#happy tortured poets release day everyone

[miumiumanzo]

What if the way you hold me is actually what's holy? If long-suffering propriety is what they want from me They don't know how you've haunted me so stunningly I choose you and me religiously

[the-phantom-author]

i personally can’t stop thinking about popstar!gf performing vampire or smth at the grammys to kind of “end” that era and she maybe announces late that grammys night she’s going to release Tortured Poets Department. (especially with how the tides seem to be turning on taylor, there seems to have been a huge shift in public opinion almost??)

this is gonna become her darker era. while maybe guts was the anger, TPD is the sadness, the acceptance, the moving on. the making fun of exes. i think guts came out before or just as she’s meeting hasan. then while she’s hanging out with hasan and just living the single life, thinking back on how STUPID things were. how she let someone dull her sparkle, someone who wanted her not be a singer/songwriter (cue song “my boy only breaks his favourite toys” and “i can do it with a broken heart” or “the smallest man who ever lived”)

hasan helps her heal and move past that awful relationship, someone she maybe gave a few years of her life to, she’s no longer angry, she’s understanding how badly she was affected and now is gonna poke fun at him. (side note: apparently joe alwyn who is taylor’s ex, had a group chat with some friends called the tortured man club, so in this scenario, popstars ex has one and she’s 100% making fun of it)

and while she’s beginning to work on reputation before even releasing this (she’s already written things like call it what you want and delicate, etc) when TPD releases her fans go crazy for it but the media is gonna eat her alive. basically anything people are criticizing taylor for (that’s not actually valid) is how things are happening for her.

people calling her a snake, trying to cancel her, etc etc etc etc.

which THISSSS leads into the reputation era. she’s not trying to be seen by anybody. they want her gone so bad? fine. say no more. she’s an attention seeker because she lets the charities she works with publicize that she’s helping out? (even though she’s just wanting to drive more eyes to that cause) fine, she’ll stop being public, donate anonymously and move on.

and even avoids the spotlight anytime hasan is in it. she’s not trying to be on stream or the pod, no tiktok’s, no reacts, no instagrams, nothing. hasan will mention her in passing. if someone asks if she’s okay, he assures everyone she’s doing alright, they’re still together and very happy together, she’s just going through some stuff so leave her alone.

not seen for at least almost a year. she deletes socials, just tries to focus on writing and building her relationship with hasan, reading, working on her craft. plotting revenge.

after a longgg time. she’s back. she surprise drops the entire album with no explanation. (because , THERE WILL BE MORE EXPLANATION, THERE WILL JUST BE REPUTATION!) and the internet is going up in FLAMES. chat is CRAZY.

because she’s really coming for everyone on it:

-i don’t trust nobody and nobody trusts me! i’ll be the actress starring in your bad dreams!

-so i took an axe to a mended fence

-this ain’t for the best, my reputations never been worse so you must like me for me

-the world moves on, another day another drama drama, but not for me , not for me all i think about is karma! and then the world moves on but one things for sure!!! maybe i got mine but!! you’ll!! all!! get !!! yours!!

like literally look what everyone made her do!!!!!!!!!

but also at the end of the day, it’s a love album. because when nobody was standing by her, hasan was.

-even in my worst times, you could see the best of me

-even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me

-all the liars are calling me one, nobody’s heard from me for months, i’m doing better than i ever was.

-baby let the games begin!!!!

him being here before during and after a public downfall shows how much he loves her and is gonna stand by her. (SORRY FOR THE NOVEL!!!!)

The way I know I can't much to this becuase God is it great.

I'm so happy that we were thinking the same thing about album progression with popstar!gf. Rep immediately after Guts seemed a bit weird, but to have TPD be in the middle of of them fits in just right.

As for the the ex who dulled her spark. I'm almost thinking someone who wanted to be married, like they've been together for about a year or two, and he just goes for it. He mentions that he wants her to be a little house wife, and doesn't want her writing anymore music or performing for any reason. Obviously, our girl said no.

But yes, TPD is all about her acceptance with how unbelievably dumb she was for letting man do ever he did to her. It's about just how messy that relationship was. And just how below her, and everyone really, her ex is. So yeah, TDP has moments where it gets petty and it's just belittling him a bit, becuase why wouldn't it.

And that's why people start calling her a snake, and trying to cancel her. She gets in details on the album, she goes into details while in interviews, and people men don't understand how she could be so blunt about her experiences with her ex. They don't why she would ever make fun of someone she dated in such a public way.

And that is how Rep goes from her only album to have song about how che loves someone, to essentially a revenge album.

