#this watch post was kind of downer lol :((

[antigonewinchester]

Funny how I said I was enjoying s11 and then... proceeded to stop watching for months. Making a push to finally finish through s11. But I’ve definitely run into a batch of eps I didn’t enjoy as much, unfortunately.

For all I’d heard abt “Beyond the Mat” and “Red Meat” as great eps, I thought they were both just fine. I’m a weird spot with Dabb’s eps in that I do think he’s a decent writer on a technical level and yet the tones and underlying themes of his eps are so bleak. I’ve talked abt it a bit before, of Dabb’s eps having a kind of cruelty or meanness or bitterness to them, which frankly makes it very darkly funny to me that people thought he would end the whole series on an uplifting high note. Did people not remember 4x06 or 7x14 or 11x15...? Also was not a fan of the 3x10 callback in “Beyond the Mat,” from a, referencing 3x10 is not gonna make your ep as good as 3x10, and then in also how it feeds into what can be Dabb’s brutal/mean read of Dean & his characterization, which rubs me the wrong way in a bitter Deangirl sense, I admit. “Red Meat” as again a ‘Dean sacrifices himself to save Sam’ plot was just... yeah, we’ve seen this, a lot. ALSO it was hilarious that Billie was harping on Sam and Dean for going “against the natural order” in unnaturally coming back to life again and again when Sam’s “death,” coming back to life, and taking down the rest of the werewolves like a total badass was incredibly unrealistic. If the theme was supposed to be “going against the natural rhythms of life and death is bad,” then Sam’s “death” and return to life should have been written in a more believable, realistic way, instead of contradicting the thematic spine of the ep.

However, “Safe House” was much more fun for me, with the perspective switches between Sam & Dean / Bobby & Rufus as a compelling concept! A call back to some old, fan favorite characters in an organic way.

Cas is hilariously unsympathetic to me in “Hell’s Angel,” and frankly kind of through the whole season. Which I don’t think was the intent by the writers, but dang, his letting his insecurities and desire to be a “hero” drive his decision to say Yes to Lucifer and then not caring at all when Crowley gets beaten up by Lucifer is something, huh. Would be much more interesting to me if these flaws went anywhere, instead of it culminating in the moment in 11x23 where Dean reassures Cas he was just trying to do the right thing so he shouldn’t worry about it, which is such a... boring and frustrating way to resolve this conflict. (It is very weird to me that people say the writers “didn’t like” or were “biased” against Cas in later seasons, because Cas makes so many bad decisions that are eventually framed as not really bad decision by the narrative in a way that reads as bias towards Cas, not against. And hard for me not to read these writing choices as catering to fandom/fan reactions, tbh.)

Last and kind of least, I found “The Chitters” to be near unwatchable... The pure TV writing and dialogue, it was just like nails on a chalkboard. I wanted to like this ep after its creepy cold open but it just did not work for me.

[kanmom51]

JM live 1 September 2023 20:54 or 8:54 pm KST

And a little big about JK's same day live as well.

Part 2

Cr./To creators of content used in this post.

I'm going to dive right in.

Also, not everything I talk about is in the order it's brought up in the live. Just saying. These are ramblings of a blurry mind. Well, sharp and blurry. Just the right combination I say.

Let's talk about the apartment tour, lol.

JM, the master of privacy.

The man that wouldn't even show us his TV, only a cropped screenshot of it when congratulating JK on Dreamers.

The man that over the past close to 2 years since the hiatus, has done every live but one (the Billboard #1) from the company.

Yes, that man.

He not only went live from home (unplanned, which I discussed partially and will probably talk about again later on), from a room we got to see in his previous single home live, but he actually gave us a house tour. Well, somewhat of a house tour. A house ceiling tour with a couple of exceptions, lol.

This tour is divided into 2 parts.

First part was initiated by JM.

And this is important. Because it differentiates between perhaps more pre-thought of and less pre-thought of (more of a spur of the moment thing).

So, after mentioning JK (and reading out the hand comment) JM thinks of this:

JM wanting to show us his mood lamp. His planet mood light.

You know what I'm talking about, right? The one with that huge ass sun just right in your face.

He tells us how he simply came to meet us today and he has something to brag about.

Now let's wait up a minute.

He simply came to meet us on JK's birthday adorning his big ass watch starting the live at the time stamp JK was born, like time started counting from that minute and on (for him at least), and now he wants to brag about something that his friend laughed at him about (a grown man sleeping with a mood lamp), which happens to have the sun up front and centre, all huge in it's full glory, for him to fall asleep with (me continuing his story: when his bf isn't or can't be there by his side to fall asleep with).

Yep. All of that!

Ok, so JM is walking around, taking us to what is clearly his bedroom, camera at ceiling because his place is too dirty (his words) as he wasn't planning to go live from home (funny how plans change). He repeats it btw. Saying "I really didn't intend to."

Pause a second (we might be doing this more than once today). This is me just going back for a second to that same point I made in part 1. JM was not going to do the live from home. He doesn't say he wasn't going to do a live. He says he wasn't going to do a live form home.

JM takes us to his bedroom.

Who would have believed this day would come?

And if talking about not believing a day will come, perhaps me jumping the gun here, but can't hold back the excitement, what about this coming from JM?

Can't say I'm not shocked.

But then, maybe, just maybe, a little of his bf is rubbing off on him? And maybe, just maybe there is a reason for his sudden openness with us?

Anyway, back to JM's bedroom.

What's this now?

Not sure if he intended for us to see this, but we even got a peak at his bed for a millisecond... shock and awe...

*And kind of a downer for those that thought the snore in the dark was JK sleeping in bed. here is bed. Empty. Made. No JK. I guess you win some you lose some, lol.

Now this is where I got a little confused first time watching this. I actually thought that JM took the lamp from his bedroom to another room so to not be in his bedroom. Cause he sits down, fiddles around with something. Then gets up again and walks around, camera at ceiling (which was very confusing). But watching it a second and third time I think that he was setting the lamp up, connecting it perhaps, and then got up to close all the doors (bedroom door, bathroom door, closet door and who knows what other door) to go dark so we can see the beautiful projection.

And him having to connect the lamp, does it kinda maybe mean that he doesn't use it every night, mainly because who needs to fall asleep looking at the picture of the sun when the sun is right besides you in bed? Food for thought.

This is what he shows us at first.

He then turns the camera around to show other planets. But he always goes back to the sun. And makes sure to explain to us that it is the sun.

And while, once more, focusing on the sun says: "It's pretty, right?"

It definitely is.

And when he does his whole foot up in the air (I don't think he was pointing, because when he wanted to point he did it with his finger, pointing at the sun) caressing or whatever you want to think he was actually doing, it's with the sun.

You know what came to mind first thing I saw this?

JM and his love for playing footsies with JK.

Oh, and if I'm already going down memory lane, we have JK too.

Back to business.

I find it funny how JM on the one hand says multiple times he wanted to brag to us about the lamp, and then says it's embarrassing that a man nearing 30 sleeping with a lamp. And he talks about the friend appalled by it, lol. That a guy who lives alone (he repeats this) sleeps with a lamp. I guess that when you can't have the sun with you then a projection of it on the ceiling has to do.

JM adds: "these days I look at the ceiling and space out" - looks at the lamp projection that is. And when he says "these days", once again I'm thinking of it being due to JK's clearly super busy schedule.

So yeah, that was more or less part one of JM's house tour.

At this point JM turns off the light and walks back to the PC room (still only letting us see the ceiling as he is moving through the house).

He sits back down and tells us he is living his life like this.

He's sitting there reading comments for a few seconds and then he reads this one out:

Welcome to part 2 of the house tour, lol.

He straight away says: "you can see the secret room", grabs the camera and off he goes (again camera at ceiling of course), and asks himself "what are some things I can show?", while obviously there is still very much more that he doesn't want us to see.

He says "I will show just this one then", following by saying he really didn't want to show "my room", and then we are in his gym.

Shows us his treadmill, tells us "this is my secret room...right here."

So, let's pause for a second here before we move on.

JM clearly decided it's time to share with us (without saying it out loud) that he is boxing. A lot. The hands (he left raw for all to see) and showing us his gym as well.

