#and problematic poor things

[ballerinarina]

[🦕] guys, i confess. after years talking bad about the jurassic park franchise, i fell for their animated series. guilty.

[theninjazebra]

Selene and Helios

For @pynkhues 's fic love me at the ungodly hour

[sidestriker]

also, while i do incorporate SOME things about striker's portrayal in season 2 (notably that he's more irritable and snappish when he's not purposefully putting on the charm), i really don't LIKE that the only character in the show who's actually been shown to give much of a damn about the wider social structures in hell was suddenly portrayed as like a power-hungry overly-violent sadist (as opposed to his first introduction, where he's thrilled to take a shot at the goetia but not particularly OBSESSED with causing pain and making their lives miserable or doing anything beyond proving that imps can be just as strong as any other demon), so that's why you're not going to be seeing much of that from me at all.

[everylastbird]

Me at the top of 'Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu Are the Same Person' AO3 Tag hill: Surely this won't awaken any feelings of interest, appreciation, or excessive sympathy for OG!Shen Qingqiu

Me, having slid down the slippery slope of 'Shen Yuan and Shen Jiu Are the Same Person' AO3 Tag hill and found herself strolling through 'Shen Jiu Gets a Happy Ending' AO3 Tag lane:

[fareehaandspaniards]

EVERY TIME I FIGHT ROM I LAUGH BECAUSE SHE DANCING

[milfbrainrot]

actually i do think it's funny how few lesbian films i've seen as someone who's been out for over a decade.

like. these are the only Classics TM i can remember watching:

but i'm a cheerleader

blue is the warmest color

loving annabelle

chloe 2009

carol

obvs i did get a TON of rep through tv shows and Certain Webseries and music videos instead but i feel so uncultured. i need to put a list together of the ones i particularly need to see so any recs are welcome lol.

[uncanny-tranny]

That whole reply, like your musings, was a mess.

This is me sending you to the shadow realm

[trion-revolutionary]

Poor Kvar is the only one without abs. A good view of his exsphere which is constantly working (glowing) to manage his asmtha and declining vision. Kvar has the fewest scars. Being a mad scientist and a mage doesn't get you too close to actual weapons. His scars are one on his chest that he received during the AU and a pretty nasty magic-induced scar on his arm which he received when he met his father. He doesn't like to talk about it and always wears long sleeves to cover it up.

Magnius is tomorrow.

[queer-reader-07]

i love when people seemingly do everything in their power to interpret what you’re saying in the most bad faith way possible. it’s so fun and nice. (sarcasm)

[ceramicbeetle]

the thing about Aelwyn that I think about a lot is that there's a lot to the notion that she, to a certain extent, was so abrasive with Adaine because of how obstinate Adaine is with their parents. If you have based a chunk of your personality on the precept of "The only way to protect myself is to meet my parents' expectations and obey them at all costs", then every time Adaine pushes back against them, there is almost unquestionably a fear-response -- even if you aren't the one who set your parent off, their stress/frustration can fill a room to the point of becoming smothering anyway. And if you don't feel safe getting mad at your parents for being a source of stress/fear in your life, then invariably the only thing you can do is begin to resent the third-party who you perceive as setting them off for no reason instead of playing it safe, like you do.

[p2ii]

following haters and lovers of the same shows is so fun cause I'll see a gifset or something followed by a 10 page essay detailing how everything in that gifset is the worst thing to ever grace television. and I'm cheering for both of them.

[weweantica]

[abitch-in-the-matrix]

The first shipping content I came across online was actually Giles/Buffy, a whole analysis of a bunch of episode and them being into each other that way. Not sure how I stumbled upon that since that's understandable not a popular ship. It really turned me off from online fanwork in general, to the point I would argue against it in any form. Obv I got over that lol.

[shinmiyovvi]

With Bo6 zombies trailer now revealed... My brain gave me some flashbacks about Len so much I never even talked about her alot or even draw her

Not to mention how I shipped her with Ravenov and made a lot of headcanons of these two until MW Zombies came to knock on my door and gave me a depressing turn of events

