#this is more or less the plot in a nutshell

[parab0mb]

The culinary community can be pretty ruthless 😰

I love this meme, and I wanted it to do a version of it with my own OCs for a while now (also needed an excuse to draw the Spice Trader again since I begin disintegrating if I don't do so every so often).

[txttletale]

how would you recommend watching doctor who? there are so many different guys idk how it works.

so the thing about doctor who is that there's two shows -- classic who (1963-1989, doctors 1-7) and new who (2005-2023, doctors 9-14). due to a renumber of the seasons and a change in production company, i think it's fair to call the upcoming version of who (2023-??, doctors 15-??) its own, third show. the reason it's been able to run for so long is that when the show's lead actor, (william hartnell as the titular doctor) had to step down in 1966 due to failing health, they made up some sci-fi bullshit: the doctor's species can 'regenerate' instead of dying, instantly healing but changing their appearance and some of their personality. this means that every time a lead actor has walked away (or, in one unfortuante case, been fired) the show's just recast the doctor and moved on, often with notable changes in tone and format.

the easiest option if you don't want to backwatch anything is to start with this year's christmas special, the church on ruby road (2023). it's an obvious jumping on point to the series, introduces you to all the basic stuff (the doctor, the TARDIS, the fact that it's a silly sci-fi show about fighting weird rubber prop critters), and presumably sets up the upcoming season 1 of the disney-bad wolf version of the show that's gonna come out in may 2024.

if you do want to backwatch, you have to decide if you want to start with new who or classic who. i personally would recommend starting with new who, because there's less of it, it's got higher production values, and (imo this is the biggest obstacle to getting into classic who) it's paced in a way that makes much more sense to a modern TV viewer (self-contained 45-minute episodes). also once you're invested in the show, its main character, and some of its classic elements, you get to soyjak at the screen whenever you're watching classic who and you get to see the oirign of a monster you already recognize. you can also skip classic who entirely and never watch it, they don't bring up anything from it in the new series without giving it a new explanation, but if you do this you hate fun.

anyway, starting points for nuwho: the most obvious one is rose (2005). it's the pilot episode for the new show and imo it holds up brilliantly -- it introduces all the most basic concepts of the show, but ultimately it's really all about billie piper and cristopher eccleston's performances and they deliver. the special effects are gonna be pretty terrible for a while because it's early 2000s cg. there's no jumping on point like it for the whole of RTD's run of the show (imo, the best run of nuwho) so if you want to watch seasons 1-4 you've gotta start on rose.

another episode that's written as a jumping on-point is (heavy sigh) the eleventh hour (2011). as well as introducing matt smith's doctor and his companion amy, this also does the whole rigamarole of introducing the show's core elements, giving a nutshell recap of its history in the form of the doctor's rooftop speech, and also signal what the oncoming moffat era is going to be like (whimsical, full of complex time travel plots, way more misogynist). i'm biased -- i'm a hater, one of this episode's central plot conceits sucks real bad and i also hate the eleventh doctor's whole run. but it is meant to be a jumping on point.

there won't be another one of those in nuwho until the pilot (2017). this begins moffat's final season with which he made the odd but extremely welcome decision to jettison all his convoluted continuity shit from the last five seasons and refocus the show with the doctor being a professor at bristol university with a mysterious secret. i think season 10 is a hidden gem and if you find starting from rose daunting this is the next best place to pick up. capaldi's doctor is a delightful abrasive eccentric with a heart of gold at this point in his run & the stories are wall-to-wall bangers with only a couple misses.

finally, you could start on the woman who fell to earth (2018), the first episode to feature jodie whittaker's 13th doctor and head writer chris chibnall. i'd recommend this even less than the eleventh hour, because while i actually like it more, i think it's a much worse preview of what the upcoming era is going to be like than that one. if you watch the woman who fell to earth and keep watching from the start of whittaker's run on the show off the back of it, you're going to be severely disappointed as most of the more promising aspects of the episode get instantly abandoned.

so, summary, if you're starting with nuwho, there's five jumping on points, which i'd rank:

rose > the pilot > the church on ruby road > the eleventh hour > the woman who fell to earth

but i want to start with classic who because i'm a contrarian

alright. classic who also has a few jumping off points -- before i mentioned them, let me just talk about that format thing i mentioned earlier. classic who doesn't have self-contained episodes for the most part, but rather for most of its run told each of its episodic narratives across between two and seven 20-minute episodes. this leads to a lot of weird pacing, forced cliffhangers, and infamously a lot of filler shots of the doctor running up and down identical corridors. so obvsies i'm recommending entire stories here nad not individual episodes. that said, let's look at where you could jump on:

an unearthly child (1963). this is, like, the start of the show. that said i don't recommend it as a place to start (funnily enough), for a couple reasons. firstly, because of dreadful fucking archiving by the BBC, a lot of episodes from the show's first six seasons are straight up missing. some of them have been animated by the BBC from surviving audio recordings, but some of them are just straight up lost -- due to the format, this means there's very few full complete stories, which makes this whole era really hard to navigate. if you don't mind that and really want to start in the black and white era, i'd still recommend the tomb of the cybermen (1967) instead -- hartnell's portrayal of the doctor as a haughty, slightly impish old professor is great, but troughton basically defined the character's core traits for the next sixty years.

spearhead from space (1970) is a pretty big format upheaval for the show and so serves as a pretty great classic jumping-on point. it's the first episode to be in colour, and sets up a new status quo for the doctor as being trapped on earth and working for an elite paramlitary organization called UNIT that operates out of a ratty office. it's an interesting premise that the show gets some great stories out of. the special effects are bad in the best way. pertwee has instant charm in the role and it's all around a banger by classic standards.

if you want to jump right to the one all the boomers are nostalgic for, you can also start with robot (1974). i wouldn't recommend it, though--tom baker is electric in the role from the start, but the episode itself kind of assumes a lot of the context of the third doctor's setup and supporting cast which you're not gonna have.

i wouldn't recommend anyone start at any point during the fifth or sixth doctors runs because i want them to actually like the show, so i guess the last jumping on point i could really recommend after robot would be, like, dragonfire (1987), which heralds the show's short-lived renaissance with the seventh doctor and his best companion, ace. but although you'd be watching some of the absolute best the classic show ever gets, it feels like it would be a weird and disorienting place to start.