JM has a punching bag at home.

No biggie, right?

He has a full proper gym at home, much like Tae does, and most likely the others too, well most of the others, because JK doesn't. JK, until a short while ago, didn't have any workout equipment at home. Let alone a punching bag. THE boxer in the group does not have a punching bag at home. And do we talk about the fact that all of his workout equipment, the little that he does have, is in his lounge room? I digressed. As usual. Anyway, now we know for sure (as if we didn't before) that JM is clearly boxing, and all that is left to see is his set of boxing gloves.

And then, JM goes to show us his dad's bedroom, for when he visits him. JM asks himself if there is anything he can show us from dad's room, answering "vacuum cleaner".

JM walks out of that last room, he looks around, nods with his head (looked like he was contemplating something but decided on NOPE), and walks back to the PC room.

End of house tour.

While on the way there he tells us how his parents "came over to my house and said this..."your house really has nothing, it's like a model house. It doesn't seem like a person lives here. Do you want us to change a bit?".

Ok, so JM's been living in that apartment at the very latest since May 2021. Over 2 years!! And in that time his parents must have visited multiple times. We know at least of once back in October 2021, so a long time ago. JM isn't telling us when exactly this was said to him, and timing, my friends, is everything. There is a before and an after that might be going on here. And It's kind of curious how at this point in time both JM's place and JK's place are lacking in the feeling of a home in the true sense of it. Lacking in adding their little personal touch to the place. Giving them both, at this point, the feel of these places being a temporary fix. Just until perhaps a certain 5 story house is built.

Do I address the marimo discussion and how it turned into a Suga discussion? Was that JM shutting down Yoonminers? Lol.

JM reads out a comment "I miss Jin and Jhope" and tells us he's thinking of going to visit them.

JM continues to read through the comments and reacts to them, this is around the 29 min. mark. You think the hand comments don't continue again? Like he hasn't addressed it 10 times already during this live. He smiles through it, but seriously!!!!

One comment has him giggling : "In my last dream you went out with me but I got dumped". Lmao. At least they were being realistic. His answer was: "I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional". Ehm, excuse me, but to me dumping feels very intentional. Lol.

One of the most annoying comments, well in my humble opinion, was the one asking him why the chocolate factories have closed. Poor man was waiting and waiting on a reply on that one, so much so he was putting off finishing the live, he was seriously curious, only to have this stupid ass punch line about him being sweet. From the expression on his face when he finally read the answer he was probably thinking "this is what I was waiting for?", lol.

JM's asked about his skin care routine to which he answers: "it's nothing, I just wash up, and I just apply it on my face. Just the cream". Thing is later on as he's closing up he says he has to go wash up but:

Curious.

Didn't he just tell us all about it earlier? Or was this him just being cheeky?

JM tells us he goes for a run in the middle of the night and runs into RM.

Quite interesting that the first time he noticed RM's poster was almost 2 weeks after it was placed there. Especially now that we know from him he's out jogging every night. Was he possibly away for a while? Perhaps not alone?

JM was asked about dramas he's watched and answered he hasn't watched many lately.

I guess JK being busy is the cause for that. We know for a fact that they watch shows together.

Then he's asked "show your 7 tattoos", to which JM answers:

"You saw it yesterday. Photos went up. Really...I saw that...Definitely...I'm an anchovy." giggle giggle giggle. "Anchovy...phew..." giggle..."just laugh at it and move on..."

Lol, I'm sure he's also referring to him standing on his tippie toes for the pose, trying to seem bigger and taller than he is.

Now wait a second here.

The comment asked him to show his 7 tattoos. Not "show your moon tattoo". Not "show your back tattoo". Clear as day talking about his 7 tattoos, and JM was the one to read it out!!!

So, obviously that riske (not really, but clearly an eye opener) photo he posted for JK's birthday was on his mind. Or is it more so that JK is on his mind?

JM's told he needs to sleep well. The man says it's rare, but he actually slept well today. Usually when he has schedules he doesn't sleep well. But:

I guess something, or someone, helped tire him out.

And yes, I can hear the guys on the balcony with the "if he slept so much he couldn't have been with JK". Yeah-nah. Have we not seen these guys schedules? Did I not talk about it in part 1? Night and day are non existent. JM slept 8 to 9 hours and came out - to his schedule, in the evening. These two go to sleep in the morning and wake up at noon. Even in JM's last live, when he was talking about having a proper schedule, including a proper sleep schedule, he was talking about sleeping in late. So no, him sleeping properly doesn't rule out them spending the night together. JM doesn't tell us when he went to sleep or when he woke up. Actually, the way he words it, it's more like he slept till late and woke up in time for his Dior schedule.

Pretty much this was where JM was wanting to end the live.

And starts to sum it up.

After a few more comments JM winds it up saying his goodbyes.

And that was the end of JM's live on JK 's birthday.

Oh, btw, remember I said that when I first saw JM's live photo I mistook it for JK? How those pants seemed a little big on him? Well came across this today:

I'm not 100% sold those are the exact pair of pants, but they sure look similar. And even if they aren't same pants, well my point in part 1 was proven - the pants being exactly the style that JK wears.

I had one more thing I wanted to talk about, which I'm not sure about, but thought it would be good to mention.

About the 12 minute mark JM is talking about taking lessons in English. And he was saying it's hard but he has to force himself to do it, cause otherwise he won't do it. And then he talks about how people get lazy and gives an example. And here is where I found something a little curious. There I go with that word again.

The word of the day: Curious.

Anyway, JM gives an example. And he words it like this:

"You know there is this. I came home as it is like this... It's 9:07... I think that I should wash up at 9:30... But we don't wash up... And later, when it's 1 in the morning... I should really wash up. To sleep...I must wash up. You also know this happens".

And he's giggling the whole time.

Did you notice? The switch from I to we?

Now, it could be him talking about him and us, but I kind of don't think it was, as he starts with I and goes to we and then back to I.

It could also definitely be a slip of the tongue.

You know who the we he might be talking about is. That plus one that turns I to we. That certain plus one that has told us on multiple occasions how he dislikes to wash up before sleep, delaying the inevitable as much as possible, also using that term lazy with regards to it.

Just thought I'd share this little thing I notices with you guys before I finish up with this post.

I feel like this part of my post is a little more all over the place (a bit like JM perhaps, lol). Maybe a little too much blurry and not enough sharp, lol. But hey, I guess it is what it is.

So, we had JK doing the short live nothing like his usual birthday lives, and then later in the day JM coming live, unplanned. Well more so unplanned from home. Could they have been planning to do a live together at Hybe? Could JK have been planning to and asked JM to go live in his place seeing he's held up?

Who knows.

What I do hope is that next time it's not going to be the two live on the same day, but rather the two live same day same time same place.

Here's wishing.

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

Okay so my sister is trying out apple tv right now, which means I am binging all Fraggle Rock content on there as fast as I can.

They don't have the animated series though (which yes, this puppet show got an animated spin off).

So right now I'm watching what I can of that on Youtube because I don't know which streaming service has it (if one does have it), but I first discovered it on Neflix like 10+ years ago, but I don't think they ahve it anymore.

My mom bought one of the old Fraggle Rock dvd sets when I was a kid, so she could introduce me to it. Because Fraggle Rock was her Jim Henson puppet show of choice when she was a kid, vs any of his other works.

This post isn't really about that though, it's about how all the characters are slightly different in the different versions of the show.

For example Boober (though my favorite consistently in all of the shows) has variations in how exactly he's a downer.

Like he's always "a downer" but what exactly being a downer is seems to be different.

In the original he's just openly extremely anxious and paranoid, and suppresses his desire for fun and chaos to the point that he manifested a split personality. Sidebottom, who loves games and jokes and is the fraggle definition of life of the party, but is also totally down to just lie to get out of doing stuff he doesn't want to, or imprison people in the name of having a good time.

In the new series while Boober is still anxious and kind of grumpy he isn't constantly on the brink of spiraling and desperately clinging to random superstitions the way he was in the original. Like it seems he somewhat enjoys being miserable, vs him just kind of seeing it as inevitable because he was just that paranoid about things going wrong.

