#which is like. inoffensive enough i guess

[lord-squiggletits]

>be me

>looking for MegOP fics on AO3

>see fic tagged IDW1

>fic has Megatron/Optimus as the main characters

>there's only a couple other ships so I know they're going to be at least one of the main ships and not a background ship

>I click

>see the author's note

>"I tagged IDW but it's mostly continuity soup" etc etc "and archivist Orion Pax"

[pricegouge]

WIP Wednesday for accountability

Thought I'd have this posted by today but my partner's schedule has effectively ruined any chance of finishing this til I guess sunday, maybe :( so here's a peak at the alone skin one shot I'm really fucking trying to get through

There's some method to it, some reason. Pseudoscience and technobabble bullshit that went far over your head even as Reynolds yammered on over the coms. It didn't matter, not really. Not when your entire team is -

Compromised.

"And how will this help?"

Reynold's voice is croaky in your ear - probably burnt out the long string of five syllable words he'd just thrown at you. It's a struggle to hear him over all the commotion in the room next door, the deep groans of pain and frustration. Confusion. "They way he - it -."

They, you decide, trying to remember that's your team in there, somehow.

"- absorbs people… I think it's a defense mechanism. So you gotta make yourself as inoffensive as possible."

A hard feat, carrying forty kilos of weaponry and tac gear. Removing the most egregious pieces had seemed logical enough at the time, plates and straps falling away with an odd sense of relief and dread. No one ever relished keeping a full kit on another minute, but to take it off when you knew the next room held a potential hostile went against everything you'd learned since your very first days in basic. Taking it off when you knew the thing in the next room was fuck off big, fuck off angry, and had access to the weaponry of four S.A.S. officers, if not also the capabilities, was downright untenable.

Still, when your boots crunch over the broken glass of the window which separates you from your target, your tread is that much lighter. And when they turn, they do not find you armed to the teeth as they had with all the people who went in before you. It's hard to tell if this pleases them, the whole team having been dressed for a ghost mission meant each head now wore an obfuscating mask. Further, the cold eyes that stare back at you are decidedly not the varied eyes of the men you'd expected to see, each head somehow having adopted Soap's pale gaze. It lends a sense of lifelessness to them, each eye matching the cataract-cloudy irises of the head on the end. They each look like corpses, but the animated way they move toward you reminds you they are something much worse.

[pastelwitchling]

I have a question to pose to the queer community;

(Keep in mind, I'm straight, but I'm also a writer, and I like to think of myself as a good one. Feel free to disagree with anything I say, this is all only based on what I've seen and read.)

I've realized lately that there is a criminally short list of good sapphic stories, and not just in traditional publishing either. I will say that I DNFed Written in the Stars, and I've not seen the best reviews for Delilah Green Doesn't Care, and it just got me thinking that I don't know of any sapphic story that's been on the level of Red, White & Royal Blue or something.

I also read a review for Written in the Stars that said something along the lines of, "The only reason I didn't DNF this was because it was a sapphic story not about coming out, and I really need that." It kind of broke my heart a little bit, not going to lie. Now, I've had ideas for sapphic stories, one of which I'm currently working on, but it hit me that there really aren't many sapphic stories that are on the radar like RWRB or Heartstoppers. Now, I'm not saying there isn't a double standard for sapphic stories -- as I think writing interesting and likable women is trickier than writing interesting and likable men, because women have historically followed a "formula," in which we're written like:

One of the guys (not like other girls)

Manic pixie dream girl

Emotionless assassin (I love Throne of Glass, don't come for me, but you know what I mean), and now:

the adorkable quirky girl

and it's all we get now. Women are one of these four, and that's it. My favorite female characters in books are the unique ones, the ones I have not seen a million times. Writing unique women now, and I say this as a writer, is difficult because you have to be careful not to force these female characters into one of these boxes which we have so often been forced into. It's just the facts of storytelling; female characters take more work to make likable because, historically speaking, female characters are written more to pander to audiences and be blank slates than to be anything like real people that would exist in their world. In order to keep people happy, the female characters have to be totally inoffensive, and the only way to do that is follow whatever archetype is popular at the time. What happens then? All female characters end up coming out the exact same until readers get sick of it. We don't have to like it, but at some point we have to acknowledge it if we're to get more badass and unique female characters (like; Evangeline Fox from OUaBH, Kazi from Dance of Thieves, or Avery Kylie Grambs from The Inheritance Games). I think that's why it does get a little discouraging to read sapphic stories that are popular and find them so... lacking. And all because of the characters. This has been my own personal viewpoint.

So I guess my question is: have you guys also noticed the lack of good and exciting sapphic stories? Or, perhaps, the way people are more likely to settle for any sapphic story, even when it's poorly-done? Personally, I just have not found a single sapphic story so far that does not have: a) poor characters, b) a weak plot, or c) less effort put in than I've found in so many male love stories. And this is often by sapphic writers, and I just don't get it. I go into these books wanting to like them, but that's not a good enough reason for me to actually enjoy a book without any depth.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you also feel like sapphic couples get the short end of the stick? Why do you think that is?

[hannahssimblr]

Epilogue (Part 4)

We are called to our tables then, and Jude and I have been seated apart, which, although thoughtful, I’m slightly regretful of because I was enjoying our conversation, but I’m hungry enough to not be that upset about it. I sit with a miscellaneous group of Shane’s friends and their partners, with whom I make inoffensive small talk with for the duration of the meal and I try not to turn around and look at Jude, who, as I’m a bit surprised to learn, I still have an impeccable radar for. How strange that even after all this time I can pinpoint his exact location in any room. 

The speeches come next, the long, dreary speeches from the fathers who say the same things as each other and thank each other back and forth forever. Then the best man, Will, stands up and mumbles awkwardly into the microphone, accidentally or otherwise revealing that Shane has a tattoo in an undesirable place that he didn’t want anybody to know about and saying that Claire was the finest girl in the girls’ school in Tullamore, and the rest I don’t know about because I zone out and start picking at the dessert trio that I wasn’t hungry for when it first arrived. 

But when Shane stands up and takes the microphone he has my full attention. 

He clears his throat, “Well. Hello all of you, and thanks for coming here today. I know that it’s a bit bitter and cold, and they’re saying now there’s a chance that we’ll get snowed into this hotel so… I hope you’re all prepared to get cosy. Sure we have the fires blazing here and all, hot whiskeys at the bar, you’ll be grand.” Someone whoops loudly at the back for the hot whiskeys, “I just want to say, like, first and foremost, a big thank you to everyone who made it here today. I know some of youse have come from all over. I’ve got a few friends here from the Sydney Swans who’ve come all the way across the world-” The Sydney Swans cheer, “And my cousins over there on table four have come from the south of France, and obviously then we’ve people from England, America, Italy as well… Just, thanks for making the journey lads, it means a lot to me, and I know it means a lot to my new wife too,” He smiles down at Claire who smiles lovingly back.

“Lads, I’m not going to lie, I don’t like public speaking. I never really did, even like, when I had to be on the telly and all that, I never liked it, so I’m going to keep it brief and just say that… I’m a bit, like, overwhelmed by emotions here. It’s rare that you get all of your favourite people all together in one room, and it’s really special because you all get to witness the best moment of my life, and you get to be here as I’m marrying the most amazing person I’ve ever known in my life.

“When I first met Claire she was seventeen, and when I saw her I thought… jaysus, like, she’s pretty unreal. If you’d told me then that that gorgeous girl would have followed me across the world and back and married me at the end of it I’d have told you you were cracked. But like, here we are lads. Our house in Tullamore is coming along now, we’re in the last couple of weeks of construction and I hope that by the time we’re back from Bali that we can move in and have the absolute dream home for the two of us-” He pauses, “Oh, sorry, did I say two? I meant the three of us.”

I almost knock over my water glass as I whirl around to find Jude’s eyes across the room, my mouth hanging open, “she’s pregnant?” I mouth, and he laughs at my face and shrugs, “I guess,” he mouths back. The whole room erupts into cheers and as I burst into tears again I don’t even bother trying to stop it. 

“So,” Shane raises his champagne glass to the room, “To all of ye, for coming out, to my beautiful bride Claire, and to little baby Healy, coming in May,” He smiles, a huge, wide, happy smile, “Cheers, lads.”

I find Claire in a throng of relatives afterwards and I hug her tearfully, “Claire! You’re going to be a mammy.”

“I know,” she says, “We’re so happy, it’s crazy! Like, it just kind of happened? I don’t know, everything just feels like it’s all coming together and I’m so emotional about it, God, wait-” she fans her face to try and dry her mascara, “I’m very emotional, excuse me.”

“You’re allowed to be, it’s so exciting and so special.”

“The only thing is that I’ve been so bloody sick, I just puke and puke and puke… and then I sleep and sleep.”

I shrug, “That’s allowed.”

“Do you think it’d be absolutely awful if I left my own wedding early to go to bed?”

“What, like now?”

