#having a tv show or movie is GREAT for me to introduce someone to a series i love so then i could go

[arckhaic]

idk what im saying but i just think hating on a piece of media bc it's been made into a different form ( specifically book into a movie / show / play / etc ) is so limiting ... like ur not any better bc you hold the opinion that the book is better than show and picking it apart to show the differences only the proves the point that they're Two Different Pieces of Media ... interpretations aren't inherently bad they're just different

you can enjoy them both

[bettsfic]

Betts. how do I stop feeling jealous of everyone and everything and just focus on myself? I'm tired of being comprised of nothing but envy.

story time:

so i was recently at Millay, which is one of the top artist residencies in the country. they have an acceptance rate of something like 3%. when i was shown my room, there was a packet of all the residents' artist bios. i sat down and read through all of them. most of them were like half a page in length, single-spaced, listing out accomplishments i could never dream of. one artist had won a guggenheim. one author had published 12 books. another author published her first book at 19 years old. these were people who were extremely well accomplished and respected in their fields.

and we all became very good friends!

and then there was me. my bio was 3 sentences listing out a couple short publications and awards and other residencies i'd done. and my honest to god first thought was, "wow, the jurors must have really liked my writing to have accepted me among all these great artists."

and my second thought was, "that's the healthiest thing i have ever thought."

i had no jealousy of their accomplishments. even though my career hadn't even begun compared to theirs, i didn't attend dinner that night with any impostor syndrome. and that confirmed for me that i had grown out of whatever place i used to be in as a person, where i was basically a raw wound wrapped in barbed wire. everything hurt me and i hurt everything in return.

jealous feelings come from an intense need of external approval, but as i've mentioned in other asks, approval and validation is a well that gets filled over time. at our introductory dinner that night, i didn't talk about my work in the hope of convincing everyone i deserved to be there, which was what i would've done a few years before. instead we all ended up talking about a TV show. the most highbrow place i've ever been in my life, and we're getting wine drunk and discussing at length a cheesy discovery channel reality series. the guggenheim winner: loves box turtles. the guy who's published 12 books: his favorite movie is Spirited Away. the girl who published a book at 19: reads One Direction fanfic. the well-lauded poet: old school tumblrina.

actually, 4 out of 7 of us read fanfic and we had some great conversations about it. sometime i'll tell you about introducing the co-director of the residency to AO3.

when you think of the most accomplished and successful writer you've ever read, remember that they are, at the very core of their being, a nerd. and if you were to eat dinner with them, you would, with enough polite inquisitiveness, be able to unlock the goofy side of them that binges Property Brothers.

so that was the big change for me, i think. i started asking a lot of questions. i stopped talking and i started listening. it seems counterintuitive that admitting to not knowing stuff shows confidence, but it does. pretending you know stuff is what looks insecure. i think for me, i put so much of myself in my work, i wanted my work to be lauded so i could feel accomplished, and feeling accomplishment would let me believe i deserved to exist. but over time, i've reframed that mentality. my work is a thing that exists beyond me and is private to those who read it. it comes from me, but it is not me. what i am is just the person i am, and my life is a series of moments i choose for myself, and i am allowed to exist.

even sending this ask shows that you've begun filling your well. it takes someone who's already come a long way to realize jealousy isn't the status quo and is a feeling to be overcome. and you can overcome it. you can reach a place where you have enough success that other people's success has nothing to do with you, and you're free to just be happy for them. and when you read work that's better than yours you feel joy at learning something new.

so put your work into the world and let it be rejected. you'll rack up a couple wins or close calls, and those will give you energy to be rejected some more. and eventually you'll be rejected so much that rejection doesn't feel like anything, and you will have won enough to realize your work has a place in the world, and that place is no bigger or smaller than anyone else's. your work is allowed to exist simply as it is, and you are allowed to exist simply as you are.

[luna-andra]

StepDad!König Headcanons (SFW & Wholesome) ✨

Image @cozyhuii (@miss_bozo on Twitter)

Headcanons I thought up of König being a step daddy to reader's kid

A/N: Y'all got my very first König headcanon list to 600+ notes earlier today and I had to pump this one out. I had been in a writing rut for a while (still kind of am? But I'm finding my way back) and this is my way of showing my gratitude. StepDad!König originally was something I did for me (König being step daddy to my kid? YES PLEASE) but I made this gender neutral (& gn kid) like the other ones 🖤

Domesticated!König Series: Part 1 Part 2

I write other stuff too! Masterlist here 🖤

👑 His reaction was the better outcome you had thought up when König found out you had a kid from a previous relationship. Why would that deter him from continuing to date you? He was a man that didn’t view single parents as “spoiled goods”, and would quite frankly curb stomp someone if they heard them refer to you as such.

👑 He was aware of the possibility of you postponing and rescheduling dates, and unfortunately they did happen. “Sitter canceled? No problem.” “Mom/Dad bailed on their weekend? I get it.” You were so relieved by his patience and empathy for the times plans would fall through.

👑 It was clear to König that you were going to hold off on introducing him to your child. He had great respect for that rule, it meant you were very keen on not having a revolving door of people coming in and out of that kid’s life.

👑 As time went on, he would always show an active interest in your child by asking how they are doing in school? Did they still like [insert movie/TV show here]? He hoped they liked the treats he had bought at the PX on base.

👑 But the one time you seemed extremely defeated and bummed out about another postponed date, he took his chance and threw out the idea of hanging out - the three of you - at your house. You hesitated, but it had been nearly long enough for you to be okay with it. The guilt weighed on you considering it had been a hot minute since the two of you had any time for each other. König was such a sweetheart, reassuring you that this is how he wanted to spend his time, with you and your kiddo.

👑 Almost every date after that became an outing with the three of you. He was referred to as Onkel König by your child, a title that warmed his gigantic heart.

👑 Came to every sports game/martial arts competition/band or orchestra event/etc. Became as active as the bio mom/dad (if they were still around) in their extra-curricular activities. He didn’t want to miss a single thing.

👑 Speaking of bio mom/dad/ex-spouse, he made the conscious effort to be acquainted with them if they were still present in Kiddo’s life. As long as they were cordial, so was König.

👑 Spoiled the hell out of Kiddo for Christmas and birthdays. They wanted for nothing and sometimes you hated it but were also thankful that he has come to love a child that originally wasn’t his.

👑 We all know König is of older age given his rank of Colonel. It’s so funny when he has to ask you about lingo the younger kids use. “What is bussies and why do they want to go there so much?” That was fun explaining it to König as his face grew intensely pink at his ignorance. It’s best if he comes to you every time he hears something new fly out of that kid’s mouth.

👑 He always used German terms of endearment for the both of you, and Kiddo picked up German the more time they spent with König. It forced you to learn too (you were already learning but you were putting in extra hours after bedtime to stay ahead of them).

👑 100% a prankster. And oh god… did it get out of hand quickly. You had to sit both of them down to scold them about putting soy sauce in your coffee when you weren’t looking; that was the final straw. No one messes with the morning coffee. 

👑 Came home with a puppy from the animal shelter because Kiddo got an A on their test (failed to mention to König that it was a test they had already got rewarded for).

👑 The only time you ever saw this man cry was at Kiddo’s graduation. They said to their friends “Can you take a picture of me with my Dad? He showed up in uniform for this.” He held it together for the event, but let the tear loose on the way home.

Likes & reblogs are always appreciated! Asks are opened for requests & ideas for others. Might do some for Ghost in the future ✨

[vanishingcherry]

GOT A SENSE I'D BEEN BETRAYED

pairings: lando norris x reader

warnings: swearing, mclaren being shitty, lando being shitty for agreeing with mclarens plans, break ups, general angst

authors note: based on this request hii! thanks for requesting! the start is just a bit of a backstory, so its not that great. prompt 9 is "'you promised' 'i know'", prompt 10 is "none of it was real... was it?" and prompt 11 is "don't touch me". check out my prompt list

masterlist

๑ ⋆˚₊⋆────ʚ˚ɞ────⋆˚₊⋆ ๑

When introduced to the world of F1, you immediately became a fan.

After a couple years of watching the sport on TV, you managed to get tickets to a Grand Prix not too far from your city. You were overjoyed as you walked through the entrance on Friday, having managed to snag tickets for all three days of the race weekend as well as a paddock pass for free practice.

Decked out in all the merch you owned, you were a sight to see. Lucky for you, the clashing shades of red, orange, black, green and blue were an all too common sight at a race, allowing you to comfortably blend in wherever you were.

Your day at the paddock was amazing, to say the least. Watching pitstop practices, meeting other fans and even taking pictures of and with a few of the drivers. It was, arguably, one of the best days of your life.

You were just about to leave the paddock when a McLaren employee walked towards you, blocking your path.

"Hello! I'm Julie, what's your name?"

After replying with slight confusion, she explained why she was talking to you.

"Lando saw you earlier in the day when you were outside his garage and wanted to talk to you! I'm glad I caught you, he wanted me to give you these paddock passes for tomorrow on behalf of McLaren."

