirk plastering your face. You allow him to pull down his boxers, his erection springing up towards his abdomen. The sight makes you ten times wetter.

You take Finnick’s cock into your hand, giving it a few strokes as beads of precum run down your hand. You can feel him throb in your hand and it makes you let out a small chuckle. He laughs too, not really understanding why.

You give the head a small kitten lick and watch as his face scrunches up in pleasure. You take the tip entirely into your mouth and Finnick lets out a loud groan. His hips begin to move slowly into your mouth. He makes sure not to go too fast or deep in case you can’t take it. You take at least two more inches to assure him you can.

You continue to bob your head up and down as his hips fuck the back of your throat. Whatever you can’t fit in your mouth, you stroke eagerly with the hand that’s not grabbing onto Finnick’s thigh.

Tears well up in your eyes and drool drips down your mouth as he fucks deeper into it. His little groans and whimpers are all the encouragement you need. You just sit back and let him have his way with you, every now and then you hum, sending the most pleasurable vibrations through his body.

You can feel his climax near when his hips start to stutter and his movements become faster and more desperate. You move your hands to rest on his chest, rolling his nipples in between your fingers. This throws him completely over the edge, because quickly after, he’s cumming down your throat. You take him out of your mouth and swallow what’s left of his cum before standing up to give him a sweaty, teary, drooly, cummy kiss. His tongue explores your mouth tasting what remains of his cum and you can see a string of your saliva when the kiss is over.

Despite your incredible blowjob skills, he’s still eager to make you feel as amazing as he possibly can. He moves his hands down to cup your ass, giving it a squeeze of encouragement. You giggle and fall back onto the bed. The satin sheets feel so good underneath your hot skin, and Finnick looks so inviting.

You close your eyes and suddenly he’s gone. You search around for a moment until realizing he’s gone to get condoms. Smart man. Not giving me a choice. When he comes back, he slips on the condom with ease and gives his hand a small squirt of lubricant.

“Don’t think I’ll need much,” he says smirking. “You’re already soaking wet for me. Yes?”

You feel yourself throb in between your legs at his words. He is seriously driving you insane. You watch as he coats his cock with the lubricant and gives himself a couple lazy strokes.

You can’t even think of a response, so instead you just pull him down to kiss you. After a few moments you break the kiss. “Finnick..”

“Don’t wear it out,” he speaks slowly. You just can’t take your eyes off of how big he is. “You’ll be screaming it in a minute.”

You smile at his cocky response. You feel him line-up with your entrance. One of your hands is resting on his bicep, the other is tracing circles on your clit. You let out a soft moan as you feel his tip slowly slipping into you. You don’t understand how he could be this slow. He wants this just as bad as you do, why is he being such a tease?

Instead of pushing deeper, Finnick decides to just use the tip for now. You’re squirming and writhing underneath him, desperate for something more. Every time you look at his face, he looks like he’s in heaven. Finally, he slowly slides more into you. You can feel every vein pulsating inside you. It makes you clench around him, which earns a very strong moan from Finnick’s mouth.

Your thoughts are being clouded with Finnick. Every touch he makes, every breath he breathes. Everything is Finnick. He’s murmuring something under his breath, but you have zero clue what. Probably something along the lines of ‘you’re so fucking hot,’ or ‘I’ve been waiting so long for this.’

You watch as beads of sweat drip off his forehead and onto your stomach. You realize very quickly why he wanted to take it slow. As soon as he tries to push completely into you, he bottoms out. You tense up, surprised by the feeling. Finnick looks at you and back down at his dick once again. By the look on his face, you can tell he is not all the way in.

“Fuck, Finnick. I didn’t realize you were that big!” You groan partially in frustration and partially in pleasure as he rolls his hips in a circular motion. He just smirks in response. Despite the little bump in the road, Finnick continues his shallow thrusts. He’s more careful now, he doesn't want to hurt you and now it’s become very easy to do so. You let out a loud whimper at his movements, angled to hit your g-spot with every little movement. Unfortunately for you, he’s still taking his sweet time.

He can sense your neediness. It’s driving him crazy. He starts to move slightly faster, but he’s still trying to savor the moment. Your back arches whenever he hits your sweet spot, which is pretty often. Your legs start to shake from using them to keep yourself up. Finnick notices and immediately pulls out and picks you up. This takes you by surprise and you flush a bright pink color.

“I wanna make sure you’re comfortable, how do you wanna lay?” His voice is soft and sweet. It’s crazy how fast his tone can switch between dominant and demanding to soft and caring.

You bite your lip and wrap your arms around his neck. “Can I ride you?”

That’s not the answer Finnick was expecting. He nods eagerly and flips the two of you around. Now he’s laying on the bed, and you're sitting on top of him. You line him up with your hole and sink down slowly onto him once again. Once he bottoms out, you start to move your hips in a circle. Finnick’s hands fly to your waist, guiding your movement. He watches as you ride him, tits bouncing directly in his face. He is surely the luckiest man alive.

His groans grow louder and more frequent, and your movements become faster and harder. His hands move to cup your ass, giving it a couple slaps as you bounce on his cock. You clench around him every time and it makes him so horny it hurts.

Finnick flips you over once more, wrapping your legs around his neck. His thrusts are much more powerful now. They’re aiming to hit your spot and it’s so good. His hands are fondling with your tits, pinching your nipples as his thrusts grow faster. His other hand is fixated on your clit, rubbing it just hard enough to make your back arch and leave scratch marks on Finnick’s biceps.

You can hear his breath faltering and his thrusts become sloppy. He’s whispering words to you, but you can’t quite comprehend exactly what he’s saying. Loud moans are leaving your mouth, but you can’t hear anything besides the slaps of your ass against Finnick’s hips, and his groans.

You feel his hand get faster, giving your clit just the right amount of attention it needs to feel your climax bubbling up in your lower stomach. You clench around him in response, and that’s what pushes him over the edge.

He pounds into you relentlessly, hitting your g-spot over and over again until you can’t take it. Your moans have become broken cries as tears flow from your eyes. The only words you can form are ‘Finnick’ and ‘faster.’ It doesn’t take much longer for your orgasm to reach its peak. Your body tightens completely, causing Finnick to release with you. He cums with a loud moan, even though your senses are still clouded from seeing stars, you can assume it was probably a drawn out ‘fuck.’

You pull him closer as his body collapses into yours. You give him another kiss before pulling the used condom off of him and tossing it into the trash bin. He gives you a weak smile as he breathes in your scent.

“You were amazing,” he mumbles against the crook of your neck. You pull the comforter over the two of you and close your eyes.

“You were perfect,” you respond smiling. He gives you another kiss on the cheek since he can’t stand not having his lips on you. The reality of your situation sets in very quickly. You’re about to be in the Hunger Games and you’ve just accidentally fucked your mentor. Accidentally may be a stretch.

You look over at Finnick, somehow putting your emotions aside. You give him a sad smile and place a soft kiss directly onto his lips. It confuses him, but he doesn’t question it. You’re clearly in a vulnerable state and he doesn’t want to pry too much.

You look into his eyes for far too long. The beautiful sea-green color that completely encapsulates the beauty of the ocean. You realize far too late how you really feel about Finnick Odair. The worst part is…

The clock just struck seven.

#finnick odair #finnick x reader #the hunger games #finnick x y/n #finnick fanfic #fanfic #smut #thg finnick #alternate universe #light angst

[he-is-lightning-in-a-bottle]

Extraordinarily disappointed that there seems to be no fandom on Tumblr for literally the BEST CURRENTLY AIRING het romance drama -- Fake It Till You Make It (Viki). I am hooked. Seated. Dying for every episode and swimming in the sexual and romantic tension between the leads. (A downright surprising feat for a show from Mainland China. I've only liked maybe 3 or 4 out of the dozens I've given a shot.)

This drama is so mature and well-written and the chemistry between the leads is 🔥🔥🔥.

Listen. I admit the first episode was slow-ish in the way it took so much time to set up the characters and start fleshing them out, but by episode 3 I was completely sold. Every single character feels like a real person!! Even random side characters.

We are 8 episodes into a 14 episode drama and at least half of the MDL synopsis has not come to pass, but I don't care. I even only started watching because I thought the synopsis, which mentions my beloved Fake Dating trope, was the setup. So far there is no fake dating in sight... And YET. I LITERALLY DO NOT CARE because the story I am getting is FEEDING ME and I need hours after every episode to CHILL THE FUCK OUT.

This batshit couple friendzoned each other so freaking fast, but did it in the most romantic way possible with expensive AF "friendship" couple rings to boot. The push and pull is exquisite. Perfection. Chef's kiss. They want to eat each other for dinner AND dessert but constantly choose not to because of other life priorities and fears. They are disarmingly honest and vulnerable with each other in the kind of naturally intimate way you only get to experience once or possibly twice in a lifetime. And they are both so drop dead gorgeous it sometimes hurts my middle aged bisexual eyes to even look at them. I am constantly having laughs startled out of me by their snappy banter, and I FEEL their drive to succeed and subsequent loneliness like a punch to my gut.

I am OBSESSED and I NEED some of you to fall down this hole with me.

***

ETA: here's a brilliant fanvid highlighting their sexual and romantic tension through episode 7

#fake it till you make it #cdrama #chinese drama #this is as good as some of the best kdramas #so go watch it my friends!

[themarvelhorse]

EftD Chapter 11 – The Devil in Canterlot High Part 1

I’d just like to say. What the fuck.

Also, this commentary in particular had me doublebacking a lot, so I’m doing it acknowledging that I know the Chapter's end. Also I’m remembering so many actual terms for the literary devices used but alas, I’ll leave the accuracy be for the time being. Also I decided to break this one up so it’s not the tumblr equivalent of 17 Word Doc pages in a row.

Sunset Shimmer shivered from head to toe and couldn’t hide it even if she tried. And she tried. If she could at all avoid her friends seeing her like this, she would. It came in spasmodic spurts, with only seconds of control in between, starting from her legs or arms and rocking up to her core. She took in shallow, longing-to-be-deep breaths to steady herself, but, as if to rebel against her, her body didn’t listen.

First off, great start really sets the mood for the rest of the time Sunset’s going to be here. Absolutely dead-on with how it goes. The start and end of this chapter is mirrored. It’s right there in the title card. The big twist, I just didn’t see it. Even more obvious since we haven’t been seeing Sunset without something filtering her true feelings and self! But now, right there with that paragraph and the end of that first sentence – her body is rebelling against her, it didn’t listen. It can’t listen because it’s under Sombra’s control. Or soon will be.

It made her love them for trying—seriously, on a level she’d only thought possible recently—

AH!

Time spent with her favourite boys - even in totally-not-really-therapy-wink-wink - is working!

“... and I guess, I dunno, I just want to help so bad…”

GOODEST OF BOYS

He’s good. I think we’ll finally have this solved.”

I initially read this as “He’s good at being a therapist”, but I also like seeing how it could be interpreted as “He’s just genuinely a good guy”, which he is!

Flash stared at her for a second, the reels rewinding in his head almost so viscerally she could hear the sputtered squeal, and then he smiled. “Oh. I got third. They stumped me on the word castling because I thought it had an e in there somewhere, but I was super proud I could be so brave. My dad took me out for ice cream afterwards.”

