#tbh i feel bad for him for having to live with this awful woman for like. eternity

[a-tenno-called-prin]

30 minute sketch turn into 2 HOURS because I refused to use a reference and ended up just redrawing the same hand 30 times anyway it's 2 am here she is with her hair down i'm sleep now bye

[mamaestapa]

New Romantics

“every day is like a battle, but every night with us is like a dream”

•pairing: Jamie Drysdale x Hughes!reader||Trevor Zegras x Hughes!reader

•series summary: Y/n Hughes, twin sister of Jack Hughes, accepts an invitation to move in with Trevor and Jamie after she’s forced to move to Anaheim for a job. Despite her older brother’s opinions, the young woman finds herself falling for both of her roommates…but which one does she fall for the hardest?

•chapter summary: The time comes for you to finally move out to Anaheim! Your roommates take you out after you get settled in and you spend the night with a special someone...

•word count: 3.4k

•warnings: fluff, alcohol consumption, lots of flirting, I think thats about it tbh

series masterlist

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August 19, 2023

"There she is!" Trevor exclaimed, beaming as he watched you get out of your car. He uncrossed his tanned arms and pushed himself off the side of the building he was leaning on and started to make his way over to you. You giggled softly at the boy, closing the driver door shut before you met him in the middle.

"Hi Z," you mumbled into the hockey players chest as he pulled you into a tight embrace. You couldn't help but notice how the butterflies swarmed in your belly at the feeling of Trevors arms wrapped securely around your body. He obnoxiously swayed you side to side as he hummed.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to make it."

It took you a total of two days to make it out to California from the lake house in Michigan. You told Trevor you'd try your best to make it in twenty four hours, but traveling by yourself across the country wasn't the easiest. Between the traffic, the "jet lag", and not getting more than six hours of sleep in the last forty some hours, your one day trip turned into a two, almost three day trip. Even though you were exhausted from the trip, you're just happy to finally be in Anaheim.

You pulled away from Trevor, rolling your eyes playfully as you spoke, "Yeah because I'd give up the once in a lifetime opportunity to live with you and your boyfriend."

It was Trevor's turn to give you a playful eye roll. He lightly shoved your shoulder as he did so, "And to think you were starting to become my favorite Hughes."

"Awe, that's too bad. Poor Trevy is going to have to settle with Jack." You traced a tear rolling down your cheek as you frowned at him. Trevor let out a laugh, his nose scrunching up in the cutest way that made the butterflies appear once more. You giggled softly at the boys reaction before you spoke again.

"But speaking of your boyfriend," you eyed Trevor, smiling as you saw watched him shake his head at your teasing, "where is he? I haven't seen Jamie in such a long time."

The sound of a door closing caused you and Trevor to snap your heads over to the front door of the condo. Jamie walked out, running his hands through his dark hair as he walked over to where you and Trevor stood.

"Took you long enough Jimmy." Trevor teased as he clapped his best friends upper back. Jamie smiled sheepishly as he apologized, "Sorry, I was cleaning up a bit and then my mom called."

A small smile pulled at your lips as you noticed the pink hue that was slowly appearing on the boys pale cheeks. Jamie's blue eyes flickered over to you, his blush deepening when he made eye contact with you.

"Hi Jamie," you said with a smile as you waved at him, "it's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too, Y/n." He replied softly.

Jamie Drysdale was one of the sweetest guys you've ever met. He was a little bit shy, and a tad closed off—he'd only talk to you if you talked to him first. At least, that's how it was when you first met him. He's seemed to have gotten better about the closed off part, however, he was still just as sweet as you remembered him to be.

The two of you moved in sync, reaching out to hug one another. Jamie's embrace was warmer and gentler than Trevor's was, despite the fact that he had bigger arms than the brunette did. You pulled away from him, both of you still wearing the soft smiles on your faces the way you did before hugging.

As the two of you pulled away, Trevor cleared his throat and gestured toward your vehicle. "Why don't we start taking your stuff inside? Jimmy and I can bring boxes in while you look around the place."

You smiled, nodding as you spoke, "That'd be great guys, thanks."

The two hockey players nodded, both of them wearing soft smiles on their faces as they gazed at you. You could feel yourself starting to grow flustered from the attention from both Trevor and Jamie.

No, you scolded yourself, quit. They're your roommates, get used to it.

You internally composed yourself, making sure Trevor and Jamie didn't notice your brief flustered response from their actions. Thankfully, the two didn't pick up on it because they were already unloading your belongings from the trunk of your car and the u-haul trailer. As the boys unpacked all of your boxes, you made your way into the condo to check out your new home for the next twelve months.

The condo was very nice, much nicer than you were expecting. You don't know what you were expecting though, these were luxury apartments after all. You walked further into the entryway. To your left was the living room. There were pictures hung up on the walls, each one having both Trevor and Jamie in it somehow. There were framed jerseys from their rookie seasons with the Ducks on either side of the TV, which you thought was a neat thing for the boys to do. You smiled softly at the cozy living room before you continued your self lead tour through your new home. There was vinyl flooring throughout the entire apartment, with light gray painted walls. The sofa was a cream color with a gray sherpa throw blanket draped over the side. The kitchen wasn't too dirty, but it could definitely use some cleaning. You turned a corner and walked down the hallway. You glanced into Trevor and Jamie's rooms, grimacing slightly as you saw the unmade beds a cereal box sitting on Trevor's beside table, and three half full water bottles on Jamie's floor. The condo was nice, but you could definitely tell boys were the only ones living there.

As you turned back around and left the hallway with the boys rooms, Trevor and Jamie stood in the kitchen with their arms crossed over their chest as they watched you look around your new home. They had finished bringing in all of your belongings, scattering them around the entry way and living room. Trevor uncrossed his arms and ushered you over to him and his best friend.

"Here, we'll show you your room." The hockey players walked out of the living room and jogged up the stairs. You followed behind them, the three of you turning right and walking down a hallway. There were two rooms, one was a decorated guest bedroom, while the other was completely empty, besides a queen sized bed with a simple gray bed set. Trevor and Jamie walked into the room, standing to the side so you could walk in too. The bed frame was pushed up against the middle of the wall, while the dresser and closet were directly across from the bed. You smiled as you looked at the empty room. You could definitely make this work.

"It's nothing like your room at the lake house," Trevor spoke, a smirk on his face, "pink sheets, flowers everywhere, and the occasional picture of me."

You rolled your eyes at him, shaking your head playfully as you turned to look at the brunette.

"You and Jack," you corrected, playing along with Trevor. You continued, "and Quinn and Luke. Oh! And maybe Cole and Turc too."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Trevor chuckled, waving you off before he continued, "anyways, it's nothing like your room at the lake house, but I think it'll do."

You nodded at his words, smiling softly. You looked between Trevor and Jamie as you spoke sincerely, "It's perfect, thank you. I really appreciate you guys letting me move in with you, means a lot."

"It's no problem," Jamie said with a smile, "Even though Z didn't really let me have a say in this." he elbowed his best friend in the side, making Trevor feign hurt. You chuckled softly at the boys in front of you. Jamie's smile widened at the sound of your laughter.

"I'm glad to have you here." The dark haired boy finished softly. Trevor joined in, "We're both glad to have you here, Y/n/n."

You smiled at their sincerity. You knew living with Trevor and Jamie as their third roommate would make your time in Anaheim much smoother. California was a lot different than Michigan, but being with Trevor and Jamie made things more manageable already.

You walked up to the hockey players standing near the doorway, wrapping your arms around both of them. As soon as your body was on theirs, they instantly wrapped an arm around you, squeezing you gently.

"Thanks boys," you said, sighing softly as you pulled away from them, "wanna help me bring some boxes up here?" Both Trevor and Jamie nodded as they moved out of the way, letting you leave the room first. They followed behind you down to the living room, helping you bring boxes full of your belongings back up to your room.

For the next two hours, you, Trevor and Jamie started unpacking your boxes and setting up your room. While you and Jamie unpacked boxes and sorted through what belongs where, Trevor made your bed and fixed the dresser--which you discovered was broken when you tried to put your clothes away.

You laid flat on the vinyl floor, huffing out a sigh as your body hit the floor with a light smack. You brought your hands up to your head, groaning softly as you rubbed your eyes. Jamie chuckled from beside you as he looked down at you laying on the floor.

"I forgot how exhausting it is to unpack." You mumbled out as you rubbed your hands down your face. You definitely ruined your makeup, but you didn't care. All you cared about at the moment was getting unpacked and settled in.

Trevor plopped down on the floor next to you and Jamie. He too huffed out a sigh as he laid down on the hard floor of your bedroom.

"It is a lot of work," Trevor said before he got up on one arm and looked between you and Jamie, "why don't we take a break, get some dinner or something."

That sounded like a great idea. You haven't had anything to eat since you stopped at Starbucks this morning before you even entered the state of California. You sat up from your laying position, nodding at Trevor's suggestion.

"Sounds good to me. I have to return my U-Haul by seven anyways, so that would work perfect." Trevor clapped, "Perfect. Let's go then." He stood up from the floor, stretching his limbs as he spoke, "I could go for a burger, what about you guy?"

"Burgers sound great, bud." Jamie nodded as he too stood up. Trevor held his hand out for you. You grabbed a hold of it as he helped you up from the floor.

"Y/n," he asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked at you, "burgers?"

Your stomach growled, answering Trevors question for you. Trevor and Jamie both chuckled. "I'm taking that as a yes," Trevor said, still chuckling, "let's go."

The three of you left your room and headed downstairs to leave for dinner. Trevor volunteered to drive your car, which you happily let him because your right leg still had a cramp from all of the driving you've been doing the last couple days. Trevor got into the drivers seat, while you tried to sit in the back so Jamie could sit next to his best friend.

"No," Jamie said softly, taking your hand off the handle to the backseat passenger side, "you take the front."

"You sure?"

He nodded, "Yeah," he opened the door for you, "it's your car, you shouldn't have to sit in the back." You smiled warmly at the Canadien, "Thanks Jamie."

You swore your heart swelled from how sweet Jamie was.

The two of you got into the car and buckled your seatbelts. Once you were all settled in, Trevor turned the car on and put it in reverse. As he was getting ready to pull out of the parking spot, Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift began playing.

"Ohoho," Trevor chortled as he reached to crank the volume up to 12, "this is my favorite song. He said lets get out of this town..."

You and Jamie made eye contact in the mirror, smiling softly at each other as you laughed at Trevor's attempt to sing along with Taylor.

You were already loving Anaheim.

time skip

“Oh my god,” you laughed as you covered your mouth with your hand, “there’s no way she said that.”

Trevor giggled beside you, scrunching his nose up, “She did.” The two of you were laughing messes, trying to catch your breath as he finished speaking. You had gotten back from dinner at In-N-Out and dropping your U-Haul trailer off about an hour ago. As soon as you got home you finished setting up your room, and now you and the boys were sat on the couch drinking beers and sharing embarrassing bar stories.

“Oh my god you guys,” Jamie groaned, “it wasn’t that bad.”

Trevor quit laughing, giving Jamie a look of disbelief, “Her completely missing your terrible joke and saying she’d never fuck you because she doesn’t sleep with Canadians? I’d say that’s pretty bad.”

Jamie stayed silent as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. He knew Trevor was right. His bad attempt at flirting with the first girl he saw at the bar a couple weeks back was pretty bad.

“You just have no rizz Jimbo.” Trevor shrugged as he sipped his beer.

“It’s alright Jamie,” you smiled, reaching out to lightly tap the boys shoulder, “I’ll let you practice on me.”

Jamie chuckled softly, a light blush making its way onto his cheeks at your words. “Thanks Y/n.” he replied, nudging you gently with his shoulder. Your expression matched his as you joking replied, “Anytime.”

You leaned back against the couch, closing your eyes and letting out a yawn. You were exhausted. It had been a long couple days and you were ready to finally sleep in a decent bed. Your eyelids fluttered open and you checked your watch, seeing that it was well past nine. You usually stayed up later than this, but with the time difference and the traveling, you knew it would be best to go to bed. You got up from your spot on the couch, telling the both of the boys goodnight. They each gave you soft smiles as they told you to sleep well, and that if you needed anything don’t be afraid to wake them up.