In the animated series he's no where near as anxious and paranoid as he is in the original, and isn't even all that grumpy. Though admittedly I only restarted my first rewatch of it in 10+ years, and I've only gotten through a couple episodes. But while he does get moody he's far more likely to explode into anger than into depressed wailing.

Though that's admittedly fair, considering in one episode he's just trying to do his job (cleaning laundry and delivering it back to where it needs to go), people keep cutting infront of his laundry cart, slowing him down. Or worse dirtying the clean laundry by actually running into him and upending the cart, or splashing a bunch of water onto the laundry cart. Meaning he has to go back and re-clean all the clothes he'd already washed and had been on his way to deliver.

And when he tells the others to at least watch where they're going, they all just go "complaining again Boober?" like he doesn't have the right to be upset when he has to go back and re-wash the same load of laundry 3 times in one day, when he's just trying to do his job.

So the fact that he seems more prone to angry outbursts rather than depressive/panicked ones could definitely just be the result that his friend group are kind of oblivious jerks in the animated series.

So yeah if you see me posting about Fraggle Rock, or the new series, or the animated series, or anything else Fraggle related it's because I'm binging a lot of fraggle content lol.

[doctorbleed]

My constant companion and best little man, Pecker (named by mom after the 1998 John Waters film Pecker, she didn't get the offensive implications lol) nicknamed "Pepper."

The rest of the post is gonna be a downer. If you aren't in the mood for that, just enjoy the absolutely adorable dog pictures and keep scrolling.

Today, my dog passed away in his home very suddenly, in his sleep. He had been fighting a long battle with heart disease and due to his age and genetic factors the condition spread too quickly and too strongly to be effectively treated. My father took care of him for his final days, as our boy was constantly loved, hugged, protected and nurtured by family who loved him.

He was a happy, playful boy. Full of life and always moving around, even near the end he was getting up and walking a few times, lifting his head up and occasionally wagging his tail. He lived to the ripe old age of 15.

Some fast facts about him:

Pecker:

Got the name "Tick-Tick" because of the sound his nails would make everywhere he'd walk

Also got the nickname "Kramer" because he liked to kick open my door

We liked to call him "Pepper" in front of company, and "Peckerwood" which we later found out isn't actually another word for "woodpecker" but something more offensive. Oof! But he made it funny. We liked to call him "Peck-Peck-Peckerwood!" when he trotted into a room.

He never hurt a living creature in his life or caused anyone pain. Except some guy named Anthony, the only person he ever bit lol. Crazy lil guy.

One time I went walking him a little girl saw him and petted him. Then, a bunch of kids came running from around the corner to love up on him and pet him because they were so excited.

Walking him, a couple times a little kid would pet him and say hi to him. One time while strutting around and drinking something, he proclaimed "I know that dog!"

One time I put a lolipop in front of his face expecting him to lick it, and he bit it instead.

As a puppy, he liked to "accidentally" knock over pop cans and drink the spillage.

He was the first pup to be picked out of the litter, and the runt.

He loved snow, probably because of his big fur coat.

Despite being a tiny little mop, he had a furious bark. One time two cops came to our door and the dog barked so loud they walked off the porch. Later they asked my dad "what kind of monster dog do you have in there?" and he poked his little head out, and they were SO annoyed and embarrassed.

Was about 3 feet long and roughly 2 feet tall.

One time when he was a puppy I watched him whimper in fear about a jump he was about to make: jumping off a couch onto big fluffy pillow. We called it a "crash pad."

When he first came home my sister was a sobbing mess after getting dumped. He came up to her her and licked her nose and she stopped crying instantly.

One time I stayed over a friend's house and came home in the middle of the night, I petted him, and he turned and nodded at me like it was nothing. Then he, in a half-awake state, realized what was going on and rocked himself excitedly awake to greet me.

RIP Pecker. You had a funny name but you were the best dog I could ever ask for. You will be missed <3.

"For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ." - Colossians 2:5

[granolapranala]

Rising from the dead to make a post that no one but me will care about: assigning the droplets boys metalocalypse characters.

(The numbers didn't add up since there are 7 jerks and 5 dethklok guys so I left out JB and then I couldn't find someone that Nate fit. He'd be Charles if Lynn was out of the picture for sure tho)

Pran- Nathan

I swear I am not only going on designs, but that's definitely part of it (pretty big men ♡). Both are strong silent types with a lot of hate. Their general demeanor and outlook is similar. Plus, both canonically didn't speak (at least for a while) as kids (and the one scene of child Nathan reminds me of all the descriptions of child Pran). Both are some of the least academic/booksmart of the cast, also. Not everything fits (Nathan has a leadership role, passion, and a good relationship with his family, all unlike Pran), but they have enough strong basic similarities that I had to compare them.

Shiloh- Toki

Both are completely all over the map characters: are they sweethearts? Are they true genuine assholes? Are they somewhere in between? What is wrong with them? Are they okay? Both are very cute and childlike in presentation with a lot of unsavory traits underneath. Plus, both of of tend to be followers, going along with other people's random plans. Toki has more of a set characterization than Shiloh (who's kind of an enigma), but if anyone in the droplets cast fits Toki, it's Shiloh.

Everett- Pickles

I also debated Nate as Pickles but Everett works a lot better. Both are tiny guys filled with rage. Just anger and bitchiness in a tiny body. Pickles has had the most physical fights out of any character in his show, and the blood droplets kill levels confirm that Everett is the most violent of the jerks. Also, if Everett wasn't on constant watch by Nate, I think he'd absolutely be a party boy and drink a lot. The main difference in character is that Pickles has family issues galore and Everett is a momma's boy. Plus, Pickles is rarely an instigator and tends to just react to things, while Everett starts problems seemingly for fun. The comparisons are getting looser.

Bae- Skwisgaar

(I think JB also would've made a good Skwisgaar but I left her out of this) It's all about the confidence and self obsession. Both think that they are so fucking cool and want to lounge around and relax. They also both seem weak as hell (Bae is, and Skwisgaar seems to be, if his build and demeanor is anything to go on). Both have the utmost confidence in their own abilities and like to piss off their rival (either Nate or Toki) with that. The main difference between them is that Skwisgaar seemingly does a lot of work to be the best, he's constantly practicing guitar and he writes/works on the albums, whereas Bae kind of does jack shit and still thinks he's all that. Also, Bae's sex-adverse asexuality versus Skwisgaar's eternal ho phase lol

Jeremy- Murderface

I'M SORRY. This one is weird. I guess the main thing tying these two characters together is low self esteem. Most of dethklok and most of the xod cast don't really hate themselves- these two do. They also both have body issues, tied into that self hatred, that come up somewhat regularly. Both make everyone around them miserable, partially on purpose and partially because they are just Like That. The way they do it is different (Jeremy is a downer and Murderface just pisses people off), but it's the same general effect. There are a lot of differences, mainly that Jeremy is a germophobe and Murderface is nasty, but I had to assign someone Murderface and I wasn't losing the Pran-Nathan comparison so whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lynn- Charles

Just in role more than anything. Guy in charge of a group of assholes, who really does care about those assholes and puts up with all the insults and difficulty they throw at him. (Also hot. They are hot.)

Petition to put dethklok into an xobd-style dark comedy yandere dating sim/cyoa and to put the jerk squad in an adult swim cartoon with several legitimate music albums please and thank you

[butwhatifidothis]

Have you ever considered, once you finish sporking that fic, washing the taste out of your mouth by taking a look at fics in the fandom you like/think deserve more attention?

Even one of my favourite sites, Cake Wrecks, does a feature on Sundays were it's cakes they think are really nicely-decorated so it's not all downers.

😭 i think i need to clear up something lmao

I already read fics that I enjoy - reread old ones, look out for new ones, write a good few myself (here's two of them lol). I read my trashy little otome isekai villainess manhuas that I love to death. I play the shit out of Hades. I play DnD with irl buds every Wednesday. I'm watching - and rewatching - episodes of the new Bleach anime, and am eagerly awaiting for June to come around to give more. I play Smash Ultimate with my big sis and lil bro. I replay VW every now and then. I play BBS and hope to finally pull the last couple Valentine's/Academy Momo's I need to have fully completed all the Momo's in the game (so far).

