#also if you have a differing opinion i respect that pls don’t send me hate over this i just need to vent about it jsgskdh

[druidic-focus]

ok so i get narratively that the kiss was showing how the mycelium connects itself to new infecteds and i get that it was also a parallel to how they set up that one shot to look like a one last kiss moment for tess and joel that they just couldn’t act on. but i also hate it from the point of view that. she is a woman. and THAT was her death.

[aliensunflower-fics]

In Defense of Salt AND Sugar: Aka ML Fandom pls chill out.

So I don’t talk much as those who follow me will say I tend to just stick to myself and my own things. HOWEVER, Ive gotten a lot of asks about why I write both Salt and Sugar for Miraculous Ladybug.

The short answer: Both salt and sugar are valid, fun, intriguing things to read and write and the point of writing is to entertain and be entertained.

The long answer: Salt isn’t inherently someone hating on your fav show and sugar isn't someone necessarily giving it a free pass either. Ya’ll are just dramatic as hell.

The LONGER answer:

I write salt because I LIKE Miraculous Ladybug, BUT the show has not lived up to its potential AT ALL. The show could be so much better and the characters are so flawed or full of holes that occasionally I feel FRUSTRATED and mad!

I hate that Alya a character who I was so excited about, gets shafted ignored, sidelined, or written like a jerk! She could have been this great detective working alongside her friend to unmask the villain, but instead she often comes across as pushy, obsessed with Ladynoir or Adrinette, and so damn easily tricked. Not to mention how when shes not gushing over her ‘ships’ shes pushed to the side and ignored. [or you know... LILA]

I hate that Marinette’s crush makes her do things that are so cringy and awkward i feel ill I hate that she’s constantly the only one making mistakes and ‘learning lessons’ when the show has all these other great characters that could use the spotlight and be the ones learning lessons. I hate that she’s so jealous and that she cant ever seem to catch a break as if the show is punishing her constantly.

I HATE that Adrien is a mary sue, how the writers say hes perfect and treat him as such, I hate that he gets to guilt Marinette into fixing everything and dealing with bullies, I wanted a funny, Ron Stoppable, naive boy who learns about real friendships and grows into a great partner. Instead he gets to be pushy and downright a jerk as Chat Noir ignoring his responsibilities, guilting Ladybug with his feelings, never taking no as an answer. He’s not a good role model for kids.

I hate that Chloe got built up to have a redemption arc several times only for the writers to decide that Chloe a teenage girl who needs some serious therapy [and actual reasonable punishment for her actions] is worse than Gabriel child abuse Agreste. She could have been a great lesson on compassion and growth and dealing with your own pain without hurting others. Instead the writers wrote her off completely.

And dont get me started on how the show treats Nino, Kagami, Luka and the rest of the cast. They may as well be a backdrop for the forced love square that we NEVER get a break from. Seriously I’m a sucker for romance but does it need to be EVERY damn episode?! Can’t we just get some wholesome friendship between everyone including Adrien and Marinette at this point like COME ON.

And i’m not even touching on the white washing, awful lessons on responsibility and forgiveness, awful lessons on well so much other stuff really, the guilt trips, the teacher, the fact that she show could be used to teach kids how to better handle negative emotions and the importance of open communication and not keeping quiet about injustice and/or your feelings but instead decided that the main priority should be a love square that gets force fed to us EVERY SINGLE EPISODE.

My point is the show has FLAWS. That doesn’t mean its the worse show ever and it doesn’t mean its not fun, and has a great premise and characters, and so when I write Salt I write it because i’m frustrated! Im frustrated with the show, with the characters, with the writing and so I vent that out with salt I write those characters as their worst selves because I cant stand how the show has decided to treat them and Im ANGRY and disappointed.

It feels good to write salt and to read it. It’s nice to see characters get called out for bad behavior, its nice to read about Adrien not getting the girl. Its nice to occasionally indulge in salt because it validates that the show is flawed and lets you get out that frustration.

BUT ON THE FLIP SIDE

Miraculous Ladybug is a lovely show. It’s a show that decided to give little girls a FEMALE HERO. And not just as a side kick or background character! No they made her the protagonist! Its so important to me that little girls see good well rounded female characters in media.

And even if the show is clumsy about it they are TRYING to build an expansive lore that tickles the theorist brain. And gets people invested in the world.

The show also made Marinette shy, and awkward, and clumsy something a lot of girls deal with during puberty as growing up can literally make you clumsier as your body adjusts. Having a character who tries to be positive and tries to find solutions who solves things with creativity instead of pure violence. Thats LOVELY for young girls to see.

Growing up I loved and admired Kim Possible, and probably would have loved Marinette, even if the shows not perfect I can admit its trying and I can see why people love it as much as they do! And why they write these fluffy sugary fics its the reason I WRITE fluffy sugary things.

Because even though I am frustrated and angry and disappointed with the show, I still see Alya’s potential and how great she is as representation to little girls who want a black female superhero so I write fluff where Alya’s loyalty, compassion, cleverness and her pursuit of justice are center stage.

I see how Adrien could be better and I want him to be better and I WANT him to be the naive funny comic relief the Ron Stoppable to Marinette’s Kim Possible. I want Adrien to grow and learn and spit in his dad’s face I want him to overcome the abuse and be happy. To show people that neglect and abuse doesn’t mean you will get stuck like that forever, that you can overcome that and be a better kinder person.

I want Nino and Kagami, and Luka and Chloe and the class to grow and get attention and have funny moments I want to laugh and make other people laugh! So I write prompts focused around comedy and shenanigans and where the characters get to be fun and silly and make decisions for themselves!

SO IN CONCLUSION:

I write salt AND sugar. I see the value and merit in both sides of the coin, and I respect how other people see the show. I know its easy to get angry with other people in the fandom who see the show differently then you do but please can we put down the weapons and just BREATHE.

Someone who writes salt might LOVE the same show as you, and they might in fact love it so much that they vent their frustrations in angst and salt and cracky fics. Let them vent about how they wish the show was better, leave their tags alone or block them if you cant stand to see it. But dont attack salt writers for ‘hating on your show’ when they might love it just as much as you do but want a way to vent out their feelings.

On the flip someone who writes sugar might NOT be forgiving the show for its flaws, they might see all the same flaws as you but decide to take that frustration and write fluff and fix it fics and sugar because they want to indulge in a version of their favorite show where everything is just... OK. Where everyone is well written and happy and the character development sticks. Stay out of their tags let them have their sugar, they aren't writing it to hurt you just like you don't write salt to hurt them.

So ENOUGH. Enough hunting each other down, enough sending each other hate, enough filling each others tags. Let people write SALT if they feel angry and vengeful and disappointment, let them have their tags, let them explore the dark side of the characters, let them rant and rave and be HURT when the characters they love upset them with their actions. Its not your place to tell them to stop, to tell them their feelings are invalid, to tell them that ‘adrien is sweet sunshine boy how dare you’ or ‘alya would never’ or ‘i hate your marinette leaves dupont au’. Just leave it be, heed the tags, and let it go.

AND ENOUGH. Enough hunting each other down, enough sending each other hate, enough filling each other tags. Let people write SUGAR if they just want something to feel happy about. Let them makes coffee shop au’s, let them make fix it fics where everything is just happy without needing 8 pages of backstory for why everything is just happy. Let them squeal and gush and talk about the ship they like and the fluff they see. Its not your place to argue with them that the show is flawed, its not cool to ruin their fun by accusing them of not understanding the flaws, to tell them ‘umm actual this character shouldn’t get to be happy’ or ‘wow this is so shallow’. Just leave it be, heed the tags, and let it go.

PS: Now with that said and done. I do have one final message for everyone - If you write/enjoy pedophilia, if you sexualize KIDS. Then get the fuck out of fandom spaces, stop fucking following me, and do everyone salt and sugar a favor by LEAVING. Your pedophilia and child sexualization aint wanted, aint ok, and I will fight you.

PSS: IF YOU HATE WHAT IVE SAID ABOUT SUGAR AND SALT FINE OK I RESPECT YOU REGARDLESS. ENJOY THE SHOW, STAY CLASSY, DONT HURT PEOPLE BECAUSE THEY HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION.

[mc-critical]

your analysis of selim? i think he's hated way more than he deserves. hating him for valid reasons is fine but telling that he's gonna be such a bad sultan is really stupid [and especially because only now do they bring out history & say selim was bad which is historically inaccurate as well]. out of all of suleyman's sons, it was only mustafa who was loved by all & talented [show only cuz apparently mehmet was also extremely talented & selim wasn't a bad sultan] enough for the throne. bayezid was extremely hotheaded and you can't tell me that a prince who can't control his emotions, especially in front of state officials, will be a good sultan. everyone tells selim was extremely selfish & the instigator of all their fights, when they were younger & older. siblings are always like that?? mustafa obviously wasn't like that because he was way older than mehmet, mihrimah, selim, bayezid & cihangir to get into stupid fights w/ them. mehmet & mihrimah had frequent & annoying arguments because they were closer in age. selim & bayezid had frequent fights because they were closer in age. this is a thing with many siblings; the elder provoking the younger & the younger disrespecting the elder. why do people point out their sibling fights as evidence for selim's personality? i feel sorry for bayezid as a kid but i feel less remorse for him as he's older. i don't say he deserves execution, especially at the hands of his own father, but he did rebel against his father's order & then proceeded to flee to another empire; like, the punishment for that is execution, what did he expect after rebelling? i feel extremely sorry for all his sons though, they didn't deserve this fate when they were just victims of their father's rebellion. also, unpopular opinion but bayezid is lowkey overrated pls don't cancel me i love him but he's annoying at times like all characters & no one really acknowledges it back to selim, he was honestly very underrated. he was really slandered in the series and he didn't have any real support w/ him until nurbanu & sokollu. although hurrem did vouch for him to go to manisa, it was literally only because he was 'peaceful' [we can read that as untalented as well] and no harm would reach him because he wasn't a threat [i actually really liked this plan of hurrem's, tough & clever; only if she was actually supported in this]. even mihrimah, till the end, is quite unfair to him. he had a problem w/ alcohol & people telling him to just stop? like, it doesn't work that way? people have to suffer so much in order to stop their addictions & they're actually restricted from their addictions; selim was a prince, no one around him could restrict him [his parents could but they weren't w/ him in his provinces]. he did become politically active w/ nurbanu's growing ambitions & he took smarter, more cunning & dirtier measures than bayezid to win the throne. the battle for the throne was bloody; resorting to honour like mustafa did was obviously not the best decision & people insult selim for being cunning enough [or being influenced by cunning people] to win the throne. let's also keep in mind that selim didn't even have much of an interest for the throne until manisa & nurbanu. i also like his relationship w/ nurbanu. it paralleled suleyman & hurrem's w/ the concubine arcs but selim did end up being monogamous to her in the show. their chemistry was fantastic [props to engin & merve for their acting] and although i don't really enjoy the 'a woman makes a man strong & influences him in everything; good or evil' kind of take, i did enjoy their relationship [he also sometimes looked at her like she was this ethereal type miracle, appropriately so w/ her courage]. i like what the show did w/ bayezid's execution a lot, the whole scene was such a wonderful cinematic experience; the music, bayezid's agonizing screams, his sons falling one by one, selim crying because he didn't want it to end up this way, bayezid falling & his screams ceasing, selim's heartbroken face because he was always a soft person & he always loved bayezid;

ahh, what a scene, so much love for it. anyway, that's just my opinion; i think he's hated way more than he deserves, especially in comparison to other characters & he's actually one of my most favourite characters from s4 [but i honestly love all characters w/ their good & bad, mc has many complex characters & i live for it]. what do you think about selim? sorry if you got annoyed at the long ask, i can get really heated when talking about selim [especially in reference to his historical figure], hope you don't mind if❤ [if it is annoying i'll stop it]

(okay, I'll talk strictly about the show, since I don't feel like delving deep into historical waters. There is still stuff we don't know for sure and I do want to keep the line between show and history in my head, except for the similar themes.)

While he isn't particularly my favorite character, I appreciate MC Selim and he is a very interesting subject when it comes to analyzing him. I'm actually amazed with what the show did with him in the span of a season (and something, counting some S02B and S03B moments) - he was one of the most fleshed out characters in S04 and we could get a clear picture as to why he does what he does.

Some people consider his debut to be an insult, for it immediately showed some of his weaknesses, putting him in a bad light right out of the gate. But all I can see in this debut is a showcase of his predicament of the prince no one sees as a capable heir of the throne. It’s as if he sleeps with women and drinks as a coping mechanism he’s delved into, with Mihrimah having to do effort to snap him out of it. The Selim we see in the beginning of S04 is a hopeless person. He doesn’t have dreams and ambitions, it’s as if he’s a already a lost cause and he has no one to truly support him. Even Hürrem wanted to send him to Manisa not because she deemed him as worthy, but to use him as a shield in order to deceive her enemies and protect the actual favorite. That may seem like a clever plan, but in actuality, it failed spectacularly - not only did her enemies not get confused for a second and didn’t attack Selim at all, but she forgot to tell Bayezid why she did it and made Selim confused to the point of demotivation, because none of his brothers were truly happy with this decision and they were all opposing it, directly and indirectly. And while he may not show it that much, because of his more composed and pragmatic nature, Selim is sensitive to the opinions of his brothers and the people around him and their prevailing disapproval may be a part of why he became so different than the rest. It’s like no one wanted to get to know him.

Nurbanu’s entrance in Selim’s life is very cathartic in this aspect, for she actually worked with him and gave him the needed motivation and ambition to fight, awaking sides of him that were dormant for a long time. And yes, I do think that Selim’s pragmatism is something he always had, if the whole arrow incident in S03B where he sabotaged Bayezid’s arrow, which caused him to lose is any indication. 

{I don’t think that the quarrels Selim and Bayezid had when they were little are so much indicators of Selim’s personality as they are foreshadowing of their future conflict. Right, these quarrels are normal for siblings and Mehmet and Mihrimah also fought like that (heck, even little Mehmet and Mustafa had a fight once in S01 and that fight was used as the conflict of the remainder of that one episode), but they weren’t as frequent as the ones of Selim and Bayezid. I don’t know, it’s just the atmosphere of these scenes was different and hinted at something more. It could be because we know the historical events and we could see every tiniest bit of early sibling rivalry between them as build-up, but still, I always felt there just was something else. Like the whole arrow incident I mentioned, a presumably harmless little situation gains a whole other meaning later on. It sets up neatly Süleiman’s opinions of both of them (his reaction to apparent disobedience and the making of a scene by someone he doesn’t expect to, by which I mean Bayezid), Hürrem’s retroactive ignorance of a possible bigger enmity and the roots of the whole conflict. It’s not Selim deciding to sabotage Bayezid’s performance as a last resort, maybe knowing that he surely won’t do better than his brother (doing a pretty typical ,,prank’’ for a little, naughty kid) that is exemplary of his cunning later, it’s his validation and him getting away with it that eventually becomes it, just like how he ends up getting away with stuff in the next season. Selim definetly isn’t the instigator of all the fights, especially because Bayezid, thanks to his more impulsive nature, is much more likely to start a fight in the first place and contrasts to Selim’s overall better composure. Provokations among them were mutual and both were consistently throwing darts at each other, one after another. Their conflict is a very nuanced issue: while people try to play right and wrong, both sides were at fault one way or another. The conflict between them is mostly caused by insensitivity, favoritism and ignorance and the desperation of both to try to prove themselves to their parents and win their support, at the end of the day. Why did they always calm down in front of their mother? Not only because of their joint respect for her, but also because of these same attempts to earn her support. Even Bayezid, who obviously had to be sure of her support, wasn’t completely certain of it after Hurrem turned it on Selim for a while. Selim, on the other hand, obviously never felt her support, it’s like something was missing right from the start. Combine that with their completely opposing personalities and the whole system encouraging competition for the throne and there you have the inevitable ultimate conclusion. That’s why I also love the set-up, the pay-off and the aftermath of Bayezid’s execution. It may be historically inaccurate that Selim, not Süleiman, executed Bayezid, but when you think about it, it was the most logical thing that could’ve happened, ending their conflict with a heart-wrenching bow. I love the scene of the execution itself, too - the action, the dialogue, the direction, the character moments, the themes... I don’t know whether Selim loved Bayezid by that point, per say, after all they went through, but it was clear that he knew that he had to do it, that it couldn’t have ended any other way, but he was broken over it. He was aware that it was, ultimately, a sin, which would continue haunting him. He couldn’t catch a break afterwards, he couldn’t stop. All was solved, but at what cost?}

I love his dynamic with Nurbanu - they balanced each other off so well, their chemistry was amazing, such a power couple. Nurbanu’s biggest contribution is hiding some of his flaws and mobilizing him to fight. Her cold pragmatism ,,grounds’’ Selim’s softer side, she’s there to always remind him of the stakes of the game and to shut off the last ounces of his vulnerabilities after Hurrem died. He sure is influenced by her, but that doesn’t mean that he blindly takes her word for everything - he is always ready to call her out when necessary and assure her that there are lines she shouldn’t cross. Despite of her pleas, he kept having affairs with other women (that is honestly a trend with all the men of the show, but still..), he got mad at her after what happened to Huricihan and most notably, after he found out that she possibly stole his mother’s ring. A part of why their dynamic works so well is precisely this strenght of character and their awesome compatibility. 