A cutie mark origin story if there was one for this Flash! And just another thing to note. Even though Sunset genuinely seems cold, it’s also symbolic of her fear.

Sometimes the Princess would even let her sit on the throne.

;~;

Flash took that as a permission slip to start monologuing aloud about tactical breathing: in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. Of course, the music nerd in him counted it out like a 2/4 time signature. He even performed a demonstration of what that might look like, breathing to a beat of his own making.

Ngl, a while back I started reading this chapter. Then some shit happened, and I had to drive alone for 2 hours. It was a very emotional drive, and my adrenaline had me much more awake than I needed, but my mind came back to this bit. Kept me calm and kept my driving safe. Thank you for this <3.

Sunset let him. She thought she’d managed this breathing thing pretty well on her own all these years, she didn’t need a How to Guide. While the shakes didn’t stop entirely, she managed to calm them down to a level she hoped wouldn’t be perceptible.

I’m glad Sunset did let him, instead of saying to his face that she didn’t need a how-to guide. They both sorta understand each other in this way. Flash literally just said he wants to help so bad, but Sunset also didn’t want to be perceived as not being okay. Much more didn’t want anyone to say it out loud. So, he’s helping by telling her how to breathe when you have nerves but not pointing out directly that she seems nervous. Saying things out loud just hits so much harder. Guess that’s part of the point of therapy!

The door hung open after her like the toothy maw of a basilisk salivating strands of venom and ready to devour a fresh victim whole.

Speaking of perception… she’s really not perceiving this as a good thing lol. Cold shaking, shaking in fear like a helpless little mouse. And an actual mouse. NOT a ‘Tiny Vermin’. There’s a reason that boss is up a level after the Bone Hydra.

And Sunset would have been happy to continue staring off into the middle-distance, unreachable, but then, Timber Spruce slapped his hands on his knees, got up from his chair, and said, “You know what? Why not? Let’s get magical. I’ve got a few things to say.”

Sunset looked up then to see Timber send her a tired smirk before disappearing.

Absolute shocker. And absolutely love the way Timber went about this. Sometimes you just gotta dive right into the deep end to get used to the water. And of course, seeing all your friends jump in and then come out fine and in a good mood and the like, and you’re all that more likely to cave to the pressure. Timber especially so since he likes to also feel part of the Rainbooms.

“Would you jump into the mouth of a basilisk if all your friends did?”

“Well, if they got out and the basilisk spit did wonders for their general complexion and confidence, then yeah I guess I would.”

What would he say about her in there? What were they talking about? Closing the portal won’t take long. Ray and Scruffles need me to bring them, I’d have to get them first. If I close the portal, is that it? Could anyone open it again? Would the connection be severed? Would the crack in the sky disappear? What happens here when it’s gone?

She’s still on that?! Not even her girlfriend could convince her otherwise?!

Sunset knew with a cold certainty from her lectures and studies on the Roots of Magic that there was always a source. An origin, a cause.

I do not like that this certainty in particular is cold. Especially not with all the other ‘cold’ things going on. Also, I bet the origin is that damn horse statue in front of City Hall!

…(similar to the human economy, Sunset Shimmer understood little to nothing of human geography—and now she likely never would) ...

As a human geographer who also happens to be human, I find this very humourous. I do NOT recommend searching what I mean, it’s a rabbit hole of confusion and questioning as to geography’s place in academia (but fuck almost all of those Ivy League Universities, you know what university DOES include Geography among one of its VERY FEW master’s and doctorate programs? THE UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY! Guess actually helping people across the world through an interdisciplinary approach towards natural disasters under a changing climate isn't top of mind for them. Yes I'm bitter.)

Also would be funny if Sunset pursued geography as a result of going to NR (which apparently was important to military officer training in WW2).

This also makes the idea of “significant places of sorcery and love” especially interesting to me as a human geographer. We look into the human relationship with space, which we end up calling “place’. We assign value to it when we have this relationship, including emotional value. But these places can have different identities and values depending on the who its relating to.

What goes into those places of sorcery and love? If we think back to the Perfect Pear in the pony episodes, that is an example of assigning emotional value to a place. A place of love, where sorcery emerged, where these powerful interactions of two lovers, forbidden to be with each other but still so committed to being there anyway that they develop a place that was unique to them. But is there any place we’ve seen that could be classified as such in the human realm? Nightfall Reach certainly seems old, perhaps old enough to be classified so. And with Friendship being a core tenet, maybe there’s something there.

There’s likely something around Canterlot High, and that statue. Clearly the statue itself is imbued with magic. But did anything with strong enough love or sorcery exist in that space before the school did? Did it have to? So many relationships made, broken, by so many students coming in and out of that place, connected to a mirror. What other value might have been assigned here, and by whom?

In a small, cold place, she almost found herself excited for them. You go, girls. You’re going to be amazing.

OOF

She didn’t so much as say a word to her girlfriend or Flash before Timber appeared in front of her, hand outstretched.

Damn, I can’t even imagine what Twilight must be thinking after all that. It’s even worse knowing the first conversation after this will be through Sombra.

Sunset flinched and looked to her girlfriend, who sat beside her and, at some point, had taken Sunset’s hand, maybe to steady it. The little circles she revolved with her thumb stopped short.

Awwwwww!

Well she didn’t really mention much of the shakes since around the time Twilight came out, save for when Timber went in.

Solstice emerged from the office and his eyes billowed a ghastly gas-like steam. The crackle of it startled Flash in particular who ripped out of his seat, but neither Twilight nor Timber reacted.

Okay so, a bit of a development! Totally not at all concerning. Also totally not concerning that Twi and Tim are not concerned. sweats

Solstice waited for her like the ferryman at the perilous banks of the River Styx, lantern and steady smile at the ready.

Mouth of Styx starts playing

Sunset walking into hell, to face Hades himself.

Heart walloping against the confines of her ribcage, Sunset had to admit comfortable sounded so nice. Trying to stabilize one of her clammy hands with its partner, she nodded, mumbling, “Yeah, okay. Sure.”

Wow, really missing Twi’s hand, huh?

That made him smile, teeth pale like a full-moon in the shadow of night. Combined with his still demonically slitted eyes, Sunset fought the thought that Solstice looked almost animalistic and focused instead on the gentleness of his voice. “You can zip up your jacket, my dear, I don’t want you to freeze.”

Aaaahhh! Very werewolf-like. Indeed. I can see it be an apt metaphor for Solstice and his condition. The style and grace of the Sombra persona feeling more like a vampire, but the challenge of having something deep inside of you changing and turning you into a monster is something all too familiar for Sunset. The human realm has its own myths and legends, but she likely experienced so many of those myths made real back in Equestria. And, having dressed up like one for Halloween partly being the reason for her perceiving him this way. Or maybe its more of a Jekyll and Hyde thing.

“Tcht. No, see, I’d be offended. It’s kind of my look, so...” She gestured down to her open leather jacket in open rebellion.

Sunset’s willing to freeze before changing her look? Rarity will be so proud. Or disappointed since she could probably make it still warm while being fashionable.

Still, it’s a nice touch – Sunset’s here in her first counselling appointment, where it’s supposed to be a safe space to let yourself be comfortable enough to be honest with yourself and your feelings and the like. Where you can take off that figurative armour, literal in the case of Sunset and her rebellious identity, also being rebellious to the idea of counselling.

“Oh! Yes, that has to be frightfully frigid.”

I don’t like the implied tone here. Yes, the weather inside is frightful, but the other side of Sombra is so very much ALSO frightful. Maybe though, the fire inside that Solstice sets for the students’ souls will be so delightful.

She drank him in in full. It helped her own nerves to see the big bad opponent she was up against wore loafers like he was late for church service, wore his button-down not quite tucked into his belted slacks, and smelled like a coffee shop if it also used a wood stove. “Huh. You actually can’t feel cold?”

The BIG BAD… Churchgoer? More like wolf in sheep’s clothing. With Solstice being like that, it must’ve done both Flash and Timber a lot of good. A safe haven in a cold cold blizzard who emanates the woodsy-ness the latter likes, but speaks so very kindly, as the former would appreciate.

“Heaven knows the central heating could use an upgrade with me around to challenge it, but well. Public school.”

Okay so they can afford the special sports stuff but not heating?! I well… yeah no, that tracks.

But Solstice caught that. “Really, are you sure about your jacket? I wouldn’t want you to catch a cold in my office, I’d never forgive myself.” Sunset’s eyes went for a spin. “Think I’ll find a way to survive your office.”

laughing nervously

Solstice paused long enough to stare at her jacket’s zipper, as if tempted to zip it up himself. If he had telepathy or the sheer force of will, all bets might have been off. With the steam still billowing off his demonic eyes, he looked much angrier about it than he probably actually was. Or maybe it really did vex him that much, Sunset couldn’t say.

Combining the concerned pseudo-parent and rebellious teenager is a recipe for a glorious disaster named Sombra as he feeds on the anger from feeling a lack of control (or what I thought was anger, but is actually fear for her well-being).

Either way, he moved toward the kettle and basket of cookies. “Alright, it’s your decision. But speaking of dire choices: Can I at least get you anything? A hot beverage to keep warm?

Nothing like a hot beverage! Although I think that there should be a better word to define hot beverages than just “hot beverage”. I’ve been trying to get “café drinks” going here and there, but in this day and age? That can mean anything.

Sunset doubted the school counsellor would readily give her access to the type of beverage she really wanted to get through this. Fire down the throat always kept her warm, in a manner of speaking (especially if it was Nectar of the Gods, Sunset’s favourite Equestrian liquor; she’d never forget sneaking her first taste from the pools of Mount Olympus while on diplomatic missions with the Princess. Good times). She shifted on the plump couch cushion. “Tea’s good, if you have any. Camelmile?”

Who wouldn't want some Nectar of the Gods? I'm sure there'll be some at the coronation.

Whenever Sunset had an upset stomach⁠—her codeword for nervousness or feeling upset, honestly⁠—as a filly, Princess Celestia brewed her excellent tea. Trottingham chai, Zebrafrican rooibos, even a nice Griffonstonian oolong after a long day. It got to the point the sound of the kettle boiling in the hearth was enough to ease any irritation.

Just like 'mom' used to make~

Nodding, Solstice smiled around his own shoulder, back at her, setting up the mugs, not unlike a bartender.

Ah yes, the bartender, discount therapist!

His little wooden stirring stick whisked the cup in an erratic fashion. “Warping the minds of the youth with their overpriced... cake coffee. Oh, it sounds delicious, but what you’ve really gone and done is ruined a perfectly good pot of coffee and convinced swarms of innocent teenagers they’ve bought themselves a luxury item!”

He grumbled more into his own mug as he sipped to avoid an overflow before realizing; he swallowed his mutterings down with his coffee. “I have… a lot of feelings about beverages. Wine especially. But I suppose the point was that it’s nice to know I’m not the only ex-career student here.”

Recently I’ve come to appreciate whisky. I enjoyed it before, sure, but now I understand that among the connoisseurs, the best whisky is the one you like, and that includes whiskey ;)

But that does bring me to another observation – Sunset mentioned alcohol in her head before Solstice said it out loud. Foreshadowing about getting in her head? Or is it another point about how much they actually have in common?

