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absolutebl · 5 months

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This Week in BL - Top 3 Are HEATING UP

Organized, in each category, by ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

Dec 2023 Wk 2

Ongoing Series - Thai

Honestly, 3 are neck & necking for top position! They are all so good in different ways. But The Sign had me hooting with laughter this week, so it scooped #1.

The Sign (Sat YT) ep 4 of 10 - This show is literally everything (except straight) all at once. It's BL, queer, band of brothers, romcom, erotica, paranormal, fated mates, mystery, suspense, slasher, and horror. It’s the king of genre mash-up chaos. I have no idea what I’m watching but I’m ON this ride. Is it a roller coaster? Is it a haunted house? Is it a twirl & hurl? Is there candy floss? Am I even tall enough? Who tf cares. All through the second scene, I was laughing. It was legit funny. Billy has great comedic timing. Guess he’s not just a pretty face.

Everyone should be watching this. Sure, it's madness but there is genius in it.

Last Twilight (Fri YT) ep 6 of 12 - Yech. August may be one of GMMTV’s least likable characters ever (and that is saying something). Meanwhile, MOAR language play! They spoiling me!

Mhok letting Day go then walking away at the party hurt so bad.

Argh this show is great!

Ep 6 so that kiss was right on schedule. I’m looking forward to the boyfriend eps before doom & pain in the new year. Carry on GMMTV.

Speaking of...

Cherry Magic (Sat YouTube) ep 2 of 12 - Oh they’re great. It’s great. It’s paced oddly, moving quickly through most of the key scenes of the original JBL in these first 2 eps. I think it’s intending to encompass more of the manga series than that one did. Which is good, cause that will get us all the way to The Library Kiss (TM). It's the best kiss in the manga. I also like the sides in this show (better than the JBL version).

My Dear Gangster Oppa (Thurs iQIYI) ep 8fin - What a lovely slightly unhinged little show. Tew, can we talk? Un-ironic suspenders, that takes courage. Also, the revolver was a crazy gun choice.

Final thoughts:

This show is just as ridiculous as its title. About a gaymer who falls in love with one of his in-game teammates, who just happens to be a IRL gangster. A real gangster, the kind that actually kills people regularly. The lead pair is doing their best with a ridiculous story and shoddy script, but I enjoyed it. Although I was grateful it wasn’t very long, what we got was oddly satisfying if, frankly, a little bit silly. Recommended. 8/10

That said, what's important about this BL is not the show, but the production and style. Let me explain... no, too much, let me sum up.

This is a chimera BL. Regarding characters: it has Japan's style otaku + Korea's style gangster + Thailand's style friendship group. It used Thai talent + Korean money (Kakao) & IP (adapted from a manwha) but aired on a Chinese channel globally (iQIYI). I'm delighted by the eclectic insanity of this production and truly doubt that any other genre but BL could ever produce like this. It's like diplomat's BL and it's the great wonder of our age that it happened at all. This BL deserves its place in the history books on production alone, even if that place is only in the footnotes. A remarkable little monster.

For Him (Thurs iQIYI) ep 3 of 10 - The sides are… messy. Using the same actor for the old bf is… odd. But in the end, this show leaves me smiling. Which means, I like it despite myself.

Bake Me Please (Mon Gaga) ep 4 of 6 - It's decent. It’s basically what I wanted Antique Bakery to be when I first watched that way back when (not to mention Bite Me). But there’s been so much BL since then that, for some reason, this is falling flat. I think it’s moving too fast for a Thai series. Although, say what you like, Ohm has to be one of the best soft kissers in the industry. He's just good at mouth tenderness.

Ugh, that doesn't sound right. But you know what I mean.

Twins the series (Fri GaGa) ep 7 of 10 - I love how First is so upset when Sprite starts chatting and being nice to Koh. Sprite is just a sweet easy-going likable boy. I enjoy Sprite as a main character, he’s a bubbly little communicator. And they had a cute kiss.

Pit Babe (Fri iQIYI) ep 5 of 14 - Because there was more Alan and Jeff and they were more key to the plot I was more into this ep. I do compare it to green smoothie down the pants in the Trash Watch.

Cooking Crush (Sun YT) ep 3 of 12 - Look OffGun are truly great. But I’m just not sure we need them in BL anymore. That said, it’s nice to see Off as "the one with the crush" for a change. Also, this show is only good when OffGun are on screen together, otherwise it kinda, well, sucks.

Night Dream (Sat YT) ep 1 of 6 - Cafe setting featuring a cook and a writer. *Seems awfully familiar.* Except these two are exes and this is a reunion romance. It’s stiff and very pulp but not bad (no crap sound effects) and I am a sucker for a reunion romance. That said, Rookie Thailand is not to be trusted, proceed with caution.

Absolute Zero (Weds iQIYI) ep 12fin - I'm grateful this is over. It was tense but for the wrong reasons - sadness and confusion. This final episode was fine, but that’s because it was mostly them being together + flashbacks. Plus all the familiar actor faces of the grown-up friends (hi, Karn my lovely, still stunning I see). But 2 of 12 episodes is not enough for the 10 of suffering and confusion that came before.

In conclusion:

A man is killed on his 10th anniversary resulting in a time paradox, for which the only solution is him never meeting his childhood sweetheart until later in life. Both lovers cycle back to the past at different ages, so that they each become their own 1st & 2nd great loves, but every time it ends in pain, until each also endures 10 years of separation. Finally it gets fixed, but leaves them with multiple memories of time's failures like temporal PTSD, and everyone around them has chronic deja vu. Me? I got both. This is one of those BLs that is high-quality with great acting but poor story. If you like your BL dwelling, maudlin, and tense due to angst and suffering, then you might enjoy this. But I just regret it, 6/10. Recommended only if you like confusing time travel emo pain.

In which case, just watch Tokyo in April is... instead. Give over Thailand, Japan does it better.

Middleman’s Love (Fri YT & iQIYI ep 6 of 8 - While our main couple isn’t working for me... the side couple isn’t working for me either. I really wanted to give LeoTai a chance, this is the 3rd show I’ve seen them in, and still nope. I like Jade a lot more when he’s sad. He’s a much more pleasant screen experience depressed. I would like him to stay hurt for a couple of eps, just so I can enjoy this show a tiny bit more. But then he just goes unhinged again. Argh. I just don’t like it.

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) Pisces of Me ep 17 of 24 - Codependent boyfriends in middle school planning for high school dealing with stuff. Including other boys being into them.

Playboyy (Thurs Gaga) 5 of 14 eps - Dear Playboyy, it's not you, it’s me… I hate you. You’re about as deep (and as palatable) as a shot glass of cum. While I'm sure you’re someone’s kink, you're my weakest link. Goodbye. DNF

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

VIP Only (Taiwan Fri Gaga) ep 5 of 10 - It’s cute but I don’t think BL in this short format is Taiwan’s strength these days. And this is quite slow and dull. Perhaps they should have whacked it down to 6 eps, not 10.

Sahara-sensei to Toki-kun (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - This is one of those JBLs that I should like on paper but is failing me. The drag bit was ridiculous but handled gently. The kiss was… well… something wasn’t it? It’s all very odd. I like the photographer cutie character.

It's Airing But...

The Whisperer (Sun ????) 10 eps - Thai horror BL that ALSO involves cheating (what joy is mine). I don't think even the perfect single dimple can motivate me to watch. Word is... it's terrible.

7 Days Before Valentine (Weds WeTV) 10 eps - Giving me Luminous Solution vibes. I'm waiting to binge if it's safe.

Beyond The Star (Weds iQIYI) 8 eps - House of Stars meets Boyband. I was NOT impressed with ep 1. Been told I shouldn't bother.

What Did You Eat Yesterday Season 2 AKA Kinou Nani Tabeta? Season 2 (Japan Gaga) 10 eps - I find this series more fun to binge, so I'm waiting until after it completes its run next week.

Dear Kitakyushu (Thai/Japan movie) in theaters in country only, I know nothing about distribution.

Behind the Shadows (Korea movie) this is a historical I was interested in, but I've been told they kill the gay so I'm OUT.

Next Week Looks Like This

Still coming:

12/23 Dead Friend Forever (Thai horror) iQIYI

Original 2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED). With the end of the year upon us I'll do an "announced for 2023 but never happened list" soon.

THIS WEEK��S BEST MOMENTS

He so pretty.

I forgot how likable TayNew are, and frankly I think New is a better version of this role for me, personally. I like him a lot. He's a conscientious sweetheart. And a good egg. (Cherry Magic)

Ah the rooftop my old friend. (Last Twilight)

I would like to point out that it's no accident the naga's sex dream happened in the shower, he's a water creature after all. (The Sign)

(Last week)

#the sign the series #was very hot this week #this week in bl #bl updates #Last Twilight #Thai BL #cherry magic #my dear gangster oppa #my dear gangster oppa review #for him the series #Bake Me Please #antique bakery #twins the series #cooking crush #offgun #Absolute Zero review #bl reviewed #bl reviews

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cabezadeperro · 1 year

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oh no what please talk about star wars and westerns that sounds fascinating ngl

oh boy. okay

this got really fucking long, sorry.

so. first of all. what is a western? what does make a western, a western? is it the cowboys? does it ahve to take place in the west/southwest of the us during the late 19th century? is it just a film thing? if so, what kind of movies are actually westerns? the ones made in hollywood during the 40s and 50s? do spaghetti westerns count? and the american movies made in the us during the 70s? what about the so-called neowesterns, like hell or high water?

at this point i think you could argue that the western is not actually a genre but a mood, kind of like the gothic or film noir. it implies a number of tropes, a certain atmosphere, a kind of conflict, but the details are very--diffuse. And not that relevant, let's be real. a fistful of dollars is a western; so is the searchers or most of the first season of the mandalorian or justified or prospect or blood meridian or whiskey when we're dry.

today i heard someone in a podcast describe the western as a kind of story where the main conflict is the struggle between law and lawlessness, and you know what. at first i didn't like it much but the more i think about it, the more i think they’re right.

so, we've defined what is a western (kind of. have we? moving on--). now let's talk about the western and star wars, or star wars as a western, whatever you want to call it.

if a western is a story about the conflict between law and lawlessness, what does it mean that star wars can be/sometimes is/always is a western? not just from like. a narrative perspective. but also, what does it mean that the conflict between law and lawlessness informs star wars narratives, and what does it mean for us, the fandom, a bunch of queers obsessed with star wars and clones and cowboys?

the first thing you should think about (maybe!) when you read the words "law vs lawlessness" is: whose law, and what does law even mean in this specific situation. In the case of the western, and without getting into the particulars of the very bloody history of the american west, the elements of this dichotomy are extremely charged. In (classic, hollywood, 40s-50s) westerns, law means civilisation; that is, it means capitalism and imperialism, it means western expansion, it means white settlers, it means systematically murdering native americans. meanwhile, Lawlessness includes everything (and everyone) else.

However! You can problematise this, and most of the best westerns did (and do). And once adapted to other contexts (other times, other countries, other genres) the particulars of this conflict change, too.

And this brings us to the star war. Let’s be real: the original trilogy mostly borrowed spaghetti western aesthetics, it’s less a western and more the weirdo lovechild of samurai films, classic scifi and war movies, even if its manichean approach to narrative (good vs evil, dark vs light) could be said to be very friendly to the western.

However! X2: what about the tuskens, you’ll say

And this is where it gets ugly. Or uglier. Narratively speaking, the tuskens play in both the original trilogy and in the prequels the exact same role that native americans played in classic westerns. Someone (not me) should write something about the way this has and/or hasn’t changed in the past few years, with shows like the book of boba fett.

But this is getting long enough, and what i want to write about is the relationship between the lawlessness part of the cowboy movie conflict and star wars racism problem, because while it doesn’t mean that the western is an inherently racist genre, or that western vibes plus star wars equals racism or that every single western au you make will be racist, it does mean that it’s kind of like a loaded gun. (<- hasn’t touched a firearm in her life)

And the reason it’s kind of like a loaded gun is that it’s a trope. It’s very ingrained it’s very mechanical and it’s very easy (especially if, like me, you’re white and also not american) to follow genre conventions and thoughtlessly reproduce the same shitty stories. You can subvert this trope (and i believe you Should, honestly, john wayne is well where he is (dead and buried)), but it’s a trap and it’s a hard to see one.