She went on about everything the passes included, but you were still stuck on the fact that Lando was the one who had invited you.

"Wait- I uh- Lando? As in Norris? The driver?"

"Yeah." she laughed at your reaction. "Just come and show these passes to anyone at the McLaren hospitality tomorrow and they'll tell you where to go."

When you showed up the following day, weirdly enough, they directed you straight to Lando. You got to talking, and before you knew it you had spent hours with him. The two of you were interrupted a while before qualifying was meant to begin, and shockingly, he asked to take you on a date the next week.

You were slightly skeptical, it seemed like something straight out of a movie and you knew that going on a date with Lando could have repercussions on your entire life. Nonetheless, even you knew that turning down this invitation would be stupid. Even if it didn't lead to anything, it would be an experience for sure.

To your surprise, it was one of the best dates you had ever been on. A year later, the two of you were still together. Despite the unordinary circumstances that had brought you together, you were glad to have caught his eye that day.

Since then, you had accompanied him to many races, and today was no different. Heading towards his driver room, you lift your hand to knock, before stopping centimeters from the door. Someone else was in the room, you could hear hushed voices. You turn around, taking a few steps away, giving them their privacy.

"Y/N deserves to know!"

It was the voice of one of his friends, and the sound of your name had caught your attention.

"I can't tell her right now, okay? I- I'll tell her soon." That was Lando. You frowned at his statement, now wondering what he was keeping from you.

"Lando the longer you keep this from her, the worse it's going to get. In fact, you're probably lucky if she finds out now and doesn't leave."

"Don't you think I know that? Why do you think I'm not telling her?" Lando's sudden outburst was too much. He was hiding something that potentially changed the entire course of your relationship, you deserved to know what.

You slowly open the door, walking in just in time to hear what Lando's friend says.

"If you're not going to tell her, I am. She deserves to know that this started as a publicity stunt, even if that may have changed now."

"What?" you say in disbelief. Even though you barely heard the word yourself, both Lando and his friend turned to you at the sound. It would have been comical, how fast their eyes widened and expressions changed. But in the moment, all you could focus on was the fact that Lando didn't deny it.

Started as a publicity stunt.

Why do you think I'm not telling her!

You're probably lucky if she finds out now and doesn't leave.

Lando's friend murmurs an excuse, brushing shoulders with you as he walks out and softly closes the door behind him. Leaving you and Lando alone. If it was any other day, you would have been overjoyed to be alone with Lando, with his schedules and races you were rarely left alone. But right now, all you wanted to do was leave. Still, you ask.

"None of it was real... was it?"

Lando didn't answer. At a loss for words, his mouth opened and closed. He was wracking his brain, trying to think of something to say that would make you believe him, trust him. He had fucked up, he knew it. He just had to figure out how to fix it, make things right so that you wouldn't leave him.

You didn't notice the look of anguish on his face, instead you continued speaking, trying to make sense of the situation.

"You just thought that it would be okay to lead me on. That when I found out I was just for publicity, I would be okay with it. Or actually, you probably weren't going to tell me at all, based on your conversation" you all but shouted, referring to what you had overheard.

"I can't believe you!" The room, although large, seemed to be closing in on you. You felt like you were suffocating. "Say something Lando."

He stayed silent.

"God!" you turned around, resting your forehead in your hands, going through every moment of your relationship. The bright and happy memories were now darkened with the knowledge of Lando's initial intentions.

Waking up from whatever trance he had been placed in at the sight of you, Lando silently walks over. He carefully wraps his arms around you, pulling you into his chest.

"I'm so sorry, my love. I wanted to tell you I swear, I just chickened out every time. I love you, okay? I love you so much and I swear I'm not lying." He starts off, trying to explain before you cut him off.

"You promised." you whisper.

"I know." he mutters, knowing exactly what you meant.

"You promised, Lando. You promised you would never hurt me." Your voice cracked as you shrugged off his arms. He takes a few steps back and instead picks up your hands and plants a small kiss to your knuckles.

"I know, I'm so, so sorry. Darling, please just-"

"Don't touch me!"

He flinches at your tone, moving his hands from your own and taking a step back. Taking a couple deep breathes, he tries again.

"My love, I am so sorry." He bends down slightly, trying to make eye contact. "It started as a publicity stunt, yes, but I fell in love- I am in love with you."

He pauses for a moment, but remains undeterred when you don't respond. "I swear, all of it was real. My feelings are real, I never lied about those."

"Yeah, just lied about everything else" you scoff.

He almost reaches out to you before remembering that you didn't want to be touched by him. He flexes his hand before balling it into a fist near his thighs.

"I'm so sorry. Please just let me explain and I swear I'll fix this, okay? I- i'll figure something out and I'll fix this and we're going to be okay." At this point, he was convincing himself more than he was you.

Before he could say anything else, there was a knock on his door, signalling that he had to get in the car.

"Lando, its time."

"I know, I- just give me a minute" he begs.

"Lando we have to go right now, the race starts in 10 minutes". His engineer is adamant, slamming the door behind him, leaving no room for argument.

"Fuck!" he turns to you. "Darling, just stay here, yeah? Just for a while. I- we can talk after the race, I'm so sorry, just please stay here."

He waits for you to nod, eyes frantically scanning every inch of your face for a sign that you would stay. When you don't provide one, he sighs, running a hand through his hair.

"Please. Please, I am begging you just don't lea-"

"Lando! Now." A voice calls through the door.

"Coming." He shouts back. Turning to you again he speaks, walking backwards out the door as he picks up his baclava and helmet. "Please, just stay. I'm so sorry, we'll talk right after the race I promise. I love you."

With that, he leaves you alone in his driver room. You take a deep breath before sitting on the chair. You couldn't find it in you to stay, and so the moment the race started, you were up and finding a taxi back to the hotel.

Lando couldn't focus. From the moment he sat in the car till the moment he got out, all he could think about was you and the pained look on your face when you found out.

He regretted everything. The fact that he had kept this a secret for so long, and the fact that he didn't let you find out this way. But most of all, he regretted the day he agreed to the publicity stunt.

No one was supposed to find out about it. It was simple. He would date you for a couple months, and then make an excuse to break up. You wouldn't find out, the media wouldn't find out and he would have the publicity the team wanted. It would serve as the perfect distraction too, any poor performances would be overshadowed by the news of his new girlfriend. The team thought it was great, it would mean more fans interested in him because it wasn't everyday a driver dated someone that wasn't a model or famous.

Till he fell in love with you. He fell hard too, it wasn't slow and gradual but all at once. He was just sitting at his apartment, watching you read a book on the sofa when the realisation crashed down on him. That he would give up anything for you, that you were it for him. You were the only one he wanted to spend time with, only one he wanted to see when he came home after a race.

Lando knew that he should have stopped it then, broken up or at least told you. But he was selfish, he wanted to stay in the bliss you had created together. And so what was supposed to be a few months turned into 6 and then a year.

The race was shit for Lando. He had half a mind to crash on purpose, just because it would mean getting back to you faster. Nonetheless, he stayed on track, praying that there would be no red flags to delay the end. He had qualified well, at P8, but slipped back to P15 by the time the checkered flag came out.

The second he entered the garage, he walked straight to his drivers room, completely ignoring all the mechanics and engineers trying to console him after the bad result.

Opening the door in a hurry, he swears at the sight of no one in the room. "Fuck fuck fuck!"

He spins around a couple times, making sure you weren't there before opening his phone and walking out of the room in a hurry. At the back of his mind, Lando knew that there were a million things he had to do before leaving, but he forgot about all of them, running to the spot where his car was parked.

He tries calling you, repeatedly pressing on your contact as he speeds past the red light. He'd pay all the fines they wanted, getting to you was more important. He sighs when you don't pick up, face scrunching as he tries to keep the tears back.

Reaching the hotel, he hands the car to the valet, running through the lobby, just managing to slide into a closing elevator. Once at the right floor, he unlocks your hotel room.

He is close to crying when he realises that this room too is empty. You had taken your belongings, and all that was left was Lando's half-open suitcase in the corner.

But what really got him crumbling down is the note you'd written and left on his pillow. He read it over and over, making sure his eyes weren't deceiving him.

I'm sorry, I just can't. Don't message me. Please.

[the-froschamethyst4]

Who’s he dating?

𖤐Pairing: Actor! Alejandro x F! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: Fluff, emotional, drama, language, kissing, jealously, groping, ass smacking, worrying,

𖤐Summary: Alejandro is a famous actor, being a bunch of movies where he plays villains or Mafia bosses, and the ladies LOVED HIM and men wanted to be him but what they didn't know is that Alejandro is married, and no one knew about it till they saw his ring

——————

——————

Alejandro was pacing behind Jimmy Fallon's dark navy-blue curtain as he started to introduce Alejandro.

"And now introducing the face of his new movie If Death was my Lover, Alejandro Vargas," Alejandro heard his name and put on a smile as the curtains opened for him.

