#like it's a whole lot of ''chef'' obvs but like..

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

sometimes characters using (or not using) each other's names can be so personal actually

[thesherrinfordfacility]

so i had the bright idea of rewatching s1 today whilst im working from home, now knowing what i know about s2, and so i can ruminate a little more on s1 with the additional context. ive barely made it past five minutes

im pretty sure ive gotten most of the frames accurate from this bit, and im sure it might just be a bit of demonstrative cinematography (which ya know, *chefs kiss*) but at the same time i love going into full year 9 english teacher mode about this shit, and i think there is something to comment on (which someone already might have done but w/e). in any case, this bit of dialogue is very noticeably layered with shots of crowley and aziraphale, but intercut with the shots of adam facing down the lion:

like, i can't help but feel that there is some symmetry in this and either other people have spotted it and im very behind, OR we havent spotted it and s2 spoilers have helped unlock it✨

so who is meant to be who here? for my money it would be that adam is mirroring aziraphale, and eve is mirroring crowley - in so much that at a really shallow level, aziraphale is a platoon leader, a guardian, fought in the war etc. crowley, regardless of his rank, is a starmaker, and let's face it the boy has the structural integrity of a strand of dried linguine. so we could look at it on that level (ignore the lion for the moment ill sort of explain that if it isn't already obvious)

but also we now know that this scene is not their first meeting, and that aziraphale and crowley do in fact remember each other and know that they have met, and in aziraphale's case is probably the teeniest bit shy bc damn heart eyes as an angel, heart eyes as a demon 🥵 but my point is that this is after the fall. after (as far as crowley tells it) crowley fell for 'just ask[ing] questions", and "just hung around the wrong people".

now i have my thoughts on why crowley fell: tldr because it would require another post - both reasons he gave above are bullshit and obvs conflict with each other, so i think that he doesn't actually know why he fell and has just guessed his transgressions so he can rationalise it, that god actually never had an issue with him asking questions, and instead it was actually god's plan to make him fall so he could represent the 'evil' side of free will on earth, as aziraphale's counterpart, and essentially ensure that humankind stays eternally 'in balance'

ANYWAY so the fact that in the lion sequence, 'crowley' is being shielded by 'aziraphale' against an unknown entity; but does this mirror a flashback, or is it foreshadowing? again, id put my bets on the former visually, but the latter... lyrically? idk the word but regardless take the dialogue:

"What if I did the right thing;

with the whole 'eat the apple business'?

A demon can get into a lot of trouble;

for doing the right thing."

so let's rephrase this:

"Was it the right decision to fall;

was I right to choose this for myself?

to choose the right to choose?

Because i feel like i could live to regret it."

so is crowley in essence already asking if aziraphale is on his side? is he asking if falling was the right thing, the good thing, to do (regardless of whether god gave him any choice in the matter)? But was he given the choice, first true free will? did aziraphale try to protect him during the fall, so crowley could get out in time (but ultimately fail? or at least bought Crowley enough time to find a back staircase and fall gently and peacefully, 'saunter vaguely downwards'?), and then get assigned to earth to be the 'good' side of the coin for humanity?

and is crowley asking if aziraphale will continue to be with him? in whatever romantic, platonic, acquaintance context you want - is he asking aziraphale if aziraphale will fight for him again, for them both? aziraphale made his decision, enacted his free will, in giving the humans a sword, and thus brought the concept of war and horror to earth, even if that was never his intention - so now swordless, and now only condemned to watch humanity as it strides out on its own (or was this the plan all along?👀), is aziraphale willing to do it? does he have the power, the strength, the will? would he stretch his finger over the line to fight on their side?

maybe im asking the wrong kind of questions, but all ill say is that in the above sequence? at the end of the dialogue? adam kills the lion.

i think 'their side' began in the job minisode, yes maybe, but also maybe the idea of it, the understanding of it, was planted here.

[anawrites3]

I want someone (not me) to write a Bodyguard!Sladick fic - but in a very specific way (I'll probs end up writing this unless someone beats me to it (pls beat me to it someone, I can't commit to another WIP))

Basically, someone kills Bruce Wayne. And not because he's batman, but because he's rich af and refuses to sell his land in Gotham (bc yk, bro can't sell the fucking batcave and all his safe houses full of Batmerch). But no one knows who killed Bruce and why but they all believe it's because they found out Batman's identity and needed him out of the way for something.

21 year old Dick Grayson, who hasn't spoken to Bruce or had anything to do with the Batfam for two years, is asked to come back for Bruce's funeral and reading of the Will. Turns out, Bruce left everything - and I mean everything; cape and all - to Dick. Dick is now The Batman, the leader of the JL, the billionaire, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and also the legal guardian of not one, not two, but three kids. Jason and Tim was understandable, but Bruce never mentioned to Dick about having a kid with Talia al Ghul of all people. In all fairness, Damian was only dropped off at Bruce's feet two months ago. (Note that I'm fucking around with the Batboy's ages. Thus, Jason is 16 (bro died young), Tim is 14(bro was crazy stalking so young), and Damian in 9(bro is just young))

The killer, however, is still at large, and is now targeting Dick, the new Prince of Gotham, and his kids. But Batman (Dick) can't get involved just yet, the Batfam don't know what exactly the killers knows about them and Batman - it's too risky. But Dick can't just not do anything. So he calls the one person he knows will keep his family safe - for the right price, obvs.

Dick has money to play with and Slade loves a good game.

Basically they make a contract that issues Deathstroke as the bodyguard of the Grayson-Wayne Family until Bruce's killer is handled.

Only, Slade comes with his own baggage (aka a 9 yr old Rose Wilson) and Dick is stuck training (aka raising) another kid. But that's fine, because Slade ends up being less of Dick's bodyguard (let's face it, the kid can handle himself), and more of Dick's bodyguard-with-benefits/mentor/business partner/mental-support-bestie/drinking-buddy/private-chef/co-parent/stay-at-home-husband/love-of-his-life.

They get very domestic in this fic. And Slade has to wear a three-piece suit when following Dick around as he plays Gotham's Billion Dollar Prince and Dick can't stop riding him in the back of the Batmobile because Slade looks waaaaay too good in a suit.

But raising kids is hard, especially when you're 21. So Dick faces a lot of challenges in this fic - like his undead brother, Jason, trying to come to terms with Bruce dying right after they started to mend their relationship, and Tim who was just recently fired as Robin after one simple mistake, and his new rage at Bruce for that and dying (he refuses to believe his dead), and fuck - the nine year old assassin and grandson of Ra's al Ghul, Damian, who never truly had the pleasure (misfortune?) of knowing his father. Than there's Rose Wilson, who doesn't really know English all that well and is dealing with the trauma of watching her mother die before her.