[dancingafterdark]

casual “non-political” 70s films for a casual, easygoing, “just turn your brain off” viewing experience (and these are just a handful, more “mainstream” picks) that aren’t star wars:

apocalypse now (1979)

a clockwork orange (1971)

the stepford wives (1975)

taxi driver (1976)

dawn of the dead (1978)

the texas chainsaw massacre (1974)

black christmas (1974)

phantom of the paradise (1974)

rocky horror picture show (1975)

the hills have eyes (1977)

invasion of the body snatchers (1978)

the wicker man (1973)

the exorcist (1973)

soylent green (1973)

superman (1978)

chinatown (1974)

jaws (1974)

alien (1979)

all the president’s men (1976)

the crazies (1973)

the man who fell to earth (1976)

many, many, many, MANY more. SO much more. like, this is NOT a comprehensive list, this is JUST the ones off the top of my head and that’s not even touching the sudden but unmistakable BOOM in what has been dubbed “blaxploitation” films during the time (blacula, anyone?), among others-

fuck man, just gonna get into an odd and unconventional but INCREDIBLY specific example here. my TL;DR is that while you absolutely CAN examine the original star wars from a sociopolitical lens and nobody’s stopping you, there are sooo many other 70s films you can also bring to the discussion that you SHOULD watch too — expand your horizons! go beyond the comforts of your fandom favourites! challenging yourself with more media literacy is GOOD, actually! now, i’m gonna be hastily shoving my “hear me out” trash movie of choice under this funky lil read more line, so if y’all are tired of hearing me prattle on, thank you for entertaining my 70s cinephile madness today:

(cw for discussion of SA)

even i spit on your grave (1978) — depending on how well one can stomach rape/revenge as a genre, i’m not going to say you SHOULD if you’re sensitive to the premise, and some of the more questionable male gazey moments of the film aside (note: this is NOT referring to the infamous 20 minute SA scene in question, which is supposed to make you feel as disgusted and violated as the main character with no reprieve until it’s finally fucking over, and discomfort is not an inherently wrong thing to feel when watching a film of this subject matter) — was pretty forward thinking *in it’s time** (BIG asterisk) for having an unquestionably and outspokenly feminist, independent, and fairly sex positive main character who is, importantly, NOT SA’d into submission nor is her rape and the effects it has on her downplayed, disregarded, or outright romanticized — as was alarmingly common in media even going as far back as the 1919 “romance” novel, the sheik (which was basically early 20th century 365 days) — but also had her inflicting her revenge against her attackers independently as opposed to other prominent r + r films from the time (such as the last house on the left and the virgin spring) having the parents, or sometimes just the father, taking vengeance upon her honour for her, and jennifer’s methods of using her femininity to her advantage while still being vindicated by the narrative (a notable thing, given how notably conservative similar “schlocky” horror films always were — note how in the aforementioned LHOTL, Mari’s (the “good” virginal girl) rape and murder is presented as more tragic by the filmmakers compared to her more rebellious, “troublemaker” friend, who is notably also given a slow, painful, and incredibly violent onscreen death scene compared to Mari — and would become even more so in the following decade even the slasher boom in the 80s, and even then, “““femme fatale””” characters were hardly ever given the lead spotlight if not outright punished) versus her attackers defenses and usage of still sadly common victim blaming tactics to justify their monstrous actions never being painted as more sympathetic or undeserved of punishment, with even the shy, dorky, most likely developmentally disabled guy with a crush on her who was “pressured” by his buddies into participating noticably being off’d first, and Jennifer ends the film victorious and triumphant. now, i’m not calling this movie an “underrated feminist classic” or anything, this movie DOES have glaring flaws that date it, but this was still a VERY important film in it’s time and even paved the way for FANTASTIC entries in the genre down the line such as revenge (2017), and goes to show that even so-called “lowest common denominator trash” films from this specific time period have their place in political discussion.

i could go MUCH more into this topic, but i’ve spent nearly an hour typing this out and have literally no spoons left for this topic lmao

Average 2020s movie being "too political": girl power! quick background kiss between two gay extras! one single black guy!

Average "non-political" 70s movie: the government is hiding a global conspiracy that is warming the planet and will kill us all and also the cops are evil

[dduane]

Just checking in

Because some of y'all are worrying about me, I know.

(Inserting a cut here. TW, as you might expect, for mentions of death and after-death issues. Also of crap beds, noisy clueless tourists, and giant koi.)

The "Trip Away From Home To Try To Get A Grip On Things" is proceeding as well as it can when the one element it would need to be perfect, and truly enjoyable, is missing. (sighing) If Peter was along in corporeal form, he would be lapping this up.

...Well, everything except the current weather. I'm in Interlaken, and it's raining. And not just some little passing episodic rain, either. This is more, even, than the Irish definition of "soft weather". It's coming down in the steady persistent way that would make Peter say "Well, that's on for the day..." And so it may be. So for the time being, I get to sit in the hotel and watch it rain, and consider the odds of actually getting up the Jungfrau to see the Aletsch Glacier before any more of it melts. (And those odds seem poor: but more of that later.)

