#this is about that scene from vol 2 and the gambling house

[thanksgiving-isnt-ur-fav-holiday]

tgcf is crazy because it’ll be all silly and goofy and then out of nowhere have a three page long metaphor for a public handjob

[lilyginnyblackv2]

There was a Buddy Daddies Radio at AnimeJapan 2023, but the live video to watch it was region blocked. Ugh. Did anyone get to hear it? I’m curious what they may have talked about and if they dropped any more hints about the final episode.

A teaser of an audio drama that is going to be packaged with Vol. 2 of the DVD/BDs called “When one door closes, another door opens.”

Japanese:  実家を出てホテル暮らしをしていた零。仕事もろくにせずギャンブルで全財産をスッてしまった一騎。それぞれ別の暮らしをしていた2人だったが、久太郎は一騎に零を捜すように依頼する依頼する。やっと零を見つけた一騎だったが――。

English: Rei left his parents house and is now living in a hotel. Kazuki, who isn’t working near enough for it, gambles away all his money. Although the two were living their own separate lives, Kyutaro asks Kazuki to look for Rei. Kazuki finally finds Rei, but...

In the snippet they play above, you can hear Rei playing games (he failed the mission) and ordering room service. But he can’t use his card to buy the food, so the hotel staff asks if he has any other means of paying. Then we hear the staff employee shouting, “COME BACK!” (more directly, “WAIT!”) and the sound of Rei breathing heavily, indicating that he has run away from the hotel. It seems he runs into the street, since there is a car horn honking and a man yelling, “What the hell are you doing!?” to him. Rei’s scene ends with him being like, “This is bad. I can’t use my card and I don’t have any money on me.”

Then it transitions over to Kazuki’s part of the audio drama. We hear the sound of gambling. It seems Kazuki put all his money on red, and even Carol and Dorothy are like, “Wow! You’re going to bet all your money?” and “Wow, Kazuki, how daring!” He takes a big, long sip of his beer and he’s all like, “I’m gonna win big this time! And then I’m going to ---” and he starts to say what he plans to do with the money he wins, but you hear the clack-clack of the ball and his scream of pain at realizing he lost it all, lmao. Carol: Come again, ka~ay? :D Then you hear Kazuki sneezing and then drinking again, he sadly states, “My life is a over.” Then Kyutaro finds him and tells him to come over to the Mistletoe Cafe. 

So, I wonder if this is going to be the backstory that leads to the scene that we see in Episode 8 of Kazuki walking into the cafe and seeing Rei there? If it does play out like that, then that will be rather interesting, since it would parallel Episode 5 when Miri got lost. Kazuki and Rei searched all over, but then they found her at Kyu’s cafe. It would make for an interesting parallel.

This would also fit with Kazuki saying that it was because of Kyutaro that they met (I believe he says that, or something similar, someone correct me if I am misremembering though!). Since this sounds like the setup to when they both first got to know each other and then started living together. Nice! 

[gummybearzgocrazyagain]

MALEC FIC REC POST, vol.3

vol. 1

vol.2 

Media AU

Society Rules by @Tiger_Tiger_Burning_Bright [it is apparently based on films i’ve never heard of - The Philadelphia Story / High Society - which does not make it any less entertaining. malec are childhood friends, who had a falling out 5 years ago, and now Magnus is back from London to interrupt Lightwood wedding, aka the social event of the season]

Making my way to you by @asharee_arie [woah, what was that??? is the correct answer “a perfect fanfic”?? what a muthafuckin delight, where has this gem been hiding this whole time??? i was on the floor, rolling around and squealing like a newborn piglet. Intended as some kind of Office AU, this piece does not necessarily follow the outline, but who cares, when the story, and characters, and author’s style are all that perf??? i am in luv]

Mistletoe and Margaritas by @nevermetawolf [this is legendary, and i mean, muthafuckin epic - Office AU so authentic you’d feel it in yo old bones... author calls it a crack fic, although it was anything but!!! major must read for those, who’s ever loved office, allllllll the kudos]

Once Upon a Time in the Clouds by @Fatale (femme) [one of my all-time fav authors, every time i come by a piece i have not read yet, is like a huge YAY, what a talent. so this piece is an AU of something called “sky high”, which i have no idea about, but luved it nevertheless, Alec is born to a family of Supers, and is going to school for children with superpowers, but he himself is yet to manifest any.]