I have heard affirmations that Selim doesn’t care about Mustafa, which... simply isn’t true? While they have the least scenes together and Selim is the one that considers him most as a rival and his most dangerous competitor for the throne (which would explain his startled reaction after Musti saved him from the janissary), it’s precisely Mustafa’s death that is the turning point of his character arc. He was upping his game slowly but surely and before then, but he didn’t do much in terms of attacks. Neither Selim, nor Nurbanu once considered attacking Mustafa, the supposed biggest danger to them, which I find respectable and admirable. The bomb with the death drops and then every hope about a fair game is abandoned. Selim gets the realization that being honorable won’t work. The only way to win is bend the system and play dirty. There’s no time for sitting around or looking nice. And even though Nurbanu realized this, too, as well as Selim, Nurbanu was always more inclined to act this way than him and now the righteousness of her methods were only getting confirmed. It was Selim that had to reach this end. Discovering that he is no longer allowed to show any kind of weakness. Every chance that appears on the horizon, he’ll take it. That brings him to his first true dirty plan - the trap he set through the fake Mustafa rebellion.

Speaking of which, the worst deed of Selim’s for me is connected to that rebellion. I know I may be very biased in this regard, since it affects my personal favorite character and isn’t as recalled as others, but I hated when, in Selim and Sokollu’s attempts to wash their hands from the pulled off stunt, Sokollu, his man, told SS that Mahidevran was giving money to the rebellion. Okay, it’s not said outright whether is this directly tied to Selim or it was something Sokollu himself came up with out of desperation or something (though it was hinted that both thought something through in a scene where both were saying that they should come clean out of this all somehow) and it’s not outrightly confirmed whether Mahidevran gave the money or not (I highly doubt she did it; not only because it would destroy her whole S04 arc and she would become, well... MCK Gulbahar, but also because after the messenger told her of her alleged blame in E129, her eyes widened in surprise.), but all it does is be the only explicit case where Selim indeed looks bad, for his proposal to return Mahidevran in the castle doesn’t seem to stem from genuine guilt and remorse, but rather a late and empty attempt to placate his own conscience. Oh, not to mention (for the upteenth time, sorry in advance) how the scene back in E58 where Hurrem tells Mahidevran that her kids will be there taking care for her when she’s alone, which was treated as some big foreshadowing in the show, as well, by both the voice of the S02B narrative and the fandom alike, loses its value even more with that framing, because Selim and Sokollu themselves brought her to this state in the first place!!! Despite it making sense anyway, it’s still such a disservice to Selim as a person both inside and outside of the writing. 

One aspect of Selim’s pragmatism I find most interesting is his ability to turn his enemies into allies, knowing exactly how to amass them and get them on his side, be it through giving them more money and promising them the world. These alliances are all opportunistic in nature and may not be as loyal as those of Mustafa’s or of Mustafa’s people (like Atmaca) with Bayezid, but I think Selim knows this and wants to keep them steady enough for the common goal. As for what kind of a padisah he’ll be.... I believe that state matters would be the least of his concerns, since he was shown to not care so much about them, compared to his other brothers (but then again, the show itself doesn’t put the political capability of the princes at center stage - their personal virtues are always the determining factor of what makes a good padisah and what doesn’t, more of a psychological outlook, if you will.) and he perhaps won’t plan as many campaigns or conquer as many territories, maybe he won’t be that successful at all, but his cunning would bring him advantage in front of his people, he will be at least a bit careful of who he’s choosing and won’t simply lose it in front of everyone, compared to Bayezid’s impulsive temper.

[I love Bayezid as a character, but the shadier aspects of his personality sure tend to be overlooked. While his anger is directed mainly at Selim and Suleiman, it often reaches such extremes to the point it becomes destructive and affects everyone. He doesn’t deserve his execution at all and most of his actions stem from a very sympathetic place, given how SS never truly gave him a chance and he went on the inevitable path, because he, just like Selim, realized that honor won’t work in this war, but took the opposite approach from Mustafa, direct rebellion. And predictably, both approaches didn’t work since Bayezid, too, was taken advantage of. While he didn’t get justice, the lead-up to his execution is a character arc of his and there are many reasons and events linking it all together and showing us why it took place the way it did.]

Selim’s dynamic with Suleiman is proof of how you can be presumably favored, but you have to work to get there. The reasons Suleiman favored him are very telling and sad and we see that he also doesn’t favor him because of any and all capabilities he may have, but because of his self-imposed distorted view of loyalty Selim has to do a lot to preserve, actually. He constantly has to make it so it looks like he’s loyal and obedient and doesn’t work behind his back. He doesn’t get the fullest appreciation from his father, as well, and I certainly feel it impacts him, in a way.

I agree that Mihrimah could be unfair to Selim. They weren’t that close and she had this open preference to Bayezid. Most annoyingly is when, in their confrontation in E139, which highlights even more their parallel sins, Mihrimah doesn’t seem to face that sin of hers when Selim calls her out on it. She has a reason to deeply resent him after what he did to Bayezid, but was offended when he reminded her of the crime she also committed. More solidarity on that front would be a bit better, at least a hint of like recognizing like even for a moment. (but maybe then her scene with Mahidevran later wouldn’t be as impactful? Huh.)

And lastly, about his drinking - Nurbanu tried to restrict him, but it’s true that such habits aren’t easy to give up on, especially knowing how his drinking is a coping mechanism as much as it is something he enjoys. He knows he shouldn’t do it, he’s told he shouldn’t do it, but he can’t help it. He doesn’t drink when he’s planning or scheming, but he keeps on doing it more and more with every problematic action of his. It’s an attempt to supress his otherwise strong conscience to the max, seeing how after his brother’s execution he apparently always took a drink when he was alone at night, fighting an inner conflict with himself. I don’t think there was a way he could stop doing it permanently in the show. It was a part of who he was, unfortunately or not. 

[mrpenguinpants]

KAEYA PLAYING WITH ABYSS MAGES AHDHSHDHSB IM- that’s so cute????? Guizhong being older than Zhongli is such a valid hc, I fully support and condone it. Thank you. And Childe growing to like battle was something I found interesting because he was once mentioned to be fragile and weak in his character stories iirc? I like to think that maybe the initial reason he persevered was to overcome that past status.

Also, YES. They’d have the worst habits, and it would eventually become more visible the more comfortable it becomes, but Keqing just gives up on trying to change anything because it’s literally hopeless.

I also headcanon that they have different ways to show appreciation for Keqing. E.g. Childe sometimes uses one of his cringy ass Russian nicknames and when she looks up the meaning, she turns from the most straight-faced woman known to man to a highkey affection-starved queen self-destructing in her room.

Diluc leaves a note on her desk that are simple “Sleep early today. Tomorrow is your day-off.” or “Don’t over work yourself.” messages. He’s so self-conscious about it because like, what if Kaeya catches him up at night contemplating whatever reaction he’ll get. Ends up feeling so accomplished whenever his messages bring a smile to her face.

Kaeya, I feel, would be more open in a sense? Keqing is the last person he thinks he’s be able to deceive, and so he chooses not to. He’s probably one who enjoys deep conversations about literally anything be it mosaic artwork or changes in between modern and archaic politics. A good listener and a fine conversation partner, I feel they’d certainly have interesting conversations.

Zhongli lowkey seizing every opportunity to bring up Rex Lapis and his sense of humor is lowkey degrading Morax for his past mistakes. He’s like “Oh, I thought you hated him. I hate him too” and proceeds to laugh at the fact that the oh-so legendary Geo archon bore a hole in his hoodie for his hair. FOR HIS HAIRS. Keqing is losing her sanity trying not to expose herself as a closeted fan.

The anon lists’ name is super cute btw! Makes me feel pretty blessed for being there haha. I just finished midterms and goodness, I am exhausted. We’re having a short break so I think I can send asks much faster during the brief moment of rest. And pls drink responsibly 🙏

Sincerely, Keqing harem brainrot anon

I lowkey plucked Kaeya playing with mobs and shoved it into the royalty au because god damn, that’s fucking cute. I’m so behind on my asks;; but it’s okay cause we’re here now. I don’t know, Guizhong being that older sister/mother/whatever figure is so heartwarming to me. I think you’re right? I vaguely remember him saying he was pretty fragile but I have the memory of a goldfish haha. Lowkey, this is why I really want the part 2 and 3 of character story quests to go more in depth with their actual character stories. I want to see Childe talk about his feelings and meet his siblings, I want to hear more about Guizhong, I want to hear about the crippling loneliness and depression that Bennett and Barbara have (NO I WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THIS PART. WHY THE FUCK IS GENSHIN NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS? I KNOW ITS FUN AND GAMES BUT LET ME CARE ABOUT THEM. 1.4 has these hangout events and istg, bennett and barabara have one and if we don’t talk about our feelings I’m going to cry). 

oml their bad habits, Zhongli and his extensive collection of plants because that’s the most social interaction he gets (yes, zhongli is a planter. no i do not take criticism tyvm) and it starts off with a couple plants. Not too bad. Then the next day Keqing walks and it looks like their entire home turned into a forest. But Zhongli loves his plant children and Keqing is slowly losing her mind and starts referring to the plants with the nicknames Zhongli gave them. 

This. This is cute. These appreciation ideas. I fully approve and we need to bring them back. I don’t know anything about Russian but I have a friend that does. But I don’t know how to casually say “hey, can you give me Russian nicknames of endearment. It’s for research.”. Keqing radiates professional in the front, social anxiety in the back. I just love that they added the detail that she’s secretly a Rex Lapis fan but pretends that she hates him. I know there is art of Zhongli lowkey being creeped out or vv smug when he find’s Keqings stash but idk, imagining him being a proud dad and giving headpats even though Keqing is an adult. 

Okay. Let me level with you. Sticky notes of reassuring phrases are the best and why the fuck aren’t people doing it more. I’ve been reading “my mom left a note on the table” or “my partner puts sticky notes in my textbooks as a pick me up” for CENTURIES but am I seeing it in real life? Fuck no. Please, if someone does this for you. Keep them, never let them go. I can imagine Diluc writing these messages, feeling confident when he writes them and ready to be a supportive person. The next day he’s looking at these notes and thinking “what the fuck did I just write, this is garbage” (totally not how I feel about my writing). Then he proceeds to throw them in some cabinet but since Kaeya doesn’t know the first thing about personal boundaries he goes snooping around in Diluc’s room, discovers the notes, and he ends up taking them and putting them on Keqing’s things. It makes her happy so Diluc is going to ignore the very pressing issue with whether or not he should commit manslaughter. 

You know, that’s very valid. That’s how I feel about Kaeya’s relationship with Lisa or Albedo. People that don’t get riled up or annoyed by his antics the same way Amber is. I feel like if you’re looking for small talk, he’s not a bad choice, but if you want those deep 3am conversations he’s definitely the person to go to. Zhongli isn’t a bad choice either but Zhongli tends to go into historical and philosophical moments (which isn’t bad) but you want to have someone relate to you or it feels like an actual conversation and not a history lesson then he’s actually perfect. Especially more controversial topics, I feel like Kaeya would probably have very different opinions from the norm. 

YES. YES. YES I’m replying to these as I read them but YES. Honestly, I get it. Zhongli is a super polite and respectable person. But. But. Have you seen how he clowned on Childe?? That entire interaction?? He didn’t even look the slightest big apologetic for almost destroying Liyue and using the man who was going to kill him to pay for his funeral. What a power move?? And you’re telling me you don’t see him being a smug prick. I love Zhongli’s story quest where everyone is saying “oh the first mora was treasured or it holds mythical powers” and Zhongli is looking at them as if they’re idiots. 

tyty (❤´艸｀❤) I’m blessed to have you here. Oh, I hope you did well on your midterms tho and be sure to rest. I am a bit late to replying to this so hopefully I caught you before your break was over.

Always lovely hearing from you,

Pengu

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch20: When The Bough Breaks

Chapter Summary: Fliss finds herself in an impossible position…and her decision tips Frank’s world upside down.

Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words.

 Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

 A/N: Don’t hate me… 

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 19

And this day’s ending is the proof of time, killing all the faith I know.

 “Was that another one?” Frank asked as Fliss tossed her phone onto the coffee table with an angry snort.

 She nodded, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Frank sighed and looked at her “Honey…” “I know, I know…” she looked at him. “Look, I’ve made notes of every time I’ve had one so… its recorded. But again, it’s not like we can prove anything…they happen like twice a day and then nothing…hardly what they’ll call harassment.” Frank shifted slightly “This has been going on for 2 weeks now sweetheart.” “I’m well aware of that.” she snapped, before she shook her head “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get angry…not at you.” “Come here…” he said, opening his arms and she snuggled into him, leaning against his chest as his hand gently ran up and down her arm. “Maybe you should think about changing your number…and not putting the new one on the website.” “Yeah.” she conceded, “It’s not gonna help for work though…” “You can work round it.” he said, “Keep the business line and if you’re not there people will have to leave a message. Then, once you know your clients…you can give them your cell number.”

 “Fucking ass hole is still making my life awkward.”

 “Only if you let him. It’s a minor inconvenience to change your number but, if in the grand scheme of things all he has in his back pocket is sending you some dumbass birthday card and silent phone calls then…he’s just a pathetic fucking loser that’s trying to bully you into being scared.” “I’m not scared, just pissed off.” she shook her head “I know he’s a chicken shit, he wouldn’t dare come near me not when you’re on the scene…or my dad for that matter.” “Good, because if he did I’m not sure I’d be able to control myself.” Frank said softly.

“Maybe we should just pay someone to kill him.” Fliss said after a moment’s pause and Frank let out a snort “Bullet straight between the eyes.”

“Nah, too quick.” Frank sniffed, reaching for his beer “I’d dangle him over a tank of hungry sharks and lower him in inch by inch…”

“Or we could feed him to pigs, like in Hannibal.” Fliss mused.

 “That’s also an option…no trace” he nodded taking a mouthful of beer.

 “You know they should teach this shit at schools” Fliss reached for her own drink “How to get rid of bodies. I feel it is something everyone should be educated in.” “Maybe you should mention it to Bonnie. Tell her you feel it is an educational rite of passage or some other inspiring shit like that…”

 Fliss laughed, placing her wine glass down and shifting so that she was led on her front, half on-half off Frank, looking up at him as her chin rest on his chest.

“On a scale of 1 to 10 how much of a meltdown are we facing with Mary on tomorrow morning?”

 “From her current mood I’d suspect a good 4 and a half, maybe a 5.” he mused, before he looked at Fliss “I don’t much care, she’s going whether she wants to or not.” “When do the University Classes start again?”

 “Not till second week in October.”  Frank replied “Which reminds me, I need to submit that funding form tomorrow…” “It’s on the table.” Fliss said, as she correctly guessed from the look on his face he was pondering where he had put it.”

“What would I do without you?” he grinned down at her.

 “I have absolutely no idea.” she shrugged and he smiled and leaned down pressing a kiss to her lips.

 “Did you speak to Evelyn before?” Fliss asked him and he nodded.

 “She’s coming down this weekend.” Frank said, “She’s still on about Mary going to Boston for a weekend.” “You still not comfortable about her going?” Fliss asked.

 Frank wrinkled his nose “I don’t know if I trust her fully yet.” “You’ll never know you can unless you give her a chance.” Fliss reasoned

 “You think I should let her go?” Frank said, slightly surprised.

 “That’s not my decision to make, Frank” Fliss shook her head.

 “No, but I value your opinion.” Frank looked at her. “Go on, tell me what you think.” Fliss hesitated for a moment before she sat up and turned her body so she was facing him, her legs tucked underneath her on the sofa. “If it was me in your position, I’d give Evelyn a chance. She’s played ball so far, done everything you’ve asked her to. You’ve got legal guardianship of Mary so she can’t pull any stupid stunts, and if Mary comes back and tells you something she did that you don’t like, well, you cut the visits.” Frank looked at Fliss before he took another drink from his beer bottle. He was torn in two. In one respect he wanted Mary to be happy and it certainly seemed that she enjoyed seeing Evelyn, but on flip side he was still more than comfortable with keeping his Mother at arm’s length.