finally, you could watch tales of the tardis (2023), a limited series produced to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary. each episode follows the same format: through a vaguely handwaved Palace of Memories plot, two much-aged characters from the classic series meet up and fondly remember one of the adventures they shared. the bookends with the original actors are mostly shameless fanservice, but the episodes they're reminiscing about are superbly edited down into a much more watchable format -- it works as a good 'sample platter' for most eras of the show (although, weirdly, there wasn't anything from tom baker's run!) and i think it honestly wouldn't be a bad shout to just start from tales of the tardis and then keep watching from whichever of the stories featured in it you liked most. that all said, if you want to start with classic who, i'd rank these jumping on points as follows:

spearhead from space > tales of the tardis > tomb of the cybermen > dragonfire > robot > an unearthly child

all that shit said it's fundamentally a very episodic show with very few exceptions like trial of a time lord and whatever moffat was doing seasons 6-7 so in the end you can basically just start with any episode and more or less get some of the idea. have fun and make sure to do the most important job of a doctor who fan, update the tardis wiki page for penis whenever one is mentioned

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

D&D saying that one of their favorite plots from the books is the Boltons in Winterfell is a massive sign of their sexism. Now, for anyone one else, I'd probably not care, in fact, I'd agree it's a very interesting part. However, when it comes to the showrunners who needlessly wrote in excessive rape and violence against women, I see it as a red flag. That's compounded by the way they wrote it.

From the beginning of the show, D&D sabotaged the storyline by removing Jeyne Poole. Keep in mind, ADWD was released in 2008, while GOT premiered in 2011, meaning there was no possible way for D&D to not know everything necessary to bring about that specific plot. Add to that the fact that GRRM was heavily involved in season one, them blatantly ignoring Jeyne makes even less sense if they truly cared about adapting it properly.

Knowing this, that D&D themselves sabotaged their own story, the way it was handled makes a bit more sense, though not nearly enough. Without Jeyne there to play the part of fake Arya, a new bride for Ramsay was needed. Sansa was D&D's favorite character, they were unsatisfied with the story GRRM had written for her, they wanted more screen time and plot relevance for her. It seemed like making Sansa take Jeyne's place was a good solution to both these issues.

Except it wasn't. Littlefinger sending Sansa out of the Vale to marry Ramsay makes no sense. Not only is Sansa the object of Littlefinger's obsession, a replacement for Catelyn in his mind, she also was important to Littlefinger getting the Vale on his side (in the show). She was charming the lords and knights, balancing their intense dislike for him with their desire to help/protect her. Not to mention she was his only alibi to save him from accusations of Lysa's murder. Sending her away from the Vale harms Littlefinger's plans. She also would definitely not be "protected" from Cersei; after all the Boltons were loyal to the Lannisters and hated the Starks, what's to stop them from killing Sansa or handing her over once the Northern lords are more settled?

Speaking of the Northern lords, D&D removed the Northern Conspiracy. Throughout the book plot, the Northern lords are plotting to save Arya and depose the Boltons (in a nutshell, it's actually much more complex, but I'm not going into that rn). It's an excellent expression of how the Northerners loved the Starks and hate the Boltons. In the show, the lords are a bit disgruntled, sure, but they have no interest in deposing the Boltons and saving Sansa.

Another major part of the storyline minimized by the show is Theon/Reek. Theon's struggle with identity is a major part of his character throughout the series, and ADWD is no different. He's been stripped entirely of his identity by Ramsay's torture and Theon's own choices. Part of his arc in this book is discovering himself apart from the Starks and the Greyjoys.

That's definitely not what the show did. As I said earlier, Sansa is D&D's favorite character, so naturally she became the center focus of this arc, while Theon was pushed aside. He's essentially reduced to the method of Sansa's escape and goes on track to return to his pre-season one perception of himself: a Stark. This is a massive disservice to his character, Theon isn't a Stark; his life with them is important to his storyline and will definitely inform what he becomes, but it's not the true culmination of his arc. Basically, Theon was turned into a side character in his own story. It's through his pov we see this story, he's the character most tied to Ramsay. Obviously Jeyne is important and a main character in her own right for this arc, but she is not the central character we see the story through. So why is Sansa? She has no stake in this story, Jeyne is forced there after being sex trafficked and Theon is a captive.

So what does this leave for the show version of the plot? There's no conspiracy, Theon's pushed to the side, and politics and overall story are sacrificed. Well that leaves torture and violence against Ramsay's bride. Without the many moving parts of that storyline, it's just a story of a woman being abused horribly by her husband and eventually escaping. However, the escape isn't even the main aspect of the story focused on, that's always the abuse. It's also purely Sansa's abuse, not Theon's or the many people tortured and murdered by Ramsay, Sansa is the sole focus.

So basically, D&D took a plotline that's filled with the inner workings of Northern politics and the complexities of battling identity loss and reduced it to another excuse to show a woman be raped and abused on screen. The desire to turn this stroy into another way to make Sansa suffer is disturbing, and to make matters worse she fucking thanks Ramsay later on?? This whole storyline in the show is disgusting and yet another sign of how sexist D&D are.

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

Make Me Write Ask Answered

Sarah asked:

And some longer chunks!

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺🩺

🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹🩹

---

45 for 🍷:

---

“They do have a certain brand new puppy energy to them, for men in their thirties, don’t they?” Karen sighs.

“Men in their thirties,” Hen agrees. “A father of a teenage boy.”

“So what are you going to do?” Karen asks. “Snap at them to kiss already in the middle of a house fire?”

“No!” Hen frowns. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“But you need to do something, for your sanity,” Karen infers.

“Yeah,” Hen sighs. “I think so. Otherwise I might kill them, and then what will we do about the team? Bobby would be so sad.”

Karen laughs.  “I doubt Maddie would appreciate it either. Might make our pizza nights a little awkward.”

“Just a smidge,” Hen agrees.

“Maybe they each, separately, need some tough love,” Karen suggests. “We could do that.”

Hen considers this. She’s given Buck that tough love before. Or even on less serious matters, he listens to her. Especially when they chat one on one. She thought, when he came out, that he’d come to her more. Seek out some queer advice from someone who’s been around the block. Maybe he hasn’t because he knows what she’ll say. Maybe she does need to take matters into her own hands.

