#and I beat myself up a lot about not being able to fit everything I want in there

[emilykaldwen]

talk shop tuesday: what have you found most challenging about the world building in Maiden? Most rewarding?

also ilsym

you make me so happy thank you for this <3

Something I've found most challenging I think really comes down to the balance of 'for the vibes/story' and 'we need to stick to the party line'.

By that I mean, when it comes to stories be they fic or published, there's a certain amount of buy in we, as readers, are meant to do for the premise. How likely is it that the servant boy captures the heart of the princess and they get married? Not likely, but I'm not going to read that story and expect things to follow that party line - that level of realism. I'm suspending my disbelief to a degree in order to read a story I think I will enjoy.

So when it comes to Maiden, I try make it very clear on the tin: Here's the story, here's the two major things I want you to expect (That Abby and Aegon have a happy ever after, and that these kids are gonna make it out alive). However, it does not mean I am not sitting here incessantly rattle testing and rolling around plot ideas. Maiden is such a huge canon divergence with the simple fact that Aegon isn't marrying Helaena, and so from there I really work so hard to make sure each plot point makes sense within the world. I do everything I can to make sure that Abby as a character fits into the world. It's so important to me that she feels like she fits, and that the larger story feels like it fits that way my readers can roll with the 'please just go with this' plot points and moments for the sake of the story.

And truly, this might just be me putting too much pressure on myself, thinking that people are going to read my story in bad faith and get really nitpicky.

To go off this same point to your second question, it's been deeply and incredibly rewarding when people have told me that Abby feels like she should be part of the source material, that they find themselves surprised when watching an episode that she's not there. I literally had a friend of mine tell me over the weekend they had been watching HotD and when they got to the family dinner episode they were like 'where's abby?' for a good five minutes. And that... really makes it worth it.

[celebritybodyswaps]

The Great Celebrity Shift pt19 : Oliver Bearman

(Josue To Oliver) :

I woke up one morning feeling super fit and energized. As if i wear young again. Thats when i opened my eyes and realized that i wasn’t in my room. I was in a random room. I got up and looked around. Then i found a bathroom with a mirror. I saw my reflection and saw that i was Oliver Bearman.

I couldn’t believe it. It was in his body. I would always see post about how hot he was. And i also had a little crush on him. But now i am in his body. As i was looking myself in the mirror i heard someone walk into the room. It was his manager i think because she told me i had to get ready to go out to the race.

I quickly put on my clothes and headed out to the race track. My manager told me i would not be racing today but that i could go watch. So i headed to see the actual F1 cars. They were so cool. But when i finished looking i saw reporters waiting to talk to me. I walked up to them and they started asking me questions.

The reporters started asking me questions about how it felt to be in the ferrari academy and how it feel to be out in the racetrack. I answered the question the beat that i could but some of my responses definitely felt a little off. But as i was answering their question Charles Leclerc walks up to me and says hi. I felt to excited but i had to keep it cool since i was in front of a lot of people.

As i finished up the interviews i went to the pit so i could see the race. The race was such a cool experience. I got to see all of my favorite drivers. But after the race i headed to the hotel room where i was staying. I decided to take a shower since i was so sweaty from being out in the sun all day.

As i started to take off my clothes i saw my entire body. It looked so hot. I ran my hands all over my abs and it felt so good. My wood started to show because of how excited i was. I took a shower and decided to rub my wood. It felt so good. Once i finally let it all out it felt so good. After i got changed and headed down to find something to eat.

I found a banana down in the lobby and ended up taking that up to the hotel room. When i was able to sit down and eat it i suddenly got the urge to just stuff it up my mouth. It felt so good to he gagged by a banana but as i was doing that i hear a knock on my door. I opened it and it was my manager telling me when to check out tomorrow.

After he left i got ready for bed. I took off my shirt and shorts and was just in my underwear. I love my new life. It so nice to be in a young and hot body. The shift is the best thing to have happened to me. I love my life because i have everything the money the fame and even the job. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

[randoimago]

Watching the Sunset Together

Fandom: Baldur's Gate 3

Character(s): Rolan

Type of Request: NPC Winter Event Thingy

Note(s): I literally saw this post earlier today and decided I wanted to write drabbles/oneshots (whatever I have inspo with at the time) for various characters. Except I wanted to specifically do it for NPC's.

Since this is so very last minute, I'm only really seeing what NPC's you guys want to see stuff for and if I think it fits (or if I vibe with the NPC) then I'll choose which of these days to write for them. I went with Rolan for number 1 because I love him dearly and this idea came very easily to me.

If there was one thing Rolan could say he loved about Ramazith's Tower, it would be the view. Standing outside the tower and looking down at the city below him, seeing how small everything looks from this height, it really puts things into perspective. Not only that, but seeing the ocean of the docks in the distance and watching the sun begin its descent over the water gave him a sense of calm, of peace.

"Well, it was peaceful," Rolan says aloud, an amused smile on his face when he hears the noise of the portal behind him.

He half expects it to be one of his siblings, mainly Lia, wanting to try one of the "weird Wizard things" in the tower. When he glances back, there's a pleasantly surprised look in his eyes as he sees you.

"And what brings you here? Was my illusion downstairs still no fun?" He asks, smiling a bit as he remembers the conversation you've both had about his little illusion and how you grew bored with making faces at it due to not getting a reaction. He had told you that his siblings say the same thing.

"Not quite, it just doesn't have the same smugness you do," you reply and Rolan rolls his eyes playfully before stepping aside on the balcony so you can join him if you want. He just barely suppresses the happy smile when you do stand next to him. Rolan makes sure his damned tail is coiled around his leg so it doesn't go to yours.

"Oh? Then what brought about this visit?" He inquires, a tad curious as he tries to not be too hopeful about whatever reason you might have.

"Just decided to visit and see how you're holding up," you answer and he suppresses the contented purr that wants to pop up. You've heard his purr before and teased him for being exactly like a cat, to which he defended himself profusely before pouting. The laughter that escaped your lips afterwards almost made him purr again, not that he'd admit it.

"Busy. I've had to deal with a lot of Lorroakan's former associates. Some of them being very happy that the place is under new management while others, not so much." Rolan noticed the concerned look on your face and he gave you a teasing smile. "What? You don't think I can handle myself by now?"

"Considering what a piece of work that bastard was, you can't blame me for being worried about what his friends might be like."

"Aw, you're worried about me?" He teases more and chuckles happily when you playfully shove him in response. In the past, he might've been insulted that you worried, but now it makes his heart beat a bit faster.

"Seems you enjoy me worrying, judging by your purring." His chuckling stops momentarily as he makes a face when he realizes that at some point he did, in fact, start purring at the banter between you two. A scoff escapes him and he rolls his eyes when you start laughing this time. His "annoyance" fades easily as he takes in your happy features and how they're accented from the rays of the setting sun in the background. He has to look away to glance back out to the cityscape, glad that his skin is already red enough to hide any blushing he might be doing.

"Things have been rather peaceful lately," Rolan says, changing the subject. "It's nice being able to finally relax after everything and just look at the sunset."

He hears a contemplative hum from you and he glances over for a moment, your eyes locked on him.

"The view is rather lovely," you agree softly and he feels his heart thrum faster. A slow smile crawls onto his lips before his eyes move back to the sunset, as do yours. He's glad you don't mention his tail that has wrapped around your leg gently as he stands a tad closer to you, his eyes glancing back to you for a moment more.

"That it is."

[sirenemale]

which dungeon meshi character do you think would be most likely to do drag and what kind of drag do u think they would fw the most. i think senshi would love going to drag shows and tipping a generally ludicrous amount of money

This is the only ask in the worlddd to me.

I'm can't imagine most of the core party doing Drag themselves but the one's that come to mind immediately would be Fleki & Lycion.

Fleki's just bursting with personality, has the kind of confidence and banter that you want for a Drag artist. The little fashion explorations Ryoko Kui did too are soooooooo right for this. I think she'd 100% be drawn to the glamor and camp and stupidity drag has to offer. Probably play around between king and queen aesthetics. I also think she'd be so squarely be a baby queen tripping over her own heels but it's part of the fun and humor of it all.

Lycion is here bc he's besties with Fleki and also because his whole Everything of wanting to escape into being beast to alleviate his discomfort with his body and identity. Which idk I could talk about for ages, it's like Laois and Falin, another character who I have never seen before in media who speaks so deeply to myself as a person. Lycion is absolutelyyyyy doing monster drag it's not even a question. Like if we're talking about this in a modern setting then he's absolutely using some kind of wolfman drag persona as a way to alleviate his distress with himself. I think he'd be aiming for as inhuman as possible. I think he'd get a huge thrill out of performing it and it'd be an easy 1 to 1 with him feeling validated in fight rings as a beast. I think he'd also be able to beat his face so right if he was just dressing up nice, I know him and Fleki r doing makeup looks together.

Last character is Laois but also not quite. Like with any other modern day headcannon people have for him like fursuiting, being trans, being otherkin ect even if on paper these would absolutely speak to him I just don't think he'd ever come to those conclusions himself. I think that kind of repression and isolation are really crucial to how he views the world and I think he's more likely to be formulating his own ideas rather than fitting into any kind of community already. I'm putting him here for similar reasons to Lycion, since they're both characters who want to become beasts. Lycion though feels like an out twink with gay friends, who knows who he is and what brings him joy and I don't think Laois is quite there yet as a person.

UM thinking abt it now he'd be more likely be a creature suit actor. Drag monsters still are more symbolic / character focused, and with creature suits I think he'd be really abnormal talking about how he's bonded with the silicon. You know he'd be asking a thousand questions abt the designs biology. You know he'd ask about its diet so he can go eat like that too to get in character.

Other than that I think the main crew would show up to drag shows and have a good time. I'm kind of obsessed with the joke of Marcille being a bit of a prude / not knowing what a butch is so I think her going to a drag bar with Falin would be really really really funny. You know namari is a local, this might be out of left field but I could also see Chilchuck being around a drag bar a lot as some old queen (twink) manager who's catty about baby queens or ppls bar etiquette.

Kabru is there because he is gay. I think if Kabru saw Laois in his local drag bar he would burst a blood vessel and talk shit about how some people just shouldn't come to shows because they're not actually gay and how it's ruining his night and he stole his seat so now he has to stand or he's blocking his view LMAO. Senshi would absolutely be buying the queens drinks bc he wants them to stay hydrated.

I also think the winged lion would do drag, is that anything. I think the winged lion is a pageant glamour queen.

[igotanidea]

Here we go again : Matt Murdock x reader x Dick Grayson

A/N: I think I got myself into an unhealthy addiction of writing stories based on the songs stuck in my head, but well, it fits, so why not.

A/N 2 : This is just something to make you grasp the idea behind the story. The next chapters are going to go back in time to properly deal with the timeline and events.

inspired by : That's hilarious by Charlie Puth.

PROLOGUE

That's hilarious

Hahahaha.....

haha

Yeah, if you haven't already guessed I'm laughing because at this point nothing seems real anymore and if I wasn't laughing at the irony I would probably start crying, screaming and then jump our of the window.

Let me give you a quick introduction into my life, so you could understand me better.

Hi,

my name is Y/N and I'm a citizen developer. Which means I pretty much do everything that has to do with IT, Artificial Inteligence, programming, computers and programming. I loved my job to the point where I was spending hours and hours in front of the screen to be the very best. And truly, finally I got to the top. At the age of 21 I was a most-known in my profession.

And that got me some attention.

Did I mention I was born and living in Gotham?

So, perhaps you guessed who was the guy that gave me my first job?

No?

Well, it was Bruce Wayne. Yes, Wayne as in Wayne Enterprises.

Oh, god, I was on cloud nine being able to put my hands on all that technology, give my ideas and finally having someone to listen and apreciate them. I upgraded it, gave a bit of personal touch to the systems and god, it was amazing., I felt like I was where I belonged.

Bruce, however reserved and distant he was soon started to treat me like his own daughter. I mean, what else can you expect from a relationship between a CEO who spend most of his time with the youngest IT who also happened to be a half-orphan?

So, soon, he let me into the Wayne Manor, where I met his adopted son, Dick. Quite different than his parential figure, but pretty much the same with distant and pushing away. I didn't force him. It took us half a year to become some sort of friends and another half a year to fall truly, madly, deeply in love. No irony here. We spend a lot of time together. Or at least as much as our busy schedules allowed us to. Dick was a detective with crazy work hours, both night and day so when I get the chance I worked from the Manor, even when Bruce was not content with it.

Now that I think about it, i wonder how love-blinded I was.

That's when the story starts to go downhill.

When I was 23, Wayne Enterprises' tech department, with me leading it, introduced some new prototype. The whole project was on the highest security level, full NDA and confidentiality, so from some point the only people involved in the details were me and Bruce. I was literally sunsine and rainbows I get to be involved, hell! be the head of the assignment.

Until I got myself in trouble walking home from work at late night.