So Dick has to really step up - as a business man, as a leader, as Batman, and as a father.

Luckily he's got Slade, who fuck's like he fights. It tuff that Dick is quickly falling in love with Slade, and Rose, who he can't help but see as his kid, too.

Oh I love this idea so much, its great!! I would love to read it as well ahaha and I might write something 👀👀 but it's a big project so I wouldn't be able to do the whole thing

But you can let me know if you have any fav/special scene in mind (or a few 😌) and I might write it. You can also check out my commission info if that's what you'd preffer and you're able to afford it!

I love bodyguard Slade stories, I'm a sucker for those honestly haha and I love how here he's protecting not only Dick but the whole family. And its just so delicious that Dick hasn't talked to Bruce in so long and now he's thrown back into his life- but Bruce is dead and Dick has to take on the mantle and help the city and raise three kids and keep them all alive and not go crazy and-

I love that you're making it even more messy and difficult for Dick by putting Rose in the middle of it too lmao. I can already imagine all the trouble the family would have together

Slade wearing a three piece is a sight and I don't blame Dick at all 🙈🙈 But seriously, I adore their relationship in this, it's so complex and complicated. I can imagine them bonding over some whisky when the kids are deep asleep and Dick getting frustrated with what his life is now and Slade just letting him cry while holding him close AGHH SO GOOD

Thank you for sharing! Again, its a great idea and I'd love to play with it a bit if you allow me 🤗💕

[teenage-mutant-ninja-freak]

Heyo! Love your work btw *chef kiss* I'm obsessed with your poly turtles stuff. Could you maybe do some Christmas poly headcannons? Seasonal Activities they do with their s/o, possible gifts they receive, fav cookies/treats, fav Xmas music. Idk just some festive stuff? If you're busy that's cool 😎 your poly turt stuff has me needing more haha. Thanks!

Ok, I'm pretty sure I got this before Christmas and it's now May. I'm so sorry. I won't go into all the reasons I haven't really been writing because it's a lot but I want to get back into it so here goes with this very unseasonal post lmao

and thank you everyone for you patience as I get back into the swong of writing for my blog

Raph

This big hunk of red and green first

He's very seasonal if you think about it

He's also super (secretly) into the holidays

catch him doing his rendition of rockin' around the Christmas tree very loudly when he's off his tits on eggnog

((side note I think he would hate eggnog but would drink it solely because it's festive))

He's secretly super sentimental and he knows you love this time of year so he really puts his back into it

I'm talking it's the 1st of December and he wakes you up in a full Santa outfit and white beard (that he knitted himself) yelling "Ho Ho Ho!" and asking if you've been naughty or nice

it's like 6am so you, naturally, tell him to piss off

to which he makes a big show of trying to shove you into his Santa sack because "Someone needs a trip to the North Pole to learn the Christmas spirit"

He's also pretty good with crafts

obvs you guys can't go outside and be seen so he creates a whole winter wonderland in the lair (without telling the others, Mikey was the only one who appreciated it tbh)

also he's a great cook so you spend evening after evening baking sugar cookies and decorating them, sipping hot chocolate with a candy cane in it and whipped cream on top, making warming winter soups.

In terms of gifts, he gets you anything and everything he even thinks you might like

real big spender this one

handmade too items like a scarf he knitted for you because your old one was a bit worn, handmade card, he even did a little snow globe that he made with figures of you and him inside of it

he'll say "I know it's lame" or "It's not the best but I tried" but it means the world to you

Leo

Big boy blue up next

I see him loving a very traditional, old fashioned, classic Xmas.

His big thing is that he loves to decorate the tree with you

but you would always bicker about how it should look

"No, I think a gold and red theme would look better!"

"But, Leo, we have all of these cute glass candy canes I wanna hang!"

"But I have a vision!!"

so this year he decides to buy like 6 trees (and by buy I mean forage, steal or cut down)

so you can both have your own trees and decorate them however you want

this, obviously, becomes a Christmas competition

your very unwilling judges are Leo's brothers and even Splinter

they have never looked more uncomfortable than when you and Leo are very passionately stating your case for why your tree is better than the other's and it ends in you both throwing baubles at each other

about half an hour and a lot of tinsel lying everywhere later you decide that maybe you're both a little too competitive

but Leo reassures that "That's why I love you"

He's so big on quality time with you

lot's of sitting by a crackling fire, sipping coco and letting soft Christmas songs play

he's made a playlist of v gentle ones like Eartha Kitt's Santa baby, Conventry carol and god rest ye merry gentlemen.

it's all about the mood w/ Leo

as far as gifts, it's has to be something personal and sweet

a pressed flower in resin from the first day you both met, a silver heart shaped locket with a pic of you both in it, some sort of talisman that's supposed to keep you safe in ninja superstition

Mikey

Time for chaotic good to come to play

Mikey just manages to capture that almost childlike enthusiasm and wonder for the season

He has a funny habit of wrapping your gifts to look like something else

last year you were certain he'd gotten you a rocking horse but it turned out to be a new phone and headphones

"How long did it take you to wrap it like that?"

"Don't ask questions you don't wanna know.....3 hours to make the horse part look right"

normally he gets you silly but sweet gifts

lots of sticking filler things

oh and he gets you an actual stocking too, but like a comically oversized one to fit all the gifts

stuff he's made too

one year he made you 50 hand cut paper snowflakes with 50 reasons he loves you written and drawn on them

also stuff you guys can do together

video games he knows you'll find fun, stupid interactive games that you can play, that kinda stuff

he does a special Xmas scavenger hunt for you each year that the others pretend is stupid but it keeps getting more elaborate as time goes on and even they are started to get invested in the ending

there's a theme and everything ranging from polar express to murder at the Christmas party to Santa's grotto....

he also never fails to dress up as Mrs Clause every year (because Raph insists on being Santa and at first Mikey just wanted everyone to laugh, but now it's kinda a tradition)

Donnie

oh my sweet gadget boy

he's super big into cocktails, the sweeter the better

and you always get to name them together but you both have a warped sense of humour so the names are getting out of hand

you pick a fave each year as well

last year was "The abominable snowman's frozen left nut" and the year before was "Mrs Clause putting glass shavings in Santa's food because he came back with the clap"

I told you they were bizarre....

his gifts are always thoughtful and so romantic

I HC Donnie as being a super romantic guy

whether it be a painting he made of the constellations and planets in correct placement on the night the two of you first kissed

or a wreath of dried flowers and plants to hang on the door that came from the field behind your childhood house

but this year it's a scrapbook filled to the brim with every detail of the two of you, all dated and with a little annotation telling a story as to why it's in there. photos, cards, handwritten letters, magazine cut outs, diary entries.... it's all in there and it's enough to make you cry.