It’s wild seeing how much coffee has really taken off though. I see a lot of similarities between wine and coffee connoisseurs. The sheer difference in variety of tastes based on where it’s grown and the conditions that gave rise to it – it’s terroir - and how it’s processed or even what you add to it in each minuscule amount.

Each student technically is a product of their own terroir. Even though the students are all different, they’re also similar in so many ways – that’s why they can empathize with each other despite those different experiences. But of course, with a unique terroir, it’ll get harder and harder to have an accurate read on knowing how someone else is feeling. As a geographer once said, "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things." People who grew up in one place have much more in common than someone from a different place depending on what's available to them: the culture there, foods available, cost of things in the community, etc. But the processing of the coffee bean or the wine changes that too! As it goes through its life cycle, it started out somewhere, like all its neighbours, but slowly changed along the way as new experiences shaped it, and shaped the person.

And that’s why its important for someone like Solstice to be there. He talks to them and gets into the finer notes and details of people, even with the added sugar. His comment about cake coffee makes me believe he dislikes it because he dislikes how the uniqueness of each cup getting drowned out and taken away by fads among teens, making it harder for them to be open and honest with each other if all they're concerned with is the fad. Cause if you're not open and honest, how can you have an open and honest relationship with one another? With Sunset’s “look”, she’s dressed up like a mocha and refuses to let him or anyone else really know the core of what’s there. All that sugar added drowns out what makes everyone unique and beautiful in their own way. Unless you're a coffee connoisseur among coffee connoisseurs.

That and he's worried about them being manipulated.

“That’s true. I apologize. I don’t know. Call it an educated guess, then,” he told her, carrying over her mug. “Maturity is usually hard-won, much like degrees and education. Or forgiveness.” Solstice offered a smile as he gave her the drink. “Your friends speak very highly of you, Sunset. Your story is something of a legend around here. You are.”

Well at least Sunset has the forgiveness thing under her belt. The former she could get no problem! Just gotta figure out what that will be.

 “…I don’t do well with heights, not a fan.”

I anticipate foreshadowing here.

Would it be dramatic to say I’ve got a fear phobia? Sunset thought. “I’ve got a fear phobia. Only thing I fear is fear itself, you know? So if you’re wondering about your eyes, it’s cool, don’t worry about it. I’m not afraid of you.”

Sombra likes to be dramatic and uses fear as his primary weapon. If he’s not fear itself, then I don’t know what is for ya, Sunny.

“I’ll do my best to help you achieve that, then.” Solstice handed her a waiver of some sort, complete with clipboard and pen. “Everything you say here is completely confidential. The only exceptions to that are if I’m required to disclose case-relevant details in a court of law, or, and this is important, if you pose an immediate danger to yourself or others. At which point, I would contact the proper authorities for safety reasons.”

…

The authorities? Celestia, Flash’s dad would kill me if he knew I planned to leave Flash behind again. If Chief Magnus murders me, Flash might find out I’m leaving and try to stop me. “No.”

Including this part so specifically, leads me to believe the reason is twofold:

1. Our most glorious author, Marvel Prime, is presenting the reader with an accurate portrayal of the processes of going to therapy, based on her own knowledge and experience. This in turn, is also useful to anyone reading this in terms of knowing what to expect if they go in.

2. Foreshadowing. The callback back to good ol Detective Daddy-o, Flash Magnus, who probably has a case on her, and just needs a little bit more to bring it to court. The other element of “this is important”, is not just for her, but for the reader to remember. Because she gets body swapped again, she will ultimately pose said immediate danger to herself and others. Also, who knows if “proper authorities” can actually mean Princess Twilight and the crew bringing in some magic-ass kickin’. Seems like the proper authority to me.

Not that she had any plans on re-terrorizing the school or putting everyone’s lives in danger, but Sunset could almost hear the cell-doors clanking shut in front of her.

Wonderfully brought together with the art right in this section too! The shadow of the blinds making it look all too much like cell-doors. Signing her name? Signing her confession…. DUN DUN DUUUN.

“Oh-ho, no. Nope. We’re not doing this, no,” Sunset said, arms barred across her chest like a luxurious stay at the Tartarus Juvenile Detention Centre. “I’m not here to talk about me, I’m here to help my friends change back.”

And prison references continue! It all comes back together. All the Greek mythology references, combined with the justice system, coming together into that – the Tartarus Juvenile Detention Centre being the reason for the references and how this all feels, that she’s ultimately a bad friend and bad person, even if she’s not going to terrorize the school again not that she’ll have any say in that though. But also this whole thing could just be in of itself another way to foreshadow just that. Either way, she’s venturing through Hades to save her friends, but is willing to stay there if it means making things right.

Y’know it also kinda feels like Solstice is gonna pull out the ol’ Rorschach tests.

“Tell me what you see?”

Sunset proceeds to see either her kissing Twi, her strangling Timber, or Celestia disappointed in her.

Arms crossed. Sunset took in air just to sigh it back out like sand dragged back into the sea.

AND IT STILL MAKES YOUR FEET GRAINY. THERE’S ALWAYS A LIL BIT LEFT BEHIND IN YOUR SANDAL.

And a stop to say it’s lovely seeing this second picture right after. Solstice just across from the ‘imprisoned’ Sunset, showing the source of the cell-door imagery. Again, I’m no artist, but I feel like there’s a number of contrasts and comparisons to be seen here.

First, I’ll admit I don’t know what that thing is in the right side of the first pic and left side of the second pic. BUT It does connect the two – the way its coloured and the angle it’s on.

Second, the difference in line styling with each picture – the one feat. Sunset is softer, more rounded, wavy, especially when the shadow-prison-bars hit Sunset herself. Notably, the only parts of Solstice that are rounded are the two that are most influenced by Sombra.

Third, the way these two come together. It’s literally shadow prison bars. AND that’s what curves around Sunset. Her tea’s steam curves and is reminiscent of her hair, but curves towards Solstice. The parts of Solstice influenced by Sombra are his hair and his breath. They’re mimicking her – again a sort of foreshadowing, and also almost soul-like (yes I'm thinking Danny Phantom). Oh yeah also it’s like, half his face literally covered in shadow too. But not just any shadow, a shadow that reflects the Yin-Yang symbol – the darkness in the light, and the light in the darkness.

“Yes, precisely!” He leaned forward to the edge of his seat. “But the exact effect is dependent on you! Anyone can feel love for their friends, or joy, anger, fear—really, I believe you’re right, the intensity of your emotions correlates to the intensity of your magic. But if the power comes from you directly, it’s also my belief that exactly how it manifests is related to your individual psychology. Who you are, what those emotions mean to you personally.”

Okay, don’t like how he ended on fear there. Can’t take this fore-shadow-ing.

If Solstice’s individual personality affects how his magic manifests, does that mean his initial fear, perhaps fear of his father, helped make it what it is now? Would his guilt manifest differently, since that seems to be strong with him? Or maybe guilt is simply the aftermath of fear having been realized.

A stupid giggle bubbled to the surface. “I’ve had theories for years,” Solstice near-squealed, his eyes flickering back to their regular green, if only momentarily, and back again. “It wasn’t until I came here to help you students that I had any way of observing other samples besides myself! And the most marvelous part is I may have guided the students towards the answers, but they’re the ones to figure it out! And now they can learn to harness those powers for good! Emotional therapy meets magical theory!”

And here we see an example of it all playing out. Sunset mentioned acting as your true self as a form of creating strong emotions – and Solstice is no longer acting. He’s never had the chance to actually be his true self until an opportunity like this presented itself. He’s always had to act on stage, act a certain way in front of his dad, find this niche interest and be unable to share it, and he’s had to act like everything’s okay in order to not induce anxiety in anyone else, which would make him feel worse. He’s had to filter and mute himself. And thus, him acting as his true self allows him to regain control of his whole, true self back from Sombra. Allows him to be powered by magic through something stronger than fear. For now.

And that's the end of Part 1 of this chapter's commentary!

#Empathy for the Devil #EftD #EftD Chapter 11 Commentary #EftD Chapter 11 Commentary Part 1 #my stuff #commentary #marvelandponder #bevinbrand

[nuzzle]

Do you have any advice for gaining confidence to post online? I've been a lonelita for a long time and I really wanna make connections, but I live over an hour away from the nearest city with a comm group on fb and my anxiety is so so bad... I used to have an ig where I occasionally put up coord shots and such but I found that the platform wasn't a great fit for me. If you're willing to talk about how you got started on Tumblr, it might just be a big help.

i find that i was in a similar situation myself, i do have some advice!

posting online could be scary for a lot of reasons, especially posting personal things that mean a lot to you such as photos of yourself or your coords.

i completely understand you on that front.. despite running this blog for 4-5ish years or so, it took me a long time (until pretty recently actually) to feel comfortable posting more photos/details of my life that i would otherwise have considered private. i'm not in a comm (similar to you, bad anxiety! and autism gives me a little trouble socializing irl) or on any other social media either, so i consider the other lolitas and mutuals i make on here to be my only connection to the community if that makes sense.

i would say that fear stops a lot of people from doing the things that they want to do. you'll never know what it's like if you never try it out. you should take comfort in knowing what things are like for you now.. and knowing that you can return to that and remove yourself from any new situation you put yourself in if you truly find that you don't like it or find comfort in it.

i find that being a lonelita is.. lonely, as the name implies. though posting about lolita, sharing content, thoughts and ideas and such.. adding little tags on photos i see and sharing my opinion on new releases, posting little snippets on fun days and sharing a coord here and there, exchanging a few words with mutuals every now and then and seeing what they get up to in their posts, is honestly really enriching. it makes me love the fashion even more. you deserve to have an outlet to express yourself. people will see and appreciate the passion you have for it. just about everyone loves to see someone expressing their love for something that means a lot to them. you might even inspire others to do the same!

take advantage of the fact that only you can set your own boundaries based on your comfort. you can make your blog be whatever you choose. maybe you don't want to share every detail of your life and only feel comfortable posting or talking to people about certain things. maybe you feel more comfortable posting only your coords or wardrobe and excluding your face. you are entirely in control of what you share! and adding to that, you can tailor your online experience on here to not see things you'd rather not see by using tag filters.

the lolita community on here is very friendly and welcoming. everyone has been very sweet! it may not be the biggest or the most fleshed out, but it's comfortable here and feels more like home than a social media. if connections are what you want, i think you would find tumblr to your liking. i say take the chance! i'm always looking for new lolita mutuals if you'd be interested in that. i would definitely be glad to see you put yourself out there more!

#asks #lolita fashion #egl

[taylorannnx]

Pricing My One-Page TTRPG: A Peek Behind The Curtain

I already tweeted this in thread form but I find this topic both helpful and interesting, so Tumblr you're getting it too!

You may be shocked to find a one page game priced at $4.95, so let me breakdown WHY this is. As a disclaimer, we are offering 50 and 100% discounts to make the game accessible to people with different levels of disposable income.

I didn’t have the money to pay people upfront for their work at a fair price, but I knew in my heart Chefs de Partie was a collaborative project. I chose royalty split because the whole team benefits the more sales there are, which aligns with my values of community and supporting my peers.