[sehrgefaelltmir]

MERCEDEEEES ok happy ttpd release day!!! im curious whaddo you think a the album n what is / are your favorite song(s)???

also im aboutta listen to the anthology (ALSO ITS A DOUBLE ALBUM WHAT THE HELL) n after that imma listen to both of em again n see which ones i can add to the breakup playlist >:))

OH MY GOD MAX FNWOBDLSVDKSBDKDBDJD IM THE LEAST NORMAL IVE EVER BEEN IN NMY LIFE OVER GHIS ALBUM IM FUCKING OBSESSED W IT,,, first of all SO rude to drop a DOUBLE ALBUM the day i had a super long paper on medieval german poetry due (i mean its. kinda my bad for leaving it until the day it was due 💀 but still)

rip walther von der vogelweide you would have loved the tortured poets department 😭😭

anyway i finished my paper before i listened to the anthology n i just got done listening to it like 20 minutes ago so ur gonna get my freshly baked Thoughts (aka a dissertation),,, I AM. SO GLAD I DID THE PAPER FIRST CAUSE I WOULDA HAD TO ASK FOR AN EXTENSION 😭😭 THERE R TEARS ON MY ESSAY OUTLINE IM ACTUALLY INCONSOLABLE but like i was vibing until i got to the bolter n that one line?? ‘a curious child, ever reviled / by everyone except her own father’ i am in PIECES IDK WHY IT JUST GOT ME 😭😭😭

ALSO SKDJDJSJDJJF THE BREAKUP PLAYLIST BRO THE SECOND I HEARD THAT LINE IN ICDIWABH ABOUT FINDING EVIDENCE IN DRAWERS I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD?? I FEEL YOU FORGET ME??? DEROBERTIFICATION????

also uefa high thomas is definitely crying his eyes out to loml rn

actually i reaallllly really love icdiwabh its one of my favourites from this album,, also ttpd, but daddy i love him, guilty as sin, the alchemy, i look in people’s windows all go SO hard we were fed so well

ANYWAY HAPPY RELEASE DAY TO U TOO LOVE U BROSKI <333

[bsd-cherish-official]

So, it’s October 20th — a date that as far as this blog and especially Cherish’s author and first artist is concerned, is practically some sort of international holiday.

I wanted to have something much more substantial than these two tiny rough sketches out by the time the date rolled around, but as you all know, I’ve been quite busy with all the Cherish content I’ve been wanting to release for this month, so this is the best I can do for the moment, until I have the time to more properly clean them up and color them.

There’s a whole lot that I could say on a day like this — a lot of thoughts in my head just itching to find their way out onto the post, but I think that saying some of it would be a bit premature without first lining up all my proverbial ducks in a row, and I want to keep this post mostly lighthearted, anyway.

So…for now let me say this.

In the past I’ve made posts talking about how just precious and irreplaceable of a character BSD Arthur is, of his sweetness, of his kindness, of his gentleness and selflessness, and how dearly I love him and am glad he came to exist through the series.

All of this could not be more true, and I think that my intense interest and love and respect for him as a character still — all these five years and seven plus months later from the day I learned of him — should speak volumes about just how unique and incredible of character he is, despite his confinement to mostly only two light novels in official canon.

He is a wellspring from which my blog was primarily born and on which it still runs today, with no sign of drying up — a topic I could continue to talk of for ages.

…And yet, I would also be remiss not to mention the real life 19th Century poet of the same name upon which he was heavily and inseparably based, and to which we owe the entirety of his existence.

I had said once in passing that I wished a happy birthday to the tragic disaster of a human being that was him, but in hindsight, I don’t think that such words carry even half the weight that I wish to evoke when I say that I want to celebrate his birthday, too.

I know that a lot of people when they talk about BSD will wish the irl namesakes of their favorite characters a happy birthday, and I feel like my well wishes in the past also came off in this same way as many of them mean it: “Here’s an obligatory celebration of your existence because without you, this character couldn’t have been”…but the thing is, that in no way sums up how I feel about the situation at all.

Maybe, in the early days of my research into the author, it might have been like that, but it is not anymore. And it is not just as a poet, but most especially as a human being, that I wish to see and partake in Arthur’s birthday celebrated.

My lengthy and dedicated research over the years has taught me that at heart and in truth he was actually not this heartless, needlessly cold, absurdly cruel and gratuitously offensive, irredeemable little shit “everyone would hate if we met him today” that we see sensationalized in the various forms of media and clickbait articles, but rather, just a deeply troubled teenager who from a very young age continuously suffered through some of the worst shit imaginable, surrounded by terrible people and circumstances in a time where he quite frankly didn’t belong and in which the odds of his chances at finding genuine happiness and peace were almost nil from birth. Yes, he made many mistakes and sometimes did things that were definitely not quite right — he was absolutely as flawed a human being as you or I, but not more flawed, not evil. Once he broke free from the people who made his life hell, he became a perfectly decent and average — though withdrawn, emotionally devastated, and creatively burnt out and defeated — adult.

And it is to him — the tortured soul who yearned for more than the unlucky cards he was dealt, who dared to dream but whose dreams burnt up in the atmosphere and left him just a shadow quietly navigating the world he didn’t want to live in until his premature death — that I reach out to today, and on every day and every time that I write Cherish.

If I could reach out to the past and just give him a hug, tell him that he and his works are loved and heard and remembered by people that will not be born for decades — even centuries — after he has passed, and that he is not alone, then I would in a heartbeat. But since I cannot, all of this will just have to be enough.

Happy Birthday, Arthur Rimbaud. Both you and your BSD self. I’m so far beyond glad that you were born.