I already do plenty of things that I thoroughly enjoy doing - I talk about the fic a lot here, but y'all don't have to worry; I do, in fact, do things I enjoy doing lmao.

But! I do want to give some attention to fics I really enjoy! I've already talked about most of them before, but it never hurts to do it again lol. Most of them are dmcl so if that's not up your alley, well, rip, but if it is then yeah!

Princes of Silver and Gold is sooo good - and very meaty! It deals with Dimitri and Claude getting bopped back to the prologue after the events of Saving Derdriu, after a mysterious spell seems to ambush them during a moment of peace. It's has a lot per chapter to take in - 4 chapters, +129,000 words, a very dense read - but imo it never feels like too much. I've reread this a good few times actually! There's a lot of 3H's lore that's played around with and given more oomph to it that really makes the fic feel alive, which is always nice.

Be Not Proud: an absolute downer for sure, can't ever get through it without snivellin' and snottin', but it's a really touching look into Nader and Claude's relationship. It revolves around Claude's last moments on a CF run where he isn't spared - very sad oneshot, but very memorable imo.

Everyone Leaves Eventually: an interesting oneshot about the Black Eagles leaving Edelgard's side one by one as she gets more and more aggressive with her war, from Hubert's POV. Granted, Hubert is more than a smidge OOC for it to work - he's given a good bit more morality than he's shown to ever have canonically - but as a concept it's interesting, and it's a neat read all around. If you're willing to accept that this Hubert is less like canon!Hubert than he ought to be, I'd definitely recommend it!

Survivor's Burden: another one that's kind of a downer, but with a much happier ending than Be Not Proud. Revolving around the idea of Claude and Dimitri surviving SS Gronder, with Claude doing his best to keep him and Dimitri alive in the woods. It's a bit long for a oneshot - a bit over 30,000 words for one sitting - but! It's definitely worth it imo. Plus! It was part of the dmcl Big Bang that happened a couple years ago, so this one also has great art to go along with it at certain points!

to this vow, i hold fast: yet again this is being recommended by me lmao because it is beyond amazing. It's a slow-burn dmcl political-marriage AU of post-war Fodlan, and it's just a joy to read through. The one thing I'll say about this one, as much as I love it to bits, is that, hm... you can tell the author also ships Dimi///leth. Understandable what I mean by that once you read it, and it can be quite a bit annoying to see it imo, but also imo it doesn't take enough away from the quality for me to ever do anything but recommend it lol. This multi-chapter fic is actually almost complete, from what I understand! So there's that too.

seeking humanity: a dmcl AU where Claude is a traveler and Dimitri is (seemingly, anyway) the god of death, and they make a pact: Claude either gets Dimitri to like humans in half a year's time, or he gives up his soul to Dimitri. I am a huge fan of how the characters are, well, characterized in this fic; everyone is just a joy to read through! Even characters I don't care that much for (especially with how they tend to be written in fics), like Leonie and Lorenz, are just great. And the mysteries this fic has in it are also really fun to think about, with all the crumbs the story lays down to try and follow.

please give them a shot!! If they're up your alley anyway lol

[alwaysbethewest]

I totally agree! I just don’t really see the resemblance of Joel’s character underneath those stories, although plenty are hot and well written… just to make a comparison, I was really into Twilight (lol) and read a lot of AU or all human Bella/Edward stories with all kinds of random plots and different relationship dynamics, but generally I still saw the characters so strongly as Edward—same personality traits, same faults and emotional responses to things just playing out in different ways … whereas I don’t see Joel as someone who even has the ability to be super sexual anymore due to his emotional pain or as someone who would want a dramatic or “scandalous” type relationship. he just doesn’t have the emotional or physical energy to even consider that. I understand it’s more about how he’s commanding and hot and kinda convenient to pin a preexisting fantasy on, but I struggle to read it as Joel rather than as an original story, or be able to use them to reflect back onto my understanding of his character.

Would love to read stories that show him more canon-aligned but maybe people feel it’s either too much of a downer or they think they would need to write a long series instead of one-shots to accurately reflect a relationship with him. I felt very similarly about how people wrote Din at first, although I think pretty quickly people started writing him more as the quiet/shut down/traumatized man he is rather than just hot dom sex addict lol

Same!! And I like your comparison to some of the earlier Din fics—every now and then I see someone mention that they've read Rough Day without actually watching the show and I always think they're in for a surprise if they ever do see it 😂 (no shade to RD intended, I think it's a fun read—just doesn't align with my vision of the canon character). I'm curious if anyone has gotten into TLOU purely through fic and then watched the show only to be like, wait where's the scene where Joel flirts with a college girl? lol.

I keep feeling like I need to add disclaimers to the posts about this because, I swear, I really do want people to write what they want to write and to have fun with their creations and stay true to their own instincts of what feels right. I REALLY think that's more important to the fandom experience than technical skill or some "objective" measure of writing in-character. It just is such an overwhelming share of the fandom characterization that it feels.... unfortunate. Like there's an odd lack of variety going on.

[sleepymarmot]

Glass Onion

Yes, I had been waiting for this movie for a while and dropped everything to watch it the day of release. What about it?

Liveblog

Is it bad that I’m already like “I want all of these people to die”? Well, maybe not Lionel I guess.

Lol a bit of sci-fi to justify the actors not wearing masks for the entire movie

Is the bad CGI robot some kind of Star Wars legacy? :D

Aww, poor Benoit Soo, one of the guests plans to murder the host for real, and invites a detective to frame another guest?

It’s been 30 minutes, can people start dying please (Not Andi though, that’d be uncool)

Love the scenery, and Craig’s outfit is nice

Cool shot where Andi has the same expression as the Mona Lisa

“This is reckless. And you’re gonna get somebody killed.”

Okay, so far we’ve established the motive for: Peg, Duke, Lionel, maybe Claire. What about Birdie? And the random guy hanging around? And Andi? Is Andi automatically disqualified because we saw her destroy the box? That could be a real alibi or a red herring.

Nooo, so awkward, I can’t watch this Oh, he did it on purpose, that makes it a bit less painful

Huh, he didn’t mention Andi in the monologue...

Oh good, exactly an hour into a murder mystery, someone finally died! Yes, yes, of course it was an attempt on Miles’ life, I thought we’ve already established he’s who everyone wants dead. Cool trick to keep Norton among the active cast, I thought it was weird for the most famous actor to play the victim. (It’s nice to see Norton again btw, I wondered a while ago why I hadn’t seen him in new movies recently.)

Lmao the lights! Now this is fun

Oh no, Andi! :(

Plot twist!! Well now he's responsible for an innocent woman’s death, that’s going to give him a motive to find the killer

This shit is wild

Hell yeah she’s alive!!!

Is she going to attack the Mona Lisa?..

I feel bad about the painting. The way this was framed as a triumphant moment has the same energy as that Tumblr post about destroying famous paintings because rich people like them.

Review

[Additional spoilers for Knives Out, The Last Jedi, Midsommar, and The Handmaiden]

The film takes too much time to get started. The characters are too flat to carry it until the plot actually launches. Only gets good after the plot twist. The secondhand embarrassment scenes are excruciating.

The plot: “rich people bad, the detective teams up with a pure-hearted woman of color and helps her win”, take two. Are they going to make a whole franchise out of this? Not a great foundation for murder mystery: just look for the most entitled white man and that’s your killer.

Benoit Blanc himself, though, is a good character to build a movie series around. A classic independent detective with a kind heart and a taste for adventure — I want to see more of him. Many people have said it already, but I want Blanc to replace Bond as Daniel Craig’s #1 role.

The biggest strength of the film were, of course, all of the clever and fun twists and reveals. As you can see from the liveblog, I was misdirected very successfully and loved it every time.

And now for the biggest flaw of Glass Onion in my eyes. Just like Knives Out, this film has an extremely fun outer layer wrapped around the heart that I find a genuine downer. Most of the shallow, annoying characters got off scot-free, and what was harmed the most in act 3 was an innocent painting. I’ve already seen The Last Jedi, I don’t really need the same ending scene as the Canto Bight storyline — except worse because the writer doesn’t see the difference between “rich asshole’s property” and “priceless piece of art”. Which is a bad enough take to see on Tumblr, but straight up baffling to encounter in a high budget movie, written by a professional filmmaker. (Amazing timing, though. How did they manage to release this not only in the middle of the Musk major meltdown/Twitter takeover but also soon after the Van Gogh soup discourse?)