Math is not my strong suit, but luckily there is a blog post with a spreadsheet template by Lyla Fujiwara that helped me calculate how to do a royalty split. Find it here: https://jarofeyes.substack.com/p/money-and-collaboration-paying-people

Steps I took to choose a price:

1) Determine shares per job. PMing, layout, and editing are all intensive jobs that take more hours than writing (research, back -and-forth-ing, communication hours) so I gave them each 2 shares, and the writers 1 share each. 

2) Set a target number of sales. I chose 51 because for community content you get a best seller metal. Also if each contributor manages to convince 5-6 people (an achievable number) to buy the product we’ve hit the target number.

3) Look at minimum wage for each job. For writing, it should be $0.10/word. For copyediting, it’s $0.02/word. I didn’t take into account layout hourly rates at the time, which in retrospect is a mistake and I will rectify this going forward.

(I cover the math later though!)

4) Word limits. This was influenced by space on the page but also feasible pay. Recipes were capped at 100 words. All writers would be paid the same whether they were under or over and submissions that were over were cut down to 100 (+/-10%) for space and fairness.

5) MATH. If writers are paid $0.10/word with a target of 51 sales to fully pay them, they need to earn $0.20 per sale.

The math is the same for editing thanks to 2 shares and word count limits/contributor numbers.

My workings: Writer: 0.2/sale x 51 = 10.2/100= 0.10/word Editor: 0.4/sale x 51 = 20.4 /936 (final manuscript word count) = 0.02/word

Thanks to Lyla’s handy spreadsheet, I was able to figure out that pricing the game at $4.95 allows everyone to be paid fairly within 51 sales. And that number grows! With 100 sales, the writers and our Mari earn $0.20 and $0.04 per word!

Is it more expensive than average? Yes. But it’s fair, which was my goal.

This pricing, however, comes with two main failings. The first is not taking into account the cost for layout. If my layout artist spent 15 hours on layout, by 51 sales they’ve only earned $1 per hour spent. That’s not enough. (I have discussed this with them and rectified it privately.)

Secondly, I didn’t take into account my own wages for both project management and writing. The core rules are 260 words long. It’ll take 65 sales before I’ve earned $0.10/word for the writing alone. /11

I’ve put 12+ hours into management, from creating documentation to communication to marketing/promotion (writing this thread took 2+ hours and is technically promotion)

At my current rate it would take additional 1176 sales before I paid myself for 12 hours (1241 sales total)!

Games, even one-page ones, are EXPENSIVE to make. Is Chefs de Partie overpriced? No. It’s fairly priced (to the editorial team at least) considering we’re an indie team with no business backing. $4.95 feels like a lot for one page, but the hours put into it make it worth every penny.

#ttrpg industry #indie ttrpg #ttrpg guidance #ttrpgs #ttrpg community #math #finances #pricing breakdown #making games is great #it's also really hard #we explain and own our mistakes in this household #and then we fix them #as much as possible

[faithinlouisfuture]

I started to type all of this on the night of my show but literally passed out in the middle, cuz I had been up for 23 hours at that point! Today was my flight back home. It feels surreal that I saw him just day before yesterday (yesterday for me if you account for all the time zone differences) and now I’m back in my bed thousands of miles away 😭 Literally feels like a fever dream! To get to the point though (and you know this is about to get insanely long cuz who am I if not a rambler?)

First and foremost HE IS NEVER EVER BEATING THE SUN ALLEGATIONS!!! I had been in Istanbul for a week before the show day, and the weather had been cool and cloudy and it had even rained on and off, come concert day the SUN came out in full force!!! It was the sunniest it had been all week! He literally just carries the sunshine with him 😭

About the show itself; OMG!!! I have watched every single livestream from Dallas to Mexico City n3 but nothing could have prepared me for Louis in real life. Seeing him with my own two eyes makes him even more unreal if that’s possible. He’s literally impossibly beautiful. He radiates. He’s everything! HIS VOICE. It’s so pretty 😭 it’s wind chimes on a sea side resort, it’s hummingbirds in a serene jungle, it’s gritty when it needs to be and soft when it needs to be and I just… I’m speechless but I also want to write multiple essays on the topic! If only I was eloquent enough! Livestreams truly cannot capture the real quality of it, even though he sounds so beautiful on those too, but in person it’s just, there’s this quality to it, like dripping honey and so effortlessly cool.

God he was so happy and babie!!! Ngl I was hoping I’d get a slutty Louis show but OMG he was so so so happy and babie and cheeky! And he looked so good I can’t even explain. I absolutely loved the top he wore for the show! 😍 he had the most beautiful wispy hair situation going on, his skin looked so unreal and beautiful, his tattoos in real life 😭😭😭 His bone structure!!! How is that even possible?!? The royal peach?!? EXCUSE ME SIR! With that waist, and the way he holds himself! And moves his delicate hands and pops that hip sometimes. His smile!!! It lit up the entire place!!! HIS EYES!!! like they literally sparkle like actual gems 😭 I just could go on and on and on times infinity!

It took me about 4 songs to notice that Matt wasn’t even there cuz I couldn’t peel my eyes away from Louis. (I may have peeled them away for a few seconds to oggle at Michael though - GOOD GOD. That man is hot! I have some Michael content to post too!)

And I know that so many people have already mentioned this fact before but omg his stage presence. He owns the entire space. There were tens of thousands of people there, and the crowd was insanely rowdy but the second he hits that stage - he commands every iota of your attention. The way he prowls the entire stage, at times bunny hopping, and makes sure to go to every corner, and interact with every section! Mr. Pointy Fingers as always, pointing at signs, flipping people off, being his cheeky adorable self! It was an EXPERIENCE™ seeing it all live 😭 I will never forget, I want it all tattooed on the inside of eyelids! And I truly hope that every single louie gets to experience it for themselves!

Seems like he’s gonna stick to the San Juan set list for the Asian leg. (I tried to include my track by track rambling on the show in this post but tumblr said I dont think so cuz apparently I exceeded the word limit allowed for one post 🫣 so I guess I’ll make a separate post for that even if just for myself. Cuz I want to remember it all)!

TRULY AN EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME. And I’m so glad that I got to share it with other solos 🤍 So glad to have met both of you in person Max & Vee! @fearlesspuff @sunshinebinx and so so thankful to have had you there throughout the waiting line torture and the gate entrance madness and then the after show freaking out! Hope we can attend future Louis concerts together some day too! x

#ltwt22: istanbul #louies at ltwt22 #this time it’s me #I’m louies 😭😭😭 #how did I ever get so lucky?!? #ltwt22 #MY SHOW #ltwt22: Louis x Emmy #louis tomlinson

[gummybear1178]

F-14 (Family of 14) Chapter 5

Chapter 1:

Chapter 2:

Chapter 3:

Chapter 4:

Also on AO3:  

Hope you guys enjoy! If you want on the taglist let me know! (See guys I am learning Tumblr)

Not fully sure where this story is going other than it will be IceMav and their 12 adopted dagger squadron kids!

The dagger squad is determined to find out who Maverick is married to, leading to some shenanigans and eventually the reveal! Followed by one shots featuring MavDad Icemav and Dadmiral with the Daggers!

Feel free to leave requests and ideas

Maverick woke up with to his husband fast asleep next to him. It was a rarity for him to awake before Ice. Despite both being Navy men for many years, Ice naturally woke just a few minutes earlier than Maverick most mornings unless they were in different time zones.

Maverick took a moment to admire is his husbands face, relaxed and calm. No stresses weighing it down.

"Stop staring at me." Ice mumbled, his voice coming out gravely and harsh causing him to cough.

"I'm just admiring you in your sleep. It's rare to see you so calm. Would you like some water?"

Ice merely nodded, sitting up their bed.

Maverick walked downstairs and filled a glass of water before starting some tea.

"You glass of water, and tea is steaming downstairs."

Ice nodded in thanks, taking a few sips of his water.

"Do you want me to tell Bradley and Jake to delay their visit?" Maverick asked leaning against his husbands side.

Ice gave him a look that clearly said 'don't you dare'.

Despite Ice's reputation for an unreadable face, able to stay blank as he waited patiently for the person to screw up, he could make his expressions say just about anything. A useful skill when using his voice was painful during the cancer and again when he there was a chance he would never speak again.

"I figured that would be your answer, but I was at least going to give you the option."

Ice set down his glass and signed 'Thank you, but I want to see out kids.'

Maverick rolled his eyes as he signed, 'Told you that you would love them.'

Ice smiled at his husbands skill. After learning Ice could potentially lose his voice for ever Maverick quickly picked up on sign language and helped Ice learn too.

"Do you need anything else or just the tea?" Maverick asked knowing when his husbands throat decided to rebel against him it was painful, and there was little Maverick could do to help.

'Just the tea, but please add honey'

"Of course, my love."

Maverick drifted back downstairs knowing the water for the tea would be ready any minute. It was one of the only ways he could help Ice on days like this. When Ice still had the cancer, he was too weak to do a lot, so Maverick could help in many ways.

Now, Ice refused to let go of the independence he had regain since he went into remission and now was in complete remission.

Despite being declared cancer free, occasionally he would have hours or days where speaking became painful again, but they passed. Ice would take the occasional days of painful speaking over what he once experienced any day.

Though out of this, both Mav and Ice became fluent in sign language which became quiet useful. Especially at military events where they could most converse freely across the room or table. It was especially useful when Ice wanted out of a conversation and could just sign behind his back for Maverick to come save him.

"One tea with honey for my honey."

Ice rolled his eyes but smiled regardless taking his mug.

"Jake and Bradley should be over within the next hour or so." Maverick reminded Ice, giving him another chance to push off them coming. He knew Ice wanted to be able to speak with them, and would likely push through the pain to speak to them.

'Stop worrying, I'll be fine. I want to see them.' Ice signed while giving a pointed look.

"I know you will be fine, however, I also know you and your stubbornness. You will likely decide to talk through the pain."

'And if I want to talk to my kid and my other kid than why shouldn't I?'

"I'm not saying you shouldn't talk to your kids, I am saying that you shouldn't hurt yourself doing it."

'I won't.'

"Then you are fine if I tell Bradley ahead of time and let him know it's one of those days where you can't speak?"

'Go right on ahead' Ice signed, not backing down from the challenge.

"Alright," Maverick gave him a look before grabbing his phone and dialing the number. If Ice was going to be stubborn, he was going to be stubborn right back.

Ice rolled his eyes.

"Hey Bradley, yeah, I know you will be here in a little bit. I was just calling to let you know ahead of time Ice is having one of his days where he can't speak. He still wants you two to come over though."

"Mav, are you sure, if he's not feeling good we can come later."

"No, minus that it hurts to speak he is fine." Maverick made sure to clarify, he knew worst case scenarios were flying through Bradley's head.

"Do we need to bring anything?"

"No kid, just wanted to give you a heads up."

"Alright, I'll see you in an hour then."

"See you then kid."

Ice gave him a pointed look.

"Stubborn as you are, you can't go against me and Bradley telling you not to hurt yourself by speaking."

"Don't challenge me Maverick." Ice spoke, ignoring the sharp pains across his throat.

"Ice," Maverick said softly shaking his head, as he climbed back on the bed next to him, curling up against his side. "I don't like knowing you are in pain, especially when it can be prevented."

Ice kissed the side of Maverick's head.

"I'm sorry." Ice whispered, trying to settle Mav's mind.