[sorrytobreakyourheart]

Micmacs: weapon manufacturing criticism in a comedy

So in On Why Pre-Afghanistan Tony Stark Isn’t a Bad Person ( while not a hero ) I talked about the movie Mimacs à tire-larigot as a counterpoint to all my positive arguments to defend Tony as a weapon manufacturer, and I figured that

(A) most of you probably don’t know that movie since it’s french ( like me) ( and I’m writing this in English, which is probably not helping but eitherway )

(B) I should probably expand on why exactly liking Micmacs and agreeing to a lot of it doesn’t negate my feelings on Tony’s ethics

+ there’s a lot about that movie that stands on its own, without me throwing Tony at it. It’s, first of all, a comedy, though, so of course there isn’t a long and winded commentary of weapon manufacturing thrown in the middle by a character.

The parts that directly relates to Tony or the MCU in general will be in italics.

( I’m not, obviously, going to tell you absolutely everything about it, but mostly the part about weapon manufacturing and how it ties in with Tony’s past )

First of all, the story ( and, because I can’t control myself, the arguments in the middle ):

The Incidents

Bazil ( Danny Boon ) is a child in 1979 when his father ( a soldier ) is killed by a landmine as the man is working on removing landmines from the maroccan part of the Sahara. His mother receives his father’s things, and he learns that La Vigilante de L’Armement was the landmine’s manufacturer.

30 years later, Bazil is shot in the head by a stray bullet from a car/moto chase between two criminals, and survives, but the bullet is still inside his brain because removing it has 9/10 odds of leaving him a vegetable. That also means he spends a lot of the rest of the movie suffering from that bullet, with the risk of dying without warning at any moment. Later, he’s given the bulletcase his replacement at work found on the road: it’s from Les Arsenaux d’Aubervilliers.

Now, I would be the first to say that yes, his life was fucked up by those two weapons, but the manufacturers are not necessarily the ( only ) ones responsible for that. Assuming those two enterprises followed the rules, you can say that the first guilty party in his father’s death is the government/military that started the war/decided to use landmines, and that the criminals in the shooting could have stolen those weapons ( or gotten it from a stolen shipment ) from the military, making it the criminals’ fault.

Both are true, regardless of the manufacturers’ own guilt.

The Aftermath

On top of having lost his father and risking death by inconvenient bullet everyday of his life, Bazil lost his job ( logical, someone had to do the work while he was recuperating ) and now lives on the street, scrapping by as he goes.

After a few months, he’s taken in a by a group/family of other lost people. They live in a cavern of recycling materials ( and by recycling trash ). There’s Tambouille ( Mama Chow in English ) who’s the group’s mom. Placard ( Slammer ), who did 25 years and is possibly a former crook from what we see. Remmington, an African ethnograph who somehow ended up poor in Paris like the rest of them and uses an overwhelming amount of french language clichés. La Môme Caoutchouc ( Elastic Girl ), a contorsionist. Petit Pierre ( Tiny Pete ), an old man who doesn’t really speak but makes incredible automatons. Fracasse ( Buster ), a former human cannonball with the injuries that goes with the job. Calculette ( Calculator ), a girl whose ability to tell anything and anyone’s measurements is basically a superpower.

The Revenge

One day, as Bazil is collecting things thrown away to use again, he ends up right in between the buildings of Les Arsenaux d’Aubervilliers and of La Vigilante de l’Armement. He recognizes the logos, and tries to get to talk with the CEO of Les Arsenaux ( bullet ) for compensation, but get thrown out. Then he cross the street, and hears a speech by the CEO of La Vigilante about how making weapons is awesome ( I’m admittedly symplifying here ).

Frankly, at that point Nicolas Thibault de Fenouillet ( old-style CEO, Les Arsenaux ) and François Marconi ( modern-style CEO, La Vigilante ) don’t seem that different from Tony. They live in luxury, make weapons for their country and possibly its allies, their public persona is not necessarily likeable, but you can always chalk it up to the fact that yes, it’s a public persona ( they aren’t engineer, though, just the CEO ).

Except. Tony might have refused to see Bazil, if he had come to him for a bullet made by SI, but he wouldn’t have made the kind of joke de Fenouillet did ( “He says he has one of our bullet in his brain, sir”/”well that makes something for him to remember us by” ). On top of that, when Bazil was thrown out by security, they took their time to mock him and his head wound, to be cruel. That’s not a behavior Tony would have tolerated from his employees, supposing de Fenouillet knew about it.

Except, I made an argument in my previous post about the Ares Award and Tony’s absence, him not necessarily wanting an award for being a weapon manufacturer, and that directly relates to Marconi’s speech. Marconi, him, is there, and makes the praise of his business, and jokes about Rimbaud having been a poet only to become a weapon dealer, and himself planning to do it the other way. He does it unprompted. He shows the ego we keep hearing about in Tony, when Tony wasn’t even there for his own award ceremony, when Tony only said that the weapon industry was necessary when Christine Everhart basically asked him if she was ashamed.

Anyway, Bazil is angry. He wants revenge, which, okay.