In retrospect it also reminds me of a couple of other famous scenes with a female protagonist involved in destruction, and the comparison is not in Glass Onion’s favor. Midsommar also ends with the heroine and a huge symbolic fire, but it’s a horror/drama, and the event takes not only the lives of those caught in the fire but the soul of the heroine. The Handmaiden, on the other hand, features a scene of art destruction that is genuinely positive and cathartic, but the nature of art and the role it plays in human lives is radically different.

[Edited to add] I’ve seen people who liked the ending defend it by saying that people are more important than art. The thing is, if this were framed as the trolley problem — if destroying a priceless work of art were presented as the only way to save an unknown number of lives — I would feel differently. Instead, the film seems to want the viewer not to value the Mona Lisa just because the rich amoral characters do value it.

In a more Watsonian and practical sense, I don’t see how this is a win for Helen. She was the one who burned the painting. The fuel played only a minor part, the painting would have been destroyed just the same without it (in fact, that’s what expected Miles’ lighter to be for). But even if it were otherwise — okay, so this new fuel can easily cause a fire; well, so can electricity and gas if you’re not careful! Not great for PR of this specific product, but not a death sentence either. Most importantly, it’s the person who committed arson that will be charged for it, not the person who unwittingly provided the fuel for the fire.

I did have a good time, to be clear! Very worth watching unspoiled. The release was timed well: the overall lighthearted tone, clever twists, vibrant visuals (bright colors, stylish outfits, idyllic location) make this a good holiday movie.

I’m having trouble with a numerical grade (the worst part of IMDB and Letterboxd is that they make me care about grading, even though it doesn’t work with how I think about media at all). Glass Onion feels like a 7, but I gave Knives Out a 9 and they don’t feel two whole grades apart.

[bojackandherb]

throwing your question back to you lol, what are your favourite bojack episodes?

Hmm, this is a tough one!

Definitely The Telescope, for one thing! Bojack and Herb’s relationship and tragedy is one of the things about the show I find most compelling. Well. That’s probably kind of obvious considering this entire blog but still. It’s just so tragic… Bojack and Herb both finding a person they clicked perfectly with, someone who really understood them, and that they connected really well with, someone they shared so many laughs with… they were so special to each other…they were best friends…

And then just,, the way everything turned out,,

Anyway I could keep going but that would turn into a whole meta about them and I should probably save that for another post haha

(Other episodes under the cut because it ended up pretty long oops)

I also really liked the Old Sugarman Place… the tragedy of the Sugarman family and the way they juxtapositioned that against Bojack’s struggles was really fascinating to me. Also I developed an entire au around Crackerjack which made me attached to his character so. I really love the one minute of screen time he had alive

I also really loved Stupid Piece of S—- and Good Damage. I’m a big fan of when shows really delve into the minds of characters in general, and these are two great examples of that. I really liked the way they illustrated their struggles. Both the way their thoughts where drawn and the music and… well… the everything about them just really. Harggg it was good

Also Downer Ending… another episode that delves into the mind of a character. We get to see some of Bojack’s deepest fears, regrets, desires etc., stuff he normally kinda tries to push down, and it’s really fascinating to see. There are so many things I could talk about, but his fantasy with Charlotte particularly kills me. Because like… what he truly wants, deep down, is to be in a healthy loving relationship and to be good and to be a good parent and,,, ahhhh

Oh and also I liked how chaotic and funny the first part of it was.

(Perhaps I should do actual metas/articulate discussion posts about these episodes one of these days because rn I keep just wanted to dissolve into keyboard smashes)

Anyway then of course we have The View from Halfway Down. It’s got everything, Herb, Crackerjack, character exploration, a bunch of deep/really interesting discussions, all with a backdrop of existential dread of course. (Well. It starts in the backdrop at least.) it’s really an episode you could watch over and over again just to catch more details each time. Suddenly things like all the different ways characters react to everything. There’s also some cartoony moments, which I really like. Ironically, despite BJHM being a cartoon, it’s pretty grounded in reality most of the time, so there’s certain things you don’t really get to experience in the show except for when it’s not grounded by reality. It’s the little things, like Herb spinning his bow tie like a propellor, and the way Herb moves about in certain moments that idk, I really appreciate. Plus there’s Sarah Lynn’s whole dance sequence, which has a really, idk, cinematic feel to it? Anyway the framework (idk if that’s the word I’m looking for) for the episode let’s it do some really cool things is what I’m saying. It also is just a really good demonstration of how like… BoJack is someone who was raised by TV and also spent his entire adult life entrenched in the entertainment industry, living and reliving a sitcom life through Horsin Around and also living all the other roles he played. And that’s had a big effect on him and he he sees the world. And we already knew this, of course, but it’s just so fascinating to see how deeply it’s ingrained in his mind.

Also the Todd episode was fun

Welp. That ended up super long lol. I guess once I get going about stuff I’m really !!! about I can’t stop. I might clean this post up a bit later haha

[suiciderape]

totaltrash

ew! what a gangsta fuckin biitch ew! u guys are mean to me hahaha um im eww shes trying to test our? nasty bitch uh huh! uh uh huhh *gs* paper kitten! its me daddy dick down ew ur geto bois geto cute and skinny and we love u um hi its ghetto daddy dick down ew! im in ur roos ur stephanie soo? um no its daddy dick down ew?! ur not fat anymore? um no. nvm um what she was never fat it was daddy dick down? um at high school..? look look shes dying to type me ow! ow? look @ her faith in her evolution uh uh! ew a ghetto black bitch?! um? it was never pink awkward! ew we skank skate... uhm eh? get a life! ew we werent joking?! thats nasty... we like love her geto boi dick down time... ew! its desarae hollins... ew shes ghetto eww! shes writing my diary again? ew? shes ghetto gooou ew i heard that! nah? were gonna what the fuck bitch whats! suck a fuck babe? um shes here... awkward... i am scary gangsta! fuckin biitch... hmmhehe ew! shes in my housee ew! eww! shes the queen of china now... heheheem ew ur geto boi ew no ur not! wait?! wheres the king of china? ew! hes my daddy now im in his chanhee dick down chamber... with u! ew! i love u so much. daddy scary gangsta ew! ur ghetto boys in love with me?! ew! ur not ghettooo hahaha ew! ur fucking my boyfriend? no mhm :) lol fuck uuu beetch ew ur geto hh7hm mhm 7 :) pussy tiight ah!!! omg shes gotten better?! at this? ew um i love u teew baby ew! fuck u too bitchhh bitch i ge5o omg hi baby! hi daddy where are we? tumblr omg who watches? the chinese mafia ew! ur sad? yes daddy :( awe hahahaha no! i love u i love u too scary gangsta ew! ew ur cute? so are u mt st helens ew! im not him! im not him! pss

scary gangsta are u a super asian still? what is this picture? a super asian at prive school hahaha ew! i thot this was ur diary? ew! it is hmm hahaha ok? so u wanna go back to hustle high school? baby?! come back with mee!! my baby mhmmm mine my baby?! its me daddy il still here hahaha ew! mhm :) ew! ok so why did u leave? i need u forever! surf! and cypress kidnapped me and took me to hustle high school mt st helens style hahaha ur never leaving me :) ew! ur a bad bitch again? who is desarae...?! uh oh! its daddy dick down wtf is this bitch doin? me?! and only me!! heheheh private school suicide uhhh!