You laughed at that, knowing you’d be just fine—but you appreciated their offer. You went upstairs and got ready for bed. Once you were under the covers and your head hit the pillow, you were instantly in a much needed deep sleep.

Until you weren’t…

Your eyes snapped open and suddenly you were wide awake. Every ounce of tiredness you felt just three hours earlier was completely gone. You turned to your left side, huffing out a sigh as you adjusted your pillow. You closed your eyes, hoping to fall back asleep.

However, twenty minutes had passed since you woke up and you were growing even more restless. You were tossing and turning every couple minutes and your eyes just didn’t want to stay closed. You’d get this way every once in a while, and you knew there was only one solution to make you sleep. You tapped on your phone screen, groaning when you saw the time. You didn’t want to wake the boys, but they did say to wake them up if you needed anything…

You pulled the covers off your body and slid out of bed. You left your room and quietly headed downstairs, careful not to wake Jamie as you walked past his room and into Trevor’s. Every once in a while at the lake house, you and Trevor would sleep together. Neither of you could explain why, but something about just being in the same bed as each other was comforting and helped you both sleep when you needed it the most.

You walked into Trevor’s room with soft footsteps, careful not to wake Trevor just yet. You walked further into his room, smiling as you looked at the peacefully sleeping boy on the bed. Trevor's light brown hair was messy, sprawling over his white pillow and one bare arm that was tucked underneath his head. You almost didn't want to wake him, but you knew he wouldn't mind. The two of you did this with each other all the time. It was harmless, but your brothers and best friend all thought otherwise. Yeah, you and Trevor were extremely flirty anytime you were around each other, but neither one of you dared to move because it would never happen.

You took a step forward, grimacing and closing your eyes tightly when you heard the floor creak beneath you. The sound caused Trevor to stir a bit before reluctantly opening his eyes. He sat up in bed, squinting his eyes as he looked at you.

"Y/n," he called out softly, "is that you?"

"Yeah," you responded quietly, "sorry Trev, I'll leave. I didn't mean to-" "No, no, stay." Trevor cut you off as he pulled the covers off his bare chest and waved you over to the bed. "Please?"

You smiled softly and walked over to him, climbing in and laying down on the empty side of his queen sized bed. Trevor laid back down, motioning for you to come closer to him. As if it was second nature for both you and Trevor, you pushed yourself against his bare chest and let his arms wrap around your body. The two of you fit together like puzzle pieces. He pulled you closer into his body as your legs intwined with his. Trevor pressed a soft kiss to your temple before he reached out to take one of your hands in his. The two of you hummed softly, the feeling of your bodies spooning was complete bliss.

"I'm sorry for waking you Trevor. I just couldn't sleep."

You felt Trevors chest rumble against your back from his chuckle. "Don't be sorry," he replied softly, nuzzling his face affectionally into your hair, "I don't mind at all."

It was silent for a moment before he spoke again, "I know you'd do the same for me." You nodded, smiling softly as you replied, "I would."

"Cuddling with you is my favorite thing in the whole world." He said as he gave you a gentle squeeze.

"The whole wide world?"

"The whole wide world."

"Even more than hockey?" You asked, a teasing tone to your voice.

“Nothing is better than hockey, baby. Sorry."

Baby. It made your heart drop as the butterflies swarmed in your belly. But you knew he didn't mean anything behind it...

"Damn," you sighed, teasing him, "and suddenly I go by hockey."

"Nah, you can't go by hockey." Trevor said, shaking his head in disapproval. "Why not?" You asked playfully.

"Because I'd never play you."

You scoffed out a laugh before letting out an "oh my" under your breath. Trevor chuckled along with you. He brought your hand up to his mouth, kissing your soft skin before setting your hand back down.

"That was smooth Zegras," you said, "very smooth."

"Thank you, thank you. Gotta tell Jimmy to use that one at the bar next time we go."

You laughed at the idea, "There ya go."

You and Trevor chuckled one last time before silence soon filled the room. You felt your eyes flutter closed as you spoke softly to Trevor. "Thanks for letting me sleep with you Z."

"Anytime. 'S what I'm here for," Trevor said before he kissed the top of your head. He pulled back mumbling "Goodnight, pretty girl." before the two of you drifted off to sleep wrapped up in each others arms.

hi loves!!

trevor and y/n at the end👀 we’ll see what happens there…we can’t forget about jamie baby ;)

BUT i finally posted the second chapter of this series after like what two months? crazy lol. i struggled with writers block for a bit and then college just got to me and i was SO busy! but now im on break for a few weeks, so im hoping to get caught up on everything ive gotten behind on

i’m hoping to update this a couple more times in the next few weeks, so stay tuned! i’m so excited for you guys to read what i have planned, whether your a trevor girlie or a jamie girlie or BOTH like me, i think you’ll really enjoy it😉 it’s a shorter series so things will move a bit fast, too.

I LOVE THESE TWO SO MUCH🤍 i need them back right now, i miss them

anyways, thank you so much for reading loves! your support means the world. you’re the best!🫂🤍

tags: @tkachuksmatth3ws @emaanemaa @sammiejane22 @tpwkstiles @kkrenae @grandprixbarzal @avada-kedavra-bitch-187 @privatemythss

(if you’d like to be added to the taglist, let me know and i’ll add you!☺️)

[theotherbuckley]

Re: your post about Buck having to deal w/Gerrard. I've seen a lot of people not into the possibility of Buck potentially taking the brunt of Gerrard's shit (in comparison to the poc 118 members). While Gerrard is the ugly trifecta of racist, sexist, and homophobic, is it possible he's more outwardly homophobic than anything? (tbh though, I haven't watched Gerrard's S2 scenes in a few years, so I might be forgetting something that contradicts that).

I would think Hen would suffer Gerrard's shit more than anyone, but I think for storyline balancing, they'll focus her time (and maybe Chim's too?) on the still open storyline happening with Mara and Ortiz. But the Ortiz thing will no doubt become entangled with Gerrard at some point. Idk, I do anticipate Gerrard being awful to everyone while he's around, unless it's someone who can serve some sort of purpose for his own gain (Ortiz). And I know this is story is 'old news' from the fandom perspective, but there's a small part of me that wonders if Gerrard wouldn't also have a unique distaste for a firefighter with a history of suing the LAFD.

I think Gerrard is definitely incredibly racist and sexist which we saw in the glimpses of him in the past. He’s homophobic too just clearly an overall asshole. I don’t necessarily think Buck will face it the worst. I think all of the POCs and Hen as a woman too will definitely face the worst of it. I just think Buck won’t know how to deal with it because he’s never had to before.

For Buck there’s no such thing as a work/life balance — work is life itself family. Everyone else has has times where they had to separate that — Hen and Chim both experienced lots of different captains including Gerrard and Eddie was a soldier with a family back home and I’m sure that wasn’t easy.

Point is they will feel shit but they also have separate work and personal lives and currently those personal lives are going a little bit to shit — so they have other things to care about more than just work. I think they know how to compartmentalise and deal with that even though they will definitely struggle.

Buck doesn’t. Buck doesn’t know how to separate the two, that’s been a theme from the beginning where everyone told him that there’s a reason they wear a uniform — so they can take it off at the end of the day. Except when Bobby said they weren’t a family Buck proved him wrong. He made it a family and instead of listening to them about taking his uniform off Buck was always the same Buck with or without it.

I think it will be interesting to see how he behaves when he can’t treat work and home the same. I wonder how that might go into his personal life at home with Tommy too, who’s also gone through Gerrard. Buck’s a white (thought he was cishet) man but now for the first time he’ll face what it means not to be.

Anyways, I think it’s going to be very interesting to see. Also I think the article was only listing bad things and currently Buck and Tommy are happy so like they wouldn’t mention that on the article and they have to mention something 😅

And regarding what you said about the lawsuit — honestly 911 as a show doesn’t often come back to storylines 😅 once they’re done they’re done. But maybe an off handed comment about it sure but honestly I kinda doubt it. Anyway thanks for the ask it’s always really interesting to see other peoples takes.

[fireemblems24]

Golden Wildfire Ch 12

My thoughts below. So, about Claude . . .

MAIN STORY

Please just tell me I don't have to kill Felix, Ingrid, Sylvain, Rodrigue, Annette, Gustave, Mercedes, Dedue, or Dimitri :(

Oh, Arval. Forgot about all of that lamo.

Are we circling back to TWSITD and the origins of Shez's powers? It really hasn't played any role in GW so far. In AG, Shez brings it up all the time (with Dimitri always saying it doesn't matter) and in SB the whole "we only promoted you bc we don't trust your power, sorry now we do" thing.

Nadar . . . doesn't want us to call off the attack. He's really a bloodthirsty jerk, isn't he?

Is Claude JUST now figuring out that taking out the Kingdom is a bad idea for the Alliance?

At least Claude's not stupid enough to not realize Edelgard won't take over the Alliance next. Begs the question then, why?

That's what I mean. This is all potentially interesting, I just think Claude's plans are all really stupid.

So, Claude sided with the Empire because he hates the church that much and actually believes all that shit? Or does he really think Edelgard will stop her war when Rhea's dead? (because she definitely does not in Houses when Rhea's captured in her prisons)

I DO like this for Dimitri though. I'm REALLY curious to see what he does. Is it too much to hope that he'll dump the church to rescue his people from war?

IDK, I just love the idea of a Dimitri willing to sacrifice anything - even his sense of right and wrong (since leaving Rhea to die when all she's done is help him IS wrong) to spare his people pain.

But I'm predicting he'll be too stubborn or not trust Claude or Sylvain furious at his father's death will ruin it

But it's also really cool to see Dimitri kinda backed into a corner with no "good" way out.

I can forgive Hopes giving Edelgard a boring af plot, writing Claude like a moron, and making me kill Blue Lions members, but if they miswrite Dimitri here (or Sylvain, kinda worried about that too tbh), I'm really going to be pissed

Also, like if Claude's plan is really just to gank Rhea to stop Edelgard's rampage, that means he really did all this twisting around just to try and stop one woman's murder rampage - why not just, like, take her out? If this is all really about the least death possible, isn't assassinating Edelgard the fastest way to keep more people from dying?

God, please, please, please have Dimitri dump Rhea to spare his people (I'd feel awful for Rhea, but I really, really hope Dimitri proves to be someone who would spare his people any pain, even at the expense of himself - when he's sane at least lamo).

On the flip side, I'm dying to play GW. It's plot may not make any sense and my opinion of Claude has tanked, but you can't say it's not entertaining.

LORENZ & LEONIE B SUPPORT

Kinda sad they only go to B. They were cute together in Houses. Seems some of the ships got turned up to 11 and others got dialed down.

Lorenz is contemplating his existence in a world where commoners don't rely on the nobility.

He's struggling to see from the commoner's POV, so he wants a commoner to serve as an advisor. Honestly, Lorenz, pretty good call.

The way Lorenz talks about Leonie and her choices, it makes it sound like history was trending towards commoners and nobles not being so rigid without Edelgard doing anything.

Leonie turns down Lorenz's offer because she wants to be a mercenary.

LORENZ & MARIANNE A SUPPORT

Lorenz wakes up after getting injured. Marianne thinks it's her fault, which I saw coming.

Lorenz thought he imagined Marianne asking for help, but she actually did.

Marianne realizes she wanted to live, hence why she called for help. So she's feeling guilty that the end result is Lorenz got hurt.

Lorenz is encouraging and is happy Marianne opened up to him.

Honestly, a better support for him than a lot of the Hopes ones.

CAMP/SIDE MAPS

Balthus is . . . really hung up on the idea of wrestling Dimitri, isn't he?

So some NPC talked about how the Kingdom is getting attacked on all fronts. I can't be the only one who finds it amusing that Dimitri with his smaller army and surrounded by enemies is doing a better job than Edelgard with her massive one lol.

When Hapi proves way smarter than Claude, knowing how massively stupid Claude's plan of "let's kill everyone they love and then force whoever is left over to listen to us! I'm sure they'll be thrilled." Hapi's like, eh, not sure this will work.

Man, Ashe is just miserable when you recruit him. I do find it kind of heartwarming in a weird way how miserable all the recruitable Lions end up being (even in Houses, moreso than the other houses at least). Ashe and Felix taking the cake, but Mercedes was regretting her life choices the last SB chapter too.

