#Was that last one really necessary

[korkorali]

I think the worst bit for me about all Those Sorts (you know the type) of fics is that they always take Della extremely out of character in order to make her the 'antagonist.'

And that sucks because it's just not necessary! It's the worst because you can have Della & Louie angst where Della's the 'antagonist,' and it's in-character.

You just have to have Louie be wrong in the end (kind of).

The reason why Della and Louie clash in Timephoon and Glomtales! isn't because Della 'disapproves of scheming in entirety' or something, it's because she's done the same goddamn thing as him.

(And side note- Timephoon is honestly an amazing piece of storytelling, because it allows us to see Della's thought process for taking the Spear of Selene by showing us Louie doing pretty much the same thing.)

She's been through it all before, and she knows how it ends.

And that fucking terrifies her! The idea that one of her kids is making the same mistakes as her, could go through the same thing as she did, and she's the only one who can see it, is terrifying.

The way to start out a story like this is simple; have an adventure go wrong. Not in a deadly way, not in a way that's caused by Louie (at least, not that anyone but him notices), not in a way that costs anyone their life- but in a way that causes them to lose the treasure. The adventure is a failure, and they have to come back empty handed, like New Gods on the Block.

Maybe some people get hurt, maybe it's vaguely Louie's fault (and even then- it'd be better if it wasn't even his fault, it's just his brain connecting patterns where there aren't any), but the most important part is that they don't get the treasure, and it's like- one of those ones that can only be found once every hundred years or something.

Louie feels responsible (I mean all of the kids do, but as it'd be a Louie story he'd be the one focused on) and upset that they want to all that trouble and don't have anything to show for it, so he tries to figure out some way to go on the adventure again.

Turns out, after a bit of research, there is a way to get to the treasure again! Louie brings it to Scrooge's attention excitedly- but Scrooge turns it down. Says it's too dangerous, that they're not doing it, end of story.

...Not end of story- everyone's still obviously miserable. So Louie decides that 'okay, if it's 'too dangerous,' then I'll just go in secret. It'll be fine, Scrooge is just overreacting.'

So he starts trying to put a plan into place to get the treasure in secret- but Della, somehow, seems to know what he's doing (hint: it's because she knows what she'd do if she was in Louie's shoes). And is consistently getting in his way.

And there you go- a perfect setup to have Della consistently and purposefully stepping on Louie's toes, getting in his way, trying to stop him from doing things, and it's even in-character! It'd probably start out with the two acting like everything's perfectly hunky-dory, even though both of them know that the other knows that they know that the other knows why they did this one thing.

As plans get deeper, it'd escalate to Della trying to actively call Louie out, but he always manages to just barely weasel his way out of it, and eventually commence his plan.

It obviously goes wrong. But Della's there to help. And finally she'd actually explain why the fuck she's been something of a thorn in his side for the past few weeks, why it seems like she knows what he's thinking: because she does.

Because she's been through the same thing.

Because she fucked up, and left her stranded on the moon for ten years, and she does not want that for her kid. (And of course everything could've been solved if she'd just sat down and talked to Louie about that at the onset, but it's Della- she only likes to bring up the moon when it's funny. She would've thought 'nah it's fine, I can handle this, I don't need to bare my soul, I shouldn't burden anyone with that' without realizing that oh yeah, no, that's the exact same thought process she doesn't want Louie to think)

And of course they'd argue, because it'd be a high-stress situation and neither of them would have the composure to pretend that everything's alright and they haven't been sniping at each other for the past week or so, and eventually it'd finally come up; eventually, they'd finally bring up that they thought the exact same thing when Louie did this, when Louie took the Timetub, when Della took the Spear.

'...And if anything goes wrong, at least I'm the only one who'll get hurt.' (Because you cannot tell me that that was not the last thought running through both of their heads when they took the timetub/Spear of Selene, you cannot convince me that they didn't think they were doing right by their families in that moment, that they hadn't done their due diligence and minimized risk down to one person.)