Quite Magical by @lorenzobane [Hogwarts AU, and what an adorable thing it was! granted, i’ve never actually read any of HP books, this was such a delight though... alec is bad at potions, and magnus has to tutor him *wink*]

Chef AU

the way to a chef’s heart by @lecrit [okay, the GIANT SMILE one’s face acquires when one finds out there is a new lecrit fic ≧◠‿◠≦ ≧◠‿◠≦ ≧◠‿◠≦ was reading it, and legitimately squealing like a feral piglet all the way through, cause i fucking luv every single word this woman writes, is like a tiny endorphin explosions in my brain. i know am a hopeless fangirl, but i’ll die on this hill. the way she gets malec, and every variation of them in her works just makes me go (❁´◡`❁) every. single. time.]

kids in the kitchen by @perpetual_journey [cuteness personified, malec are both chefs, and magnus is a single father of max and rafe, and go and read ittttttttt, its that soft content we all need in our lives sometimes]

Knives at the Ready by @harrysglasses [restaurant AU, that is supposed to be a malec rendition of Burnt (am guessing it’s a movie...?), and what a sweet treat it was! i liked author’s style, this is the kind of smooth, unproblematic content one would require to take repose from all the heart-clenching longing i’ve been reading lately... delightful piece to ease thy soul]

Single Parent AU

I Knew From the First Time by @KlaineJane [emmm, excuse you, dear author, who gave you the right to use Rafe and Max to get to my heart, and be generally so fucking cute??? Alec is a single dad of both rascals, that has a meeting with the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and Chairman meets new friends]

And Then I Met You by @everydayfandom [malec are single parents of max and rafe respectively, and alec gets called in to school about the accident max was involved in...who doesn’t luv them some gud ol’ sweet piece of kidfic? those are like a soothing baths for your soul, and lightwood-bane kids are incapable of being anything less than extremely adorable in any interpretation, so]

College AU

Don’t say goodnight by @alistoney [this the kinda lighthearted content i am always here for - College AU]

One year and a bottle of whiskey by @CryptidBane [yassssss, yet another version of the College AU, but with malec as both clueless and pining professors, this type of fic i can read endlessly]

All is Fair in Love and War by @LadyOxymoron [aaaaaaaa, what was this adorableness *major heart-eyes* what a piece, mashallah, college professors AU, where magnus is new in town, and malec is engaging in an elaborate prank war, which, undoubtedly, is nothing more than a prolonged foreplay (c), what a gem]

Canon Divergence

oh, i’ve waited for you by @manticoremoons [so, the fic is happening a little bit further in a timeline, than the books or the series, and Alec is around 30, and... married to Lydia. i know, i know, it almost stopped me from proceeding, and boi am i glad it hasn’t completely, cause it is a damn good piece!]

Hey There Demons, It’s Me (Your Dream Boyfriend) by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [how many recs of this author can i make, without being deemed obsessed? cause y’all should go and read every single thing they wrote, stat. this adorableness is outta this world, literally - magnus’ summoning went sideways, and the loft ends up populated with the teenage ghost-demon, who is very clearly enamored with alexander... all kinds of fluff ensue]

Something Else verse by @CryptidBane (Impetus) [maybe it’s my fever talking, but i am such a sucker for memory loss AUs, and SH fandom has the richest canon base for those, yay! this time, it’s an AU verse after 3x10: rather than asking for his magic, Asmodeus curses magnus by taking away memories from everyone who’s ever loved him, in exchange for freeing jace from lilith’s thrall... oh, what a beautiful and delicious angst ensues]

Home by @otppurefuckingmagic [waaaaaaaaat... *sits with her mouth open* how did you....? how did he...? damnnnnnnnnn you authors in this fandom, stop being so talented!!!! this is uncannily brilliant]

I’ll hold on until you’re home by @alistoney [how dare you sir, right in the feels... the missing scene in the midst of 3x18/3x19, when magnus realizes what his idiot of a boyfriend has done, and confronts him about the Asmodeus deal]