He walks out waving to the crowd, bro-hugging Jimmy and Jimmy showed him to the famous couch letting Alejandro have a seat.

"Alejandro, it is amazing to have you on the show."

"Thanks for having me," Alejandro said with a smile.

At the Hotel room Alejandro had rented out, his wife Y/n sat on the black couch watching the TV specifically watching The Tonight Show. She crossed her legs with a bowl of popcorn on her lap, she smiled seeing her husband on TV.

Alejandro's handsome smile on his face as he answered Jimmy's questions and then Jimmy wanted to do a game with Alejandro, Y/n smiled when her husband was winning against Jimmy.

"EVERYONE ALEJANDRO VARGAS DON'T GO ANYWHERE WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK!!" Jimmy yells.

Alejandro shook Jimmy's hand as he walked off the stage. Alejandro got backstage and immediately rubbed his head, he was getting a massive headache, he asked around for some ibuprofen which he finally found someone with it.

He took about 2 with some water and went back to his dressing room waiting for his headache to disappeared. He's been getting them for a while and is too afraid to tell Y/n that he's been getting migraines from stress on working.

He felt his headache slowly go away and he headed to his blacked-out Audi and headed to the hotel.

---------

Y/n was getting her pajamas on, and she heard her hotel room door open, and slam shut. She turned and smiled seeing her husband.

"Alejandro," she coos, she walks up to him and wraps her arms around his neck. He held her waist and bent down kissing her lips with a smile on his face.

"Did you have fun?"

"I did...but I was missing you the whole time," he said, kissing her temple.

"Did you?"

"Yes, I don't know what's going on, but I've been getting nervous now, I was pacing backstage and was just nervous," he said, holding her close to his chest.

"It's okay, baby, but it went away, right?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Of course, amor," he kissed her lips.

---------

4:00AM

Alejandro had woken up before the sun, he sat at the edge of the bed, rubbing the back of his neck and the sheets just covering his lower half.

Y/n was asleep next to him, he grabbed his phone and headed to the balcony to see what's new.

He opened his social media and then saw.

OMG ALEJANDRO VARGAS IS MARRIED!!

Some screenshotted Alejandro from last night on The Tonight Show, and then the other photo showed Alejandro's hand with his black wedding ring on.

"Shit," he mumbled. He's been great at keeping his marriage a secret, but he slipped up and forgot to take his ring off before the interview.

"Alejandro?" He looked up hearing his name and the sliding door open.

"Mi amor, I am so sorry."

"Huh? Why?" She asked as Alejandro pulled her to his lap.

"People saw my ring from the interview and now-"

"Alejandro it's okay...people know you're married they don't know to who."

"And I rather keep it that way, no one knowing who I am married to, it's no one's business and I don't want people hurting you or trying to threaten you...I'll make a statement about the ring and just say it was a ring I found not a wedding ring or something like that."

"That's fine, baby," she kissed his lips and headed back inside the hotel. "Come to bed, I know you're tired," she said as he smiled and followed her inside.

---------

6:30AM

Alejandro really couldn't go back to sleep, he held Y/n to his chest and looked at the ceiling taking in her scent as well. She let out a soft yawn and rolled over on the other side cuddling the pillow.

He got up and opened the curtains just barely and saw that the sun was up now. He rubbed the back of his neck, he closed them and turned on the little lamp next to the big bed and got his clothes ready for a shower.

He turned the water on and started to get ready, they had to leave to go back to LA to go over a new movie with Netflix. Alejandro has been stressed out with new movies and new TV series, which is due to his headaches.

Y/n heard the water running in the bathroom. She opened the bathroom door and could see his outline in the shower.

"Alejandro?"

"Good morning, amor," he says.

"Good morning," she said, grabbing her hairbrush and brushing her hair and then her teeth. Alejandro stopped the shower and got out with a towel around his waist.

He kissed her temple. "We've got to get going soon," he said, holding her waist now watching her in the mirror brushing her teeth and then her mumbling in response.

"What was that?" He teased.

"I mow (I know)," she said, placing her hand under her chin trying to not let the toothpaste fall out of her mouth. He kissed her temple and smacked her butt before walking out of the bathroom and grabbing some comfortable clothes to wear to the airport.

He even goes ahead and picks out Y/n's outfits when she gets out of the shower.

Alejandro got his clean boxers on and started to rub his towel on his hair drying it the best he could. Y/n saw her husband in his boxers bent over just a little bit drying his hair. She smiled and smacked his butt; he smacked her away as she laughed at him.

"Really?" He said as Y/n cornered herself.

"Yes," she laughs.

He grabs her wrist pulling her close to his chest and groped her ass making her moan just a little.

"Thought we had to get going," she teased.

He let go of her and grabbed his jeans and a lose t-shirt.

"Get dressed, so we can head out," he smirked and walked to the bathroom to brush his teeth. She unwrapped her body from the towel and then grabbed the clothes, she had an oversized t-shirt and some shorts.

-----------

At The Airport

Alejandro went in first to get the swarming paparazzi away from the car to see Y/n sitting in the car waiting. Alejandro just lazily smiles and awkwardly smile at the cameras.

The car circled the parking lot and Y/n changed cars. She got in a yellow cab and was taken back to the front; it was so much work just to hide from the flashing cameras.

As she exits the car and went through all the security, she tried to find the exit to get to the private area to get on Alejandro's private jet. As she saw the exit and she grabbed her pass to show to the lady.

"Hi, miss, what can I help you with?" She asked.

"Hi, umm~ this is my pass," she looked at it and let Y/n through. Alejandro stood by the door waiting for her.

He grabs her hand, and she jumped thinking it was someone else.

"Jesus, you scared me," she said.

"Sorry, mi amor," he laughs. "Did everything go, alright?"

"Yes, no problems," she smiled at they got on the private jet. Alejandro picked a seat and Y/n sat next to him and his manager and assistant sat in front of them.

"So, we will land in LA in 5 hours and 23 minutes, so we should get there on time, see Netflix and go over the new movie you'll shoot for them and then you should have a break in between to go back home and relax till a new movie or deal," his manager Xavier said as his assistant Dillon was taking notes.

"Great," Alejandro said, sounding annoyed and then the jet started, immediately Alejandro's head started to pound.

"Alejandro?" Y/n cooed, placing her hand on his.

"Sorry...I've got a headache," he said as Dillon grabbed some headache medicine.

Y/n's eyes screamed that she was worried as Alejandro took the medicine. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his manager and assistant left Y/n and Alejandro alone.

"Alejandro," Y/n cupped his face.

"Mi amor, please, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. How long have you been getting headaches?"

"....A few weeks," he confesses.

"Alejandro-"

"Please, don't yell....it's not gone yet..." he says, placing his hand behind her head. “I’m sorry I haven’t told you, I’ve just been busy…”

“And you being busy makes you have headaches…Alejandro it’d probably be best if you took at least a few weeks off, you’re stressing yourself out,” she says.

"I'm fine-"

"You're not, Xavier, Alejandro needs to take some days off from working-"

"Amor, no."

"Don't you 'no' me, Alejandro. Xavier, please," Y/n begged.

"Y/n he's signed a contract to work at least 4 weeks a month and a 2-week break...we can't just stop now."

"Why not, he's getting headaches and next thing you know he's losing his hair, Xavier, we're taking a break and that's final."

The jet ride was silent as the destination was getting changed around, Y/n knows Alejandro is probably upset with her right now, but someone had to make the calls around here. Y/n played with her fingers as the jet landed. Everyone gathered their things.

Alejandro got off the jet leaving Y/n behind, she knew she messed up, but she did what she had to do so her husband could rest.

Alejandro got in a black unmark Audi and Y/n opened the back seat, but Alejandro snapped his fingers pointing to the passenger seat, she thought Alejandro may not want to speak to her, so she wanted to ride in the back.

She sat in the passenger side and looked down at her legs, she felt bad, and she could feel the tension in the car, it was strong and felt like he was going to yell at any moment, but he didn't say anything as he drove off to their home.

Alejandro's knuckles were white, and his gaze was on the road, not a word was spoken, nothing, hardly any music played as well.

"A-Alejandro, I am so sorry, I said something like that, but I can't watch you drag yourself into the ground, and almost kill yourself, I just can't see that happen to you," she said, looking at him.

He didn't say anything till he pulled up into their driveway. She got out first and grabbed her things, Alejandro walked into his home as Y/n opened the door and saw his shoes and coat by the front door and he is talking, probably on the phone with Xavier or someone.

"God, I am such an idiot," she said to herself.

She goes into her bedroom and changes out of her clothes into sweatpants and a crewneck. She went to the living room and looked down at her phone seeing her social media.

Fans were still blowing up about Alejandro being married. Y/n rolled her eyes at the hate comments saying she's probably ugly and smiled at the ones telling off the haters because he didn't look at them first.

Alejandro came downstairs seeing his wife and just stared at her, she looks up and saw him.

"What?"

"I understand you were probably just helping....and I'm sorry for getting all pissy for no reason," he says. He walks towards her and lays on the couch and used her thighs as his own personal pillow.