"Ice, I don't want you to not speak. I missed your voice so much those weeks where you couldn't get a peep out, but I don't want you in pain. Ever."

"I don't ever want you in pain either." Ice whispered back, whispering causing minimal to no pain.

"This is avoidable pain though Ice, you can whisper or sign, just please don't hurt yourself speaking."

"I will minimize my words." Ice promised with another whisper.

"Thank you."

---

"Dad! Pops!" Bradley greeted walking in the front door.

"Baby Goose." Maverick smiled hugging his god son.

Ice a step behind pulling him into a hug after Maverick.

"You doing ok Popsicle?" Jake asked a smirk on his face.

'I see you've learned your lesson on our names?' Ice signed.

Mav interpreted.

"I think you scared him to death the other day."

"No, I just know when to take orders from my CO."

"Maybe we can teach you not to leave your wingman while we are at it." Maverick added.

'Careful, if you're not careful you will create another you Maverick, and the Navy can only handle one.' Ice signed.

Maverick laughed.

"Ice claims the Navy can only handle one of me, and if I'm not careful you will become too much like me."

---

Dagger Group Chat

Fanboy I'm bored. Entertain me.

Payback Why?

Fanboy Because I am bored

Hangman I have an idea

Phoenix No. No, Hangman ideas.

Hangman No, you will like this one Phoenix

Phoenix I doubt it, but what?

Hangman Everyone want to meet up and learn sign language?

Payback That's random even for you

Hangman No, not random, actually quiet relevant to us.

Fritz How is sign language relevant to us

Hangman Because we need to learn it

Harvard But why, you are avoiding the question

Hangman For Pops

Phoenix Why do we need to learn sign language for Pops

Rooster Because Ice has days where he can't really speak with out it being really painful, so he signs instead

Fanboy For Pops! Of course!

Phoenix And how did you come to have this knowledge Bagman?

Hangman I was at Mav's house with Bradley yesterday and he was having one of those days

Bob Can we screenshot this and put it in a glass case like Tony Starks Arc Reactor with the words 'Proof Hangman has a heart'?

Fanboy YES!!!

---

Ice, being the nice 'Dad'miral that he is decided to bring lunch for his husband and 12 kids. He picked up a small platter of food before heading to Top Gun, quiet proud of himself for actually having a day around lunch where he had a schedule clear enough to bring them lunch and stay with them.

He texted Maverick to gather the aviators into the rec room for the impromptu lunch.

Ice walked into the rec room with a handful of food, then laid it out across the table.

"Thanks Pops!" Bradley said with a smile, and the other aviators echoed his words, but they also touched their finger tips to their chin before gesturing out.

Ice had to do a double take.

Maverick just smiled seeing what their kids had just done.

Ice smiled as he turned to Maverick and signed.

'Did they just sign thank you?'

'I think they did.' Maverick signed back.

"Look Pops, we just started learning a few days go, that was far to advanced." Hangman said with a thick southern drawl.

'Looks like someone is trying to get on the good sides of their future father's in laws.' Maverick signed laughing softly.

'I appreciate the effort though.' Ice signed back.

"Mav? Care to let us in on the conversation?" Bradley asked with his plate full of food.

"If we wanted you to know, we would have said it out loud, and it seems we won't be able to communicate through sign for much longer without you all knowing what we are saying. So, we have to use it as much as we can now." Maverick nodded.

"I appreciate the effort, if you have questions feel free to ask me." Ice nodded to them.

'See they aren't just my kids. They want to do stuff for you too.' Maverick signed.

'When they get into trouble, they are your kids.'

'No they are yours, because you have the power to pull them out of it.'

Ice rolled his eyes.

'You know you love them.' Maverick signed.

"I know that one!! He said they they loved us!" Fanboy exclaimed jumping up and down.

.

.

.

So first one shot of sorts complete! Let me know what you thought and please send in any requests!!! I am open to them!!

[tiredsoundsofagnes]

the first week of the year has gone past us! i want to start documenting and using tumblr as some type of diary - so here's a lot of pictures and writing about the week!!! if you all find it interesting then i'd gladly post more stuff like this (i will do it anyways but i want to know if its fun to read or not??) OK HERE IT IS:

me n my beloved before the first indie club! very cute very cute in my opinion >:) i was a bit nervous since this was the first club of the year and there was gonna be like. A LOT of people since it was the only club open in this bastard city.

speakin of cute... heres us right before i started playing! first pic is adorable and i look goofy but happy in the second one. who knew a goth and a twee kid could fall in love?! this was actually their first indieclub EVER (they do NOT like indie though so it makes sense...)

very tired outside the club... drinking the first trocadero can of the year (thanks to my friend axel) this was the fifth of january (or technically the 6th since it was 4 am)

then we went home, slept like angels until 1 pm, ordered pizza, kept watching the owl house and just enjoyed being around eachother. i have never been this in love before and it feels like ive met the love of my life? more about that in the future...

on to the 7th of january... this was a DJ set at a new "rock" restaurant. i have eaten there once before and it was really really cool, they only played REALLY good indie. they hit me up on instagram and were like "hi we have heard you are a super good dj, we want you to have a club in our bar" and i was like DAMN OK. i invited a bunch of pals and played for five hours! IT WAS SO SO SO FUN??? there was no dancefloor so the focus was on singalong...

here was my outfit before it got hellishly hot! twee as fuck! my swaged out computer and its stickers right by my side...

SILLY PIC OF ME AND MY BELOVED MID SET! idk how they can be so cute but hey thats life innit mate...

me and my friend simon during the last song of the night... my friend was like HEY LETS TAKE AN INDIE SLEAZE PIC and we were like YES. the white stuff on the tip of my nose was from kissing my partner. the struggles of loving a goth huh....... anyways simon is a legend, we met through going to the same indie clubs and connected because we are always the most energetic dumbasses in the dance floor. he always bombs me with love when i play and says stuff like "YOU ARE THE BEST DJ IN TOWN" and it was my silly little heart <3

we catched the last bus home and slept until late. the next two days consisted of me and my partner (oh yeah their name is tilda hi) being in bed watching dumb shit and being cute. we baked a pizza and it owned. they took the train to their stupid little town and we cried. we might see eachother very soon though, ill keep yall updated!

THAT WAS THE FIRST WEEK! THANKS FOR READING IF U DID!

#tireddiary #LET ME KNOW IF THIS IS INTERESTING #loved making this #tiredsoundsofagnes #twee

[laurabwrites]

Plotting out loud, because I can. astolat/GoT fanfic edition.

So I’m going to do some plotting here, because if I can’t build a sequel plot to an AO3 fanfic on Tumblr, where else am I going to build it? My head? I’ll never finish it that way!

Right so, Winter’s Crown by Astolat, which is fanfiction of Game of Thrones. This thing consumed me for the 4 or 5 days it was being released. It’s a damn good thing Astolat posted two chapters a day because I was refreshing my email waiting for those chapter notifications two or three times an hour and then injecting several thousand words into my veins the second that notification hit.

Just as a programming note. I’ve read the first third of the first book in Game of Thrones. Most of my knowledge of the series has been absorbed by osmosis from my partner and general pop culture saturation. Moving on.

I loved Winter’s Crown.

I also took one look at the ending and said “well, they’re going to be in a civil war within the year.”

Again, to be clear, the ending was perfect for the story. I’m just also sure that if the story continued we’d be into a war for the Iron Throne, like the main series is actually about.

Here be spoilers for Winter’s Crown.

So, our set-up for the sequel is that Robb is still the King in the North, with all the magical power that crown from the Children of the Forest invested in him. He’s promised/engaged to Shireen, Stannis’s daughter and only heir. You know, the niece of Robert Baratheon, the King of the South/Seven Kingdom (except whoops Robb declared the North independent, so I guess it’s Six Kingdoms now?). Robb is also currently fucking Jamie Lannister. Jamie Lannister who was Robert’s Hand before uh... declaring? taking service? with Robb. (There was magic involved.) Who also probably didn’t actually explicitly break up with Cersei before following Robb out of the throne room on Robb’s orders after the declaration of independence. 

ALSO, Stannis has already said to Robb that he intends to declare Robert an oathbreaker as the Protector of the Realm. Which from a strict reading of the situation, Robert WAS. Which Robb has already lain on Robert with the force of magic behind it. Here, I’ll quote: “I name you false kind and false friend, oathbreaker and coward, and may you end your days in the shame and misery your treachery deserves.” Which, as far as I can tell the only witnesses who aren’t Robb’s people are Robert, Cersei, the children, Margaery Tyrell, and a small handful of goldcloaks/Kingsguards. So, I doubt that bit of information is getting publicized by anyone in that room. Which Stannis was not.

Basically, I see war coming from two fronts. One, Stannis declaring Robert an Oathbreaker, which is politically tricky because either Stannis has taken himself out of Robb’s service and is making a play to be the king himself? OR he’s calling Robert an Oathbreaker as one of Robb’s sworn liege lords. Which, yikes. Plays right into the narrative that Cersei has built up for herself: that Robb wants power and will march on the South with the Wildlings and/or Stannis’s men at arms and/or the Lannister men (answering to Jamie).

I think if Cersei left the North alone after the Long Night and Stannis was very clear he was not one of Robb’s lords, Robb and the North would be happy to sit out a war and just work on recovering from the Long Night. Because, again, yikes, about half the population that survived the initial rise of the dead froze to death. The North is not in any shape to be going to war.

But I don’t think Cersei can put herself in someone else’s (Robb’s) shoes and believe they won’t act like a politically duplicitous cunt after power and only power. So she’s going to want to go to war to strike first and protect her own power. And also to pay back the “betrayal” of her brother/lover (Jamie) abandoning her. Also Stannis’s betrayal of swearing to the King in the North. But I think she’ll care about Jamie’s more.

And I think Robert isn’t strong enough, morally, emotionally, etc. to stop her. 

So... I tend to think that Stannis at least wouldn’t kick off a war until he could secure his supply lines. Supply lines which after the Long Night freezing a significant portion of the country would be in terrible shape. Especially since the largest supply of excess grain is the Tyrell’s and Cersei has that on her side since Margaery Tyrell is married to Joffrey. 

End result is that I think Cersei will kick off the war and Stannis will lay the charge of Oathbreaking as a response. To you know, weaken/divide her forces as much as he can.

What Cersei may not have is a competent General. Robb, Jamie, Stannis, and Tyrion are on the side of the North (whether or not Jamie and Tyrion can stomach fighting their sister and niblings/children, those two at least aren’t on Cersei’s side). Tywin is MIA from Winter’s Crown except as a brief aside in the past tense and may or may not be dead in this iteration of the world. The best General we can reasonably project to be on Cersei’s side is her Uncle Kevan. Who did see the dead with his own eyes, so that might change his thinking on if the charges of Oathbreaking are true and who that means he should fight for.

Meanwhile, Robb/the North has six direwolves, at least 3 giants, Brienne of fucking Tarth, Jon Snow, Jamie Lancaster, Tyrion Lancaster, AND, most importantly, every single hero and every foot soldier of the Long Night who survived who’s willing to be called to arms again (they’d probably all like to just go home and recover, but damn, if their king is calling, these are the people proven to show up when called). A significant portion of that army are Wildlings who are now released from their oaths and will most likely head back home over the Wall. But! There will also likely be a significant number who stay (*cough* Tormaund making eyes at Brienne) and can function well as a scouting force. 