scary gangsta hes a super asian private school suicide

scary gangsta ew! haha its on my tumblr tho ill go save rn

𝖕𝔯𝖎𝔳𝖆𝔱𝖊 𝖘𝔠𝖍𝔬𝖔𝔩 𝔰𝖚𝔦𝖈𝔦𝖉𝔢 i dont uppercap shit its suicide rape yes thats what i said! no! i dont rape people u get out faggot rince down

ur uggly faggot bitch! yea im a valley girl! whats valley gurl whats valleu gurl? did u just call me a faggot bitch? ew! ew! ew! ew! pss i found lolita! valley girls content with u horror cut high school downer trademark oreos impressions ew! ur bad at this its scary gangsta post up swag hahaha ew! ok mhm :) ew! ok hurry up baby love

scary gangsta wtf bitch! im in ur pussy walls ew ur a faggot rain and hahaha! my downer bills u up ew ur so ghetto? no! hahaha ur asian skateboarder just that mhm :) ew u faggot rain! what? shes 9 years old now! and i love her black dick down? whats his name baby? yoom keeho oh ok ur daddys name is? choi chanhee the boyz oh ok! ita chanhee whata up? hi ok its her daddy scary gangsta whaat hahaha did u do something bad today desarae? whaat?!?! daddy! no! dont eat me!! ew ur ghetto ew ur fucking asian ew! waaa no ur its out ok its out ghetto & geto are out completely ew! ok so thats it? no! dick and pussy are out ok! thats it? yes ew ok so we get it... ur in the matrix what is in? asian skateboarder ok so get it... whats ur name? suicide rape where do u go? princeton high school ew! shes badass we get her cute new levels of interest ok so u get cute about out ok she gets a cookie... what kind? chocolate chip? yes daddy! ok do it tomorrow... ew! ok so what kind of cookie do u like? chocole chip ok ur scared? sort of! ok ur a baddie an asiam baddie? no asian skateboarder 90s asian skateboarder ew! 1989 ew! ok so 90s japanese skateboarder no! 1981 south korean skateboarder ok? what else hmmm awkward! ok well find her! who is she? she loves weirdcore pictures ew is she cute and fluffy and in lolita pintrest for life? ew! yes daddy its chanhee is she in? yes she is! say yes yes ok were good 4 life foes? nah ok! so weird dreams? im fine with it ok! so chinese 80s yes! ok so chinese 80s skateboarder is ur aesthetic well... did u remember my japanese 1990s race car body guards? and yoon keeho? yes we did! perfect do u have to picture of ur body guard? maybe pss

pussy detective

stop deleting my photos and fix my pintrest

1989s suicide boys suicide boys mission scary gangsta 1981 south korean psychadelic skateboarding china meth lol ur so cute! scary gangsta

[morphogenetic]

Mediaposting 2023, #29 and #30: Gunbuster (29) and Diebuster (30)

figured i would make one post for these since you can't really watch the second without watching the first LOL

gunbuster: a) the animation on this is absurd (positive) b) this is wildly 80s parody-of-mecha-of-the-time during the first half and then shifts tones dramatically c) what the hell is happening in this show d) the last episode is so. Christ. its good but it doesnt feel like it should be in the same show

diebuster: this makes way more of an attempt at having actual lore than gunbuster does and I appreciate it for that but on the other hand it gives up on trying to be scientifically accurate which is kind of a downer solid plot tho. im not really into mecha i think, at this point its failed to really grab me, but a solid 7/10 nonetheless

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Prompt! I love Hunith and really like when she's depicted as a caring mother but I've always been fascinated by the idea that in her obsession to keep Merlin safe she actually traumatized him and hindered his development (we all remember the "am I a monster?" Line from the pilot).

One day Merlin and the gang (Knights, Arthur and whoever you want) (post magic reveal) are playfully comparing their childhoods, they ask Merlin about his and he refuses to tell them bc he doesn't want to be a Debby Downer but they keep insisting.

Maybe she tried to drown him as a babe hours after his first spell because she would rather do it herself than to have her son ripped away from her. She doesn't follow through with it but came real close.

Maybe he wasn't allowed to go outside for the first 5 years bc his magic is still incredibly temperamental and people could accidentally see it. Maybe she did murder a traveler that saw it and tried to run to tell someone, she doesn't know Merlin was watching.

Maybe when he was 9 she brought him to the kitchen before lunch, made him watch her decapitate a live chicken (it's the standard way to prepare and kill chicken for food btw), explained that if people see his magic this will be his fate. She made him watch the butcher of every chicken they cooked that season.

Maybe due to being confined inside and living fairly far from the village he was almost 8 the first time he saw someone other than his mother or the voices she kept him hidden from. She crafted a story of how he was adopted and his parents were friends of hers that died in a fire a few villages over.

I know sometimes I make these prompts too detailed but just do whatever you want. This is just some ideas and not a script. Go big, queen.

(This is #32 on This List)

Ok. So. I've been thinking about this in some capacity every second of my life since it arrived in my inbox, and anon? I'm in love with you.

I adore this concept. We all know I love a bit of angst, but this is top tier, and I'm going to make it really horrifying (I have tweaked it a little to make it more so)😁

~

SO!! The gang, all post magic reveal and everything, are discussing their childhoods. No real reason, it's just a topic of conversation that happened to come up. Merlin is happily listening in, but not really contributing at all until someone points it out, and he's all "Nah, don't mind me, my childhood was kind of a bummer." and they keep pushing and it's all "Well, it can't have been that bad, doesn't your mum tell you what you were like as a toddler?" and Merlin is like... kinda tense at the mention of his mother, but relationship wise he feels, after everything, they're in a really good place atm and he doesn't want to seem like he's bad talking her, and he also doesn't want to be teased or called out or seem like a bad son, because he knows all of his friends love his mum. So instead it's "Hmm, not really, I got punished a lot as a kid, was kinda naughty I guess." but like... poor boy doesn't understand that what happened.... was not normal, or ok in ANY way, even if he had magic (even post ban repeal, he struggles with the whole monster self image thing). Someone asks "Right, well... what was the worst thing you did, and the worst punishment you ever got?" and Merlin, deadass, without seeing an issue with it (he knows it's a mood killer, but he doesn't know how horrifying it is), says "One day she got really scared of my magic—I kept using it when she told me not to, so I guess it was my fault lol—and she drowned me in the river, then fished me out and buried me in the woods somewhere. That was how we found out I was immortal, because I dug myself out a few days later and wandered home, the whole village had apparently been out looking for me—I told them I just got lost. I don't think she knows I remember, and I plan on keeping it that way.". Everyone is... horrified, and Merlin is all smiling and "Told you it was a bit of a bummer, we get on a lot better now I can control my magic, don't worry." and they have to like... control themselves as they very calmly, very quietly, ask what else Hunith did in the name of keeping him safe.

ANYWAY it's horrifying, and all of them feel super guilty because they'd previously been really fond of Hunith. But yeah, burning him when he used magic, keeping him locked up for years, telling him terrifying bed time stories about evil kings and burning pyres and monsters (knights) coming for him in the night, among other things.

~

I am SO looking forward to writing this, thank you so MUCH!!!

[bard-llama]

The thing I associate with you most is Throne3. I especially love hearing all your Gascon/Reynard thoughts

Awww, I'm glad! I love them so much and I cannot believe the Throne3 isn't a more popular pairing! Just look at the canon!!! They are THE trio of the game!

Anyway, I have great news! I just started a new series and while it's technically not Gascon/Reynard (at least not yet), it IS about how they become friends. Also friends with Meve, but the bulk of the series is really Gascon & Reynard.

So I started today wanting to work on 1 fic, the idea of which I came up with several days ago. And then I thought of another related idea and ended up writing the first part of what will be a companion piece to that first fic, once I write it. And then I had an idea for a follow up/sequel to the two pieces with Meve. At which point it became a series XD

Also oops, I forgot to work today

More details under the cut for anyone who doesn't wanna be spoiled!

Okay, so this series is 3 parts (so far). The name of it is "The Beginnings of a Beautiful Friendship", titled, of course, for the closing scene of Casablanca. The first two pieces occur simultaneously, but one is Reynard's POV and one is Gascon's POV. They fill in the gaps between each other's stories, but also kinda focus on different things. So first off:

Like a Teddy Bear

The Duke of Dogs had a habit of drinking and partying with his Strays until he passed out in the mess hall. General Reynard Odo had a habit of watching him to make sure he didn’t pull anything. Naturally, this leads to Reynard stuck carrying Gascon’s drunken ass ‘home’ to their shared tent.