And like. One thing’s Star Wars the IP, and a different thing is fandom, and i’m not putting fan creators and disney on the same level, and i’m just some guy with a keyboard. However: i do think that thinking yourself through tropes and clichés makes for better, more fun stories, so there’s that.

Finally: why i did i start thinking about this?

The main reason is because i started listening to why theory?’s episode about western the other day, and it made me think about how much i love westerns and how i’d like to write more fic that’s kind of like a western and the issues that surround this.

Star wars characters i think are/could be western characters (™): jango, because of his everything, obviously (watch django 1966). Obi-wan. Fox, maybe. Leia (where’s my leia + obi-wan true grit au). And rex.

And the thing about rex is that he is the only one who could maybe fit the western hero trope, because he’s the only one there who’s purely moral and like. Unequivocally good (but maría, you’ll say, what about leia? What about obi-wan? Leia’s too angry, among other things, and obi-wan’s a huge bitch bastard man who goes around chopping off limbs, sorry) but he also is a brown man. In star wars canon he’s a clone, which means he’s not actually a person in the eyes of the law; in real life, temuera morrison is maori.

But again: let’s say you make him the hero, because he IS the hero. But that means he’s on the side of the law, right?

Or is he?

And what does that mean?

#muxo texto #maríadont #cowboy stuff #sw meta #star wars

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highpri3stess · 1 year

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I have a question; Why do comic book male nerds hate lgbt+ and poc representation in comics?

Like, I've been a superhero comic nerd for years (reading whatever I can) and for example I've know that Harley was bisexual for years and she and Ivy had some sort of underlying relationship brewing? And this is like just news to them?

Like why are they so critical about anything that doesn't represent straight white maleness? And why do they think that manga is the replacement for their straght white male fulfilment they once got from comics? As if alt kids, weird kids, lgbtq+ kids and poc kids weren't like the main people reading manga. If I remember, comic book nerds had a controversy where they thought manga was all about hentai in like 2016 and they kept bashing animanga fans, why are y'all pretending that you're fans all of a sudden because american comics with mediocre stories (e.g the Joker lost all his jazz and personally, he's really boring?? And yet yall would swear up and down that he's the best villain when Dr. FREEZE, PENGUINE, RIDDLER AND BANE LITERALLY EXIST. Petition to never make another Joker movie again. Please) are pandering to other people??

And let me tell you something, manga is more queer, much more progressive than a lot of these comics y'all are running from. It does not majorly pander to YOU. It never will, so don't get too comfortable here and start complaining when you realize they don't care about you nor do they pander to you. Even something as hypermasculine as Jojo is one of the most queer and expressive shit in shounen I've ever read and they don't shy away from it.

Manga is not your escape to be bigoted. Either y'all stomach and adapt representation like queer people had to deal with homophobia for years or shut up. Stop acting like comic books became boring when queer folks and poc came into play, they were getting boring long before, your writers just tried to use our community as a last ditch attempt to save themselves.

#manga #anime #i'm not gatekeeping but get off your conservative high horse bitch #comics #joker #harley quinn #also harley is much more interesting as a person #anyone is more interesting than the joker #lgbtq+#i hope we never get another joker movie i hate that guy

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faux-ee · 1 year

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I'm back on my Hawthorne x Melville bullshit bcs if Asagiri actually looked into their historical relationship and recreate it in the manga, it would've been so epic.

Melville's Moby Dick is dedicated to Hawthorne. For details abt these two men's history please read The Whale: A Love Story by Mark Beauregard, who took 6 years to research on their lives and all the effort he put into salvaging this forgotten piece of queer history is rlly heart-warming. (I cried watching his interview so please please please everybody who's remotely interested on famous author trivia GO READ THAT BOOK).

Anyways why am I so keen on this historical relationship being adapted into bsd? There are a few reasons.

Hawthorne's primary driving force at this point in the manga is his love for Mitchell. which. well. first we never saw how that relationship developed so we can't be as sympathetic with his decisions as we want to. To us audience, Hawthorne's love for Mitchell is a given, and it feels lowkey disrespectful to just give him a female lover when his historical secret gay lover is also in the ensemble.

Historically, Melville basically screwed up his life because he wanted to be closer to Hawthorne. When he was terribly bankrupt and still on a lot of debt, he bought a huge ass house with money he didn't have just because it was near where Hawthorne lived. He could've written Moby Dick to be a popular, marketable book, like his first two novels, and made some money so his life wouldn't fall further apart. But Hawthorne inspired him so, spiritually and emotionally, and that is what made Moby Dick the masterpiece it is today, filled with religious and philosophical musings and gay subtext; the writing style differs prominently from Melville's own, and all-too-obviously resembles Hawthorne's in The Scarlet Letter. The book took a toll on Melville and was basically just a lengthy, painstaking love letter to Hawthorne. It marked the end of his writing career, too, and when the two met again, Hawthorne wrote in his journal that Melville had already destroyed himself.

I bring this up because it's such a dostovskian romance trope to destroy yourself for obsessive love tragic love story that definitely would create potential for much better character developments for both Hawthorne and Melville although Asagiri doesn't rlly care a lot about western authors and I have to live with that. Asagiri likes reversing historical dynamics, so having Hawthorne launching himself down a path of destruction in the BSD world because of his love for Melville could be such a delightful & heart-wrenching twist to their dynamic. Hawthorne didn't have the courage to abandon everything and accept Melville's love in real life (he even secretly wrote that into his book, The Blithedale Romance), and simply stood and watched Melville walking down his path of demise. If BSD Hawthorne became the devoted lover and instead, had himself destroyed by Dostoevsky's hand to save Melville - like, this is some rimlaine level shit. And it would've made perfect sense for Asagiri to design such a story line based on real historical events.

I'm just pissed that the manga series with possibly the most LGBTQ+ fandom (/hj) wouldn't even acknowledge a real and important part of queer history alright. let a girl be bitter. anyways go read The Whale the book totally altered my perspective on love and I can't stress enough what a great work it is

#melthorne #bsd

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3dnygma · 3 months

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What I read in 2023

That post about my fave 2023 movies and TV shows made me want to do a similar post about the books (and stories etc.) I've read in 2023!

I'm not usually too keen on sharing my reads because it takes me ages to finish books, which usually results in a very low amount of pages read each year... at least compared to the amount I often see others share on Social Media. But tbh, any amount is better than reading not reading at all :)

That's also why I often tend to gravitate towards novellas, short stories and anthologies.

So yup, here are all the novels, stories and non-fiction works I read in 2023.

And then I woke up by Malcolm Devlin: My girlfriend gifted me this one and I read it within a single day (which is quite rare for me) while we were on a train ride to Berlin. It's the best book I've been gifted in a while: perfect length, perfect style, intriguing subject matter, deep characters. Devlin uses tropes from Zombie shows and other post-apocalyptic media to address the much larger topic of radicalization in the 21st century and I love with how much humanity + understanding he went about this.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett: This one's been going on for a while, fellas. Literally started reading it during my trip to the States in summer 2019 but due to already having seen the show, I never really felt like finishing the novel in one go. But I think that also reveals a lot about how entertaining I found the novel. It was good and I def get the hype surrounding it but the style wasn't as much to my liking as I hoped it would be.

Damals war es Friedrich by Hans Peter Richter: I read this one for work. The other German teachers at the school I worked at in 2022/23 all chose to read this one with their students so I went along with it. It's about two young boys who grow up as neighbors in Germany before and during WWII. I totally see why this one is such a popular choice in schools over here, it taught some v important lessons to my students regarding the spread of fascism and antisemitism. What I liked most about it is how the novel aimed to teach its readers about Jewish culture, traditions and successes, which I haven't seen much in other "WWII media" that is frequently dealt with in Austrian schools.

Matilda by Roald Dahl: Def my most fun read of 2023! I wanted to read another book with those same students at the end of the year (after their final exam). Out of all the books in the school's library, I went with this one because I was familiar with both movie adaptations and thought that it would allow for some really fun lesson ideas. We made bingo sheets with our predictions of the story, split up the roles whenever we read chapters in class, did grammar + spelling tasks with snippets from the book, wrote a diary entry from Mathilda's POV, and wrote an email from Miss Honey's POV. After finishing the book, we watched the older movie adaptation with Danny Devito in it. It was so much fun :')

All Tomorrows - A Billion Year Chronicle of the Myriad Species and Mixed Fortunes of Man by C. M. Kosemen: This book deals with sci-fi, body horror AND is written like a historical account - love me some epistolary, always. In short, it checks off all of my favourite boxes. It tells the story of a future in which humans start colonizing space and are punished for their hubris through various procedures of genetic engineering that are enforced on them. Multiple species that once used to be human and their habitats are documented and accompanied by fascinatingly horrifying illustrations. The free PDF can be found here and there is also an abridged retelling of the book on YouTube featuring snippets of the novel and its illustrations. I've consumed and can recommend both. This work made me discover and love the biopunk genre. If anybody has recommendations that fall under similar categories, please let me know.

four essays from It Came from the Closet: "Twenty-five contemporary queer and trans writers reflect on the horror films that shaped them and shook them." So far, I've gotten around to reading "Both Ways [Jennifer's Body]" by Carmen Maria Machado, "My Hand on the Glass [Hereditary]" by Bruce Owens Grimm, "The Wolf Man's Daughter [The Wolf Man]" by Tosha R. Taylor, and "Black Body Snatchers [Get Out]" by Samuel Autman. Out of those four, "My Hand on the Glass" and "Black Body Snatchers" stuck with me the most.

My goal for 2024 is to finish the books I've already started and to read more works by female writers.

Because my reading habits are a mess, there are several books that I've started reading a while ago and have yet to finish. These include:

Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder (abt 1/5th done)

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (almost finished w that one)

Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa (my friends gifted me the first volume of the manga for Christmas bc the FMAB anime is one of my fave pieces of media)

#about me #book reviews #what i read #books #reading #good omens #all tomorrows #matilda #and then I woke up

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moonage-moth · 1 year

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2022 Media Look Back

Hey there! First post here, so let's begin with something kind of general. What better way than to start with a list? Here are my favorite movies, tv shows, games, anime, manga, HQs, music and books that I've consumed in 2022!

Movies

Everything Everywhere All at Once

What can I say about this masterpiece? It tackles everything so amazingly that it's hard to talk about it so quickly. We have the ADHD, immigrant, family, queer and probably many more themes that I've overlooked. I can't believe that a movie with kung-fu, butt plugs and sausage fingers made me cry this much.

The Batman

I am a huge nerd. Not one of those nerd that knows EVERYTHING about media, but one of those that loves nerdy things. I loved Robert Pattinson and Paul Dano's performances, the theme songs and specially the Bat Mobile. I still watch that scene from time to time and it always amazes me!

Oldboy

Man, this movie is good! And weird! And it stays with you! Such amazing cinematography, performance and story! I didn't think the plot twist by the end would be actually true, I'm way too used to popular western story telling, but it hits you quite strongly!

TV Shows

House Of The Dragon

I went into this with no expectation. Game of Thrones never got to me, but this show... I couldn't wait for the next episode! Every week I was counting the days to sunday so I could watch it! I can't praise the performances, costumes and dragon designs enough! Especially the dragons, each one had their own appearance and personality that added so much to the scenes they were on!

WandaVision

I'm going to be honest, I'm not enjoying most Marvel content anymore. I know, I know, not a controversial opinion, but it's happening. Anyway, WandaVision was an exception on this. I enjoyed this show way more than I thought was possible and really admired what they did with Wanda's character. Too bad they threw it away later in the movies...

Love, Death & Robots 3rd Season

COOL NERDY FANTASY AND SCIENCE-FICTION SHORTS! I know some of the episodes are hit or miss to some, but I really enjoy this show! The Jibaro episode, especially, was mesmerizing in its visuals and themes! I can't recommend it enough!

Games

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

I'm kind of late, I know, but I only got to play this game this year. And I LOVED it! It was the first game in years that got me into a five plus hours gaming session, which says something. The world, music, mood, story and art direction were top notch! I can't wait for the next one, I really hope they explore more of Zelda's character!!