Aww, Yuri is worried about Ashe and finds Claude cruel for forcing him to fight against the Kingdom.

Holy shit, Shez really spitting facts to Claude's face, telling him his plan is a giant disaster (Dimitri won't fall for intimidation tactics, and Edelgard won't stop attacking people even after she runs out of excuses.) As insufferable as all of the Golden Deer are in this game, at least we've got stuff like this pointing out how cruel and stupid they're being.

Lamo, take only one unit into the map, as if that's a challenge. I literally only use Lorenz. This'll be easy in AG too bc Dimitri's such a beast. Dreading it in SB though.

Annette is still alive here at least :( And Rodrigue. And Gustave. (we're with the Blue Lions discussing Claude being ... GW!Claude)

Sylvain thinks Claude's an idiot lol. Dimitri and Sylvain are sussing him out.

I love how Dimitri is the only character who's goal is to avoid bloodshed among the lords. The other two are, uh, yeah.

Oh.... is Dimitri actually going to run over the church? Like I wanted? When Dimitri's the best character in GW lol.

Dimitri looking out for Sylvain, knowing how angry he is with Claude.

I had to fight Ingrid :(

SHEZ & LYSITHEA A SUPPORT

Lysithea catches Shez assuring a younger girl that she doesn't seem like a child, but an adult.

Predictably, Lysithea gets angry, because it's Lysithea, but to be fair, she's upset because Shez said the same thing and thinks Shez is being insencere.

Shez admits that it's not cool, what she did, but she's bad at advice and keeps using the same lines she's learned from stories lamo. I love Shez.

Honestly, Lysithea is kinda right to get mad here, at least I get it unlike some of the times with her.

Lamo, Shez can borrow another line from a story. I'm gonna piss her off bc I can lol.

Lysithea buys it. I wonder if it's the same line lol.

SHEZ & SHAMIR C

Having mercenary talk. I had Shez choose to ask for help. Shamir offered once she's free.

Shez comments how mature Shamir is. Shamir comments how relaxed Shez is (but it's a positive thing, not like a judgment).

They bond over having lost trusted allies, including the ones at the beginning for Shez.

Kinda boring, but honestly these two are almost too well matched, like not enough tension and just too normal lol

LYSITHEA & HILDA A

Hilda wants to gossip, but Lysithea only goes on about how awesome Holst is, so she's not interested.

She thinks he should be more careful as head of household, but Lysithea points out that he has no choice.

Hilda is worried who Holst is married. There's an ick here where Lysithea thinks that's because he's too focused on Hilda.

Hilda just talks about who Lysithea might marry, which, yeah...

Hilda offers to help Lystheia out, and some, um, implications that she'll be Lysthesia's new family - she says big sister, but there's def some ship teasing

They made Hilda really flirt with all the girls this time lol

CLAUDE & HAPI B

Hapi finds Claude easier to talk to than Edelgard and Dimitri.

Props to Hapi for telling Claude not to unload his trauma on her.

Hapi's like if you're bitching, why not just quit? Lamo.

Hapi says she'll support him.

MARIANNE & BERNADETTA A

Honestly don't remember if I've seen this in SB already or not.

Bernie likes Marianne's painting, but not her own. This is true vice versa, because of course it is.

Marianne compliments Bernie's horsemanship.

Two shy girls compliment each other, then get shy.

Then Bernie asks what Marianne wants to do after the war and Marianne becomes a Disney princess, wanting to sit in the woods with animals. Bernie wants to finish a story. Honestly, both girls picked amazing options I too want.

Bernie's story is about Marianne lamo. But Marianne isn't mad, she just wants to read it.

I really find their friendship cute, ngl.

Also, Bernie supports Dimitri, so there's no way she's NOT writing fanfic about his life because it's a never drying well there.

LORENZ & RAPHAEL C

Lorenz asks Raphael why he didn't just stay at his family's inn instead and joined the war instead

Raphael wants to keep his family safe, and thinks that following Claude will bring peace to the world (lamo) so that's why

Lorenz is more grounded, saying that all he's doing is exposing his family to the dangers of war

Which, Lorenz isn't wrong, but he also starts prattles more about nobility need to do everything and commoners nothing

But like, does Lorenz really think you can make an army out of nobles only, because, like, that just doesn't happen

Raphael is touched lamo, thinking Lorenz is concerned

Raphael just challenges him to a muscles competition

It is amusing to see Lorenz try to give his spiel and Raphael just keeps doing his own thing

Like ALL of Lorenz's supports in this game is this though, he's more repetitive than Bernedetta at this point

LORENZ & CONSTANCE A

Lorenz is bragging about himself, Constance is in the sun so she's . . . not

You know, I was thinking just how insufferable Lorenz would be in my playthrough because he's like 10 levels ahead of everyone, a god on the battlefield, always MVP - he like trounces everyone so he's be bragging and he'd be right - I wish Claude had to deal with this, watching Lorenz win the war for him and have to put up with Lorenz being Lorenz over it

They overdid it a bit with her sunshine personality - like Dimitri and Marianne are very realistic about a lack of self-worth, but Constance just comes across like a joke (and maybe that's all she's supposed to be)

Poor Lorenz is just confused and wants the normal Constance

I do have a soft spot for when male characters are desperate for the snotty side of a female character to come back (like, really just talking about Rutger and Clarine)

This is going on for too long though without any change

LYSITHEA & LEONIE B

Lysithea mistook a mercenary Leonie talked to for a bandit

But he's just someone who loot dead bodies on battlefields

I always found that kind of distasteful

Lysithea feels torn because she wants to learn about commoners more, but doesn't seem comfortable talking to people who steal coins off dead people, which same

Lysithea of course wants to know about commoner sweets

And Leonie talks about how they can't afford noble treats and likes commoner snacks (hopefully different from Chole's folk food lamo)

SHEZ & YURI C

Shez is snooping on Yuri's letter. I love that Shez is a snoop.

Yuri's pissed though, lamo. He threatens Shez's life though. That's a bit . . . much.

I'm going to pretend I didn't read it lol.

OMG YURI HAS A MOM. SOMEONE IN THIS GAME HAS A MOM.

She's ill so he was visiting her.

He's a bit needlessly sometimes.

IGNATZ & LYSITHEA B

Lysithea thinks there's something wrong with Ignatz.

She guesses right that he's unhappy, but guesses wrong that he wishes he ran his father's company instead of his brother.

He slips up that he admits he's only a knight to please his family.

Awww, Lysithea offers Ignatz the opportunity to live in Ordelia territory and does whatever he wants to afterwords.

She was actually really sweet in this support.

Also, anyone else realize that Ignatz is proof that the church/crests/inheritance isn't the one forcing children to do things they don't want to? It's human greed?

CLAUDE & HAPI A

Claude left a meeting because he was bored of people arguing. Hapi also left a meeting.

Oh, interesting, Hapi asks Claude if he would walk away if someone could take his place. Claude says no that he wants to get a lot done and can't let anyone else do it. So a really uninteresting answer.

LEONIE & LINHARDT B

Linhardt got a gift he doesn't want so he offered it to Leonie.

Lamo, Linhardt forgot the meeting he set up with Leonie.

He gives her a notebook already full, so she wants to give him something in return.

She gives him a rock that turns out to be part of an ancient relic and he gets thrilled.

Linhardt comes to the conclusion that they value the complete opposite things, but they decides they're actually not a special pairing lamo.

MAIN BATTLE

Ugh, not looking forward to this.

Wow, imagine that, the Kingdom isn't bringing them a welcoming party. Like, did Shez really expect that?

They're a bunch of psychos. They're all excited to go kill people because they're strong warriors.

"Let's see if a crushing defeat can get through Dimitri's thick skull." Because you like tried talking with him so many times before???

What is Claude smoking? He's never tried anything but bloodshed of innocent Kingdom people to accomplish anything in this route?

I see what people mean when they say this is one of the most unlikeable casts ever.

Gustave's middle name is Eddie. Not Edward. Eddie. Suffering through GW is worth knowing that.

Also, fuck, I don't want to fight Annette and Gustave, who are only defending their home.

Thank fuck, Annette retreated. Having SB flashbacks where I had to kill Annette. Annette.

And thank God that Gustave did too.

On the flip side, I sort of wish GW wasn't so wish-washy and they all died. At least SB has the guts to show there's consequences for your character's actions. But GW like to pretend only Annette and Gustave matter and it'll be ok to slaughter thousands of low born people of Faerghus every single level because they're not named.

Dimitri evacuated his citizens. I think he's literally the only lord who did that lamo. (I remember distinctly Edelgard not doing that in VW, and I don't think Claude did in CF or AM? Could be wrong about Claude).

FUCK. Dedue. If he doesn't retreat, I swear to God I can't finish this.

Oh, God, not Sylvain too.

Wait, what the fuck, Claude. His "defense" against Sylvain accusing (rightly so) Claude of invading his home and murdering his parents is that "we're all risking our lives here." I guess Faerghus is 2-for-2 whenever someone is actually allowed to criticize people who are invading them.

At least Sylvain retreated.

Dimitri appeared to defend Faerghus. I swear whoever wrote this game didn't care at all about the Golden Deer.

Oh, a cut scene. Also pretty sure Shez called Dimitri Faerghus' strongest soldier.

Well, at least Dimitri being an utter and complete badass in this game continues since Claude admitted that he could never win against him. And he needed Hilda and Lorenz to just push him back, not even defeat him.

Oh, great, more backtracking. Claude has to retreat. Does this mean I have to fight Dimitri again?

You're right, Hilda, it's the same thing all over again. God, this gets old.

It would be funny if it was the Empire, but it's probably just TWSITD. It's pretty funny Claude is the one who learns the least in Hopes vs Houses.

At least Annette and Sylvain are still alive.

Gotta love also how damn badass Faerghus is in general, fighting a 3-way battle and not losing.

Dedue is here too, my beloved.

I love seeing Claude taking another L and having to retreat again.

xxx

[the-cryptographer]

I was reading clash of kings this whole time btw I just forgot to blog about it oops. Random thoughts.

also based on reading the first couple chapters of storm of swords but... yeah, i kinda forgot how awkward brienne is in the books. like, she's really not witty. she's really got zero self esteem. i kind of like it for its candor? it feels a bit more honest than her successfully projecting badass in the show. you really see how her not living up to the expectations of femininity has negatively affected her in her interactions with both men and women.

sandor is way more of a creeper than i remember. idk, i feel kind of weird about this character because I can't tell how much I am meant to think that. Like, I understand that he protected sansa in a couple places where no one else stepped in to do so, and I understand why she romanticises the dynamic, but him not being the worst person alive doesn't really make him okay. there's no other way to say this - sneaking into a teenager's bed and holding her down with a knife to her throat is bad and violent and sexually inappropriate even if you don't kiss her and don't go through with knifing her.

yeah, I feel kind of bad about this, but bran and the Reeds are turning into a real low point. idk, their weird fixation on bran and his budding powers and tbh the amount of patience they have with him (even when he's being burdensome or an annoying sceptic) reads as frankly sort of uncomfortable. And I feel like meera in particular is just sort of there to make bran and her brother's lives easier. But why are they doing anything they're doing? Destiny, or something? But also it feels like they should be having more ugly feelings about that if it's the case.

still absorbing tyrion and his madonna-whore complex. i guess i'll report with some conclusions after the next book

theon is really awful this book, lmao. it's pretty great. idk, i appreciate that the narrative didn't really skimp on how upsetting it is for him to be caught between Pike and Winterfell and not really belong in either place, but also didn't skimp on how much of an awful cunt he is. idk, theon's not my favourite character, and i don't really remember liking the sections with him and ramsey next book, but if there's any character I want to make it out of this series alive, it's him. idk, him finding meaning to his life and identity after his torture and apart from being able to win the tox-masc game would be really meaningful imho.

on a related note, i think i let theon colour my opinion of asha too much first read-through, but on the second one I have to say I think... between the lines it's pretty easy to see she genuinely cares for him and is worried for him, and him thinking everything she does is an attempt to humiliate him is maybe 30% her actions to 70% his own baggage about a woman showing him up. him also imagining her relationship with their father as more simple than it is tbh. i like her calling out her father's way of grieving their dead brothers as pathological and being annoyed with theon for adopting their father's language about it.

again enjoyed the arya parts more than i thought i would. she's such a horrible bloodthirsty little gremlin, it's hard not to love her here.