“I can take Buck out for drinks,” Hen says. “He’ll crack open like a nutshell.”

Karen frowns. “Leaving me with the challenge?”

Hen snorts. “I don’t know if either of us can solve that Gordian knot of repression. Buck, though? Buck I can get to.”

Karen thinks. 

“Hmm. Okay. Maybe I can use that to my advantage,” Karen says. 

Hen knows that look in her eyes. She’s plotting. 

“What do you have in mind?”

---

45 for 🩺:

---

When he first started, chasing some reach of a connection to his estranged sister, he’d been excited. Every shift felt exciting. Doctors might get all the glory, but Buck knew the truth. Because of Maddie, he knew the truth. Nurses were the bad ass heroes, doing all the work, saving lives. Especially in the ER. 

A year or so in, a few really bad losses in, and he started to waver. He didn’t know if he was cut out for it. The tragedies, one after another. Then, just when he thought he got over that, Covid happened. And it got bad again. But things are looking up. Buck has made some good friends. Some good coping mechanisms. He’s been to therapy. His sister is back in his life, and in his ER. It had worked out for the best, when she came to Los Angeles to find him, that they were hiring for the position she’d left in Hershey. 

Right now, things are good. He doesn’t start his shifts deflated or hesitant, but he doesn’t start them full of excitement, either. Instead, he just goes in with one goal. If he can help one person today, then it’s worth it. Even if that’s just helping them die in a more dignified way. 

That Monday is nothing special. It’s August. There hasn’t been any city wide disaster. The waiting room numbers are fairly steady. Triage nurses are working at a good speed. It’s going to be a hot day. They can anticipate some patients suffering from heat stroke complications. Tourists, the elderly, etcetera.  

“Good morning, Dr. Wilson,” Buck says as he starts his shift.

“Morning, Buck,” Hen smiles. 

Hen is his best friend in here. She might just be his best friend, actually. Sister notwithstanding. Hen Wilson is an incredibly talented emergency medicine doctor. She’s dedicated. Smarter than anyone Buck knows. She never acts superior to the nurses or other staff. She has a great bedside manner that many of the other doctors lack. 

---

45 for 🩹:

---

Not for lack of effort, on Buck’s part. He’s recently back at the 118 after the whole mess with the lawsuit. Everyone else seems to have forgiven him, even if Bobby is a little distant. But Eddie? Eddie has been outright hostile.

So what the hell is he doing here now?

Buck rushes down the stairs. He’s only wearing boxers. That will have to be a problem he sorts out later. He flicks on a light. 

Eddie is standing in the doorway. No, leaning against the doorway. And he’s… He’s hurt. 

“Eddie, what the fuck?” Buck yelps. “Are-are you okay? Do I need to call 9-1-1?”

There’s blood all over his face. His eye is swollen, will likely result in a shiner. His lip looks split. There’s bruising on his arms. He’s in a tank top and loose sweats. His hair is damp. Buck can smell sweat and blood. 

“Do not call 9-1-1,” Eddie pants.

“What the fuck?” Buck asks again. 

“Help me,” Eddie asks. “Please.”

And what is Buck gonna do? Leave him to bleed alone? Obviously not. 

“Give me two minutes to put on pants and grab the first aid kit,” he says.

Questions can wait for later. 

⥁

With the blood wiped from Eddie’s face, the damage actually looks worse. It had managed to conceal some of the bruising, which is extensive. 

“Your lip might need stitches,” Buck warns.

“Doesn’t,” Eddie says. He’s holding ice over his eye. “Already checked it out.”

Buck sighs. “Your finger might be broken.”

It’s purple and swollen and causing him a lot of pain, as much as he’s trying to hide it.

“I’ll order a splint.”

[crestfallenyh]

𖥨 masterlist

hello! welcome to the compilation of all my work so far. as you can see, i mostly write with a focus on yunho (you guessed it, my ult) as it tends to feel more natural for me, but with time i will also upload stories focused on other members as well. feedback is always well appreciated, enjoy! :)

kim hongjoong

𖥨 8:23 AM

timestamp. slice of life. purely fluff. gender neutral reader.

park seonghwa

jeong yunho

𖥨 22:46 PM

timestamp. best friends to lovers dynamic. slice of life. slightly suggestive. gender neutral reader.

𖥨 22:32 PM

timestamp. slice of life. smut with minimal plot. female reader. in a nutshell, boyfriend yunho asking to record your bedroom life before going away in a month-long trip.

𖥨 02:52 AM

timestamp. slice of life. lots of fluff with a hint of angst. best friends who are in love with each other dynamic. bff yunho taking care of reader, who caught a nasty cold.

𖥨 better this way

breakup au. angst and hurt with no comfort. slice of life. trying to numb the pain after a breakup is never the answer, much less when you know most of it wasn't anyone's fault but yours. this is how yunho deals with the aftermath after months without you.

𖥨 new light

slice of life. mainly smut with a tinge of fluff. sweet boyfriend yunho figuring out what his partner craves in their intimate life. appropriate tags and content warnings posted.

kang yeosang

choi san

song mingi

jung wooyoung

𖥨 23:08 PM

timestamp. slice of life. smut with no plot. afab reader though non use of gendered terms.

choi jongho

group scenarios, headcanons, etc.

𖥨 ateez and breath play headcanons

𖥨 ateez members when their s/o asks them to stay/not to go in their sleep

𖥨 series: alchemy of the soul

[writingquestionsanswered]

This might be a little broad, but what are some approaches to creating a world without Evil? Basically, would I have no other choice than to write the world as a utopian society? Because Evil doesn't exist there? I'm not a fan of utopia so I'm wondering if I have to discard this. The plot was about bringing Evil back to restore balance. I wanted Good and Evil to be personified entities but that might just make it more complicated... What's your take on it?

Would a Setting without Evil Have to Be a Utopia

My understanding of the utopian mindset is humans aren't inherently bad... they won't do evil for the sake of doing evil. Evil would only exist in response to certain conditions. A person wouldn't rob someone for no reason, or just because they could and they felt like it. They would only rob someone because they needed what the person had in order to meet a basic need that couldn't be met in any other way. For example, someone is hungry and has no money or way to make money, so they rob someone to get money to pay for food. In a utopia, everyone's needs would be met--basic and otherwise--so no one would need to rob anyone. Everyone would have what they need. It's probably even more nuanced than that, but that's how I understand it in a nutshell.