Tunic

This game is spectacular! The game itself is cute, quite hard and has some plot twists, but if you dig into it and into the manual... It becomes something special. So many secrets, meta language and puzzles, it embodies the very concept of a game! PLEASE play Tunic if you can, it really is a special game.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD

By now you probably noticed I like games with characters wearing green who use swords and shields, right? I was in a Zelda rush and had to play another game, so I went with this one, which I had skipeed in the past, surprising myself! Such amazing art style, characters and story! It's all simple, but made in a endearing and honest way, making this version of Zelda my favorite of the series!

Anime

Chainsaw Man

It's all the hype right now, I know, but Chainsaw Man deserves it. The anime only adapts the starting part of the manga, but it does it so well! It was so cool seeing the manga scenes adapted but what shone the most were the original scenes, especially with Aki and Himeno.

Paradise Kiss

A bit old, from 2005, but I fell in love with this one! Ai Yazawa way of writing characters and showing their personalities through design is amazingly done and this story has it all. The music shines a lot (Tomoko Kawase, my love), but what got me the most was the character diversity, having both a bi man and a trans woman done quite well for Japan! Please watch Paradise Kiss!

Cyberpunk Edgerunners

Such a cool ride! I wish it wasn't pulled back by the game's story because I really wanted to see more of these characters! I haven't played much of the game, but the world seemed so much more alive in this and made the experience special to me!

Manga and HQs

Devilman

Such a classic. I've liked Devilman Crybaby since it got out, but never got to reading the original work. It's quite a ride, having somethings that date it a lot, but others that keep up amazingly to this day! The way it talks about religion, society and violence influenced all of japanese (and world, to some extent) media, so it's worth reading for that alone.

The Many Deaths of Laila Starr

This HQ hit me so hard! Talking about life and death through an indian culture lens was refreshing and eye opening, to be honest. Laila Starr was a really interesting character and going through the life of the doctor made it almost impossible to stop reading. A quite short and really worth read, if I may suggest!

The Me You Love In The Dark

A simple and direct story about toxic relationships and home abuse. It has some really dark themes, but what brings it to my list are the visuals. The monster and how it was drawn was really well done! Also, how it interacted with the artist made the comic a really good read! (the monster fucker in me says hello)

Music

My Chemical Romance: The Foundations of Decay

Just so everyone knows, I'm a BIG MCR fan. Simply having a new song out of nowhere this year was GREAT! I kept listening to it for hours without stop, making it my song of the year. The rumours that they might come to Brazil in 2023 makes it way more special to me!

Pinkshift: Love Me Forever

I love this band! They're still a bit small, but the energy all of them bring to the table is out of the charts! Banger after banger with some deep ones in the middle. Please go have a listen, I really think they'll hit it big eventually!!

Ghost: Impera

I really enjoy Ghost! The themes, presentation and songs are all on point in this album! Some songs took a few listes to warm into me, but, overall, it's so fun! I hope I can see them live someday!!

Books

Mistborn: The Lost Metal

Such a good ending to the second era of Mistborn! The emotional beats really got to me and I cried a lot towards the end. I can't say much without spoiling it, but know that I'll talk a lot more about the Cosmere here!

Gideon the Ninth

Lesbian necromancers in space. Wait, that description didn't get you? Well, it also is a very fun read of an interesting world with such charismatic characters! I still have to read the sequels, but this one got a special place in my heart!

Jade City

It's been quite some time since I've read about a world so realized and put together! The places of Jade City, either small or big, feel so real and touchable that I only wanted to read more! It also has a really interesting magic system with so many mysteries around it!

Ending

Well, I hope you enjoyed this short read! Honestly, it's only a test post for this blog, but it was also very fun to write! From now on the "reviews" will be more detailed, since I'll be making a post for each media I consume. See you next year and next post!

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yurimother · 4 years

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LGBTQ Light Novel Review — I'm in Love with the Villainess

A stunningly profound, entertaining, and queer title that eclipses other isekai and Yuri series

There are few titles the general public seems to be as excited about as Inori and Hanagata's I'm in Love with the Villainess, as it has been sitting at or near the top of Amazon's LGBT Manga list for months and Twitter is consistently abuzz with the latest news on this isekai Yuri series. I was somewhat more skeptical, as I have had relatively poor experiences with isekai and fantasy Yuri. Still, my excitement went through the room, and I eagerly boarded the "hype train" upon the cover reveal for the third volume. Yuri families, where two women raise children together, are one of my greatest desires and something I rarely see portrayed in the genre. However, I still had mostly low expectations for the series going into the first volume. I looked forward to some light meandering comedy and typical boring trope-filled isekai shenanigans. However, I'm in Love with the Villainess more than exceeded my expectations. No, even this statement is far too moderate to describe how utterly stunned and blown away I was by Inori's creation. I'm in Love with the Villainess is completely shattering and easily one of the greatest light novels I have ever read. Thus, I have no choice to award a perfect 10/10 score, my first ever for a light novel.

After waking up in the world of her favorite otome game, Revolution, protagonist Rae is ecstatic to be faced to face with Claire Francois, the game's villainous rival. However, Rae never played Revolution for the thrill of romancing any of the three attractive young princes. She was always in love with Claire. She attends the academy and studies magic in the fantasy world alongside Claire, the princes, and various other supporting characters. Using her skills from the modern world and her encyclopedic knowledge of Revolution, Rae manipulates the situation to be close to Claire, becoming her maid, and garnering status and money along the way. As an inevitable conflict looms closer, Rea begins to enact plans to protect herself and Claire, many of which are not fully understood or explained until the finale fantastically reveals the reasons for her actions. There is a natural and steady pace to the narrative that awards readers’ predictions and attention to detail.

I'm in Love with the Villainess has some excellent supporting characters, all of whom have unique personalities, histories, and abilities, some of which are revealed by Rae's exposition and others naturally throughout the novel. However, the stars of the show are the central couple, Rae and Claire. Claire is an elite aristocrat and extremely bratty. She often sneers at commoners and makes her disdain of Rae very clear from early on. On paper, she sounds like the perfect villain and someone all readers would despise. However, Rae's utter devotion and infatuation with Claire is so sincere that we cannot help but be pulled in and adore Claire and all her tantrums. Rae is a delight herself, continually flirting and poking fun at Claire, which gets her verbally berated, much to her masochistic pleasure. However, she is also exceptionally cunning and intelligent, and some of the light novel's greatest joys are listening to her analyze a situation or watching one of her plans fall into place.

“Ah, I’m… Well, it doesn’t matter. I mean, it’s irrelevant to cuteness—because, Miss Claire, you are cute.” “Huh?!” She pulled away. It was perfect—such a pure reaction. “Miss Claire, you hate me, right?” “Of course!” “That’s fine. Please keep teasing me. I love it.”

The beginning of the book does not immediately clue one into its brilliance. Sure, Claire and Rea get some great one-liners as they bully each other, and the scenarios are authentic and fun, but it is nothing shattering. I was feeling pretty relaxed and having a lot of fun with the characters, their relationship, and the various slice-of-life style scenarios they encountered until one section, I remember the exact page, 81, as it stopped me dead in my tracks. I was flabbergasted and briefly frozen before shooting up out of bed, shouting expletives as I ran to my office to immediately record what I had just experienced. It all begins with the line, "Hey, Rae. Are you what they call gay?" What followed was one of the most thoughtful, condensed, informative, and nuanced discussions of gay and queer identity (both terms used in this scene) I have ever seen in Yuri. Everything from representation in media, the perceptions of and prejudices against gay people, and the role gender plays in romance for bisexual and gay people are analyzed. Its commentary is succinct yet so respectful and forthright that it could have only come from genuine experience, thus selling the book and its characters so much more.

"Queer people were still overwhelmingly closeted in this world, which was rife with prejudice and nurtured little understanding. As I noted, the queer people depicted in the story were either the sex fiends Claire imagined or the free-loving sort Lene had in mind. Diversity and acceptance were a long way off.”

Thus, Inori's writing's beauty exposed itself, and the book opened itself up to a delightful cycle. The narrative masterfully integrates isekai slice-of-life hijinks, like running a cross-dressing café or battling a giant slime with nuanced and challenging moments that dissect complicated topics. The latter mainly consists of a growing rift between the aristocracy and common people, mirroring real-world wealth gap issues, but the novel also touch on matters such as unequal prison sentencing and segregation. Every scene helped further the complexity of the characters and their relationships or else built onto the world of Revolution. Speaking of which, I'm in Love with the Villainess has some of the best worldbuilding ever seen in a light novel.

Initially, brief exposition establishes much of the world, which is adequate if not exciting. I will mark up to a casualty of the light novel's serialized nature, as it must present readers its setting immediately. However, Inori does not stop here. Through the narrative, new elements are established, such as a magic system and the kingdom's politics. Rea notes and describes how the world, while clearly based on medieval Europe, has many modern Japanese attributes, as Japanese game developers created it. Her pointing out the intersection of the two is fascinating. Furthermore, A great deal of time is spent establishing characters and organizations all have their own wants, agendas, and methods, many of which are not even directly involved with the story. Instead, they act as a background and help further contextualize others. For example, the Church publicly appears to lean towards supporting the commoners in their efforts for equality but has its own agenda of superseding the nobility. While they play little role in Rea and Claire’s adventure, they are one of numerous factors contributing to the unrest of the lower class. All these additions are interesting, and it never feels like the story or characters suffer for their inclusion, quite the opposite.

“The Bauer Kingdom had started a step behind other countries when it came to magical research. They dominated the surrounding countries in military strength, and this had made them complacent, leading them to underestimate the value of new magic technology until the best researchers had all been enticed to other countries. Even after the king came up with his magic-focused meritocratic policy, Bauer lagged behind.”

I can only make complaints by scraping the very bottom of the barrel. Hanagata's beautiful art is too infrequent to add much to the light novel, and many scenes crying for illustrations are left to the readers' imagination. However, Inori so wonderful writes the story that one hardly cares and can easily picture every moment with delight. Besides, the manga adaption will nullify this issue. Where I cannot complain at all is the spectacular translation by Jenn Yamazaki and Nibedita Sen, one of Seven Seas best (which is high praise considering the competition). Sure, I was slightly disappointed at first to see the adaptation left off honorifics, but the more I thought about the setting, the more sense it made. I am sure people much smarter than I gave the issue much more consideration, and I am happy with their decisions.

I'm in Love with the Villainess left me reeling with how pleasurable and powerful it was. The story and characters are such a joy, and I cannot wait to see Rea and Claire bully each other again in the next volume. Astounding worldbuilding and powerful, thought-provoking politics surround their antics and the high stakes plot. Every moment of their journey will enthrall readers as they squeal with glee at its hilarious set pieces or are shocked by its commentary of society's most significant challenges. Inori has created one of the most delightful, heartfelt, complex, profound, and genuinely queer light novel series ever. If you only read one thing I recommend this year, let it be I'm in Love with the Villainess.

Ratings: Story — 9 Characters — 10 Art — 5 LGBTQ — 10 Sexual Content — 2 Final — 10

Review copy provided by Seven Seas Entertainment

Purchase I’m in Love with the Villainess in digitally (9/23) and in print (11/10) today: https://amzn.to/32NEyG1

Supports creators by purchasing official releases.