[incorrectcoldflashblog]

Sooooo...is it too much to ask for your answers to all of the questions on the ask list about your country?? (I hope you will say no and tell me to select a handful, if that's what you prefer.)

Sorry, sorry, I totally meant to do this faster but that was a lot of questions, haha. Putting this under a read more because it got LONG.

1.) favourite place in your country?

Honestly there are a lot of beautiful places in France, but a personal favorite would be Biarritz, near the Spanish border. My whole extended family used to vacation there when I was a kid.

2.) do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad?

Given the choice I’d prefer to travel abroad.

3.) does your country have access to sea?

Yes, via the English channel, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean sea.

4.) favourite dish specific for your country?

La blanquette de veau, a dish that was originally from Normandy :)

5.) favourite song in your native language?

Nooo, don’t do this to me. I hate picking favorites. I’ll just share one that has some personal significance for me and not call it my favorite ;)

6.) most hated song in your native language?

I don’t know that I really hate that many songs, but on a personal level I definitely never wanna hear Jusqu’ici tout va bien by Gims again as long as I live. It’s the theme song to a show my roommate watches every evening (which means I have to hear it Every.Day.) and it irks me that the title is a reference to one of the best scenes from my favorite movie when the song itself is so annoying. But maybe I just feel that way because I have to hear it so, so often.

7.) three words from your native language that you like the most?

Clair-obscur (chiaroscuro), l’engrenage (an ineluctable series of events) and it’s technically two words but l’amitié amoureuse. The literal translation would be ’friendship in love’ but it’s not actually a romantic love, it just describes basically having an intense but platonic crush on your friend. It’s one of my favorite concepts in the French language.

8.) do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?

No, we don’t, for better or for worse France is very uniquely French, lol.

9.) which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?

The one I know best is probably Switzerland, just because my great-uncle lived in Lausanne and we visited him a few times when he was still alive. Fun fact, he ran away to Switzerland after having an affair with a married woman because her husband threatened to kill him, lol.

The one I’d like to visit most is Italy, just because that’s where part of my family is from (from Parma) and I’ve never been.

10.) most enjoyable swear word in your native language?

Putain, which I use approximately 500 times a day XD

11.) favourite native writer/poet?

Listen, how am I meant to pick just one when there are so many??

Classic literature: Gustave Flaubert

Contemporary writer: Marie Ndiaye

Favorite poet: maybe Marguerite Yourcenar? Although my favorite poem might be L’Irréparable by Charles Baudelaire.

You didn’t ask but my favorite play is Le Cid by Corneille. Romeo and Juliet wishes XD

12.) what do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?

I think there’s just always something missing in translation tbh.

13.) does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?

I mean, I know outsiders often comment on the fact that French people kiss each other on the cheek to say hello (se faire la bise) but I don’t know if that counts as a strange tradition.

14.) do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?

Ehh, to me French cinema/TV is divided in two categories, really fucking good and really fucking awful, haha, there’s pretty much no in-between. A bad movie is called a navet (a turnip) by the way^^

15.) a saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?

There’s a lot of jokes and memes that originated from the tv show Kaamelott that are going to be hard to decipher for people who haven’t seen it. Here’s one I think you’ll enjoy:

16.) which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?

The one I agree with is that French people complain all the time because we really, really do, haha. I don’t agree with the stereotype that French people are lazy though, we just don’t live to work but why are we acting like it’s a bad thing?? I don’t know, there are a lot of negative stereotypes about French people but tbh at the end of the day I don’t really care that much.

17.) are you interested in your country’s history?

Sure, it’s definitely interesting, but there’s so much of it it can be a little intimidating.

18.) do you speak with a dialect of your native language?

Nope.

19.) do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?

Our emblem is le coq (the rooster), which you only see on the French team’s shirts, just like you’re most likely to see the flag when there’s a World Cup. It’s fine I guess, I don’t really have an opinion on it.

Our national anthem is kind of problématique but it does go hard. I’ll give it that. Like, if you’ve ever watched that scene from Casablanca where they sing La Marseillaise you’ll understand what I mean by that.

20.) which sport is The Sport in your country?

Mbappé Soccer :)

21.) if you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be?

I’ve been puzzling over this question for weeks, haha, and I’m still not sure what it means, like? Do you mean annoying people I’d launch into space or XD

22.) what makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed?

I don’t have a lot of national pride tbh. I’m ashamed about a lot of the public discourse, the islamophobia, the state violence, the way Nicolas Sarkozy and the media brought far-right talking points into the mainstream and now we’re all swimming in their shit.

I’m proud to know that French people are always ready to burn shit down though.

23.) which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country?

According to Google it’s beer. I would’ve probably said wine.

24.) what other nation is joked about most often in your country?

Probably Belgium. There’s lots of belgian jokes.

25.) would you like to come from another place, be born in another country?

I don’t really think about stuff like that. Every country has its own issues, so it is what it is.

26.) does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?

Oh boy, does it ever. Every time a new season of Emily in Paris comes out you can bet French Twitter is gonna have a field day over this shit XD

27.) favourite national celebrity?

When you say national celebrity my first thought immediately goes to Jean-Jacques Goldman. Amazing songwriter, but also very well-known for his work with the Restos du Cœur, a French charity that was founded by his friend the comedian Coluche and les Restos famously do more for the poor than our own government ever would. Probably why Goldman gets elected personnalité préférée des Français every other year. (He also pays his taxes in France, unlike some people, and we always appreciate that here.)

28.) does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites?

It does. I think the most famous are the river Seine, the Mont-Blanc (although that crosses over into Italy) and as far as lakes go I’m sure there are a lot but I can’t think of a really well-known one.

29.) does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country?

My city does have beef with another city, but I won’t say which for privacy reasons ;)

30.) do you have people of different nationalities in your family?

My paternal grandmother was from Laos and my paternal grandfather’s family immigrated from Italy (not him directly, but his mother). I think there’s some German (well, Prussian) and Flemish on my mother’s side. My aunt’s husband is also from Italy, and my eldest brother’s wife is from Madagascar. I think that’s all :)

Thank you so much for asking, friend, I can only hope I didn’t totally bore you to death XD

“Hi, I’m not from the US” ask set

[jakowskis]

Day 22 - Discuss Owen. Opinions? Favorite moment? Least favorite moment? Any unpopular opinions? Any fun headcanons?

under the cut for length xD

im actually gonna try to keep this short bc g-d knows like 80% of my brain power’s gone into constantly babbling about owen for the last year. so im gonna speed run this. main opinion? he’s character of all time to me. hes mentally ill hes mean he thinks love is weakness he loves so hard he’d burn down the world for it hes a bitch he cares for his friends sooo much hes good at his job hes bad at his job. hes misogynistic hes a woman hes homophobic hes gay he prioritizes casual sex hes a little bit in love with all his friends hes tries to save others he wants to be saved hes wants to die he gets angry when hes killed he wants to contribute something good he destroys everything he touches hes loyal to a fault he judas’d jack. everyone he loves leaves him he nearly destroyed the world to keep from being abandoned his parents didnt want him his mom never liked him. hes just some guy he’s the most insane bitch to ever exist. hes transmasc shes butch hes a straight guy she could be the worst woman ever hes a bi imbicile. hes mean and bitter and angry and awful and he tries to remind everyone and himself of it but hes good hes good hes good in the end.

other opinions uh… i think the writing handles him irresponsibly at times, and is disrespectful towards him, although maybe they thought it was justified cuz hes an ass sdjkfhds. but the undead arc is fucking mean to him in a lot of places. dmw in particular is like… idk it just strikes a particular tone at his expense, i don’t like it. it’s cruel. but torchwood isn’t exactly a show that respects its characters much. something that particularly bothers me is the way he oscillates between being fucked up and fine in a way that’s like… not realistic, it’s obvious it’s just a writing issue. like, the way he’s magically better and healthier and less of a prick after season 1, and then again after the undead arc. like that’s not how it works. that character growth wasn’t earned. that’s a pet peeve i have, and also kind of why s2 owen exists in a different place in my head as s1 owen. the main owen that lives in my head is him at his worst, not a version of him who’s randomly and inexplicably doing better and being kinder, and as a fic writer i like starting at that unhealthy baseline and trying to actually put the work into making him better, too. lord knows the show didn’t care enough to do it well. then again, it’s torchwood, yknow. the characters aren’t the focus. unfortunately. 

my fav and least fav owen moments are my fav and least fav eps of the whole show fdshfkdjs so they can be found here and here. but tldr, fav moment is everything that happens in the last two eps of s1. least fav is every time he interacts w tosh. lolol. dude i could list sm moments of his that i love i have like five compilations of him on my phone. im ill lmao. there are 11k mentions of his name from me on discord across all my servers ;-; guy im deranged abt fr

unpopular opinions 

i think he’s easily the best written character (not the best character, that's subjective ofc - but i also lowkey think he's the best character. but also im slam dunking him into a dumpster cuz he sucks)

tbh i don’t completely like his backstory? but it is what it is. i just think s2 owen feels very different from s1 owen and they worked so hard to make him more likeable which is nice and all but it’s almost at odds with his original characterization. like i said, s1 owen and s2 owen are practically diff characters to me

mmm and i dont like s2 owen quite as much ;-; i much prefer him in s1. i do like his undead arc though. well. i like aditd. dmw 😒 my beloathed

in general i dont like nice owen fdhfjsdhfkd which i think is an unpopular opinion. im just v picky abt him tbh

i fucking HATE adam!owen he’s not cute. i loathe him. talked about that more here.

(THIS one’s controversial but imho!) him and jack have a very unhealthy + borderline abusive relationship but! it’s in a lowkey fruity way and not a, gag, paternal or brotherly way. ill talk about this more at some point, i wanna do an analysis of their relationship but i don't fully have my thoughts on it together yet. but i think they have smth a bit psychosexual (in the tomgreg definition of the word. where my succession freaks at) going on.

(in general i HATE the fatherly jack & owen angle it makes me super uncomfortable when jack flirts w him in canon. this is the horny show dude. why does authority figure automatically equal father figure to ppl. weird. jack's his commanding officer, guys. also the inherent homoeroticism of being someone's second in command. yknow. he brought him back from the fucking dead, dude. that was fruity with gwen & suzie and it was fruity with jack & owen idc.)

slightly adjacent - i think owen’s a lot gayer than he lets on / than people see him as. i don’t think he’s women-leaning at all, i think he’s more of a 50/50 bi, he’s just got some p heavy internalized issues going on. he’ll sleep with men, if the opportunity presents itself (so he can justify it, lawl), but i think he has issues with the idea of loving and dating one. but i think he’s just as attracted to men as he is to women. 

that being said, i dont think he’d call himself straight. one of my biggest pet peeves is fics where owen’s like “im not gay btw” he wouldnt fucking say that. i think if you asked owen about his sexuality he’d do a hand wavey motion and thatd be that

tosh x owen bad btw ive made my opinion on that clear. i like him with suzie and gwen and martha and even diane, but not tosh. not a cute dynamic. 

and speaking of, he doesnt secretly like tosh lol. ive seen ppl who think he’s secretly very fond of her - i don’t agree with that at all, cuz canon sure says the opposite. he respects her but he doesn't particularly like her very much. (cuz hes a bad taste MORON imagine not liking tosh. what a fucking freak.) which SUCKS i want them to be friends. i want them to be nerd buddies. but nooo. 

in general he’s a “bisexual man who treats women like shit therefore im shipping him w men till he learns be behave” type of character to me

gay love would fix him. btw. i think he needs a boyfriend i think it’d heal him

hcs… i have a lot but a lot of them r private OR i eventually intend to pepper them into my fics so im kind of hoarding them… but i do have some like

for starters he’s a bpd icon

also hes audhd af

he was rlly into punk shit as a teen + played with gender a little bit back then, + sexuality (kissing his guy friends in public to make a statement / piss someone off, that sort of thing). that was kind of his first experience with queerness + figuring himself out + bc of that it was born from a place of defiance that he never fully got over. helped him feel like he was taking back control over smth that made him feel like shit (his mom was. Not an ally. to say the least)

in fact a lot of his behavior is a result of his mom believing he’d always be a fuck up, that he’d never amount to anything. he wears spite like a badge. being a poor kid who became a doctor and getting engaged at 23 were both ‘fuck yous’ to his mom. 

he dabbled in playing drums as a teen (i stole this from burn but i mean owen already canonically skateboards just cuz burn brought his on-set. the rest of burn’s interests owen would probs find dorky tho). he still drums his fingers + pens on his desk a lot this drives everyone crazy. he needs fidget toys

oh he chews on pens also. and hes a chronic leg bouncer. (gwen also has anxious stims actually. if u get those two together on a bad day its a lil cacophony of sound. shes more a nail biting sort tho)

i dont come up with stuff for undead owen much cuz it bums me out but one of my few hcs is he gets rlly into gaming cuz its smth to do. cant skateboard anymore cuz he might hurt himself so he picks up thps *taps temple*. also he shreds at guitar hero but only privately (he thinks its cringe). hes mainly a ps2/ps3 player but tosh builds him a gaming pc (partially just cuz she wants to like the reward of getting to make smth w her hands dhfkdsj). he also gets into doom + postal from his youth again. hes a little more wary of shooter games now that it's his career but also its good for his anger fff

in my owandy verse he has an english bulldog named alfie and he babytalks him but its a very “no one will ever believe you” situation HFSDJHFSDKJFK

i think about owen and pets a lot bc it amuses me <3 i dont think hes a very pet-oriented person but i like the thought of him with reptiles or ferrets. i think he should be a ferret dad. ive been trying to weasel this (ha) into my owento verse bc i think ianto would be displeased. 

ok ill stop before this gets too long.