“I’ll think about it.” he shrugged, non-committedly.

 “Well, you should also ask Mary.” Fliss said “She might not even want to go.” “She will.” Frank said, “Evelyn has a piano.” Fliss laughed “Yeah, but she’s also bossy, remember?”

 “Yeah, I had heard that.” Frank said, and Fliss chuckled again.

 “Well, can you not think about it right now?” she said, taking the beer bottle out of his hand.

“Hey…” he pouted as she put it down on the table, his pout soon turned into a smirk as Fliss moved so she was straddling him on the sofa, his t-shirt that she’d been lounging around in rode up her thighs slightly and his hands rubbed up the side of her bare skin. “Something on your mind baby girl?”

 “What makes you think that?” she asked, sliding her hands up his chest, over the soft material of his top.

 “Just a hunch…” he mumbled, as he reached up and gently gripped the back of her neck, pulling her head down to meet his.

****** “Hey Frank…”

 Frank looked up and smiled at Alan as he walked into the work shop.

 “Hey Alan, not seen you in a while, how you doing?” “Good…I’m good. I was just wondering if I could have a word in my office.”

 “Sure.” Frank frowned “Is err, everything ok?” “Oh, yeah, it’s nothing to worry about…quite the opposite in fact…” “Alright, well me just finish piecing this oil filter together and I’ll be with you.”

 “Sure.” Alan said, “No rush.” 

Frank quickly tightened the filter back up, gave it the once over before he set down his tools and hopped off the boat, wiping his hands on a rag before he walked through the door at the back of the workshop and down the small corridor that led to the main office at the rear of the shop. He knocked sharply on the door and then swung it open as Alan looked at him, gesturing for him to take a seat whilst he finished up his call. Eventually, he bid the person on the other end good bye and placed the receiver down.

 “Relax, Frank…” Alan chuckled as Frank adjusted his jeans for what felt like the 30th time since sitting down.

 “Sorry.” Frank nodded, scratching at his temple. “So errr, do you need me to do something or...” “In a manner of speaking, yes.” Alan said “As you know Paul is retiring at the end of the year, which means the Head Mechanic role is up for grabs…and I was wondering if you’d be interesting in taking the position.” “Me?” Frank’s eyes widened slightly

Alan nodded “I know in the grand scheme of things you haven’t been here long but you’ve impressed me, just like Bill said you would. You knuckle down, you do the overtime if needed, you don’t complain…I like you Frank, and the team does to.” “I err…” Frank scratched the back of his neck. “I’m flattered…but I’ve never managed a team before or…”

“You were an Assistant Professor at one stage right?” Alan eyed him and Frank sighed, nodding “You must have had a research team…” “Yeah, but…” “It’s no different.” Alan shook his head, “And I’m here to help and give you some guidance. I’m not quite ready to retire fully yet. Not like Bill, only so much golf I can play before I go fucking nuts.” Frank snorted “Yeah, not gonna lie, it’s not my thing…” Alan looked at him “The duties won’t be that much different Frank. You’ll just be in charge of booking the jobs in, allocating them to the guys, keeping on top of deadlines and general management of the team…means a little less time spent actually getting your hands dirty but…well, you can manage that yourself. You wanna take a job you take it.”

 “Can I take a bit of time to think it over?” he asked.

“Sure. Take a few days, let me know. I’d like to have whoever is taking over in a position to start the handover by the start of October if possible so…” “Thanks.” Frank nodded “I’ll give it some thought.” “Oh, and it also comes with a Ten thou a year raise…” Alan casually dropped in as Frank stood up “Plus a bonus each year of up to 20 percent, depending on how well you’ve done on your targets” “Just a minor detail you forgot to tell me.” Frank arched an eyebrow.

 “Well, I wanted to make sure you’d consider it for the right reasons not merely the financial incentive.” Alan shrugged “Another reason I’m convinced you’re perfect for the job.” Frank nodded and with that he left the office. Given that it was almost lunch time he took his break 15 or so minutes earlier and headed out into the September sun, pulling out his phone.

 “Hey Sailor.” Fliss greeted him.

 “Hey Cowgirl.” he smiled, leaning against the hood of his truck sipping a bottle of water “You got a sec.” “For you, always. What’s up?”

“Nothing, nothing bad anyway…I just got offered a promotion.”

 “Frankie that’s amazing!” She gushed “You sound surprised though.” “I am, a little.” he said, before he launched into an explanation of what Alan had told him and what the job would entail, plus the financial incentives.

 “Wow!” she said as he finished talking “Baby, that’s fantastic. I’m so proud of you!”

Frank felt himself blushing at her praise, and despite the fact he couldn’t even see her he rubbed at his neck slightly. “So, you think I should take it?” “Of course I do.  But at the same time, if you don’t want to then…you don’t have to. This is a great position to be in honey, Alan’s clearly seen your potential.”

 “Just not sure If I’m cut out to be management.” he said, biting his lip.

 “I had the same thoughts about my business you know.” she spoke gently “I wasn’t sure if setting up on my own after everything that happened was gonna work but then Dad told me that I’d never know unless I took the plunge. Have a little faith in yourself. The only person who doubts your capability is you.”

Frank smiled at her words and looked up and out over the Marina “You always know exactly what to say.” “Not really, I make most of it up as a go along.” she said and Frank laughed. “But, just think, with the extra money you can get a new car…” “There’s nothing wrong with my truck.” “Frank, it’s died on you 4 times in the last 2 weeks. Dad reckons his ride on lawnmower has more power under the hood than that thing”

 “Ok, I’ll admit…she’s getting a little clunky…but she is into her twenties now….” Fliss snorted “You could get yourself a nice Audi…”

“Fuck off.” Frank said and she laughed

 “I like Simon’s car…” “You like it so much you get one.”

“Would never fit Thor in the back.” she said and Frank had to concede she had a point “But now you’re freelancing…you don’t actually need a truck do you?” “No, but…it’s handy…” “Handy, baby it only has three seats…” “And a flatbed…” Frank pouted slihglty. “So get one with five seats.” she shrugged. “You can buy trucks with a full cab…”

“This is not a good enough reason to get me to take the promotion…” 

“You want a better reason?” She said. “Ok, well here’s some food for thought…when the lease is up on our place maybe we could look into buying. You know I don’t wanna rent forever, I want us to have something for the future that’s ours, and the extra money you get a year would make a difference in what we can borrow towards it.” And just like that, as always, she’d managed to sideswipe him. He’d be lying if he hadn’t considered getting back on the property market, he had savings after all…but he’d given it no more thought than a fleeting idea every now and then when he drove past places with real estate signs in the front yards

 “This mean you’re coming round to the idea of marrying me and having baby Franks and Flisses?” She snorted “You’re such a dick…although that’s the only time you’ve ever mentioned that when you’re sober.” “So you’re saying that if I ask you when I’m not drunk you’d say yes?” he teased. “Goodbye Frank…” She teased in an airy voice, before she cut the call.

 Chuckling to himself he slid the phone back into his pocket and headed back inside to grab his lunch from the fridge in the kitchen. As he did so he passed Paul who was heading out with a fresh cup of coffee.

 “Oh, erm…Alan…” Frank looked at him. “So, turns out I don’t need as much time to think about it as I thought I did. I’ll take the job.” Alan smiled at him and pat him on the shoulder “Good man. I’ll get the wheels in motion and then we can work out how we start to transfer Paul’s responsibilities over.”

Frank nodded at him as he walked off.

 “Oh…” Alan called after him, “We’ll also need to pick your car.”

“My car…” Frank frowned.

 “Yeah, did I not mention? Paul’s BM…that’s a company car. I’m gonna let him keep it as a retirement present so we’ll need to order you another one. Not least because I don’t want my Head Mechanic driving around in that heap of shit you have. Looks like we don’t pay you enough…” Frank stood there, eyebrows raised as Alan simply smirked at him and left. Shaking his head, he gave a little groan, already imagining Fliss’ face when he told her.

*****

Fliss had reacted exactly how he had thought she would, laughing hysterically and then teasing him about how he had no alternative now than to get rid of the heap of shit he was ridiculously attached to. She’d then spent the evening looking at cars on her phone, showing him ridiculously pimped out vehicles in various vile colours, the final straw being a hot-rod red for Mustang with gold rims and flames painted down the side. At that point he’d snatched the phone out of her hand, grabbed her hips and pulled her down under him on the couch and given her something else to think about for half an hour or so.

September ticked by, in the usual speed by which time seemed to be flying for Frank and he found himself thrown into his job, soaking up Paul’s experience of managing the team as much as he could. He was also extremely grateful for both Fliss and Bill’s input, both of them having dealt with managing staff and rotas so he was able to ask them both questions as well. Naturally, when V heard about it she insisted on cooking him a special dinner, and even Evelyn presented him with a very nice bottle of Scotch when she came to visit as a Congratulations.

 Another bit of good news for them was that once Fliss changed her phone number the calls stopped as well. Frank was glad about that, because it meant that once again they’d thwarted the ass holes attempts to intimidate her. She’d made a blog, however, of every call she had gotten which now sat in Greg’s files along with the Card. Just in case.

Nope, on the whole life seemed to be going well for the pair of them.

“Someone’s looking smug…” Greg teased Frank as he leaned back in the chair around Greg’s large outdoor table. It was a Saturday at the start of October and they’d finally got round to having that cook out and gathering that the Circle of Truth had been attempting to organise round everyone’s schedule for the last 3 months.

 “Well, you know…life’s pretty good.” Frank smiled, sipping his beer, his eyes straying to Fliss who was stood around the bar area to the right of the garden with Bonnie, Zara and Lisa. She was dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a tie-died off the shoulder sweater but as usual, she looked stunning.

 “You got a ring yet?” Jake asked, dropping down into a seat next to him.

 “Oh don’t you start as well.” Frank groaned as Simon and Greg both laughed. “We’re happy as we are…besides, we’ve not even been together a year yet…” “Not far off.” Jake shrugged “Man, when you know you know…” “He’s just scared she’ll say no.” Simon teased. Frank stilled for a moment and then turned to glare at the man. “Shit, you are?” Simon frowned “No, not especially but…” Frank shook his head, trying to find the words to explain “I’m absolutely, totally convinced I want to spend the rest of my life with her, and I know she feels the same but…well she’s been married before and I don’t want to ask until I know she’s ready to do it again.”

Greg looked at him, nodding “I get that.”

“That’s gotta be the most grown up think you’ve ever said…” Jake looked at Frank who flipped him off but deep down he had to admit, it wasn’t wrong. He knew that both he and Fliss had come a long way from the people they had been just over 14 months ago when they had first met. Fliss had come alive, flourished even in herself, and he…well, he’d learnt that there was more to life than the meaningless cycle of one night stands and that flying by the seat of his pants wasn’t always the most productive thing to do. Both of them had been broken in their own way, had their own guards and walls around themselves which the other had managed to smash straight through. He stole another glance at Fliss and smiled, he knew there was no other woman for him, but in the same breath…what was the rush? They had a life time. And a ring and a piece of paper wasn’t going to change any of that.

 “Man you grew up…” Simon grinned and Frank rolled his eyes.

 “Look, I’ll have you know I’ve brought up a kid since the age of 6 months…all this shit about me being a man child…It’s crap…”

 “Whatever man…we all know you’re not a grown up until you have scatter cushions on your sofa…” Simon teased, referencing the previous week when he and Bonnie had come over for drinks and Fliss and Frank had had a jokey argument about said cushions. Frank threw his head back in a huge bout of laugher, shaking his head.

 “Fuck you!” he said, looking at him as Simon grinned.

 “Anyway, man…speaking of weddings…” Greg turned to Jake “You’ve been engaged for what? Three years now…when you gonna set a date?”

“He has a point…” Simon looked at him.

“Well, you can all shut the fuck up because for your information we have.”

“Shut the front door!” Greg grinned

 Jake nodded and took a large mouthful of his beer.

 “So you gonna tell any of us or…” Jake glanced over at Lisa before he yelled her name and she looked over at him, the other women also looking up. 

“Can we tell them now babe?” he called. Lisa grinned and nodded, and then made her way over followed by Zara. Fliss looked at Bonnie who shrugged, and the two of them picked up their drinks and followed.

 Fliss perched on Frank’s knee and he slid one hand round her waist the other dropped to her thigh.

 “So, we have set a date for the wedding.” Lisa smiled to a huge shriek from Zara. Frank spotted Fliss looking at Bonnie, the two of them sharing a significant smirk and he squeezed her thigh.

 “Stop being a bitch.” he said in a low voice.

 “Rude…” she mumbled, grinning into her gin. “6th April next year…” Jake grinned. “At Hardemans Secret Garden in Dover, Tampa.” “Well unless you invented a time machine, it ain’t gonna be this year is it?” Simon looked at him, before he gave a yell as Bonnie slapped him round the back of the head.

 “Obviously you’re all invited.” Jake said, “Except for Simon.” “Hang on, if he isn’t coming does that mean I can’t?” Bonnie pouted.

“You can be my plus one.” Fliss nodded.

 “Oi…” Frank nipped her thigh gently. She grinned at him, ruffling his hair slightly. He jerked his head out of her reach and looked at her over his aviators. She stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned.

 “Guys this is great news…” Greg said, nodding “Best dig the suit out.” “You wear a suit to work every day.” Zara looked at him. 

“And you won’t need to.” Jake shook his head. “In fact none of you will…my brother is best man, obviously, but I’d like you guys there as my Groomsmen…that is, if you’re up for it.” Frank smiled at Greg, then Simon before they all shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m in…” Greg smiled.

“Me too pal, I’m honoured.” Frank smiled, tipping his beer bottle in Jake’s direction.

“Does this mean we get to plan the Batchelor party?” Simon asked. Jake nodded with a grin and Simon leaned back “Oh this is gonna be beautiful….”

***** “You’re fucking mental.” Frank looked at Fliss as she shrugged, circling Cap back round to the jump which Joanne had just hiked up another foot. He shook his head and turned away “I can’t watch.” “Don’t’ be a chicken Frank.” Mary grinned up at him, “It’s cool…I wanna do that some day.” “Over my dead body.” Frank looked down at her.

“Yeah you said that about me going to Boston.” “No, that’s not what I said.” Frank sighed, looking at her “I said over my dead body were you going to live with Evelyn….and did you?” “No…” Mary conceded “But you’re letting me go back for a weekend.”

“Yes, because you’re going for 2 nights and coming home” he said, and despite himself he turned his head to see Fliss sail Cap over the huge jump.

“See….” Fliss said, pulling the horse up to a stop “Easy…” “Whatever you say sweetheart.” he shook his head.

“Can I jump Monty soon?” Mary asked, and Fliss smiled.

“Yeah we can do a little cross pole…” “I give in…” Frank groaned, throwing his hands out to the side “The pair of you are nuts.”

“Says the guy who almost cried when he had to order a new car.” Fliss looked at him and Frank rolled his eyes “I mean who does that?” “Yeah Frank…” Mary said, swinging off the fence to the paddock, leaning back to look at him. “You get to swap a rust bucket for a shiny new Mitsubishi and you were like heartbroken.” “Hey, me and that truck have seen a lot of action-“ “I don’t wanna know…” Fliss started.

“Of which you’ve been part of…” he smirked her and she flushed a little, grinning. “I’m kinda attached to it.” “It’s a lump of metal.” Fliss looked at him.

“How dare you.” Frank scoffed, feigning offence.

“Well now you can have new adventures in the new truck.” Mary shrugged “Simples.” “When you do get it I vote the first thing we do is load it up and head off for a picnic somewhere.” Fliss said, hopping off Cap.

“I can go with that.” Frank nodded as she turned and walked towards the gate, letting her out.

 “Can I take him?” Mary asked, hopping down off the fence. 

“Sure…” Fliss said, handing her the reins. Mary led the horse away to the barn as Fliss removed her hat and pulled out her bobble, shaking her long hair free before she tied it back up again.

“I really do like it that colour.” Frank mused after a second, watching her. She blushed a little, and he knew why. A week ago she’d come back from the salon, her usually bright auburn hair was a lot more demure, having had caramel put through the ends. When Frank had complimented her on the change she’d gotten a little shy and said that she used to have it like that when she was younger, but John had always wanted her to keep it her natural colour. Now she felt like she fancied a change. Her admission had once again, knocked Frank for, how simple little things like that were so huge for her.

