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alltimefail-sims · 1 year

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A Bonus Strangerville Lookbook Ft. Margaret "Maggie" Pries

For better or worst, everyone in The Bay knows the Pries' eldest daughter. Few are surprised when she goes missing (considering her explosive and unpredictable history), but even fewer are surprised when her obituary is in the news less than a month later. There is one question, however, that the locals share with the grieving, reclusive Pries family: what actually happened to Maggie the night her car broke down in Strangerville?

If you're interested in more details regarding my Strangerville story, the introductory post can be found HERE. If you like this lookbook, I’d also recommend you check out the other parts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) to learn about the main characters I showcased! ♡

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[1] Hair, necklace, sweater, jeans, shoes [2] Bandana, hair, mini sweater, top, pants [3] Hair, fishnet top, dress, scrunchie, socks, boots, cigarette acc. [4] Hair, earrings, dress**, socks, purse acc. [5] Hair, necklace*, cardigan, dress, tights, shoes [6] Hair, school uniform, socks, shoes [7] Hat, top, pants [8] Necklace, shirt, shorts, tights, shoes, cigarette acc.* Eyeshadow [1][2*][3*], eyeliner (ava), blush, lipstick [shock wave & gothic kiss][2], tears*, nosebleed - bloodtw obviously, body scars

Cas poses by @helgatisha

Anything marked with a * means it’s either from the Sims Resource, Simsdom/Simsfinds, or goes through a “host” such as AdFly. Anything marked ** means it's early access but will be posted publicly.

Some up-close details because her face is cute:

Thanks to all the talented cc creators! @sentate, @kamiiri, @madlensims, @darte77, @rimings, @northernsiberiawinds, @mossylane, @mmsims, @evellsims, @christopher067, @clumsyalienn, @arethabee, @sleepingsims, @nell-le, @dallasgirl79, @vernonsvault, @aharris00britney, @pralinesims, @simgirlz, @simlikethis, @cheng-chih, @1-800-cuupid, @mellosakicc, @charonlee, @cosmiccs4, @myshunosun, @magic-bot, @daisy-pixels, @tajsiwel, @trillyke

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coraniaid · 9 months

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School Hard is, in retrospect, one of the pivotal episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In this episode, Buffy is trapped in Sunnydale High School, forced to confront one of the most significant villains the show has yet introduced; one of the most iconic and memorable of the show’s seven seasons. Somebody who, the first time he speaks to Buffy this episode, casually threatens to kill her and walks away without so much as a scratch. Somebody who we’re meant to see as an altogether different proposition than his Season 1 predecessors. Somebody whose attempts to destroy Buffy this time around are only foiled thanks to unexpected support from her mother, leaving him free to try again and again for the rest of the season.

A villain who, unlike Luke and the Annointed One and all the other Season 1 monsters of the week, actually seems to be having fun while he does his best to ruin Buffy’s life and inflict misery and torture on the population of Sunnydale. Somebody who relishes in inflicting pretty cruelty. Somebody who was originally intended to be killed off after only a few appearances, but who – thanks in no small part to his performance in episodes like this one – will instead continue to appear on the show for years to come. A character it is impossible to imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer without.

I am, of course, talking about Principal Snyder.

(Also there are some new vampires in town this episode I guess but whatever. This post isn’t about them.)

I didn’t talk about him much during my Season 1 rewatch, but I really enjoy Principal Snyder as an antagonist. I think he might actually be one of my favorite minor characters. He’s incredibly well realized from his first appearance in The Puppet Show: instantly this note perfect pastiche of a self-important petty little bully with just barely enough power to be really dangerous. The show uses him as a contrast to the other adults in Buffy’s life (Giles, Joyce) to such good effect (especially at the beginning of Season 3). And Armin Shimerman is fantastic in the role: you can see why the writers gave up on their initial idea of Sunnydale High having a whole string of different principals who got killed off every few episodes.

He’s such a well done comic character too: funny, but never slipping up and giving the impression of being in on the joke. We’re only seven episodes in, and we’ve already gotten gems like “I can smell trouble – it’s like a sixth sense.” and “What are you, ghouls? There are no dead students here. This week.”. All delivered with this perfect growling sneer and no acknowledgement at all that what he’s saying is ridiculous.

He’s just fun, in a way that I really don’t think any of Buffy’s other non-supernatural antagonists are. Yes, Buffy will continue to find the non-supernatural parts of her life hard after high school, but it’s all so impersonal after this. Other than Maggie Walsh (who is really part of the supernatural world anyway, as head of the Initiative, so barely counts), none of the bad professors she has to deal with in college are recurring characters. Neither is her bank manager, or her boss at the Doublemeat Palace, or Dawn’s security worker. (Okay, very technically her second manager at the DMP is recurring, but you know what I mean.)

Of course, being a Slayer still causes Buffy problems in her day to day life, but for whatever reason – I don’t know if it was a deliberate choice or just a result of the later seasons becoming increasingly serialized and story-arc focused - the show becomes less and less concerned with showing us that everyday life. (Is Parker the last recurring character of any importance who never finds out that Buffy is the Slayer?) And when Buffy goes back to work at the high school in Season 7, everything’s so tied up with her being the Slayer that we just don’t get the same juggling-two-lives thing anymore.

And ... well, I guess Buffy doesn't miss Snyder. I can hardly blame her. But I do.

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023 #principal snyder #they should've made Lorraine Ross a proper recurring character is what I think I'm saying here #(and the fact you had to google that name is proof that they didn't)

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thegettingbyp2 · 7 months

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Sebastian Kydd x reader

Based on the the episode where they go to the dance (season 1 episode 7) Sebastian is annoyed as he sees Carrie with George and Donna had abandoned him for some random guy, so he just sit down on his own when he sees the reader who is a similar situation as him (she’s Maggie’s sister) so he goes to talk to her and asks her to dance and the rest is up to you.

Dance with Me

Buy me a coffee :)

Sebastian let out an irritated sigh as he roughly threw himself down on the benches that were along the wall of the gym; the designated seating for those who didn’t have a date. Only, Sebastian did have a date, but she’d just left to dance with someone else because he was too busy staring at the person who he wanted to take to the dance was currently dancing with her new boyfriend.

You watched Sebastian sit down a couple of metres away from you and your brows knit together in confusion; you couldn’t think of a single reason why Sebastian Kydd of all people had any reason to sit on what was dubbed ‘the loners bench’. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from him, you’d always thought that he was attractive but there was no way you’d be able to talk to him, especially as your older sister, Maggie, was part of the group he hung around. So, when Sebastian’s head turned to look towards you, you couldn’t stop the blush rising to your cheeks as you quickly turned your head away.

‘Maggie’s sister, right?’ you heard Sebastian ask as he moved down the bench until he was sitting next to you, not close enough to touch but close enough that you had to fight the urge to close your eyes as you inhaled his aftershave.

‘Yeah, (Y/N),’ you replied, smiling awkwardly.

‘What are you doing sitting here and not out there dancing with someone?’ Sebastian asked, sounding genuinely curious.

‘I could ask the same of you.’

‘I asked first.’

You laughed lightly before turning back to him. ‘Simple really, no one asked me,’ you replied, shrugging your shoulders lightly. ‘Your turn.’

‘Well, I came with Donna but she decided that I wasn’t paying her enough attention so she’s gone off to dance with that guy over there,’ he said, gesturing with his head to the dance floor where Donna was currently grinding against some guy who was starting to look like he might be a little too into it and you couldn’t help the small giggle that left your lips. ‘But, back to you, how come no one asked you?’