So the North has an army that trained and trauma bonded through the Long Night together. Morale/belief in each other and their leaders is going to be high. The Boltons are all dead due to events in Winter’s Crown and the Freys are possibly all to mostly dead, so Robb is not going to be stabbed in the back by traitorous liege lords this go around (no Red Wedding here!). What the North doesn’t have is food. 

So, what they need is to get the intelligence of Cersei attacking quickly and to haul ass South where they can pillage food.

As a side note, I am assuming that Danerys does NOT show up with dragons at any point to turn this into a three-way fight. She is not mentioned at all in Winter’s Crown, not even the aside Twyin got, so I’m working off the assumption she’s dead or busy on her side of the sea and will not be appearing in a relevant time frame to this completely hypothetical sequel fanfiction of fanfiction.

So, questions I would need to answer, for myself, before writing: 1) What does Varys choose to do? In GoT, he is canonically more loyal to the realm and thus the people living in it than whoever is on the throne. We know he’s still the Master of Whispers in the Winter’s Crown iteration of the world and was able to slip a number of spies/potential assassins into Robb’s camp. Assassins who were routinely thwarted by Brienne and Tyrion, but all it takes is once. And people might be more willing without the magical terror of the oncoming Long Night/Night’s King. Robb still has the magic invested in crown however, so maybe not. Essentially, I think Varys would be a strong asset for Cersei if she utilizes him (she didn’t earlier because he was telling her information that didn’t fit her world view). And therefore what he choses to do would be important. Tyrion at least knows Varys is the spymaster and to work to counter him.

2) Is Joffrey enough of a cruel bastard to still get offed?

3) Does the accurate parentage of the royal children come out?

Well, this is a lot of thinking about the state of the board at the beginning and not much thinking about ‘plot’ isn’t it? Maybe thinking about a theme would help me out here.

The theme(s) in Winter’s Crown is(are) oaths, the costs of them, being a ‘worthy’ person, and when to adhere to an oath. So I would want this hypothetical sequel’s theme(s) to flow naturally from that. Meaning... the consequences of adhering to your oaths when your opponent doesn’t. Good job brain, the theme is the Prisoner’s Dilemma and what shame and misery is the natural consequence of treachery. 

Okay, cool, now I have the overall arc of my plot: a sudden swift victory on Cersei’s side (she seizes the first mover advantage) followed by the slow build to victory of Robb’s side. I picture this slow build to be Robb focusing on the smaller battles and alliances that builds a solid alliance to suddenly at the end sweep Cersei off the board. I’d focus on getting smaller lords on their side and peeling away minor but consequential logistical goods from Cersei’s side (armies march on good boots kind of thing) while Robb keeps his army out of direct confrontation with Cersei’s, nibbling away at their numbers in hit-and-run tactics, or swaying the men to withdraw their oaths to their lords and take up service with Robb, or just picking the terrain a battle happens in very carefully.

Too bad I don’t trust my writing chops to write a drawn out war story complete with military campaigns yet... Ah well, into the ideas pile it goes.

#writing #writeblr #amwriting #plotting #WIP #fantasy #really good fanfiction #plotting out loud #world building #I'll read more or less anything astolat publishes

[sunsetserenade]

stories about how we started shipping byler? hmm yeah i got one of those

this is slightly long. sorry <3 (i’ll put it under a cut!)

so!

stranger things started airing when i was in sixth grade, and that was a little while before i started questioning my own sexuality. i fully supported the community, but i would have yet to realize i was actually a part of it.

as such, when i watched the first season, i didn’t really catch all the byler hints yet. i caught a few, which i’ll get to in a moment, but it wasn’t enough for me to realize yet. and truthfully, i really liked m*leven at the time. they were a lot more soft and cutesy in season 1. but like them, i was only 12, and i was blind to the little red flags i wouldn’t catch until i was older.

though i didn’t ship byler yet, i did begin to notice that there was just something fundamentally different about mike and will’s relationship. when el was introduced, i caught on to how she was brought in as sort of a replacement for will. constantly being mistaken for a boy, hopper chasing after her thinking he’s looking for will, etc etc.. and then when el vanished, will was back, as if her time to fill a certain role was over.

then season 2 aired. and OH. it’s was always about them, wasn’t it?

season 2 was byler centric. i was intrigued. so after watching how will stuck to mike like glue, how mike took it upon himself to check up on will at all times, how they would look at each other, “crazy together”, how mike was the one to essentially pull will from his possession…

i was on board. but not completely. this was about the time i finally started questioning my own sexuality. i remember denying it so hard. no way, im just an ally, yknow? bullshit <3 but the point is i projected myself onto heterosexual relationships because i didn’t want to be different. i liked and shipped byler, but i didn’t expect much out of it. and when el returned, i was happy for her and mike. i still fully expected mike and el to be the endgame pairing.

and then i watched the snowball scene. enough said there.

will looking to mike when a girl asked him to dance, mike looking at him forlornly as he walked away with said girl, and then guess who shows up! el! as established before, she’s been seen as will’s replacement.

suddenly it all made perfect sense. and suddenly i was a fully fledged byler shipper.

i didn’t have tumblr at the time, but i would make my own theories in my notes app <3 good times. i was also introduced to kaypeace’s youtube and her thorough videos on why byler was possible, and it all went from there.

i no longer had any doubts.

and the year i fully started shipping byler (late 2017), i also accepted my queerness. (at the time, i labeled myself bisexual, but i sort of loosely hold to that now. idk what i am but im sure as hell not straight <3). with this, byler became a major comfort ship, and they remain that way today!

season 3 sealed it in my mind that m*leven wasn’t endgame and that byler was. et voila. three years later and our suspicions/theories/predictions have all but been confirmed, and season 4 drops in less than 12 hours.

this all started when i was 12 years old and a naive little middle schooler. now im an adult and set to graduate high school in a week.

this show and this ship have grown with me, and i have grown with them.

look how far we’ve come, huh?

#byler #byler tumblr #i always get sappy when I talk about them #they truly are one of my biggest comfort ships and I think the way I wax poetic about them sometimes proves that lmfao #also I know I said I was going to take a nap but I realized I probably shouldn’t and I’ll just wake up early in the night instead

[amusedunderclock]

Backlog: Talking About Movies - TSS (2021)

Originally I posted this somewhere else May 2023, but I'm trying to consolidate right now. Furthermore, when I originally posted to Tumblr, it's system didn't realize I'm talking about a MOVIE and not about anything personal. Because I don't need 4 private messages about mental health, I'm just posting the title screen and calling it "TSS". Moving on.

So I watched TSS 2021. That is the sequel to the 2016 movie, for clarity. I wasn’t motivated to watch it because of GotG 3’s release. I forgot that the Guardians movie was close to coming out when watching this one.

Preamble:

After Batman V. Superman, didn’t care much to see anything DC Comics movies outside of some online summaries. But after Endgame, there were a handful of movies from that brand coming out that seemed decent so I would eventually check them out. Such as TSS 2021.

“You can’t use summaries as a substitute for watching-” I don’t care.

Some think the 2016 movie’s whatever, but the only person I directly knew going to bat for that movie, was a major asshole. To me, the sequel stands or falls on it’s own merits.

When I heard James Gunn was making this, I was interested. Ultimately though, I guess it worked out for him since he now runs DC Comics media from this point forward. I didn’t see that coming. Don't expect much in terms of how I feel he's doing in that role. I don't feel the need to judge until about 2-3 movies into his reboot.

But where do I start with TSS? Overall, entertaining movie. Would rewatch.

Now…back in May, I said this:

"You want a point in DC Comics’ favor when it comes to movies? Well when it comes to their CGI, from what I’ve seen, it’s been consistently great. TSS is no exception. Everything blends together with the real world stuff very well. They did a good job there."

And while I stand by TSS having great CGI…The Flash has now come out. I have seen clips of that. That doesn't erase what good the DCEU has done in the past concerning CGI. But damn, being worried about future CGI from them is not unwarranted.

Obviously comparing TSS to Marvel stuff would make sense. TSS feels like it has a different tone. Maybe that’s just because of one company being more hands off, but idk how WB really operates. Kinda felt fresh to just have more varying and modern music playing in one of these superhero things.

What set it apart from the MCU was the R rating which…yeah it took advantage of that. TSS 2021 is violent, detailed, uncensored. Offset by it’s comedy. Frankly, it’s a funny movie. A lot of the comedy is the villains oblivious to common courtesies, or just uncaring in general. It works.

Think I saw some complaints about comic book accuracy. A complaint with all these superhero type movies. Look to be frank, most of the comics people are referencing for accuracy aren’t exactly Nobel Prize winning literature here. Even when they are notably well written, movies are only 2-3 hours while a comic story can span multiple issues.

That's what I wrote in May. Since then, all of twitter is nothing BUT complaining that these products not being comic accurate means that they're inherently bastardized, worthless, a crime against humanity, and will lead to their downfall. This line of thinking is just begging for someone to make a 110% comic accurate superhero movie that ultimately flops because people deem it too fuckin goofy, nonsensical, or just not that interesting as the hype suggested. I'm not saying all of comic history is bad or the comics didn't do some things better. And I'm not ignoring the MCU's storytelling flaws. But damn, The Spider-Verse movies aren't 1 to 1 accurate with the Spider-Verse comics and no one is complaining about that because they are well written. The Guardians trilogy took SEVERAL liberties, but is called peak despite them.

Comic accurate does not automatically equal well writen and never will. Hell, one of the most popular comic youtubers, Comics Explained, is a person who goes on for hours about entire comic arcs. And he outright criticized "X-Men: Days of Future Past". Saying something like "Yeah people like Days of Future Past , but that's just because they copy/pasted the story from the comics" and was hoping for something more original in future movies. And I don't agree with all of his takes, but if someone who dedicates this much time to comics is saying these things, I feel it's more valid than people on twitter who I can't confirm if they read the comics they're praising.

Back to what I said in May, TSS is good without being exactly like the comic. I don’t understand how Starro being mustache-twirly evil would improve the film short of nerds checking off a list of comic accuracy. And him being Death Battle fuckin "He can blink the universe out of existence" powerful is outright nonsensical. Starro was good for what it was.

Interpretation needs to happen sometimes. That said, actors.

This is the first time I’ve seen Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. It’s not entirely like TV versions, but she made it her own and it works. She was in the role for 6 years, it’s probably expected she knows what she’s doing.

Idris Elba, he’s always been a cool actor. Not entirely something I've publicly talked much about on the internet short of him playing Knuckles and I think Heimdall, but he has good performances. Him being the main character was a good choice. Replacing Will Smith? Yeah, but unlike Smith, Elba is more willing to add more grit to his villain character and it's greatly appreciated.

Cena Peacemaker works here. You really do forget he’s a wrestler and for once in about 20 years, he plays a decent heel. Apparently this is a controversial statement, but I guess I've just not seen Cena all that much in the past decade to really focus on his past during the movie…..

…which is what I said last year.

In 2024, after seeing his lacking comments on Vince McMahon, I don't feel much need to praise him or focus on him in the future. Someone put it aptly.