"Okay, okay, it's okay, Alejandro. I should have just left it alone..." she says, patting his head and running her fingers through his soft hair.

"It's okay," he says, kissing her thigh making her shiver down her spine and she squeezed her thighs just a little bit. Alejandro smirked knowing what he is doing. He turns his head his mouth just grazing her thighs again and just gently biting her leaving a bite mark on her thigh.

"A-Alejandro!"

"What? Mi amor?" He coos, sitting up and cupping her face and kissing her lips.

"Don't 'what, mi amor' me," she says.

He just chuckles and picks her up off the couch and took her to the bedroom, he places her on the bed and crawled on top of her and kissed her lips again.

[deus-ex-mona]

just a tl of mona's q&a from her summery! photobook~~

Q1: Please introduce yourself.

A: I’m mona, a High School student and an idol. It’s nice to meet you!

Q2: What is something that you’ve been hooked on lately?

A: Trying out different foods! As you can see from a couple of the pictures in my photobook, I love to eat shaved ice with tons of fruits on it. I plan on trying shaved ice topped with lots of mangoes next time.

Q3: What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

A: I stretch out, just like a cat does. My body is all stiff when I wake up, so stretching feels great. I recommend that you guys do it too!

Q4: What is something that you always carry with you?

A: Lip balm, I guess. As I’m an idol, I’d like to avoid having dry lips if I can help it!

Q5: Do you collect any items?

A: I collect goods of idol girls. Whenever I attend their concerts, I buy at least 10 random bromides, though I’d buy 20 if I can afford them! Also, I have all the CDs of the idols I follow!

Q6: What is your favourite ride at the amusement park?

A: The roller coasters! Like the ones that make you scream a ton, I guess. But that bungee jump that I did on that one TV show was pretty scary~.

Q7: What would you say your strong point is?

A: The flexibility of my body, I guess. I train my flexibility every day for the sake of my dances.

Q8: What is something that you are unable to deal with?

A: I can’t stand horror stuff all that well. Though, I’m the type of person who’d become composed when I’m with someone who’s more scared than me.

Q9: What would you do if you had 5 more hours in a day?

A: I’d play games! I’ve been hooked on a dating sim these days… It’s so much fun that the hours just fly by. I wanna romance all of the targets someday. Ah! I’m not betraying all of my fans with a boyfriend, or cheating on you guys or anything! I promise! This is just a really fun game! I mean it! Please believe me!

Q10: What would you do if you turned into a cat?

A: I’d want to bother my owner! Cats will be forgiven if they selfishly plead for attention, won’t they? I wanna be spoiled a ton too!

Q11: At what point during your Summer vacations would you usually finish your homework?

A: I’d try my best to do my homework on the first day of Summer vacation, but the end of the break always arrives before I know it. So I alwaaays end up barely finishing my homework in time…

Q12: Are anniversaries important to you?

A: Not really~. But maybe I just don’t know cuz I’ve never wanted to fall in love! The birthdays of my family and friends are really important to me, though.

Q13: Do you wait for the entire recommended duration before eating your cup noodles?

A: Nope. I like my noodles firm! Plus, the noodles will soften while I’m preparing my meal afterwards anyway.

Q14: If you could change just one thing about yourself, what would it be?

A: I wouldn’t change anything. Everyone loves me just the way I am after all! …I sure said a really embarrassing cheesy line there, ehehe.

Q15: What would you do if the world ended tomorrow?

A: I’d hold a concert! I’d want to have fun with everyone till the very end.

Q16: What would you do if you turned into the opposite gender for just one day?

A: I’d want to tease my Big Sis, I guess. She’s so pure that I think it’d be really fun to tease her. I wanna make her heart pound!

Q17: What is a must-buy for you at convenience stores?

A: Ice cream! There are new kinds of ice cream every time I go. It’s the best~.

Q18: What gestures could a member of the opposite gender do that would make your heart skip a beat?

A: Eh, lemme think… Maybe my heart would pound if I saw him enjoy a delicious meal? Like the other day, my heart pounded as I watched this boy from the same batch as me eat cream puffs. No, maybe the sight of a boy who loved sweets was just so cute that my heart skipped a beat… I don’t really know for sure!

Q19: If you could live in a fictional world from either a book, TV show, or a movie, what kind of world would it be?

A: I’d want to live in a world where I could use magic. I still dream of flying to the skies on a broomstick with the use of magic.

Q20: Do you think aliens exist?

A: I think they do! The thought that there’s a civilisation that’s way more advanced than ours in a galaxy far, far away is pretty exciting, right?

Q21: Which of the four seasons is your favourite?

A: Summer! Be it Summer live festivals, Summer festivals, or Summer vacation, Summer’s full of events, which makes it really great~!

Q22: How would you describe yourself in a single phrase?

A: I hate to lose, I guess.

Q23: What image do you currently have as your phone’s lock screen?

A: Uhh, it’s a photo of my class’s blackboard that has the deadline of my assignment written on it… I’m sorry that it isn’t cute at all… But if I don’t set it as my lock screen, I’ll completely forget about the deadline.

Q24: Who are you good at imitating?

A: I’m great at imitating my Big Sis! But Big Sis is really good at imitating me too, y’know?

Q25: Do you believe in fortune-telling?

A: I’ll believe in good fortunes! But I’ll completely disregard bad fortunes!

Q26: What is something you’re unexpectedly good at?

A: Crane games! I’m great at grabbing plushies from my favourite manga series and such. Even my Big Sis often begs me to help her snag some goodies from them these days! Crane games don’t just hold plushies, they hold sweets and all other kinds of stuff too! I like them cuz they’re really fun to play!

Q27: What is something that you would like to challenge yourself to do in the future?

A: I’d like to write lyrics and compose music! I want to give writing songs by myself a try. I think that there are songs that only I would be able to write in order to convey the feelings to my fans which would otherwise be unable to get through to them. Those are the feelings that I wish to write songs about. So I hope that you’ll continue to keep watching over me!

[kiefbowl]

so as you may know GRRM had a little bit of influence on the game Elden Ring and I specifically remember someone pointing out that he had to be the one to introduce the "unreliable narrator" element to the game's story/trickles of lore and that stuck with me a lot it's not something I explicitly realized myself until it was pointed out...george is all about that stuff like something he does really well and not to boomerpost but I think...like.......modern readers(?) have a problem that they have to take everything really really literally and that's why there's "problematic media" discourse

yeah, he did contribute to Elden Ring. My BF played it twice through and is now playing the DLC, and he's also reading AGOT for the first time, and he points out stuff he reads in the books that he says is "very Elden Ring" i.e. obviously GRRM's influence in the game :) it's cute.

Yes, GRRM's whole ASOIAF series is written 100% with unreliable narrators, bc it is constantly switching from different limited third-person perspectives. GRRM also uses, rarely, an omniscient narrator, for lines that are actually meant to be factual. He uses this with great success, imo (as a fan lol). A good AGOT example is ending a Daenerys' chapter where she learns she's pregnant with "It was her fourteenth nameday" which reminds the reader of Daenerys' reality (as oppose to her perceptions) and retroactively recolors the chapter. Or at least it should.

Not to boomerpost with you, I am truly not sure what is going on with many, many, many people engaging with HOTD online. It seems absolutely detached from reality at times. It's a bizarre way to engage with a tv show, it's a bizarre way to engage with Fire & Blood, it's a bizarre way to engage with GRRM's themes and writing. I truly have seen nothing like it, and I've seen a lot of bad hot takes in my time about all sorts of books and movies and tv shows. I don't know why these people don't just stop watching it! Maybe it's a generational thing? I'm just not sure. It seems like people are actually rooting for a side...in a fantasy fictional political drama that is already pre-written. And then they get mad when anything happens that is nuanced or even wrong doing...it's like they want the show to be conflictless. They want the conflict to be the war only, and they don't want characters to have interpersonal conflict. When the only way to adapt a history book is to ground it, and invent the interpersonal drama. I just do not know what people expected, and I never knew so many people loved Fire & Blood bc I thought it was kinda...whatever. It was fine. These are my favorite books, I don't think I've reread anything more times, and I still am happy to say Fire & Blood is just kinda fun, it's a bit silly and interesting. It's like a lore dump. So they could have done almost anything with the tv show, and I'd probably been like "sure, why not," but I find the tv show good and makes several good creative choices based on the unreliable text narration (and also some dumb ones, which like I've said in a previous post, is a grand tradition for tv shows so it's fine lol).

It's also not done, I have never seen a fanbase so eager to have a tv show be just a climax at every moment, and very impatient at scenes that are clearly setting up stuff for later. Weird ass people are watching and hating this show man, idk.