And Louie wouldn't understand, because he did the right thing. He minimized risk, he made sure nobody else would get hurt. But that's wrong- because if he got hurt, then Della (Donald, Scrooge, their family, her kids) would get hurt too. That they could fly into a vacuum all they wanted, but at the end of the day, they still didn't exist in one.

Eventually, they'd get out of there and abandon the mission again. Maybe they'd succeed, but probably not. But that's not important- what'd be important is that they were both safe and alive and okay.

There- a Della & Louie thing, extremely angsty, well Della as the 'antagonist,' and it's all in-character. Easy.

#ducktales #dt17 #della duck #louie duck #the 'adventure that can only be done every hundred years with one extremely dangerous exception' can obviously be interchanged with a lot #all that's really necessary is that louie has a plan that he thinks is good for everyone #(and in order to make it good for everyone he does his best to make sure that he's the only one who'd get affected by it should it go wrong #and Della gets underfoot and messes with everything consistently and frustratingly without explaining anything for the longest time #(because she's terrible about actually opening up about the fact that yeah no she's fucked up) #(and she doesn't want to force that onto her kids or acknowledge it at all- at least if it's not a joke) #because she knows exactly what he's doing because it's what she'd do #and she knows what happened the last time she pulled that sort of stunt

[murkybu]

80s etho

+ he looks cool, is not

#the design is not really that different from the normal one #longer hair #no red eye #no emoticon headband #also yea that last drawing is referenced from the coraline's dad pic lol #literally nobody was going to notice but i changed the computer from the ref to an actual 80s computer #for my sake #the keep reading cut off's not really necessary but for some reason i hate making posts that take up more than a screenful of space lol #80s au #etho #ethoslab #hermitblr #hermitcraft

[vamp-a-day]

day 31

Just 8 drinks Maybe I’ve lost count? I can’t remember the night, what I drank, or the amount. I’m fading in and out my very consciousness is crumbling.

#cw alcohol #cw vomit #it's just wine dw #cookie run #vampire cookie #vampire cookie daily #sparkling cookie #juice bar regulars #herb cookie #mint choco cookie #hey i'm tellin a story ova 'ere #i also actually did something tonally appropriate with the colors here #which is big for me bc colors are my mortal enemy #figuring out how to make these bastards look flat while still having dynamic poses has been a journey too #bc like i don't care for the canon proportions but i do still like the idea of them being. y'know. cookies #i realize there are some places i fucked up but shh #i think tmr will be the last one #bc that's technically the last numerical drink and i don't think the idea i had for the day after is really necessary #since tmr will be some kind of closure regardless #but we'll see

[icewindandboringhorror]

More misc. daily life pictures and such

#image commentary in tags once again since they don't allow captions anymore and I feel weird using the alt text for that -- #1 & 2 - Very bright pretty looking sky ! #2. HUGE icicle that looked like you could kill someone with it or something.. Pulled from near a gutter on the side of a building #3. & 4 & 5 - various images from a silly party I had where I pretended to be some elf king turning like 204 years old lol (also not like #a REAL party. Only my roommates were there really and we're all in the same household bubble. #just to clarify. I would never dare have a large party anyway given #my hermitous nature but on top of that.. didn't want there to be some implication that I'm having a Party while covid is still ongoing lol. #NEVER.. But I do love dressing up as some fantasy character so much.. The only thing that could ever bring a true hermit wizard #to engage with others socially is the prospect of connecting it somehow to fantasy worlds and costumes lol. One must simply dress up #as a silly 200 year old man from time to time and pretend you've never seen a balloon before in your life. etc. #6. bapy boye... feets #7. The main food that I made for the elderly elf man 'party'. which was a Deconstructed Beef Wellington (kind of as ajoke since I watch s #o many silly cooking competition shows and they always make stuff 'deconstructed' at the last minute when under time limits or whatever.) #I've wanted to make beef wellington a few times but Ithink to do it well I'd need like..an actual kitchen and a lot of time and #an oven that fully works to bake things and etc. etc. So I thought this would be an easier method. A thick steak cut round to kind of mimi #c the round tenderloin or whatever it is in a wellington. instead of the puff pastry being wrapped around - I just did star shaped cut outs #of pastry and baked them and put them on top (to go with the star theme). instead of mushroom duxelles being wrapped around in pastry #its in a little circle under the steak. and instead of mustard being brushed onto the meat I made a mustard gravy sauce type of thing #Then of course asparagus on the side.. my favorite... Though I know some wellington #also has a layer of prosciutto I think. or I saw one person use crepes. I didn't feel it was necessary to incorporate that too lol #8. bapy son helping me do a giant puzzle that took me hours and I had no idea it was actually that large of a puzzle #until I started putting it together and for some reason it made me stressed by the end instead of relaxed lol.. puzzle fatigue #photo diary