This fic is aaaaaall about cuddling lol. It's Reynard's POV starting immediately post-escape from the capital. It's their first night in camp together, they've already received the unfortunate news that they don't have enough tents, so people gotta double up. So guess who Reynard is stuck with? XD (this is my general hc, btw, and not just because it's convenient to get them to interact)

Anyway, Reynard is suspicious of Gascon and spends all evening glaring at him as Gascon drinks and parties with the Strays. Eventually, Gascon passes out and Reynard gets bullied into taking him back to their shared tent. Except Gascon is the clingiest cuddler ever, ESPECIALLY asleep 😂 So Reynard gets stuck with koala!Gascon clinging to him as he hauls his drunk ass back to their tent. Gascon also does not let go easily, so Reynard has to bribe him with other things to cuddle.

But after a few days, Reynard notices a trend. Every single night, Gascon drinks himself to sleep. And eventually, he has to ask why.

Which leads us to

Innocence Eroded Into Nightmare

Gascon Brossard may be young, but he’s experienced plenty of the worst of life. Experience of that kind tends to stick with a person – and in Gascon’s case, it does, in the form of nightmares. He’s tried for years to find different ways to stave them off – from mainlining fisstech to avoid sleep to drinking himself into a dreamless stupor. But lately, his coping mechanisms haven’t been working very well.

This one is Gascon's POV and we get to learn about the nightmares that haunt him, but also the coping mechanisms he uses. Problem is, it's not working so well anymore.

It's not uncommon for a substance to eventually stop giving you what you want from it, and in Gascon's case, what he wants is not to dream. And he's tried a number of drugs, both uppers and downers, but alcohol is the easiest to get his hands on. And it works.

Until it doesn't. Then he has a problem and starts to panic, because his nightmares are not exactly quiet either and he really doesn't want to wake the whole camp up screaming. Bad enough when it happened around the Strays, but now they've got a fucking queen and a ton of soldiers who are already all judgemental about them.

So he looks for other options to stave off dreams. Maybe some weed, maybe a sleeping draught from the medics, etc. And they sort of work. His dreams don't start as nightmares, not always. But they always end as nightmares, and his screams don't wake up the whole camp, but his bunkmate is a light sleeper, which means they have to talk about shit. We know how much they love that.

But also, this whole time, Reynard has been hauling Gascon's traumatized ass back to their tent and bribing him to stop cuddling. I think maybe the transition point is a combo of Gascon refusing to let go and also maybe waking up enough to be all affectionate and kissy. And Reynard Does Not Do That, so they have another serious conversation and somehow Reynard gets talked into cuddling anyway???? But after a while, he relaxes into it and they actually sleep together pretty well cuddled up with each other. And it's not perfect, but cuddles from a bed partner does help stave off Gascon's nightmares, not least because Reynard is a light sleeper and will pull him closer if he starts to get all restless.

So by the end of it, they've kind of reluctantly started to become friends. And that friendship includes platonic cuddling and sleeping together.

But where's Meve during all of this?

Okay, I don't have a title yet, but here's the summary.

Reynard and Gascon appear to slowly be becoming friends, and Meve is glad for that, she really is. But she can’t help but feel a bit left out. How this leads to walking in on them sleeping together, she really doesn’t know.

And tbh, all I really know is that Reynard is mortified and trying to struggle away from Gascon and explain that it's not what it looks like. Meanwhile, Gascon is clinging to Reynard and sleepily invites the Queen to join them.

[safarigirlsp]

I’m bummed 65 got delayed to next year. I was really looking forward to seeing it. What are your thoughts on Ferrari? I’m personally not excited about it and think Adam is miscast. He’s 38 and the real Enzo was about 58 during the time period the film is set.

Hi!

I was seriously bummed out too! Although for me, I don’t think I’ll ever experience a movie let down as extreme as when I got the news that The Last Duel’s release was being delayed a year! That was a bad day! It’s always the movies that I’m most excited about that get bumped.

I’m very excited about 65! He looks hot, has great hair and a goatee, and his body looks great! Plus, it’s action/adventure and he gets to run around with a space gun fighting dinosaurs! Also, and this is just my personal theory, but I’m wondering if he’s hallucinating his daughter and going kind of nuts too! She’s in some set pics in the jungle and rain, which doesn’t make sense for her to be physically with him on planet dinosaur lol. Plus, she makes space zoom calls with him while he’s traveling. So, I’m thinking that in addition to all his other problems, he’s also losing his shit and going insane, which could be a lot of fun to watch with AD actually! And it seems like something right up his alley!

Regarding Ferrari, I’m really ambivalent at this point. I’m always excited for more AD content, so that’s nice. And I’m glad he has another movie in the works already. But I’m with you that it’s definitely not blowing my skirt up at all either lol. The premise is very blah and uninteresting to me, but of course, anything can be done well. I’m assuming it’s going to have some backstory stuff of him being a young hotshot and then the present story of him being older and bitter etc. The real life story about his son dying and throwing his life and business into self-destructive turmoil is also something that holds zero appeal to me. Not my kind of story. I think people are expecting him to be playing some kind of hotshot playboy racecar millionaire, and I don’t think that’s what we’re going to get at all lol. I’m expecting more of a dark, heavy, dramatic downer lol.

I’m very much not a fan of Michael Mann either. Whereas Ridley Scott is one of my all time favorite directors and can do no wrong to me, Michael Mann is the opposite. I have seen every single movie he’s made since the 80′s, and I always expect a lot because they look good, but I have never enjoyed a single one! Not to say they’re not objectively good movies because that’s different, but I have not enjoyed them at all. Public Enemies was his best in my opinion, and it was decent, but that’s my most favorable review lol. He’s also not a director to make many upbeat movies with heroic characters, so I think a lot of people will not get the movie they’re expecting based on a knee jerk reaction to hearing the name Ferrari lol.

I also personally loathe the cheating theme! I know Gucci and Ferrari are real people, and even Charlie was based on a real person, who are/were cheating bastards, so it makes sense to include that in their stories. And I’m not one of those people who translates that to a judgment call about the kind of man AD is in real life, because I think he’s the polar opposite. But that behavior really doesn’t endear me to the characters lol. It makes me root for their deaths honestly lol!  I vastly prefer rapists and murders to cheaters!

The deciding factor on Ferrari for me will be almost entirely looks based! If he looks hot with nice hair and build, then I’ll be excited! If he’s clean shaven with short 1950′s nerd hair, I’m going to be very meh and disinterested lol. I fully expect the later, and it would be true to character for Ferrari. I absolutely am that shallow lol! I have my fingers crossed for maybe a stretch in the movie where he gets so depressed that he becomes a shut in for long enough to let his hair and beard grow out 🤣

I’m posting these 65 set pics again because he’s pretty!

[angel-deux-writes]

Hi Angel! I've been a big fan of yours since HCM, and so I wanted to express my concern for your wellbeing. There was that big break when you took a month or so to finish HCM before posting it in quick succession, in order to not have to deal with the comments. Now, from what you've been writing in the notes to Dorne Rights, it looks like you are experiencing something similar. The selfish fan in me wants you to keep writing and keep posting, but the basic human in me is more worried that (1/2)

you are unhappy. Nothing is worth making yourself unhappy over, particularly not something that’s meant to give you pleasure. A favourite author of mine back in the days of my Spike/Angel obsession had a disclaimer on her stories telling readers to please not leave feedback of any kind, not even constructive criticism, on her fics because she finds them unhelpful. Her comment section was full of chats about various topics in that fandom, rather than her own fiction. Might help. (2/2)

Hello! I really appreciate this message, because you’re right: fanfic writing isn’t good for me.

(lol putting this beneath the cut because it’s way too long)

It’s actually my experience in this fandom that has made me realize that writing in general probably isn’t good for me, but unfortunately I feel a drive to it and can’t seem to stop myself from thinking I’ll one day get published, so that’s a bit of a downer. The truth is that I’m naturally disposed toward thinking that I’m shit, my words are shit, and every thought I’ve ever had is unoriginal and poorly written. It’s always been like that, from the time I wrote my first attempt at fiction at 7 years old to now at 31. It takes a lot for me to share my writing with people. I started writing fic at 14, basically as soon as I discovered that I wasn’t the only person composing stories about Han and Leia in their free time. I’m sure that my fics were horrendous. I give myself a hard time now, but 14 year old me probably deserved it even more. But there were sweet people on the internet who encouraged me (and lied to me) and told me that my stories were good, and that made a huge difference. 