“No, but at like, ten. I’m just so sleepy.”

“You can do whatever you want to,” I point out, “it’s your wedding, and the party will go on.”

“Can you imagine if we really did get trapped at this hotel for days?” She says, “Wouldn’t that be mad? Do you think we will?”

“Would it really be the worst thing?” I wonder as Jude crosses my eyeline, “I’m so busy with work back in London, I’d really just love an excuse to not do it.”

“Fair enough,” she says, and then her attention is pulled away by a relative who wants to congratulate her, so I leave her be and wander the room until I accidentally find him again at the bar. 

“Did you follow me over here?” He wants to know.

“No, I’m just getting a hot whiskey.”

“Actually you’ve inspired me, I’ve just ordered one for myself,” The barman puts it in front of him. “But I don’t think I can hold whiskey as well as you apparently can, so this might be interesting.”

“I seem to remember a story about you getting whiskey drunk and then kicked in the face.”

He bursts out laughing, “Oh yeah, I was crazy back then,” and I glance at his right eyebrow to find, to my utter delight, the scar still perfectly visible, and it makes me feel warm all over, because even though there are new and different things about him, the scar still remains as a memory, like proof that it all ready did happen. 

“So Evie,” He says, and I take my drink from the counter to stir it up, “Are you here alone tonight?”

I glance over one shoulder and then the other, “I think so.”

He takes a sip from his whiskey and his eyes flit not-so-subtly to my left hand, and a laugh bubbles out through my lips. “Are you checking me for a wedding ring?”

“No.”

“Yes you are! Why would you do a thing like that?”

A shrug, “You never know.”

“I’m only thirty, I’m too young.”

He laughs, “Come on, it’s hard to deny that we’re of marriageable age, don’t you think? I’m attending at least five weddings a year these days.”

“Well then why aren’t you married? What’s a perfectly eligible, thirty two year old red blooded American male still doing on the market?”

“What a question. I’m not sure how I feel about marriage.”

“No?”

“Nah, it’s like, my parents are divorced now and happier than ever. I look at them and I think about how stupid they were for being together in the first place, I mean, completely weird, dumb behaviour. I suppose I just haven’t been in a relationship lately where I’ve thought ‘yeah, this is for life’. You know what I mean?”

“Mm, you’re still searching for something.”

So am I. 

We make our way over to a pair of empty seats at a table, moving other peoples bags and coats out of the way. “I’m not sure what I want,” He admits, “It’s weird. I’ll meet a woman and she’s great, smart and funny and beautiful, and after a little while I’m just not in it anymore.”

“That’s not like you. When I knew you, you were the king of long term relationships.”

“I think that I was the same in most of those too, and I stayed because I thought that’s what you had to do. For some reason breaking up was never an option, like the idea of being alone was worse than the idea of being unhappy in a relationship. I always thought I’d be okay as long as I didn’t ever have to be on my own,” He shifts in his seat, “You know in my whole life I’ve only ever had one girlfriend who I thought I’d marry?”

“Hm, lucky girl, whoever she is.”

He smiles, “How’s dating in London?”

“Oh, horrendous. What’s it like in LA?”

“Worse.”

I sigh, “You know, I just feel so old when I talk about it, but the apps, they’re awful. I swear I’ve hardly met a normal man through any of them, and if someone seems close to okay then they just ghost you after two dates, it’s infuriating.”

He shrugs, “Yeah, same in LA. It’s the curse of a big city, you know? Choice paralysis. There’s always the promise of someone better just a few swipes away.”

“Nobody would ever do better than us though, would they?”

“God, no,” He grins and starts absently folding a napkin in front of him, “I miss the old way, honestly, where we’d all go out into bars and stand around awkwardly hoping that the person you liked might like you back, or at least make prolonged eye contact with you so you could go over and have the most excruciating conversation that you’ve ever had in your life.”

“And then leave humiliated? Yes, I miss it too.”

“Fuck the apps,” he says, and I laugh at the way he says it, glancing around with paranoia like it’s become illegal to say it, he leans in a little closer, “I’m saying it, fuck them. Fuck Hinge.”

“Fuck them all,” I agree, “Tell me about your worst dating experiences.”

“Oh my god, we don’t have to go there.”

“No, come on, I want to know.”

“Fine, but you go first.”

Beginning // Prev // Next

[spandexual]

Hello! It’s me again ☺️☺️☺️ Annoyingly always somewhere out there, lol.

Went to smell perfume yesterday, and just wanted to ask whether you ever tried The Oud Affair by Vilhelm Parfumerie. TBH, it doesn’t even really have oud (but I also don’t remember how it smells, lolp, trust the assistant who helped me on this) but it has tobacco which was very nice. I never tried it in perfume before but it was really nice 🥺 I was scared it would just give cigarettes on a heavy smoker, but since it was sweeter I guess it worked out for me. The drydown is absolutely terrible though, OMG, I guess that’s how it is with stuff like this but it smelled shitty, lol. So wanted to learn whether you know anything.

Any updates on perfume side of things (not recs, just life)?

Also ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE is for the books. You look amazing today (?), outfit is great just like always 👍

You're never annoying, don't say that!!! I always enjoy your messages!

I really love tobacco in perfume, it's becoming a bit more popular lately. A lot of people are indeed worried about a cigarette smell but if you've ever smelled a high quality cigar, they do actually smell very lovely and almost chocolatey! It's really nice paired with vanilla and tonka bean and other "warm" scents, though oud would have been a little much I think unless you were someone who really likes both of those scents. Tobacco Vanille is a very very very popular fragrance for a reason. Very sweet and warm but still a bit sophisticated and mysterious, so yummy!! A little overpowering, but it's more reason to save it for nights out and special occasions instead of using it as a daily driver.

Speaking of daily drivers and tobacco scents, I've recently started wearing Tabarome Millésime as a daytime scent. I'm usually suspicious of citrus because they go very sour and nasty on my skin, and I just plain don't like fougères for the most part, but a travel size was given to me as a gift and I decided to try it a bit more seriously now that the weather is warming up. Maybe I should not have been worried about the top notes, because as expected, my perfume-killer skin stripped it down quite quickly to its base notes which are a lot more up my alley. I'm still not 100% sold on it, but it's inoffensive, pleasant enough, and it suits the changing weather well. An Perfume.

Zero-One is underrated also smh I really thought reiwa rider was gonna be peak. They did miss the mark on the crazy yaois tho like why on earth did they have all that buildup of Edgy Secondary Fuwa being the only person to find Aruto funny and not have Aruto ever find that out about him. at least there was femdom fuel. party rock is in the house tonight

[doodlesandbooks]

Things I have watched on Netflix whilst (really) ill and my rating of them: 

Dungeon Meshi: 100/10 - I started watching before I was ill, its worth buying a Netflix subscription for this, its great, SungWon Cho is in it, go watch it. 

Words Bubble up Like Soda Pop: 9/10 - A feel good, sweet film about young love in a very bright summer mood 

Drifting Home: 10/10 - Adorable kids go on a harrowing adventure Ghibli style, beautiful animation, sweet story telling. The children do act like emotionally immature children but you’d expect that. I watched it twice.

Children of the Whales: 7/10 - Fun, clearly misses bits of the manga. Some characters have a fun telekinetic glowy power called 'thymia'. One of the characters really feels like the writer’s OC, which is fine, but occasionally off-putting . World building was super fun, and I really liked the character Suou.

The Orbital Children: 1/10 - I'm giving it 1 just for the fun first episode. it seemed like it would start with good world building and had cute enough animation. Don’t watch it, I sunk 6 episodes of time into it with increasing frustration. It is a complete waste of your time post the third episode. It had ant man level writing where quantum was replaced with AI, and it just got worse. I was ill enough that the quality didn't matter that much.

The Garden of Words: 5/10 - just for the animation, which was beautiful - it was a story about a 15 year old boy developing a crush on a depressed English teacher, and they become friends, he doesn’t know she’s a teacher. It leaves you constantly wondering if the studio is about to condone something illegal until the last five minutes. Its ending is unsatisfactory but also inoffensive. 

Flavours of Youth: 4/10 - It's sweet, I didn't personally enjoy it that much. There was far too much narration and it felt a bit disjointed for my tastes.

Several hours Sir David Attenborough narrated animal documentaries, 10/10 - I like watching fish, and also many other animals - this was not on Netflix

I also watched a Scoobie Do Jeprody spin off thing called Scooby Do Guess Who? or something and that was strange - can't remember where this one was.

I have been so ill.

[romanarose]

For the Longest Time: Chapter 7

William Miller x Fem!OC (Lorelei Giang)

Masterlist : Triple Frontier Masterlist :Playlist

Join my taglist!

Summary: Lorelei and runs into someone from Will's past. Later, Ben is in trouble.

Warnings: (This is a heavy one.) Bulimia, homophobia, self conscious thoughts, talk of euro-centric beauty standards, dinge drinking, puke and vomit (from the drinking, not bulimia endued), potential suicide attempt (it wasn't they just worry), mentions of "taking pills", stomach needing pumped, ER visit, risk of asphyxiation, Benny's alcoholism, Lorelei's worry of Will leaving her like her dad did.