[elliegoose]

got tagged by @annunakitty in a thing! yippee tag game!

now the tag game was to introduce yourself with:

one tv show

one movie

one album

one video game

however, i'm doing two for each category! why? because i'm cute and special and get to change the rules, of course! and also because i'm really enthusiastic about sharing my favorite things with people.

tv shows: adventure time & scavengers reign

not being able to pick between these two shows is the reason i'm doing two for each category. adventure time is my all-time favorite show hands down, but scavengers reign took second place (overtaking russian doll, which previously held that rank) when it absolutely blew me away earlier this year. i've watched it twice now and definitely plan on giving it a third watch sometime soon.

movies: i saw the tv glow (2024) & suspiria (2018)

as someone who repressed my gender really hard throughout most of college after flirting with transitioning in high school, this movie really spoke to me. i've seen it twice now and found a lot of value in the rewatch. i definitely want to watch it again at least one more time. this is an incredibly profound movie that has changed me as a person.

on the other hand, suspiria (2018) is an enduring favorite of mine for a very silly reason. it is a straight up good movie, but the actual reason it's my second pick for this post is that for like a year after first watching it, i kept seeing the mangled bodies of characters from it as sleep paralysis hallucinations. it was terrifying at the time but i find it incredibly funny to look back on, and think very fondly of this film in general. i got to rewatch parts of it for free irl! thanks, sleep paralysis demons!

albums: feather river canyon blues by pigeon pit & kudzu, devour everything! by levees

for two years now, feather river canyon blues has very unambiguously been my favorite album of all time. it's lomes oleander's bold, dense, imagery-filled lyricism at its best, backed by the full band that her voice deserves playing alt-country sounds that strike the perfect balance between gentle and energetic. it's simultaneously desperate and hopeful, joyous and melancholy, and at every moment filled to the brim with emotion and beauty. this album feels like watching every sunset at once surrounded by your best friends and loved ones. transgender folk music will save us. if you have to pick one song from this album to listen to, make it milk crates:

kudzu, devour everything! is the reason i started playing banjo. levees is a friend of a friend, and i was introduced to their music because said friend was praising this album in our friend group's discord server. i find levees' idiosyncratic manner of clawhammer playing--often very fast and full of non-traditional rhythms--to be absolutely magical. their songwriting is also excellent, full of vivid stories and characters sung about in prose that weaves effortlessly between the elegantly straightforward and beautifully dense. i also recommend listening to their album vultures, as well as quarantipilation volumes 1 & 2. it's actually not one of the songs that contains banjo, but if you have to pick one to listen to from this album, i recommend her/hymn/their, which won't embed for some reason but hey here's the link

(also, honorable mention to drink the sea by the glitch mob, which is the first album i ever really fell in love with, and which inspired little 13-year-old elise to grab a copy of ableton and learn how to make music myself. until feather river canyon blues came along, i would have probably picked drink the sea for this post.)

video games: signalis & mice tea

first off, i cried at the end of signalis! while streaming! it was really, really good!!! it has a delightfully dreadful atmosphere, great story, very interesting worldbuilding, phenomenal art style, and excellent character design. plus, it was great for practicing my german. i strongly recommend signalis to anyone who likes survival horror.

second off, yes, i am choosing mice tea, a transformation fetish visual novel, as my second pick here. judge me all you like. i stand by my choice. its story is fun! the characters are excellent! its humor and conceptual ridiculousness disarm you and make way for genuinely emotionally impactful storylines! it has a lot of interesting commentary on gender! it almost single-handedly turned me into furry! also, it's hot! go play mice tea!

now, finally, it is time to tag! don't feel pressured to pick multiple things or provide explanations like i did! i just enjoy doing more than is assigned lmao. tagging @rotten-spaceymage, @birras0, @citrusuprising, @roboticvenusian, @femboty2k, and anyone who sees this and wants to do it themselves!

[generalluxun]

Miraculous: The Movie Reaction/Review

A little more ordering of my thoughts now, and I can go through in a little more detail why I loved this movie so much. This will be a solid look at things, and so... yeah, SPOILERS! And just for the record this will be looking both at the movie itself as a movie AND in comparison to the series. I know that there are different pressures on both, but I do feel there are narrative through lines tackled better or worse.

Putting a cut here for the Spoiler free folks.

This will be somewhat chronological, with some asides.

Okay, so the opening, a great setup. It's a Lore dump, but it's clean and neat and we are already introduced to the vibrant colors we will see throughout the movie, and Mr. Overdramatic Fu who I find priceless.

Marinette:

Oh Marinette, I love this Marinette. She feels downtrodden to start. The type of person for whom one too many hiccups have become a self-fullfiling way of life. The movie spends a lot more time with her on this. Which is to the benefit because her choice and ascension are much bigger payoffs. She's still a dreamer, and energetic, She's our Marinette, but vitalized.

Okay I'll put this here: The Songs. They're fine. They're not great, but they're find. they have a stage-style vibe to them which fits in with the change to Emilie's career. They are also pushing the narrative through most of the time, so even if the song isn't to your liking, you've got a lot going on.

School&Chloé: Marinette seems a lot more jumpy/unpopular in general, it's not JUST Chloé which is a good shift. Don't get me wrong, the blonde is still clearly a nightmare, but it's not she alone among the student body that thinks something's off about Mari at the beginning.

Alya&Nino: What is there to say? She's Alya, she's great. Nino and Adrien friendship! yay! And Alya&Nino are a cute secondary couple-in-the-making. The movie loved it's secondary characters.

Adrien: Sad Adrien, but gentle. Marinette's first interaction with him was great. She's Marinetting, but she actually gets up the will to talk to him. I liked this balance. Yes some of it comes from a shorter runtime, but it comes across as just... healthier?

Gabemoth: Gabriel outside! GASP! He's a human being! Clearly still flawed, but this Gabe is one I buy the ending for, and I quite enjoy it. Both Gabe and Adrien being over the top theaterical fits having Emilie in their lives. and.. OMG we got to see and hear Emilie as a person! I loved this. I'll add in Nathalie here. She didn't have a lot but we get her care for Adrien and the family right away.

Rescue Fu Alleyway and Tikki: Saving Fu felt much more earned in this one, give a bonus to whoever storyboarded this. Marinette pulling him from in front of a bus then bodily putting herself between him and the danger of another oncoming car? This girl! Go Marinette, you've earned these earirngs(want them or not) also: Her reaction to this crazed little man screaming about death and end of the world was awesome, I LOVE them lamp shading this trope.

Little aside about Sabrina She's adorable in the whole movie, but we get a hint of her own independence when she covers for Marinette in the Alleyway, and I loved that. Tiny Character building moments are a sign of great writing.

Tikki: They amped up Tikki's energy and I can see why. Marinette's more reluctant heroine role needed someone with a bit more push to keep her going. This is honestly the most I've ever enjoyed Tikki (not that TV Tikki was awful)

Cathedral: So, We meet Cat Noir here, and he's a cocky goofball, and it works. They balance it well. He gets instant karma a few times, he tries hard, and he does quickly acknowledge Ladybug later on when *she* acknowledges herself. This is an important lesson, people do treat you better when you believe in yourself, it shows. Much like I said with Gabe, Adrien being an overdramatic theater kid fits perfectly in this story.

The back and forth between these two is great. And here's something else: It's instructive for Marinette. If Cat Noir was just a fawning lovesick boy from square one, she wouldn't learn to stand up for herself, which she later uses vs Chloé. People fuss at chat for the watermelon, but Ladybug's throwing her own zingers in there too.

I do like that we bring Fu back here, and then again at the end. He's a little more sane, a little more mentor, so his use as comic relief isn't one note. That's another sign of good writing.

Marinette's refusal: I liked this a lot. It felt right for Marinette. This was dangerous, scary, and she was barely managing for a lot of the fight at the cathedral. I love how the scene evolved from loud and frustrated, to comedy, then finally settled on sincerity. Marinette curling up in her chair was more earned emotion and heartbreak than S5 wrung from me in 13 eps.

Plagg and Adrien: Okay so yeah, Fart jokes. The show had it's share of 'stinky cheese' jokes so we shouldn't point too many fingers. I love dad-Plagg in the TV show, so I was slightly bummed it wasn't as prevelent here, but with Tiki needing a more energetic role, Adrien not being a shut in, and Gabriel not being a complete and total heel, Plagg's role is going to be different. It's worth noting that after Chat's failed confession Plagg does Dad-Plagg him, so all is not lost for that dynamic.

Fairground: Just a showcase of fun. Marinette&Adrien, Alya&Nino, the Akumas, Marinette making the *decision* to be a hero and triggering her first voluntary transformation. The two of them working together. This was a great celebratory event, and it kicks off:

Montage!

You knew they'd need this in a movie covering this much ground. We got to see a few fun akuma designs, a few Adrienette dates, and how the changes wrought on the fairground played out. We had enough time with sad, isolated, Marinette that this does feel like a triumph.

Third Act low point: This is where everyone fails. Chat's confession to Ladybug burns out. Marinette's confession to Adrien burns out. Even Gabriel has burned out. All three of our main players are at their low (which is a brilliant way to hint they're framing Gabe as not just a villain, he's treated to the narrative beats of a hero) All three felt solid and hit hard. It's the Lovesquare cliff notes, but it hits all the right elements. You still come away thinking 'If only they knew!' because the movie has really built up both Adrienette and Ladynoir in equal parts.