Also probably more nuanced, but the way I recall it, is the whole point of a utopia is that it can't exist. Because humans are complicated, society is complicated, people fall through the cracks, and people get greedy and spiteful, and a million other things that cause them to do evil things. So, even if you met everyone's basic needs and no one wanted or needed anything, there are still going to be people who muck it up for everyone else.

So, I don't know... maybe that actually works with your story? It's not that you're writing about a true utopia... you're writing about a place that strives to be a utopia and appears to be on the surface but really isn't? Or maybe if good and evil are personified and evil is indeed absent, maybe it really is a utopia, but it's off-balance... and that's the part I'm less sure about. I am sure there are all sorts of philosophical possibilities for why a wholly good society would be off-balance, or why you need evil to balance good, etc. It could be just that you need to research this topic more. I wish I could help, but it's a bit out of my wheelhouse. Keep an eye on the comments/reblogs, though, on the possibility there are philosophy enthusiasts in the community who might be able to weigh in!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[teecupangel]

Okay, listen to me. What if, WHAT IF, in a galaxy far far away, during the Clone Wars, our boy Desmond respawns as a clone? Mmmm 212th Attack Battalion, perhaps? In the Ghost Company, more precisely, right next to Obi-Wan, who ends up loving this shinie because he's very adoptable and kind of has a strange signature in the Force? I mean, one person can't have the Force signature of three different people at the same time as their own, that's impossible.

...Isn't it?

Oh, what if Desmond was an anomaly?

Like, clones are meant to be from the same ‘stock’ and Desmond started out just as the same as all of them.

… until he became part of the war.

There was something about it…

The needless lost of lives…

The pain and suffering all around them…

The very concept ingrained into his very being to obey…

Desmond starts to crack.

And from those cracks…

They appear.

Whispers only he can hear.

Warmth he feels where there should not be any.

They comfort him.

They teach him.

They guide him.

They care for him.

And they warn him…

Of how General Kenobi shares the same skills as the ones who controlled their lives, who played god and wrote the stories of their lives.

Of how Desmond must be remain vigilant.

Less he suffered the same fate once more.

.

He probably won’t have Desmond as his name though. Maybe… Eagle? Is that too Earth-centric? Blade? I would have said Ghost but he’s part of Ghost Company already. XD

.

In a nutshell, Isus harness the Force and they come from one of the earliest races to ever do so. The Jedis learn to harness/live in harmony with the Force from a very similar principle as the Isus and that makes Desmond’s ‘ghosts’ weary of Obi-Wan and every person who can use the Force as it reminds them of the Isus.

Desmond himself is a ‘contaminated’ clone. Jango Fett is actually a ‘distant’ descendant of Desmond, born as part of an Assassin family who reached the stars and… well… things happened that led to Jango becoming a foundling. Desmond is a 1 in a hundred billion chance… or perhaps it was fate. Either way, Desmond is a product of the cloning process screwing up and making Desmond not a clone of Jango but a clone of Jango’s ancestor, Desmond Miles.

The cracks that started appearing on Desmond’s mind?

That’s not the Bleeding Effect.

That’s the cloning process’ failure. He’s starting to ‘remember’ the memories of his ancestors… including Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Ezio Auditore and Ratonhnhaké:ton.

(Would you want Desmond to remember the life of Desmond Miles up to his death which shouldn’t be possible because, according to the genetic memories rule of AC, they can only have the memories up to the conception of the next ancestor? Easy way? Use the Force as a plot device. Less easy way? Have Ghost Company find an Animus in one of their missions and Desmond touches it, starting the entire process because that Animus contained Sample 17’s data and it reacted to Desmond).

[purplespacekitty]

Three generations of Sisko men gathered close for a jambalaya dinner in Ben's ancient Bajoran lightship, as illustrated by celebrated science fiction writer, Benny Russell. Russell keeps a souvenir baseball on his desk, signed by the legendary Willie Hawkins. In the corner, Russell stashes the sketch that gave him the inspiration for this family's story: space station Deep Space Nine.

Deep Space Nine is my favorite Trek. It has nuanced, 3-dimensional characters who become part of the show's world over the course of 7 seasons. There are some off plot lines here and there but for the most part, the story seems to write itself. I've written at length on here about how much I love Captain Benjamin Sisko and I'd like to share a project of mine I did for a class (I have so far managed to fit Star Trek into three separate final projects for three separate classes, one of which I already posted about here).

Through the lens of Sisko's character, I wanted to examine Deep Space Nine's portrayal of Black masculinity, fatherhood and Afrofuturism with three episodes (although one's a two-parter): "Homefront" (Part I), "Paradise Lost" (Part II), "Explorers" (which I made a post about here) and "Far Beyond the Stars". Initially, the idea was to focus on Ben's fatherhood to Jake, how from the viewer's side of the screen, the two of them break down numerous racial stereotypes around Black men, an important thing to remember with DS9's debut not being far removed from the end of the Reagan Administration, from which sprung stereotypes of "absent Black fathers" and "welfare queens." As I continued with this project, I found I also wanted to analyze how Sisko's relationship with his own father informs his parenting of Jake and what it means to have three generations of Siskos in one room, on one planet. That was how I got "Explorers" and "Homefront" and "Paradise Lost" in there, as I wanted to showcase episodes that focus on these exact dynamics.

"Far Beyond the Stars" offers a window into Earth's history as a commentary on racism within creative circles and the systemic racism that shapes the world we live in today and the world of Deep Space Nine. It not only invites viewers into the life of Benny Russell, a Black science fiction writer from the 1950s, but also invites us to consider the link between the future he envisioned of the life that Sisko leads in the 24th century as a Black spaceship/space station captain, father, son, husband and cook who carries the weight of his ancestors' legacy on his shoulders and the reality Russell himself lives in day by day. "You are the dreamer and the dream" has a whole lot more gravity to it when you recognize it as less of an obvious observation of what we've known and been shown throughout the episode (Avery Brooks plays both Sisko and Russell) and more of a nod to the Black future that Sisko inhabits and that Russell dreams of. As a creation of Benny Russell, Sisko and his family are Afrofuturism in a nutshell, carrying on the cultures, stories and knowledge of their ancestors as they live their lives in a future those ancestors imagined and built. Furthermore, Benny Russell's Deep Space Nine is not only important because it features a Black space station captain but also because it encapsulates a fragment of Russell's drive to write his own stories for himself and his Black readers, to breathe life into his creations, to share his art in the ways that he wants to. To cherish his experiences and ideas and imagination and reality through the creative process of putting pen to paper, stamping ink to page, painting scenes to canvas.