Remember, it was Gotham City and I was overwhelmed with our success.

So, due to my absent-mindedness some assaulters came right at me, grabbing both of my arms and dragging me into the dark alley. Of course I was figthing back, screaming and squirming, but what can one girl do in confrontation with 3 pretty beefy men?

Yes, three points for the right answer. NOTHING.

I was pretty much saying goodbye to my life (or at least my sexual health and good memories in that aspect - thank you, Dick Grayson for giving me them) when Gotham's heroes - Batman and Robin decided to show up, blowing everything and beating the assaulters to shit. Maybe they exaggareted a bit, after all those men were not criminals, and there was no need to knock them unconscious and that made me wonder. Still a bit overwhelmed I looked around and then I spotted Batman's new gear. Based on the technology I created.

So there were two, maybe three options:

Batman stole the technology from Wayne, and therefore he was not a hero everyone believed him to

Batman got the techonology from Wayne and therefore Bruce knew Batman's identity (Bruce would never let anyone, even the hero got it without checking all the details)

Bruce was Batman.......

"Bruce......?"

"Y/N."

"What is going on here?" I took a step back and bumped into wall

"Let me explain it to you....."

"Y/N!" another voice came from my right and before I realised what was happening, another caped vigilante was holding me close to his chest, his warm embrace being oddly famliiar. "Are you alright?" Robin's hands started caressing my back, his breaht ticking my face.

Holy fuck!

If Bruce was Batman than .....

"Dick?" my eyes went wide. Stupid, stupid girl! You should have known!

"Are you all right?" he asked again, a mix of desperation and remorse in his voice.

"Yes. I mean, no. I mean, I don't know. What is this? some sort of Surprise Sur Price?"

"Let us explain...." Dick took a quick glance at Batman Bruce who nodded

"Not here. It's not safe."

NOT SAFE!?

"Y/N." Dick took my hand squizing it gently, but lovingly "come on, baby, let's get you out of here."

"Um, well, okey...."

They got me to the Manor and then, since the secret was out and in their own words, they trusted me, I got a quick tour around the batcave. Yeah, they trusted me so much they kept their second life in secret for two fucking years! How is that trust?! I felt betrayed, played with, used, you name it. All that anger made me cry and clench my fist at the same time, my face going red and my heart at the edge of literally breaking.

"Talk to her." apparently that was too much for Bruce, since he decided to let my boyfriend deal with the damage. "You're off the patrol tonigh. Just make sure she'll be fine."

Oh, quite a conversation it was. However, at first not many words were used..... Anger, or rather fury, found another way out......But, when we both calmed down enough to use our mouths to actually echange full sentences it was all painfully clear.

The problem about heroes comes down to the fact that when being torn between their mission and the person they love ,they always choose the duty. And Dick did exactly that when he decided to sweet talk all my worries and cover up the truth for two whole years. That was sad. But, trying to be rational, I didn't scream or blame him. To some point I understood his motives, I mean, as a gotham citizen. As his girlfiriend I could not. I stayed in the manor until he felt asleep in his serene belief we were fine now.

We weren't.

I left Gotham that nigh, leaving him a letter explaing why I had to do this and kindly asking him not to look for me. The thought of the heartbreak he had to go through must have been soul-piercing. At least that's how it was for me when I found myself in Hell's kitchen trying to put my life together and move on.

I found a new job, but it was not the same without him.

And then Matt Murdock came into my life. He was such a nice guy, With an opinion amongst girls, as his best friend Foggy told me. Well, I was not going to fall for him. I had my walls high. Matt and Foggy were both lawyers and a bit of tech was kind of useful in this profession so soon we were working together. As friends. But clearly it was not enough for Matt. We were working late in his aparment, foggy has already left and I was picking my stuff to go home as well, already halfway to the door when Murdock yanked me back by my hand and kissed me with the most knee-buckling, hot, passionate kiss. You know, the one when you just reciprocate in an instant, no need to process what the hell is going on, while the other person's hand sneak around you pulling you closer. At first, i just let him caress my body, but quickly fall on the concrete.

"Stay with me...." he whispered against my lips

"Matt...." I pushed him away and he backed out immidiately

"I'm sorry Y/N. I didn't mean to push you, but I just... I have so many feeligns for you."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just..... not ready. Yet."

"Yet?" damn lawyers

"Yet" I smiled lightly to defuse the tension

"Well then, I'm not giving up on you".

***

You know the saying "the history repeats itself?" Well it really does. I learned that in a painfull way, when a month later it turned out Matt Murdock was the devil of hell's kitchen. DAREDEVIL for fuck's sake. What was wrong with me and why the hell was I attracting vigilantes from the whole damn country?!

At least I didn't have to get myself in trouble to get to know his secret identity.

Oh no.

This was much worse when he stumbled into my apartment at 3 a.m. waking me up, in not so pleasant way, al bloody and on the verge of life. Yeah, we.... well, we had an argument. But somehow, he convinced me to stay. Something Dick couldn't do in the past. He never asked me to stay.

So I give in to the hope that this time it would be diffent. And I stayed, ready to fight for whatever was blooming between us.

And I was happy-ish to work through it with him.

And I was slowly moving on.

Until one evening, half a year after I left Gotham the past came knocking at my door.

Literally.

I was at my apartment, working and cuddling with Matt when the noice from outside made me get up and open.

"Y/N...... I found you...."

Dick fucking Grayson was at my door.

"Y/N...." he whispered tenderly "I need you back. I want you back with me...."

"Y/N? who is that?" in a blink of an eye Matt was by my side and at this point I was just turning my gaze from one guy to another in shock.

"Who the fuck are you?" Dick hissed

"Well I could ask you the same question" Matt retorted coldly

"I'm her boyfriend" ok, now it was Robin talking

"Funny thing, because that is who I am." hello, Daredevil, nice to see you woke up as well. I guess it was automatic - when Dick went into vigilante mode, Matt responded with exact the same.

"Guys....." I tried to stop them, but they did not let me.

"So you must be the ex?" Matt smirked

"You know about me? Does she moan my name when you two....."

"Ok! Ok! That is enough!" ultimately I got their attention, pretty sure I was red as an apple due to Dick's words.

Now.

I was the only thing standing between two vigilantes in their full-on fighting mode, ready to kill each other .

Oh, boy......

@somest1

@pinksirensong

@everything2134

[applesandbannas747]

If you lost all of the stories you’ve ever published on ao3 and were only able to recover five, which stories would they be, and why? (Top five across the board, but top five fence fics would be cool too) 📚✨

I completely welcome you to write a novel length answer 📝✨

okay HOW did I never see this one? This is such a fun and mean question!!

In no particular order:

Fairy Bound - this is my only current Artemis Fowl fic, but it's one of my favorite things I've ever written because it's everything I want in a series that was long finished when I wrote it. It's the ending and conclusion I wish the characters got (and I'm disappointed severely with the new canon material). It's also just full of tropes I love and has moments that have a soft spot in my heart. I also know it's meant as much to a good number of people in the fandom as it has to me, so it would be missed if it were lost

Truths - this took the cake for longest work I'd written for a long time before being dethroned, and it was a really cool experience to write. I think the Truths series was the last I wrote as I posted, which was really fun because some comments helped shape it if I remember correctly. It's where I really fleshed out a lot of my ideas about Fence and the characters and was a huge milestone in my writing abilitiy--it really helped me to improve in a lot of ways, and I think it was a milestone in my Fence era as well. I connected with a lot of people during its run that I've longsince lost contact with but will always love, and it's another one that people tell me from time to time really means something to them, which makes me love it extra for that--I don’t know, connection? And of course I used a lot of tropes I love and built up a lot of headcanons and lore that I still carry to this day!

Trouble - man this is where Eugesse started, and I can't abandon it even if I'd change so much about it if I wrote it again. I love a lot of moments from this fic and I indulged so much in building the Labaos and learning how to code to make text messages--it was a fic filled with so many firsts! But I also assumed it would be a fic filled with a lot of lasts--I truly didn't intend to write Eugesse again until we had more content on him because this was back during The Great Hiatus (but boy am I glad I didn't stick to that 💀💀💀)... So the iea with Trouble was that it got to be paced weirdly because there were so many moments, beats, and tropes I wanted to hit with Eugesse and this was my only chance, so I needed to fit them all in. So while this is the only fic I debated over including on this list because I think it's the weakest one here in terms of writing, it will always hold a special place in my heart, and it means a lot to me.

Promised Things - how could I not include the Things to Hold Onto series? In a very literal way if my house were burning to the ground, the physical bookbound (!!!!!) versions a friend made and sent me would be top priority after living things. This is another fic that I really strove to improve my writing with, and it's significant as well because it was the fic I wrote after an autistic meltdown over the ARC of Striking Distance I read, after which, I felt sick and conflicted whenever I thought about writing for Fence because the thought of adjusting my characterizations to fit canon made sent me spiraling. So I took a break and wrote a couple novels, including one that took the plot of an au I'd been looking forward to writing (if you're wondering when this 'break' took place, it was March-July 2020; I had enough backlog that there was never a break in my posting schedule to reflect the break I took in writing). But do you know what I found? I was more miserable not writing for Fence than anything, and even while I was actively writing novels in NaNoWriMo challenges, I found myself sneaking in writing time for Fence anyway--for Promised Things, specifically. And I found my love of Fence again through it, which sounds like such a conceited thing to say lmfao but I love who I thought the characters were and writing this fic helped me start to accept that it was okay to still write them the way I saw them. So on a meta level, this one means a lot to me. And on a writing level, I'm proud of the detail I put into it and the planning it took. Pull up any chapter in this series and I could find the day of the week it took place on. I've not quite achieved this level of detail since. It also got a lot of editing to improve it as we went along, and I'm happy with how it turned out and proud of the work that went into it. And, yeah, I'm lizardbrained too and the fact that this one got WAY more love than I ever expected in any way does (positively) effect how I see it. So this one's getting saved lol

Breakable Things - to this day, this fic is one of the stories I am proudest of, and I think it's a strong piece of writing in terms of character development. It was a long redemption arc for Jesse and I worked really hard on making it a successful one--and it is the number one fic I've had people tell me I won them over with Jesse in, so I like to think that it was a successful arc XD I've always said that in this series, Seiji and Jesse both grew up in hell, but they both view Jesse and Jesse only as the monster--and in Promised Things, we get Seiji's point of view, and Nick's, who is seeing through the damage done to Seiji and seeing a monster in Jesse through it. Which made writing Breakable Things so fucking fun because Eugene's the only perspective that doesn't cast Jesse as the villain. And, yeah, Jesse sees himself as a victim and likes to throw himself pity parties, but under it all, it's not Seiji he blames for anything, it's not his dad, it's hardly even Nick. and we get to see that in this fic and see how the damage he caused is just as real as before, but that his pain isn't less than Seiji's. And more than any other character in the series, Jesse works to confront the truth of who he is and figure it out and improve, a lot of the time, alone. Seiji fell into a situation that naturally healed him. Jesse dove head first into one that was intended to break everyone--but he was also put on an edge that Seiji wasn't, and that made all the difference. Anyway, I have a lot of feelings about Jesse and I had a lot of fun trying to redeem him/show his side and contrast it with Seiji's without making it feel like I was trying to tragic-backstory his ass out of accountability for the shit he did. Also! I wrote bits of this fic in tandem with Promised Things--any major scene with Jesse, I either had notes for Jesse's side, wrote Jesse's side right after, or even wrote Jesse's POV of it first, which was an interesting way of writing a sequel that I've never done any other time.

[nd-babblinggoblinfromthevoid]

I wish that autism wasn't so heavily looked down upon/ignored/disrespected when I was growing up.

I was a "devil child", "handful", "problem".

When in reality if even minute changes were made in my environment and how my own family interacted with me, I would have flourished so much more.

I heavily stimmed using music. The repetitive beats and heavy bass was my thing. So when my mom wanted to punish me for something, one of the first things she'd do was take away my ipod/mp3 whatever I had. WORST thing was when she ONLY took my (very specific) headphones.

To her, it was taking away something fun. A luxury item. A toy basically.

But to me, it was taking away a very heavily ingrained stim that I NEEDED to do, and could not do without very specific criteria (specific headphones and a specific playlist/style of music)

So of course I would become horribly disregulated. Which I'd then have to attempt to mask/or recluse to avoid her so she wouldn't see how bad it unraveled me.

Because to her, being disregulated/unraveled was "acting up", "catching an attitude", "being disrespectful/rude".

Gods. Looking back I truly hate how she did me wrong in that way. Not just my stim but EVERYTHING. All my needs were either dismissed or half-met.

She is one of those people who thinks sure adhd/autism exists but not in HER family. Not in HER children. She even tried to blame it on the father of her children and it couldn't possibly have had anything to do with her.

..... we not only ALL have different fathers, but after observing both memories of her and her now, she is ALSO autistic and in total denial.