[thedreadvampy]

christ almighty some people are sad fucking miseries huh

#red said #all art that is rewarded by capitalism must be actively preventing you resisting Hegemonic power abloobloobloobloo #fuck me get over yourself #is art a powerful tool for propaganda subject to corporate capture? yes #is art necessary to be human? also yes #all art carries the weight of the society it exists in. and yes revolutionary art is either buried or defanged by the power it protests #so no you're unlikely to see like. Art That Smashes The System on a large scale. the revolution will not be televised. #art is not going to change the world but art can change you. and you change the world be existing in it. #and you are changed and resonated with in ways that are many and unpredictable bc people resonate differently with different things #capitalism isn't. a conspiracy. it's an ideology and system of power. #it's human. and can we be real if there's one thing I'm learning from this EEAAO thing it's that people are really blind #to messages that fully don't land with them #capitalism isn't some infallible godking who foils your every move. art that moves you can still move you #the criticism that art which is lauded by the authorities cannot be truly anti-capitalist art is one thing #to extend that to say art which is lauded by the authorities cannot be positively meaningful AT ALL and can only be counterrevolutionary #is HOG FUCKING WILD like. first off. think about any work of art you can name from the last 1000 years. #guess what. probably a product of the patronage of power. political philosophy too. making art costs. gaining an audience costs. #we exist within a network of systems of power. even within underground and independent art scenes structures of power play in #nonetheless. we require art. #and art is not just for direct political confrontation. art is an act of connection and resonance. #never mind art that's inadequately revolutionary - art that's entirely capitalist is ALSO capable of positive political impact #because a) it acts on people. and politics. is a frame around people. the point of opposing unjust hierarchy is to achieve wellbeing #like. why are you doing politics if not for people? who is it for? for the abstract symbolism of moral purity? #and b) because art is a frame for building your sense of the world. And you bring your own stuff to that. #if you're radically inclined then reading idk les mis can leave you with the idea that revolution is futile. #or with the sense that there's deep vitality and importance to holding your ground against unjust power despite the knowledge of the odds #or with the sense that revolution is personal not political #or with the sense that the personal is metaphorical for the political and that our drive is to act against the law to protect each other #it depends what you bring to the text

[priestess-of-light]

i'm sorry but i'm convinced pb doesn't know how to write wlw sex scenes

#there are so many things that bother me so much #for one it really is not necessary for the both of them to come at the same time #i don't even understand the positions like i try to imagine it and it's so weird #the last sex scene in cop2 is so like anticlimactic? when mc is the one who's eating #playchoices #pixelberry

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

you can tell that they got to watch the episode before doing the voiceover and sometimes theyre really incredibly close to the same delivery

#which is kinda nuts #it's not Necessary i think #but it is really fun to hear #anyway ood ood ood vite vite vite <3 #that wasnt even the line that made me go 'thats crazy similar and for what' tbh #that was karvanistas line just before #literally sounds like the english but french it's impressive #unnecessary i think but impressive #but you hear it with 13 all the time too it's <33333 thank u for ur work voice actors #the translators too i mean they had to make the lines such that they can match them to the original pauses and stuff #or that one time they made chance and chance match up bc it was like. one last word after a pause in 13x4 #idk im just appreciating all the work that goes into this rn

[kakusu-shipping]

The Fight

Trying to pick up the pace a little bit, but I'm not very good at writing action so this might be a bit clunky. Please excuse me.