He also sneaks you out on Christmas eve every year without the others knowing (they'd flip if they came to know that he was stealing you away at that time)

but he takes you up to the rooftops to sit on blankets and drink hot chocolate (spiked with a little rum, it's Donnie after all...) and look at the lights and snowflakes and people bustling home to their families and you sit and feel at peace and laugh as you make up backstories to each individual you see scurrying home

you lean against his shoulder and every year that he does this it feels more magical than the last

[wallet6464]

DRAGON X MACHO (OR SPIN KICKS AS I HAVE DECIDED TO CALL THE SHIP) 🐉 💳

This will just be me rambling about them and head cannons and stuff!

First off, why do I ship 'em?

-I genuinely think it would be a fun paring with the contrast between the two

-they have been in TWO games together (macho being champ In both)

-I just think macho would like his fun boyfriend and would think he is super sweet and adorable

-dragon needs more love

How I think they would start dating:

-I think dragon had the most obvious crush on macho thinking he was super cool

-Heike wingmanned the whole time since he could talk to macho (being in the world circuit after all)

-they acc enjoyed each other a lot and decided to acc start dating

ANYWAYS REAL HEADCANON TIME:

(With examples)

-Dragon has autism and macho doesn’t understand any of it but he still is supportive (example:)

Smm “why do you only buy dragon stuff here babe?”

Dragon “Oh dragons are my hyperfixation”

Smm “what the heck is that? Oh well doesn't matter. Here is $5000, buy every dragon here! love you babe”

Dragon “I love you too 宝贝“

(Drawing this in comic form eventually lol)

-CONSTANT BEACH DATES

dragon doesn’t mind tho he just likes to hang out with macho and macho loves to show him off and teach him how to surf (plus dragon gets to show off his cool dragon leg tattoos which is another headcannon i need to draw)

-they watch reality tv together and dragon loves to hear macho talk about the show and relationships in depth

Smm: “ that big Ed dude where do I start on HIM!”

Dragon: “um tell me his most infamous moment 宝贝”

Smm: *queue 90 day fiancé rant*

-dragon is spoiled rotten by macho, like down right decomposed rotten. dragon even mentions smth he wants and it’s his the next day

Dragon: “OMG THAT IS SO COOL” (probably a dragon figure)

Smm: “OMG YEAH BAE That’s so radical”

(already buying it on Amazon prime WITH next day delivery)

-like only Heike and soda know even though it’s really obv if people thought about it (and tbh if you asked macho he would so flex his “radical partner” or if you asked dragon he would gush about how amazing macho is as a boyfriend )

-GYM PARTNERS!!! Dragon helps macho on leg day and vice versa. Each of them are each other's spotter and motivate each other during sets.

Smm: “ PUMP IT BABE!! YOU GOT IT!!”

Dragon: “Focus 宝贝! I know you can do it!”

-dragon will climb on machos back randomly (he needs to be swears)

-Macho does Q and A live streams with dragon JUST off screen and ignores questions about him (he does a lil trolling)

Smm: “Welcome to another TUBULAR stream from SUPER MACHO MAN RAHH!”

“Give yours truly some questions dudes and dudettes”

(And Dragon just be Reading diary of a wimpy kid in the background) (is that a self projection onto dragon? Yes, it was but I’m not wrong)

-They Have a shared Spotify account and a shared playlist and they both connect their headphones and do smth together!

-on there shares Spotify their playlists would be named by macho and have really fun names (eg:)

EPIC RADICAL TUBULAR BEACH VIBES (macho’s personal playlist)

THE BAES TOTALLY SICK PLAYLIST (Dragon’s personal playlist)

AWESOME TOGETHER WITH THE BABE PLAYLIST (self explanatory)

-macho sleeps in bare minimum Pjs and dragon wears a full on dragon onesie

-they cook together but macho had a home chef as a kid so he kinda bad at it so dragon helps a lot and they have fun!

-Dragon LOVES to share his favourite Chinese dishes and macho demolishes it ALL

-play Roblox together (macho always convinces him play the dress up games but they still have fun)

Smm: “UGH who does SHE think she is getting a higher rating then my GNARLY outfit!!!”

Dragon: “ Your outfit is my favourite so it wins in my eyes!”

Smm: “thanks babe let’s beat these bogus outfits!”

OK THAT'S ALL OMG THIS IS SO LONG BUT I'M LOW KEY DELUSIONAL ABOUT SPINKICKS

if you read this far, thanks for listening to my crazy rambling about my rare pair! I love 'em so much and expect more spinkicks content in the future!

[skellonovella]

How I felt about each Perfect Love ending!!

Game by @perfectlovevn

Warning: spoilers obv

ViolenceMilo Endings;

Taken:

Oh yes, kidnap me daddy

I'm sorry

But damn bro why you gotta be taking my legs like that

I kinda need those

Chef:

MMMMM eyeballs

Ryan's eye kinda looks like the replacement ones in Help Wanted

Looking at it I felt like I was about to stick it in Foxy's eye socket

Let him cook, let him cook

Husband:

Ow my bones

And he's just crying the whole time like dude there's more civil ways to immobilize someone

Like drogas

Anyway-

I like this ending

Killer:

You'll kill for me???

Even for minor inconveniences I don't care about??? :000

Thank you <3

ManipulationMilo Endings;

Wedding:

Ow my titties

Speaking of burning a symbol I burned an equals sign on my arm with the air fryer earlier

It hurt a lot (and it still does)

But not the first time I've burned myself on it

Doll:

Why he have to do Ryan like that

Bro was just living and he got Barbiefied, that's crazy

Wall:

get ouT OF MY WALLS AJSJSKOKSK

Bro be skittering like mice in the wall

All you hear at 3 in the morning is *skitter skitter skeet*

Burning:

Ooh fire

Boom boom boom boom I want you in my ro-

I'm too tired and unhinged to be making this rn

Perfect Love Endings;

Take Everything:

Mmm good soup

He do be goopy tho

Give Everything:

Crack that child's back, goldfish

No seriously, what is he, a KitKat?