I definitely still harbor resentment because of that. She had me "evaluated". Once. At a time where they still heavily leaned on the male criteria for adhd, and autism wasnt really addressed/acknowledged unless it was severely debilitating. But also, by the time she had me evaluated, I'd already spent a few years (unknowingly) masking due to peers and family creating that need. So the conclusion was "there MIGHT be something divergent about her but we couldnt say for sure at this time" and she took that as "nope she's good, just a problem child. Carryon." Never again to be addressed.

She barely acknowledged that one of my brothers (previously a sister) was diagnosed adhd.

She only acknowledged another brother's adhd&autism diagnosis because the school he went to was very accommodating and insisted that he be evaluated and guess what.

Once he was diagnosed, and they rearranged his class schedules to fit his needs, he did a 180 and graduated top of his class. THRIVED. I both LOVE that he got that and HATE that I never did. I barely got through school.

It wasn't for lack of love of learning. I just, learned different, but was ALSO heavily overloaded with how crammed my courses were. I always wonder if I'd gotten the same accommodations, would I have thrived? Would school have been a drastically different/positive experience/memory for me? I'll never know. Because my mother was so against the idea that anything was divergent about me and absolutely mentally stuffed me into her little idea of an ideal neurotypical child that I never had a chance...

Now that I know I'm also AuDHD, like most of my siblings and even an aunt, I feel validated. I had seen vlogs and blogs about people more and more coming out about how they handle life and their coping skills and hacks theyve learned and after starting to apply those to myself... gods I've improved so much.

Don't get me wrong, I still struggle. But now knowing what issues are and how to cope and get around things, I'm a lot better off.

This is only ONE reason of several why my relationship with my mother has gone sour. What's sad is she doesn't really realize it yet? I havent been able to compose myself enough to have THE CHAT.

About how she hurt me a lot. Intentional or not. (Like not knowing taking away my music was taking away a stim) I don't know how to have this chat. Tbh I thought about writing a longass letter. Because in the past whenever she's been confronted about anything she's done wrong, she spirals into defense mode and wont even entertain the conversation beyond that point and you get... nowhere.

So maybe in person the bulk of the talk wont happen. I feel like. I need to hand her a letter. Have her read it. And maybe have a succinct chat before parting ways.

Because I wanted to be close to her for so long, that I either didn't realize or knowingly ignored her problem behaviors and looking back... she just... gods that's a whole other post for the future....

If you've read this far thank you. If you've had similar familial experiences, lmk (if you're comfy)

I just....... *sigh*.... yep.

[rosanna-writer]

Our Song - A Gwynriel Songfic

Just a short songfic based on Taylor Swift's "Our Song" for Day Two of Gwyn Appreciation Week - Song Association

Originally I didn't have anything planned for today but the song came on at work, and I thought it would be fun to write something a little meta :)

The full fic is below the cut!

@gwynweekofficial

I was ridin' shotgun with my hair undone

In the front seat of his car

On yet another night that Gwyn and Azriel couldn't sleep, she found herself in his arms in the skies above Velaris. It happened less frequently now, but there were still nights like this, and they'd taken to flying once they'd given both up on attempting to sleep. The cool night air sometimes did them more good than trying and failing to rest.

He's got a one-hand feel on the steering wheel

The other on my heart

There was nowhere Gwyn would rather be than curled up against Azriel's chest with the city spread out beneath them. Even when they placed bets about how much free fall she could take before she screamed or if Az would beat his fastest time from one end of the city to the other, this felt like the safest place in the world.

I look around, turn the radio down

He says, "Baby, is something wrong?"

Tonight, though, they just made lazy loops around the city in companionable to silence. Gwyn might be able to draw Azriel out better than anyone else, but she didn't always need to.

After a while, Az glanced down at her and said, "Everything alright?"

I say, "Nothing, I was just thinkin' how we don't have a song"

And he says

It was, and Gwyn knew he'd know if it wasn't, but it was in his nature to confirm everything, not to make assumptions. Azriel didn't leave things to chance.

"Completely fine," she said, giving him a smile. "I was just thinking that for all the singing we do, it's a bit strange we don't have a song, isn't it?"

Our song is the slamming screen door

Sneakin' out late, tapping on your window

"It's probably for the best. Anything distinctive is predictable and easy to track."

Gwyn rolled her eyes and wondered if there was anything in the world he couldn't relate back to espionage. "Azriel. Not everything in life is about being sneaky."

When we're on the phone, and you talk real slow

'Cause it's late, and your mama don't know

"Not everything. But quite a lot."

His voice was deadpan, but Gwyn could read Azriel well enough to spot the barest hint of a smile on his face. He knew what he was doing, being pedantic just to rile her up a bit.

And Gwyn wouldn't give him the satisfaction of rising to the bait.

Instead, she just changed the subject and said, "Now that I think about it though, I wonder if you could use music to pass coded messages."

Azriel hummed thoughtfully, and Gwyn could feel it rumble in his chest. "A bit difficult to communicate much detail when there's only seven notes in a scale to work with, though."

If he wanted pedantic tonight, he'd get pedantic. Gwyn smiled.

"Actually there are twelve in a chromatic scale."

"That's still less than half the letters in the alphabet. My point still stands."

Our song is the way you laugh

The first date, "Man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have"

That was enough to consider it a draw. They lapsed back into comfortable silence and watched the city fly by underneath them.

Eventually Gwyn—completely incapable of letting anything go as always—said, "We really should have a song, though. And for the record, telling me having a song is predictable might be the least romantic thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't worry, I'm sure I'll outdo myself soon."

Gwyn laughed at that, then rested her head on the space between Azriel's head and shoulder. It fit perfectly, as if she was made to be there.

"There aren't a lot of things that are more important than being sneaky, but that laugh is one of them, you know," Azriel added softly.

Gwyn didn't have a sarcastic response for that, just kissed him.

And when I got home, 'fore I said, "Amen"

Asking God if he could play it again

They didn't stay out much longer than that. The flight had done its job, tiring Azriel out enough to catch a few hours of sleep. Gwyn wasn't quite so lucky, but sleepless nights weren't as bad when she spent them curled up against his side, one wing covering her like an extra blanket. While she listened to him breathe, she hummed to herself quietly and got lost in thought about music theory and cryptology.

I was walkin' up the front porch steps after everything that day

Had gone all wrong and been trampled on

The next day, Gwyn was not nearly as content. After only a couple hours of sleep, training the next morning was miserable. She couldn't bring herself to skip it. Instead, she gritted her teeth and forced herself to keep going, even though she lost three sparring matches in a row and failed to block countless hits she should have dodged.

No one asked what was wrong—the bags under her eyes were answer enough.

And lost and thrown away

Got to the hallway, well on my way to my lovin' bed

It had been a horribly long day, and Gwyn had pushed herself to get through all of it. Azriel considered telling her to rest, but he knew Gwyn—she'd only dig her heels in more if he did.

So instead, he made sure to be home first, ready to take care of Gwyn when the exhaustion finally overtook her and she collapsed into bed.

I almost didn't notice all the roses

And the note that said

And just as he predicted, she took one look at the carefully tabbed and annotated book he'd left on the nightstand for her and decided she'd open it when she'd gotten some sleep. The vase of roses next to it made her smile though.

Azriel was patient. He could wait until Gwyn had rested up enough to find the note he'd left explaining that he'd annotated the songbook for her because there was no obvious choice of which song should be theirs.

He'd rather just give them all to her.

I've heard every album, listened to the radio

Waited for something to come along

That was as good as our song

After flipping through the entire book together, Gwyn and Azriel agreed there wasn't a single song that felt quite right. Gwyn was beyond caring—it was the best gift she'd ever received.

But still, the next day, she'd returned to the library and gotten her hands on every book about music theory and codebreaking that she could find. She was on a mission.

I was ridin' shotgun with my hair undone

In the front seat of his car

Gwyn and Azriel had a few more weeks of peace before insomnia struck again. Gwyn had her nose stuck in the library books she was still making her way through when Azriel said he couldn't sleep either. He suggested flying again, and she never turned that down.

Gwyn sang softly to herself as they flew. She almost didn't realize she was doing it until Azriel joined in.

I grabbed a pen and an old napkin

And I wrote down our song

Something about the sound of their voices together unknotted the problem. When they got back home, she didn't come to bed, just cracked open the notebook full of staff paper and grabbed a pen.

Azriel might have thought that music was an impractical means of encoding information, but Gwyn was sure that with a few tweaks, her system would work.

And there was no song that was sweeter than "I told you so."

[iamcherryblessed]

Rosaline // Alec Volturi: Chapter One

Summary: “How the blood rushed into my cheeks” Rosaline was no stranger to hard work, she’s been working as a maid for as far back as she can remember. Starting off as a scullery maid and ending up as a Lady’s Maid for the fearsome Jane Volturi. She’s just trying to keep her head on her shoulders and her heart beating, what happens when she catches the eye of her Lady’s stoic twin brother? What does Alec Volturi want with a lowly maid?  “So scarlet, it was maroon” Series masterlist

Chapter One

A shudder ran through me. A shaky breath escaped my lips as I stared at the elderly woman in front of me. 

“Rosaline, it is your duty.” The woman reminded, she was always quite stern. The toll of her work showed on each wrinkle that decorated her face. Forcing myself to take a deep breath, I slowly nodded my head. 

“It will be okay,” the woman, Annie, our head housekeeper, attempted to console me, a hand patting my shoulder. 

“Yes, Miss.” My voice came out shaky. It won’t be okay, she’s just signed my death sentence. 

I could hear the whispers of the other girls, not so quietly taking bets on how long they think I'll last. Even as the new girl I had been warned about the cruel legacy of our masters, heard the gossip of what happens to the Lady’s Maid of the most feared of them all; Jane. Apparently Hattie, the girl before me, had a habit of being quite heavy footed. All it took was stepping a bit too hard onto the floor for her head to be rolled off her shoulders. 

Before this assignment I was a kitchen maid for another noble family, I spent most of my time baking complicated recipes and cleaning the cutlery. I had started off as a scullery maid but had managed to work my way up, what I would give to stay in the kitchens. Apparently those kinds of maids are not useful for this family, I am not sure what kind of household does not find a kitchen to be useful. There have been mutterings of the words ‘monsters’ and ‘devils’ but it is not my duty to ask questions, it is my duty to serve. And if that duty is to serve Jane Volturi, then I shall do my best. It seems like my life depends on it. 

A gaggle of chambermaids stood by the door, they giggled to themselves as I walked towards them. “No bother to learn your name now,” they laughed. I tried to remain calm, I tried to catch my breath and I tried to show no emotion on my face. It wasn’t working well if their growing smiles were anything to go off. 

“Girls, leave her alone!” Annie snapped, “make sure to get a good night's rest” she added on in a much more gentle tone. I nodded and kept my head down as I quietly made my way up to my new chambers. 

The one positive to becoming a Lady’s Maid is being able to move from the servants corridor. The servants quarters were all kept to the left side of the castle, we had a couple of rooms with as many beds that could fit on the ground floor, the rooms were separated by girls and boys. Just above was a small and not very updated kitchen, there wasn’t an area dedicated to eating. We just ate as quickly as we could where we stood. The bathroom was next to the kitchen, there was one toilet and one bath that only produced cold water to share between all the castle servants. Throughout the floors were the servants' halls which allowed us to move as swiftly as we could across all the floors while avoiding being seen by the masters. All of the areas used only by the servants were all dimly lit and held a musty scent but it was the only place where we could speak above a whisper or hold a smile. Not that many people here did. 

A Lady’s Maid gets to sleep on the same floor as their Lady, our room is conjoined. Unseen by the Lady but close enough for us to come as soon as we are called. Being a Lady’s Maid is normally a high honour, for most maid’s starting at a scullery maid and ending up where I am now normally takes a lot longer. However, this place, this family, everything is different. Everything feels weird. 

From what I’ve heard about Lady Jane she goes through maids very quickly, according to the gossiping chambermaids Hattie was her fourth this calendar year and it is currently only month eight. Of course you send the new girl to be the fifth, why send someone you're familiar with? It’s not as much of a loss when you’ve only been here for less than a month. 

My new room was cramped, there was a small bed nestled between the wall and a small chest of drawers. On the other side, behind where the door opened, was a toilet with a sink next to it, above was a dirty mirror. I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my lips, it was compact but it was all mine. A room I didn’t have to share with 5 other girls, my own bathroom I didn’t have to share with over a dozen other people. It almost made it worth it. Until I glanced at the piece of paper that was on top of my thin pillow, it was Annie’s handwriting detailing Lady Jane’s schedule for tomorrow and the jobs I will need to complete. 

I felt my heart stutter, I need to get my head clear so that I can do my work tomorrow and stay alive. Sleep struggled to come. But soon enough the morning came and I heard Lady Jane calling for me. 