‘Believe it or not, unlike my sister, I’m not that popular in my year with the guys,’ you said quietly, looking down at your shoes. ‘It doesn’t matter though, I just wanted the opportunity to dress up and come to the dance, it doesn’t matter if I actually dance or not.’

‘Well, I find that hard to believe,’ Sebastian said, inching a little closer to you, his knee brushing against your leg, causing a shiver to run up your spine. ‘You look beautiful.’

‘Thanks,’ you answered shyly, ‘you don’t look too bad yourself.’

Sebastian chuckled lightly, leaning into you slightly to nudge your shoulder. All of a sudden, you heard him take a breath before he stood up and you looked up to say goodbye, only to be shocked when you saw him standing in front of you with his hand out towards you.

‘Dance with me,’ he said, his arm still outstretched.

‘What?’ you asked, confusion lacing your tone.

‘It’s not fair that we come to the dance and don’t get to dance. Dance with me.’

Feeling bold, you reached out to gently take his hand, letting him pull you up and out onto the dance floor. His arm gently wrapped around your waist as he pulled you into him, your chests brushing against each others. As he began to slowly sway you both side to side, you couldn’t help but notice the stares that the two of you were getting from pretty much everyone in the room, and you let yourself feel smug just for that song that you were dancing with the hottest guy in school.

#austin butler #austin butler imagine #austin butler x reader #sebastian kydd #sebastian kydd x reader #sebastian kydd imagine #the carrie diaries

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draculasstrawhat · 9 days

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Cos I reblogged the accent post, I sort of want to write a bit about British accents and class based on my (admittedly brief) study of linguistics, and a sort of lifelong interest in the matter, if anyone fancies it.

It goes in to a bit of a rant, but hopefully explains why we’re such pedants about why a “British” accent being considered stick-up-the-arse posh is a misunderstanding, and why we might be a bit touchy about the bo’ul of wor’uh thing.

So, first up: accents in the UK are very much a class marker. I know that’s true everywhere, but it is really pronounced here. Because of our linguistic history, we’ve historically had enormous regional variation in accents for such a small landmass, as well as a second accent spoken by landowners regardless of geographical location. Historically, therefore, your social class could be discerned by where you were on the scale of ‘regional accent’ to ‘posh person accent’.

To an extent, this applies/applied to Scottish and Welsh accents, too. Really posh Scottish people do not have, or have a very slight Scottish accent. This is not an accident, nor something people were unaware of - I was reading a book from the 1930s recently where someone was discussing her child’s education and bemoaning his accent, saying “a touch of Perthshire is charming,” but that he’d been spending too much time with shepherds and gamekeepers, and was being essentially ‘too Scottish’.

So, because the vast majority of the Very Posh and Very Wealthy were educated at about three schools, two universities, and inhabited once social sphere, they all spoke - and were taught to speak - in the same way. The name for this accent, as I’m sure a lot of you know, is “Received Pronunciation,” or RP, and we all know what it sounds like, right?

youtube

Or do we?

What Maggie Smith (and most of the other actors there) are speaking *is* RP, but it’s not a particularly thick RP accent. Smith - because she’s a great actor and knows what she’s about - is speaking thicker RP than the others, and that’s doing the work of letting you know she’s posher and more old fashioned than anyone else she’s talking to - but still, her vowels are mostly soft and broad, her consonants clearly articulated. It is stage RP, schoolroom RP - but not from an Eton/Harrow/Westminster schoolroom. It’s the sort of accent you were taught at grammar schools, or small private schools to rid you of your regional accent.

Now, of course, if you speak like that in any normal place in in the UK, people *are* going to assume you’re posh. But it is upper middle class posh, working in the Professions posh, rather than “owns half of Buckinghamshire” posh. It’s designed for clarity - which is what people think RP is all about. But it isn’t.

RP is a shibboleth. It’s actually not a particularly clear accent, and it is designed to mark the people who know it apart from those who do not.

Here is a much thicker RP accent: https://youtu.be/mBRP-o6Q85s

(apologies for the national anthem at the start)

youtube

If you see, the vowels are a lot higher and tighter, the consonants less clearly pronounced. But it’s still fairly intelligible - Liz is public speaking here and the majority of her audience will not be RP speakers, so she’s speaking slowly and clearly, and she still wishes to be accessible and comprehensible. If you want to hear a seriously thick RP accent, it’s worth looking up some early 20th century radio broadcasts.

The difference is in the emphasis given to vowels over consonants, as well as how much you move your lips. I’m not good at writing IPA as I’ve only done a bit of linguistics, but to give an example - if you wanted to say “I am speaking clearly,” stage RP might pronounce the word “clearly” as KLEER-lee, two distinct syllables, with a clear but simple vowel sound. A sort of mid level RP might say something more like KLE-ahr-lee, giving more vocalisation to the a and the r, making it almost three syllables, although one without emphasis. Really thick RP almost pronounces it as klAR-le, with almost even emphasis between the syllables, and the stress on the ar, rather than the kl.

But although plenty of people still use it, that very thick RP accent has become almost invisible over the course of the 20th century, as part of (if I put my paranoid socialist hat on) a campaign to render invisible the hereditary privilege and enormous wealth disparity which affects pretty much every aspect of British life. Which is to say, the very small number of people who can speak with and identify each other by a thick RP accent still literally own most of the country.

Even if I’m to be a little less red, the fact is during the 20th century, it became expedient for the accepted voice of radio and television to become less that of landowners and hereditary authority, and more like that of the middle classes. Even ‘The Queen’s English’ changed, as the Queen and several politicians took elocution lessons to sound “warmer and more approachable.” At the same time, Britain had a period of unprecedented social mobility in the post-War period and - much like the American conception of “temporarily embarrassed millionaires” - there gradually emerged this cultural idea that everyone was, or perhaps could be, “middle class.”

Even as this was starting to happen, and markers of “middle class respectability” spread (especially in the South East of England) the countercultural movements of the 60s and 70s rejected this very move and identified itself with everything their parents found ‘low’ or ‘shocking’. One of the markers of this was that middle class boys from the Home Counties adopted a kind of ‘mockney’ accent, which along with the success of a handful actually working class artists meant that having a vaguely working-class, vaguely South-Eastern accent became a sign of counter cultural validity and authenticity. (All of this is, ofc, a vast oversimplification - but it’s a general trend.)

From here we have the rise of the Estuary accent. Estuary English is a vague conglomeration of RP and the accents found around the Thames Estuary. It’s neither Essex, nor London, nor Kent, but a broad mingling of the three. It is easily learned and adopted, and - as a composite accent - has none of the shibboleths of real cockney, or Essex, or RP. To speak cynically, it is an accent uniquely suited to code switching. If you have access to RP, then estuary is an accent where you can ‘choose’ how thickly you speak it, or whether you intersperse it with another accent. (An example my mum always points out, although this is a bit pre-Estuary, is in Mother’s Little Helper, Mick Jagger pronounces all his “th” as “v” - but doesn’t use a single glottle stop.)

Beyond the “clear, warm, and authoritative” idea of a mild RP accent, estuary offered a “relatable” and, more importantly, “authentic” feel. Its use as a political tool further closed the gap between people’s perception of their class (and promoted the idea of the UK as a ‘classless society, which, lol) and their actual circumstances. The wildest example of this is perhaps Victoria Beckham describing being driven to school on a Rolls Royce while claiming her family was “very working class.”