The DS9 finale was originally going to see Benny Russell wistfully wandering the promenade alone and implicate him as the creator of not just the story of Deep Space Nine, but of the Star Trek franchise as a whole. Obviously, this concept did not make the cut, but Strange New Worlds' "Elysium Kingdom" follows another story written by Russell, solidifying him as a real person who lived in the 20th century within the Star Trek universe and who presumably continued to write stories that got published after the events of "Shadows and Symbols".

Comprised of screenshots from "Explorers", "Homefront", "Paradise Lost", "Far Beyond the Stars", "Shadows and Symbols" and "Civil Defense" - in which Dukat flicks Sisko's baseball off his desk - (and also a picture of a random coffee table taken by me because we see surprisingly very little of Benny's desk), the collage above is my humble attempt to honor Benny Russell and his creative vision.

[zottower]

So I finished FF4 TaY,

3D phone version. I really have mixed feelings about it.

There are things I really enjoyed.

The game play is not too difficult, and can give some little challenges, in the 3D phone version I played the band option was fun and useful, the multiple playable characters can encourage strategy creativity. There's a cool moment when you need to search the world map for treasures and the next step of the adventure that I enjoyed a lot.

The main story with the mysterious girl was cool, there was a nice pacing, revelations and all. I liked Ceodore and Kain's relationship during the game (I like the conclusion a bit less thought), it turned out that Golbez is not my type of character but he's a fine one, and I really enjoyed Edge, Edward and Rydia's stories. I liked Polom, a bit less Palom's evolution.

The new characters are all fun and cool in my opinion. The team is a big (too big to be well developped thought ?) nice heartwarming family now. They have nice designs. Actually the art in general is colorful and pretty. There is still this very rudimentary use of the camera and the animations during the cutscenes that are sometimes really awkward, but it's forgivable.

My personnal problems are that I think I totally missed the point about the recurring theme of the father-child relationship (cultural problem ? lack of personal interest problem ?) and that I didn't like the psychologization of the darkness and light theme. As I said, I didn't like Dark Cecil, Dark Kain and insipid Rosa at all and unfortunately they are highlighted in the plot.

There are more objective problems about the writing of this story : the plot devices are unfortunately sometimes repetitive, laborious, the more obvious being the overuse of the "this unexpected chatacter arrives suddenly in this desperate battle to save your team" trope. It's of course a nod to this iconic moment in the original game when Rydia saves Cecil's team in the battle against Golbez, but now it's repeated over and over, and thougt it works very well in 2 or 3 cases, the other uses of this trope are too often emptied of the efficiency, the originality, the fun of it. I didn't like that.

There is also this double sided edged idea of "history is repeating". The intention is to make the gamer feel that it's the same universe, a familiar story, in one word : a real sequel that repeats what was loved in the original work. And sometimes this choice produces enjoyable variations with a familiar pattern turned into something fun with a nice twist, but sometimes it only results in dull repetitions. Also, this choice gives the annoying feeling that the characters didn't grow since the original story. All these trials for this ? I know that in real life, people tend to evolve slowly and repeat the same mistakes. But it's a story, it can't have this moral : what's exciting about adventure if you learn nothing from it ?

To put it in a nutshell, I felt like TaY was like some cake trying to use the same recipe as the previous, but because the fans said they liked this or this kind of ingredient, let's say candied fruits, there are now ten times more candied fruits, and some of this sweetmeat is savorless or even moldy. The cake is overall good, but some bites don't taste good. I don't want to play it again in the near future. Maybe in some monthes … But Yeah … That's my thoughts on this.

[squidthusiast]

I know it’s an older fic, but thoughts on “may I offer you an egg in these trying times?”

Heyo Anon,

Been wanting to answer this one for a while, but life! It gets busy.

It’s been so long since I heard about that fic; pretty sure I read it back in late 2023 or so, but my memory’s foggy..

Two things straight out the bat:

1. I’ll base my thoughts on what I recall, which is a bit vague but i’d like to think mostly accurate;

2. I have written prior thoughts about pearlina moms (specifically with agent 8) that you can find through the ask tag. People who have read that post may know i’m a bit finicky about this stuff!

Thoughts below the cut ⬇️

—

Disclaimer: These are just my thoughts and opinions. Do not let me dampen any fun or headcanons you may have! I’m in no way or form a pearlina authority lol. You go write the fics you want and have a good time.

In regards to the fic, the general plot I recall and understand is that Pearl and Marina are off-duty for a while, and Marina turns out to have been gravid for some time without knowing. All of this is stated in the first chapter.

Pearl and Marina end up with a biological egg of their own, and the rest of the fic has them figuring out whether they intend to keep it, plus going through how their relationship is affected by this event.

When I originally read it, I was still fresh on the pearlina scene and I didn’t quite have my own, more solidified, version of both of their characters.

Right now, I do have a more matured/developed taste and preference on how they are depicted, plus my own headcanons (some are generally accepted and others not as much!).

However, i’ll base this post mostly on what I recall was my original impression, with some current thoughts sprinkled in as well.

I found that, as a general vibe, this was a fic that was definitely very self indulgent, and didn’t necessarily have a goal of exploring themes more in depth throughout its run. This is not a bad thing; I can certainly say that the author seemed to have had fun writing it, and they both completed this series and (if my memory serves me right) wrote a sequel as well. This leads me to believe that the process was enjoyable both for them and the readers, which I very much hope it was!

In a nutshell: A fun/entertaining not-that-deep read that is very niche (pearlina moms), and has very rapid peaks in regards to the angst -> fluff pipeline, sometimes coexisting at the same time. A classic ‘binge this whole series at midnight for entertainment’ kind of fic, if the plot & theme align enough with your preferences (or if you don’t care that much).

I gotta say though, I really think that fics in general don’t necessarily have to be deep to be meaningful or worth reading; I think as long as someone enjoys it (may it be the reader, the author, or both), it has served its purpose thoroughly. Art is something we use to express ourselves (and it can be fun!).