[styrmwb]

I beat World of Warcraft: The War Within (for now)

Every single word I am about to write I do so with the fear of god that none of it will age poorly

(also wow this is a long one sorry that my ramblings keep getting more rambly)

The summer of 2024 is the summer of "why do I have two separate MMOs that I want to play I hate myself", cause I already had FFXIV Dawntrail a bit ago, and now we got WoW, my first MMO love who I have had a horrible relationship with During BfA and Shadowlands and All That Blizzard Shit I was like Jaina in the scene of Warcraft III with the Culling of Stratholme "I'm sorry Arthas, I can't watch you do this." But then things (as far as I know) in real life are getting better, and then they did Dragonflight which in game was getting better and I'm over here tentatively having fun with a smile on my face ready for it to go bad at any time, and that's how I felt about War Within: This looks cool, are they going to be able to do it, or am I going to be disappointed once again?

And god. PLEASE DON'T LET THIS AGE POORLY BUT HOLY SHIT THEY LANDED IT SO HARD, I LOVED THIS EXPANSION!!!! I want to talk about why!!!! And like I said in Dawntrail MMOs obviously release more content (hell by the time I beat my set goals a raid came out (I did not do the raid), so I considered "beat" to be Loremaster (all the quests), all the dungeons, and all the delves so DON'T COME AT ME WITH "BUT YOU DIDN'T DO NERUB'AR" I WANTED TO WRITE A BEAT A GAME POST FOR AN MMO LEAVE ME ALONE

Story

This is what I was scared of. I love Warcraft, I love it so much I love the world, I love the lore, I love the everything, and obviously this game has had a... Not Great experience with respecting its own universe with... good writing. So I am understandably hesitant! Even Dragonflight which was a step in the right direction still didn't grab me in some ways and was a little cheesy I did really like the avengers assemble in the emerald dream though I'm not above that; so I didn't come into War Within expecting the best thing ever, but I really did appreciate how they did this.

Everything fits pretty well within the world, nothing feels like it contradicts previous info, it actually takes a lot from the existing world and expands on it; Xal'atath and the sword was Legion, Earthen have been a thing since Wrath, Nerubians have been around since WCIII, they got Kobolds, they got a healthy amount of previous guys you know from Dalaran/other people who happened to be on Dalaran (lmao) to really make the whole thing FEEL Warcrafty and not something kind of disconnected, despite the new concepts being introduced, which made me very happy.

The story itself was great. I felt invested fighting against Xal'atath because she fucked with my mans, and I really liked how much of a presence she was; involved in everything, but not to an annoying amount, and it didn't feel like the conflict with her was bullshit like the Jailor (they can still fuck this up we got several patches to go). I enjoyed learning about the Earthen, the Arathi, and the Nerubians, and like I said it all fit really well and I didn't have any moments of like "wait what the fuck why this"; even the Arathi felt pretty well explained "oh there's an empire somewhere else we haven't seen" cool and awesome, doesn't contradict anything already existing and opens up a new place in the future.

I think the one thing that was strange was how short the main campaign was. I hard focused it on my main and it wasn't enough to get me to max. But once I did all the Sojourner achievements I could see where the rest of the writing meat went, because so many of those side stories were amazing; some I'm genuinely surprised WEREN'T in the main campaign (the Haranir got like 2 steps in the main deal and then never showed up?? do the side quests to figure out anything about this person we put in the teaser cinematic; this is like my one beef with the main campaign, anyways). So many heavy emotional hits, stories that actually made me feel. The old Earthen losing his memories I think was a highlight for me.

What I really appreciated about every quest I did was the focus on emotions, on internal processing; like yeah, this is World of Warcraft. We fight a lot. There's a lot of fighting. But this expansion takes its own title to mean more than just being in the world, and focuses a lot on trauma, fighting with yourself, accepting yourself, connecting with others after trauma, and I really really appreciated that a game like this actually managed to slow down and question these little large things that it never really did in the past. Also, even with the deeper, more serious tones being so strong, the humor this time around is really great. There are a lot of moments in the main story and in the side quests that actually got me laughing out loud. Overall, I was really satisfied with all the story they gave me and I cannot wait to see if they are able to continue this upward trend to finish the expansion off.

I also want to say "stay a while and listen"s have been the greatest thing this game has ever introduced to give nerds like me more good writing while letting other players not have to suffer through it if they don't want to.

Characters

This is also an important section which was really hard to separate from the above; like I said, Warcraft does not have a great track record of how it treats its beloved characters who can be amazing at the highest of times (COUGH SYLVANAS SHADOWLANDS AS A WHOLE COUGH), so I was worried here. But the way our returning characters were treated, on top of the new characters, was really surprising.

Our Returning Friends:

Anduin - My fucking boy. I love Anduin, he is one of my favorite characters, if not my favorite character, in all of Warcraft. Seeing his struggle with himself hit really hard, and I really appreciate how they did it, it didn't feel disrespectful, he got moments to bring him up, he got moments that validated his current state; it hurt me to see the optimistic prince in such a state, and I love where his journey is taking him. He also calls me friend and that makes me happy Anduin if you were real I would be your friend

Alleria - I think her story is going to be cooked a little longer in the future, cause for this expansion she was often in the background hunting, but I love that despite the internal AND external things trying to keep her alone, she's not so far gone as to be separated from the people she cares about; I am actually excited to see how she'll play out. The fact that her and Turalyon still clearly love and care for each other despite the circumstances makes me happy.

Moira - I very much enjoyed that the Bronzebeard-Thaurissan family got such a spotlight this time around. It was great seeing Moira continue to prove herself as a leader with the action taken + the diplomatic role she placed herself in with the Earthen. The sidequest where she gets Fearbreaker was really a place for her to shine on her own. While I was a big fan of the trio of her, Magni, and Dagran, I can't help but feel like her portion didn't stick with me as much as the other two, but that could be a me flaw rather than a game flaw. I do hope she continues to get more screentime to show off.

Magni - Did not at all expect where this man was going. Depressed and angry speaker was an interesting way to start the expansion, and I enjoyed seeing him be able to reconnect with his family, to be freed from his prison (they hatched him!), and to really start his grandpa arc/hopefully make a relationship with his daughter arc.

Dagran - If you told me that the 3 polygon baby in Ironforge was going to be one of the best characters in a future expansion I would have been very surprised. He's such a nerd but in a really enjoyable way, and the connection he has with his family + Brinthe is really heartwarming to see. I want more of this 🤓 motherfucker

Brann - Not really a character in the main story, but he's here and I love it, except when he tells me that those webs will summon Nerubians, and not to stand in them. I hope he gets more uncle moments.

Khadgar - Fuck. This old shitty wizard is also top contender for favorite Warcraft character, so the way this expansion started gutted me. I was actually real life mad I wanted to destroy that stupid purple elf and all her spiders; I am so happy that he's fine I am going to put him in the best retirement situation possible and he can get his girlfriend and live the rest of his life happy DON'T YOU FUCKING DO THAT TO ME AGAIN BLIZZARD.

Jaina and Thrall - Did not get to be there lmao. Thrall really got the short end of the stick being on the loading screen. The Horde as a whole could have gotten more love this expansion, and this is coming from a man loyal to the Alliance. But also you guys got a lot in the past so uuhhhhhh fuck you lmao

Side note, where the fuck is Muradin; your brothers, your niece, and your great nephew are here, your brother hatched, Where Are You.

Our New Friends (and Enemies)

The Earthen - Initially, incredibly off putting. Why are they not scottish. But I really grew to love these robot dwarves. The council was all surprisingly great, Merrix has his whole sidequest where "oh he's a bad guy" no not at all he cares about his people, Baelgrim warms up to you and is the Obligatory Sacrifice Character, Adelgonn really showed the humanity these people can have, Brinthe was surprisingly funny and charming, and I loved to see her grow closer to Dagran (new aunt unlocked let's go). Overall, it was really cool to see this race of people show both their construct nature mixed with the free will they've unlocked. So much more interesting than I expected.

Faerin and the Arathi - Definitely the strangest part of this expansion, but incredibly cool to see. I was unsure going in, did they really feel like the fit in, their vibe seems a little separate from Warcraft and more Diablo-y or a different franchise, but I was really interested in their culture, the genuine nature their society had despite the traitors (like I was totally expecting Steelstrike to be evil not to have a cooking quest with her and her family); Faerin was likewise a surprise. I see the name "Lothar" and I'm like oh geez how are they gonna mess this up and I was instead greeted with a kind yet tough warrior who Has feelings and struggles with loss and is a wonderful friend to Anduin (the quest where you sit down with Faerin and Anduin might be one of my favorite sidequests ever).

The Nerubians - Ok so yeah we're all used to these guys being Bad Spiders Go Kill which they were def introduced as, but then you get to their zone and they're presented as their own society in such a cool way?? These are people! They're spiders, but they're people! The Severed Threads are a fun trio of characters that I enjoyed talking to. Honestly, surprisingly enough the Nerubians as a whole are like, really funny? There's a bunch of really good comedic moments, some played straight which hit the hardest. (Mr. Sunflower my beloved) I loved the split in society shown, the dislike, the Reason for dislike shown between the Ascended and the normal Nerubians, I could really feel the reason for dissent against the Queen (I haven't done Nerub'ar like I said but I do wish she was more present.)

Xal'atath - I said my main opinion earlier, she was a great presence in the story and I very much enjoy her as a villain. I really like the bonus dialogue you get if you've interacted with her before. I really think she has the potential to be one of the best major villains we've ever had if Blizzard plays their cards right (I am scared).

World (of Warcraft)

Dragonflight's zones were cool; but. Nothing really WOWed me (funny joke). Going into TWW, I thought underground was cool, but I wasn't sure at first. Looked at the little pictures for each zone, still unimpressed. Once I actually got Into the game and played it though, these are some of the best zones in the game.

I have these four screenshots, my favorite parts of each zone, and I still feel like I am not doing them justice. They're huge, they're so incredibly varied, and you feel like you can still breathe despite being underground (and they're confining when needed). I've always said that despite the lows, Blizzard's art department hard fucking carries the game, and they continue to flex. The cities are getting so much better at feeling sprawling and lived in, an evolution from the tiny Stormwinds of classic WoW. I love Khaz Algar so much. One of my favorite parts of my playthrough was when I entered Hallowfall for the first time, during the Beledar shifting event (not the story one! the random one), and I was amazed and confused. I don't think I've felt this mesmerized by the game since I was like 10 walking through Teldrassil. Something really special I also loved about Hallowfall (might be contender for top 10 zone of all time) is yes, this feels outside. There is grass. There is water. There is sun. But then you look at the land, you look at the rocks, the stalagmites, you look up and it reminds you that you're underground. There's so much spectacle here and I feel like I could go on and on and on about each zone and how amazing they are. (I'm ending this section now but I have to say I love Bug Suramar)

Music

Piggybacking off the last section, the music this expansion has been absolutely incredible, I haven't really hooked onto as much of the soundtrack as I have since BfA; Shadowlands really just had Maldraxxus and Revendreth and I honestly don't remember much of Dragonflight's, but here it's so strong. Isle of Dorn's windy outdoor flutes, The Ringing Deeps' sound of echoing mining, Hallowfall's beautiful choir, and Azj-Kahet's plucking spider sounds, it's all so strong, so memorable and unique.

Cutscenes

Really small section here but I love the cutscene work they've been doing. The fact that we get what used to just be in the prerendered ones in game??? The models look so nice there! Yeah sure my character looks a little awkward doing default standing they haven't mastered it like FFXIV yet but I LOVE the cutscene work. Even the lower quality ones have shown a lot of character. I think of the scene with Elrich and Brinthe, he still shows off and feels like an asshole, and you can clearly see the humorous frustration Brinthe feels at being interrupted. It's great.

Gameplay

I am the least excited to talk about the gameplay here, but I really do enjoy what they're doing this expansion. I love Delves and the solo content they're doing, I think their quest design continues to be engaging and fun (even though I was a little tired of the shout instruction randomly to get item/do task and all of the pulling slowly mechanics), and even though I'm not really a dungeon guy each one was incredible, they all excelled in presentation and vibe. The mechanics didn't really get me like I think Dawntrail's dungeons did, but I imagine they go harder in Mythic which I will not be doing.

The classes I played during my session of goals were Warrior, Evoker, and Warlock, which I had fury mountain thane (later slayer), arms slayer, augmentation chronowarden, and demonology diabolist. I really enjoyed the flavor they all brought, and in the case of diabolist it's SO fucking fun holy shit. I know not every class got something cool, and I will be playing those eventually (haha two of every class split between factions I have a problem haha).

Speaking of alts, I love Warbands. The fact that I got to work on loremaster, level Brann, and work on renown across 4 separate characters is an absolute godsend.

Last thought here; Skyriding is amazing. Yeah it was introduced in Dragonflight but I really just needed to be able to fly Invincible everywhere. The fact that Blizzard finally embraced flying and made it engaging by just making the zones huge is the best path ever.