Now, Estuary English has a really complicated place in the UK especially in the way it has homogenised regional accents, but one good thing about it is that it normalises and even valorises patterns of speech that have been historically mocked, excluded, and treated as markers of poverty, criminality, and stupidity. Double negatives, the glottal stop, using a hard “ff” for “v” sounds, and a “v” for “th”, and where someone the ‘drops’ and vocalises ‘h’. I said earlier that RP was a shibboleth, and these were some of the most commonly observed tells that someone didn’t belong. Given that the vast majority of social power in England rested in the same area that the estuary accent drew its sources from, it bears a lot of similarities to the accent of the working classes in those areas - the ones most often mocked, parodied, or disparaged by those in power.

And the thing is, people still have those accents - or they have adopted the similar estuary in place of those accents - but unlike BBC talk show hosts, or politicians trying to convince you they’re a “man of the people,” these people *cannot* code switch. They have no access to RP, and their accent - despite being mainstreamed and in some ways privileged - is still used a shorthand for vulgarity and stupidity. It remains a punchline, a joke. They are still constrained by it - they can’t put it aside or mitigate it in formal situations, they can’t leverage RP to their advantage when it suits, and thereby use their actual accent as proof of “authenticity”. For them, the shibboleths remain - just (like thick RP) hidden now.

I don’t want to call it cultural appropriation, because that’s not quite the right term, but there is something very cruel in that way that - in one of the most classist and economically unequal countries in Europe - an accent which apes several working class accents has become enormously culturally privileged, but only when it is NOT used by somebody working class. And although that isn’t apparent to the casual observer - not even the people being totally shafted here - there is, I think, this broad cultural sense that we’ve been had. That we’ve been played for fools on some level it’s really difficult to quantify.

We have been told that class and accent no longer matter - but every day in our lives, they transparently *do*. So anyone hearing my “middle class vowels” will assume I’m posh, and have endless contacts and support - despite the fact I lived a lot of my adult life below the poverty line - but in any situation where being perceived as posh would get me contacts and support, it’s immediately apparent I’m not part of the Old School Tie, because I don’t talk quite right.

Or how a poor kid with an Essex accent will be told they couldn’t *possibly* be discriminated against because of their class, because that’s how all the presenters on Radio 1 talk, meanwhile whole comedy sketches are still written about how ‘ugly’ and ‘stupid’ the Essex accent sounds.

Or how an accent that is somehow globally understood to be one of power and privilege (be it RP or estuary) and can therefore be ‘punched up’ against is - at home - only ever used to punch down on us. How people who want to ‘do well’ have had regional accents beaten out of them (in some cases literally) and were granted conditional acceptance for it, while the same people who’ve owned the country since the Middle Ages got to slum it down with us, without surrendering any of their money or privilege.

It’s… complicated, okay?

[edited for typos, for there were many.]

#class #accents #long post #like seriously looooong post #and rant #but also me blithering about social stuff #I hope this is illuminating anyway

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spicymiilk · 11 months

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Work up today feeling Blegh so instead of actually writing or drawing or painting I will be teasing Crop Circles with a list of Modern Au Nocorro HC’s enjoy

- this one has been in my head forever. Spider has a septum piercing, 100%. He does all his piercings by himself in someone’s basement with the most unhygienic needles known to man and it’s a miracle and a testament to his rock hard immune system that his ears haven’t fallen off. He and Neteyam begin to bond when Neteyam (who has to try to break out of perfect first son mold) asks him to pierce his nose

- projecting here, but Neteyam is a pottery guy. He’s on the debate team and quite frankly he’s insufferable and stupid smart, but in his downtime he goes to the local ceramics studio and goes on the wheel and makes things.

- spider’s a foster kid, which inherently comes with so much trauma and problems but one of his biggest unseen ones is he’s always living life with one foot out the door

- Neteyam’s damage is absolutely his insane, balls off the wall self-management and the expectations he has for himself. He’s incredibly uptight but not in a good way, he’s just incapable of relaxing. A chronic fixer, always looking for solutions to every single persons problem

- in this AU, Neytiri is gods gift to mankind. She met Jake before he become paralyzed, and stuck through with him and practically got a second degree in nursing (her first was geophysics, our educated queen) while learning how to help

- the Sully’s begin fostering when Lo’ak and Kiri turn seven (yes, they are twins again. You can pry twins Lo’ak and Kiri out of my cold dead hands) and stop for a while after Tuk is born. They see many different sorts of children and Neytiri, who works from home, becomes AMAZING at reading kids

- Jake is the Dad ever. He’s so good. There’s something inherently soothing about his presence, and he’s a tiny bit gruff sometimes, but only on bad pain days. Otherwise, he’s instrumental to showing a bunch of kids that fathers and men could be good people. He plays with little kids and teenager fosters alike, and he religiously talks with Neytiri to find out what each kid needs

- once neteyam hits 15, he starts helping out with the younger fosters as well, as a big brother figure. Tuk teaches him a lot, so he’s able to tune in to the soft and mushy gushy part of himself to hang out with children

- he tries to employ some of these techniques with Spider, since he forgets to turn that part of himself off, and Spider thinks he’s literally insane

- Like Neteyam will slip into like baby-talk while Spider’s in the room and they make horrible, split second eye contact

- They know each other from school, and Spider used to be a grade above until he failed a year and had to repeat a year. He n Neteyam are seniors at the local high school, but run in drastically different circles

- spider is a massive loner, with like a diehard bestie who’s probably a bit of an addict or a fellow foster kid and Neteyam’s got fake friends galore, in the most stereotypical high school way. They had one project together in some English class way back when and it’s Neteyam’s only memory of Spider, but they were like 12 and Spider is drastically different now, and Neteyam can’t really reconcile with that

- go read @be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie ‘s fast food AU HC list a BUNCH of shit will pop up in this modern au

#spider socorro #neteyam #avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #spicywrites #trying so hard to say things without spoiling things #pottery neteyam came to me in a dream #it’s so perfect I can’t explain why

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strangesickness · 3 months

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i think richie tozier is really into glam metal. i think as a preteen he was really into rock n' roll because bill was really into rock n' roll, and i think bill would mostly listen to very core rock n' roll, not branch off into sub genres too much, he really appreciates the early stuff i think. but richie, at like 11 years old hears livin' on a prayer on the radio and he's immediately hooked. his parents buy him slippery when wet for his birthday and a bon jovi poster. his parents are pretty clueless about this stuff so wentworth takes him to the store so they get the right one. maggie's pretty sure bon jovi's for girls, but is just excited she isn't going to have to deal with her son playing the same three records over and over again anymore.

when richie's twelve the bon jovi poster gets moved to his door, so that it's hidden when he has it open. he feels guilty when he looks at it. it's his favorite poster though and it gets rotated around his room a lot.

when he's fourteen there's a bon jovi concert in maine and he convinces his parents to let him go so long as his sister goes with him to chaperone. it's a pretty life changing experience for him. his sister ends up really liking the music too, so thats cool. he gets a t-shirt that quickly becomes faded and soft from constant wear.

all the lights and effects and just the energy really flips a switch for him. it's not just bon jovi anymore, he's spending hours in the record store, he gets a job so he can buy a CD player, it takes a ridiculously long time to get to that point.

he also gets big into KISS because of course he does. he probably spends more time looking at the cover of his paul stanley album than he does listening to it. he may spend an unhealthy amount of time gazing longingly into paul stanley's eyes but his favorite is probably ace frehley. he has a ridiculous amount of magazines that he just got for interviews with them. this is the era of glam haircuts for richie. it takes him at least two years to figure out he actually has to style it though, so that's fun.