How his Peacemaker solo series went, I have no idea and now I don't care. If he comes back in the reboot, I can at least see why but I still don't care. Harley and Waller tho? They should be priority to return. Especially those two. They're just THAT great.

The rest of the team are convincing enough as villains.

Although…Ratcatcher 2.

Don’t get me wrong. She is a good actor. It makes sense that she’s in jail for her crimes. But like, remove the rat communicator and isn’t she just a person? Can someone else use the communicator?

I don’t think that’s explained. My attempts to google didn’t answer that. If there’s some TSS interview explaining that the Ratcatcher family can only use the communicator, cool. Otherwise, I question how she’s on the Squad to begin with unless they're (likely) short on villains.

To anyone who may take this out of context, Ratcatcher 2 is a good character, good for stealth, & the payoff in the end is great. Just seems like she wasn’t exactly a nemesis of Green Arrow or something. I feel in another context, the communicator, more than the person, would've been Waller's priority.

Like I said, Amanda Waller is solid. Davis really read that character description and said “Easy”. Her character should show up more in future movies beyond TSS.

Rest of the cast is good. Even if they’re still fucked up for betting on lives, I liked Waller’s people turning on her in order to save a city.

Think only thing left to say is that the story for what it is, comes together nicely. These people are not the Avengers/Justice League, they’re forced to work together and are convicted criminals. The interactions they have feel unique as a result, and not everything works out.

Even some of the dead characters in this movie do have development. They do advance/achieve as characters even if it does cost them their lives. Plus it's a cool movie when it has people both cheering that a monster is defeated, and then has you feeling bad for said monster.

I said this movie should stand on it's own merits and it does. TSS 2021 is a great standalone movie. Usually I would sit here and talk about broader lore, but it's unnecessary. Aside from maybe the Captain Boomerang thing, you can just go into this movie and enjoy.

#dceu #movie #comics

[t4tdanvis]

This ask is your sign to talk about any of your aus (please do)

😼 you dont know how much i LOVE talking about my aus

i have like 10000000000000000 different aus but i will choose one of them to talk about rn. one i dont think ive talked about much on tumblr?? ive talked about it a LOT in the aphverse server im in so shout out to yall for putting up with me /j

this au is also probably the au that made me extremely obsessed with vylad. not my fault hes just so fucking attractive 😔

so anyways. dante and gene both get kidnapped by a "medical research" company (which is a front for like. human experimentation). later they find out that garte is the ceo of that company and bc hes friends with dante and gene's dad (shittiest dads in the world gotta stick together /j) their dad basically just handed them over to be experimented on

so anyways they have wings now!! dante has black wings and gene has white wings. also the experiments messed with the colors of their hair. here is a very quick sketch of what they look like now

dante is 22-ish and gene is 24-ish whenever they escape the lab (they were both there for 4 years). vylad is the one who helps them escape (however dante ends up getting separated from them and runs off. dw hes fine he finds travis, garroth, and laurance)

uh... i should probably explain the setting. and then we will talk about my bbg vylad 😁

so this takes place in the future obviously. its a dystopian future where uhhh basically a while (30-40 years) ago a bunch of countries went to war and completely destroyed most of the landscape of the world and killed off a LOT of the population and now the world is sorta trying to rebuild itself back up. the place where the story mainly takes place is o'khasis city, which garte is the governor of. its one of the (relatively) safest places for many many miles, and traveling across whats basically a desert filled with random people out there doing anything to survive is dangerous.

ur also just not allowed to leave the city without permission (and u have to have a very good reason to leave). this is for a lot of reasons including how dangerous is outside and also bc they want everyone to stay there so they have enough people to keep everything running smoothly

anyways. vylad. hes got a lot of lore. oh god

so first of all. vylad, zane, and garroth all have the very unfortunate luck of being the kids of garte. when gartes kids were 5, 6, and 7 respectively, he began working on a mind control drug that would basically make anyone who took it do whatever he said. at first, it didnt work super well, and he spent many years getting his scientists to perfect it. before he could fully perfect it, vylad ran away when they were 11, so they were never fully under mind control. zane and garroth, however, were put under full mind control and have been ever since (you do have to keep taking the drug about once every 24 hours or the effects will start to wear off, but garte can just tell them "take one of these a day" and theyll have to).

vylad knows about what garte is doing but doesnt have any evidence, and the side effects of the drug mean that his brain just sorta fucks itself over (giving him headaches, making his limbs not move properly, causing him to black out) whenever garte tells him to do anything (this is because the drug was very much a prototype and it permanently fucked up his brain)

when vylad ran away, about five days after he escaped he sorta just passed out in an alleyway on the edge of town. that happened to be the alleyway that sasha, gene, and zenix were currently staying in - sasha manages to convince gene and zenix to Maybe Not Kill This Random Kid and vylad wakes up after like 18 hours and is like "what thje fuck happended"

anyways, sasha, gene, zenix, and vylad quickly become a team, although vylad is the only one who goes and sneaks out of town randomly every few days (hes going to garte's company's lab to see if theyve created a cure for the mind control drug, because theyre trying to create a cure as a backup just in case anything goes wrong)

gene is technically not a runaway, they still mostly live at home with dante and maria. their dad isnt really in their life at all, until he randomly shows up when theyre like 20 and suddenly dante and gene mysteriously disappear a couple days later

vylad immediately knows what happened, but unfortunately the section of the lab where he knows theyre keeping gene and dante is super high security. if he gets caught, theres literally no hope for anyone because garte will just put him under the mind control drug forever. so it takes four entire years for him to rescue gene and dante

thankfully, garte didnt have them put the two under the mind control drug, since he needs all of it for zane and garroth. which makes vylad's job a little easier lol

oh yeah also remember when i said that dante gets found by travis, garroth, and laurance? yeah. garroth is 100% under mind control (which does give you bright green, glowing eyes, but he hides that with contacts) and is being forced by garte to spy on his friends. and whenever she, travis, and laurance find dante, she reports back to garte that one of the escaped experiments has been found, and so garte tells him to go find gene as well.

i need to actually write this bc this is something i actually wanna write instead of just rotate around in my brain forever HDFHDGGHDGHDF so im not gonna tell u all the plot. L for u ig /j

oh also vylad and zenix are very good friends. the best of friends. just guys being dudes. a couple of pals. just some buddies who send each other romantic letters when theyre apart and also kiss each other. just super close friends :)

also sasha has a pet snake and zenix has two pet rats (xe uses xeir rats to carry letters to vylad) :>

#❄.txt #ask box #SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG i had a lot to type lol #u can ask further questions if u want i am happy to answer questions about this au. i really like it :>

[alexthemenace]

Inktober 2019 archive

Posting all my Inktober 2019 pics cause it was the only year where I successfully did a drawing for every day of the month. And also used actual ink for these which I know is not required but I wanted to. Most of these were never posted outside the "Rebel Taxi" Amino so I wanna document their existence and share them with the public. My gimmick with these was to do them in 5-15 minutes as a challenge to come up with ideas on the spot. And also so I wouldn't spend too much time on these since my college projects took priority. I also had my purple Halloween neon lights on when I took these pictures so that is why they're all purple (minus day 31's drawing). Anyway, here they are in order of the days I made them.

Day 1: a generic east coast rapper on the mic rocking a show. Mostly inspired by Chuck D of Public Enemy and maybe subconsciously Todd in the Shadows. Oh and totally forgot that I was watching Vin Diesel's 1997 feature directorial debut, Strays, before I drew this which had a very gritty 90s NYC setting. At the time I was very impressed by his short film directorial debut, Multi-Facial, so I wanted to see if his feature was just as good (it wasn't).

Day 2: a defeated young man submitting to an alien/holy light shining down upon him. You could also interpret it as seeking of a higher power. Inspired by the CD artwork of OutKast's ATLiens album. This was later turned into a self-portrait oil painting for class which turned out really great.

Day 3: vaguely retro comic book Batman crashing through a window upon a crime scene. This was done right before I went to see Joker in theaters. The perspective and anatomy is meh but it was a quick drawing so I can live with it. Apparently I took 20 minutes with it according to my notes from Discord in 2019 which wow.

Day 4: Close-up of Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. This was one of two drawings where I intentionally broke my 5-15 minute rule as I did this in about an hour. I used a reference of the iconic scene of him waking up but I still tried to be quick so the face looks less like Conrad Veidt and more like David Bowie imo but I'm still quite proud of it.

Day 5: a possessed woman. Took a wee bit longer to do but this was a fun exercise to draw longer hair like this (something I still don't have a lot of experience with) and to play a bit with perspective and anatomy without a reference iirc. She is also supposed to vaguely be from an older era far from civilization - hence the lack of clothing (she is tastefully censored though). Apparently I wasn't happy with how stiff she turned out back then but I think in hindsight it works quite well.

Day 6: a bald child from a mental ward stares at a man laying face down on a haystack. The girl was loosely based off Eleven from Stranger Things. The man in the haystack also reminds me of that one Junji Ito manga but I don't remember if that thought that came to me while making this or that's just hindsight. Also I didn't start with a finished concept in mind for this one so, very randomly put together.

Day 7: Nostalgia Critic 2Pac. As it says, it's Doug Walker if he modeled his Nostalgia Critic character after 2Pac's aesthetic. I personally really like this one. Have also been told he resembles a Beavis and Butt-head character which I see lol but that's ok. Apparently I was watching JAR Media's video on if Nostalgia Critic was cringy and for some fucking reason the idea of 2Pac came to mind lol.

Day 8: a baby with a dripping spear celebrating the head of a medium sized therapod dinosaur they successfully hunted. This one was inspired by Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal which I was a very big fan of at the time. Censored cause I like my Tumblr account and don't wanna risk losing it.

Day 9: Count Orlok from Nosferatu opening a door. I think it turned out nicely but don't really have much else to say about it other than the fact that I didn't use a reference.

Day 10: sullen twink laying bare on the ground. This was inspired by that iconic image of Maria from Silent Hill 2 laying down on the ground by the Heaven's Night neon sign. I think I just particularly like this kind of imagery since a mood piece I shot later that month incorporated a shot that is exactly like this (minus the lack of clothing). Also, the uncensored drawing actually shows nothing explicit since I intentionally had that area covered in shadows. But I worry Tumblr will think otherwise and smite down upon me so it's better to be safe than sorry. Also the perspective on his right leg is off so better to not see it in full anyway.

Day 11: gentleman combing his hair in a mirror that reveals a skeleton doing the same thing. The pic crops off the bottom part of the drawing which shows his legs and the tail flaps of his suit. But I always thought that part looked extra janky so I never include it. It was a rushed drawing anyway.

Day 12: Tim Burton inspired child sitting in the corner of a room, looking very sad. Supposed to represent being overwhelmed with life and emotions. I recall I also had Dib from Invader Zim in mind when drawing this. I don't tend to draw in this art style much so I'm pretty surprised even now how good it turned out. At the time I was doing a presentation for my Directing class on Tim Burton - so he was definitely on my mind for this.

Day 13: imprisoned droid waking up in the middle of the night. Apparently I was thinking of a bunch of movies when I did this plus I think Scud: The Disposable Assassin and my own avatar. Also I just like robots with this kind of thin pill shaped build.