Special thank you to @mrs-lockley for talking to me about Lorelei's character and correcting me to make sure things are more comfortable for everyone. As always, I am a white person who is trying to branch out ad not only write white characters. I want to be accurate and inoffensive, but I don't want to be colorblind. If I *ever* say something about a character that is offensive or inaccurate, please do not hesitate to reach out and correct me. I want to make sure I have a safe space for all my readers.

************************

Lorelei was going to kill Jana.

Not actually, her intention was nice. But did she have to suggest getting a massage when their fairly small town only had so many massage therapists, and one of which was Will’s ex-fiance.

She hadn’t purposely tried to get her; Lorelei didn’t even know her last name, just her first. Emily, and then a very polish last name she hadn’t been able to memorize in the brief sight she had. Lorelei didn’t think twice booking the appointment, not even knowing what Emily did. Hell, did she know if Emily still lived in town? When Lorelei saw her face, she recognized her. On their shopping trip, Lorelei had gotten just a bit messy and asked Laci if she had a picture of Emily. Laci, in fact, had Emily on facebook. When questioned if Will did, Laci said Will didn’t have a facebook. Smart man. 

“Why do you have his ex? Did you used to see her a lot with the guys?”

“No, they broke up year before I met Santi, but I’ve met her couple times. She came to a christmas party last year.

Lorelei’s ear’s perked up at that. “Oh. Do her and Will still talk?”

Laci smiled a cheeky smile. “Are you jealous?”

“No! I’m just curious who's going to be around my baby and if she’s gonna have a step mom.”

Shaking her head and still smiling, Laci showed Lorelei the facebook profile. Fuck, she was pretty. Really pretty. Stunning, actually. Lorelei knew she was pretty enough. She had full lips, a slim face, and up until the pregnancy had a body she was proud of. Still, she found herself constantly comparing herself to european beauty standards. Lorelei couldn’t understand it. She was proud of how she looked; brown skin, thick, dark hair, brown eyes, but sometimes she still found herself comparing her features to other women, and often the ones who fit a euro-centric mold. She didn’t want to pass these feelings onto her daughter.

Since finding out they were having a girl, Will and Lorelei talked a little bit about Lorelei’s eating after she rested.

“Listen, you can’t tell him I said this, but Benny was bulimic in high school.” Will shifted uncomfortably. “Freshman year, he hadn’t really hit puberty yet. He was short, small, was getting bullied although I didn’t really know how bad it was for a while. I thought it was just like… y’know. Teenager stuff.” It was clear he felt guilty for letting any of it happen, but Lorelei sat quietly and let him talk. “I told him he needed to get out more, that moping in his room wouldn’t do anything, join a sport. He choose wrestling, and I don’t know if you know the connection with wrestling and eating disorders, but I sure do now.”

Lorelei nodded. “Yeah, I took a course on eating disorders in undergrad. I guess I was trying to figure myself out to. We learned wrestling triggers eating disorders in men quiet often.”

“Yeah, it got pretty bad pretty fast…”

“Is he still bulimic?”

Will shook his head. “Not that I know of anyway. Far as I know, he stopped sophomore year. I made him quit wrestling and he met a… well a friend, I guess. Yeah. His friend Cam helped him a lot. They were inseparable for two years until he left. Then Ben got depressed again and started on drugs. I left that year for the army and he just. Spiraled.” Will was fidgeting, constantly fixing up items on the coffee table to align in different ways.

She couldn’t very well tell him she stalked Benny and Will through Tyler’s yearbook pictures and she knew who Cameron was. “You needed to get out, I get it. I did the same thing when I turned 18.”

“17, actually.” Will chuckled, still not looking at her. “I graduated at 17 and got my dad to sign off on it. Started basic a few weeks after graduation.”

His dad would. Through more talking, Will expressed he wanted to learn how to be of better support, to help Lorelei in a way that he felt he failed with Ben.

“We’re having a daughter, I don’t want to pass the things my mom ingrained into me into Chloe”

“I don’t either, Lore. I don’t wanna make her feel the way your dads made you feel...”

Lorelei didn’t think that was possible. He could never be cruel. Hot headed, yeah, and he’d told her how he’s acted towards Laci in the beginning, but Will was the first of them to seak therapy, and had come a long way. He would never take his pain out on a child, especially his child. Their daughter. Her bio dad… she wasn’t sure. 

It wasn’t that Lorelei though he’d leave, but she remembers her mom saying she never saw her dad leaving coming either. Being nice was easier than staying around. She was comforted by the fact Will’s whole life was her. His brother, mom, grandpa, his found family… but still, she couldn’t be sure.

Seeing Emily up close was even worse. She was in casual clothes and still looked beautiful as she greeted her cheerfully. No wonder Will loved her. She was happy, graceful, and welcoming. She bet Will called her princess.

Lorelei recognized her and realized the mistake immediately. God dammit Jana, you couldn’t let me know Will’s ex-fiance worked here? She would just have to get through this, act like she doesn’t know, pretend everything is fi-

“So what do you wanna know?” Emily said as she began on Lorelei’s neck.

“HM!?” She squeeked out, trying to sound casual. It was not working.

Emily gestured at pregnancy belly. “You’re having a baby with Will. I assume you’re here to find out about me since we were engaged. We haven't been romantically involved in almost a decade, and haven't been sexually involved for 5 years, which I’m sure he told you if you asked. I don’t want your man anymore, trust me.”

Clutching the cloth to her, Lorelei sat up, turning to the blonde. “Okay I know what it looks like!” She waited for Emily to start arguing or maybe get into a fight, but she just started back at her, curious but letting her talk. Emily seemed open to listening. “I just wanted a massage and it wasn’t even my idea it was Jana’s and you came up with good reviews so I went here and then I saw you and yes I recognized you because I found pictures of you because of course I did but I’m not here to stalk you, I’m not even dating Will!”

Emily visibly relaxed, even laughing a little bit. Her smile was warm. “It’s okay I found pictures of you too.”

Lorelei tried to calm down a bit. She was always hot tempered, but this was a different feeling. She wasn’t mad at Emily, but… anxious? Pregnancy emotions. “You… you did?”

She shrugged. “Of course. Will called me to share the news-”

“He called you?”

“Yeah, he was really excited, but really nervous. Wanted to talk to me about it. We were together for like, a decade. Sometimes he just needs someone to calm his spirals.”

Will did spiral a lot. “Have you… been talking to him recently?”

“Not much. He used to call when he was over thinking but he hasn’t done that recently. Said you calm him.”

She calmed him? Lorelei has never calmed a man in her life, outside of work. She is no man’s peace… William thought she was calming? Lorelei felt a sense of pride… she thought Will was calming too. “I don’t… I don’t think I do anything.”

“C’mon, lay down. You paid for an hour.” Gently, Emily coaxed Lorelei to lay down again and began massaging. “Sometimes he just needs someone there. Frankie is good at that too. Those two will sit in silence for 4 hours watching a game. First time they did that I walked over and asked if they were in a fight or something, they both looked really so confused.” Emily said with a laugh, and Lorelei couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, they uh… they are interesting.”

“I guess my point is, sometimes he just likes that. God know’s Benny isn’t going to calm anyone, and Santi is 5 feet of anger issues and attitude. He probably thinks of sitting with you as a love language.”

“Oh- we’re not-” Lorelei was quick to protest. “We’re not in love.”

“Sure you’re not.”

“We’re not!”

Emily laughed as she replied. “Okay, whatever you say. You’re just living with him, having his baby, spending time with his friends and family, putting up with Santi.”

Lorelei laid there for a while enjoying the pre-natal massage… she was good at what she did. No wonder Will proposed to her. Pretty, personable, and those hands… “How did you find pictures of me?”

“The same way I assume you found pictures of me. Through Laci. She posted a picture of you guys at the beach and I connected the dots. Can I ask why you are so insisted you don’t want to be with him? He’s clearly nuts about you.”

That made Lorelei’s ears perk up. Will? Nuts about her? “Huh? What’d he say?”

“Not explicit but, you know a man or as long as I’ve known Will-” Lorelei wished Emily would stop mentioning how long she’s known Will. “You can pick up on it. He was saying how much he admired you.”

He… admired her? Lorelei had never been admired before… “Huh?”

“He told me how you first met, how you weren’t afraid to put him in his place and controlled the room, how you took care of Benny, your concern for Laci… said he thinks you’ll make a beautiful mother.”

That first meeting… It's been over a year now since that day he and Laci took Benny to the ER… She recalls not liking him, thinking he was controlling, being suspicious he had hurt Laci… now she know’s he’d rather die than harm her, that he cared about Laci and Benny more than anything, that Laci’s inability to speak and her unwillingness to leave him side was not fear of him but fear of the world. Will would do anything for those two, Will would do anything for Santiago, and Frankie, for Jana and Rosie. For her.