So here's where I've been:

Dublin—overnight in U2's hotel. Which is very nice. And which has come down in price, astonishingly, on their singles. (Though I nonetheless thank, yet again, the folks who have made this difficult transitional people so much less problematic for me via Ko-Fi.) As Peter had been telling me I really should try this place some time when I had to be going somewhere else, I took him at his word.

Zürich, just briefly. (Shopping will wait until the run back.) On the way to:

Basel, for one night before the Eurovision finals. I don't know for sure, but it seems likely to me that Basel may have broken the record for biggest Eurovision venue (the St. Jakob's Stadion had 49K people in it on Saturday night). Also: one of my cabbies told me that the city had nearly half a million tourists in it... which, for a little-ish city like Basel, is a whole lot. I can tell you that about half them seemed to be walking around in the streets when we were trying to drive in them, and it was a nightmare, and my cabbies were saying terrible things in Baslerdeutsch.

Freiburg im Breisgau for two nights out of a planned three. ...I had to go early, as the bed in the [otherwise lovely] room the hotel had put me in was not good for my back. Fortunately I had enough funds on hand to simply kiss off that third night and return to the hotel in Basel, which not only had way better beds, but the most comfortable pillows I've ever slept on in a central-European hotel. I would go back to the Maerthof (money allowing: it ain't cheap...) for just the pillows alone. (And also the shower in the room was terrific, and I very much noticed and appreciated the numerous solid and well-placed accessibility aids. Ask for room 402, and don't freak out when the anti-sun glare blinds automatically come down at 0900.)

And now, Interlaken (already famous to some of you for this craziness, in which we found soup ads in Terry Pratchett's German editions). I'll be here tonight and tomorrow night, and then (probably, not decided yet) in Bern the night after. Zürich again the night after that, as I fly back to Dublin the next day, see people on the Dublin 2029 planning committee, and then... head back home to get on with gettin' on. ...Whatever that looks like.

Mental state: I miss him. Oh gods I miss him! Every fifth minute. Or third. And I always will! That's not a conditional. But I'm watching my moods (and physical health) with great care. If I start suspecting that I need antidepressents, or some other kind of specialized care, I'll go get it. There's lots of it around. (I note in passing that my appetite has slowly come back. My sleep patterns are still stupid, but I'm getting more sleep than earlier in this ten-day period.)

Be clear, too, that this isn't just me Being Tough because it's expected of me. I now have even more work-related responsibilities than I had earlier... as soon enough the copyrights on Peter's books will pass to my guardianship, and I have to make sure they're properly cared for. (In particular, his contract with his current e-book publisher is about to run out, and I think I'll be reclaiming those for publication at Ebooks Direct, as the other guys haven't been doing that stellar a job with them.)

And then I have to figure out: what do I need to do to write, now? Because there's a whole lot of that work that needs doing. Can I ever do it again in that house that's so quiet without him? And if not, how do I make this work? Peter has been the not-so-silent foundation of my life for forty years. (We missed that fortieth wedding anniversary by so little...) My most constant reader is now no longer in condition to read and report back...

(sighing) We shall see. Everything, now, is an adventure. Just nowhere near as cool a one as it was when he was here.

...Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the hotel in Interlaken, which has a charmingly modernized yes-this-is-the-Swiss-countryside-but-we-have-heard-of-modern-life-thank-you-very-fucking-much quality to it. And in particular: it's next to a feature called "The Japanese Garden" that features a pond with some of the BIGGEST damn koi I've ever seen. The damn things are like zeppelins. I'll post pics of them tomorrow: I want to see if there might be better lighting in the morning. They remind me of the ones at this hotel in Santa Monica that used to come up to the poolside bar seats and make adorable irresistible Fishy Faces at you until you fed them salted peanuts from the bar snacks. Which apparently they knew they were not allowed to have, but loved anyway, and they would make faces at you until you broke and appeased them.)

Meanwhile, here is this evening's wine. "Lucifer"? What's not to like? It's a light Valisan quaffing red.

("When you're drinking Swiss reds," says the Voice In My Head, "get the whole damn bottle. It's cheaper than by the glass. And if you don't finish it, or we don't finish it, you can always take it up to the room with you and have it tomorrow.")

(...You see what I put up with.) :)

Hugs to you all.