Mountain's Peak (Part 1)

Nepal Sanctum (Part 2)

Talk it out (Part 3)

In which we let it all out

Ramattra found his brother exactly where he expected to; Tucked away on the highest roof top of the Monastery's temples, an old withered place few monks visited simply for the egregious amount of single wide stairs clearly poorly placed by the original builders.

"Brother Mondatta is looking for you," Ramattra spoke with no worry of startling his brother, positive Zenyatta had already sensed his approach at least three levels down. The fact that he hadn't run was a good sign.

"He can look a while longer.." Zenyatta replied, relaxing from his curled up position to allow his legs to dangle over the edge of the building.

Ramattra sat himself down beside his brother, taking a moment to appreciate the view. The sun was setting, stars had started to dot the soft pink sky. From this high up, one could truly see on into forever if they desired to.

"You hit the human..." Ramattra finally pressed, giving a glance to Zenyatta, who curled back in on himself slightly.

"I did."

"You said you would only use what I taught you in self defense."

"I did not use what you taught me, dear brother. I used my fist."

Ramattra couldn't help the slight chuckle hearing his elder defend himself so sharply released. If he could still shoot back, then he couldn't be all that tore up about what he'd done.

"Mondatta will expect an apology when we finally return."

"I did nothing to him." Zenyatta once again uncurled himself, his legs once more dangling over the building's edge as he relaxed into the flow of conversation with Ramattra.

"To the human, Brother."

Zenyatta released a loud, dramatic sigh noise, clunking his head into Ramattra's shoulder. "I would rather be placed on cattle clean up for the next 7 years."

Ramattra chuckled once again, "And I would love to assist you with such chores, but that is not Mondatta's way."

"No... I suppose not..." Zenyatta's voice softened as he once more pulled his knee to his chest, placing a hand on the ground next to Ramattra for balance.

Ramattra found his hand placed gently over his brother's, keeping his sensors locked to the stars as he leaned his head atop Zenyatta's.

With the sunrise the brothers would make their way back down to the village, they'd catch Master Mondatta on his way back from his morning meditation, when the monastery is silent and the human is still asleep. Zenyatta would give his apology, and be given laundry duty in return, with Ramattra would happily assist with despite Mondatta's preaching on how one must face their misdoings on their own.

That would all come tomorrow. For tonight, the two sat peacefully on the temple roof top, hands intertwined in a painfully human way, counting stars until the sun arose the next morning.

That stare made everyone in the monastery uncomfortable. Bright red eyes that only ever saw the monks as who they were, what they had been made for, how they'd failed or succeeded at a task that had been forced upon them.

It was sickening.

Across from Zenyatta stood the human, shouldering off thick layers of cloth and robes and scarves until only one remained, tied tightly off at his waist by a cream orange cincture belt. He then removed the thick, straw woven snow boots Mondatta had made for him, stepping bare foot into the chalk drawn circle of the training area, holding his hands up in a ready pose.

He'd kept his eyes locked on Zenyatta, not in a glare of malice, or even his usual annoying fascination, but a neutral look that challenged him without words.

Ramattra's hand grabbed tightly to the back on Zenyatta's upper robe. He was shaking. He was going to stop this.

Zenyatta shoulder off his brother's grasp and the robe along with it, leaving him in only his pants and the red cloth he'd kept tied around his waist.

Stepping into the ring, Zenyatta stood wide and placed his palm against the human's, keeping their gaze locked.

"If you win, I'll leave. Permanently. And I'll tell every human I meet they're not welcome here." Emile spoke evenly, despite the rapid pulse Zenyatta could feel coming from their freezing fleshy hand.

He tilted his head in amusement, "And what will you get if you happen to win?"

This was the sort of confrontation that would usually draw this particular human to tears, so it was quiet the shock to see him hold together while speaking. "You can decide that when it happens."

'When' Zenyatta thought on, wrapping his fingers around the human's small hand. It was cold, and soft, and easily crushable in even the flimsiest of Omnic hands.

"Usually a match is called when one is forced from the ring, but that feels a touch too easy, wouldn't you agree?" The human nodded along with Zenyatta's proposal, "So we keep going until one of us taps, agreed?"

