#the emotional heavylifter

[doctorweebmd]

The real question is… is 69ing inherently romantic?

[koskela-knights]

Do you think you would be invited to be part of the cult?

I’d probably lack the balls (quite literally lmao) for what it takes 😔 But I could be like.. the emotional support guy giving after hugs post-rituals 💅🏼✨ Maybe help craft some cult regalia, prepare the ritual site idk

[thingsarentgood]

I think theres something to be said about the subtle emotional manipulation of August.

The biggest thing that pinged my red flag senses was that Day had to do all the emotional heavylifting in their friendship. If August was upset he would play poorly, making it so Day had to make him feel better so they'd win. It kind of feels like punishment vs reward for Day to do or say the "right thing". Also just the continued lack of care for Day's time. Im sure the show will show that there was some kind of miscommunication/misunderstanding with August being late, but this isn't a first time thing. Day implies it happened alot which is red flag number 2. Also the immediate anger to the point of almost getting physical when he first saw Day again was really telling. The biggest red flag for me though was the act of hiding from Day after overhearing what he heard at the end and expecting Mohk to just go along with the lie. He puts Mohk in a tough place to be the one to either tell or hide the truth while he just screws off without any explanation.

Tldr: August is giving off really bad vibes so far.

[shmowder]

Victor kain appreciation post by that I mean I'm putting him in a fluffy wedding dress and taking him to the altar with me

Victor x reader rambles below? Extremely self-indulgent.

On the surface, he appears pragmatic with a clear head. He's never one to get agitated nor show much emotion. He prefers looking stoic, albeit a bit more lost in his own world than he realises.

Nina did all the heavylifting when it came to Kain's reputation and earned the family a lifetime of respect and fear, which is why Victor got to play the good cop in front of people, despite him encouraging Nina's behaviour. Likewise, he lets Maria roam free.

He loves his kids, but he also doesn't have a strong moral compass as much as Alexander saburov. As long as his kids are safe and sound, following what's right is more of an optional suggestion he gives them. And yet, if they endanger themselves by their own will, Victor isn't one to stand in the way of their own fate. He's logical, but he clearly had a great regard to the mystical world.

A stubborn confident Reader would do well with him. Someone who argues back and doesn't back down. Someone who doesn't fall for his utopian "for the betterment of humanity" facade and instead tell him to shush it and come back to bed.

Oh, but you know how deranged he really is inside. How much he is willing to sacrifice for an idealistic future, the mould of perfection he trims the edges of humanity to squeeze it into.

After all, he fully buys into the promise of immortality Georgiy and Simon gave.

I wanna wife him up so badly, have him happy again, slowly bit by bit. Compared to the rest of the Kains, he shines the dimmest, and it feels on purpose in a way.

Maybe you're a fourth healer, maybe just a side character, or just an isekaied modern reader. What matters is that any act out of the ordinary will definitely catch his attention. He's like a shark in the waters when it comes to new ideas, to innovation and unconventional means.

Surprisingly, a relationship with him progresses rather fast than you'd expect. He doesn't involve you with his family. He doesn't want you to become another cog in the machine. Especially since he knows how perfectly you'd fit into place with that brilliant mind and refreshing worldview, how easy it would be for Maria to charm you or his father to indoctrinate you.

Is he trying to protect you, or is he hiding you out of selfishness? Out of a need to finally have something for himself, someone for himself rather than sacrifice everything for the greater good of humanity.

Spending time together is a bit awkward at first. He isn't much of a talker, and when he does, it is stray thoughts that appear random and unrelated to each other, but in reality they're mere glimpses to the long conversations he has with himself inside his own mind.

However, when you talk, he pays you his full attention. His mind quiets down, and he finds himself...relaxing. It's been a long while since he has felt anything like that.

How much more merciful it is to be lost in another person rather than his own mind.

Victor is thoughtful in his own ways. He remembers everything you tell him, from the small details about a certain snack you missed eating that isn't available in this town, or a compliment you paid to a certain plant you saw on your way here that he makes a mental note to order more of its species to be planted.

One day, you find him sitting on the floor of his house. Hands hug his knees close to his chest as he rests his head against the wall behind, almost making himself appear smaller as he glances at the tall clock next to him.

With nothing else to do, you choose to sit down next to him. Listening to the ticking of the clock, each second passes by seems faster than the last.

Eventually, you feel his head rest against your shoulder. His body leaning against yours, his hold around his knees loosen.

An intimate moment of the two of you sitting side by side on the floor, staring at nothing in particular, listening to the flow of time through mechanical gears.