She pulled off her riding gloves, shoved them into her back pocket and they walked into the barn as Mary opened Cap’s stable and led him inside. As always, the large horse bowed his head gently to allow Mary to undo his bridle and Fliss smiled. Cap was secretly her favourite after Heidi. He was such a loving animal, despite his size always being so gentle and careful around people, especially Mary. Most animals were like that around her, she just had this aura that they seemed to like. But then again, everyone said that animals were a good judge of character.

 “Can we go to the shack for dinner?” Mary spoke up, looking at Frank “It is Saturday…”

 “Oh, I dunno…” Frank sighed, “Not sure my heap of shit truck will get us there.” “No but Fliss’ jeep will.” Mary shrugged and Frank shook his head with a snort.

“You literally have an answer for everything.”

 “Wonder where she gets that from…” Fliss looked at him and he nudged her gently with his elbow.

 “So can we go or not?”

 “Yes, ok we can go to the shack.” Frank said “But the deal is you tidy your room when you get home. It’s a disgrace.” Mary pondered this for a moment as Fliss undid the girth on Cap’s saddle, pulling it off.

 “Deal.” she nodded “Only Fliss said she was gonna help me sort my clothes out…some of them don’t fit anymore.”

“Yeah we do that tomorrow morning.” Fliss smiled, “Then we can look at ordering you some warm stuff for New York.” “Are we still getting matching sweaters when we get there?” “No.” Frank said, at the same time Fliss nodded.

“Yes.” “No, we’re not.” Frank looked at her. 

“Errr 2 vs 1 Sailor, you’re outvoted.” she shrugged, pushing past him with the saddle on her arms. “But if you’re a good boy we’ll let you pick them right Mary?” “I dunno.” Mary frowned “Have you seen his shirts?” Fliss let out a roar of laughter and turned to face her, before she looked at Frank, laughing even harder at the pure indignation on his face. 

“I hate you both.” he said sullenly, folding his arms.

 The Shack was busy by the time they arrived but given that it wasn’t too cold they managed to find a small table outside and ordered their food, Mary getting through an astonishing amount considering but the Frank had noticed she was going through a bit of a growth spurt which he mentioned to Fliss when they were snuggled up on the sofa later.

“Not sure getting her any stuff for New York yet is wise.” he mused “If she carries on like she is it won’t fit her.”

“Well we can wait…Fliss said shrugging, her hand rubbing at Frank’s stomach under his shirt. “You have no idea how excited I am…” “Really?” Frank snorted “You never mentioned it.” “Oh piss off” she laughed, before she sighed happily “It’s the one thing I miss about home and Boston…you know this time of year the leaves would be changing colour and falling,…”

“I know what you mean.” he said, his hands carding through her hair “You don’t really Seasons here.”

“Well you do…” Fliss said, “Hurricane and Summer.” Frank let out a laugh as she looked up at him. “You know you’re my hurricane.”

“What?” he looked at her

 “Came into my life, blew it all upside down…” “Jesus you talk some shit!” he laughed, shaking his head as she grinned. 

“You know there was actually a hurricane Frank back in 2010. So I’m not talking complete shit…” “Whatever Sweetheart…” he snorted, leaning back as her nails scratched against his stomach. He gave a twitch and grabbed her wrist, and looked down at her as she flashed him a coy look. “Stop it.”

“What, this?” she moved and used her other hand, and Frank let out a hiss as he shifted and grabbed that one too.

 “You know what that does to me…” he looked at her, his voice low.

 “Yup.” she nodded, grinning.

 With a jerk of his arms he pulled her forward so she fell onto him fully, drawing a giggle from her as her nose bumped against his.

 “I fuckin’ love you.” he smiled at her, and she grinned, giving him a soft kiss.

 “Yeah, you’ve told me once or twice…” she smirked, her lips locking onto his.

******

 “Fliss?”

 “Office…” she called back, and a second or so later Joanne popped her head into the room.

 “Everything’s done.” she said, “I was gonna lock up…you’re not normally here this late.”

 “Yeah I know but I have some paper work to sort. Need to file a couple of things and, well, thought it would be easier to do it here than take everything home. Frank’s taken Mary bowling so…” “And you’d rather be here doing paper work?” Joanne teased.

“Sadly, it needs doing…besides, last time we went I kicked his ass, again, he sulked for hours.” Fliss snorted “Maybe he stands more of a chance against Mary.”

“Won’t he let her win?” Joanne asked “I mean, she is only eight…”

“No chance.” Fliss looked at Jo. “He says that she needs reminding every now and then that she’s not a genius at everything…” Joanne let out a laugh “Fair enough. Ok, well I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah, bye Jo…”

 Fliss set about getting to work, filing the various bills and disclaimers she’d had signed and started then sifting through the list of clients and payments, checking who owed what and typing out the bills for the month. Once they were printed and placed in envelopes, ready to be tacked to the stable doors in the morning she glanced at the clock and realised it was almost 8 pm.  Frank and Mary should be home now.

She was just about to pack up when she realised she hadn’t gone through the post for the day. For a second she debated leaving it for the morning, but decided she would get it over with. There wasn’t much- mostly a couple of letters from various equestrian societies around the area about a few events going on, but the last one she reached was a manila envelope with the address typed out on the front.

 She turned it over, opened it and then pulled out the contents and immediately felt her blood run cold as she looked at the paper in front of her. It was a copy of the photo of her and Mary, taken from the first Blog that Mary had written over the summer. Underneath it was typed a simple message- I always knew you’d suit motherhood.

 Fliss swallowed, it didn’t take a genius to work out who it was from but for the first time since his ridiculous campaign now she was actually frightened as to the meaning behind this. Up until now it he’d been nothing more than annoying but this was designed to be more than an aggravation.

 It was a threat. A direct threat telling her he knew about Mary.

 Whilst Fliss wasn’t Mary’s mother, and would never claim to be she loved that girl like she was her own and the fact that John was even brining her into this made her feel physically sick, so much so that she felt the bile rising in her throat and with a sharp heave she lurched to the side, grabbing the waste paper basket and hocking up the bitter substance. Coughing she wiped the back of her mouth with a shaking hand, reaching for the bottle of water on her desk.

 She folded the photo up and stuck it back in the envelope, shoving it in the drawer before she stood up and locked her office, heading to her jeep. Her mind was reeling, now it wasn’t just her he was focussing on, this changed everything. Did she tell Frank? She knew she should, she couldn’t leave Mary in danger. Not that she believed any harm would come to her, not really, especially not under Frank’s care but that was another worry she had. That if she told Frank this, it was really going to push him over that edge into blind rage, and he’d been on the first plane out to Boston, hunting the fucker down…and then what?

 He ended up in jail himself because Fliss knew Frank well enough to understand that if that blind rage took hold, he wouldn’t stop.

 She had no answer to this, nothing. She sat in her jeep, staring out of the window, trying to force the thoughts and mumbles and voices in her heat to quiet, so she could think clearly, get some form of grasp on what it was she needed to do. And then one voice was screamed at her, clearly, giving her a solution…the only one she could viably see working.

With a loud sob, Fliss covered her face in her hands, unable to see an alternative to the decision she had just reached. A decision that was going to break her heart more than anything had ever done before.

******

“Hey, you’re late…”  Frank looked up, immediately frowning as he saw Fliss’ face. “Honey…what…” “Where’s Mary?” she asked instantly.

“She nipped to Roberta’s” Frank said “I know it’s late but we saw her as we were headed out of the car and she wanted to collect something for Show and Tell tomorrow…why?”

 “We need to talk.” Fliss said.

Frank stood up off the sofa and walked towards her, he reached for her and she took a step back.

“Ok, Fliss, you’re scaring me now…what…”

“I think…” Fliss looked down at her hands “I think that we need to stop seeing each other.”

Frank blinked, not sure he had heard her right, but when he looked at her he saw a tear trickling down her face and she was avoiding his gaze. The world around him began to fade and a dull buzzing filled his head and rang around his ears as a horrible cold feeling washed over him.

“Lissy…” he swallowed, his words sticking in his throat “What’s brought this on? Did I do something? Are you not happy? I don’t understand…” “I just…it isn’t working for me…” she took a deep breath and looked up at him.

“You’re lying.” he said instantly, he could see it written all over her face “Fliss, what’s going on?” “Nothing, I’m sorry. I just…I need to leave, I need space.” she said “I’m so sorry Frank…” Frank took a deep breath, and watched as she turned to leave. After a second he hurried after her into the hallway, shaking his head.

 “Lissy, please…talk to me…” he all but begged as she walked to the door. She made to open it but Frank was behind her and placed his hand firmly on the top of the PVC, causing it to shut. She spun round and looked up at him, the tears now pouring down her face.

 “Please, Frank…don’t make this any harder than it is…” her voice was broken, and she shook her head. “I don’t understand what THIS is?” he looked at her, running a hand through his hair as he felt the stinging of tears in his own eyes “Last month we were talking about buying a house together and now you just wanna break it off, for no reason? Honey, just…whatever is going on, we can work through it, just talk to me.”

 “I’m so sorry…” she whispered, “Just…let me out…please…”

He looked at her again, her eyes bouncing across his and he knew instantly he couldn’t stop her, and would never do that to her either, no matter how much he so desperately wanted to lock the door and force her to tell him what the fuck was going on. So with a sniff he forced himself to step back and her hand went to the door knob, her shoulders shaking.

 “Liss, please…” his voice cracked. “Don’t do this…”

 She took a deep breath and opened the door, the warm air from outside hit him in the face, tears stinging his eyes slightly before click of the latch hit his ears as the door shut behind her, leaving him stood alone in the hallway, stunned and utterly, utterly broken. 

**** Chapter 21

[krastbannert]

Do Janai from tdp and Solas from Dragon Age for the ask thingy pls? And congratz on finishing DA:I...I didn't even play it , not enough stamina I'm afraid 😅

Yeah, DA:I was a slog. As much as I love the story, I don't see myself playing the game against anytime soon. The number of fetch-quests combined with gargantuan areas, dumb wildlife NPCs, and slow character speed was an absolute nightmare. The Descent and Trespasser were great expansions, though. I want to warn you ahead of time: I have some very strong opinions about Mr. Egg (they're not positive). Also, this is assuming you don't mind some minor spoilers, so if I did spoil it, then I apologize.

Janai

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS

ship with: Amaya, of course.

general opinions: She's a badass. And her character design is stunning - the sunfire glow power thing, especially, is an insanely cool to watch. Watching her activate that ability for the first time is one of my favorite scenes from TDP. And her relationship with Amaya is so funny to watch (I always snicker at their silent banter, especially when Amaya tells her to stick her sword where the sun don't shine). One of my favorite things about Janai is that she respects Amaya (who's probably a life-long opponent) enough to give her a chance to prove herself at the Sunforge, even though she doesn't know her at all. I thought that was an amazing thing to do.

Solas

character: hate them | don’t really care | like them | LOVE them | THEY ARE MY PRECIOUS (I know he's a complex character, and the way I played it out, my Inquisitor wanted to try and redeem him, but I CANNOT STAND HIM)

ship with: No one.

general opinions: To be brutally, completely honest: I think he's an egotistical prick with, to quote Sera, "His head jammed up a thousand years ago." Also, he always strikes me as being kinda racist against non-elves. He's callous, always seems to think he knows best, and seems to refuse to acknowledge that magic and spirits can be dangerous. And for all his age, he seems to ignore something very simple: Thedas has changed by the time of Inquisition. I don't just mean that elves are no longer dominant anymore, I mean that the world itself is fundamentally different than the one he lived in. While he claims to, he just doesn't understand the new world, and doesn't understand that the elves have changed. That symbols change, that words change, everything changes. And yes, he has a point - the elves worked wonders when the physical world and the Fade were one. They were incredible things. But just because he can reset the world to that time doesn't mean he should - the deaths of so many wouldn't be worth it, and he can't see the future. He doesn't know what this new world would do, how people would react. And he seems to not understand that.

------

Send me a character (ATLA, Dragon Prince, She-Ra, Destiny, Witcher, and Dragon Age are the big fandoms), and I'll do this ask game for them.

[noona96n]

1. I have a couple things to say. Warning - it may be long. I’ll try to break it into parts but honestly you don’t have to read or respond to it. I’ll start off by saying I couldn’t care less about what the casts are doing outside of the show. I think shipping is fun too. But nobody can force anything on somebody and you have to understand that everyone is their own person. Also, NEVER SEND ANY HATE. To anybody. EVER.

^^^^^^^ 1. LOUDER PLEASE

2. the thing is, Joyce shouldn't have to know what 'she's getting into' when she post that vid, ya know? my heart goes to her bcs she probably did it to support her bf and it's sad that ppl don't understand that...

3. to me, it's still an invasion of privacy... just bcs Zihong gave an inch doesn't mean we (& the media) can take a mile

i think Meghan Markle said it best in her latest interview w/ Oprah 

i think everyone has basic rights to privacy and we’re not talking about anything that anybody else wouldn’t expect. 

so, if ure at work & u have a photograph of a child on ur desk, & ur coworker says ‘oh my gosh, ur kid’s so cute, that’s fantastic! can i see all the pictures of ur child?’. u go, ‘no, this is the picture im comfortable sharing with u.’

and then, if they double down & say, ‘no, but u already showed me that one so u have to show me everything. u know what, im just gonna hire someone to sit in front of ur house, or hide in the bushes and take pictures into ur backyard, because u've lost your right to privacy...because u shared one image with me’.

that’s sort of the flawed argument & it’s operating mechanism that they’re confusing people to think. i think life is about being able to share our stories & share parts of our lives that we’re comfortable with. 

there's no one who's on ig or social media that would say, 'because i shared this one picture, that entitles you to have my entire camera roll. go ahead and look through it.' no one would want that. so it's about boundaries. and it's about respect.

(honestly, i love her, been a fan of her since her time on Suits)

privacy is a blurry thing to discuss when talking about celebrities but i really don’t think we have any rights to pry into their private life... what they tell us is what we get, we shouldn’t ask for more. we’re not their families or friends... even as family or friends, we shouldn’t feel like we’re entitled to know what they’re doing. (and this is a mindset that i apply to everyone, my parents, my brother, my best friends... not just ppl that i stan.)

again, Zihong’s a public figure so i understand that people would have different expectations of what privacy should be like for him. but again... he shouldn’t have to share what he’s not comfortable with. 

4. pls, Yu laughed so hard w/ Chihtian!! Chihtian is soooooo annoying (affectionate) (RayTian are so annoying and i love them so much! they embody peak older sibling energy)

i agree that Yu had wayyyy more fun w/ Chihtian! he seem to have more with with RayTian around, i mean... RayTian are both so witty and outspoken! esp Chihtian! meanwhile, Zihong's a quiet person, and very weird... all of my favs are so weird tbh haha

though i must say i think we can’t really judge the level of closeness that SamYu have thru the live they broadcasted ya know? sometimes, there’s much more companionship in the silence (definitely me, an introvert, speaking HAHA)

also, Zihong revealed in his Weibo live the other day that they call each other by their full names in private (Lin Zihong + Yang Yu Teng) and he said that that’s how he refer to ppl he’s close with... so they're pretty close from Zihong's POV (and from my POV too bcs i put a lot of emphasis on my name and who get to call me what ya know?)

(also also, Chihtian was so upset that Zihong & Yu don't have cute nicknames for each other AHHAHA he’s such a SamYu shipper... i won’t be surprised if he has a SamYu fan acc lol)

also, ur opinion made perfect sense! thanks for dropping by and talking with me! and honestly, i wasn't joking when i said i that i want to provide a safe space for discussion on WBL in general... so feel free to drop by anytime... we can have more discussion on this topic (or any other topics!)

and , last but not least, thank u for breaking up the asks into smaller, more digestible pieces!!

[shizzlinghotbrason]

ok so nearly everyone in the fandom is doing this and as sad as it is that we need to remind these simple things to people, I feel the need to talk about this too.

I won't make this too painfully long because I know y'all most likely already know this and I just wanna put out a basic list of shit you should always follow in the fandom. But for those who don't, a lot of fan content creators, be it artists or writers or just general fans trying to enjoy their time, have been leaving/quitting the fandom.

Why are they leaving, you ask? Toxicity. Toxicity nearly everywhere. People can't hold respectful debates or discourses on interesting topics regarding characters/the books/ships anymore without someone toxicly stating that only their opinion is correct, and going off on anyone who has different opinions carried with a lot of aggressive, rude and shallow behaviour. Fanartists have gotten death threats and are scared of drawing art for the Riordanverse without getting anxious af.