Lorelei couldn’t stop thinking about the interaction for 2 days. She told Will she ran into Emily of course; it’d look bad if he found out from Emily. The words Emily had told her wouldn’t leave her head… there was so many ways Lorelei would describe herself, many positive, many not… but the way Will saw her, he had taken that interaction that Lorelei thought any man would find abrasive and annoying, he’d seen something beautiful in it… he thought she’d been a good mother…

It was a few days later when Lorelei got home at 3:29 AM from her night shift. She’d been taken off overnights due to the pregnancy, but tonight there was a car crash on the interstate so she stayed late to help until everyone was stabilized. It had been a hard day; she watched an 80 year old die from internal bleeding, but she spotted the signs of going into shock on preteen when the idiot Dr. Jones insisted she was perfectly fine. She could at least rest knowing she’d saved the young boy's life. 

She told Will not to wait up, but she knew he would. He always did. Lorelei texted him updates occasionally, just to ease him mind because she knew he worried, and when her last text ‘Leaving rn. Best be asleep when I get home (this is a threat)’ was read at 3:12 am, she knew she was right. Never in her entire life did she think she’d be texting a man updates on where she was, but it was different with Will. Tyler always accused her of cheating. Her parents always accused her of sleeping around. Will just wanted to know she was okay. It was nice, honestly, knowing someone was waiting for her, but also knowing that person wasn’t going to tell her she had to come home. She just came home for him. 

Home… Yeah, they had a home. She had to admit it now, she wanted him, she wanted a life with him… And goddamn did she want to fuck him again. Her vibrator had been getting the job done, but as her stomach grew, that became harder. She wanted his broad, warm body all over her, the way his mouth devoured between her legs, his hands so ready to please… he was a giver, and boy did he GIVE. God, she needed him. She’d give him the best blowjob of his life if he could just make her cum on his mouth like she did when Chloe was conceived.

Despite knowing he was up, Lorelei was surprised to see the lights on as she approached the front door. Will never left all the lights on. He left on the front porch light, then the oven light so she didn’t walk into darkness. And no, Will would not forget. He checked the lights and that any fire hazard was unplugged every night were unplugged. Multiple times… he really should get checked for OCD… 

When she walked in, she was greeted with a nice sight of Will in boxers and a white tank top, showing off his arms and a small assortment of tattoos… and also looking very, very worried as he paced the floor and looked at his phone. Lorelei thought back to the day of his dads funeral, when he opened up to her about the child abuse and how she wanted to bad to protect baby Will. She couldn’t go back in time, and maybe Lorelei wasn’t the best at comfort… It was easier in the ER, people she didn’t have to be vulnerable with… but she needed to be emotionally open if she was going to raise this little girl. Lorelei couldn’t protect Will as a child, but she can be there for him now.

“William? What’s wrong?”

Will only briefly glanced at her. “Oh, hi, sorry um… somethings up with Ben…” 

Of course it was Ben that had him up this late. “What’s going on?” She asked as she set her purse down. That was step one. Step 2 was taking off her bra, and she reached behind her back to unclasp it. Will wasn't phased, she’d been doing this for months.

“He sent me a bunch of drunk texts, they got more and more incomprehensible… I tried to call him after a while but he won’t answer.” Normally, Will would have Ben’s location just as Santi had Frankie’s before he got sober, but Alice made him stop sharing his location. In her defense, he didn’t go black out in bars anymore.

Lorelei slid off her bra straps and pulled the bra out through her shirt before tossing it into her room. “Have you called Alice?” 

“Yeah, she sends me straight to voicemail, won’t answer my texts either.” 

What’s her fucking deal? Santi had talked to Will about the fact Alice had forced Benny to cut most of his contact with Laci, who Benny had previously proudly called his best friend. Santi had hoped Will would say something to Ben, but Will took the stance that they were not Benny and Laci’s parent’s, and didn’t need to set up playdates. Lorelei had been very proud of him for setting a boundary. She liked, sometimes even loved his friends, but they all could use a few boundaries.

Will was pacing, clearly in distress and an obvious mental loop that was going to keep Will up all night. She wasn’t the best at comfort, but she could be practica. “Well, let’s go to his house.”

He stopped his pacing to look at her, and even in the shitty fluorescence his eyes were striking. She vividly remembers then staring up at her with nothing but wonder as she rode him- fuck, consentrait.

“Really? I know you’re tired-”

She waved him off. “It was a busy day, I’m pretty wired. It’ll take a few hours for me to fall asleep anyway.” She said, swollen feet throbbing in pain, feeling like she could lay down and be asleep before her head hit the pillow.

“I mean… I can do it myself. You should go rest, you need-”

Lorelei grabbed his keys. “Are you coming?”

*

“BEN!” Will shouted, banging on his door. Benny’s light was on and had car in the drive way, but no answer. “Fuck, something’s wrong, I can feel it…” He typed in Ben’s house code and entered the house. “Ben? You alright man?”

He wasn’t in the entry room or living area, but when Will rounded the corner and the kitchen came into view, the pair of legs with jeans bunched at the ankles caused his panic to spike “BEN!” Will ran to him, finding a passed out Ben in a state of undress, white underwear covering his butt, jeans at his ankles and a black shirt tangled up in his arms and face and the smell of puke permeating the air.

Will and Lorelei’s medical kicked in. Lorelei went for his shirt, knowing the puke wouldn’t help Will with his germophobia and Will set Ben into recovery position as more puke spilled out of his mouth. Not a good sign. “Ben! Ben, you need to wake up, man!” His voice croaked with emotion as he tried to wake the unconscious man.

 Lorelei dialed 911. “Is he breathing?”

He wasn’t listening. “Ben! Come on!” He pulled his brother into his arms.

“WILL!” Lorelei shouted at him as she tried to speak to the 911 operator. “If he’s not breathing, you need to do CPR!” She told the operator the emergency and the address. She declined needing CPR instruction but set the phone down still on the line in case she needed to update. “Will, he needs-”

Ben began coughing and sputtering when Will slapped his back, hard.

“Ow.” A drunk Ben mumbles, but is breathing.

“Oh thank god” Breathing a sigh of relief, Will pulls Ben in closer, burying his face in Benny’s neck. He was okay.  “Jesus, Ben! What the hell!”

Benny was still barely conscious, so they wanted to take him to the hospital anyway in case he had alcohol poisoning… Look at him better, Will could see he had a busted lips.

“Alice…” He murmurs. “She broke up with me… she…”

“We can talk later Ben, right now I need you to tell me if you’ve taken anything.”

“Mmmhphhmph” In comprehensible murmurs.

Will lightly tapped his face to get his attention, but the gesture made Benny gasp, attempting to scramble away from Will. “Hey! Hey, Ben, it’s me, it’s okay! I just need you to talk to me!”

For a moment, Benny’s eyes were wide and alert. He looked scared, and it took a lot of scare Ben… but when he saw it was Will, he relaxed. Will would take care of everything. Will would keep him safe. He always did. Ben’s eyes unfixed again.

“Pills…” then he was unconscious again, head flopping back in Will’s grasp.

That was bad. Lorelei watched as Will shouted, trying to get his attention, trying ask what fucking pills, why did he take them and so on.

“Will…” She tried to say. If he took pills, especially if he was going through a break up… knowing Benny’s past history with poor mental health, this might have been a suicide attempt. 

“Ben, please… c’mon Benny talk to me…” Will’s eyes were tearing up, and Lorelei thought she was about to watch Ben die right there. Will’s love for his brother and panic he was feeling was clouding his ability to act, and Lorelei knew she had to take action to save Ben.

“Will!” She snapped, bending over and starting to adjust Ben in Will’s grip. Ben was 6’3 and heavy with his muscle, so it was hard but Will got the message. They needed Ben to throw up the pills he took.

They get him into position, bending him over and Will puts his hand to Ben’s mouth that already has vomit… then pulls it away to wipe his hands.

“Will, you need to act now.”

“I know! I know just…” He goes to try again, getting his fingers in there but retracting and wiping his hand again. “He already threw up didn’t he?” It was not enough vomit to extract what he potentially took.

After this, they were going to have a serious talk about Will’s germophobia. She wasn’t judging him; she knew he could do it if she wasn’t there and as someone who struggled with a severe eating disorder most of her youth, Lorelei knew how painful obsessions and compulsions could be. Eating disorders and OCD are often comorbid. Anything that was strong enough to make him hesitate on life-saving treatment for his precious baby brother must be so painful… but right now, there wasn’t time for empathy. Benny could be dying.

“Move.” Lorelei knelt by Ben, her pregnant belly making it difficult but not stopping her. “You hold him, bend him over, yeah like that.”

“Lore-”

She wasn’t listening. Lorelei jammed two fingers down Benny’s throat, only briefly moving her hand to the side to allow the vomit to escape, then going back in. Her arms were covered in the disgusting solution, the extraction splattering on her legs. Lorelei saw no pills, but that didn’t necessarily mean much. When there was nothing left to throw up, the red and blue lights were at his doorstep. 