he tries to make his own music but he's hot garbage at it, he moves on to trying to play his favorite songs on guitar, which he also sucks at, he eventually gets desperate and tries to play on bill's mom's piano. he is swiftly removed from the household. he gets really good at singing his favorite songs though.

i'm not really going anywhere with this. richie tozier likes glam metal. it awakens something gay in him.

you can find some relevant images and some more of my commentary under the cut.

slippery when wet, the first album richie sought out on his own, and the beginning of the end of his heterosexuality.

i'm not going to say this is the poster, because i don't know enough about this stuff to confirm if this poster would've been sold around the right time. but you get the picture. ideally it would be this exact poster, but i'm not picky. i think richie comes home from school one day and looks at this poster and has a fucking. biblical experience. like it's just a normal school day, and then he just goes home, closes his bedroom door, turns around to take off his shoes, and stares this man straight in the eye and just thinks "holy shit he's beautiful" i think the poster sleeps in the closet that night.

this is the paul stanley album i'm talking about. i think this is also richie's main haircut inspiration, but it takes him years to figure out what hairspray is. lucky for him his hair is naturally curly so he didn't look too stupid, but things weren't ideal.

i think he takes a lot of style influence from various musicians, but he's never willing to part with his dear patterned button ups, so his workaround is: obnoxious button up + leather jacket as we saw in the movie.

he really likes cinderella, and feels a little betrayed when they change genre direction in the 90s. i think he sees tom keifer

wearing a lot of jewellery and decides he also wants to wear a lot of jewellery but ends up either hating it, or forgetting it, he also never convinces his parents to get his ears pierced. if he ever manages it, it's because bev did it herself, she probably screwed it up pretty bad too, and he just ends up with some pretty gnarly scaring on his right ear.

originally posted january 27th. reposted january 29th.

#none of this was influenced by me or my music taste or how i felt watching concert videos of bon jovi at eleven #just in case you were wondering #bon jovi is like earth shatteringly pretty though. i'll say that #“richie why are your walls covered in pictures of pretty and vaguely effeminate men?”#“richie why is your failed piercing scar on the right ear?”#“richie why do you have a collage of magazine cutouts of ace frehley on your wall?”#all maggie tozier at some point probably (she is confused and trying to engage with her sons interests)#it stephen king #it novel #it 2017 #it 2019 #richie tozier #maggie tozier #wentworth tozier #strange ramblings

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ofliterarynature · 4 months

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NOVEMBER 2023 WRAP UP

[ loved liked ok no thanks (reread) DNF ]

The Moonstone • Chaos Terminal • (The Raven Boys) • The Ghosts of Trappist • (Fugitive Telemetry) • From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler • The Art of Destiny • The Bell in the Fog • (Exit Strategy) • Who Goes There? • Salt Magic Skin Magic • The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up • (Dracula) • (Rogue Protocol) • The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store • The Boneshaker • The Archive Undying • (The Scorpio Races) • Camilla

Total: 18 (audiobook: 15 / ebook: 3)

I started my month off by finishing my reread of The Scorpio Races on November 1, as is right and proper :) This has consistently been my favorite of Maggie's books, and it never feels right the years that I haven't reread it. I think I hit the right method this year and rather than binging it or following a structured reread (which would be cool, if you could match the timeline of the book) I listened to the audiobook on and off throughout Oct and finished it off in one last burst one the 1st. I think this is some of Maggie's best writing, but I also admit I am no longer able to judge this one objectively and will save you all the sales pitch for now :)

The Archive Undying was...confusing. It wasn't that I couldn't follow what was happening on the sentence level or in the immediate present, but try zooming out to the larger picture and I was lost. It was hazy, very much like a fever dream. I would not be opposed to trying some of the author's other work in the future, but I have no interest in revisiting this book/series, and wouldn't really recommend.

The Boneshaker has been sitting on my bookshelf for years ever since I picked it up at a library book sale, and it's managed to survive every shelf purge since. And I'm glad it did! It's a strange MG/YA book about a girl, her bicycle, a small western town just off a crossroads, a snakeoil salesman, his medicine show, and deals with the devil. It was fascinating! I've been almost tempted to send a copy to Sydnee McElroy just for fun. I will definitely be investigating the author's other series.

The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store - I got tempted into this one because the Book Riot Podcast couldn't stop singing it's praises, and then it started making some of the year end/best of lists and... it's ok I guess? I don't really get the hype, tbh, and I got close to DNFing because it just wasn't interesting. I was at least forewarned that the "murder mystery" in the marketing was overblown, but I am here to tell you to ignore its existence completely. There is no mystery, there isn't really even a murder, and it doesn't happen until the end of the book anyway. I fully admit this was just not a book for me, and anyone who wants to read it I wish you well.

Not much to say about my Murderbot reread, other than choosing to give the audiobooks a break and rereading in a text format was an excellent choice, I really feel like I've picked up on a lot of things I didn't before, and it gives me time to think about things (I have some questions about the actual irl existence of rogue secunits, tbh). This is my second full time trough the series, and I think Exit Strategy is maybe the weakest solo link in the original quartet, but that makes me very happy to have the newer books as well. And I have to say it, FUGITIVE TELEMETRY IS BETTER IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

Dracula Daily wrapped up this month, so I'm probably not the only one to have Dracula show up on their reading list. I listened to most of it via RE: Dracula, which I appreciated so much for helping keep me on track this year. I probably won't follow along next year, but big thanks to everyone for helping me learn to enjoy a book I hated both times I had to read it for school! I'll still be percolating that Greenwing & Dart AU somewhere in the back of my mind in the meantime.

I picked up the idea of "sparking joy" from the general internet and have found it hugely helpful in letting go of things in life, so I've been meaning to pick up The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up for a while, and was finally spurred into it when I picked up a copy at goodwill. I found some actionable advice in Kondo's method, but sooo much of the book felt like a sales pitch on how following this method could fix everything wrong in your life (and I mean *everything*). It left a very bad taste in my mouth - I think a workbook or checklist could be useful, but wouldn't recommend the book itself.

Salt Magic Skin Magic is a historical fantasy with magic, adventure, and a gay romance, which is so entirely in my wheelhouse. It hit all the same points I tend to find/enjoy in KJ Charles' work, and I had such a good time reading this - no surprise, apparently she helped edit this! Thanks to the HOTE discord group for reccing this one, I'll definitely be checking out some of the author's other work!

If you didn't know, Who Goes There? is the short story that the movie The Thing was based on - which I have not seen, but I went on a brief dive into antarctic exploration/horror in anticipation of this month's book club (All the White Spaces, which I actually read for last month but that meeting got delayed) and this popped up pretty quickly. It was available from the library and short, so why not?! The beginning felt a little rough, but I would have loved to see the tension of the main plot drawn out even longer. Liked this a lot better than the actual book club book, but I don't know that I'll watch any of the adaptations.

The Bell in the Fog - Lavender House sequel! I was so glad when this was announced; I love queer books, historical books, a mystery with a lead who actually does some detecting, and a character trying to find themselves and their community? Absolute catnip for me. It also doesn't pull its punches about the violence and injustices faced by the queer community, so it's definitely a bit darker than my usual tastes and will have to try hard to make it onto my favorites list. But if the author continues to write these I will absolutely pick them up.