Now the thing is, having done those (eXcepT for the death threats) doesn't automatically make u an entirely shitty person. Maybe you made a mistake and came off as rude without rlly meaning to. That's okay. Here's how to identify if u ever did so, and to change that behaviour. Again, it's okay to make mistakes, but we rn as a fandom srsly need to try to turn things around.

Some basic shit you should remember being a part of the fandom:

• NO NSFW STUFF WITH MINORS!!! That means fanarts, fanfics etc. But here's the shocking thing- when someone does this, you can actually hold them accountable WITHOUT SENDING DEATH THREATS AND CROSSING THE BOUNDARIES! Cuz doing that only makes YOU stoop just as low. Pl e a s e remember that always and be respectful whatever you do.

• That being said, ppl are allowed to write nsfw stuff IF said characters are aged up, aka 18+. Ofc, it's a must that they put a content warning beforehand because many people may not want to read that. BUT, if you don't want to read it and if they've aged up the characters so nothing's morally wrong or gross, then please do NOT hate the author in the comments, do NOT report their post/account. Seriously dude, they gave warnings, if you don't want to read it just scroll past it's not that hard. Unless it's with minors, you shouldn't be reporting innocent ppl's accounts like that.

• one thing that I've seen a lack of in the fandom are trigger warnings. I've seen several fics whose covers are literally of blood. And entire chapters were written with intricate graphic descriptions yet with no trigger warnings or a tw wayyy down in the caption. you never know what may be triggering to someone if a lot of ppl see ur content but the least u can do is put trigger warnings on the most common stuff. I get that it may look aesthetically matching if it's a murder mystery sorta fic but isn't the well being of people more important?

• look I'm not saying you're not allowed to have opinions, but the problem is when you start treating your opinions like facts. I can't count the times I've seen someone state their opinion like it's facts and then trash on other's for having a different opinion. PEOPLE ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS. Stop attacking people for liking Jason more than Percy or vice versa, there's no rule that you absolutely have to like one or the other, ppl can like who they want. When you're stating UR opinion, it would be nice if you used stuff like "I personally think that..." or "... that's just my opinion" because again, Ur opinion is just that, not a fact.

• if you can't have discourses or discussions about certain topics respectfully and nicely then don't have them. if someone's done nothing wrong but state their opinions and you don't like it, don't go attacking them. if you don't have anything good to say, shut up and just scroll past. it's not that hard. we don't need any more negativity in the fandom. If you feel like you're about to snap, mute or block the account you don't like and move on with life. But for the love of GOD don't go out of your way to be agresive or hateful to ppl. They have feelings too and run fan accounts for fun, not to get upset and hurt.

• when a fan account owner has made a post saying what they think of a certain topic, and you comment saying you think they're wrong and they reply that you didn't get the point of their post, then chances are you most probably actually did not understand what they were saying. when this happens, pls don't go on forcing ur opinion onto them as if you got what they meant when you didn't. Maybe next time when someone says you didn't get what they were saying, ask them nicely to explain it to you instead of going off like that?

• firstly, shame on you if you've ever run a hate account. just why? how much more negativity do you want to add? if you come across a hate account please please report it and block it and tell your friends to do the same. if you're targeted in a hate post, I'm so sorry, please know that they're shallow ppl just trying to make you feel shitty, you're dont have a trashy fan account; what they say is false and done purely to spite. report and block them.

• I know Rick has written a lot of racist bullcrap and hasn't batted an eye when we complained about them, but that still doesn't give you the right to send him death threats. Again, no death threats to anyone, yikes.

• don't use fanart that's racist. don't repost them either. Piper has feathers in it? don't repost it. also if you can't exactly and properly credit artists, don't repost their art saying "credits to the artist". I've done that before too but now I understand that's not right.

• also, while we're at it, can we all please universally agree on non-racist fanon stuff and get rid of racist canon stuff? like Piper and feathers, and piper & hazel with colourful and golden eyes, Piper's stupid not like other girls behaviour, and all the other bullshit Rick has put into the books. We as a fandom don't accept it and pretend they do not exist, no racism in this place 🥰‼️

• ppl are allowed to have their own headcannons, it doesn't matter what's cannon. Don't go "but in the books it's.." because in the books there's a lot of shit, and besides, if someone wants to headcannon Percy as brown? black? totally alright! they're allowed to do so! don't go bUt pErCy iSnT pOc iN tHe bOoKs. same goes with sexualities and etc headcannons. as long as they're not erasing the already representation of a minority, it's okay to have headcannons of your own. Like Hazel is canonically black and we should respect that and bring out the best of that, yk what I mean?

That's all I have to say for now. I'm usually a very light-hearted cursed meme account on here but things are getting out of hand. I was wanting to make my 8 yr old brother get into the Riordanverse fandom but seeing the situation of the fandom rn scares me. We need to think about the kids in the future who'll be in this fandom, whose lives will be changed and shaped by these books. Surely, the older people in the fandom before us would be utterly disappointed at what it's become and it's our job to constantly look out for the fandom.

If you're leaving/have left the fandom, I'm so sorry that it got to that point, but ur wellbeing comes first, do what you feel is necessary to feel better, all of us send lots of positive vibes towards your way! and to the peeps who've still decided to stay in the fandom and use their account to talk about this issue, I cannot express how thankful I am of you for doing such an important thing right now. And to everyone - as Harry Styles once said - treat people with kindness.

[vanhelsingenthusiast]

question of genuine curiosity: i love van helsing & scrolled a considerable way through yr blog & seen lots of drac/vanhel shipping which never would've occurred to me as a ship. i tried to figure out what the draw was by looking at yr posts but it was usually like headcanons that didnt explain the ship's initial draw. so what draws you to it? also u said sth abt drac/vanhel being stoker self insert/his boss?? what??? thx for yr patience w yr local noob (if ppl even say noob anymore)

Hi! Thanks for the question! 

This is kinda funny because it’s not something I’ve ever thought about before. I guess I ship them because I’m gay and have unresolved trauma. 

Lol, jk (I mean, those things are true). I think I just really like the idea of enemies to lovers? Idk. I just think the idea of Van Helsing having to kill Dracula whilst also being in love or whatever with him is just,,,,such an interesting idea. Plus the idea of Dracula being soft and in love out of nowhere when he hasn’t been for centuries and all of a sudden having to deal with all these emotions is also very interesting. 

Idk, I think part of the appeal of shipping Dracula with anyone is, like, exploring these themes of someone who has been “living” for themselves for centuries, and has been completely selfish and self sustaining now having to grapple with the idea that they’re in love with someone (whatever that means for them), and having to deal with all the emotions of it. It’s an interesting character arc. 

Shipping Dracula with Van Helsing, in my opinion, makes sense and is interesting because Van Helsing is probably the only person in the book who can keep up with him intellectually (Mina is smart enough but I wouldn’t say she’s learned enough, though she could be), and also the only person who is, like, disciplined enough to actually be able to deal with him, and also the only person that Dracula really respects. 

 I imagine Dracula would be fairly emotionally turbulent, and he needs someone who is levelheaded and patient enough to deal with that in a healthy way, and also who likes him enough and gets enough out of the relationship to want to help him, and I think that person is Van Helsing.* (Part of the reason why I don’t like DracMina is because she isn’t experienced enough to do that, imo, but that’s a different post altogether). And then them being enemies just gives some interesting dynamics to work with. 

Ok, well that was long-winded. Now onto the “Van Helsing is a self-insert for Bram Stoker” thing: 

So, admittedly, this is just, like, a theory and not something that Stoker ever admitted to, but it does make some sense for a few reasons: 

~ Abraham was Stoker’s full first name (also his fathers first name). 

~ Van Helsing was described to look a bit like Stoker (red hair, blue eyes, etc.)

~ He’s basically an overbeefed (?) NPC, and is a lot like a Mary Sue (I think the masculine is Gary Sue). Which, like, Mary Sue’s aren’t really real, but usually an overpowered character is an indication of an authorial self-insert. That being said, Van Helsing *does* have issues, but they’re issues that would not have been considered issues in the Victorian Era (re: he’s kinda mysoginistic, though admittedly not as much as some other characters).

One theory that is in this same vein is also that Dracula is an insert/was based on Stoker’s boss, Henry Irving. Also, some people think Stoker was in love with Irving (which is also another post, lol).  Basically: 

~ Irving was set to play Dracula in a stage adaptation (which he declined because he hated the book). 

~ Dracula is described to look a bit like Irving (bushy curly hair, bushy eyebrows, big nose, strong face, etc.) 

~ Dracula and Irving have some similar character traits, especially in the way Dracula is described as being spellbinding (which he also described Irving as), etc. 

Personally, I don’t think these things were intentional. Like, I don’t think Stoker thought “I’m going to make *myself* the hero :)”, or “I’m going to make *my boss* the villain :)”. I think he just wrote the characters he wanted to see and that interested him and there just happened to be a lot of similarities, but I do think the similarities are important to keep in mind when analyzing the book. 

Anyways, this was very long and I’m so sorry (but honestly, every answer I give to an ask ends up being really long, lol. What do y’all expect from me?). I hope this answered your questions! And thanks for giving my blog a look :) 

*Disclaimer: I don’t ship them in a toxic relationship type of way. Someone can be very emotional (due to trauma, mental illness, or no reason at all) and still be a wonderful, loving partner. Just because someone is emotional doesn’t mean they’re bad. I’m also not trying to say that all of your emotional needs should fall onto your partner, but saying that someone can’t lean on their partner for support is just not true. My opinions are a bit more nuanced so if someone has any more questions pls send me an ask abt it!

[festiveferret]

Hi! So this might be an unusual q, but have you ever faced massive criticism ( borderline hatred) for a fic? One of my fav authors had to take down her Ao3 account because she received massive hate for one of her fics.:( Granted that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but how do you feel about people who start attacking the author? I love you and your fics :)))

Hmm, can’t say that I have. Though I also think that everyone’s scale for massive crit/hatred is a bit different. Have I ever had rude, gross, accusatory, flat out incorrect, drama llama bs in my comments and asks? Oh, yeah! All the time. Have I ever felt like I needed to take down my AO3 so I could get away from it? No. And that could be differences between me and other people, either emotionally, or our approach to it, or it could be differences in the kind of shittiness we receive.

I’ve written in the past about how I feel about unsolicited concrit, but this sounds more like the commenters weren’t even trying to be constructive, they were actively choosing to be negative and hurtful. Obviously, ymmv, but my policies are generally thus:

1) You’re here to have fun, and that means any way you want, as long as you’re not actively hurting others. On the pod, we call this “First do no harm, then do you.” Your type of fun doesn’t have to pop everyone else’s corn to be valid fun for you. That includes writing kinky porn, murdering your favs (fictionally only pls), and liking naughty ships. Do you.

2) Don’t feel guilty for deleting. I delete a fair number of asks and comments. It’s not a slight or a judgement on the person who wrote them (though sometimes I’m also judging them) but it’s my space and it’s up to me what I allow attached to my art and what I feel like responding to. I don’t owe anyone my space, my time, or my emotions. I just don’t, and neither do you. This can also include turning off or limiting comments/asks, or avoiding certain social media platforms. Which is also partly because... 2b)  Drama begets drama. As soon as you share something in a public place, including responding to a shitty anon to say “well, that was shitty” you are starting a conversation, whether you want to or not. The point of social media is interaction, and there’s no such thing as public closed-door interactions on a platform like this. When you choose to respond, you’re inviting the rest of tumblr to have an opinion too, and some of them might also not be nice. For this reason, I very, very rarely respond to things I don’t like. If I don’t want to have a conversation on it, I exclude it swiftly and quietly from my space. You are not obligated to use your space to host a conversation.

3) True expectations are a negotiation between two or more parties, not something placed willy nilly on someone else. If other people have unnegotiated expectations of me that I’m not living up to, that’s a them problem. I don’t care.

4) There’s a difference between what is possible to do, what is expected to do, and what is nice to do, and these lines get blurred way to often. It is possible to send someone a horrible insult or death threat. It is expected that members in a community will treat each other respectfully in accordance to the shared values of that community. It is nice to go out of your way to send someone a compliment about how much you enjoyed their art. Saying something is possible is not a defense against being cruel, and niceness is not a base requirement to participate in a community. This means a few things: you do not owe niceness to anyone, but you do need to adhere to basic respect to participate in a community. Sending hate or bigotry excludes you from the communities I am a part of, to me. Sending love makes you an outstanding citizen. You don’t need to feel guilty for not being outstanding, and you don’t need to offer the basic respect of space and a voice to someone who is not treating you with basic respect in return. If you’re cruel to me, you are not part of my community space and I will block you and exclude you from spaces I’m in control of, like my comments. 4b) You should also not feel guilty if part of your joy experience doesn’t involve being extra nice, mine often does not. As I’ve said before, niceness doesn’t come easy to me, and I’m here to have fun. Sometimes that means choosing to challenge the things I’m bad at, like niceness, most of the time it does not.

5) There will always be people taking advantage of what’s possible and acting in shitty ways. There are usually reasons. They’re angry, they’re hurt, they’re scared. They’re defensive because something they don’t like about themselves is reflecting back at them. They’re upset because they consumed art that was off-putting to them. But that doesn’t mean you have an obligation to make space for those reactions. It is not mean or disrespectful to walk away. Blocking is not an insult, it’s personal curation. We can’t easily remove all the nastiness from the world, or from our fandom spaces, but you can use the tools at your disposal to do your best to keep them out of your personal space. Sometimes it can do wonders to turn everything off and step away for a while.

6) The negative crap hurts, it really does. Even when you can see how misguided it was, or how immature it was, it still hurts. It’s always gonna hurt; there’s no way to turn that off. I’m not someone who’s easily shaken but I’ve still had a day or two ruined by shitty anons. Ranting at friends helps. Find some friends you can rant with in private.

At the end of the day, fandom, as I’ve said many times, is a hobby for fun. There’s a whole range of creators out there: different lives, different relationships, different cultures, different skill levels. And I think that’s hecking rad. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt; we’re all still learning and growing. But our every day choices in the way we interact with each other is what shapes our fandom communities. Just because something is possible, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to do. And just because you’re upset, doesn’t mean someone else was being harmful.

And just because you’re here, doesn’t mean you have to be here for everyone. Curate your fandom space. Sometimes that means stepping away, hiding, or deleting things - comments, anons, whole accounts. It’s always sad to see people go, but I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to stay in a space that’s making them unhappy.

Also, friends, a negative message takes about ten to fifteen positive messages to outweigh. If the thought of your favourite people getting nasty messages upsets you, and you have some spoons for it, spread the love and drown out the hate. It really does help. <3

[elizabeatrice]

Feeling Blue, Seeing Red (Chapter 69)

Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga #5

Updated: 19/8/2020 (more thoughts)

Bea is back with the lame punny titles~

Warning: !!! MANGA SPOILERS UP TO CHAPTER 69 !!! Duh.

Soooo I opened the raws this morning. Saw the spicy and went 'ohh shoot'. Then some of y'all say that some folks are hating Akane bc of this chap. I proceeded to panic, because fandom war is scary af. So I translated the chap for myself. And I just gotta say:

Aoi, Nene, your boyfriends are idiots. Y'all gonna be punching and headbutting the idiocy out of them for the rest of your lives and I'll be willing to pay for your karate classes.

The teen drama made me laugh so hard ahahahaha I guess this is what you get for hoping sensei will drop a bomb this month lmaoooo.

P.S. Teru you little shit

Man I don’t even know where to begin. This chapter is oozing doraaaaama and I can’t take it seriously no matter how much I try. I remember thinking, “Shoot, this is the ‘I hate you, I hate you too, proceed to make out’ trope in JSHK’s classic ‘oooh serious moment, eh? PSYCHE!’ style,” before bursting into laughter.

I swear I’m not making fun of it.

Because it’s already fun to begin with. Ahahahaha.

I do however, take seriously the long-awaited insight into Aoi’s mind. I hollered in joy, y’all. ‘Cause like ... finally!

(Also like ... ngl the development of Aoi and akaoi in this arc might come into play in my Shrek AU. Pls don’t ask. Yet. That’s not the official AU name I swear I just wanna confuse my readers ahahaha)

Back when chapter 64 came out I wrote something that was supposed to be the first of the Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga series but I ended up not posting it because I wasn’t sure about a bunch of things. Here’s an excerpt from that post, titled ‘Aoi and Her Blues’:

I mean, what did the minions do to her? ‘Remove unnecessary things’. Someone said they removed her inhibitions (I’m terribly sorry I forgot who said this because it’s been so long so I can’t put the link here, but if you know, feel free to send me the link).