First time for everything by @nebulein [“Nowhere in a Shadowhunters’ job description does it read ‘must look adorable while infatuated with the local High Warlock’.” - series of firsts written with such tenderness and adoration for characters, that it warms your heart while reading, - it shows how much the author cares for them. it is not finished, but whatever has already been written, is gold]

Fake dating AU

The Great Repression by @CryptidBane (Impetus) [although it might not be exactly my regular cup of tea, i still appreciate this author’s style so damn much, and the way they do malec dynamic overall, so it’s here. magnus is a camboy, and alec is hired to protect him from a stalker]

Friends to lovers

Family is Family by @hexicity [my brains are fried by the covid, so any coherent rec would be unlikely right about now, but the softness of this <333 alec sees an ad about a free room, and when he moves in, he finds way more, than he bargained for... gave me a bit of a “happy, shiny people everywhere” vibe, and that’s an automatic rec in my books, so]

Spinning Around In Circles by @lemonoclefox [my fav friends to lovers/mutual pining trope, here you are, and what a pretty pretty wrapper are you wearing - absolutely amazing interpretation of a trope, that seems to has been done to death, and yet here i am, never able to get enough of it <3]

If it walks like a duck by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [this. i was reading this. and after every single word. all i wanted to do was get down on one knee and propose to this person. i dunno who the hell you is, but.... how did you do this? it was... another level of fanfiction.]

Neighbors AU

Meow 17:1 Love Thy Neighbor by @high-warlock-of-brooklyn [again, not a fan of drabbles, but who could resist such softness??? Neighbors AU, where Chairman takes some lessons he learnt from “Parent trap” to heart, and alec is a stumbling mess, but he gets shit done, kudossssssss]

Various AU mix

Solid courage by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [how goddamn CUTE was dat???? answer - the cutest. mashallah people in this fandom can write]

Paper Love by @thealmostrhetoricalquestion [it would not be an exaggeration to admit i thoroughly fell in love with this author’s style, i mean, all and every version of their malec is all kinds of awesome. this one is no exception - catarina works in the library, and malec have to take madzie out to a coffee shop, cause their obnoxious flirting is too loud for the quaint environment of catarina’s workplace.... it’s tiny and so so sooooooo sweet]

make no bones by @ohfreckle [yaaaaaaaaay, what a cutie, tiny preciousness about magnus having an awful day and taking it out on a no-good useless building super, simply delightful]

Freud is a Dick by @sanctuary_for_all [Alec works in IT firm, and accidentally sends someone else’s dick pick to his boss, whom he has a crush on... do i need to say more]

shadows in moonlight by @kaeg [damnnnnnn, son, that was a ride!! something exquisitely soulful, tender and so, so poetic... young malec meet in summer vacation home, and it will take your breath away in the best way possible... warning, it is unfinished, but whatever was written, is absolute preciousness]

For the Love of the Game by @TicklemyPickle [Hockey AU, where malec were childhood friends, but had a falling out, and were not in touch for the last 7 years, until magnus gets traded in to alec’s team... i was somewhat unsure about reccing this, as some of the choices author made regarding their dynamic did not exactly resonate with me, but decided to go on, because, god as my witness, one thing this world definitely needs more of - is malec Hockey AUs, word upppp]

Love Is A Gamble by @la-muerta [i myself do not completely understand, why has it taken me so long to get to the “The importance of elsewhere” author’s most famous piece, but i finally have, it was amazeballs, like, the world-building...? off the charts. the language, the moral struggle, what a gem. alec is a grumpy and surely sheriff *duh!!!* of a tiny town, and magnus strolls in being all... well, magnus-y, and opens a gambling house, the potential!!! anyway, i highly doubt this piece needs recs, so imma zip it]

@ohprongs [this author has too many tiny pieces i like to name them individually, but as far as reccing goes, they should def be mentioned here for their effortless, seamless style, and clear love for the characters in all interpretations, that simply shines through all and any AUs they choose to put malec in]

special mention:

@theleftboobgrabber [i wasn’t aware that at this stage it was still possible to come by someone like this. the author, who’s style would impress me so. that unbelievably glorious Mafia AU, absolutely delightful and literally perfect My mama don’t like you series, and something that went straight to my top-5 - MI6 AU ohhhhh, that MI6 AU... i have no coherent words to express the depths of my appreciation, this is unbelievable fucking talent for writing malec]

[maudanouk]

NEW FACE OF LANNY IN VIENNA

ACT I SCENE I

Italy, Rome, the Vatican reception hall. VOIELLO and SOFIA are waiting at the popes desk. The YOUNG POPE enters the stage with a plain plate in his hands.