#yuri #lgbt #lgbtq #reviews #lgbtq+#i favor the villainess #i'm in love with the villainess #girls love #gay #queer #light novel #manga #gl #politics #feminism

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dashedwithromance · 2 years

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march reads

anno dracula - kim newman

was this the best written book? no. did i agree with the characterisation with a lot of the original dracula characters? no, not particular. is this book a very 90s vampire story that contains racially insensitive elements that should be critically read by a contemporary reader? also yes, by a lot. in saying that, this was a very fun exploration of the modern vampire through stoker’s original characters under the premise of: what if dracula won? interesting take on the gothic tradition, loved the playful attitude with literary and historical characters, probably wouldn’t recommend to anyone other than die hard gothic fans

the drover’s wife: the legend of molly johnson - leah purcell

read for my aus lit course but i really loved this text! it’s an adaption (originally for stage, now in novel form, film releases this may) of henry lawson’s iconic australian short story, ‘the drover’s wife’. without spoilers, the book tackles the pervasive gap (conscious or otherwise) of Indigenous presence and voice in the original story. you don’t necessarily need any prior knowledge of the lawson short to read it (i read this before i read lawson) but it doesn’t hurt. a short little story, would definitely recommend, especially if people want to branch into australian literature

true history of the kelly gang - peter carey

another aus lit read. this was… interesting, to say the least. it’s a fictional excavation of ned kelly’s life (a famous bush-ranger/ outlaw/ robin-hood-type figure in australia - hotly contested) based on kelly’s own 1879 jerilderie letter. it’s written in the same style as kelly’s letter, giving it an autobiographical feel, penned to kelly’s (fictitious) daughter. it was super hard to get into (the word ‘adjectival’ is burned into my brain) but once i got into it, it was definitely hard to put down. a major critique is that it’s literary fiction, not a history. so i probably wouldn’t recommend if people want an unbiased account of kelly’s life, but it was an interesting read and i found myself swayed by it

current reads (aka my beloved unfinished reads i still want to ramble about)

hell followed with us - andrew joseph white

this book. THIS BOOK. scream. throwing up. setting honey traps in my brain and letting the ants infest me. i’m halfway through, i have no coherent thoughts aside from its furiously, fiercely queer and a beautiful horror story. pls read it when it comes out (june 7) i need friends

rejecting compulsory sexuality - sherronda j brown

i’m only a handful of pages in, but i feel extraordinarily lucky to be reading this work. this book is a transformative piece of Black asexual scholarship and it is absolutely amazing. releases september 13 - anyone who wants to know more about asexuality, or Black asexuality, or compulsory sexuality should definitely read this one

the yield - tara june winch

another read for aus lit. i’m not too far in but i’m really enjoying it so far - it’s a beautiful piece of australian fiction and it explores language in a very unique way

mutuals, please feel free to reblog/tag with any books you read this month, or if you’ve read/heard of any of these!! 💚💚

#anno dracula #the drover’s wife #leah purcell #kim newman #true history of the kelly gang #peter carey #hell followed with us #andrew joseph white #rejecting compulsory sexuality #sherronda j brown #the yield #tara june winch #march reads #liss reads #march recap

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johannestevans · 2 years

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The delightful end of 2021!

Good evening!

What a fucking year it's been.

I've been unbelievably happy with some of the work I've been doing this year, and I've been so so happy along the way to get to work on such a variety of projects since I went full-time as an author in February, which I've been able to do purely because of the support of readers - whether that means buying my books, supporting me on Patreon or Medium, or just sending me a Ko-Fi when you can, thank you! You let me make my living doing what I love and what, it seems, you love too, and I'm unbelievably grateful and feel tremendously privileged to be able to do so!

In the new year you can look forward to some short story collections of some of my favourite stories from 2021, which I'm hoping to make a regular annual release; I've got a great many projects to work on, and as well as continuing to work on my shorts and my essays and my serials, I'm also gonna be trying to do a bit more script work, which I'm looking forward to!

I've got my ordinary little summary of new works published, and then I'm going to put together a top 10 list of some of my favourite shorts from this year in case you missed them!

This is going to be the last email I send out this year - I'll undoubtedly still be putting out some works over the next few weeks here and there, but I'm going to be taking it easy and try to take a bit of time off.

Thank you so so much, once again, for all your support! If you're celebrating any holidays over the next few weeks, I hope you enjoy them and have as restful a time as possible.

Summary of New Works

Dark Romance Short: The Ice Skater

A man falls devastatingly in love with the strange figure who dances on the ice.

Rated M, 5k, M/M. A man working at a cocoa stand becomes besotted with the man who always skates on the outdoor ice rink at Christmastime. Another appearance from Verdance Pike, adapted from a TweetFic.

Read on Patreon / / Read on Medium

Serial Update: Powder and Feathers

Chapter Fifty: Old Fears. Benedictine has a nightmare; Aimé and Jean-Pierre get lunch.

Read on WorldAnvil / / Read on Medium

Romance Short: Music and Flowers

Romance short. A man becomes besotted with his neighbour, a violinist.

3.5k, rated T, just some sweetness and gentle teasing between two neighbours in the same building! Adapted from a TweetFic.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

Yakuza Fanfic: At The Batting Cages

1.8k, Rated M, Kazumaji. Kiryu asks questions, which is always a gamble.

Read on Ao3

2021's Top Ten Stories

Here's my favourite 10 stories I've written this year! If you have different favourites you think should be in the top ten, please let me know, I'd love to hear people's takes!

1. Gerald Poole and the Pirates

40k, M/M/M! A distinctly queer adventure full of internal conflict ensues when a gentleman and a sailor are captured by pirates. A little bit of adventure, romance, and queerness in the 18th century Mediterranean!

An adaptation of my TweetFic, Gerald Poole & the Pirates.

On Medium / / On Patreon

2. Ambitious Men

Fantasy & Horror & Eroticism & Dark Romance. Archie had idolised Casper Hugo almost his entire life.

11.6k. Rated M. M/M. Deeply fucked up fantasy-horror, wherein a man finds that his dream of taking over his hero’s restaurant is not to proceed as smoothly as he hoped. Adapted from a TweetFic.

On Medium / / On Patreon

3. More Than Coffee

Del’s place of work is a front for an underground surgery. One of their new patrons doesn’t care: he just wants his coffee.

Romance, erotica, humour, and a little bit of crime. 13k, rated E.

On Medium / / On Patreon

4. Fit for Purpose

Supervillains and superheroes, but with stretchy bodies and massive cocks, between a huge cis male alien superhero and a trans man supervillain with whole-body elasticity. 4.2k. Silly and light in humour, but extreme on the porn!

Featuring pheromones (mildly dubious consent for this, but both parties use pheromones to get their way, and are enthusiastically into it), come inflation, huge size difference, unrealistic sex, alien dicks, prodigious amounts of come, dom/sub, mild corporal punishment, undernegotiated kink, rough sex, objectification, dirty talk.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

5. Warden Gordon and the Angel in the Woods

7.6k. Working in a magical national park, Gryff Gordon has a contentious relationship with a local angel. Featuring Perseverance-Before-God.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

6. Gellert's New Job

Gellert has worked as a business manager for the King family for nearly a decade when an error in judgement brings his employment to an abrupt end. Lucien Pike, a rival kingpin, employs his services instead.

Fantasy, crime, and a good bit of dark humour. 21k. Rated M. Transgender, autistic man’s POV; both protagonists are autistic.

On Medium / / On Patreon

7. Divine Bodies

9k. The god Freyr expects good work from his priests, but gives good rewards. Magical HRT for a loyal trans masc priest! Featuring Esben.

Featuring transness, divinity, magical HRT, size differences, come inflation, consensual nonconsent, somnophilia, gangbangs, stomach bulges, come inflation, public humiliation, power dynamics, nature imagery, gender expression and embrace of gender identity as faith and worship!

Breeding kink and dirty talk about pregnancy included but no actual pregnancy. Terms used for Esben’s genitalia are tits, cock, cunt — this story delves into effects as of HRT throughout, so please bear that in mind.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

8. A King's Man

King Capulet has always had a dangerous affection for assassins, and this one is more fascinating than any other he’s ever been able to enjoy.

Rated M. M/M. 13k. Dark fantasy, manipulation, and interrogative techniques — note content warnings for blood and violence, sexual assault and manipulation, and complex power dynamics and layered interactions. Featuring Valorous King.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

9. Au Naturale

A student at Camelot University gets involved with a stablemaster.

Explicit M/M short between two cis men. 7k. Featuring size kink, size different, large cocks, overstimulation, stomach bulging, mind break/aheago, dirty talk, D/s, age difference, rough sex, being pinned down, and dirty talk about piss play but no actual piss play. Featuring Coshel Fenwick and Cicero Penllwynog.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

10. The Lord of the Wood's Spring Bride

Fantasy, humour, and a little romance! Rated M — raunchy but not explicit — and about 10k.

A trans dressmaker is embroiled in the strange schemes of a local deity, and he lets himself be carried away with the tide.

On Medium / / On Patreon.

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piezein · 3 years

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They Should Be Dead: A Collection of Works by The Living

Early on during the quarantine, I suddenly had more time to indulge in media. After a few months, I’ve notice a pattern, so here it is: a list of shows and stories that all have living dead people.

TV Shows

Ghosts (BBC) - The series follows a collection of ghosts from different historical periods haunting a country house while sharing the house with its new living occupants. This is a great show with well written plots, characters, and stories. I find it appeals especially to the queer and neurodivergent community.

What We Do In The Shadows - The series follows 4 vampires in a mockumentary format. If you like those shows where fiction meets real historical events, or just plain vampire humor, this is for you.

Pushing Daisies - The series follows a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life with his touch, an ability that comes with stipulations. Together with his formerly deceased childhood crush Chuck, private investigator Emerson Cod and co-worker Olive Snook, Ned uses his abilities to solve murder cases. Perfectly pleasing visuals, an interesting premise, and REALLY relatable for all of under quarantine. Lots of yearning.

Dead Like Me - George dies early in the pilot episode and becomes one of the "undead", a "grim reaper". The show explores the experiences of a small team of such reapers, as well as the changes in George and her family as they deal with George's death. I’m not sure if the show employs edgy humor but I like it. It is slightly nihilistic in tone but the way it connects the experiences of life with the reality of death is a really interesting take. It’s perfect for teens and young adults. Also, Mandy Patinkin.

The Good Place - Eleanor Shellstrop, a woman welcomed after her death to "the Good Place", a highly selective Heaven-like utopia designed and run by afterlife "architect" Michael as a reward for her righteous life. This series has everything: dreamlike scenes, nightmarelike scenes, philosophy, EAT THE RICH, genderless she/her icon Janet, good characters, accurate representations, and an all-around touching story.

Santa Clarita Diet - The series centers on husband and wife real estate team Joel and Sheila Hammond whose normal, boring lives change dramatically when Sheila shows symptoms of having become a zombie. The bewildered family seek a cure for her condition while dealing with its consequences. Wild family goes on the time of their lives because their mom has become a zombie. It’s great. They kill n*zis and a cop and eat them.

Star Trek - too many Star Trek episodes have the “oh no they died! anyway...” premise and aside from the idealistic paradise Gene Roddenberry pictured, death and resurrection are large themes in Star Trek.

Books/Graphic Novels/Short Stories

The Carpet Merchant of Konstantiniyya (by @reimenaashelyee) - A two-volume Eisner-nominated graphic novel set in 17th century Istanbul and 18th century England, about a carpet merchant's reconcilitation with faith, love and home in the aftermath of his death by a vampire. It’s a great story. I’ll be telling this to everyone who will listen: the graphic novel is engaging and insightful, life cannot get better than this graphic novel. (Also: ACE REP!) Also by the author is The World in Deeper Inspection which explores the setting and premise of other characters.

The Shadow of The Wind (by Carlos Ruiz Zafón) - Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. Magical realism abounds, it’s sinister, it’s beautiful, it’s a perfect book about dancing the line between death and life.

The Graveyard Book (by Neil Gaiman) - Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. Great book about growing up and leaving childhood.

The Book Thief (by Markus Zusak) - It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still. Featuring Death themself as the omniscient narrator, the story intertwines with books and stories of life and of survival. It’s a sobering book but important to read.

May Day Eve (by Nick Joaquin) - Magical realism, time travel vibes. But most importantly, myth, enchantment, the Devil, passion, everlasting love. There’s a reason why this is required reading for Philippine colleges. I cry every time I read it.

Movies

Night at The Museum Trilogy - Night guard in charge of museum. Exhibits come back to life, wacky shenanigans follow. The only downside to this is that they visited the British Museum and not one of the exhibits screamed “I DONT BELONG HERE! TAKE ME BACK!”

The Book Thief - I would say it’s a faithful enough adaptation of the book.

Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock

The Lovely Bones - astounding <3 ik she’s dead but letting her breach the curtain between life and death? Good shit.

What We Do In The Shadows - The mockumentary that started it all. Once again Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement are geniuses. And correct: all vampires know is be bisexual eat hot virgin and fly.