Zenyatta watch the human give a small nod once more

And then kicked them as hard as he could right in the stomach

Emile flew out of the ring, scratching to a stop along the stone flooring. He hacked and coughed, gripping onto his stomach. If he'd eaten anything for the past few days he surly would have hurled it up.

"Get up." Zenyatta spoke from the ring. The human did as commanded, pulling himself up on shaky legs. He did not glare at Zenyatta for landing the first blow, he did not look on in fear for how much stronger his opponent was, he did not bask in awe at how mighty a kick it was. He kept his neutral expression.

And that pissed Zenyatta off worse than anything else.

Blow after blow, the human continued to get back up. Even after he'd started spitting up blood. Even after his glasses were shattered on the stone ground, rendering him near blind. Even after he'd stopped being able to feet his fingers in toes in the cold and after his arm stopped moving and after his ankle had made such a horrible crack and swollen to the size of an orange.

And even after Zenyatta still stood perfectly pristine.

Emile hadn't landed a blow on his opponent. Zenyatta was starting to doubt he was even trying to. Had he even raised his hand once to the monk? Had all he done was stand there and take Zenyatta's blows?

Zenyatta clenched his fists, "Get Up." He demanded, as he had over and over again, to the human laying still on the stone before him. "Get Up and Hit Me."

Emile's form shook as he pushed himself up with only one arm, his white hair dangling before his face, tips red from his own blood. As commanded he got up on shaky legs once more and looked to Zenyatta with those red eyes that pierced into his history, a history he'd been trying so hard to ignore, to hide and run away from.

"Get up." Zenyatta demanded again after landing a hard hit right into the human's nose. It was broken for sure.

Emile did as commanded.

"Brother, that is enough-" Ramattra reached to grab Zenyatta, to put an end to this, but stopped inches away.

"It's not enough..."

The human's voice was ragged, breathless and broken and shaking. He sounded on the brink of death.. He very well might have been.

"It's not... enough...."

Blood mixed with tears down Emile's face, big wet eyes stared at Zenyatta, making the Omnic hesitate.

Ramattra wouldn't dare touch a human, but he made a motion like he was going to either way, "Human you cannot take much more, please just call it-"

"I CAN'T." Emile's voice cracked, he coughed, and took a step just to keep himself from collapsing, "I can't... it's not... enough... yet...."

The human but his hand on his wrist, and Zenyatta found himself mimicking the motion. His finger tips touched delicately at his exposed arm wire, one of many fragile pieces of himself he'd been forced to show to the world after nearly loosing his life before coming here.

He could still feel the human's cold finger tips on it...

"it's not... enough... to... ma...ke up.. for what... i..."

His body was too heavy, everything hurt, and the world was spinning.. In his last few moments of consciousness Emile braced himself for one more cold embrace from the stone steps of the battle field..

And instead found warmth...

#Emile's Writing #In which Zenyatta beats me the fuck up #Ramyatta #In the first half at least... Hinted at any way #That's the INTENTION any way they do have feelings for one another but aren't. Like. Together really #Self insert #Self insert Fanfic #Proselfship #Proship Selfship #Zenyatta #I SHOULD probably actually tag him for these.... but I don't kgdjbkgfkjg I'll get better about that #This was SUPPOSED to be the last chapter of the Nepal Youths arc with Delinquent Zenyatta buuuuuuut #We've got one more to go now and then we can stop having Delinquent Zenyatta #But sensitive fraidy cat Ramattra is staying for a few more chapters because I LOVE HER #Anyway. Thanks for reading if you did! #Sorry the fight's kind of choppy like I said I'm not good at them #But it's necessary #This is one of those things I'd bring up with modern Zenyatta that'd make him want to curl up and explode ksdfjsdk #Genji would not believe me if I told him about this

[switchcase]

Watching everyone reviewing The Final Girl Support Group fucking miss the plot by miles is astounding. It's pretty much this but every few seconds:

#Anyway I liked it #It's a bit...white feminist-y and there are a couple really weird moments of a white person trying to be racially progressive but somehow #completely missing the mark #One of the few media pieces where I completely related to the characters #It's fairly predictable but me seeing things coming from a mile away in horror is kind of a given #It is EXTREMELY dark though I was surprised one of my RA friends recommended it to me without warning about some of it first #But then again I probably wouldn't have listened so lol #I have so much of the book highlighted #This is what sparked the post last night though because the main character is very similarly paranoid/hypervigilant #Though she's really quick to shoot from the hip. But that makes sense given that act fast was necessary for her but #Is a death sentence for anything long-term

[ringneckedpheasant]

had the second worst great clips visit of my life today but thank fucking gd my hair turned out Okay despite the other horrors

#there are 2 in relatively close proximity to me & the one I like more had like 90 minute wait times #as opposed to 15 at the other place #and I knew it would be awkward & bad bc it always is at that location no matter who the stylist is #And Then It Was #stylist repeatedly misgendered me to her coworker who was giving some other guy almost an identical haircut to mine #said coworker did too despite me checking With My Name Which Is Marcus #& then she accidentally nicked my ear w the clippers #& I think she was worried abt doing it to the other ear so I had to trim around it a little when I got home #very stilted conversation which was mostly my fault and isn’t a crime #but she kept telling me I should try a specific style after she’d already started #& I was just like oh haha maybe next time. like three times over the course of 20 minutes or w/e it was #and ALSO sometimes the great clips employees do not really help you get cleaned off #I was spoiled last time the stylist gave me a dry washcloth to get all the little Bits off my face #but todays stylist just sent me out into the world after using the blow dryer for about 10 seconds #got out to my car. hair all over my face. itchy. nothing to wipe it off with. #anyway. worst time was when someone gave me an extremely incorrect haircut bc of a language barrier & I wasn’t really mad about it #but I did cry in my car after bc I felt So ugly & dysphoric #also last complaint abt this poor person #she seemed to have Very little confidence in her choice of tool and changed the guard on her clippers and what clippers she was holding #like 3x more than was necessary & I know this because I get basically the same haircut every time w very little variation #& it just made me anxious that it was going to look bad bc her behavior was #making me feel like she wasn’t very experienced w the kind of haircut I was asking for #marc.txt #last last complaint for real not abt her #her coworker who was also misgendering me cut my hair last time I was there 😔

[tennessoui]

💫, 🎈and 🧿 <3

(ask game meme)

💫what is your favorite kind of comment/feedback?

!!! has to be said i love all sorts of comments!! scream at the characters' bad decisions, just scream, write how much you want to hug the characters, tell me when you laughed, go line by line talking about what hit you the most, try to guess what's going to happen next, leave extra kudos, anything you want!!

i think the only comments i don't appreciate are the ones correcting grammar or spelling or pointing out typos - i live by the philosophy that if i give you 19k words for free and there are 100 typos and grammatical errors, then the math still works out in my favor and i have given you more good, typo-free words than typos!! so i don't really care about my misspellings.

🎈describe your style as a writer; is it fixed? does it change?

i feel like my style changes for the story!!! i try to stay away from a lot of metaphor or flowery language in general though. i guess i focus a lot on dialogue and breaking up big paragraphs with short actions or dialogue. i really want my fics to be like. understandable for the most part. i think i definitely have some heavy and dark fics with twisted reasonings and stuff, but for the most part i like that my fics are pretty easy to read and straightforward and accessible to people who don't know or care much about the details of canon !! because that's how i came careening into this fandom haha

🧿what steps do you take to not take things personally if a fic doesn't do well, or if your writing/posting/sharing experience isn't going how you'd like it to?

tbh i log off i go for a walk i paint i read a book i do my nails i take a shower etc etc there is no predicting what this fandom will like most at any given time because fanons and tropes that are popular and "in" change so frequently and so quickly. but i write for myself, what i want to write and what i find interesting, and so if i'm feeling like i'm getting into my head about ""the numbers"" of a fic, then i log off and take a break for a bit until i remember again it's all for me, babyyy

#asks #thank you!!!! #these are great questions #seriously though on the last one i both get and wish i didn't get the idea of a fic doing well #like ive seen so many creators of beautiful art or fic burn out because of an obsession with numbers #and i dont want that to happen to me #but they're hard to ignore and i get that too #but takng steps away and remindng myself that this is a labor of love and passion #and not tied to my self worth or talent or anything like that #is really important #and incredibly necessary