That marked the day he officially started seeing you as more.

More than just a passing interest, more than just a selfish need to own something beautiful, more than another pawn on the chessboard.

The next day, you find him tinkering with the same clock. He offers to show you inside of it, explaining the parts and how they work. He gives you his tools and guides you through dissemabling the parts before putting them back together, his hand feels cold holding yours.

You see the corner of his lips lift up, resembling the closest thing you've seen him give to a smile.

The two of you seek each other out through the remaining days, being each other's respites amidst the chaos of this town. You clear his head, lighten the burden on his shoulders, and flutter his heart, which he thought died.

Victor enjoys having you rely on him. He enjoys being handed problems and solving them for you. But he is not one to meddle unless asked, and if rejected on his offers, he never takes it to heart. He lets you be your own person first because it was you he fell in love with an not an imprisoned bird in a cage.

And yet, there is a developing co-dependency between you two. If you ever mention wanting to leave the town, he makes it his mission to change your mind. You can be as free as you want as long as you're nearby.

He lived at the Capital for a while and seen its flaws, he will dissect any destination you might have wished to move to and put its flaws on display in front of you.

If you're really determined, he reminds you that he can still reshape the town. Better yet, his family will build another across the river, a more perfected one. You can shape it too if you stay, rule alongside him even.

Just...please remain by his side.

[kivaember]

Soooooo, Walter and Michigan….. who’s what in the relationship…?

who's what what? :ua

if you're asking who's the top or bottom, then it's like, well. neither of them really. they're both switches, though Walter's the more assertive in what he wants and his boundaries, while Michigan is very much a "go with the vibe" kinda guy. walter does get fucked more on average tho than michigan, but that's just bc sometimes he wants to lie down and stop thinking about The Horrors (the possible future of the Coral assimilating all of humanity) for a bit by Michigan giving him multiple religious experiences.

actually im just gonna ramble in general about their relationship in apv-verse here: HOO BOY DOES MICHIGAN DO ALL OF THE EMOTIONAL HEAVYLIFTING HERE. the guy's a total jarhead, but even he possesses enough emotional intelligence to semi-seriously navigate a relationship while walter's just a complete dumpster fire of a mess crammed underneath an impenetrable shell of :|

saying that they actually work out fine.... which was exactly why walter ended up running off from ganymede for his ~mission~ bc he got spooked over how comfortable he was getting with michigan and how he was thinking less and less about his future plans to burn the coral and more what his life in general would be like.

moving on??? in this fucked up house??? not on walter's watch.

when michigan ran into him again on rubicon, they hadn't seen each other in like, well over 20 years at least with minimal contact. michigan just found it funny how little walter had changed... and kind of depressing.

[flower-seeks-the-moon]

next chapter preview

the next chapter is like an intermission between the last moment (the hangout with mc and friends) and when he invites her out for drinks, featuring baxter's 'one week trip' to north california

i was wondering what happened during that time, and part of my interpretation (aside from him already being invited by an acquaintance) was that baxter was alarmed by how quickly he was growing so attached/feeling things for jamie/mc

he needed that weeklong trip out of sunset bird to regroup himself and refortify his emotional barriers (not that it helps, since he immediately ends up being a bit of a disaster - his own opinion - during the coffee date after the trip)

my portrayal of him and his perspective for this fic reads as so anxious but kaslhdfl;sahf. he's a mess on the inside and the unreliable narrator factor does a lot of heavylifting

[hollowwhisperings]

KH4 Spec: Disney Worlds & Emotional Vulnerability (for boys)

A key part of any Kingdom Hearts game is the use of Disney (& Pixar!) films as Microcosms to the greater Macrocosm of said game (& often the Series as a whole). The Disney Worlds act as easily recognisable Settings, toyboxes if you will, to convey concepts otherwise difficult to "fit" within the limitations of the JRPG genre.

(even then, KH does tend to rely on Monologue Heavy Cutscenes & Collectible Texts to direct players toward All Those Emotions & Reactions That Are Happening)

Societal Preconceptions of what stories can be told with a Young Male Protagonist actively sabotage the KH series in its efforts to show the emotional experiences of its young male characters: Sora needs the Framework of a Disney Princess in order to express and recognise concepts traditionally Denied to his gender. Players need Very Explicit Parallels and Dialogue, often repeated & rephrased across several Worlds, just to prevent their Dismissing Emotional Text (let alone Subtext) out of hand because "JRPGs/Action Heroes/Boys don't feel Scared/Sad/Insecure".