The Art of Destiny - bless the library for not dragging their heels on the audiobook for this sequel, but lucky me, they did finally add the first book in time for me to get them both in the same year. Unlucky me, this does not appear to be the end of this series D: third book when??? Anyway, I won't deny that these books move a little slowly, but when they move, they move. If you want a big fantasy that's diverse, funny, cartoonish but epically violent, has a cast of all ages, and centers it's story on non-romantic relationships - this is so good, come join me in wailing for a book 3 announcement.

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has lived in the back of my mind for a while as a favorite childhood book of a booklr friend who is sadly no longer on tumblr, but who I say hi to occasionally on other sites - anyways, I found a copy at goodwill and took it as a sign. This one's for you, Lourdes! If I'd found this as a kid, I probably would have reread it a lot, that's how I was too lol. For now, it was a fine read, but I don't think it'll have a lasting hold. Any fans interested in more middle grade about fine art might check out the Chasing Vermeer series by Blue Balliett.

The Ghosts of Trappist - I think it's impossible for me to not enjoy myself reading this series (NeoG), but this one was a bit of a backslide from the improvements in book 2. On one hand - a very ambitious plot, probably the least soap-operaish of the bunch, and I loved the emotional arcs (and the possible ART/murderbot reference?). On the other - over a dozen pov characters is too too many. my god. I think a tighter focus could have done a world of good, but if this is also where the series wraps up I'd be totally satisfied. I'll definitely check out the author's other series.

I admit, rereading The Scorpio Races sparked something in me and now I'm determined to set off on a full Maggie Stiefvater read/reread, starting with The Raven Boys. I really loved this when it first came out, but my interested petered out as the series progressed and I started college, and I haven't touched the spinoff yet. My impression from the first book is still that Maggie's writing is so goddam beautiful. Her sentences make me want to weep, but for me there's so much focus on the line that I'm constantly losing track of the big picture. I'm still enjoying myself, but I feel like I'm coasting a lot on nostalgia and aesthetic between moments of a story - though is it me, or does she write a lot in scenes/vignettes, rather than a constant flowing story? I've found some success in centering myself by imagining the scenes as depicted by a CW supernatural teen show of my high school years and it's quite lovely, actually - I can't believe the TV show plans got dropped and never picked up again. We'll have to see how the rest of the series goes.

Genuinely, I can't believe that I read Station Eternity earlier this year and that the sequel, Chaos Terminal, is out already. Despite liking the author's first book (Six Wakes) and normally liking the tropes they're playing with here, I did not like the first book. No idea why I read the second one then (hope?), but it was better, definitely! I still didn't like it. No idea if I'll finally call it quits on this series or get lured into another one if it gets written.

The Moonstone was an unexpected surprise! I made it to November still 2 books short on my 6 classics challenge and panicked when the first one ended up dnf'd - what if this one was bad too??? But I really should know better, give me a half decent mystery and entertaining characters, and I'll be fine. And it was epistolary! I had a good time groaning over all of the characters foibles and quirks, even if I spent the whole time just going, Hey Guys? you could avoid all of this if you just let the nice Indian men have their diamond back. Good fun if you like a mystery and have some patience.

My only DNF this month was the previously mentioned classic - from the moment I decided on a classics challenge, I knew I wanted to try something by Frances Burney given how much I liked her novel Evelina. Unfortunately for me, the only one the library had on audiobook was Camilla... and it was 37 hours long. I gave it a shot, but only made it about 3 hours in. I really do applaud Burney for her ability to create characters who are intentionally/unintentionally causing harm even if they sometimes have the best of intentions. It's absurd, truly, but I'm not in a place I can take that right now - especially since the victims were children, and it happened *repeatedly*. I think if I was to try this one again I'd need to take it slowly in small parts.

Am I horribly wrong about anything? Do you have any classics you'd recommend for next year?

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rickie-the-storyteller · 3 months

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“Notice Me, Reader!” Tag Game

Thank you very much for the tag, @mysticstarlightduck!

Rules: Share 3 (or more!) small details from your WIP that you feel have gone/will go unnoticed. (You can choose whether or not to share why the detail is significant!)

Here's some for the Steph adventures:

I’ve actually been meaning to write a detailed post about this, but Stephanie and Bret mirror each other in a lot of ways. They’re both pretty traumatised and flawed, they both crave attention and connection to a certain degree, hating the feeling of loneliness, and they both have a capacity for being quite selfish, impulsive and hedonistic (as well as being major fans of instant gratification). This is partially why their affair storyline is so significant and impactful the more you think about it (and to think, it almost wasn’t going to happen…). An example of their connection that often goes unnoticed is that their dialogue has a bit of a parallel… in the beginning of book one, Bret says something along the lines of “Grades don’t actually mean anything in the real world when you think about it.” This was back when he hated school, before his whole self growth arc and wanting to change his life for the better. And towards the end, Stephanie basically says that same exact thing, almost word for word (despite disagreeing with Bret at the start of the story). It was in the context of her and Ben contemplating leaving the country together right before sitting her final exams. There are other small examples of parallels between their two arcs and thought processes in the story, too… many of which actually existed before I even wrote their affair storyline. Perhaps it was always meant to be lol.

I tried to write my characters in a way where you can kind of tell which parent they take after more. This is one of the reasons why I have the parents and family members be such a prominent part of the story - big part of who you are stems from your environment, and this includes the people you are surrounded by. It also adds a bit of mystery to our main protagonist… Stephanie doesn’t know her parents, so we don’t know why she is the way she is (like, we even know why Bret is the way he is, despite the fact that his parents are no longer around. He remembers his parents and we get a strong sense of what they were like, and this is something we don't get with Steph). A big example of this is Elise and Adam. Elise takes after both Maggie and Paul (maybe Paul a little more than Maggie) - she shares her mother’s drive and determination (comes in handy when you’re a lawyer), and her father’s empathy and intuition (comes in handy when you’re a therapist). Adam takes after Maggie, as well as his grandmother to an extent, in terms of his natural creativity (he has a heart of gold, but he is also very stubborn and prefers to do things his way. Whenever he gets pushback, he fights harder in the opposite direction. Very much like his mother… not that Maggie would ever admit that. Good thing both of them grew out of it somewhat after becoming parents! And by that, I mean she was much worse when she was Adam’s age lol). There are other examples of this in the story, but this one’s my favourite.

I got a fair amount of inspiration from the shows I mentioned in my intro post lol (plus Gossip Girl, which wasn’t included in the post. That's where I got the secret blogger idea from. Speaking of... I was meant to reveal that to you guys ages ago. Sorry about the delay lol. Saving that for a proper future post alongside the Bretanie analysis). Especially Bojack Horseman. I don’t know if I want to elaborate on this point… I think it’s more effective if you check out the shows for yourself, and see what I mean that way. But to give a vague little example of what I mean… Stephanie is sort of in and out of the crew’s lives, and whenever she’s not around, the others tend to thrive and live relatively peaceful, normal lives. In many ways, she’s the root of a lot of their drama. She does a lot of crazy things that cause damage to a lot of people, and she wrecks a lot of her relationships beyond repair. And throughout the course of the trilogy, the main crew members often find themselves wondering whether they should stay loyal to their friend, set some boundaries with her, or cut ties and separate themselves from her completely. Kind of like in a certain show (Bojack). They all take different approaches to this, each saying a lot about them as characters (Elise, for example, decides to cut Stephanie off. May seem out of character at first, but then you remember that this is after ages and ages of being patient and understanding with Steph… as well as everyone else who has hurt her immensely in her life. That makes her choice to end her friendship with Stephanie a little more understandable… she reached her last straw in book two), but they’re all better off once they reevaluate their relationships with one another.