He starts spying on both CEOs, making a plan to take them both down. And as it turns out, Marconi is ( oh, surprise! ) contacted by an African ex-dictator who wants to start up shit again because he likes being a dictator better than being an ex-dictator. Marconi spends about two seconds and a half saying he only sells to legitimate clients, before being told how much he’s going make, and then, his ethics go right through the window.

Which, you know. Tony never agreed to do. Not even when the Ten Rings kidnapped him and tortured him.

There’s a confrontation with the rest of the gang, and eventually everyone in on the plan ( which, you know, is about making les “Marchants de la Mort” pay; you know where I’m going here ).

The plan, in fact, consist of a lot of shennanigans that probably wouldn’t work in real life, but the gang is just that good, and it’s a movie. They start by incapacitating the dictator’s men, and Remington pretends to be them to offer de Fenouillet the same deal, so that both CEOs think the other one undermined him when the deal doesn’t happen. Then they get in, wreck Marconi’s cars, steal de Fenouillet’s rather disturbing collection of famous people’s body parts, steal a shipment of bombs, etc.

From there the CEOs are the one escalating. Marconi put pressure on a cleaning lady to sabotage de Fenouillet’s testing unit, which causes a massive explosion at the plant of Les Arsenaux, and there are no casualties but only by chance. De Fenouillet sends a tactical team to kidnap/murder Marconi.

It’s all interrupted when the dictator’s men get back in the story and play Russian Roulette with Marconi ( before the tactical team gets there ), Bazil gets caught because he was worrying about Elastic Girl ( who was looking for blackmail, and is currently hinidng in the fridge ), and the CEOs finally realize what’s going on ( kinda ).

Bazil almost gets killed, but the gang as a Plan B, and ends up kidnapping de Fenouillet and Marconi instead, staging a flight and arrival in the desert, putting a grenade ( not armed ) in de Fenouillet’s mouth, who’s sitting on Marconi’s shoulders, who’s standing on a landmine ( not armed either ), while they are all disguised as arab women with picture of their dead/injured children.

Before long the two are confessing to a lot of things, starting with all the people who are not legitimate clients they sold things to ( IRA, ISIS, you name it ). They are being recorded, of course, and when the gang stops acting and reveals who they are, they also download the video on ( old, old ) YouTube. Les Arsenaux and La Vigilante are about to close, de Fenouillet and Marconi are ridiculed, about to be tried, and lost all their support.

Bazil is happy with his new family.

The End.

Non-Violence

Bazil & Co’s plan never involved violence. They aren’t looking to kill either CEOs, and the employees are not treated like acceptable casualties just because they work for the two assholes. In fact, the only people who die here are not part of the plan, are killed by de Fenouillet’s men, are the dictator’s men. The most violent thing they did was release bees on workers to steal the bombs, and send a car with goons in it in a billboard

Unlike, say, Wanda and Pietro’s plan, who just didn’t give a damn about what happened to anyone ( the Avengers themselves, but also all the people who would get caught up in whatever they’d pushed Tony into doing ) as long as they got to kill Tony, to make Tony suffer, until they realized it had gone too far and (A) they were going to die too, (B) maybe seven billions people was a bit too high a casualty count even for them.

The only thing you can blame the gang for is the explosion at the factory ( if there had been casualties ), in that they instigated the rivalry, but, in the end, that’s on Marconi, much more than on the gang, because he’s the one who decided to do that ( and by pressuring an imigrant couple to do his dirty work, no less ).

Tony wouldn’t have deliberately endangered people like that. If he was like that, he’d have dropped a missile on Gulmira to get rid of the Ten Rings, without care for the civilians casualties, instead of getting there in person and targetting only the terrorists.

A Plan that wouldn’t have worked if they hadn’t deserved it

Despite the fact that Bazil wants revenge, his whole plan only works if de Fenouillet and Marconi are, in fact, assholes. Marconi didn’t have to accept the dictator’s deal, but he did. De Fenouillet didn’t have to accept the dictator’s deal, but he did. When they thought the other one had started trashing their stuff, they didn’t have to escalate. Marconi didn’t have to take his employee’s visa so that his wife would be forced to sabotage Les Arsenaux. De Fenouillet didn’t have to try and murder Marconi.

If they hadn’t sold weapons to ISIS/etc, they wouldn’t have had anything to confess at the end. They’d probably have been ridiculed, but it couldn’t have done any grave damage to their lives. In fact, the gang would have probably been labelled as the villains for having harrassed/kidnapped/threatened ( since they didn’t know the landmine and the grenade weren’t armed ) people who were doing their job within the law.

At every turn, the CEOs had a choice, and at every turn, they disappointed. Which is why the plan worked.

Tony refused to sell/make weapons for terrorists, which is what pushed Obadiah to get rid of him. Tony demands a lot of his employees, but he doesn’t force them to do anything, they can leave if they want, if they think he’s wrong.

And if Tony, somehow, had still ended up in the same situation, threatened with death to admit to having done things illegal... He wouldn’t have had anything to admit, because he didn’t do it.

Reality vs. Fiction

That’s the big difference between Tony Stark and de Fenouillet and Marconi. He’s not a bad person for being a weapon manufacturer, because he did it following the rules, but they aren’t, because they didn’t.