„This is the sort of merchandise im prepared to authorise.“ He says.

„But it doesn’t have your image on it!“ Sofia answers.

„I do not have an image, my good lady, because I am no one. You understand? No one. Only Christ exists. Only Christ. And I am not worth forty-five, or even five euros. I am worth nothing.“

„I don’t understand, Holy Father.“

„Of Course you don’t, because, as you said earlier, you studied at Harvard. And Harvard is a place in decline where you were taught to lower yourselves. Where as here, in the Vatican, we try to elevate ourselves. Who exactly is in charge of curating the image of the pope?“

„The Secretary of State entrusted that delicate task to me, Holy Father, two years ago.“

„Very good. And now I’m going to tell you what you as curator of the image of the Holy Father, are gonna do. You are gonna fire the Vatican’s official photographer immediately. No photographs of the pope are to be issued. Just as there were none when I was a cardinal or a bishop. Do you know why? I never allowed my picture to be taken. And when someone managed to sneak a photograph of me I always bought them up before they could be published. Now that I think about it. I’ve been training my whole life to be an invisible pope.

And so, for my first adress, you will see to it that the lightning is so dim, no photographer, no TV cameraman, and not even the faithful will see anything of me but a dark shadow, my silhouette. They will not see me because I do not exist.“

„If I may, Holy Father, what you are proposing is nothing short of suicide, media suicide.“

„Media suicide, you say? Fine. Now try to keep up with me, if you can.“

„I’m right with you, Holy Father.“

„Good. OK, so, who is the most important author of the last twenty years? Careful now, not the best, virtuosity is for the arrogant, the most important, the author who has sparked so much morbid curiosity that he became the most important.“

„I wouldn’t know. I’d say… Philip Roth?“

„No. Salinger. The most important film director?“

„Spielberg.“

„No. Kubrick. Contemporary artist?“

„Jeff Koons. Or Marina Abramovic.“

„Banksy. Electronic music group?“

„I don’t know the first thing about electronic music.”

“You say Harvard is a good university! Anyway, Daft Punk!”

„The best Italian Vocalist?“ Voiello interrupts.

„Mina?“ I answer.

„Brava! Now do you know what it is what the invisible red thread is that connects them all, all these most important figures in their respective fields? None of them let themselves be seen. None of them let themselves be photographed.“ The pope answers.

„But you’re not an artist, Holy Father. You are a head of state.“

„Yes, of a city state so small that it doesn’t have an outlet to the sea. And in order to survive it’s leader has to make himself as unreachable as a rock star. The Vatican survives thanks to the hyperbole. So we, we shall generate hyperbole but this time in reverse.“

„I’m beginning to get your point, Holy father. Yes, not only am I beginning to get it. I’m beginning to like it, too.“

„Good. Very good.“ [1]

ACT I SCENE II

The Off. It’s dark. Only the NARRATORS voice can be heard.

The pope [...] was possessed by a veritable rage for acquiring and storing up knowledge.[2] Wanting to know is an offspring of the desire for power, the striving for expansion, existence, sexuality, pleasure, enjoyment of the self, and for anesthetizing the necessity of dying.[3] He is large minded, not through knowledge, but through the power of acquiring it; he is open minded, intelligent, ready for anything, and, as Montaigne says, capable of learning if not learned. [4]  As knowledge and will are attributed to God, so is power. Further, as the power of God is infinite, so is His knowledge.[5]  The young pope is searching for a way to acquire as much knowledge as possible. He thinks about buying Alphabet. In the end, more than in God it is necessary to believe in yourself, Lenny.

God does not shout.

God does not whisper.

God does not write.

God does not hear.

God does not chat.

God's infinite silence...[5]

What if god shouted, whispered, wrote, heard, chatted and broke his silence? What if god had Instagram.