But she has to be brainwashed, right?

She remembered enough about Nene. Enough to call her out on her feelings (that she still denies btw lol) and recognize Hanako from Nene’s wonderful description (or because Aoi could see him all this time and never said anything, who knows?).

Most importantly, she remembered Akane.

So apparently they weren’t unnecessary enough to be erased from her memory. Which I’d beg to differ if I were going to make this girl willingly sacrifice herself.

Would she let her best friend fall down into a pit full of giant insects, or let her childhood friend get impaled? I mean this is the same girl that cried when Akane and Yamabuki got together (by accident) and when Nene started talking to herself like a madwoman.

So yeah. Definitely brainwashed. Pretty sure now.

The one thing that bugged me is what she said though.

“I’ve always wanted to go somewhere far away.”

“Nothing will stop me from getting my wish.”

Btw these aren’t accurate word for word I’m just drawing from memory.

Is that a wish forced upon her by the brainwashing, or has Aoi been depressed all this time and ... y’know, therefore thought about ‘going far away’? I’m personally leaning more towards the first, but it still got me thinking.

Remember back in The Clock Keeper arc when she said there was something she wanted to tell Nene?

Can some creepy hands showing up in the gardening club’s album photos really warrant that kind of expression? Is it just me who got disappointed when the thing she wanted to tell Nene ended up being just that?

But if she did have such thoughts, why?

Maybe she was lonely? I mean Nene got so busy with supernatural shenanigans. Akane’s busy with student council stuff (and school wonder stuff). Though I don’t doubt for a second that he’d drop everything for Aoi, but Aoi’s not the kind of person to do that. And to be honest, I feel like so far Aoi hasn’t been shown having genuine interaction with anyone aside from Nene and Yamabuki without the other person being completely enamored by her. And even with Yamabuki that was just in that After School chapter.

So I guess my hunch wasn’t that far off. Still though. Still though. Is she or is she not brainwashed? Because as much as Aoi likes-but hates-but actually kinda likes Akane, I still don’t think she’s the type of person to stab her childhood friend until he’s got a hole through his fucking torso.

Throwing Nene into the bug pit I guess makes more sense if Aoi knew all along that the pit won’t lead anywhere too dangerous, and that Hanako wouldn’t leave Nene’s side. Nene’s perfectly safe with him. Sorta. She did get kidnapped and were about to be sacrificed after all. But heeey Hanako still showed up to save her in the end.

Stabbing Akane like that tho? Even if she knows he wouldn’t die in a boundary especially in his school wonder form? It just doesn’t feel like Aoi, man.

Then again she did say no one really knows her, and that anyone who does would end up being disappointed in her.

I’m really happy to know that she does not, in fact, appreciate all the attention given to her. Comedy framing aside, constantly having some random guy approach you to ask you out presumably every day is ... annoying at best. Kid deserves better.

So ya girl got some extreme trust issues. Strangers, even Akane and Nene, I could understand. But her dad tho? Is something going on in the Akane household? Bruh ....

How long has Aoi not been able to trust anyone enough to let them get close to her? Because if she’s been feeling like that about Nene all this time, Imma be super sad bruh. Nene is one of the most genuine kids ever (perhaps only second to Kou).

I understand that Aoi’s disappointed because Nene’s been keeping secrets, but honestly, who would believe you if you come up to them and say, “Hey so I summoned a toilet ghost and now I’m stuck as his assistant. The rumors about supernaturals are like, totally real, and can endanger everyone in this school for real, too. Also I turn into fish when I come in contact with water.”

Sensible best friends would either a) not believe you, or b) try to get you as far away from supernatural shit as possible ‘cause hello? Ya ain’t Miles Morales ya can’t just blast What’s Up Danger when monster of the week shows up.

Even if Aoi does let it continue, wouldn’t she wanna get involved? Would Nene let her get involved when Tsukasa’s still around? Ya girl got cursed, thrown off the top of a boundary, sent to literally nowhere and everywhere, almost got her body stolen by mirror monsters, kidnapped and taken into a fake world, and now trapped in literal Grim Reaper’s realm. Honestly, who would involve their best friend in this sort of shit?

It just makes me sad to think that all this time Akane and Nene have genuinely cared about her but she didn’t think they were. Aoi, my girl Nene literally threaded hell boundaries and high shallow water to save you!!!

Unrequited platonic love hurts just as much as romantic ones, y’all ....

Speaking of romantic love.

Hey, uh, Akane. For claiming to despise Hanako and calling him a slimy pervert, y’all kinda act the same way with your respective girlfriends when things get a bit heated up, huh? Even the teasing part.

Boy, you’re dumb af. You deserve that.

There it is y’all, it’s official. We got punches for akaoi and headbutts for hananene.

You deserve this too. But Teru’s face here is really annoying, I’ll give you that. Teru you little shit.

At least you’re finally gonna be useful. Let’s just see.

Hmm I guess I have to address the thing now.

Ahem. The thing. The pushing (pulling?) Aoi down, grabbing her neck thing.

Yeah I don’t get it either. Whether it was a creative choice taken in consideration to the actual character’s state or to just pander to the trope that seems to be marketable in Japan or both, I don’t really know.

I do however, have to remind you that none of these kids are in their right mind. One is possibly still recovering from the effects of brainwashing and dealing with not only extreme trust issues and insecurities, but also the sight of a gaping hole on her childhood friend and perhaps crush’s torso, not to mention having to deal with this in the middle of nowhere. The other one is the said person with a gaping hole on his torso, who almost lost his life-long crush, and even got stabbed by her in the first place.

They’re lost. They’re tired. They’re emotional. They’re frustrated. They’re two hormonal teens.

I think Akane thought Aoi wouldn’t listen to him unless he makes her. Which is why he went with exposing her by saying he hated her. Which is still a dumb move in my opinion. But Aoi rightfully got back at him. And honestly I didn’t think he really hurt her. I mean, it’s Akane after all. *shrugs*

The way I see it, the entire thing was a result from not only their current condition but also the uh ... not telling each other how they really feel all this time. Aoi with her issues, Akane with his secrets. They’re a ticking bomb. It’s horrible that they ended up hurting each other because of this (physically and emotionally), but I could see why it went like this. These two are flawed. Most importantly, they’re teenagers. They’re bound to fuck up in this equation.

Heck, I’ve fucked up worse in less endangering situations before.

But heeey once things get cleared between them they fall right back to each other. Sure things aren’t entirely resolved. But they’re gonna be okay. Teru’s there. Should be fine. Probably.

The thing is we as the audience who come into the story with a clear head can easily figure out the best, most sensible way to deal with the characters’ problems. But these problems affect the characters in (physical, physiological, psychological, emotional) ways most of us can’t immediately empathize with, which can make their bad decisions frustrating for us to see. We know it’s wrong. And when these characters have calmed down and healed, they’ll know that it’s wrong, too. If they’re not dicks, that is.

You know how it feels when you’re fighting with someone, and you know the best thing to do is to talk it out, but you just can’t bring yourself to? It makes things worse, right? And you’re frustrated, right? Unfortunately that’s just how humans are.

Even I let my emotions get the best of me when I judged the villagers’ actions back in chapter 68 hahaha (but I still think they’re awful).

It’s just my opinion tho.

And whooo everyone is officially here but Yamabuki (and Sakura and Tsukasa, but they’re bound to show up)! Catch up soon, my citrus child.

Lastly, I have the moral obligation to remind you that if akaoi’s confrontation ended up like this, imagine how hananene’s would be.

I’ll leave you to your deductions.

As always, feel free to discuss. Just ... don’t fight, onegaishimasu.

[theshitthatidoishere]

Ask post owo

DoloresdaizhamorganI said: i refuse to believe Neji died. Although I did have a really bizarre dream that during the war, an outbreak spread causing the deceased shinobi, our beloved Neji included, to come back as vampires who WERE NOT susceptible to sunlight, a steak to the heart, nor anything common to end a vampire. Yeah, that's what happens when you've been binging vampire horror for three straight weeks with no interruptions. Btw, NejiTen is amazing and beautiful.

1. What r u talking abt?? neji didn’t die he’s alive and happy and alive 👌

2.hhshahshah ok that’s a weird dream but i admit that neji vampire sounds cool

3. Totally agree

@spaneji-roll has said: What if Neji, tenten and Lee would be secret agents like that one skit in naruto SD? I think we all know tenten would be the bad ass one, Lee would almost get killed with every impulsive decision he would make but he'd come out fine and Neji. Neji is just James bond but better because he's Neji.

Omg yeEeeEeeEeEeeeEs i like this sm, and i love the outfits of that skit too so perfect ✨✨

Why do you ship nejiten? Tenten didn't even cry when Neji died. She just recalled him when Guy and Lee were making a fuss. She said,"Why did you leave me Neji?" Or something along those lines. I don't see any romantic aspect in their relationship. They were just teammates who respected each other. P. S. This is not a hate ask towards Nejiten or what you believe in. I want to know your opinion because yours is the only Nejiten blog I follow. P. S. S. I really like your art. It's so beautiful.

Guys if i could tell i really would but the thing is that i don’t even know what i like nt, once i was seeing papabay’s art on Pinterest (not knowing who papabay was xd) and i said “wow this shit is good” and i ended obsessed just like with everything that i like lmao ;_;

Idk i just like that if they were in a relationship it would be so GOOD AND NOT TOXIC LIKE THE OTHER NART RELATIONSHIPS, like just vibing and respecting to each other, but idk just my brain daydreaming xd

Also thank u sm🥺💙🥺💙💙

Hc that hizashi and gai knew each other before the incident...

Y E S but hizashi and gai are in different generations so idk how...maybe a mission?

That scene where baby neji is training with hizashi....HES LIKE A LITTLE TEDDY BEAR IS SO CUTE !!!

What do you think of LeeSaku?

Sakura deserved better and lee too so yeah i like it 👍

Do you want to hear a song rec? :33

Sure owo

I SCREAMED

I don’t remember with what drawing i got this ask but thank you and sorry🥺🥺🥺🥺💙💙

That is legit the funniest hate ask I have seen, like you need to know your philosophy to understand my insult, p e a s a n t

I still don’t understand if it was a hate ask or just a meme ngl

search deadname remover on chrome web store that might help úwù

I would use that if i had a computer bc it doesn’t let me in the ipad :’(

After Hiashi dies hizashi is waiting there with a Gun.

I WILL HAVE HIASHIS HEAD SO HELP ME GOD-!!!

NANI???!!!

What’s art style bend?

It’s an artist challenge where you have to do a drawing without all the characteristics that define your art style owo

Til that I’m actually taller than hiashi idk why that’s so funny to me but it is...

Hiashi smol hiashi smol

Imagine hiashi get kicked in the head...literally

Yes please....

I accidentally read that birthday post as habirth ppyday, And was very confused. then I realized I was a fuckin moron and read it right, but anyway, habirth ppyday mel since I’m too much of a coward to say it in their inbox

@meloodles happy late bd from part of this anon xddd

Can I PLEASE get a waffle can I PLEASE get a fuckign waffle

🧇🧇🧇

Would you like an egg?

Yes ngl 🍳

wha t does "omnipotenttable mean?

It’s from a nickname that i had a few years ago, when i was making my ig account with some friends they were like “let’s put you table” and i said “just if you put omnipotent before”, and that’s it xd

Rock lee more like broccoli

What’s your favorite brush?

what art piece do you feel proudest of?

This two owo

Have you watched into the woods? Idk I think it’s a pretty good musical.

Nup i haven’t, usually i don’t like musicals but maybe I’ll give it a try

Hey I hope you’re ok, sending you love 💕💕💕

I’m fine now but who knows when I’ll feel like poop again ;-;, I’m trying to not and take advantage of the days that i feel good 💙💙

Does Chile celebrate Labor Day?

Yes we do!

hey i read your tw post and just wanted to send u some love!! pls try to hang in there. i love u and i wanna wake up and see ur art again! i wanna see u interact with asks again! i know hope is hard to come by and even harder to keep but it really is the only thing we can do in times like this. please hang in there! i love you!! ❤❤❤❤💕💗💗💞💓💓💓

You motivated me to answer all the ask today so thank you sm 💙💙🥺💙🥺💙🥺, I’m doing my best I’m almost two days without skin picking myself, i’ll try as much as i can i promise 💙💙, love ya

@catkinies has said : YOUR HEADER!!!! GOLD!!! HANABABY!!! ❤️❤️❤️

We gave explosives to hanababy xddd 🤯🤯

i searched ctm and SHELL YOUR MOTHER??? guess i cant complain but WHAT

Jahsjjakajajja this is a CLASSIC, i would say that’s similar to motherfucker but not really 😔👊

[lost-within-a-dreamers-dream]

001 and AFTG pls 😊

oThank you for the ask!! And for on of my favorite fandoms <3

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Neil Josten, hands down because that boy is so sassy and I love him

Least Favorite character: Thea. Her character is in like one scene. I have no attachment to her and her relationship with Kevin is toxic for both of them.

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Andrew/Neil, Andrew/Neil/Kevin, Matt/Dan, Wymack/Abby, Renee/ Allison

Character I find most attractive: Matt Boyd. I like tall boys and he is so sweet but also has this chaotic dumbass Bi energy that I love

Character I would marry: Allison. She is attractive, can match my sarcasm, she can take care of me financially, we can judge other people while sipping cocktails at brunch and she would treat me like a queen.

Character I would be best friends with: I wanna say Neil or Andrew cause I would love to be their friend but it’d probably be Kevin. Trauma, drinking and history would bond us. 

a random thought: I think that Andrew and Neil don’t adopt a kid in the future, but I can see Andrew and Neil opening or working with some type of youth service/housing for runaway and abused children and teens where they help them through a variety of ways i.e. sports, art therapy, schooling, psychologists and the other foxes donate and take turns helping out.  

An unpopular opinion:  I don’t really have any unpopular unpopular ones/ I guess it’d have to be that I don’t hate Aaron. He wouldn’t be my favorite character but I see all his actions through his trauma and his twisted relationship with Andrew.

My Canon OTP: Andrew/Neil. I don’t think I need to say much on this, but just the way they respect each other and support each other is so sweet and soft for two boys that are used to violence.

My Non-canon OTP: Renee/ Allison. Give me my lesbian exy players. Give me Renee and Allison holding each other up after brutal matches and kissing each others bruises.

Most Badass Character: Andrew or Renee. They have both been through so much and are strong in different ways. But both would fight till bloody for those under their protection.

Most Epic Villain: Ichirou. That man was only in a handful of scenes but gave me chills. Plus he wasn’t whiny or ranting. He was cool and calm and scary.

Pairing I am not a fan of: Aaron/Kevin. Just no thanks.

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Maybe Seth. Or Aaron. Seth because I just found him to be very one dimensional? I didn’t know enough to really feel enough for him, more I felt Allison's pain over him. Aaron because Nora could have shown the strain in the Twins relationship and theirs with Nicky without the homophobic comments? Like yeah, have him grumble about Nicky’s comments but there’s ways to do that without making him homophobic

Favourite Friendship: Neil and Matt. They’re just so pure together. And I love how Matt was introduced to this 5′3 jumpy kid and went ‘NEW BESTIE, MUST ADOPT’.

Character I most identify with: I identify with Andrew a lot because I suffer from insomnia and depression but also Kevin because of his driven nature, his interests and his panic attacks.