I didn't mean to write so much... but what can you do.

Hopefully this was interesting! This tag game is such a good idea. Inspires you to look deeper into the stories and pay attention to small but significant details.

Tagging these folks next: @gummybugg, @winterandwords, @jessicagailwrites, @dyrewrites, @harleyacoincidence, @exquisitecrow, @leisoree, @wmlittlemore-is-writing, @mjparkerwriting and @janec23.

#rickie-the-storyteller #tag game #writeblr tag game #notice me reader tag game

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thewebcomicsreview · 1 year

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Do you know of any media, webcomic or otherwise, that have the same vibe that early gunnerkrig court did? Like compelling mystery with science/fantasy elements? I miss the old comic before coyote died :(

Nan Quest

What is it: In this spiritual sequel to Ruby Quest, a goat girl electrician sets out to fix a broken fuzebox and ends up ensnared in a psychological horror conspiracy.

The Good: Much more effective use of the simple MS Paint art style, with more color and some simple animations (animated panels being marked [A], a convention Homestuck would later adopt for its [S] sound panels). The characters are better fleshed out than in Ruby Quest, and the horror is more effective as well, with less gore and more tension.

The Bad: Though used effectively, the art is still MS Paint doodles. The story mechanics behind the mystery are much more ambiguous, which can be a plus.

Content Warning: Gore, threatened sexual violence.

You should read it if: You like Ruby Quest and/or psychological horror comics that can be read in a few hours.

Everything Is Fine

What is it: Maggie and Sam are a normal married couple in a very strange world where proving your loyalty is the key to winning, and the best way to prove your loyalty is to show someone else is disloyal. And also everyone wears mascot suit cat heads all the time.

The Good: Well-written characters, a novel premise, and excellent pacing. I'm not the biggest fan of the webtoon "really tall page" format, but it's taken advantage of at times for nice transitions

The Bad: The webtoon format can be irritating, and the worldbuilding is toeing the line between "compelling mystery" and "If there were two astronauts on the moon and one shot the other wouldn't that be fucked up?"-ism.

Content Warning: Gore, Suicide themes. Every page with such content has a warning on it (which works better in Webtoon format, actually)

You should read it if: You liked the dystopian fiction fiction books you had to read in high school.

Homestuck

What is it: You fucking know what this is.

The Good: Great character writing, high production values, one of the best soundtracks of really anything. The middle section (in which mysteries are slowly uncovered), is phenomenal and justifies the comic's existence.

The Bad: Most of the really bad stuff is in the sequel, Homestuck^2, but in Act 6 the story kind of goes up its own ass with the meta, and Act 1 is also a notorious slog for most people. Homestuck is an excellent sandwich with moldy bread.

Content Warning: Gore, sexual themes, some of it has not aged well (in that it's kind of edgy, but also a lot of casual ablest slurs)

You should read it if: You like seeing weird sci-fi mysteries unfold and like reading pages and pages of mostly-good dialogue, and you're okay with the fact that after all the mysteries are revealed the comic just kind of keeps going on and on instead of ending.

#Gunnerkrigg Court #Nan Quest #Everything is Fine #Homestuck

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peachtozier · 8 months

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CONNOR, PLEASE TALK FOR HOURS ABOUT YOUR STUPID GENIUS LITTLE HEADCANONS ❤️💖💘💕

charlie you've definitely heard this one before but I do believe that richie greyed early. (he also definitely got a nose job. probably with one of his first big comedy paychecks).

went and richie, I think, look very similar. tozier men are lookalikes (richie took after maggies eyes). went has been greying around the corners of his hairline since Eddie met him, which was probably when the two of them were like. what. five? so it was obvious Richie was going to grey neither of them thought it would happen so soon.

and it happens the first time in high school. Eddie's doing the thing where he lays on richie pretending he doesn't desperately want Richie's attention away from his comic and onto HIM when he notices it. right at Richie's temple. a little grey hair.

obviously he plucks it and makes fun of Richie for the next week. lovingly, of course.

but as he gets older, it gets worse. Richie starts dying his hair at like, 17, because he's genuinely beginning to get salt-and-pepper edges. and that's the last Eddie sees of him before he moves away from Derry, hair all perfectly one colour (and the back of Richie's ears a little stained)

if gangly teen Richie had to dye his greys big 40yr old richie def dyes his hair. Eddie's actually forgotten all about the grey thing until he moves in with Richie like a year after they kill the stupid clown.

Richie forgets to book an appointment, or maybe his stylist is busy, but whatever happens he goes a little too long without doing it himself and yeah. silver fox alert. he's grown his hair out bc long hair richie rights and Eddie can see the streaks of greys in his ponytail and it makes him go so insane. he's staring at Richie who's feeling very self conscious.

Richie's like "Sorry dude I'm getting it dyed soon" and Eddie's like. "NO"

and then they probably fuck about it. and continue to fuck about it, because Eddie has found a way to distract Richie from going and getting them dyed.

#i had so many ideas to rant about charlie it was so hard to pick just one #but i had to tell the world this one #reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #it 2017 #richie n went being extremely similar is also such a good headcanon #and i think it plays into maggie feeling almost disconnected from richie. of course she loves him but hes such a BOY and has no idea what to #do with him #and went is so much better than her at parenting (or so she thinks)#and richie grows up and becomes a spitting image of went #yeah i think it just works with maggies parenting woes. her baby doesn’t understand her and she doesnt understand him but went can!#and she wants that too but she cant even seemingly connect thru their looks either!#sorry. its like 6am and ive been writing and rewriting this since like 5 i think IM going insane #connors hcs

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alolanrain · 1 year

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Wrong Kinda Pikachu!AU HC's because this Au needs some lovin. (Alola) (updated Au)

\ Ash was originally meant to be a TA for Kukui but he and Ku stumbled across Burnet while she was out in the wild close to the school. looking and trying to replicate a Toucannon's massive nest on paper. he offer's to draw for her, having far superior artistic skills then anything like math or science.

\ Burnet sucks at art so she's very grateful for Ash's help and the two quickly become what seems like the strongest bother-sister bond Ku has ever seen while traveling with Ash.

\ it takes a good month for Ash to actually apologies to the Professor, wanting to switch to being Burnets personal assistant. Kukui doesn't mid as long as Ash hangs out with the kids when he has free time, the class has grown very fond of him and Ku even though Ku doesn't like them.

\ Ash ends up living with Burnet at her lodging at Aether Paradise and most often then naught Ku disappears when Ash is in his room or the kitchen.

\ he's out terrorizing the Aether grunts and Faba.

\ Colress goes missing for three day's straight only to turn up on a Monday, dressed impeccably but the only thing askew is his hair and glasses. eyes wide and he's shaking. yelping when he catches sight of Ku riding on his usual spot on Ash's shoulders in the distance, following after Burnet and completely unaware what Ku did to the unovian scientist.

\ Viren? Ash don't know him. (Ku does, he tasted delish)

\ Ash's team is Ku the Mimikyu, Ripple the shiny Gyarados, Venny the Scolipede, Miss Maggie the Mismagius, Lucifer the Houndoom, Jessie the shiny female Salandit.

\ Giratina is Ash's dad in this au, not Lugia, and Tapu Bulu takes the place of Tapu KoKo. this leads to Ash and Nanu stumbling across each other regularly on Ula'ula.

\ Nanu actually likes the kid and both Hala and Oliva give him so much shit for it.

\ Ku tolerates the old mans existence, he likes Wicke and Burnet though. their not scared of him and treats him just like Ash did when he first met him back in Kanto.