Musicals/Plays

Hadestown- Retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice. Folk type of music, features great talents and songs by Anaïs Mitchell. The story is good, it touches on capitalism, progress, labor, and love.

Indecent- Play exploring the play "God Of Vengeance" which was cited for indecency on Broadway for its themes and indecent acts committed by the actors. It begins as a play brought by several actors who rise from the ashes of the Holocaust and gradually extends to the multiple characters they become. I find this important for anyone interested in queer Jewish history.

I really like media focusing on death and life so recommend some and take some from the list!

ADDITIONAL NOTE: I have a really bad attention span but these stuff somehow get my brain. They're good.

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interact-if · 3 years

Note

Umm hi 👉👈 I realized that most of the asks you guys get are about games and rec lists. You guys deserve so much recognition for the work you put in this blog, so I wanted to ask if I can do a little get-to-know-the-mods thing? If that's okay!

1. Besides writing, what are your hobbies?

2. Do you have a niche interest right now?

3. Any fave songs/artists/bands?

4. Any fave movies/tv shows?

5. On a scale of 1-10, how likely would you survive in your wip's world?

You can totally ignore this if you guys want, no pressure. Anyway, much love to all the interact-if mods! You guys are incredible! ❤

We saw this ask and we went 👀 👀 👀 so we’re happy to answer! Thank you so much for the fun ask!

We also rated our survivability in all of our collective games, since Mars isn't an author! Fun stuff! Spoilers, though: it’s really not looking so great for me (Dani) but that’s fine!!! 😌

1. I’m a photographer as well as a graphic artist (but not like. A painter/drawer kind of artist!) and, on a general level, a maker and a tinkerer!

2. Fountain pens! I only write with ink, and only with fountain pens, and I use bottled inks/converters!

3. I’m pretty eclectic with music, but my top genres are alt rock, indie, indie pop, etc, as well as top 40s and some rap.

4. I feel like this is the hardest one for me to answer? Favorite movies/shows? Avatar: the Last Airbender has been a favorite show of mine since I was a little kid, but I have a harder time thinking of shows I would call a favorite in recent years. There are shows I’ve liked, and a lot of shows I’ve watched. But I’m picky! And demanding! It takes a lot to earn a place in Dani’s Trophy Case of Favorites. 😌 I would say I quite liked A Quite Place (movie), and I liked Us (movie). When it comes to TV shows, I have a hard time being pleased with them if they don’t end well. As a result, I have a penchant for a good limited series/miniseries (because they’re stories that have an end in mind and the plot reflects that, dagnabbit).

5. Heh. Okay.

In The Goodfellows? I think I stand I chance. I can exercise my sparkling wit and lovable personality to the best effect. I’m gonna give myself an 8/10 survivability rating. Even if I don’t have the right skills, I can go crying to the person who does and they’ll save me. Maybe.

In Creatures’ Cradle? I’m super $**!%d. 😌 1/10 survivability rating. And that 1 is me being nice to myself. The day the apocalypse breaks out I would probably be patient 0. I am self-aware. I would not do well in an apocalypse. Zombies care not for aforementioned sparkling wit and lovable personality, and I have all the muscle of a boiled spaghetti noodle. So it’s a no go.

Greater Than Gods (Cruz): Well. I’m going to be optimistic. And say that I have the wisdom not to do things I shouldn’t do and not to rock boats I shouldn’t rock. I’m going to give myself a 7/10 based on insider information, but also based on reckless optimism!

Vardir (Cruz): Cruz says this is a lighthearted game, so 10/10 LOL.

When it Hungers (Roast): I’m giving myself a nice, mediocre 5/10. I think I could put my mind to work here; I joke that I’m the village idiot, but I’m actually pretty smart! Unfortunately, I’m also curious, and maybe a little bad with authorities who won’t answer my questions. So I knocked off a lot of points due to the fact that I’d probably poke the metaphorical bear. So it’s a real coin flip as to whether I’d really make it or not.

Orthall Bay (Nines): Considering the genre is “horror” and the game intro includes the words “monster” and “maim,” I’m giving myself a whooping, enthusiastic 3/10. Yes, folks, I am that confident in myself! Once again, I can’t charm the socks off a monster (or can I?), so one of my greatest weapons is snatched from beneath my feet. Alas!

1. Beloved I’m a college student in the middle of a pandemic... i can hardly even write LOL i do draw at times which u can see in my personal blog (nothing too good really) and i used to do karate before things went to shit <3

2. Nothing niche I believe? All I do is leave Netflix as bg noise every day n play popular videgames (genshin)

3. Porter Robinson <3 I love Bea Miller a lot as well but lately I’ve been feeling Porter a lot

4. The Good Place <3

5. My WIPs:

Greater than Gods: Highly situational, the world GtG is set in is as broad as the real world LOL so I don’t have an universal answer. But keeping it vague, and knowing my own personality, I feel like 5/10. depends on my luck.

Vardir: 10/10 no one dies in Vikgade, unless you’re a hunter but I wouldn’t be a hunter <3

Others’ WIPs

I'm gonna give myself a solid 5/10 in all other WIPs because y'all aren't writing lighthearted stories either. I feel like as long as I avoid the role of the MC I will be mostly fine. I hope. But as Dani said I'm also prone to fight the wrong person and dig my own grave so 😌

1. Well, writing is a very, very, very, distant hobby since Words Hard, but I like to crochet and sculpt a little! Anything to do with fiddling with my hands and I’m good to go. And like, debatable but graphic design is my passion [insert clown emoji here since Tumblr said No]

2. Oh yeah a bunch! DnD yelling at people, thinking of arson, crocheting, rock climbing and simply vibing. I got into podcasts a few years ago and I’m always looking for more recs, so if you have some, hmu 😤

3. Pls,,,,my music taste is,,,so weird do not let me expose myself with lack of consistency but uhh. Current songs that are stuck in my head include; Cult of Dionysus , Achilles Come Down and The Last Shanty

4. If you’ve ever spoken to me before, I probably yelled about Pacific Rim to you or at you. Plus I love all The Mummy films and really enjoyed Castlevania (s3 excluded, we do not perceive that) as well!

5. Ah, mod survival simulator pt. 3

Alright, let’s go! I don’t have a WIP because again, words hard, but like, considering how feral I am when not tryna seem professional hm...

The Goodfellows: I wanna say a solid 7/10 because I’d hardcore vibe with the Traveler and probably instigate so much nonsense. I can also bribe with blueberry cake so maybe.

Creature’s Cradle: maybe a 4/10 and only because of pure spite keeping me alive long enough to smack someone. I’ve prepared for hypothetical zombie apolcapyses and I won’t hesitate to bap, but will be bapped back because I’m weak as hell.

Greater Than Gods: a toss up between 2/10 and 7/10! I can vibe and be chill but I also have terrible impulse control so...

Vardir: hm....I think pretty good survival rates all around? If you ask me to fight then like, okay sure, your knees are mine. So maybe a 8/10?

When it Hungers: .......8/10 just because I’d refuse to die if I can be a cool creature. Living for the aesthetic can and will drag me outta hell. But I’m also clumsy as hell so I’d probably crash as a porcelain or hold a rooster and perish (aka, real rating is a good 3/10)

Orthall Bay: 2/10, nope. Nope I’d be taken out in a heartbeat. Monsters can go pspsps and I’d head straight into the dark creepy forest like a fool if someone comes @ me. Half the time I’ll just assume it’s sfx makeup and vibe until it’s too late.

god, never put me in a universe where I cannot squawk like a bird and throw pebbles from a window. Oof

Anon, you're so sweet! I give you a forehead smoomch <333 As for your questions...

1. If I'm not writing, I'm usually watching video essays on Youtube. My go-to channels as of right now is Disrupt and Aperture! I just really like their videos. Aside from that, I recently got into podcasts. Currently going through Hello From The Hallowoods and Shelter and Warning, which are made by queer creators!

2. Oh oof, there's quite a bit so I'm just gonna put down one thing. For some reason, I really got into collecting tiny astronaut things? I recently bought this astronaut desk light, and I've got a package coming in for the miniatures I ordered. No purpose for them other than I think they're neat <3

3. I'm a bit private with my music taste (even tho I have Spotify connected on Discord lmao), but there's 5 songs that I'm currently obsessed with. I keep replaying them over and over again. Just squeezing all the serotonin I could get outta them.

4. I can't really say I have a fave TV show or movie because I can't really just pick one, but my current fave is 9-1-1 and Resident Alien. 9-1-1 because I just really love the found-family dynamics and how the show tackles sensitive topics, and Resident Alien because it's lighthearted comedy. My all-time fave movie is Flipped! I have the book too and I like rereading from time to time <3

5. You're in for a doozy, anon, because we're rating each other's games <333

The Goodfellows: 7/10

Listen. Shenanigans with the Traveler. I would get up to so many of them and that is what'll get me possibly bodied, not the actual environment itself <3

Greater than Gods: 7/10

I like to think I have enough common sense to uhhh not recklessly flip stones that should not be flipped <3 I'm a cautious and skeptic person irl so I think I'll hold up well? Then again, it's a vast environment change and while I can adapt pretty quick, I wouldn't like the lack of control in the unknown.

Vardir: 10/10

Going off what Cruz said, Vardir is lighthearted and focused on personal growth so I think I'll be okay! Self-growth here I come, babey!

Creatures' Cradle: 8/10

Maybe I'm overestimating myself, but I think I'll be able to survive in a supernatural post-apocalyptic world! Ah, but it depends on the motivation though. I like the idea of rebuilding communities and eventually societies, but the survival turmoil would be a constant battle I'd have to overcome. If we're talking survival itself though, I think I'll do well.

When it Hungers: 8/10

That's probably my wishful thinking but I think I'll be fine. Maybe. Possibly. Don't like the idea of being regulated by an organization so if I was a non-human creature that could pose a problem but I can roll with it <3

Orthall Bay: 6/10

Assuming I'm not playing as MC, my chances of survival uhhh changes quite drastically. Not enough to guarantee an untimely demise, but certainly enough that it would constantly keep me on my toes. I think that's the safest answer I can get without spoiling anything lmao

Thank you so much for asking! It's super sweet of you <3

1. Too many :'D I knit, I sew, I do carpentry (well, learning), I bake, I'm hammering away at HTML and CSS, my job kind of encourages learning new things and I take that to picking up new hobbies!

2. My time is kind of consumed with school work and work work and WIP work so not a lot of time to pursue niche interests right now. I've been watching a lot of horror game playthroughs, true crime youtubers, and an adorable show on Netflix called the Repair Shop <3

3. My taste in music is "what am I vibing with atm?" I've been listening to a lot of 80's music atm (don't @ me), but also Lo Fang and Kaleo, and whatever spotify recommends me on my discover weekly which is usually complete chaos.

4. I love the Mummy even though it hasn't aged 100% well (I'm a librarian, of course it's one of my gotos LOL), Legally Blonde, Leverage, Jumanji (the original), I'm....very bad at having recent tastes... and very bad at remembering my favorites when asked.

The Goodfellows: I'm a creature of comfort, 5/10 if I can just luxuriate in town and not actually interact with the story sfjkdbsdkf

Creature’s Cradle: I'd like to think I have a 50/50 shot XD 5/10, I want to think I'd be decent at a zombie apocalypse but ultimately would suffer an early fate.

Greater Than Gods: 10/10 if I'm just vibing, less so if I'm involved in the actual story XD

Vardir: I'd still suffer without technology but I can also knit for a living in this world so I'm down 8/10

When it Hungers: I feel like I could vibe here, there's tech if dated, hot showers, telephones are around by now... might still get bored. 7/10 though it'd be cool to be another creature....I should make a 'what creature of snv are you' quiz!

Orthall Bay: 7/10 idk I feel like after the first monster of the week I'd just skip town XDDDD I'm the worst protagonist, I see danger I just leave.

#mod talk #long post #interact if: asks

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solennitawrites · 3 years

Text

WIP & Writeblr Intro!