Emotional Depth is not "masculine", especially for Male Protagonists and Male Antagonists because "Feelings" are "feminine".

KH actively subverts this false perception of [How Brains Work] by very pointedly removing its "Token Girl" from the most Emotional & Introspective moments in the series.

Kairi's whole PURPOSE, in the greater scope of the KH series narrative, is to "Not Be There" when she "should" be: when Sora feels overwhelmed by the enormity of his quests or feels scared of Failure, it is never Kairi who magically pops by to do the Emotional Heavylifting in Sora's Stead. Sometimes Sora is able to articulate his feelings by recognising them in the Stories of the Disney characters (most of them Female) but as "Story" characters, the emotions and memories that are being Expressed are, by default, those of our Male Protagonists (Sora & Riku). The Disney Worlds act as framing devices for a Young person struggling to articulate whst they Feel & for a Male Protagonist to Recognise his own emotions even as his "own" World (the society he grew up in, the societies of We Players) has preconditioned Sora to "grow out" of Feeling emotions, let alone Expressing them.

Kairi the UnCharacter

Kairi's function within the greater narrative of KH ("the Coming of Age of a young boy named Sora") is to Be Female and to Not Be Where She Is "Supposed" To Be.

In most works with Male Protagonists, especially those of the Shōnen or action genres and ESPECIALLY in the videogame medium, a "Token Girl" functions as an Emotional Outlet for the Male Characters.

Has the (male) Protagonist just experienced something Frightening, suffered Loss or become Lost after the Peacefup Setting of the game's Tutorial?

The Token Girl will be there to Recognise and Express feelings of "something sad and scary" having happened to the Protagonist, of how "shaken and out of sorts" the Protagonist must be. The Token Girl will then act as an Outlet for these emotions, a Comfortable Vehicle to Focus on (to "redirect" the negative emotions to masculine "action") via becoming Someone To Protect or Someone To Impress. Or, if the Token Female is Dead By Tutorial, grief for "Her" is an Acceptable Emotion... to then be directed to the "more acceptable" method for dealing with Males Having Emotions via Monologues To The Setting ("talking at the scenery") or Promises To The Dead.

These emotions are, subsequently, Never Brought Up Again except as Character Motives or within the "acceptable" outlet of a Romantic Sideplot or an Epilogue Montage/Cutscenes. Sometimes games will use character commentaries in item descriptions or story logs to Remember The Plot Device but since these Expressions of Emotion are hidden within optional reading, players & the game's cast can Dodge any further acknowledgement of Having Feelings or anything resembling [Emotional Labour].

Kairi, the "Token Girl" of KH1, exists to "not exist": as the Designated Female in the lives of Sora and Riku, Kairi's absence is Glaring and, for some, Uncomfortable.

When Sora is at his lowest, when he feels scared and overwhelmed... Kairi is Not There to do his [Emotional Labour] for him. When Sora feels insecure or has a sudden understanding about himself or his relatio ships with others... Kairi is Not There to be Sora's ("Acceptably Female") Emotional Outlet. When Sora feels inspired or moved by his experiences... Kairi is Not There to say Sora's emotions for him, she is Not There for him to confide in, Not There to serve as a "purpose" for Sora "Having An Emotion".

Sora is a Very Emotional character: he is in a Coming of Age Journey, he is constantly put into the emotional stories of Disney films, and emotional introspection is a fundamental component of his setting's [combat mechanics]. Sora spends most of his games with Disney characters as his companions, his mentors, his confidants: when each KH game has its Emotional Climax, removed from the Disney settings & characters who had subconsciously prepared Sora (& players)... Kairi is Not There.

The emotions in Sora's Story are HIS emotions: his to experience, his to recognise in Others, his to express and articulate.

And, when removed from the comforting framework of Disney, who does Sora share his emotions be they positive or negative?

Riku, the OTHER Male Protagonist.

Kairi is Not There for Riku's emotional experiences either. Kairi, whose "purpose" in most works is to be Designated & Acceptably Female Emotional Outlet, is Not There. When Kairi is conveniently nearby either boy when they have an Emotional Revelation... Kairi is left in the background. The KH games COULD include Kairi, the Designated Female most "convenient" for its Male Protagonists to Emote At... yet, at every opportunity, Kairi is Not There. Kairi Not Being There is Deliberate, it is Pointed: it is the KH series saying "here is where you expect Emotions to come from & go to" and "we will not be doing that".