#wrong kinda pikachu!au #ash ketchum #ku the mimikyu #professor burnet #professor kukui #wicke #faba #colress #kahuna nanu #giratina #tapu bulu

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slashingdisneypasta · 3 months

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Okay yes, descriptions please! (If you don't mind)

Not at all!!! I'm so jazzed you're intrigued!!! ^^ 💛!!💘💥!💛!!💘💥!

First of all the basic plot of the story:

Hallie (the virgin) meets Edward Brown (the killer) and they hit it off- she's exactly the kinda girl he likes; friendly, kinda reserved, and they have... certain things... in common, it turns out. And to her, Edward's the perfect guy, too! He's a young English teacher at the high school and he's got this skinny Clark Kent thing about him?? Awkward, and funny. She doesn't realise he's a part of the little town's most powerful (and tight-lipped) family, the Bamford's (He was adopted into it- Edward Bamford-Brown), until she tells her best friend and roommate Maggie (the whore) about him. Maggie immediately develops a bad taste in her mouth when it comes to Edward she goes rogue and decides to investigate, employing Hallie's family doctor, Arthur (the scholar), and his old friend/new roommate combo, anxious ex-con Rodney (the fool), who just so happens to be Edwards adoptive aunt Carla Bamford's ex husband. Doors are opened for Maggie into the world of the Bamford's through Arthur and Rodney, and Winnie Bamford (the athlete) later, and she uncovers some bone chilling secrets about everyone in this family, and everyone a r o u n d them too, that make her determined to save her friend.

Basically I'm trying to tell a small town murder mystery using slasher movie tropes and themes (hence the virgin, whore, killer, scholar, fool, and athlete archetypes). And its f u l l of platonic love, because I don't think theirs enough of that around. And all the romances are doomed in one way or another.

Now the descriptions! ^^ 😅

Edward Bamford Brown: Age 30.

EDWARD! Our bastard. Edward is sorta nerdy looking. Like I said- he's got a skinny Clark Kent thing about him. Perfect dark hair (the curl), blue eyes, tall (almost lanky), broad shoulders- very handsome guy. Could be a total player, if he wasn't so awkward and sheltered (Instead he's kinda weaselly- well to everyone except Hallie and his mother). He wears mostly flannels over plain t-shirts and jeans combos and he wears dark-rimmed glasses.

Maggie E. Nashton: Age 25.

Maggie has some very bright, dusty purple hair cut in almost a bob (?? its short. Like collar length) and its usually messy, giving her the air of having just fucked someone- which likely she did. Her eyes are green and she wears dramatic make-up; ruby red lips and reds and oranges around her eyes, too. She's usually wearing a tight short skirt and knee high, sharp heeled boots. She wears purples, blacks, and greens.

Hallie Archer: Age 25.

Hallie looks like t h e interpretation of a Final Girl XD Straight blonde hair, tall, skinny, friendly face. Dresses conservatively but cute (Jeans, pale blue hoodies, pink t-shirts, white mittens, etc), and her eyes are a bright happy blue (even though, on the inside, our girl is actually very very sad. No I wont say why).

Winnie Bamford: Age 29.

Winnie is supposed to be very similar to Maggie... except just kinda off. Giving you uncomfortable de ja vu, because Winnie is just... well she's supposed to make everyone uncomfortable (*cough* especially her poor ex uncle rodney). She's the same height as Maggie and her hair's the same length, except its tamed and a plain brown colour. Her eyes are a dark grey, almost blue or black depending on the light. She plays netball (went to uni on a full scholarship for it) so she's always wearing something she can move in- if she cant move, she goes stir crazy. So cargo pants, swim-suits, sports-wear, basketball shorts, tank tops, etc. Usually in greens and browns. The woman doesn't wear as much make-up as Maggie does, but she will wear a little red eyeliner. If she doesn't have to, she wont wear shoes or socks. She has an excellent ass, too, (Maggie will attest). She worked for it!! XD 😅😂

Dr Arthur Canfield: Age 51.

Arthur's eyes are consistently described in the story as 'Brad Dourif Blue' XD I decided to keep the Brad Dourif face claim because Maggie's a huge Slasher fan and her favourite Slasher is Chucky! Arthur's most prominent feature is probably his hair, its very thick and kinda long-ish, and when he's focused (Which is pretty often- he's the sensible one. And genius), he's constantly running his hand through it. He most closely resembles BD in these Sons of Anarchy and Young Women's Blue's. I feel like he may look a little older though, cuz of the stress 😅😂

Rodney Hawk: Age 51.

Rodney's most obvious feature is that he's always wearing this caramel leather jacket (Which is a reference to another book I wanna write- but thats unimportant really), even when he goes to work (he's a cashier at a grocery store- its honest work and really its all he could get with his record. He doesn't mind it) he puts the blue vest over the top of his jacket. Rodney also looks younger then he is. I'd say he most resembles RE during the 90's?? Like in Urban Legend. But this Particular picture from Night Court is just perfect XD Rod's far less feral looking, he's trying his best to redeem himself from past crimes and he's got anxiety because of that, too. But the fluffy blonde hair?? The effortlessly sexy half beard?? Thats Rodney XD

#thank you for this oppertunity!#this was really helpful to flesh out a blurb and the characters appearences #Then He Got Rough

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fluffypotatey · 1 year

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watching Leverage: ep 5

GOOD AFTERNOON

funny how fast this show got me in a chokehold

Before:

ok so we got some more backstory on nathan (he was a catholic boy who went to seminary school before becoming an investigator for that infamous insurance company which is hilarious to me because that's the opposite of what happened to a priest i know)

i was surprised that his ex-wife didn't have more of a role in the previous episode. all we got was that she was there when the priest got beat, she called nathan, and she was the one who saw the miracle.

and they make it sound like the divorce happened "recently" (as in it happened after he met sophie) so i'm a little confused. will we see more of maggie? is this it for her little cameo?

i do hope we see more of father paul just because it would be funny if they had a reluctant priest on their side. you know he's always saying that he won't help them and that they should turn themselves in, but when push comes to shove, he's on their side.

but he probably won't be back again T^T a shame

During:

going off the thumbnail....are we getting insight into alec's backstory???? please? with sprinkles and a cherry on top?

oooooh we got WILD WEST music at the beginning

NO NO EW EW EW EW

KILL KILL THE GROSS ELDERLY MAN

"who lives where it's a 107 degrees???" .....*sweats nervously* yeah, who would do that

alec is a doctor who fan....you think he's got a blog on here?

i love parker and her love of fire

also real quick: i like that this opening has our crew already in a heist. that's what i wanna see! how long has it been since the last ep? who knows, but they're still going and that's all i care about

we going slowmo????

oh of course OF COURSE THERE'S A ROBBERY HAPPENING THE SAME TIME AS THE HEIST

this just got complicated

"sophie's still in there" THE CHILDREN KNOW

omg the police guy thinking eliot's talking to him

oooooooooh the plot THICKENS

"i thought those were urban legends" alec:.....you're adorable

no YOU'RE adorable alec

lmao the manager just let sophie sell herself under the bus. better her than you, you thought.

i am l i v i n g for alec and parker as a duo. they could have their own buddy cop spin off as these fbi agents and i would watch it

i love how these guys are already working as a well oiled machine. it is funny how others think they're talking to them just because of the comms

ooooookay there's something more going on with these robbers

her??? who's she????

nathan now's not the time to let people know you know their names. that's a trigger happy dude who is very scared, you will get shot.

damn we only 15 minutes in???? so much has happened! the heist got derailed, there's bigger bad, what is going on????

who??? what did who??? what did they think you did micheal???

ooooh they helping the robbers!!!