About Me

You can call me solennita or A.H. or whatever your heart desires. I am in my late twenties, South American, bi, living with ADHD, and you can refer to me using they/them pronouns. I have been writing since I was a child but more or less had to set it aside from high school until last year when the pandemic hit and quarantine gave me an opportunity to finally revisit this novel trilogy idea I began about 15 years ago in a dilapidated, blue composition book and commit to actually completing it.

WIP Intro

Working Title: The Sapphire Room

Inspiration: South American mythology and legends (mostly Venezuela, but also Colombia, Chile, and Peru)

Genre: YA Fantasy, Latinx Fantasy, Adventure, Coming of Age

Status: Writing (Chapters 1-3 are up on Wattpad).

Premise: On the continent of Amasi, where a unique mineral, aranate, and advancements in metalworking have resulted in a highly secular and technologically developed society, two fifteen-year-old, orphaned girls have grown up together in Namina Boarding School, a remote institution situated in the middle of the swamplands at the edge of the Arúni Rainforest. One night, Nina and Adelaida discover a hidden object in Namina’s attic—a golden hourglass filled with diamonds and mysterious engravings. Nina and Adelaida begin to learn that this object is not all that it seems, and that familiar faces in Namina know more than they let on. Roped into a dangerous but enticing adventure taking them across all of Amasi, the two friends must face challenges beyond their wildest dreams and learn who to trust as everything they thought they knew begins to slip away. With dark and powerful forces threatening to destroy all life, can these two young girls learn the truth about Amasi’s mystical history, and themselves, to save the world before it’s too late?

Characters: Zafira Fam (Nina, Adelaida, Noémi, Milaraya, & Zo); Brujxs Fam (Maiara, Irália, Aracéli, Mireia, & Tamaya); Namina Fam (Amara Quila, Sol Acedo, Luciana Quíspe, Aria Nuali, Ortensia Rayena, Úrsula Bira, Valeria Vera, Candé Intira)

Tag Navigation: General TSR; Geography; Characters; Plot; Excerpts

Intro to Amasi Posts: Yanura, Orona, Guayra, Islas Maracainas (Maragua)

About My Writeblr

I hope to use this blog to help me work out world building and plot ideas, as well as character development and all that jazz! I’ll likely post excerpts here and there (many of which may just be background writing exercises for story building rather than actual scenes!) and welcome as much feedback and critique as folks are willing to give!

I'll also reblog writing resources, advice, tips, and of course, others' works and I'm open to tag games, asks/ask games, and just general getting to know each other! I may reblog non-writing posts here and there as well, which I’ll tag as “not writing.”

I am still very much in early stages and my posting may be sporadic as I am graduating law school soon and then will be taking the bar in the summer, so hope y’all will bear with me :) But please feel free to let me know if you’re interested in being tagged in any of my WIP posts (and feel free to specify -- i.e., only character posts, only excerpts, etc.)!

About My WIP

My current WIP is tentatively titled The Sapphire Room. You can use the navigation links to check out TSR posts (general tag; excerpts; geography; characters; and plot). This is a project that has undergone a lot of revision from when I first had the idea at around 12 years old to now, when I’ve been able to dive more into world and story building.

A huge motivation/inspiration for my is the lack of latinx fantasy in YA fiction. I adore YA fantasy stories, YA coming of age stories, and YA adventure stories, but I’m tired of reading the same adaptations or variations on the very Anglo-centric narrative. Latinx history and culture is so rich and diverse, though much of the cultural stories have been lost today as a result of colonization and its aftermath.

I decided to reach out to my family about this and started collecting myths and legends from my South American country, and researching those from others in the region. There’s a lot of overlap among the stories shared, especially between Venezuela, Colombia, and Peru, as well as Chile to an extent, so this is where the basis for my worldbuilding really comes from.

As a first-gen latinx immigrant who grew up in a pretty conservative, Catholic area, stories like Romina Garber’s Lobizona and Tehlor Kay Mejia’s We Set the Dark on Fire would have changed my life. I want to make sure my story can serve a similar purpose for young, latinx readers who struggle to see themselves represented in stories they love.

I am very intentional about including racial representation (afro-latinx characters), gender and sexuality representation (queer, trans, and NB characters), and disability representation (characters with both physical and mental disabilities). Though I share some identities I will be writing about, I obviously will be going outside of my own experience in many ways and welcome all critiques and feedback on how I can improve in any of these aspects.

I am also being very intentional about writing an escapist and entertaining story where racism, colonialism, and trauma are not fundamental parts of the story. There will be conflict and pain and sorrow, but after seeing story after story that focuses on the toxic machismo in latinx cultures, on racism and colorism in fantasy settings, and other forms of discrimination and trauma in QTPOC fantasy narratives (all of which are really, really important stories to tell!!), I really am aiming for my story to be different and serve as an entertaining escape.

As mentioned, please feel free to let me know if you’re interested in being tagged in any TSR posts and please feel free to send any feedback, questions, criticisms my way at any point!

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artificialqueens · 3 years

Text

Pretty in Pearls, Chapter 4 (Jankie) - Plastiquedoll

read on ao3 💄| previous chapters

A/N: hi! here's a new chapter and I'm planting the crygi seed for the future *wink wink* I hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading it <3

-4-

“Good morning!” Jan greeted Nicky outside the café with a smile on her face.

“Hey! You woke up earlier today; I didn’t catch you on your way out the dorms.” The blonde noticed.

She was wearing a fuzzy cardigan sweater she had seen on Jaida before, light blue jeans, and white sneakers. Her hair was still wet which made Jan think she might have spent the night with her girlfriend before meeting her.

“Yeah, I had to return some books to the library so I left when Rosé went to class.”

They walked in and were welcomed by the familiar warmness of the interior of the coffee shop. Almost a month had passed but Jan was always comforted by the charm of the place. It was a crowded morning but they were able to squish at one little table near the entrance. They had just sat down when a fuming Jackie crossed the door, at first she didn’t see them but as soon as Jan waved at her she shuffled toward their direction and plopped herself in the empty chair.

She was wearing brown flare pants along with a white shirt and a yellow batwing cardigan with a floral pattern. Her brown hair had been violently ruffled by a gust of wind, the loose locks fell all over her face completing a look that matched her current mood.

“What are you doing here?” Nicky asked.

Jan was wondering the same; all of Jackie’s classes took place in the morning, it was early for her to be out.

She grunted a few words while holding a scrunchie between her teeth as she attempted to untangle her hair.

“What?” The girls asked at the same time.

Jackie tied her hair into a ponytail and sighed. “I got kicked out of class.”

Jan looked at her with disbelief. “What?” She repeated.

“Remember that professor that hates me for making –according to him- «snarky comments»? Well, he finally found a reason to express his dislike for me and asked me to leave.” She crossed her arms on her chest. “I wasn’t going to stay quiet when –in addition, to invisibilize women in art- he also tried to erase the queerness of the artists. No, not on my watch.”

“What a pig.” Nicky shook her head. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to kick you out because you called him out.”

“Oh, trust me, this isn’t the end of it. I’m filing a complaint and leaving that class. I’m done.”

“I’m sorry, Jackie. I know you liked the subject, too bad the professor is a jerk.” Jan tapped her shoulder softly.

The brunette got stiff by the sudden touch. She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Anyway… it sucks because I need the credit and it’s the only class that fits into my schedule.”

“Maybe there’s a way to fix it, talk with the administration or something.” Jan did what she did best, being undeniably positive.

“Yeah… maybe. But enough of that, I need a cup of coffee.”

As if she had read Jackie’s mind, a waitress approached and it wasn’t any other than…

“Hello, girls!”

“Crystal? You work here?” Jan asked.

The girl nodded. “I started yesterday.” She smiled brightly.

She had a blue apron with the café’s name on it over her clothes and Jan swore her hair –covered in colorful hair clips- was different than last time she saw her not even two days ago.

“Congratulations! That’s great!”

“Thank you. I had to drop one of my classes but I needed the job.”

Jackie grunted. “Please let’s not talk about dropping classes.” She began massaging her temples.

“Right! I’m here to take your order.” She pulled out a tiny notebook covered in glitter from her pocket and a unicorn gel pen. “I’m ready.”

“I think you have to say «what can I get you?»” Nicky commented.

“Oh, you’re right… Let me try again. What can I get you?” She repeated in an extremely polite voice.

“I’ll have a hot chocolate please.” Jan pointed at the menu.

“And I’d like a hazelnut latte.” Jackie followed.

“For me, a caramel macchiato.” The blonde finished the order.

“Perfect… so hot chocolate, hazelnut latte, and caramel macchiato.” Crystal checked her notes. “Right away.”

“Thank you.” They said and with that, the ginger left and then turned around.

Jan watched her go.

“I should get a job too.” She pouted. “I don’t want to ask for extra money from my parents, they are helping with the other half the scholarship and they are paying for my brother’s tuition too.”

“I work at the mall near here and there’s always something to do there. You could come with me later and ask around.” Nicky mentioned.

“I didn’t know that, what do you do?”

“I’m on the cosmetics section. I do people’s makeup during the weekends and convince them to buy products.”

“Of course you do…”

“What would you like to do?” Jackie inquired in the meantime she rearranged the sweeteners of the table.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I’ve had part-time jobs before. I used to work at an ice cream parlor. That was fun not to mention I had free ice cream. Then I worked at the post office, that wasn’t as much fun, it involved a lot of boxes… and during my senior year, I was the secretary of a dental office that… well, definitely wasn’t fun but I got to meet the same customers that were regulars on the ice cream parlor.”

Jackie and Nicky burst into laughter.

“You’ll do well…” The blonde assured.

“We can write your resume later and print it in the copy room.” Jackie suggested.

“That’s a great idea. Yeah, let’s do it.”

At that moment, Crystal returned with their drinks.

“Well, let’s see… I’ll put these over here, here and… here.” She placed the cups carefully and sighed with relief when everything stayed in place. “Great… Let me know if you need me.” She hummed.

“Thank you, Crystal!” Jan was going to leave a good tip for her friend.

When she turned around, they all exchanged misplaced cups in the blink of an eye.

“She’ll get better… hopefully.” Jackie added some sugar and took a sip of her coffee.

Jan drank some of her chocolate; the whipped cream created a mustache above her cupid’s bow and got the brunette looking fondly at her before taking a napkin and cleaning the corner of her mouth. Nicky raised an eyebrow but before she could say something, someone else showed up.

It was a girl that most definitely looked like a supermodel with her matching glen check pattern outfit consisting of a cropped jacket and a mini skirt with accents of yellow fabric and a belt with chains hanging from it along with a pair of black thigh-high boots. Her blonde hair framed her face and was tied on the back on a half up half down hairstyle.

“Hey, Nicky, did you finish the assignment for today’s class? And if you did, did you have any difficulty submitting it?” She looked upset, stressed.

“Uh… no. Maybe it’s because that paper is due tomorrow and the submission time starts… tomorrow?”

“Oh, thank God.” She sat on the only left empty chair with no need of an invitation and sighed letting all the air out of her lungs.

Their little table couldn’t accommodate more people so they squished even more.

Nicky turned to Jackie and Jan. “This is Gigi, she’s a classmate of mine and she actually lives in the same dorms as us. Gigi, do you remember my friend Jackie? And this is Jan, resident of the C dorm.”

The other blonde girl waved. “Hi, sorry… that was rude. I was freaking out due to that assignment.” She took a deep breath. “Hi, Jackie… I do remember you and Jan, we’re neighbors.”

“That’s great!” Jan smiled at her. “So you’re a fashion major too?”

She nodded. “I’m a sophomore as well but I’m a year younger than everyone else because of technicalities and my mom sending me to kindergarten one year earlier.”

“We’re the same age then. That’s cool.”

Gigi smiled, she was beautiful.

“How are you adapting to-” She was going to ask Jan something when she lowered her head in an attempt to hide behind Jackie. “Oh shit.”

“Gigi, what is it?” Nicky whispered.

“She’s here.” Gigi tried to descend even more.

“Uhm… who’s here?” Jackie looked around.

“She! She’s here right now… Oh God…” The girl seemed nervous and her cheeks were tinted in soft pink. “So, uh… there’s this girl who lives in our dorm I guess and I’ve bumped into her a couple of times before but… I don’t know, she’s like…” She blushed harder.

“Gigi Goode... The Gigi Goode is possibly… intimidated by someone?” Nicky gasped.