Character I wish I could be: Probably Renee. I wish I could have her outlook but also defense skills. I also want her style and hair 

[advernia]

moved this over to a text post, hope u don’t mind anon! ( ᐛ )و

ANYWAY EEEEEE THANK YOU AND I’D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SHARE!!!! o(*≧□≦)o tbh this headcanon is me 100% refusing to accept that post-route!alice just stays in red/black army hq as a… uh, maid??? cook??? cheerleader??? idk lmao but imo alice has a lot of potential with her canon profession lolol! okay so maybe they did her justice in kyle’s route bc she ends up as his assistant but as for other routes fight me cybird (ง •̀_•́)ง

context side a

i got the idea after reading fenrir’s dramatic end, where alice gets a job in cradle’s best confectionery (like wow lmao if only getting a job was that fast irl). anyway!!! i’d like to dream that alice does this for all routes + a month after the route events (sans kyle’s). you’d think she doesn’t need to get a job especially if her ikeman’s part of the red army, but she does this bc she wants to. and to feel less like a freeloader lmao. since the situation’s different with the neutrals, this isn’t much of an issue.

so, yay! she feels better about passing time productively + having her own lin to spend but tbh she doesn’t really buy much stuff???? eventually she saves up quite the amount that it becomes a problem - what could/should she do with that much cash????

tbh the idea to start her own business came from her boss lol…. it started from his objective assessment that she was good enough to open her own shop… eventually she starts entertaining the idea…. then she gets second opinions from friends + ikeman…. and she actually does it after much consideration?!??! her boss is shook, but he wishes her well anyway! he gets a free slice of cake whenever he visits the cafe lol!

so alice ends up with a cafe! since confectioneries were more on selling than service + she’s on her own now & has a lot of stuff to handle on her own, she becomes pretty busy and takes some time to adjust, but eventually she gets by! it’s tiring, but she enjoys her every day!

any of her extra profits she chooses to donate to various causes + she eventually ends up becoming some sort of sponsor to the armies with all her donations HELLA RAD ೕ(•̀ᴗ•́)

context side b

alternatively, in a common route scenario where amon still gets his ass kicked + alice stays in cradle but doesn’t fall in love with that one ikeman (no one falls in love…. not yet LMAO), she lives with the black/red army + works in a confectionery until she has enough to buy a home of her own. blanc + oliver + mousse have been secretly helping her scout around for a good place. it’s only when everything’s ready that she talks to the black/red army about her intentions.

get this - her general explanation goes this way: she starts off by saying that she’s very thankful that everyone has accommodated her and she’ll always be in their debt, but now that she’s living as an actual resident of cradle and no longer just a guest, she’d hate to impose on them any further. to boot, she’s not even an official part of the army + a soldier, so it may look odd that she’s still staying within army hq. stuff about reputation and pride, something like that.

the black army (see: seth) is sad about this, but they understand her sentiments and let her go. after a three-day long party. aaaaand of course, they’re more than willing to do any heavy lifting for her move + just anything in general - all she needed to do was ask!

the red army respects her decision as well, and they’re… more subtle in expressing their disappointment (how is jonah’s blatant frown even subtle lol). like the black army, they let her go + remind her that she can always ask them for help. 

so alice lives alone for a couple of months.... then the armies hear that she’s planning to open a cafe from blanc.... ha.... the black army totally helps her out with general recontrustion + repairs. she does not take no for an answer when she pays them for their work lmao. plus, they totally helped her out by giving her tours around the stalls on the central quarter market that give the best bargains + freshest produce! the flowers alice put up for decoration + plant outside her yard are always sponsored by canis major..... and seth drops by regularly to talk about trending aesthetics alice could adapt in the cafe!

the red army’s idea of helping her out with her cafe is to send her furniture + kitchen appliances + sets of tableware.... they’re gorgeous + simple but UMMMM????? alice literally panics about the kitchen, especially about the stove + oven bc it be so fine.... and expensive-looking.... but negotiating with lancelot + jonah is like talking to a brick + diamond wall so edgar + kyle + zero convince her to just take it lmao - it isn’t much, but lancelot gets a free drink & jonah a free mille-feuille each time they visit!

again: she donates to various causes + sends the black/red army a fair amount of her extra profits each month! she’d give more to the red army bc she still can’t get over their....... generous gifts and how much they probably cost lmao....... edgar stops her there though bc honestly..... do u think the red army needs more money??????????

the cafe

so why in central of all places? actually, it does make sense to set up a business there since it’s like the country’s central business district. but if i’d base it from alice’s general personality, i think she’d choose central bc that’s where every citizen of cradle; whether they be from red, black, or neutral territory, all gather together. in central, she can see every side living side cradle, not just red or black - and in a simple establishment like a cafe, something simple like food can bring all those different sides together.

she set up her cafe in central with the thought of helping in the efforts of bridging the gap between the armies + to have an actual experience of how it is to live as a citizen of cradle. technically she is one already, but sometimes living in cradle is really so different from living in london. it makes her feel displaced sometimes.

her cafe is probably somewhere close to blanc’s house or smth and u bet that blanc is very happy to have a pretty lady living close by/around his neighborhood lmao! but if you want to be serious about it, this is intentional on blanc’s part bc her safety isn’t exactly assured after the magic tower fiasco - disciple stragglers might come back for her, and since the whole of cradle already knows that she’s the alice the second, there may be other people/groups lurking around that are interested in her power......

in comparison to most cafes in central, alice’s place is relatively small - she doesn’t mind though, since she’s running the place on her own. the thought of expanding makes her doubt her capability of providing + distributing the same quality of service + attention she usually gives to a small crowd.

alice changes the cafe decors + scents according to each season!!! in general, she wants her cafe to have a homey, relaxing feel, doing her best to impart a feel of london + her hometown in her cafe. you’d think that seasonal redecorating would be a hassle, but magic makes that process very easy... once she learns about cradle’s unique holidays + festivals, she also redecorates + tweaks her menu in tune to the special day!

a variety of sandwiches + light meals such as pastas are on the menu now and then, but her cafe is well-known for the desserts. like the decor, the food + drink selection adjusts accordingly to the season.

her edge among her competitors is the fact that she’s from the land of reason - her techniques + use/handling of ingredients + and other assorted methods are quite different from that practiced in cradle since they have the advantage of magic. tastes, colors, textures, and even presentation end up differently. plus, she knows how to make various foods + sweets unfamiliar to cradle, so some of the stuff she makes are seen as novelty to the locals!

she does pay attention to what tastes of london are positively + negatively recepted in cradle though - from there she experiments or improvises her recipes, and seeks out feedback immediately.

following context side b, i’m all in for the romance with her ikeman developing here instead OH YEAAAH ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) it’s a lot more hectic tho since it’s an open playground and there are the.... common interferences..... coughsethcoughlokicough LMAO

also!!! following all the not-so-spoilery content of her + seth, i’ve recently been digging the idea of nojisha / rapunzel (localization ain’t being subtle anymore lol) working + possibly living in alice’s cafe too bc god knows that alice needs an actual girl friend among all that testosterone lmao!

rapunzel’s more of a waitress but is totally into designing whatever cakes + drinks + pastries alice has on the menu and on display… takes dibs in writing out the menu on the chalkboard as her chance to practice some pretty lettering… and also actively helps out alice in picking seasonal decors + packaging for the cafe!

on the sidelines rapunzel also keeps a close eye on alice bc… heh… them odd folks coming in for the foods but staying longer for the girl(s)… those red army officers dropping by more often even if they’re on patrol…. dudes from the civic center + other colorful characters talking so familiarly to alice…. yaaa~n! pick up the pace, onii-chan!!! lmao

depending on who’s the ikeman out for alice, rapunzel can and will cockblock, omfg...... she’ll totally stop if she sees that alice has mutual feelings for the guy but sometimes rapunzel really has impeccable, unintentional timing haha... seth hyde, what have u been teaching ur little sister smh (ಡ艸ಡ)

opening time: 6AM, closing: 7PM. accepts orders of wedding + birthday cakes, does not handle catering. for any inquiries, pls call....... (^ц^ )

other

alice’s cafe develops different reputations depending on who she ends up with LMAO........ local newspapers + cradle’s grapevine love her cafe and totally not bc they can get a glimpse of the red/black army chosen if they get their timing right haHA..... here’s a couple of examples:

if she’s with mousse, her cafe has quite the interesting reputation! while there’s a good selection of the local teas/coffees in her menu, there’s also a fair share of exotic blends with brief details about the country where the blend is from + how the beverage is prepared + possible tastes, written by no other than mousse himself! sometimes alice showcases some limited edition sweets + pastries made from an interesting mix of local and foreign ingredients + spices too......

if she ends up with a king, novels/tales + plays + songs/poems about royalty/nobility falling for the common worker (lancelot) or adventures of a hero and a maiden (ray) suddenly become a thing™….. the boom is especially huge in black/red territory, be it from nobles to commoners.... another common point??? there’s always a cafe referenced in there, a rendezvous point some way or another in the story… and it sounds veeeeery familiar, even if they switch the setting into a tavern/inn, hmmmm....

did you know that one cafe in central quarter is owned by alice the second, the woman who’s rumored to be the lover of cradle’s most notorious criminal + strongest wizard???? no???? are they really a thing??? do you think the stuff she sells in her cafe is fit is for consumption???? does she make those cakes herself or does she ask the wizard to make it through dark magic or are those smuggled goods??????? man, those cakes are damn good though!!!!!

newspaper headlines: students of cradle’s local boarding school promptly create a literal lake of tears in the central quarter after spending time and meeting a kind cafe owner who happens to really be their terror professor’s lover (side note: this article was removed upon the request of a certain mr. d.)

the sole exemption i have for this hc is kyle’s alice! she has her hands full + committing herself to being a doctor’s assistant so opening a cafe doesn’t cross her mind, but that doesn’t stop her from making treats now and then for their patients… in fact, becomes a thing among the children of cradle that if you be a good boy/girl who takes their medicine + shots from the redhead doctor without complaining, the pretty assistant lady will give you a tasty treat for being so well-behaved! (*≧▽≦)

[noahmarshall-lovebot]

hi, welcome to my choices blog! as of right now i have no idea wtf i’ll be posting here but i’m chaos in human form so stick around if you’d like to witness my mental illness firsthand. perhaps i will make a carrd or something similar someday but for now have a poorly formatted intro post! 

(i accidentally made this wayyy too long so under the cut it goes!)

some info about me:

-> i’ve been playing choices since the game released in 2016 (for some reason)

-> i’m currently a freshman in college

-> i live in the united states (ew)

-> i’m bisexual and my pronouns are she/her

-> i’m a cancer sun, leo moon, and capricorn rising, and my mbti type is infp

-> i love drawing, writing, painting, making jewelry... pretty much anything that gives me a chance to be creative!

-> my favorite choices books are the it lives anthology, endless summer, queen b, open heart, ride or die, mother of the year, and most wanted (pb if ur reading this please give us most wanted 2 im literally begging)

-> i am aware that noah marshall was a little rat and not in a good way but that’s just my taste in men, sue me

-> i consider myself to be friendly, so feel free to send me a message or smth if you’d ever like to chat! i don’t bite ;)

-> i also just straight up LOVE attention so much,,, pls don’t hesitate to dm me or send something to my ask box you will literally make me so happy and also earn my undying love and adoration

-> some other non-choices related things i like are danganronpa, true crime, monster high, and spending hours scrolling through pictures of pretty girls on pinterest wishing i looked like them and/or wondering if i’m even real

rules for my blog/dni:

-> please be kind and respectful to me and everyone else here! any rude behavior/comments/etc won’t be tolerated

-> i’m comfortable discussing nsfw topics but please don’t send me anything that would get you put on a list :/

-> please please PLEASE do not mention v*mit or anything related to it!! i know it’s a weird thing to blacklist, but i have severe emetophobia and it’s a bit of a trigger for me <3

-> dni if you are homophobic/do not support the lgbt community, do not support the black lives matter movement, support billionaires, or are just generally not respectful of other people’s differences/beliefs/identify/etc.

-> i want my blog to be a safe space for everyone so please use your brain cells and be respectful of that!!

choices-related opinions of mine that are absolutely 100% correct and you cannot change my mind about:

-> noah marshall DID make mistakes and do bad things and anyone who says he “did nothing wrong” needs to go re-read ilitw (this is coming from someone who would die for that little weasel so you know i’m right)

-> perfect match was kinda overrated and i will never understand why people worship that book as much as they do

-> distant shores does not need a sequel!! stop begging for one!!!

-> a lot of the generally disliked books are actually not that bad and do not deserve the hate they get (hss: ca i’m looking at you)

-> most wanted deserved as many books as the freshman had. call me mentally ill if you want but i said what i said

-> ilitw > ilb

please remember that this blog is just for fun! i’m just here to joke around, enjoy myself, and maybe make a few friends in the process, who knows! with that in mind, just remember to be nice to me and anyone else i may interact with here and we shouldn’t have any issues <3

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

so, @queencurlycrown suggested that I sit down and watch the 2019 movie all the way through while typing out my thoughts about it, and I thought that was an absolutely BRILLIANT idea (she’s a genius, so I shouldn’t be surprised).

So please, enjoy my (very long) ramblings!

Overture:

- I love how echo-ey the music is. It’s not as strong or intense, but it gets the job done, and gets me excited for the movie.

- Cat shadows are kind of creepy, not gonna lie

- OH SHIT MUNKU MY BOY GET YOUR GIRLFRIEND HONEY!!

- The music getting so intense as soon as Victoria is thrown just gives me chills, honestly. Also, can I fight an old lady? Because I want to fight an old lady.

- I kind of like how all the cats immediately surround the bag as soon as the old lady leaves oH HI CASSANDRA I LOVE YOU QUEEN ...where was I? CORI MY SON I LOVE YOU

- All of them surrounding Victoria and circling her is super intense and wonderful and UGH YAY MUNKU HELP YOUR GIRLFRIEND

Jellicle Songs:

- Hi, I’m in love with Robbie Fairchild

- All of them popping out of random places just makes me feel so immersed in their world and I love it. Also, is Alonzo the one who sings “can you say of your bite that it’s worse than your bark?”

- PLATO SOCRATES I LOVE YOU BOYS

- Jfc Cori stop flirting with Victoria and give mISTO HIS HAT BACK also you’re an absolute dumbass and I absolutely adore you, you little baby boy

- Misto adjusting his hat with his tail? I’m in love. But also, the way that the music picks up makes it such a bop, and it really starts to get you into the movie.

- Gosh, Tantomile, how do you keep track of the braincell? Because Cori most definitely does not have it.

- Misto, you absolute fucking DORK that face during “Were you Whittington’s friend” GETS ME and Cassandra is just so unimpressed. They have such sibling energy.

- Syllabub, honey, please get out of the toilet.

- Okay, I’m honestly getting sibling vibes from Plato, Socrates, and Coricopat, so that’s my new headcanon for those three, plus Tantomile. Plato and Socrates are Cori and Tanto’s big brothers.

- Gosh, if any Munkustrap smiled at me like that I’d follow him into an alley too.

- Misto, HOW DID YOU GET CAUGHT ON A CLOTHESLINE??

-  Cori, your HIPS. And, going off of the choreography, I actually really enjoy it? It’s very modern, and while it’s nothing like the Broadway choreo, I think it definitely gives the movie its own feel while still staying true to the original vibes.

- Gosh, I love how the sign changes from Moriarty to Macavity. Also, please Mr. Macavity sir. Keep your coat and hat on. You look much better.

-  Ugh, I love all the looks that Munku and Victoria share. And how he’s guiding her around and keeping her close? Excuse me while I cry.

- WHO SAYS “ORATORICAL CATS” BECAUSE I LOVE HIM? Also, Misto, pls, calm down. I know you’re already in love, but you’ve just met the queen. JERRIE PUT THAT BOX DOWN

- CORI JUMPED ONTO PLATO/SOCRATES’ BACK THEY’RE BROTHERS OKAY?? (sorry, this entire one song turned into “liv’s in love with coricopat”)

- “a-and magical cats!” oh sweetheart...

- Francesca’s dancing is just stunning. She did an amazing job as Victoria, and I will fight for her honor.

- OOF the way it just trails off just as Victoria’s getting into the song and how everyone runs off and she’s just standing there confused. It’s perfection.

- Macavity with the hat and coat is just so much better than nakey Macavity. But the way he obviously tries to hypnotize Victoria is so well-done. 

Naming of Cats/Victoria’s Dance:

- Cassandra and Demeter are girlfriends. I don’t make the rules.

- Still not 100% on their characters and their reactions to Victoria, but I do appreciate some protective ladies. Them hissing at Misto gives me more “We don’t know her, so you can’t talk to her just yet, so let the big sisters do the talking” vibes.

- Hi, I love Robbie Fairchild

- The different cats saying the different names, the setting being a graveyard, the very faint soundtrack in the back, it’s all just so creepy and I love it.

- I still hate that they skipped talking about the second part of the First Name, and the Second Name. It still doesn’t make sense, and I wish they had kept it because MUNKU DESERVES TO SAY HIS NAME DAMMIT (it would also give cats like Plato, Jelly, Cori and Demeter a chance to introduce themselves as well)

- HOOO BOY THAT TENSION BETWEEN MUNKU AND VICTORIA WOW THEY’RE ALREADY IN LOVE (also I’m just picturing Misto freaking out about the pretty cats)

- It’s almost as if Munku is teaching Victoria how to truly feel like a Jellicle/dance, as if she’s never danced before.

Invitation to the Jellicle Ball:

- oh... oh my poor anxious boy... (laurie I love you)

- Misto: *is anxious* JUGGLING TIME BABEY

- Munkustrap be like: *internally panicking at how adorable Misto is*

- Munku you smooth bastard. He lifts Tori so easily.

- The expressions, and the CGI of the ears and tails just makes everything 10 times better.