Kairi is Conveniently Female so that the KH series can Actively NOT USE THAT CONVENIENCE: Sora's Coming of Age Journey is emotional, as all such stories are, and it is SORA'S. Sora's to feel, Sora's to act upon, Sora's to recognise through Disney Parallels, Sora's to come to terms with, Sora's to express to whomever Sora most wants to express them to.

Now that the KH series has "retired" Kairi from her Role as "Convenient Female We Actively Never Use For Convenience", she might be allowed to have an opinion and perhaps even Have A Personality! I fear, however, that Players will need even more very pointed instances of Kairi Being There & Female and how Pointedly Unused she is when Sora needs to do something "feminine"!

Because KH is about deconstructing the "gender" of emotions: it is about exploring how feelings affect and influence our memories, our behaviour. How our identities, our relationships, require us to engage with our emotions. How refusing or ignoring what we feel leads to pain, isolation and sometimes tragedy. How each generation's relationships with emotional expression affects the generations that follow them, shaped by beliefs of predetermined suffering: how younger generations, if given the tools and context for such trauma-shaped beliefs, can show us all that these cycles of suffering are not inevitable or destined. That it takes all of us engaging with our emotions honestly, respecting each other's emotions as being as important to them as yours are to yourself... and, together, we can share our emotions (our Hearts) and find grounds for reconciliation (Connection). How we can only become stronger by embracing our ability to "feel" and by respecting how important and natural emotions are to us all. Emotions ("hearts") and the tools we use to understand them (stories, friendship, introspection) are not solely "allowed" to "children", to females or within the bounds of romance. Emotions are human and limiting who is "allowed" to express them or how they "should" be expressed? That harms us all. So open your hearts, connect with the hearts of others, and heal the hurts we have done unto ourselves & each other.

[cicerobussytransplant]

the secret to a fun and interesting relationship is that both parties must be freaky by themselves AND in conjunction of each other. so often u have a couple where there's a freak heavylifting for their cottagecore partner and the emotional labour of having to sicko for two bc ur beloved isn't as committed to the bit and the horrors is absolutely heartbreaking

[ginnotwist]

What is your favorite jojo part? And favorite character? I have noticed that people who like both jjba and enstars can often be the smartest most nuanced people youll have the pleasure of talking to and i think you qualify

HIII okay preemptively putting this under a readmore since its just going to be me rambling. thank you though im glad u think my takes are good. it makes me happy to be able to discuss stuff (dreamy sigh) i love discussions

my fav jojo part kind of pingpongs between parts 7, 8 and 3. i think part 7 is exceptionally written. i love the characters i love their interactions i love their banter to offset the more serious tone and conflicts of the part. jesus christ corpse aside i think part 7 touches some very heavy issues with how johnny is handled and while things couldve been done better, i think it's good. i love part 8's entire plot and it feels like a murder mystery the whole time to me, at the beginning it feels quite silly but when the focus shifts over to the rokaka, the rock humans and gappy's origins thats where it starts getting really good. i'd rather not spoil since ik a lot of people havent finished reading p8 and i implore u to because p9 is just around the corner. p3 is just kind of. there. i feel bad because part 3 is just a hero's journey. it's not outstanding but i think it's charming in its simplicity. i like the characters and the stand fights and the format is silly and lets me turn my brain off.

ok fav characters... i'll try to narrow this down to 3. johnny, jotaro, and fugo. fugo probably the one i am most fond of (hes my milk webkinz). johnny aside, i feel like the other two are kind of simple characters but this is where my Tendency To Overanalyze Anything I Like kicks in so to me they're a lot deeper and fleshed out than they seem at first glance.

johnny, well...i see a lot of dislike towards johnny from certain parts of the community because of his (implied) depression and him being disabled. a lot of dudebros seem to see him as someone whiny and a "useless" jojo, comparing him to gyro which seems to do most of the emotional heavylifting this part. this is not at all true and i think both his and gyro's efforts are what result in them progressing in the race as well as johnny's own progress irt to the spin, in coping with his brother's loss, and finding purpose in himself. i am Not disabled, so i cant truly comment on how good of a representation he is but while one of his motivations is to obtain the jesus corpse to be able to walk again, this motivation is almost entirely set aside by the end of the part – and by the time he does 'gain the ability' to walk again for lack of a better term it's not at all the main focus. it's almost cathartic to see that when gyro passes away johnny thanks him for all he's done, but he's most certainly not making reference to his working legs, but rather, everything else. his best friend just died, and his main goal is to finish the race, and get his corpse back to italy. throughout the part gyro helps him find strength in himself to see that he is capable of more than he thinks (even though he can be quite harsh, i think this is exactly what johnny needs), and johnny's depression and survivor guilt when it comes to being alive while his brother, who he considers was better in every respect, is dead, is very realistic within the confines of what Can Be, in a story like jojo, and idk. when his neglectful father who left him to die comes back to greet him at the end of the race, begging for forgiveness, is essentially spat on by johnny because after all his growth he knows he deserves more than that, that he does not owe him forgiveness just because after years of mistreating him he's finally seen the error of his ways... stuff like that just kind of sells him for me. he feels so real. that and he's really cute and funny ✌️