[goldlightsaber]

the ‘you’ finale

kinda sucked? idk it was so rushed and i feel like they were so concerned with delivering an unexpected twist that they ended writing a story that didn’t make sense. first we have

- kate unflinchingly just taking over her dad’s company as if this is shiv roy finally getting daddy’s approval instead of kate, who had been trying to undo her past and live in opposition to her father’s legacy. it made 0 fucking sense that she wouldn’t like, defund or reconstruct the company and put the money somewhere else, or at least be super resistant to taking the role

- making it so that kate’s father was responsible for every single one of her successes undoes kate’s foundation as a character as well as her agency. it makes no sense either and didn’t really serve the plot at all except make another man be more powerful and clever than the woman

- same for joe once again outsmarting two women and ruining their lives (nadia and marianne). you’re telling me that after all that, their combined brain power couldn’t defeat him? it was so stupidly unsatisfying. i feel like the showwriters’ endgame is to always have him win and come out on top and i hate when writers worship their own villainous male character like that, as if he’s infallible. i was waiting desperately for things to culminate and for his crimes to catch up to him…but nah

- having all of his past victims confront joe in a vision felt freakin performative given the outcome of him not…coming to terms with being an awful person but steeping FURTHER into his delusion that he is good and is justified in his crimes

- literally all the women lose in one way or another, kate loses because she basically gets into a relationship with her father (ruthless murder who feels justified in his actions), marianne is traumatized and will live in fear of joe forever, nadia is in jail, phoebe never gets the agency to break things off with adam on her own, having yet another man (kate’s father) control the outcome of her life just for the shock value. there is never retribution and the women are somehow always weaker and one step behind the men

- evil, charismatic rhys was too sexy to just be a figment of joe’s imagination so kinda lame that that happened tbh. I would’ve taken ‘rhys has an evil twin’ over that

-that bridge scene was so stupidly for nothing, joe symbolically “killing” his demons literally meant nothing by the end and felt like it was just done for dramatic effect

- kate’s non-reactivity to joe’s crimes and to her father’s death was ridiculous. i feel like the whole point of her being pent-up was for the dam to break and the emotions to come loose but they just rushed through it all and made her unphased and had her question NOTHING, which is so at odds with her generally mistrustful and skeptical nature

- i hate the message. the finale communicates that you can’t escape or undo your nature. you are always bound to return to your bad habits and worst impulses. you can try to outrun your evil self but it will always win — this applies to joe but also to kate who, again, is dating the equivalent of her father and is running the company she hates. the good people (nadia, her boyfriend, marianne, pheobe) either lose or are forced to live as outcasts

[aurorawest]

Reading update

The Winter Spirits: Ghostly Tales for Festive Nights - 5/5 stars

I bought this solely for the Natasha Pulley story, "The Salt Miracles," (I WOULD READ A WHOLE BOOK ABOUT FLINT AND THE SAINT, MX PULLEY), but every story was really good. My kind of spooky.

Seriously though, I wanted so much more of "The Salt Miracles." How was it a queer love story despite not being a love story or queer? God I love Natasha Pulley.

Henry Hamlet's Heart by Rhiannon Wilde - 5/5 stars

Really lovely YA romance set in Australia. The yearning is impeccable. Also, I hate myself for saying this, but it's historical fiction—it's set in 2008.

Handmade Holidays by 'Nathan Burgoine - 3.5/5 stars

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin - 4/5 stars

Not an easy read. The main character, David, is despicable, but in large part because he lives in a society that expects rigid adherence to gender roles. One thing I found really interesting was repeated emphasis on the fact that David won't act, he waits for someone else to do it for him—he acknowledges that if Joey had asked him to stay, he would have, that if Giovanni had asked him to stay, he would have. And then Hella tells him that as a woman, she has to wait for men to tell her things, but David doesn't tell her he's gay, he waits for her to figure it out herself. Hella makes this into an explicitly gendered dichotomy, which is interesting with David constantly fretting about not being a man because of his queerness.

Queer classic, people should read.

Merry & Bright by Joanna Chambers - 5/5 stars

They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody - DNF at pg 2

Contained the following absolutely baffling author's note, which I quickly became so resentful of that I stopped reading.

Against the Stars by Christopher Hartland - 4.25/5 stars

Near-future sci-fi where everyone gets one 44 second look into their future. Fairly dark for YA. Also thematically relevant to my MCU fic.

Mistletoe & Mishigas by MA Wardell - 4.25/5 stars

This book was lovely. I loved Theo so much. Sheldon is very annoying but also very lovable. And it's nice to read a Hanukkah romance!

Haunted Hearts by K Sterling - DNF at pg 2

Did anyone edit this?

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia - DNF at pg 21

Wanted to like this one but it just wasn't very well written. You ever read books where it's obvious the author spent too much time on their wOrlDbuILdiNg to the exclusion of actually writing a good book? Yeah.

Between Shadow and Flame by CT Bryce - DNF at 26

Editors? Hello?? Seriously, I feel like people are writing manuscripts on their phones and uploading them directly to Amazon from there.

The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage - 4.5/5 stars

Oddly I found this to be not as difficult of a read as Giovanni's Room, in my private game of Ranking Queer Classics Against Each Other. Obviously Phil is an awful man, but in the end I felt bad for him, tbh. Phil is like, a really catty twink wrapped in layers of toxic masculinity and repressed homosexuality. And then Peter is a sociopath. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to sympathize with Peter? I didn't think I was, but then I scanned Annie Proulx's afterword and it seemed like she thought we were supposed to? Obviously you feel worst for all the people Phil just heedlessly tears to ribbons because he's a maladjusted asshole. I think the thing is, there were just enough glimmers where Phil acts like a human being that I was like, maybe you can be saved! Ah, tragedy.

Anyway, good book, 10/10 would recommend. (and no, I haven't seen the movie)

[walker-extended-universe]

Windy 1x10 Thoughts

How this show manages to keep me guessing with every episode I'll never know

Once again, not enough time or energy for a proper review so I'm just gonna put my thoughts here real quick and then get back to my regularly scheduled shitposting.

Calian and Augustus:

You know, when this plotline first came up, I knew this was going to either end with Nascha being dead or with her being assimilated and I wasn't sure which would be worse. Now I know.

Nascha being fed a false narrative about her life and eventually giving up her heritage to fit into the world she was forced into is just...awful. Probably historically accurate (I feel a research itch coming on) but awful

Calian is torn between being grateful that she's alive and grieving the loss of who she used to be. He'd kept that hope up all these years, that he would find her and his tribe would be whole again, and it was all for nothing

I also got the feeling that Calian had a lot of barely tempered rage below the surface during that conversation and it was only the knowledge that Nascha had no say in what happened that kept him in check

"I bet your wife is proud of you" "She used to be" Okay is Gus' wife dead or is she mad at him for his career choice? Being on the frontier would mean she either had to come out with him or that he left her behind for months- if not years- at a time.

Oh boy a new chief was chosen while Calian was gone and he wants war. I'm sure nothing bad will come of this :)

The Side Step:

HAGAN'S BACK!!!!!!

Of course Hoyt chooses a bar to stay in while there's a storm.

Francis having debts to pay off that are now his family's responsibility is a good way to bring Lucia back. Since, yaknow, Hoyt abandoned her -_-

Kate figuring out that Hagan acted to protect her in .5 seconds is both a good way to move the plot forward and another example of how good of a detective she is

Kate and Hoyt secret scheming together my beloved

Kate: Be drunk Hagan: Already am I love them your honor

Hoyt stripping is blatant fanservice but this was better than the watering hole so I'll let it pass.

Tbh part of me wishes Lucia hadn't been in on the plan but she did very well regardless. I guess she had a good poker face after all ;)

Anyway fuck Randall and long live cattle baroness Lucia

Lucia, sweetie, you know Hoyt. I do not think putting him in charge of a bar is a good idea and you really should know better.

Kate and Hagan's reunion was my favorite part of this episode. Kate missed him, even if she was mad, and I think this episode showed how much she looked up to him. He knew about her non-heterosexuality and trusted her to run a business, likely during a time when everyone else she knew didn't trust her much at all. He's a father just as much as she's a daughter. Her tears when asking him if she could run away with him just- *heart breaks*- I'm fine. But he's right; she needs to stay put and find her footing, keep the spirit of Hagan's alive. Perhaps she'll order a hat from him one day.

Hagan's:

Tom's nightmare about him hanging from the rafters of the barn is just *chef's kiss* we love a traumatized meow meow

"What will you do when you find your brother?" "He'll get what's coming to him" I love Abby's concerned face after this like sweetie not everyone is driven by a sense of justice sometimes you just need to shoot people in the face.

"Tom Davidson and Abigail Walker seek shelter in a hotel and get love advice from a strange woman who mistakes them as a couple" is a fanfiction prompt if I ever saw one and tbh I know a few writers who would've done it better. But I digress

I love how Tom just casually drops his family-related trauma onto Abby. That's so normal and hinged of him.

Is it because no one else in his life cares about him and he's become overly attached to her since he first saw her she saved his life?

I swear I thought that woman was Teresa Davidson for a second

Tom saying he knew there was something special about Abby from the moment they first met is either really romantic or really threatening depending on the context.

Very odd woman reliving her married days and sharing memories with two strangers. Not really sure what to make of her (or her comment to Hagan) but she seems nice. I hope she's not evil.

Okay so Abby isn't afraid of Tom anymore because she knows he didn't do it. All the while Tom is becoming more endearing to her because of how he cares about Independence and the way he seems willing to stand up to his family. Kate thinks she should be careful (and I agree) but there is Something here.

If they'd left it at the Almost Kiss, I would've been happy. I would've preferred that. Abby is gaining feelings, Tom has been having feelings for some time, the Pining is at it's peak.

Aaaaand then they ruin it by killing the "will they/won't they" question by having Tom and Abby sleep together right away -_-

Aaaaaand now Kate knows and she's being extra judgemental about it (although to be perfectly fair she was the one that barged into Tom's room without warning....)

Aaaand now Shane's run off. He probably died in the dust storm.

Tom/Abby happened and it is technically what I asked for but...did it have to be this way? Couldn't we have had a few more episodes of pining before we got a kiss?

Solid episode overall but I think we could've used more of Lucia being mad at Hoyt. He deserves it.

[maggicktouched]

I finished Interview with a Vampire and wanted to share my thoughts. This will not be spoiler free so I will put it under a cut. But if you want my overall opinion if you’re like on the rails about watching this: watch it. It is so much more than I ever thought it would be. I don’t know a single person who has watched it and disliked it. Watch it. Give it a chance. Especially if you’ve ever liked the series.

Also you can watch on AMC+. An app that is genuinely awful but is running a special rn for like two bucks for two months. Not a bad deal for a good show.