Final fight: Damn son, what is there to say? Akumatized Hawkmoth is not playing. Plagg telling Adrien to get his stuff together. This battle is just plain brutal. Mari unmasked! Chat punching his dad. Marinette being a hero without the suit, saving Chat in the same selfless way she saved Fu back at the beginning of the movie. Chat unmasked. and Gabriel's breakdown. *Adrien hugging his dad!* CLOSURE. Ladybug getting her Miraculous Ladybugs and it being a BIG DEAL, like it should be!

The Dance: Cute character moments. Chloe is big enough to give Marinette a 'truce' it seems, but mean enough to let her know it's not over yet. Sabrina's shrug is great :) Oh wait MARINETTE'S DRESS. It's Ladybug, it's beautiful. This girl is a designer. A reveal in snow. The two of them together, yes!

Post-script: Mayura next Villain? I'm hype.

End Notes: I feel this movie hit all the notes it needed to. We got the characters, they were compressed clearly because it's a movie, but still felt themselves, but fresh. Everything about this word feels a little more 'real' which is funny considering how ethereal all the lighting was.

I'm notoriously prone to critique and dissecting media, even media I enjoy. Yet my nitpick sensors were surprisingly mute while watching this. They told a huge amount of story, accessible both to long time fans and newcomers.

I probably have more thoughts, but that's already a lot for a Tumblr post. Feel free to engage my Asks or replies if you have questions or would like opinions on anything specific.

[peach-fiz]

I actually didn't even bother watching the second season of Loki because of the cheap marketing and inconsistent storytelling.

It just felt like the plot was lifted off somewhere it would have made sense, and a character with a similar ego was replaced with Loki and goes through an arc that might have made sense for a blank slate character, but not someone who already has a backstory.

Loki doesn't even feel like Loki after three episodes in S1. The whole point of having a show like that just seems to be about the TVA and Sylvie.

Also the whole genderfluid thing. They 'confirmed' it in the promo and had a line in the script that went completely against anything they just said.

I knew at once that the writers, directors and other parts of production were really just pulling it in different directions and it would probably sound like a jazz trumpeter and a metal guitarist trying to improvise after knowing each other for 15 minutes.

I've been meaning to watch it just so I can have educated opinions on all of it but it's just,, so hard to get into. I definitely agree the marketing was cheap, they did with the 80s McDonald's like they did DB Cooper!Loki and made it centric to the advertising because McDonalds was also getting something out of it which is kinda ass seeing as realistically Loki Laufeyson would burn 6 of them down before he ate in one 😭

I personally don't like either of the major ships in the show but the forced Sylki shit in season 1 really got to me. Like not only did she completely replace him as the main character in HIS show, she's also a variant of him who he wants to make out with and overall it just reads as lazy writing and it's extremely disappointing that Mike Waldron has been put in charge of Multiverse of Madness and The Kang Dynasty since, due to the popularity of the Loki TV show. I was talking to my boyfriend about this last night but it kinda reminds me of the complaints people had ab the last Indiana Jones movie but opposite? Like everyone complained his best friend's daughter was gonna replace him bc she's a Mary Sue and she rlly isnt, she's more reminiscent of Marion in Raiders of the Lost Ark she just doesn't wanna fuck him. But the difference is Indy is a character who's majorly blank for little boys to project themselves onto. Which is great!! It works for those kind of movies, but they're not character development centric like the individual mcu movies tend to be. Loki is characterized in a way that he's drowning in identity issues and family problems and he experiences growth in every installment whether it be positive or negative. It doesn't make sense to take the formula of an Indidna Jones movie where he meets up with a woman who's typically a love interest and has her own issues that are only slightly touched on because that's not the focus, and they go do the plot.

Sylvie is not an Indy Girl, they straight up are trying to replace Loki with Sylvie. And you can tell the character wasn't supposed to have as much importance as she does in the show bc the character was worked on more after the actress they chose was buddies with a producer ( and this is no hate to the actress I'm sure she's delightful everything I've seen her in in terms of interviews has been lovely ).

I also absolutely agree they should've just made a tva mini series to introduce the tva rather than bringing back a dead character who soon will not make much sense anyway because Tom Hiddleston is getting older (and also he deserves to branch out in his career).

The genderfluid thing was a cash grab and it sucks ass, they just want money for acknowledging things already canon in the comics, same with confirming him as bisexual.

My boyfriend is actually writing a fic on ao3 called Find Me that's rlly good if you want Loki content that isn't related to the show.

(YES this is shameless promotion sshhhhshshsh) but fr the loki TV show makes me more confident in my screenwriting bc t h a t got put on disney plus. I'm also working on a Loki show rewrite in my spare time!!

[johnnygma]

After reading your answer about Irene, it got me thinking. How would you like Moriarty to be adapted?

Would you make him the ultimate evil to defeat which ends Holmes' life like ACD intended or would you make him a villain to defeat after whom come others?

Personally, I'd love to see both his professor persona and his criminal mastermind persona. Kinda like how Mads Mikkelsen played Hannibal Lecter and his "person suit".

Oh, that's a good question! On the one hand, I always get a bit giggly when Moriarty is introduced in a Holmes adaptation since he is THE Holmes adversary. On the other hand, I've always said that Moriarty's importance within the Holmes canon is often overemphasised because he literally only makes one in-person appearance in the entire canon of 60 stories.

I certainly want his professor persona to be more focused on as well. Just as many adpations sometimes tend to forget that Watson is a doctor, they equally tend to forget that Moriarty is a professor of mathematics. I would love to see an inclusion of his knowledge of maths and numbers, I think you could easily connect that to his high intelligence and ability to create/organise an entire criminal network. Maybe something along the line of a "gentleman villain"; someone who doesn't have to rely on violence or evil speeches. The sheer reach, power, and superior intelligence Moriarty has is threatening enough (as a recent example: Robert Downey Jr. movies actually kinda nail that aspect of Moriarty).

Personally, I would like to say that it depends. If the adaptation is a TV show, like Sherlock or Elementary, then I would like to see some build-up to an eventual Moriarty reveal. However, I would not make him the THE final big villain of the story. After all, he wasn't that in the original canon either. Have a build-up to Moriarty, deal with him, and then move on. I didn't like how, e.g., in BBC Sherlock, EVERYTHING seemed to be connected to Moriarty in one way, shape, or form. He is not THAT big of a deal, there are other interesting villains in the canon to draw from.

Now, if you make a movie, I would approach it differently. If you make a single, stand-alone fun Holmes movie, the villain doesn't have to be Moriarty, it really doesn't have to be. You can have an interesting Sherlock Holmes mystery without getting Moriarty involved. Now, if it's a movie series, I guess it kinda depends. Again, you would need a bit of build-up, but I also wouldn't mind if there isn't much fanfare surrounding a Moriarty reveal. However, if you make a movie that's only, like, 2 hours long and you want Moriarty to be in it, he HAS TO leave a memorable impression. Actually similar to what you mentioned, Moriarty has to be a bit like Hannibal Lecter: a sense of unsettling calm and high intelligence, but he shouldn't overshadow the story and other characters too much (like Lecter in Silence of the Lambs).

I know, I don't seem like I can give a definitive answer on this one 😅 I definitely would love to see Moriarty more as a gentleman-ask mastermind who relies on his knowledge of mathematics and the psychology of people. I understand why he is treated with great fanfare, however, I sometimes think his importance to the Holmes canon and character is overemphasised. I would love to see other antagonists/criminals from the canon be used for more adaptations, e.g. Sebastian Moran, Charles A. Milverton, the Baron from The Illustrious Client, or the King of Bohemia. Adpations basically need to learn that Moriarty was (only) special because he was created to kill off Sherlock Holmes, but that the detective has dealt with many other criminals as well.

[blogthebooklover]

Stop! I had no idea it was Phantom's birthday!!! Your reblog made me gasp. Do you have a favourite adaptation????? 🤌❤️

Great question, @french-vanilla-in-the-clouds! I haven't seen too many of the film adaptations, like the Chinese "Song at Midnight" or its remake, or The Phantom Lover. I would like to thank the YouTube channel, Phantom Reviews, for introducing me to the other adaptations of Phantom. Here's a list of my personal favorite POTO adaptations:

The Phantom of the Opera (1925-1929)

This was actually the first silent film I ever watched as a kid, I was around 9 or 10 years old and it was also around the same time that the Andrew Lloyd Webber movie was coming out. I love Lon Chaney's performance as Erik, and his ability as a makeup artist as well. This holds a special place in my heart, because I remember watching it at my grandmother's house. I hope someone can make a proper adaptation of the book with today's technology; however, this is probably the closest one we have so far.

(look at the way he clenches his fist on his sleeve, A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!)