Lorelei took her light jacket and gave Ben’s bare chest a wipe down once over. “Take him to the ambulance, go with him, I’ll meet you there.”

Will scooped his baby brother up, all 6 feet of him. He turned to say something to Lorelei but she told him to go. They’d talk later. He looked guilt stricken, clearly hurt and feeling like a failure for not doing what he could. Lorelei smile softly at him and he headed out the door.

Lorelei took care of things here. 

She wasn’t really religious. Vietnam itself practiced largely folk religions, and both her parents didn’t have anything to do with the religions of their parents… she knew now this was quiet common with the second generation in immigration. Her step dad’s family was buddhist, but it was more nominally than anything, but she did enjoy the philosophy. In short, she wasn’t sure what she believed, if anything… but she hoped whatever was out there took care of Ben.

Never in her life did she imagine she’d be taking care of men like this, cleaning up a kitchen full of vomit and gross clothing, packing up a bag of essentials for both Benny and Will… if this was an attempt, Ben would be getting put on a 72 hour hold. He’d want a few books. She never thought she’d take a little time to do Ben’s dishes so that they didn’t rot while he was gone. 

But lately… it didn’t feel like she was a woman doing submissive things for a man because she was a woman and they were men. She did it because she cared about Will, and she cared about Benny. Seeing Benny like that made her sad… When she first started hanging around their group, Lorelei wouldn’t understand Laci and Santi at all. She didn’t understand how Laci could be happy in her position, so dependant on Santiago for money, cooking for him, cleaning, it all seemed so… motherly.

But as time went on, she started to see it different. Laci was largely dependant on Santi for money, yes, but Santi never held it over her. She didn’t have to ask permission for normal purchases, and bigger purchases were decided on together. She did a lot of the housework, yes, probably a majority of it, but Santi was building a whole ass addition to their house, took care of their car, mowed the lawn… And the cooking? Well, Laci loved to cook, and it wasn’t like Santi was afraid to put something together or do dishes… She understood now that the things Laci did for Santiago were not because they were expected of her as a woman, they were because she loved him, she wanted to care for him. She wanted to see Santi happy and healthy and Santi wanted the same for her.

Lorelei had never had someone outside her brother and sister she cared enough about to want to take care of them… but in this moment she realized that was Will to her, that was Ben, that was Laci and Jana and Frankie and yes, even Santi. Santi had been ready to throw hands for her at Mr. Miller’s funeral, and Lorelei would throw them right back for him.

They were a family she never thought she’d have.

Her phone chimed.

William Miller: They pumped his stomach. Benny was conscious for a while, said he hit his lip on the counter when he fell trying to undress. Says all he took was melatonin to go to sleep, I’m not sure I believe him. I hope you’re at home and asleep. Thank you for everything tonight. 

He thought she just… went home?

*Calling William Miller*

“Hello?”

“Hey, William, I didn’t go home.”

“Oh. Where are you?”

“At Ben’s? I was cleaning up and going to head over. I wouldn’t leave you both like that.”

“No, Lore it’s okay, I want you to rest-”

“I can rest later. I’m on my way now with some things for both of you. Is he awake?”

Will signed over the phone. “No, he’s out again like a light. I’m gonna stay the night here. In the morning I’m gonna try and commit him. I don’t know if he’s lying about trying to kill himself or not but I can’t risk it.”

“Okay, text me where you are and I’ll come find you. Need anything from walmart or something?”

“Clean clothes.”

“Already packed some of Ben’s for you.”

“You get me.”

*

When she arrived, Will was awake and sitting slumped on a chair, watching Ben and listening to the melodic beep of his monitors. She pulled up a chair, Will didn’t have the energy to stand and greet her, but he welcomed the warm body that slide right next to him.

“He stable?” She asked. 

“Yeah, doctors said it didn’t look like he took anything other than melatonin, but they want to monitor him over night. They said if he’s not willing to commit himself, they can’t make him.” 

Will was not happy with that. How was he supposed to sleep at all knowing Ben was like this? Even if he didn’t try to kill himself, he was clearly as a low point to be drinking so much. Fucking Alice. He knew she was a bad idea.

“He say why they broke up?”

“No, but my guess is that she’s a fucking cunt.”

Oh. “You wanna tell me why you hate her?” Lorelei coaxed his head to lay on her shoulder and he was too tired to fight it. 5 months pregnant, she was not comfortable in the shitty hospital chair, but Will needed her right now.

“She was awful to him in high school. She fucking lead the crusade on bullying him for being gay. He wasn’t even out yet but… bullies always seem to know. Knew before I did, anyway. I thought they were just being shitty.” He paused to yawn. “He had this friend, Cameron… more than a friend. It was… complicated. In 2003, everything like that was complicated. I don’t know if you remember Matthew Shepperd’s death…”

“I do. Awful.”

She felt Will nod. “Yeah, that was in 98’ and… I don’t know if Ben knew what he was back then, but I remember it having an effect on him. Our dad had some… words to say about it. Ben and him broke out into a fight over it. I wasn’t there but I came home to Ben with a split lip, just like today. He iced it with a beer can. I remember thinking I was going to spend the rest of my life trying to keep him alive… Anyway, I think the Matthew Shepperd case scared Ben real bad, so when him and Cameron started, I dunno, seeing each other, he got real secretive about it. Didn’t even tell me, and he told me everything, I thought.”

“What happened to Cameron?”

“He turned 18. He was working on the farm nearly full time. Was good at what he did, too. My dad liked him more than me and Ben” He chuckled slightly. “He wouldn’t if he knew what they were doing on the barn roof, but that’s neither here nor there. Cameron had a pretty shitty home life so when he graduated he was supposed to move into the barnhouse and work for my dad, then when Ben graduated they were going to announce they were together and leave. I didn’t know that last part for years. All I knew was the day Cameron was supposed to come, he never showed. The next day Ben went to his grandparents- who he was living with- and checked on him, they said he left home. Just up and left. It was the first time since middle school I’d seen Ben cry. Was up half the night tryna make sure he didn’t do anything to himself.” Will sighed. “He didn’t have another long term partner until Alice.”

“Why would Ben be with her if she bullied him?”

Will shrugged. He never understood Ben. Never pretended too. “Ben see’s the best in people. Our leader on Delta, Tom, he was an asshole… Ben loved him though, thought of him like a dad. And Santi… before Laci, Santi wasn’t always the nicest. Ben had a crush on Santi too.”

He could feel her laugh. “What is it about Santi that’s got everyone wrapped around their finger.”

He laughed back. “I dunno, he’s certainly not my type.” Will could feel himself drifting to sleep. He tried to stay awake. Ben needed him… but Lorelei’s touch was soothing.

“And just what is your type, William?”

He couldn’t help it. He was so fucking tired, so exhausted, he couldn’t think straight. He wished he could tell her, make her know how much he loved her, how badly he wanted to be with her… his hand reached to caress her stomach with the back of his hand, feeling where his daughter, his Chloe, was growing in the safety of the woman he loved. “Pretty, short, hot tempered brunettes, apparently.”

He couldn’t see her facial expression, or feel her body language, but he could hear her soft voice as she wrapped an arm around him, rubbing his shoulder. “Sleep, handsome. Get some rest.”

“But Ben-”

“I’ll watch Ben. You just get some sleep.”

And sleep he did.

*******************************

I'm well aware Im writing this for like. 4 people only but I DONT CARE. Lorelei is so precious to me and I will see her through! She deserves a happy life with Will and her baby

A lil bit of a confession?!?!?! either way, Lorelei is able to show up for will and her new family <3

she loves them <3 and poor benny boo...

@pimosworld @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @whatthefishh @missdictatorme @milkymoon2483 @poeedameronn@itspdameronthings @miraclesabound @babymills16 @rayslittlekitten

[goldenbloodytears]

I would really like to know more about Sam, without spoiling the plot of future projects what can you say about her and Danny in the asks 2, 3, 9, 10, 14 and 15?

Also if Sam was a character of the scream franchise which one would she be?

Send by Mx. 👍

2. How do they treat themselves when they're feeling sad?

Sam's go to is to put on Elton John (most likely Honky Chateau—I can probably write a small piece on how Rocket Man can be seen as a metaphor for gay alienation) and then probably get a big tub of ice cream going. She’s not a stranger to depressive spirals, but sad and depressed are not quite the same thing—she deals with sad a lot better than depressed I would say.

With Danny… I think he tends to bypass sad and go straight to irritated. I’m a big believer in old man Johnson toxic masculinity indoctrination, so Danny probably lowkey thinks crying is for weaklings (and women). I think he might result to trying to calm himself with a couple drinks if for some reason he can’t immediately fix the problem that is causing him to be sad/irritated… however, said combo is more likely to lower his inhibition… and that’s when you’re probably more likely to get an impromptu murder (in comparison to his more planned stories).