I Have Talked So Much I Am Sorry

yeah i hate this expansion isn't it clear

I really truly desperately hope that WoW continues this upward trend, continues this energy forward. I want to be able to hit each patch, to look back, and still feel the same happiness and excitement as I do now for the game. WoW is a game I have loved for most of my life. I want it to succeed. I want to say that I love it and not be embarrassed. If we continue to have more times like what War Within is at launch, I have no doubt that those things will be the case. They just need to not prove my fears right. With all of this very very very long post said;

9.5/10. The most love I've had for Warcraft in a long while. Honest competition with Legion for favorite expansion. Please Don't Fuck This Up.

please help me i still feel like i could have talked more

[nameforadragon]

I keep seeing posts being like "omg. The kids don't know how to use computer! They don't know how to use a mouse! They don't know what a command line is! They can't even use a browser. The kids don't know anything about technology if not app on phone:("

And idk dude like. I'm not gonna accuse these people of lying but I am gonna accuse them of being completely biased with absolutely no self reflection at all. You sound like your parents. Like holy shit. First of all, LOTS of us [aged<20] have had computer classes. "Computer lab" was a class all throughout primary school for me, and in grade 8 I had a required course where I learned some Python, had to use Adobe Photoshop, that kind of stuff. I know so many people who go further than that (including myself) and take elective coding classes. Now, it would be incredibly fucking biased of me to conclude that, because almost everyone I know is at the very least functional with a computer and can use a mouse, this means everyone is. Of course not. But thats what these posts do. "I only interact with children who don't know this, therefore no one under 20 knows anything and they're all stupid with their little tik toks" you have a very incomplete sample of kids at this age, and you barely acknowledge it.

Secondly, more on the self reflection bit. This is absolutely a privilege issue. Not a "the kids are so dumbb omggg" issue. Kids don't have computer classes? It's a privilege I was able to get that education. Should we mock people who didn't have music classes growing up and don't know the difference between a rhythm and a beat? If your answer to that is no, then maybe we shouldn't mock kids for not knowing the difference between a search engine and a browser. I know plenty of people bring up the issue to try and get at this, but I cant shake the undertone that all of these posts have in common, which is essentially this air of superiority, like people who grew up with desktop computer access are somehow better than people who didn't, which is just kind of terrible?? Like no joke, I've seen people complaining about uni students who don't really know the ins and outs of programming yet in undergrad and its like,,, did you just not want them to go to school because they didn't know that prior to post secondary? Like, what do you think school is for? Being perfect all the time and telling the teacher that you know everything already? I was under the impression that school was for acquiring knowledge and skills that you previously didnt have.

I also know people who are much older than me, and could have been coding all of their life, but didn't so much as touch a computer until after college, and they learned how to use it, and how to code, and now it's their career! You don't need to learn how computers work when you are five! I grew up scribbling on ms paint and being confused how solitaire worked, and struggling to comprehend minesweeper strategy on a very old version of Windows. I could functionally operate a mouse at the age of one, and that's all privilege. I'm not smarter, or better or more refined or anything, I was literally just born into a family that had desktop computers. And again, to point out the bias, I know way more adults that fit the whole "don't understand it if it's not an app on my phone" than kids.

Finally, a minor nitpick but I feel like it's warranted since the people authouring these posts often present themselves as being more knowledgeable about computers than the average teen? Don't go just saying incorrect bullshit. If you mean PC, say pc. If you mean a desktop computer, or a laptop, say that. Phones are not "fake computers" they just ARE computers. They are computers that have been engineered to be tiny. Their size does not mean they are not computers, it just means they are small. Furthermore, an "app" isn't a "thing u use on a phone." It's literally just the word application shortened. Anytime you use an application that you download on a laptop, or a pc or whatever, you are using an app. Your browser application is an app. I hate to tell you, but it must be said.

Sorry if anything I said in this is straight up wrong, I am not immune to hypocrisy, yadda yadda you know the deal. I also AM NOT an expert on computers, I have (what I, a teenager consider to be) a relatively baseline understanding of computers. And I'm writing this exhausted because I can't sleep. Admittedly on the mobile app, (which explains any typos) but I swear to you that I have a laptop and I use it more than I use my phone most days. I doubt anyone will really see this post but thanks for reading if you got this far I guess. Maybe let's just not fearmonger about "the kids these days" when we should be trying to help kids become functioning adults. I didn't get past my struggles with reading as a kid by being told that I was stupid, or getting mocked. I got past them by finding a book that I loved, and by being encouraged to read by adults who genuinely cared about my education. I really don't see how computers are different, that's all I have to say.

[not-alien-girl-v]

hii! could i request a cooper day fluff? maybe reader and coop are friends and end up confessing their feelings for each other whilst listening to music in his room (bc i feel like that fits with his vibe)

thank u 💕

warning: language

summary: short short wholesome read the ask because that’s what happens in this. not edited and reader is strong willed and ultimately mecore

“she’s so right, nothing does compare to a quiet evening alone with you,” i taunted at him. i’m not really sure how this came about, me and him, being as close of friends as we are.

i can’t even remember when we first met, he was just around a lot, and eventually we grew some type of bond between one another. for instance, we had the same taste in music and fashion, which is enough to base a friendship off of.

crushcrushcrush by paramore played over his cd player and he had settled into his bed with a graphic novel of some sort, something worth teasing him over due to how nerdy it was, and in the meantime, i found myself on the floor of his bedroom, for whatever reason, it was more comfortable than his cheap desk chair, so i didn’t mind it too much.

the day has come and passed us yet, a doctors appointment in the morning and a dinner with his family i had to endure until it was just us alone together again, as we so often are these days.

“is it?” he responded rather weakly, obviously not really hearing me. i know i tend to talk too much about anything and everything, and he does try his best to hear me out for what i really mean, but at the moment he was too invested in the book he held.

“yeah,” i collected myself up off the floor and stretched out my limbs wide into the air like a star. he stole a quick glance my way but acted as though he didn’t. back to his book went his eyes.

i came closer to him, sitting on the side of his bed and carelessly laying back, resting on his blanket covered middle.

“ow, you’re squishing me,” he whined and poked my forehead but i refused to break.

“oh deal with it, you big baby,” i stared up at the ceiling where there wasn’t anything, no decorations, just the barren white color the rest of his walls are painted, and you would be able to see had he not put posters wall to wall everywhere else. i was about to point it out to him, ask him why he chose to do that, seriously, i was on the verge of spewing the words from my mouth when he beat me to it.

“do you really like hanging out with me that much?” he didn’t look up from his book but i sensed he was jittery.

“huh?”

“when you quoted the lyrics in the song. is it true? do you really like being around me all the time?”

“of course,” the room was cold and it was autumn so there was good reason for it.

he fell silent and i let him.

“why, do you not?” i sat up and made direct eye contact, like i was about to scold him for his potentially negative answer.

“no, i do, trust me, i do.” he still wouldn’t look up from his book so i decided to break out my best attention grabbing tactics.

“so, are we in love now, or what?” never breaking eye contact once, he didn’t look away.

“well i know i am, i don’t know about you.”

my own plan worked against me. now i was the one bamboozled. “wait what?”

“you heard me.” i could not stand this for a second longer so i ripped the book out of his hands and placed it open face down on the sheets next to me, ensuring he wouldn’t lose his place.

his hands now empty, he sat up. “i’m serious. i like you. i really hope you like me too, since things are gonna be weird if you don’t, but if you don’t, it’s fine, you don’t have to.”

“wait, no, i do. i like you too, yeah, i just, i don’t know, i didn’t know if this was like… that kind of thing, what we have. i thought it was more we just stay friends for years and ignore whatever else is happening between us,” i rambled to him and he reached out and grabbed my hand to hold in his.

“i wanna be more if you wanna be more.”

i nodded, happily, with a stupid big smile on my face, “yeah, yeah, i’d like that a lot, actually. so, what? do we like make out now or something?”

he shrugged, “maybe,” and picked up where he left off in his graphic novel. i laughed and shoved his shoulder, laying back down. what an asshole.

[obsoleteozymandias]

heya! :D was wondering if id be able to get a matchup from resident evil pls c: i hope im doing all of this right lol

im a straight female (she/her)

appearance: im 5’7”. im a light blonde, occasionally I’ll whack some brown or hot pink through the underneath when I’m bored of the plain one colour. im v into fashion and what not but my style varies day to day. i like to experiment with it. that being said, im usually here for anything that fits in the boxes of emo or hyper feminine though, as much as they contrast one another. 🤧 i wear a lot of makeup, and i do that purely for myself lol. I hate when people say they can’t even tell I’m wearing it considering it takes me sooo long haha. i have glasses but most of the time when i go out i wear contacts.

personality: to sum it up nicely, i never ever shut up. im very loud and extroverted. (the only exception to this is if I’m tired, then i go dead quiet.) humour is a big thing for me to be able to get on with someone. i have a very very strong moral code. i have a tendency to jump straight to people’s rescue if i see something wrong and I’m told that sometimes that gets me into more trouble than it’s worth. i try to be optimistic but i can be a massively emotional drama queen so it occasionally does fail tbh. i don’t exactly like bothering people with my problems either. im a creative person first and foremost. however, i have some “theoretical” intelligence yet completely, totally lack common sense. if you believe anything to do with star signs you will not be surprised to know im a sagittarius ‘:D

i don’t think i have a specific type. im not physically affectionate with friends but definitely would be with a partner. i like someone who knows how to flirt a little, maybe? and just like someone caring because kindness is such a huge thing for me.

i draw a ton, i make ocs and stories, i’ll throw myself headfirst into any artistic hobbies at least once to try it really. also, massively into music. listening to it anyway, i can’t play any instruments or anything. i love rock / pop punk bands, i love pop & kpop, i just… love music. a lot. i do everything with my headphones.

i believeeee that is all :p thank you for taking my request!

👍

== Resident Evil ==>

I match you up with…

Carlos Oliveira

Extrovert x Extrovert type beat 

Carlos probably meets you while trying to stop you from throwing yourself into danger. He gets it, he really does, and he truthfully admires how you’ll fight tooth and nail for your beliefs, but leave the fighting to him for now, okay? 

Don’t worry, he’ll teach you all about fighting if need be. He can see the desire to do good and to stand up for yourself, and he’s admittedly a bit flustered by your passion (it’s very attractive). 

After getting in a relationship, he trusts you more to take care of both yourself and him, but he’s always on edge when you’re away, so you often come home to a big armful of man and his kisses and whispers about how much he misses you. 

He’ll be the street smarts in this relatiponship, constantly watching your back and keeping track of you. Yet you surprise him with your creativity and problem solving enough that it sort of balances out?  

He’s always ready to chat with you, whether it be about work or your thoughts and opinions on the most random of topics.

Carlos will enjoy time where just the two of you hang out and listen to music. I imagine you’ve got different tastes genre wise, but similar tonally. Sometimes you two go on a drive just to listen to some music and joke with one another. 

He’s your savior, in more ways than one, but the feeling is absolutely reciprocated.  

[toongrrl-blog]

My Style Analysis: Devi in Ben's Dream Part 2

Alright folks we are gonna take another ring around the rosy everything Ben got thinking of this dream.

One thing I kick myself for despite the fact that both Stranger Things and NHIE are Netflix productions is why I didn't see it sooner.

Devi is likely dressed in an updated version of Princess Daphne from the classic arcade game Dragon's Lair, a Don Bluth production.

Yes the archetypal Damsel In Distress whose character design was based on Playboy pinups, who looks like she'd fall out of her lingerie (lots of fashion tape must be used) and part of the Dumb Blonde stereotype that was used do demean conventionally attractive women AND women who didn't fit the mold regardless of physical appeal. And her Knight In Shining Armor? Dirk.

Despite fitting the archetypal notion of the Knight, Dirk is not drawn as desirably as Daphne, part of the reasons many feminists found the games to be sexist (with Space Ace being a marginal improvement given that Kimberly, a redheaded Daphne, is sassy and spunky and is able to take initiative in saving the day) and Daphne is a passive figure in all this.

Now what about ST2 and NHIE? Well....

In the opener to the 2nd Season of the highly popular sci-fi period piece, the boys (Will Byers, Mike Wheeler, Dustin Henderson, and Lucas Sinclair) head over to a 1984 perfect arcade where Dustin tries to best Lucas's high score at the game only to have Dirk killed by the dragon and Lucas gloat about being able to save the blonde beauty. Why is this important?

Because New Girl in Town Max Mayfield ("Mad Max") beat Dustin's high score on Dig Dug and soon Lucas and Dustin are both in competition for the acerbic tomboy's feelings, thus marking a foreshadowing of who gets the girl.

It's Lucas, of course. But despite time zones, episode by episode conflicts, and decades separating the couples, Lumax and Benvi do have a lot in common. Buckle up because we will be talking about how Western Society treats difference in ethnicity, heritage, race, and appearance and gender.