The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

I remember liking this more as a kid and a teen, this has become more of a guilty pleasure movie for me now as an adult. I do appreciate some of the costume designs, I think my favorite is a tie between Christine's masquerade dress and her Think of Me dress. Minnie Driver is always fun to watch as La Carlotta, and Patrick Wilson did his best as Raoul. If it were made today with Emmy Rossum's acting abilities from being on Shameless, I think it could've worked beautifully, I'll give her some leeway because she was a teenager then.

(This is my favorite shot of Erik, btw)

The Phantom of the Opera (1990)

Btw, this was actually my first introduction to Charles Dance before Game of Thrones. I know this is technically also an adaptation of another musical prior to Lloyd Webber's, Yeston and Kopit; regardless, I like how this version of Erik is more on the sweet side, but he does have his limits (and I love his sarcastic remarks about Carlotta lol). I wish we could have seen what his disfigurement looked like, however, I do appreciate how the filmmakers wanted the audience to imagine it for themselves.

Goosebumps' The Phantom of the Auditorium (1995)

Okay, so I haven't actually read any of the Goosebumps books. I liked watching the TV show a bit more. This episode was a fun, kid-friendly version of Phantom.

(excuse the crappy quality of the photo)

Phantom of the Paradise (1974)

Okay, this one is a lot of fun. I do like how it was more rock and roll, and I like this Phantom's design, it almost reminds me of Panna a Nevtor, or the Czechoslovak Beauty and the Beast movie. There's definitely some campiness to the film as well, especially with Beef (the La Carlotta counterpoint), and Winslow's court case scene.

Phantom of the Megaplex (2000)

I have a soft spot for this one, because it was the first time where I saw clips of the Lon Chaney film featured in the beginning. On paper, I do like the premise of a guy haunting a movie theater, and I do like some of the more "Phantom" moments where he's disrupting each theater with something, like the projector bubbling out, or the dinosaur balloon. Also, I do like Mickey Rooney's speech about movies and movie-going.

[ggumiedream]

~ Headcanon fluff ☁️~

If an introverted person dates Lucas Till, who's an extraverted fella,.

A/n: HI! This is my very first time creating an HC. I'm on my Lucas Till phase, and that's why I planned to create one. It's from my own perception or idea about lucas, so yeah, and English is not my first language, so please bear with me. Hope you like it! 🥹🫶.

● He's a goofball of sunshine; he never fails to make you laugh or smile so easily.

● He really does respect your privacy and your comfort zone so much that he always asks your permission for the things he wants to do with you or expresses concern about you.

● He never let you feel alone on every public or social occasion you attended with him. 

● "Ah! Yes, we read that article on a social media website, right, love?" He always includes or joins you in some group conversations in a way that you'll be comfortable. 

● If you're really not in the mood to talk with others, he'll just accompany you on the side and create your own social gathering with just the two of you. 

● Many cute and derpy selfies together that end up making you laugh your heart out because of his funny faces. He loves to hear your cute laugh so much.

● He'll cling on to you the whole time you're watching anime (for anime fans) or movies or TV shows on your phone like a koala bear, as he also joins you and gets engaged in what you're watching. He even put one of your earphone plugs in his ear.

● He'll lessen his clinging when you're in public because he knows that it will make you feel uncomfortable, but holding hands is truly an exception. He'll never let go of your hand, except if he needs to use both hands for something.

● He loves the idea of spending his day off with you by his side, peacefully watching or reading a book while laying on the couch or bed, and his arms are wrapped around you as he takes his time to sleep, to read a book, or to join himself in what you're doing.

● He always advocates for you to live a healthy lifestyle, like, for example, exercising every morning.He won't push you too far, but instead he'll encourage you to take a small jog first, with him in a park, or take you to a gym where he'll exercise and help you perform such gym activities little by little.

● He also takes you to the set of his new projects, like a shooting or a taping. Then, he'll introduce you to his workmates and let you become familiar with them with no pressure until you feel comfortable around them.

● He loves to see you around his workplace, waiting for him quietly while reading a book, watching on your phone, or watching him work instead.

● After taking part in the shoot, he'll run to you like a little child with a big smile on his face that you really love so much. Then he hugs you tightly as you congratulate and compliment him, saying that he did a great job. It helps him to improve his self-esteem.

● He'll also take you on late-night walks around your neighbourhood and eat with you at some simple food stalls that you really like. 

● He always asks your permission about something before he initiates doing things with you or for you. 

● "I think someone's having fun," he teases you with that cute smirk on his face whenever he sees you start to get talkative, which makes you blush and pinch his sides as he whines cutely, which ends up making you both laugh because of your ridiculousness.

● He walks you home in your apartment or gives you a ride in his car, always having this tiny hope inside him that you'll invite him to stay for the night.

● He'll grin so happily every time you insist on him staying in your apartment or if you accept his offer to spend your night in his.

● You'll spend the night cuddling while sharing how each day went out or if you experienced or saw some funny stuff that will end the both of you laughing your hearts out.

● He just wants to spend his days and nights with you like this. Simple but genuine. Forever.

~~

[successfullyadhd]

My son is ADHD and suffers very badly from second hand embarrassment. He can not even watch a tv show or movie with a character that does something embarrassing. I think it is the reason he is scared to try new things in fear of not being good at it and getting Embarrassed.

Do you have any suggestions for me to help him overcome this?

I’m so sorry that it’s 2024 and I somehow just saw this question from 2021. Whew. Awkward.

Anyway, I’m going to answer as if it’s still helpful because it might be! And if not to you, then maybe another person.

Two parts -

1) second hand embarrassment. I get this ALL the time and cannot watch certain shows because of it. The Office is a great example, where the humor is based on other people not understanding typical social cues. I cannot be in the room while someone is watching The Office. Or pretty much anything with Will Ferrell.

People with ADHD have incredible empathy, to the point where they deeply feel emotions of other people around them. Part of it is a defense mechanism - we get so many more negative reactions from our peers and adults at a young age than is typical that you start intensely studying non-verbal cues to recognize when something is about to go wrong. Watching this play out, even in a non-threatening situation like through a TV show, sparks up our fight-or-flight. The social cues are telling us to run even though it isn’t happening to us. The other reason is that our brains are wired to feel our own emotions more intensely than the average person. When we see other people going through a situation we find relatable or have experienced before (skirt tucked into your undies in public) the emotions we would be feeling in the same situation get brought up, even though it isn’t happening to us. Our brain and nervous system is recognizing a pattern and telling us what it *would* feel like if it were us, which then makes us understand how that person is most likely feeling.

And for this, I have no suggestions 🙃 if I knew how to stop second hand embarrassment, I would share. But I would say it could be a strength, because empathy and shared human experiences help you be a better person, and make lasting friendships. (As long as those friends don’t watch The Office. Or Parks and Rec.)

2) not trying new things - this one is also common among the ADHD crowd. ADHD people have a tendency to be perfectionists - we can see exactly how something should go and as soon as we have an idea, our brain has already sprinted ahead to the finish line and made a diagram of the exact way to get there. But there is a disconnect between our ideas - often ambitious, lofty and enthusiastic - and the experience needed to make it happen. For example, I love embroidery. I daydream about the incredible designs I would love to make - but when I try to do it, I don’t have the skill needed to make it come to life. If I kept at it, tried and practiced and messed it up and tried it again, I would have already been the best embroidery artist the world has seen. But the experience of the perfect imagine in my brain not being translated into what my skill is capable of doing is frustrating, and I quickly become uninterested.

It can be intimidating to try new things and feeling like unless you have innate talent, you aren’t going to be successful and you will look dumb. (And even people with innate talent need practice to hone their skills.)

To encourage trying new things, I would suggest starting small in a space where he is free to fail repeatedly over and over again. When I go to a yoga class and the teacher introduces some complicated move that my body isn’t ready for, I’ll sometimes take a water break or pause in the previous movement and look around with envy at all the other people successfully doing it. I wait it out and then go on with the movements when I’m back in comfortable territory. But when I get home, I’ll practice the move by myself over and over again until I’m ready to do it in front of other people without the humiliation of struggling in front of my peers.

The other thing that helps is low pressure and low stakes situations. I am not athletic by any stretch of the imagination and I can remember so many situations in grade school (or middle school!) gym class where we would need to do some athletic feat in front of 30 other kids. I would try to get out of it and the teacher would pressure me, and the other kids would say “it’s not that hard, just do it.” And I would feel so embarrassed and flustered by the attention I would make an attempt (and utterly fail) to hit the ball and then run to the back of the line as other kids laughed. And you can bet I never, ever tried to do any of those things again because even revisiting the memory of the first attempt made me feel nauseous. But looking back, if I could have had a one-on-one situation where someone patient and kind worked with me, I would have tried so many more things. Pressure would make me double down on refusing, quiet offering would make me feel safe enough to try it.