[another-clive-blog]

got some lame ass frenchie surname

My last name be like ☝️

#THANK YOUUUUU for the occasion to talk about one of my favorite authors <3 <3 You're a gift Anon I love you #Like. Listen his name is poetic and I personally genuinely like it. But also was the pun really necessary ?? #Your last name is already Root. WHY WOULD YOU CALL YOUR SON JEAN #Jean Racine. J'enracine ??? Like I root ?? Who thought it was a good idea to turn his name into a verb. Leave him alone !! #The pun is incredible tho (and I don't mean this in a mocking/ironic way). Certified French guy right here #Great author too ! I love his work he's definitely in my top 5 French authors <3 #My stuff #Flemme d'être français #Non Layton related

[rocksanddeadflowers]

literally throwing up, screaming, crying, covered in blood and gore, shaking, on fire- (somebody reminded me there's a live action HTTYD film in the works and it made me a little upset)

#httyd movies #how to train your dragon #please it's literally been not been five years since the last one came out is it really necessary #I understand it MIGHT be good but my hopes and expectationsare extremely low #the only thing that would make sense to me is to follow the books this time #but i just KNOW they won't #pls leave my dragons and vikings out of the consumerist mess I'm begging you we're done tale's been told #if it turns out bad it will be my avatar: the last airbender movie

[unopenablebox]

Viable Ships in Dick Francis’s Proof, based on my ~70% complete rereading:

TONY X GERARD MCGREGOR

high-class private detective

instantly obsessed with Tony

hunts him down to offer him a consultant job even though Tony doesn’t think he’s good and special enough because he knows Tony is good and special enough and so so great at knowing about wines and remembering things and deductive reasoning, the best of anyone

gets shot trying to save him from burglars but doesn’t even mind

the Only One who is sympathetic in Exactly The Right Way to unlock Tony’s tragic Dead Wife backstory

they love eating Chinese food together and admiring each other’s skills at detecting

“'Come any time,’ I said. I didn’t mean to sound lonely, but maybe that’s what he heard."

"'I enjoy your company.’ He seemed almost surprised. ‘Do you? Why?’ ‘You don’t expect too much.’ ‘Like what?’ ‘Like… er… Chinese takeaway on your knees.’ It wasn’t what I truly meant, but it would do. He made an untranslatable noise low in his throat, hearing the evasion and not agreeing with it. ‘I expect more than you think. You underestimate yourself.'"

TONY x MRS. ALEXIS

Owns a pub Tony is investigating for wine fraud, but likes him anyway just because

No Truck With Cops, But Especially Not The Stodgy And Puritanical One Tony Is Working With, Compared To How Cool Tony Obviously Is

“Smiles with reckless mischief” before using a shotgun to clear out a fireplace

All of this:

"Her gaze slid past me to rest on Ridger and still without any change of expression she said, ‘Give me a man who’ll swing from a chandelier. Give me a goddamn man.’ Her glance came back to my face, the mockery bold and strong. ‘The world’s a bloody bore.’ Her abundant hair was a dark reddish brown gleaming with good health and hair dye, and her nails were hard and long like talons. A woman of vibrating appetite who reminded me forcibly of all the species where the female crunched her husband for breakfast."

"As the high spot of the morning [being slightly shortchanged by the bartender] didn’t rate much, but one couldn’t expect a Mrs Alexis every day of the week."

"Mrs Alexis stood there, larger than life, bringing out her own sun on a wet afternoon. I shut my mouth slowly, readjusted it to a smile, and said, ‘I was coming to see you again at the first opportunity.’ ‘Were you now?’ she said, mockery in full swing. ‘So this is where our little wine merchant dwells.’ She peered about her good-humouredly, oblivious to the fact that her ‘little’ wine merchant stood a fraction under six feet himself and could at least look her levelly in the eyes. Nearly all men, I guessed, were ‘little’ to her."