“Shhh… shut up… no… yeah… maybe. I don’t know. I’m gay and single, leave me alone.”

“Wait but how does she look like?” Jan also tried to find her among the crowd. They all were whispering.

“Oh my God… she’s coming… she’s walking in this direction, why is she walking in this direction? Never mind she has an apron.”

But it was Crystal who appeared next to Jan. “Hey guys, everything’s okay over here? Do you need something else?” She inquired, completely clueless.

The three remaining girls looked at Crystal, then at Gigi, and then at Crystal again as if it was a ping pong game.

“Oh, hey! I hadn’t seen you there, would you like me to bring something for you?” She asked Gigi while pulling out her Crystalcore things.

The blonde girl nodded and recovered the posture a little. “Uh… matcha… that’s the green thing… yeah… latte. Green tea?”

“Matcha tea latte?”

She nodded mechanically again.

“Alright, anything else?” The other girls shook their heads. “I’ll be right back.”

“Thank you.” Gigi’s voice sounded high-pitched.

Once Crystal left, all eyes were on the blonde once again.

“Oh my… I fucked up, didn’t I?”

Nicky’s jaw had dropped to the floor. “Wait, hold on a minute… you like her?”

“Shhh… God, Nicky, she could hear you or something.” Gigi pressed her hand on her chest, feeling her heart beating fast. “I didn’t know she worked here.”

Jan was trying to contain a smile, her lips turned into a thin line, meanwhile, Jackie stirred her lukewarm coffee.

“Uh… You know that’s my roommate, right?” Nicky smirked.

At that moment, Gigi almost fainted. Her face went from reddish to pale in a second and her eyes were full of terror as if she had seen a ghost.

“Excuse me, she’s your what?!”

“My roommate? Crystal? The girl with orange hair? I’ve told you about her. The one that put stickers on the notes she leaves me? She forgot her key three times in the span of a day? The one that –allegedly- accidentally shot a confetti cannon in our room and since then it feels like the place coughs confetti here and there? Rings your bell?”

That had been a good day, Jan recalled.

“Wait- That’s your Crystal? Your Crystal is my Crystal?” She covered her mouth after saying those words.

Jackie and Jan exchanged an amused look.

“Your Crystal?” Nicky tilted her head.

“I mean… that’s not what I mean…” She cleared her throat. “please don’t tell her I have a crush on her this is already too embarrassing for me… I could die like a Sim… of embarrassment, it’s a real thing, you know?”

“Relax, I won’t say a word and I’m sure the girls won’t either, right?” Jan and Jackie nodded.

Gigi seemed relieved. “Thank you… I can’t believe she’s your roommate.” She buried her face in her hands.

“I can’t believe you feel intimidated by her, she has a One Direction poster in our room.”

“There are so many things clicking in my head right now please leave your message after the tone. Beep.”

Jackie moved her hand in front of her eyes without getting a response. “I think you broke her, Nicky.”

“She’ll be fine. Plus, Crystal is bringing her tea right now.”

“Fuck…” She said as if was a reset command.

“Here you have.” The ginger placed the smoky cup in front of her. “I hope you enjoy it.” She smiled and winked before leaving.

Gigi gulped.

“Uh, Gigi, I’m not an expert but judging by the color of the beverage, that’s not what you ordered.” Jackie pointed out.

But the blonde wasn’t even looking at her. “I don’t care; this is the most delicious drink existing in the entire universe right now.”

“What’s that though?” Nicky tried to touch the cup but Gigi slapped her hand.

“No touching.” She glared at her classmate.

“Yeah, I feel like we’re going to be good friends.” Jan thought about it aloud.

“Alright, all set.”

Jackie let a big sigh out of her chest when she left the administration office; Jan had been waiting for her outside. They had gone there straight after leaving the café when Nicky and Gigi left for their class. On their way to the building, she had tried to cheer Jackie up by telling the entire confetti cannon anecdote in full detail but even afterward laughing at loud the brunette still seemed afflicted.

“I’ve submitted my complaint and the head administrator told me that the board will look into it. Until then, they said that most classes are already full so they’ll have to look for a different solution and they’ll contact me via e-mail or I’ll have to drop by next week.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it? They’ll tell you what the next step is. It can only get better from here.”

“I hope so.” She shrugged. She didn’t sound fully convinced, though.

Jan checked the time on her phone. “Hey, we still have some time before your shift starts, we can hang out or something…”

Jackie bit her inner cheek. “I don’t know…”

Jan touched her shoulder gently. “Jackie, I hate you seen you like this. There has to be something that makes you feel at least one percent better.”

She looked at her with her big puppy eyes and Jackie couldn’t say no to her.

“Okay… there’s something that always makes me feel better.” She gave in.

“I’m listening.”

Jackie’s eyes sparked.

“No way…” Jan looked around. “This is awesome!”

They had gone upstairs –climbing several stairs-, to a place that wasn’t on the maps of the campus. Jackie had led the way without revealing a single detail –even when Jan asked many, many questions on their way there- she had said it was a surprise and that she didn’t want to spoil it. Finally, as they were climbing those endless stairs, her mood got a bit better.

They reached a single green metal door, it was locked but the brunette pulled a key from her set and opened it. The door led to a little hidden rooftop garden with a few hanging plants and flowers in terracotta pots, there was also a set of recycled wood chairs and an unvarnished coffee table rough around the edges. But without any doubt the most stunning part of that small place was the view, it was the perfect spot to contemplate most of the green areas of the campus including some of the park across the street nearby the café. It was almost noon and the sun hit the opposite side but in a few hours, it would be probably the best viewpoint of the sunset.

“What is this place?” The younger kept inspecting everything.

Jackie closed the door behind them. “It used to be a project made for a group of students to raise awareness about the use of recycling materials but since they all graduated no one really knows it exists. I accidentally discovered it last year when I took a photography class and spotted it with my camera from that crossroad.” She pointed with her index finger. “I did some research and the janitor gave me the key after asking… when I was done with the assignment, she let me keep it with the promise I would do some maintenance once in a while and keep the plants alive. And since then, I come here when I need to be alone or when I’m upset… like today.”

Jan stared at her. “I’m sorry that you had to drop that class.”

“I didn’t want to quit, you know? I thought I was going to be able to handle it, by giving up I feel like I let him win…”

“No, you didn’t. You don’t have to stand that mistreatment.” She looked the brunette in the eye. “I’m glad you did it; don’t let it be a defeat, it doesn’t have to be one.”

“Thank you.” A weak smile appeared on her face.

“I’m gonna hug right now, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“No, you don’t have to…”

“But I want to. C’mon, come here.” She extended her arms widely. “If you don’t let me hug you I’m going to hug myself and it’s going to be lame and I’m going to be sad.”

Jackie chuckled. “Okay, I guess…”

“Yay!” Jan jumped directly to her and wrapped her arms around her.

Jan’s shampoo smelled like almonds and honey. Her embrace made Jackie feel warm inside. Clouds could’ve been made of cotton and the sky was the bluest she had ever seen.

“You see? This is nice.” The younger still held her.

“Yeah, nice…” Jackie closed her eyes and for a moment, it was all right.

They stayed there for a little while. Jackie would have to go to the copy room soon and Jan had her class after lunch. During the time they were there, Jan played some music on her phone and they talked about what had happened earlier in the café. They agreed that it was sweet that Gigi had a crush on Crystal; Jackie watered the plants and told her the story of how she had met the blonde through Nicky. Later on, she sat on one of the chairs while Jan played hopscotch with the cracks in the concrete; she sang softly the song that was playing Hey There Delilah.

“You have a good singing voice,” Jackie mentioned.

“Huh? Me? Oh… I didn’t… I just sing for fun sometimes.” She suddenly felt coy.

“I mean it. It sounded lovely.”

“You’re just being nice. You haven’t heard Rosé or Lagoona, they are amazing.”

“They could tell you. I’m sure they’d agree with me.”

“I could never sing in front of them.” She looked mortified.

“You’d do well.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you.”

“I don’t know…” Jan shrugged.

The music stopped and the alarm she had set went off.

“We have to go.” The younger announced. “I’ll walk with you to the copy room and then I’ll grab something to eat.”

“Okay. Let me close the door.”

She waited until the brunette was done and they started walking downstairs.

“I wish I could work with you, wouldn’t that be fun?” Jan casually mentioned.

“Well, you’re there all the time anyway.”

“Does it bother you?”

Jackie shook her head and smiled. “No, not at all.”

“I don’t understand it.” Jan lied on the table of the study room. “I have applied for every job available at the mall and still, no response and no results.”

“Ow, baby,” Rosé ruffled her hair. “I’m sure you’re going to find something soon.”

Lagoona lifted her gaze from the textbook. “I wish I could help but the restaurant where I work is full.”

“I thought you hated that place?” Jan turned toward her.

“I do, but the tips are good.” She highlighted a sentence with her pastel marker.

She was already studying for an upcoming presentation. Rosé was memorizing the lines of a play and she got Jan there to read the other part. Now they were on a break. The pink-haired girl was drinking peach soda from a can in the meantime Jan whined for her failed job search. Lagoona –whose blue hair was beginning to fade a little- googled some job offers in the area and read them at loud.

“There are a few that sound pretty disgusting if you ask me. I didn’t know the classified ads could be this kinky.” She frowned and put her phone down.

“Hey, what about that place?” Rosé snapped her fingers. “Goona, do you remember? The diner that’s a couple of blocks from here? We used to go there all the time during our freshman year.”

“Oh, yes. That was a nice place, didn’t we stop going there because your ex-roommate worked there?”

Rosé’s expression turned sour. “Yeah… but she got fired or quit, I don’t know. The point is, they were always hiring people, maybe you could ask there?”

“And you’ve waited this long to tell me?” Jan cried. “It’s been three agonizing days.”

“They are open now so you could-”

“Bye, guys! See you later.” She grabbed her things, threw them into her backpack, and dashed out just to return a couple of seconds later. “Yeah, so I don’t know where it is.”

Jan held her breath before walking past the door.

The diner was decorated in a retro style. It had black and white floor tiles, a long bar, red stools, chairs and booths, round tables, neon signs, vinyl albums and posters of classic Hollywood stars on the walls, lamps hanging from the ceiling, and even a functional jukebox. A few people were sitting at the bar, it was still early for dinner so almost everyone was having a milkshake or some ice cream.

Jan was welcomed by a girl with dark wavy hair in a striped red and white dress with a little white apron on. The name «Denali» was written on her tag.

“Welcome to Lucky’s, would you like a table or a seat on the bar?” She smiled and a pair of dimples appeared on her face.

“Hi, I was wondering if you have a job application for me or… if you were hiring right now?”

“Oh,” She lowered her notebook. “You wanna work here? Okay, just give me a second. You can sit over there.” Denali pointed at one empty table.

“Sure.” Jan held her backpack close to her body and moved to the booth.

Denali returned shortly after with a pen and a paper sheet in her hands.

“In normal circumstances, you’d have an interview with the manager but since he’s God knows where and I’m in charge in the meantime, I’m going to let you complete this form and then ask you some questions…”

“Alright, yeah.”

“I’ll be back in a moment.”

Jan filled the form with basic information, her full name, birth date, age, address, phone number, e-mail, etc. When she was done, she observed Denali serving customers, she moved like her feet weren’t touching the floor, with a full tray on her hands as if it weighed nothing, all with a giant smile on her face. She made it look easy.

“Everything alright?” She asked before sitting in front of Jan.

“Yes, I’m done.” She returned the paper sheet.

Denali scanned it, collecting information. “Janice? Okay, you’re a college student.”

“Jan is fine. Yes, I’m a freshman.”

“Aw,” She tilted her head. “I’m going to write my notes in front of you if that’s okay.” Jan nodded. “You haven’t worked as a waitress before, right?”

“No, but I’m a fast learner and I believe I compensate my lack of experience with enthusiasm, I’ve been told.”

She wrote something “Next, uhm… Why do you want to work here?”

“I need a job to pay for my things. As I said, this is my first year of college; I have a partial scholarship and my parents are supporting me from home but I don’t want to become a burden for them.”

“Do you mind if I ask about your scholarship?”