-

In regards to the characterization, I can say now that my current version of Pearl and Marina are much more different than those of the author. I feel it may have leaned a little too heavily on the extremes of their personalities (ex.: Marina being very sensitive and Pearl being very brash) with not as much nuance or less intense depictions throughout. The angst may have been a bit too intense and lacking build-up at times too. However, at the time I first read it, I didn’t mind and/or disregarded some of this, given that I didn’t have solid preferences AND I was reading it for lighthearted fun.

I am not a writer; most of my knowledge on story and character development/depiction is based on illustration, college english classes, and whatever else that i’ve gathered from reading + interacting with writers.

Because of this, I don’t think I am quite qualified to really give proper advice on what could be improved when it comes to literary works. Also i’m just a guy who likes pearlina & made a blog for fun, so take this all with a grain of salt lol.

What I will say is that people who enjoy pearlina moms, multi-chapter fics with one main storyline, and are looking for digestible entertainment-oriented plots will most likely enjoy it or at least give it a read.

I will gladly invite those who check any of the above interests, and/or who are simply curious, to try it and form your own personal opinion :)

***(I think the author is currently rewriting it and I don’t have any current opinion on the rewrite. I’m unsure if the og fic of which this post talks about is still up. In the case that it isn’t, sorry!)

-

My final thoughts & closure:

In regards to the general tag itself (pearlina moms), i’m just not huge on depictions of Pearl and Marina being parents at a young age (anywhere from early to mid twenties), all while hitting the stardom/peak phase of their career. I just feel like it doesn’t align with theiir personalities, but that’s really just my own personal preference more than anything!

I *have* read other pearlina moms fics (along with… most of the pearlina ao3 archive..), and there are some others that I did enjoy. This one in particular I recall that it was simple fun & it entertained me during college, though the sequel kinda lost me, i’ll be honest. (I have a hard time with fankids, but that’s me!).

I’m a sucker for fluff, and there are parts that are definitely enjoyable in regards to a familial setting, plot, etc. that these fics often explore. I am, however, also particular about what I like from these types of fics so not a lot make it to my reading list. Still, I will more often than not attempt to keep an open mind & give things a try, (or if I happen to not like them I just go on my merry way and mind my own business)

In regards to fanart, it would take a fic from this category to really strike a strong emotional cord in me to make me want to draw something for it unprompted. Otherwise I may do it for a commission, or a close friend maybe idk.

I might just like, draw a random pearlina egg or smth though (unrelated to the fic), just for the fun of it lol. I love painting & looking at translucent-esque things (it may be a bit of a visual stim, idk!), and I love creatures/embryos cus they’re fun and quirky and I love creatures <3 mm creatures..

So if I draw that, this ^ is most likely why lmao.

-

Hope this satisfies your curiosity anon, thanks for the ask :)

If you (or anyone else) wants to see me draw specific things for fics or other kinds of work, you can shoot me a DM for commission info.

Unfortunately, I’m unable to take comms in the next few months as of this post, due to portfolio work & a secret fun project. I can, however, give you an approximate quote :)

Cheerio!

[licncourt]

Hey there! I've recently read your post on whether one should read the VC books, and I'm still unsure. I really really loved the AMC show and from what I read on your blog the books are a lot different. Even if I only read the first three books, which is what I would do anyway after what you said in your post lol, it would feel like two different stories with the same characters, right?

What I wanna ask really is what are the main differences between loustat, armand, and the plot from the show and from the books? Are they completely different things? or somewhat similar?

I've talked about this quite a bit in various ways if you look through my older answers, but my take is that the AMC show is more "inspired by" VC than anything. A lot of the plot beats are the same (just in a different historical context), but I feel like the character motivations and essences are quite different. Both are good stories, but I would say they're kind of a Venn diagram with an equal amount of similarities and differences. If you read the books, you'll definitely find yourself knowing what's coming a lot of the time, but even the characters themselves are very different.

My AMC hot takes tag (which I'll leave in these tags too) can probably answer your questions better, but in a nutshell:

Book Lestat is very young (21) and has been a vampire for less than ten years when he turned Louis in 1791. He's very impulsive, quick to anger, and deeply unstable, but none of that is ever concealed from Louis. He's much more openly unpleasant In IWTV but because of that much less capable of manipulation and scheming than AMC Lestat, who seems to be much smarter and more calculated. Book Louis is just. A worse person in general than AMC Louis. I say that even though he is my little baby, it's just true. I wrote this last year about that business if you're interested.

That difference in personality and history makes book Loustat a lot different since the two of them are openly hostile to each other from day one but running off of loneliness and desperation. They're very hot and cold but mostly cold, just intense, insane love with no understanding or empathy between them whatsoever, though obviously that changes throughout the books. They're both very close to the same age (in physical age and total years) as well, so it's very much the blind leading the blind plus so much trauma and mental illness and so many impulsive, terrible ideas.

IWTV isn't that long of a book, so I'd really recommend just giving it a go, and if you're interested in learning about what makes book Lestat tick, TVL isn't either!

As far as Armand, he's basically just younger and a redhead, equally crazy and unhelpful, we love to see it.

[eye-of-yelough]

anyway here’s the aeryn/gortash dynamic explanation.

nsfw shit under the cut. CW for. i mean so much. but specifically CNC

because it is all consensual, despite the atrocities. although it’s worth mentioning that that does not make it healthy and there’s definitely a lot of manipulation going on so like. is it. its dubious that’s for fucking sure.

So. their dynamic is really just me taking “psychosexual warfare” and seeing how far i can possibly take it. That’s it in a nutshell. also exploration of how a sexual “relationship” between a hypersexual (aeryn) and aroace (gortash. to me) would work.

Aeryn’s hypersexuality is a real point of interest to Gortash, and is his main angle when trying to pick apart his psyche, the way his behaviour changes depending on how long he’s gone without, how it seems intrinsically linked to his Urges, “whoever decided to call it bloodlust was a fucking genius” - Aeryn, probably.

That fascination really hits its pique when, somewhere a between 2 and 3 years into their unsteady partnership, gort wakes up in the middle of the night to aeryn just straight up jerkin it. staring at him. (wether he was already there because aeryn stayed over after them being awake for 50 hours plotting and doing medical malpractice or he just walked all the way there from the undercity to break in and wack it to gort’s sleeping body, i don’t know. but it’s important to me that you know that with aeryn, while the former is more likely, the latter is entirely plausible. he’s a creep.) obviously this brings up a lot of question in gortash’s head. “did he want to be caught?” (most definitely.) “has he done this before without me noticing?” (you can bet on it, mate.)