I’ve had a very, very long history with the series, with the fandom at multiple times in my life, and with every iteration of the source material. I’ve most of the books multiple times and there was a long portion of my life where I would have claimed that The Vampire Armand was my favorite book, even if it kind of signaled the series flying off the rails.

I really didn’t expect to like this series. Even when I heard it was good I didn’t expect to like it. First and foremost because over the years I’ve become very disenchanted with Anne Rice’s work. Though I loved Armand’s book because I adore the character, I really struggled with Memnoch the Devil. At the time I was a teen and seriously grappling with religious trauma and any reference to the Christian faith triggered some ugly emotions in me. 

Rice also made some writing choices that just didn’t sit well with me. The Tale of the Body Thief has two sexual assaults if I remember correctly. And it wasn’t so much the character doing bad things that I minded as the way Rice framed him and clearly thought of him in spite of him being one of the most morally repulsive character she wrote.

I never made it through Prince Lestat tbh and I don’t even know the name of its sequel right off the top of my head. 

So when I heard there was a new series coming out I was mildly interested but had little hope that it would be decent. 

The pilot was a little bumpy of a watch for me. It highlights one of my only issues going forward with the series and it isn’t necessarily bad, it just means I’m likely not getting one of my favorite parts in the books and that is Daniel. Daniel who is my second favorite vampire in the series and a character that I have a very vivid picture of in my own mind.

The other issue I struggled with initially was Louis being a pimp. That felt so far off of the very reserved/miserable man in the books I often thought of him as. But it actually worked. 

I never loved Louis in the books tbh. I was very neutral about him and often felt sorry for him because he often felt like he was passed from one abusive partner to the next with very little agency of his own. He gets rid of Lestat just to fall prey to Armand just to go back to Lestat a short while later. Maybe it was just my interpretation of him at the time (I was like twenty the last time I read the books---literally a decade ago lol) but he kinda bored me. This Louis is a person I genuinely and wholeheartedly feel for. He feels much more real. Every scene where Daniel would get bitchy with him I’d be like “YOU BE NICE!!!!! HE HAS BEEN THROUGH A LOT!!!!” meanwhile being just as frustrated with him at times.

They made fantastic casting decisions for everyone. Lestat genuinely unnerved me in every scene. Honestly every time he’d look intensely at anyone this tiktok would play in my head but he was genuinely frightening. The scene where he’s talking to Claudia on the train? I felt physically sick listening to him threaten her to come back.

Claudia’s actress was also dead on. And honestly so was her character. I’ve never liked Claudia. I’ve never even felt bad for her even though she was written as a tragic character. But now knowing what happens in the books and knowing where this is going I’m so upset. I genuinely don’t know how they’re going to make me dislike her because for the first time she isn’t some spoiled blood hungry brat but a tortured woman living under the oppressive rule of an abusive man. And I know she’s not a child but Louis is very obviously her father figure/big brother and her having to be the one to save him---her having to stay behind and sacrifice her life and happiness for him---her being the one to have to stand up to Lestat and pull them out like that is a pain that I understand and goddamn do I feel for her. Abuse forces you to grow up way too fast, and in a body that never ages? It’s torment. Her life was torment.

I loved Armand’s actor. I absolutely hated the original IWAV Armand. He’s a great actor, but that was not Armand in my mind. This guy has the young face. He has the sharp features. And he has the menacing presence that Armand always had for me. I went into the series having that twist spoiled for me, so like I did know, but I actually think I preferred it that way. I am extremely excited to see where it goes with Armand, especially as the story goes on, because him being there AS the story is told is a big deal. And Louis and Armand’s love affair in the books isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, so the question is what is going on between them? Have they been together all this time? Or did Louis go TO Armand and admit he wanted to retell his story only to have Armand insist he do it there in his own home? Are they actually in a relationship or is Louis just as trapped in Dubai as he was New Orleans? Is it both? God I’m just so excited to see where Armand goes from here.

I also really really loved the pacing. And that’s something I didn’t think I would like. IWAV is not a book with padding. It is excellently paced. So I really worried when I found out not only was this a series, but it was only like half the fuckin book. I had zero faith that could be done without making it an unnecessary shit show of filler. But I think that the pacing is actually what makes this show so amazing. It gave us the time with each character to see them and who they are in this new adaptation and honestly I liked all of them. It showed us explicitly that Louis is not a reliable narrator, which makes me very curious to see other angles and points of view for characters.

The lighting was really great too. So many shows right now are making the “artistic” choice to turn every goddamn light in the studio off and shoot using a dinosaur nightlight plugged in 50 feet away from the camera rn. You can’t fucking see shit. Game of Thrones did it, so did House of the Dragon, so did any show that has ever been on the CW. And as funny as the memes are I like being able to see shit.

I like that the vampires are a little more feral than they are in the books. 

I liked Louis’ family. The part with his brother worried me at first, because disorders like that are often not shown in a kind light, but in the end I think they did a decent job. He was a tragic character and there was always the mystery of “did his mental illness kill him or did Lestat” and honestly I still am not certain Lestat wasn’t lying when he said that he didn’t kill him.

I liked the hints toward characters like Marius and Nikki. 

Most of all I loved how unabashedly gay this was. It’s what we have all wanted.

I am still disappointed about Daniel. I was disappointed in the original movie with him too. That’s just not what Daniel looks like in my mind. Him being older makes me wonder if they’re going to cross his story over with David and I won’t enjoy that. 

While Lestat/Louis was most people’s fav toxic couple, mine was Daniel and Armand. Two characters who were both horrifically broken people in a shit storm of Armand’s making because Armand doesn’t know how fucking else to love anyone because that’s how he was shown love by Marius from the start. Daniel’s misery and ultimately his madness. Even after being transformed he was always so painfully human to me. I always wanted them to somehow find a way to be ok on their own and come together again later in life, and I have heard that it does eventually happen in Prince Lestat and the sequel. So it doesn’t look like I’m going to have that, and if I do it’s going to look very different than how I personally wanted it, but that’s ok. It’s a personal preference.

But yeah. Currently those are all the feelings I wanted to get out. And they’re mostly overwhelmingly positive. I can hardly wait for another season and I hope everyone watches this show and we get more and more seasons to come.

I might even watch the Mayfair show. And I’ve never even read/liked those books.

[symptoms-syndrome]

UGH and now there's fucking DRAMA with birth parents!!!

My birth dad is taking my birth mom to court AGAIN. It's like his favorite activity. He just takes her to court on baseless bullshit because he has a lot of money and she doesn't.

Apparently this time it's about my little sister's college stuff. He's saying he needs total control over her college decision and that birth mom has to pay for it. What the fuck ever.

My like. Perspective on both of them has definitely changed as I've gotten older. I feel...pity, for my birth mom. She's a very, very mentally ill woman who had one kid by accident and one in an attempt to save her failing marriage. She wasn't ready to have kids and wasn't able to take care of them. She's been dealing with my birth dad, which got worse after he divorced her, and is too proud to accept help financially, medically, socially.

My birth dad...is a bad person. I hesitate to call people "bad people" but I'm obviously biased here. He's manipulative, self centered, and needs to feel important and powerful and admired above everything else. Everything he does is solely for his own gain. He doesn't care about anyone else except as stepping stones to greater and greater things. He's told me so himself, he told me to think of people like that. To him, it's a dog eat dog world and he needs to be seven steps ahead. I see some of the worst parts of myself in him. He takes advantage of my birth mom despite her being less powerful, less wealthy, and less capable than him. Maybe because of it. He needs total and ultimate control over his children because his children are part of his image. That's another thing that's straight from the horse's mouth. Every time there was some minor infraction, that was the scolding. "The way you behave and present yourself reflects on me. You need to act proper or people will think I'm a bad father."

That's the only reason he keeps trying to be nice to me, I think. It looks bad on him to have an estranged kid. He keeps trying to get me back. But I wonder why he hasn't given up on me. Just erased me from his perfect existence. One time he told me a father's job is to "keep his daughter off the pole." Now I'm like. Doing drag that involves stripping. So. I'm not sure how much he knows about that though.

Individual parts (big or little p, not sure, probably both) have varied feelings. Some are scared of him. A lot of them are, I think. Some are neutral. There's also the opinion that I should keep some sort of loose connection. Which is where I am now. There's the very strong but not very popular opinion I need to cut him off entirely. But that's counteracted by the fear. Lots of fear. But there are still parts that desperately, desperately need his love, approval, affection.

IDK. I have a lot of "daddy issues" TBH. Freud would love me.

There's also the issue of. My little sister. She's still... IDK. I can't blame her for anything. She's in a really traumatic and scary situation. I cut my birth dad off (though I don't remember it) around 15. She hasn't done that yet and she's 18. She's scared to. Part of me feels angry at her. She doesn't have the courage to do what I did. But I can understand. She's scared to be on her own without support. She wants him to help pay for her college. All this sort of stuff. But I'm like... you're an adult now, legally. You don't need to do anything he asks of you. You don't even need to live with him anymore if you don't want to. But she's just... IDK. Compliant. I was too. It's like he makes you into a robot that needs to follow orders. He frames it in a way that makes it feel like if you don't do what he tells you to you'll doom yourself to a shit existence. Which I guess. IDK I fell into the doomed shit existence. Things probably would have been easier, in every way except mentally, if I had been compliant. But I didn't make that choice. I couldn't be compliant so I was thrown away. And now he thinks he can fix me, I think. He regrets throwing me away.

I can't blame her for her decisions, or lack thereof. But it does make me angry. I want her to have the courage to stand up for herself. She's so trained by him she can't even tell me what she wants or doesn't want to do. She can't make any sort of decision without three hours of reassuring her that it's her choice and I won't be upset with whatever she chooses. And sometimes that doesn't even work. I can understand it but that doesn't make it less frustrating. Less infuriating. I don't understand even though I do. Just do it!!! Just have the courage and make even the smallest choice to distance yourself!!! What is she going to do when she's living by herself, or in college? If I were to be mean, I'd say it's pathetic. She's pathetic. I can only hope that she toughens up.

[dykecolumbo]

finally sending you this :) also how was your day today <33

baby - what makes you feel better when you’re down?

sugarpie - what’s your favourite sweet treat?

darling -  what romantic gesture makes you feel the most loved?

button - do you have a type? what is it like?

sunshine - what’s the nicest compliment you’ve ever gotten?

baby girl - how do you like to be held?

lover - how do you show someone you like them?

buttercup - what does/would your online dating bio say?

boo - what’s your dream date?

wild thing - what’s something about you that surprises people?

bubba - tell me a funny story from your childhood. 

honey - what’s your favourite hot drink? (I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD IF YOU SAY PINEAPPLE FANTA BUT MICROWAVED-)

my love - what would your dream home be like?