JOTAROS A BIT HARDER TO TALK ABOUT BECAUSE he feels very flat. in part 3 you can argue hes just some angsty brooding teenager who's mean to his mom and punches shit. which is true. that's what it is on paper. idk though. i made a lot of shit about jotaro up in my head so a lot of this is going to be hcs and my interpretation of him. but i dont think he's ever really had a healthy outlet for his issues. i love holly, but she's always just kind of gone with what jotaro wants/says, and jotaro's never really had a father figure in his life. ofc he wants to save his mom when he goes off to egypt, it's almost all he has. then in egypt i like to think that meeting the other three and becoming friends with someone close to his age, kakyoin, he realizes things about himself that he never really considered, or wishes to put a name to. i think jotaro has a bit of internalized homophobia in regards to kakyoin and having lost him, his first love, at 17 fucks you up. i also like the interpretation that jotaro is autistic and this is one of the reasons he has such a hard time relating to people, voicing his thoughts and latched onto marine biology which is something that persists throughout his whole life.

i think one of the best things about jotaro is that he might seem underdeveloped in his own part but then in p4+p6 when he shows up enough has happened to him that you can infer some of his development behind the scenes. by p4 we know he has jolyne but travels around a lot and we know nothing about his spouse so we can assume his relationship with her isnt the best (this is confirmed in p6). going back to the internalized homophobia i think jotaro would take on a spouse because of comphet and because he feels like this is something that should be normal. keep in mind his father was also never around while he was growing up, so again traveling around and not spending time with his daughter, spending more time on speedwagon foundation business and his studies, and it never once occurs to him that this might not be the best thing to do (at the time). he's a lot more mature now and knows he cant use violence to solve everything, which is good, and tries to form lasting relationships with josuke, koichi and okuyasu. he's trying to make progress

and then p6 rolls around and jolyne is grown up and we find out that yeah jotaro was a pretty shit dad. our suspicions were correct. he was never around, he's always had fights with jolyne’s mother not because hes violent but because hes completely disinterested. again, the comphet, but also: he's out of the house all of the time on spf business because he wants to keep jolyne safe. to this day the effects and losses of egypt still rest heavy on him and marine biologist work aside he doesn't want the same fate to befall jolyne. him sending her the brooch is a last resort for her to protect herself. when hes awake during the part he's trying to make it up to jolyne, in his own way, and he loves and protects his daughter until his dying breath (this brought me to tears, btw part 6 is a ride). also i rly think he loved kakyoin his whole life. idk. i think jotaro can be pretty tragic depending on how you see him. which is why i love him but he also makes me sad as fuck because i think after p3 he spends his whole life lamenting the trauma he suffered when he was 17 and forcing himself to suck it up; ofc this doesnt excuse him being a shitty father to jolyne, i think she deserves better, but... you know

NOW FUGO!!!!!!! This is all going to sound delusional. bear with me. fugo is literally in p5 for like 2 milliseconds so ill explain how /i/ see him. but also keep in mind ive read phf like 3 times. OK SO fugo is this moody ass 16 year old with extreme anger issues -- while most of the time hes mature, good with people with only a bit of snark, he has an explosive temper that stemmed from his childhood. he was a prodigy child, he got into university at the age of 13, but was for the most part neglected by his family (not including his grandmother), his parents only looking after him/demanding More from him when it came to his studies/extracurricular activities. his family is new money, so they need fugo to excel in life to ensure that they are not taken lightly.

here is where stuff kind of varies: in the anime, he is almost sexually harassed by a much older uni professor and in a fit of rage beats him over the head with a heavy book. in the novel and the manga i think it just comes from the teacher mocking him (in the novel he gets pissed off because his grandmother died prior and the teacher belittled him for failing an exam when he had requested to not take it) but the consequence is the same: hes kicked out of uni and disowned by his family to not blunder the family name, making him homeless. time goes by and he's taken in by bruno and hes the first one to join his gang under the guise of needing a "level head" (ironic bc bruno knows why fugo ended up on the streets).