3. What parts of themselves do they tend to hide?

Sam tends to hide her sexuality. Or at least attempt to. She lives in a small town, and the gossip mill would surely have a field day with the local English lady reporter turning out to be a “lesbian” (because bisexuals don’t exist in 1994 /sarcasm). The result is where she’s inoffensive enough to not cause outright homophobic drama, but she’s not exactly living the best life she could be either… especially when she’s partly trying to play nice for a family that aren’t nearly as accepting as they could be.

Danny hides himself. To be clearer, I’ve been considering whether his usage of personas happen to allow him to connect with an element of himself that has long been suppressed by his old man’s teachings. This is kind of a half-baked thought that I need to think about more. It’s a bit like being a method actor, an inherent element of performance. Think about how many seemingly outgoing and over confident performers are actually rather introverted (and not just because of paparazzi hounds)… also consider how people tend to act more freely when anonymous, for good or ill. Danny hides a lot of himself, he hides his literal self as Danny, but also other elements. His sexuality just like Sam, since being a bisexual man in the 90s is just… asking for trouble. However, he’s so strongly manifested in his expected gender roles as a masculine military brat that you wouldn’t even guess he might be queer unless you went for some crazy extreme like the fact he tends to dress well on average. I don’t think his personas suddenly act flaming (just to be clear) but he’s a little bit nicer, way more talkative, a little bit goofier/nerdier and I don’t think it’s entirely an act (although he believes it is and will tell you so).

9. What are their insecurities?

Sam is insecure about many things at the start of the story. This isn’t really a plot spoiler. She’s insecure about the fact both her brothers are married with kids, she’s insecure about the fact she’s queer, she’s insecure about her relationship with her girlfriend. She’s insecure about her future in the province she was born in—quick history lesson, in 1994 Quebec proposed a provincial referendum to decide whether the citizens of Quebec largely supported the idea of Quebec becoming its own sovereign country to be voted on in 1995. There was a major divide along language lines with English speaking Quebecers largely supporting the federalist Canadian position (No) while the French-speaking Québécois generally supported the sovreignist Yes side. There was a large exodus of English speaking Quebecers from the province around this time, settling in Ontario and Alberta primarily. You had small towns with flourishing English populations suddenly lose multiple families which had lived there for generations only for the towns to become much more French. This is the situation Sam finds herself facing, working as a local English newspaper which is now struggling as a result of less readership… so honestly she’s even kinda insecure about the future of her job too, period, lol.

I think Danny’s insecurities would require a whole post of their own, however, I’ve briefly touched on one of them in question 15.

10. What are their emotional triggers?

For Sam: curiosity, fear, frustration.

For Danny: boredom, frustration, praise.

I’m not entirely sure what this question is asking so I’ve kinda listed the emotions that I think are most likely to motivate them to do something for good or worse.

14. What kind of people do they tend to gravitate towards?

Sam tends to gravitate towards people with big personalities. She’s a much more subdued person and kinda lives vicariously through them. She’s intrigued by the promise of life outside small town Quebec, so it’s very easy to get her attention with stories of travel. She has a major obsession with this random cold case that happened when she was a teenager, to the point that everyone thinks she’s a little bit weird for it, and in this way she’s also drawn to people that will put up with this particular quirk. I think you can already see where I’m going with this.

Danny, like a true confidence trickster, is drawn to people most likely to believe his bullshit. This doesn’t mean he looks for idiots, he’s still a bit of a wannabe academic blowhard in spirit and as such I think he’s still drawn to people who profess at least a bit of a braincell…. But it’s the trust element. He’s looking for people who want to believe what he says. He’s also looking for people who think he’s cool. Even if he’s Jed or persona #632.

So when taking these tendencies together, you can already kind of start to see how Danny and Sam compliment each other in terms of the people they are seeking. They’re both looking for somebody who’s going to gas them up—feed their egos and hope for the future.

15. What do they like/dislike about themselves?

Sam likes her skills as a journalist, she feels like her stubbornness is a useful trait. She wishes she was better at being more traditionally feminine. She dislikes her height, at 5’10” she towers over a lot of guys and it’s worse if she wears heels.

I feel like we all have a rough idea of what Danny “likes” about himself, so I’ll focus on what he dislikes. His emotionality. He knows he can be impulsive, and he thinks feelings like fear, anger, and sadness are not particularly useful for himself when he’s supposed to be this killer who goes around murdering in the night. If he could be a mindless killer, I’m sure he would do so.

Bonus: What character in Scream would Sam be?

Hmmm, that’s a very good question. I think I would need to do a complete series rewatch to really pin it down but I think she would kinda be a weird proxy if you were to mix Gail and Dewey together (she’s their forbidden baby). She has a lot of Gail’s tenacious journalism qualities but she’s a lot nicer, similar to Dewey. Her brother Chris is also a cop, so she’s a little bit functional to Tatum in a way.

[lemonhemlock]

I really wonder what happened with people in the last few years because it's become pretty much unbearable to be in a fandom these days. It's not the HOTD fandom that's rancid, it's most fandoms that are big enough to attract a high number of fans (I got into a different fandom recently and I swear things are just as bad, if not worse sometimes). There are always groups of people who will (morally) police everyone else for having a different interpretation of the source material, for coming up with headcanons different than their own or for shipping the wrong thing and writing the wrong type of fan fiction. And it's not that they're only targeting those who are into what is deemed problematic like fictional incest or toxic relationships, which is bad enough in itself (the targeting of people based on their preference in fiction, I mean), but I see more and more people targeted for coming up with totally inoffensive headcanons, like imagining their favorite character as a parent and being called horrible names over it. To some extent it looks like these people project themselves and their life experiences onto fictional characters so much so that whenever they are confronted with people who have different takes and history, well, they start to spiral out of control. This, and the fact that being online under anonymity gives them a lot of courage and their bully persona finally comes out. Ultimately it's just very bizarre to me that people can't simply accept the fact that others can enjoy fictional things and fictional characters in a different way and act like you're either stupid and delusional if you think differently OR you must have some hidden motives (like the ones who accuse Helaemond shippers of being secret Team Black stans who want to paint the Greens in a bad light).

this is so real, friend, every fandom is getting worse; the problems we are having here are not limited or intrinsic to asoiaf. my guess would be that participating in fandoms has switched over the years from being a super nerdy activity to being more widespread, also in relation to the proliferation of social media. in the before times, you had a few message boards and livejournal, nowadays you have so many platforms where fans can participate and more and more people have gained access to the internet. so, with an increased number of users, it goes to reason that more personality types are interacting with each other.

this is how you get so many people hung up on morality politics that want to consume media in a god-fearing way or people who go berserk when their interpretation is contradicted. the parasocial and projection aspect of media consumption has brainrotted so many people to the point where bullying and generally being nasty have become acceptable responses.

it's getting so rare to have interactions in which you can simply disagree with someone on whatever issue and have it be just be that, a difference in interpretation, no feelings hurt and then back to normal engagement! nowadays, it's like fans want to surround themselves with people who think 100% like them (which is never going to happen) and, when opinions diverge, it becomes a downright schism, instead of just a normal facet of being alive and talking to someone.

so many times i've seen fans adopt this position that if you happen to have formed a different view of an event or a character, it means you're some flavour of stupid or naive or delulu. when, in reality, the text was vague enough to support MULTIPLE interpretations and, if the writers decided to go into direction A instead of B, that's just down to luck. maybe that version simply won out in the writers' room and that's that. it doesn't amount to supporters of A having a deeper, more sophisticated level of media literacy than supporters of B, but that's the line that often gets pushed by those who feel vindicated against the "losers"

a couple more asks under the cut

Anonymous asked: You’re too nice to say it but the “helaemond vs helaegon” “ship war” was very specifically started by a few select people and it was not anyone who actually liked helaemond 😭 it’s so frustrating to see as someone who loves both ships but now you have people claiming it’s impossible or anyone who says they like helaegon and helaemond both are lying? who gets aegond in the divorce? just discourse for discourse sake when the real enemy is this show not letting helaena speak to either of her brothers (forget daeron! she probably doesn’t know he exists). I’m sure that’s enough discourse so I hope you have a great day Miss Lemon! sending you the best

seven blessings to you, anon!!! <3 i honestly wouldn't know bc i don't keep tabs on users to that degree, but anyone saying it's impossible to like both is just inventing their own reality based on arbitrary rules they dreamt up. and, completely agree, the biggest impediment both helaegon and helaemond have is that helaena is so underdeveloped and issues almost no opinions or actions of her own. what does she even think of aemond or aegon that's not simply vibes?