Eris about to go omnomnomnomnom

I am so totally normal about this game *blinks rapidly*

[danvillecheese]

I hauve to knowww ur thoughts abt A) which members of the gang go to high school and 2) what their majors are (or what they do as young adults if not college) !!!!!

im gonna assume you meant college not high school lol

phineas - I feel like he doesn’t do well in a classroom environment w his adhd ass so he would potentially go to college for a bit and then probably drop out but he would do well w his grades regardless. I can see him doing a lot of different jobs bc he wants to do a lot of things but can’t narrow it down yknow. like he’d work in retail and then in trades and then maybe corporate before he decides it’s wayyyy too boring for him so he finds something different to do each time he gets bored

ferb - he would do a lot of study I think but not like. excessively like I can see him doing honours and a masters and then he calls up clive addison bc he is so committed to fulfilling his directorial dreams. like he for sure does film and some kind of creative writing at college so it works out for him

isabella - I’ve never really thought about it! maybe she does something like gender studies or something a little more political for college and then goes out after graduation and does something related to that? maybe journalism or some kind of investigative reporting (like her Thing in the beak but a real job lol)

baljeet - I’m largely ignoring aya but I do kinda want him to graduate college early and teach. but also I LOVE the early 20s burnout hc for him too like he rly just says fuck it and goes back to college to learn something way out of left field like art school or smth

buford - ohhh man I know he does film school in aya but buford in culinary school rly feels right for him. like not to project or anything but I rly think he would love cooking and want to learn how to do it properly and he would cook for the whole gang and everything. he also obvs goes to work in hospo and does Chef Things after he graduates lol

[icedmetaltea]

Why do you like yandere stuff so much? No judgement, I'm just wondering cause I noticed a lot of people like it and I just can't wrap my head around it, so I wanted to ask a few people who enjoy it

WELL it's a bit of a loaded answer... I obvs can't answer for everyone, so this is just my personal take:

(pretty long and also just ioewjgfuireuiver kinda emBARRASSING so ima put it under here)

A bitch be lonely. I think that's the most common thing that draws people to the trope. Like, if you're someone who grew up without friends like me, the idea of being solely idolized by someone, like given their complete attention is just rlly appealing to me. To be loved, to be wanted, to be worshiped no matter how much your brain has convinced you that you're not worthy of love is just *chef's kiss*

The attention. This is kinda the same as the first answer but for me a big thing I love in the trope is when I- or well y/n, more correctly- gets praised a lot and treated like they're the most important thing in the world. I already have awful self-esteem so I like being told I'm perfect and wonderful as I am (TヘT) I think most people also have this mindset.

Being taken care of completely. No more worries about bills, food, shelter, etc... cause it's all taken care of for you (whether u like it or not so you don't have to feel guilty about it lol)

The whole power dynamic. I don't rlly have a sub/dom kink or at least not the mainstream kind (?) but I do enjoy the idea of being able to let go and just be myself without having to worry about judgement or societal norms- because, well, said character has already broken out of what's considered acceptable by kidnapping you or whatever so we're already past that lol.

Kinda adding onto that, being able to be flawed without, again, worrying about putting someone off. You can be ugly, socially inept, talentless, fuckin' stupid, whatever, and it's all okay. You don't have to fit in with anything society deems attractive- said character is flawed enough themselves to find you perfect.

The danger aspect. I love horror in general, so it's kind of like that for me. I have severe anxiety so being able to just feel scared for a while can be incredibly cathartic for me.

The "reframing" thing. In case you haven't noticed, yandere stuff for me tends to be pretty light-hearted. While I'm totally cool with people enjoying yandere stuff with tons of blood/violence/etc, I usually go for "softer" stuff, like stalking, kidnapping, etc. In a way, I'm taking something that makes me feel helpless and scared and making it something that brings me an odd sort of comfort. I suppose this is a way I can cope with anxiety- by taking some form of fear, like how I often feel helpless and trapped during panic attacks, and putting it in the context of when I'm helpless and trapped but in the arms of someone who wants nothing more than to protect me and would literally crush anyone/anything that tried to hurt me aaaAAA ❤️

The fact that it it's fiction! Fiction is a beautiful thing, where you can tackle potentially traumatic things without irl consequences. Would I want anything like this irl? NO!! Stalking/kidnapping/what have you is absolutely vile if it takes place in real life. Even stuff like be very controlling of a partner (unless you have their complete consent and have talked this stuff out ahead of time/have a safe word and all) is entirely unhealthy and toxic. In fiction?? Go for it. It can also be a great way to cope with intrusive thoughts if you suffer from those as well.

That being said, it's absolutely not for everyone, and I imagine most people would find the trope to be disgusting and horrific- and that is completely understandable and okay! It's up to people (who I'm assuming and HOPING are 18+ bc if you're a minor it can be way harder to distinguish reality from fiction and lead an immature person to believe any of these traits like being controlling/ultra possessive are okay irl and maybe even encourage them to seek out abusive relationships/yandere stuff tends to be thrown in with stuff like violence, sexuality, really disturbing stuff in general, etc so when I say all these things, it's coming from my ADULT perspective) to be discerning of what they can handle both mentally and emotionally. If it leaves you feeling gross, creeped out, or disturbed in some way, stop and avoid it.

Alright, sorry for the ramble! As you can tell I'm pretty passionate about it. I hope that answered your question somewhat! ✨

[hinamie]

hiii hope ur doing well hina :3 i loveeeee your art sososososo much !!! i was wondering how u started developing your own art style??

i used to draw a lot and im trying to get back into it, but all i can do is copy images fkjdg so any advice or even just hearing abt your own experience would be super helpful :D

again realllyyy love your art especially the way u capture emotions its so (chefs kiss)

HIIIII hello hiiii !!! and thank u !!!!!!!

ahhh th art style question :') i think i've told this story before but I'm very much in the same boat in that a lot of my early drawing years were spent copying other people's art that i would find online . not to post or anything obv but i sort of treated them as my own personal studies (this was back in my traditional art days) so i just had sketchbooks filled with art tht was, fr all intents and purposes, Not My Own :'> I don't think it was until i got into digital art and posting my own stuff that i really had to start nurturing a style that i could call my own and it was clumsy and awkward and hard but like anything it gets easier !

and look ik copying (and even to an extent using reference) can get a bit of a bad rep but i honestly think it's such a good way to train the eye and learn what u like and just practice in general . ofc u run the risk of copying another artist's mistakes but that's besides the point rn. at the end of the day the things we like and the media we consume influence us !!! there's no shame in it !!! my style has run the gauntlet of cutesy to whatever tf im working with now and so much of it depends on the media im currently into ! like go back to my tg and yoi days and i think it's so obvious that i was very influenced by more shoujou anime/kyotani/idol game art styles whereas now i think it's Very apparent that my tastes have changed fHFDHh

it's so hard to put a timeline on how u Develop an art style.,, i think it just happens when you're not looking until one day u look at a collection of ur work and go Huh! but tbh even the whole concept of an "art style" is so arbitrary bc it rly is so fluid? like yeah there r elements that might b a bit more specific to each artist but i think those r just more Ingrained habits that we carry with us even while experimenting with other techniques . as fr advice i can offer its probably obvious given th earlier part of this answer but i am, as always, a huge proponent of using references and insp pics and here is my obligatory call to practice practice practice but all that to say i think as long as u r drawing u r on the right track <3

theres this quote by Yohji Yamamoto i think of often tht goes smth like 'start copying what u love and at the end of the copy u will find yourself' and tbh. life philosophy . art and media do not exist in a vacuum so embrace what inspires u to create ! i am like kirby. i see what i like, i Absorb and, to an extent, i Become :)

[posttexasstressdisorder]

"The best revenge..."