ACT II SCENE I

Austria, Vienna, 3rd district at Parkgasse 18. The WITTGENSTEIN HOUSE enters the stage, surrounded by its garden and neighbourhood.

The house is thinking: How can I help Lanny to reach the eartheners? I need to understand them. But as I cannot move they have to come to me. I need to offer them something they desire so they can not resist. They are the bees and I’m the honey. 

I remember a story an old friend once told me: “There was once a young man who dreamed of reducing the world to pure logic. Because he was a very clever young man, he actually managed to do it. When he’d finished his work, he stood back and admired it. It was beautiful. a world purged of imperfection and indeterminacy, countless acres of gleaming ice stretch into the horizon. So the clever young man looked around the world he’d created and decided to explore it. He took one step forward and fell flat on his back. you see, he’d forgotten about friction. The ice was smooth and level and stainless. But you couldn’t walk there. So the clever young man sat down and wept bitter tears. But as he grew into a wise old man, he came to understand that roughness and ambiguity aren’t imperfections, they’re what make the world turn. He wanted to run and dance. And the words and things scattered upon the ground were all battered and tarnished and ambiguous. The wise old man saw that that was the way things were. But something in him was still homesick for the ice, where everything was radiant and absolute and relentless. Though he had come to like the idea of the rough ground, he couldn’t bring himself to live there. So now he was marooned between earth and ice, at home in neighter.” [6]

I am a contradiction. [7]

A nightclub and a spa,

sin and salvation,

extasy, excess, gambling and baptism,

doubt and hope,

mystery and logic,

ornamented and functional,

hell and heaven,

baroque and modern,

I am dionysos and apollon.

ACT II SCENE II

Austria, Vienna, 1st district. AVA sitting at a desk.

The phone rings. [8] She opens the message.. „My dearest friends there’s one spectacular party in the making! Join us tonight in the Wittgenstein House to another legendary night. Make sure to wear your most luxurious textiles and we take care of your deepest desires.“ 

ACT II SCENE III

Austria, Vienna, 3rd district at Parkgasse 18. It’s night but the garden is enlightened by the colourful lights emerging the windows. The WITTGENSTEIN HOUSE is emitting visual, audible and perceptible vibrations. The air smells of Un Jardin en Méditerranée. A car enters stage right. Inside are AVA, LUX, EMMA and NOVA.

We arrive at the Wittgenstein House. It’s one o’clock, time for some ecstasy. I divide the crystals into four parts and hand them to the others. I take the last one and we step out of our taxi. Instantly we are surrounded by an electric atmosphere. People get chauffeured around in Mercedes Benz with Cristal champagne.[9] On inspecting the entrance facade, you can discover a series of metaphors and symbolic signs.[10] The bass seems to shake the walls. Bright lights in countless colours emerge through the windows. Life is fantastic. It would be too strong to call this fantasy a portal to Hell, but it is surely no entrance to a Heavenly Jerusalem.

The party begins as people are moving in, gathering in the entrance hall and taking a stand up cocktail.[11] There is champagne, caviar and fireworks.[12] Ahead, some distance from the entrance, is a great mural of brilliant color.[13] Opulent Ornaments, heavy textiles, reflecting surfaces. The materials come from the everyday domestic sphere, much having to do with ornamenting the body: copper and brass wire, buttons, beads, baubles, hooks, eyes, straps, false fingernails, makeup, hair, ribbons, lace, thread, shells, feathers, and bones. The amulets are fetishes, beautiful ornamental objects, and they are connected to the fetishism of architectural representation.[14]

following... experience of other chambers: 

sauna is heat, sweat, cleansing, liberation, relief

spa is warm, soft, welcoming, salvation

etc.

[1] The Young Pope

[2] Hugo, Notre Dame de Paris

[3] Sloterdijk, Critique of Cynical Reason

[4] Rousseau, Collected Works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

[5] Aquinas, Summa Theologica

[6] The Young Pope

[7] The Young Pope

[8] Cixous, Reveries of the Wild Woman

[9] Hovestadt Buehlmann, Quantum City

[10] Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968

[11] Schumacher, The Autopoiesis of Architecture Vol 2

[12] Carter, Anthony Blunt His Lives

[13] Ockmann, Architecture Culture 1943 1968

[14 ]Hays, Architecture Theory since 1968