Sad thing is, I can’t for the life of me figure out what gort would actually do in the moment here, but it’s when he realises that if he wants to manipulate Bhaal’s favourite child, to claim, to conquer, he’s going to have to speak his language. so the next morning he very nonchalantly brings up the incident that Aeryn is eagerly pretending didn’t happen, and offers his help him with his little sex addiction. puts himself in this caring, almost therapeutic role. bullshit, of course. he has no intention of fixing just yet. only after he’s been broken can he be fixed, remade in his perfect image. and aeryn, to his credit, does know that it’s bullshit. he just underestimates the depth of it. See, he knows that Gortash wants to break him. he knows that gortash is a manipulative, domineering control freak. but he kind of just. thinks it’s a weird sex thing. his reaction to gort’s proposal is basically “you’re even weirder than i thought. okay fine. i’ll play your game. i’ll win in the end.”

That’s another key part of their dynamic: mutual misunderstanding. Aeryn thinks it’s a game, Gortash thinks it’s war. Gortash thinks he’s breaking Aeryn, but Aeryn’s loving it.

Gortash’s “therapy” is anything but, of course. Aeryn doesn’t become less of a sex pest, he just finds it increasingly difficult to enjoy himself with anyone but Gortash, who knows him, what he likes and doesn’t like, inside and out. (all part of the plan, the possessive cunt) which pisses Aeryn off to no end because the man Just Won’t Fuck Him in the way he wants. oh, they’re doing weird “stabbing as a metaphor for penetration”, sexually charged medical malpractice, voyeurism, full on bdsm shit all the time, but there’s very little… touching. Gortash just gets off way more on denying Aeryn what he wants while slowly driving him insane with desperation than he ever would if they just. had sex. This isn’t to say they never do, but we’re talking 10 years down the line here, and only under very specific conditions. (more on that in a bit.) If aeryn was right about one thing, it’s Gortash being a weird sexual control freak.

anyway here’s some things their warfare includes:

Gortash bringing some noble up to his chambers to seduce them, notices the window he left closed is open, a chair in the corner’s cushion being smushed down by an invisible weight, and thinking “ah, i’m performing for two tonight.”

one of Gortash’s main weird psychosexual fantasies about Aeryn being turning him into an Actual Doll and keeping him on his shelf for all eternity. he makes many different types of dolls after Aeryn’s likeness, including plushies that he holds at night for a few months before giving them to Aeryn just to savour the look of confusion and disgust on his face.

Gortash stealing some of Aeryn’s Bhaal-sculpted skin and turning it into gloves.

Aeryn waking up after Gortash spikes him in increasingly awkward positions over the years (this happens a lot. like, a lot.) the first time he wakes up bound, gagged and blindfolded in gort’s basement. “i just wanted to see how long it would take you unti you freed yourself. 2 minutes and 31 seconds if you were wondering. i’m impressed :)” eventually he gets used to that routine and he just ends up laying under gort’s desk for a few hours, listening to him work, Gortash occasionally talking to him like you do to a pet. this is probably the closest they get to domesticity. A few years down the line, Aeryn wakes up naked, covered in bruises and black handprints, aching between his thighs.

Knowing it finally happened, but having no memory? If I had to pinpoint the closest Gortash ever got to winning the war, it was there. something in his brain genuinely breaks that night.

Oh. And they only kiss once. Right before Aeryn’s lobotomy, as well, it’s a whole thing. I might make that into a separate post. or you can send an ask. that’d be nice :)

edit: here it is

[rene-hl-trashcan]

Due to the recent unpleasant yet still very mildly amusing discourse I had here on Tumblr, I feel like I need to clarify this to anyone who cares to read.

This is me, in a nutshell, on what little contribution I shared for this fandom :

Tbh, I have other more important matters in my life, hence why I simply couldn't care less to obsess over details that I initially have no fuck to remember. 💀

Also, I primarily take screenshots, draw and write to get rid of the urge/plot@art bunnies in my head so that I can function effectively in other parts of my life.

If you enjoy it, good for you, I'm happy that it leaves a smidgen of fleeting joy in your life. If you're not fond of the inaccuracies/OOC/weird stuff in what I share, press X to exit. Please do. It will be very good for you. Don't feel entitled to correct me because honestly I couldn't care less.

I'm writing/taking screenshots/draw for me, myself and me first and foremost. AO3 and Tumblr just provide me accesible place where I can access and revisit the stuff that I initially created for my personal pleasure. 😌

[raccoonfallsharder]

not to be that one agents of shield fan that won't stfu about it to marvel fans who probably have never seen it, but I saw that post about the deleted scene in endgame where tony shaves rocket's head, and...

something about regularly being treated as less than and having your anger and trauma dismissed by people who have not only been your co workers for several years but are also kind of supposed to be your family? that's daisy fucking johnson, I'm sorry it just is. that's like, the plot of several episodes and honestly the thematic undertone of the latter half of the series in a nutshell.

and she would have fucking decked tony for that shit just like you said you would have if you were there, absolutely. I could say so much more about this, but I'll hold off.

first, please do not feel like you have to stfu or otherwise throttle back your interests here (especially if they're mcu-related). i love to hear about this stuff (there is more marvel content than almost any one person can consume i think? best to share info and cross-reference with each other). i am genuinely interested and you are welcome to come back with more any time.

i have seen a lot of agents of shield, but it was a while ago and i never got around to finishing it. i did love daisy, and i can absolutely see this eventually becoming one of the major themes of the show (kinda makes me want to give it another shot).

also i would pay money to see any in-universe character deck tony for that shit, so in my head, i'm just gonna play out this brief scenario featuring daisy ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[capricioussun]

I had a dream yesterday in which Mafiafell brothers (Boss and Snare if I remember correctly) they were actors undercover.

I'm writing to you about it here because I'm curious what you think about this idea. I know your story is a bit different but, what if?

So here is the dream in a nutshell.