...is living and eating WELL while (and in spite of) living in poverty.

I actually had the gumption to try and have a cafe 30 or so years ago, and I live with a guy who had his own bakery: a Danish-trained Chef currently working as a Sous Chef at a big hotel in The City, and his 21 yr old son (who has literally been an assistant sous chef to his dad his whole life).

We're all barely afloat, his son is looking for his first real job-job "out there", and getting discouraged. Y'all hear regularly about my poverty status, and my roomie chef is doin' as much as he can, and we're all three freakin' broke.

Fuck it. We may be broke, but we are are gonna Eat as best we can with what we got. So to the current example.

Yes, I know how to cook Mexican Food like any native ex-south-texan worth his salt and lime. Yes I learned how mama/grandma did it, either mine or someone else's.

Roomie and I are carnivores, son is veg. We all agree that Mexican Food is good, so I'm always looking for how to spend my "old-fuck-on-food-stamps EBT the best way.

Behold, Example 1: 20 lb. bag of dried pinto beans.

20 lbs for $17. And lookee there: it's Fiesta, no stranger to this former Austinite. And anyone who knows knows that this boy knows how to make a pot o'pintos, with/without carnivorousness. Keep 'em on the stove long enough you got Refrieds.

Somebody at Groce-Out is from Texas, gotta be: They have Velveeta and Rotel (for QUESO!) at near-normal prices! I laughed today. Velveeta was 6.99 at Groce-Out, and I shit you not, $14.95 at Lucky.

Got that along with a couple 2-lb bags of their "Hollis Street" whole bean French Roast (Dark) for $11.95 ea. This is surprisingly good coffee beanage, freshly roasted right up the road in Emeryville, evidently. So good coffee for cheap. A similar brand at the 'non discount' grocery store I go to is $21 for a 2lb bag.

While they aren't the winner in the coffee bean competition, Lucky (the non-discount store) is great for meat, especially mid-week, when they have lots of specials. Their "megapaks" of chicken thighs (10/pkg) were buy one get one free. So for ten bucks, I got 20 thighs (over 7lbs), which, when roasted with lots of salt and pepper, and cooled and shredded and deboned become something like 4 pounds of Chicken Enchilada Meat. For ten bucks.

Tomorrow I go to another discount store closeby roomie told me about that has the best commercial Hatch Chile in a jar I have ever found. Tastes like mine, when we would get a case at a time at Central Market, get 'em roasted in the parking lot, and take 'em home and shuck most of the the skins/seeds, and saute onion and garlic and add. In. A. Fucking. Jar.

So you see where this is heading.

We will be having a TexMex Enchilada/taco Feast that can be repeated at will until we've eaten/given enough away. Freezer. Vacuum sealer. Oooooooom.

And yeah, we got the dessert thing covered. I buy flour, the three sugars, butter, real cream, good organic milk, good brown eggs. I bake everything from fucking scratch. I buy berries and grapes as my main fruit. I don't buy a lot of processed ANYTHING. I buy ingredients. And bread/tortillas, obvs. And I'm happy I have the "card" that gives me my eeked-out apportionment of "food funds".

So that old adage of "The Best Revenge" being "living well" means we may be fucking poor, but goddammit, we are gonna Eat, with a capital E if I have anything to say about it.

All three of us are pretty much clinging to the same leaky life-raft, this accursed but oh-so-necessary apartment, not much overlap in our lives/diets/schedules, but every once in awhile I get to go back into "restaurant mode" and do up a Massive Feed. Share with the neighbors and stock the freezer.

And a pot of beans on the stove in perpetuity.

[misarem]

umineko ep 1 impressions

i liek never rlly successfully text post on here. but since i keep fan art and vgm on here i thought i might as well track my progress on this million word 100 hour visual novel JOURNEY to look back on later. obv spoilers for the first episode and its tea party and ??? segment.

for the most part, what drew me into umineko was atmosphere and that amazing ost and ive watched little out of context vids on the game just to get a taste cuz im just rlly into it. im so glad i chose Umineko Project over 07th mod for my first pt since just small things like the rain effects and the lip synching add so so much. the Experience of Umineko just has really nice levels to it. Ive listened to goldenslaughterer like a million times just from that one erika furudo clip and it didnt lose a bit of its power when i heard it for the first time in the scene at the garden shed and it made that whole scene just so exciting after literal hours of shifting from light playful scenes with the cousins and tense scenes with the ushiromiya siblings, building upon both heavily only for both sides of the family to just come crashing down in one morning.

speaking of the cousins i feel like theyre by far the most fun characters to hang out with outside of maybe eva and natsuhi reading the fuck out of each other. i have a long history of immediately gravitating to my cousins during family get togethers and its really nice to see they more or less keep their camaraderie through the events of the first episode except for maria but like. lmao. also seeing the cousin's varied reactions to their parents deaths hits kinda close as someone who has a really strained relationship with theirs. how grief manifests differently for each of them based on the trauma and issues they have with their parents is so interesting to see and i feel like a lot of games dont really explore this besides the kids feeling generally sad abt it, and im super excited to see the inner workings of this family laid bare.

that also includes the parents as siblings too cuz even tho theyre all kinda fuckheads in their own way, theres some real truth to how their upbringing kinda ruined all their relationships and potentially their outlooks on life. and even tho krauss is the most outwardly fucked up most of the time, rosa is Super sinister to me just being a character whos at the lower end of a power dynamic but still having responsibilities as a mother. of course we know how she mistreats maria and it would be nice to see rosa like admit that her issues with maria are somewhat her fault, but it would also be nice to see rosa begin the path of redemption and like ive seen clips of her with the rifle in one of the episodes so im sure itll be somewhere hopefully. at the very least i like the inlaws a lot too, hideyoshis nice, kyrie is super cool and the irony of her "flip the chessboard" outlook not being used before krauss could turn the tables on his other siblings earlier, because rudolf wouldnt let her talk, is not lost on me, and i was unsure abt natsuhi at first and she def still has issues but she really grew on me by the end after she had sorta made up with jessica, especially the scene where she accepted the charm from her daughter. again i gravitated toward jessica from the start and her experience feels like the richie rich version of how i was in high school, and her and her mother have a lot to sort out with each other, but the gesture and the fact that they both at least tried starting to make things better was just. so sweet. as for other characters, i rlly like kanon and shannon, the other servants besides like the chef guy are cool and kinzos funny as hell (love that in the UP translation he calls jessica fucking ILLITERATE for being a c student. like damn girl me too). again i cant wait to see how everything pans eventually pans out.