“No, not at all. It’s for baseball.”

“Work!” She nodded. “The last one, you wrote here your potential time schedules and, according to the rules, if you only work have twice per week you’ll have to take two Saturdays per month. Are you fine with that?”

“Sure, I can take any shift that day.”

“Well, Jan, the good news is that I sense we’re going to be besties, so I wrote «overqualified», «fast learner» and «tight schedules but willing to take Saturday’s shifts» which always is a plus.” She smiled at Jan. “I believe you’re going to get a call very soon.”

“Oh my God! Thank you.” Jan grinned. “I really appreciate that.”

“No worries. You’re lucky -no pun intended-, a girl just quit but being completely honest, she was a real bitch. You can’t be worse than her.”

“I’ve heard that before and… I’m okay with that.”

“Alright. I hope I see you soon.” She winked and returned to serve tables.

Jan left the diner with the biggest smile on Earth.

#rpdr fanfiction #jan sport #jackie cox #jankie #crygi #college au #lesbian au #slow burn #pretty in pearls #plastiquedoll #concrit welcome

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whatiwillsay · 4 years

Text

late stage swiftgron - the folklore era - 1.0

this post will include all relevant and major activities between taylor and dianna since taylor announced folklore on the morning of July 23, 2020.

click here for a dianna’s spotify masterpost (we are only including the most loud spotify activities on this post but it’s all very interesting)

tagging @jennyboom21, @goldenageofsomethingblue, and @tayloragron to help me out if i miss something (and ofc all of you swiftgrons who help out with the blog, don’t hesitate to let me know if i miss something major)

JULY 23, 2020

- 8 AM EASTERN - TAYLOR ANNOUNCES FOLKLORE TO COME OUT AT MIDNIGHT

- THAT AFTERNOON - DIANNA UPLOADS A NEW PLAYLIST TO SPOTIFY ENTITLED I’LL BE AROUND, WITH ONE SONG ON IT - ‘I’LL BE AROUND’ BY FLOOR CRY:

- DIANNA ALSO STREAMS THE SONG ‘I LOVE YOU SO’ BY THE WALTERS:

this song contains a very loud lyric that makes us believe ‘the 1′ is about dianna:

JULY 24, 2020

- MIDNIGHT - FOLKLORE COMES OUT

- SOME TIME THAT AFTERNOON - DIANNA ATTENDS NAYA RIVERA’S FUNERAL IN LA

JULY 25, 2020

- AFTERNOON - DIANNA TURNS OFF HER SPOTIFY LISTENING FOR THE REST OF THE DAY AND INTO THE NEXT DAY (WE THEORIZE TO LISTEN TO FOLKLORE)

- DIANNA’S SOON TO BE EX HUSBAND, WINSTON MARSHALL, POSTS THIS SHADY ASS PIC TO INSTAGRAM WITH THE CARDIGAN LYRICS WHILE HE PLAYS A BOARD GAME WITH HIS BAND MATE

JULY 29, 2020

- DIANNA POSTS A LOUDLY DOLLY BIRTHDAY POST FOR MOLLY’S BIRTHDAY

- TAYLOR RELEASES THE “cabin in candlelight” VERSION OF CARDIGAN

JULY 30, 2020

- DIANNA IS RATHER ACTIVE ON SPOTIFY INCLUDING A STREAM OF ‘HAPPY TOGETHER’ COVERED BY FLOOR CRY WHICH SEEMS TO BE A DOLLY SONG (there is a very cute video of them goofing around on a beach, pretending to make out, being very adorable and affectionate with each other - dianna posted it and specifically edited it to add the song happy together)

- THE BLOG GETS AN ANON REMINDING US HOW DIANNA WOULD LISTEN TO PALE BLUE EYES BY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND AROUND THE TIME SWIFTGRON WAS BREAKING UP IN 2013, WE PUBLISH AND DISCUSS ON MAIN

AUGUST 4, 2020

- DIANNA STREAMS PALE BLUE EYES BY VELVET UNDERGROUND ON HER PUBLIC SPOTIFY 5 DAYS WE DISCUSSED HER LISTENING TO THAT SONG IN 2013 HERE ON THE BLOG

- TAYLOR IS SPOTTED IN CAPE COD

AUGUST 5, 2020

- TAYLOR NO-HOMO’S BETTY ON COUNTRY RADIO

- DIANNA STREAMS PALE BLUE EYES AGAIN

AUGUST 6, 2020

- KEVIN TEASES SWIFTGRON ON SHOWMANCE AND TALKS ABOUT TAYLOR LOOKING FOR SOMEONE (LIKELY DIANNA) ON THE GLEE SET IN FEBRUARY OR MARCH 2014, POSSIBLY CONFIRMING THAT SWIFTGRON PINING WENT ON LONGER THAN WE EARLIER THOUGHT

- TAYLOR IS SPOTTED BRIEFLY IN LA WITH JOE

AUGUST 8, 2020

- DIANNA IS CONFIRMED TO BE BACK IN NYC

AUGUST 9, 2020

- DIANNA TRULY SNAPS, CRAVES WET PUSSY ON MAIN IN THE PLATFORM PRESENTS EDWARD SNOWDEN SKIT. WE LIKE TO PRETEND THAT SHE DID THIS TO MAKE UP FOR TAYLOR’S NO-HOMO OF BETTY

AUGUST 15, 2020

- BOTH OUR GIRLS POST TO SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT SUPPORTING THE USPS WITHIN THE SAME HOUR

- DIANNA IS ON A FRIEND’S SOCIAL MEDIA IN CONNECTICUT

AUGUST 18, 2020

- THE LAKES (WHICH IS A SONG ABOUT TAYLOR WAITING FOR HER MUSE) AND THE DELUXE VERSION OF FOLKLORE COMES OUT

- TAYLOR DISCUSSES THE MEANING BEHIND EXILE ON RADIO

AUGUST 19, 2020

- DIANNA’S DIVORCE IS ANNOUNCED AROUND 8 AM EASTERN TIME

AUGUST 20, 2020

- ESCAPISM FOLKLORE CHAPTER RELEASED

AUGUST 21, 2020

- DIANNA IS SPOTTED IN NYC WITH HER HAIR CUT AND FRESHLY DYED

- DIANNA GAY RUMORS SWIRL AS WELL AS HER CONNECTION TO TAYLOR, IT ALL SEEMS TO BE PICKING UP STEAM, THE BLOG PREDICTS A JOE x TAYLOR STUNT

- DIANNA’S WIKIPEDIA PAGE IS EDITED, A MORE FEMININE PICTURE IS MADE HER MAIN PICTURE, SEVERAL PEOPLE ARE EDITING HER PERSONAL LIFE SECTION. SWIFTGRON RUMORS ARE ADDED TO IT:

IT APPEARS AS THOUGH A USER GOING BY KINGSIF MAKES THESE EDITS:

AUGUST *22*, 2020

- IT IS ONE OF DIANNA’S GOOD FRIEND’S, SELBY’S BIRTHDAY. SELBY (WHO WAS AT THE FUN CONCERT IN FALL 2013) POSTS TO INSTAGRAM WITH BOTH MTR AND WILDEST DREAMS PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND. DIANNA DOES NOT PUBLICLY WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY (tho she didn’t post for selby’s birthday last year, however she didn’t like molly’s selby birthday dedication and she usually does comment on posts molly has made for selby’s birthday or like it or both in the past, she also didn’t comment on or like tracy dubb’s selby birthday post)

AUGUST 23, 2020

- SLEEPLESS NIGHTS FOLKLORE CHAPTER RELEASED

AUGUST 24, 2020

- DIANNA IS IN CHILMARK, MA AT A LAKE WITH FRIENDS (it’s probably a coincidence but this location is not too far a drive or ferry ride from taylor’s place - about an hour)

AUGUST 25, 2020

- DIANNA IS HAPPY AND FRESH AND CUTE ON THE SHIVA BABY LIVE STREAM

AUGUST 26, 2020

- SALTBOX FOLKLORE CHAPTER RELEASE

- THE BLOG POSTS THE SPOTIFY SINCE FOLKLORE MASTERPOST

- A FEW HOURS LATER SPOTIFY GLITCHES AND/OR DIANNA GOES PRIVATE ON SPOTIFY, IT IS HARD TO TELL WHICH HAPPENED OR IF BOTH THINGS HAPPENED. SHE DOESN’T STREAM AGAIN UNTIL 9/2/2020

- DIANNA IS PAPPED IN NYC CARRYING A BOOK DESCRIBED AS RAUNCHY AND QUEER LMAO

- DIANNA SHOWS UP IN INSTAGRAM STORIES OF SOMEONE WEARING A MASK AND A DETROIT BLOWS SHIRT

AUGUST 28, 2020

- DIANNA SHOWS UP IN A DOG’S INSTAGRAM POSTS, RARE BTS FOOTAGE OF HER IN HER AMAZING ROMEO DRAG FOR HER ROMEO AND JULIET PHOTOSHOOT FROM 2019

- TAYLOR NATION POSTS A PICTURE OF TAYLOR WITH WINE FROM THE FOLKLORE LIVE CHAT THAT TOOK PLACE THE EVENING OF THE 23RD RIGHT BEFORE FOLKLORE DROPPED TO CELEBRATE NATIONAL *RED* WINE DAY

AUGUST 29, 2020

- DIANNA’S INVOLVEMENT IN A PLAY OR FILM ADAPTATION OF A TALE OF TWO CITIES GOES PUBLIC ON INSABELLA MACPHERSON’S INSTAGRAM. THE QUOTE REFERENCED IS, “IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES”

- THE OSSA YOUTUBE CHANNEL SNAPS AND SENDS SWIFTGRON MAINSTREAM SHOWING THAT NO, THEY’RE NOT OVER SWIFTGRON SO WHY SHOULD WE BE OVER IT? THEY ADD SWIFTGRON RUMORS TO A VIDEO TALKING ABOUT WHO ALL THE GLEE CAST HAS DATED.

as of 9-4-2020 9 am central this video now has 115 k views:

AUGUST 30, 2020

- DIANNA’S OLD BOSS RYAN MURPHY FOLLOWS TAYLOR ON INSTAGRAM, MAKING HER THE 13TH PERSON HE FOLLOWS (we speculate that taylor’s music will be featured on his upcoming movie, the prom)

- TAYLOR WINS VMA FOR BEST DIRECTION FOR THE MAN, SHE GIVES A DIGITAL ACCEPTANCE SPEECH AND ENDS IT WITH A TENDER “I HOPE I GET TO SEE YOU SOON.”

AUGUST 31, 2020

- THE BLOG REQUESTS DIANNA TO COME BACK TO SPOTIFY:

SEPTEMBER 2, 2020

- DIANNA COMES BACK TO SPOTIFY WITH TWO VERY INTERESTING PLAYLISTS (songs that seem to specifically and blatantly reference taylor’s lyrics)

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

- DIANNA PAPPED IN NYC OUT BOOK SHOPPING

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

- CAM SNAPS AND DECIDES TO CELEBRATE THE FAIRFAX FLEA MARKET ANNIVERSARY BY MAKING THIS MASTERPOST. HAPPY SWIFTGRONTEMBER.

what does it all mean?

as you all know, this blog does not think swiftgron is together (other than being friendly and on cordial or even close terms) however we do think swiftgron is being referenced by kevin, her wikipedia, and that news video as part of a narrative. we are not entirely sure what that narrative is but we have two very specific ideas. if you hang around the blog or discord you probably know what our two theories are. we are not comfortable blogging them publicly right now.

the usps post coordination is very loud to us as well along with the outside sources commenting on swiftgron.

it is not just our small circle of delulu 2020 swiftgrons that notice something going on with the girls. they are referencing each other and seem to be circling one another and normal people are taking note.

i probably missed a lot so please ping me if i did (esp about taylor, we don’t track her as closely as we do dianna, we’re going to start though) and please read over this post with big swiftgron intelligence agency eyes 👀👀👀! if there are connections and “coincidences” that stand out to you anon the blog or comment please!

and that’s what you missed on swiftgron

#timeline #late stage swiftgron #swiftgron folklore era 1.0 #spotify #magick #swiftgron #gaylor swift

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