On a daily basis they were known as famous actors from their city, but in reality they secretly ran a mafia that ruled a certain part of the city. When they were on various "trips" They wore masks so that no one would recognize them. In this dream I was sort of their manager and I had to make sure they showed up at all the events they agreed to. It was sometimes difficult because they would suddenly disappear without a trace (of course, for mafia business) but I didn't know that. The most annoying one was Papyrus because he disappeared most often and very neatly avoided answering the question "Where have you been?!". It might have been a bit of a romance in a way- BUT IF IT'S THAT BAD THEN LET'S FORGET ABOUT IT!

That's all. Thank you for your attention if you're reading this. Your blog is amazing and it inspires me so much! Thanks again if you're reading this!!! Have a nice day/night.

Okay okay okay mind is going a million miles per hour bc that's such??? An insanely neat concept??

First- ough, wait, thank you!!! That's so incredibly sweet of you to say and I'm so happy my silly ramblings n/or doodles could inspire someone ;; 💗🩵❕

But! The dream-idea! I wouldn't say it's impossible per se! It wouldn't make any sense as any sort of like "continuation" of my classic mf interp, but as its own thing, it would be a really interesting set up to explore!

What got them in the business was, essentially, W.D. Gaster made them to be his successors, more or less. From the first moment of consciousness all the way up to the present the brothers knew what they were made as and for, which really heavily influences the way that AU works (at least in regards to them, although Gaster actually influenced most of the other characters' lives as well, but I won't get into that lol)

If, perhaps, Gaster and his own upbringing had been different, or he'd "disappeared" much much earlier in the plot, it's possible the brother's could've gotten into a life like that through some other means! Or perhaps they'd never been connected to organized crime at all, orphaned very young with no memory of their "father", struggling to get by and ultimately winding up in organized crime and show business, building their rep and "family" over the years, until being able to have something more serious and sustainable, all the while maintaining their momentum in the spotlight as well.

The MASK thing, I got such strong visuals for that, but it might be wildly different from your own, they looked a little like ultron/birds??? Black steel with red or gold eyes, Papyrus's of course being more narrow and pointed, Sans's more blocky. Anyway.

As for a manager/insert/romance element, I wouldn't say that's a bad idea at all!!! It'd be great for someone who writes that sort of thing, and just as a character aside, it'd be super fun to have a manager who wasn't in the know abt their crime lives at all but constantly exasperated with their, especially Papyrus's, slipperiness, perhaps could also be Mettaton if angling it more just Standard AU stuff??

But otherwise, as like a self insert type of character for a /papyrus fic, it would be SO intriguing to watch how things unfold over the course of the story, plus, it's still a fell-mafia based world, so of course there's tons of room for drama, angst, hurt/comfort, ACTION!!! OUGH !! It's cool!!!

What an interesting interesting idea, man, I'm gunna see if I can sketch out some ideas or smth bc I haven't so many visuals for how the brothers present depending on when they're being Celebrities vs Crime Bosses...

Thank you so much for sharing!! I hope this reply isn't overwhelming or disappointing agfjdkjsfn

[devilmaycry3dantesawakening]

please tell me about your gruff samurai lady and/or her big boobs. also what drinks she likes

tysm for indulging me lmao! this is pure fetish bullshit (and also got very long) so i'm hiding this behind a read more.

in a nutshell: baiken and chifusa (from jidaigeki boob expansion fetish manga manyuu hikenchou) chucked into a blender. she's a character i devised on a whim entirely for horny internet roleplay writing that turned into catching a couple stray feelings of genuine attachment and wanting to flesh her out more, though other than that 2k words of wip i mentioned i still have yet to write anything with her that isn't just aforementioned horny internet roleplay lmao.

grouchy, grumbly, quiet. stubborn. kind of thornbush-y and overly-proud and hard to get close to, but crack the shell a little bit and she's a bit of a shy, stuttering softie who's bad at receiving praise and genuine gratitude. gravelly-voiced, kinda masc; her name's ryuko but she prefers cutting it down to ryu (i think i mentioned this before but i swear on my life this character long predates when i started watching kill la kill lmao—i really just wanted a feminine name that had "ryu" in it) .

Hot Evil Mom is the head of a powerful clan, sometime during the tokugawa shogunate. everything ryu knows she learned from her mom, and their relationship is immensely complicated. i like to think Hot Evil Mom was the only person in her clan ryu was never able to beat in a spar.

ryu was next in line to head the clan before she suddenly defected, and now she vaguely wanders the countryside as an active fugitive. i don't have very much in mind of her for anything approaching any sort of actual plot lmao—she's mainly a depository for one-off, swashbuckling samurai-y adventures.

in my head she's probably better described as "handsome" than "pretty". messy hair, sharp features. kinda scratched and scarred all over. she has a pretty nasty cut on her chin that Hot Evil Mom gave her the last time they interacted, on the night of ryu's defection.

big boobs! weird, esoteric clan genetics have cursed her with huge fucking boobs. they're still actively growing. it's very frustrating and embarrassing and immensely inconvenient for her lifestyle—she binds them, but there's only so much she can do when dealing with that much size. they're milky, too, because of course they are.

eats a lot! it's a twofer of "there's no one around to tell her to not indulge her sweet tooth so much" and "her stupid body steals so many nutrients to make milk that she has to eat far more than an average person just to feel satiated". her wallet's light, so she doesn't get to indulge that often, but she definitely over-stuffs herself when she does. she does genuinely enjoy eating (she loves fatty meat and sweets, like dango) even if her insatiable appetite is kind of infuriating, and she's pretty easily motivated by food.

said food indulging has made her pack on a bit of fat recently—thick waist, pudgy tummy, wide hips. it's all just kinda settled in with the trained muscle that was already on her body, so she's just gotten kinda thicker. strongfat. she's pretty embarrassed by it.

incredibly subby. has a praise kink. very very easy to turn into a blush-y, embarrassed, stuttering mess. definitely into men but probably has a bit of preference towards girls. her upbringing has left her kind of sexually repressed so i'm not sure if she even knows all that about herself. absolutely has A Thing for busty, full-bodied older women and badly wants to be dominated and spoiled by one even if she'd never ever never admit it to herself.

she likes sake! she's not very refined or picky about it as long as it's enough to get her drunk, but a nonzero amount of what few funds she can scrape up definitely goes towards trying to placate her constantly-grumbling stomach with alcohol. on a less-alcoholic note, she's also a big barley tea fan.