then the actual events of p5 happen and he actually leaves the gang really early on as bruno had decided to betray the boss. fugo is inept emotionally and prefers to not face the wrath of the boss, narrowly avoiding his own death LOL and then being like ok why did they ditch me. 

he doesnt understand why bruno and the rest of the gang would throw away their lives for some girl theyd just met. he's logical, emotion-driven only when it comes to himself. hes moody, as a teenager should be, but after joining brunos gang becomes heavily reliant on routine, on being told what to do, and despite all of the gang related activities they carry out, is likely the only time he's ever been able to be a kid/someone's child. from here on we dont see him at all unless you read his spin-off novel which is technically not considered canon by a lot of ppl bc its not by araki, but its overseen by him and the illustrations included are all provided by him. but basically i like fugo for a lot of the same reasons i like kakyoin: that being hes a socially inept introvert who had no friends until the main story and didnt realize what they had until it was too late

(PHF SUMMARY HERE) after the events of p5, with bruno, abbacchio and narancia dead, giorno as the head of the mafia seeks him out to carry out a mission to exterminate the head (happens to be an old university classmate of his) of this group selling drugs under the passione's name. essentially a suicide mission if it goes wrong. hes tasked to go with sheila e. (girl, same age as boss' daughter approx.) and murolo (middle aged man). they butt heads quite a bit but grow rather close. thru various parts of the novel hes still on some Dumb shit with his anger issues like nearly killing sheila e. when she caught him while he was falling bc he was still seeing red from the enemy. otherwise this part he just kinda comes off as depressed, less explosive. without going into much detail about the fights or what actually happens, he begins to trust people, i think. he doesnt see Everything as if the world was against him and it makes me rly happy for him. like up until this point hes never been Alone alone, but has alienated himself from others bc he feels that they dont understand, or that theyre too different from him, too dumb. very this ⬇️

im going to link to a post i wrote a while back about some phf fugo thoughts because this post is already long enough

anyways i think im done here. i hope this was satisfying and good. i went on a bit of a tangent irt fugo and jotaro because i feel like unlike johnny people dont really tend to look at them with the same depth. i also think i am just out of my mind. if youve read this far i love you

[fratboykate]

Could you answer a filmmaking question for me? Why are extras and(?) crew not allowed to talk to the main cast?

If I had to hazard a guess, it would be that the extras used to bombard the cast with "here's my resume, please talk to the casting directors about me [insert big name actor here]!" But that would suck if they ruined it for everyone because I couldn't imagine if I just couldn't talk to the people I work with because they've got higher billing than me.

listen, are SOME actors absolutely assholes who demand no one even look at them in passing? yes. they're the minority. there's very few of those in the grand scheme of things. ive never had the displeasure of working with a cast member who wouldn't let the crew talk to them. even the absolute worst actress ive ever worked with RELIED on the crew to bolster her tantrums and unpleasant behavior. crew and actors typically get along or at the very least have cordial professional relationships.

extras (background as we call them) is a different beast. they do have different holding areas and are, for the most part, instructed by the AD teams to keep their interactions with main talent to a minimum. unless they obviously have to say a line to them or bump into them or something. you get the point. this is going to sound horrible and it might sound like a crazy generalization but, it's just a fact. the hard majority of people who work background can be some of the most annoying group of humans ever assembled. most of them lack absolute self-awareness and just...don't act like normal human beings half the time??? why. i don't know. anyone can make an actor profile on those background casting pages. if you have a decent enough photo to pass as a headshot, you person reading this, could make one right now and maybe end up on a scorcese set tomorrow. it's not like you "cast" for background. you're just trying to fill a restaurant or a street or a theater with bodies. you pull a diverse group of people to make it look lived in and that's it. casting directors don't really "audition" these folks if all they're doing is like...eating in the background of a diner scene.

imagine a hypothetical scenario where the worst person on twitter decides they want to get into the industry and that the easiest way they can think of to get on set is by being background. they get hired and they end up on set and a scene with...idk...scarjo. do you really want that person being able to walk up to her and talk about her at any time? acting is hard work, a lot of it involving some intense emotional heavylifting. the last thing i, as the director, would want is to have some clueless background talking my actress' head off and taking my lead out of their zone simply because they want to be "cool".