this is just a tentative ranking for the characters ive seen so far. i maybe coulda put george one rank lower idk, even tho ive seen hate for him, i just kinda like him. hes good with kids and the scenes where he lost his loved ones were touching. and like yea his relationship with shannon from a power dynamics perspective isnt great but i feel like it was kinda fraught to being with anyways.

for the plot i admittedly dont have a ton of ideas so far. ive never been one to make crazy predictions on stories as i was experiencing them. and im trying to here which is why im writing everything out. but, with my previous exposure to the game being crazy out of context clips, it makes the main conflict of the first episode being the issue of an 19th person and the reality of magic kinda weird considering. all the shit ive seen. with witches. and is anticipating crazy shit. i rlly didnt know what to think until the tea party and the ??? segment which did elucidate things. guessing that going forward, instead of having to reckon with the presence of magic, battler is gonna keep his strong stance against the "magical/fantastical/etc" and that he and beatrice will be diametrically opposed, considering i also know how they end up in debates later on and stuff like that. bernkastel in the ??? segment also explains how beatrice is more of a metaphor of an abstract concept rather than a person which also makes things kinda simpler in my head. and i know about the metanarrative aspects too (clocking all the detective literature references) so im prob gonna hold off until i see a bit more of it to make any crazy predictions. i mostly just wanna see new perspectives on some of the weirder happenings like the tool shed murders and the chain locked room, why natsuhi shot herself, how the key to the gold was even located so that the first six could be chosen and everything else. super excited to jump back in with episode 2, even tho the previous episode felt like it took eons to get thru, and i cant wait to see how everything changed over the course of this game.

also i swear to god if this girl is who i think she is-

[monocytogenes]

Done!

I've seen folks on Reddit do story rankings, so here's mine (spoilers obv):

IMPERIAL AGENT MY BELOVED. This story really hit that sweet spot of "complex moral landscape where you have to make difficult decisions" for me, and was one (along with trooper) where I could tell that Bioware understands politics and bureaucracy delightfully well. I know a game like this is good when I have to sit back and think for a minute about what choice my character would make at a pivotal moment, and I absolutely had to do that at the end of Chapter 1. I also normally hate mind control stuff as a plot device, but they handled it very well (and traumatically)--killing Kothe, and later Hunter, was such delicious catharsis. I also still hold that the Minister was probably the most realistic-feeling authority figure to me out of any such person in the class stories, and I also have deep affection for Shara and Vector. I wanted so much more of all of them, haha. Just a great experience all around.

Sith Warrior. Also a story where I was given a surprisingly great range of options in terms of ethical decision-making, and while the plot was more of a straightforward heroic journey, the characters really made it for me. I loved Vette, Quinn (despite the clumsy writing; having a romance where the usual gendered power dynamics were reversed was fantastic) and Pierce in particular, and I loved getting to play a morally gray patriot and how the game supported me in that. (For instance, the moment where my chick let Yonlach face death on his own terms and knelt in respect to his corpse just. Beautiful. Chef's kiss.) It was also probably my favorite in terms of the actual combat mechanics; I've played as a Marauder and a Jugg, and both are just such fun.

Trooper. SPEAKING OF COMPLEX MORAL LANDSCAPES. From the start, running around on Ord Mantell and encountering everything from war profiteering to mistreatment of prisoners to child soldiers, I knew I was in for a time. Like, this is insane, but my single favorite thing in this storyline was Jorgan's personal quest and how he went through the five stages of institutional disillusionment afterward. I loved Bioware's willingness to portray the Republic as a flawed state with bureaucratic infighting and active discrimination (e.g. poor Elara's defection story)--but still clearly not as bad as the 'has state-sponsored slavery' and 'is an oligarchy run by maniacs' Empire. I didn't get super attached to my own OC, but I am intending to run the expansion content with him just because I liked his dynamics with Jorgan and the authorities so much.

Jedi Consular. I know this is one of those stories people love to hate, and I wouldn't say it was the strongest for me, but I liked it! The politics of it were fun for me, and I got pretty attached to Yuon, thought Qyzen's whole cultural background was cool, and was frankly super disappointed I couldn't romance "ethically questionable guy with an assload of PTSD" Zenith. My main complaint was that my range of choices didn't seem as nuanced as some of the other characters--a lot of options were strictly "good guy" vs. "bloodthirsty maniac". I also did like the play style quite a bit--the glass cannon dynamic was pretty satisfying.

Smuggler: This was actually the first storyline I played, and it was alright. I felt the whole hunt for Skavak was really strong, and I liked the twist with Darmas, but the latter half of the story kind of dragged. Also felt like the romances really strongarmed you--I played a guy who ended up kissing Risha simply because I picked nice dialogue options with her, and I've heard that Corso's flirtations are kind of obnoxious on a female smugg. Overall, though, I loved the criminal underworld stuff, the quippy lines, the varying degrees of unethical I was permitted to be, and the combat style (I did gunslinger, and had a great time with that!)

Sith Inquisitor: The more fantastical, force magic stuff tends not to compel me, but this story was alright, namely because it was balls-to-the-wall insane and that was kind of acknowledged in universe (like, the sheer 'this might as well happen' energy of a lot of the dialogue was pretty funny.) I did feel as though I had less leeway than on Warrior to occupy a nuanced moral space; it felt like the writing was really encouraging me to be a scenery-chewing sadist, which I didn't care for as much. The companions were alright; I thought Andronikos was cool, and Ashara seemed a better-handled Jaesa (albeit one I didn't romance on a male inq because she coded really young to me and it creeped me out.) So yeah, just. Firmly 'okay.'