YES PARKER MY GIRL

not alec making their list of demands being fucking pizza

NOOOOOO NATE I FUCKING TOLD YOU

SOPHIE IS PLEADING HOW DARE

so close judge. bad math there

THE ROLES HAVE SWITCHED

sophie: you idiot i love you why didn't you exit the fucking door

nathan: love you too

OOOOH PLOT TWIST

alec is the best i know i'm repeating myself but it's true

the fucking fbi "we really did outdo ourselves" they say putting on their aviators DEAD

awww they're riding off into the sunset. on an ambulance. as a family!

After:

i think this is the first time a heist of their actually got derailed. sure, you could argue that it got derailed at the derby, but that was just because Sterling knew Nathan's plans a little too well, so they had to up their game. here, it got derailed because of a robbery that decided to happen the same time as their heist.

how does one deescalate a robbery and still ensure that their heist goes on without a hitch??? apparently all you need to do is befriend the robbers, save their mother, steal the money from the guy you're scamming, steal back the money to give back to the guy you're scamming because now he's the guy holding you hostage, and then frame him for robbery and under the influence.

overall: great episode, we got more sophie/nathan for my heart, alec is proving himself as my favorite character, and the writers are amazing at thinking outside of the box

#leverage #fluffy reacts #long post

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lemoncandybats33 · 2 years

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Velma: Jinkies guys we got our first mystery! Partly inspired by all the new 'scooby doo' (you know the one without scooby doo :/) show.

It made me want to go back to one of my favorite shows and if I were to design them. In this au they'd solve mysteries for both humans and monster's (so we'd get to see the ghoul school kids back, and Dracula from Scooby Doo and the werewolf's curse). I think that would be a cool switch up. Shaggy Rodgers and Scooby Doo: Still the same iconic duo who run from monster's and search for food. He and Scooby met when they were kids over a sandwich and have been best friends ever sense. -Shaggy actually has a werewolf ancestor and they were the reason his family left the monster world. -It's also the reason he can eat so much. -Scooby is still the same, a good boy who can talk. He also tries to help Shaggy with his jobs that Shaggy uses to pay for all the food he eats. -Both love Scooby snacks. -Shaggy has one sister named Maggie but goes by Sugie. -Straight, and doesn't really know what to do in the terms of romance. Velma Dinkley: The brains of the group who rocks a dark academia look in my au with a skeleton hand hairpin. -Still as sarcastic as ever but more excited over mysteries and the unknown. -Bisexual in this au but isn't into romance. (before any one starts I've always seen Velma as Bi, and the jokes about her being to 'unfeminine' to be attracted to guys really turned me off. Especially when she had the most love interests in the movie's? Headcanon what you want but in this au she's Bi) - Met the gang in elementary after Shaggy snuck Scooby into the school and she, Daphne and Fred agree'd to help Shaggy find him (there first mystery). - The middle child of six, with four older brothers Hugo Dinkley, Cheeves Dinkley, Quentin Dinkley and Rufus Dinkley and one younger sister Madelyn Dinkley. Which made her a bit competitive. -Didn't believe in monster's until they showed up on her door step. -Hex Girl fan/stan -Will be getting both human and monster love interests. Daphne Blake: The unofficial body guard of the group and informant. A sweet if not a bit airheaded popular girl with an edgy side. -Actually knew Shaggy before the gang first met do to there parents (Shaggy's dad works for her dad). - Was known as damsel-Daphne, and Danger-prone-Daphne for a long time before she joined gymnastic's and martial arts to toughen up. -Attracts monster's. Doesn't know why. - Has four perfect older sister's (Daisy, Dawn, Delilah, Dorothy)which puts a lot of stress on her shoulder's, making Daphne the most rebellious. -Comes from a wealthy family but wants to make it on her own without there help. -Will definitely get tattoo's when she's older. -Straight ( I could never see her with a girl. Including Velma) Fred Jones: The kind if not airheaded leader of the group. A survivalist nut/specialist who could survive in the darkest wood's on wit's alone but don't ask him to use technology. Still loves traps and usually comes up with the plans to catch the bad guys. -Moved to Coolsville just before meeting the gang. -Is an only child but his whole family are survivalist nuts as well. -Used to listen to an old radio show about a noir detective which sparked his love for mysteries. -Gay (I can see it and I've never shipped Daphne and Fred. Again I don't care if you disagree but this is my au)

#my art #scooby doo #scooby doo au #velma #daphne #shaggy #fred #I'd call it scooby doo we got a new mystery #or scooby doo's monster mysteries

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viktoriakomova · 2 years

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And for the record, Riley's parents (mom, mostly, it sounds like) absolutely share responsibility. I acknowledge that the whole dynamic between parents of elite athletes and coaches is nuanced and complicated, especially by the fact that you're triangulating with the wants and needs of what are typically very ambitious and talented children, but this goes beyond the average elite gymnast mom stuff.

What we're hearing about Riley's case specifically goes way beyond the [already kind of distorted and fucked up priorities, imho] "pull my kid out of middle school so they can train for 30+ hrs a week and drive them to a gym at 6am 5x a week and pay huge sums of money for the privilege" shit. Even beyond turning a blind eye to regular injuries and writing it off as something that just comes with the territory of elite gymnastics.

Laurie was already gone from MG elite by the end of 2016, and it wasn't a secret that she left on bad terms with Maggie. Nor were any of the stories we've heard about Maggie's behavior during training. (Riley's mother was reportedly in regular attendance at the gym during training hours and she would have known about these things, if not seeing them herself then definitely hearing about it later that day.) Jazzy got the fuck out of there as fast as she could after her 2016 elite season was over. She literally speed-ran the rest of her bullshit online high school to go to Florida an entire year early, without even telling Maggie that was her plan lol. Maggie was the last to know. I wonder why...

And most chillingly of all, Emily Liszewski's injury (the one who hit her head on concrete after balking on a skill on bars that Maggie and Victoria Levine refused to spot her on and had a seizure while they laughed and mocked her) happened very early in Riley's tenure at MG Elite. that was in early 2016. It had been less than a year since she started there. And the cherry on top is that before the McCuskers relocated to New Jersey, Riley boarded with Emily's family. Their own kid lived with this girl and her family. They weren't strangers.

RILEY WAS STILL A JUNIOR ELITE FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE. NONE OF THIS WAS NEW INFORMATION FOR HER PARENTS.

Not just that, they watched as their own kid developed an eating disorder and osteopenia, fractured several bones (including her fucking PELVIS which is not easy to break) and had a few severe muscle and joint injuries too. that was even before the "rhabdo." And riley stayed at that gym for 6 more months after THAT.

AND THE INCIDENT AT THE WORLD CUP HAPPENED A FULL 18 MONTHS PRIOR TO LEAVING. (maybe closer to 2 years actually)

everyone in this goddamn shitshow is an asshole except for the teenage girl in the middle of all of it. was fucking NOBODY in this child's life looking out for her wellbeing as a person and not her gymnastics career?

and re: my point in my last post about trust and honesty, I would be 0% shocked if we were to find out that the calorie counts/food logs are in fact much lower than Riley (and by extension, her mother, based on things I've heard) reported to doctors/PTs/Maggie etc. Especially if you take macronutrient restriction and the timing of meals/food consumption into account and dont JUST look at the caloric intake.

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