Being a weapon manufacturer, again, isn’t a bad thing per se, even if it isn’t a good thing either. As long as there isn’t world peace, and the absolute assurance that this peace will go undisturbed, we need soldiers, we need weapons, and therefore we need weapon manufacturers ( but I already made my argument about it in my last post ).

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that most, or maybe even, all, of the real-world weapon manufacturers are not good people who always follow the rules. But in case you hadn’t noticed, Tony Stark is the ideal ( or as close as ) of what a weapon manufacturer should be ( still not good per se, still not bad per se ), because he lives in a fictional world.

If you can believe in a soldier who never obeys orders he thinks are wrong and yet never gets disciplined because of it, if you can believe in a guy who turns into a giant green rage monster, if you can believe that six people can stop an alien invasion, and then you tell me you can’t picture a honest weapon manufacturer in that same world, well.

What we don’t need are weapon manufacturers like de Fenouillet and Marconi. What we need are people who are willing to make them fall, but not by using violence first either, not when it’s not needed, not when you can do it differently.

( though, the Plan almost went South at one point, which is why, sometimes, you also need an assurance, like, say, a way not to get killed by the weapon manufacturer who has, *gasp*, weapons! )

[allthereclists]

mark for later ao3

i could live by the light in your eyes by wagamiller (Alex Knightley/Emma Woodhouse)

Kissing him feels like the exclamation point on every conversation they’ve ever had.

Any Way I Do by MissJeeves (Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov)

Tony discovers Clint and Natasha got married, reacts typically.

At least I don't like this idiot by Theravenqueen (Simon Lewis/Jace Lightwood)

Simon didn’t even need to look at his phone to know who was calling. “Fuck off Jace, I’m trying to sleep.”

Simon could almost hear the eyeroll coming from the other end of the line, and by the end of the conversation the smirk that was surely on Jace’s face.

Who the fuck plays Jenga at a bar

We understand each other by spockside (Pepper Potts/Tony Stark)

Some of the team don't think Tony treats Pepper very well. They don't get why Pepper puts up with him, until she's trapped in a building with some dangerous people and Tony takes action.

i could never count all the ways by shafferthefirst (Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons)

Jemma thinks Fitz is the best lab partner in the world. Fitz begs to differ.

Ten Maybes and a Prayer by SilviaKundera (Rory Gilmore/Logan Huntzberger)

"Because maybe, a little, you kind of want to save her."

At the Beginning With You by flyicarus (Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus)

In which Chirrut and Baze are young Guardians on Jedha, and when Jedi come to the Temple of the Kyber and take notice of Chirrut, Baze has to both confront and admit her feelings, with surprising results.

i am hopelessly a lover by emmaofmisthaven (Benvolio Montague/Rosaline)

For a moment, she pictures herself pulling him to her by his shirt, begging him to stay safe at her side. The thought disappears at soon as it appears, leaving her frowning and confused.

Achilles/Patroclus

Recognition by captainskellington 8,456

Patroclus didn’t need to ask who “he” was, he knew full well. He’d been living for this day for eight years now, some twisted cocktail of hope and dread seeping through his body every time he thought of it, which was often. He was back. He was back.

as the poets say by jinkandtherebels

I am missing half of my soul.

with my childhood's faith by Cordelia

In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood, like a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.

Dean Winchester/Sam Winchester

Sing Your Hymns Like Angels In Defeat by leonidaslion

And Lucifer Fell for a second time with the burning brilliance of a star. The Flare shone in his wake, and darkness fell upon the land ...

The Psychology of Genetic Sexual Attraction by sonofabiscuit77 48,529 

“…50% of of reunions between siblings, or parents and offspring, separated at birth result in obsessive emotions...”

This story begins in 2001 in a garage in Palo Alto when 18-year old Stanford student, Sam Sharma plucks up the courage to ask car mechanic, Dean Cooper, out for a cup of coffee. Their attraction is instantaneous and overwhelming, and the relationship that develops seems perfect. Except nothing is really perfect, and this particular love story started a long time before Sam and Dean even met.

Harry Hart/Gary 'Eggsy' Unwin

The Green by Ataraxetta

There's a very long moment of profound silence, and then Eggsy punches Harry right in his smug fucking face.

Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski

Choice by Omni

(Or: Stiles gets bitten by a different alpha, but of course would prefer to have Derek as his alpha. And also just, you know, have Derek.)

Now The Walls Line The Bullet Holes by HenryMercury

Derek’s looking at him with an uncomfortable sort of reverence—keeping his distance, keeping silent—and that’s the final straw. Stiles has been holding it together pretty well, he thinks, what with Peter’s bite and almost dying and suddenly gaining new psychic powers—but he has no idea how he’s supposed to come to grips with a world in which Derek Hale is afraid of Stiles Stilinski.

Teenage Dream by matildajones

After an accident, Stiles wakes up to what can only be a dream. He has money, he has fame, he has award winning actor Derek Hale as his husband. It quickly seems more and more like a nightmare because Stiles doesn't remember getting any of it - and it's hard to accept the reality that Derek can still love him.