The Gumbie Cat:

- Oh... oh god here we go.

- Robbie’s voice is angelic, I love him, and he’s the only good part of this entire cursed scene.

- I hate Rebeldots. I’m sorry, but I do. I don’t enjoy anything about her. It’s just... awful. WHY THE CROTCH SCRATCHING??? JUST STOP PLEASE

- WHY THE CGI MOUSE CHILDREN PLEASE NO

- Munku leaning over the rocking chair with his arms crossed? Baby boy...

- These expressions are absolute gold, though. Everyone is absolutely terrified and confused. 

- Plato and Socrates are helpful boys, and are just happy to be there.

- WHY THE CGI COCKROACHES STOP IT

- DON’T UNZIP YOUR SKIN PLEASE

- Misto helping out the cockroaches? Also baby boy...

The Rum Tum Tugger:

- MY BOY I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH!! I really love Derulo Tugger and the rebellious teen-vibes he gives off. 

- LOOK AT HIM COMPLIMENTING THE MICE!!! WHAT A RESPECTFUL BOY!

- Munkustrap just. adopting all the cockroaches. I can’t with him sometimes. He’s just such a dad to everybody.

- I can’t believe I didn’t realize that Misto and Tugger are ex-boyfriends when I first watched this movie. It’s so obvious now.

- Plato, Socrates, and Tugger are BFFs. They even have matching necklaces. Someone come and collect these dorks please because oh my god I love them. 

- Rebeldots, please take your nasty “funny” comments and leave. They’re so uncalled for, and it really makes the scene kind of uncomfortable. Especially when she LOOKS DOWN AT MUNKU. But his expressions are the best part, so that’s all I pay attention to. 

- Ugh, I really love Jason’s voice during this whole song. This entire song just made me fall in love with him as Tugger, and his dancing and just how he portrays Tugger is amazing. 

- Wow, I love Cassandra. So much. I would die for her. 

- The way he sings “Victoria”? AMAZING (but that whole foot thing is just kind of weird so yeah)

- I know people have their feelings about his accent, but I find it totally adorable and I think he does a really good job of maintaining it throughout the song, except for a few moments. 

- Misto is ready to magic the hell out of Tugger at the end. Pls leave your ex-boyfriend alone and figure out your feelings, sweetie, before you do anything rash.

Grizabella the Glamour Cat:

- I really feel like Grizabella is Cassandra’s mother. That’s honestly the feeling I get, or she has to be a sister of some sort. The contempt that Cassandra sings with is just too intense. 

- Okay, unpopular opinion time: I wasn’t completely blown away by Jennifer as Grizabella. She was really good, but I just didn’t get the “wow” factor that I got from watching Elaine for the first time, or hearing Mamie singing “Memory” for the first time. I feel the same way about her Grizabella that I felt about Leona’s Grizabella. She’s good, but now insanely good.

- Demeter is protective of her girlfriend and stands with her against her mother/sister. 

- Plato/Socrates (I’m still not sure which one is which) standing in front of Victoria just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. They’re already so protective of her!!

- MUNKU AND MISTO ON EITHER ISDE OF VICTORIA!! I’M SOFT!!

- Why did we need another plothole about Grizabella’s past with Macavity? We didn’t need that!!

Bustopher Jones:

- Oh god, here we go again.

- Listen, I don’t hate Bustopher Corden’s voice. He has a good voice, I just really don’t enjoy his portrayal of Bustopher. He’s just a fat joke like Rebeldots, and I hate that. 

- Plato and Socrates have giant hats on, and they’re just sweet baby boys, okay?

- Cori!!! I love you!!! You’re so curious!!

- Misto’s so enamored with Tori. Honey, just tone it down a tiny bit, please.

- The entire “jumping onto the piece of wood” part is kind of cringey. The “gather up a few more of the... cats” line seems like it was a blooper/mistake they left in, because it almost seems like he forgot his line for a moment and they just didn’t catch it before sending the movie out. 

- Munku: *has his arms around Misto to help lift Bustopher* “don’tpanicdon’tpanicdon’tpanic”

- Mistoffelees, feeling Munku’s arms around him: “fuckfuckfuckfuck he’s really strong someone help pls”

- Demeter during this song is me. Confused, a little disgusted, and would rather be with Tugger and Cassandra during the song. 

- Just saying, Bustopher Jones would NEVER dig through trash. He’s a high-society cat, and only eats the best. 

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer:

- Hoooo boy those accents. And the music in the background just is everything.

- Jerrie, you’re an absolute devil, and I’d die for you. Teazer, you’re just an angel and a cheeky sweetheart.

- I do love this version. I think it’s really cool, it has a really fun sound to it, and I’m glad that they went back to the original London recording. I do prefer the Broadway version, though, but I’m not angry at this version. It’s really cool, and the feel of the song gives you old-time crime-heist vibes. 

- Jerrie being gentler with Teazer than he is with Tori? What a good brother. 

- This song is basically just “Which twin can seduce the pretty cat the fastest”

- “Hello police officer! Bought these for her myself.” “You did what?” “Wait-” YOU HIMBO JERRIE I LOVE YOU

-  2019 Jerrie and Teazer are very chaotic, and a bit darker than the other twins we know, but I really do love their portrayals in this movie.

- Oh... oh no... I’m having flashbacks to my short. Now I’m crying over Misto again. Why did I kill Misto? (because I can, that’s why)

- Growltiger’s just kind of meh, and I guess he’s kind of a cool addition, but it’s just eh.

- Misto covering for Victoria when they get to the theater just makes me so soft, and Munku’s just kind in awe but also just like “what is happening with the pretty cats?”

Old Deuteronomy:

- Munku is such a sweet boy and he’s just the best son!! He loves his mom!!

- SKIMBLE!!!! WITH HIS TAP SHOES!!!!

- CORI YOU’RE AN ANGEL (this has also just turned into “liv is looking for any appearance by Cori”)

- I love this song just for the interactions that they all have with each other and with Old D. The way that they all look so happy and excited to see her is just so cute!!

- MUNKU’S FACE MAKES ME WANT TO CRY HE’S SUCH A SWEET BOY!!

- I think Judi Dench is a fine Old Deuteronomy, but part of me thinks that the main reason she was brought in for the movie is because she never got her shot to be in Cats, as she had the injury that then caused Elaine Paige to be brought in, so when they were trying to figure out the cast, she was probably one of the first ones to pop into their heads. (nothing against her or her portrayal of Old D. Just a thought.)

The Jellicle Ball:

- Skimble and Munku helping Old D into the theater is probably the sweetest thing ever. They’re Very Responsible Boys who Respect everyone.

- I love Gus very much.

- “Jellicles jump like a jumping jack” their little hop!!! What a mom and son!!

- I do like the chanting that they all do, but there’s just something about everyone having their moment, and their own delivery of a line that’s just so great about this scene on stage, and that’s really something I wish they had kept in the movie. 

- I actually really like the idea that their dancing is influenced by the moon. The way they all react to the moonlight, and how Victoria is at first confused as to why she’s also reacting how they are before accepting it and dancing with them just shows how important this night is to them. It also goes with the title of Act 1, “When Cats are Maddened by the Midnight Dance”, and this scene definitely makes you feel like they’re all just being controlled by the moon. Also, Grizabella dancing along with them in the corner is absolutely heartbreaking.

- Skimble... and Munku... they’re husbands... they’re doing a mating dance... fight me...

- The way that Grizabella kind of perks up curiously during the couples portion of the dance makes me think that she probably raised Mistoffelees, at least for a little bit. He arrived at the theater young, and Grizabella already had Cassandra, so she raised the two of them together, so she’s now seeing her boy dancing with a pretty queen and now I’m sad over Grizabella again.

- TUGGER YOU RESPECTFUL BOY YOU’RE WONDERFUL

- CORI YOU’RE AN ABSOLUTE ANGEL AND WE’RE ALLL HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE BECAUSE YOU DESERVE EVERYTHING GOOD IN THIS WORLD

- I can’t remember who made the post about this Ball being Cori’s first, but I absolutely see it now, because everyone’s so excited and happy to just watch him dance, and he’s so hopeful, and Old D’s just so proud of him, and oh my god my heart can’t take this I love him. 

- PROTECTOR CASS AND PROTECTOR DEMETER!!!! ALSO Protectors Plato and Socrates who won’t let anyone interrupt their little brother’s dance!!!

- I love Les Twins as Plato and Socrates, and their dancing is absolutely insane. 

- You can definitely tell that, during Victoria’s solo, Francesca had pointe shoes on, but they did a good job at blending everything together and not making it seem jarring or out of place!

- ROBBIE I LOVE YOU

- Again, the whole thing about them being controlled by the moon to an extent is really interesting, and I love how they played that part of being so overcome by the moon’s power that they just can’t help themselves. 

- I really love that they incorporated the Victoria lift from the stage production into the movie.

- I also really like that Victoria gets very overwhelmed and needs to step back from everything. Because everyone else knows what’s happening. They understand. This is her first night as a Jellicle, so everything is new and unfamiliar to her. of course, the strange power of the moon would scare her slightly. 

Memory:

- I do like how Jennifer sings “Memory”, but I just wish that she would hold out the notes for longer. It’s very choppy, and you don’t really get to immerse yourself into the emotion like you can with Elaine or Mamie’s version. 

- She does an excellent job at conveying the feeling of pain and longing that Grizabella has, as well as the pride that comes back for just a few moments at points in the song. 

- I also really like her appearance, but at the same time, I think she looks too clean. On stage, Grizabella is haggard, torn, and scarred. Her fur is matted, she’s limping, and her makeup is smeared around. Jennifer’s Grizabella looks too clean to have been on the streets and abandoned for a while. 

Beautiful Ghosts/Moments of Happiness:

- “Beautiful Ghosts” is a lovely song. It really is. it’s actually one of my favorites, but it just does not fit in with the movie at all. But something that I’ve actually just realized while watching this is that this song represents Victoria. It doesn’t fit in with the rest of the music, just like Victoria feels she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the Jellicles.

- But ignoring symbolism and all that stuff, I really don’t think this song works. As beautiful as it is, I just feel like it puts the brakes on and slows the movie. Especially with the stark contrast in style. 

- Judi Dench is a wonderful Old Deuteronomy. The confusion, but slight acceptance on her face really shows how much she wants to help Grizabella, but she can’t. 

Gus the Theater Cat:

- I love how Misto fanboys over Gus. He’s just so excited to meet his idol, and Gus just smiles and indulges him. I love how MIsto kind of copies Gus’ good luck motions. He’s just such a sweetheart. 

- There is some kind of history between Gus and Old D. The looks that they give each other are... something else. 

- oh my GOD CORI YOU’RE JUST A SWEET BABY!!!!

- The trio of kittens looks so ashamed and sad and I just want to snuggle the three of them because they deserve all the love in the world. 

- Misto being very helpful during the song is adorable, and he just wants to do his best!!

- Ian McKellan is an icon and he must be protected. 

- ALSO SKIMBLE WITH HIS TAP SHOES IN THE BACKGROUND!!!

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat:

- “Hey Liv, do you ship skimblestraps or mistoriastraps?” “Yes”

- Munku loves his husband!!!!

- *shoves jerrie and teazer away* “move, fours, an eleven is arriving soon”

- I LOVE the excitement in this number. You can just feel how much fun everyone is having, and I sweat, every time I listen to this or watch it, I can’t stop smiling. 

- Skimble, we get it, you’re a smooth, suave boy.

- TAPPING!!! The entire beginning portion of the tap sequence is just so satisfying, and as he picks it up and it gets faster, I’m just in absolute awe of Steve McRae. 

- SIR YOU DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE YOUR SHOULDERS LIKE THAT JFC

- Plato and Socrates are really just happy to be included and I love them. 

- Munku and Skimble doing their little toe tap makes me very soft and I love those boys. 

- Steve McRae doing the spin by himself while being lifted into the air? Iconic.

Macavity:

- Okay, Taylor Swift as Bomba was really underwhelming. I knew going in that it wasn’t going to be the same, but I really just did not enjoy her Bomba at all. It’s more helpful to see her as a different character, especially since they never say her name, but still, it’s just a bit annoying that they changed her character so much.

- As Bomba’s coming down, Tugger has his hand on Munkustrap’s back while they’re all looking up. Just something I thought I’d point out. 

- I will say, the entire catnip sequence is really something else to watch. Especially Munku with a martini glass.

- Bomba and Teazer are girlfriends. That’s what I’m getting, and that’s what I’m sticking with. 

- PROTECTIVE CASS!!!!! I LOVE PROTECTIVE CASS

- EWWWW NAKEY MACAVITY NO THANK YOU BYE BYE

- I really don’t like the whole “henchcat Bomba” storyline, but I guess it works in some way?

- “We didn’t know he was gonna take Old Deut!” NO you’re not supposed to be baby! Also, GO PROTECTIVE ALONZO!!!! GOOD BOY!!!

- I do miss the Macavity/Munkustrap fight, absolutely, but I really love Skimble just. aggressively tap-dancing to take down Growltiger. 

Mr. Mistoffelees:

- I really have mixed feelings about this entire song. On one hand, I like Munkustrap singing to Misto, and everyone encouraging him, but on the other hand, I really don’t like the very uncertain and awkward Misto. However, he’s still baby, so that’s all that matters.

- Munku: “how do I make this cat fall in love with me” *gently tilts the chin of every cat he meets* “perfect”

- I love Robbie’s sweet, angelic voice so much. 

- Munku’s very confused expression throughout the song is just absolutely hilarious for some reason, and I love how done Cass looks the entire time. 

- The small moments with Tugger watching, and Tugger singing int he background just makes me really happy, and again gives off the energy that Misto and Tugger are ex-boyfriends. 

- But I really love the little Mistoria moment at the very end, when they’re dancing together. It’s just so sweet. 

- This version of the song definitely has not grown on me, and I definitely don’t enjoy it as much as the other songs, but it’s still pretty fun to listen to. 

- MUNK DANCING WITH OLD D!!!!!

- Skimble snuggling Gus. That’s all that matters.

Memory (Reprise)/Beautiful Ghosts (Reprise):

- I definitely enjoy the second version more than the first, but it still doesn’t have that same impact. She does an amazing job, but there’s just something about her version of the song that I just can't connect with it as much. 

- Munku crying is NOT okay and he needs a cuddle immediately. 

- I think it’s the fact that Grizabella didn’t approach the Jellicles that gets me. It was Victoria who brought Grizabella in, Victoria who told Grizabella to sing. It kind of wasn’t really Grizabella’s choice to compete. 

- She doesn’t hold the notes out for very long, just like with the first version, so that definitely takes something away from the performance of the song. 

- I do love how she sings lines, like “I must think of a new life”. I made a post about this, but she just spits those words out, and you can feel her anger and feel how tired and done she is with everything.

- The “touch me” line was really powerful, though, and I definitely got chills at that part. 

- The look that Grizabellla gives Cass right before the song ends, in that small pause, really hints that they have some kind of connection, and I really get the feeling that Grizabella is Cass’ mother. 

- I really don’t like that there was a reprise of “Beautiful Ghosts”. I think they should have just let Grizabella have her final big moment, and they really didn’t need that reprise. It was unnecessary and took away from the impact of “Memory”.

Journey to the Heaviside Layer/Ad-dressing of Cats:

- Of course, we all know the massive plothole with what happened to the other contestants, so I’m not even going to get into that. 

- THE MISTORIA NUZZLE

- MUNKU CRADLING GRIZABELLA’S HAND!!!! I’M SO SOFT!!!

- Misto lighting the candles and just being a confident boy with his magic. I’m so proud of my anxious baby boy. 

- I really love the setup of the final shot at the end of “Journey to the Heaviside Layer”, how there’s the chorus cats on the street level, the named/recognizable/secondary cats on the pedestal, and then the four main cats sitting on top of the lion. 

- MISTO AND MUNKU’S EXPRESSIONS DURING AD-DRESSING OF CATS ARE JUST THE ABSOLUTE BEST AND THEY’RE JUST SWEETHEARTS!!!!

- The two of them running off together right at the end, and being just so playful with each other... angels...

- Victoria and Old D having their sweet little moment together while watching Grizabella go to the Heaviside Layer is a really sweet scene, and I think a really good end to the movie. 

alright, there you have it! my 1:30 am ramblings and thoughts about the 2019 movie, bring it back around once again!!

I’ve been wanting to do a more in-depth look at my own thoughts about it since it came out, but I haven’t had the chance, but @queencurlycrown and I were talking, and she mentioned this idea to me, and I knew I had to do it. 

so yeah!!

i will have some sleep now because it is late