Day 14: my idea of man that has fully evolved into only being able to eat, sleep, and stare at a screen. I didn't sleep the night before so I thought to draw a human that has devolved into a lazy slob who only eats and sleeps and as a result is incredibly out of shape save its legs to move around as it scours the land for any food before deciding to fall asleep for days. Thank you Discord notes from myself in 2019 for helping me remember this exact story lol.

Day 15: Undead Pan Pizza of RebelTaxi singing his pathetic little heart out. The design is based off of Jack Skellington (namely the proportions and spooky qualities like the stitches across Pan's face) during one of his more sad song numbers in The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's worth noting this era was sorta the last big hoorah for my obsession and fanboyism of Pan. I had a mild burst of being hooked one last time around Fall 2019 after losing interest in his podcast around the beginning of that year (a podcast I previously would follow religiously). I still liked him after this era and would definitely have periods of renewed interest but not to the same extent as before sadly.

Day 16: an imprisoned boy looking at the light coming through his barred window. This one used more pencil than ink to break away from mostly keeping it ink. It's very janky but the idea speaks to me. Apparently was also trying to think of a portrait for my oil painting class so this was one of the ideas that came to mind (didn't end up using it for anything though).

Day 17: a spooky little sickly old guy. I apparently was inspired by a character from Courage the Cowardly Dog when I did this. No clue which episode now though unless you guys can remember what he looks like.

Day 18: guy getting his face vacuumed off. I like that one episode of Ed, Edd n Eddy where Eddy's face get sucked by a vacuum. I got nothing else to say.

Day 19: self-portrait of me directing. It's a cutesy little drawing of me! And also the outfit I wore when I directed my mood piece that day.

Day 20: a large and vicious snake lizard hybrid. It's pretty self-explanatory. I think ultimately it's more just a snake with forearms and a spike tail. I guess I just was thinking at the time "what would be the ultimate snake?" Like a snake that can beat any snake. Also this was done on day 21 since I didn't have time on day 20 for it.

Day 21: large older guy hiding a knife behind his back. His looked is based on a friend of mine I went to college with and how he looked on set a few days ago when the light glistened over him. Although instead of a knife he held a script. He also vaguely reminds me of Al from Toy Story 2.

Day 22: sleep paralysis demon taunts twink. I like twinks, ok. Also I think just noticed something about that demon that I forgot I did but oh well. I think it'll be fine.

Day 23: guy with a very, very itchy head. I really like the pose and facial expression so it's actually one of my favorites here despite it being relatively mundane. Also, the itchy head may have been cause my head was itchy while drawing this but I don't remember. But I do remember part of the influence here was how sometimes great feelings of stress and anger would trigger an itchy head for me.

Day 24: a corpse brought back to life in a very rough and unfinished form. Obviously a bit of a Frankenstein's monster meets I guess Sally and Dr. Finkelstein from The Nightmare Before Christmas influence here. I may have had Pearl from Steven Universe in mind when I did this too since me and another friend definitely saw the resemblance.

Day 25: a twink who hit their face a little too hard on the bathroom sink. Twink. The full picture isn't really that gruesome imo (the face isn't visible) but I was trying to censor the liquids a bit for obvious reasons I already disclosed earlier. Also, he was loosely based on me but don't think too hard about that. I just had a bad day directing on set was all.

Day 26: Cute, unamused Hot Topic employee being bitten on the left leg by his pet lizard. Yet again another twink but this one's outfit is based mostly on my wardrobe at the time (minus the Jack Skellington shirt but I did/do have some pajama pants of him). And I guess I find reptiles cool so, only just noticing a bit of a reoccurring subject here (along with twinks).

Day 27: a melting zombie-like corpse crawling away from a puddle of acid. A tad more gruesome, sure, but I think it's a pretty cool drawing. And also it's like, a zombie, so it's not that inappropriate for standards here I hope. Apparently took a while to come up with an idea for this one.

Day 28: that one guy from Jacob's Ladder with a bag over his head and no legs walking with his arms. When I drew this, I had just seen Jacob's Ladder the night before for the first time and it became an instant favorite of mine. So, I drew a character from it. Him walking with his arms is based off of Mugshot's mode of travel from Sly Cooper.

Day 29: Jimi Hendrix inspired voodoo guy with a crystal ball. Pretty self-explanatory. Had fun with the texture and lighting although I was never quite satisfied with how I did the shading on his hair. The straight lines make his fro look like a porcupine lol. Regardless of that, it's a pretty cool drawing. Also worth noting is that during this time I fell back in love with 60s music. The Doors and Beatles in particular were major points of obsession for me. Especially their psychedelic period and ofc Jimi Hendrix was part of that era so that deep fixation for psychedelic and hippie music made its way into this.

Day 30: lizard amphibian fish mishmash girl with pony tails happily waving at us. This was definitely my least favorite of these and if not for my next and final drawing, would've been a lackluster way to end this. It's not awful but eh, just never really personally resonated with me. Also, she is wearing a seaweed braw so don't panic moral guardians of the world. For some reason Mrs. Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life came to mind when I drew this. Along with a certain friend of mind, @fishboigazer-blog, (which if you or a mutual is reading this lol hey).

And that's it for now since I can't fit more than 30 pics. Which is fine by me cause Day 31 deserves its own post since that one I did spend a few hours on as opposed to the rest of these. That one I also did actually post to Tumblr back in the day so I may just reblog it come Halloween.

If you actually read this far, thank you! I spent hours trying to put this together in a way that is satisfactory to me and hopefully gives plenty of insight into my process. This has been a very long time coming and hope to actually post more original stuff on here instead of just endlessly reblogging things.

#inktober #inktober 2019 #the cabinet of dr. caligari #rebeltaxi #nostalgia critic #nosferatu #jacob's ladder #cesare the somnambulist #fan art #sketches #AlexTheMenace art

[love-geeky-fangirl]

I will wrote this in anon as this fandom is often out for blood, but I have many problems with the Percy Jackson tv show and the trailer confirmed it for me.

- It's rushed.

We've gone from casting to the first episode all put in year. So for a TV show that's not so unusual, but consider this is a.Disney+ tv show and not something from the CW. CW ensemble a cast, they come together and shot episodes through most of the year, take some time off, return, and go at it again. Episode finishes shooting, they do all the special effects, tv show is ready to roll on the Autumn with in going shooting, it takes a few months of shooting, a few months of editing, the result is a cheesy show where the special effects look like Supernatural or Riverdale.

Now compare Disney.

Mrs Marvel were shooting for months. Then they did reshoots and more reshoots. They refilmed certain parts. They spent ages working on it and it finally came out. Similar is with Loki, season 2 has taken forever to create, its been almost 2 years. Other TV shows take equally long, there's one called Echo out in November, that one has also taken around 2 years.

Percy Jackson's TV show is more in line with a run of the mill CW TV Show than a Disney + one. It has been greatly rushed and bare in mind too these actors are all children, they can't have them on set all the time, it should have taken even longer than an adult TV show to make, in truth it took them less. Once the kids were done, it was special effects. Percy Jacksin only finished in February, if they had to reshot anything (and often they do) that would have happened throught March and April once they reviewed the footage. There's had maybe 3 to 4 months to do perhaps 10 hours worth of TV show, and that includes special effects which can take weeks, all the green screens, the lightning, matching audio and lip movement up, any music, all the ending and starting credits. Then they've finished, maybe a month ago, Disney have reviewed it, Greenlight it, they made a trailer and release date (which I shall mention soon) given in time for Percy's birthday. Which indicates this was finished weeks ago.

This is CW-level editing, not Disney+ level. They haven't paid alot out at all on this series. They've left them use the same software The Mandalorian uses, but as you can see, the 'volume' doesn't look do good on Percy Jackson, everything looks flat and lifeless, this is down to a lack of budget. The team behind this isn't their A Team. More like their Q Team. They had been no love, this to Disney is their tax break/schedule filler. I honestly don't believe they wanted to make this, but since they brought Fox and gainted the rights and Rick Riordan started pestering them, they said OK to shut him up, which brings me to the next point.

By bringing the TV show forward, they can effectively just cancell it fast. Hopefully this makes sense.

Strike is on right now. I didnt even know the trailer had aired, I was out on the 18th, only vaguely went online yesterday. Today to my surprise I found the trailer had been released - From a Destiel Meme for crying out loud lol.

So if the trailer can quietly slip by somebody who knows about Percy Jackson and had read the books, imagine somebody who doesn't know Percy Jackson. They won't see the trailer at all. The official tumblr Disney plus like/retweet number is only in the low 2k or so last I checked, that's just 2,000 likes/retweets. That's shockingly low. The writer strike isn't going to end any time soon, Percy Jackson has had its trailer and no press, no nothing. Its going to just slip by unnoticed. Recently Disney + cancelled National Treasure (?) Only after 3 months since its air date due to bad ratings. They've been deleting alot and I think everybody seen what happened to Willow and sorry to say but that looked much better than Percy Jackson did. The TV show comes out on the 20th December. Around that time Disney+ is swamped with Christmas movies. All the fandoms have something. Marvel with their Christmas specials, Simpsons will have all their Christmas episodes listed. Olaf will likely be all over the app. Even Darth Vader is often in Christmas Masks, and that's before all the romcon Christmas movies come out, as well as the Disney ones themselves. Thing is, trying to find a poorly advertised TV show on there is going to be near impossible at that time and that's IF you have time free from family. No doubt fans will watch the TV show when it airs, but its going to be a low number among general public. When episode 3 - 10 release weekly after that, they still have New Year promos, then no doubt Star Wars or Marvel will air something. All of this too IF the writers strike is off, if not then they won't be any Percy Jackson advertising. Its going to get cancelled without a doubt.

So writers strike aside, why is December a bad time and omen? Because it has been rushed to air in 2023. It could be used as a tax write off. Disney plus could skip it all together from renewed. The new tax year is still far off, they can place it into this year and write it off.

Hi! So true this fandom IS out for blood! That's why I kept silent for one year, because all the opinions I saw were strongly pro this series and people were like: "If you don't like this casting you're a bigot, don't talk to me."

Anyway, I did not even notice any of the other issues, such as how fast put together this show is and I don't know anything about tax write offs. I don't agree that the show looks flag and lifeless, I quite like the aesthetic and the orange tv shirts give me nostalgia. But I will agree with you that the Disney+ format is so bad- only like what 6-8 episodes per season? That's basically just a long movie. What's the point of even making it a show if one season is going to be as long as a movie? I think that this format is also part of the reason why How I Met Your Father is not very good. Also you are so right about the special effects. If they rushed it all together so fast (they filmed it super fast considering child actors are only allowed to work like 10 hours/week) what is it going to look like? The Marvel special effects in the recent movies look like cheap green screen, so I am sceptical about that as well. Not to mention that anything that came out of Disney from recent years was not very good and ended up losing money.

I think it is sad, because this book series finally deserves a worthy adaptation but it doesn't look like it will be getting it soon.

#answered #percy jackson

[jimimn]

i just want to give them the whole damn world 😭

#btsgif #jimin #taehyung #jungkook #bts #maknae line #park jimin #kim taehyung #v #jeon jungkook #weverse live #* #*jm #*th #*jk #this set took me like 4 hours only for tumblr to make it look like crap 😭😭😭😭😭 #anyway i love them very very much 😔