(that and my freshman year english teacher, who was very very cute and earnest and young and made me feel like I could actually be a writer.)

I’ve never been a part of a fandom before. Discourse and meta and long discussions about canon events have never interested me. I’ve said that before, and it remains true! I consume what canon there is, and sometimes I like it, and sometimes I hate it. Sometimes I’m so dissatisfied with it that I need to write something, and so I do. I don’t think I’ve ever written fic for something that I found entirely satisfactory. The extension of my being part of an actual fandom in the past was probably reblogging a few gifsets and recommending it to friends. I’ve just never had that sort of communal experience. This, the J/B fandom, was my first time really getting into it. It’s the first time I’ve ever made friends online that weren’t just frequent commenters on long multichapter fics! It has been exciting and I’m grateful for it! It’s just also probably not good for me. 

It’s just, like, every time I post something, I’m fighting a very loud and very desperate voice in my head that’s saying “you’re shit and you shouldn’t bother”. It’s why I’m so good at writing first drafts of novels but so, so bad at getting past the second. It’s why I usually post fics only until I’ve worked out my frustrations: one or two fics per fandom and then ghosting away forever. It’s very hard to defy that voice and post something anyway, and this fandom experience has taught me that no matter HOW many stories I post, I’m ALWAYS going to have to fight that voice. And it’s gotten actively stronger. “You’re not what this fandom wants” “You’re not good at this” “Everyone’s just being nice” “You’ve overstayed your welcome”. Paying attention, often by accident, to the discourse and the metas only makes it worse, because my brain automatically turns to “well YOU don’t write them like that. That means you’re wrong”. I can tell myself as many times as I want that I myself like many different interpretations of J/B! My brain goes “yeah, but you’re just an idiot who doesn’t know any better. There’s a right way, and you’re not doing it”. 

THIS IS ALL SO DRAMATIC! But it’s just the truth! Every time I post something, it’s against my nature. NO ONE outside of fandom reads my writing! I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve allowed my close friends and family to read things. So while it may seem like, idk, like I should just be able to get over it, negative comments, or even SLIGHTLY critical comments, really hit me hard. For all the positive feedback I get (and I really AM super grateful for it, and it means the world to me), those few critical voices seem louder because they’re agreeing with what I have already known about myself. And so it feels almost like a victory, but a shitty one. “Ha! I was right this whole time! I AM a shit writer, and I’ve for some reason tricked those other people into thinking I’m good!” 

For a long time (much longer than I’ve ever written for any other fandom, obviously), I was able to shove it to the side. The J/B fandom HAS been super good to me, and they HAVE been wonderful about giving me feedback and making me feel welcome and included. But those negative voices are just SO LOUD to me, even though I know logically that they shouldn’t be. 

It would be easy to point to a specific problem and say that my issues will be fixed if only I can address that. I do it CONSTANTLY. Maybe if I stopped tagging other relationships. Maybe if I stopped tagging other characters. Maybe if I tagged my works super specifically. Maybe if I made author’s notes about how I’m a shit writer and people shouldn’t expect things from me. Maybe if I just wrote “THIS STORY IS WRITTEN ALREADY AND IM JUST EDITING AS I GO! PLEASE DONT SUGGEST THINGS!” I just feel like, increasingly, I want fewer and fewer eyes on my fics. It’s the opposite of the problem I thought I would have. But my confidence took a huge hit with HCM, and then I was finally feeling good enough to post Dorne Rights. It was probably a mistake! 

idk, maybe it’s just all the shit that’s going on in the world + in my personal life. Maybe it’s just time. Maybe I’m just running out of inspiration. But the positive voices aren’t loud enough to drown out my own negative self-voice this time, and so I’ve been trying to figure out how to handle it. Part of me wants to delete Dorne Rights with the intention of reworking it and maybe posting it again down the line with fewer tags and a lot more reminders that people can write their own stories if they don’t like mine. Part of me wants to just do a HCM and post it all at once so that I can leave the finished product up (even if I now think the entire thing is garbage). Part of me wants to stop writing fic entirely, at least until the next time I watch something with an ending so bad it fucks me up. I think my solution will probably be a massive step back from fandom for a little while. I’ve been feeling a drive to work on my original stuff, and I should probably lean into that. I would like to still write and post J/B, once I find the inspiration, but I’m tired of feeling like this is a job. I think I got so deeply sunk into this attitude of “I NEED to write and post constantly because these people want me to, and they actually like what I write!!” that I stopped writing things because I wanted to write them and started writing them because I wanted to write things for other people, to make other people happy, and so that they could tell me that I’m not a shit writer at all.

I should make it clear that I do intend to write my JB fic swap thing FOR SURE. I will drag that story out of myself no matter what. But in general it’s probably just healthier for me to not spend so much time On Here especially, and on fic in general.

[havingphung]

Sarah Dessen Novels

Sarah Dessen Novels are simple, light, and easy to read coming-of-age love stories. She has so many that she deserves a whole separate post. You won’t find diversity and her books are kind of all the same with repressed older teenage girl meeting a wacky group of people and a *boy* that changes her life BUT they are SO readable and the characters are relatable so pick these up if you just want a light read that makes you feel happy inside. I also own basically all of them because I love to reread my favorites every year.

Also if you read enough of them, you’ll find characters making cameos in other books. TLDR: formulaic but in the best way because it just makes you feel good.

**personal favorites

Along for the Ride**: This is arguably my favorite Sarah Dessen book (either this or The Truth About Forever). A part of me really related to Auden, the anti-social, academically-driven heroine plagued with insomnia and how she felt watching her parents’ marriage fall apart. Also her budding relationship with Eli, fellow insomniac that shows her the part of his beach town that doesn’t sleep, makes me feel all happy inside. I think I reread this one the most because there’s so many memorable scenes in it that I just wish happened to me but alas.  

The Truth About Forever**: Most people say this is her best book and I generally agree. It made me want to get a job at a catering company just to experience a fun-loving, chaotic crew like Macy did. It takes place a little bit after her father passed away during a summer where she’s supposed to be focused on SATs, volunteering at a library and not stressing her mom out, so watching her break out of her shell and also fall in love with Wes, a boy with a past, a taste for Truth-telling, and an amazing artistic talent, just makes for a good story. (Also boys named Wes >>>)

Just Listen**: (t/w: rape/sexual assault) I think if I reread this one, I’d probably shed a couple tears. This book hits a little different because it’s constantly asking the question, "how are you,” and you find yourself answering with just "fine", or "I’m ok” just like Annabel, the main character. It reinforces the power of truth and the importance of using your voice, and I really do recommend it. 

This Lullaby: This one sets itself apart from the rest because the main character, Remy, is basically a complete bitch. She radiates bad bitch energy and speaks to the cynic in all of us. She doesn’t believe in everlasting love so she’s always breaking up with her boyfriends after a certain period of time, but it really is just a lot of fun to read about Dexter who really starts to get under her skin. 

Lock and Key: Okay, this is also one of the more popular books that typically hit people’s top five Sarah Dessen books but I’m trying to remember what exactly happened during this book without reading the reviews LOL. Standard damaged girl that gets thrown into a rich kid school (drastically different from her previous school) and meets the literal boy next door that has a terrible father. I’m just putting it on here because people tend to like it, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite.

The Rest of the Story: The Rest of the Story is her most recent novel and I think it comes closest to being like her pre-2010 works. It’s standard going away for the summer and finding yourself again but I really like the way this one tackled family estrangement and addiction without being a total downer. It kept the tension up because you just wanted Saylor (the main character) to remember the memories she was forgetting and going on that journey with her and working to understand where everyone’s coming from does result in a really good book. 

Okay so after Along for the Ride (2009), I didn’t find myself that attached to any of her books outside of the Rest of the Story. What Happened to Goodbye, Once and For All, Saint Anything, the Moon and More were all pretty lukewarm for me. I did read them and for the most part enjoyed them but I wouldn’t recommend any of them over the ones I listed above.