Play Crack the Sky by WeAreTheCyclones

Excerpt from “Hale Pulls the Plug on the Future of Rock,” Rolling Stone, Issue 1203 – Oct. 2014 “Fans and music industry vets alike are left reeling in the wake of bassist Derek Hale’s sudden departure from Smokes for Harris. At a time when the foursome from Beacon Hills, California seems to be on the cusp of rock superstardom after just one double platinum record, Smokes has everything to lose.”

Best in Show by thegirlgrey

Derek adopts a cat. Or a cat adopts Derek. It all depends on who’s telling the story really.

Murder, He Wrote by mklutz

And that was how Stiles accidentally became a New York Times bestselling author.

Home by TheTypewriterGirl

January seventh. Seven days since the start of 2015, and seven days since his father’s death.

The bastard, he thinks bitterly. The past year Derek Hale had made it blatantly obvious that he hated his scrawny guts, taking every given opportunity to shove him up against a wall, growl threats in his ears and roll his eyes whenever he stepped into the room, muttering some snide comment about how spastic or idiotic he was.

So why did he fucking volunteer to take him in?

Read My Mind by sunnydalewerewolf

the one in which Derek is a mind-reading werewolf, and Stiles likes to spend his morning commute fantasizing about the ridiculously attractive guy sitting across from him.

And You Say You're Alone by taelynhawker

Between the kanima, the Argents, and Peter's untimely return from the dead, everything has fallen apart. Stiles and Derek try to put their lives back together once the crisis has passed. Stiles deals with the aftermath of being tortured, and the distance growing between he and Scott. Derek attempts to become a stronger alpha and keep his pack safe, and that includes Stiles.

Can't Take the Heat? by Ilovesocks_24

Or the one where Stiles is a new sous chef at Full Moon Steakhouse and Derek is the Gordon Ramsay of all head chefs. So of course they fall in love.

and home will feel like home again by eversincewefellapart

Derek had slipped the ring onto Stiles’ finger five years ago, when Stiles was still asleep, and had then watched the boy snore softly and peaceful, knowing that as soon as he’d wake he’d scrub his eyes, notice the ring and be anything but peaceful for days to come. It was possibly a bit stuck-up of Derek to think Stiles would accept, no doubt, but he had, in the end, snot-nosed and flushed-faced, warm hands buried in Derek’s hair, kissing him over and over, between his frantic, confused words.

You Can Hear It In the Silence by Mimiminaj

Stiles focused on Derek’s face long enough to see a flicker of regret flash across it. Good. Serves him right for throwing him against a brick wall.

Divided We Stand by KouriArashi

Derek is being pressured by his family to pick a mate, and somehow stumbles into a choice that they didn't expect and aren't sure they approve of....

I've Got This Friend by pollitt

This, Derek realizes, is his life.

Scott McCall/Stiles Stilinski

A Place to Belong by blacktofade

Stiles doesn’t know what to expect after they complete the ritual, after his father’s checked over at the hospital and released a few hours later, after Stiles is back at home, sitting on the end of his bed with a heaviness in his chest that’s never been there before.

Only Fools Rush In by daunt, rosewindow

“Pros to taking Stiles to the Werewolf Wedding: One, I’m non-supernatural, but I know about supernatural things. Two, I own a suit. Three, I look good in said suit."

Scott and Stiles attend a werewolf gathering and think they can totally play at being boyfriends, no problem. But Scott already has a bit of a crush on his best friend, and lets his protectiveness get the better of him, putting them in a tough situation.

A Phenomenon When You Came Along by Loz

Stiles and Scott embark on a road trip together. This isn't a metaphor (except for how it is.)

Love You So Hard by tryslora

Stiles is gonna be the best fake boyfriend ever, and Scott's not sure he'll survive the experience.

Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan

Thaw by passing-fanciful (kageygirl)

Emma's still having a problem balancing "being the Savior" and "enjoying the moments." Good thing she picked a partner who'll let her find her footing.

a one time thing (and other untruths) by weezly14 

"She supposes the reason she tells him is the same reason she kept his phone number after all those weeks." Pregnancy has a way of throwing a wrench in one's plans.

Someone Like You by seastarved

But what happens after the end of the story? What happens when the heroes lose and the villains win and nobody at all is happy? Perhaps you write a new ending. Perhaps the story goes on.

i'm having a hard time (i'm making you do the hard time too) by Sylv 

[Princess Emma is widely known for being beautiful and intelligent and remarkably good at getting what she wants. When a young lieutenant visits the castle, she decides she wants him.]

a breakfast for kings by captainkillianhjones 

eating in the same diner every morning and the waitress ALWAYS mixes up our orders so why don't we just sit at the same table to save her the trouble

I Almost Do by ihearttvsnark

Emma and Henry say goodbye to their friends and family and escape Storybrooke as Regina's magic defeats Pan's curse and sends everyone back to the Enchanted Forest. Or at least that was what was supposed to happen, but when Emma wakes up the next morning, she discovers that something went very wrong with the plan.

Every Day I Write The Book by msgenevieve

"I’m in the book now." To say that a lot has happened tonight is something of an understatement, but Emma is determined to make it all fit together on the same page. (Post-322. The title is stolen from the amazing Elvis Costello and one of the best songs ever written.)