and yes, you're not wrong when you assume it's common for background to be walking around set thinking if the director only talked to them they would replace the leading man the next day. a lot of them are beyond delusional. so you just...contain them lol. they get their own areas and get to hang out with just each other. sure, a lot of it is for practical logistical reasons, i know. but some of the most dreaded days on set are when you have big crowd scenes because then you have to deal with the people who are supposed to be the crowd and most of them are fucking insufferable. literally background people are like: the weird trenchcoat guy from your high school, the worst of the theater kids, three different flavors of karens, your crazy cousin who believes q is real and everyone on hollywood is satanic...but still wants to break in, and then some random creepy old guy who says the weirdest sexual/racist/misogynistic shit for no reason. those are the people who apply to be background lol. you wouldn't want to be in that holding room/interact with them unless you absolutely had to. that's just a fact. any person who has worked in production will tell you the same thing.

[ao3feed-ineffablehusbandz]

i'd like to know completely (what others so discreetly talk about)

i'd like to know completely (what others so discreetly talk about)

by wick_de_la_vela

'“It’s all so much, Lord. To feel. Will it get easier?”

A crease formed in the Almighty’s brow, the first crease to ever form there, and Her approximation of a mouth shifted down, down, down.

“No, it won’t,” She told him, sounding almost sorry about it. “Not for you.”'

---

Aziraphale had been made wrong. That was the only way he could explain it. None of the other angels fidgeted with their robes or fussed over the texture of their food. (None of the other angels even ate at all, which just reinforced the truth, as Aziraphale saw it.)

He was not a normal angel.

Words: 8750, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, Good Omens (TV)

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Other

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Gabriel (Good Omens), God (Good Omens)

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Aziraphale & Crowley (Good Omens)

Additional Tags: Angst, probably. it's a good bet if it's coming from me, Fluff, Wings, Wing Grooming, Aziraphale is Bad at Being an Angel (Good Omens), Aziraphale is a Mess (Good Omens), Aziraphale is Neurodivergent, Crowley to the Rescue (Good Omens), Aziraphale's True Form (Good Omens), hot cocoa doing extreme amounts of emotional heavylifting, just like in real life!, obligatory Velvet Underground lyrics

From https://ift.tt/B1exQ0z https://archiveofourown.org/works/43406574

[bookishbethanyerin]

• ARC Review: French Holiday •

You know how sometimes you read a book and are like, “If this were adapted into a movie, it would be terrible but it somehow works as a book”? That’s exactly what I kept thinking while reading this.

In many ways, the characters and plot in this book shouldn’t work – too cliché, too ridiculous (there’s A Whole Thing with a runaway lobster), too wishy-washy, just too much going on in general – but I still found myself really charmed by it.

The story follows Merry, who jets off to her freewheeling godmother’s newly purchased French chateau after the man she’s been in love with for years marries her sister, only to find that Noah, her brother-in-law’s best friend whom she believes 1) hates her, and 2) drunkenly slept with her at the wedding anyway, is *also* at the chateau, doing research for his latest documentary.

Though the story is all from Merry’s POV, it becomes clear that while she is living her travel adventure dreams, despite the state of the chateau (it’s filthy! there’s no electricity! it’s infested!) and looking forward to a whirlwind romance (there’s a hot, motorcycle-riding, art dealer next door!) Noah is in the midst of a Gothic romance as he pensively researches and generally broods around, but somehow always saves the day.

The second half of the book does a lot of emotional heavylifting as Noah reveals more about himself and his interest in the chateau and an artist who used to live there. And from there, the frothy romcom plot takes a bit of a left turn into Gothic territory (there’s a triple-mystery and a ghost story and yes, you can probably guess the outcome, but no, that won’t make you feel bored with the story) – but don’t worry, you haven’t been duped and it doesn’t linger there long. Because at its core, French Holiday *is* a romcom.

Though it is outlandish and over-the-top at times, it’s also cute and sweet and easy to binge and set in France. And honestly, sometimes that’s all you need.