Bounty Hunter: I'm not sure why I didn't care for this story--I love the crime stuff in Star Wars, I could make questionable decisions, there were some politics involved--all of that was there. I think it just didn't have an emotional core for me. With Smuggler we were really off to the races on a vengeance quest when my ship got stolen; with Consular i got attached to Yuon and was motivated to help her; with Bounty Hunter Jory and Braden got killed before their deaths could really mean much to me and poor Mako (unlike Corso) seemed pretty unequipped to deal with the challenges we were going through. I did like Torian and got attached to him--the whole situation with his dad was feels--but yeah, I just felt unmotivated through much of it. It was disappointing too to get strongarmed into accepting Gault as a companion, as I really liked him in the expansion content; it just was one of those situations where I couldn't fathom why my character would let such a liability onto her ship.

Jedi Knight: I can tell this story was supposed to really be the main event of the game, but honestly? If the agent story was cake, this was white bread. If Agent was a published novel, this was wattpad fanfic. I was actively bored. As previously mentioned, I'm not super into the fantastical force magic stuff that much in general, and most of this story was that--the rest of it felt like sweeping up after the Republic's bullshit decisions without much political context (who the hell thought these superweapons were a good idea, anyway?) Like Consular, I felt like I had little nuance available to me in my choices, and many of the characters either straight up didn't feel like actual people or it seemed like I didn't have much time to get to know them (like, I was genuinely interested in Rusk's trauma and mindset and felt like I had little opportunity to explore that with him.) I got slightly attached to Orgus as a mentor figure, and then--well, we know what happened to him. I played a Shadow and was frankly glad I did because stealthing made it easier to get through the story quicker. Sigh.

[deathweak]

my review (ish) of whole cake island saga/one piece until chapter 902 (obv spoilers until then)

originally my fav arc was alabasta. then water seven/enies lobby. then it was impel down. then it was punk hazard/dressrosa. but then...whole cake island... actual emotional rollercoaster

the best part of this arc was definitely how human some of big moms kids were. my fav new characters introduced in this arc were pudding, chiffon, brulee and katakuri. i wish that big moms kids will all escape from her.. oda writes abusive families a lot, even the 'good' parents will beat their kids in one piece, i guess thats just the world they live in... but when it's a bad parent... oh man.

i managed to somehow not get spoiled about sanjis family at all, i was pretty shocked abt the reveal. i love reiju, even tho she was complicit in/a bystander to a lot of the abuse sanji suffered, i dont think there was anything more she couldve done. she saved his life multiple times over. i really hope we get to see her again.

but the best character in this arc was pudding. her mood swings/evil personality/tsundere gag wasnt the funniest ever but she was genuinely so human.. the way i kept going back and forth like.. is she just pretending to be evil? is she pretending to be in love with him? is she gonna betray him?? AND THE KISS... i actually ship sanji and pudding just a little ..

like i actually cried here. her arc was just chefs kiss(lol) amazing.

my other favourite antagonists were brulee and katakuri. at first i didnt like either of them, but after how much the gang bullied brulee i started to feel sorry for her and grew fond of her. i also always end up having a soft spot for odas 'ugly' female characters since it's just such a breathe of fresh air inbetween all the uncomfortable fan service (honestly the fan service kinda ruins a lot of scenes)

i didnt think there would be any deeper connection between brulee and katakuri until the very last moment, and this scene is one of my favourites in the whole series

like. brulees SMILE. the scar. katakuri was just defending his sister.. also the way flampe thought she was the favourite sister. nah!! thats brulee!!! i fucking ended up really loving her. i mean without her powers being abused by straw hats they wouldve all died. sorry brulee, you didnt deserve that... i hope mama didnt punish her after. also the way that katakuri was glad luffy got away!! he gained so much respect for luffy during their fight. Also i love how hes lowkey a jojo reference (and your next line will be...)

the way that a lot of big moms kids think theyre monsters is so sad.. but these three are just my favourites. i honestly love them. this arc is really about family bonds.. blood family and found family especially.

like sanji calling zeff his father multiple times and denouncing judge, but still hes such a kind person he had to save his blood family anyway. SANJIIiii. man. the way he really is. truly. KIND. i hate whenever hes being a complete pervert, sometimes its funny when hes in the respect women mode but when hes just being a creep i hate him. but this arc made me appreciate him a lot more, and i can kinda forget abt all the weird stuff.

when he was crying in the rain, lost all hope, and luffy gives him the light again..

i like that men are allowed to cry in one piece. like kyros cried all the time after being turned human again, and sanji cried multiple times in this arc. i cried at this scene as well.. luffy really out here saving the lives/souls of his whole crew. hes such a pure bright star..

lastly this scene!! CORAZOOOOONNNN!!! luffy didnt even know about that..the way he held his mouth shut and forced a smile to make sure his crew wouldnt be worried.

if i didnt know that he was gonna survive i might have actually thought he was gonna die

the annoying part about one piece for me is the plot armor tbh. theres no stakes, bc i know none of the straw hats can die. idk if id want one of them to die but it would bring some real shock to the readers. like the gang will pretty much always win by some trick in the end, sometimes its funny like how usopp defeated sugar, but sometimes it feels like a bit of a cop out. but i think luffy and katakuris fight was believable, the only gripe i have with it is that it was dragged out a biiit too long. this arc couldve been a good 5-10 chapters shorter if oda hadnt dwelled so long on things.

also i love love love how lola became relevant again and chiffon wanted to repay the debt of nami saving her twin sister, also mamas vivre card coming in clutch lmao. nami was epic in this arc, she went up against big mom without losing her shit too badly. i love her sadistic streak lolll. cant forget brook in this either, he was hilarious.

finally. RIP pound. a great father. also RIP pedro. two good guy casualties in one arc, is oda finally permakilling people?

overall id say this arc was a 9/10. -1 point for being a bit dragged out and the fan service with reiju.

[minimoefoe]

Thirteen Era Rewatch: Fugitive of the Judoon

I'm re-watching Thirteen's era in lead up to the Centenary and since this is likely going to be my last full re-watch for a while I thought I'd do a post on each ep where I just go over all the things I love, hate or just have some general thoughts on.

Lee and Ruth’s relationship is actually so interesting to me it’s unreal like I wanna know every detail. Like we’re they in a relationship pre-chameleon or we’re they just friends? Did this relationship happen randomly or was it planned?

How does the fugitive Doctor feel about him once she’s back to being the Doctor? I NEED ANSWERS

I love Ruth at the beginning of this ep, Jo Martin is just so great I love her

Them sitting on the stairs like that is not the vibe like 13’s TARDIS is just not really homey like all the prev ones

13 is chef’s kiss in this first scene. And so are the fam.