(i started answering this when i first got it like. 3 or more months ago. i just finished it now it's been in my drafts forever im SORRY I LIVE IN SHAME)

my day was goood i played an absurd amount of solitaire and thought about ripping my business law teacher apart with my teeth

baby- i go for a lot of walks and bike rides. sometimes i'll bike out to one of the many playgrounds near my house and chill on the swingset

sugarpie- im a total gummy bear pilled gummy bearcel. i love gummy bears so fucking much

darling- oh god idk. im classy at heart. id love to be wined and dined. never have been thought so i can't say it makes me feel the most loved. i rlly don't know

button- mmmm not really? not at all actually. if i like you i like you and if i don't i dont

sunshine- is it bad nothings coming to mind??? not in like a "everyone is so mean 2 me" way just like... idk. im very average. ig i like it when people tell me i'm funny

babygirl- dude i do not know. im awful at like... cuddling bc i just cannot sit still for the LIFE of me. ig just hug me idfk

lover- uhhh kiss them on the lips repeatedly "but in a friend way" which is tbh how it normally starts but whatevs

buttercup- uhhhhh god i don't know. "in need of a lobotomy but my head's still ok" or some dumb bullshit like that

boo- wined. dined. sixty nined is preferred but not a must

wild thing- when i was at work because my hair is technically past my jawline i had to have it tied up all the time when i was working with food, but the one, SINGULAR time i was doing something other than food i got to have it down and i got to show of my huge ass curly ass hair. ik this is boring but so am i! one of my many charms

bubba- my gramps used to live in this apartment building down in florida, and my mom and i went to visit him one year, right? so my grandpa had just moved into this building and little 5 year old me really wanted to be shown around. i don't know why because it's not like we could go into any apartments other than his, so we just walked down 5 identical hallways on 5 identical floors. but i really wanted a tour, so he showed me around while my mom stayed behind in his place. now my grandpa lived at the FIRST DOOR on the SECOND FLOOR. so my gramps and i get to the FIRST DOOR on the FIRST FLOOR, and because all the floors looked identical, my goldfish memory was like "my mom is in there!" and i put my face up against the window and yell cus i wanted to surprise her. i did not surprise my mom. who i DID surprise was a woman in just her bra and underwear watching blue bloods, who jumped out of her seat and screamed at the 5 year old staring through her window, which scared ME and i cried the rest of the evening. fin

honey- NO ONE MICROWAVES FANTA?????? i like peach oolong tea

my love- im flexible. log cabin in oklahoma works just as fine as a studio works just as fine as townhouse as long as that bitch isn't minimalist, and near civilization i will be CONTENT. im not an off the grid type of gal i need to be near people and places

[automatismoateo]

My Dad is planning to marry a hardcore Christian and has told me there is no room for me in his life anymore via /r/atheism

My Dad is planning to marry a hardcore Christian and has told me there is no room for me in his life anymore Let me preface this by saying I live in New Zealand. My dad is a widower (good riddance, my mum was an awful woman) and was set up on a blind date 4 months ago. They hit it off immediately. The woman is extremely religious and now has him attending church every Sunday and other miscellaneous church events. He says they plan to get married around November, and I need to be gone by then. Why do I live with my dad as an adult (33) daughter? I'm disabled and unable to work. I'm at the point where I will likely be transitioning to a wheelchair later this year. I have to take 15 pills every day, 2 patches every week, and drink these awful sachet mixes twice a day. My dad is in denial about it and has been for years, despite my diagnoses, and frequently tells me I just need more of this or that vitamin. It's literally my brain and other various organs not working properly. I cook and clean for him and contribute to groceries. I pay my own bills and contribute to his. He goes away sometimes and I look after the house while he's gone. He told me today the line in the title. He said it was because of his rejuvenated faith and because I'm a staunch atheist. He told me he wasn't comfortable expressing his beliefs around me and therefore I couldn't live with him anymore. He said it's time for me to struggle (as if I don't already lol) and get a job and live somewhere else. Cool, okay, but like - I have this medical certificate from my doctor saying "unfit for work" and I'm on welfare so I can't afford shit. And I'm going to have to find somewhere that's wheelchair friendly. And somewhere safe, because last time I went renting, I was violently sexually assaulted by my flatmates and robbed blind, so there's that fear, too. Dad said not to worry because "We'll come visit you!" Not sure I'd want him to after this tbh. Out of everyone in New Zealand, why did I have to be related to the super religious nutjobs? My Dad's family are all conspiracy theorist anti-vaccine anti-women's rights nutters. My dad isn't as bad as them and I thought he'd calmed right down, but this new girlfriend has brought back that religious fervour in him and now all I'm getting from him is "I'll pray for you" and "it's god's will" and stupid shit like that when he used to say "I hope you feel better". I've lost my dad and I hate it. My sister and her family are super religious, and my agnostic brother lives far away in the UK, so no support from him. Any friends I have also live overseas. This was long and really ranty, sorry. I think I just needed to unload. Thanks guys. Submitted February 07, 2024 at 01:57AM by TheBadKneesBandit (From Reddit https://ift.tt/uoCf8h3)

[theveryworstthing]

So over on patreon Trevor asked for my take on the Addams Family and I grew up LOVING the Addams family movies so here we are. Instead of doing a straight up style interpretation, I decided to do a full on design challenge, using the characters as bases to make a black southern gothic Addams au. I actually drew the kids first, using the character bases of Wednesday and Pugsley to create some delightful kiddos I'm calling Sunday and Blanche. I of course then redesigned Gomez and Morticia into Carlisle and Mortesha.

The Addams have a very specific high aristocratic goth aesthetic (they've got a butler and nobody really works among other things) so in this re-imagining I wanted to go with vibes that run a little more middle class/upper middle class.  I thought it would be interesting to think about what would be considered weird and off-putting in an entirely different culture, and how being a big ol' goth is way less controversial than it used to be.

I tried to keep this short (HAHAHAHAHAHA) so I didn't spin off into an essay about villain coded families, black people in the horror genre, and normalcy as it pertains to social survival, but just...bits of that are in these designs and lore. Keep that in mind.

Also I made the kids twins because they've flip flopped in age so much in different media and also twins run in my family (i'm the daughter of one). And let's face it, I'm pulling a lot of their southern gothic traits from living as a southern goth so *shrug*.

10 thousand pounds of lore incoming loooooooooool.

The Parents

From the moment he saw her he knew that there was a 50/50 chance of him either never making it out of that swamp alive or marrying the figure that was creeping out from under the distant willow tree in a black cocktail dress. The third time she found him trussed up in one of her traps, he complimented her rope work and asked if she'd like to go out sometime after his head wound stopped bleeding.

Or while it was still bleeding.

If she was into that.

Some kids and a mysteriously burnt down Piggly Wiggly later, their love is still as strong and inescapable as a bear trap in a sink hole.

Carlisle Guillermo (now Addams through marriage but I wanted to give him two first names for a name since Gomez has two last names) makes a vaguely described living practicing ‘law’ around town. A loophole king, people come to him from miles around with contracts signed in blood, fights over chunks of hair buried in their rivals’ yard, dehydrated primate hands, memories that seemed like dreams until the evidence of their happenings became too real, and other regular Legal Items asking for counsel which he is all too happy to give. For a price. Sometimes that price is a homemade pie and sometimes it’s a million dollars, depends on who you are. Whatever you’re asked to pay it’s worth that price, and if you try to scam him out of work or he just plain doesn’t like you? Well. He knows how to twist a contract better than anything at the crossroads.

And he always gets his due.

He doesn’t just serve the local (living)humans though, there are many things that need proper legal representation in this day and age. You wouldn’t believe how many city councils try to build on sacred burial grounds even after he lets them know that his ghostly clients are totally gonna haunt the FUCK out of the ensuing shitty condos and curse their families for all eternity. At least 50% of his energy goes towards dealing with real estate bullshit.

Carl is an excitable and good natured(?) man who loves his family, cigars, dancing, and his many knife-based hobbies. People find him very charming once they get past the feeling that they’re talking to a sultry gator badly disguising itself as a human. I didn’t put a ton of deep thought into designing him, mostly I wanted to make a middle aged dude who looked like he would have been voted ‘most likely to smooch the literal devil’ in high school. Tbh he probably has, but no demonic ex’s can compare to his lovely wife~

Mortesha Addams(her name was already perfect so I just tweaked it)is a woman of many talents. A self proclaimed homemaker, she prides herself on a greenhouse full of Concerning Foliage, a beautiful wasp apiary, and a coop full of what are probably chickens that she keeps for what are probably eggs. She’s also an avid creator of the outsider art that can be seen around the estate. She has taken on the family business of selling her homemade goods in a little stall by the road just outside the swamp with her mom, and makes pretty good money doing so. A surprising amount of poison gets bought in quaint southern towns.

Speaking of poison, people who come out to the edge of the swamp to buy it are usually carrying a lot of secrets around, and Mortesha knows most of them. It’s not like she pries the truth out of people, it just so happens that many nervous hellos eventually turn into the tragic backstory power hour if she’s alone with a client for long enough. She supposes that’s just how people are. Despite the fact that the Addams are very active in the community (whether the community likes it or not) she especially, as a direct descendant of the first Addams matriarch, is seen as…Well not an outsider because the community feels A Certain Way about outsiders and despite it all the Addams are their people, but maybe something like an exception. They feel like whatever weirdness they’re hiding can’t be weirder than any given Addams, so they get a little loose with their words.

This is amusing to her, since Addams’ don’t naturally keep the kind dramatic secrets that their surface level prim and proper neighbors do. It’s much more fun to openly talk about those things.

Do they have a sadly decrepit yet terrifying grandma up in the attic? Yeah, like three. They got a tv, all the creepy porcelain dolls they could want, and they’re close to family. Where do you keep your gram-grams?

Any bodies buried on the property? Yeah some, but most are thrown to the gators.

Any creeping through the balmy summer night with ill intentions? Yeah dude, everyone loves a nice family stroll.

What about dangerous forbidden love? If an adult Addams isn’t incorporeal then they’re either queer or in a torrid romance with some person/thing mysteriously drawn to that awful swamp. Sometimes both at the same time. Most times actually.

Mortesha would know.

The current head of the Addams family is just as outgoing as her husband but a lot quieter and harder to read. She never really seems to get mad about much and always has a genteel smile for everyone whether they deserve it or not. A seven foot tall human shaped “Oh, bless your heart”. A perfectly composed Lady even when she’s, oh I dunno, burning down a Piggly Wiggly. You know. A regular southern mom. Chat her up at the hair salon for 50% off a jar of wasp honey with your next purchase of a mysterious but foreboding packet of herbs.

Designing her was pretty easy because I just drew a lankier Grace Jones and called it a day. I had some problems with her outfit simply because if we were going HARD southern gothic then she’d probably be wearing a white/cream dress with a fuller skirt but I thought keeping the silhouette and the black was more important. She’s supposed to be an anti southern gothic southern gothic character anyway. A woman who looks like she has a million secrets who is actually the most open person you could meet. For better or worse. The red hair came from a coloring error that I really ended up liking (my mom had red hair her whole childhood that only darkened up in high school so I can buy that an Addams can be naturally fire engine red) and the veil was to get more of that classic Morticia silhouette in there.

The Children

Sunday and Blanche are the twin children of Carlisle and Mortesha Addams. Some say the Addams clan got their cursed homestead when a wealthy local businessman made a deal with the devil and lost, leaving his grand mansion to his least favorite maid and cutting his losses once he realized that the swamp would do everything it could to drag the house into the water and take what was owed with its horrible curse. Others say that the family has just always squatted there and no one really cares because man, fuck that particular swamp. Have you been in there? Absolute horror show.

Anyway.

Blanche is the more outgoing sibling and quite the engineer/mad scientist in the making. He started going grey at 2 weeks old but considering he was also rocking some extra fingers, toes, and a tiny tail (he takes after his dad), his parents just put it on the 'not life threatening' pile and decided not to worry about it. He's the kind of smart that teachers find utterly infuriating, less a dog eagerly learning and obeying commands and more a hyena who keeps teaching itself how to pick locks. He has a few friends in his school's robotics club (which they honestly allowed him to make so the school could contain his... creations) but mostly hangs out with his sister exploring the swamp. They find all sorts of neat things in there! wedding rings, suspiciously lumpy garbage bags, cloaked cultists who can't read private property signs, it's an adventure every day!

Blanche is all about experimentation with his creations, his look, and his tether to this mortal coil. Is lipstick a cool thing to try? Let's find out. Can he get out of a strait jacket fast enough after being pushed into the depths of the swamp by his sister? let's find out. He's not dead yet and confused local doctors can attest to the fact that he's rarely attained more than a bad bruise so he's pretty set on continuing to kiss rattlesnakes on their cute little heads and have his sister practice her knife throwing at him until that fact changes.

Blanche is very much a country goth. Cowboy boots (customized by his mom), knife, and lighter are daily accessories. He likes to wear the crusty swamp jewelry they find (the rust adds a splash of color!) and despite appearances he does try to keep himself neat. He's just got  natural Grunge Colors and a tendency to wear clothes he likes until they fall apart. Pugsley always seemed the most modernly styled to me (which might just be because little boys clothes have been the same for a long time) so I wanted Blanche to be the most purposely fashionable Addams. Everyone else is goth by nature, but he's the only one truly familiar with goth as an alternative fashion.

I got really into designing Blanche because honestly, I find Pugsley to be the most boring member of the family. And he was hard to design! I had to mess with his vibe a lot to get him looking how I wanted. I know he's supposed to evoke an " 'evil' little boy next door who's parents never reign him in", but that's just goth Dennis The Menace.  I's 2020. We can at least go queer goth Calvin.