Anonymous asked: Oh I dunno how much you are on places like Twitter or Reddit (i hope not much because you are nice!) but there are large groups of fans who will tell you Ewan and Phia being nice about Helaemond was nothing more than fan service and nobody should care. Or that they don’t like the ship and are patronizing shippers. Nobody likes to have fun anymore 😭

you guys are so nice to me!! thank you sm anon. <3 i do go on reddit and twitter occasionally, but i can't say i scour the platforms in detail, because i don't have that kind of time or patience (also i end up annoyed by many takes, so there's also that)

but, you know, even if ewan and phia were just being nice and they don't really care, then it's because they didn't want to shit on people's harmless fun! and if they want to ship a non-canon ship for their entertainment, then it's not hurting anyone and shouldn't be made to feel shitty for no reason

but, then again, why would they say they deliberately acted with helaemond in mind? so whatever. antis coping.

[revisitedgrunt]

Wednesday

I binged Wednesday a few days ago and I'm still having thoughts about it. Thought I'd write them down in an attempt to move on.

Spoilers follow.

For the most part, I really enjoyed it. Loved almost all the characters, loved the setting, loved the mystery and loved the acting. Jenna Ortega was fantastic, as she always is and everyone else did a great job with what they had to work with.

Honestly, my only issue with it was the love triangle. I'm one of those people that felt that Wednesday shouldn't have had a love interest, let alone two. The writers could have done the correct, smart thing and not included one, but they felt the need to include two. I can only guess it's because the characters are teenagers, but with Wednesday it just felt unneeded, cliché and poorly written.  

Throughout the entire season I didn't once get the impression that Wednesday was into either boy, so I was confused when she kept agreeing to do things with Tyler, like the dance and the date. Wednesday gave off absolutely zero romantic vibes, so why not just shut it down and tell him she wasn't interested. After seeing an interview with Jenna, I think I now have an idea of what happened.

Jenna didn't want a love triangle, she was against it. Jenna said that Wednesday's primary interest was the monster and the mystery and her interest in the boys wasn't genuine but just amusement and that boys are the last thing on Wednesday's mind.

Seems to me that Jenna had a much better idea of her character than the writers did. So going to the dance and on the date were just an amusing distraction, not because Wednesday was actually into it. This at least makes sense with Wednesday's absolute non-romantic interest in the boys. I'd love to see the script. Did Jenna play it how it was written, or was Wednesday meant to actually care and Jenna decided not to play it like that?

So, the love interests. Xavier was obviously the secondary one. I found it funny that they'd met as kids and Wednesday didn't remember him. He had to tell that very specific story to get her to remember. Given that for most of the season, Wednesday thought he was the Hyde, there really wasn't any romance here. Xavier as a person seems kinda terrible. Broke up with Bianca, basically accusing her of using her powers on him when there was no evidence she did. Also asked Bianca, who still seemed into him, at the dance they went to together, to take his memories of Wednesday away. Imagine you're Bianca and how bad that would make you feel.

Looks like he's being set up as the future love interest. Jenna also has an issue with this. In another interview (she also mentions being against the love triage here) she said she'd like them to become good friends as safe, platonic friendships between men and women aren't shown often enough.

I love Jenna for having the courage to speak out like this. I feel like a lot of actors wouldn't criticise the writers, but Jenna obviously knows her worth.

Now, Tyler. For the most part, I found him to be inoffensive. Apart from the “mixed signals” scene, which was a red flag as Wednesday had given him no signals, he wasn't too bad. There also wasn't really much there, he was just a generic “nice” guy. It was funny after finding out he's the Hyde, Wednesday wasn't upset. Her only response was a one liner about the first boy she kissed being a monster. This goes back to the fact that Wednesday gave off no romantic vibes and Jenna played it as Wednesday not genuinely being into him.

I would hope he's off the board as far as love interests go. We learnt in episode 8 that he did remember what he did as the Hyde, and he enjoyed it. Given that he almost killed Eugene, one of two people Wednesday forms an actual emotional bond with, I don't see her forgiving him.

Now it's time to talk about Enid, who's the only other person Wednesday seems to actually care about at Nevermore. Their relationship also doesn't come across as romantic. However, I feel that if the writers continue to force romance onto Wednesday, this one would at least make sense.

Unlike with Tyler and Xavier, Wednesday does seem to care about Enid's thoughts and feelings. All we need to do is look at the scenes where Enid moves out and the climatic hug to confirm this. Wednesday is genuinely upset when Enid moves out, we can contrast this with scenes of Tyler and Xavier being mad and her, and her not giving a damn.

The hug is also the emotional highlight of the show and the culmination of their relationship. Wednesday has backed away from hugs in the past, but here she hugs Enid back. It's not just a pity hug either, or because Wednesday thinks Enid deserves it. She hugs Enid tightly, emotionally, while closing her eyes. This is probably the most emotional we see Wednesday all season and, unlike the Tyler kiss, this doesn’t end badly.

I also found it interesting that Enid is the one who saves Wednesday from Tyler. In a lot of stories it's the love interest who saves the main character, but here it's Enid. It's even more interesting when a bit later we see Xavier try to save Wednesday from Joseph, which fails spectacularly and results in Wednesday getting hurt.

It would be very easy to turn this from a friendship to a romance. A lot easier than establishing something with Xavier, or someone new. I also don't think they'll do this. Gough and Millar have written for shows with wlw rep, The Shannara Chronicles and Into the Badlands, but I get the impression they are pushing the Wenclair friendship and want to keep them straight. This is also stupid because the whole point of the show is about being an outcast. They even equate this with being queer with Enid's subplot about conversion camp and her parents accepting her for who she is. Many queer people still fell like outcasts and this show could do so much good in having their main character, who has so much name recognition, be actually queer.

That was a lot. If you liked the romances I'm happy for you. I do hope there's a season two as the good greatly outweighed the bad.

I see Wenclair is already a popular tag :)

[perditious]

@biomechanicaltomato

so as we know i do not think in like--words, so trying to write my mental image of someone down always takes a second at least of stalled out processing time. half-breath of recalibration, pulling the whole picture-impression to mind as best i can for rotating, as the kids say.

which is easy enough. but then the teasing out of bits and odds to serve as some sort of piecemeal summary--then the hard part. it's always going to be more implication and association than anything, you know? the better i know someone the worse (the better; the more delicious) it is. the more stuff makes them up in my head the less able i am to set it all down and baby, you're a multimedia collage.

my brain doesn't work in sound much but so much of our friendship has revolved around voice chat that i guess it isn't surprising that that's the easiest thread to tease out and follow. so, so mellow-sweet when Leia was worried about getting in trouble for throwing up. so high and delighted, arching up and filling out into bombast when something is exasperating you so much that you're opting for amused critique because the other option is screaming about the sheer stupidity.

the two different flavors of affection when you're calling dylan and emma honey. clear inoffensive chiding amusement when a dog is benignly misbehaving. and yeah i know some of it's regional but i visited you in that region and no one else had your. i don't know the right terms. tonal musicality and quickness with phrases. not the ability to articulate a thought completely but the ability to do it in a way that makes listening to you feel--i don't know. conversation with you is rewarding, and it's half because you're smarter than i am in many areas but also it's a little like reading poetry i can understand the bones of even if i don't get the meaning yet. i know there's rightness there even if it isn't mine and i know you'll let me worry at it until i understand the shape of it.

i know a lot of sensitive people and i know a lot of artistic people and i know a lot of science-minded people. i don't know a lot of people who can marry those things together and maypole-weave them around a core of moral intensity and fierce stubbornness the way you do. i know a lot of people who let themselves be hamstrung by one or the other in excess--but you are so measured, so careful and thoughtful. someone called something that i thought was just listening to my instincts proof of my objectivity today. you feel like that to me. you ensure your humors are balanced, if you will. the thinking and feeling of life all bullied into line by your refusal to let either have undue sway over the other.

you're just the most delicious listening-hearted analytically-minded clever-tongued filthy-mouthed flavor of person and if we were on a road trip with no radio i could listen to you talk about things i understand and things i don't as the fancy took you for hours without drifting or being bored. i'm very grateful that we met over the best mmorpg ever. you're a glass of shockingly cold water when i didn't realize i was thirsty. you're a delight. you improve me by permitting this proximity, baby.

i legit started this to bat my eyelashes about your collarbones and soft skin and be ridiculous and flirty and stuff but hey, here we are. love you, sweetspark!

[birdy-bird27]

Hey question, do you think disco elysium is better experienced by playing it yourself, or would watching a playthrough suffice? I'm curious, because I've been wanting to check it out, but with the funky things I've heard going on with the original creators and the people who own the game right now, I'm guessing I'd probably want to pirate it, which I haven't really done with a game before, so would it be fine to just watch a playthrough or would I be missing out on an experience if I never played it on my own for the first time?

Ohhh yess thank you for asking me! Personally I think that playing it yourself is the best choice, there are so many different variables in the game that every single playthrough can be varied, and makes it feel a bit more special.