Five Times Emma Kisses Killian and One Time She Does Something Else by jncar

Emma and Killian share a series of romantic moments in the midst of the struggle to defeat the witch. Season 3B speculation with a bunch of making out.

I've got her (and she's got me) by emmaofmisthaven

If there are ‘abort mission’ signs above her head, Neal choses to ignore them. The fool. “You can’t trust him. He’s a… a pirate.” “Yeah, well, he’s my pirate, so…”

Lovestoned by jaegermighty

"I have never seen so many naked people in my life," Emma says.

Off Limits by headoverhook 

She had always been like a little sister to him. Until the day she came back from college and everything changed. Best friend's sibling AU.

Shawn Hunter/Cory Matthews/Topanga Lawrence

it's been waiting for you by grim_lupine

After that Christmas that made him realize he wasn’t just affecting himself by running away for months and years at a time, Shawn isn’t really surprised when they all end up back in bed together months later. He wasn’t expecting it, wouldn’t let himself hope for it, but it feels as easy as it’s ever been to follow Cory and Topanga where they lead, wherever they’ll have him.

It’s been years since they last did this, and even that time had been years after he’d told himself it was the last time, the natural end to things, and found that it was easier to make that resolution than it was to follow it.

it's just home by screamlet

it's family time by screamlet

Three Years and Counting by rillalicious

Topanga knew a long time before Cory and Shawn figured it out.

All you know (all you need to know) by lakester

Cory was always going to marry Topanga Lawrence. Cory was always going to know Shawn Hunter. Cory was always going to love them both.

Jane Foster/Darcy Lewis/Thor

Selfie by engmaresh 

hey mom, Darcy writes one day in a Facebook private message. That’s the only way to guarantee her mom will see it. i’m dating my boss and a norse god. love, me.

Her mom's reply? Pics or it didn’t happen. :)

Until by gala_apples 

Darcy’s not stupid. She’s fallen for straight women before, and it’s never worked. She knows her crush on her sorta-boss, sorta-friend isn’t going to go anywhere. Until it does.

Jane refuses to be the media’s stereotype of a bisexual woman. She loves women, and she loves men, but she’s never cheated. She doesn’t need both at the same time. Until she does.

Thor can’t be the perfect prince. In Asgard stable relationships are full relationships, those of three or more. He can fight for his land, but he can’t have a family. Until he does.

All I want for Christmas is You by lunaemoth 

Christmas morning in London: croissants, kisses and promised gifts. Darcy can't complain.

A Little Spark kindles a great fire by lunaemoth

Darcy has been patiently waiting to be invited in Thor and Jane relationship.

Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa

I'll Be Seeing You by Eienvine

Someday he'll get past this phase where everything reminds him of her, he's sure; he just doesn't know when. What he does know is that it clearly takes more than four weeks to get over Peggy Carter.

Nice Guys Finish Strong by charleybradburies

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach.

Answering the Call by charleybradburies

If there's one thing about Jack Thompson that will never change, it's that he enjoys meddling in business that isn't really his. And if there's one thing about Daniel Sousa that will never change, it's that he's only a phone call away.

Christmas Present by Paeonia

Peggy and Daniel's first Christmas/holiday season together, when they're still very new and awkward in their relationship. In addition, maybe have the fic explore another milestone (first I love you? first time meeting parents/family/friends?). I generally prefer fluff, and would at the very least like a happy ending.

Balancing Act by Yalu

"You know," she said as lightly as she could, "I don't think I'll be able to get home tonight."

An Undercover Affair by keysburg

“But this deep cover mission will still be difficult. You know I don’t have a problem using people’s expectations against them. I’ve done it to you, even. However, it is one thing to do that briefly, and it is another to live a life that’s more or less the antithesis of everything I am. I am an agent, not a homemaker. And it is hard to see this as anything but the SSR telling me to learn my place."

Ethan Chandler/Vanessa Ives

I’m a tree that grows hearts; one for each that you take by diggingthegrave

Last episode Vanessa told Ethan she hasn't liked trees since the cut-wife's death and I think after having chopped down the specific offending tree that Ethan should decide to change her mind about that with some forest loving, maybe the morning after their heated kiss...kind of a what happened in the woods before the walk down the road?

And Would Be Lov'd Fain by Nokomis

He’d expected the rope, and now that he’s alive, exhilaratingly alive and free and breathing in the salty air on the wrong side of the Atlantic, all that Ethan can think of is Vanessa.

Wants and Needs by scorpionmother

She wakes in the night and knows only one person who can fulfil her wants and needs.

worse sights than this by rhllors

Vanessa, however, rises from her own ashes.

Mike Wheeler/Eleven

Friends Don't Lie, Don't Say Goodbye by The_Heart_of_an_Angel

After Eleven seemingly disappears forever when she defeated the Demogorgon, Mike is left heartbroken and to wonder what exactly happened to her. After Hopper leaves her food, she comes back and is reunited with Mike.

This is home by caarlgriimes

Eleven ended up is the upside down but was saved by Hopper. This story will chronicle the lives of our favourite adventurers after the season final.

Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar

Post-Midnight Guests by BurningUpASunJustToSayHello

Lucifer isn't exactly sure how he got to the Detective's house but, he does know that his back is killing him.

reformation by Cloudnine101

You know, there is a special circle of Hell reserved for nosy children," Lucifer says.

Trixie stares at him. "Is that why you're looking in mummy's underwear drawer?"

WIP

Say Anything...Except That by cortexikid (Peter Parker/Wade Wilson)

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Cruising the Crunchy-Catalog: "Flowers of Evil"

What's Cruising the “Crunchy-Catalog”?

  Selecting a new anime to watch may not be as difficult as interpreting the work of 19th century French Symbolist poets, but a little guidance certainly couldn't hurt. Consider “Cruising the Crunchy-Catalog” to be your friendly literature tutor. Each week we provide additional information and cultural context to help anime fans decide whether or not they'd like to take an unknown series for a test drive.

    What's Flowers of Evil?

  Flowers of Evil is a 2013 TV anime with direction by Hiroshi Nagahama and animation by Zexcs. The series is based on the Aku no Hana manga by Shūzō Oshimi, which was serialized in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from 2009 – 2014. The series takes its title from Les Fleurs du mal, a collection of poetry by Charles Baudelaire. Crunchyroll describes Flowers of Evil as follows:

    "FLOWERS OF EVIL revolves around Takao Kasuga, who is caught stealing Nanako Saeki's gym clothes by Sawa Nakamura whose cold attitude makes her generally disliked by everyone. In exchange for her silence, he makes a ‘contract’ with her, in which he must abide by all of her unreasonable demands. Initially torturous, Kasuga wants out until one day when things start to change between them..."

    Essentially, Flowers of Evil is a dark drama with elements of adolescent romance and psychological suspense. The series is a slow-burn, digging deep into the psyches of a trio of troubled youths whose complicated emotional and psychological growth belies the prosaic setting of their sleepy mountain town.

    The Art of Rotoscoping.

  The most striking visual element of Flowers of Evil is the extensive use of rotoscoping, a technique that isn't terribly common in Japanese television animation. Rotoscoping involves animators tracing over live action footage frame-by-frame, a labor-intensive process that is greatly aided by modern computers.

    The rotoscoping in Flowers of Evil was a bold directorial choice, one to which many fans of the original manga (which has a more traditional visual aesthetic) objected. However, the rotoscoping not only allows Flowers of Evil to maintain a high level of verisimilitude – especially with regards to the subtle nuances of facial expressions – but it also allows the animators to make heavy use of the environment as a metaphor for the minds of the characters.

    When Kasuga is happy, his imagination paints the world around him as a bright place filled with blue skies and sunshine. When he sinks into the depths of despair, the world transforms into an inky hellscape with a blood-shot horizon, overrun with prickly thistles sporting accusatory eyes, the titular "flowers of evil".

    The Audio Landscape.

  The music and sound design of Flowers of Evil are also especially strong. As Kasuga descends deeper and deeper into his internal crisis, his stress is represented by the slithering, scuttling sound of the flowers of evil growing within his heart. The ending theme in particular (“Hana – a last flower” by ASA-CHANG and Junray) is great at conveying a sense of psychological disquiet and creeping unease.

    The Ordinary and the Perverse.

  There's a Japanese proverb that translates as follows: “The protruding nail gets hammered down.” In Japan, enormous social pressure is brought to bear on young people, encouraging them to conserve and conform, to not stick out, to not make waves. Individual expression takes a backseat to familial duty, and maintaining a sterling reputation in the eyes of one's peers and neighbors is paramount.

    Flowers of Evil is so effective as a drama because it shows both sides of this equation, grounding the story in the ordinary so that the perverse feels increasingly extreme by comparison. For every shot of Kasuga freaking out, there's a reaction shot of some ordinary person simply going about their everyday life, unaffected by the weighty emotional concerns of the protagonists.

    Because of this juxtaposition, all of the conflicts at the heart of Flowers of Evil – Kasuga's “perversion”, Saeki's practice of concealing her pain and confusion behind an impregnable smile, and Nakamura's desperate desire to flee to “the other side” – become magnified in their significance.

  The Tale Continues.

  Crunchyroll currently streams Flowers of Evil in 77 territories worldwide. The series is available in the original Japanese with subtitles in English, Latin American Spanish, and Portuguese. Flowers of Evil is also released on DVD and Bluray in North America by Sentai Filmworks, and all 11 volumes of the original Flowers of Evil manga are available in an English language edition from Vertical, Inc..

    If you're in the mood for a drama with deliberate pacing, unique visuals, strong performances, an acidic sense of humor, and an appreciation for the absurdities of teenage angst, consider giving Flowers of Evil a try. Be warned, though. It's an emotionally draining experience, especially if you see some part of yourself in the characters, in the postures that they assume in public, and in the masks that they wear to hide their true selves from the rest of the world.

    Is there a series in Crunchyroll's catalog that you think needs some more love and attention? Please send in your suggestions via e-mail to cruisingcrunchy@gmail.com or post a Tweet to @gooberzilla. Your pick could inspire the next installment of “Cruising the Crunchy-Catalog”!

  Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com