Sunday was much easier to design. Wednesday was my favorite as a child (of course) and I really wanted to keep the spirit of her look while adding things like billowy sleeves (it gets HOT down here), big poofy twists instead of braids, and a nice tie. She's a professional after all, been running the local pet cemetery since she was 6 and the previous groundskeeper met with an unfortunate accident after telling her that tarantulas don't have souls. Her specialty is creating beautiful naturalistic animal funerals similar to those that Maquenda (https://linktr.ee/artofmaquenda) makes, and she takes pride in creating miniature dioramas of her subjects after each burial which she uses as a kind of 3D catalog for future clients.

She really wants to try out her skills on humans one day. Well. Publicly try out her skills. Lotta random bodies float into the swamp. None of them have turned down her requests for diorama models so far. Most seem downright flattered. Plus, she usually figures out which graveyard/crime scene they floated over from and gets her parents to give them a lift back. She'll even help enact terrifying revenge from beyond the grave on whoever put them there if she's not, y'know, busy.

Besides arts, crafts, and pet based funerary arrangements, Sunday is an avid lover of archery (any ranged weapon really), books where little fantasy adventure animals die dramatic deaths, and history. She is That Kid who eagerly raises her hand when asked who Christopher Columbus was and ends up being sent out of class after 15 minutes for making 'a scene'. Her favorite party trick is just picking an item in the room and talking about how it relates to either some obscure historical figure with a buck wild life or a horrible disaster. At least one charity pancake breakfast ended with children in tears after her vivid description of the Great Molasses Flood of 1919.

Social-wise, while Wednesday is the girl that people ask to smile because they think she'd, "look so pretty", Sunday is rarely asked anything at all. People just kind of assume from her quiet nature (in between horrible history facts) that she's angry all the time and that she hates everyone. This is untrue. She hates some people but she's ambivalent to most everyone else and even downright friendly if you bother to talk to her like a person instead of a terrifying cryptid. Like, she IS a terrifying cryptid but she's also a little girl.  

That’s about it for now. One day I might do the other family members but for now I’m happy with the four I’ve redesigned. Making an au! Lurch in a family that doesn’t do butlers could be interesting. Over on patreon I put forth that he could just be Motesha’s mute little brother (similar bone structure) but Amy Crook had the nice idea of quote: “ a mysterious "cousin" that "helps around the house" whose origins are both long in the past and faintly unsettling. He's good for lifting heavy things, like that tank of propane you're about to throw into the burning Piggly Wiggly... “ which i now consider canon. Who's kid is he? How old is he? Not important. Anyone willing to commit arson with you is family.

Annnnyway.  This challenge was a lot of fun! I love indulging in AU’s.

[sanguine-tenshi]

I just finished Inazuma and I have words

TL;DR: Hate the story, mixed on characters, love the design and tired of being treated like a 4-year-old with a learning disability.

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

Let’s start with what I like.

Inazuma is absolutely beautiful. I’ll admit Inazuma hits a lot of aesthetic points for me. All the islands are different enough to feel unique but they still look like they are a part of the same land. There are a lot of secrets to discover through just exploring. Each island has a world quest to help it (make it less hostile towards you) so it very much feels like you are saving Inazuma from itself.

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The puzzles are alright.

I like the cubes that rotate, I always put in the effort to figure them out properly.

Hate the ones that don’t rotate, they just aren’t engaging enough for me, so I just hit them at random and hope for the best.

The glowing floor tiles were fun, once you actually realized what they wanted you to do. A little bit too easy if I’m honest.

The electro compass isn’t really much of a puzzle, more of a fetch the nearest electrograna quest.

Those little pillars that require an electro connection are kinda boring to me, again not much of a puzzle, the hardest part is finding both pillars.

I love the new electro seelie, kinda hard to follow the jittery thing in certain parts but they make a nice contrast to the regular seelies.

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I’m very much mixed on characters.

Yoimiya is adorable. She is so bright and bubbly. What little game play we had with her was fun and I love her over the top style of fighting. Kinda disappointed she’s another pyro archer but I do admit it fits her character well. It was also wonderful seeing her just settle down and be quiet, just be a part of that moment that obviously meant a lot to her. It’s always nice to see that bubbly, energetic character have that one quiet thing, ya know. Kinda funny it’s fireworks, of all things, for her.

Gorou I like, from what little we’ve seen of him. My man killed a dude with his thighs so I’m down. I do find it kinda ridiculous that a resistance general has his whole damn belly exposed. There is also something about his voice that just does not fit. I cannot for the life of me put my finger on what exactly it is. Could be the tone itself, could be just voice acting. It sort of feels like the VA is trying to sound deeper than he actually does.

Sangonomiya Kokomi, mixed. I like her design, she looks like some sort of mystical priestess. Again something about the voice is jarring. I expected her to sound sort of airy, like she isn’t 100% present, like she’s seeing something we can’t. TBH she reminds me of Luna from HP for some reason. 

Yae Miko, I was interested because of her design. She sounds very arrogant and up her own ass, which would have been fine...if she hadn’t given us that god-awful line. “...I have high hopes for you, child. Don’t disappoint me.” Dear lord I wanted to punt her off the mountain. Or fucking what! Also she’s some bigshot priestess of the Sacred Sakura and yet she can’t do her damn job properly. Why couldn’t her arrogant ass come down from her high perch and cleanse the stupid roots? Why did the traveler have to do that shit?

Baal looks dead inside. Booba sword is overrated, get a life. I want a remach! And no cutscene shenanigans this time!

Kujou Sara seems like one of those ‘honor above all else’ characters. Those are either hit or miss with me. You have my attention for now. Also what are those shoes woman?! I’d rather you wear those leg-killing, needle point stilettoes instead of those Wish gag shoes. How in the name of all that is holy can you run in those?!

Thoma, I like him. At first I thought we were gonna get another Childe incident, but Thoma is too much of a innocent puppy to pull anything that horrible. To me he fits a fox a lot better than Childe does. Childe is a dingo and I stand behind that.

Kamisato Ayaka...hate her. At first I was neutral on her. Nothing about her design really spoke to me, but I was willing to wait and see. But then miHoYo started to violently push her friendship at us. We are totally friends now, this is the first time you see my face, but we are so totally friends now. And during her story quest everyone was like “Ah, you are so good Ayaka. You are so nice Ayaka. You are so perfect Ayaka. We all love you so much Ayaka. And oh, how could a mere merchant like myself...” Ew, go away. This is the first time I’m actively not pulling on a character banner. Normally I pull even if I’m not particularly interested in a character, because you never know how good their gameplay is until you take them out in the map. But I think I’ll be skipping this one. No thanks.

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And now, the worst part, the story.

We’ve been hearing about the situation in Inazuma for a long time. There has been also a lot of talk about how hard it is to get there. About the wall of thunderclouds that surround the islands. So to have it cut to black and then voila Inazuma, feel just so cheap.

I was expecting something. An animation. A struggle. A quest. A minigame. At least show us the horrible weather! Something! Anything!

Hell if they wanted to be assholes about it they could have made it so that if the player fails at this point the ship is damaged, you return to Liyue and have to wait until tomorrow for the ship to be repaired. No Inazuma for today. That sure as hell would have raised the stakes.

The next complaint I have is with Yurika, the 2 milion mora processing fee girl. Later on Thoma mentions that the agency people see the fees as easy money, so her attitude doesn’t make much sense. After all someone like her would want to extract as much money as she can, but you still want the people to be able to pay that.

So it would make more sense to me if she was overly friendly and asked way too many questions. She’d need to get a much information as she can and after all the previous hostility people would be very open with her. So she’d be able to quickly find out why someone is here, what they are selling and roughly how much money they’d be able to pay. A merchant selling expensive silk would have more many than a regular ore merchant. So she’d be able to extract as much money as she could.

“I know this is a lot of money, especially for something so simple, but there is nothing I can do about it. I’m so very sorry.” And people wouldn’t say anything bad to her because she’s the first friendly face they see in Inazuma.

The stealth mission was just god-awful and I hope we never have to do that nonsense again.

Getting off of Ritou was a bit janky at the end, Chisato should have had a better reason for coming along. But I’m honestly just glad we didn’t get out the usual way...getting stuffed in a crate and smuggled out.

As a side note, I’m getting really tired of characters overexplaining things to me, especially Paimon. Dear lord, not everything has to be said, you can leave me to come to my own conclusions and solutions. Just please, who cares if a few player struggle for a bit, you don’t have to hold my hand through the whole thing.

Ayaka’s three were...ugh. It was basic emotional manipulation. Oh no this guy forgot about the love of his life and he’s been waiting for decades. And oh how sad this guy was so good and he helped these people so much but now he can’t remember. And oh the tragedy this guy forgot his life goal and is now hunted by the demons of the past. Oh the humanity! 

And it did not work. Know why? Because I have no emotional investment in any of these people, in this land. What is happening to the vision bearers in Inazuma is tragic, true, but that doesn’t make me want to overthrow the government. I don’t live here. I just got here. I wanna ask a question or two and then move on. None of this concerns me.

I was so happy when the traveler just flat out refused to start a revolution. And then we had to go and meet some people and immediately I knew this was going to be some oh noes the tragedy moments and then we would agree to help them.

It’s so forced.

Wanna know what would have been better?

Just as we are leaving the Kamisato estate Thoma catches up with us. And he tells us he gets it. We are an outsider and this doesn’t concern us. He was hopeful but he expected the denial. We shouldn’t hold it against Ayaka.

He joins us as a guide because he knows of the people we have to meet.

And so as we help these three we also get to know Thoma. We find out he was an outsider too. He got in just before the worst of it started and then he was stuck in Inazuma. He lost someone to the Vision Hunt. They slowly lost their mind after loosing their vision, their ambition too closely tied to their personality to continue without it (what is happening to Domon hits a little too close to home and he has to walk away, this is where we hear the story of the one he lost). And the same would have happened to him if the Kamisatos hadn't taken him in. He owes them his vision, his sanity and his life.

So this rebellion is personal for him.

At the end of the three wishes the atmosphere is somber. We tell him we understand why Ayaka fights, why he fights. We know that this is all wrong, that it should be stopped...but not by us. We came here to get a lead on our brother. And rebellion isn’t an overnight affaire and we can’t loose so much time in Inazuma.

And yeah, he expected as much. He just asks that we let Ayaka down gently. It’d be a shame if someone as idealistic and hopeful as her lost their spark.

And so we are gentle but firm with Ayaka. She looks like she wants to argue with us but Thoma shakes his head at her. So she sighs and tells us that a promise is a promise. We should come to the Komore Teahouse in a few days and she’ll have a plan for us to meet with the Shogun.

Now we can still have a character story quest with Yoimiya and we can still somehow get involved with helping Master Masakatsu, but it’s through Yoimiya instead of Ayaka.

And instead of a character story quest with Ayaka we have one with Thoma. Hell, give him a whole damn hangout event even.

You can probably guess why I’m pushing the friendship with Thoma so much.

Because. He. Gets. Kidnapped. For. The. 100th. Vision. Ceremony. 

And that would have been the perfect emotional in to get us involved in the rebellion. After all we just saw what happens to people who have their visions taken away and we are not letting that happen to Thoma, someone we just got close to.

So Baal makes it personal for us as well.

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I have a few more minor complaints.

Aoi is stupid for asking for compensation after she tells us everything we needed to know because, ya know, we could have just walked away. We should have.

The whole stupid misunderstanding about the value Kurosawa’s sword holds. Kinda obvious he meant emotional value instead of monetary.

The suspicious amount of visionless NPCs and by that I mean this is the first time we have NPCs with vision. This wouldn’t have been a problem if we’ve seen NPCs with visions in Mond and Liyue.

The whole rebellion camp bit feels incredibly rushed. We just sort of lollygag over there and then there is a fight (against Sara and her stupid shoes).

Don’t make us fight Baal just to force us to lose. It would have been better if we were forced to retreat, because Thoma was injured, because there are too many soldiers for us to handle on our own. Hell, you can have a funny scene where we straight up jump off a cliff with Thoma clinging onto us and screaming bloody murder until he realizes we are slowly gliding away and he’s not about to plummet to his death.

The Sakura cleansing quest should have been voice acted.

The Mirror Maiden and Pyro Agent are totally on a date, I will not be told otherwise.