One thing to make clear that the image of the Knight in Shining Armor and the helpless Princess is often obnoxiously Eurocentric, especially of the Gallic or Anglo persuasion. Princess Daphne is tall, leggy, slim and curvaceous with long, blonde hair and blue eyes with a voice high on helium and a babylike demeanor, a kind of innocence attributed to respectable European women that Karens have exploited for generations often to damaging effects; Dirk is meant to stand in as traditionally masculine but hapless enough to be relatable to the (assumed) male players of the game, all he has to do is save the girl to have any shot with her leading to the unfortunate implication that young men are entitled to the opposite gender, especially the ones considered the most desirable but he isn't classically handsome, historically men have been able to get away with not living up to beauty standards by being able to be identified with their talent, intelligence, heroics, finances, economic savvy, work ethic, virility, strong character, sense of humor, or being a decent person. And of course it's been said (and proved) that white men can get away with being mediocre and still scale the ladder of society, whereas his conditionally white and racialized counterparts have to work harder to even take their steps on an often more perilous ladder.

Historically in our society, both members of the Black and Jewish Diaspora have had a....hard time of it: often as targets of derision, fear, violence, and disdain for the jobs they were sentenced to do (often in less "respectable" areas) and this also affected how (and this is not to take away from how insidious anti-Black and anti-Semite misogyny is, go ask Meghan Thee Stallion and Elana Steinberg) men of these groups were depicted: either desexualized and non-threatening to the point of being humiliated or over-sexualized and "out to take our wimmin" and scapegoated because won't someone please think of the children?

Sometimes if they were "lucky", they got to be "the best friend" to the less ethnic white guy who presents as WASPy. They could be attractive (if not more) or charming (if not more) or compelling to watch (if not more) as the hero but don't get the leading man treatment or are the replaceable awesome love interest who are moved aside for the more flawed and relatable white character (look at Courtney B. Vance in Sex and the City); there is also ugggh beauty standards that favor Eurocentric gentile features over non-European features. Dirk is drawn in that classic homely cartoon guy style while both Lucas and Ben are more conventionally desirable to their girlfriends (and many fans of their respective shows) but while Dirk is entitled to Daphne's affections (and by implication, her body), both Lucas and Ben (who are both younger than Dirk) have to not only save the girl but they also have to gentle their way (a term I learned as a kid) by being more emotionally available and being there for their girlfriend's vulnerabilities and be willing to risk heartbreak. Both @urspopinionsareshit (on masculinity and anti-Semitic tropes) and u/absentminded88 on Reddit (on Lucas Sinclair and tropes focusing on African American masculinity) have wrote extensively on these topics but my point still stands that often men of both diasporas were often overlooked as paragons of ideal masculinity.

Now it's one for the ladies!

I picked these because Max and Devi have something that poor Daphne lacks: illuminating friendships with other women and looks like I will have to toss a wet mildew blanket into the party.

Let's talk feminine stereotypes and difference! *dodges tomatoes*

It's quite a stretch to suggest that both Max and Devi don't fit a conventional eurocentric blonde beauty as both Sadie Sink (who's also a model) and Maitreyi Ramikrishnan are both pretty girls with expressive eyes with slim figures but yet many women of color and redheaded women were often not considered paragons of beauty (if they weren't being over-sexualized as homewreckers and temptresses) and often not considered feminine due to depictions of their "fiery" tempers at best or being seen as castrating harpies. Max and Devi both struggle with their society's view of how girls should behave, have dealt with trauma, not taking shit from boys or authority figures or even other girls, chafing against certain expectations put on them while trying to navigate femininity away from their mothers (who they have strained relationships with) and with the help of mass media (eep). But ultimately both girls find empowerment in their relationships with other women, finding out how capable they really are even with threatening a man with a weapon or destroying his skateboard, and in their own self-expression and put-upon uniqueness. Whereas Daphne existed to look pretty and adore Dirk (and by extension the assumed cis male player), Max and Devi have agency and ideas with formidable personalities that intimidate their peers and do-nothing adult authority figures. If they need saving, they at least try to resist and are capable of it.

This initiative is reflected in the dream: Devi declares her academic accomplishments and capability are superior to Ben's and that is a turn on for him, she manages to Jedi mind-trick his shirt off, and declares she will take charge of their lovemaking. Perfect combo of sensuality, brains, beauty, and gumption.

Both Lumax and Benvi prove that there is an appeal towards seeing couples not fall into strict gender roles where one is more capable than the other and one has work hard to meet a trophy wife standard and about thirty years after Daphne and Kimberly of Space Ace, we have seen the sassy, vocal, independent love interest role evolve from love interest to being the protagonist/main character of her story.

[pbandjesse]

I'm just leaving the museum now. Today was really good! I feel really happy about everything that I accomplished today. I am also very tired and now currently driving directly into the sun which I don't love. But hopefully it will dip below the skylines soon.

I did not sleep amazing. Waking up was very hard. I did not want to get out of bed and I was pretty miserable. But I got myself together and I felt pretty cute. I love this jumpsuit. It just fits me really well and felt very happy in it. James and me would leave the house on time and we stopped for breakfast which took forever. The person in front of us cut us off and then proceeded to order a coffee with six creams and six sugars. But I guess they really needed it.

Once we got to the museum James help me set up. They carried all of my stuff over it for me because they're the best. And they would print out the teddy bear hospital flyer I made. And then it was kind of slow. I mean there was a lot of people but I wasn't making a lot of sales. I wasn't that concerned though. I just want by the end of the season to have made approximately $100 a market. And by the end of today I had exceeded that goal. A lot of it though is because I had done so well the first week that I was able to make under $100 for the last two weeks and still even out to 100 on average. And the sales that I made today were nice. People were really kind and I got a lot of really good comments and people telling me how cute my stuff was. And that always feels good. And I was approached by someone to possibly be on their podcast about being an entrepreneur. So that's cool. I also just had a really nice time creating my knitting projects and working on a craft.

I actually told that to Stanley earlier that besides everything else it is nice to have dedicated craft time. Dedicated sitting outside in the nice breeze and making things. And it was pretty windy today. I was actually a little worried because sometimes when it's so windy it becomes an exhausting day. But I did really good keeping everything on my table and I didn't have to chase things. A couple of my pins did get blown away but people were brought them back and it was not a big deal.

I had some really nice conversations too. Me and Ann talked a lot. And I told her that my plan today was to follow through on trying to get that tortoise. And I got nervous at one point and I was like well I can't commit commit because what if somebody beats me to him. He's going to be on sale 50% today and maybe somebody else wants him and they get him before me and that's just the universe saying that it wasn't time. But I had high hopes.

The day went pretty quickly though and I felt good with my sales and when I packed up Stanley help me carry my boxes over because he's a gentleman. And then I went inside to check on James. Jenny had given us some extra baked goods so I brought James cinnamon bun. And then I was off to Petco.

When I got there I went directly to where I knew the Russian tortoise was. The one I had seen weeks ago. And he was still there. He was a boy. You can tell by their tail curling around their leg. Which is an interesting tell. And I went and found a worker and I was like hey I'm here for that tortoise. And they got so excited. Both the girls that work there were like he used to have a partner in the box and that turtle got sold and he seemed so lonely and we're just so excited that he's going to get a new home and they had some good information about him really liking kale but not liking fruits. Which I don't think they naturally eat fruits so that is totally expected. And they said he spicy but not bitey and is very social. And I was just so excited. He was a little dirty. I think because he was nervous he had pooped on himself a little bit. But she boxed them up for me and took them to the front. I walked around the reptile area a little longer and got two different types of substrate based on my research. And then I also got a nice rock water dish for him. I should have gotten the hide but I thought I had one so that is something I will have to fix tomorrow. But for now at least he has enough substrate to bury himself in. And if we know anything from Samson the box turtle that is very important to their well-being.

I was so excited to bring him home though.

I left there with my new friend and went straight home to get his enclosure set up. My plan tomorrow is to work on an outdoor enclosure and try to build that out but for now I have a tank inside that I thought would be good. And it's not as wide as I think I will like in the future. But for now it is a good option.

When I got back home my neighbors are outside and I was like I got to show you guys my new tortoise. And I think they thought I was very silly but they were excited for me. And then I went inside and I put our tortoise in the sink. I didn't know where else to keep him and I thought that I could at least clean them off. I have a dedicated toothbrush for that and he was scrubbed up all clean. And while he was getting cleaned off I also was soaking the compressed coconut fiber substrate. I did not soak it for as long as it told me to but instead I broke it up by hand and squished the water into it and that worked really well.

I put the forest floor substrate in first and then I put the coconut fiber on top. And then I put the little dish in and I started putting some fake plants in. And I definitely want to make like a more tricked out enclosure so that he has lots of opportunities to climb on things and just has enough enrichment. But for now I think that this works just fine.

Once he was cleaned off in the tank was set up I brought him over and I put him in and he immediately started digging. So that made me really happy. And I cut up some lettuce for him and by the time I was getting myself ready to go again he was eating and seemed very happy.

Definitely hard to tell on a creature with no eyebrows but he seemed good.

I played with CP for a little bit and I had a little frozen pizza. I cleaned myself up and I fix my makeup and 10 it was basically time for me to go again. I left the house and I drove over to locust point. I stopped at the dollar store and I got a frame and a piece of candy. I walked around for a little bit to see if there was anything that I thought I could use for the turtle but didn't see anything great so I paid and headed to the museum.

I was really excited to see James when I got there. They gave me a big hug and told me I was pretty and then they went home to play a game with their friends and meet our new tortoise. We weren't sure what the name was going to be but at that point we had a couple options. Frank short for Franklin, quiche, focaccia, and bug. But none of them felt right. Franklin was the closest because of the television show Franklin the turtle but I still wasn't feeling it. I really wanted a food name but the ones that we had thought of just didn't feel correct in my mouth.

So I would tell Merrill and Jesse about the tortoise and ask them for some ideas and the name crab cake came up. And honestly it feels perfect. He's kind of shaped like a crab cake and it has really good nickname potential. CC is a really good nickname. Lump. Little lump. Just really good overall name plus it's Baltimore. And it's a food. So I think that is what the name I'm going to go with if I don't come up with something better by the end of the evening.

So I was very excited to talk about my tortoise and then I would run off to the print shop to make the couple a nice print with their names. But I would also make one with their last names just for us. So we celebrated the Cox Johnson wedding and honestly it was a great time.

I was only there to be an educator. But even in doing so I got to hear about Merrill finally getting an actual contract that everyone's happy with and I now have some more clarity on what my guaranteed hours will be in September. And I'm pretty happy with it. I definitely would like more hours but it is a good step forward and it is at least progress in the conversation. So that feels good.

And the event was fun. I was only there for 3 hours but I talked to a lot of good people and I gave my talks about the fire and the machine shop. I didn't feel like as amazingly on like I did the last time but I think that was partially because I was having people that were coming in in the middle of my talking so then I would have to like circle back and that is always hard for me. But I still having a really good time and people were really interested in and they kept thanking me for telling them stuff and they love that they were learning. And that always feels really good.

I also decided to wear my new Crocs today. Which I kept referring to as my formal props because I wore them to a wedding. But they make me feel so tall and they're very comfortable. I definitely think I prefer wearing them with socks then barefoot but I think being barefoot will have its place. Like when things are wet. Like at the beach. But in general I think this is going to be a sock situation. They are comfortable though on my feet feel really nice.

At 6:30 the guests all went to dinner and I went to the front desk. I would drop off my drink and then went to find Merrill and Jesse and we would go and eat some of the appetizers. There really wasn't any vegetarian options so it's mostly just eating the crackers. Little bruschetta. And we just chatted and things were good everyone was busy. Merrill was in charge of this event so Jesse was back and Mr platt's office in the cannery writing contracts. And after he had gone back there me and Meryl were sitting at the front desk talking but at 7:30 approached and it was time for me to go I went back to say goodbye to him and he was wearing the full Mr Black costume. Hat tie and vests. It was so funny. He's so silly. But it was definitely a good night and while I wish that I could have been there for the entire thing because I really do enjoy doing the events I am a little tired from working all day and just a lot of activities so it's nice that I get to come home.

And that's where I am now!! I'm home and looking forward to hanging out with my husband and my animals. I feel tired but happy.

And I hope you do too! I love you all. Goodnight!!

[julietasgf]

Juli

I'M BACK (I never left, it just took me a while to respond because I need to think about my answers otherwise I'll ramble on ad infinitum and college beats me eh). I love talking to you so I hope it's not a problem I'll keep asking you stuff about these fascinating characters (The Plinth) and any other topics because I love your ideas and your takes.

About your reply on AO3, I can promise that I will start doing my own HCs on Strabo and Ma and you will be the first person I will show it to when I have written it. I must also say that I agree with you: while ships and romantic relationships are amazing to explore, platonic and familial relationships are just as interesting and deserve to have their fics and hc and analysis within the fandom. (Can we talk about the potential of Lysistrata as a possible friend of Sejanus in canon?)