3.75🌟

1🌶️

✈️An enormous thank you to Swift & Lewis Publishing for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy. French Holiday is available now!🦞

[amarriageoftrueminds]

my biggest kink is an evenly balanced power dynamic

[redvanillabee]

For the ship game, Cartinelli and BlackHill 👀

Yes and Yes <3

Cartinelli...I mean, the show already did all the heavylifting at this point, I have nothing to add. They're just... :)

The fact that Marvel cut out the one and only scene Hill and Nat even touched is my villain origin story (I seem to have lots of villain orgin stories now). That battle couple potential. The absolute emotional powder keg that is these two that could be set off if either is threatened. Marvel GIVE ME

Send me a ship and I’ll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it (but like responding days late oops)

[tomatograter]

do u have any random bits of dirk/jake/dirkjake meta u haven’t posted abt but would like to share.. I just love your thoughts on them lol

My honest answer to this question is that due to the nature of most stuff im working on i'm Never *Not* Thinking about them. Though most of these thoughts are disordered and a tad holistic, so calling it meta feels silly when im just pointing out text observations or something ill later fit into a story LOL

That being said, the latest detail I've been mulling over (and if you follow my rambletwitter this will not come as new information) is the manner in which jake will exaggerate aranea's hot-girl availability and interest in him entirely to spite dirk (Here, brain ghost dirk,) for ignoring him and his attempts at communicating for the first half of act 6. 

Jake knows being around aranea makes 'A' dirk jealous, jealous enough he won't shut up about it, and this kind of honest no-bullshit attention is the very same he's been fruitlessly looking for as the AR hogs all viable lines of communication and "real" dirk refuses to tip his hand. There's an ongoing theme there that i don't usually see explored, and its part of what makes their relationship blow up in the latter half of act 6: Dirk's emotional maze and steel mask of irony prevents him from being sincere and open with the people he loves (metaphorically and literally) even when they're standing right next to one another. You can talk at dirk without talking with dirk, the same way dirk can talk at you without focusing on you - bit of a bad habit, there- and this sort of mixed signal drives jake a little bit mad. He's not even sure dirk likes him half of the time, because it is not something that is stated between them. (And as i said before, the verbal affirmation part of the "believing" process is a big thing for jake - and generally fits right into his neurodivergent profile. 0 emotional permanence, if you don't say you like him he's going to doubt it with his pingpong brain.) So when he sees the opportunity to actually get dirk to react in a way that makes sense, he grabs it. Its a big "Oh? So now you can pay attention to little ol" me???? Now you care??"

(The jump in tone between these because dirk wont let go of stewing in bitterness while also trying to make jake embarass himself & jake throwing it right back at him that at least alien girl is talking to me! And yes she is ""hot""! "And most importantly maybe if you werent so difficult this would be US!!! . jpeg" is A Lot)

(I also posted these two, bc the way jake casually mentions his status with dirk and/or tries to get her to talk about Real Lore Shit instead of more winkwonk nonsense says more about his intentions than brain ghost dirk prompting him into thinking about porn by yapping about it)

In game dirk latches onto making them adventuring agendas and exercise programs and matching outfits and grinding for exp inside dungeons for 8 hours straight, nonstop, most of which probably spent rambling about the supposed intricacies of sburb's philosophical stances, but all of it is never *explicitly* about the nature of their romantic relationship, or affection, or any sort of emotional intimacy without a takebacksies of "i'm kidding, because I'm a stone cold cool dude." It's almost as though he's making their romance into subtext just for the sake of unproblematically acknowledging it as a Bromance instead, given he still thinks the AR forced jake's feelings, except… he's also desperately trying to engage with jake like this, expecting any attention to count as positive attention. Its a nonstop marathon to effectively monopolize being around jake without having to touch on the complicated / embarassing / necessary parts of dating someone. When jake finally loses interest in playing this extended brainpuzzle game of 0 honesty with dirk and his many extended dlc splinters, he goes to sit on the grass and huff and rant about it, but it's nothing we haven't actually seen before. Jake states many a time that he's not sure if dirk is really into him, with all the false positives. But he has no qualms about saying if he had to date someone, itd probably be dirk, or that he used to joke way back if dirk was a girl they'd be totally in love until he realized that didnt matter, all the while objectively classifying jane's hinted at feelings as "unrequited" or straight up saying "no, I'm not in love with aranea, what the fuck?" When brain ghost dirk gets it into his head that he really wants to get into her pants and does all the heavylifting to entirely shift the conversation about how much she is his perfect alien girl. Its just funny to see how jake picks up that this is just because dirk is jealous, and dirk being jealous means hes willing to truly engage in what looks like an irritated but honest way, and jake wants said attention so much hes going to milk it for what its worth. (But when given the chance, he couldn't give less of a shit for actually kissing aranea, and it is actually framed as something horrifically wrong, because it was never about her, it was about dirk.)

[lerelene]

I hope to live long enough to see an Emilia Clarke biopic documenting the colossal amount of emotional heavylifting she performed acting through S8 of you-know-what starring a young actress who is probably going to kindergarden right now