However there are some good playthroughs to watch out there to get the general gist of the game and if those seem interesting enough you can always get the game later! Personally I like the playthrough of WoolieVersus since they seem to be the only playthrough but their series is very long. Or a nice no commentary playthrough as well that cover different routes of the game too. Honestly my only issue with most playthroughs is everyone tries to play as a normal cop and try to only pick the inoffensive options which makes it boring lol

Regarding pirating I am not sure really how to do that I got the game right before the big controversy 😭 it sucks very hard what ZAUM did kicking out the original creators. I know there are some posts floating around on how to get the game I’m not sure how up to date it is though.

Hope this helps out 😎👍 it would be very cool to get more mutuals into disco elysium

[dndeed]

Crit Role Miniature Rollout: C3E49 The Aurora Grows (no minis episode)

With Andrew Harshman

An analysis of the minis used on CR.

Episode 49 of Campaign 3 does not contain any in-game maps or miniatures. However, it does feature a break ad for the Wizkids Mighty Nein Box Set Pre-order (which has since released).

Just going to comment very briefly on these figures. I mean- like, they're fine. They seem fine.

They. Are fine.

More like The Mighty Fine, am I right folks?

Wizkid miniatures have been pretty mid for awhile now. And these are sadly the same level of fineness. It feels like most Wizkids miniatures have the production goal of "eh, good enough". Like, they are assembled, they are painted, they are ready to be used in a game. They are generally inoffensive to look at on the tabletop. But they are rather spindly, all the weapons are sorta warped, the paint is rather imprecise, and they just sorta lack character.

If I could change something about this box set, it's the scale. If these miniatures were sculpted at slightly bigger "heroic" scale, I think they would look much better. Increased scale would allow for better sculpt fidelity, more expressive poses, and better overall table presence. But I guess if I'm so concerned about those elements, I could just go buy some of the CR Sideshow statues, eh?

Wizkids can do better. They have done better in the past.

Immediately following the ad for The Mighty Nein Box Set is an ad for the Mighty Nein animated series, which ironically features some of the Campaign 2 character models. Which are far and away better than the Wizkids Mighty Nein prepaints. Though not fair to be directly compared, the juxtaposition is stark and the comparison of mini quality is not a favorable one.

On a positive note, the Mighty Nein arctic gear looks dope as all hell. It's radical to see that depicted in gaming miniature format. Love to see it.

See ya next sesh!

#critroleminiaturerollout

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #72: “We Are A Humble Factory” | July 26, 2009 - 11:30PM | S04E11

Hey guys, it’s time for 9 straight posts about Robot Chicken. Am I looking forward to it? Of course not. But I will do my best to talk about this show I hate. 

There’s a Ranma sketch with the nerd. I didn’t like it, because I hate that character and I hate that voice. There was a M.A.S.K. sketch which was inoffensive enough, mostly just that thing of doing observational jokes about how a show from your childhood didn’t make sense. It didn’t kill me but there’s a bit where it seems like they left in an audio outtake and animated to it and that made me, well, not smile, but my eyes sorta got slightly wider and I thought “hey, that was something.”. 

Then there was a sketch about the monster cereals, which I guess I have enough of a fondness for to sorta care about this, but I didn’t. It has the Creature from the Black Lagoon trying to make his own cereal and it does not work out. The last sketch worth mentioning is a Star Trek sketch about how people hate Wesley, and as much as I’d like to spitefully enjoy this sketch based purely on how much of a stupid re-re Wil Wheaton is, I simply can’t. Hey Wil click this, bitch. HAHAHA FUCK YOU. 

There’s also a Star Wars sketch in here, that I think was used in the extended version of Robot Chicken Star Wars Episode II, which is the kind of shit I usually point out on these things, so I’m doing it for this show even though I hate it. 

The worst sketch, and it’s a short one, is where a whale is given the death penalty for some kind of whale crime, so he’s sent to be beached. A woman on the beach sympathizes with the dying whale, and he says, in subtitled whale language: “come closer so I can rape you”. Because I guess the whale is a rapist. I’m not an anti-rape-joke absolutist, but that’s just so fucking gradeschool I can’t stand it.

MAIL BAG

I do think squidbillies' biggest liability might be unknown hinson. Dude ain't funny enough to anchor a show!

I would agree that he isn't funny enough to anchor a show, sure, but I do like Unknown Hinson enough to think that putting him on television is at least novel. He has his own sorta charisma, and there's not a whole lotta voices like his on TV. A singular talent, I would say. I don't think I really care that he has bad political opinions, either. He's old and weird, who cares

I only recently started watching aqua teen after a friend sent me a short story about three brothers, Franklin Donnie and Matthew who live in filth and squalor in New Jersey. It was incredibly sad and they tried to kill each other and their neighbor got raped by a dog and only after I said I enjoyed it did she drop the reveal it was aqua teen fanfiction.

That rocks. I'm not sure I believe you are telling the truth, but I'm choosing to believe it because it's just so wonderful. It's real to me, dammit.

[andresindoril]

give us the top 10 from spotify wrapped

and then like 44 or sumn

pls

So, I do not know if that was earlier this year or if that was last year, but there was a bug that made Spotify get stuck replaying two songs in a row instead of moving along with the queue. I fear #1 and #3 might be from that? That OR just Spotify's shuffle being horrid. Mind you, I am not arguing on whether or not they are good songs, just that I do not recognize them by title.

#1. I have no memory of hearing this song. It is admirably inoffensive in that I also have no memory of hearing it yesterday despite queuing it up to see what it was and then forgot to listen for it and just did not notice it go past. Queued this up while writing the post and it is not bad. But yeah, a very mellow tune, so easy for it to slip past my attention, if it got stuck in a loop.

#2. This one on the other hand, I worked hard on. Got queued up a lot.

#3. This song also does not really ring a bell, so probably was paired up with #1 during the getting stuck bug thing. I feel very similarly about this as I do about the first spot. Not bad, but I have no memory of listening to this so many times.

#4. Yeah, I probably queued this up a few times. Did not realize I would have done that enough for it to show up here though. It is a bit nostalgic, I guess.

#5. I do adore this one, so I would have enjoyed it being higher than the two songs I do not recognize, but here we are.

#6. Clearly, I finally played Bastion this year. The music was quite good. Kept the ones with vocals for my main and jams playlists. Queued this one up quite a few times, clearly.

#7. Unfortunately I learned this year that the Dragula was actually quite a small car, but it is possible that Rob Zombie had a different car in mind. Something more hearse shaped maybe.

#8. This one Spotify kept feeding me long enough that I started enjoying it a fair bit. I love Land of Talk though, so I do not blame Spotify for this maneuver.

#9. This one is a classic, which is cause enough to say that I am happy it made the top 10.

#10. OVERKILL. I think Spotify just likes assigning Motörhead into my shuffles a lot, but I am surprised this got so high, considering I have no memory of this song either. Though the repeat bug did happen more than once, so maybe this was a victim of it at a point. I did somehow end up being in the top .0005% of Motörheads listeners. I just blame their library size to my playlist size ratio and Spotify's shuffle having preferences. Oh, it is that one. Yeah, it ain't bad. Spotify does love playing this during shuffle.

10 audios per post, so I will answer #44 in a reblog.

[bengiyo]

Future Ep 1 Stray Thoughts

I liked 21 Days Theory enough that I'll give this little five-episode engineering show a fair chance. We're reprising EN of Love characters? Okay, I guess.

I thought I recognized that voice. Paula is Plai Patnicha, who played Lily in Make It Right, and appeared in UWMA as one of Pharm's seniors in the cooking club. Glad to see Tee here, too. I liked him in 21 Days Theory.

Lolwut. We establish a classic friend trio, hint about an imagined couple, and then jump forward a year? I don't remember EN of Love enough to keep up with these existing dynamics.

Okay, I at least recognize Gun and Bar from the second run of Love Mechanics.

I do hate when they don't cut out the part outro and intros on Gaga, and then hit me with a sonic wave.

Yes, Ana, take your shot with the engineer who just starts unloading his insecurities on you before he's even filled out his paperwork.

So, is Fuse not going to get his teeth cleaned??

My goodness, I am remembering how specific EN of Love felt all of a sudden. Things just seem to move very quickly.

I did NOT miss the school dating news Facebook page.

Oh, Thai BL pulps and the almost-insufferable, loud backing tracks.

I wanna support the Rookie Thailand boys, but like with Remember Me the music is driving me insane.

Like, the track stops, and you think there will be peace, and the loop just starts again. It's like being trapped in a John Mulaney joke.

It's so weird coming to this, which is sweet and inoffensive, after the constant ten weeks of angst of Love Mechanics. Hilariously Mark and Vee won't even appear because Yin and War were too good in those roles.

Despite my gripes, I do like the EN of Love weird little world. Ana seems genuinely kind.

If there's one thing mics are going to pick up, it's the crinkling of plastic bags.

Okay, so we're confirming that Fuse did least get his teeth cleaned.

Fuse gets points with me for being good with Ana's friends.

Why is everyone so pressed in this universe about everyone else's relationships? Goddamn. And he's trying to shame Ana? Fuck this dude.

Okay, I don't think I can continue, y'all. It's cute enough, but I have a headache from listening to this show.