Before I start with my rant of the movie (it's finally here, another day we will continue with the many other things like the war in Two, First Quarter Quell, etc jsjsjfjs) I come to pass you the link of the fic I mentioned and also to recommend you a new series of fics that recently appeared centered on Baby Sejanus during the war (please tell me what do you think!!!)

1. Bullets Over Two

It is being update I must warn but what is there is for now, is very good!

2. All I Long for is Home (Little Sejanus series)

I really thought it was magical when they sent the link on discord for this series. It has everything we love: Baby Sejanus, studied the dynamics of the Plinth and their experiences during the war!

Speaking of the Plinth. I think its function is both ways: they are clearly the immigrant experience and the difficulties of forced assimilation of coming from another country as identity crises but also USA is a very large nation and as you say, the culture shock within its own territory is enormous and continues to reproduce these dynamics of discrimination.

Ah yes I send you a big hug for the mockery. People really can be cruel. I don't get it, to me it seems like such a nice way to call mothers. 🥺

In my case I'm from the capital but my father is not, he came from a state and has told me a couple of truly traumatic experiences about the problem of fitting in. Ah

But well. The time has come for the rant.

First I would like to clarify that I loved the movie. Great cast, great direction, costumes and cinematography. The soundtrack is a fucking work of art. Iconic enough that I will forgive them for not adapting the snowjanus song from the book. I also think Coriolanus and Lucy Gray had more than satisfying and well done arcs.

In fact there were some changes to the story they made in the movie that seem to me to be great additions or reinterpretations of the text (Example. making Felix the president's son, killing him and having Dr. Gaul use his death to interrupt Reaper's act of direct rebellion -another change that as you can see I am into it-, Tigris serving with that line "You look like your father, Coriolanus", etc).

I don't have a problem with any of that. My big conflict comes down to their portrayal of the Plinth and the Academy students (I'm mostly talking about Clemensia but I didn't limit myself to her). As I said before the absence of the Plinth (Ma and Strabo) seems problematic to me, because they will be the worst crime of Coriolanus. They are the proof of how many limits he is willing to cross to get to power while being the force that is able to allow him to fulfill those ambitions. It's fucked up and very necessary to show in order to understand Snow.

I understand that the time was probably here what contributed to the fact that we only got to see them in a small cameo but gosh I think one scene. One little scene they could have given us. Besides it wouldn't have been a waste, because a lot of information about the Snow's we found out in relation to the Plinth.

What can I say?, I just feel sad every day that we don't have the scene of Coriolanus and Strabo talking in the movie. It's such a short but intense conversation.

With Sejanus my biggest complaint is that because the involvement of his family and family history is almost nonexistent, viewers of the film alone don't know a lot of much needed facts about who he is to see his nuances and there were changes that worked against reflecting his character as well as his situation.

The most extreme example that we have discussed before is the Sandwiches scene. In the movie, the credit is taken away from Sejanus, who was the only one to be concerned about the welfare of the tributes in the book. He was the first to try to approach them not to put on a show like Coriolanus but to try to offer them dignified treatment.

That Sejanus brought so much food. That he did not give up even though at the beginning no tribute wanted to approach and in the end his thing with Marcus will not be settled are actions that speak a lot about who he is. Since such actions don't take place in the film, it leaves an incomplete understanding of the character (which leads people in tiktok to have the worst takes on him in the world).

But this doesn't just happen with poorly executed scenes, it's present even in well done scenes like Sejanus responding to Arachne's bad comments. While it's a scene I adored and establishes well that Sejanus and his fellow academy members live in very different worlds, I don't think it quite captures Sejanus' situation well.

Although inferred, in reality outside of disagreements of opinion there is little in the film that if you don't know the context of the book, tells you very clearly that Sejanus has been harassed and bullied by his classmates for over a decade and the true extent of the hostility of the environment to him.

Which in part doesn't quite capture the reason for his desperation. Equally influential is that Sejanus begins with a higher pitch of protest in the films rather than the escalating spiral he faces in the book.

Now about the Sandwiches scene, I think we can all agree that it is made to make Coriolanus look much better than he acted in that particular situation and ultimately impacts along with other subtle changes in his behavior to make the character a more gentle and selfless version than his book counterpart.

And as you rightly said Juli, Sejanus is not the only character who is prevented from showing his virtues to 100, to favor the image of Coriolanus. This happens in fact with all the students of the academy. Especially with Clemensia.

I wanted to talk about Lysistrata but I feel the same problem with her as with the Plinth: they are practically nonexistent, and it is striking that the other character who genuinely showed concern for her tribute, sought to give him a humane treatment and was not particularly in favor of the games, was almost eliminated.

But I'll go with Festus. Who like other characters in TBOSAS - THG is a greyscale. He'll say wild and clearly poorly thought out things like suggesting the use of capital punishment and brute force to get more people to watch the games but he's also a kid who mourns the death of Arachne, the twins, eats at all hours, is funny, and told Clemensia she was cruel for not wanting to send food to her tribute. And he had a kind of connection with Coral.

According to Coriolanus he was also one of the few people who liked Sejanus more than the average student at the academy. Which says something about his persona, but more importantly in Coryo's own words.

Festus was his best friend and I was quite surprised at the kind of focus they gave him in the movie because not only is there more focus on his flaws but his moments with Coriolanus are more sparse. You wouldn't think they were friends. Again I'm not 100% complaining about that alteration and I can understand where it comes from (it was to give more focus on snowjanus "friendship") but here we have a character who to a lesser extent is reduced to being a mentor who doesn't treat his tribute with gentleness unlike Coriolanus and who seems to not be his friend. Just his classmate.

Which brings us to Clemensia. Who I think is worthy of a place in the "I was close to Coriolanus Snow and he ruined my life" club. I think people underestimate the weight of Coriolanus' actions when he decides to put himself first. When he decides to put her aside to ensure his own survival.

Clemmie is one of Snow's closest friends. And their relationship is the least complex compared to other important relationships in Coryo's life. Which I think is something that promotes the strength of their bond, as Dovecote is genuinely just a friend that Coriolanus spends time with.

It's not as wearing and multi-layered as his love hate Sejanus. Like the conflicts Lucy Gray stirs up and it's nowhere near as torturous as his relationship with Tigris. Coriolanus genuinely cares for her and they seem to understand each other well but this is what I think makes her the first victim.

I can't really say that Coriolanus will act badly in the whole situation. It was Gaul at the end of the day who did most of the damage; demanding that rehearsal from them even when Arachne died, lying to Clemensia to send a message to Snow.... But it is the turning point. Because Coriolanus is faced with a crossroads, what happens with Clemensia forces him to acknowledge what he has always known.

The Capitol does not care about protecting its people. The Capitol is cruel and oppressive. The Capitol subjugates them. He can't rely on institutions or adults to protect him.

And I can't blame him for his reaction, but it is his reaction that makes him complicit. He decides not to protest, not to argue, not to tell and not even to try to take care or to know about Clemensia once she disappears. He does it to ensure his own survival. To take care of his family in theory and other things but it is that point of fall where the debate opens up within him as to why his actions and what he is willing to leave behind in order to survive.

He runs away from her, unable to face the horror of his own inability to act or do anything else for Clemensia and while he awkwardly apologizes, for leaving his friend behind, it was this event that marks this point of who else he is capable of leaving alone as soon as they "become a threat" to his interests.

So I don't understand for the life, why they didn't shoot the scene of her in the hospital with snake scales? Clemensia and Coriolanus' arc IS VITAL. And removing it was a huge mistake, not only that, but changing Clemmie's attitude to make it look like she "deserved" what dr. Gaul did. It was honestly the worst decision. It just doesn't make sense. And I mean that in all seriousness. They didn't even complete her story *scream*.

But well, who I am to complain... On a happier note our beautiful LATAM AU. 🤭 Of course, Sejanus is the one who fights with Strabo every time there is a family reunion. His cousins try to eat at the speed of light before Sejanus starts saying things against the pigs politics who exploit people and Strabo tells him he's a dumb anarchist and stop questioning everything and then they start yelling at each other and have to take the kids somewhere else 😭😭😭

By the way it would be funny if Sejanus, is disinherits by his dad every christmas and he's like "I don't even care about your dirty money" but Coriolanus DOES CARE so he scolds him every time he says that and tries to talk some sense into him although the odds are also very high that he tried to convince Strabo to make him his heir instesd of Sejanus by chatting with him in the yard JAJSJSJSJSIS

Arg Coryo is good because Tigris has an album and a copy of that album with pictures of him dressed as a chick for a dance and other horrors. AND SIIII YOU UNDERSTAND VESTA IS THAT MOTHER WHO CAN DANCE EVERYTHING.

Rip Coryo and his two left feet. He let himself be led but was a very embarrassing companion for someone like Vesta who moves with grace. Sejanus offers to give him lessons so he doesn't make a fool of himself again at parties jsjsjshs

GOD IS CANON. LGB WOULD DEFINITELY GIVE HIM A NASTY POLITICAL CAMPAIGN SHIRT to (make fun of him). Also she has permanently threatened Coriolanus that if he is ever an unacceptable jerk again, she will funar him on social media 💀

STRABO IS THAT KIND OF DAD JSJSJS HE LOVES TELENOVELAS HE JUST REFUSES TO ADMIT IT BUT IT'S SO OBVIOUS. Imagine Sejanus and Coryo discussing telenovela villains and someone gets a fact wrong and Strabo is like "but this actually happened..." and saying he knows because Vesta told him but everyone knows that in his office he watches telenovelas in secret LMAO

About the daddy issues. This the scene

This is getting long already but I think daily about Coriolanus and Strabo's talk and then that time Coriolanus realizes he's acting like Strabo with Sejanus. Damn. I just know that if we would have had a snowjanus + strabo encounter. THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED I SWEAR JSKSLS

😭😭

Coryo: Don't yell Mr. Plinth at Sejanus he is just trying to help...

5 minutes later:

Strabo: But don't give him the order yelling,young Snow, you should know Sejanus is sensible...

3 minutes later:

*both of them yell at Sejanus*

Sejanus: This is normal yes :)

Oh. I forgot my song.

1. New song sejarcus certified and yes it's an accurate portrayal of Strabo's father. Its crazy.

2. European Mexican warning: but I need you to see the video of Rosalia - millionaria + Dio$ nos libre del dinero. It's two songs that share one video and there's something there about Coriolanus and Sejanus and their relationship with money. Ehh

Now I will shut up for the moment.

HIII!!! I absolutely understand and 0 judgements bc I'll spend hours just writing a single answer bc time is needed (specially bc I'm a tad bit slow thinking in english 😭) also, good luck with college!! and aaaaaa I love talking to you, this is really sweet, feel free to ask or say anything, I'll be more than happy 🥹

YESSSSS PLS I'm now anxious to hear your thoughts, can't wait for them!!! I stand by the fact that ships are lovely, but there's a big lack of exploration for platonic dynamics and it's painful (and I say that as a platonic bairdplinth truther, snow can go to hell, let these two bond and be such an iconic duo). and yessssss I love lysistrata sm :( every single time her character appeared, all I could think was "omg why couldn't sejanus get closer to her instead of getting close to coriolanus?". there's just so much POTENTIAL here

YESSSS HERE COMES THE (DESERVED) RANT!! but about the fics: thank you sooooo much for sending the links!!! I bookmarked the first to read later, but the second, I've read the first work of the series when it was posted and it's SO GOOD <333 it's genuinely one of my favorite works that I've read recently, and I love how the author wrote bby sejanus' perspective regarding the war

yessss!! I'm not an usa expert (bc, well, I never lived there), but I've seen some interesting takes from people who are from there, but more specifically, are from the appalachian region; and these people were talking about how there's this whole view of people from that region being "uneducated" and other things (and how important it is that D12 is located in this region; I'm not sure if in the movie lucy gray have an appalachian accent because I SUCK at recognizing accents in english except for the texan one, but I know that when suzanne collins read a passage of the book out loud, someone pointed out that she gave lucy gray an appalachian accent).

(this also hits harder when there's a passage in the book where sejanus says him and lucy gray are very alike regarding this, not being able to fit in anywhere, except she had talent 💔)

thank you, this is really kind 🫶 some people will just be ignorant for no reason, just for the joy of being ignorant. and I'm sorry about the things your father went through :(

but okay, let's go to talk about the movie:

absolutely agree!! the movie is GOOD. straight up good. and as an adaptation, there are a few things I think they actually did better than the book:

the whole game, in general. I think the rythm got much more dynamic than it is in the book. I understand the book's purpose, but as a reader, it's slow. the changes made it more interesting and it worked in movie-form a lot.

the whole scene with reaper and the panem flag not only is gorgeous and strong and impactful, but it's so well-adapted, I just- I was really at a loss of words, because it IS much better than the book, imo.

wovey dying from the snakes instead of lucy gray poisoning her. it was an impactful scene that made me feel hopeless and horrible watching. even though the book is brutal, this death specifically made the movie much more brutal to me. that was a child begging to go home.

as you said, making felix being the one who got killed during the bombs. it just made more sense and it was gaul's perfect excuse. and it also makes us question more things: is it one child's life worth the life of 24 children?

but when it comes to coriolanus... oh boi. I have thoughts.