Also, another idea would be to give him options of things he can try on his own with minimal teaching/interference. Like if someone had introduced cross country skiing, or rock climbing, or some other sport where there wasn’t a whole team relying on me, and I could practice independently to get better, I might have found an athletic side after all. Other things in the category would be: hands on crafts - leather working, bead making, drawing, etc. computer programming/video game building. Writing. Cooking. Growing a plant or a garden. Things that you can fail at over and over without it being a public display. (Whether the scrutiny is real or imagined, it will dampen the mood) And if he wants to throw away his art work without showing you, or won’t let you see his first clay sculpture or whatever - let him. Let him keep it to himself until he’s ready. I remember adults - teachers, coaches, whoever - asking to see my -insert whatever here- and me being embarrassed because I knew it wasn’t good. And then them complimenting me and encouraging me, and me being more embarrassed because I knew that objectively the thing wasn’t good and they were being kind. They were doing all the right things but I just wanted to keep it to myself until I felt confident enough to share my progress.

I hope this helps! Good luck! It’s been three years since you submitted this so I’m sure life looks different for your family today but maybe this is something that still comes up.

[buffyfan145]

Nothing like seeing a LOTR fan who actually is a fan of the show be worried about us Haladriel shippers and women being fans of Charlie’s Sauron and thinking we actually need mental help for writing fics. :( I say this as someone who has sympathized with villain characters since I was a little girl (thanks to my Dad introducing me to the Universal Monster Movies, The Addams Family, the original “Dark Shadows”, everything Batman, and then for my Mom getting me into soaps where characters switch all the time from villains to heroes to back to villains all the time). I always saw them as more tragic, similar to how Guillermo Del Toro even talks about “his monsters”. I’ve mentioned before how I’ve been a LOTR fan since the movies came out when I was in high school and Sauron scared me so much in those, so I never thought I’d be able to relate to him (as I have OCD like he does) and that I would see how tragic his story actually is, and then ship him with Galadriel. Plus we’ve been in an age for TV and movies to redeem villains (think of “Cobra Kai” as that whole show is about doing just that to most of them) for years now so it makes it even more sad to me as I can see if he actually put in the effort he could’ve changed. Not with Galadriel as he thinks but on his own. So there’s nothing wrong in seeing this in Sauron even though it won’t happen or for us shipping him with her. Plus yeah Charlie is attractive but it’s also his acting that has helped to change how I feel about his character. So to suggest that we can’t like villains is just absurd. We know not to be with people like this in real life but villains usually are the best written and acted characters and they’re fictional. There’s no harm in it as we’re supposed to have fun while watching a show, movie, or reading a book. If anything I’m more worried this fan thinks we all need saving. LOL Just had to get that out and it wasn’t a post on here but a reply to a great LOTR Twitter account I follow. :)

[white-weasel]

Saw IV and V thoughts after my Saw Saturday movie viewing experience last night:

Really glad we got some new characters introduced into the series. It breathed a lot of life into things I feel like

Finally got to meet Hoffman and Strahm let’s gooooo! I knew that these were popular characters and honestly they did not disappoint

I cannot believe that John Kramer ate a fucking tape before dying. My friend and I were discussing how he did that so cleanly without gagging or choking and our only explanation is that he’s a throat goat

Rigg’s whole trial was rough man, but it was actually very interesting. Basically “You’re obsessed with saving everyone, so the only way you can win this gauntlet (and save your friends) is to let it go.” I think that this series of traps was MUCH more well done than the series of traps Jeff went through in 3 and they also did each feel like they were testing different aspects of the same “sin” so to speak.

Favorite of those trial traps was probably the one with the husband and wife and them being impaled. I thought it was clever in its theme and its conceit. Sometimes I look at some of these saw traps and go “okay so somebody just thought of the most fucked up thing they could for the shock value” but this was not one of those so I enjoyed that

The iceblock trap though? Amazing idea and execution on that shit. Just the concept of a melting block of ice slowly hanging someone while that melted ice water fills a pool that will eventually touch another person, thereby electrocuting them because there’s a current running through the pool? Very very cool. Plus the added mechanism that kills you if someone (Rigg) walks through the door. Very scary but very good

The puppet still makes me laugh. Him just sitting on the chair before (unfortunately) blowing up at Perez got me. My friend is convinced that I need a little Saw puppet for my apartment now, though I think having the actual thing and seeing it irl might freak me out

Not sure I *needed* to learn more about John’s past before his diagnosis and his descent into becoming Jigsaw, but I also didn’t absolutely hate it. I liked getting to see his ex wife at least and get an insight into his interpersonal relationships

I’m 50/50 split if I like John’s first victim being someone who personally wronged him and ruined his life. On the one hand, I think it does great to kinda show his own hypocrisy in all of this. He says it’s not emotional and these traps are meant to save his victims, and he does at least give him a way out, it did not seem like he really wanted to reform him and that’s interesting to me. On the other hand, I don’t think the movie presents this action or putting him in the trap this way so??? Yeah

My new motto for these movies is “If I don’t see you get murked on screen, you’re still alive somewhere.” Because I was *positive* Eric was dead before they revealed him, but, well, he’s certainly dead now I guess lol

The reveal this movie that it was all taking place at the same time as 3 and that Hoffman is Jigsaw’s apprentice was amazing. Absolutely brilliant, no notes at all

I really liked how Saw 4 and 5 basically felt like a TV show in that they were very obviously meant to be viewed together/feel like one continuous story. I’m assuming that production wise the studio knew that they had 4 and 5 guaranteed so they could leave some stuff for the next movie which I appreciated

(I’m assuming they knew they were at least getting a 6 too because we didn’t get any answers for what was in that box Jill got 👀)

Hoffman carrying that little girl out of the warehouse and being like “We were the only survivors :((“ only for Strahm to get wheeled out on the gurney literally seconds afterwards was so funny

Speaking of, I can’t believe Hoffman didn’t take Strahm’s pen from out of his pocket during the water cube trap. He took all his other stuff but it’s weird he overlooked that. Granted, I doubt that he knew that Strahm would perform a tracheotomy on himself but wow

I liked the backstory we got with Hoffman and how he came to know Jigsaw. The idea of a copycat killer designing his own “trap” but it really just being a way to murder someone he wants revenge on was marvelous. Then the whole part with John kidnapping him and teaching him his ways was also cool

(Hoffman tied up with the shotgun nestled right underneath his neck? Unfortunately kinda hot)

The trap gauntlet for the five people was fine. The first trap I was like “oh my god he’s telling you to all work together! Just go get your keys one by one or have someone get their key, unlock, and then get the next person’s after they’re unlocked” at least for that one though I can see why they panicked. The second one they had no excuses lol I literally said out loud “you can definitely fit at least two people in a cubby hole”. That one seemed sooo obvious, too obvious to at least not give it a try. I didn’t totally hate the set up though, just moreso me getting mad at horror movie characters lmao

And I get Hoffstrahm now lmao. Saw IV I was like “? They barely interacted what’s this?” And then we got the whole cat and mouse game in Saw V and went “Oh yup. There it is. Theres the dynamic.” Especially with the whole glass coffin bit at the end

Speaking of the glass coffin I loved that scene. Just the wasy Strahm shoves Hoffman into the coffin and you can see Hoffman start to gloat and taunt Strahm from behind the glass because he’s sealed his own fate? Amazing. No notes. I did have to look away at the end of the trap though because watching the Saw movies has taught me I cannot handle broken bones, especially when they are very prominent. As soon as I saw Strahm start pushing on the walls I went “I know where this is going” and dutifully turned my head away

Anyways Hoffman is an interesting new antagonist! I’m curious what’s gonna happen next in this little murder soap opera. Honestly, I hope that Agent Perez gets out of the hospital and fucks up Hoffman. She finds out that Strahm is supposedly Jigsaw, goes “wtf no I could never believe that” and starts trying to pursue the real killer

Current Saw movie ranking (giving this because I gave it to my friend after discussing Saw V and my thoughts on the franchise overall)

Saw (The og and the goat, don’t think anything will really topple this one. I was glued to the screen the entire time and loved how this one really focused on Adam and Lawrence, the people in the trap, rather than the killer himself. I feel a lot of future installments lack compelling trap victims which is kinda a shame)

Saw V (I liked the story of Hoffman in this and the cat and mouse between Hoffman and Strahm a lot)

Saw IV (This was a really well done trap gauntlet for the main portion of the plot and the ending reveal was so awesome. Lots of adrenaline pumping for this one, but it did get lowered because I’m still meh on a lot of the John Kramer additional backstory stuff atm)

Saw II (Saw II gave me so many issues ranking it because the final reveal was PHENOMENAL but the main game portion didn’t always work for me. I did like the idea of Eric’s game of just having to wait out the clock but I kinda count that as being a part of the final reveal and thus it can’t elevate the whole movie. There’s potential this and Saw IV could flip flop depending on my moods. This one just has higher highs but lower lows for me)

Saw III (I liked Amanda getting tested and the whole ending with the chain reaction of violence/death, but that’s about it. The main traps in this game did not do it for me, nor did the story connecting those traps. This one also just really felt that they needed to escalate the traps for escalation’s sake rather than to tell a compelling story, which I know is probably a dumb complaint for the gory trap horror franchise but idk I just didn’t like it)