I actually love the shopkeeper in this ep he has no business being as funny as he is

I love the first confrontation with the Judoon and also their reaction to Graham going missing is so good. This versus LotSD where 13 is like I’m too busy tryna woo Yaz idc that Dan has ran off lmao

JB being a twat hasn’t ruined Jack’s return for me, I still think his reveal scene is cool and it still kinda gets me. Tho nowhere near like it did the first time lol

Love how Jack is playing it cool and joking around with ‘the Doctor’ (Graham) but the second he hugs him you can see on his face that this is kinda big for him and he missed the Doctor a lot

Convenient that the Doctor doesn’t say her name for the whole of that scene with Lee and Ruth and also doesn’t say it when she’s with Ruth later on. Not a huge issue. But it’s defo noticeable imo. I also kinda wonder how Lee would’ve reacted to her saying her name tbh

I wonder if when 13 found out who Ruth was she kinda thought back to Ruth’s relationship with Lee and was like wait, that was me. Or if it made her think of all the other people she has no memory of. Literally like Twelve forgetting Clara but on steroids

I think Jack accidentally picking up everyone who isn’t the Doctor is kinda funny. I remember when the ep first aired I REALLY just wanted him to meet 13 but it doesn’t really bother me now, maybe bc we know he comes back and meets her in RotD but also bc of the other big stuff in the ep, I don’t think them not coming face to face is a big deal. Like if no other cool stuff happened I’d be disappointed but bc cool stuff DID happen so idrc. I think Jack is a cool surprise that then makes the other surprise even bigger

No you don’t loves

13 telling Ruth she’s her best hope versus her going on to do all the searching for her past alone and having no one (except Yaz but obvs 13 doesn’t let her in)

TARDIS reveal is cool I literally don’t care that it’s a bit of a coincidence that the Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS also happened to get stuck like that

The way the Fugitive Doctor got changed before coming out to reveal herself is so funny

Her glasses !!! She’s so cool

The whole first scene on the Fugitive Doctor’s TARDIS is great they have such a cool dynamic

A scene of all female time lords feels cool and important idk

I love Gat tbh, rip queen

Her face kills me she’s actually so fucked up from all that

Obsessed with this final scene. Them asking questions, 13 being messed up, having a go at Ryan, them not taking it, them giving her pep talk, FAMILY, her face when Ryan says she’s the Doctor. It’s true chef’s kiss

[the-commonplace-book]

ok ok a real one: Seamus/Sinead obvs obvssss

Send me a ship for the ship bingo chart: Seamus O'Neill / Sinead Hanigan ( Original Characters )

Before anything else I'd like to say I fully intended for this art to be just a little sketch like I've been doing for these, but then I got carried away and whOOps! Art! (still forced myself not to do detail work)

Seamus and Sinead! They make me feel INSANE! I am in no way normal about them. 

For those who don’t know, Seamus and Sinead are two of the main characters of the scifi-fantasy series Beth and I are writing. They also have a modern AU continuity that we’re writing for funsies and will post on Ao3 eventually. And OH DO I HAVE A LOT TO SAY ABOUT THEM.

On paper, Seamus and Sinead are a recipe for disaster. A rich boy involved in politics with buckets of trauma, a screwed up family, commitment issues, and a laundry list of addictions. A driven, optimistic small town girl with a lot of prove, naive eagerness to trust, and a bit of a savior complex now and then. It’s a textbook dysfunctional romance novel situation at a cursory glance. 

But Sinead isn’t really so naive, she just likes to try and see the best in people. And Seamus, while a mess, is proactive in seeking out help in getting clean and processing his trauma. Sinead, while keen for authoritative approval, will never seek it out to the detriment of her morals. Seamus commitment issues? Turns out he’s the most loyal person on earth when he’s actually in a relationship; he just hasn’t been in one in a long time.  And the love that grows between them is born first out of friendship. They support each other and inspire each other to learn and grow and change for the better. They bring out the honest in each other, and through that bring out the best.

They bond over a love of poetry, music, art, and literature. Over empathy and curiosity. Over the macabre, the absurd, and the hopeful. Over the ways in which they seek to make the world a better place. Seamus is Sinead’s tether when she shoots for the stars, keeping her from flying off into space in her optimistic idealism. Sinead helps pull Seamus to his feet when his grounded, practical nature spirals into pessimistic nihilism. They have an insane amount of respect for each other and balance each other out beautifully. They are partners in the truest sense of the word. They aren’t each other’s sole reasons for growing and changing, but they are positive catalysts of change in each other’s lives, and they support each other through that ever evolving process.

Not to mention the themes of trauma recovery that are involved in their story for both of them. Learning what it is to trust and to feel safe and loved and secure in a relationship which is like candy to me. I love putting a little of that in my stories and so does Beth so it’s little surprise trauma recovery plays such a large role in this one.

And there’s the whole families aspect of things of inserting Sinead into the O’Neill mess which is just a delight because she’s a huge wrench in Seamus’ father’s plans. Sinead’s parents are wonderful (honestly another favorite ship) and adopt Seamus so fast. Sinead’s dad and Seamus have one of my favorite relationships in the story actually. 

I had to also grab the “I could make it SO fucked up” and “I could make it SO stupid” for them because we’ve written an insane number of AUs about these two and there’s one where we tried to see if we could screw up their relationshi, but somehow they worked their way back around to being healthy about it again and that continuity now inspired some of the narrative choices in the main canon.

Look I could talk about these two for ages. I mean, we’ve got entire books about them. They’re just so *chef’s kiss* 

Thanks for sending these two in! ugh I love them so much

[popsicle-stick]

I saw a trailer for a Renfield movie coming out in 2023 following, obvs, renfield, but in the service for his dark master Dracula. As the resident Dracula poster on my dash, i wanted to know your thoughts.

haha i've actually avoided talking about it bc the tag seems quite polarised and i do not want to attract debate lmao

a lot of people have had concerns about renfield as presented in the book vs this film, which is understandable, and i'm not gonna list them all here bc other people more articulate than me have already been posting in the tag. on the other hand, i genuinely really do like nicholas hoult as an actor and nic cage as (finally a non-romance novel) dracula is so fucking weird. chef's kiss. i think the overall vibes are a campy romp, with a self awareness that doesn't take itself too seriously. This is something i feel has been missing from the dracula ouvre for a while, yet at the same time this comes at the expense of, well, renfield's whole character. i think a comedy with canon renfield would be a very black comedy indeed and they've clearly gone for mass appeal and so it comes across that they've essentially invented a character for the film.

i think, overall, i probably will go to see it! on one hand it looks like a fun film that isn't supposed to be taken too deeply and on the other i wish this was a film about rm renfield from bram stoker's hit 1897 novel dracula, who has clearly been sacrificed in order to foster a lighter tone. there are other points i could be more articulate about, but at this point, jury's still out, and i'll try and withold judgment until i've seen it