(before we get into it, it's worth saying tom blyth did an amazing job with the text he got; the forest scene was TERRIFYING, it made me genuinely scared and tense when watching it at the theater. plus, he has this constant look that just unsettles you. it makes you sense that there's something wrong with this boy, even though you can't really put your finger on what exactly. if there's such a thing as a perfect actor for coriolanus, that's tom blyth, no doubt.)

now, this is a feeling I personally have: the movie is an action dystopian movie. it would obviously want to appeal to this public, including people who never read the book in first place. so, to appeal more to the general hollywood public, they adapter coriolanus' character to be more of an underdog who goes through some sort of corruption arc. he's not an indocrinated, bigoted boy who thinks himself to be superior, who grows more and more power hungry, and this leads him to do things that are more and more horrible. in the movie, he's an ambitious boy, yes, but who goes through traumatic things and famine, and who, in the end, chooses himself in order to survive.

now, let's say the writers want to change this character to make him more appealing to the big public; after all, who would like watching someone like coriolanus thinking the things he think, specially about district people? and the way they seemed to do it was by not changing the core story, but omitting and toning down elements that make coriolanus seem much worse.

the plinths are definitely the most problematic of these characters who got omitted or toned down. the end in the film is not near as impactful as in the book. he killed their child. their only son. and then he comes back and acts as if he did nothing. he knew how much sejanus' mom loved him, then he kills her son and proceeds to call that boy's mom MA. he was SO sick for that. stealing someone's life is already bad, but there's so many layers that the more you look into it, the worst it gets. it's essential to understand that atp of the story, there's no turning back, because he isn't able to feel remorse anymore. he just doesn't care, and this is extremely important to know that THIS is the snow we know in the future. this is the snow that do horrible things to children, that mercilessly kills his opponents. that's how far he's willing to go.

I agree with you regarding the time, specially because the movie was already very long, but they could've given us one scene. at least one. if they inserted, for example, ma plinth going to talk to coriolanus abt sejanus being missing, I think it would already add a great impact (of course the scene of sejanus' death screaming for his ma is heartbreaking by itself, but when you know the context, when you see how close they were in the book, it's just MUCH WORSE, MY GOD). or in the end, a little scene with coriolanus and strabo talking abt coriolanus being their heir would already do a lot for the storytelling (I also think that was left a bit ambiguous in the movie).

(I also adore that scene of strabo and coriolanus, it gives us a lot of insight and I would've adored to have it adapted 💔)

sejanus in the book is a complex character that has a lot of nuances, and that's why I like him so much. when you look through coriolanus' lens, you won't really understand how depressing his situation is. coriolanus just looks to the fact that sejanus have money and is financially privileged, but mostly ignores the fact that the capitol is hostile to the plinths (coriolanus himself is hostile to the plinths! he doesn't say it aloud bc, well, he's coriolanus, but it's still there in his narration, and the way he talks about them), and sejanus was relentlessly bullied through his whole childhood growing up. he had no friend and not really a support network besides his ma. he was utterly alone in an environment that hated him, hated where he came from, hated his family. and he still turned out kind. and we see this in details through the book; the sandwich scene is the most significant, as you said, and it PAINS me that they cut it out, bc reading it, it was when it was clear to me that what coriolanus says about sejanus is not really reliable. sejanus brought food not only to marcus, he brought food to ALL the tributes. he wanted ALL of them to have something to eat. and he really didn't need to do it.

another thing that was poorly executed was that they basically got rid of the fact that he was suicidal. in the movie, it seemed like a naive kid thinking dying on that arena would be a good act of protest (which wouldn't be at all, as we all know it wouldn't be broadcasted). in the book, the whole thing regarding it being a form of protest is more secondary, because that boy was straight up trying to kill himself, and if it actually ended as some sort of protest, then it would be just a side thing. sejanus was in so much pain that he really thought that the only way he could make up to marcus was by dying, and then, after this whole thing, (if I remember right, but I may be remembering wrong) he had to be on sedatives because of how stressful and traumatic the situation was. and sejanus says AGAIN later in the book that he was planning to kill himself. it makes the whole rebel plan have much more sense, because OF COURSE sejanus wouldn't care it's dangerous, he doesn't seem to care about his life at all, he would know the risks and do it anyway, while in the movie it just seemed impulsive and (again) naive. and talking about the rebel plan, this is such a tiny details but it drives me insane how they changed the fact that in the book, he KNEW about the guns and he GOT THEM PURPOSELY, and this actually changes a lot how the public can view his character.

and as you said, all these changes lead to people on tiktok having the WORST takes on him, and I can't even judge them 100%, bc in the movie (imo) they DID make him much more spoiled and naive than he is in the book 😭

to wrap up my thoughts regarding sejanus because I talk too much: sejanus' arc is not one easy to the general estadounidense audience relate to unless you went through some similar experience, but when you did go through some similar experience, it hits HARD. and the book worked this very well, where in the movie, I swear some people I know that never read the book didn't even remember that he was district. it was very poorly worked, they toned down his character a lot, and it just doesn't sit right with me.

but now, let's talk about the academy students:

one thing that I find interesting in tbosas is that even though coriolanus is the worse, we can't really blame it on being from the capitol, because we DO see characters from the capitol who have the ability of being selfless and have empathy. and that makes you realize that, yeah, even though coriolanus is a product of his environment... it's still not justifiable, because we see good kids at the academy who aren't bigoted like him.

lysistrata is the BIGGEST of these examples. even though we see coriolanus being nice to lucy gray, we also read his thoughts and he mostly sees her as a possession, a thing to be possessed, not a human being. he barely sees her as equal. and we have lysistrata, who forms a genuine bond with jessup. there's a scene that I find really remarkable in the book. one of the academy students (I'm not really sure who, but I think it was hilarius) comments, in response to lysistrata saying jessup is a protector, that jessup is almost like "a loyal dog". and lysistrata immediately says that no, not like a dog. like a human being. like a protector. and lysistrata was born and raised in the capitol, she probably never got any contact with the districts, her family for sure have a lot of money for her to study in the academy... and she sees jessup as human. not as a possession, but as human. and they got almost completely rid of her character, and it really did make it seem like coriolanus was the only capitol-born kid who wasn't particularly cruel or xenophobic (when it's quite the contrary lol).

we barely see festus in the movie, and when we see, it's just him being kind of a prick (and I don't really understand why focusing on him being a prick specifically; there were other academy characters who would've served this purpose well; why, of all the academy students, pick right the one that was not hostile to sejanus? it genuinely got me confused, like, why, leave him alone 😭). I can absolutely see why they didn't focus on festus and coriolanus' screentime, and I'm also okay with it, but what bothers me is that changing him into just another academy student who's pretty much cold to his tribute removes the nuance of the story (in the book, we see plenty of academy students bonding with their tributes and feeling bad when they die, we see they are indocrinated privileged kids but who can still learn to be better and do better and unlearn all their bigotry; while in the movie, it sounds more like, academy students = bad, coriolanus = good).

clemensia DOES deserve her own small seat at the "coriolanus snow ruined my life" table alongside with sejanus, lucy gray and tigris 😭 I think she's very much forgotten when we talk about the people coriolanus hurt

coriolanus did clemensia so wrong.... of course it's not as bad or complex as he did to lucy gray, but as the book progresses, coriolanus goes down a spiral where the stuff he does to people around him get more and more and more cruel and more nasty and more unjustifiable. clemensia was when that spiral started. he calls her by a nickname, they pretty much grew up together and saw each other around a lot. she probably trusted him. she's a friend, just a friend, not a possession or someone he's straight up jealous of; as you say, it's not as important as the other 3 most important relationships we see in the book (coriolanus and lgb, sejanus and tigris), but it's still a relationship, and if anything, the most innocent and pure one. and also, clemensia DOES have her moments of goodness!!! unlike coriolanus, she's against betting on tributes, and she thinks watching the games is gruesome. of course, compared to all of his victims, clemensia isn't the worst; after all, if anything, dr. gaul is the one to have more guilt here. but he was still wrong for how he reacted to it (she was his friend!!! and he didn't say a thing!!! he puts his survival first and the person he cared about in second), and each victim he makes, the reasons and the motives get less and less justifiable. but overall, I can't really add more thoughts regarding clemensia, because you were pretty much on point, and I agree with EVERYTHING. everything, really.

and also, talking about the movie and how they made her arc incomplete: it really annoys me how they make it implied that she died ("caught a flu" and stuff), but we don't see a funeral, we don't see her friends grieving, we don't see nothing. I don't remember if we even saw her during the games, srsly; I genuinely can't remember, and if she wasn't there, who the hell mentored reaper? they just left him without a mentor and that's it? I can't really remember a case like that in the book, as all the mentors that died also had their tributes dying, so... yeah, clemensia deserved much better, they did her so wrong by making it seem like she deserved it and took profit from coriolanus' work (when in the book, she was actually mad that he wrote the essay because arachne JUST DIED and he's there writing an essay). again, small details, small things, minor characters that are really important to understand how FUCKED UP coriolanus is even to the capitol standards, and they got completely toned down or just changed to make him better and more of an antihero ig.

(in general, loved your thoughts, they were very well put and I basically agree with everything, it should be kind of a requirement to read the book before watching the movie because I can't stand some takes I see on twitter and on tiktok, specially regarding lgb and sejanus; LEAVE THEM ALONEEEEE)

LATAM AU my beloved <33 STRABO CALLING SEJANUS AN ANARCHIST, I'M SCREAMING because this is actually so on character 😭 the plinth family having to start the christmas dinner much before midnight because if they wait for it, they KNOW there'll be no vibe for it because sejanus and strabo are already at each other's throats. ma tried to ban alcohol once, because she thought that if strabo was sober then he would be more mature and not yell with sejanus, but it's no use because sober or not, him and sejanus WILL fight over politics (and it's even worse when it's election year, poor ma is so tired, SHE JUST WANTS A FUN NIGHT not a civil war inside her own house)

PLSSSSSSS every single year strabo going "I'm NOT going to leave my money to you, I don't know who I'm going to leave it, BUT IT'S NOT YOU", and when sejanus talks back, coriolanus is there next to him "babe <3 don't do that <3 I wanna be rich <3 if you don't, that's up to you <3 but I want that good life <3" but the thought of coriolanus trying to convince strabo to make him his heir is also too funny 😭 because strabo would be there slandering sejanus, but when coriolanus tries to slander sejanus too, strabo immediately glares at him and is like "who said you can talk about my son like that? 🤨"

coriolanus being so embarassed because vesta knows how to dance tango while he does not 😭 and imagine it being like on a party, it was the first time sejanus was introducing him to his parents, and coriolanus wanted so bad to make a good impression, just to make a fool of himself in the worst way possible. sejanus thinks it's cute tho when coriolanus goes to him having to put his pride aside to ask sejanus to teach him how to dance (because sejanus is vesta's son, he KNOWS how to dance too, I just know it).

lucy gray having a whole album on her phone just of pics to post online and expose coriolanus if he dares to be a prick again, I know that's right, if he doesn't want to behave by his will, then it'll be by force ☝️ and plus she's supported by tigris

HIM TRYING TO HIDE IT BUT ATP EVERYONE KNOWS IT 😭 and when he talks to sejanus and coriolanus abt it, the conversation lasts long, and he knows a lot of tiny details (because that man is an insane observer, he'll catch the tiniest details and actually guess the finale much before), and then coriolanus stops and goes... "wait, mr. plinth, how do you know all of these stuff?" and he tries to justify it and say that vesta told him, but these are TOO SPECIFIC details, vesta didn't tell him that

okay, so, I watched the scene, and I'M CACKLINGKSKSKSDKKSDKSDKDS I just KNOW that if we got a scene of these three characters together, it would go pretty much like that 😭 it's even more funnier if this is an au (a modern setting), and sejanus takes coriolanus to meet his father, and just then when he puts coriolanus and strabo side to side he realizes that these two are actually TOO alike and he starts to reconsider most of his life choices

EUROPEAN MEXICAN TRIGGER WARNING (I'll never NOT laugh at it, that's historical reparation 😭) but I watched the clip, and YESSSSS you're so right!!!! and again, coriolanus and sejanus serving as a foil to each other and being on opposite ends (specially because in sejanus' case, that money comes from selling guns that kills people and children, that's blood money, and the lyrics just fit him so well)

but anyway, it was amazing hearing your thoughts, hope to see you soon buddie <3 take care!!