"‘No, I bloody well wasn’t,’ she amended explosively. ‘I came here on purpose.’ She lifted her chin almost defiantly. ‘Does that surprise you?’ ‘Yes,’ I said truthfully. ‘I liked the look of you.’ ‘That surprises me too.’"

"She grinned, showing teeth like a shark."

"She eyed me assessingly. ‘You’re young enough to be my bloody son.’ ‘Just about.’"

"Her face lightened back into its accustomed lines. ‘Any time you’re passing, my little wine merchant, call in for dinner.’ She came with me into the storeroom to collect her trophy which she bore easily away under her arm, diving out into the drizzle with the teeth and eyes gleaming."

Not included here: every other mention of her sharp and piercing “hawk’s eyes”

Non-Viable Ships:

TONY X HIS DEAD WIFE

No personality mentioned or implied. Named traits are as follows:

Blonde

Was preferable to being alone

Warm, like all humans

Slept in a bed

Wanted kids

Named Emma

Planned house with Tony specifically for good kid bedrooms

Loved him

Fun to have sex with, though not in any specific or distinctive way, except that she was hotter before she got pregnant

Liked a candid photo from their wedding

Died tragically from wanting kids too much

Where’s the hawk-like eyes? Where’s the deep understanding of his emotional needs? Where is even one goddamned independent hobby or personal quality not present in literally any generically pleasant Wife Character? Absolutely not a viable ship, presumably ‘dies offscreen’ as a device by an unreliable narrator to conceal that she never even existed in the first place, since she alone of all characters ever mentioned in this book has no distinguishing qualities whatsoever

#i assume by posting this now im missing vital mcgregorshipping content that will show up after tony is imperiled in the last 5% of the #narrative by going somewhere dangerous in a really stupid and unprepared way #but ill update you if necessary. #box opener #bookbox #it's really amazing how francis is totally capable of writing female characters UNLESS they are a love interest in which case they #just absolutely collapse into nothing #there's even one where one of the protagonists *does* have sex with one of the distinctive and interesting middle-aged women! #but they establish that it was a one-time thing and could only ever be so she gets to keep being interesting and personable #and he wanders off to be vaguely and unconvincingly interested in a ~beautiful young woman~ with. again. no qualities #his dead wife is less distinctly sketched as a personality than the waitress who appears for two sentences in the first half only plus an #off-screen police interview! it's completely insane

[exbeaut]

Wild and Wicked Things, Francesca May

#wild and wicked things #francesca may #I’m on a sapphic book kick #like I literally bought bones and all as soon as the movie news came out #and it was delivered today #but instead I’m reading a random book bc it’s sapphic #also I just say random bc I hadn’t heard of it before it was just in the readers also enjoyed section on goodreads lol #which I found after reading the lesbianas catholic school guide? if that’s the full title Idk but I read that last night in like two hours #it was a love hate read for me bc like I knew going into it that it was very much a YA but Idk #I just can’t stand the over the top social media descriptions/mentions #like so much about tiktok?? and why like that wasn’t necessary #but anyway I did love it also tho bc was cute and nice and easy fast read #but this book rn the wild and wicked one #I’m really liking it ahhhhhhhhhh #the one character reminds me of Syd from the midnight lie so like??? #I’m in love #anyway this was a whole fucking book rant in tags sorry prob will delete later lol #OH BUT ALSO WHAT STARTED THIS KICK WAS MY WIFE UNDER THE SEA #THAT ONE WAS FIVE MILLION STARS OMG AMAZKNG #and the author Julia Armfield has another book that’s like anthology like short stories called salt slow #and that was also fucking amazing #so she got me on this manic reading kick which I’m thankful for bc my last two months were big slumps

[flash-from-the-past]

Alice Is Dead 2

#alice is dead #flash #part 2! now we're really into it #part one could seem like mostly just a darker take at alice in wonderland. now we're really into the gangster part #and the 'real' plot is truly starting to develop #i love the attention to details. files on computers you can explore. newspaper articles you can read. #and which aren't necessary to beat the game but add so much to the plot #it's also darker than part one and leaves on a pretty surreal cliffhanger #to be resolved in the last game!